Its a disappointing loss for the town of Shelburne. The Katimavik program was cut from the federal budget last month, meaning the group won't be coming to the community. Jerry Locke, Director of Community and Economic Development, says the spin-offs could have been substantial for the town.
"It was not only a tremendous benefit to the community in terms of the people who would be here and what they would contribute to us, but it would be a chance for us to expand our horizons to get to meet some new people. There also would have been the economic boost of 12 people living here for a year, paying rent for a year, buying groceries; it was probably close to a $500,000 benefit to us."
Locke says the federal funding cut surprised everyone involved and groups have been left scrambling to find other resources. He says people should protest the cuts to their local MLAs.
