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Federal agency determined to derail critics of its 33 year ideological crusade BY LifeSiteNews.com By Hilary White  TORONTO, August 14, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Status of Women, Canada’s federal agency promoting feminism in Parliament for over 30 years is under scrutiny and is fighting back, all at taxpayer’s expense, says REAL Women of Canada, a national pro-marriage, pro-family women’s rights organization. Status of Women, established by the Trudeau Liberals in 1973 to promote “gender equity” in Canadian politics, has engineered a “counter offensive” against the current efforts to force the agency to come clean on its ideological bias.  In April this year, REAL Women of Canada sent a letter to Canada’s MP’s calling for the defunding and disbanding of Status of Women. Since then, a backlash of letters, media columns and emails to REAL Women’s Ottawa and Toronto offices has come from the taxpayer funded feminist agency.  In an action alert sent out to supporters, REAL Women said that the evidence indicates that Status of Women itself arranged to have an Access to Information request that would reveal all correspondence to and from MP’s in response to REAL Women’s letter. This, said Gwen Landoldt, REAL Women vice president, will expose MP’s who might be questioning the agency’s usefulness to pressure from the feminist lobby.  This strategy, Landolt said, is going to be used in the next election. “That the Conservative government dared to question the feminist agenda, is going to be a valuable stick for them come election time.”  Columns from prominent Canadian feminist journalists have appeared slamming REAL Women for having criticized Status of Women.  On June 30, feminist columnist Heather Mallick wrote on the website of the CBC that REAL Women represents a threat to all that feminism has wrought, from the gay movement to abortion-on-demand. Mallick wrote, “If REAL Women were successful, the result would be bullying of these women: those wanting off welfare but who can’t afford child care…poor women who need abortions and women beaten to a pulp who are afraid to venture on the street.”  Landoldt responded, “Funny how all of a sudden, after years of ignoring us outright, REAL Women of Canada is getting so much press. I wonder what they are afraid of.”  The letters and columns have all emphasized the supposed threat to funding for shelters for battered women should REAL Women’s demands gain a hearing in Parliament. Support of battered women’s shelters, as with all social agencies, however, is under provincial, not federal jurisdiction. REAL Women points out that the appeal to the hard case of battered and impoverished women is a red herring to play on the emotions of Canadians.  Landoldt told LifeSiteNews.com that in the 33 years of its existence, Status of Women has never funded or represented any group that has any other political or ideological position than those of the radical feminist agenda. “Why should the government continue paying for an organization that has always represented only a tiny portion of public opinion, to lobby the government against itself?” Landoldt said. “Canada is the country with one of the most powerful feminist lobbies in the world and it is entirely because it is being funded by the government, or in other words, by taxpayers. No one has dared to question or criticize it until now. Why do we have a standing committee on the status of women? Why a cabinet position? Why not for men? Why not for some other group?” Landoldt asked.  REAL Women’s criticisms of Status of Women have garnered some results. Ian Brodie, Stephen Harper’s chief of Staff said the REAL Women letter “raises interesting points that warrant close inspection,” and forwarded it to Bev Oda, the minister for Heritage and the Status of Women. On the same day that Mallick’s column appeared, REAL Women was, for the first time, invited to a Status of Women meeting in Ottawa to air their concerns.   Landoldt said, “We do want this radical agency to be disbanded in the government, the cabinet and the standing committee. It’s the only thing that has sustained the feminist grip in Canada. They do not have public support but are keeping going at public expense.”  Landoldt said that until Parliament resumes there will not be much movement. In the meantime, REAL Women is calling on supporters to contact their MP’s with their concerns about Status of Women.  REAL Women urges letters of concern be sent to:Your MP  House of Commons  Parliament Buildings  Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6 or, even more effective would be a letter, visit or telephone call to the MP at the local riding office.* Canadians may find out how to contact their MP by going to :http://www.lifesite.net/getinvolved/politics/canada/findyourmp.html  The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, PC, MP  Prime Minister of Canada  Langevin Building, 80 Wellington Street  Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2  Fax: 613 941-6900  The Hon. Beverley J. Oda, PC, MP  Minister of Status of Women   Jules Leger Bldg.  12th Floor, 15 Eddy Street  Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0M5  Fax: 819 994-1267  The Hon. Diane Finley, PC, MP  Minister of Human Resources and Social Development  Place du Portage, Phase IV, 14th Floor  140 Promenade du Portage  Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0J9  Fax: 819 994-0448  The Hon. Bill Graham  Interim Leader of the Liberal Party  House of Commons  Parliament Buildings  Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6  Fax: 613 996-9607  The Hon. Jack Layton  Leader of the NDP Party  House of Commons  Parliament Buildings  Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6  Fax: 613 947-0868 http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/canadian-taxpayers-funding-radical-feminist-counter-offensive/

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