Anti-abortion group claims grant program violates rights
Application requirement ends up in court
• A Toronto antiabortion group is alleging in federal court that the government is violating its rights by requiring it to endorse reproductive rights in order to access a grant for hiring summer students.
Starting this year, the federal government is requiring Canada Summer Jobs applicants to check off a box attesting that the organization’s core mandate respects “individual human rights,” with reproductive rights specifically mentioned.
The Applicant Guide says the attestation reflects the government’s commitment to human rights and Charter case law. “The government recognizes that women’s rights are human rights,” it says. “This includes sexual and reproductive rights — and the right to access safe and legal abortions.”
The court document, filed on Thursday by the Right To Life Association Of Toronto And Area, says the application process makes it clear the request won’t even be considered if the attestation box isn’t checked off.
“You must check this box in order to proceed, otherwise the system will not allow you to continue,” the online application says. Paper applications must also have the box checked for the application to be assessed.
The Canada Summer Jobs program provides grants for small businesses, non-profits and public sector organizations to hire full- time students aged 15 to 30 years. The Liberals boosted funding for the program after forming government in 2015, putting in an extra $113 million annually to double the number of placements.
MPs are involved in setting the priorities for who gets grants in their riding. “Assessment of applications will be carried out on a constituency- by- constituency basis, ensuring that local pri- orities are considered,” the program website says.
The federal government has already had to pay out a settlement for denying funding to three anti- abortion groups in 2017 ( before the attestation was added to the forms). That spring, the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada had put out a report slamming the fact that some anti-abortion groups had received federal job grants in previous summers.
Following the report, a spokesperson for Employment Minister Patty Hajdu told iPolitics that anti- abortion groups in ridings represented by Liberal MPs would be rejected for grants. Based on that comment, three groups filed in federal court in May 2017 to argue they had been denied funding solely on the basis of their beliefs.
In November, the federal government offered the groups a settlement that included paying out the denied funding request plus legal costs, and said in a statement that the groups “were denied funding on the basis of a criteria neither set out in the Applicant’s guide nor included in the MP’s list of local priorities for 2017.”
The new federal court case argues that the attestation added to the 2018 form unjustly violates the group’s Charter rights, including the right to freedom of expression, to freedom of conscience and religion, and to be treated equally under law.
In their application for the 2018 job grant, the Toronto group declined to check off the box, but instead sent in a letter that stated they support all Canadian law, including Charter and human rights law.
“We believe the Minister does not have the jurisdiction under law to compel us to make a statement that conflicts with our conscience rights under the Charter,” the letter said. “Nor does the Minister have the right to compel speech as a condition of a receiving a financial benefit from the Government of Canada.” The group said it has received notification that the government received its application, but hasn’t heard anything else so far.