Council here is not prepared to revamp its new athletic and cultural bursary award program.
At its Aug. 13 meeting, council defeated a motion to accept a recommendation from the Parks, Recreation and Culture Committee (PRCC) to add a category for a Mapleton team and amend the wording to allow individuals representing Mapleton on teams outside the township be eligible for the $250 bursary offered through the program, which was approved at the July 9 meeting.
The purpose of the program is to encourage youth who reside in Mapleton to “expand their life experiences through sport” and to help offset the cost of competing at the provincial, national or international level. The program is open to Mapleton residents under 18 (up to 21 if enrolled full-time in post-secondary education).
For the athletic or cultural competition bursaries of $250, applicants must have achieved a first-place finish at the provincial level or placed in the top three in national competition. Athletes who compete at the international level are also eligible to apply.
A cultural exchange bursary of $500 is also available through the program. This bursary is open to young people studying outside of Canada for a minimum of one semester at a recognized educational institution or participating in a minimum two-month cultural exchange.
Public works director Larry Lynch said he was under the impression the bursary program would be for individuals, with local teams achieving success at provincial, national or international levels to be recognized publicly at a council meeting.
“It makes somewhat of a slippery slope looking at every single person on a team (for a bursary),” Lynch noted. He recommended council have a delegation from the PRCC meet with them to advocate the idea.
“I don’t feel I’m in a position to defend it one way or another,” he said.
Councillor Andy Knetsch agreed with the idea of hearing from a delegation. “At this point I would not support this motion at all,” said Knetsch.
Other councillors were not in favor of revisiting the issue.
“We just implemented this bursary and I’d just as soon we leave it for a year and see how it plays out,” said councillor Mike Downey.
“We went through a lot of comment and time to get this program in place,” agreed councillor Neil Driscoll, who added the township needs to promote local teams.
The motion to approve the recommendation was defeated, with Knetsch, Downey and Driscoll all opposed. Councillor Jim Curry was absent.
