Foreign Affairs Committee on March 3rd, 2022

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

How does Canada ensure a whole-of-government response to such situations with respect to its diplomatic development, trade and finance, and security policies?

[Peter MacDougall]

One of the benefits of having an integrated department.... Some years ago, in 2013, the department was amalgamated with the former CIDA. The development agency was integrated into foreign affairs and trade. That has enabled us to reflect that now in our departmental structures.

My colleagues here run geographic branches. For example, they have responsibility for development, trade and diplomacy all in one area. That allows them to develop strategic plans, both for countries and for regions, to ensure that all those aspects are brought together to have the most impact on the ground and also to better advance Canada's interests.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

I have just one final quick question.

What lessons have been learned from past cases, such as the 2011 Arab Spring?

[Peter MacDougall]

I'm sure we all have some views on that, but I'll perhaps start with Sandra, who is the assistant deputy minister for the Middle East.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

If we can do a condensed answer, that would be appreciated, just in the interest of time.

Thank you. It's a very interesting question.

[Sandra McCardell]

A wide range of issues were learned from the Arab Spring. You could pick any number of them, but I think what you're getting at is that, when there is a region in crisis, we need to bring our full tool kit to bear to respond to it and, in line with our feminist international assistance and feminist foreign policies, we need to put women at the centre of it.

That is certainly among the many things we learned from the Arab Spring.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much, Ms. Idlout, and thank you to the officials.

We'll now go to Mr. Morantz, please, for five minutes.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'd like to return to the issues facing charities that I was discussing earlier with the minister and that my colleague Mr. Genuis was speaking of.

In my discussions with charitable organizations—for example, Imagine Canada—one of their chief complaints is that there is no home in government for charities, so when charities come to the government to lobby for changes, they often get the runaround. They don't know where to go. The department that deals with international assistance, for example, doesn't deal with changes to the Income Tax Act. The Minister of National Revenue doesn't necessarily understand the needs and problems that charities face.

The suggestion of having a home in government—for example, having charities embedded within a ministerial portfolio—has been raised with me directly by charities. I'm wondering if there have been any thoughts within government about a concept like that. There would be a ministry where charities can go to say, “These are our issues, these are our concerns, and these are our problems. What can we do to solve them?” instead of getting the runaround.

It's not just them. As Mr. Genuis said, it's us. When we in Parliament ask the Minister of National Revenue about Bill S-216, from all appearances, she doesn't know about the issue. You can see where the frustration lies.

I would really like to see this problem solved so that charities can work with the government to improve the services they provide. At the end of the day, when charities are suffering, real people in Canada and around the world are suffering.

I'd like your view on that position.

[Peter MacDougall]

I could give a brief answer, Mr. Chair. It will probably be overly bureaucratic.

Our responsibility is really to the partners and recipient organizations we work with, whether they are Canadian or international. With respect to Canadian organizations, we pass on any concerns that they have on such issues, but as to where the responsibility lies or should lie, that's really outside my bailiwick.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

I raised the question more to make the point.

I'm going to ask a question about the mandate letter. Just to get it on the record, what is Canada's total aid budget in dollars, as a percentage of gross national income?

[Peter MacDougall]

I'm flipping to the exact number, because I want to make sure I give you the exact number, but as I'm looking for it, I believe our expenditure in international assistance this year will be about $7.5 billion.

I'm having trouble locating it, but I believe it's about 0.31%.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

That is 0.31% of $7.5 billion.

By how much will Canada be increasing its development assistance budget each year between now and 2030?

[Peter MacDougall]

That's a decision that the government makes each year in the budget.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Will the increase be reflected in absolute terms, or is it a percentage of Canada's economy?

[Peter MacDougall]

It has typically been an absolute number.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Which UN sustainable development goals are on track and off track, and how does Canada's funding reflect an assessment of those needs and gaps?

[Peter MacDougall]

Prior to COVID most—I would say perhaps all—SDGs were on track. Since the pandemic, many of them—again, possibly all of them—are off track, so they will require a renewed focus and investment from both Canada and others.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

To turn to vaccines for a second, it appears that Canada is giving vaccines out through the COVAX facility, as well as through bilateral arrangements.

Why is it happening through both of those streams? Why is it not just through COVAX?

[Peter MacDougall]

It's really only happened in the instance that was raised earlier where we did it directly bilaterally. That was primarily because we had doses on the soil that had an expiration date that was very soon, so it was really the only alternative we had at that point. The rest go through COVAX.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

How much more time do I have?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

That's spot on, Mr. Morantz. Thanks very much.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Great. Thank you for your answers.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you to the officials.

Ms. Vandenbeld, please, go ahead for five minutes.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be, at least for today, back on this committee. When I was on this committee in 2019 we did a study on democracy and Canada's promotion of democracy around the world. There was a consensus report of all parties, at that time, that spoke about the need for Canada to really have a clearinghouse for all of the expertise that we have on democracy. We know that Canadians are all over the world, in intergovernmental institutions and NGOs, doing incredible work. They are trusted to do work on pluralistic and inclusive democratic governance, work on federalism and work on parliamentary strengthening.

To have an institute, which you've referred to and some of my colleagues have asked about, that would provide that kind of ecosystem, that kind of clearinghouse for expertise, perhaps even being able to support the NGOs and the ecosystem of NGOs in this field, could I just ask where that is at, where that stands? How do you see that moving ahead?

[Peter MacDougall]

Unfortunately, none of our colleagues who work on that are here today, but I can say that I know that consultations have been undertaken. It's well advanced in planning.