The Prime Minister reportedly plans to team up with one of the world's richest men to create a Canadian centre to test possible AIDS vaccines.

Stephen Harper will apparently pledge $110 million for the program while the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will kick in another $28 million to build a Canadian facility, likely in the Toronto area, to manufacture possible AIDS vaccines for clinical trials.

An official announcement is coming next Tuesday, according to reports, when Gates visits Ottawa.

Harper came under harsh criticism this past summer when he decided to pass up an invitation to the International AIDS Conference held in Toronto. He also angered many heath advocates when his government refused to support a safe-injection site in Vancouver and set up others across Canada.

Critics charge he's done little to stop the spread of the disease.

But his reported upcoming announcement has won praise, but some still aren't satisfied with the PM's action on this issue.

"They do now recognize the urgency of the AIDS situation worldwide," Dr. Mark Wainberg, an AIDS specialist at McGill University said.

He co-chaired the Toronto AIDS conference and said Harper's decision not to attend put him on "the wrong side of history".

While the new government funding is welcome news, Joanne Csete of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network said it's still not enough.

"I think it's fair to say that a vaccine is a politically easy issue," she said.

"We need leadership to move forward in those areas or we are going to lose more lives."