Watch:Beaches Jazz Festival supporters launch petition to save funding. Carey Marsden reports. <\/p>\n
TORONTO Beaches Jazz Festival supporters have launched an online petitionto urge Ontarioto restore funding to the free summer event after an annual provincial grant was not renewed this month. <\/p>\n
The festival, which attracted an estimated 500,000 people last year, received $75,000 from the Celebrate Ontario program in each of the last six years. <\/p>\n
Organizers were told on March 13 that they would no longer receive the funding this time around. <\/p>\n
This year, the festival is in danger of being drastically reduced in size and scope because the funding that it has regularly received for the past 6 years has not been renewed by the government, the petition wrote. <\/p>\n
Critics argued the move seemed odd as the governing Liberals reportedly awarded a $300,000 grant to multimillionaire rap star Drake was to stage his two-day OVO Fest in Toronto this summer. <\/p>\n
Watch: (Mar 20) The Beaches Jazz Festival has been denied a provincial grant it has received in the past. Carey Marsden reports. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, a company thats estimated to be worth $2 billion, wants $10 million from the province to upgrade BMO Field in Toronto a city-owned property. <\/p>\n
The company that owns the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Raptors, and Torontos professional soccer team says it will put in $90 million for the upgrade, but only if it gets $30 million from the city, province and federal government. <\/p>\n
Tourism Minister Michael Chan defended the decision on Monday, saying Celebrate Ontario is a competitive program, which attracted 441 applications last year, and supports many events across the province. <\/p>\n
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Beaches Jazz Festival supporters launch petition to save funding<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Watch:Beaches Jazz Festival supporters launch petition to save funding. Carey Marsden reports. Continue reading