Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is with regret that I have to, again, bring up the subject of how we fund one of our most valuable resources, the non-government partner organizations who deliver GNWT programs and services for us.
There is a need to better fund our NGOs, one that is not acknowledged by this government. In February I suggested to the House that the GNWT should not only provide multi-year funding, but multi-year core funding for our NGO partners. In my mind, multi-year contracts are a no-brainer, but the NGOs I hear from cannot convince the GNWT to enter into multi-year contracts.
Yet, Mr. Speaker, I recently learned that the government does provide five-year funding agreements to some organizations that we make contributions to. The time that our NGOs have to spend negotiating and developing contracts with the government is huge. Many receive funding from more than one government department and our obstructionist policies require them to have a contract with each one. The imposition that that requirement places on an organization which usually has little administration capacity to begin with is large.
Core funding would provide an NGO with financial stability and some freedom from the excessive administrative burden we place on them. For one, it would reduce the number of contracts they have to negotiate and sign, saving time and money for both the NGO and the GNWT.
Core funding would enable those multiple contracts to be reduced to one. As well, many NGOs are funded for programs which they deliver year after year. The NWT Seniors’ Society, for instance, has successfully delivered the 1-800 Seniors Information Line since 1995. Yet, now some 16 years later, they must still apply every year for funding to run this program. The government knows that the program is needed every year, they know the society does a good job delivering it, they know the Seniors’ Society is the best NGO for the job. Why, then, do we not provide them with a base funding amount to cover the services and programs that we know we want them to deliver for us?
On another note, we need to provide NGOs with regular increases in their funding; increases geared to the cost of living. Currently, no provision exists which takes into account increases in the operational costs for an NGO: salary increases, increased costs for equipment and supplies, the rise in cost of infrastructure and so on. The government must provide our NGO partners with adequate funds to cover two things: the cost of running the organization and the cost of programs and services that they do on an ongoing basis. Other projects which are beyond their normal activities would then be funded on an application basis.
The work, the services...
Ms. Bisaro, your time for your Member’s statement is expired.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, colleagues. The work, the services and the programs the NGOs do on behalf of the GNWT is invaluable. It’s time to rethink how we fund our NGO partners before it’s too late and we lose them. I will have questions for the Premier and the Minister of the Executive at the appropriate time. Thank you.
