Lack of Gambling Revenue Threatens Local Community
The local community in the Canadian Comox Valley is waiting anxiously to hear the outcome of a decision regarding grants that were earmarked for over 100 groups in the region.
The loss of gambling revenue totalling $2.5 million could have a far reaching effect on the Comox Valley. Scores of groups that offer important - and often lifesaving - services may find themselves without funding this year, forcing them to close their operations. These include educational groups, search and rescue, and more.
In past years, the revenue generated from gambling in the province was distributed through gaming grants offered by the Ministry of Housing and Social Development.
However, this year, the grants program has been undergoing a review due to the recession and what the Ministry terms "unprecedented economic times."
While groups in Comox Valley have been told that some will receive funds, the ministry has not outlined what it interprets to be "core services and priorities."
In the Comox Valley, many are starting to believe that they may not get funds from gambling revenue after all. A hospice that it is in its final stages of becoming a reality may need to put the plans on hold if its $62K per year funding deal with the ministry is cut. The hospice was due to receive this amount over a three year period to help it launch.
"The reality is that if we don care for people and are for their caregivers, it ends up impacting the healthcare delivery system in all kinds of ways," said the society director, Terri Odeneal. "It trickles down, it has a real domino effect, so to speak, on all kinds of other areas. It's a huge issue."
