For the next three months, 12 young people from around the country will be making their mark on Prince George.
The current crop of volunteers arrived this week from their previous posting in Midland, Ont. They follow in the footsteps of other Canadians between the ages of 17 and 21 who have participated in the the federal volunteer program for the past few years.
But Thursday's federal budget dealt a blow to the program, which has seen thousands of volunteer-work hours logged in the city and surrounding areas.
The Conservative government slashed funding for the Heritage Canada-funded program, which spends about $14 million per year to operate. The department will see spending cuts of more than $46 million over the next three years as a part of the government's savings review.
The Katimavik program is set to continue until the current funding agreement ends in March 2013, and the possibility of not having Katimavik volunteers to draw upon in the future was a source of concern for local work partners.
"It's a huge mistake," said Sarah Boyd, who co-ordinators the Northern Women's Centre and Public Interest Research Group (PGPIRG) at the University of Northern B.C. "I'm just blown away."
Boyd's two organizations employ a volunteer full-time during their three-month stay in Prince George where they do a variety of jobs, including event planning, communications, putting in orders for the local food program and crisis intervention.
"Because non profits are struggling for funding, and especially operational funding, any help we can get with day-to-day operation of our non-profit organizations is a huge thing, for sure," Boyd said. "They are absolutely indispensible."
The funding cut came as a surprise to the Montreal-based program leaders.
"The decision is even more surprising considering that the recently made public Canadian Heritage summative evaluation of our programs makes very clear how Katimavik's programs are not only relevant, important and valuable, but also how the organization attains its targets and the programs tie in with government-wide priorities and the department's strategic objectives," Katimavik said in statement posted on their website.
The program was cut because it "reaches a relatively small number of participants annually at a relatively high cost per participant due to the nature and duration of the experience," according to the budget.
Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen, worked for the Katimavik program in Smithers in 1998, expressed his discontent with the cut.
"I'm ashamed of this government, actually. It's something that had no partisan implications at all. It was something that worked and, frankly, something that keeps the country together," Cullen said. "And it's not just my personal connection, but I know what this program meant to our communities and what it meant to our young people to participate."
While in the program, the group of people live in a house with each other for three months before moving on to a different community. They also learn a second language.
"What they do is really fascinating," said Boyanne Young, branch co-ordinator for the Northern B.C./Yukon region of the Canadian Diabetes Association. "They come from all parts of Canada and it gives them an opportunity to experience culture and different areas of Canada they might not have seen before."
The work experience gained by participants also exposes them to different career options they may not have previously considered.
"It just gives them a whole sense of what their opportunities are, going forward in their life as they grow," Young said.
"This is a tremendous loss, not only to Prince George but to our country," said Bernie Goold, president of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, where volunteers serve food, deliver hampers and more. "They're just phenomenal young people who give up six months of their lives dedicated to the country."
Other groups Katimavik has partnered with locally include the Canadian Red Cross, the UNBC Pride Centre, Caledonia Ramblers, Sacred Heart elementary school, Carney Hill Neighbourhood Centre and Cercle des Canadiens Francais.
"It was huge, life changing for people," Cullen said. "So why would they kill it? I'm very, very upset about that one."
