Province to fund cleanup of 1,000 km of B.C. coastline
The province has committed $3.6 million to clean more than 1,000 kilometres of B.C. shoreline, while employing tourism industry workers, youth, and Indigenous peoples.
Three organizations will split the funding, which will see tonnes of ocean trash and debris removed from areas including Haida Gwaii, the Discovery Islands and parts of Vancouver Island.
In total, the three projects will create 240 jobs, 163 of which have been earmarked for youth, according to the province.
"After a very tenuous year for tourism, we are very grateful to be able to offer this additional work to our staff including many local youth, as well as their community members and local businesses who will be assisting with the project," said Rick Snowdon, co-owner of Spirit of the West Adventures in Heriot Bay, B.C.
"It is a win, win, win, the beaches get cleaned up, folks get back to work and everyone can feel good about their contribution to this project," he said.
Funding for the shore cleanups comes from the B.C. "Clean Coast, Clean Waters" initiative, which launched in 2020 and continued in 2021.
Since the initiative began, roughly 550 tonnes of ocean debris have been removed from B.C.'s shorelines. The debris included plastics, abandoned fishing gear and polystyrene foam.
The three organizations receiving the funding are: the Misty Isles Economic Development Society ($2.3 million), the Campbell River Association of Tour Operators ($767,000), and the Spirit of the West Adventures ($563,000).
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.
'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.
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.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit natural gas levies to the federal government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' 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.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
North Bay doctor accused of assaulting patient, threatening another
A North Bay doctor is facing charges after allegedly assaulting a patient with a weapon and threatening another person at the hospital, police say.