There are too many things I don’t understand. Canadians along with their government have scrambled to raise funds to assist victims of the earthquake in Haiti. A successful telethon was held in Saskatchewan and this is all good.
Then I read this morning of the hundreds of millions big corporations like Bell Canada, the Royal Bank of Canada, the Hudson’s Bay Co. and Rona dished out to buy the exclusive rights to be sponsors of the Vancouver Olympics. In total there were some 70 domestic sponsors who contributed $760 million in cash or in-kind products to the Olympic operating budget. All of this while the country is trying to emerge from a recession and while seniors can only trust their invested life savings will recover before they die.
Haiti is one of the original members of the United Nations and is a member of the Organization of American States (OAS). It is reported that in July 2004, $1.085 billion was pledged through 2006 at the World Bank Donors’ Conference. This included many countries, like Canada, from around the world. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere with 80% living under the poverty line and with most Haitians living on less than $2 dollars a day.
These are a few of the facts that have been reported. I am not making any judgment in this letter. I am just saying there are too many things I don’t understand.
