Debate
needed in wake of cutbacks
By Deborah Gyapong
Canadian
Catholic News
OTTAWA (CCN) — An open debate on the role of government funding
for the charitable sector and non-governmental agencies (NGOs) is needed
in the wake of government cutbacks.
“I’m arguing
for honesty,” said Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ) executive
director Joe Gunn in an interview.
If the government is de-funding
groups because they are advocating against Conservative policies, or,
in the case of women’s groups, because they are not pro-life or
pro-family, they should say so, he said.
The most recent agency to receive the axe is the Canadian Council for
International Co-operation (CCIC), an umbrella for 90 NGOs and aid agencies,
including the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.
CCIC CEO Gerry Barr has called CIDA’s ending of 40 years of funding
“punishment politics” for CCIC’s criticism of Conservative
policies. CCIC received about two-thirds of its $2.6 million funding
through CIDA. Barr has had to lay off 16 staff members, leaving only
eight.
But the federal government says ideology has nothing to do with the
cuts.
“There is no entitlement to Canadian tax-payer dollars,”
said Jessica Fletcher, a spokesperson for International Co-operation
Minister Bev Oda, in an email. “CCIC does not directly affect
poverty alleviation in the developing world and Canadians want to maximize
the impact of their aid dollars.”
“Our government is committed to making Canada’s international
assistance more effective, more targeted, more accountable and more
results-driven,” she said. “CIDA funding will go towards
programs that directly affect poverty alleviation in the developing
world.”
Though the CPJ receives no government money, Gunn says he is concerned
by cutbacks not only to CCIC but to womens’ groups, and to social
justice groups like KAIROS, an ecumenical initiative that includes the
Catholic Church.
Groups doing development work have opinions on how money to alleviate
poverty should best be spent, and how services will be delivered. “The
public space is enriched by hearing those sorts of things,” he
said.
Like many other critics of funding cuts, Gunn is concerned about the
impact on democracy if these groups lose funding. He also said that
if governments tend to fund or defund groups that are ideologically
in synch with them, the reasons have to be out in the open.
Gunn points out that some charities and NGOs, what he describes as the
Third Sector, are doing things churches can no longer afford to do.
Governments can get far more value for taxpayers’ dollars through
funding this Third Sector than through running the programs itself,
he said. He also noted that many in the Liberal government did not like
what the NGOs were saying, but funded those they disagreed with to “have
a vibrant debate in society.”
He urged a public debate over the services Canadians want and need and
what the role of the Third Sector is in delivering them.
Gunn, who formerly was director of social affairs at the Canadian Conference
of Catholic Bishops secretariat and a veteran of seven years working
in South America for an NGO, said social change and economic change
is “absolutely necessary” and this includes advocacy at
home for government policy and lifestyle changes here in Canada.
CIDA has launched a “partnership with Canadians” approach
to development that is aimed at 20 focus countries and targets three
priority themes: increasing food security; helping children and youth;
and sustaining economic growth.
One component of this approach includes public awareness and education.
The program also calls for measurable results and “exit strategies”
so that people in developing countries are trained to help themselves.
More guidelines on the new approach will be issued in the fall, according
to a backgrounder on the CIDA website.
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