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» babble   » walking the talk   » feminism   » Will the Conservatives keep funding the Status of Women?

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Author Topic: Will the Conservatives keep funding the Status of Women?
Digiteyes
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posted 21 September 2006 06:37 PM      Profile for Digiteyes   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
From today's Toronto Star:
Minister mum on Status of Women funding
Sep. 21, 2006. 06:50 PM
JENNIFER DITCHBURN
CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA — The federal cabinet minister in charge of promoting women's equality has failed to come to the defence of her own department, heightening fears the Conservative government is poised to slash it.

For the second day in a row, Bev Oda did not answer direct questions Thursday about continued funding for Status of Women Canada. At least one women's group that receives money from the agency has been forced to close its doors in recent weeks.

"Can the minister tell us which of these women's groups are so inefficient that she's decided to pull the plug?" asked Bloc MP Maria Mourani.

Oda responded: "In a few short months the new Conservative government has provided safety in communities by putting more law enforcement officers on the street. We have provided $1.4 billion in affordable housing. We introduced legislation and movement on human trafficking."

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty also would not comment directly on whether funding for the Status of Women, an agency under the Canadian Heritage department, would continue. A review of government spending is due next week.

"The expenditure reductions will be announced next week or the week after that, so I'm not going to anticipate them," Flaherty said.

Doubts about the minority government's support for Status of Women sprouted over the summer when a number of pro-Conservative groups and Internet bloggers began a campaign to have the agency eliminated completely, saying it funds "radical feminist" groups.

Most of the pressure came from REAL Women Canada, a group that says it objectives include promoting equality. The organization, which has not received federal funding for several years, is also against abortion and same-sex marriage. It advocates a ``judeo-Christian" understanding of marriage and family life.


I don't want to be called to task for breaking copyright, so you'll have to go to their website to see the rest of f the article, or see if you can find it elsewhere, since it's a CP article.


From: Toronto | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
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posted 21 September 2006 06:46 PM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
There's no problem with providing a link to the web story. Just make sure you use tinyurl or something similar so it doesn't cause sidescroll.

ETA: I went ahead and did it for you. Minister mum on Status of Women funding

[ 21 September 2006: Message edited by: Boom Boom ]


From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Pride for Red Dolores
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posted 09 October 2006 12:32 PM      Profile for Pride for Red Dolores     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
As for Oda's comments about increasing law enforcement- what good is that if you're poor, or have an unwanted preganancy, or your husband's beating you regularly and you're to scared to leave ? Money is more than just money in this case- these agencies promote quality of life and social change for the better.

If the Conservatives shut the the Status of women down it's going to create quite a stir. I didn'tn realize the REAl was such a threat.


From: Montreal | Registered: Feb 2006  |  IP: Logged
Stargazer
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posted 10 October 2006 03:41 AM      Profile for Stargazer     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I didn't either. But it now seems logical to conclude that Stevie Harper is following in the slippers of Bush and has been and is actively courting the religious right (many of them funded with US money).

Time to ditch this fool and his horrid government.


From: Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist. | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
obscurantist
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posted 11 October 2006 06:05 PM      Profile for obscurantist     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Pam Kapoor and Audra have set up a website about the Status of Women Canada cuts and the changes to their mandate:

Statusreport.ca will house objective information about the federal agency, along with tools and motivation for people to lobby the federal government to revisit changes made to the agency's funding and objectives.

(This topic has also been discussed in this thread, but the bulk of that discussion was about the Court Challenges Program, so I thought I'd post in this thread which is specifically about SWC.)


From: an unweeded garden | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
audra trower williams
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posted 11 October 2006 07:13 PM      Profile for audra trower williams   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Thanks very much for posting that.
From: And I'm a look you in the eye for every bar of the chorus | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
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posted 11 October 2006 07:18 PM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Hi Audra!
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 11 October 2006 07:34 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Hey, that's an awesome site, Audra!

I've been fuming about this, but you're doing something about it. More importantly, you're giving us concrete examples of stuff we can do rather than fume.

Good on you! That's really great. I hope that site really takes off.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
audra trower williams
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posted 11 October 2006 07:41 PM      Profile for audra trower williams   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Thanks! The response so far has been good. We had almost 500 hits today! Please everyone, share the link with your networks.

xoxo


From: And I'm a look you in the eye for every bar of the chorus | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
Kevin_Laddle
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posted 11 October 2006 07:46 PM      Profile for Kevin_Laddle   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I've got a huge e-mail list of people interested in this very topic!!! Expect plenty more hits in the days to come!!
From: ISRAEL IS A TERRORIST STATE. ASK THE FAMILIES OF THE QANA MASSACRE VICTIMS. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged

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