Foreign Affairs Committee on March 3rd, 2022

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

I have one quick question on Ukraine.

Mr. Chair, how much time do I have left here?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

You have about two minutes, Mr. Chong.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Okay.

Perhaps the officials could quickly finish answering the Afghanistan question, and then I have a very quick question about Ukraine.

[Paul Thoppil, Assistant Deputy Minister, Asia Pacific, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

To add to that, as the minister noted, we are looking, together with other ministries, to update the Criminal Code regime down the road so that in the context of Afghanistan-like situations, Canada has a robust framework to use all its tools in order to deal with humanitarian assistance issues without impacting the issue of dealing with a de facto authority that is a listed terrorist entity.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Thank you. I appreciate that.

I have a quick question on the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. One I'm particularly interested in is that there are some 900,000 Ukrainians who have fled into the European Union.

What is the mechanism by which the western alliance is going to figure out how we're going to share the burden of and share the resources for these 900,000 refugees? Is it a quadrilateral dialogue among Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union? Is it some other mechanism?

I know it's not directly related to the portfolio, but surely there is some discussion in the department about how that coordination is going to happen. I'd like your thoughts about that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Could we have just a brief answer, please?

[Sandra McCardell]

Fundamentally, this was first and foremost an issue dealt with by the European Union—many countries, very wealthy, big refugee-recipient countries in their own right. At this point they have not reached out to us for assistance, but we've been very unified, as you know. This conversation is happening constantly. If they raise it with us, we'll be ready to respond.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chong.

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

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Thank you very much.

Thank you to the witnesses for your work today, and your work always.

I want to focus on two areas. First, you probably think I know this, but I don't. It's just a moot question that I'm asking. It's about the Canada fund for local initiatives, the CFLI, and how it works. How much of it is directed by the local heads of mission, and how much of it is directed centrally, based on mission?

I looked at the minister's mandate letter, and it says to increase the annual investment in the CFLI to help with our work with the feminist agenda, the LBGTQ2 activists and human rights defenders. Can you explain a little bit about that for me, and what we as parliamentarians can do? I think it's a good fund. Is there something we can do to help you get more money?

[Peter MacDougall]

Thank you for that question.

I'll start by saying that the overall amount of funding to the Canada fund for local initiatives is $26.9 million this year. To answer your question, it is allocated at headquarters per mission, but heads of mission or ambassadors control how it is spent locally. There are 71 missions around the world, credited to 135 countries, that receive assistance. The projects range in size. They are generally small. They're generally one year long. The average contribution is about $30,000. They're really meant for an ambassador, an embassy, a head of mission, to try to respond to local needs and to issues that are perhaps not given sufficient attention. They are often issues with respect to human rights, women's rights, LGBTQI, gender equality, democracy, peace and security.

The ministers are working on a proposal with respect to the mandate letter commitment, and I would say that all of us on this call have managed such funds. They're an excellent tool. They not only provide support to issues and organizations that are sometimes struggling, but they also bring a lot of credit to Canada. Anything that parliamentarians could do would be helpful.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Thank you. We just might flag that for some future “look at” so that we could add a voice to that.

The second area I want to raise, and it's also not well known, is the International Development Research Centre, the IDRC, which the Government of Canada funds. I assume that comes from the development fund, but I'm not exactly sure. I see the reports regularly, particularly on education. They work on a number of broad issues. I'm wondering if that is within the mandate of the minister. Is there support we should be providing to it as well? I think that getting research before we do things is always a good thing, to have evidence-based decision-making.

Can anybody talk about the IDRC?

[Peter MacDougall]

I will start, and perhaps ask any colleague who may want to add something.

The IDRC's total budget is $203 million. About $145 million or $150 million is allocated through Parliament. It does report through the Minister of International Development. It's a very impressive and innovative organization. It has pioneered research around the world and led to lots of impressive development gains, and has also, over the last number of years, increased its funding base and its research impact well beyond its parliamentary allocations. It's present throughout the world and has lots of interesting and really impressive partnerships.

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Don Valley West, ON]

Thank you.

I might flag for our committee that I would like to get a little bit more on it at some point. It's a sizable amount of money, but it's also one of the most innovative organizations I've seen doing development work around the world in terms of research.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much, Mr. Oliphant, and thank you to our officials.

We will now to go Mrs. Wagantall.

Welcome to the committee. The floor is yours for five minutes. Please go ahead.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Thank you, sir.

Actually, I believe Mr. Genuis is back and he will be resuming his role.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Perfect.

Mr. Genuis, we go over to you.

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

Thank you very much. I apologize if there's some background noise.

Could I start by asking specifically about the government's position on Bill S-216, which is the direction and control file? What work is being done at the public service level to review issues around direction and control?

[Peter MacDougall]

This is primarily the remit of the Minister of Finance, but I'll ask my colleague Caroline Leclerc to make a couple of remarks.

[Caroline Leclerc, Assistant Deputy Minister, Partnerships for Development Innovation, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Our Canadian partners working in the field of international development have indeed told us of problems with the requirements of the Income Tax Act. These are well expressed in the context of the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector that has been set up by the Canada Revenue Agency. There is a specific working group on direction and control.

The Department of Finance has contacted us to convey the concerns raised by our partners. We also discussed with them the importance of local ownership and accountability. That said, it is the Department of Finance that is reviewing the bill, and it is the Department of Finance that will recommend the approach that the government should take.

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

My understanding is that the advisory group has already recommended reforms to the direction and control process along the lines of Senator Omidvar's Bill S-216, but that there has yet to be action on that.

Is it correct that recommendations have already been given? Could you clarify for me which minister is responsible for this?

[Caroline Leclerc]

Yes, the provisions that cause difficulties for charities fall under the Income Tax Act and are interpreted by the Canada Revenue Agency. The department responsible for this is the Department of Finance, the Minister of Finance. If changes were made to the Income Tax Act, the Canada Revenue Agency would interpret them and issue guidelines for this sector.

The member is correct that the Purposes and Activities Working Group made recommendations. Last year, the Canada Revenue Agency made changes to these guidelines to lessen the impact of the requirements on charities. Charities are positive about these changes. However, they want the government to go further and they continue to seek changes to the Income Tax Act, as expressed in the senator's bill.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Mr. Genuis, I'm sorry. I'm going to pause your time allocation for a second.

From the perspective of the interpreters, could we ask you to unplug your headset and plug it back in to get a better quality of sound? We'll resume once you've done that.

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

Mr. Chair, I just unplugged and replugged. How are we doing?

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

We're getting a thumbs up. You're good to go. I'm going to resume your time.

Thanks, Mr. Genuis.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Maybe this is as much a comment as a question. I think you can appreciate my frustration as a member of Parliament really trying to speak to the government about the concerns I'm hearing on direction and control, and then getting told at a previous committee that the Minister of International Development was in dialogue with ministers about it. Then, when I raised a question in question period, the Minister of National Revenue stands up when I guess it should have been the Minister of Finance who stood up, and the Minister of National Revenue wasn't plugged in on the issue.

This is an issue that clearly is top of mind for international development stakeholders, which is why you are aware of it and why it's something that I brought up as the shadow minister for international development. It speaks to this broader issue of who's in charge. If charities are going to get a solution here, then they need to know, and I need to know as a member of Parliament, who we should be talking to. It just seems like passing the buck when it's a simple fix that has the support of the sector and the unanimous support of the Senate.

In the 30 seconds I have left, what are additional measures in the context specifically of Ukraine that are being contemplated? Can we expect further announcements of additional assistance in the next week to 10 days?