Lisa MacLeod came to North Bay with her pocketbook and a sign of home.
The Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries was alongside Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli in announcing a handful of funding announcements that amounted to $690,000 among multiple local arts and tourism groups.
I will be brief with my remarks, but I do think it is important that I share with you the significant challenges that the sectors of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture are facing right now," she admitting during her speech at the podium.
"We were hit first, hardest and will take the longest to recover as a result of COVID-19.
"You are talking about your local museum, your public library, your art gallery, your tourism attraction, your local artists and athlete contribute to $75 billion in economic activity in Ontario which is larger than mining, forestry, and agriculture put together and it is larger than the Gross Domestic Product of Manitoba."
MacLeod's funding including $22,066 to the Discovery Museum, where the media event took place, will help multiple local organizations including $106,611 for the North Bay Public Library, $74,300 for the Amelia Rising Sexual Assault Centre of Nipissing, $282,300 for the North Bay & District Multicultural Centre, $65,600 for the Brain Injury Association of North Bay & Area, $36,000 for the Mattawa Women's Resource Centre, along with $25,000 divided between the Bay Block Party, Smoke 'N' Spurs Festival and Mattawa Voyageur Days.
See related: Smoke 'N' Spurs cancelled for 2020
See related: Quints home more than just a historic artifact
In a surprise announcement, MacLeod says she is also adding another $20,000 in funding for a new interpretive garden in front of the Dionne Quints home which she visited for the very first time on Tuesday morning. MacLeod was joined by Dionne Quints Heritage Board members and one of the Dionne's nephews.
"I asked them how much it will cost and that the province would support that interpretive garden and they told me it would cost $20,000 and from the time I walked from there we called the ministry to make sure we could support that garden would be available so please don't worry anymore," said MacLeod.
"Please convey to your Aunt's that the Ontario government is there for them now when they weren't before."
