The XVI International AIDS Conference was held in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, during the week of 13–18 August 2006. This was the third time that

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

has hosted the

International AIDS Conference The International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world's largest association of HIV/AIDS professionals, with 11,600 members from over 170 countries , including clinicians, people living with HIV, service providers, policy makers and others. It aims to r ...

, after

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 1989 and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

in 1996. The main venue for the conference was the

Metro Toronto Convention Centre Metro Toronto Convention Centre (originally and still colloquially Metro Convention Centre, and sometimes MTCC), is a convention complex located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada along Front Street (Toronto), Front Street West in the former Railway Land ...

(MTCC) in downtown Toronto. The conference theme was ''Time to Deliver''. The conference was focused on the promises and progress made to scale-up treatment, care and prevention. In particular: *Accelerating research to end the epidemic *Expanding and sustaining human resources to scale-up treatment and prevention *Intensifying the involvement of affected communities *Building new leadership to advance the response Activities included cultural, youth and outreach programmes as well as a Global Village, which served as an international gathering place with displays of culture, food, community, and a marketplace. Events open to delegates and the public included The International AIDS Vigil, a public memorial to all those who have died of HIV/AIDS. The Vigil took place on at 9 pm on 17 August at Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto. Well-known attendees and speakers included

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

Michaëlle Jean Michaëlle Jean (; born September 6, 1957) is a Canadian stateswoman and former journalist who served from 2005 to 2010 as governor general of Canada, the 27th since Canadian Confederation. She is the first Haitian Canadian and black person ...

Stephen Lewis Stephen Henry Lewis (born November 11, 1937) is a Canadian politician, public speaker, broadcaster, and diplomat. He was the leader of the social democratic Ontario New Democratic Party for most of the 1970s. During many of those years as leade ...

(the United Nations special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa), Bill and Melinda Gates (for the

Gates Foundation The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), a merging of the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation, is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was l ...

Richard Gere Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Heaven'' (1978). He came to prominence with ...

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

, and

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

Harper controversy

Canadian Prime Minister

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

, who decided not to attend the conference, was criticized by Conference co-chairman Dr.

Mark Wainberg Mark Arnold Wainberg, (21 April 1945 – 11 April 2017) was a Canadian HIV/AIDS researcher and HIV/AIDS activist. He was the Director of the McGill University AIDS Centre at the Montreal Jewish General Hospital and Professor of Medicine an ...

in his speech, saying, "We are dismayed that the prime minister of Canada, Mr. Stephen Harper, is not here this evening...The role of prime minister includes the responsibility to show leadership on the world stage. Your absence sends the message that you do not consider HIV/AIDS as a critical priority, and clearly all of us here disagree with you". Canadian Minister of Health

Tony Clement Tony Peter Clement (born January 27, 1961) is a Canadian former federal politician and former Member of Parliament for Parry Sound—Muskoka in Ontario. Before entering federal politics, Clement served as an Ontario cabinet minister, including ...

attended in Harper's plac

Harper's absence from the conference is the second time the Canadian head of government has decided not to attend the conference. In 1996, former Prime Minister

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...

did not attend the conferenc

Asylum seekers controversy

A second controversy, that followed Mr. Stephen Harper's choice to not attend, was the fact that 151 delegates who were in attendance refused to return to their home countries – instead opting to seek asylum in Canada

This development seriously hurt the credibility of the conference and many suggested that the Prime Minister's office may have been justified in its decision to not have Mr. Harper in attendance.

References

External links

AIDS 2006International AIDS Vigil

''Full of sound and fury, but signifying something: XVI International AIDS Conference, Toronto, Canada, 13–18 August 2006''
by William A. Wells. A Special Report in the ''Journal of Cell Biology'', Volume 175, Number 1, 6–15. Published 9 October 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:International AIDS Conference, 2006 HIV/AIDS in Canada 2006 in Toronto International AIDS Conferences International conferences in Canada 2006 conferences August 2006 events in Canada

Harper controversy

Asylum seekers controversy

See also

References

External links