| Politically speaking, you are right Dowaco, but it is not to gain face at home, but rather internationally. When there are much more humanitarian leaders out there (The Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, has not yet missed his annual visit to the Yasukuni shrine. This visit has little do with home politics, as public opinion is against these visits, but rather for international politics).
For a world leader to have not shown up to something as humanitarian as an AIDS Conferance, and international one no less, is the equivalent of saying that AIDS does not matter to Canada as a whole. Frankly, I find that a little unsettling, especially considering the grounds of which half of Harper's campaign was run on. |