… the irony of earmarking $105 million to help children in Africa and Asia, is lost on Mr. Harper and his fellow Ideologues in the Conservative party.

A government that vigorously refuses funding to provide the support and programs Canadian children need to get them off to a good and healthy start to their lives and schooling.

This refusal to do our best for ALL Canadian children results in a privileged class of children gaining a decided and unfair advantage from the start of their lives over their less wealthy peers. Adding to the growing imbalance and unfairness of Canadian society.

To add insult to the injury Mr. Harper is doing to these most vulnerable young Canadian citizens, he also vowed to double aid to Africa by 2008-09. This promise of increased aid to Africa comes on the heels of the UN report censuring Canada for the number of citizens living in “3rd world living conditions”.

When a government chooses to pursue fiscal and economic policies that promote the transfer of wealth to a privileged class favoured by government policies, the government has a moral responsibility to ensure that those Canadians forsaken by government policy do not find themselves living in “3rd world conditions”.

Given the federal government’s pursuit of policies that result in the creation of an ever faster growing class of Canadians unable to afford basic shelter, the federal government must either change policies or formulate ways to ensure the availability of affordable housing for all Canadians, not just those privileged to be economically enriched by government policies.

Affordable housing is a necessity, not just for the fairness and balance of Canadian society, but for the continued growth and health of the Canadian economy. Similarly programs that promote the wellness, health and education of all Canadian children promote the Canadian economy. Both are part of the infrastructure needed for Canada to compete and prosper globally.

In an increasingly integrated world, Canada simply cannot afford the ideological blindness of our current government policies. Indeed, Canada cannot afford the competitive disadvantages contained in the policies espoused by any current national party.

Federal political parties and politicians must formulate policy based on what is needed for the long-term health and growth of the Canadian economy not on ideology. Otherwise Canadians must look elsewhere for the leadership needed to thrive in a fast changing world.

Or we may well find ourselves looking for foreign aid, as more and more Canadians find themselves living in what we think of as “3rd world conditions”. The conditions far too many Canadians, and a shaming number of Canadian children, currently live in.