Provincial cutbacks under fire

By Dan Hilborn
Published Dec. 15, 2004


The provincial government is facing a barrage of criticism this week after some of the best-known community agencies in the Lower Mainland learned they will no longer receive funding to provide immigrant settlement and adaptation services.

Peter Julian, the rookie member of Parliament for Burnaby-New Westminster, is echoing the comments of Burnaby Multicultural Society executive director Roop Virk and Options Unlimited president Nona Carey that the funding cuts are inappropriate and an example of bad management.

"What we're seeing systematically is that established community organizations with great track records are being rejected in favour of organizations who are bidding as low as they can," said Julian, who served as the executive director of the Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing before being elected to Parliament last summer.

"And if these new organizations don't have a track record, you have to wonder if taxpayers are getting value for money," Julian said. "When the process is as botched as this one, you really have to wonder about the administrative ability of the Campbell government to provide these services."

Virk said the Burnaby Multicultural Society has subsequently received approval for six months of bridging funds to keep its programs operating until the summer. However, he said, that's simply not enough.

"The ministers responsible have offered transition funds for six months, and that's great, but that only gets us through the election cycle, and then it's see you later," said Virk, who noted that having a immigrant settlement agency in Burnaby is essential because half the households in the city no longer use English as their primary language.

Virk also expressed frustration at the fact that the province is keeping almost half of the $36 million it receives from the federal government for immigrant settlement services in its general revenue fund.

"According to the MLAs I spoke to, only $19 million was made available to settlement services, and the rest goes into general revenue where there's no accountability," Virk said. "My question for them was, why isn't all that money targeted for settlement services?"

Virk also expressed frustration at the way the province has handled the issue.

"When they use a business model, as if you were applying for a bank loan, it makes no sense," he said. It does not work when in a situation where you're dealing wit human beings. There's no way to quantify or gauge a value on the impact of your assistance to them.

"For example, you get one check mark when a client asks for a permanent residency card, and you also get only one check mark if a person comes in distraught and suicidal and you spend a week working with them and basically save their lives," he said. "The value is always X dollars per client. That system deters us from giving any real assistance to the people who really need it."

Virk was also critical of the fact that all four of the successful service providers for the combined Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster district, are physically located in Vancouver.

That comment was echoed by Carey, who owns the Options Unlimited program that offers 'thematic' English training for up to 100 students per day from her 12-year-old school in downtown New Westminster.

"There are no settlement services in New Westminster anymore," said Carey, after a Monday meeting with the two cabinet ministers responsible for the immigrant service funding decision - Murray Coell, Minister of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services and Patrick Wong, Minister of State for Immigration and Multicultural Services.

"We don't feel that the changes were conducted within the spirit of the Canada-British Columbia agreement on immigration," Carey said. "These are federal dollars not provincial dollars. There are many other methods the province could have used to distribute these funds in a fair and equitable manner."

"In terms of equipping organizations for quality of services, cost effectiveness and community priority, we don't feel that we were evaluated on those criteria," she said. "And we feel that monopolies are emerging - large organizations with large boards of directors with access to charitable funds and casino funds."

However, after her meeting with the cabinet ministers on Monday, Carey expressed hope that the province may reverse its decision.

"They ere very receptive and open to listening," Carey said. "I also felt that our MLA, Joyce Murray, was very supportive and concerned about the funding gap. I know that we are eligible for transitional funding, and my hope is that they will reconsider funding for New Westminster which we feel is miniscule in terms of the actual dollars allocated for these programs."

Meanwhile, Burnaby North MLA Richard Lee, a former director of the Burnaby Multicultural Society, expressed confidence in the province's ability to listen to the service providers and to develop a new funding model that makes sense for everyone.

"I believe the idea of open bidding is to provide service to immigrants in the most effective way. However, there may be some improvements to the process so the clients, the immigrants, can get the settlement services where they live - closer to home," Lee said. "On one side you want the service to be effective, and on the other side you want there to be some continuity of service."

Lee also said that he agrees with Julian and Virk that a greater proportion of the federal funding for immigrant services should go to those groups, however, he noted the funding shortfall is an historical problem that was also present when the NDP was in government.