Programs that deal with intimate partner violence mostly avoided recent budget cuts from the province, but Kylee Nun with the Elizabeth Fry Society says other cuts to food, transport and youth supports will still be directly impacted.
The government’s recent budget revealed a long list of cuts amid a $1.2 billion deficit.
As people across the province rally on Wednesday against many of the cuts, Nun says that some of those risk factors are housing insecurity, transportation barriers, and food insecurity. Those stressors impact the well-being of families and by extension increase the risk of violence.
“I hope that Nova Scotians are paying attention to that and paying attention to the interconnectedness of the social supports and services and how those contribute to our well-being as a whole, as a community,” says Nun.
The Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia helps women, girls, non-binary and gender diverse people dealing with intimate partner violence or who have been incarcerated, including through housing or legal supports, according to their website.
Since the budget revealed nearly 300 programs and services were cut, including spending reductions for universities, the tourism and arts sectors, several affected groups have spoken up about how these cuts will impact them.
Finance Minister John Lohr said the government had to make some tough decisions in the budget.
“We value our hard-working public servants, but government needs to become more focused and efficient. We will protect core front-line services that Nova Scotians rely on and work to right-size government through attrition wherever possible,” said Lohr.
Some of the affected supports include a pilot project that offered free bus passes to students. The province contributed $1.2 million to that program, offering free bus passes to 30,000 students in the HRM between Grade 7 and Grade 12.
Halifax city councillor Kathryn Morse previously told our newsroom that program had huge benefits.
“If students get comfortable using the bus and navigating around the city with their bus pass, then they kind of build transit use for the future and comfort with it,” says Morse.
Nun says that meeting people’s needs creates healthy communities.
In the North End of Halifax, she says the Hope Blooms youth social enterprise program was also hit by the cuts, and she was disappointed to see that.
Hope Blooms has youth between 5 and 18 growing their own food, and once they graduate from the program at 18, they get a yearly renewed scholarship from the proceeds of their salad dressing social enterprise, according to their website. Our newsroom has reached out to Hope Blooms for more details.
“When you look at things through a whole health approach, and the number of systems that are actually involved in creating safety and well-being for families and for people who are experiencing violence, you start to understand that funding is essential,” says Nun.
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