April 5, 2002 Aboriginal people who are homeless in Kingston to benefit
from signing of Government of Canada and O.F.I.F.C. partnership agreement
KINGSTON, ONTARIO —
The Government of Canada and the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres (O.F.I.F.C.)
approved an agreement that will provide $2,051,200
in funding, through the National Homelessness Initiative, to address
urban Aboriginal homelessness in small urban centres in Ontario, including Kingston. The Honourable Peter
Milliken, Member of Parliament Kingston and The Islands welcomed the
announcement of
$145,293
in funding
for Kingston by the Honourable Claudette Bradshaw, Minister of Labour and Federal Co-ordinator
on Homelessness, and Sylvia Maracle, Executive Director of the O.F.I.F.C. “The partnership between
the Government of Canada and Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres
will support Aboriginal people in this community who are facing the
pressures of homelessness here in Kingston,” said Mr. Milliken. “This announcement will help to further efforts being made
in this community to address this issue.” Today’s announcement builds on the $1 million approved for the O.F.I.F.C.
in April 2001 to address Aboriginal homelessness in small communities.
Funding is made available through the Urban Aboriginal Strategy
component of the Government of Canada’s $753-million National Homelessness
Initiative. “It is important that we have opportunities to
address homelessness in the urban Aboriginal community,” said Sylvia Maracle, Executive Director of the O.F.I.F.C. “The support from the Government
of Canada will allow us to address homelessness in a number of
communities.” The O.F.I.F.C. has developed a community plan that
broadly identifies Aboriginal homelessness priorities across 12 communities.
These communities include Barrie, Kapuskasing, Kenora, Kingston, London,
North Bay, Red Lake, Sioux Lookout, St. Catharines, Thunder Bay, Timmins,
and Windsor. The plan is based on a series of community forums
held in each area with a total of 79 Aboriginal and some non-Aboriginal
agencies, and individuals (including Aboriginal individuals who are
homeless) participating in the forums.
Under today’s agreement, the O.F.I.F.C. will continue to work with
each community to develop local plans with specific priorities and projects. Funding
for the National Homelessness Initiative was provided for in the December
2001 Budget and is built into the existing financial framework. - 30 - For
more information on the Government of Canada’s National Homelessness
Initiative, visit our web site at www.hrdc.gc.ca/homelessness Contacts: Bob Howsam, Government of Canada: (416) 954-7810 David Klug, Minister Bradshaw’s office: (819) 953-5646 Sylvia
Maracle, O.F.I.F.C.: (416)
956-7575
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