A funding ‘blood bath’

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This article was published 26/08/2017 (2975 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Significant funding cuts this year at provincial economic-development agencies and sectoral support organizations across the province have been met with a mixture of frustration, concern and stoicism.

“It’s a blood bath out there,” was the way a board member of one organization put it.

Organizations such as World Trade Centre Winnipeg, Innovate Manitoba and Manitoba Technology Accelerator all got the Pallister treatment, receiving reduced funding this year, some to the extent that their ongoing operations may be in doubt.

Many were expecting funding to be slashed, but none knew to what extent. While the current government’s messaging about the desire to achieve outcomes and reduce red tape and duplication was well known, there wams still plenty of concern about the lack of clarity regarding the province’s economic-development strategy.

A board member of one organization that suffered a significant cut to its budget expressed a concern shared by many: “No one knows if they have a plan in place,” he said. “Everything seems very much in flux on their policy. It’s hard to fund against a policy framework that is not even built yet.”

‘We understand the fiscal restraints needed and we want to be part of the solution… But the present situation makes it challenging with the lack of direction and the indecision’–Mariette Mulaire, CEO World Trade Centre Winnipeg

Mariette Mulaire, CEO of World Trade Centre Winnipeg, is also frustrated with the uncertainty surrounding provincial funding.

In late June, WTC Winnipeg received word on the funding approved for 2017-18 — about 75 per cent of last year’s funding, which was about 40 per cent less than the previous year’s — with a chance for some additional support.

But with no specific trade or economic-development strategy that WTC can align with, promoting Winnipeg is difficult.

“We understand the fiscal restraints needed, and we want to be part of the solution,” Mulaire said.

“We want to create a good environment for companies and market Manitoba with a big smile and say we are open for business. But the present situation makes it challenging with the lack of direction and the indecision.”

With significant cuts being announced almost daily throughout the health-care system, no one was surprised the pencils were sharpened when it came to funding industry organizations.

Blaine Pedersen, newly appointed Minister of Growth, Enterprise and Trade (GET), said government did communicate with all the groups ahead of time that it would be reviewing funding.

“It’s part of this whole value for money (initiative) across all of government that we need to do,” Pedersen said.

“What we are looking for is more collaborative, client-centred, outcome-driven (results). What we believe we will see is more collaboration among the groups and we are already seeing it. It is about getting more value for money on this. But we know change is always difficult.”

For some groups, that change is believed to be dramatic declines in funding.

Jan Lederman, the only president Innovate Manitoba has had since it was formed five years ago, would not comment on the size of the funding decrease to her organization.

“Our annual provincial funding is less than it has been,” she said.

“I’m not really in a position to comment further. Our board has to have some conversations,” Lederman said.

Marshall Ring, the CEO of Manitoba Technology Accelerator, said his organization received funding that was 25 per cent less than it has been for the past few years.

Dayna Spiring, the CEO of Economic Development Winnipeg — which received $1.4 million from the province each of the past two years and has had stable funding for years — said, “We’ve received the lion’s share of our funding. We were asked to collaborate on a few initiatives and assuming we can align ourselves, I’m told we’ll get the rest of our funding.”

Other organizations that have used modest GET funding to provide some programming flexibility were shut out completely, including Women’s Enterprise Centre and ICTAM (Information and Communications Technology Association of Manitoba).

Like other industry associations that also act as sector councils, including Life Science Association of Manitoba and New Media Manitoba, ICTAM receives funding from the department of Education and Training. Kathy Knight, the CEO of ICTAM, said she does not count on that additional money from GET, but she said she can’t remember not receiving it up until the last two years.

“There was not a lot of direction as to what the funding priorities were this year so we did not have any expectations that we would receive it,” Knight said.

Many organization managers were reluctant to voice their disappointment publicly for fear of raising the ire of the source of their funding in the future. Some also agreed that efforts to eliminate duplication of services was not an unreasonable goal.

Chuck Davidson, president and CEO of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce and co-chairman of the Pallister government’s task force on northern economic development, said many of these organizations play an important role in creating a healthy economic environment in the province.

“We want to make sure that the World Trade Centres and CentrePorts of the world and our partners… that we think deliver good services, continue to be there,” he said.

He said concise rules and clarity on direction from the funder is always a good thing so organizations can confidently go ahead and take on projects without having to worry about their financial stability.

“It is disheartening when you spend time trying to build something and get all the boats rowing in the same direction and then a new government arbitrarily says ‘we feel like this now.’”–Organization board member

“It’s a tough thing, knowing that the government is running big deficits and needs to spend money wisely,” he said. “There’s no question whenever there is a change of government they review organizations and the direction they are going in and try to streamline them to fit that direction.”

In addition to the nervousness created by both the reduced funding and the delays announcing it, there are also concerns about ongoing re-organization at GET. Along with Pedersen’s recent appointment as minister, a new acting deputy minister was just announced.

One organization board member voiced concerns about how the current provincial government does not have an articulated economic development vision.

He said, “With all the (personnel) changes I don’t know how it will get fixed even remotely soon. It is disheartening when you spend time trying to build something and get all the boats rowing in the same direction and then a new government arbitrarily says ‘we feel like this now.’”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca