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Stephen Harper's Hit List
Here is a list of government and non-profit organizations whose funding Harperites have cut or ended. Dateline: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 by Dennis Gruending The Conservative government - or the Harper government as it insists upon being called - has either fallen or engineered its own defeat and the election is upon us. This is perhaps a good time to take stock of whom the Harperites have spent their time attacking in the past several years. (They have also lavished favour on their own, appointing them to be judges, to the Immigration Review Board, the CRTC or other federal agencies). The Harper government has terminated the jobs of a dozen high-profile critics in vital public interest positions. The list of organizations that have been shut down and cut back, and the individuals bullied, is a long one. We can expect it to grow if, as seems likely, Harper is re-elected. I have written extensively about some of these actions, including the government's attack on the ecumenical group KAIROS and the shameful treatment of the Rights and Democracy organization, but I cannot claim that my list is comprehensive. Here, then, is an unofficial list of organizations whose funding has been cut or ended by the Harper government, including government agencies that supported civil society groups. The following list was compiled primarily by Judith Szabo and by Pearl Eliadis for 'Voices', a coalition of organizations and individuals which describes itself as "united in defence of democracy, free speech and transparency in Canada. Organizations and watchdogs whose staff have been fired, forced out, publicly maligned, or who have resigned in protest: Canada Firearms Program (Chief Supt. Marty Cheliak, Director General) Canadian Wheat Board (Adran Measner, President and CEO) Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (Linda Keen, chair) Foreign Affairs (Richard Colvin, diplomat) Military Police Complaints Commission (head, Peter Tinsley) Ombudsman for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces (Yves Coté) Parliamentary Budget Officer (Kevin Page) (funding cut) RCMP Police Complaints Commission (Paul Kennedy, chair) Rights & Democracy (International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development - Rémy Beauregard, President) Statistics Canada (Munir Sheikh, Deputy Minister) Veterans Ombudsman (Col. Pat Stogran) Victims of Crime, Ombudsman (Steve Sullivan) Community organizations, NGOs and research bodies reported to have been cut or defunded 1 Action travail des femmes Afghan Association of Ontario, Canada Toronto Alberta Network of Immigrant Women Alternatives (Quebec) Association féminine d'éducation et d'action sociale (AFEAS) Bloor Information and Life Skills Centre 2 Brampton Neighbourhood Services (Ontario) 3 Canadian Arab Federation Canadian Child Care Federation Canadian Council for International Cooperation Canadian Council on Learning Canadian Council on Social Development Canadian Heritage Centre for Research and Information on Canada Canadian International Development Agency, Office of Democratic Governance 4 Canadian Labour Business Centre Canada Policy Research Networks Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women Canada School of Public Service Canadian Teachers' Federation International program Canadian Volunteerism Initiative Centre de documentation sur l'éducation des adultes et la condition feminine Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA) Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples (Toronto) Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada Childcare Resource and Research Unit, Specialink Climate Action Network Community Access Program, internet access for communities at libraries, post offices, community centres Community Action Resource Centre (CARC) Conseil d'intervention pour l'accès des femmes au travail (CIAFT) Court Challenges Program (except language rights cases and legacy cases) Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood Centre Toronto: (Funding cut by CIC in December 2010). Democracy Council 5 Department of Foreign Affairs, Democracy Unit 6 Elspeth Heyworth Centre for Women Toronto: (Funding cut by CIC in December 2010). Environment: Youth International Internship Program Eritrean Canadian Community Centre of Metropolitan Toronto (Funding cut by CIC in December 2010) Feminists for Just and Equitable Public Policy (FemJEPP) in Nova Scotia First Nations Child and Family Caring Society First Nations and Inuit Tobacco Control Program Forum of Federations Global Environmental Monitoring System HRD Adult Learning and Literacy programs HRD Youth Employment Programs Hamilton's Settlement and Integration Services Organization (Ontario) 7 Immigrant settlement programs Inter-Cultural Neighbourhood Social Services (Peel) 8 International Planned Parenthood Federation Kairos 9 Law Reform Commission of Canada Mada Al-Carmel Arab Centre Marie Stopes International, a maternal health agency - has received only a promise of "conditional" funding if it avoids any and all connection with abortion. MATCH International National association of Women and the Law (NAWL) Native Women's Association of Canada New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity Northwood Neighbourhood Services (Toronto: (Funding cut by CIC in December 2010). Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses (OAITH) Ontario Association of Transitional Housing (OAITH) Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care Pride Toronto Réseau des Tables régionales de groupes de femmes du Québec Riverdale Women's Centre in Toronto Sierra Club of BC Sisters in Spirit Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada South Asian Women's Centre 10 Status of Women (mandate also changed to exclude "gender equality and political justice" and to ban all advocacy, policy research and lobbying) Tropicana Community Services Womanspace Resource Centre (Lethbridge, Alberta) Women's Innovative Justice Initiative - Nova Scotia Workplace Equity/Employment Equity Program York-Weston Community Services Centre Toronto Notes: 1 "Defunding" is the term used by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. In many instances, it is about turning down grant applications rather than cutting off funding midstream, but for organizations who rely on renewed program funding to support their work, and have done so for many years, it amounts to the same thing. 2 Citizenship and Immigration Canada cut or significantly reduced their principal funding - approximately $471,000. Source: The Globe and Mail. 3 Cut in the last few years by federal government because of alleged mismanagement: Source canadianimmigrant.ca 4 The Office of Democratic Governance, which channeled much of Canada's democracy funding, has been disbanded by CIDA. 5 A forum for discussion and collaboration among Canadian democracy promotion agencies. It has reportedly disappeared despite stated earlier commitments and interest from both government and NGOs to see it continue and even expand. 6 Folded into the Francophonie and Commonwealth division. 7 Cut in the last few years by federal government because of alleged mismanagement: Source canadianimmigrant.ca 8 Cut in the last few years by federal government because of alleged mismanagement: Source canadianimmigrant.ca 9 Including Anglican Church of Canada, Christian Reformed Church in North America, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Mennonite Central Committee, Presbyterian Church in Canada, United Church of Canada, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Canadian Religious Conference, and the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund. 10 The Centre has lost $571,000 - all of its federal funding - which represents nearly 70 percent of its overall budget. Source: The Globe and Mail. Dennis Gruending is an Ottawa-based author and former Member of Parliament. He is also a former director of information for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. His books include the biography, Emmett Hall: Establishment Radical and his latest book is Truth to Power: The Journalism of a Benedictine Monk, recently released by Kingsley Publishing Services of Calgary. Wow - 50,000 signers in 24 hours! Sign below and share this email with everyone --
Dear friends across Canada, This week, a leaked report alleged that the Harper Government illegally handed 50 million taxpayer dollars to a single Conservative riding – and then covered it up as G8 summit spending. With Canadians heading to the polls in mere weeks, we need to know the truth about Harper. Sign the petition to call for the release of the report: This week, a leaked report alleged that the Harper Government illegally handed 50 million taxpayer dollars to a single Conservative riding – and then covered it up as G8 summit spending. With Canadians heading to the polls in mere weeks, we need to know the truth about Harper and his loose-fisted ministers. Parliamentary experts say that no law bars the Auditor General from immediately releasing this report to the public. In fact, it would serve our bruised democracy to reveal the facts about G8 spending before Canadians are asked to choose the next government. We need to know if Harper illegally doled out public money to his supporters before we cast our votes. Let's raise a massive public call to the AG and all 5 parties to agree immediately to release this report. If enough us join, our outcry will compel the AG to protect democracy by revealing the truth before the vote. Sign the petition below - we'll deliver it when we hit 75,000 signatures: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/canada_save_democracy/?vl This is the first time in Canadian history that an AG draft report has been leaked. Members of Parliament knew that the alleged illegal conduct documented in this report was outrageous - they had no choice but to violate the tradition of confidentiality surrounding draft AG reports. Since the scandal broke, the AG has been “sent” to Nunavut. But she cannot escape a public outcry – nor an official request from all political leaders demanding that the truth be revealed before election day. A fair and informed vote depends on exposing the truth about Harper and his G8 spending to the Canadian public. Let’s send a flood of messages to the leaders of all five major political parties calling on them to file an official – and immediate – request with the Auditor General for the release of the G8 spending report. Then we'll bring our call directly to the AG: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/canada_save_democracy/?vl The Harper Government fell because it was the first in Canadian history to be found in contempt of Parliament for refusing to tell the truth about public spending. This election is in large part about accountability, and if there is yet another massive misappropriation of taxpayer money, we have a right to know. Let’s fight for the chance to make an informed choice at the polls. With hope, Emma, Ricken, Janet and the rest of the Avaaz. team SOURCES Sheila slams Tory G8 spending(Montreal Gazette) http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Sheila+slams+Tory+spending/4599222/story.html G8 spending: Did taxpayers get their money’s worth? (The Toronto Star) http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/973788--g8-spending-did-taxpayers-get-their-money-s-worth?bn=1 Will auditor’s G8 report postpone Speaker Peter Milliken’s retirement? (The Globe and Mail) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/will-auditors-g8-report-postpone-speaker-peter-millikens-retirement/article1980442// Support the Avaaz community! We're entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way -- donate here. Avaaz.org is a 8-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 13 countries on 4 continents and operates in 14 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. This message was sent to pattidalton@gmail.com. To change your email address, language, or other information, send a message to unsubscribe@avaaz.org, contact us via this form -- or simply click here to unsubscribe. To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to us at www.avaaz.org/en/contact or call us at +1-888-922-8229 (US). |
G8-Gate: Canada's right to knowDear friends across Canada,
This week, a leaked report alleged that the Harper Government illegally handed 50 million taxpayer dollars to a single Conservative riding – and then covered it up as G8 summit spending. With Canadians heading to the polls in mere weeks, we need to know the truth about Harper. Sign the petition to call for the release of the report: This week, a leaked report alleged that the Harper Government illegally handed 50 million taxpayer dollars to a single Conservative riding – and then covered it up as G8 summit spending. With Canadians heading to the polls in mere weeks, we need to know the truth about Harper and his loose-fisted ministers. Parliamentary experts say that no law bars the Auditor General from immediately releasing this report to the public. In fact, it would serve our bruised democracy to reveal the facts about G8 spending before Canadians are asked to choose the next government. In the interest of accountability, Canadians need to know if Harper illegally doled out public money to his supporters before we cast our votes. Let's raise a massive public call to the AG and all 5 parties to agree immediately to release this report. If enough us join, our outcry will compel the AG to protect democracy by revealing the truth before the vote. Sign the petition below - we'll deliver it when we hit 75,000 signatures: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/canada_save_democracy/?vl This is the first time in Canadian history that an AG draft report has been leaked. Members of Parliament knew that the alleged illegal conduct documented in this report was outrageous - they had no choice but to violate the tradition of confidentiality surrounding draft AG reports. Since the scandal broke, the AG has been “sent” to Nunavut. But she cannot escape a public outcry – nor an official request from all political leaders demanding that the truth be revealed before election day. A fair and informed vote depends on exposing the truth about Harper and his G8 spending to the Canadian public. Let’s send a flood of messages to the leaders of all five major political parties calling on them to file an official – and immediate – request with the Auditor General for the release of the G8 spending report. Then we'll bring our call directly to the AG: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/canada_save_democracy/?vl The Harper Government fell because it was the first in Canadian history to be found in contempt of Parliament for refusing to tell the truth about public spending. This election is in large part about accountability, and if there is yet another massive misappropriation of taxpayer money, we have a right to know. Let’s fight for the chance to make an informed choice at the polls. With hope, Emma, Ricken, Janet and the rest of the Avaaz. team SOURCES Sheila slams Tory G8 spending(Montreal Gazette) http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Sheila+slams+Tory+spending/4599222/story.html G8 spending: Did taxpayers get their money’s worth? (The Toronto Star) http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/973788--g8-spending-did-taxpayers-get-their-money-s-worth?bn=1 Will auditor’s G8 report postpone Speaker Peter Milliken’s retirement? (The Globe and Mail) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/will-auditors-g8-report-postpone-speaker-peter-millikens-retirement/article1980442// LAWRENCE MARTIN — By the way prime minister, this is not a police state
Posted on Wed, Apr 6, 2011, 5:20 am by Lawrence Martin How many examples do we need before we wonder about the state of our democracy? The Harper government’s latest affront to the D-word is attracting a lot of attention. When the prime minister’s operatives frogmarch someone out of a rally because of alleged ties to another party, it well might. The Tory heavies told a 19-year-old student she was not welcome because they had discovered she once posed for a picture with Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff. As some wag put it, this isn’t communist-era Bulgaria. And then, of course, there was the widely publicized incident last week at which reporters were barricaded behind a fence and only allowed to ask the PM a few questions. At least the prime minister’s men didn’t act as they once did in Charlottetown when they sent police to remove journalists from a hotel lobby where they were trying to cover a Tory caucus meeting. We recall last month that Harper was found in contempt of Parliament by the Speaker of the Commons for repeatedly denying the people’s representatives their right to see documents. It was a first in our parliamentary history and if a touch of remorse was in order, it wasn’t forthcoming. The prime minister dismissively described the rulings as parliamentary manoeuvring. The learning curve. Where is it? It was thought that after the prime minister shut down Parliament at the end of 2009, touching off demonstrations by thousands of Canadians calling him a dictator, he would treat the institution with more respect. There appeared to be a special need for him to proceed cautiously in this campaign because in addition to the contempt embarrassments, some of his team members were hit with charges related to their financial management of the 2006 election campaign. There had also been the uproar over cabinet minister Bev Oda’s document-tampering and a storm over the government’s commissioner of integrity who turned away whistleblowers by the score and walked off with a half-million-dollar settlement replete with a gag order. But Harper has appointed fierce partisans in Guy Giorno and Jenny Byrne to run his campaign. They share with the prime minister what former cabinet minister David Emerson, in describing Harper, has termed a visceral hatred for opponents. These people don’t know what a high road looks like. Their pathological partisanship has led to excesses of the aforementioned type as well as many others. Harper once said the toleration of dissent is the hallmark of democracy. But its toleration has been replaced by something more akin to obliteration. It has been seen in his record number of truth-shaving personal attack ads, in calling the premier of Ontario “the small man of Confederation,” in unfairly smearing opponents as anti-Israel, in attacking diplomat Richard Colvin. This PM’s view of democracy was exemplified in the issuance of a secret handbook instructing committee chairpersons how to make their committees dysfunctional, in his going back on his promise to allow committees to appoint their own chairs and to muzzling cabinet members in question period, leaving it to House leader John Baird to provide non-answers. If information is the lifeblood of democracy, democracy is on life support in Ottawa. The PM brought in a government-wide vetting system, a first in Canadian history, under which virtually every single communication had to be pre-approved by central command. He eliminated the long-form census, suppressed studies in such departments as Justice that ran against his ideology and put up myriad roadblocks to the functioning of the Access to Information system. He even tried to have the Auditor General’s communications vetted — until she fought back. Even though he came out of the Reform movement, democracy Harper style has meant scant policy input from his own party rank and file, or none at all. Democratic challenges to nominations such as that of Rob Anders in Calgary have been ruthlessly snuffed out. The centre has seen watchdogs replaced by lapdogs, agencies and tribunals brought to heel by the firing of directors (Nuclear Safety Commissioner Linda Keen), the stacking of boards (Rights and Democracy), and intimidation by lawsuits (Elections Canada). Given the record, what happened to the student who tried to attend a Conservative rally shouldn’t come as a terrible surprise. Harper has been told on numerous occasion that if he is to enhance his standing, he need show some generosity of spirit and respect for the system. But he doesn’t appear to have it in him. He forgets too often that we live in a democracy, not an authoritarian state. © 2011 iPolitics Inc. Dear CCPA Friends and Members,
A few items for you today: Corporate tax cuts not delivering on job creation Silencing Dissent: The Conservative Record A primer for social change in the new Our Schools/Our Selves The latest on our Federal Election blog A new CCPA study shows that corporate tax cuts are not delivering on job creation. Corporate Income Taxes, Profit, and Employment Performance of Canada's Largest Companies, by CCPA researcher David MacDonald, tracked 198 of Canada's largest corporations and found that they are making 50% more profit and paying 20% less tax than they did a decade ago. Yet the number of jobs they created was lower than the average employment growth in the economy as a whole. http://e2ma.net/go/9247709681/3563484/104897737/34091/goto:http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/corporate-income-taxes-profit-and-employment-performance-canadas-largest-compa The CCPA's law-student intern, Maria Gergin, has compiled a comprehensive account of the Harper government's crackdown on opposing views. Her article, Silencing Dissent: The Conservative Record, lists a staggering 79 organizations that have had their funding cut or dramatically decreased. The article even drew the attention of Margaret Atwood, who posted it on the social networking site Twitter. Click here to take a look. The new issue of Our Schools/Our Selves is out. The theme of this issue , “Critical Mass: A primer for social change,” tries to get at a key question: Given social media, generational shifts, identity politics, financial challenges and an increasingly organized and well- funded conservative opposition, do we need to change how we “do” activism? Click here to download a preview of the table of contents, editorial, and the article "How anti-oppression activists are failing to build a movement" by Ashley Burczak. Don't miss the latest posts on our Federal Election blog: – Michael McBane, National Coordinator of the Canadian Health Coalition, on the Harper Government's record on Medicare. – CCPA Senior Economist Armine Yalnizyan on the middle class being the "electoral elephant" in the room. – Andrew Jackson, Chief Economist with the Canadian Labour Congress and CCPA research associate, ponders whether or not the partial job recovery will stay on track. If you haven't already done so, please consider becoming a member or donating to the CCPA. You can do so on our website by clicking here. All the best, Bruce Campbell, Executive Director Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives 205-75 Albert Street, Ottawa, ON K1P 5E7 tel: 613-563-1341 fax: 613-233-1458 email: info@policyalternatives.ca http://www.policyalternatives.ca |