kairos is social justice, ecumenical-style. they're battling an unexplained, total (100%; remainder: zilch) federal funding cut.
good news! the squeaky wheel gets the grease! the harper gov't gets egg on the face!
`Beginning on December 9, 2010 a series of events transpired in the House of Commons that confirm the strength of KAIROS' 2009-2013 proposal for CIDA funding and raise questions about the transparency and accountability of the granting process.
On December 9, 2010, Minister for International Cooperation, Bev Oda, and President of CIDA, Margaret Biggs, were questioned in the Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs and International Development regarding KAIROS. At issue were documents initially obtained by journalists through Access to Information requests. These documents show that our 2009-2013 CIDA proposal was strongly supported by CIDA experts and was ultimately recommended for funding in recognition of “KAIROS’ strategic alignment with CIDA’s objectives." The recommendation page for the KAIROS proposal shows the signatures of the President and Vice-President of CIDA, and of the Minister for International Cooperation. However, a handwritten "not" had been added to the key sentence related to the recommendation.
All three Opposition parties questioned the Minister and President in Committee to clarify the information provided in these documents. In response to a question, the President of CIDA testified that the department recommended KAIROS for funding and that when she signed the document the word "not" was absent. Minister Oda testified that she did not add the word "not" and she did not know who did. She however stands by her decision to deny KAIROS funding.
On the basis of the documents, and this testimony in Committee, Members of Parliament from each of the three Opposition parties have risen in the House of Commons (on December 10, 13, 14, and 15) seeking a motion for contempt of Parliament against the Minister. Central to this point of privilege is the contention that the Minister misled the House when she, and her Parliamentary Secretary, suggested that the KAIROS proposal was rejected at the CIDA level. This contradicts the testimony of Margaret Biggs who confirmed that KAIROS was recommended by the department, and that the Minister was aware of the recommendation by CIDA. Opposition parties have also raised questions regarding the source of the handwritten "not". The Speaker has "put over" the matter to allow the Government to prepare its response.
These events have again confirmed that KAIROS’ proposal for funding was strong, satisfied all required CIDA criteria, and on the basis of its merit, was recommended for funding, up to and including the President of CIDA. This continues to be a tremendous affirmation not simply of the facts as we have outlined them over the last year, but of KAIROS, our partners, and our capacity to develop together an effective program for international development. These events also reveal a significant lack of transparency on the part of the government such that while we know the Minister has taken responsibility for turning down our CIDA proposal, we still do not know who ultimately made that decision or what additional criteria, if any, were used.
KAIROS still has not received word on its second proposal to CIDA, submitted in March 2010. While we continue to be in the centre of an ongoing controversy, our partners feel the dramatic impact of the loss of funding. Valuable, life saving work for human rights and ecological justice is compromised. We seek answers regarding our original funding proposal and will continue to raise concerns regarding the integrity of Canadian international development, particularly given these dramatic irregularities in the approval process. For the sake of the important work we do together with partners, we are clearly focused now on securing a positive response to our second proposal, a strong proposal that aligns well with current CIDA priorities.
For further background information, links to media articles, and letters from Global Partners, click here`
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