’A Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term’ (II)

Glen Pearson reports from the foreign affairs committee.

Canadians have some serious things to consider. We have a well-deserved international reputation for being the country that got itself dirty working in the hardest regions on earth, fighting for human rights, buildings schools and promoting public health. We even got a Nobel Peace Prize for the effort. Anyone who has traveled extensively knows exactly what I’m talking about. But we’re in the process of disappearing. We are receding into the fringes of the world’s consciousness. Our greatness isn’t so much misplaced as it is being forgotten. CIDA will have to do better than this. The Canadian government will have to engage the world more effectively. We’ll all have to do better as citizens before our presence is removed from the memory of the world’s most desolate places.