From today's Toronto Star:
Minister mum on Status of Women funding
Sep. 21, 2006. 06:50 PM
JENNIFER DITCHBURN
CANADIAN PRESSOTTAWA — 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.