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Pacific Free Press was launched in March 2007 by Dutch-Canadian Richard Kastelein of V.O.F. Expathos, in the Netherlands along with Chris Cook - CFUV radio journalist and Editor in Chief of Pacific Free Press. Cook is based in , Victoria, British Columbia.

The site is a sister to Atlantic Free Press.

The mission of Pacific Free Press is simple: to dig out nuggets of truth from the slag-heap of lies, ignorance and witless diversion that has buried public discourse today. Pacific Free Press provides a new venue for disseminating hard news and insightful, fact-based analysis of the harsh realities too often ignored or distorted by the mainstream press.

Canada's Phony Afghan Aid

Written by Sue Stroud
Saturday, 01 September 2007
Follow the Afghan Aid by Sue Stroud Is Canada's $1.2 billion in aid for Afghanistan getting to those who need it most? Not according to the Senlis Council, a think-tank that operates on the ground there. In a disturbing report this week, Senlis says its staff tried to follow Canada's aid money in Kandahar province, where we have 2,500 troops, and found scant evidence for Ottawa's claims that we are supporting Mirwais Hospital there, or helping displaced people. The findings are serious enough to warrant Parliament looking into the issue. Canadian lawyer Norine MacDonald, who heads the council, says the group was unable to find evidence of "any substantial impact." The situation at Mirwais Hospital "remains desperate," MacDonald says, despite Ottawa's promise of $5 million in aid. Though Canadian aid is funnelled through the Red Cross and other agencies, Senlis says the hospital is filthy, badly overcrowded and lacks basic equipment. And while the Canadian International Development Agency says it has provided thousands of tonnes of food to Kandahar, Senlis says the main refugee camp there has had no food aid since March 2006. Finally, Senlis could find evidence for only a third of the $18 million CIDA spent on local infrastructure projects. CIDA Minister Bev Oda's reaction to all this? Senlis doesn't have "all the information." That may well be true. But if not, why not? Shouldn't it be public? And why is it so hard to verify where aid dollars go? Beyond that, does no one in CIDA see a problem with a shabby hospital and a camp full of hungry people under our troops' noses? Complacency doesn't cut it. CIDA needs to aim for a more visible impact in Kandahar, one that Canadians can understand and Afghans can appreciate. Parliament must demand clarity – and visible results. Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 562 Facebook del.icio.us Digg Furl Yahoo! My Web StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati reddit We are sorry, for registered members only. Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Write comment Name Website Title Comment smaller \| bigger Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

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