quebec government's cash-flow problems are hurting community groups, advocates say
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“we’re not expecting blank cheques and for everyone to get the funding they asked for,” says rafaël provost, executive director of ensemble pour le respect de la diversité. but he and other community workers are calling on the quebec government “to offer better collaboration, because the current situation is problematic. it’s putting us in a precarious situation and endangering our groups’ missions.”
allen mcinnis
/
montreal gazette
community organizations across the province say they’re reeling from sudden funding refusals, application delays and backtracking on approved funding by the quebec government, and say their services are in jeopardy.
now, some of the hundreds of affected organizations that work in such areas as literacy, housing rights, mental health, home care, caregiver support and diversity training are responding with strikes and a petition.
“it doesn’t make sense what we’re going through,” said rafaël provost, executive director of montreal-based ensemble pour le respect de la diversité. he helped launch a petition on the website of the national assembly in late december after learning from other group directors that the government’s funding cuts, delays and contract reneging are widespread. the petition, which is sponsored by montreal-area liberal mna jennifer maccarone, had garnered more than 735 signatures as of tuesday afternoon.
“some groups are getting no answer, others a refusal without any details why, others signed an agreement (with a government department) and aren’t getting the second instalment of their promised funding,” provost said. his own organization recently received a refusal of funding from quebec’s immigration department without explanation and after 20 years of its financial support for projects that fight racism, he said.
“we’re not expecting blank cheques and for everyone to get the funding they asked for,” provost said. “but this petition is calling on the government to offer better collaboration, because the current situation is problematic. it’s putting us in a precarious situation and endangering our groups’ missions.”
the petition is directed at “all parties that are seeking to be in power,” he added, and not only the coalition avenir québec.
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chantal rouleau, a member of the caq government and the minister responsible for social solidarity and community action, said through a spokesperson this week that “community organizations and non-profit organizations are essential to supporting our communities,” but said belt-tightening has led to cuts.
“this year, we are facing budgetary constraints, which are resulting in difficult decisions,” she said in a statement to the gazette. her spokesperson said she was unavailable for an interview.
three years ago, rouleau launched consultations with community groups to modernize her department’s funding programs and to find ways to help the groups deliver their services. in her statement this week, rouleau said she’s still committed to the goal and has simplified the reporting requirements for 2,000 organizations. she added that her ministry is working to harmonize reporting requirements across government departments.
but without funding, simplified reporting is pointless, the groups contend.
rouleau is an “obstacle,” said mathieu gélinas, the executive director of a community organization providing home care in the mauricie region and part of a coalition called le communautaire à boutte, which staged a one-week strike by 116 organizations in the region in october. rouleau, he said, “doesn’t seem proactive in this file.”
community groups in the mauricie withheld services during their strike, and a second one-week strike is planned — this time in several regions of the province — in late march.
there are 4,500 community organizations in the province working “in all spheres,” gélinas said, be it homelessness, phone helplines, home repair, mental health support, breastfeeding support, or help for families and isolated seniors.
“no matter what the need is in quebec, there’s definitely a community organization that’s working on filling the need,” gélinas said.
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“quebec doesn’t have the luxury to get rid of the on-the-ground expertise of community groups. replacing our expertise to integrate it into the public system would cost way too much.”
provincial funding cuts are hitting groups in a myriad of ways, gélinas said. groups working in the defence of rights, for example, already don’t receive indexation and now the caq government is planning to replace their sustained financing with funding on a per-project basis that will make it precarious, he said.
montreal-based equitas, a 60-year-old human rights education organization, is one of 14 international co-operation organizations that signed funding agreements with the provincial government until 2028 that learned just before the holidays that the government was abruptly eliminating their second funding instalments for this year. the funding comes from the québec sans frontières program of the international relations and francophonie department, which had “over three decades of excellent reputation,” equitas executive director odette mccarthy said.
“we were quite shaken by that,” she said, adding that her group was notified on dec. 19 that the second cheque for the year wasn’t coming. uncertainty hangs over next year as well, she said. the government’s fiscal year runs from april to march. the government’s reneging affects jobs in quebec, international partnerships and thousands of people in situations of vulnerability in countries like haiti, despite quebec’s strong ties, mccarthy said.
“we were shocked that the quebec government isn’t respecting its own contracts and the uncertainty that creates,” she said, adding that it will have spillover effects for quebec’s international reputation.
“this has huge ramifications for the credibility of the quebec government and, of course, ramifications in the communities we’re working in,” mccarthy said. “at some point, if you’re trying to improve your international trade, you want to be a trusted partner. if you’ve actually reneged on contracts that you’ve signed, i think there’s a fundamental question there: can you be a trusted partner?”
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her group’s funding is for work with a partner in morocco and tunisia to raise awareness of human rights. that work is now stalled, mccarthy said.
equitas isn’t part of the strike movement and it hasn’t yet decided whether to sign the petition, she said.
the liberals’ maccarone, who represents westmount—saint-louis riding, said she’s sponsoring the petition to put pressure on the caq government and plans to read out the petition in the national assembly in march.
“the caq’s reckless financial choices have created this crisis,” she said. “community organizations are being starved of funding while being asked to do more than ever. that is not governance — it’s abandonment.”
meanwhile, the second community organization strike is planned for march 23 to april 2, culminating with a demonstration in front of the national assembly, gélinas said.
the protest movement is spreading to other regions, he said, including the montérégie, bas-st-laurent, gaspésie, quebec city and montreal.
“we have to send a clear message to the government,” gélinas said. that includes the liberals and other parties, he added, asking how much money each party is ready to commit to support community groups.
“the government has to have the courage to protect this community network, which is an asset and a unique model in the world.”
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