More funding cuts in the human services sector has community organizations considering legal action against the government.
Groups that offer programs to people with developmental disabilities learned this week that the government will claw back $6 million in the next three months, before the fiscal year ends March 31. The cuts means a reduction of $2.8 million in the Edmonton region and $125,000 to St. Albert’s Transitions organization, said executive director Paul Fujishige.
However, instead of complying immediately, Edmonton organizations will explore legal remedies when they meet next Tuesday. A lawyer will be present as the organizations explore whether or not they can claim breach of contract.
“The first thing we’re going to examine is whether we’d even co-operate with this kind of reneging on an agreement,” Fujishige said.
“We do have a signed agreement that’s to be honoured to the end of the fiscal year so before we start doing anything with the service, we want to look at that.”
Before each budget year, service providers must submit to government the number of hours required for each client and justify the amounts. The government only provides funding for programs that it agrees are necessary, Fujishige said.
Seniors and Community Supports Minister Mary Anne Jablonski said she couldn’t avoid asking regional boards to find two per cent in savings as the government tries to find $430 million in savings this year.
St. Albert MLA Ken Allred defended the minister and the cuts, saying the government tried to hold off for as long as possible before making cuts to Persons with Developmental Disabilities.
“It’s not unanticipated that there would be people concerned about it but it’s like everything else, there’s a real move to try and balance the budget and everybody’s going to have to suffer a little bit,” Allred said.
Fujishige said the government is failing to honour Premier Ed Stelmach’s November televised promise to protect the vulnerable. He refuted Jablonski’s claim that the cuts can be handled at the administration level without affecting services, saying the only option is to cut staff hours, which means fewer services for Transitions’ 90 clients.
“It may only be numbers to government but that represents supports for people with disabilities so they’re the ones that are going to bear the brunt of this through no fault of their own,” Fujishige said.
News of the cuts came about a month after providers learned that the government was cutting $10 million from an employee incentive program. That program was initially supposed to provide an ongoing pay increase but instead the government provided a one-time bonus.
Marie Renaud of St. Albert’s Lo-Se-Ca Foundation lashed out at the government for “constantly sending these mixed messages” by planning cuts while proceeding with bonuses.
“I guess she got some good press on that, I don’t know,” she said of Jablonski. “They knew full well that a little down the road they would have to do this kind of clawback. It’s ridiculous and it’s a little bit insulting.”
