Our second recommendation is to continue to commit international humanitarian assistance to wherever there is the most need as quickly as possible. Canada has a strong history of providing humanitarian support to vulnerable populations, to prevent crises from escalating and to foster a more peaceful world. Such stability helps ensure Canada's safety and the stability of our democracy both at home and abroad.
Budget 2024 proposed providing an additional $350 million over two years to Global Affairs Canada to enhance Canada's ability to respond to humanitarian crises around the world. We recommend that Canada actively review its position and consider increasing international humanitarian assistance by an additional $500 million to commit to wherever the need is greatest, from Sudan to Ukraine, but especially to people experiencing the most severe poverty and in need of the most medical support. Specifically, we recommend increasing Canada's support for UNRWA, given the humanitarian disaster affecting Gazan children and given that UNRWA is the best placed organization to deliver that aid.
Our third recommendation is to commit a budget line allocation to a new Canada Revenue Agency oversight body. Muslim charities have been unfairly surveilled in Canada. The government has admitted there was a potential problem and called for a review into how the CRA audits Muslim charities.
In November 2022, the taxpayers' ombudsman expressed concerns to the Senate committee on human rights that the review he had been tasked with had major gaps because of a lack of access to the files his office needed to conduct a fulsome review. In 2023, the Senate human rights committee's report on Islamophobia found that within the CRA's review and analysis division, or RAD, three-quarters of the decisions to revoke an organization's charitable status were directed at Muslim charities, despite Muslim charities representing less than 1% of all Canadian charities.
We also recognize that there has been bipartisan recognition by the Liberals, Conservatives and the NDP that there is systemic Islamophobia at the CRA and that there needs to be action.
Now, while we have long called for the RAD to be dismantled and we continue to make calls for urgent reform, we propose that a budget line be committed for the Department of Justice to introduce legislation that establishes an independent, civilian body to review decisions of the CRA's RAD to provide timely decisions on appeals. The CRA, unlike CSIS, the RCMP and the CBSA, lacks an appropriate oversight body, as seen by the failure of the taxpayers' ombudsman's report, despite his best efforts.
Our fourth recommendation is to strengthen Canada's weapons permit and procurement policies to ensure that our country does not support war crimes. More and more Canadians are asking for clarity and transparency about the ways in which our weapons export permit policy functions and the ways weapons procurement operates at the highest possible ethical standard.
In 2021, the House foreign affairs committee issued a report entitled “Assessing Risk, Preventing Diversion And Increasing Transparency: Strengthening Canada’s Arms Export Controls in a Volatile World”. Given the recommendations of that report and the International Court of Justice's recent decisions and opinions on the need for all countries that support the international, rules-based order to be in compliance with it, we recommend a specific line to boost the transparency of Canada's weapons export permit and procurement rules to ensure that our government is in compliance with those rulings.
Subject to your questions, these are our submissions.