"Whatever, the conservative Harper thinks about AIDs and those who contract it, this lack of statesmanship reflects a shallowness of leadership in the prime minister."

The massive presence of 24,000 delegates from around the world at the recent AIDs conference in Toronto has been overshadowed by the conspicuous absence of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

What is behind the decision to stay away from a conference focusing on the worst health crisis in the planet is a mystery.

A spokesperson for Harper explains that the Prime Minister "gets thousands of invitations and he can't attend all the events he's invited to."

So he sent a couple of ministers and Governor General Michaëlle Jean to the event which was attended by Bill and Melinda Gates, former U.S. president Bill Clinton, Stephen Lewis, the United Nations special envoy on AIDS in Africa and thousands of others who are in the frontlines of this global battle

Harper’s absence dominated much of the conference and is shameful to say the least.
But he is not the first Canadian prime minister to stay away from the international AIDS conference.

That dubious honor belongs to Jean Chrétien, who was the first world leader not to play host to an AIDS conference when he refused to attend the 1996 meetings in Vancouver.
Whatever, the conservative Harper thinks about AIDs and those who contract it this lack of statesmanship reflects a shallowness of leadership in the prime minister.
His office could not even come up with a reasonable excuse.

This international AIDS conference held every two years, featured more than 400 sessions focusing on important advances and current policy issues among political, scientific and community leaders.

This is some of what those attending the conference are dealing with;
# About 40 million are currently living with HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS, and an estimated 11,000 die each day.

# There are an estimated 58,000 people infected with HIV-AIDS in Canada alone. Of those, the Public Health Agency of Canada has estimated that 15,000 — or just over 25 per cent — did not know they were infected.

# In countries hard-hit by HIV/AIDS, between four and five million people worldwide will become infected in the next year.

# In Asia there are close to 8.3 million people living with HIV. Approximately 930,000 people were newly infected with HIV in 2005, while AIDS claimed an estimated 600,000 lives.
Maybe these numbers mean nothing to Harper, who was trotting around Canada’s far north to talk about the rich waters off our Arctic coast.

Being in the Arctic, Harper could not be further away from the truth that was being tackled in Toronto.
His absence also manifests a waning interest in the Conservative government to help fight this global scourge.

In 2003, Canada devised a landmark law to enable companies to supply cheap drugs to developing countries that apply through the World Trade Organization
Generic drug manufacturer Apotex invested $100 million to manufacture medicine for Doctors Without Borders, but not one pill has left the country for Africa, which is being ravaged by AIDs.

Everyone involved in this wonderful idea, except perhaps for some pharmaceutical giants which hold patents for the main ingredients, are waiting for an innovative solution to get this program going.

We can only hope that Harper will show some leadership on the issue by making sure this drug program gets off the ground.
It will save lives.

It will show that Canada remains a leader in the fight against AIDs, even if the prime minister cannot attend the largest AIDS conference in history.