Funding cut for Oyate home

The File Hills Qu'Appelle Tribal Council (FHQTC) questions the Saskatchewan Party's commitment to working with First Nations after funding cuts to the Oyate Transitional Care Home in Regina is forcing the centre to close down permanently.
"We feel we are being punished for not supporting the Saskatchewan Party's position on this issue when it became public in 2006," said FHQTC chair Edmund Bellegarde of the Regina-based six-bed facility for 12 to 15 year old at-risk females.
The board of directors voluntarily suspended the home's operation in April 2006, and soon after, the provincial government suspended funding in October 2007.
The Oyate board then mutually agreed to meet on numerous recommendations by both the Provincial Auditor and the Child Advocate's Office.
Despite letters of recommendation from both the Provincial Auditor and the Children's Advocate stating that Oyate had either met their recommendations or the intent of the recommendations, Donna Harpauer, Minister of Social Services announced on March 6, 2008 that the province would no longer fund the home.
The Oyate board of directors was issued a letter stating funding was cancelled only half an hour before the Ministry released a statement to the media on March 6.
"(The program) not only meets the needs of the children, it exceeds all of the recommendations of the Provincial Auditor and Children's Advocate," stated Marie Anne DayWalker-Pelletier, chair of Oyate's Board of Directors in a press release.
"We must question the rationale of the Minister's decision."