Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the parliamentary secretary for taking the time to respond to questions on the very important matter of funding decisions regarding Status of Women Canada's two programs: the women's community fund and the women's partnership fund.
On April 27, I asked the Minister for Status of Women to tell the House who was responsible for the funding decisions made by her department and why groups with projects that met the funding requirements and were eligible for funding were denied. In her response, the minister avoided the topic of the funding distributed by her department and insisted on speaking about the current situation regarding women in Afghanistan.
While the topic of women in Afghanistan is very important, it was not the subject of my question. On May 26, the Standing Committee on the Status of Women began its study on the funding decisions of Status of Women Canada. At this meeting, we heard from four organizations whose projects met the program criteria yet were still denied funding by Status of Women Canada.
The groups that appeared at the meeting were CRIAW, or the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women, the Conseil d'intervention pour l'accès des femmes au travail, the New Brunswick Coalition for Pay Equity and Womanspace Resource Centre. These are all very credible organizations and I do not think that anyone would question the work that they do for women in this country.
Some of these groups spoke of the influence of Status of Women Canada on their creation and development as women's organizations. For example, in a special publication on the 20th anniversary of CRIAW, the president at that time noted that had it not been for the financial support of Status of Women Canada over the years, CRIAW undoubtedly would not exist. Status of Women Canada has provided these organizations with some funding for an extensive period of time. It has provided CRIAW's funding since its creation in 1977.
Over the years, these organizations have proven their value and demonstrated expertise in the field. Their programs are highly reputable with proven results and have truly bettered the lives of women. Yet this year, the government decided to deny funding to CRIAW, the council, the coalition and Womanspace for the first time in their histories.
For most, this is a death blow. Because of these decisions, most of these organizations will shut their doors and cease servicing the women who have come to rely on them. The Minister for Status of Women has said that her department is choosing to fund new organizations over old. While I agree that the funding of new organizations is incredibly important, I do not agree that their funding should come at the expense of older organizations with proven track records.
If there is a greater need for funding from Status of Women Canada, then the budget of the program should be reviewed or the amount of funding allotted to each organization should be reconsidered to accommodate both new and existing organizations. However, I do not believe that this is the sole reason that these organizations were refused funding. The significance of these decisions runs much deeper than a choice between old and new. It is part of the mounting evidence that the government does not seem interested in funding programs for women equally or in funding feminist organizations with a track record for advocacy.
I will ask my question again. Could the parliamentary secretary tell us who is responsible for the arbitrary allocation of funding from Status of Women Canada and why funding has been denied to eligible groups?