UN envoy blasts poverty in Canada

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative cabinet fairly erupted in indignation this past week as Canada took a knock from a United Nations envoy for turning a blind eye to the poverty, inequality and, yes, the hunger in our midst.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq denounced UN right-to-food envoy Olivier De Schutter as “patronizing,” “ill-informed” and “academic.” Immigration Minister Jason Kenney was no less harsh. “I think this is completely ridiculous,” he said. Instead of giving Canada “political lectures,” the UN should focus on “countries where people are starving,” he suggested.