There is an international conference on AIDS/HIV going on in Toronto this week. The biggest story yesterday was not so much who was attending, but rather who was absent. You see, the Prime Minister of Canada was in the Far North asserting Canada's sovereignty.
I applaud Stephen Harper's efforts to strengthen our claim to the North. Canada has been lax in exerting control over our territories. I wish he had chosen a different week to show the flag, however.
Many activists are upset that Harper missed the conference and sent the Governor General in his stead. They feel it shows a lack of concern for the millions of people suffering from AIDS and HIV. I am not sure that this interpretation is true, but I think Harper missed out on an excellent opportunity to show leadership in a global forum. I also think he missed a huge opportunity to make the world a more secure place.
Lately, attention has been focused on the Middle East and on Afghanistan because that is where the fighting is and that is where the bombs are going off. There is potential for a greater catastrophe, though, if we do not attend to the global AIDS/HIV crisis.
How can you possibly describe the impact of the disease on the countries of Africa? Do you express it in babies left motherless? Do you speak in terms of villages left depopulated? Do you refer to the grandmothers who bury their children and raise their grandchildren? Do you express it in the cost of medication?
Or do you speak of the impact on world security? There is vast mineral wealth in many of the African nations suffering from the disease. As government and social structures weaken, they will become more and more attractive to powers that wish to exploit them. There may be little likelihood of an influx of barbarian tribes, but it is unlikely that power will shift peacefully.
Prime Minister Harper seems like a man who would like to see a peaceful world. He also seems like a realistic man who knows that peace comes at a higher cost than just buying the world a Coke and teaching it to sing in perfect harmony. I just wish he had been realistic enough to see that failing to stem the AIDS/HIV pandemic is undermining the stability of nations, a continent, and, ultimately, the world.
