Health Minister Doug Graham said his department plans to “get out of the business” of funding organizations that focus on advocacy, rather than service delivery.
When questioned by the NDP Opposition on Monday, Graham said that funding is a limited resource, and it should be directed to those groups that provide services to the government.
“If an NGO is providing a service to the department, we will pay for that service. If, as part of that service, they are also doing advocacy work, that’s fine too, but we are especially interested in the services that are provided by NGOs to this government.”
The minister clarified further on Tuesday.
“The number of advocacy groups we’re talking about here is not large,” said Graham. “The members opposite seem to think we’re going to cut funding for a huge number of groups in the upcoming budget - that’s simply not true. What we’re attempting to do is allocate our funding so we get the biggest bang for our buck - that we get the services to those people who need them.”
Government spokesperson Matthew Grant said that no organizations have yet been targeted for funding cuts.
Contact Jacqueline Ronson at
jronson@yukon-news.com