It may still only be about a two-hour flight or short phone call away, but moving the Status of Women Canada B.C./Yukon office to Edmonton will mean dramatic changes in service, say Yukon women's groups.

'It's nonsensical,' territorial Women's Directorate Minister Elaine Taylor said in an interview this morning.

On Friday afternoon, the Yukon Status of Women Council released a statement expressing its outrage at the cuts to $5 million in federal funds to Status of Women Canada.

Among the cuts are the closure of 12 of the 16 regional offices, including the B.C./Yukon office in Vancouver. Of the 131 jobs in the offices, 61 are being eliminated.

The move, the women's council noted, means reduced access by women across the country to Status of Women Canada, especially in rural and remote regions.

In addition to serving the B.C./Yukon region, the Edmonton office will also serve the Prairies and the N.W.T.

'No plans have been announced to increase the staff complement in the remaining offices,' it was noted by the Yukon Status of Women.

'The capacity to serve Yukon women in a timely manner will be reduced due to the increase in workload and the huge geographic area they will be required to serve. This will drastically reduce service to the North and the Yukon in particular.'

In the past, Taylor noted the regional office in B.C. has helped Yukon women's groups access federal funding for programs aimed at addressing issues like violence against women.

'It's an issue of dire concern for the North,' she said.

The federal money has also helped groups like the local Status of Women Council, Liard Aboriginal Women's Society and others leverage funds from a variety of sources.

The B.C./Yukon office has provided one-on-one service for women's groups here with programming, advocacy and in building a rapport, Taylor said.

Staff at the B.C./Yukon office knew workers in the Yukon as well as the issues and took little time in assisting with requests, Charlotte Hrenchuk, speaking for the Yukon council, said this morning.

'They were pretty prompt,' she said.

Just how long it will take to get that kind of service from the Edmonton office is unknown, though Hrenchuk expects it to be a lengthy period considering the workload staff there will now have.

Taylor wrote a letter, sent last Wednesday, to federal Status of Women Minister Beverly Oda expressing the concerns of the territory. It came after numerous attempts to reconvene a conference of provincial/territorial ministers on women's issues and another letter last August over concerns of cuts to women's groups.

As of this morning, Taylor said she had not received any response on those requests.

Hrenchuk remains uncertain about whether public statements by women's groups can make a difference.

The federal government, she said, hasn't been listening to women before or after the cuts were announced.

Taylor said she plans to continue voicing Yukon concerns to the federal government.

She added in the territory, the Yukon Party government has provided women's groups with $20,000 in the last fiscal year to do strategic planning.

In its first mandate, money for the women's directorate was doubled, she said.

Now, in its second term, Taylor said, the Yukon Party will look to continue that.

'We'll be looking to offer long-term funding,' she said.

Meanwhile, federal opposition members continued to take issue with the cuts during question period today in the House of Commons.

Oda defended the government during the session, arguing there will be $5 million available to communities across the country to directly assist women.