Make Poverty History

A coalition of Canadian labour groups, developmentorganizations, and Canadian celebrities have joined forces to combat poverty globally and in Canada:

The group, including comedian Mary Walsh, singer Tom Cochrane and UN envoy Stephen Lewis, is calling on the Paul Martin government to spend more on foreign aid.

It also wants action to end child poverty in Canada, and to eliminate debts owed by foreign countries.

The campaign, called Make Poverty History, is part of a larger global movement being conducted in more than 50 countries.

Lewis said the number of people living in poverty is astounding — an estimated 1.2 billion, with almost half in Africa.

Cochrane urged Ottawa to spend more to help create jobs in Third World countries, and to stop the spread of AIDS.

Walsh said a big part of reducing poverty involves helping children. She said that can be done through federal tax credits.

Here is the official campaign website.