Bono to address Canadian Liberal Convention

[Minstrel Boy]

I'm not a Liberal (the Barenaked Ladies and I are NDPers from way back), but I think this is kinda cool. And hurray for Bono. There's much worse that a rockstar could do with fame than use it as a soapbox for African relief.


Liberals get impressive warm-up act

OTTAWA and JOHANNESBURG — Rock superstar Bono will take the stage at the Liberal Party convention that will crown Paul Martin, lending his celebrity to the event and gaining a platform to speak about the AIDS crisis in Africa.

The appearance by the legendary U2 singer will provide unprecedented star power for a Canadian political event, and will also allow Bono an opportunity to tie Canada's next prime minister to commitments on African development issues near to the singer's heart.

...

The two men have maintained a relationship since working together on debt relief for the developing world when Mr. Martin was finance minister. Canada's recent move toward helping generic companies sell cheaper AIDS drugs to African countries helped persuade the Irish singer to accept Mr. Martin's invitation, said Scott Reid, a spokesman for Mr. Martin.

...

In 2000, the Irish rocker was brimming with praise for Mr. Martin's zeal for easing the burden of debt on poorer countries.

"He struck me as more than a money man, actually; he had some vision about it," Bono said at the time.

http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031105.wbono1105/BNStory/Entertainment/?query=Bono

[SoCalDem]

1. Whew..

for a minute there, I thought Mary was going to go to Canada & embarrass us all :evilgrin: