Harper's true colours revealed

The Harper government has revealed its true colours in an internal memo about cutting aid to South Sudan.

The memo within the Canadian International Development Agency recommends cutting that county off the aid list because it's not of "strategic interest" to Canada.

This reveals that the Harper government treats international aid as a way to advance Canada's selfish interests, not as a compassionate response to need.

CIDA has benefitted from decades of partnering with non-government organizations (NGOs) such as churches and Doctors Without Borders, NGOs whose sole agenda is delivering compassionate help to those in need.

The Harper government and CIDA are no longer worthy of that partnership. CIDA is, instead, being driven by the Harper government into partnerships with mining companies seeking to exploit the resources of poor nations. 

The mining companies and the Third World resources are, of course, of "strategic interest" to the Harper government.

I can't be a proud Canadian when our government takes this new direction with its international aid program.