PA Friendship Center celebrates spring

By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter

PortAlberni, BC – The PortAlberni Friendship Center (PAFC) opened its doors to families on Friday, March 31 to celebrate spring.

Guests were treated to spaghetti dinner with refreshments while they chatted. PAFC employees Chantel Lalonde and Roxy Taylor served up plates of food while taking down names for door prizes.

There were fewer guests than expected, likely because the PAFC was hosting another celebration at The Shelter on Eighth. The PAFC was recently awarded the contract to manage the shelter beginningApril 1,

2023.

The dinner was a wonderful way to wrap up Residential School Survivors Wellness Days, also hosted by PAFC.

Over two days residential school survivors were invited to spend the morning support, or take part in self-care activities, cultural activities, arts and crafts.

The elders were still talking about the great time they had on March 28 and 31 Residential School Survivors Wellness substances.

Days at the family dinner. Funding for the Residential School Survivors Wellness Day came from the NationalAssociation of Friendship Centres. Funding for the spring dinner came from the provincial government.

“We need a rapid investment; we need a renaissance on how we respond to drug policy like Portugal did. They went out and built 96 therapeutic treatment centres,” said Johns. “It also saves money in health care costs, police, fire, ambulance, criminal justice.”

On the other side of the House of Commons the Liberals are being blamed for drafting a budget with a deficit that is roughly $10 billion more than what Freeland projected in the fall.

“After eight years, Justin Trudeau’s inflationary taxes and spending have created a cost-of-living crisis that is hurting the hard-working people of this country,” said Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre in a press release. “Canadians are living in desperation, skipping meals, living in their parent’s basements, unable to drive to work, falling into depression, and even considering suicide because they cannot afford the pressure and the bills that this Prime Minister has imposed after eight long years.”

Suicide was actually attended to in the budget, with a 988 hotline operated by the Public HealthAgency of Canada set to be available in November.

To provide immediate help with daily costs, a grocery rebate is being rolled out in the coming weeks, offering single people without children an additional $234, while a family with two kids can expect as much as $467.

“Eleven million people are going to benefit from another doubling of the GST rebate, which we got from the government last year,” added Johns. “Our priority, we’ve made it very clear, is to truly make critical investments that are necessary for Indigenous people.”

Like many across Canada, Indigenous people are being stressed by a shortage of housing, but this issue is particularly prevalent on some reserves, where multiple generations are crowded into the few available homes. The budget notes that since 2015 Canada’s Indigenous housing strategy has invested $6.7 billion into Aboriginal communities, and another $4 billion will be spent over seven years to improve the supply of homes for urban, rural and northern Indigenous people.