To the editor:
The world has become too small for an us-versus-them perspective.
Yet when the Stephen Harper federal government disproportionately cuts development aid, I believe the implication is they - the world's children - do not matter.
At the 2010 G8 meeting, Canada pledged increased support for child and maternal aid, and yet they slashed the aid budget. The argument is austerity, and yet the $300 million they have cut is the price of a single new fighter jet the government wants to purchase. Three dollars per Canadian per year would save the lives of millions. We know how to make an enormous difference with very little money.
There might never be enough, but Canada's aid budget falls far below most other Western nations, although we have the healthiest economy.
This isn't necessity; it is choice. Three dollars a day, a fighter jet or countless human lives – that is the choice.
The world is watching and we will be known by the choice our government makes.
Nathaniel Poole
Victoria