Warwick Township wants to know why it hasn’t been able to get grants to help pay for the salaries of summer students from the federal government for the past three or four years.

During the Aug. 14 Warwick Township council meeting, Ryan Chamney, manager of parks and recreation, said it had been a minimum of three to four years since the township had received funding for summer students.

And it appears Warwick is not alone; Chamney says there were no summer job grants for municipal governments in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.

“It’s my understanding it’s been a few years since we have received funding through this funding portal. But we will submit again for next season… I think it’s also worth noting that there are no municipalities, towns, villages, cities granted funding through the Lambton-Kent-Middlesex stream,” he said.

That compares to Sarnia-Lambton where nine municipalities received funding.
“I think almost everybody over there that asked for funding pretty much got their funding and a great deal with them did,” said Mayor Todd Case.

“And again, when Ryan mentions that nobody in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex riding received funding for students, it seems a little weird and funny at the same time – how next door they would receive funding and we didn’t – I think it’s a question that we need to ask.”

The Independent reached out to the MPs office and received an email which said simply “The decision for funding is made by Service Canada.”
But the answer is incomplete.

According to the Employment and Social Development Canada website, about the grants, the government says the local MP has a large say in the where the grants go.

“Each Member of Parliament will receive the list of eligible projects for their constituency.

“Based on their knowledge of local priorities and circumstances, Members of Parliament have the opportunity to review the list of assessed projects for their constituencies and to provide feedback to help ensure local priorities are met.”
Council agreed to send a letter to Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Lianne Rood about the issue.