Canada’s Liberals appear to have some high-calibre figures waiting in the wings during their period in the Opposition wilderness. One such figure is former Junior Health Minister Carolyn Bennett, who has done excellent public health work in the past, and has been a supportive ally of Canada’s LGBT communities within her party.
In a recent issue of Xtra, she’s quite scathing about the Harper federal Tories and their attacks on HIV/AIDS funding, although she also admits that the Liberals could have done better during Chretien and Martin’s terms as Prime Minister through the eighties and nineties. Given that Canada still experiences about 4000 new cases of HIV/AIDS each year, she is scathing about what she considers to be almost criminal neglect by the current Canadian federal government, especially related to HIV/AIDS prevention and palliative care and assisted living requirements. She regards the Harper administration as contemptuous toward grass-roots social activism when it isn’t their own socially conservative core constituency.
Fortunately, there are efforts to reverse the cuts, although Bennett is sceptical about the openness of the current regime to HIV/AIDS prevention and welfare organisations. The current Bill C-1o furore and Vancouver’s Insite controversy are almost reminiscent of a more sophisticated version of John Howard’s similarly benighted and late unlamented Australia, and indicate that while the Harper administration doesn’t have the guts to openly confront social liberal adversaries, they are capable of incremental and stealth strategies that target them instead.
New Zealand PLWAs and others may want to take an interest in Canada’s current experiences. While issues like abortion, censorship and homosexuality are off the centre-right agenda, Canada suggests that the indirect approach may be more incremental, but is just as punitive. We ignore it at our own peril.
Recommended:
“Liberal MP Calls Public Health Cuts Appalling” Xtra 15.05.08: http://www.xtra.ca
http://www.increaseAIDSfunding.ca
Canadian HIV/AIDS prevention and support funding lobby group
2 responses so far ↓
1 Canada: Harper Tories Slash HIV/AIDS Funding // May 15, 2008 at 11:27 pm
[…] wordsforchange wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIn a recent issue of Xtra, she’s quite scathing about the Harper federal Tories and their attacks on HIV/AIDS funding, although she also admits that the Liberals could have done better during Chretien and Martin’s terms as Prime … […]
2 Politics in America » Canada: Harper Tories Slash HIV/AIDS Funding // May 15, 2008 at 11:42 pm
[…] Quaequam Blog! wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptCanada: Harper Tories Slash HIV/AIDS Funding Posted by: Craig Young Canada’s Liberals appear to have some high-calibre figures waiting in the wings during their period in the Opposition wilderness. One such figure is former Junior Health Minister Carolyn Bennett, who has done excellent public health work in the past, and has been a supportive ally of Canada’s LGBT communities within her party. In a recent issue of Xtra, she’s quite scathing about the Harper federal Tories and their attac […]
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