In recognition of the dedication and commitment of the tens of thousands of volunteers in this province, the Honourable Danny Williams, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, recently designated a Minister Responsible for the Volunteer and Non-profit Sector in the Provincial Cabinet. The Honourable Tom Hedderson, Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister Responsible for the Volunteer and Non-profit Sector, said this action was hailed by the volunteer sector as a positive step in helping to address issues faced by those individuals who sacrifice their personal time and energy to causes in their communities and province-wide.

"Approximately 23,000 people in our province are employed in the voluntary and non-profit sector and approximately 187,000 people in our province volunteer, contributing a total of 35 million hours of valuable unpaid time to their communities and community organizations," said Minister Hedderson. "I am proud to be a part of a government that recognizes the invaluable role these people play in the betterment of our province and I am absolutely astonished that the Leader of the NDP would question the need for this important new function of government, and her apparent lack of support for the issues facing the volunteer and not-for-profit sector in the province."

The Provincial Government has been in consultation with groups such as the Community Services Council for several months, and the designation of a ministry addresses direct requests for greater consultation with this sector. Minister Hedderson said his new role is evolving as he meets with groups and individuals in the volunteer and not-for-profit sector, and learns more of the challenges they face.

"There is no doubt that the hundreds of communities in this province are very well served by volunteers every single day," added the Minister. "Our goal as a government is to ensure that this group, who have felt marginalized for many years, now have a direct line to policy-makers and an active and meaningful role in the decisions that impact their work. The lack of support of the NDP to help further this cause is disappointing and I can only hope it does not diminish the stature we are attempting to bring to the volunteer and not-for-profit sector. We, as a government, value these workers as much as those in any sector like the fishery, tourism, agriculture, as well as the teaching and health care profession and so on. And we are very proud to support them in any way we can."

Volunteers and not-for-profit organizations work daily to help run community and province-wide events, social services, animal organizations and many other needs. The Provincial Government has committed in its Blueprint to: formalize a policy and program framework to strengthen and support the community-based sector and to enhance the development of social economy enterprises, especially in rural regions, as means of improving services, providing additional employment; recognize and celebrate the work of community volunteers; through discussions with the Community Services Council and other community organizations in the volunteer sector, produce a scope of work document to set the terms for an initiative to strengthen the relationship between the Provincial Government and the volunteer sector, to improve the grants process, and to identify opportunities for co-operation and collaboration; increase funding for the Community Services Council; continue to implement the recommendations of the task force on the not-for-profit sector; and work with volunteer and non-profit organizations on measures to enhance employment stability for organizational staff.

-30-

Media contact:
Melony O�Neill
Communications
Executive Council
709-729-0557; 689-0928
moneill@gov.nl.ca