The provincial government is ending its practice of leasing Central Vehicle Agency (CVA) vehicles to community-based organizations.
The opposition New Democrats have questioned the decision, with MLA Warren McCall citing in a release the program operated on a cost-recovery basis and received no subsidy.
Yorkton Saskatchewan Party MLA Greg Ottenbreit said four groups in Yorkton are affected; the Parkland Early Childhood Intervention Program, SIGN, Yorkton First Steps Headstart program, and the Yorkton Tribal Council.
The leases include two 15-passenger busses and two cars used by the Abilities Centre, confirmed John Denysek, regional director of the Yorkton Centre. He said they are currently investigating options to replace the leases, adding they feel they will find an arrangement with similar lease rates.
Ottenbreit said the earliest the leases will end is July 1. In the interim the government is working with CBOs to make the transition a smooth one.
"All the CBOs affected are being contacted by Government Services to work out a transition plan," he said.
The plan includes an offer to sell the lease vehicles to the CBOs at a reasonable price, and flexible payment terms, said Ottenbreit.
"We're looking at how to make it affordable enough for them to own it themselves," he said. In cases where the current vehicle is too costly for a CBO, Ottenbreit said the CVA will look through its fleet "for a vehicle that meets their needs at an affordable price."
Ottenbreit said the leasing was cancelled, because it was never a formal program, and there was no criteria associated with which CBOs got vehicles. He said while there a thousand CBOs in the province, only 105 leased vehicles from the province.
"There was no written policy. It was a sort of ad hoc sort of thing," he said. " It was a difficult decision but we're trying to level the playing field."
"The Wall government's refusal to continue leasing CVA vehicles to CBOs is reprehensible. The Minister's shameful justification that she is ending the program because not all CBOs in the province had access to it is misguided. That's not an argument to shut the program down, it's an argument for expanding it," said McCall in the release.
"CBOs help many women and children fleeing domestic violence, people living with mental and physical challenges, low-income families and young people entering the workforce. Without access to these vehicles, the challenging work being carried out, CBOs gets all the more difficult."
