End federal funding of feminism?

NB- Ginette Petitpas-Taylor was responding to this article:

NB Telegraph-Journal News - As published on page A5 on August 31, 2006

End federal funding of feminism?

REAL Women wants Harper government to eliminate budget of Status of Women Canada

Charles MooreAt Large

The Canadian Press and others reported last week about an Internet campaign urging the Harper government to eliminate federal funding for Status of Women Canada.

The campaign was initiated by REAL Women of Canada, Status of Women's conservative counterpart and nemesis, which, unlike SOWC, receives no federal stipend. REAL Women has long called for an end to the government's subsidy of Status of Women, noting that the "antiquated agency," with an annual appropriation of about $23 million and with some 130 staff, "has become a tool to ridicule and silence women who do not support its propagation of the radical feminist/lesbian ideology, and the infiltration and forcing of this biased viewpoint on the national agenda."

REAL Women got nowhere with Liberal governments, or for that matter the Mulroney Tories, but they hope the Harper Conservatives will be more favorably receptive to their argument. Status of Women Canada, under the purview of Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda, is currently undergoing a periodic mandate review, the results of which are due to be tabled this fall.

REAL Women notes that since its establishment in 1983, it has been obliged to contend with anti-family, anti-life feminist groups being generously funded by the federal government's Women's Programme at the Status of Women, with hundreds of millions of tax dollars flowing to these groups since the programme began in 1973, enabling them to vigourously promote ideological feminism throughout Canada, resulting in feminists becoming more influential in Canada than anywhere else in the world.

In contrast, aside from a few token grants from the Women's Programme, REAL Women has been obliged to support itself from membership dues and donations received from members and supporters, a limited and modest form of funding inhibiting REAL Women's capacity to operate on in a level playing field with government-subsidized feminists.

REAL Women charges that while the Status of Women's mission statement is "to promote gender equality and the full participation of women in the economic, social, cultural and political life of the country," the practical reality is that only feminist objectives and feminist women in Canada are promoted by the agency. Other women's organizations with perspectives differing from that of feminism are denied funding and recognition.

In a letter mailed to MPs, REAL Women points out that "The Status of Women refuses to fund organizations that are not feminist on the premise that it funds only 'equality seeking' women's organizations, and in its view, only feminist organizations are validly seeking equality for women. This is highly discriminatory, since most women support the equality of women - but there are different ways to interpret and achieve this objective. For example, the promotion of the equality of women is one of the objectives included in the Objects of Incorporation for REAL Women, yet the Status of Women does not accept our organization as an 'equality-seeking' organization.

"Feminist organizations, however, do not represent Canadian women in general but rather a special interest group of women whose ideology is that of feminism. The feminist ideology does not now, and never has had the support of the vast majority of Canadian women. Thus, this funding of the special interest group of feminists by the Status of Women is highly biased and discriminatory, and provides an uneven playing field for all other women's organizations in Canada."

REAL Women claims to represent the views of more than 55,000 members, while, according to material obtained under the Access to Information Act, hundreds of feminist organizations receive government funding each year from the Program, most of which have few, if any, members, and are, in effect, mostly phantom organizations sustained only by the funding they receive from the Status of Women. Since these organizations represent no one but the radical feminists who run them, they should not receive financial support from the Canadian taxpayer, REAL Women maintains.

As a conservative, Christian Canadian taxpayer and longtime fan and admirer of the gutsy, intelligent women of the REAL Women organization, I couldn't agree more. Use of my tax dollars for discriminatory funding of organizations advocating ideological and political agendas I revile and consider socially destructive, while refusing equal support to opposing organizations promoting principles I believe to be positive and constructive, is inequitable and unacceptable.

My first choice would be for Ottawa to terminate funding of all political lobby groups - whatever their ideology. Failing that, it should be ensured that groups representing the views of all Canadians get equal support - not just those of politically-correct and strident minorities.

Charles W. Moore is a Nova Scotia based freelance writer and editor. He can be reached by e-mail at cwmoore@gmx.net. His column appears each Thursday.