Summer jobs program rejections spike over abortion rights
1,561 applications for funding declined this year
OTTAWA • The controversy over a new attestation on abortion rights for this year’s Canada Summer Jobs program has resulted in a sharp increase in rejected forms, but comes alongside a steady increase in total applications.
The end result is that after the rejections, the government has only a slight decrease in the number of eligible applications compared to last year.
The statistics, provided by Employment Minister Patty Hajdu’s office, provide the first glimpse into how the controversy has affected the program, which disburses up to $223 million in grants to help pay for summer students for small businesses, not-for-profit employers and the public sector.
In 2017, the government received 41,961 applications for Canada Summer Jobs. Of those, 199 were later withdrawn by the employer and 126 files were rejected for problems with the application, leaving 41,716 eligible applications.
This year, with the new attestation, the government received 42,647 applications. Fifty-five were withdrawn and 1,561 were rejected.
After the rejections, that leaves 41,031 eligible applications in 2018, representing a 1.7-per-cent decrease from the number of eligible applications in 2017.
The increase in total applications is not overly surprising, given the effort by the Liberal government to expand the program. In 2016 it started doubling the amount of money going into Canada Summer Jobs, with the aim of funding around 70,000 placements each year.
The numbers do not include the groups that refused to apply this year. The Roman Catholic Diocese of London, Ont., for example, said it had planned to apply for $35,000 in grants but would take a stand against the attestation by not applying.
The rejections are not necessarily final. Groups that dissented on the attestation were told they could resubmit within 10 days with the full, unmodified attestation. Many re-applied with a cover letter asking for religious accommodation, and have not yet heard a final answer. However, the government has said it is not backing down on the attestation requirement.
A Conservative motion saying that groups that engage in non-political, nonactivist work should be able to access the Summer Jobs program regardless of whether they sign the attestation, was scheduled for a vote in the House of Commons late Monday. It was expected to fail due to Liberal and NDP votes.
The government added the attestation in 2018 after it was reported last year that some anti-abortion groups were receiving grants. The attestation requires groups to say their “core mandate” respects a variety of rights, including “the values underlying the Charter of Rights and Freedoms” and specifically mentions reproductive rights.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said his government won’t fund groups focused on campaigning against abortion and LGBTQ rights, and the attestation was not meant to exclude faith-based groups that focus their activities elsewhere. The government issued a clarification on Jan. 23 that “core mandate” does not refer to values or beliefs, and provided a list of examples of what types of organizations are still eligible under the attestation.
Many religious groups — particularly Catholic and evangelical organizations, but also Muslim, Jewish, Sikh and other denominations — said they still could not in good conscience sign the attestation.
In a joint news conference on Jan. 25, nearly 90 religious leaders called for the attestation to be removed. Shortly after, a group of 80 non-religious organizations signed a letter supporting the attestation.
A constitutional challenge to the attestation is also working its way through Federal Court, with a hearing set for June 19. The case was launched in January by a Toronto anti-abortion group. Religious organizations have not joined the case, but have said they are weighing their legal options.