Concerning Cuts Lead to Record Surplt Conservative Government Releases Controversial Annual Budget Nicole Burton, OP News Editor After drawing attention for the announcement of a record sur- plus upon the release of the Conservative’s annual budget report in Ottawa last week, the dust cleared with eyebrows still raised - across the board as to what the minority government has priori- tized, and what is getting the financial axe. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has said that of the $13.2 bil- lion surplus, every dollar will go towards reducing the federal debt. “We're not like the last guys [in office]”, he said in a TV inter- view last week. “They would spray money all over the place, often in areas of provincial jurisdiction, causing all sorts of prob- lems,” he said. But despite Conservative calls for a more “efficient” and “effective” use of federal dollars, the news of increased cuts to social services at the expense of the federal budget is creating concern. Here is a breakdown of some of the bigger cuts: e $5 million in administrative savings from the Status of Women agency. © Research on medical marijuana, which cost $4 million per year ¢ The $11.7 million in unused funding for a mountain pine beetle program. The result is that opposition parties, as well as many commu- nity organizations and advocacy groups across Canada are out- raged and voicing their opposition to the news—or at least ask- ing a number of pointed questions. In a response to the budget’s breakdown last week, Southern Interior MP Alex Atamanenko (NDP) asked, “Is this government dismantling the social safety net?” “Tt (cutting programs) is not the right thing to « a surplus.” Atamanenko expressed concerns specifically ab lion funding cuts to the Status of Women agency, \ will be felt at the women’s center in his small-town “These cuts strike at the foundation of small-tc he said. ; For Status of Women, a $5 million cut-means a trimming of 40% of their budget. In a press confe week, NDP critic for the Status of Women, Irene | called the budget cuts part of the Conservatives’ o7 “de-fang the women’s movement” in Canada. “What we are sensing is that this review will ha will make it absolutely impossible for advocacy, for political, to happen. Groups have already been ady they are applying [for funding] they should remove ‘lobbying’ and ‘advocacy’ from the applications,” sé who also referenced that the Conservative-backed | women’s organization, REAL, has been lobbying fc plete dismantling of Status of Women for some tit supports exclusively “feminist” organizations. “This is a very clear effort to de-politicize the v ment,” Mathyssen said. In the Liberal Party’s response to the news of t Liberal Leader Bill Graham said, “You really find t mean-spirited because in our view they are directec Conservatives think won’t support them anyway.” “This government has a substantial budget sury fore the cuts and the nature of them have to be lo light of the surplus they have.” Report Highlights Troubling Trends in Aboriginal Health in Quebec Nikki Bozinoff, The McGill Daily (McGill University) MONTREAL (CUP)—A new report on First Nations people in Quebec found that over 50 per cent of adults living on reservations smoke and 67 per cent are either overweight or obese. The study surveyed 4,000 First Nations people across Quebec and was conducted by the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services Commission as part of a broader effort by the National Aboriginal Health Organization to collect data about the state of health in reser- vations across the country. Community members emphasized that these health prob- lems must be addressed by confronting the social and eco- nomic issues that face First Nations people living on reserves. “We need to not rely solely on uncontextualized [sic] data,” said Chantelle Richmond, PhD candidate in geography and member of First Peoples’ House at McGill University. “People don’t smoke because they want to; they do it because access to fundamental resources such as water, health care, and education isn’t there.” Greg Brass, a PhD. candidate in medical anthropology and member of First Peoples’ House at McGill, agreed with Richmond. “Trying to figure out the underlying causes for these results needs to be the government’s main focus,” he said. The report made recommendations for continued govern- ment funding and implementation of community programs in cooperation with First Nations people. There is widespread concern among medical experts that, if left unchecked, these health problems could lead to an increase in chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart dis- ease. THE OTHER PRESS OCTOBER 5.2006 “There is a general consensus from First Nations leaders as well as the community that these numbers represent a reali- ty and there is a feeling of hope that they will bring about change,” said Nancy Gros-Louis, technical research co-ordina- tor for the health commission. The report is the only one of its kind based on the princi- ples of ownership, control, access, and possession, a set of ethical rules developed by the commission to ensure self- determination and self-governance in research — factors it says ate often missing in surveys conducted by the federal government. “Surveys like this are important because indigenous com- munities need to take direct control of information that is presented about them,” said Brass. Gros-Louis confirmed that the commission took every measure to involve the First Nations people. “The questionnaire for the survey was built of First Nations people to ensure that the surv and that the results were validated both scientif turally,” she said. The report also said that 51 per cent of mo while pregnant, 15 per cent of adults suffered f and 22 per cent of adults suffered from cardioy lems. Interviews were conducted for 15 months c and 2003 as a follow-up to a 1999 report of th It included representatives from nine nations a¢ reserves with an 86 per cent participation rate « population.