The Star finds funding slashed for youth justice programs.
The Conservative government has slashed 20 per cent of federal funding for youth justice programs in Canada, cutting $35.6 million used to supervise and rehabilitate young offenders, the Star has learned. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson made no mention of the drastic cut Wednesday in a news release that trumpeted “continued support” for the Youth Justice Services Funding Program.
It is a key federal initiative that has directly transferred money to provinces and territories to deliver services to troubled youth ever since the original Young Offenders Act was passed in 1985. Instead, Nicholson said only that starting next spring, the Conservative government will “continue” to fund the program at $141.7 million annually.
Meanwhile, guided tours of Parliament Hill are being reduced.
See previously: The quiet cuts