Tory Minister loses funding program responsibilty

Tourism Minister Diane Ablonczy has been stripped of responsibility for administering a major tourism funding program after she signed off on a grant for Toronto's gay pride week.

Ms. Ablonczy, who retains her title as minister of state for small business and tourism, was in charge of the Marquee Tourism Events Program, an initiative to provide $100-million of funding over two years to the country's major festivals and tourist attractions

Calgary Stampede $2-million

• Toronto International Film Festival Grant $3-million

• Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival $400,000

• Le Festival International de Jazz de Montreal $3-million

• Shaw Festival Grant $2-million

• Le Festival d'ete de Quebec $3-million

• Stratford Festival $3-million

• Luminato Festival 2009 $1.2-million

• Ottawa Cisco Bluesfest $1.5-million

Dona Cadman, a first-term Conservative MP from Surrey, B.C., said she supports Ms. Ablonczy's decision.

"I'm proud to see this reaching out to all sectors of the Canadian mosaic," Cadman said in an e-mailed message.

"Minister Ablonczy should be congratulated for running an inclusive and responsive portfolio. I do think we need to be open, to consider funding non-core cultural groups, as long as they are not engaging in activity that is offensive to most Canadians. They filled out all the required paperwork properly and were treated the same as any other group."