Mr. Speaker, the Status of Women did a lot of advocacy work on behalf of women and on behalf of many people across Canada. The fact that it will have its budget significantly cut will eliminate a lot of the organizations out there that were working on not only women's issues but on family issues. That is just one sample of what we will see in the future of what are the priorities of the government.
Removing the word “equality” from the mandate changes things very significantly as to what groups will receive funding and what groups will not. Many of these groups do not receive a lot of money, but again, it is almost sometimes a token to say thanks to some of these groups that are doing advocacy work on a bare bones budget. If they get a few thousand dollars from the Status of Women to focus on issues dealing with the needs of women, it is something we should be proud of.
Last year an independent organization recommended to the previous government that the Status of Women budget should be increased by approximately 25% so it can meet the needs of the many groups and organizations that needed that assistance.