Other View: Help out in Pakistan

Opinion

November 7, 2009

Anonymous The Record Eagle Sat Nov 07, 2009, 06:57 AM EST

Canada should lend Pakistan a helping hand as it struggles to stabilize its chaotic border region with Afghanistan, which is plagued by Taliban militants who threaten the entire region's stability. ...

But it doesn't follow that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government needs to send more military aid to a region that is already awash with weapons. Harper has wisely resisted pressure to lift Canada's 11-year-old arms embargo and supply military equipment, including unmanned surveillance aircraft and night-vision technology.

Instead, Harper has identified non-military aid as a priority. That makes sense in a nation where nearly a third of the people live in dire poverty, and where barely one in two is literate.

The Toronto Star

By way of helping, Canada will send $25 million this year in humanitarian assistance for food, water and shelter for those displaced by the fighting. ...

It's not nearly enough, but it's a healthy increase over previous years. ...

The Toronto Star

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