Deficit puts Yellowknife shelter at risk
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | 4:02 PM CT
CBC News
A Yellowknife women's shelter could shut down due to a deficit, and officials blame the problem in part on underfunding by the Northwest Territories government.
A group from the Centre for Northern Families went to the N.W.T. legislature on Monday to seek more core funding for the facility, but there is no guarantee any additional assistance is on the way.
The centre, which houses about 20 women who are homeless or escaping family violence, faces a total deficit of more than $400,000. About half of that amount is owned to Revenue Canada.
Executive director Arlene Haché told CBC News the deficit stems from a number of rising operating costs, such as:
- $48,000 in back rent to the N.W.T. Housing Corp.
- $30,000 a year in utilities.
- Increases in insurance costs.
- Small pay increases for its 24 employees.
"We're sort of at the back of the pack," Haché said. "We would have to close the doors, because we don't have the cash."
Haché said the government first announced $30,000 in core funding for the centre in 1995 and has raised that amount by $3,000 over the years since then.
Back rent at issue
In the legislature, Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley asked the territorial government to forgive $48,000 in back rent that the centre owes to the housing corporation.
Health and Social Services Minister Sandy Lee said while she values the work of the Centre for Northern Families, helping out is not that simple.
"In order for us to ensure financial stability of this organization in the long run, we need to get at what is causing the shortfall," Lee told the legislature.
"I believe that most of their debt is with Revenue Canada, and it is not something that we could deal with by just writing a cheque."
Lee said government departments provide the centre with about $940,000 a year to deliver various programs.
Officials with government and the centre are meeting this week to determine if they can find a way to get the deficit under control.
But Haché asked why another Yellowknife shelter, which helps women who are fleeing violence, is fully funded while the Centre for Northern Families is frequently told it won't get all the funding it needs.
"For me, it just boils down to class and it boils down to marginalization of women who are homeless and are not seen [to be] quite as important as women who are fleeing violence," she said.
Haché also noted that several years ago the government pledged $200,000 for Bailey House, a homeless men's shelter, before it was built.
