As for the actual list of countries, I am not really an expert on the criteria taken into account to decide whether or not those countries should be on the list. The list is definitely long, as it contains 72 countries. In addition, this program has not really been changed since 1974.
I would not call this solution a simplistic one. Perhaps greater transparency would have been appropriate in terms of the criteria used to determine whether a country is developing and whether it should be on the list. According to the Canada Gazette, some consultations have already been held on the issue. I was still a bit surprised to see 72 countries on the list. That being said, I think that the government must make a decision at some point.