Bruce House: More than a house

Passing the buck
And where has all the money gone?

Rory MacDonald, Capital Xtra!, December 7, 2001

The battle looming over the Canadian AIDS Society (CAS) will soon be someone else's to wage. After three years at the helm, CAS Executive Director Sharon Baxter is stepping down.

"It's a very difficult decision for me to leave at this time with all that needs to be done, but I think it will always be a difficult situation no matter who is Executive Director," Baxter says. The biggest issue that will face the Executive Director and CAS as a whole is complacency. "The new person will have to stay focused on increasing the federal response to AIDS, fighting discrimination and educating Canadians about this disease."

As Canada's only national voice for community-based AIDS organizations, CAS has had its budget slashed by the federal government to the tune of $500,000 over the next three years. CAS provides AIDS education, programs and services for its 115 member organizations.

Baxter says the cuts may result in CAS doing less policy work for its members, but despite any cuts the priorities will still be to increase the federal response to AIDS. "We have managed to do the work this year that had to be done with the cuts, but next year's cut might make that more difficult," says Baxter.

"We have been trying to make the case ourselves and the Minister of Health has indicated that he is interested in bringing the issue to cabinet, so we just have to see where that goes," says Baxter.

Despite the Minister's claims, CAS has gone ahead and created a coalition of AIDS groups to stress the importance of AIDS awareness and funding. CCORA, the Coalition of Canadian Organizations Responding to AIDS, which consists of researchers, front-line workers and professional organizations, will stand together and say to the government that the response is inadequate.

Baxter says we are seeing increased infections in this country because we are not doing a very good job in prevention. Canada's infection rates are double that of England and three times more than Australia. "We have a 100 percent preventable disease and we are not doing all that we can. That's a moral issue for me, that's a human rights issue to me," she says. "It's also a sad commentary when you look at Canada being a leader in universal health care and still burying their heads when it comes to dealing with AIDS.

"If Canadians can say that AIDS is not about them, then they're wrong. AIDS has no borders and affects everybody. Everybody is at risk and it's really naïve to think you're not," says Baxter.

Jay Koornstra, Executive Director of Bruce House, says the cuts are an insult to community-based agencies. "It's a precursor to the governments' continuing lack of commitment in addressing the HIV/AIDS issue. As money continues to be cut, the number of infections continues to increase. There isno doubt that local agencies may not be able to handle the increased workload."

Brent Oliver, Chairman of the AIDS Committee of Ottawa, says he is unsure how much of an impact the cuts will have on his organization. ACO relies on CAS for lobbying efforts at the national level. "There is no doubt there will be an indirect impact. But we are unsure how much. CAS advocates for agencies such as ourselves at a very important level and we need them to do that work," says Oliver. Both Oliver and Koornstra agree that prevention and education will no doubt be a casualty of these cuts.

Meanwhile, one problem that's been plaguing ACO is getting accurate numbers from the city on HIV infection. Oliver says he has been assured that regular reporting form the city's health department will resume next month once city officials have upgraded their data base system to accommodate amalgamation.

A new CAS Executive Director is expected to be in place in January.