A hot topic in the news this week was the firing of former Conservative candidate Rosamond Luke from her position as as executive director of the All Women’s Empowerment and Development Association in Halifax.

According to new reports the association was awarded a $142,700 federal government grant and a $40,000 grant from the IWK Health Centre.

Excuse me? A grant from the IWK? I thought that the meagre donations my wife and I made over the past several years went toward tiny baby heart valves, and cotton wrappings for little legs, and antibiotics and other, well… hospital things.

The IWK Foundation’s website however shows that they make available $300,000 to community outreach in the following areas of need. They want a healthy population and good partnerships in the community. It makes sense and these all seem very reasonable to me.

• Supporting the healthy growth and development of children 0-6 years
• Preventing child/youth obesity
• Supporting parents of children 0-16 years in their parenting role
• Addressing the needs of “at risk” youth
• Improving women’s wellness across the adult and senior years

But according to the Government of Canada Status of Women website the grant money was for “a pilot project designed to enable and integrate low-income immigrant women in Nova Scotia society through entrepreneurship, self-employment and micro enterprise projects”. That was for the federal grant and I can only assume the IWK grant was for the same purpose, which strikes me as unrelated to women and children’s health, but then again I’m no expert in the matter so should probably avoid any inferences. I just thought my $20 this year was going to little tiny medical things, not to help people set up businesses.

(Please leave comments at http://myconnect.ca/read/80/33362)

Categories: general posts