Maureen Murphy, Hope Wilmot, Brenda Rooney, Patrick Brown MP Barrie. Fil van den Bos, Ilse Turnsen, Sue Cousineau, Photo Courtesy of Maureen Murphy.
Ottawa – In March 2009, MP Patrick Brown presented a petition in the House of Commons from the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign. The petition was signed by over 32,000 supporters from across Canada, many from the Barrie area that are familiar with the work of the local Grandmothers group.
The petition presented by MP Brown calls upon Canada to meet its 40 year old commitment to providing 0.7% of GDI to official development assistance, to increase its contributions to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria and to make legislative changes to Canada`s Access to Medicines Regulations (CAMR) so that low-cost, generic medicines can be supplied to developing countries.
“It was my honour to present this petition in the House of Commons” said MP Brown. “The world is only as strong as our weakest brother and sister and we need to do more for Africa. The Grandmothers groups have been excellent advocates for the cause of Africa and I proudly stand by their side in Barrie and in Ottawa” he added.
There is a network of over 200 Grandmothers groups across Canada. The network provides a Canadian voice for the courageous grandmothers in Africa and the millions of AIDS orphans in their care. The Canadian groups work to raise funds and build awareness in support of the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign of the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
