Premier Gordon Campbell will be on the islands Thursday (July 13) to announce provincial funding for the Haida Heritage Centre at Qay'llnagaay.
His visit coincides with the beginning of Skidegate Days and a celebration will be held at the centre at Second Beach, Skidegate.
Amy Mason, a spokesperson from media relations for the government's public affairs bureau in Victoria, told the Observer the visit is to announce provincial funding for the cultural centre, which is expected to be completed next year. We asked her if the amount was the $100,000 we had previously heard about, and she replied "don't quote me, but it's a heck of a lot more than that."
Mr. Campbell will be travelling with Tom Christensen, Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation. They arrive in Skidegate by Haida canoe just after 11:00 am, make the announcement, attend a barbecue, then leave the islands.
The cultural centre is expected to cost about $26-million, paid for mostly by the federal government and the Skidegate Band Council.
The visit is Mr. Campbell's first-ever to the islands, and the first time a Premier has visited since Bill Vanderzalm spent a couple of days here in September, 1986.