Nova Scotia Liberals slash funding to community groups

A number of community groups will be getting less from the province in next year's budget.

Some groups, including the Deafness Advocacy Association of Nova Scotia, FEED Nova Scotia's Metro Food Bank and Youth Voices of Nova Scotia Society won't be getting any money in the 2016-2017 budget.

The Nova Scotia Division of the Canadian Mental Health Association went from getting $79,000 in the 2014-2015 budget to $39,500 in 2015-2016. In 2016-2017, it won't get any funding.

"All groups do good work, I'm really focused on the priorities that are associated with the Department of Community Services," said Community Services Minister Joanne Bernard, adding that those priorities include child welfare and people with disabilities.

"I'm not looking at funding advocacy groups which some of these are," she said. "I'm not looking at funding national organizations that have millions of dollars in bank accounts nationally that they can filter down into the provinces as need be."

The Canadian National Institute for the Blind received $507,800 from the province in 2014-2015. In the next two budgets that drops to $355,460.

"When you have to make tough decisions, it's easy to do it when you know, for instance, like the Canadian National Institute for Blind has a $10-million endowment fund nationally," Bernard said, adding the group isn't going to be hurting from the loss of provincial funding.