When Non-Partisanship Can Actually Save Lives

I just returned from Sudan and Darfur last night.  My wife is still there for the next week, moving along some of our programs for education and clean water.Like our other trips, we were accompanied by a large number of Canadians (15) who have assisted us in both building schools in south Sudan and also with endeavoring to provide the basic needs for some 200,000 or more evacuees from Darfur who have emerged into the area in which we work and are seeking aid to help their desperate lives.  Our fellow Canadians couldn't help but come away wondering why Parliament doesn't do more to affect this devastated region and its people.There are numerous reasons, but one of the main causes is that the political parties in the House don't work together on such things.  Darfur is not an election issue. There are MPs from all parties who agree that the situation requires attention.  But it stops there because the domestic situation and the fear of letting another party get a leg-up on an issue like this keeps them from working together to come up with some kind of humanitarian relief for the people of Darfur.I have spoken with Conservatives like Peter MacKay and others about the opportunity and have received warm receptions. And I have suggested to the Prime Minister that he appoint an all-party committee to visit the region and come back with concrete proposals for assisting the area, thereby making it a non-partisan effort. I have suggested to members of the other parties that we work together on this and have received unqualified support. But ... nothing!Unlike the current Gaza situation, the developments in Darfur will never play largely into any election platform and are therefore a unique opportunity for all of us as parties to make a difference in Africa.  The money requested isn't huge. The proposal I put forward doesn't require Canadian troops or military might.  And yet it might not happen.Here's my call to Peter MacKay, Beverly Oda and, yes, the Prime Minister himself. While many of the problems of Darfur lie outside of our scope of intervention as Canadians, the emergence of these refugees from eastern Darfur present an opportunity to literally save thousands of lives. Can we work together on this? Currently, the United Nations and the International Organization of Migration are preparing a small budget for me to present to Parliament in a few weeks. Will you, Prime Minister, work with me, other parliamentarians, and those people who have come to Darfur and walked away with a desire to actually "do something," and commit to providing the clean water, schooling and desperately needed medical care for these thousands of families?  In a time when we are supposedly showing a willingness to work together for the sake of the upcoming budget, will you please put that good will to action?  And will members of the media monitor this and investigate what kind of response is forthcoming, if any?This is unique.  This is huge.  This is human intervention of life-saving capacity. Let's just forget the garbage for a bit, put the partisanship aside, and just do it. I promise I'll praise this government if it makes this difference.But if not, then please don't prattle on about "working with other parties," or "finding a new spirit of compromise." The money required is a pittance of what will be spent on domestic programming in the next few months, and years. In addition to saving jobs, investments, financial security and our savings, can we not throw in a sprinkle of saving lives at the same time? It's what the world thinks Canada is made of.  Let's prove it.