Last Updated: Friday, June 4, 2010/ 7:11 PM ET : The Canadian Press: A leaked draft of the final communiqué for the upcoming G8 summit suggests Canada has dodged a bullet on the thorny issues of abortion and climate change.
The draft, obtained by The Canadian Press, says the world's most powerful countries are prepared to throw money at "all factors" affecting the health of women and children in poor countries but doesn't specifically mention abortion.
There is no agreement yet on specific funding for the maternal initiative, climate change, food security or aid to developing countries, despite strong words urging concrete measures.
"Action is required on all factors that affect the health of women and children," the document says. "This includes addressing gender inequality, ensuring women's and children's rights and improving education for women and girls."
Instead of singling out abortion for funding, the document refers only to the need to strengthen "voluntary family planning," likely giving Ottawa the wiggle room it seeks to avoid supporting access to safe abortion in poor countries.
The draft also shows that countries are still negotiating how much they should spend on the maternal and child health initiative.
Sources have told The Canadian Press that Canada is willing to put up about $1 billion as long as other countries contribute as well.
But in the draft communiqué, the total amount is still just an "X."
The Harper government has been under heavy fire for insisting that it will not fund abortion as part of its G8 maternal health initiative.
On the environment, the only thing G8 negotiators have apparently agreed to is that fighting climate change shouldn't hurt countries' economies — a position the Harper government has been pushing.
The draft also talks about the importance of keeping the G8 as a leader in international affairs despite the rising prevalence of the broader G20 — another Harper position.
It defines the G20 as a body to deal with economic issues. The G8 summit is June 25-26 in Huntsville, Ont., followed by the G20 in Toronto June 26-27.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/06/04/summit-abortion004.html#ixzz0pvicBSUb
The moncitizenship is the new Canadian governmental task. The diplomatic lines of Republics of Yemen and Poland are non grata with their masks. M.T. Al-Mansouri
Ottawa International Poets and Writers for human Rights (OIPWHR)
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