City backs youth centre

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: November 10, 2009 7:00 PM

A lack of government funding has forced the City of Vernon to rally behind a social agency. ouncil decided Monday to provide $30,000 so the Teen Junction Youth Centre and the Junction Literacy Centre can continue with its activities. “These people need the money now,” said Coun. Bob Spiers. The society has applied for provincial funding but a decision on grants may not be known until early next year. As a result of the uncertainty, the society asked the city to proceed with assistance this year. “They don’t believe it will affect their (application for) gaming grants this year,” said Mayor Wayne Lippert. “The decision process on that funding has been delayed.”

Spiers is frustrated with how the provincial government is dealing with non-profit agencies. “All of this downloading from the government is disturbing, especially for good groups like this,” he said. Of the city’s $30,000, $15,000 will go towards the youth centre and $15,000 towards youth and literacy programs. However, Teen Junction is being warned not to expect financial assistance in future years. “None of our (grant) programs are geared towards annual funding. They are one-time funding only,” said Kevin Bertles, finance manager.

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Bailing out Victoria Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star

Hopefully Premier Gordon Campbell will send a thank you note to the City of Vernon after council decided to do the province’s dirty work. Specifically, Vernon taxpayers will provide $30,000 to the Teen Junction Youth Centre and Junction Literacy Centre Society so it can continue to provide valuable services. Obviously the city deserves considerable praise for digging into its limited financial resources, but social programs have never been a municipal mandate, they are provincial. But we’re all familiar with the song-and-dance routine by now. Victoria claims it’s broke because of the recession and plummeting revenue so the axe needs to swing even though there still appears to be lots of cash for frills like Olympic torch relay parties and event tickets so MLAs can rub elbows with dignitaries.

In the case of Teen Junction, it can’t get a straight answer on when, or if, provincial funding will occur. That means any ability to provide programs, pay staff or cover the utility bills is uncertain. And this situation is particularly troubling when Campbell and the government have claimed youth and literacy are so important. But those appear to be just hollow words when you consider how Teen Junction’s grant application has been bounced around. If Victoria truly considers itself the defender of young people and the promoter of literacy, why has Teen Junction been left in the lurch even though it deals with individuals who are from broken homes, are on probation, live in poverty, are victims of abuse, have quit school or are fighting drug addictions.

Thankfully, though, while the provincial government has abandoned its responsibility towards youth at risk, the City of Vernon has demonstrated considerable leadership. “These people need the money now,” said Coun. Bob Spiers as the motion to provide the $30,000 was discussed Monday. “All of this downloading from the government is disturbing, especially for good groups like this.”

It’s been suggested that the city’s generosity won’t negatively affect Teen Junction’s application to the government. But I’m not so sure about that. In fact, I believe it’s quite possible that provincial officials will learn of Vernon’s $30,000 and say, “Great, now we don’t need to do anything.” And like with so many other things that were downloaded, such as 27th Street upgrades or highway landscaping, the city will be left holding the bag. I have a lot of sympathy for Vernon’s politicians and bureaucrats on this one because they have their own budget items to look after but they understand the necessity of groups like Teen Junction. And now that the door has been opened, not even policies that mandate one-time-only grants, will be enough to push back the growing tide of non-profit organizations looking for help.

As mentioned earlier, the premier should be forced to officially acknowledge the city’s willingness to bail the government out. But given the Liberals’ tactics to date, the letter to mayor and council will probably arrive COD.