Ookanake Friendship Centre in Penticton

Image Credit: Penticton Herald file photo

The City of Penticton is dropping out of the process to open an Indigenous-focused services centre after council unanimously supported a staff recommendation that would see the Ookanake Friendship Centre (OFC) in Penticton become the leader partner in negotiations with the federal government.

In November of 2024, city staff applied for and successfully received approximately $700,000 of funding through Health Canada’s Emergency Treatment grant program for the implementation of a pilot project that would be an Indigenous-focused services centre or “day space”, said Julie Czeck, general manger of public safety and partnerships during a presentation to council Tuesday, May 20.

This grant application success was undertaken after completion of the Penticton Substance Use Research Project, which saw many community partners study the gaps, needs, strengths and experiences of the substance use system in Penticton, said Czeck.

This grant had a tight turnaround with a two-week window only for municipalities and/or Indigenous organizations to apply for.

Given positive historical grant partnerships with the city, the friendship centre leadership opted to collaborate with other social agencies and the city rather than apply on their own, she said.

Although the city was the recipient of funding from Health Canada, OFC was one of the main partners on the project, with a plan for significant funds to be distributed to them for providing culturally-based Indigenous and land-based services, she said.

In addition, there were several community partners who organized the project to co-locate existing services to the proposed Integrated Services Centre, she said.

The original application by the city included funding for capital purchases for vehicles to enable treatment, transportation and land-based healing services, supplies and materials, including renovations to create more space for this program, lease costs, hiring of Indigenous program co-ordinators, case managers and administrative support, said Czeck.

Although the city took the lead in the application, the OFC was one of the main partners from the beginning, she said.

“There was a plan for a signification portion of the funds to be distributed to Ooknakane for providing Syilx-based, Indigenous, land-based services,” she said.

At a meeting in February, council received the findings of the Penticton Substance Use Research Project and received support to proceed with the project and bring back additional information.

Staff continued working with partners to obtain more information and to bring back for council’s consideration.

“However, many challenges presented themselves during the investigation of delivering on the outcomes of this project,” she said. “These challenges included the extremely tight timelines imposed by the grant spending requirements, concerns about the project’s sustainability beyond the one-year pilot timeframe, difficulties in finding a suitable location, limited operational capacity due to resource constraints and other priorities being the major focus of the organization at the moment.”

It has been determined that the city is not prepared to move forward with this project at this time, but it has also been determined the leadership at the OFC is more than qualified to take over as the main applicants, she said.

The OFC is still eligible for this funding under Health Canada guidelines and has expressed readiness to work directly with the federal government with the support of other community partners.

Staff has proposed that city staff withdraw from being the leads on this project and turn over that authority to the leadership within the OFC.

While the final funding decision lies with Health Canada, having the city removed as the lead partner will reflect their confidence in the OFC’s leadership and support for a path forward on this project, she said.

There have been no financial implications to the city or local taxpayers with this decision, said Czeck.

Should Health Canada agree to direct the funding to the OFC, there would be no further financial implications to the city.

Leadership at the OFC has indicated their capacity and desire to move ahead without the city’s involvement, she said.

Council supported the staff recommendation to officially withdraw from the grant application process and secondly that council send a letter to Health Canada advising of the city’s withdrawal and request that they work directly with the OFC on this matter.

Coun. Isaac Gilbert voted against the recommendation to the city withdrawing, stating he would like to see the city directly involved in this grant process. He was joined by Mayor Julius Bloomfield.

Councillors Jason Reynen, Ryan Graham and Campbell Watt voted in favour.

— This article was originally published by the Penticton Herald

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