Kent Driscoll
Northern News Services
Monday, May 28, 2007

CAMBRIDGE BAY - The president of the Nunavut Literacy Council and the Kitkmeot Heritage Society says keeping them afloat becomes a bigger challenge every day.

Both groups have felt the pinch from federal cutbacks.

"The issue is that we have been told that we have to do things with less," said Kim Crockatt. "You cannot fund literacy and culture with bake sales."

Crockatt is the President of the Nunavut Literacy Council for her day job, and volunteers as the President of the Kitikmeot Heritage Society.

The Literacy Council has received interim funding - designed to cover the time between the cutbacks and the proposed new literacy funding plan.

Their funding for advancing adult and family literacy totals $143,000 and ends in February 2008. An additional $220,000 was received for training and resource development.

Crockatt said accessing this interim funding was a huge challenge, even though the organization was no stranger to government applications.

"I had to apply four times for one and five for another," she said. "After rewording the proposals, they wanted us to rewrite them to new criteria, not any criteria that were written down, basically the whim of the minister."

That funding was very welcome when it arrived.

"We were down to our literal last few dollars, and we had ongoing proposals that we had received funding for, and were bound to complete," said Crockatt.

The council laid off almost of their staff following the federal cuts to their budget. It is still too early to be bringing those people back.

"We can't do that, we don't know if they are going to have a replacement program, or if we would qualify," said Crockatt. "We are a territorial coalition, and their area of interest is national programs."

That sums up how the day job is going for Crockatt, and her other job isn't going any better.

When the Kitikmeot Heritage Society (KHS) combined the local library, CAP site, museum and cultural centre, they thought they were making a sound decision. Advantages included one rent, one set of utilities, and staff that could be shared. When federal funding cuts hit, they hit every aspect of the KHS.

"The money for the CAP site was slashed, as well as the museum assistance program," said Crockatt. "These are funds we relay on to run the centre."

Before the cuts, the KHS had five full-time employees. After the cuts, they were down to three. One person left for another job, and the second quit after constant phone calls about rewriting proposals.

"They were so unnerved, they didn't have the time to really support us," said Crockatt. "It got to the point where every time she would turn around, there was someone on the phone asking for changes."

The federal cut of $1 billion to social programs hit Crockatt at work and at her volunteer job, yet she doesn't blame the Conservative government. She sees their actions as a symptom of a bigger problem.

"With the sponsorship scandal, people have developed opinions about grants and contributions," she said. "There is this perception that you could receive funding and not have to report anything. That just isn't true, we can squeeze a dollar for more than private business or the government."

After a brief period when she considered closing the KHS - an idea she quickly rejected - Crockatt has rebounded, and is ready to get back in the fight for more funding.

"The work that I am doing is my passion. I'm not going to quit. I still think I can help to change things," said Crockatt.