Viewpoint: There must be an easier way to ensure job program isn’t abused

By Nicole Babb

Every year thousands of students throughout the country find summer employment through the Canada Summer Jobs program. However, this year, problematic changes to the program’s applications could make it more difficult for students to find jobs.

The program, run by the federal government, provides funding to not-for-profit employers, faith-based organizations and various other groups that hire students during the summer months.

Last year, the program funded about 69,000 jobs. However, this year the government added a questionable new “attestation” hurdle to the funding applications that force any organization applying for funds to essentially agree with the government’s views on abortion to qualify for a grant.

The attestation states that the core mandate of any organization applying for funding must recognize “sexual and reproductive rights — and the right to access safe and legal abortions.”

The government added the new attestation because it received complaints last year about summer job funding being given to groups that distributed graphic anti-abortion pamphlets and refused to hire LGBTQ staff.

Although the changes seem well-intentioned, there are a few problems with these new regulations.

First, students may suffer because many organizations — particularly church-based groups — are refusing to agree to the new attestation since it’s not in line with their views on abortion.

Churches often hire students to do important jobs such as work at homeless shelters or summer camps that help underprivileged youth. Because of the new rules, many churches will not apply for funding. That means they won’t have the ability to hire students for these important roles. This will hurt both students and the communities they serve.

Almost 90 Christian, Muslim and Jewish groups have issued a letter to Trudeau, urging him to change the new attestation on the jobs application form.

“We are unable to give non-negotiable, unqualified affirmation to undefined values and other rights … At the risk of losing funding or programs themselves that benefit so many Canadians, the government has placed us in an untenable situation,” Bruce Clemenger, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, said at a news conference concerning the issue.

Following a major backlash from the religious community, Employment Minister Patty Hajdu tried to clarify the changes to the application process by saying that the attestation concerns the organization’s activities and job descriptions, not their values or beliefs.

However, the government has not changed the wording of the attestation itself, which means many groups are still unwilling to agree to it.

Religious organizations aren’t the only ones not applying for summer job funding.

David Manley, owner of a bakery in Saskatchewan, told CBC he wants to apply for funding to hire students but he doesn’t agree with the new regulations.

Manley said he agrees that women should have the right to abortion services, but he doesn’t think federal funding for summer jobs should be dependent on this belief.

Clearly the new regulations are hindering many job prospects for students. This is unfortunate, because it’s often difficult for students to find employment given their limited working experience.

The government shouldn’t be pushing its views on organizations in Canada, especially when it’s negatively affecting job prospects for students. Canada is diverse and everyone is entitled to their own beliefs.

One possible solution to this problem is to change the wording of the attestation. If the government removed the section about the core mandate of the organization and focused on the activities the students will be involved with, more organizations would likely be willing to apply for funding.

Clearly, summer job funding should not be given to groups that use the funding to infringe upon individual rights or threaten women and abortion services. However, the government should deal with these groups on an individual basis instead of forcing all organizations to sign the attestation, when the vast majority of summer jobs have nothing to do with abortion.