Good afternoon. I'm Blaise Salmon. I'm president of RESULTS Canada. RESULTS is a citizens' advocacy group with chapters across Canada, and we work to generate the political will to end the worst aspects of hunger and extreme global poverty.
We are members of both the Canadian Council for International Co-operation and the Make Poverty History campaign, with the support of more than a quarter million Canadians.
Extreme global poverty has a negative impact on global security, on public health, on the environment and on the economy. The reality is that 1.2 billion people around the world live in extreme poverty, attempting to survive on less than $1 a day.
Globalization has been good for Canada. Our economy is among the strongest in the world according to the OECD, and global trade has been a key driver of our economic strength. The value of trade as a percentage of GDP in 2005 was 60%. However, global poverty and instability can have serious implications for our economic outlook.
The millennium development goals are the global blueprint designed to focus international effort to fight extreme poverty. These goals, agreed to by most nations of the world, including Canada, have set practical, achievable measures intended to cut extreme poverty in half by the year 2015, but in order to achieve these goals the world's rich nations need to provide approximately 0.5% of GNI in aid. To go a step further than that and eliminate extreme poverty altogether, estimated aid of 0.7% is required.
Currently, Canada's foreign aid is about 0.3% of gross national income, so during the last election Prime Minister Harper promised to bring Canada's aid up to at least the average of other donor countries--which is currently about 0.46%. Instead, Canada's aid has actually dropped, from 0.34% in 2005 to 0.30% in 2006.
All these figures are from the OECD, by the way.
Despite the continued large budget surpluses, there is no sign that Canada's moving even toward the average level of generosity promised by Mr. Harper. Clearly, we must do more.
What would it cost? Annual increases of about $650 million, less than 5% of the $14 billion surplus--which is projected to be even higher next year--or a fraction of 1% of the overall federal budget, less than one-half of 1%.
In addition to the issue of the quantity of aid, we have the quality of aid. Canada must provide better aid. We support the initiative of Mr. McKay's Bill C-293, the proposed Development Assistance Accountability Act. This would bring Canada closer to better poverty-focused international aid. However, it is currently stalled in the Senate. For Canada's aid to improve, it is vital that this bill become law.
My main point, however, is that it doesn't really make sense to wait until all possible reforms to CIDA are completed before increasing Canada's aid. There are many good examples of cost-effective multilateral aid vehicles that Canada should be supporting right now. Many of these are quite separate from CIDA. These include the global fund to fight aids, TB, and malaria; the global TB drug facility; Canada's international immunization initiative; the fast track initiative for basic education; UNICEF's micro nutrient and nutrition initiatives; and the global TB drug facility, as well as the new global sanitation fund.
All these vehicles have track records of success and established transparency and accountability mechanisms. All that is missing is a fair share of level of funding from donors such as Canada.
In fact, Prime Minister Harper provided a good example last week in Tanzania, when he announced the $105 million initiative over five years to save a million lives. This partnership with UNICEF, the Gates Foundation, and other donors will deliver basic health services, such as immunization, bed nets, antibiotics, micro nutrients, and other measures for women and children in countries where the needs are greatest. It is a very worthwhile program.
However, I think the media coverage had it right. The Canadian Press headline said “Harper pledges more money to Africa but admits Canada's foreign aid declining”. Canada's initiative to save a million lives is quality aid with a good start, but it ultimately will not reach its potential, simply because it doesn't receive enough funding.
The remedy is a simple one. Canada must reach at least the average level of aid given by other countries, as promised by Prime Minister Harper in the last election.
Thank you.