PG-Mackenzie MLA Mike Morris and PG-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond present funding to PG Agricultural and Historical Association president Alex Huber – photo courtesy provincial government

Prince George, B.C. – The provincial government has come through with its annual gaming grant to the Prince George Agricultural and Historical Association.

The $70,000 helps the Association host the British Columbia Northern Exhibition (BCNE) each August.

As always, BCNE president Alex Huber says the money is critical to ensuring the event’s success.

“If the gaming grant was cut you would see half the fairs in the province disappear overnight. If we didn’t have that grant we would have to crank up the gate rate and attendance would drop. It would be a self-defeating thing.”

He says the grant money helped the BCNE add the rodeo last year.

“Which is a beastly expensive event and we’ve gotten rid of parking fees and we’ve dropped the gate down to $10 for adults so some of this stuff has to be funded somehow.”

And though the City of Prince George turned down the BCNE’s request for $37,000 in loan forgiveness early this year, Huber says they are still in a good financial position moving forward.

“Last year we got ahead leaps and bounds as far as attacking our debt so I would say the last two years have been really good. The weather was cooperative, the attendance increased thereby our revenue increased and we’re on a good path to get everything paid off this year.”

He says their recent involvement with the Spring Fair has also helped as they receive a percentage of the profits off the sale of ride bracelets.

“The last two years have been a financial success for us just because we don’t have a lot of liability in it.”