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, and countless lives are at stake.
Nathaniel Poole, Victoria
