Canada and foreign aid

Catholic New Times, May 4, 2003 by Alexander Soucy

America's increasingly aggressive antagonism should act as a reverse-model for Canada. Whereas the U.S. is trying to conquer the world through force, Canada must go into the world as a voice of peace, tolerance and humanity.

National Post columnists and Canadian Alliance sycophants insist, in their shrill voices of death, that Canada needs to kill to retain a global presence. While I would agree that Canada needs to repair its tattered foreign presence, doing it at the butt-end of a gun will only increase our isolation.

We will remain in the shadow of the U.S.; not being penalized with cancelled trips or decreased trade, but increasingly unable to oppose our master. Our ties with the rest of the world will rot away, as our umbilical across the 49th parallel becomes our solo means of sustenance.

Even by the most pragmatic terms this seems to be a self-destructive foreign policy. We would serve the world and ourselves better by taking a strong stand for the values that Canada holds dear: universal education and health care, peace, tolerance and concern for those who are less fortunate.

An excellent start would be tripling the funding to the Global Funds to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. We would be the first country to stand up and say that this important institution deserves our full support: that millions of poor people deserve not to die preventable deaths.

Bill Graham is in the midst of undertaking a dialogue on our foreign policy. He would be well advised to start with an increase to the GFATM, and use that as the starting point to increasing Canada's presence-of-peace in the world. If we do so, history will surely judge Canada as the true protector of freedom and humanity and the viciousness of the Bush administration will be laid bare.

Dr. Alexander Soucy

Ottawa