Canada’s Moral Authority on Economic Reform, Poverty and Climate
When Canada hosts the G8 in 2010, less than an hour from my home in Huntsville, Ontario we’ll want to have the moral authority to call on our guests to make real progress on issues of economic reform, poverty and climate change. Between now and then, Canadians need to send clear unequivocal messages to our leaders encouraging them to live up to our existing agreements and negotiate significant action on poverty an climate change.
Canada has the right to encourage strong controls on the Global Financial System:
Canada can hold its head high when it comes to demanding transparent International standards for regulating banks. Back under Paul Martin’s stint as Economic Minister it was Canada who proposed a look under the hood of the G8 (actually it was the G7 back then) financial regulations in response to the Asian Economic Crisis of the late 1980’s. Canada was the first to undergo such a review and our banking system stands as perhaps the best prepared to weather the current economic crisis.
On Poverty
If Canada wants the moral authority to call on other countries to meet their international agreements regarding poverty and climate change, Canadian leaders need to first have a look at their own record.
From Rabble.ca:
Prime Minister Harper at the press conference he gave on the final day of the G8 boasted about Canada keeping its commitments on doubling aid to Africa and argued against the G8 making new promises until it has delivered on past ones.
Canada, while on track to fulfill the doubling aid to Africa pledge made in 2005, is still in a weak moral position to provide global leadership unless it commits to a timetable to reach the UN aid target of 0.7%. Many other countries have either already achieved or have timetables to achieve the 0.7% target by 2015. And Canada stands at only 16th out of 22 donor countries in terms of the aid we give as a percentage of our national income.
Remember Kyoto?
Canada has also failed in a big way to live up to its international commitments on Climate Change. Remember Kyoto Prime Minister? That’s where we committed to a 5% reduction on 1990 carbon emissions by 2012. Last I checked, Canada was 22% ABOVE 1990 emissions. We’ve missed the mark by quite a bit. Will we live up to any agreements made under the new UN Framework being negotiated for Copenhagen this December? Canadians hope so
As Dennis Howlett states, at the conclusion of his Rabble.ca article, “For this to happen, we will need to engage Canadians in an unprecedented way, and mount a huge campaign for Canada to be a leader again on the world stage in tacking global poverty and the threat of climate change. I hope I can count on your support.”
I couldn’t’ agree more.
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