Last month, the Lac La Biche Canadian Friendship Centre closed down their youth program due to a gap in funding from the federal government.
Donna Webster, the executive director of the Friendship Centre, said that it is frustrating to not have the funding to keep the New Horizons Youth Centre running.
The National Association of Canadian Friendship Centres previously had a five-year agreement through the Department of Canadian Heritage to fund youth programs. That agreement ended, and for the last two years the NAFC has been trying to renegotiate for another five-year term. To date, no such agreement has been reached so no money has been made available, leaving programs like New Horizons in the lurch, Webster said.
And the consequences are national.
“It’s across Canada,” Webster said, noting that it is small towns like Lac La Biche who are hit hardest. “The smaller and more remote locations, particularly the Northwest Territories and the Yukon, we know are struggling even more than we are to try and find some sustainable funding to keep youth programs going.”
Because they rely on government funding to cover the $7,000 a month it costs to run New Horizons, Webster said they were going to close the centre in April. But they were encouraged by the Department of Canadian Heritage to “hang in there,” because once the election was over an agreement would be coming soon.
And hang in they did. They cut hours, fundraised, and some staff even showed up to work for free. Through their efforts and some donations from local oil and gas companies, they managed to keep the centre open three more months until they closed on June 28th.
“Still, we don’t have an agreement yet with the Department of Canadian Heritage,” Webster said. “We, financially, cannot afford to keep the youth centre open.”
Representatives from the Department of Canadian Heritage declined to be interviewed for this story, saying through an e-mail that “the Government of Canada is taking action to improve the lives of thousands of Aboriginal youth, and build stronger communities for these youth and their families.”
Webster said that the New Horizons Youth Centre – which was open to both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth – was doing just that for the 15 to 20 regulars who were using the program before it shut down. For them, it provided an after school snack and dinner meal, cultural activities, community involvement, language classes, and trips to the pool or gym – all at no cost to the youth.
Kyle Desjerlais started going to New Horizons when he was 12 years old.
“It’s kind of a weird feeling knowing that the kids of Lac La Biche, the youth, have nowhere to go after school, the summer now,” he said. “That safe place where you got to learn, you got to have fun, you got to eat.”
“It kept kids off the street,” he said. “God knows what they’re doing now? Now that it’s closed, you drive around town in the evening and you see a lot of these kids wandering because there’s nothing to do.”
Desjerlais is now 23 and a full-time musician. In his time at the youth centre, he became president of the youth council first on a locally and then became a representative active on a national level. He got to voice opinions in important forums, be involved in decision-making, and meet Cree politician Elijah Harper and the Premier of Alberta.
“A large component of the New Horizons Youth Centre was leadership and promoting leadership qualities,” Webster said, noting that youth participated in the Hope Haven and Take Back the Night walks, volunteered for Remembrance Day, and actively contributed for Aboriginal Day by doing a children’s fair.
“So we had them out there representing the centre and volunteering and contributing,” she said. “And now that component is put on hold.”
Kasey Rosenkranz has been going to New Horizons most days for the last five years. She came to use the computer, go on trips to the pool, or just hang out with friends. The 12-year-old Dr. Swift student said that she doesn’t know what she’s going to do with her summer now that the youth centre is closed.
“It’s kind of sad because it was open for a long time,” Rosenkranz said. “And it was where I met my friends.”
Even though New Horizons is closed now, Webster is hopeful that the NAFC and the federal government can soon come to terms and Lac La Biche will once again have its youth centre. If that doesn’t happen, she said the Lac La Biche Canadian Native Friendship Centre might try applying independently for funding.
Either way, Webster has had to lay off veteran staff, which means disrupted continuity if and when New Horizon reopens.
“It’s unfortunate,” Webster said. “We got it up, it’s been constant, and we have to stop. The youth have nowhere to go now.”
