Subscribers who live in Canada may have heard of the occupation which took
place at the Status of Women Canada office in Vancouver January 19th. This
was in response to the Harper government's September 2006 announcement of $1
billion in cuts to social programs (while it had a $13 billion surplus).
Included were drastic changes and cuts to Status of Women Canada and the
outright elimination of the Court Challenges Program.

A coalition of individuals and women's groups formed as one outcome of the
spontaneous occupation of the regional office; it calls itself the BC
Coalition for Women's Equality and Human Rights. Another outcome was a
two-hour meeting that took place on Saturday March 3rd in Vancouver, with
the Hon Bev Oda, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women.

The Minister's office restricted access to the meeting to 12 people, plus a
note-taker and timekeeper. Although WISE hadn't been part of the original
group (we're not based in Vancouver and hadn't been aware of the underground
activities on the mainland). WISE was invited by the Coalition to be one of
the speakers, We were thrilled to be invited and of course accepted.

Each speaker addressed different, though related, issues. WISE's 7-minute
presentation (1100 wds) focused on funding for ad hoc groups, funding for
advocacy and research by marginalized persons, and the closure of SWC
regional offices. The presentation is available to anyone who wants it. 

Background - among the changes to SWC are: 
* a 40% reduction in its already minuscule administrative budget, 
* closure of 12 of its 16 regional offices, 
* the elimination of 'equality', 'advocacy' and 'action' from its website, and
* the addition of for-profit organizations and elimination of grassroots
ad hoc groups or committees for consideration for funding.

Ocean, WISE Coordinator
http://www.wise-bc.org/

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