That's a pretty tough question. Climate change is going to have immense impact, especially on the world's poorest, almost no matter what. The real question is, how effectively can the world community marshal resources to help poor economies address this?
The principle of Kyoto is that those most responsible act first. That, unhappily, has not yet happened. The world's poorest countries will take the sharpest impact of climate change. But at a moment when aid resources are going to be plainly so imperative and essential, it really falls to us to make sure our resources are used in the most effective way.
The way in which Canadian aid spending is now undertaken diminishes the dollars we send abroad. Resources that are tied to Canadian sourcing never really see the inside of a developing country economy. Money is certainly spent for legitimate purposes, but not to reduce global poverty, support students in Canada, or for the settlement of refugee costs.
All these things have to be done, but Canada is harbouring these costs in its aid budget. The result, in our estimation, is that about 70ยข of every Canadian aid dollar actually make it to the developing world. We need to change that sort of thing as well. That's part of what Bill C-293 is about.