Harper and AIDs

Stephen Harper issued a statement today on AIDs (it's World AIDs Day). Here is his statement:

In 2005 HIV/AIDS continued to inflict misery on people around the world. Seventeen years after the first World AIDS Day and decades after HIV/AIDS was first diagnosed, a reported three million more people contracted the illness this year. Clearly more needs to be done, it is an illness that simply must be beaten. On behalf of my wife Laureen and the Conservative Party of Canada, our thoughts and prayers are with the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS, their families and their friends.

This reminds me of an old political cartoon of Brian Mulroney and Ronald Reagan. Mulroney tells Reagan that "all Canadians pray for a solution to the acid-rain problem." Reagan replies, "tell them that Nancy and I join them in their prayers."

Perhaps Harper could have been more specific than just joining their prayers with AIDs victims. As you know from this blog, AIDs is NOT a problem here in Canada, but it is in Africa. Perhaps Harper could spoken more about how Canada can help Africa and its AIDs problem.