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in his own words

Bev Oda and Kairos: What is 'not' being achieved now

Kairos worker Caroline Foster shows off a new t-shirt poking fun at the decision to order that the word "not" be inserted on a government document that ended a 36-year funding arrangement with the church-backed aid organization. Photo: Kairos/Nik Beeson

Lost in the politics around the now-infamous "not" which cost my organization Kairos its funding is the impact on Kairos' programming and partnerships overseas.

The debate raging in the Canadian Parliament and the media -- while teaching interesting lessons to Canadians about parliamentary procedure, including the possible censure of a member of the government -- isn't directly helping women in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or children in Colombia, or citizens in the future state in South Sudan.

In fact, the decision to cut funding to our overseas work is doing the opposite.

Here is an example of how Kairos can help:

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in his own words

Kairos observes the South Sudan referendum

The ballot paper for the South Sudan referendum. Photo: John Lewis.

John Lewis, the human rights co-ordinator with Kairos, has been in South Sudan to monitor the recent referendum for secession from the north of the country. He has been blogging about his experience; below is his final blog post. Read the entire blog by clicking here

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rabble news

Did KAIROS defunding come down to mining interests and one hand-written note?

An internal memo to CIDA Minister Bev Oda recommending KAIROS continue receiving funding from the aid agency was modified under mysterious circumstances shortly before or after it was signed, reinforcing allegations of political interference.

Meanwhile, other documents show that before it was cut as a CIDA partner, KAIROS was engaged in a heated back-and-forth with diplomats at Canada's embassies in Mexico and Guatemala over the NGO's work on corporate social responsibility and mining.

KAIROS is a faith-based development group that counts among its 11 members the Catholic Church's Development and Peace, the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund, the Presbyterian Church of Canada, and the United Church of Canada.

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Progressive Voices

Haiti and Canadian imperialism

July 26, 2011
| We speak with Kevin Edmonds of the Canada Haiti Action Network and Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti on rebuilding after the 2010 earthquake, the Canadian coup d'etat of 2004, and more.

27:27 minutes (25.14 MB)
Progressive Voices

Free trade and human rights violations: Examining the Canada-Colombia FTA

June 30, 2011
| We speak with Dr. George Sorger, professor emeritus at McMaster University, on the recently implemented Free Trade Agreement with Colombia.

30:02 minutes (27.5 MB)
Columnists

NGOs risk all in standoff with Harper over civil society crackdown

You have to admire the political logic. If there is no data to research, there will be no facts to account for. How perfect the Tories' ditching of the mandatory long-form census data collection is for themselves -- and how dangerous for the rest of us.

This crazily arcane little issue is just the latest example of how the government is craftily tearing down the foundational infrastructure of democratic accountability.

After four years of the same, we're close to a tipping point -- at least that is what an unprecedented number of NGO watchdogs (aka civil society orgs) are risking their necks to tell us right now.

Redeye

Harper government behind cuts to Christian organization Kairos

February 10, 2010
| The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has stopped funding Kairos, saying it no longers fits CIDA priorities.

13:36 minutes (12.45 MB)
everyone's a critic

Policy and prejudice: De-funding Canadian aid projects

Late last year, Minister of International Cooperation Bev Oda cut Canada's 30 years of association with non-profit advocacy group, KAIROS, without explanation. When pressed, Oda said that the program didn't meet CIDA's current priorities. Another less pragmatic reason surfaced later when Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney explained to the audience at the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism in Jerusalem: "We have articulated and implemented a zero tolerance approach to anti-semitism. What does this mean?

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