Editor:

 I’m writing in response to MLA Donna Barnett’s recent letter appearing in the Advisor.

Her statement that “all that you apply for is not a cut because it was never approved” in regards to gaming grant cuts, is in the least, completely misleading. Sorry Donna, but your bafflegab fails the baloney detector test.

Ms. Barnett needs to stop playing politics and get down to the work of being an elected representative of the people. I don’t understand the audacity of her statement.

When a non-profit organization has been receiving grants for years and suddenly is being denied; in my mind that would constitute a cut.

I attended a public forum a few weeks ago attended by numerous organizations from Williams Lake. Some organizations talked about losing their grant based on technicalities, where the government sited deficiencies on their application form.

These are organizations which have applied for and received grants for years. Suddenly they don’t know how to fill out a form? Williams Lake minor hockey had concerns of being cut as much as 80 per cent. School parent advisory councils are looking at cuts of up to 50 per cent. Just to name a few. By the way, Ms. Barnett was invited to attend the forum but turned it down.

The BC government has seriously misled the public on this issue by saying lottery revenues are down. In fact, lottery revenues aren’t down, they’re actually up but haven’t met projections. That’s doublespeak if I’ve ever heard it.

In the end we’re talking about unilateral cuts with no reason.

I think it’s disgusting that the cuts are essentially predicated on a lie. I also think it’s disgusting that organizations which deal with kids and youth activities will seriously be affected by these cuts.

So I ask myself, where is the extra cash now going?

 Dave Ligertwood

Williams Lake