Uncertainty dogs faith-based organizations applying for federal funding
OTTAWA — It was Valentine’s Day when an Alberta church was told its application for Canada Summer Jobs program funding wasn’t complete. The “I attest” box on the application had to be checked and the document signed, North Pointe community church was told.
Except it was.
What happened to the Edmonton-area church is a result of what critics say is the government’s hard line on its insistence that groups must attest to respect for reproductive rights, including abortion, to be eligible for funding through the popular program.
Applicants who express concern about the policy change are deemed not to have met the new requirement — even if they’ve checked all the right boxes and signed all the right forms.