Belleville, Quinte West and Hastings County have issued a warning to Ontario Premier Doug Ford that services may be cut or eliminated because of recent funding cuts.
In a letter to Premier Ford, Warden of Hastings County Rick Phillips, Mayor of Belleville Mitch Panciuk, and Mayor of Quinte West Jim Harrison point to the provincial funding problems locally.
The list:
-$395,000 cut to children’s services,
-additional cost of $2.8 million for Hastings Manor and $1 million for Centennial Manor to try to reach the province’s requirement for four hours of direct care per resident per day,
-$343,000 cut in welfare funding resulting in cutting 8.5 full-time positions.
At a meeting of the Hastings County Community and Human Services committee on Wednesday, county CAO Jim Pine who is a consultant on the provincial modernization discussions said, “Those issues have come up in every consultation meeting I’ve had.”
Commenting on the letter, Quinte West Councillor Terry Cassidy noted, “There’s something that’s not there (in the letter). There is no mention of ambulance services.”
Belleville Mayor Mitch Panciuk tells Quinte News it’s especially important on a day when people were again quarantined at CFB Trenton.
Quinte West Mayor Harrison says the social services cuts worry him.
Warden Rick Phillips says, “In Long Term Care, in Housing and Emergency Services. In all three of them. All three of those committeees have concerns in finding the proper funding, funding we need to provide the services people deserve. The Long Term Care committee did vote an extra $300,000 to bring the level of three hours per patient per day. It should be four hours.”
Belleville Councillor Bill Sandison commented on the additional hours of care, “The decision to move to three hours should be a carrot for the province to step forward.”
In a letter also signed by Warden Rick Phillips, they suggest a meeting with the premier or his ministers.
