The federal government's decision to cut funding services for newcomers brought Retta Alemayehu to tears Thursday, Dec. 23.
The executive director of the Ethiopian Association in the Greater Toronto Area and Surrounding Regions, Alemayehu learned on Dec. 14 that Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) would no longer be funding the organization's Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program or its Immigrant Settlement Adaptation Services (ISAP) program.
"When the CIC funding is gone our backbone will be broken," Alemayehu said in an interview Dec. 23.
The Ethiopian Association, located on Danforth Avenue, has been providing the services to new immigrants from not only Ethiopia, but from all over the world since 1993. Earlier this year it, along with hundreds of other organizations, submitted a proposal for funding to continue offering those services. Alemayehu said he was shocked to receive the letter denying their application.
"There was no explanation," he said. "It just said they weren't going to continue with the agreement."
Close to 85 per cent of the association's funding comes from the federal government, which not only goes to fund the LINC and ISAP programs but also to help cover rent and pay for staffing - including Alemayehu's own salary.
"If those are gone then we don't have 85 per cent of our budget that we need," he said.
Without the CIC money 18 of the association's 26 staff members will have to be let go and thousands of clients will have to find services elsewhere. Close to 2,500 people access settlement services through the organization, things such as counselling, housing assistance or referrals, and another 200 to 300 people receive language assistance through LINC. On Thursday LINC students held a holiday party and seeing the students and staff celebrating made Alemayehu emotional.
"This is a very bad time," he said. "I wept today seeing my workers." More reading inside Toronto.com.
1 comment:
No more immigrate to Canada.
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