Western Standard - Alberta Ministers Turton and Fir Unveil Funding Boost for Women's Shelters Provincewide

00:00:00.000 signatures of treaty six i also acknowledge the metis people of alberta who have deep connection

00:00:09.600 with the land this morning at catholic social services we're honored to host cyril turton

00:00:17.200 minister of children and family services and tanya fur minister of art culture and status of women

00:00:24.800 also jan reimer our executive director for the alberta women council women's shelter

00:00:32.480 catholic social services was founded over 60 years ago and provides a wide variety of different

00:00:41.560 social services and supports in dozen communities throughout central alberta this supports include

00:00:49.040 operating a first and second state shelter for abused women in Edmonton and a drop-in center

00:00:57.860 for unhoused and vulnerable women located in Red Deer. The government of Alberta has been

00:01:04.780 and continues to be a value, a very significant partner for Catholic Social Services.

00:01:10.960 lorana and is an emergency shelter and la salle's second state shelter we serve over 350 women and

00:01:20.400 children last year this women courageously and with intention chose to leave the abuse and

00:01:28.080 protect their children and begin to hope and work towards a life free of violence

00:01:34.860 Our job in the shelters is to provide them with the support and the safety they need.

00:01:42.420 Shelters are a fundamental service to end violence against women and their children in Alberta.

00:01:49.720 I'd now like to invite Minister Turton to the podium.

00:01:53.600 Thank you.

00:01:59.520 Well, thank you so much, Pat, for the introduction.

00:02:01.940 I'm honoured to be here today alongside my colleague Tanya Furr, Minister of Arts, Culture,

00:02:06.980 and the Status of Women, and Women's Shelter representatives to share how Alberta's government

00:02:11.540 is increasing our support for women's shelters. And thank you as well to Catholic Social Services

00:02:17.380 for hosting us here today and their efforts to help vulnerable women and families through a

00:02:22.420 women's shelter here in Edmonton. Every Albertan deserves to live a life free of fear and free of 0.99

00:02:28.820 violence sadly we know that that's not the reality for many in the province and as i'm sure minister

00:02:35.060 fer will speak to women and children are especially impacted by domestic violence and abuse every year

00:02:42.580 thousands of women turn to women shelters for help whether that's a safe and supportive environment 0.98

00:02:47.780 or supports that can help them overcome some of the darkest challenges that they'll face in a

00:02:51.460 lifetime it's so important though that we make sure survivors have a safe place to turn and access the

00:02:58.180 to resources where and when they need them and that's why alberta's government is proud to

00:03:03.140 support women's shelters and the valuable work they do to keep vulnerable albertans safe and

00:03:08.820 that's why i'm so pleased to announce that we're keeping our election promise to provide women

00:03:14.180 shelters an additional 10 million dollars over four years this includes five million dollars

00:03:20.100 rolling out immediately to address the urgent needs we've heard from our shelter partners

00:03:24.500 and another $5 million over the next three years at Budget 2024 has passed.

00:03:30.080 This includes $1.5 million in both 2024 and 2025 and 2025-2026 and $2 million in 2026 and 2027.

00:03:40.020 Through our initial investment of $5 million, we'll fund 104 more beds in 17 communities across the province.

00:03:47.840 Just to name a few, this includes Camrose, Fort McMurray, Rocky Mountain House, St. Paul, Grand Prairie, Calgary, and right here in Edmonton.

00:03:57.980 In White Court, where local demand is high, we're doubling the number of beds.

00:04:02.600 And we're stepping up to support the Banff YWCA through more than half a million dollars of new funding.

00:04:08.500 This will help YWCA make sure locals, area residents, and visitors have a safe place to turn for emergency help when needed.

00:04:17.520 We're also supporting innovation within the sector to help serve survivors fleeing violence in real

00:04:22.480 Alberta. High Rivers Rowan House has a new program that is one of the first of its kind in the

00:04:28.000 country. It empowers women experiencing violence to have agency over their choices by offering

00:04:33.760 supports if they choose to stay in their own home in low-risk cases, while the person using

00:04:38.880 abusive behaviors is asked to leave instead to help break the abusive cycle without displacing

00:04:45.120 the family bill big hill haven and cochrane where there's no physical shelter rents fully

00:04:51.280 furbished apartments for families in need of emergency housing this means that families

00:04:56.400 don't need to uproot from their community minimizing trauma and disruption we're also

00:05:01.440 helping our women shelters better serve our community communities by initiating long ask

00:05:06.320 for changes to women's shelter grant agreements in 24 and 25. this includes flexibility and how

00:05:13.200 to allocate funding that works best for each each shelter's unique circumstances and better addresses

00:05:19.600 survivors needs through budget 2024 we continue to support families and the vulnerable by providing

00:05:26.640 the supports and services they need to thrive and succeed and i want to just give a heartfelt thanks

00:05:32.560 to all of our women shelter partners for your compassion and dedication to helping albertans

00:05:37.680 and to survivors for your courage and resilience you are not less because of your circumstances

00:05:43.120 and our government will help support you in your healing journey any way we can this includes

00:05:48.960 ensuring that no one is ever turned away from a shelter without being offered support it's so

00:05:55.200 important for our government that we take care of the families and keep them safe so thank you again

00:06:00.320 to everyone for coming out today and thanks again for catholic social services for hosting us thank

00:06:05.520 you thank you mr minister turton this is good news for uh women in alberta and um

00:06:20.160 i'd like to now welcome minister fur to the podium

00:06:29.360 well hello everyone and thank you pat thank you for having me speak today as part of today's

00:06:34.880 announcement and thank you for all the incredibly important work you do alberta's government is

00:06:40.000 ensuring women who are experiencing family violence have a safe place to turn when they

00:06:45.200 need it the most this additional funding in addition to the millions already committed

00:06:50.640 will support women's shelters to meet the needs of women and their families with more beds and

00:06:56.240 programs across the province every person in this province no matter where they live

00:07:02.560 should live without the fear of violence this funding means more women will be able to access

00:07:08.480 supports in their home communities where they have built their lives and where their children

00:07:13.760 have built their lives the difficult truth is that family violence happens every day across

00:07:19.280 our province if we hope to stop the violence we need survivors to have safe spaces in their home

00:07:25.200 communities places they can go that offer the protection and the support they need

00:07:30.800 and i'm so grateful for the valuable work women's shelters do to keep albertans safe

00:07:37.200 survivors need access to immediate support where they need it and when they need it

00:07:42.560 that is why alberta's government through my ministry of arts culture status of women is 1.00

00:07:47.760 developing a 10-year strategy to end gender-based violence which includes family violence and

00:07:53.760 support survivors this strategy is important to help us identify and fill in gaps in services

00:08:01.120 and coordinate our efforts but equally important is that we don't wait until we need a perfect plan

00:08:08.320 to take action where action is needed and action is needed to support women across the province

00:08:13.920 and particularly in rural communities with additional capacity shelter beds and programs

00:08:20.160 as i have been meeting with community leaders and people on the ground addressing this critical

00:08:24.560 issue they have told us that this type of investment will make such a significant

00:08:28.640 difference in people's lives we're hopeful that the funding minister turton has announced

00:08:34.240 along with the initial rollout of funding from our federal funding agreement to be announced

00:08:38.960 in the near future will make that difference today as minister of arts culture and status

00:08:44.960 of women i am glad to see these actions and investments because these are the ways we 0.99

00:08:49.600 support women across the province i would like to thank the women's shelter partners for everything

00:08:54.960 you do for women and their families to break the cycle of abuse you know pat talked about these

00:09:01.280 women that flee these situations and the courage that takes and the hope and that has to be paired

00:09:07.840 with the services that the shelters provide so the courage and hope to leave is the first step the

00:09:14.000 services that that jan and so many others provide those two things added together result in those

00:09:21.280 better outcomes for survivors a better hopeful future for not only the women but equally as

00:09:29.120 importantly the children so thank you so much for the work you do to save lives thank you

00:09:34.080 thank you minister for certainly this investment will make a difference in women and children

00:09:45.040 in alberta i now like to invite jen rymer to set a few words on behalf of the alberta

00:09:50.720 council women's shelters well thank you pat and thank you minister turton and minister fair

00:10:00.960 i have to see it's great to be here today and for pat like pat and i started at about the same time

00:10:07.760 maybe a month or two uh between each other and when i can't tell you the number of conversations

00:10:14.640 that we've had about the need for women's shelter funding and the need for less onerous reporting

00:10:20.400 requirements and we're seeing movement on both of those here today um i'm so pleased to be here on

00:10:27.120 behalf of the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters to thank government for moving forward it's been

00:10:33.920 10 years since women's shelters had any kind of an increase so if you look back over that decade

00:10:41.440 we've seen population growth we've seen inflationary pressures we've weathered a pandemic

00:10:47.920 we're seeing increased demand so we know how needed this funding is and we're appreciative

00:10:53.280 that the government has moved forward and actually front-loaded some of this funding

00:10:57.680 as part of their election commitment uh and i know it means a great deal to our members

00:11:03.840 and the staff and the boards uh that support them because shelters are there around the clock 24 7

00:11:12.080 to put an end to gender-based violence they're there for those who are seeking their services

00:11:17.760 and they're also on the front lines of prevention because if you ever want to make a big dent in

00:11:23.680 ending domestic violence you know that it's outreach with the children and that often

00:11:29.360 people don't recognize that when you walk through a women shelter door the first thing you're going 1.00

00:11:33.680 to hear are the voices of children so making sure that they have those supports within shelter is

00:11:40.080 really an amazing investment so we're very grateful and we know that these initial investments will

00:11:47.120 make a difference and help programs across the province when we did our calculation about how

00:11:53.600 many women could be helped through these unfunded beds it's over 1100 women and children and on top

00:12:00.800 of that we're also seeing additional capacity for shelters that actually don't have any staff and

00:12:08.400 can't open their doors and without this funding announcement we're also really pleased to see the

00:12:14.800 flexibility in funding allocations and the positive commitment to continue to work together

00:12:21.520 for more positive transformation in the future so we can adapt to the needs of survivors so that we

00:12:28.800 can keep women and children safe but also so that we can transform the structures that allow family 0.91

00:12:36.560 and gender-based violence to continue and we know how important it is to do that in partnership

00:12:43.440 with the provincial government we look forward to working with minister first he's had an open door

00:12:48.080 for us in terms of working on the national action plan and also minister turton who hosted a round

00:12:56.480 table with all of our members and heard from them but also took it upon himself to visit many of the

00:13:01.840 shelters across the province and we really appreciate his commitment to making listening

00:13:07.920 and hearing and understanding that there are needs and also that there's a need for continued

00:13:13.200 and sustainable investment in our sector so thank you very much

00:13:22.720 i'd like to thank all our speakers today and uh on behalf of our agency i would like to say

00:13:29.040 it is essential that we continue to co-create solutions and when to end violence against women

00:13:34.720 and on behalf of the women and children that we serve over 350 we thank you for the announcement

00:13:43.360 and for being here today letting us know that the future looks bright for women in alberta

00:13:50.240 thank you everybody for coming today i'd like to say thank you to troy davis our ceo who is

00:13:56.960 right at the back there for allowing me to have the podium today as director of the shelters

00:14:03.360 here in Catholic Social Services.

00:14:07.120 Have a wonderful afternoon

00:14:08.460 and thank you very much for coming.

00:14:17.180 All right, we'll now open things up for a Q&A.

00:14:19.740 We'll begin in the room.

00:14:21.140 Reporters will be able to ask one question,

00:14:23.100 one follow-up.

00:14:23.900 Please state your name and outlet

00:14:25.140 and who you're asking the question to.

00:14:28.800 Laura Crow, City News.

00:14:30.340 I have a question for Jan.

00:14:34.320 Looking at some of the data that was released from the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters,

00:14:39.600 there has been an increase in calls. There's also not enough shelter space to meet that demand.

00:14:44.960 Is this funding going to be enough to fully serve everyone? It's a start but of course we know

00:14:50.880 there's a lot more that needs to be done both in terms of how we're delivering programs but

00:14:55.680 also in terms of shelter capacity across the province and that's why this initial investment

00:15:01.040 helps get us started but we know we've got much more to do and i think the national action plan

00:15:06.640 and the funding there where it has a priority of stabilizing the sector so we're really looking

00:15:11.360 forward to hearing how that may come to fruition as well we know it takes a lot of courage for

00:15:17.760 somebody to seek help last year nearly 20 000 people had to be turned away because there wasn't

00:15:23.440 enough shelter space to accommodate them talk about the impacts that this could have on a person

00:15:29.200 being turned away well that's really challenging actually because it takes a lot of courage

00:15:34.960 as you know to to reach out and shelters also when they receive that call do all that they can

00:15:41.600 to support women to get the supports that they need but that doesn't mean they always get what

00:15:47.520 they need when they need it and so the additional capacity um that's been announced today i think

00:15:53.840 helps to free up that system a little bit more but we also know we've got a lot more work to do and

00:15:59.040 we'll be continuing to send memos and emails to the minister to let them know about what those

00:16:04.480 needs are thank you hey merrick to cash ctv edmonton i'm just wondering uh whoever can

00:16:15.600 explain kind of uh how the number of beds um and what just again kind of outlining the impact that

00:16:22.480 that has right now yes it's a great question and you know in terms of the

00:16:32.920 beds in terms of the one-time stimulus that we're doing this year approximately

00:16:37.420 3.9 million of that will be used to fund 81 unfunded beds here in the

00:16:41.960 province an additional 1.1 million dollars would be used to fund 20 new

00:16:46.300 beds and again I just want to stress the importance of this investment because

00:16:51.000 for so many women that really have nowhere else to go this investment is going to ensure that 0.99

00:16:55.960 there's going to be women and families protected and they're going to be supported and that's why 0.99

00:17:00.040 i think i'm so excited about how this these funds will be used to improve the sector make it so that

00:17:07.240 women can feel safe and ensure that women's shelters can continue to do the amazing work

00:17:11.560 that they do around the province and i again just also want to thank acws for their incredible

00:17:16.680 advocacy for really providing to me through the roundtable and through our many conversations

00:17:22.100 with Jan describing to me the challenges that many of the women shelters have been facing

00:17:28.020 over the last 10 years. I'm very thankful that the funding announced today will be a

00:17:32.900 first step in terms of making sure that shelters are supported and that women and families

00:17:38.820 are protected.

00:17:39.820 Great, we'll now move to questions from the phones.

00:17:44.860 Operator put through the first caller.

00:17:46.860 Thank you.

00:17:47.860 Lisa McGregor, Global Edmonton.

00:17:50.860 Hi there.

00:17:52.860 This question would be for Jen and or Mr. Churton.

00:17:57.860 We saw some pretty alarming numbers in November,

00:18:00.860 worst domestic violence calls in 10 years, maybe ever.

00:18:03.860 When you see this money finally coming,

00:18:06.820 finally coming has shelters or has the way that money delegated evolved because obviously so much

00:18:13.380 has changed in the last 10 years in managing you know women dealing with violence and domestic

00:18:19.460 abuse so like what are the tangible ways things have changed or evolved to be able to use this

00:18:25.220 money efficiently that's a big question i think shelters are doing all they can in many different

00:18:34.340 ways you know looking at how to connect women with the services that they need

00:18:41.860 but basically women shelters provide a safe place they understand and know the risks and 0.87

00:18:50.020 work with women to manage those risks so that they're alive so we're seeing increasing rates

00:18:57.220 of femicide across the country and what shelters are doing and what we've learned over the last

00:19:02.980 decade in more is how to provide the most informed interventions for women for children for those who

00:19:10.340 are have gender diverse uh and also for those who are newcomers to canada and indigenous women so

00:19:18.500 we are seeing a whole range of um you know need that is out there and shelters are working to

00:19:24.500 respond to specific populations and meet the needs of the best they can and learn and network from

00:19:30.660 one another and i think you know people often talk about innovation but nobody's more innovative than

00:19:36.100 women's shelters um they're always the first ones they're the one you know in terms of working with 1.00

00:19:41.220 children in terms of prevention in terms of intervention and i think we'll just continue

00:19:46.660 to build on that when you ask about the funding that's happened that is now rolling out i mean

00:19:52.740 being able to keep some of those beds open uh because i think shelters in some areas of the

00:19:58.580 province were really challenged because they didn't have the funding they were doing this

00:20:02.980 funding solely on the backs of their staff and community so being able to have the funding

00:20:09.060 assurance to keep those open means a lot to women in those rural communities

00:20:17.380 thank you so much jan i just want to add a quick supplemental but from my conversations

00:20:22.500 with women shelters right across the province as i've been traveling around alberta listening

00:20:26.820 to their challenges and and the different aspects that they have to go through as they continue to

00:20:33.140 offer services to keep women and families safe that was another key aspect was loosening the 0.99

00:20:38.740 red tape to make it easier for women's shelters to continue to do the amazing work that they do 0.98

00:20:43.860 and so as jan talked about from a funding perspective i know this is the largest increase

00:20:48.980 over 10 years and we're hoping that as the government of alberta we can continue to make

00:20:53.540 it easier for women's shelters to do the amazing work that they do to help keep those women safe.

00:20:59.940 Do you have a follow-up? Great thank you and my follow-up would be for you know whoever

00:21:04.740 to speak to this just so we can kind of have an idea exactly where the biggest issue is you know

00:21:11.220 when you're getting this money what's the number one thing on the list that it's going to go

00:21:16.660 towards just so we know like you know is it that in the past couple years women or you know mothers 0.99

00:21:22.980 are calling for help or they're calling for a place to go and unfortunately there's nowhere

00:21:26.740 for them to go or is it more like they can go somewhere but they can't stay very long so just

00:21:32.740 to specifically know where this will help the number one area a great question so one of the

00:21:40.660 largest concerns that i heard when i was meeting with the women's shelter round table about a month

00:21:45.940 or so ago was that quick stimulus that desire for stimulus to help stabilize the system i think the

00:21:52.420 announcement today meets that requirement but I also know that there's a desire amongst women 1.00

00:21:57.620 shelters right across the province to have that long-term strategic methodical approach about how

00:22:03.620 the government of Alberta will continue to support this sector and as well as make sure that the

00:22:07.940 wraparound supports are there for when for women that need it so it's a long long-term comprehensive

00:22:13.620 conversation and it's one that I'm eager to have with women shelter providers around the province

00:22:19.140 operator put through the next caller

00:22:26.580 thank you dave lunaberg shooting breeze thank you good morning a couple of questions uh the first

00:22:33.300 would be uh it mentions in the press release the fallout year of the start of your announcement

00:22:38.020 about 17 shelters starting with bamf and ending with white court are those the only shelters that

00:22:43.300 we're talking about because we do have one in painter creek and i'm just kind of curious where

00:22:47.060 that fits in yeah so um the communities that uh have shelters that will be receiving some

00:22:57.460 additional funding would be edmonton calgary camrose brooks fairview grand prairie lloyd

00:23:03.060 minister rocky mountain house cole lake shirt park st paul white court bam fort mcmurray

00:23:09.540 mournville cochrane and high river and these really address many of those rural

00:23:14.580 based shelters predominantly that have different and unique challenges compared to edmonton and

00:23:19.860 calgary and so again the announcement today really i think addresses the biggest needs that were

00:23:26.660 communicated to me from the round table that we had a month or so ago and it's the start of a

00:23:31.540 conversation start of a conversation about how we can continue to help support women fleeing

00:23:36.740 domestic violence how we can continue to ensure that the wraparound supports are there and so

00:23:41.300 So I know many of the women's shelters will be very happy to get that increased funding.

00:23:47.800 Follow-up question would be, what about the smaller communities?

00:23:50.740 We're left off the list here.

00:23:52.240 You've got Lackabish, Hinton, and so on.

00:23:54.920 Where would they be maybe in future planning or a future goal?

00:23:59.040 Well, the conversations are obviously going to continue.

00:24:01.620 And as I travel around the province, we're going to continuously have those conversations

00:24:05.380 about ways to help support the sector.

00:24:08.260 We realize that women's shelters are a passionate group and I have appreciated their advocacy for

00:24:14.340 additional funding. And so again, as Jan said, this is a first step to help address some of the

00:24:19.540 biggest concerns when it comes to funding, but look forward to having those ongoing conversations

00:24:24.260 with shelters, look for ways that we can continuously improve the system and ensure

00:24:29.460 that women are supported. All right, we'll move back to the room if there's any additional 0.71

00:24:36.340 questions? Hi, Cammie for CBC Radio Canada. I have a question. Maybe Jan would be better

00:24:47.940 to answer that question. In the report that was published last November, we saw that there was

00:24:53.540 a fair amount of newcomers. Is there anything that is going to be put in place in terms of people who

00:25:01.300 who can translate and speak to these newcomers

00:25:04.700 who don't always speak English?

00:25:14.760 We've been for years actually using CanTalk,

00:25:17.960 which is translation services.

00:25:20.800 Here we're very fortunate in Catholic social service

00:25:23.800 because we have a big immigration settlement

00:25:26.640 which we can tap whenever we have difficulties

00:25:29.520 with not only translation services,

00:25:31.760 but immigration services.

00:25:34.320 But I think all shelters,

00:25:36.200 we have a membership with Alberta Councilwoman Shelter

00:25:39.180 for CanTalk, which is an all over the phone

00:25:42.360 translation services.

00:25:44.200 So it makes it really easy for us to go to meetings

00:25:49.260 with the people that we serve and carry our phone

00:25:53.640 and then phone this number and get the translation services

00:25:56.640 and get the work done with that.

00:25:58.320 And in terms of personnel, are you going to hire more people, or are you looking for people who can...

00:26:07.320 In our agency, diversity and inclusion, we're diversified. There's different languages that we speak already, but of course we don't speak all the languages, so we add that to, you know, the tools that we have, like hand talk, right?

00:26:28.320 One of the pilot projects we have going on now in the City of Edmonton is also being

00:26:40.160 able to access cultural supports specifically so that shelters can engage with different

00:26:46.920 community agencies to be able to provide those translation services.

00:26:53.040 very interesting thing that just happened last week with um our member for the elder abuse uh

00:26:59.040 is that they engaged with uh seniors from 20 different communities um uh different immigrant

00:27:05.600 communities and worked with them to translate the power and control wheel you know the power

00:27:11.040 control wheel is kind of the basis for understanding how domestic abuse works so now we've got that

00:27:17.040 translation in 20 different languages thanks to one edmonton elder abuse shelter and then those

00:27:23.200 seniors who actually did that translation are now able to explain in their community the dynamics of

00:27:29.440 abuse so it's an amazing project project that actually once it's uh up on the web will not

00:27:35.600 only benefit uh you know shelters here in edmonton alberta but all around the world so that's just

00:27:41.360 one example of shelter innovation and how we're trying to help newcomers the best we can in different

00:27:47.360 ways. All right, operator, is there any more questions on the line? Thank you. No, there are

00:27:55.760 no other questions on the line. All right, that concludes our press conference for today. If you

00:27:59.440 If you have any further questions, my contact information is at the bottom of the release.

00:28:02.920 Thank you.

Western Standard - March 20, 2024

Alberta Ministers Turton and Fir Unveil Funding Boost for Women's Shelters Provincewide

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