The Daily Press is the city of Timmins broadsheet newspaper.
TIMMINS – A crowd gathered at the feet of the three founders of Timmins on Monday morning, welcoming James Moore, the federal Minister of Heritage and Official Languages, whose presence confirmed the significance of the three men to his back and the city they founded.
Moore formally confirmed the federal funding that made the three statues possible, thanking the community and its people for their significance in the forming of the North and its continued prosperity.
Moore and the Canadian Heritage Fund provided the centennial committee along with the Porcupine Prospectors and Developers Association with $90,000 to immortalize Jack Wilson, Sandy McIntyre and Benny Hollinger.
“The $90,000 was the original seed money for the three statues,” he said. “These are three men whose discovery, vision, hard work and commitment to their craft led ultimately to a city that is thriving here in Ontario.”
These three men, who are steeped in legend within the limited confines of the North are people that Moore felt should reach a wider audience.
“These are three people whose contributions to the founding of Timmins is well known locally, but not known well enough nationally,” he said. “This is why it is important to have things like this in a place where school children who come to the museum to take part in understanding their history.
“It is good for the community, it is good for the kids and it is good for our shared history.”
Moore’s stop in Timmins was one in a series he is making in Northern Ontario to announce or reaffirm funding for various cultural organizations and projects in the region.
The Centre culturel La Ronde is among the beneficiaries in the region, receiving $60,000 in each of the next two years through the Development of Official Language Communities Program in addition to $14,000 in arts programming funding this year.
For the rest of this article, please go to the Timmins Daily Press website: http://www.timminspress.com/2012/08/13/minister-offers-north-thousands-of-reasons-to-celebrate