Friday, June 11, 2010

Mother and Child



Absolutely ridiculous. I heard this morning that hospitals will join businesses, museums, and virtually every other organization in essential shut-down during the G-20 meeting later this month. The federal government has managed to create a billion dollar ghost town to host leaders from around the world. What is the sense in this?

In our disgust we might miss a laudable goal of this meeting which is to discuss maternal healthcare in developing nations. The trouble is, Canada is spending 1.2 billion on a four-day conference and is proposing to give one billion to this important cause over the next five years. The U.N. has asked us to contribute two billion, which we could have done if there weren't excessive costs for security and everything else. You may have heard that the Bill Gates foundation is contributing 1.5 billion to the cause.

I am grateful that the Harper government has brought this initiative forward, and I think that as Christians we should feel that this is an essential justice issue. After all, Jesus was born to a peasant woman in less than ideal circumstances. The Madonna and Child images of art are often pristine, but they could be so much more earthy, and representative of the dangerous realities for women in our world, even to the present day.

What is your reaction to this conference? Did you know that this initiative was on the agenda? Are you glad it is?

3 comments:

roger said...

Yes, I'm glad it's on the agenda, but like many others, I think it is not money well spent. In this technological age, the leaders could have done all this by videoconference. Total cost? Zero. Pollution? Zero. Think of the added pollution from the extra air traffic, motorcades, etc.

As an article in the paper said, one billion dollars could have done one of the following:
1)Provided tuition to thousands of university students
2)Provided health care to 167,000 Canadians
3)Provided 133 MILLION mosquito nets to developing nations

But instead, we have a conference in which virtually every word uttered by the leaders has been prepared in advance.

All well.

David Mundy said...

Perhaps it would be good if every concerned Canadian sent the PM a list of the things we think he could have done with what is, in the end, our money. Thanks Johnny.

Nancy said...

Yes, I know it's on the agenda. I'm glad it is. The money and pollution as Johnny points out is ridiculous! I think with the infrastructure that exists at the UN in both New York and Geneva, they could hold these meetings there. They have all the necessary "things" already in place. Why are we always reinventing the wheel? And don't get me going on this "fake lake"! That's just silly!!!