More tourism money to head up north this year

New money is on the way to 29 community groups to help boost rural, northern and Indigenous tourism, a news release issued by the province says, but most of that money will flow to southern Manitoba.

The number of grants doled out to northern communities jumped from 11 per cent under the previous government to 21 per cent this year.

The majority of grants 79 per cent or 23 out of 29 went to organizations in the southern part of the province.

The province paid to fly three politicians, two press secretaries, three bureaucrats and a political aide to Churchill for a day, which included anannouncement the Tourism Development Fund was toincrease by more than 50 per cent to $297,000 for 2016-17.

NDP deputy northern affairs critic Tom,Lindseycalled the trip toChurchill a junket with little benefit to thetown hit hard by layoffs by Omnitrax, the town's largest employer.

• Churchill trip for tourism grants criticized as government photo-op with little northern benefit

This year'sprogramincluded one grant targeted specifically to Churchill. A $10,000 cheque will go tothe Churchill Ladies Club to develop an augmented reality app.

Thompson, Man. received the most grants of any one location, three in total, including $7,500 for the Thompson Zoological Society for theBoreal Discovery Centre aquarium program.

"Our government has been developing relationships with northernManitobansand seeking their advice for long-term solutions," said Growth, Enterprise and Trade Minister Cliff Cullen in a news release.

"Our entire province's economy will benefit from successful northern enterprise and we look forward to working with the successful applicants as they implement their local projects.

"Manitoba has unique and exciting destinations that should be shared with visitors from around the world," said Cullen.