Poorest Countries and Prime Minister Stephen Harpers

Prime Minister Stephen Harpers: Worse, Canadian domestic politics and trade interests appear to factor more heavily in this revamp than any burning desire to lend a hand to the very poorest countries. Its all a bit discouraging, according to The Star. Granted, we ll be helping more countries. And three African states have made the new list, from a poor region that the government has been accused of ignoring and Canadas modest $5-billion foreign aid program has been nothing to brag about on Prime Minister Stephen Harpers long watch. Our spending is sub-par compared to other affluent countries. And now the Conservatives intend to stretch our skimpy budget even further by expanding the list of countries that we help. Of course thats not how Development Minister Christian Paradis chose to market his announcement on Friday that Ottawa is expanding our list of priority aid recipients to 25 countries from 20, while bumping up their share of our overall aid to 90 per cent from 80. It was spun as a win for the neediest. Canada enhances focus in global fight against poverty, the press release proclaimed. Canadians can be proud to be making a difference and saving lives. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.