Healthy Mother and Babies — Depends on Where Mom Lives

This time our Medal of Irony goes to Prime Minister Stephen Harper whose support for maternal health in the developing world comes amidst cutbacks to First Nations health services when those same services are already desperate for more resources.

At the June 2010 G8 Summit hosted by Canada, Harper pledged $2.85 billion over five years to keep mothers and babies healthy in the developing world. At a follow-up meeting in May 2014, Harper committed another $3.5-billion in funding to improve the health of moms and kids in low-income countries. Harper has designated this program as a signature priority, saying:

“There is a moral imperative to saving the lives of vulnerable women and children in some of the poorest

First Medal of Irony Goes to Pierre Poilievre

Humans vs Harper is proud to introduce our Medal of Irony, an occasional award to recognize some of the fine folks in the federal government. We notice they regularly find themselves in the awkward position of saying one thing and doing another, yet carry it off with nonchalance and aplomb.

Our first Medal of Irony goes to Pierre Poilievre, Minister for Democratic Reform, who is responsible for the National Capital Commission (NCC). He has just stacked the NCC Board with Conservative party supporters to ensure that all decisions about the notoriously unpopular Memorial to Victims of Communism will be decisions the PMO wants.