Foreign Affairs Committee on April 29th, 2021

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you, Minister. I want to ask one more follow-up question before we run out of time.

IMPACT-se, the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in school education, published a review this February of UNRWA-generated material in use after November.

This is UNRWA-generated material.

The report identifies many examples of continuing violent and hateful content. I want to read you one sample from that curriculum. This is grade 9 spelling material. Students were asked to copy this out and then check for spelling errors:

Our Enemies dare to defy us, because of our weakness and disunity. They are killing our sons, our old and our children, and make examples of them. Does that mean our sons responded with silence?! Our sons have risen up in revolt on our Enemies, resisting them courageously, in a resistance which embarrasses our Enemies and threatens their existence. However, our Arab relatives have sadly recognized our Enemies and began interacting with them, which weakened our sons' resoluteness, and prolonged the life of Occupation on our land. But a day will come, when this land will return to us and to our sons, and our Enemies will be banished, God willing, as failing losers.

This is a contemporary example, after the errors were allegedly corrected, from an UNRWA-produced spelling textbook, which contains denunciation of peace, in particular of the Abraham accords, and an implied call for the banishment of Jews from Israel.

I understand that you might not have read all of the curricular materials that were in use after that deadline, but what is your response to IMPACT-se's February report that outlines these key examples, and do you have continuing concerns about content like the content I just read out?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

First of all, as the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, I am always committed to doing my part to ensure that we are standing against intolerance in all its forms.

What I would like to make very clear, though, is that UNRWA does not produce materials. They operate in jurisdictions—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Minister, that's not correct. That is UNRWA-produced material.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

No, it's not.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Mr. Genuis, one moment.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

The quotation I read is not Palestinian Authority curriculum.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Genius, you are incorrect.

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Chair, I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Mr. Genuis, just on a point of order, if I can come back in on the same argument I made a few minutes ago, in the interests of maintaining interpretation, it simply won't work if members and witnesses talk over top of each other. Please give the minister the opportunity to answer and then you can ask another question.

You have about 45 seconds left in your allocation.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Minister, I'll take the floor first and then give you the remaining time.

I want to be very clear that the content I read is from supplementary materials produced by UNRWA.

UNRWA uses Palestinian Authority produced textbooks; however, UNRWA also produces supplementary materials. The quotation I read is not from Palestinian Authority materials. Palestinian Authority materials make no reference to the Abraham accords. The quotation I read is from materials produced by UNRWA.

I'll pass the floor over to you.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Genuis, with all due respect, UNRWA does not produce materials. They use the materials provided by the jurisdiction in which they operate. They are very conscious of the fact that some of those materials are inappropriate and they provide teaching guides to ensure that the material is taught around.

However, it is important for Canada, for me personally, that we are conveying to UNRWA, as well as to the jurisdictions that create this material, what Canada's position is, what our values are and what our expectations are. We have been very clear in this regard. It is one of the reasons we provide support for neutrality training for UNRWA teachers and UNRWA personnel, because our objective is to support the 500,000 children who receive education in UNRWA schools, to do our part to ensure that UNRWA is able to provide that education in an appropriate way and to continue to stand up for values of tolerance and inclusion.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Minister, thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Genuis.

We'll now go to our final round, which also consists of five minutes.

Ms. Saks, please, the floor is yours.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for joining us today. It is wonderful to hear about all of the work we are doing to advance the feminist international assistance policy, and our other endeavours to advance women and girls in the many areas of the world where work in development.

As my colleague, Ms. McPherson, did highlight and as you shared with us, we value the planning of sustainable programming throughout the world in many of our projects.

I'd like to talk about the importance of having the ability to pivot and to answer the call of need when there is a crisis in the world. For example, when there was the Beirut explosion last year, Canada was able to respond swiftly and appropriately to help the residents of Beirut.

The world is a tough place with many conflicts, with neighbourhoods and countries in crisis, and Canada proudly responds. That's really also a big portion of our development policy and our development budget. We're looking at the situation in Ethiopia right now, including the killing of civilians, and there's also been a great rise in sexual and gender-based violence, indiscriminate shelling, and the forced displacement of residents of Tigray and the Eritrean refugees.

Could you take a moment to share with me and with this committee how Canada is helping with the response in Tigray?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

As you and many committee members have mentioned, there are a number of very tragic and difficult situations right around the world, and Canada does respond and step up and do our part to try to both save lives and work for a peaceful resolution, particularly when there is conflict.

With regard to Ethiopia, I'm very grateful to the committee for undertaking this study because I think it is extraordinarily important. Just last month, I announced $34 million in humanitarian assistance for Ethiopia this year. We provide it to our humanitarian partners on the ground in a flexible way so that they can respond to where the needs are. This includes partners such as the Red Cross, UN OCHA, the World Food Programme, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and UNICEF, for example, as well as NGO partners on the ground.

The situation, particularly in Tigray, is very concerning. The reports we're hearing with regard to human rights abuses and, in particular, sexual and gender-based violence are very concerning.

As I mentioned in question period today, I have spoken to my counterpart, the Minister of Peace, in Ethiopia. Minister Garneau has spoken to his counterpart, and the Prime Minister has spoken to Prime Minister Abiy to convey Canada's deep concern with the situation in Ethiopia.

We are supporting the work of the UN High Commissioner to work with the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to have an independent investigation into the allegations of human rights abuses. We think this is something that is very important.

We have stood alongside our international counterparts in calling for a cessation to the violence and the conflict, as well as a respect for human rights, and for Eritrean troops to leave Ethiopia. We will continue to engage in this regard and of course monitor the situation.

Perhaps one final thing I would say on this is that we've also pivoted $18 million of our bilateral assistance programming in Ethiopia to provide food assistance to those who have been affected by the conflict.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Thank you, Minister.

Chair, how am I doing for time?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

You have just over a minute, Ms. Saks.

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, York Centre, ON]

Okay, perfect.

In the line of discussing how we are able to pivot and be nimble in a complex global environment, India is a perfect example of where the world needs to come together right now. In the midst of the COVID crisis, time and again, Canada has stood up to be a lead voice and supporter of assistance in various parts of the world through COVAX and other participatory programs.

Can you share with us a little bit about our commitment to India at this critical time?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

I'm sure everyone has seen the alarming situation happening in India right now, with the incredible spread of COVID-19 and the devastating results it has for people in India. Canada stands in solidarity with the people of India. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister announced that we would immediately be sending $10 million through the Canadian Red Cross to the Indian Red Cross to support their efforts in fighting COVID-19. This funding will go towards the ambulance service that the Indian Red Cross provides and towards public health awareness and messaging campaigns, but importantly, the Indian Red Cross also needs this support to build isolation centres and treatment centres for the hospital system that, quite frankly, is overwhelmed right now.

We are in discussions as to what else we can do to support India. We are currently reviewing this with the Minister of Health, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and their counterparts in India, to ensure that we can provide the support that is needed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much, Minister.

Thank you, Ms. Saks.

This takes us to the end of our first hour with the minister, on the estimates.

We now go into our second hour, which is a discussion on COVAX, as agreed by the committee on April 15.

As we transition, some of our witnesses from Global Affairs will leave us. We would like to thank them on our collective behalf.

Thank you very much for your testimonies this afternoon.

At this point, Leslie MacLean and Peter MacDougall are staying with us, and we would also like to welcome Joshua Tabah, director general of health and nutrition, Global Affairs Canada, for the second hour.

Madam Minister, I will give you the floor again. You have five to seven minutes to make your opening remarks on the COVAX facility.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the committee for inviting me to speak with you today and for allowing me to spend two hours with you on what is a very important issue, Canada's role in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly through our important support for the ACT Accelerator and the COVAX facility.

I would like to thank my officials who joined for the previous session and to recognize both Peter and Josh, who are on the call with us today. They and their teams have been absolutely extraordinary and have been working around the clock for the past 14 months with regard to our global health response from Canada.

It was over a year ago that we began to realize the scale of the challenge we faced with a virus that respected no borders. Disruptions to health systems and food security have had significant impacts on maternal and child mortality and access to sexual and reproductive health services.

Every day, schools are closed and the risk of dropout increases, as does the likelihood that families see no choice but to marry off their daughters as they struggle to feed and house them. Unpaid workloads have increased for everyone, but women are taking on greater intensity of care-related tasks and are leaving the workforce more than men.

With a global situation of more than 140 million COVID-19 cases and three million deaths, with many countries going through a third wave and with new and worrying variants driving this deteriorating situation, the scale of what we are facing is worrying for everyone.

That is why we need to ensure that our response includes a particular focus on the world's poorest and most marginalized and that it considers the differentiated needs of women and girls.

To date, Canada has mobilized more than $2 billion in international assistance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including funding for humanitarian and development assistance. Budget 2021 highlighted an additional $375 million to support the global response.

We are funding our humanitarian partners to provide increased surveillance systems and infection prevention; water, sanitation and hygiene; protection services; emergency health care; and other common services.

In order to support the needs of those most at risk and in particular to support health workers and high-risk populations, the world truly came together to develop a mechanism to provide solutions for all.

One year ago, the ACT Accelerator had just been launched and the COVAX facility did not yet exist. Now we have the global mechanisms we need to respond to this challenge. I am proud that Canada was at the forefront of the creation of the ACT Accelerator and COVAX facility. We have been a key supporter and leading donor since the very beginning.

I am proud to be the co-chair of the COVAX AMC engagement group and to sit on the facilitation council of the ACT Accelerator, further solidifying Canada's position as a global leader in the fight against COVID-19.

As I mentioned in my previous appearance a short while ago, Canada has provided $940 million to the ACT Accelerator across all pillars to support equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments and vaccines and to support the health systems so critical to delivering these life-saving tools to populations in need.

The COVAX facility within the vaccine pillar of the ACT A is the global procurement mechanism led by Gavi, the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

COVAX was designed with two windows: a self-financing stream window, through which upper middle- and high-income countries like Canada are able to purchase vaccines; and the advance market commitment, designed to procure doses for 92 low- and lower middle-income countries.

The self-financing mechanism offered a procurement insurance policy for participating countries, giving access to a wide range of vaccine candidates before anyone knew which, if any, would prove to be effective.

In parallel, the investments of high and upper middle-income countries in the mechanism increased the purchasing power of COVAX, helping to ensure a fair price point for COVAX’s procurement of doses for lower-income countries.

Because higher-income countries like Canada have invested in the facility for their own needs, COVAX has been able to increase its leverage with pharmaceutical companies to negotiate for all countries.

This is one of the reasons why the Government of Canada decided last September to use the COVAX facility to procure vaccines; it helped ensure access to a broad spectrum of vaccines, at a fair price, and it would do this for all participants, including low- and lower-middle income countries.

We have now contributed $325 million to procure and deploy COVID-19 vaccine doses through COVAX for low- and lower-middle income countries.

The facility is up and running. It has become operational quickly and effectively. In the last two months, more than 120 countries have received over 49 million doses, and this is just the beginning.

This initiative includes doses for Canada and other high-income countries, as had been planned for from the beginning; it is central to the facility’s success. It also includes doses for dozens of low-income and middle-income countries. For many, COVAX is and will continue to be their key mechanism to access World Health Organization-approved vaccines.

Over a year into this pandemic, we have learned many things and continue to adapt our response to a rapidly changing context both in Canada and internationally, but one thing has only become more clear: We will only beat this pandemic in Canada when we beat it everywhere. The ACT Accelerator and COVAX facilities are the world's initiatives to beat the pandemic. These are the most powerful tools we have in the global fight against COVID-19. They need and deserve our continued support.

With that, I thank you for the opportunity to have this conversation and I welcome your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Minister, thank you very much. We will go to our first round of questions, which will be six-minute segments again, just like in the previous hour.

The first person to lead us off is Mr. Genuis. Please go ahead.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, I have many questions about COVAX, but I do want to briefly return to the UNRWA issue. You mentioned that you had a grandparent who was a Holocaust survivor. This is something we have in common; I also had the same. Therefore, I hope I can ask this question at a human level and that it won't be perceived as partisan. It's important that we do all we can to not be complicit in a case where there is incitement to anti-Semitic violence happening.

Yesterday, the European Parliament adopted an unprecedented resolution condemning UNRWA for teaching hate and incitement to violence, and insisting that the EU make aid conditional on educational materials' compliance with UN values. This is significant because the EU is UNRWA's top funder, and clearly our European partners think we have a problem.

The issue I raise is that the IMPACT report from February identifies hateful content in UNRWA-generated materials. This is an important distinction: UNRWA uses the textbooks in the jurisdiction in which they operate, so in UNRWA schools, the textbooks they use will be Palestinian Authority textbooks.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Mr. Genuis, one moment. We have a point of order from Mr. Fonseca.

Stop the clock.

Mr. Fonseca, go ahead, please.

[Peter Fonseca, Liberal, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

On a point of order, Chair, there was agreement and consensus among the members that the second hour would be spent on COVAX. That is what all the members agreed to. Would we stick to COVAX?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you for raising the point of order.

Mr. Fonseca, the committee did agree that the second hour would be on COVAX. This question is not.

I invite debate on the point of order.