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THE LIBERAL GOVERNMENT IS PROMOTING AN EXTREME LEFT WING AGENDA

Because the Liberal Government holds a minority position, it is doing everything possible to survive. To do so, it is seeking support from the very left wing Bloc Quebecois (54 seats) and, of course, the NDP (19 seats). Consequently, no policy is too far left for this government. Same-sex marriage, national daycare plan, the promotion of feminism, decriminalizing marijuana, free drug injection sites, debate on euthanasia, decriminalizing prostitution: it's all on the Liberal Government's current agenda.

The government's objective is to stay in power as long as it can, regardless of the consequences to society or the wishes of the Canadian public. In effect, the Liberal Government is prostrating itself before the demands of the extreme left wing minority in Canada.

As a result of this agenda, REAL Women has been kept busy preparing briefs and making appearances before one Parliamentary Committee after another, arguing against these policies on the grounds that they are detrimental to society, and that the Canadian public does not support them. We also work with both Liberal and Conservative MP's, who share our concerns about these drastic changes that the Liberal Government intends to make to the fabric of our society. How long can we stave off these disasters? We don't know, but we're there fighting every inch of the way.

Some of the committees before which we have been appearing include the following:

1. Status of Women Committee (November 25, 2004)

The purpose of this newly established committee is to explore the concerns of women's organizations in Canada with the objective of instilling some rigour into the feminist movement. Although there are some very influential feminists still in place in Canada (such as those, at present, sitting on the Supreme Court of Canada, and in Parliament), feminist power is waning. This is because the feminist torch is not being handed on to the younger generation of women. The latter appear to have little interest in feminism, and do not want to be labelled as feminists.

Since 1972, federal Status of Women Canada has been handing out millions and millions of dollars in generous grants to feminist/lesbian organizations. In 2002-2003, for example, the Status of Women gave away $12,297,090 to such organizations (see REALity, Sept/Oct 2003 "At the Status of Women, The Funding Tap Flows Unchecked" p13). Many of these organizations, although they fly the feminist banner, are, in actual fact, little more than phantom organizations with few, if any, members.

When REAL Women appeared before this House of Commons Committee, for the record, we gave a short history of our national and international activities, outlined our objectives and tabled our views on marriage, daycare, tax reform, pension reform, and the unequal funding of women's groups.

Presenting with us at the same time were the National Council of Women, Federation des Femmes du Quebec and Women's Inter-Church Council. The session lasted two hours, and we were grateful for the opportunity to answer questions from Members of Parliament from each federal party.

We recommended fairness in government policy and taxation policy for the traditional family, since it is the basic unit of society; equal treatment for at-home parents when establishing a flexible day care system, inclusive of all child care choices; and more integration between the family positive findings of Statistics Canada and government policy.

Our presentation was surprisingly well received. Hopefully, Status of Women will, in the future, be more open to the concerns of all women, not just those adhering to the failed feminist ideology, but we're are not holding our breath.

2. Senate Committee on the Media (December 13, 2004)

REAL Women spoke to this committee, chaired by Senator Joan Fraser, former editor of the Montreal Gazette, about our concerns that the conservative voice is being silenced in Canada. We stated this was due, in part, to the tight control over the broadcast media held by the Liberal appointed members of the CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission). We further stated that, although the CRTC is mandated under the Broadcasting Act to ensure that a balance of views be heard, the CRTC has failed to honour this requirement. Instead, it promotes, through its licensing powers, a perspective to the left of the social and fiscal perspectives of most Canadians. Further, the CRTC has become an arbiter of what are supposedly acceptable "Canadian values" and has taken on a censorship role against those who do not comply with its interpretation. We strongly objected to appointed friends and supporters of the Liberal party yielding such power over what Canadians may view or hear. As stated, in our brief:

The world has changed since the CRTC was established 38 years ago. The development of a 200-500-channel universe, brought about by digital television channels and satellites, has melted away the CRTC's ability to control broadcasting in Canada. Yet the CRTC, for reasons of self-preservation, is still gamely trying to exert its control over broadcasting by limiting the number of channels available in order to protect the Canadian broadcasting industry. In doing so, the CRTC consistently both ignores the customer and shields Canadian broadcasters from competition. This is not acceptable.

We also questioned the role of the CBC in Canada today. According to the Senate Media Committee's own report, released in April 2002, CBC has a national viewing audience of only 5%. The prime reason why Canadians do not watch or listen to CBC is that it does not produce programs in which Canadians have an interest. That is, programs may satisfy the producers and their own interests and ideology, but not the concerns of the Canadian public. We also pointed out that instead of promoting a national sense of unity and indentity, the CBC has become a divisive element in Canadian society because of its one-sided perspective in its news and programming.

Further, we quoted from a study done by Miljan and Cooper, called the Hidden Agendas (UBC Press, 2003). at page 99:

…CBC journalists, both French and English speaking, are more likely to be NDP supporters than journalists in any other news organization. More significant is the finding that those on the right feel more stifled than those on the left, regardless of where they work.

Further, at p. 170 the study states:

CBC journalists displayed a strong left-of-centre position on economic issues. Their position was significantly different from both the private-sector journalists and from the public. The data were confirmed by the self-placement of CBC journalists on a left-right scale, so that it seems reasonable to conclude that, compared with private-sector journalists, CBC journalists are self-consciously left wing.

(Copies of brief are available online or a hard copy is available for $5 to cover photocopying and mailing.)

Again, we were pleasantly surprised that some of the senators were quite supportive of our views - even some Liberals!

3. Justice Committee Studying the Legalization of Prostitution (February 14, 2005)

From time to time over the years, demands have been made to allow prostitution in red light districts, such as occurs in some European cities, like Amsterdam, Brussels, and Antwerp. These demands have been steadily rejected by sensible individuals who know that such districts become centres for out of control crime and drugs, with prostitutes remaining vulnerable.

However, with the Liberal Government pandering to the left, the establishment of red light districts in Canada has become a real possibility. With this in mind, the Justice Committee is now reviewing our prostitution laws in the Criminal Code. REAL Women has been requested by the committee (no doubt on the recommendation of some conservative MP's) to speak to the issue at its committee hearings. We are happy to do so and are scheduled to make an appearance before the committee on February 14th .

REAL Women will also appear before the Justice Committee when Bill C-17 (marijuana) comes before it for review. Also, later on in the session, we will make an appearance before the same Justice Committee on Bill C-2 (child pornography). Busy we are! But that's good news, as we think it is essential that the conservative voice be heard on these issues.

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