Canadian Senators Call on Govt to Scale up Pandemic-Related Donations for India
This excerpt from the Hindustan Times describes how Senator Omidvar is calling on the government match the donations of Canadians to India as it battles a devastating wave of COVID-19.
Canadian senators have called upon the government to match donations made by citizens to assist India as it struggles to tackle the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
They have also called upon the Trudeau government to support a temporary waiver of intellectual property rights (IPR) protections on coronavirus vaccines and pharmaceuticals necessary to counter the crisis.
Indo-Canadian Senator Ratna Omidvar has tabled a motion in the Senate, “asking the government of Canada to match the generous donations made by Canadians to India for Covid-19 related relief”.
That motion has garnered support from about six other senators, including Leo Housakos, who tweeted, “I would like to wholeheartedly lend my support as well to this initiative. The situation in India is one of truly a humanitarian crisis and our government must step up Canada’s efforts.”
Senators supporting the motion have written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterating the point, noting that research by Library of Parliament has found that in the last 10 years, the government has matched the donations of Canadians 10 times.
Click here to read the full article in the Hindustan Times