ARICHAT: Funding for food banks in Richmond County led to a heated debate between the current and former warden.
During the regular monthly meeting of Richmond Municipal Council on December 16 in Arichat, district 5 councillor Jason MacLean wanted an explanation of the decision to provide each councillor with $2,000 to go towards food banks.
Previously, council provided $10,000 to be distributed among five banks in the municipality, but after it was proposed last month that the Isle Madame Food Bank should receive more funding since they serve more people, council decided to review how that money is given out.
Warden Brian Marchand said the changes were made during a meeting on December 11 in response to concerns by district 1 councillor James Goyetche that Isle Madame was not getting enough money. Marchand said each food bank, with the exception of Potlotek First Nation, provided council with information, one councillor suggested each district receive the same amount, then the decision was made.
Marchand said councillors do have the discretion to provide other districts with funding for food banks.
“I have a serious issue with everything in the way that it rolled out,” MacLean told council.
MacLean took issue with the fact that the food bank in Louisdale, which serves a similar number of people as the food bank in L’Ardoise, will receive $2,000.
“There are two food banks in my district and I have $2,000 to spend,” MacLean said. “I do have a big issue with that.”
Since 75 per cent of clients at the food bank in St. Peter’s are from Potlotek, MacLean said there is an acute need in that part of the municipality, and regardless whether the municipality received information from the food bank in the First Nation community, $1,000 will not go far.
“There are people in need, there are people who need support, people who need food and this council has chosen to punish them,” MacLean said.
Marchand replied that it was MacLean’s choice to provide $1,000 to the L’Ardoise food bank and $1,000 to the food bank in Potlotek, not council’s.
“I’m not going to completely pull the rug from under the feet of people in my district who operate food banks two weeks before Christmas,” MacLean responded. “So this council put me in a pretty tough spot.”
Photos by Jake Boudrot
Sue Dickey, chair of the food bank in St. Peter’s, is pictured with district 4 councillor Gilbert Boucher.
During a meeting on December 3, MacLean said there was another debate on food bank funding, during which some councillors expressed misgivings about donating to the food bank in Potlotek.
“On that night, I was told by another councillor, that ‘giving money to the food bank in Chapel Island was never a problem until I got here,’” MacLean told council. “So I have issues with the way things were going before and that just cranked it up 11 notches for me.”
During that December 3 meeting, MacLean said council arrived at a consensus that funding to Isle Madame would increase by $2,000, and funding would remain the same for other food banks. But on December 5, MacLean said the warden sent an e-mail that he would not support spending more than what was budgeted, and instead each district would receive $2,000.
“The e-mail spoke to comparing Canada Day funds to food bank donations; grant applications to feeding people – not much of a comparison in my eyes,” MacLean stated.
After asking whether funds from the sundry account could be used to keep funding at status-quo, MacLean said he was told there was no more money in that account.
“I would like to receive the status of that specific account on [November] 25, to see what was available for funds at that point in time, and on December 11, to see what was available at that point in time, and what that would’ve been spent on between the 25th and the 11th,” MacLean asked.
MacLean also took issue with the warden’s comment at the December 11 meeting that Potlotek should provide information if they want a municipal donation.
“Nine days before Christmas, two food banks in my district are forced to deal with a major reduction in support that they rely on from this county,” MacLean told council. “I’m having a very difficult time in finding equity here.”
After the emergency meeting, MacLean requested audio recordings from the November 25, December 3 and December 11 meetings. On December 12, MacLean was told the December 3 meeting was not recorded and his request was forwarded to the warden. It was then added to the agenda for Monday’s meeting and councillors agreed to allow MacLean to review the recordings.
“I have a major, major problem with the fact that this council is either: a) trying to send a message to a community or b) they’re trying to send a message to a councillor,” MacLean said. “And they’re doing so at the expense of putting food in the mouths of people in need. So I have a huge problem with that.”
Bobby Samson, with the Louisdale Food Bank, accepts his $2,000 donation from Richmond Warden Brian Marchand.
Marchand responded that he alluded to Canada Day because after a group in his district was late applying for the grant, $500 in additional funding was allotted to district 5, something the warden and MacLean had no problem with.
The warden said Potlotek had the same amount of time as others to provide council with information, but failed to do so.
“We did not get information from Potlotek so it was hard for council to make a decision in providing the funds,” Marchand said. “We’ve only started giving [Potlotek] money since you’ve been here.”
The warden pointed out that MacLean was not present for the December 3 meeting, so he questioned how he would know exactly what was said at that session.
Marchand noted that before the funding was changed, MacLean’s district received $4,000 for food banks, while others were getting $2,000.
Marchand then asked MacLean what he thought would be the fairest way to fund food banks.
“If we want to figure it out, we take our time and we figure it out,” MacLean responded. “You put change in place and we allow time to go through so that if we’re going to make a change, everybody knows what the changes are and everybody knows what to expect, and maybe this year at this time, we’re having a different conversation.”
Because more than 100 people from Potlotek are using the food bank in St. Peter’s annually, Marchand asked why those residents are deciding to travel rather than access the food bank in their community.
MacLean responded that the warden could have reached out to the chief for more information. Noting that the food bank in Potlotek did not want to lose funding, MacLean said food banks in his district are now receiving half what they were expecting.
Responding to the warden’s claim that the final funding decision is up to individual councillors, MacLean said the current allotment puts him in the position of deciding between two deserving groups.
“We were making decisions based on information that we got, but was that equitable, no, because if that was equitable, the people in L’Ardoise would have received the same that the people in your district received,” MacLean stated.
After the warden noted that the funding change was made because the CAO was not advised, MacLean added that the municipality should be able to help feed residents in need.
“You’re telling me that an organization that has a $13 million operating budget can’t afford an additional $2,000 for food banks?” MacLean asked. “And if somebody tells me that, then we got some really, really, really serious issues.
“I don’t care where the money comes from, it’s $2,000.”