Honourable members, I'm Mary Cowper-Smith. I'm a member of the ONE campaign in Canada.
I'm here today on behalf of over two-thirds of Canadians who believe that it is our responsibility to help others around the world. Sadly, Canada's contributions to international assistance have been in steep decline.
Canada currently invests 0.26% of its gross national income to official development assistance. At this rate, Canada is lagging far behind our closest friends and allies in the G7 and OECD, all this despite Canada's support for the Global Fund, additional investment in girls' education, and the increases in the 2018 budget. These were important first steps, but we're not doing our fair share.
I'm here today to ask that, in budget 2019, the Government of Canada commit to increasing Canada's spending on global development over 10 years through predictable 15% annual increases to the international assistance envelope.
Thank you.