I had hoped Prime Minister Stephen Harper would choose someone clearly compassionate towards the plight of the world's poor. Fantino hardly leaps to mind. Yet who in the Harper cabinet could you describe as compassionate?
However, Fantino might have the leadership skills and experience to bring vision and discipline to an agency that has been notably lacking in both so far under the Harper government.
To do that he may need to hold off the dogs in the Prime Minister's office.
if he can do just one thing - identify the NGOs that are good at helping poor people and loading them up with all the resources they can manage - he will accomplish far more than his predecessors who have wasted billions on bilateral and multi-lateral deals that have done more to line the pockets of despots than to improve living conditions for needy people.
