A funding request from the Columbia Shuswap Invasive Species Society (CSISS) left Sicamous council divided.  it to a future finance committee meeting for further discussion. 

In a letter received at the Dec. 11 council meeting, CSISS asked for a $2,000 grant after explaining they're facing decreased funding of approximately $40,000 from the Shuswap Watershed Council and Columbia Basin Trust in 2025. Though Coun. Siobhan Rich acknowledged it's a relatively small ask, she said the district receives a lot of those and this is something that should be funded at a higher level of government.

"We cannot continue to just grant money to every great cause we have. And we've spoken at this table about this being a provincial issue..." she said of past discussions on the program. "We don't have the money to spend right now, we just don't, and we need to push this to provincial."

Coun. Ian Baiillie agreed, reiterating there's "no end of good things to put money towards," but those add up. 

"At some point we have to say no because we do have a duty to make sure we're keeping taxes reasonable as well," he said. "I know it's just 2,000, but there's a lot of 'just 2,000s' and then it adds up."

Others, however, pointed out that CSISS is a worthwhile cause given that invasive quagga and zebra mussels pose threat to the lakes and summer tourism industry.

鈥淚 think this is one of those things that if we look at what we have, some funding from this year鈥檚 budget that we can give... even a little bit would help because this is something we can鈥檛 afford not to give to," Coun. Bob Evans said. "We need everybody onboard to fight this problem before it gets here.鈥�

"We do have to protect our lakes," Coun. Gord Bushell agreed and suggested it be discussed in the budget, with council approving a motion to defer it to an upcoming finance meeting.