It was only a few years ago that Jeff Morris, the president and CEO of Angel Flight of British Columbia was awarded the Governor General’s Caring Canadian Award for his work with the organization he founded in 2002. The award was presented to Morris by the Lieutenant Governor.
By all accounts the award was well deserved given that Angel Flight is a 100 per cent volunteer group of private pilots who give their time and the use of their planes to fly cancer patients to and from treatment centres on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. They also fly children with other, non-communicable illnesses for medical care.
“We’ve been doing this for more than 20 years and we do it because we care about the people we serve,” said Morris. “None of us get paid a salary or an honorarium of any kind – not a penny.”
Yet despite the fact that the provincial government was aware of Angel Flight’s great work, it appears that, when, in September of 2023, they decided to allot $20 million to the transportation of patients, the Sidney group was not considered for funding. Through the Ministry of Health, $10 million was allocated to a Toronto-based medical travel assistance program called Hope Air. The remaining $10 million was granted to the Canadian Cancer Society.
“Listen, I applaud the fact that they’ve decided to put some money into transportation for patients. And I know of Hope Air and what they do, and they do great work. But that’s not the point. Why did they get $10 million, and we weren’t even contacted about the funding,” said Morris.
Morris only became aware of the funding when he heard about it in the media and immediately reached out to the Premier and the Health Ministry with two questions.
“What I said to them was that whilst I applauded the $10 million donation to Hope Air to assist the people of B.C., why was Angel Flight, a local volunteer service with no paid employees not considered for any funding support,” said Morris. “I also asked them if there were any further funds available and would Angel Flight of B.C. be considered for funding in the future.”
The response that Angel Flight received was not at all encouraging.
In a letter from Tracey Martell, the Executive Director of the Cancer Care Branch of the Hospital and Provincial Health Services Division, she wrote:
“We greatly appreciate the work Angel Flight of British Columbia does to support cancer patients. I commend you and your organization for volunteering your services to lessen this impact on patients and families; however, it is not always possible to provide support to the many organizations seeking financial assistance. At this time, we are not able to provide financial support to Angel Flight of British Columbia.”
A subsequent response from the province, did not even mention Angel Flight, and discussed the work Hope Air does.
The responses left Morris cold.
“We are not in competition with Hope Air but would like acknowledgement, and some funding, for a B.C. run non-profit with no paid employees. Hope Air does great work, but they also have an office in Toronto, and paid staff,” said Morris.
“We didn’t expect $10 million, but some funding would have gone a long way," Morris continued. "We have to fundraise for every penny. Our 27 pilots volunteer their time and the use of their planes, and we cover a portion of their fuel costs. If the government had given us .5 per cent of the $10 million they gave Hope Air, it would have covered our fuel costs for a year.”
When Black Press Media reached out to the province to determine how the funding recipients were decided upon, the responses we received did not provide that information.
Black Press Media also reached out to the Health Ministry for an interview but never received a response.
But Stephanie Aldridge, the executive director of Hope Air in British Columbia, confirmed that there had been no application process or set qualifying criteria for the funding in question. She said that Hope Air had simply been contacted by the government with the news that they would be receiving the substantial funding.
It was Morris had suspected all along.
“We’ve done more than 2,200 flights since 2002 and the need for the service keeps increasing. This week alone we’re flying 16 children up to Camp Good Times (a camp for children with cancer) for example,” said Morris. “I guess that, at this point, we just have to get the word out to ask for public support for what we do. Again, we have no paid staff and I run Angel Flight from my home. But I guess that the B.C. government would rather give the money to a Toronto-based company with paid staff and expenses. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. Again, if we had been given one half of one per cent of what they gave Hope Air, it would have been a game changer.”
Regardless, Morris vows to continue.
“This is a labour of love for everyone in Angel Flight. I’ve got pictures in my home of some of the people we’ve helped, and they mean more to me than you can imagine,” Morris said.
For more information or to contribute to Angel Flight, visit www.angelflight.ca.
