Press: Millions of dollars in homeless aid was never spent: report

February 18, 2007
DEAN BEEBY
Canadian Press

OTTAWA — More than $70-million in federal money earmarked for the homeless was never spent, despite an urgent need across the country, says an internal study.

The draft report, obtained under the Access to Information Act, found no satisfactory explanation for why government officials appeared to withhold available cash from Canada's soup kitchens and emergency shelters.

“There are substantial amounts of funding ($70M+) that were available but not spent,” says the document.

“If the need was as large as described . . . then it would seem that the expenditures should be closer to actual budget allocations. The evaluation team was unable to determine the rationale for this discrepancy.”

Read the rest here.