The cloud that is Syria’s ghastly civil war hangs heavy over the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland this week, as the conflict that has claimed 93,000 lives stumbles into an even deadlier phase.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to join Britain and France in supplying the Syrian opposition with military aid after finding that President Bashar Assad’s regime has used chemical weapons is calculated to demoralize the regime and shift the war’s dynamic — while strengthening the rebels’ hands at a hoped-for peace conference. But in the short term it can only add fuel to a crisis that has raged for two years, shattering the country and displacing millions.

By upping the ante Obama has left Prime Minister Stephen Harper even more isolated from key allies as he heads into the G8 meetings Monday and Tuesday. While Harper has said Assad must go, he has unwisely refused to recognize the Syrian National Coalition opposition or help arm its outgunned fighters. “Syria cannot be allowed to become another safe haven for the hydra-heads of terrorism,” Harper said recently, voicing the concern that some rebel factions have ties to Al Qaeda and other extremist groups.

But that doesn’t mean Canada can’t contribute to a solution. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, together with the Lebanese and Jordanian governments, has just http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=45112&Cr=syria&Cr1 to help the 8 million Syrians — more than a third of the population — who need aid, including 1.6 million refugees in Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.

This gives Canada a chance to do some good. So far Ottawa has provided just under $50 million in humanitarian aid, spread over two years. If Syria’s need has now reached $5 billion, Canada should be prepared to contribute far more generously to make sure that Syrian families who are on the run have some kind of shelter, food, drinkable water, basic health care and temporary schooling. Canadians who may share Harper’s reluctance to arm the rebels can hardly object to the UN-led effort to help the victims.

What would Canada’s share of the UN appeal be? Roughly $200 million. That would reflect our 4 per cent share of all international aid, and is proportionate to our relative national economic output and capacity to pay. A donation of that size would challenge other donors to follow suit. Our contribution so far is well short of what might have been expected.

Stepped-up Canadian aid would help strengthen the Syrian opposition’s political hand as American and allied weapons bolster its military hand. The Assad regime could no longer demand that the fighting end on its terms to spare civilians more misery. And the Syrian opposition would know that those they are fighting for are being looked after.

All this would assist Washington’s effort to bring the Syrian National Coalition and Assad to a peace conference. The Assad regime’s recent military advance, thanks to Russian arms and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters, has left the opposition fearing that it would come into a conference with a weak hand. Buoyed directly by U.S. and allied political recognition and weapons, and indirectly by generous aid, the opposition may be more willing to try to broker an end to this war.

The G8 summit offers Harper a platform to announce that Canada will contribute generously to the UN appeal and to urge others to do the same. He could strengthen that message by putting a hard number to Canada’s contribution, setting a benchmark. Standing idly on the sidelines while our key allies are trying to tip the scales shouldn’t be an option.

Read more about: