The MPP for Bruce Grey Owen Sound says the province's surprise move to replace the Ontario Trillium Foundation capital funding program leaves local groups and projects in limbo.
MPP Bill Walker says the government's plan to withdraw the $25-million capital funding program just two weeks before the application deadline is an insult to community groups.
“The government has dumped the spring-round of applications and disregarded the thousands of volunteer hours that it took to complete them,” he explains. “This will also have negative spin-offs on the local economy as many of these grants employ local contractors and locally-sourced supplies.”
He says the money helps hard working volunteers do good things in the community, and they are left with very few options for funding.
The Trillium Foundation newsletter says the organization funded from lottery proceeds in the province is going through budget changes with a replacement program to be created.
Other Trillium funding programs are still running.
Walkers says the lack of details put the future of the program in doubt.
Instead, $25-million set aside for the program will now go to fund events for Canada's 150th birthday in 2017.
In the past, Trillium has doled out funds to help purchase equipment for a new cooperative daycare in the riding, to increase accessibility at local Lions Clubs and Legion Halls, and to support the delivery of children's mental health services. It has also directly helped out the Billy Bishop Museum, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Palliative Care-Hospice Association, Seniors Centres and countless non-profits across the region.
“This is a sad day,” the MPP explains. “As a former Grant Team volunteer on the Trillium Foundation for our region, I saw first-hand how effective this funding was. This is one of the most successful and valuable grant programs the government has administered with a definite return on investment.
“Community volunteers invested their time and effort to causes that are dependent on volunteers, tax money was invested back into the local community, jobs were created and many organizations were able to sustain access to, in many cases, community hub facilities which play a key role in our small, rural communities. It was win-win-win all around."
“There is simply no other provincial capital programs out there to meet this type of need,” says MPP Walker, adding that his party has called on the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport to immediately reinstate the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s capital grants program.
“The fact that the government can’t fund a program that represents a speckle, a mere 0.02 per cent of the province’s budget shows how mismanaged the Liberal government is,” MPP Walker says. “It’s a sad day in Ontario when the government – mired in waste, scandal and mismanagement - is trying to balance the budget on the backs of volunteers and non-profit organizations. My colleagues and I will continue to push for the reinstatement of this very valuable program.”