Regina - Students rally for equality

It's not just a girl thing.

Social justice groups were mobilized Thursday at the University of Regina to rally in support of women's issues that have been in the limelight of late. The biggest issue is the federal Status of Women department's decision to remove the word "equality" from its mandate as well as the stipulation that women's groups that receive funding from the department cannot advocate.

"The significance of removing 'equality' from the Status of Women's mandate is that then essentially, the Status of Women as an organization, really, has lost its power to effect positive change," said Ben Chung, a member of OXFAM Regina. "So it's like taking the power behind the organization out of it so that it still exists, but how effective can they really be?"

Effective April 1, the Status of Women will receive $5 million in new funding, bringing its 2007-08 total budget to $15.3 million. It will replace the $5 million cut from the operating budget in September. The new money will come with the stipulation that the Status of Women will not provide funding to domestic advocacy activities.

LINK: Regina Leader Post