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Court Challenges Program Attacks Traditional Values
The purpose of the Court Challenges Program (CCP)
is to fund test cases by "Canada's historically disadvantaged
groups" with respect to issues of language and equality rights
under S.15 of the Charter.
An agreement was signed between the CPP and Sheila
Copps, the Minister for Canada Heritage, to be in effect from April
1, 1998 until March 31, 2003. This agreement provides that the Program
will receive $2.75 million annually from the government during this
period of time.
Its purpose, on the face of it, is a valid one;
the reality, however, is that this Program is run and operated by
feminist and homosexual organizations, together with a few ethnic
groups, to fund their own legal challenges at taxpayers' expense.
For example, the 12 member Advisory Committee for the Program consists
of representatives from feminist groups such as LEAF (Women's Legal
Education and Action Fund), which, with the Canadian Civil Liberties
Association are the two most frequent intervenors before the Supreme
Court of Canada), the National Association for Women and the Law,
and the Elizabeth Fry Society (an affiliate of the feminist umbrella
group NAC - National Action Committee on the Status of Women). The
homosexual lobby group, EGALE (Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere)
and the Vancouver homosexual lobby group, December 9th Coalition,
are on the Advisory Committee as well. Representatives from LEAF
and the homosexual group, December 9th Coalition, co-chair this
Advisory Committee. The co-chair of the Equality Panel of the Program
is the well-known lesbian Sheilagh Day, who is a former Vice-President
of NAC and one of the founders of LEAF.
It is a very cozy arrangement indeed, whereby government-funded
special interest groups receive grants from the government for their
general up-keep, and then receive further funds from the government
by way of the CCP for their court cases. According to the homosexual
newspaper, Capital Xtra (March 16, 2001), EGALE has an annual
budget of $258,000, of which $105,000 comes from government grants.
Ian Brodie, Professor of Political Science at the University
of Western Ontario, recently completed a study of the infamous CCP,
which is to be published in the June issue of the Canadian Journal
of Political Science. In his study, Prof. Brodie confirms that
the CCP funds only left-wing advocates on controversial social issues,
such as gay rights, pornography and abortion. This is accomplished
by handing out its cash to the same groups that sit on its Board of
Directors and Advisory Committees.
Unfortunately, Prof. Brodie had access to material obtained under
the Access to Information Act, only until 1992. At that time, the
Mulroney government disbanded the Program. It was resurrected in 1994
by the then newly-elected Liberal government under Mr. Chretien; however,
at that time, the Program was incorporated as a separate, independent,
corporate entity and thereby ceased to be a government agency. Because
of this, information on the operation of the CCP can no longer be
obtained under the Access to Information Act and Prof. Brodie was
unable to continue his study.
To add insult to injury, the Native Women's Association
of Canada (NWAC), which had received funding from the CCP, was advised
by Federal Court Judge Peter Giles, in a decision handed down in
April 2000, that its funding agreement with the CCP was "confidential"
because it was the subject of "solicitor-client" privilege.
Since NWAC was not a client and the CCP not a solicitor, in regard
to their funding arrangements, this Federal Court judgment was remarkable
indeed. Moreover, Ms. Melina Buckly, Chairman of the CCP's Board
of Directors, is quoted in the National Post (February 26,
2001) as acknowledging that the Program was neither a client nor
a solicitor in its funding arrangements, but that the Program, nonetheless,
enjoys solicitor-client privilege! She went on to say:
This [solicitor-client privilege] is a subject we
researched quite carefully and commissioned an independent legal opinion
on.
As Alice found out in Wonderland, things just get "curiouser
and curiouser." Alliance MP and Justice Critic, Mr. Vic Toews,
a former Attorney-General of Manitoba raised objections to the secrecy
of the CCP (National Post, February 26, 2001), and stated:
There has to be a measure of public disclosure, even if people
don't agree as to what the Program is spending its money on.
The secrecy of the Program and the protection of it by the Federal
Court is troubling. For example, the anti-child pornography organization,
Beyond Borders, had applied for funding from the Program in
the Robin Sharpe child pornography case. (See REALity, January/February
2001, "The Child Pornography Law and The Supreme Court of Canada,
page 2).
According to its spokesperson, Roz Proper, the
CCP officials suggested to her that if her organization changed
its position before the court, it would gain a better chance to
qualify for a grant from the Program. When Beyond Borders
inquired of the Program whether their opponents in the Sharpe
case had received funds from the Program, it was denied an answer.
The Supreme Court of Canada appears to have a great
respect for the CPP. According to the Program's 1999-2000 Annual Report,
the Supreme Court approached the Program to seek its views on the
procedures it would recommend for court intervenors.
The fact remains that the CCP now has a free hand
to distribute taxpayers' money at its sole discretion, without the
public's knowledge or input. The Program currently allots $60,000
for each court challenge it approves, and $35,000 for any subsequent
appeal or intervention. Fortunate, indeed, are its friends.
This imbalance has resulted in great financial
difficulty for pro-family groups, such as REAL Women, which is attempting
to oppose CCP funded anti-family organizations in the courts. We
could, of course, ignore the takeover of our justice system by way
of this one-sided funding by the CCP; however, this would be a failure
on our part to fulfill our responsibility to protect the traditional
Canadian family. We must resist the efforts of these anti-family
organizations and struggle to serve as a witness to the truth before
our courts. Currently, we are defending traditional values in four
separate court cases - all of which are being funded on the other
side by the CCP and, on our side, out of our own, often empty pockets.
(Please read page 12.)
More is not enough
Not content with the $2.75 million a year it receives
from the Federal Heritage Department, according to the Court Challenges
1999-2000 Annual Report, the Board has now decided that it must
establish an endowment fund in order to finance expanded activities
beyond the year 2003. It anticipates that this funding will come
from federal, provincial and territorial governments, and yes, even
the private sector for a change! In this regard the Annual Report
states that the Program was granted charitable status by Revenue
Canada as a tax-exempt organization in May 2000. The Program received
this tax status incidentally, without the slightest bit of difficulty,
which is a remarkable contrast to the experience of pro-life and
pro-family organizations when they seek to obtain tax exempt status.
Initial meetings for further funding have already
been held between the Program officials and senior federal government
representatives. Also, a letter has been sent to cabinet ministers
and MPs "who have previously supported the Program," requesting
their assistance in receiving more funding and expanding the CCP's
jurisdiction. Informal meetings, too, have been held with some provincial
government officials in order to obtain their cooperation in permitting
the CCP to fund legal challenges of provincial laws because, at
present, the Program is restricted to legal challenges of federal
laws and policies only.
In effect, the CCP envisions itself as a national
powerhouse, directing traffic to and from our courts, with the expectation
that its control of the funding to chosen friends will change the
direction of Canadian society in accordance with its own perspective.
In this undertaking, the CCP has been greatly assisted by federally
appointed judges who believe they are entitled, under the Charter,
to substitute their own views of what the law should
be for those which were "intended" by the legislators.
Under these circumstances it is difficult to believe
that justice is being served in Canada.
Please write to the following, expressing your
objections to the injustice perpetrated on the Canadian people by
government funding of the CCP.
Please write to:
The Right Hon. Jean Chrétien
Prime Minister
Langevin Building 2nd Floor
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa ON K1A 0A2
Tel 613-992-4211
Fax 613-941-6900
The Honourable Anne McLellan
Minister of Justice
Justice Building
284 Wellington Street
Ottawa ON K1A 0H8
Tel 613-992-4621
Fax 613-990-7255
The Hon. Paul Martin
Minister of Finance
L'Esplanade Laurier
21st Floor, East Tower
140 O'Connor Street
Ottawa ON K1A 0G5
Tel 613-996-7861
Fax 613-995-5176
The Hon. Sheila Copps
Minister of Canadian Heritage
15 Eddy Street, 12th Floor
Hull QUE K1A 0M5
Tel 819-997-7788
Fax 819-994-5987
Your MP
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
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