This election I will be faced with a tough choice. I could not ask for more from my MP, Murray Rankin. Everything I have requested, whether by letter, email or by personal visit, has been delivered.
His empathy for the world鈥檚 extreme poor may stem from the fact that his own grandfather died from TB, a preventable illness which still takes the lives of so many less fortunate people internationally. His cheerful follow-through when asked to reach out to the HAT Caucus, to support funding for TB Reach or to sign the Barcelona Accord has shown me that he would embrace the target 0.7 per cent of GDP for International Development, a goal suggested by Lestor Pearson back in 1969 and later adopted by the UN as the global goal.
The question is whether his boss would agree, and if so, how and when, Mr. Mulcair? Elizabeth May has consistently shown a great degree of compassion for the world鈥檚 extreme poor and understands more than the other three party leaders, the role of the environment in the lives of the extreme poor. While she has said that she will bring international aid up to the suggested 0.7 per cent of GDP, she has not given us a time-frame. The UK has passed a bill that enshrines in law its commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of its Gross National Income on aid every year.
By contrast, Canada鈥檚 foreign aid spending was down sharply in 2014, to a low of 0.24 per cent. I would urge all candidates to push their leaders to move in a direction that we must, in order to have sustainable international growth and to eradicate extreme poverty.
On October 19, the party that clearly defines this target will win my vote.
Connie Lebeau
Victoria, B.C.
