The Winter Cities Forum 2003 will be getting a $68,880
boost from FedNor.
The funding announcement was made Friday by Sault
Liberal MP Carmen Provenzano on behalf of Andy Mitchell,
Secretary of State.
"Sault Ste. Marie has much to offer as a winter and
year-round attraction and we are constantly looking
for ways to promote the assets of our community," said
Provenzano in a release.
"This initiative is consistent without constant effort
to forge new partnerships, discuss economic growth strategies
and showcase both the city's wide variety of tourist
activities and its great potential for development."
The funding will go towards the costs of equipment
and room rentals, ground transportation, marketing and
promotion and associated administrative and conference
expenses.
The forum is scheduled to run from Jan. 31 to Feb.
3, 2003.
Topics of discussion will include tourism, economic
development, quality of life, economic prosperity through
partnerships with aboriginal communities, retention
and attraction of youth to Northern winter cities, environmental
balance and the link of the Great Lakes Heritage Coast
to other communities in the Great Lakes region.
More than 250 delegates from Canada, the United States,
Europe, Japan and Russia are expected to attend.
"This conference will develop critical arguments for
the livability and the unique quality of life that winter
cities experience," said Mayor John Rowswell, president
of the Winter Cities Forum.
"It will examine issues pertaining to quality of life
of Northern communities, eco-tourism and other natural
opportunities, and the benefits of balancing industry
and our environment."
Funding for this project was provided for in the December
2001 budget and it therefore built into the existing
fiscal framework.
