Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am going to continue along the same line as Mr. Zuberi. As well, I have to say I am very happy to see him back again, since it is somewhat thanks to him that the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development is studying this issue.
First, I would like to thank the Minister and officials who are with us today.
In a few minutes, we are going to discuss the situation in Haiti. I am sure, Minister, that you want to follow the committee's work on the situation in Haiti. I hope that this time we will be up to the job of helping Haiti, unlike what we did at the beginning of the pandemic.
You are aware of committee members' interest in Pakistan. I think it is unfortunate that you chose to be accompanied only by government members. It might have been useful to also be accompanied by opposition members, since we try to speak in a united voice on the international scene, particularly on humanitarian issues like support for Pakistan, which is facing an unprecedented natural disaster. That might have meant that we did not need to ask certain questions, since it would have enabled all political parties to have more insight into the situation on the ground.
With that said, I am going to come back to the question Mr. Zuberi asked.
Canada's international climate finance program commits to providing $5.3 billion to developing countries over the next five years. Global Affairs Canada told the committee, in connection with that program, that Pakistan can make an application, but that to his knowledge, Canada had not yet received an application. As has just been pointed out, three projects from Pakistan have been submitted to the multilateral and regional green funds to which Canada contributes. We were told this by officials of the department on October 26.
How can the fact that the $5.3 billion international climate finance program has not received any applications from Pakistan be explained, when the multilateral programs Canada contributes to have received applications from Pakistan?
Does it mean that the $5.3 billion international climate finance program does not meet the expectations of countries like Pakistan? Is that the reason there have been no applications to the program?