paisley Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 definately a depressing sight looking out at the sea of empty seats at the UN... the Sudan representative sitting there with a couple of people, then row upon rows of empty seats... 9 million being forgiven is a nice gesture, definately headed in the right direction, but its really a very tiny amount on the world stage... the hot argument is obviously Iraq and the States currently... Bush is an overconfident nutjob, the world will be blasted by terrorist attacks for generations to come because of his arrogance... his dream is a world where there is no freedom whatsoever so ever human being is accounted for at all times and therefore can't attack the stateas far as reading up on things to know what Martin (and Canada) is up to goes, I read over 9 news web pages and newspapers a day, watch television news several times a day... not to mention read numerous blogs... shouldn't I be bumping into more of this information regularly without having to read the minutes at parliament (actually, I think I heard of the 1.1 billion slated for something in Africa... but I remain vague on exactly what its for)don't mean that to be condemning or anything, more along the lines of constuctive critisism... I care about my country and like to try to stay informed whereas I have a feeling of being uninformedI agree, if Canada is deeply concerned with the Sudan we should lead the way and encourage others to follow by acting... the states is too busy stirring sh!t up, as are most of their allies... be good for us to show some initiative and get actively involved... show we are commited to peace, not interference(oh, for debt relief... sorry... forgot) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guigsy Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 so why was this place empty? do the people in the UN not take Canada seriously, or Paul Martin seriously? admittedly, i dont know how it all works, but i would think a world leader like that is coming to speak, people should be there to listen.. sure, we're only Canada, but Canada's no slouch... or are we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hux Posted September 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 My understanding is that a lot of these poor and heavily indebted countries are commonly run by corrupt regimes and dictators. It is our government's policy to hold off on forgiving a country its debt, until we know the $$ will go towards things like education and health, and not to weapons and corruption. My guess is that CIDA has a process of evaluation that determines when a country should be forgiven based on those factors. (I'll find out for sure though). Also, by holding off on forgiving debt to countries that are run by such regimes, it serves as a catalyst for these governments to clean up their acts, ie. you will be forgiven if we can be assured the $$ will go towards HIV drugs and not tanks. I think this is a good policy. Otherwise forgiving debt could potentially only make things worse. And I apologize for the "fire" - it comes out when I feel people are basing their opinions around notions about PM, and I'd be happy to discuss the commonly held misonceptions about the international shipping industry with you anytime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisley Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 now would possibly be a really good time for a group of countries to go into Sudan, not to overthrow the government per se, but to protect and shelter those being persecuted... set a good example of how to intervene in a county's affairs to show how wrong things are being done in Iraq, which has simply traded one heavy hand for another, and in doing so made things many times worse than they were to begin with... take enough force and resources to protect certain refugee regions and stand up to the government there and say "hey, smarten up, we're not going anywhere until you do"the world needs a fresh positive example of peacekeeping... Canada should invite France and the other countries who were against the Iraq invasion here for talks to figure out how to set this example with us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Musicface Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 i would think a world leader like that is coming to speak, people should be there to listen... The problem is they have lot of them there this week: http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/59/ I don't think it was necessarily a slight against Canada, but the truth is we're not a superpower so not being in the room is probably not a big deal for the many countries we don't have much to do with, for them or us. Becides all speeches are recorded and transcribed, the important thing is for us to put things on the record and try to move them forward. - M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guigsy Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 that makes a little more sense. thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hux Posted September 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 Exactly, it's on the record, open to media scrutiny, and you can bet that all the countries involved are well aware of our plans. The other thing is, the PM spoke for a half hour, but the rest his time at the UN is spent actually rallying support, ie. meeting with the countries involved, and laying the groudwork - it's not like he showed up, gave his speech, and left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guigsy Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 hahah, i wasnt under the impression that he showed up spat a few words and left... i know enough about politics to know its all about the shmoozing to get people on your side. if all he ever did was show up speak and leave, he wouldnt be our PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paisley Posted September 22, 2004 Report Share Posted September 22, 2004 Go Paul! world leader party! thats gotta be good! what I saw of his speach was pretty well done (wasn't covered on tv here sadly) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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