Members of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church made a visit to Ottawa on Oct. 16 to raise awareness and support for international aid.
Their trip to Ottawa gave them the opportunity to meet with Members of Parliament and to present over 8,000 I Care cards to the Minister of International Development Marie Claude-Bibeau.
The I Care card program is a part of a campaign by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.
“The campaign arose from a comment from the current Liberal government stating that the government wouldn’t be increasing the foreign aid budget because they don’t believe Canadians care about the issues,” said Noah Law, one of the two representatives from Eckville who went to Ottawa.
The I Care cards are a simple two-sided postcard people can sign and be mailed at no cost to the prime minister and Parliament.
“The card is a basic way to communicate with the government and ask for a larger portion of the budget to be used in international aid,” explained Noah.
LEARN MORE: Canadian Foodgrains Bank Website
The two from Eckville joined a group of 32 Canadian Foodgrains Bank supporters, staff and organizers from all over Canada to meet with 42 MP’s from across the Canada, including Red Deer-Lacombe MP Blaine Calkins.
Law says most of the meetings turned out positively.
“We wanted the MP’s to understand that Canadians do care about foreign aid and that the budget does need to be increased as Canada works towards meeting our UN commitments,” continued Law.
The group also had the chance to meet with the Minister of Agriculture Lawrence MacAulay and leader of the Green Party Elizabeth May.
“They were both very receptive and signed cards to the prime minister,” added Law.
This trip was made just three months into the campaign and the goal set by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank is 25,000 cards over the next year.
Law and his family are also a part of St. Paul’s growing project, which is located on the corner of Highway 766 and Highway 11.
For the past 25 years they have been growing crops and selling them. The proceeds from the crops go towards the Canadian Foodgrain Bank who uses the money around the world for food aid.
The I Care cards will be available at the Town Office and the church.
kaylyn.whibbs@sylvanlakenews.com
Like us on Facebook