Lethbridge-West candidates speak on non-profit issues
By Lethbridge Herald on May 4, 2023.
UCP candidate Cheryl Seaborn and NDP candidate Shannon Phillips take part in a forum Thursday at the Galt Museum.
Herald photo by Justin SibbetJustin Sibbet – LETHBRIDGE HERALD – Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
As the provincial election looms ever closer, concerns about funding and support take centre stage for members of the non-profit community.
Two candidates in the Lethbridge-West riding answered questions about the not-for-profit industry in Alberta during an event at the Galt Museum and Archives on Thursday.
Volunteer Lethbridge hosted the event in collaboration with the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (CCVO).
The largest problems facing the non-profit industry, according to CCVO, are a lack of funding as demand rises and the slow recovery of staffing shortages from the COVID pandemic.
Alexa Briggs, director of policy and research with CCVO, says the government should create a plan to add addition funding to the non-profit sector.
“We’re asking for a total of $300 million, $100 million each year for three years. We’re looking to address the impacts of inflation, the growing stress on community needs and opportunities for organizations to be able to innovate,” said Briggs.
She says a more concentrated workforce strategy from the government is also required since the industry is still feeling the after-effects of the pandemic.
“We heard a lot about retention and recruitment issues and so we would like a strategic plan to be able to build and attract the workforce that we need to fill the thousands of vacancies,” said Briggs.
Both the UCP’s Cheryl Seaborn and the NDP’s Shannon Phillips were at this event, though no other candidate from the Lethbridge-West riding was present.
Seaborn says the impact of the non-profit sector in Alberta is immense, with a massive workforce and far-reaching effects.
“Non-profits employ nearly 300,000 Albertans and make a difference in the lives of countless others,” said Seaborn.
She says issues surrounding excessive bureaucracy are a significant point of blame for the problems plaguing the non-profit sector, though the government still needs to be available when needed.
“The non-profit sector needs to be able to share challenges, successes and opportunities in partnership with the Government of Alberta, cutting red tape and empowering our not-for-profit organizations,” said Seaborn.
Meanwhile, Phillips says there are currently big problems with pension programs within the non-profit sector, something she says her party will change.
“There are things, very practical, low-cost things that the Government of Alberta can do to help non-profits deliver either a better-defined benefit, or a certainly a better-defined contribution,” said Phillips.
The incumbent MLA says the NDP also plans to investigate the idea of creating longer-term contracts with non-profit organizations to ensure stable and committed growth.
However, she says it should be examined on a case-by-case basis.
“I think for some places and in some contexts, longer contracts make sense,” said Phillips.
For the UCP, Seaborn says collaboration is the focus for her as an MLA, since it would provide Lethbridge-based non-profits a voice in Edmonton.
She says collaboration between the provincial government and non-profit organizations is crucial to creating a more effective industry.
“Collaboration is key to addressing the complex challenges facing our community,” said Seaborn.
However, Phillips says more needs to be done than the current government has provided.
She says her party understands the challenges facing the non-profit sector following the ever-increasing rise of inflation.
“There must be a commitment to ensuring that budgets keep pace with the explosion in the cost of living and the difficulty in attracting and retaining workers,” said Phillips.
Furthermore, she says mental health must also be considered when adding new employees into the workforce.
“We do need to ensure that any investments we make are paired with mental health supports,” said Phillips.
For example, she says every police officer recruited will also see a new mental health worker hired.
“When we hire 150 new law enforcement officers to replace some of the cuts of the last four years, they are paired with 150 mental health support workers at the same time,” said Phillips.
Meanwhile, Seaborn says the UCP understands the necessity of a strong economy before dabbling in other ventures.
“We have to have a strong economy and that’s just the reality to support all of our public services that we offer,” said Seaborn.
She says she understands the difficulty the non-profit sector faces though, knowing firsthand what problems arise when collaboration is not met.
“Having worked for a large organization myself, as a registered nurse, I often saw the separation of services provided to individuals,” said Seaborn.
Keeping with her theme of teamwork, Seaborn says every organization, whether non-profit or government, need to simply understand one another.
“I think that through encouraging greater collaboration between non-profit organizations, government agencies and the private sector, we can pool our resources and expertise to develop more effective, efficient and holistic solutions,” said Seaborn.
Phillips says her experience over the past eight years in office give her the best understanding of the needs in the non-profit sector.
“I’ve been the finance critic for the last four years which I think gave me a birds eye view of the whole of government … as finance critic, I have been able to engage with a broad swathe of non-profits,” said Phillips.
The election will be held on May 29, with advanced voting occurring from May 23-27 at various polling stations throughout the city.
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Thanks to the Heald for this coverage. You have confirmed the importance of seeing the current M:LA turfed .. 150 police officers = 150 mental health workers as well ??? Seriously….and who pays for this…oh…I forgot TAXPAYERS do….
NO ONE can afford the NDP.
Non-Profits – There are several great non-profits in this city such as Streets Alive, the food banks, the soup kitchen, volunteer Lethbridge, who deserve funds but during the drgu crisis, many other non-profits have unfolded, many of which are operated by people with limited training to operate them, yet they pay themselves from the non-profit funds and pay for buildings, equipment and vehicles for those non-profits from the funds they collect. Most receive donations but there are only so many donor dollars available.
The SCS has people on the payroll who had taken 3 month courses or online courses, yet received above average wages for example.
Many of the valid, effective non-profits are starved out by pop-up non-profits who get donor dollars.
We must be very careful to prevent what has happened in BC when Vancouver DTES, with a population of under 20,000 in the greater DTES area, over $360 million has been pumped into non-profits annually for years, with under 1/3 from donations and the rest various levels of government funding.
I say again . . . over $360 million annually for a population under 20,000! It has become a billion dollar industry in BC, while fatal overdoses, numbers of addicts, crime and homelessness all continued to rise since they opened their first safe injection site in 2003 . . . 20 years of harm reduction has proven, harm reduction practices fail, costing thousands their lives.
We must be careful not to fall into this trap and instead put our money into effective mental health and addiction treatment programs, not non-profits who have no impact on the crisis, but enable the addicts to continue their drug use.
We need to support our local non-profits and prevent new ones from moving in, while increasing treatment beds! Effective treatment programs should be the priority!