By battlefordsNOW

Funding cut reversal relief to local non-profit

Aug 18, 2017 | 5:53 PM

The province’s reversal of a 10 per cent overall funding cuts to health-based community organizations, referred to as community-based organizations (CBOs), in Saskatchewan is causing branch staff at the local Canadian Mental Health Association to breathe a sigh of relief.

When the provincial budget was announced in the spring, provincial officials announced the cuts, but a recent review determined the majority of the CBOs funded by the Ministry of Health, or the health regions are mainly mental health and addictions services along with HIV support. 

“The situation we’re in right now, we just felt that that’s not the appropriate place to try to save money,” Saskatchewan Health Minister Jim Reiter said in a press conference Aug. 17. “In health, we need to make sure the outcomes are targeted, that they are being successful. I think this can inform us for the upcoming budget as well of what we should do with funding.”

Jane Zielke de Montbrun, the executive director of the Battlefords Canadian Mental Health Association branch, said it was the right decision, estimating the local agency would have lost over $20,000 in core funding. 

“It’s really good news for the CMHA, but it is good news for all of the CBOs that do good work across the province in many different ways, regarding the health of the people,” she said adding the loss “would affect our capacity to offer programs to the folks in the Battlefords.”

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“Perhaps we couldn’t offer as many social-recreational programs as we do. It had far-reaching implications. That’s a significant amount of money for us,” she said.

Due to the reversal, Zielke de Montbrun says it will be a return to business as usual at the branch.

“Nothing has changed as far as the support programs and services we have for people living with mental health issues in the Battlefords,” she said.

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW