The Prince George District Parent Advisory Council (PGDPAC) is bracing for a funding cut of its own after learning the provincial government will not provide money to the B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils (BCCPAC) this year.
PGDPAC president Don Sabo said it's possible a similar process may be in play as two years ago when the provincial government cut its grant to BCCPAC to $300,000 from $600,000 and followed up with 50-per-cent cuts to grants to district and school-based parent advisory councils.
"Last night [Monday] at the DPAC meeting when I raised this issue, I said 'you need to be cognizant that this happened in the past,'" Sabo said. "Does that mean this is going to happen again? No, but I did mention that it has happened in the past."
Education minister George Abbot told BCCPAC president Ann Whiteaker that his government won't be able to fund it in 2011-12. Last year, the ministry gave $100,000 for operation and $150,000 for special projects.
Last year, the PGDPAC received $2,500 and the school-based parent advisory councils received $20 per student after funding was restored to previous levels following the 50-per-cent cut two years ago.
Sabo's sense is Victoria is looking for areas to make reductions in the face of the $1.6-billion hole blown in the provincial government's budget with voters' rejection of the harmonized sales tax.
But he said following through and making similar reductions to the locally-based parent advisory councils would be unwise.
"When you cut funding to a provincial organization, yeah, there's a lot of membership, and there is an impact, an indirect impact," he said. "But if they decide to cut funding to PACs and DPACs, that wouldn't be a very smart move politically."
In an e-mailed statement, Whiteaker said the decision is disappointing but added that BCCPAC "has reserves set aside for times when funding is limited or exhausted so services to members will not be affected."
However, Sabo said BCCPAC will not hold a fall conference as a result worried the funding cut will still compromise the organization's role as a voice for parents at the provincial level.
"When they cut funding, it tells us all that that voice is not that important," Sabo said.
