The commitment by Global Affairs Canada signals strong international recognition of the crisis in Gaza and a commitment to long-term support. However, blockades are still preventing help from flowing freely into the area, and organizers say the program will shut down in a few months if blockades aren’t lifted.
Despite dwindling supplies and a total blockade on anything new entering the Gaza Strip, aid organizations staffed by Palestinians themselves continue to serve the local population. However, with Israeli authorities imposing new registration requirements on INGOs, many may have to leave the Gaza Strip after working in the region for decades.
With 2025 being the ten-year anniversary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations, there is likely to be a renewed focus on the lasting impacts of colonization in Canada. Research suggests that the Government has still not met many of its commitments to Indigenous communities, leaving Indigenous-serving charities and non-profits to fill the gap.
In the first comprehensive analysis of granting through the post-COVID Community Services Recovery Fund, data shows that most funding allowed non-profits to adapt or pivot their programs. The three intermediary funders were also able to support grantmaking to non-qualified donees, many of whom were applying to a fund of this sort for the first time.
From injured workers to racialized communities, women to LGBTQ+ groups, protest has historically driven government action and policy towards social change. For many, protest is the only means by which they have access to key decision-makers.
Representation is crucial when making up the board and staff of non-profits, a consideration that the outgoing Executive Director of the New Canadians Centre agrees with. So this ED set out to prove himself to those he served.
