Sent: Wednesday, March 25, 2009 3:12 PM
Subject: Wild Rose Foundation & the provincial budget
Over the course of the last week, several people in the voluntary sector have reported that they have heard the Wild Rose Foundation will be disbanded or lose a significant portion of its funding when the provincial budget is delivered on April 7.
From compiling information received from a number of different sources, it appears that the three most commonly stated scenarios are:
the Wild Rose Foundation will, for all practical purposes, disappear, and its funding and programs transferred in total to Alberta Culture & Community Spirit, with funding programs operating in much the same way as currently, but with decisions made by public servants and the Minister, rather than by an appointed board of directors.
the above scenario but with elimination of the International Development Program that is operated through the Wild Rose Foundation.
the above scenario but with some reduction in the amount of grants or in the number or type of organizations eligible to apply for some grants.
One rationale given for this potential action is elimination of duplication of funding programs within the Department of Culture & Community Spirit. It is not clear whether such an effort would also involve changes in other lottery-funded foundations such as the Foundation for the Arts and the Historical Resources Foundation. (The other lottery-funded foundation, Sport, Recreation, Parks & Wildlife, does not come within the purview of Alberta Culture & Community Spirit.)
THIS INFORMATION HAS NOT BEEN VERIFIED and it is likely that we will not know whether these rumours are true until after the budget is delivered. There has been, so far as we can tell, no discussion with the voluntary sector about this type of change. It has not been discussed with the voluntary-sector members of the Alberta Nonprofit Voluntary Sector Initiative.
Your local MLA may have more information (although budget secrecy keeps many items out of the hands of most MLAs). At the very least, your MLA may be interested in your experience with the Wild Rose Foundation and your views of what this type of change might make to your organization.
I would expect that sector umbrella organizations will keep their members advised of developments as they become aware of them.
Bob Wyatt
Executive Director
The Muttart Foundation
Suite 1150 - 10060 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5J 3R8
