UPDATE: Dec. 6th, 2018

The voice of concerned and marginalized Canadians has finally been heard today in Ottawa - after months of lobbying and tens of thousands of signatures!

Employment minister Patty Hadju announced today that the liberal government's discriminatory Summer Jobs Grant "attestation" would be removed for 2019. This was in direct response to the outcry expressed by Canada's faith community - a community that works long and hard to deliver much-needed services to needy people all across the country.

Faith leaders objected to the attestation because of its requirement that those who apply for funding must implicitly approve of abortion on demand, same-sex marriage, and the new gender ideology. Many churches, faith-based groups, Christian small businesses, and other conscientious objectors (from secular and religious backgrounds) felt that such a demand violated their freedom of conscience and/or religion. Ms. Hadju said, "They felt this was about their values and beliefs and not about the jobs and the performances of the students in particular roles and we took that to heart."

The change in approach proposed by the government will still "screen out" certain applications for Summer Jobs funding. This time, Service Canada will be tasked with scrutinizing every application and weeding out any that involve explicitly pro-life and pro-family activist work. This is still a matter of discrimination, though it will certainly impact fewer employers and do far less harm to the faith community (and its programmes for the needy) in Canada. For this much we are grateful! However, as long as anti-pipeline activists are still funded, we believe pro-life and pro-family activists have just as much a right to receive funding!

See Canadian Press report: https://canoe.com/news/national/liberals-drop-anti-abortion-test-for-summer-jobs-funding-after-backlash

UPDATE: May 1st, 2018

It appears that the Liberal government has been caught in a lie. Apparently, the liberals have been exaggerating their basis for barring Summer Jobs funding from groups that hold to pro-life beliefs. In an article in today's National Post, it is reported that this entire debacle is based on complaints generated from one solitary abortion rights lobbyist group - the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada.

Employment Minister Patty Hajdu had told the media in January, “Last year we heard a whole bunch of complaints from citizens across Canada and organizations” about funding going to pro-life groups. However, in an affidavit from Rachel Wernick, a senior official in the Ministry of Employment, only six actual complaints are on record. Five of the six are form letters from the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, while the other links to a press release from that same coalition.

It appears that the Trudeau government was merely looking for an excuse to penalize and stigmatize anyone who opposes its own extreme pro-abortion ideology.

UPDATE: Apr. 2nd, 2018

As expected, Liberal MPs banded together on March 19th to defeat the Conservative motion against the discriminatory Summer Jobs attestation. Christians, pro-lifers, and people of conscience will continue to be treated as second-class citizens by the Trudeau government. However, we were encouraged to see one Liberal MP (Scott Simms) and one NDP MP (David Christopherson) break ranks and vote for a change of the staus quo. Just today, news broke that a second Liberal MP (John MacKay) opposes the attestation.

Just before the March 19th vote in the House of Commons, we e-mailed every single Liberal MP (all 183) with the details of our CitizenGO petition. Only three Liberal MPs had the decency to offer a personal reply. One of these, MP Ken Hardie, expressed dissatisfaction over the existing attestation. Mr. Hardie wrote, "I remain convinced that we need an attestation – just not necessarily the one that was in the application." He expressed concerns over the response from faith-based groups. He wrote, "I am engaged with others in the Liberal caucus to have some changes made to eliminate the [understanding] gap."

It is heartening to see some dialogue and movement on this important issue. This is democracy in action! However, it is apparent that prime minister Justin Trudeau, along with employment minister Patti Hadju, themselves have doubled down and will not budge. A recent report reveals that, after meeting with Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faith leaders on March 21st, Hadju has refused to back down.

We must continue to keep up the pressure on all MPs to work to eliminate, or at least modify, this discriminatory attestation. Besides marginalizing Canadians of faith and conscience, this attestation will do the most harm to "the least of these" among us - children of all ages (including the unborn), the poor and needy, immigrants, and other vulnerable groups. All of these "lower" segments of our society depend upon programs provided by churches and organizations that normally receive Summer Jobs funding to operate. These are the real victims of Trudeau's discriminatory attestation. 

If you have not already, please sign and share our petition. Also, we encourage you to sign a House of Commons e-petition sponsored by MP Harold Albrecht: https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Sign/e-1484.

UPDATE: Mar. 8th, 2018

The deadline to apply for the Canada Summer Jobs grant passed on February 9th. Nevertheless, public outcry over the liberal government's discriminatory attestation has continued. Churches, camps, community organizations, and businesses that disagree with the attestation on moral or religious grounds have all been denied funding - funding that they have received in previous years. Harsh criticism is being levelled both in the media and from opposition MPs.

On March 1st, a conservative motion was brought forth in the House of Commons challenging the attestation. This motion will be debated again on March 19th. We need to keep speaking out on this issue ahead of that debate. We have to keep the pressure on in the hopes that funding might be restored to those worthy groups that have been denied!

UPDATE: Feb. 6th, 2018

The Canadian federal government has now extended the deadline for the summer student job grants application to Friday, February 9th. That means we only have a few days left to get the government's attention! And a judge recently said that the anti-life, anti-family attestation must remain until a final decision is made in court later on. So far, the government has refused to budge, but 87 religious leaders have submitted a complaint.

Canadians should be alarmed. Signing this kind of attestation could be considered a blueprint for the future, conditioning eligibility for government jobs or the receipt of government benefits (pensions, healthcare, etc.) on conformity to the governing party's far-left views on abortion and sexuality.

Nevertheless, uproar is growing and backlash against this discriminatory policy is a real possibility. We need to keep the pressure on!

Can you urgently SIGN the petition, and SHARE it with your friends?

REPORT: Jan. 11th, 2018

The Liberal Government has announced a new policy for employers receiving summer job grants for students: toe the line on abortion, same-sex marriage, and transgenderism—or else!

According to the policy adopted on December 19, 2017, to obtain grants under the Canada Summer Jobs Program employers must sign an affidavit affirming 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. 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 new policy excludes Christian employers and other employers with traditional views about life, marriage, and sex from obtaining grants to employ students for the summer.

This is despite the fact that millions of Canadians share these traditional views. Churches, faith-based charities, and all sorts of religiously affiliated groups that serve orphans, widows, migrants, and refugees are now being denied funding because of their religious beliefs.

Not only that, it creates an official policy of discrimination on the basis of political viewpoint—disfavoring those who disagree with the Liberal government's radical social agenda.

Different views than Justin Trudeau's Liberals? Then as an employer, you won't be able to apply for the Canada Summer Jobs Program, thus, no funding. pic.twitter.com/Fgdm0ZIjMA

— Brad Trost (@BradTrostCPC) December 13, 2017

This is just another dangerous example of how the government is discriminating against people of faith who affirm traditional views on life and sexual morality.

Tell the government that you won't stand for this new policy, and demand that they revoke it immediately. Sign the petition to send a message to the Hon. Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour! An email copy of the petition text with your signature is delivered to the Minister immediately upon signing.

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Further information:

• Global News: Canada Summer Jobs program will no longer fund anti-abortion, anti-gay groups
• Huffington Post: New Canada Summer Jobs Program Rules Kick In To Strip Funding For Anti-Abortion Groups
• LifeSiteNews: Canada won’t fund student summer jobs unless employers support abortion
• Human Life International: In the Name of Tolerance the Canadian Government Promotes Discrimination against Pro-Lifers