Floods, earthquakes, and bombs, oh my

Mother Nature continues to kick our ass, story at 11.

Pakistan and Kasmir have been felled by that horrific earthquake, and my heart goes out to ‘em, if my funds do not. My reality doesn’t afford me the opportunity to be generous, and that’s just how it goes. This weekend, I’ll probably round up some toonies and contribute a meagre $10 or $20, which is all I can muster.

As a tax-paying citizen, whenever tragedy like this hits the world, I demand my government give when I cannot.

Fortunately, I live in a country where the government has adopted a terrific strategy for monster catastrophes such as this, which it first implemented in response to Asia’s Tsunami last Boxing Day. The government announced yesterday that it would repeat the program in which whatever funds are contributed to legitimate NGOs by the Canadian people, the government will match.

It must be difficult to know, when you’re a government official, just how much leeway the people are giving you in order to respond in times like these. To put the weight on the shoulders of the people inspires us to put our money where their mouth is. It worked phenomenally well last year, when Canada wound up contributing more to the Tsunami per capita than America, thanks to the matching-funds scheme.

If governing is truly about adhering to the wishes of the public, then this is really a great example of that plan in action.

Here in Canada, one of our largest groups of immigrants comes from India and Pakistan. I imagine the fundraising being done in those communities will test the federal coffers. I hope the remainder of the country also reaches deeply.

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In other news from that region of the world, I want to express my disappointment in learning that my government has agreed to contribute nuclear elements to India in an attempt to solidify a trading future with the growing industrial giant that nation is becoming.

Canada has been a major player in the disarmament movement, and to brush all that aside in order to provide India with nuclear materials that may well be used in weaponry flies in the face of who we are as a nation. India has apparently “promised” not to use the materials in a militaristic fashion, but their track record screams otherwise. India and Pakistan have combined for more near-nuclear threats in the past few decades than most nations.

With the now-beleagered region of Kasmir still being disputed, the tensions between India and Pakistan are unlikely to settle down at any point in the future.

Nevermind the fact that in 1974, India exploded a nuclear device that held Canadian materials, causing Canada to refuse providing further nuclear supplies to the nation, a policy which has stood until now.

Shame on Ottawa. And it’s a pity this story has received so little press.