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BACKGROUNDER

Liberal governments have addressed the conflicts in southern Sudan and Darfur through diplomacy, military and technical assistance, and humanitarian aid.

Since 2000, Liberal governments committed nearly $366 million in support of the peace process, peacebuilding, and for food and humanitarian aid. This includes $170 million in support of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) making Canada one of the mission's top three international donors.

In April 2005, the Liberal government committed $90 million at the Oslo Donors' Conference for food, non-food aid, peace-building and good governance initiatives and for the Joint Assessment Mission, an effort under the United Nations and World Bank to support the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and reduce poverty in the south. Of these funds, $28 million was directed to Darfur.

Prior to the Oslo announcement, Liberal governments committed $106 million for humanitarian assistance, peacebuilding, mine clearance, human rights, community development and other assistance.

On the diplomatic front, Canada provided diplomatic and financial support to the African Union (AU)-Ied peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, and Canada's Ambassador to the UN, Allan Rock, played a critical role in the May 5, 2006 peace negotiations for Darfur.

Canada's military support for AMIS under Liberal governments included leased commercial helicopters and transport aircraft, the loan of armoured personnel carriers, financial support for aviation and ground fuel, support to civilian police operations, provision of basic equipment and Canadian military, police and civilian experts to assist with strategic planning, logistics and air operations, training, information support and communications. In May 2005, the Liberal government committed up to 80 military and civilian personnel to the expansion of AMIS.

Liberal Position in Opposition

The Liberal opposition has urged the government to increase its financial contribution to aid in the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and neighbouring Aweil - in particular to meet financial pleas by the World Food Program and the International Organization on Migration.

The Canadian Court Challenges Program

On Sept. 9, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion announced that a new Liberal government will not only reinstate the Court Challenges Program but also double the annual funding to $6 million a year to ensure that all groups will have the support they need to protect their rights.

As the costs of Charter cases increase, so too must our willingness to assist with those costs. The protections guaranteed under the Charter are only as meaningful as the ability of Canadians to access those protections. 

The Court Challenges Program of Canada is a non-profit organization which was set up in 1994 to provide financial assistance for important court cases that advance language and equality rights guaranteed under Canada's Constitution. 

In September 2006, in a press release titled "Canada's New Government cuts wasteful programs, refocuses spending on priorities, achieves major debt reduction as promised" the Conservative government cancelled the Court Challenges Program despite an independent evaluation done in 2003 that endorsed the Program's purpose and operation. As a result of this decision, the Program had to stop accepting applications for funding. 

On the press release, the Conservatives listed the program under the heading "Value for Money – Funding for third parties to further their interests or programs that are not effective, do not achieve results or are being re-focused or targeted for improved effectiveness". 

The Conservatives boasted that the cancellation would save $5.6 million over 2 years in a year in which they were projecting a surplus of $7.2 billion. In fact, the same day are the Court Challenges Program was cancelled for purely ideological reasons, the Harper government announced a $13.2 billion surplus. 

The Court Challenges Program has funded groups who participated in landmark court cases on issues like: minority language rights and the right to healthcare services in official languages, the right of gays and lesbians to marry, and the equality rights of women and the disabled. 

The Program also funded Democracy Watch (acting in coalition with the National Anti-Poverty Organization) to intervene in Harper v. Canada – the case brought by Stephen Harper, then President of the National Citizens Coalition, challenging third-party election spending limits. 

This program has defended minority language rights, equality rights, the rights of women and strong spending limits in an election – no wonder Stephen Harper cancelled it. 

On June 19, the Conservative government announced the creation of a new program to replace the Court Challenges Program. The new program deals exclusively with minority language rights at the expense of the women's equality rights, the rights of the disabled or the rights of gay and lesbian Canadians. 

posted by Media  # 3:09 PM