Port Clements has agreed to rent out its community hall for free to two non-profit groups who asked the village to waive its usual rental fee.
Council members agreed Monday (Nov. 3) that the Heritage Tourism Strategy will not be charged for a meeting Nov. 23, because the group has no funding at the moment.
They also agreed not to charge the Port Clements school parents advisory committee, which is holding a Christmas bazaar in the hall Nov. 15.
In other Port news:
• The village is writing a letter of support to the Queen Charlotte management committee, which is trying to get funding from the Softwood Industry Community Economic Adjustment Initiative to build a seawalk.
• Mayor Dale Lore just returned from a one-week tour of communities in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, organized by UNBC to show how the oil and gas industry is working on the east coast. Mr. Lore said he is still recovering from the 10 to 13 hours of meetings held every day with various groups, but said the tour was extremely informative.
"Overall it was really, really impressive, both the job UNBC did and the way the people there received us," he said. "The people were absolutely superb and seemed open and honest."
His overall impression, he said, was that small towns are continuing to wither away and the economic activity generated by the oil and gas industry has been concentrated in the cities.