A Conservative political adviser caught up in the fracas between the Harper government and aid groups has left his job at CIDA minister Bev Oda’s office.
Keith Fountain, who served as policy director for Ms. Oda, the Minister of International Co-operation, no longer works for her, a spokesman said today.
“He moved on,” Jean-Luc Benoit, Ms. Oda’s director of communications, said of Mr. Fountain.
Aid groups have alleged recently that the Conservative administration is casting a chill over advocacy they undertake, saying they’re getting hints that Ottawa dislikes the stands they take on issues or their criticism of government policy.
Last week, an official with a mainstream non-governmental group fingered Mr. Fountain as a example of what they are worried about.
The official, who did not want to be identified out of concern it might jeopardize their group’s funding, told The Globe and Mail last week that the senior Conservative aide had warned them against such activities.
According to the NGO official, Mr. Fountain gave them a verbal warning that the organization’s policy positions were under scrutiny: “Be careful about your advocacy.”
But today Ms. Oda’s office denied Mr. Fountain’s departure had anything to do with The Globe and Mail article or the allegation.
“Let’s kill that rumour right now,” Mr. Benoit said.
He nevertheless refused to explain why Mr. Fountain left Ms. Oda’s office. “We don’t discuss staffing issues publicly.”
Fears among NGOs have been amplified by the government’s move to reject a $7-million funding request from Kairos, an aid organization backed by a coalition of churches.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said publicly that Kairos was de-funded because it supported a boycott campaign against Israel. (Kairos insists it doesn’t support a boycott.) The government later backtracked and said the agency’s funding was turned down because it did not fall in line with CIDA’s new areas of focus.
