Foreign Affairs Committee on April 2nd, 2015

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Let's hope so, minister, because the merger happened well after the department's restructuring, in fact, nine months later. It makes absolutely no sense. I know you had very positive things to say about civil society, but those organizations can't operate without predictability, and it's very hard for them to deal with a nine-month waiting period.

I was also wondering whether Canada planned to contribute funding to NORAD again and when we might expect Canada to get involved in the Gaza reconstruction efforts.

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

We're very active in the region and we have development programs there.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Minister, I'm going to stop you there, if you don't mind. Because of the time constraints, I'm going to ask you to comment on the Gaza reconstruction, specifically.

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

We are already active in the region and we're keeping a very close eye on the situation. Much remains to be done. That's what I can tell you for the time being. A variety of options have been proposed, but we have to make sure that taxpayers' money ends up in the right place. And you know as well as I do that that's a challenge on the ground. Options are under consideration.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Minister, Canada is no longer funding TB REACH, an initiative where it used to be a leader. That's another area where Canada is moving backwards. Obviously, no announcements have been made in that regard. Nor have we heard any announcements on the global education program. And the international youth internship program also appears to have been put on hold, and the rationale makes absolutely no sense.

For the fiscal year that just ended, do you plan to put the hundreds of millions of dollars that weren't spent back in your budget?

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

The programs you mentioned are important. Announcements are coming, but we're talking about large amounts of money. We need to make sure we align our efforts with those who will benefit from the aid and those managing it, as well as the other donor countries. That's what we are committed to doing. We want to achieve the best possible outcomes while ensuring transparency. Even though the merger is said to be done, a lot of work is still under way. There are a significant number of programs, and that's why a review was undertaken. We are satisfied overall. And, yes, announcements on those issues are coming.

As for the amounts being put back, I can tell you that the two big reasons that the amounts were put back in last year's case are very straightforward. First, because of the instability in Africa, Mali specifically, we weren't able to allocate all of the planned funding, in spite of the commitments that had been made. The region was just too unstable.

Second, there was the matter of forgiving Pakistan's debt. The Paris Club makes those decisions. Certain requirements have to be met. We aren't the only ones with a say in the matter. These are things that happen. From an operating budget standpoint, however, and overall, we're still ahead and we always kept our commitments.

I repeat, this is what we tell other countries: pledging money is nice, but you have to follow through on that pledge. No one in the world can say that Canada doesn't honour its commitments.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Minister, we could spend all day discussing the numbers. I don't think the situations with Mali and Pakistan were what made the difference last year.

Quickly, I have one last question for you.

This June will mark a year since the Global Partnership for Education conference was held. Are you waiting until then to say that Canada is proud that exactly a year has gone by and it has yet to honour its commitment?

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Minister, just give a quick response because we are over time.

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

We focus our energy on results, not announcements. We have a good relationship with Ms. Albright. She knows exactly where we stand on the issue. When an appropriate program is developed, beyond the announcements, we will work on achieving results. Announcements are one thing, but achieving positive results is another. And that's what we work towards. That is our duty.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

I think the Global Partnership for Education has already proven its worth.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Brown, the floor is yours for five minutes, please.

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, ministers, for being here.

Minister Paradis, we have had enormous success with our maternal, newborn and child health initiatives. In 2010 when our Prime Minister announced the $2.85 billion, we saw that leveraged, working with our partners, to something around $7.3 billion. We've now announced $3.5 billion for this next five years.

I wonder if you could talk a little bit about the partnerships that we have, such as with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and some of the other partnerships we have and what we expect to see accomplished with that money.

I'll just ask all my questions now and then I'll give you the floor.

I know you were at the World Economic Forum and there was the announcement of this new funding mechanism that's going to be handled through the World Bank. I wonder if you could give the committee some insight into what that looks like.

I have one last question for you.

My riding is home to the Association des francophones de la région de York, a group of people who want to speak French and be served in French. The group would like to know about Canada's relationship with other countries in La Francophonie.

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Thank you for your question.

As far as partnerships go, the Canadian Network for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health is a national partnership that developed on its own.

This is a great thing to see because you see the level of interest among the stakeholders. There is World Vision, Save the Children, and other players that are all part of this, and they want to work à l'unisson. They want to be united on this, which is a good thing, because at the summit in Toronto, one of the main outcomes expected of this was to foster and reinforce partnerships and to say that we have to do all of this together. When we talk about saving every woman and every child within arm's reach, this is ambitious, and there is no other way of doing this than by being partners with other players.

It's always good...when Bill Gates was here about a month ago, he once again had a lot of praise for what we are doing on the Canadian side to push on this file. We have a national network here, but now on the international stage we see more and more, and expect, people to contribute to some initiatives like the one I just alluded to on CRVS, the $200 million that we committed to the GFF at the UN. We have $100 million earmarked for MNCH in general, but we have another $100 million earmarked for CRVS. CRVS is very important because if you don't have statistics.... If you deal with estimates, your results will be estimates, and this is not acceptable. We want to have real results based on facts and real data. This is why we are once again at the forefront and are assuming leadership in this regard. We can see now more and more partners interested to contribute, so we are very enthusiastic.

What was the second question?

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

It was about the new financing mechanism.

[Christian Paradis, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

It's a kind of blended financing. As a representative of the Canadian government, I am chair of the the redesigning development finance initiative, which is a very good initiative led by WEF and OECD. The Gates Foundation is there. The U.S. and Sweden are involved, with Abraaj Funds, the Rockefeller Foundation, the World Bank, IFC, and others. The idea is to see how we can attract interest in blending public and private money to make sure we can address the gaps.

We know that to put in place the best strategy to resolve health issues, there is a gap of $30 billion U.S. a year. When we talk about the infrastructure per se, the gap is $1.5 trillion U.S. a year according to World Bank estimates. You cannot achieve that with ODA alone. On the private side, sometimes things need to be better connected in order to connect the dots, if I can put it that way. So if we can establish a common lexicon and we can attract deals and get more people to contribute in order to make sure that we do accomplish this. As Charlotte Petri Gornitzka, the director from the Swedish development agency, said, we're ready to coinvest where we can find mutual interest. The ODA is there. The goal of the Canadian Government is to eradicate poverty. We want to ensure good development, and sometimes that can connect with projects from the private sector. The idea is not to subsidize but just to define for the committee the common interests, the impacts, the benefits, and so on.

Your last point was on la Francophonie.

I think La Francophonie is a very important and relevant vehicle. The legacy Abdou Diouf has left us with today is a modern, credible and transparent vehicle. When coups d'état happened in Mali and Madagascar, the countries were suspended from the organization. That puts a stigma on them, attaches a moral weight to the events that occurred. At this stage, what can be done to propel La Francophonie further into the 21st century?

Discussions are under way with countries in West Africa, like Senegal, which has some very positive economic development standards in place. Another country of focus is Benin, where the president has led a relentless campaign against corruption. What can we do to help these countries in terms of economic strategy? How can we develop that economic block? That is what was interesting about the Dakar summit.

Michaëlle Jean was named Secretary General. She presented an economic strategy and put forward a credible and realistic plan to implement that strategy. We are very excited about that. And that's why our department is looking at how it can align its programs in a way that would help those countries' economies grow.

Again, I would say that Canadians have an excellent reputation. The Africans want to do business with us because we are respected. We're talking about sustainable development and benefits to communities. It's well-known. There's a lot of potential there.

Yes, the Government of Canada, as well as the Government of New Brunswick and the government of Quebec are part of the solution. But it involves all Canadians. La Francophonie is not just something for francophones, but also a Canadian symbol. Canada is a member of La Francophonie, and we must seize the development opportunities it presents.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you, Mr. Paradis.

Mr. Hawn.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I think I'll start with Minister Nicholson. One of my secondary duties is to be the Canadian co-chair of the Canada-U.S. Permanent Joint Board of Defence, and we deal a lot with security issues and some development issues in the Americas. We've talked here a lot about the Middle East and Africa and so on, but we do have a lot of engagement in the Americas.

I'm just wondering if you could comment on where we're sitting in terms of some of the development of regional security through security systems reform in that part of the world, particularly in the Caribbean, Haiti, Central America, and Mexico. Do you have any thoughts on that?

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Yes. We've had a great record in that area, as you may know, Mr. Hawn. We recognize that this has to be an essential part of our security concerns. You know about the Canada First defence strategy in terms of the protection of Canada, and then, of course, there is the protection of North America and indeed the whole hemisphere.

I'm actually looking forward to going to a security conference next week, where we'll discuss a wide range of issues. That will be taking place in Panama. I'll have the opportunity to meet with quite a few of my colleagues who will be there, and we'll have the opportunity, over a period of a couple of days, to discuss all aspects of this. We know that the threats we have don't respect or know borders. We know that sort of thing. We know that those individuals, those organizations that are in the business of dealing drugs, for instance, or terrorists, will go wherever they see a weakness.

I have had discussions over the years with colleagues from the Caribbean and Central and South America. They tell me that organized crime will target them. If their country is stable, the borders are safe, and the beaches are accessible, they find that therefore they are targeted. That is completely unfortunate, so it's important that Canada will continue to make them a priority in terms of our aid and development. We are one of the leaders in assistance to our Caribbean colleagues. I'm very proud of the fact that we have a long record of association and assistance.

We engage on a regular basis with our South American and Central American colleagues on the question of security. The meeting I have will actually follow up on other meetings that I've had. I was in Peru several months ago, meeting with defence ministers. Again, there was a collective recognition that we have to work together and cooperate against the international threats that we all have.

There are those who think that we can stand on the sidelines and these terrorists will go away. I'm very proud of the fact that we are part of a party and a government that doesn't buy into that—that somehow these things will go away and that we have to do nothing—and I was proud of the fact that our party and our government stood in Parliament, were very clear, and put that motion before the House of Commons that we will stand up and do what's right in this world.

We will go after those terrorists, those people, and those organizations that are in the business of massacring people and degrading individuals. I'm proud to be part of a party that doesn't go along with that and recognizes that we have to do something about it. That has been the Canadian way. Our government, we, you, and I, and those supportive of us will do that, regardless of whether we get support across the aisle.

[Laurie Hawn, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

It won't surprise you that I agree with you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you very much. That's all the time we have.

We're going to suspend for one minute.

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Mr. Schellenberger agrees as well. Is that right?

Gary, do you agree with that?

[Gary Schellenberger, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Yes, I agree.

[Rob Nicholson, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

That's good. I just wanted to get that for the record.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

That's all the time we have. We're going to suspend for one minute, and then we'll come back to do a bit of business.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

We're back. There are five things that I want to address with the committee very quickly. I want people to know that on Tuesday, April 21, while there is going to be the federal budget presented, we are going to attempt to find a room. Typically during budget days it becomes very difficult, so I want people to know that if we cannot find a room, we'll cancel the meeting and the meeting won't happen on April 21.

The second thing on the list is that there doesn't seem to have been a whole lot of interest in the diamond development initiative, so I'm just going to suggest that our committee—