Monday, January 18, 2010

More Double-Talk from a Con Minister

This time from Vic Toews who was in the Middle East for 5 days. He says one thing when out of the country & something else here at home. Hmmm...just like Jason Kenney. What is it with these Kons? Do they think no one in Canada is paying attention when they are on foreign trips? Why are these fools still in Govt.?

From Mia Rabson at Winnipeg Free Press:

Manitoba's senior cabinet minister Vic Toews was able to escape the winter and the flurry of post-prorogation reaction last week for a trip to the Middle East.

However, stickhandling accusations his party is undemocratic has probably been easier than the delicate task of wading into Middle Eastern politics.

Toews's five-day tour included stops in Jordan, Israel and the West Bank.

Following his trip, a number of Middle Eastern news outlets, and even B'Nai Brith Canada, reported Toews used the journey to announce Canada was yanking its funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. The UNRWA runs 59 Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

In 2008, Canada was the eighth-largest donor to the organization, which receives 97 per cent of its funding from foreign governments.

Critics, including B'Nai Brith, accuse UNRWA of being infiltrated by Hamas and terrorists.

Toews was quoted in several newspapers, including the Jerusalem Post, as saying Canada's aid for Palestine is being "redirected in accordance with Canadian values." Instead of funding the camps, Canada is going to pay for projects to train Palestinian justice officials like judges, police and prosecutors and build courthouses, something Canada began doing in 2007.

Certainly, paying for police and courthouses is in keeping with the government's anti-crime agenda at home.

The news was well-received by B'Nai Brith Canada, but when the stories were checked with Toews's office, it seems there isn't much changing at all. Christine Csversko said the stories were "inaccurate," including the suggestion that Canada's funding to UNRWA goes to the Palestinian Authority's general revenues. She said UNRWA manages its own accounts and Canada continues to give it aid money.

3 comments:

marie said...

I have relatives in the winnipeg are and he is their M. They don't like him either and call him useless and nothing but a joke. The Problem is that there are a lot of people in his area that vote Cons just like in Alberts. Heaven forbid if they had to vote for someone else even if the person would be more likeable and more available to talk to.
Creatures of habit and heaven forbid if they did things differently then the same old pattern,

marie said...

Sorry, the above line should have read
I have relatives in the Winnipeg are and he is their MP.

penlan said...

Hi Marie,
Looks like this useless MP is being moved to being Public Safety Minister. Harper is shuffling Van Loan somewhere else. Unbelievable! Toews is a terrible MP & a nasty little man. Will you feel safer in his hands? Or any Con Ministers' for that matter.