Outaouais community organizations call for increase in provincial funding

Outaouais community organizations call for increase in provincial funding

With Quebec’s fall economic update scheduled for November 21, an umbrella group representing autonomous community organizations in the Outaouais region is calling for an increase in their funding from the province.

Daniel Cayley-D’Aoust, the Director general of the Table régionale des organismes communautaires autonomes de l’Outaouais (TROCAO), explained that they represent a diverse group of 180 organizations that serve the region, including several in the Pontiac, from food banks and domestic violence shelters, to groups that focus on education.  He said that the needs expressed by their members amount to and additional $57 million on top of the $54 million they currently receive. He said that the heightened cost of living had increased demand for their member organization’s services, while simultaneously making it more difficult to retain staff.

Cayley-Daoust said he met with the four local MNAs from the governing CAQ party to discuss the gap between the needs of their member organizations and current provincial funding. He said that while they realistically didn’t expect all their demands to be granted, they would keep advocating for their members in the lead up to next spring’s provincial budget.

The full interview with Cayley-Daoust (13m) is available here.