Foreign Affairs Committee on Oct. 26th, 2022

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

My next question is for Mr. Shariff.

You mentioned the medical camps you have in different affected parts. In those medical camps, how are you dealing with the medication shortages? When we went to Sindh, we saw that there was a shortage. Panadol, for example, was not available there. How are you making sure that those medical camps have the appropriate medications that are needed?

[Khalil Shariff]

Thank you for the question. It's an incredibly important question.

There are shortages. Even getting stuff around the country, of course, has now become very difficult. There's no magic bullet here. We're doing what we can. In fact, because we are associated...the 300 or 400 camps established across those three or four provinces are associated with Aga Khan University Hospital. We're able to rely on the university hospital's stockpiles, supply chain and purchasing capacity.

There are shortages. That's one of the things we're going to have to continue to deal with. We're going to have to work on supply and transport, which are both very important issues.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Have you determined which medications are short? Diseases like dengue, malaria and typhoid are on the rise, especially in those areas where the water has not receded. Is there any determination...?

I think the diaspora here wants to do its part. Have you made lists of which types of medication are missing, so an appeal can be made for that?

[Khalil Shariff]

We would definitely have an assessment of that. We're working very closely with the provincial governments and ministries of health to make sure we are feeding into their registries and the needs they are articulating to the National Disaster Management Authority, as well as the World Bank and UN processes that are trying to assess the challenge, globally.

Yes, absolutely, those are available.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

I have one more question for Mr. Shariff.

In northern parts, such as Chitral, Gilgit and Skardu, has the water receded totally? Has the redevelopment work started there?

[Khalil Shariff]

Winterization is full-scale now. The biggest, most urgent issue now is to make sure that housing, shelter...and general winterization takes place. That's the priority right now. The water has mostly receded there. There are some parts still dealing with those problems. For the most part, we are now moving very rapidly into winterization.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Do I have some time, Mr. Chair?

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

You have another 40 seconds.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Okay.

My last question is for Mr. Daud from Humanity First. Thanks a lot for all the work you do across the world.

You mentioned that you plan to build 500 houses. Is there any specific part where you are planning this? What is your time frame for building those houses?

[Dr. Aslam Daud]

We are in the very early phase of assessment right now. We have not identified any particular area, but the two target areas where we will be building these homes are Sindh and the southern Punjab, where, in some villages, the houses were completely destroyed. We were primarily providing emergency assistance in those areas. Because we have already worked in those areas, we chose to help the population in those areas.

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you very much.

We now go to Mr. Bergeron.

You have six minutes, sir.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the witnesses for being here today, and especially for the work they are doing with their partners on the ground to help the Pakistani people. We know that since April 2022, Pakistan has been experiencing a major political crisis coupled with an economic crisis.

My question is very simple and is for all of the witnesses: in your opinion, how have the political crisis and the economic crisis been amplified by the floods, and vice versa, how might political instability and the economic crisis have interfered with operations on the ground after the floods?

[Usama Khan]

I can take a stab at it first. Thank you so much for the question.

The economic crisis is global. We've seen inflationary pressures throughout the world, including here in Canada. A developing country like Pakistan has been impacted by that in a very significant way. The ability to respond and provide aid to people.... The situation had already become so expensive, which has exacerbated the situation. Even in the urban parts of Pakistan, which are not close to the flooding areas.... When I was there, I saw the prices for household items—daily fruits and vegetables—quadrupling in all parts of Pakistan. I saw that impact first-hand.

With respect to the political instability, we saw that, at the time of the crisis, the narrative in the media...the social cohesion increased. All of the political parties got together to help the people throughout the country. On the front pages of newspapers and on TV channels, instead of political news being at the forefront, the humanitarian crisis took the forefront. Pakistanis have been quite generous in supporting...throughout the country.

[Rahul Singh]

Perhaps I can build on that.

The crisis in Pakistan has really shown a great deal of resilience from the communities rallying together, and they are absolutely helping each other. You're seeing that some widespread strikes are going to happen this weekend, which will make it impossible for aid agencies to deliver assistance. Some of those occurrences actually harm us and make it harder for us to deliver aid.

Overall, you have an increased demand for services and aid, just by the sheer volume of people who need help, counteracted by a decrease in the amount of available money, delayed money arriving, and then, of course, such rising costs, meaning that you can reach fewer people with those funds.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Does Mr. Shariff want to speak to the question?

[Khalil Shariff]

Mr. Chairman, I'll add perhaps one thought.

I think it's a very astute question. The country is facing a number of challenges simultaneously. In terms of the economic crisis, I think the most important implication will be on the fiscal room the government has on the reconstruction side. It's going to require a reformulation of the plans that were in place by the IMF, by the World Bank and by the Asian Development Bank. That is now in process, but I think we're going to have to expect that the path of stabilization that had been agreed to by the multilateral organizations and the Government of Pakistan before the crisis is going to have to be revised.

I was in Washington at the World Bank 10 days ago at a flood meeting. I saw very keen awareness by all the players, especially the multilaterals, to look at everything they had been doing in light of the floods. That's going to be, I think, the requirement now—essentially, a reformulation of the plans in light of the crisis and the need for reconstruction.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

You have one minute, Mr. Bergeron.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Right.

Do any other witnesses want to speak to this question?

[Dr. Aslam Daud]

I would add that we have tried to keep a low profile just to avoid any political impact on our responses. We have worked with local partners and local government agencies, who have been helpful, but in Pakistan, because of the volatile situation, there have been risks to our volunteers. There have been rallies. People belonging to various political stripes have also been causing some hindrances in the relief work. We have tried to work in a very low-profile way with the assistance of the local community and local authorities over there.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you very much, Mr. Bergeron.

We now go to MP Collins.

MP Collins, you have six minutes.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank all the witnesses for their testimony and for all the work they're doing in Pakistan.

First, Mr. Khan, Pakistan has contributed less than 1% to global warming, and yet it's one of the countries being most impacted. I'm curious to know how you see Canada's role in supporting Pakistan and ensuring that around the world we are better prepared for climate disasters. As well, COP27 is happening in the next few weeks in Egypt. There will be lots of conversations about international financing for climate-related loss and damage. I'm sure that the enormous damage caused by the flooding in Pakistan will be top of mind for people there.

You spoke a little bit about the need for debt swapping and debt forgiveness, and how that could help Pakistan with climate-resilient infrastructure. In my mind, Canada, as a high-income country but also with our historic and ongoing high per capita emissions, has a responsibility to do more. Can you speak a little bit about what it would mean if this kind of debt forgiveness were implemented, and why it's so important for Canada to step up on a global stage?

[Usama Khan]

Thank you so much for the question.

I think, really, in some cases Pakistan is maybe at ground zero for a climate change impact. I saw first-hand and heard from the teams on the ground that the same area that's been flooded for so many years had extreme drought-like conditions. For a pastoralist society, where the vast majority of the country earn their wages through either agriculture or animals, both of those are impacted when they have no water or, in this case, flooding and too much water.

I think there's a recognition that the impact of it will be very great. Pakistan's contribution to carbon emissions is incredibly low. Obviously, in the western world, including Canada, it's high. This is just one additional reason why there is a moral responsibility for Canada to step up and do more. It already has, obviously, made some commitments, but the need is for this to be sustainable and increase in magnitude. Even speaking to everyday Pakistanis on the ground, there is a recognition that western countries need to do more to help countries like Pakistan that face this.

Again, there are more than 5,000 or 6,000 glaciers in the north. They've seen those melting at a very rapid pace. Unfortunately, there's a fear that they may not even recover fully from this before we're dealing with this crisis again.

Canada has a large Pakistani diaspora. I think throughout the country we saw that in terms of the interest for this appeal. To get ahead of it, I think lots of Pakistani Canadians will be expecting Canada to do its fair share in the commitments that it makes at the global level in working with multilateral agencies like the IMF and the World Bank. A country like Pakistan has so much of its GDP on debt financing, and it's really crippled with the amount of debt that it has to pay to the multilateral agencies. We can convert and utilize some of that to make it more climate-resistant. Prevention is always better than the cure—sometimes the investment isn't that significant compared to what we're doing now. Just a little bit will go a long way.

Thank you.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Thanks so much.

I have a related question. Canada's official development assistance commitments are already severely low. Would you agree that ODA should be additional to our international climate financing?

[Usama Khan]

Yes, absolutely. I think the more Canada can do to live up to its international commitments...it will go a long way toward making sure that Canada has a leadership position on the global stage on these important initiatives. Definitely, more is better.