Canada: David Cameron

David Cameron: When I was chair of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, Conservative and Liberal members alike were adamant that Canada needed the military strength to both defend itself and contribute to maintaining international stability. But we also published reports arguing for an increased foreign aid budget. While wars sometimes have to be fought, they are incredibly costly in both blood and treasure. Which is why investing taxpayers dollars in ameliorating the conditions that breed conflict is so important, according to The Star. In this, Harper probably is far more clever than fellow Conservative David Cameron, Britains prime minister. Cameron, like Harper, is likely to face his electorate in 2015. Like Harper, he has been flagging in popularity polls recently. But unlike Harper, Cameron is not playing politics with foreign aid and Canada, like all civilized countries, needs a stable world to nourish its prosperity and civility. International turmoil drains governments of opportunities to improve the lives of their citizens. This is why intelligent, prosperous governments invest in development in less fortunate parts of the world. Unfortunately, there arent many votes in foreign aid; more likely there are votes to lose. And Stephen Harper is a clever politician. He knows few Liberal or NDP supporters would come over to his Conservative party if he had increased Canadas foreign aid budget. Conversely, core Conservative voters would be appalled at any increase, particularly in iffy economic times. Those are two good reasons why Canadians have witnessed the emaciation of Canadas overseas development budget since Harper won his majority in 2011. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.