By David Wiwchar

Sunshine Club protests fee increase

Jul 30, 2024 | 8:20 AM

Dozens of faithful Sunshine Club members crowded into council chambers last night to protest increased fees.

Club president Jim Van Dusen said seniors were blindsided by fee increases of up to 220%

” We didn’t even know this increase was coming,” he said. “We stumbled across it by looking on the website for the agendas for the City Council meetings. This would’ve all gone through and we wouldn’t have had a chance to debate it with so I’m a little surprised that Park & Rec or the City didn’t give us a bit of a heads up.”

Van Dusen said the Sunshine Club already pays more than $50,000 in fees for using Echo Centre and other city facilities, and the increase would be another $40,000 which he said seniors can’t afford.

“We can’t sustain that,” he said. “They have to come up with a break for seniors and give us a chance to keep it going.”

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The Sunshine Club has been a cornerstone of the Seniors community in Port Alberni for the past 57 years and has 742 members.

City Council promised to work with the club to find a compromise.