For
Immediate Release
June 17, 2004
McGuinty
Pinches Funding Earmarked for Charities
A
decision by the McGuinty government to cut more than $5 million from the Ontario
Trillium Foundation means community projects in the Ottawa Valley and across
Ontario will suffer, Lanark-Carleton MPP Norm Sterling says.
The
Trillium Foundation was created by the previous government to assist charities
and not-for-profit groups in their efforts to build healthy communities and
support economic growth in Ontario. It did this by providing grants to support
community projects. In past years, the Foundation received a $100 million annual
budget for grants.
“This
is a slap in the face to those local volunteers who work so hard to deliver
initiatives that better the communities in which they live,” Sterling said.
“In my area alone, the Trillium Foundation has supported critical projects for
seniors, youth and many others. This cutback will mean the loss of hundreds of
local projects across Ontario that improved our quality of life.”
Sterling
said the $5.5 million decrease in funding is stunning. He suggests the
government was trying to conceal the cutback, hiding it in a single line in the
middle of its 411-page Estimates document.
The
Trillium Foundation was set up to compensate charities when their ability to
raise funds through bingos, raffles and other activities was hindered by the
creation of casinos in the province. Sterling
said the Foundation’s budget flows directly from charity casino profits in the
province.
“It’s
unconscionable that Mr. McGuinty is skimming millions in gaming profits for his
government at the expense of the province’s charities and communities,”
Sterling said. “I am calling on the Premier and Culture Minister Madeleine
Meilleur to reverse this decision immediately.”
Sterling
said the Trillium Foundation is the only government program set up so that
volunteers at the local level make funding decisions. The MPP said because the
volunteers best understand the needs of their communities, Trillium is the most
efficient and successful government program he’s come across.
In
recent years, the Trillium Foundation has provided funding to many important
projects. For example, in Lanark-Carleton alone the agency provided thousands of
dollars in assistance to purchase safety and fitness equipment for young players
on the Kanata Stallions Hockey Club; assist volunteers working to clean up the
Carp River; and upgrade local legion halls, community halls, and museums.
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