I'm glad you brought that up. The diaspora has a huge role to play when you're looking at development in countries outside of Canada. I've certainly seen two or three of them work very, very effectively and be of great assistance in the country.
At the same time, what starts off very much as a humanitarian way to help develop I've seen has sometimes ended up trying to make that country more like the country they're living in now. It goes back to not really understanding that basis: even though you might have been born in that country, because you haven't grown up there you don't have that understanding of the culture or community. I have seen that and how there is that disconnect.
I really want to go back to a comment you made earlier about the importance of our not giving up on Africa. At times we hear comments: “We've put so many billions into Africa and we have very little to show for it.” I would say that every person who is not hungry, who has survived and now has children, would say they have a lot to show for it.
We may have to look at how we assist in Africa and how effective we are with our aid rather than moving away. This year we cut bilateral aid for sub-Saharan Africa, so a number of countries—eight African nations—are not part of our focus work.
Maybe since I grew up and now I see images of Africa—those are the ones that often come to mind when you see the poverty, the changes in climate, and the impact of all of that—it makes today meaningful for me. You said let's not say that aid is not working in Africa and there is a need for us to invest in Africa, so thank you for that.
That's not a question but a comment I wanted to make.