It appears the federal government’s government’s attestation statement has struck again.

The Bruno Cherry Festival has been cancelled this year because they couldn’t get funding for a student to help organize the festival, through the Canada Summer Jobs Program.

The Bruno Cherry Sunday Committee, which applies for funding in conjunction with the Catholic-based St. Therese Institute, states in a news release that their application for a summer student was denied because “we could not; in good conscience, agree to all aspects of the application’s newly added attestation requirement”.

All groups seeking funding through the Canada Summer Jobs program have to sign an attestation stating they support Canadian constitutional rights as well as the right to reproductive choice.

The group said it continued to push forward with just volunteers but don’t feel they can ensure a successful event so the August 12th Cherry Sunday Festival has been cancelled.  The Bruno Cherry Festival dates back to 2003.

The federal government’s website says the reason for the attestation is to prevent funding flowing to organizations that aren’t respectful of human rights.
Some reports have said in the past, anti-gay and anti-abortion groups used the program to fund students, so this attestation circumvents that.
In the meantime, the Cherry Sunday organizing committee is hopeful the festival will be back next year.