News

By Peter J. Smith

OTTAWA, September 21, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Conservative government’s proposal to cut $1 billion in federal spending has radical feminist groups and their supporters howling in protest, reports the Toronto Star, since the government’s spending review means many may no longer have Canadian taxpayer dollars to subsidize their anti-life and anti-family agenda.

Canadian liberals and feminists have cried that the spending review seeks to remove federal funding from Status of Women (SoW) Canada, which funds other satellite radical feminist organizations across Canada to the tune of $10 million per year.

Liberal MP Maria Minna (Beaches-East York) claimed the government was surreptitiously defunding SoW because it would provoke a public “backlash” maintaining, “The expense review can be sort of the cover for undermining the program, the cutbacks and funding of the organizations.”

“Women’s organizations are being forced to shut their doors,” said New Democratic Party MP Irene Mathyssen (London-Fanshawe), who leveled the charge that the government is “using stall tactics by not responding to these funding applications and they’re allowing important programs to shut down one by one.”

However, many Canadians have tired of the government providing life-support to radical feminist organizations that need taxpayer dollars to promote a radical agenda inconsistent with their values. SoW has come under increasing public scrutiny after Canadian bloggers began demanding what the radical feminist organization had done with its $23 million budget, besides benefit itself and intimidate its critics. (https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/aug/06082504.html)

On August 14, LifeSiteNews.com reported that Status of Women (SoW) was likely employing taxpayer dollars to subsidize a massive media counter offensive against human rights group REAL Women of Canada, which sent letters to MPs demanding SoW be defunded and dissolved. (https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/aug/06081501.html)

Early next week, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Treasury Board President John Baird will announce the results of the full-scale review designed to ferret out programs and operations that waste taxpayer dollars and are outmoded or inconsistent with government priorities.

Conservatives are following through on an election pledge to reduce federal spending in its $188 billion budget, promising to identify savings of $1 billion this year and another $1 billion for next year.
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“I’m not going to speculate, but overall, in terms of the fiscal plan, we are committed to controlling spending and we intend to keep our commitment to Canadians,” the Finance Minister told reporters, after a meeting of Conservative MPs. “We were very clear that we’re a party of fiscal responsibility and that includes spending control.”

Read original LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Canadian Taxpayers Funding Radical Feminist Counter-Offensive
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/aug/06081501.html

Grassroots Blogger Reaction against Canada’s Status of Women Prompts Media Action
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/aug/06082504.html