By paNOW Staff

Provincial and federal governments invest in Sask. shelters

Jun 26, 2018 | 12:00 PM

The provincial and federal governments have teamed up to make a major investment in Saskatchewan’s domestic violence shelters.

On Tuesday, the governments announced a combined investment of more than $4.2 million towards 14 Saskatchewan shelters through the Shelter Enhancement Program. In the announcement, Federal Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the statistics around domestic violence are dire.

“Women make up 80 per cent of victims of police-reported intimate partner violence,” Goodale said. “We need to work together to end this and other forms of persistent gender-based violence in Canada.”

The funding will provide a boost to a number of local shelters including $20,000 for the Prince Albert Safe Shelter for Women, $76,000 for The Battlefords Interval House, $1.2 million for the Waskoosis Safe Shelter in Meadow Lake, and $1.8 million towards La Ronge’s Piwapan Women’s Shelter and Sapohtewan House.

According to the province, the funds will rejuvenate 81 emergency shelter bedrooms and 25 units of second-stage rental housing, and will help bring each shelter up to “a similar standard of repair, safety, accessibility and comfort, and reduce operating costs.”

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Saskatchewan Social Services Minister Paul Merriman said the government is proud of their work supporting the shelters.

“Through the Shelter Enhancement Program, we are able to support those who provide a safe environment to enable families to begin a new life of stability, dignity, and self-sufficiency,” Merriman said in a statement.

“We are also proud to assist these community-based organizations as they work to help their clients embark on a better future.”

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertNOW