Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the Standing Committee on Finance for providing me with the opportunity to express our concerns and expectations regarding the 2007 federal budget.
As the federal government is aware, the importance of immigration is vital for national economic and social development. Several industrial nations compete to attract the best and most educated immigrants. Social programs are vital for planning, implementing, and executing strategic goals set for the purpose of attracting and retaining immigrants.
The non-profit, community-based sector plays a very important role in this process. Through the voluntary sector initiative accord and codes of good practice on policy dialogue and funding, we have established a partnership with Canada in working toward those goals.
For the first time in many years, and thanks to the last federal government budget, the sector has been properly funded. I would like to acknowledge that. We would like to see the recommendations on the last budget remain for the next one.
We also have some concerns. I would like to present just a few of those concerns in the short time I have, and I would welcome any questions you have during the panelling section.
On September 25, the finance minister and the Treasury Board president announced $1 billion in federal program cuts to be implemented over two years. Although the announced elimination of funding does not directly affect our current funding through Citizenship and Immigration Canada, it will affect services currently being accessed by immigrants. Of course, due to time restrictions, I will just mention a few.
The Canadian volunteerism initiative is one of them. The Canadian volunteerism initiative, or CVI, is a national program to encourage Canadians to volunteer, to improve the capacity of organizations to involve volunteers, and to enhance the experiences of volunteering. Through the CVI, the Department of Canadian Heritage provides funding to volunteer initiatives at local, regional, and national levels. The $9.74 million cut resulted in the elimination of supports to the Canadian volunteerism initiative. Funds that supported national and local volunteer initiatives, volunteer outreaches, and innovative research will no longer be available.
How will the cuts affect communities? Volunteers are critical to our activities. Without volunteers the sector would be hard-pressed to deliver many of its essential programs and services to the community. Despite the extent of volunteer involvement in Canada and its importance to organizations and communities across the country, the federal government has deemed the CVI a non-core program and eliminated its funding.
Status of Women Canada is a federal government agency that promotes gender equality and the full participation of women in economic, social, and cultural...as well as in the political life of the country. The agency works in three areas: improving women's economic autonomy and well-being, eliminating systemic violence against women and children, and advancing women's human rights. The women's program has provided funding to women's organizations and equality-seeking groups since 1973. It was established in recognition of systemic discrimination and the need for systemic advocacy in advancing women's rights. With the $5 million reduction reflecting a 38.5% cut to SWC's operating budget and the elimination of women's equality from SCW's goals, the efforts to advance the rights of women in Canada will be deeply affected. Many national women's organizations previously funded through the women's program will either lose their funding or have to profoundly shift their mandates. Early indication suggests that the loss of women's program funding will put the survival of many women's organizations in jeopardy. This will affect not only Canadian women but also the most vulnerable immigrant women.
The court challenges program, CCP, funds court cases that challenge laws that may violate human rights. It was established in 1978 to provide funding for individuals and groups to advance language rights following the introduction of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1983. The program was expanded to include equality rights test cases. The rationale behind the program lies in the fact that access to justice requires significant financial resources that are beyond the research of most individuals and groups, particularly those most marginalized. Without financial supports to test the constitutionality of questionable laws, constitutional rights are only protected for the wealthy who have the resources to access the courts.
The CPP has supported several important challenges. Some examples relate to the Chinese head tax and exclusion act redress, employment, disability...and many more challenges affecting the most vulnerable in our society.
This program has also enabled many community-based agencies to undertake court challenges regarding laws and polices that negatively affect the racialized communities, immigrants and refugees, and other disadvantaged groups in Canada. By contributing to the cost of important test cases—