Tuesday, March 27

CRIAW - Federal budget update

The federal government has been flip-flopping like a fish on a boat deck, and the media do not cover funding for women’s programs very well. The objective of this information update to CRIAW members is to let you know what is going on, and where to go for more information.


The federal budget of March 2007 added new money to Status of Women Canada, some of which would go into the Women’s Program, and some for a new “Partnership Fund”. What is the Partnership Fund? We have no idea. The government announced “$20 million” in total for Status of Women Canada. The fine print is, this money is over two years, includes the $5 million they had already announced that they had taken away in the first place, and there is still no mention at all of equality.

The government is now claiming that Women’s Program funding is the highest ever in history. However, that still doesn’t help the organizations that promote equality who will have no access to these funds because the terms and conditions bar most of the activities they undertake. It doesn’t replace the lost jobs at Status of Women Canada, most of which were held by women who are now unemployed at the hands of the government. It doesn’t replace the Policy Research Fund because the government still does not want to know what’s wrong or how to fix it.


CRIAW needs you very much

I would also like to remind you, speaking of budgets, that CRIAW needs your support more than ever before since our inception in 1976. Please, if you have not already done so, consider becoming a monthly donor. You can sign up on our web site: http://www.criaw-icref.ca/. You can contribute to the updating and reprinting of our violence against women and girls fact sheet, and the workshops and projects we do with community social justice groups across Canada. Even $5 per month would be helpful, because after June 30, 2007, our project monies from the Women’s Program will run out. We are audited annually, and are fully financially accountable. We want to keep doing research to advance women’s equality and provide accessible information for all Canadians to take action, whether the government wants us to or not. We need your help.


LINK: CRIAW

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