Feet to the fire

Taking the helm as the true opposition to the Cons, the NDP reminds Stephen Harper of one of his opposition commitments:

NDP Leader Jack Layton is calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to show his commitment to more foreign aid by setting specific goals in legislation.

Layton says Harper has previously supported setting aside 0.42 per cent of the value of the GDP by 2010 and should increase that goal to 0.70 per cent by 2015.

NDP foreign affairs critic Alexa McDonough says increasing foreign aid would be Harper's opportunity to show how different he is from former prime minister Paul Martin.

Sadly, there's not much reason to think Harper wants to differentiate himself too much from Martin given his immediate turn toward Liberal-style cronyism. But at the very least, it's a plus to highlight the gap between the Cons' opposition rhetoric and their actions in government. And if raising the issue of foreign aid leads the Cons to at least pay some attention to Canada's low current contributions when it comes to creating their first budget, then all the better.