B.C. government to provide additional $25 million for marine restoration projects
British Columbia's Environment Ministry has announced another $25 million in funding for coastal cleanup and restoration of the marine environment.
This brings its total investment for the Clean Coast, Clean Waters Initiative Fund to about $50 million.
Environment Minister George Heyman told a news conference Tuesday that debris from more than 4,600 kilometres of shoreline has been removed so far, while creating more than 1,700 jobs.
He says the new funding will allow the initiatives to continue to protect the coast and the communities that live there.
The Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative, a group from nine First Nations who aim to restore ecosystems, will receive another $4 million, bringing its total funding to $7.5 million since 2020.
The remaining $21 million will be awarded to funding applicants, which may include coastal First Nations, non-profits or other groups with expertise in shoreline cleanup.
The funding will be distributed in two rounds, first this spring and another in early 2024.
"I am honoured to stand with First Nations and partner organizations who are taking a leadership role in cleaning up marine debris and plastic pollution," Heyman said in a news release. "The Clean Coast, Clean Waters projects have and continue to help protect and restore the health of our marine ecosystems."
The fund is part of the CleanBC Plastics Action Plan that has a goal of reducing plastic waste and pollution.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.