Evidence of meeting #102 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was need.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
At this point, I'd like to thank Mr. Kianza, Professor Black and Mr. Roberts. We're very grateful for your time, your insights and your expertise. Thank you.
We will suspend for approximately five minutes.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Welcome back, everyone. We will move forward with the second hour of testimony today.
We are very grateful to have four witnesses before us. We have Professor Akuffo from the University of the Fraser Valley. We're also very grateful to have Ms. Meg French, from the Stephen Lewis Foundation. .
From The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business, we're grateful to have both Mr. Garreth Bloor, who is the president, and Ms. Paula Caldwell St-Onge, who is chair of the board.
We will start ff with Mr. Akuffo. You have five minutes for your opening remarks.
4:35 p.m.
Dr. Edward Akuffo Associate Professor and Head, Department of Political Science, University of the Fraser Valley, As an Individual
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for inviting me. I'll be honest and frank in my comments.
Let me begin by congratulating the committee for this important study on Canada's approach to Africa. It is a clear sign of renewed commitment towards the continent.
Mr. Chair, Canada is at least two decades behind when it comes to deepening its engagement on the African continent. Nevertheless, it is still a pivotal moment for security and economic transformation in the region. I hope that this study will help Canada to build on past strengths, regain its position as a moral power and deepen engagements in the region.
In that light, I wish to recommend at the outset that Canada needs to develop a comprehensive and coherent Africa strategy. This strategy should position Canada as a key security, development and diplomatic partner of Africa. The strategy must be the springboard for Canada to punch above its weight, as it used to do on specific issues on the African continent.
The overriding principles of the strategy should be mutual respect, reciprocity and non-indifference to Africa's agency and its growing geopolitical and geo-economic space. To be sustainable, a Canada-Africa strategy must be resilient and adaptable, and a truly multi-party product that is resistant to changes of government. To be effective, the strategy must synergize security, development and diplomatic efforts.
I offer these specific recommendations.
One, the proposed Canada-Africa economic co-operation strategy must be an integral part of a comprehensive and coherent Africa strategy.
On security, Canada must lead efforts to strengthen EU-NATO inter-regional security co-operation and build the capacity of African peacekeeping training centres of excellence, which it helped to establish in the early 2000s.
On diplomacy, Canada must increase the number of its embassies in African states and establish permanent missions in the regional economic communities to give effectiveness and visibility to Canada's engagement in the region.
On development, Canada must establish innovative [Inaudible—Editor] programs modelled after the defunct Canada fund for Africa and the Canada investment fund for Africa to help build capacity of African and Canadian partners.
An essential component—this is my last recommendation—of a Canada-Africa strategy must be a special fund to foster educational partnerships between Canadian and African universities with a goal of producing policy-relevant research to sustain the strategy into the future.
Mr. Chair, the African continent has always been a space for geopolitical and geo-economic competition. Despite significant development and security challenges, including hybrid threats, Africa is projected to be the fastest-growing regional economy in 2024.
The African Union regional economic communities and member states are undertaking major policy reforms to strengthen democratic governance, peace and security, and economic development through institutions like the African peace and security architecture and the African continental free trade area. These reinforce African agency and its potential as a major powerhouse in the future.
In fact, Canada's own economic interest is growing, particularly in mining and merchandise trade, which are valued at $37 billion and $16.2 billion respectively in 2023, yet for the most part, the region has never been a foreign policy priority of Canadian governments, as Africa is widely perceived as poor and conflict-ridden.
I strongly believe that Canada must shift from this foreign policy behaviour. To be sure, Canada has a moral identity in Africa, as it lacks colonial baggage and is not perceived as belligerent. This soft power uniquely positions Canada as a potentially attractive major player in the region.
Canada's engagement must reflect a 21st century Africa. Thus, Canada should, for the first time, craft a comprehensive and coherent Africa strategy to build mutually beneficial partnerships with African actors and secure Canadian interests into the future.
Mr. Chair, if it pleases the committee, I would be happy to submit a detailed brief of my presentation.
Thank you very much.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Thank you very much, Professor Akuffo.
We will now go to Ms. French, who is from the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
You have five minutes for your opening remarks.
4:40 p.m.
Meg French Executive Director, Stephen Lewis Foundation
Thank you very much. I'm really pleased to be here today.
When the Stephen Lewis Foundation was founded in 2003, there were two million people who were dying of AIDS-related illnesses every year in sub-Saharan Africa, most of them in their twenties, thirties and forties. In the face of that devastation, groups of community members were mobilizing to provide care, support and dignity to people in their final days of life and to support children and families affected by these deaths.
Despite their extensive, exhausting and vital work, these groups and organizations had minimal access to any of the HIV funding that was starting to flow globally.
Stephen Lewis and his daughter Ilana Landsberg-Lewis started the SLF to mobilize funds to support these community-led organizations, and 21 years later, we continue to champion the expertise of communities and the power of civil society across Africa.
While the HIV epidemic has changed significantly in those 21 years, the fact remains that the structure of the international HIV response, and international aid more broadly, has not changed substantially. Donor countries, including Canada, and the organizations that are based in them, continue to hold the power and maintain control over the resources. If you take only one thing from my remarks today, I hope it is this: We need a transformation in the way that Canada relates to Africa in our international co-operation and in broader diplomacy and trade, one that centres on the needs and priorities of communities in addressing poverty reduction, economic growth and the realization of human rights.
First, let’s look at Canada’s aid.
At the OECD DAC, the development assistance committee, Canada has been vocal in its support for enabling civil society and for addressing the closing of civic spaces, but we haven’t seen sufficient action from Canada with regard to investing in robust civil society organizations in Africa. In fiscal year 2022-23, a total of about $4.1 billion in Canadian international assistance was allocated through bilateral and multilateral spending for all African countries and for regional initiatives. By comparison, $5.4 billion went to Ukraine alone that year. In order to ensure we are a true partner to African countries and their people, Canada needs to significantly increase this number by growing the overall international assistance envelope.
I also want to focus here on the need for Canada to make sure that significantly more of the aid allocated for Africa actually makes it to civil society organizations and movements to support their priorities. Canada's international assistance continues to reinforce a colonial relationship with the African continent. Even though we may not have been a colonizer, we practise colonial practices in our aid. Canada must move away from top-down approaches to international assistance to one in which community-led organizations, like the SLF’s partners, have access to flexible long-term core funding.
This will require a whole-of-government approach. Changes need to be made within Treasury Board and Global Affairs Canada to ensure that Canadian international assistance is not wasted on layers of bureaucracy whose very purpose is purportedly to reduce misspending. The truth is that layers of bureaucracy and fiscal risk aversion mean tax dollars are tied up in red tape or in paying for program management by international NGOs and multilaterals, rather than facilitating the work of local civil society organizations that have the expertise, the relationships and the experience needed to realize goals in health, economic empowerment and human rights.
Second, the increases to and improvements in Canada’s international assistance must be accompanied by Canada’s leadership in human rights and public health in multilateral and bilateral spaces. Canada needs to be more outspoken and show leadership in its actions to protect public health and to stop human rights violations.
As an example of Canada’s failure, one can look at Canada’s long history of blocking or misusing the WTO's TRIPS agreement, from CAMR to COVID-19, which has cost the lives of far too many African people.
Another example that is front of mind for me today is the draconian anti-homosexuality act in Uganda, which Canada has not adequately stood up against, and the recently passed anti-LGBTQI bill in Ghana.
We must ensure Canadian international assistance funding is not going to groups promoting rights violations in other countries, and, more than that, we need a whole-of-government response to human rights crises. How are diplomacy, trade and aid working together to protect rights and to ensure that civil society organizations in Africa are well resourced to respond to emergencies and hold governments to account? Where is the red tape that prevents Canada from acting when action is needed, and how can we remove that red tape? Where is the political will, across parties, to stand up and speak out for what is right?
Finally, I can’t talk about Canada’s relationship to Africa without talking about the disproportionate and devastating impact of climate change on African nations and communities and on the lives and livelihoods of African people.
In 2022, the UN reported, “Scientists have long noted that countries in Africa have contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions, yet climate change threatens to expose up to 118 million of the poorest Africans to droughts, floods and extreme heat by 2030.”
The SLF's community partners are already grappling with significant impacts of climate change. We have been hearing from partner after partner on the need to shift limited funding away from health programming towards climate change adaptation so that their community members can survive droughts and floods. Canada must step up, in both significantly reducing our contributions to climate change and in committing new international assistance dollars toward climate change preparedness, mitigation and adaptation in African communities—supporting solutions designed by Africans for their communities.
Thank you. I look forward to your questions.
4:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Thank you very much, Ms. French.
We go now to The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business.
I understand that Mr. Bloor will providing opening remarks. You have five minutes.
4:45 p.m.
Paula Caldwell St-Onge Chair of the Board, The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business
First, as chair of The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business, I'd like to thank you, Mr. Chair, for inviting us to speak.
I will pass it on over to Garreth.
4:45 p.m.
Garreth Bloor President, The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business
Thank you very much, Chair.
In my experience, Canada is a partner of choice to African markets. It's not based simply on what we do or can do; importantly, it's on who we are as a country. With competing budget priorities, it is therefore important for me to highlight that our success need not necessarily be dependent on large sums of public money but on consistent trade and investment engagement.
I do believe that key to our approach in African markets and the continent is a continued policy dialogue with the African Union. We are the only G7 country not to have yet planned an in-country African summit. Our chamber members often remind us of this, noting that countries like Russia, China and Saudi Arabia, among others, do host Africa summits.
African countries are once again outpacing the projected global average in economic terms. It is the second-fastest growing region after Asia, with vast open space for agricultural potential and natural resource development, to name but two important sectors where Canada can dramatically increase its trade diversification. On the latter, several of Canada's natural resource companies have achieved enormous success in bringing clean technologies for both climate change and environmental concerns to the forefront. I think that's a template of what is possible across a range of industries, including in the context of net-zero supply chains and critical minerals and those specific commitments. As the founder of Alibaba put it just a few years ago, “Today's Africa is the China of 20 years ago!”
Canada's free trade successes are a model for a continent committed to this endeavour as a key to prosperity. We often hear from Africans and those at the African Union a great keenness for Canadian expertise to continue in supporting implementation of the African continental free trade agreement. Canada's continued and hopefully increasing support is I think powerful. Our former board chair, Sebastian Spio-Garbrah, currently is our special envoy to Ghana in this regard at the African Union secretariat on free trade. Furthermore, I think Canada has to be better at communicating the great bilateral work already undertaken that's focused on economic development.
In turn, Canada will be able to enjoy the benefits of an equal relationship in strengthening the rule of law and the standards to which many have committed, which will decrease the risk to our Canadian companies. Canada's private sector can play a key role in the economic development that is crucial to the overall agenda and is vital to Canada's trade diversification strategy. I believe the success of regional economic integration to date within Africa demonstrates the African commitment to intra-African regional trade.
It's important, I think, to get the often already budgeted basics right if we are to sustain the incredible goodwill that we've heard about from the African continent. On visa processing times, I think we want deeper ties with Africa, but it's vital that we ensure that Africans can visit Canada, especially in the context of important conferences and fora. Therefore, I think it would be good to see reasonable processing times and perhaps a formal mechanism to facilitate larger delegations coming to legitimate events in Canada within these shorter time frames.
Many of our members talk proudly about team Canada. I think companies need to know that the government has an awareness of African markets and that indeed it's serious toward the African continent as part of our trade diversification strategy. I know that many of us would like to see an aspiration for a team Canada mandate similar to what we've seen in the Indo-Pacific.
Our organization is entirely funded by private sponsors in Canada as well as in African markets. Though we don't have any full-time staff, as we remedy this situation we're thankful for our trade commissioner service as well as our ambassadors and our high commissioners, who participate as we deliver events across the continent. Not all of the important markets are covered. It wouldn't hurt for there to be increased resources with the trade commissioner service to support organizations that are asked to deliver programs.
Our mission to accelerate Canada-Africa trade and investment is achieved through world-class networking and information-sharing events, which we do through conferences and business-to-business networking and by sharing insights for strategies and policies that bring together public and private sector thinkers and leaders. Next month, for example, we're in Washington, D.C., to focus on Canada-U.S. collaboration in working with African partners, especially in areas like critical minerals, within the context of our G7 commitments.
It is my great pleasure to be here with each one of you today, together with the chair of our board, and I look forward to taking your questions.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
4:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Thank you, Mr. Bloor.
We now go to the members for questions.
For the first round each member has four minutes. When you are responding, if you look up to me and I'm signalling you, it means you really have to wrap it up within 15 seconds.
The first member asking questions, as I understand it, is Mr. Fast. You have four minutes.
4:50 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
Thank you very much to all of our witnesses here.
Mr. Bloor, I was intrigued by your comment that Canada's trade successes—I'm assuming you're referring to our past trade successes—could form a template for how we engage in Africa. Cam you expand on that a bit?
4:50 p.m.
Associate Professor and Head, Department of Political Science, University of the Fraser Valley, As an Individual
Canada certainly has a large number of free trade agreements globally, and I think that is something that is really admired in a free-trading country, which is what we are. It's in that context that in conversations at the African Union that I alluded to, there's a great interest in having Canadian expertise participate in the ongoing implementation of the African continental free trade area. I think that goes to the notion of Canada as a trusted partner and an honest arbiter, to use phrases previously noted. That's the specific context: It's our global success at free trade agreements to date.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
To follow up on that, South Africa is a significant power broker in the region and a highly protectionist country. It's a challenge to negotiate with South Africa, and certainly it's been my experience at the World Trade Organization to see the BRICS countries—like Brazil, China, Russia and South Africa—often block consensus on trade liberalization. It can be quite frustrating.
My question to you is this: To what degree does South Africa actually drive policy within the African Union, especially when it comes to trade?
4:55 p.m.
Associate Professor and Head, Department of Political Science, University of the Fraser Valley, As an Individual
Because I'm not inside the African Union but have more of a business perspective, I can speak to the feedback that we receive at our fora.
Increasingly we're seeing a number of other African countries rise to the fore, and we see that sometimes the dominance at the African Union of one particular country may reflect the fact that the leadership of the AU or the chairmanship at that time is allocated to a specific country. However, I think that we're hearing an increasingly wider range of voices at the African Union, and a lot of that is concurrent with the proportion of economic activity in that particular country.
In terms of the goodwill towards Canada as a whole, one big thing I detect is that an appreciation and a respect for the African ambition for a single market over time, a recognition of that as an aspiration, is very powerful in demonstrating that Canada not only seeks to engage trade continuously with one or two major countries that often have been historically dominant but in fact has a view that is consistent with a pan-Africanist vision for a single African market. I add that point as well, if I may.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
Are you suggesting that Canada's focus should be on positioning itself to negotiate a broader trade agreement, a pan-African trade agreement, as opposed to a whole bunch of bilaterals?
4:55 p.m.
Associate Professor and Head, Department of Political Science, University of the Fraser Valley, As an Individual
I think we would do well to respect.... I think there's nothing wrong with that, but that's a long-term play, because I think right now the African Union, and certainly African leaders, are keen to have that technological and technical exchange. We saw that in some of the contributions from Canada to the development of the African continental free trade area.
We got the signatories, and now I think its implementation is key, but I think a stated aspiration towards that end would probably be received very well on the African continent.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Ed Fast Conservative Abbotsford, BC
The other concern is security of investment. When Canadians make investments in Africa, they want to make sure those investments are secure, and there's a bit of a challenge. We see that now percolating in Mali, where Barrick, a good Canadian gold company, is concerned about what Russian interference in that country could mean for its investment there.
Do you have any comments?
4:55 p.m.
Associate Professor and Head, Department of Political Science, University of the Fraser Valley, As an Individual
Yes. I would say that in many areas where you see instability, there's often a lot going on that's a bit of a proxy, which is quite good to go down into. This doesn't speak to this particular case, but we've encountered mining communities where we speak to a local Canadian company that says, "Look, we weren't actually affected by this transition, because the community in which we operate is very happy with what's going on."
A lot of the conflict or the issues around who takes over is a proxy for much bigger challenges around governance and who has access to resources. That's where I think the points on a strategy are so clear, because the institutional aspect has to be inherent in a strategy and concurrent with economic development.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Thank you. We really appreciate it, Mr. Bloor.
We next go to MP Damoff. You have four minutes.
April 15th, 2024 / 4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
I have to tell you, Chair, that four minutes is not very long.
Ms. French, I'm going to start with you. I attended a UN AIDS breakfast at the beginning of March, and they expressed really serious concerns about the situation in Africa right now. Progress on AIDS was being made, and now they're starting to see that backslide, particularly for women and girls.
I'm wondering if you're seeing that and if you can maybe speak to the situation today and looking forward with respect to dealing with AIDS in Africa.
5 p.m.
Executive Director, Stephen Lewis Foundation
Sure.
Clearly there's been huge progress. I think what we're seeing now is the impact of human rights abuses and gender inequalities on marginalized groups. You see, for instance, that rates of HIV and new infections among adolescent girls and young women are quite high. They're three times higher than are rates for their male peers, for instance. You see that rates of HIV among what are called “key populations”—men who have sex with men, sex workers, trans women, people in prison and intravenous drug users—are much, much higher than they are among the general population because the discrimination and the fear of accessing health care put them increasingly at risk. Essentially, there are laws that stop them from doing that.
The real need is for us to continue to put investment into communities, because we know that community-led organizations and responses to HIV have been what has really helped drive the reach throughout the communities. We saw that in COVID. We saw that the experience those groups had in responding to HIV allowed community groups to reach out to people who weren't accessing the more mainstream health care system during COVID as well. It's a really important investment.
It's also important that we not backslide on that investment, because while people are not dying at the same rate, there are still millions of people living with HIV who have to stay on treatment. If you are on treatment, that can help prevent further spread of the disease, and that is how we're eventually going to end AIDS.
We cannot take our foot off the pedal in terms of the progress that has been made. We cannot end continued investment, continued support to governments and to community-led organizations in order to be able to reach people who are at risk of HIV or those who are currently on treatment. We're not done the work that needs to be done as a global community and we have to continue to keep that investment going.
5 p.m.
Liberal
Pam Damoff Liberal Oakville North—Burlington, ON
Thank you.
I've only about a minute left, but I want to ask you about climate change as well, because the continent of Africa has contributed the least to climate change but it is being impacted the most. That came up in a conversation I had recently as well. These countries are being expected to put in as much as other countries for the infrastructure.
Maybe you can elaborate a little bit more on how a country like Canada can support the infrastructure that's needed to deal with climate change.
5 p.m.
Executive Director, Stephen Lewis Foundation
People rely on the agriculture industry as well as small-scale agriculture for their food or for their income on the continent. They are hugely affected by climate change. I think supporting alternative ways of farming and the technology and the know-how to do that, whether we're talking about small-scale or large-scale agriculture, is important.
It's also important to be prepared for droughts or for floods. In talking to our partners, we learn that people are often displaced as a result. The rolling impact of that is that then people can't access the health care they need and they can't access the education they need, and they're at continued risk as well.
5 p.m.
Liberal
5 p.m.
Bloc
Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to thank the witnesses for being with us and giving us their time today.
Mr. Akuffo, I am going to address you first. I found your opening remarks very interesting. You talked about having a coherent and comprehensive strategy. You also talked about a peacekeeping centre. We do have a lot of questions about security. There has also been discussion about having more embassies and regional bureaus.
We have to rely on the evidence, however: The previous witnesses made some harsh observations about Canada's level of investment in Africa, as compared to the investments it makes in other regions of the world.
If we had to establish priorities, what should we start with to improve the situation?
5 p.m.
Associate Professor and Head, Department of Political Science, University of the Fraser Valley, As an Individual
The question is for me. Okay, sure. I'm sorry. I did not catch the first part of the question.
I think our priority or our investment in Canada should actually attach on these three areas that I mentioned: security, development and diplomacy. My answer to your question is that we have to go in and see the synergies of these three things. We can't just focus on, say, investment in the economic sector, such as mining, because the sustainability of our mining investment is going to largely depend on the security or stability of African states. Therefore, it also has to do with how we engage on these states moving forward, meaning that our investment depends both on security and on how we engage on the African continent diplomatically.
My answer to your question is that we need to have a holistic approach towards to the continent and clearly articulate our interests in these three areas of security, development and diplomacy.