Community associations slam cuts to Alberta program that builds parks, public-use facilities

Community associations in Edmonton and Calgary say provincial cuts to a program that helps build parks and community halls is a sign of the government's eroding support for civil society and its devaluing of community infrastructure.

The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues and Federation of Calgary Communities have written letters that the Opposition will table in the Alberta legislature Wednesdaycalling on the Alberta government to address a nearly 50 per cent cut to the community facility enhancement program (CFEP) this year compared to 2019.

"We call upon our government to recognize the importance of the work of the non-profit sector by investing in it, rather than eroding it," reads the letteraddressed toLeela Aheer, who oversees the grant program as minister of culture, multiculturalism and status of women.

Community associations are regular beneficiaries of the program, which provides matching grants to help build and upgrade public-use facilities, from outdoor rinks toemergency homeless shelters.

Since 2003, the program has paid out roughly $38 million per year.

The Alberta government's first budget under Premier Jason Kenney saw program fundingslashed from $38 million down to $25 million. The 2020 budget showedprogram funds wouldstayat $25 million for the next three years.

But the latestbudget, released last month, shows the program is expected to pay out even less this fiscal year$18.5 million, or a 50 per cent cut compared to 2019. Going forward, the program is forecast to pay out $23.5 million on annual basis, levelslast seen in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

The Edmonton and Calgary federations called it a "clear erosion of essential funding appearing to devalue community-based infrastructure," in a separateletter to Aheer earlier this month.

No communication from ministry, federation says

Calgary's community halls are, on average, 55 years old, says Leslie Evans, executive director of the Federation of Calgary Communities. If volunteers can't support fundraising efforts with matching provincial dollars, many of those buildings will close.

"We will see the imploding of these, I call them, essential community infrastructure," Evans said.

At a time when gathering indoors is off-limits and personal finances are tight, the pandemic has reinforced the importance of public spaces, says Laura Cunningham-Shpeley, executive director of the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues.

The Community League Plaza in Hawrelak Park, which opened last fall, is one of the latest public amenities built with a $1 million matching grant from the program.

"I think public spaces are so important for Albertans at all times and especially these times when people have seen cuts to their own jobs, seen cuts to their own incomes," she said.

Since the first round of cuts were introduced in 2019, Cunningham-Shpeley says she's tried unsuccessfully to arrange meetings with the minister about the program.

"Despite us really trying to understand what the plan is for these facilities, what the plan is for the funding, we have heard nothing," she said.

In response to questions from CBC News, the minister's press secretary Amanda LeBlanc said the 2021 budgetshiftedfundson a one-time basis to the government's COVID-19 stabilize program.

All non-profits are eligible for stabilize program funding, but thegovernment has repeatedly said itwill target live event groupsincludingsports, rodeoandperforming arts organizationsto help them kick start operations post-pandemic.

"Prioritizing stabilize program funding over capital enhancements will assist non-profits and help them to re-open when it is safe to," Leblanc, the press secretary,said in a statement.

Cunningham-Shpeley says while that money could boost program spending this year, it appears to come at the expenseof long-term infrastructure spending, both this year and for years to come.

"If your facilities are falling apart, where are you going to host your events," she said.

Anycuts to CFEP will be felt far beyond community leagues. Non-profits, post-secondary institutions, First Nations and Mtis settlements are all eligible for infrastructure money under the program.

Boyle Street Community Services, an Edmonton homeless and povertyagency,received $60,000 through the program for renovationsin 2012/2013.

"We know as an organization thatif our infrastructure matches our programs, that's going to lead to better outcomes for the people that we serve," said Elliott Tanti, senior communications manager."If you don't have matching funding it is literally twice as hard to get a project done."

'When there's no hall, you don't have a heart'

In northeast Edmonton, the Elmwood Park neighbourhood has struggled to keep up its community infrastructure. Its hall burned down in 1993 and its outdoor rink closed down years later in the absence of regular volunteers, says league president Morgan Wolf.

The rink's change rooms are now used as the league office. Outside, the park lights are in need of upgrades, Wolfsaid.

When the neighbourhood lost its community hall, shesays it lost a vital public space to organize events, host classes or simply gather with neighbours.

"A community league hall, that's the heart of your community," she said. "When there's no hall, you don't have a heart, you don't have a home base."

Beside the park, a community sign advertises the league's latest fundraiserto build a newhall selling spring seeds.

But Wolf fears, even if thateffort provessuccessful, fewer provincial dollars will mean a longer wait to get a matching grant, or no grant at all.

"Just to see cuts upon cuts coming our way and our ability to maintain our infrastructure, build our infrastructure, repair our infrastructure, we're just watching it dissipate before our eyes," she said.

"We're watching community leagues be pushed to the very corners and I'm not sure how much farther they can be pushed until we lose them entirely."