SASKATOON – It’s hard to tell if Manitoba’s rural stress line is dead or dying.
“At the present time it’s not operating,” said Greg Arason, chair of the advisory committee to the stress line.
The Manitoba government won’t provide any more funding for the project.
“There is no further contribution to be made. We have been very clear with the partners that this is the position we have taken,” said Manitoba health minister James McCrae during the last legislative assembly. He said funding was “on a one-time basis with a contribution to get them going.”
Read Also
Land crash warning rejected
A technical analyst believes that Saskatchewan land values could be due for a correction, but land owners and FCC say supply/demand fundamentals drive land prices – not mathematical models
According to Rosann Wowchuk, the NDP’s agriculture critic, now that the government has withdrawn funding, farm organizations are pulling their support.
Many organizations and rural people are upset by the closing. “I even get several calls here in my office … saying this is unfair,” Wowchuk said.
United forces
McCrae believes his government provides enough mental health services to rural Manitobans without the stress line. He urged the line to unite forces with Klinic, a Winnipeg-based urban help line.
Arason said there will be a meeting of the groups about a possible merger.
But rural people wouldn’t find the urban help line as effective, according to Wowchuk. She says they need, “people who are trained for and understand rural issues.”
