Canada getting ahead on the backs of the poor
By Letter to the Editor on February 13, 2021.
Editor:
Canada has been a global leader in investment and showed political leadership in support of COVAX, and we should celebrate this! We are aware of the complexities and trade-offs in accessing vaccines for Canadians as quickly as we can.
As an investor, Canada is entitled to a share of the vaccines purchased through COVAX.
But I’m with Stephen Lewis — applying for our share now feels morally repugnant when poorer countries scramble to vaccinate their most vulnerable, and it reads like yet another case of a rich country getting ahead by treading on the backs of the poor.
Randy Rudolph
Calgary
-1
first: canada gives a pretty good share to developing countries…even if most of that money just lines corrupt pockets. second, we have been filling our country with immigrants, refugees, cue jumpers, and sundry whatevers for a long time, for better and for worse. third, we deserve covid vaccines – for those that are bold enough to take ’em – as much as any, if only because so much of our country houses folks from developing nations. which leads to point 4: if our economy tanks, how will we be able to continue to provide an allowance to the developing world?
this is hardly an example of us getting ahead on the backs of the poor…. to address that reality, we need to call out mining, finance, the industrial military complex, the world’s greediest wealth mongers, and our arrogant and sleazy “elected leaders” that represent them…not to mention the puppet scum that the likes of usa conspires to place in power abroad, that purport to represent their various peoples, but who, in fact, line their pockets whilst selling out their people and land.
Point 1: As a percentage of GDP Canada is outspent on foreign aid by many other Western countries. You can look it up.
Point 2: The statement that our country has been filling up with immigrants and refugees (my ancestors and maybe yours also) could easily have been written by a First Nations person.
t.j, i appreciate your intelligent response, thank you. so as to clarify a little more…your response to point 2: agreed. i have nothing against newcomers, nor the predecessors. i do take issue with the politicisation of that system, however, and whether a consequence of that or not, there has not been near enough vetting of arrivals the better part of the last 40 years. we have taken in a lot of career criminals. to speak to your valid take on point one: we still give large sums, but there again, not enough vetting with regard to who receives the monies and who is pocketing it/where is it going. in the end, i still believe we are as entitled to vaccines as any who want them.