Blaine Calkins, MP for Red Deer–Lacombe asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to support the Red Deer Royals on Wednesday in the House of Commons.
He submitted more than 1,000 letters, written by Central Albertans, to the prime minister’s office.
The Red Deer Royals Marching Show Band has found a permanent home in the Kinsmen Fieldhouse at St. Joseph’s High School.
The Royals need to pay about $2.7 million – or half the cost of the field house, while the remaining half will be coming from the Red Deer Catholic Regional School Division. As of October, the band was short about $700,000.
The Royals applied for Canada 150 funding under the Liberal government, but they were denied, said Calkins.
“We are hoping that the government of Canada would be supportive of Red Deer Royals in the upcoming budget,” he said.
As to what’s next, Calkins said, he has done everything he could, and now, the ball is in the Liberal government’s court.
“If they’re not prepared to support the Red Deer Royals, if they are not ready to change their minds, the only thing we can do is change the government.”
mamta.lulla@reddeeradvocate.com
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