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STATUS OF WOMEN HEARINGS: A HOAX
The feminist and opposition dominated House
of Commons Committee on the Status of Women held hearings
on the government's cuts to the Status of Women on December
6 and December 13, 2006. REAL Women was deliberately excluded
at that time from testifying before the Committee (See Reality
January/February, 2007, p. 14).
In January, under pressure, the Committee
was obliged, when the House of Commons resumed sitting after
the Christmas recess, to hear our testimony after all. The
Committee decided, however, that it would outsmart the Conservative
government in this regard by providing not just a single day
to hear further witnesses, but would extend the hearings for
another two full days to hear other witnesses as well. Naturally,
apart from REAL Women, all further witnesses called to testify
were opposed to the spending cuts. The score: 27 groups who
opposed the cuts, and a total of only 3 groups who supported
the cuts, including REAL Women of Canada.
The 27 witnesses opposed to the cuts, with
only a couple of exceptions, were all funded by the Status
of Women and according to their testimony, regarded these
grants as their "entitlements." Having no other
source of income but taxpayers' dollars, they described the
cuts as being "anti-women", which crippled women's
involvement in the public debate in Canada. REAL Women does
not receive funds from the Status of Women but has managed
to be involved in the public debate solely with the financial
support of our members.
This remarkable lack of balance in the number
of witnesses appearing before the Committee raises the question
as to why a review was held in the first place, since the
Committee's conclusions were obviously preordained.
Since the committee proceedings were televised
by CPAC (the Parliamentary channel), it is reasonable to conclude
that the purpose of these hearings is to provide fodder for
the upcoming election to attempt to back the claim that the
Conservatives are, in fact, "anti-women." Not only
have these special interest groups of women already received
many millions of dollars since 1973 from the Status of Women
- now this Committee is spending even more taxpayers' money
paying all the witnesses' expenses in order to hoodwink the
public into thinking that these cuts are offensive to "women".
The cuts are only offensive to the special interest group
of feminists and their left-wing allies, whose extremist views
are not supported by mainstream women.
Please write to Prime Minister Harper, the
Minister for the Status of Women and your MP supporting the
government's decision to cut the funding to the feminist groups
and also object to the gross manipulation by the feminists
on the House of Commons Status of Women Committee, to use
the committee to support their cause.
Please write to:
The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2
Fax: 613 941-6900
The Honourable Bev Oda
Minister Responsible for the Status of Women
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Fax: 613 992-2794
Or your local MP
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