Oh, that's delightful.
A big concern that has been coming forward has to do with the shifting focus at CIDA. This shift is leaving smaller and well-established non-profit development agencies behind. They're really feeling left out. In fact, a recent report from the CCIC shows this. After chronic delays under the new partnership branch funding formula, we are now getting a real picture. Good projects are being abandoned half-done, NGOs are laying people off, and partner agencies are being cut.
The new funding formula has also put a chill on public advocacy work, especially in areas that are controversial for the current government or when advocacy is critical of your policies. The most notorious example was when Kairos did not get funding, but we now see that there are many others. This has raised some anxiety in light of our commitment to long-term systemic development to address our key mandate, which is poverty.
Minister, isn't it time to admit that this new competitive bidding process announced in 2010 is pitting NGOs against one another and has frankly been a mess?