Since being elected at the end of October, the Board and the Core Funding Committee (formerly, the Social Impact Bond Committee) have continued to spearhead CoSA Canada’s efforts to develop sufficient, sustainable, and nationwide funding for CoSA programs.
In the first week of November, immediately following the national election, the CFC and board began reaching out to our new Minister of Public Safety, the Hon. Ralph Goodale, with a letter and inquiries through our ministry contacts. We know that he has requested a briefing on CoSA and that there continues to be discussion about CoSA within the ministry and within Correctional Service of Canada. We have also recently sent a letter to our new Minister of Finance, the Hon. Bill Morneau, requesting that we be included in pre-budget consultations beginning this spring. We are hopeful that with the change in government there may be renewed interest in directly funding CoSA, and we will continue to make our case for this at every possible opportunity.
We have also continued to pursue a social impact bond through our collaboration with Lars Boggild and Finance for Good. Recent feedback has suggested that the road may be harder than we’d hoped, but still worth pursuing. We are continuing to investigate, and it will form part of any future discussions with the federal government.
We also want to keep our lines of communication open with all MPs, regardless of party, and with our provincial leaders as well. It’s up to you to keep up the pressure! We’re asking our supporters across the country to reach out to their local MPs and MLAs and tell them why they should care about CoSA. Please use the ideas contained in our letter to Mr. Morneau, but be sure to contextualize them to your community and situation. No copy/paste!