'Not one red cent': SACE disappointed after being left out of Tuesday's provincial budget

The CEO of the Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton (SACE) says she's disappointed no additional funding was allocated to survivors of sexual and domestic violence in Tuesday's provincial budget.

"I’m not sure that I could accurately describe the myriad of emotions that circled through my head and my body and my heart when I heard that news," Mary Jane James told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday.

"Not one penny, not one red cent, and in fact, not one mention in the entire budget or the talks after the budget about the fact that they did not support our business plan to increase funding across the province, nor did they support increasing funding to the shelters for domestic violence."

The centre provides support to victims of sexual assault at no cost.

James says SACE met with the province Jan. 12 to ask for more funding.

Since then, the centre's waitlist has increased from 12 to 14 months to 15 to 16 months.

James says if victims of sexual violence don't get support, they usually need to access other parts of the system.

"These individuals don’t just go away. If they don’t get the help they need, they show up in other parts of social systems. Health, addictions, mental health, lack of ability to maintain employment."

She says the 15 psychologists and clinical social workers at SACE see four to five clients every day.

"They are burnt out. They are devastated. They are disappointed. They feel devalued. They’re demoralized. They just feel that their hands are tied. All of the work they do is not recognized and supported."

"I get that the government has lots of priorities and a lot of things they’re funding are very important, but I’m afraid the message they’re sending to me, to our agency, and to agencies across the province is: ‘The work that you do is not as important to us to get elected.’"

James says SACE was hoping to see $14 million in funding to support 15 centres, including:

• Waypoints Sexual Assault Healing Centre (Ft. McMurray)
• Dragonfly Centre Sexual Assault Services (Bonnyville)
• Saffron Centre Ltd. (Sherwood Park)
• Association of Communities Against Abuse (Stettler)
• Sanare Centre (Medicine Hat)
• Sexual Violence Action Committee (Lethbridge) c/o Lethbridge Family Services
• Chinook Sexual Assault Centre (Lethbridge)
• Pace Community Support, Sexual Assault & Trauma Centre (Grande Prairie)
• Sexual Assault Centre of Edmonton (SACE – Edmonton)
• University of Alberta Sexual Assault Centre
• Central Alberta Sexual Assault Support Centre (Red Deer)
• Calgary Communities Against Sexual Abuse (CCASA – Calgary)
• Harmony Sexual Violence Prevention & Response (Banff)
• Lloydminster Sexual Assault Services (Lloydminster)
• Mamowichihitowin Community Wellness Program (Hinton)

The province says it offered the centres a $4.2 million one-time payment in January, but says that offer was rejected.

James says the money has since been reallocated, and is now unavailable.

The government says it is spending a total of $17 million on sexual assault services across the province this year, a 25 per cent increase over the past five years.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Brittany Ekelund.