Province restores funding to environmental groups

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This article was published 22/04/2024 (589 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government announced on Earth Day that it is restoring funding to three environmental non-profit organizations.

Funding for Climate Change Connection, the Green Action Centre and the Manitoba Eco-Network was suspended under the Progressive Conservative government in 2020.

“Manitobans are seeing the impacts of climate change firsthand, and they want to know that our province is doing its part to protect our air, land and water for future generations,” Environment and Climate Change Minister Tracy Schmidt said in a news release.

Climate Change Connection received $100,000. The Green Action Centre received a grant of $230,000, and the Manitoba Eco-Network received $60,000.

“Before the funding was cut off, we received $100,000 a year,” Curt Hull, project director of the Climate Change Connection, said after a news conference at the legislative building Monday.

The charitable, non-government organization works to raise awareness of climate change and help Manitobans find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, individually and as a community.

Since 2002, it had relied on the grant from the province for the lion’s share of its operating funds. After it stopped receiving provincial money, the organization relied mainly on support from the Winnipeg Foundation, Hull said.

The NDP promised in last fall’s election to restore support for the environmental organizations if it formed government. Climate Change Connection received a cheque from the province earlier this month, Hull said.

“It gives us the ability to reach more Manitobans through social media and our work with educators and youth,” he said.

fpcity@freepress.mb.ca