The federal Liberals like to proclaim that it’s a new era for Canada on the international stage.
As part of this new approach they have announced new funding for the Global Fund for HIV, TB and Malaria, a fund that Canada has long supported, and has saved 22 million lives since 2002.
This is a great success story, but after years of cuts under the Harper Conservatives, Canada’s overall global assistance budget is now among the lowest of developed nations. Replenishing the Global Fund is a good start, but Canada’s aid budget needs an increase of a billion dollars per year over the next three years to even approach the assistance budgets of far smaller countries.
Along with global relevancy comes critical responsibilities.
Nathaniel Poole
Victoria