The Manitoba government has partially walked back a funding cut to a provincial summer jobs program after an outcry from community groups.
Municipal Relations Minister Ian Bushie said Wednesday he is adding $300,000 to the Green Team program, which helps non-profit groups and municipalities hire young people in the summer.
The move came weeks after the government cut the program’s funding to $5.6 million from last year’s $9.6 million, and after Bushie met with a camping association and other groups in recent days.
“Just hearing their concerns and hearing what the real-world impacts are, we’re looking to support (them) as best we can,” Bushie said.
Kim Scherger, executive director of the Manitoba Camping Association (MCA) — one of the organizations that has been meeting with Bushie — said while she is grateful, there are two sides of the coin.
“I’m pretty excited about the announcement,” she said. “But with excitement, there’s always a reality side to it as well. That $300,000, when you think there were 300 applicants who didn’t get approved, doesn’t mean everybody’s going to get the funding.
“Or, if they did split up between 300 people, that’s about $1,000 per organization that applied. So, when you whittle it down, what does that mean?” she said.
Bushie did not rule out more funding adjustments.
“We’re going to continue to have the discussions. And I think there are a lot of folks out there that want to be able to have the chance to share their stories and share their challenges, and we’re willing to have those discussions every day.”
Scherger said it’s not clear how the funds will be distributed just yet. She added further information may be delayed as the government heads into a byelection.
But, she said she has hope.
“It’s sounding like the funding… is going to help camps who were denied funding in that first intake. So, we’re really hoping that they’ll come through with that, and that camps will be feel supported and feel heard because it was such a cut and a huge loss to them,” she said.
In addition to camps, the $4-million budget cut upset some sports groups, museums, and other groups, who said they were surprised when, after years of getting funding, they were either rejected or given less money this spring.
Baseball Manitoba has said some of the local associations it represents were left without money to fill summer jobs to maintain parks and diamonds.
Global News also spoke with a summer camp that did not receive any funding, and as a result said it would have to pay summer staff less than minimum wage.
“The lack of funding is going to impact the camps in a variety of ways,” Scherger said. “One would be either, they have to cut back some of their programing, or they have to cut back some of their quality staff who are coming out.”
She said other camps have said they will take on the debt, and try to make it up through donations.
The Opposition Progressive Conservatives said the extra $300,000 from the NDP government won’t go very far and many groups will still be left out.
“A number of my municipalities have reached out to me. Some of them did receive some funding. It was cut in half. Some were cut to actually a third,” Trevor King, the Tory municipal relations critic who represents the Lakeside constituency west of Winnipeg, said Wednesday.
King said the Tories will continue to push for the funding to be fully restored to last year’s level.
For parents faced with, what can be, the steep cost of sending their kids to camp, Scherger said the MCA offers a subsidy they may be able to access for help.
The application can be found at mbcamping.ca/sunshine-fund.
–with files from Global’s Daisy Woelk
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