Charter rights may be key to getting student job funding
Changes to the Canada Summer Jobs program application process were released on Tuesday after controversy arose when pro-life groups received tens of thousands of dollars in funding last year.
St. Catharines Liberal MP Chris Bittle said the federal government is no longer going to fund groups who protest charter rights, including abortion rights.
“We were open with Canada, and we said we would ensure a woman’s right to choose,” he said. “This is a protection of constitutional rights.”
Bittle said the pro-choice agenda is something the Liberal government has worked hard to promote. “This policy, I support it,” he said.
The rules being used for the 2018 funding program seek to “complement this year’s national priorities,” according to a press release from the Canada Ministry of Employment and Social Development.
Applications for funding under the program opened Tuesday and will close Feb. 2.
However, the press release does not make reference to funding for pro-life groups.
It encourages applications from those who support and provide opportunities for the LGBTQ2 community and official language minority groups, small businesses, those who hire underrepresented youth, and those who promote science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and information and communications technology, especially for women.
Labour Minister Patty Hajdu called for a review of the program earlier this year.
“Applicants will be required to attest that both the job and the employer’s core mandate respect individual human rights in Canada,” she said.
William Mathie, the president of St. Catharines Right to Life Association Inc., a non-profit organization, said changes to exclude pro-life groups would be problematic.
“It shows contempt for people who disagree with the present government,” Mathie said.
He said the issue of abortion is still very divisive in Canadian politics.
An Ipsos poll published in March 2017 found that 53 per cent of Canadians say abortion should be legal “whenever a woman decides she wants one,” with 24 per cent saying there should be some limitations on abortion rights.
“It’s something that hasn’t really been settled,” Mathie said.
While he said his organization hasn’t applied for funding from the program for several years, he said it may apply again in the future, depending on its funding needs.
“There is nothing that limits religious groups from applying,” said Bittle.
Typically the program funds daycares, camps, and other community programs, he said.
The Liberals have committed an additional $113 million to the program for 2018, creating 70,000 employment opportunities for students, up from 30,000.
The program provides summer employment opportunities to fulltime students aged 15 to 30 and is open to small business with 50 employees or less, non-profit organizations, and public-sector jobs that provide experience for students, according to a media release.