Mr. Speaker, the summit on the millennium development goals is currently under way at the UN, and I would like to add my voice to those of NGOs that recently slammed this Conservative government for its weak commitments.
Not happy with sabotaging the talks on adopting a global tax on financial transactions, which would represent a significant source of income, the Conservatives are still falling far short of the shared target of 0.7% of GNP for development aid that Canada set for itself by signing on to the millennium goals.
No, the Prime Minister will not fool anyone with the speech he is giving tonight in New York. After choosing to give a speech at Tim Horton's last year instead of the UN—which shows how interested the Conservatives are in the UN and international co-operation—this government needs to stop with the rhetoric and opportunistic speeches and start truly acting on behalf of the poorest people on the planet.