moved for leave to introduce Bill C-287, An Act to amend the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act.
Madam Speaker, hostile actors, most notably the Chinese state, are trying to use the good name of international development to advance neo-colonial objectives and undermine international peace and security. Tragically, we see a repeat of the kind of 19th-century colonial tactics that were used by powers in Europe being used in the 21st century by the Chinese state: Debt-trap diplomacy exploits economic vulnerabilities in the developing world to try to exert control and undermine peace and security.
Canada should take a stand against this 21st-century neo-colonialism. We cannot always stop it, but we can refuse to be complicit in it. Unfortunately, the government is funding, through the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, aspects of this Chinese state neo-colonial policy. My private member's bill would amend the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act, the legal framework governing foreign aid, to ensure that Canadian aid dollars cannot ever be used to advance the interests of hostile powers or to undermine international peace and security.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)