Whistler is the only municipality in British Columbia to receive less than $10,000 in provincial grants to local governments this year. The Ministry of Municipal Affairs announced $23.8 million in grants for small and medium-sized municipalities last Thursday but, Whistler’s share of the funding is only $9,724. Squamish will get $153,505 and $116,740 goes to Pemberton. West Vancouver receives $231,230 this year while Lillooet gets $230,617. After Whistler, the next lowest grant in the province is $31,567, which goes to Kitimat. A total of $38.7 million in unconditional grants for municipalities was announced Wednesday, with Vancouver getting the biggest single sum, more than $3.5 million. "We are protecting funding for small communities that depend most on provincial support," said Municipal Affairs Minister Cathy McGregor in her announcement. "And, we will continue to share traffic revenue fines with the larger municipalities." A second round of infrastructure grant commitments will be made later this spring. Funding for regional districts are to be maintained at 1999 levels with $120,000 going to the Squamish-Lillooet Regional Distract.
