Evidence of meeting #5 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was spent.
A video is available from Parliament.
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
Ruby Sahota Liberal Brampton North, ON
I think it's an incredible achievement that Canada has become the top donor.
Can you list some of the countries that are receiving the most assistance through our bilateral international assistance program?
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON
I can. Canada is on track to have bilateral assistance programs with about 44 countries this year.
The top 10 recipients are Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Syria, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Jordan, Nigeria and Colombia. Of course, we also have multilateral and regional projects that provide development assistance to well over a hundred countries around the world, but those are the top 10.
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
Ruby Sahota Liberal Brampton North, ON
Yesterday it was very interesting in the House. We were debating Bill C-3, the bill that will require judges to take training when it comes to sexual assault. During that debate, Mr. Genuis was also very interested in the assistance that Canada could provide to developing countries to help women there to be able to access justice and protections for themselves when it comes to some of these terrifying atrocities that are committed against mostly women.
Can you describe any programs that may be assisting in that area?
3:55 p.m.
Liberal
Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON
Yes. Again, when I was in Kinshasa, I had an opportunity to visit a hospital that receives victims of sexual violence and speak with some of the survivors and hear their stories. It's a project that we fund in collaboration with UNFPA. It's called JAD. This program not only trains hospitals and health care workers to receive and diagnose sexual violence; it also provides legal support for them to take their cases through the court system. It also helps them to build up their self-confidence, whether through education or economic opportunities.
That's one example. We also—
4 p.m.
Liberal
4 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sven Spengemann
Feel free to circle back to additional examples in subsequent rounds.
I will now give the floor to Mr. Bergeron for six minutes, please.
4 p.m.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I thank the Minister for being here. I want to pass on greetings to her from my colleague from Lac-Saint-Jean, who unfortunately was unable to make it this afternoon. It is a great pleasure for me to be with you for this conversation.
Madam Minister, it has been suggested that one of the reasons for Canada's failure to secure a seat on the UN Security Council is that Canada's contribution to international assistance is significantly lower than Norway's and Ireland's.
To what extent do you feel this argument played a role in the factors that may have worked against Canada in the UN vote?
4 p.m.
Liberal
4 p.m.
Liberal
Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON
Good afternoon to you as well, and please pass on my greetings to your colleague. It is always a pleasure to work with him.
With respect to the Security Council decision, several factors were involved. A number of developing countries who are our partners supported Canada's campaign and candidacy. I have had great conversations with many of our partners around the world about the support Canada is providing and the work we are doing together. I believe several factors played a role in the decision.
It is also a fact that two other countries had announced their candidacy before Canada, and several nations had already committed to voting for them.
4 p.m.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
In a similar vein, Madam Minister, we know that the target for countries in terms of development assistance is a contribution of 0.7% of GDP. The OECD average is about 0.35% and Canada contributes 0.27%. It is well known that countries such as Norway and Ireland contribute significantly more.
I heard what you told us, that this may have been a minor argument for a number of countries to support Norway or Ireland at the expense of Canada. However, from a perspective where developed countries are expected to contribute 0.7% of their GDP, and given that our share is 0.27%, which is below the OECD average—as I am sure you will agree—what is the timeline for achieving a higher percentage for Canada's contribution to international assistance?
4 p.m.
Liberal
Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON
I would like to confirm that Canada is the 10th largest donor in terms of volume of assistance, but not necessarily in percentage. However, in terms of total volume, Canada is one of the biggest players on the international stage.
In addition, in 2018, the government committed to spending an additional $2 billion on international development and to increase that amount in subsequent years.
In my mandate letter, the Prime Minister asks me to increase international assistance. At this year's United Nations General Assembly, the Prime Minister confirmed that Canada's international assistance will be increased.
I would also like to point out that this year we announced more than $1 billion in additional funding to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. We are in the process of increasing funding for international assistance.
4:05 p.m.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
Very good.
As soon as he was elected, the Prime Minister announced with great fanfare at the UN that Canada was back, and talked about international assistance, climate change and peacekeeping. On all three of these fronts, Canada has fallen short of the expectations raised by such a dramatic statement from the Prime Minister.
I accept being told that, again, the intentions are there. However, do we have a schedule for the next years and months to ensure that these good intentions are not just wishful thinking, but that they actually translate into steady and systematic increases in Canada's contribution to reach a higher level than we currently have?
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON
Yes, Mr. Bergeron.
As I just said, we have already taken action in that regard. In 2018, we announced an additional $2 billion and it's on its way.
This year alone, not in the years to come, we announced more than $1 billion. We have already made contributions and we are in the process of planning the distribution of these funds, which will be spent before the end of the current fiscal year.
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sven Spengemann
Thank you very much, Madam Minister.
Thank you very much, Mr. Bergeron.
The final round of questions in this segment goes to Madam McPherson for six minutes, please.
The floor is yours.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you to the minister for being here today. Of course, I have more questions than I will be able to get through in six minutes, but luckily I go last and some of my questions have been asked already.
I just want to get a little more detail about ODA, and I'm sure that won't surprise you at all, Minister. Could you tell me what the expectation is for the percentage of GNI that we'll be spending? Is it 0.27% ?
What will that increased percentage be? I don't want to know the volume of ODA; I would prefer to know the percentage.
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON
I'm not sure I could give you the percentage, unfortunately, because that will require us to do some calculations that I don't have here right in front of me, but I could tell you the volume because that is the ultimate dollar amount.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
I more want to know based on our economy. Is there any way you could get those numbers and that percentage calculated and give it to the committee at a later date?
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON
Sure, we could do that. It will depend on our ultimate GNI number for this year, but certainly we could get that to you. I don't have it at my fingertips right now.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Okay.
Like MP Bergeron before me, we were really excited, of course, to see that the Prime Minister included increased investment in international development in the throne speech and that he did talk about it at the United Nations General Assembly. We look forward to seeing it. Will we see those increases in the next budgetary update?
4:05 p.m.
Liberal
Karina Gould Liberal Burlington, ON
Ms. McPherson, that's a question you'll likely have to ask my colleague, the Minister of Finance, because I'm not the one responsible for creating our overall government budget.
But I share your excitement. I'm also very excited to see the Prime Minister's commitment in the throne speech, and also the announcements that he has made, including the $1.1 billion that has been already announced and is rolling out this year.
4:05 p.m.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
In terms of that ODA that's being spent, when you calculate some of those numbers perhaps you could let us know—maybe you know that now—what percentage of the money that we spend through Global Affairs Canada for international development goes to multilateral, goes to bilateral, and to the partnership branch as well?