Foreign Affairs Committee on Nov. 17th, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Madam Clerk, let's suspend for a minute to see if that is a persistent problem or if it's fleeting.

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

I think it's resolved now.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Is it resolved?

Minister, please continue.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

On the school feeding programs, through support from Canada and other donors, the World Food Programme was able to quickly pivot to a delivery program for a number of children in need.

We also provided support to the Food and Agriculture Organization, which provided support to local farmers, as well as ensuring that they can continue to access markets, which was really important in a number of developing countries with severe lockdowns.

We also provided support to the IFAP, which is doing a lot of work to ensure that female farmers in particular continue to have access to markets.

Then when it comes to nutrition, we provided additional resources to Nutrition International, a Canadian organization that ensures that adolescent girls in particular get access to nutrition.

There is a whole range of activities and I could talk about this for a lot longer, but this has been a top priority and will continue to be in order to ensure that for those in the humanitarian space, we continue to make sure those in need have access to both food and nutrition.

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Thank you for that.

You mentioned an unbelievably disturbing number, that there would be a doubling in food insecurity worldwide because of COVID.

Have you seen anything to indicate whether that's impacting women and girls disproportionately, or is that just a straight doubling?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

I don't have the specific numbers on whether women and girls are more impacted, but anecdotally, that is certainly what we are seeing on the ground. Often, in lower income households in developing countries, women and girls are the last to eat, if they eat at all. That is certainly something that we are very concerned about.

I would note—maybe it seems tangential—that we are also concerned about the number of adolescent girls who won't be returning to school. There are a number of countries where, for example, if you get pregnant, you are not allowed to return to school. UNFPA is predicting that 10 million adolescent girls won't return to schools even once they open. That is going to be very concerning when it comes to access to food, because of the role that many schools play in providing food and nutrition, particularly for girls.

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

What can we do to alter that, so that girls are not kept out of school following the pandemic and disproportionally impacted in that way?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

There are a number of things we can do and are trying to do, but certainly, working with women's rights activists and organizations around the world is really important, particularly to have them advocate to change some of those laws and unfair discriminatory practices, but also supporting adolescent girls and encouraging them to return to school.

It's also working with organizations and local communities on harmful practices like child and early forced marriages, so that we can continue to make sure that adolescent girls have every opportunity at success.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you, Minister.

I now give the floor to Mr. Bergeron for two and a half minutes.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

First, Minister, we know that, traditionally, international assistance has been directed to a number of countries chosen by Canada based on several criteria, which may vary from government to government.

My question is very simple: do you have any leeway? Is the government able to respond effectively to crises as they arise? I'm thinking, for instance, of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen owing to the war led by Saudi Arabia, to whom we are selling arms that are likely to be used in the conflict.

Are you able to help populations in crisis? I'm thinking, in particular, of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh, nearly half of whom have been displaced in recent weeks and where homes have been destroyed.

Do you have the flexibility to react quickly to situations as they arise?

Has Canada intervened in these two specific cases?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

My answer to both your questions is yes.

Every year, we allocate $800 million to humanitarian aid and people in crisis. Part of these funds is allocated at the beginning of the fiscal year to meet the humanitarian needs we know about. I have the list here.

We are responding to a dozen conflicts and situations where people are affected by a humanitarian crisis. We are currently helping Yemen, and I hope to be able to announce even more funds for that country soon. We have also responded to the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh. Two weeks ago we allocated $450,000 to the Red Cross.

Our humanitarian assistance system has the flexibility to respond to crises as they arise.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Thank you.

Mr. Chair, if I may, I'd like to make a very quick comment.

First, I'm not sure that $450,000 for a crisis of the magnitude of the one in Nagorno-Karabakh is enough. Maybe it will have to be adjusted upwards.

Madam Minister, for the benefit of the members of this committee, could you send a list of specific crisis situations that the department has responded to in recent months.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Of course. We can send the list to the committee.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you, Madam Minister.

Next the floor goes to Ms. McPherson again for two and a half minutes, please.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I think this will be a bit of a clean up round for me. If I could get those numbers on the percentage of money being spent on bilateral, multilateral and partnership branches that would be great.

[Shirley Carruthers]

This fiscal year we're projecting about $63 million to be spent through our multilateral channels, about 17% through our Canadian CSOs and the rest would be bilateral channels. Of course, these numbers could shift as we progress through the fiscal year and our spending is confirmed at the end of the fiscal year.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you very much.

Ms. Leclerc, could you talk a little about direction and control? We cut you off and you didn't get a chance to respond.

[Caroline Leclerc, Assistant Deputy Minister, Partnerships for Development Innovation, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

Thank you for allowing me to take part in this conversation.

As I am sure you know, this matter falls under the Income Tax Act. The Minister of Finance and the Department of Finance are therefore responsible for it. You also probably aware that Revenue Canada has established the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector. Co-chaired by civil society, the committee has created a task force to look at this specific issue. A representative from the international development sector is on the task force.

We follow up very closely with our Canadian partners to ensure that we understand their situation. Of course, we interact with our colleagues at Revenue Canada and the Department of Finance to keep us up to date on the direction in which projects are headed.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you very much, Ms. Leclerc.

My last question—I'll be very quick—is about the ACT Accelerator. We know that $100 million has been given to the ACT Accelerator and $580 million for development and humanitarian impacts. Will that be spent by the end of this year or by the end of this fiscal year, Minister?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

It will be spent by the end of this fiscal year.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you.

I'm ahead of time, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much, Ms. McPherson. That's always appreciated.

Next is Mr. Diotte for five minutes.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Minister, thanks for being here today.

I've got a large Ukrainian-Canadian population in my riding of Edmonton Griesbach, and they and a lot of other Canadians across the country continue to be concerned about the state of human rights and democracy in Ukraine.

How much money's being allocated by your department to support development in Ukraine and how does the money being spent correspond to the allocation since, say, 2015 or so?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

We provide $50 million annually to Ukraine, and our support helps to build a strong and accountable democracy. As you mentioned, that is very important for us and contributes to peace and security in Ukraine. We also work on economic development, including through direct support to vulnerable populations such as conflict-affected populations, especially women. We are very engaged with our friends and colleagues in Ukraine. I remember having a meeting with the previous Ukrainian cabinet when I was the parliamentary secretary for international development, and they remain a very important partner for us.