Sask. gov’t to fund 77 Veterans Service Club projects

Ahead of Remembrance Day, the provincial government has announced the Saskatchewan Veterans Service Club Support Program has committed to funding 77 projects for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The program has been in place since the 2019-20 fiscal year. It provides grants for facility repairs, upgrades and operations to “non-profit clubs in the province that support veterans,” according to a media release

The release noted $1.5 million goes into the program each year.

“What we are finding is branches are now able to make use of this money to do a variety of different improvements, from HVAC repairs, air conditioning, accessibility modification, new flooring (and) new tables. All that sort of thing is kind of encompassed within the grant,” said Chad Wagner, provincial executive director for the Royal Canadian Legion, Saskatchewan Command.

“Not only does it allow these (branches or units) to be able to not have to fundraise for these pieces of equipment, but these new pieces of equipment are also more efficient, allowing (a) lower cost of operating and also creating a better carbon footprint so that they’re more efficient equipment.”

The Royal Canadian Legion, Saskatchewan Command administrates the program.

The Legion also sits on the adjudication committee with the Saskatchewan Army, Navy and Air Force Veterans (ANAVETS).

Premier Scott Moe told reporters it was an “honour” for the government to provide funding through this program and that the funding makes things more “certain” for veterans’ clubs.

“What this funding really does is support the initiatives that our veterans and our vets clubs are already participating in in their respective community,” Moe said.

Moe referenced the 312 projects that have been funded through the program since its expansion.

“From our perspective, it’s an honour to support and to work alongside our ANAVETS and Legion clubs across the province,” Moe said.

“This is a time of year for us to make note of that — what they do do in our community — as we lead into our Remembrance Day ceremonies on Nov. 11.”

Moe said Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Laura Ross has been a staunch advocate for the program.

“This is such a worthwhile program,” she said. “(It) started out a couple years ago … but we realized that our Legions and our vet facilities really were in dire need of retrofitting and reinsuring that they have accessibility and safety to be able to do that.

“As they are not-profits, their ability to fundraise was limited. So what we did was we sat down, went through the whole program and said ‘How best can we ensure that these very valuable facilities are being maintained (and) are going to be still stable within communities?’ So that’s when we came up with the program we have today.”

Ross said $4.5 million in funding has gone to 312 applicants in 119 different communities since the program started.