Leaked communiqués show conclusively how Stephen Harper has done everything he can to steer the G8/G20 agenda away from critical issues that could prove politically damaging to him, Liberal MPs said today.
“Even though Canadians and other world leaders want to address climate change and reproductive rights as it relates to a global maternal health initiative, our right-wing government is doing everything it can to avoid these topics,” said Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Bob Rae.
Leaked drafts of the communiqués lack any mention of reproductive rights as part of the maternal health initiative, while the only mention of climate change is a comment about ensuring it does not hurt countries’ economies.
“The borrow-and-spend Conservatives are wasting more than $1 billion of Canadians’ tax money to host these summits when important issues that must be addressed are being left out solely for partisan reasons,” said Liberal Status of Women Critic Anita Neville. “Essentially, we’re hosting the most expensive Harper photo-op ever.”
The communiqués use weasel words like “voluntary family planning” when discussing the maternal health initiative, and show how Canada has yet to commit to a specific dollar amount.
“Combined with Mr. Harper’s snub of the world’s biggest maternal health conference in Washington this week, it’s evident that he cares more about optics than real progress in saving women’s lives,” said Ms. Neville.
Liberal Finance Critic John McCallum also pointed out how Mr. Harper latched on to the bank tax issue – even though it was resolved by the G20 prior to the Toronto meeting – to avoid scrutiny on the more pressing subjects of bank regulations and mounting deficits.
“Stephen Harper opposed bank regulations in opposition and ran up the largest deficit in history in government,” Mr. McCallum said. “Rather than address the real issues of capitalization ratios and regulation, Mr. Harper went on a phony crusade against a global bank tax that had very little chance of ever becoming a reality anyway.”
