Almost a year later, and they are no closer to getting an answer.Despite a recent meeting with the attorney general, Ontario´s rape crisis centres say they have no idea if additional funding will come through - and they are now simply asking the government to provide them with a timeline of when they might find out.As the centres `wait for information from the ministry, survivors of sexual violence, meanwhile, continue to wait for services,` said Nicole Pietsch, co-ordinator of the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres, noting that yearly calls have shot up to more than 50,000 from 30,000 a decade ago.The Feb. 6 meeting with Attorney General Caroline Mulroney and her staff `was disappointing - we feel we are in the same place we were last October, which was the last time we spoke to policy advisers,` Pietsch said.Mulroney, she added, `offered appreciation for the important work folks in our sector are doing. But she didn´t give any new information; she didn´t have anything to share about a gender-based violence action plan.Read more:Rape crisis centres to meet with Attorney General as they seek promised fundingOntario´s rape crisis centres urge Ford government to keep promise to boost fundingRape crisis centres await promised funding`There was nothing concrete for next steps.`Mulroney spokesperson Jesse Robichaud repeated an earlier statement on the issue, saying `our government is committed to providing victims, their families and witnesses of violent crimes with the supports and services they need, in the communities where they live.`Our staff have met with the coalition and we will continue to engage with it on these important issues.`Ontario´s English and French-language rape crisis centres had been counting on the 30 per cent increase over three years - announced by the previous Liberal government - which they now realize will likely not materialize for this fiscal year which ends next March.Some still have the same staffing levels they did in the 1990s, ...
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