Foreign Affairs Committee on Nov. 17th, 2020

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

In April 2019, I had the privilege of being an official observer of the Ukrainian presidency election through the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. I was able to see first-hand the Ukrainians' commitment to democratic principles.

What tangible things is Canada doing to ensure the strength of that democracy in Ukraine? Could you give me a few examples, please?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

I may commit to come back to you more specifically as I don't have the Ukraine program here in front of me, but I know that we are working with the judicial system in Ukraine through the National Judicial Institute. They're providing direct support in Ukraine. There are a number of other initiatives, and I would be happy to send you the full details of our program in Ukraine if that would be of interest.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

I'd certainly appreciate that.

There are also non-governmental organizations that Canada is working with in Ukraine, I would imagine.

Is the bulk of our work with Canadian-based NGOs or large multilateral NGOs? Can you describe some of that work?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

I would want to get back to you on the specifics of it. We work with a range of partners in Ukraine as in other bilateral partners, some of which would be Canadian NGOs, international NGOs and multilateral partners.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

What about the RCMP? How many RCMP members are currently in Ukraine as part of the Canadian police arrangement?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Again, I would have to get back to you. Public safety would be specifically responsible for that.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Just to recap, I wanted to get the amount of money that Canada is giving in foreign aid right now.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

How much are we giving in total or to Ukraine?

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

What is the total to all countries?

I think you said it was about $5 billion or $4.1 billion.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

I believe it is $4.6 billion.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

I thought I heard $4.9 billion.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Our total ODA is $5.9 billion, but that includes multilateral development banks as well as direct bilateral programs with countries.

[Kerry Diotte, Conservative, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Okay.

One of those countries that you said was in the top 10 was Syria. With the country being practically in a state of anarchy, what would you tell Canadians who are worried that the money might not be getting to where it should be going?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Let me just clarify that the money is not going to support the government of Syria. It's going to the humanitarian crisis in Syria and the people who have been displaced or are in need of housing, food, access to services for sexual and gender-based violence and education. That is being delivered through trusted international partners.

Obviously, Syria is an extremely fragile context, but it is one where there are extraordinary needs. That is one of the reasons they are one of the top recipients. It is serving the population. It does not go to the government of Syria.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Minister, thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Diotte.

The next series in this round goes to Ms. Sahota. Again, it's a five-minute round.

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

Thank you.

I'm just going to pick up from there. It kind of delves into the line of questioning I had.

What would you say, Minister, to Canadians or people who would be skeptical or have the worries, as mentioned by my colleague, about money going to organizations operating in countries where perhaps there is conflict and there may not be as much transparency in their system?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

I would say that GAC has very well developed and fine-tuned due diligence processes and tracking of the money that we send in international assistance. That is heightened in conflict and fragile settings, recognizing the challenging situations that these present.

However, we do work with trusted partners—both NGO and multilateral partners—with whom we have deep relationships. There's a strong audit function. We track the money that we spend very closely and very carefully. Our main objective at all times is to ensure that those who are targeted as beneficiaries are the ones who are receiving the assistance. When it comes to humanitarian assistance, that is extraordinarily important.

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

I know you touched upon it a little bit, but I wanted to give you more opportunity to talk about the work that's being done for Rohingya refugees and what the state of their camps or the state of the people is at this time. It's still a very concerning issue to a lot of people. It was highlighted in the news a lot last year, but now we're not hearing much about it since COVID has started. I imagine with the COVID issue layered on top it must be really a disaster.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

I know that for a number of members on this committee, the plight of the Rohingya is a top priority for you, and of course, it is for me and the government as well. As you probably recall, in 2018 we committed a $300-million strategy for the Rohingya, supporting the Rohingya populations in Cox's Bazar and Bangladesh, as well as working with and trying to ensure humanitarian assistance and access to those who remain in Myanmar.

Of course, with COVID-19, this has been of great concern, and I've been in touch with partners, particularly in the UN system, and humanitarian operators on this issue to try to stay as current as possible on the impact that this is having on Rohingya communities. I think some concerns that we have seen are with regard to humanitarian workers' access in and out of the camps, making sure that there's transparency in terms of what the actual situation is on the ground.

I've had some good conversations with our Canadian mission in Bangladesh on this, which has been keeping me informed. Of course, like for everyone else, there are challenges with regard to access to health care and education and with regard to the impacts this is having on increased gender-based violence and ensuring that children and women are protected and have access to protection services. There is a whole range of issues.

We haven't seen a huge number of cases of COVID-19 in the camps, but we also recognize that there has also been a slowdown in testing. We remain in constant contact with our partners on the ground to try to get the most up-to-date information.

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

With regard to the $300 million that was invested in the strategy, how has it been spent?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

It has been spent in a number of areas. As I mentioned earlier, a large portion of that is obviously specifically directed at the refugees in Cox's Bazar, but we also have programming to support the local community that was already there in Cox's Bazar. It goes towards humanitarian assistance, education, providing access to sexual health and reproductive rights, and also to ensuring access to protection services for those who are experiencing violence.

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

Thank you, Minister.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Minister, thank you very much.

Thank you, Ms. Sahota.

We are at the end of three fulsome rounds of questions. I want to get a sense from the committee of whether everybody has had a chance to ask their questions or whether there are some burning questions that could still be accommodated.

The other thing we should keep in mind is that we do have some committee business on the schedule in order to help us move forward with our study that's on the books with respect to COVID in the context of fragile states and conflict zones.

Could I quickly get a sense of the views of members on where we are?

Yes, Mr. Genuis.

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

I'll say, Mr. Chair, that I know from our perspective that we're hoping for the full two hours that had been previously agreed upon unanimously by the committee, and we're prepared to stay past the 5:30 time to ensure that committee business is complete.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Okay.

Optimistically, I don't think we need a lot of time for committee business. I don't want to prejudge that.

Are there members who have had their rounds of questions and who do not wish to ask any further questions? Maybe we can just arrive at some middle ground instead of doing another full round for 20 minutes.

Dr. Fry, you have your hand up.