Ottawa quietly doled out thousands of dollars last week to support the Friends of Jasper National Park and the Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta - Régionale de Jasper (ACFA).
ACFA Régionale de Jasper received $100,000 for programming over the next two years.
The funding will help the local organization to continue to offer a range of cultural activities to support the Francophone community in Jasper, including French classes for adults, French-language information services for residents and visitors, as well as local festivals.
The ACFA represents Alberta’s French-speaking community and has 13 regional offices across Alberta, including in Jasper.
“This money is the most important part of our budget," said Valérie Chérétaki, regional director for ACFA.
She said her organization has received $50,000 in federal funding each year since 2004.
As well as the ACFA funding, the Friends of Jasper received $10,200 to help organize the 25th anniversary of Parks Day from July 17 to 19.
“Without this funding Parks Day wouldn’t be what it is now,” said Heather Aussant-Roy, co-manager of Friends of Jasper.
“This event started as a popup tent out of Old Fort Point and now it’s grown into one of Canada’s largest Parks Day events.”
A number of activities are planned for the three-day festival, including live music, children’s musical performances, visual art demonstrations, workshops, historical hikes and walking tours, as well as First Nations storytelling and drumming. This year’s festival is expected to draw 4,000 visitors.
“We try to showcase all the different ways people enjoy the park,” she said, adding that the group also likes to promote the artistic and musical side of the park.
The funding is part of the federal government’s building communities through arts and heritage program, which provides funding for local festivals, community anniversaries and the legacy fund for commemorative events.
“We’ve given out a number of funds across the whole region for different weekend events,” said MP Jim Eglinski.
“It has nothing to do with the election, it’s just something that happens. Every spring we go through all the different applications and funds are distributed accordingly,” he said, adding both groups got close to what they had asked for.
Paul Clarke
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