May 19, 2005
MUNCEY, Ontario, May 19, 2005 – The Honourable Jerry Pickard, Member of Parliament for Chatham–Kent–Essex, the Honourable Roger Gallaway, Member of Parliament for Sarnia–Lambton, and Rose-Marie Ur, Member of Parliament for Lambton–Kent–Middlesex, on behalf of the Honourable Joe Comuzzi, Minister of State (FedNor), today announced a Government of Canada investment of $250,000 in the local Community Futures Development Corporation (CFDC) known as the Tecumseh Community Development Corporation. The funding will be used to support the ongoing activities of the CFDC, including business services and access to capital for small and medium-sized businesses, community strategic planning and other community economic development efforts.
“The Government of Canada strongly supports the Tecumseh CFDC in helping area aboriginal communities to become self-sustaining and enhancing their ability to compete globally,” said Mr. Pickard.
“As a local-level partner, the Tecumseh Community Development Corporation is best positioned to address local economic needs,” said Mr. Gallaway.
“CFDCs play a key role in contributing to the prosperity of the regional economy by being catalysts for job creation and business development,” said Ms. Ur.
The Tecumseh Community Development Corporation is one of 61 CFDCs in rural and Northern Ontario funded by Industry Canada’s Community Futures Program through FedNor. It delivers a wide variety of programs and services to support community economic development and small business growth to ten First Nation communities located throughout the southwest and Bruce peninsula areas. CFDCs employ local staff and are each governed by a volunteer board of directors, made up of local residents representative of the community.
In the last five years, Ontario CFDCs, through their investment and business counselling activities, invested more than $229 million to help the small business sector create or maintain 26,418 jobs.
“We can continue addressing local economic priorities such as providing access to capital for Aboriginal businesses, especially youth entrepreneurs, and support projects to develop new sectors in area First Nations,” said Joyce Johnston, Chair of the Tecumseh Community Development Corporation.
Through its investments in CFDCs, the Government of Canada is acting on its commitment to support economic growth and diversification in rural communities.
Funding for this initiative was provided for in the February 2005 federal budget and is therefore built into the existing fiscal framework.
To find out more about Ontario CFDCs, visit: http://cfdc-ontario.ic.gc.ca
For more information, please contact:
Graeme Wilkes
Director of Communications, Office of the Honourable Joe Comuzzi
(613) 947-5850
Yves Châteauneuf
Communications Officer, Industry Canada/FedNor
(519) 645-5684 or 1 877 333-6673