The AIDS Conference

OTTAWA DELAYS ANNOUNCEMENT OF ITS PLANS TO FIGHT DISEASE

Unveiling of Future Federal Programs Will Be Made After Conference Ends

OTTAWA and TORONTO -- The minority Conservative government is
withholding an announcement about future federal AIDS programs until
thousands of delegates now in Toronto at an international conference
about the disease get out of town.

Not only is Prime Minister Stephen Harper skipping the conference, but
he also says this is a bad time to make any AIDS announcements.

"Unfortunately, the issue has been so politicized this week that this
is probably not the time for us to make additional announcements," Mr.
Harper told reporters Wednesday night during an official visit to Whitehorse.

Opposition politicians said that if anybody has politicized the AIDS
issue, it is Mr. Harper with his attitude toward the conference.

"This Prime Minister is missing in action in this battle [against
HIV-AIDS] and he's blown a tremendous opportunity to provide Canadian
leadership," said Keith Martin, a physician and Liberal MP.

Dr. Martin said the government's decision to delay any announcement
shows Mr. Harper's "arbitrary and dictatorial style."

NDP health critic Penny Priddy added, "Mr. Harper politicized this
issue, first by not showing up, and second by having his Health
Minister schedule a news conference and then cancel the
announcement."

However, federal Health Minister Tony Clement did say at the
conference last night that "there will be an announcement that will
make Canadians proud."

He refused to provide any details.

Mark Wainberg, co-chairman of the 16th International AIDS Conference,
said the Prime Minister's absence, coupled with the failure to make
any significant policy announcements on HIV-AIDS is obviously
disappointing, but he is convinced the government will make amends.

"I would much rather have an announcement two weeks from now of a much
more generous package that would be meaningful for the entire world
and show Canadian leadership than a much more modest contribution that
would have been embarrassing," Dr. Wainberg said in an interview.

Dr. Wainberg, who sharply criticized Mr. Harper for a lack of
leadership at the opening of the conference, said he believes the
Prime Minister and his advisers simply did not understand the breadth
of the global epidemic of HIV-AIDS nor the importance of the conference.

Mr. Harper is being "rather naive" by claiming the conference had
become too politicized to make an announcement, said Stephen Lewis,
the former Ontario NDP leader and United Nations special envoy for
AIDS.

"These conferences are always political," Mr. Lewis said, because they
are attended by activists and the leading scientific and policy
experts in the field.

"What he really means is people have criticized him for not being
here, and he brought that on himself," Mr. Lewis told CBC Newsworld.

Canadian AIDS activists had hoped that, at a minimum, the Harper
government would announce the fate of what they say is a highly
successful test project in Vancouver to give drug users a safe place
to shoot up with clean needles.

The federal licence for the facility is set to expire next month. Mr.
Harper said in Whitehorse the government is still evaluating the
safe-injection-site program, "but this government's concentration in
the fight against drugs in the next few years will be on enforcement,
prevention and treatment."

Mr. Harper said he thought the government was well represented at the
conference by Health Minister Tony Clement, two other Conservative
ministers and the Governor-General.

The conference, which wraps up today, drew an estimated 31,000
delegates from around the world to Toronto. Mr. Harper has been
touring military bases and diamond mines in the Far North this week.