Following Monday’s Question Period, Liberal MPs John McKay and Frank Valeriote raised a point of privilege in the House of Commons calling on the Speaker to make a prima facie finding of contempt against the Minister of International Cooperation for misleading the House.
“KAIROS is an organization of the highest repute and does remarkable work on behalf of Canada for the world’s poor. The facts show that the Minister was not being honest when asked why KAIROS was cut,” said Mr. McKay.
“To make matters worse, church leaders have asked the Prime Minister for a meeting to get an explanation and have yet to receive a response. Minister Bev Oda and the Prime Minister have some serious explaining to do.”
KAIROS Canada is a faith-based NGO that represents 11 of Canada’s largest Christian denominations and advocates on issues of human rights, poverty and other justice-related matters in Canada and abroad. In November 2009 CIDA cut its funding to KAIROS, ending a 35 year relationship.
The Minister and her Parliamentary Secretary have stated in House on numerous occasions that KAIROS did not meet official criteria for funding. However, at the Foreign Affairs Committee on December 9th, 2010, the President and Vice President of CIDA unequivocally stated that they had recommended KAIROS for renewal of its $7 million grant.
On March 15th, 2010, the Parliamentary Secretary for International Cooperation stated:
“CIDA thoroughly analyzed KAIROS’ program proposal and determined, with regret, that it did not meet the agency’s current priorities. This is important.”
Then on April 23rd, 2010, in response to an order paper question the Minister stated:
“…the CIDA decision not to continue funding KAIROS was based on overall assessment of the proposal, not any single criterion.”
“Without warning, its funding was mysteriously cut and the explanation given as to why was clearly not the truth,” said Mr. Valeriote. “This incident raises the issue of whether Canadians can trust this government to tell them the truth. If they are willing to mislead the House on this issue, what else are they not being honest about?”
Liberals will be calling on the government for a response before the House rises for the holidays.
