Canada Summer Jobs Program: Most of the program this week is devoted to coverage of changes to the Canada Summer Jobs Program. Shortly before Christmas, the federal government unveiled a new restriction on funding eligibility for the program, which subsidizes the wages of summer students in both private industry and not-for-profit organizations. In order to qualify for funding this year, those businesses and organizations will have to check a box on the application form, an “attestation” which reads:

“Both the job and the organization’s core mandate respect individual human rights in Canada, including the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as other rights. These include reproductive rights and the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, race, national or ethnic origin, colour, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression."

The government tried to do something similar last year without having an explicit policy in place, but had to settle a legal claim from pro-life groups because of it. On the program this week, we speak with several organizations involved in that court battle, and on the feature ARPA Canada’s articling student, Tabitha Ewert, provides some legal analysis of the new rules.

In the news…

Support for Independent Schools: Cardus has released a new national survey which shows a surprising level of support for government funding for independent schools across the country. We speak with Cardus Education’s Program Director Beth Green, who also had an op-ed published on the survey in the National Post. You can find that op-ed here.

Leadership Races: The pro-life group “Right Now” has released ranked ballots for the leadership races of two provincial political parties; the Saskatchewan Party and the BC Liberal Party. You can find the ballots here and here.