And I think you brought to light one of the key aspects of international development cooperation. That is, the need for long-term systemic change, and that only comes with long-term commitments and engaging in the kind of work that doesn't produce immediate results, that takes time to show results, as, for example, in education. And you're tracking some of those issues.
Ken, I'm really glad that you mentioned the 0.7% commitment. At the same time, we do have NGOs we've connected with who are saying that in order to get at least some projects approved they have been looking to work with private industry, because they're really feeling the pressure, because they want to carry on the work that they see as so critical. They're also telling us that the current freeze on our international aid money is really beginning to have an impact. As you know, everything goes up but our aid has been frozen and we haven't even got to our 0.7% target yet at all. There is a feeling that we are going in the wrong direction. The NDP has called for the aid freeze to be lifted for Canada and for us to commit to a practical timetable to reach our goal of 0.7%. This was a promise we made and a promise made should be a promise kept.
Can you give the perspective of the Canadian Labour Congress and the labour movement more generally on this issue? Should Canada lift the freeze on its aid budget? What might a reasonable timetable to meet our international commitments look like?