The federal budget was presented April 21. Those who are completely deaf, dumb and blind may believe all the balanced budget ballyhoo from the Harper government, but those of us not so afflicted can see through it like a pane of glass.
The budget didn’t mention aid to help save the lives of refugees fleeing by sea from Libya; apparently the Harper government doesn’t give a care for anything as picayune as floating death traps.
It spent $347 million on the NATO bombing campaign to ouster General Gaddafi in 2011, and another $850,000 for the self-congratulatory Mission Accomplished-type flypast for the prime minister, Governor-General, their spouses, and other Ottawa big-wigs grinning ear-to-ear like conquering heroes.
Of course, what NATO really accomplished was to leave a badly broken country with no government, rife for terrorist groups like ISIS to take over, and no rules and regulations in ports, etc.
Libya is fertile ground for all types of corruption and skullduggery, not least the human-trafficking to Europe.
NATO members, including Canada, who smashed the country into pieces with its bombs, should definitely be cleaning up the mess and chaos left behind. They should start with urgently doing something for those who risk their lives sailing in overloaded and unseaworthy vessels from its lawless ports, desperately seeking a better life in Europe.
Bernie Smith, Parksville