Budget cuts another victory in Tory war on information: opposition
Gloria Galloway, Globe and Mail, March 30, 2012

The First Nations Statistical Institute (FNSI), National Council of Welfare (NCW) and National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy (NTEE) are neither the first nor will they be the last federal councils or advisories on social, economic or environmental issues to be eliminated by the current government.

A few years ago there was another, which was likewise eliminated by the current government.  It was the National Council of Visible Minorities (NCVM) , and its mandate was… well, one would be hard-pressed to learn what it was exactly, since its federal government website was taken down.  Obviously it advocated for more equitable representation and treatment of visible minorities in the federal public service.

Trick question:  What did NCVM and NCW have in common? Both were eliminated a couple years after tabling reports critical of government policy, NCVM of the government’s visible minority hiring/staffing practices (in 2008) and NCW of the government’s policy (or lack thereof) addressing poverty (in 2010).

PS ordered to hire more minorities
Ottawa Citizen, August 16, 2008

Welfare rules forcing people into destitution, report finds
Laurie Monsebraaten, Toronto Star December 13, 2010

The message could not be clearer:  If a federal council or advisory takes its mandate seriously and acts independently in the public interest, it shouldn’t expect to be around much longer.  And just in case it wasn’t clear to some:

Government isn’t obliged to bankroll its critics
Andrew Coyne, Postmedia News May 4, 2012