Religious applicants upset over pro-choice requirements

The Eastern Counties of Ontario Youth For Christ (YFC) finds itself between a rock and a hard place when it comes to applying for funding through the Canadian government’s Summer Jobs Program. 

For the past decade, the YFC branches in Maxville and Alexandria have used the funding to hire summer students to help out with a number of initiatives including summer camps. 

But now that the government has announced it will no longer provide that funding to pro-life groups, organizations like YFC are faced with a dilemma seeing as how conservative Christian groups tend to view abortion as a sin. 

“In order to get the funds, we have to sign allegiance to Mr. Trudeau,” quipped Richard Fenwick, Acting Executive Director and Chairperson of the Eastern Counties of Ontario YFC. 

Mr. Fenwick says that YFC Canada has told him to apply for the program anyway but to not check the appropriate boxes in the application. 

The government’s website makes it quite clear that in order to qualify for the funding, it must, among a number of other things, be pro-choice. 

“Applicants will be required to attest that both the job and the organization’s core mandate respect individual human rights in Canada, including the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as other rights,” says Employment and Social Development Canada’s webpage. 

“These include reproductive rights and the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, race, national or ethnic origin, colour, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression. The government recognizes that women’s rights are human rights. This includes sexual and reproductive rights — and the right to access safe and legal abortions. These rights are at the core of the Government of Canada’s foreign and domestic policies.” 

Mr. Fenwick says that this is a “pro-choice agenda.” 

“I don’t see how we can line up with the Liberals on this,” he says, adding that organizations like the Canadian Council of Christian Charities (CCCC) and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada are encouraging the government to reword its policy so that Christian groups can access the funding without compromising their principles. 

Barry Bussey, Director of Legal Affairs with CCCC, says that the Liberals need to revisit the idea of “limiting funds to only those who agree with their views.” 

Mr. Bussey contends that there are many groups who hold pro-life views that are doing “tremendous work across the country” and that they shouldn’t be denied funding because their social views don’t allign with the government’s. 

But Glengarry-Prescott-Russell Liberal MP Françis Drouin says that the legislation isn’t as draconian or as restrictive as others have suggested. 

“All this means is that we won’t support organizations that actively support a pro-life movement,” Mr. Drouin told The News. 

He says that’s because abortion has been legal in Canada since 1988, when the Supreme Court declared the existing abortion law to be unconstitutional. Mr. Drouin points out that no government has since tried to reverse that decision by invoking the notwithstanding clause. 

“At some point, we have to ask ourselves if [funding pro-life groups] is how we want to spend our tax dollars,” he says. “Politicians and groups who say that we can change the abortion laws are misleading the people.” 

Despite the strong wording on the application, Mr. Drouin says that most religious groups will be able to access the funding, though he acknowledges that some won’t. 

Mr. Bussey disagrees with the MP, saying that the government’s policy has created “a stir in the hornets’ nest.” Like Mr. Fenwick, he is encouraging potentially affected groups to apply for the funding anyway and let the chips fall where they may. 

Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry Conservative MP Guy Lauzon, disagrees with the new policy. 

“This policy isn’t about the activities or services an organization is engaged in, the policy is about targeting the personal beliefs of the individuals who run those organizations,” said Mr. Lauzon via email. “It's clear the aim is to try and ensure that groups advocating against abortion rights or other beliefs that contradict with those of the Liberals, will not be able to get funding, not to mention the students who won't find work as a result of this decision. 

“This is obviously concerning as the right to freedom of belief and opinion is guaranteed by Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that the Government of Canada is basing funding decisions on whether or not you hold a certain belief. This decision will also affect individuals who hold private convictions and may, for example, no longer be able to help care for the disabled, refugees, or provide day camp for children in need. Trying to politicize the Canada Summer Jobs program is just plain wrong.” 

For her part, Vivianne David, YFC’s Area Director in Alexandria, says that the Canada Summer Job grants has enriched the community by providing staff for summer programs. 

“Our locally based, summer programs employ local high school, college and university students,” she says. “Not only does this grant make summer camp affordable, but summer students gain practical experience in youth services, programming, teamwork and event planning and coordinating.” 

She says that over the past decade, YFC has been able to pass on over $20,000 to employ local youth.
“Without such funding, YFC would depend on volunteer students to staff programs, which is a big job to fill,” she says. “Often students work full days, for six weeks of the summer. Most students are looking for summer employment, not summer volunteer jobs.” 

She adds that the camps revolve around a variety of themes such as camping, cooking, creative arts, singing, and soccer. 

“This grant is a huge part of our annual budget, with hundreds of campers having participated over the years, many who paid no fees for camp due to limited resources,” she says. “To think that the government could pull the plug on funding such a community enriching local initiative is deeply saddening.” 

She encourages those affected to contact their local Member of Parliament.