[bootlegga]

ridenrain ridenrain:

The PM's job is running the country and the job of the media is to report it, not fabricate it.

What's there to fabricate? Harper didn't go. I'd call that the truth, not a fabrication...

ridenrain ridenrain:

Can you provide any details of the main stream media bitching about Chretiens mistake? It's a given that the AIDS folks would be all upset but I doubt that there was anything near this media frenzy.

http://www.aegis.org/news/RE/1996/RE960730.html

http://www.aegis.com/news/ct/1996/CT960705.html

In case that's to 'left-wing' here's an editorial from the very Conservative Edmonton Sun...

$1:

just as it was when Jean Chretien didn't attend in 1996 (and was widely attacked for it).

Source

Again because of a PM's refusal to appear, it prevented another nation's leader from attending...and if his attendence was such a "non-issue", what's the problem with showing up for an hour or so and leaving shortly thereafter?

Face it, he missed the boat on this one...

[ridenrain]

Nothing from the CBC though. That's strange...

This is one occasion I'll agree with Patrick.

[OnTheIce]

AIDS isn't a big issue in Canada so for the Conservative or the Liberals to fund this conference, that's honourable.

I don't think Chretien or Harper should have to attend.

Should Harper attend every cancer related conference or event? Most would say "No" yet cancer kills thousands more in Canada per year than AIDS does.

Just because a bunch of has-been actors and former politicians show, doesn't mean Harper OR Chretien has to oblige.

It's just not that big of an issue in Canada. Period.

[Wada]

It's a non-issue if your healthy. When you contract it it becomes a big issue. Anyone who's selfish enough not to care is less than a human of good quality.

[ridenrain]

You can indeed say that Harper should have attended and that's fair, but the feavered pitch of this was the media blowing this beyond proportion, just like his hair, his belly and shaking hands with his kids.

Check the numbers on the first page. AIDS in Canada is steady or declining and it's still predominately a gay mans desease.

[Johnny_Utah]

Harper didn't pander to the Lefty groups and that pisses them off. That's what this outrage is about nothing more..

[SireJoe]

"Check the numbers on the first page. AIDS in Canada is steady or declining and it's still predominately a gay mans desease."


And that means.....? Are you trying to imply that gay men are not worth the effort to help then? Or...?

And in fact, if I am not mistaken, AIDS is being found in more and more women across the world, so your little jab at the gay community can go fuck itself

[ridenrain]

What is happening in the world and what Canada can do about it are 2 very different things. If you want to cure the world, have at it with you're own after tax dollars but I'm for curing Canadians first. (yes, even gay Canadians!)
..and it would apear that indescriminate "fuck-off" is most of the problem.


[web]http://gayandright.blogspot.com/2006/08/some-real-facts-about-hiv-and-aids.html[/web]

[OnTheIce]

SireJoe SireJoe:

"Check the numbers on the first page. AIDS in Canada is steady or declining and it's still predominately a gay mans desease."


And that means.....? Are you trying to imply that gay men are not worth the effort to help then? Or...?

And in fact, if I am not mistaken, AIDS is being found in more and more women across the world, so your little jab at the gay community can go fuck itself

No, it means that gay men should be more responsible when they have sex.

His comment is no jab, it's fact. So you can take your comment and fuck yourself. Twice.

[SireJoe]

You wont get any disagreement from me. AIDS is 99% of the time a preventable disease. None the less, it does not diminish the necessity for finding a cure. That being said the comment was not made as a "hey, just so ya know". It was a dig at gay men to state that perhaps harper doesnt care about AIDS becuase it is considered a GAY disease (although that could be just how it was portrayed on da net). Which by no stretch of the imagination is true as it affects everyone it comes in contact with.


And I was just looking up some figures on HIV and AIDS, I had read or heard somewhere that AIDS in women was on the rise...although the initial figures went up in the 80's and 90's they levelled off and I believe are going down, so I wrong on that one. Sorry.

[Scape]

OnTheIce OnTheIce:

Should Harper attend every cancer related conference or event? Most would say "No" yet cancer kills thousands more in Canada per year than AIDS does.

Just because a bunch of has-been actors and former politicians show, doesn't mean Harper OR Chretien has to oblige.

I agree. The whole process was to raise awareness but that process can be hijacked to berate someone like Harper and for what? It gives activism a bad name and is makes it that much harder for the people on the right to justify doing anything. They can just reference the whole farce and say I told you so. HIV is a problem that does deserve way more effort than it currently gets. Where that could come from would be from other highly emotionally and politically charged issues like the war on terror. However, to even suggest that would be heresy to the very people that are Harpers base, so it's a vicious cycle. I will say that this was an opportunity lost even though I do condone the tone of the conference. Harper choose not to go and that did add to the pyre of ire. It's not fair but dying of HIV ain't no bed of roses either.

[EyeBrock]

bootlegga bootlegga:

ridenrain ridenrain:

It was just another "get Harper" day for the Media, and the lefts running dog lackies and obvious to regular Canadians. What was suposed to be another "Look at his hair/vest/belly, etc" turned into more support.
These traveling junkets are a load of fluff that spills money away from important things.

Nope, I don't think so. Chretien got nailed by the press for not attending, was that a 'Get Harper day' too?

Sorry, but the PM couldn't make at least make a 5 minute appearance at an international conference held a short flight from the capital, so he deserves his lumps, just like Chretien deserved his when he didn't stop in at the conference in Vancouver. As PM, Harper has shown a willingness to make appearances at conferences all over the world, like in Cancun and St. Petersburg, but he can't be bothered to fly to Toronto?

Like it or not, part of the PM's job is PR(selling this country to the rest of the world). He (or his advisors) totally missed the boat on this one.

I disagree Boots.

I don't know if you watched CTV's QP a few Sundays ago. One of the main organisers, (his name escapes me) was on one of the 'round tables' with Jane Taber doing the jousting.

This chap insisted that Harper should go to the conference. He was asked if it was likely that Harper would be booed and generally treated badly.
This chap admitted he would be booed and "have to answer for his stand on 'family values' in front of the world."

The discussion then became 'why would anybody go to a conference knowing they would be booed and treated badly?'
These self appointed bullies are just pissed off they didn't get dump on Harper.

Harper did the right thing and I agree with Rex Murphy (I nearly always do!)
that AIDS is really the plague celebs love to back. Way more people in Canada die from cancer and heart disease.

The PM decides where he goes, not special interest groups and you can't get much more politicised a group than the AIDS activists.

I think it was much more appropriate to send Tony Clement there, who cares if Bill Gates or Clinton was there. The whole thing was a bloody celeb circus from the bits I saw and the venom displayed against Harper shows that he was wise not to go and get shouted down by these holier-than-thou professional activists.

Just my view!

[Patrick_Ross]

I'm intrigued by that guy's blog post. Yet, when he refers to how "HIV tests have stabilized", they only dropped in 2005. He's trying to use a one-year drop to forecast indefinitely. Not wise.

[CAGERATTLER]

Rex Murphy is a CON servative lover haven't you people figured that out yet for christ sakes?

To top it off he is living fucking proof the C.B.C. is not Liberal bias WHICH CON servatives lied about for years!!!