Foreign Affairs Committee on June 16th, 2026

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Next, we go to MP Rood.

You have five minutes.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Minister, for being here today.

Minister, your government just announced another $100 million for Gaza and the West Bank, on top of more than $500 million already sent since late 2023. In fact, you issued flexible and unearmarked funding without Canadian controls a day after the UN fired 70 workers for deep ties to Hamas terrorists. We've seen multiple reports of Canadian aid being directed to, stolen by or controlled by Hamas in the past.

How can you guarantee taxpayers that none of this money will end up in the hands of terrorists or be redirected by the Palestinian Authority to support Hamas operations? Can you let us know how safeguards failed and allowed Canadian aid to support Hamas?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

I want to specifically reinforce a very important point. The Government of Canada does not tolerate any misuse or diversion of international assistance. We work with experienced humanitarian partners. We work to deliver life-saving assistance. Partners are required to maintain strong internal controls. In addition to those internal controls, my department carries out enhanced due diligence. Any partner receiving Government of Canada money is thoroughly vetted.

I want to specifically underline, with regard to Hamas—we have repeatedly said this, and I will underscore it here today—that Hamas should play no part in the future government of Palestine and that Hamas should demilitarize. In no way does this government associate itself with Hamas.

I have my officials here, if you'd like to have questions answered on the due diligence process.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

Minister, respectfully, over the past five years, your own numbers have shown that Canada has sent over $11 billion in aid to dozens of countries that are under Canadian sanctions or that have terrible human rights records. I have an Order Paper question to prove it, so you can't deny this. It's Q-328. This paints the picture that Canadian taxpayer dollars are being laundered through bilateral and multilateral projects and going to regions under sanctions.

Why are you issuing this funding?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

A long-standing part of Canada's foreign policy is dedicated to humanitarian aid. If you look at Cuba, Lebanon, Gaza or Sudan, there is a clear line in support of our values and Canadians' values related to humanitarian aid.

On the integrity of that aid, I take issue with the point about our due diligence not being effective. We take every precaution to ensure that our aid reaches civilians and that the due diligence process, before it is delivered, is functional, rigorous, contains oversight and is held to the highest standards. These safeguards form the cornerstone of our approach.

I will ask Madam Carruthers if she'd like to add to that particular response.

[Shirley Carruthers, Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Financial Officer, People and Corporate Management Branch, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

Certainly.

In terms of the development assistance that has gone to some of the countries you are alluding to, I can say that, in some cases, it has flowed through multilateral organizations. Countries such as India and China, for example, are eligible for development assistance under the ODAA Act, so—

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

I'm sorry. My time is very short.

Minister, shouldn't compassion start at home for the people who built and defended this country? I believe Canadians deserve that transparency before we send another cent to anyone who does not contribute directly to our country.

I'm asking if you will commit to a full public audit of all Canadian aid funding so we can know exactly where every dollar went and have proof that it hasn't benefited terrorists or corrupt foreign officials, or been siphoned away into bureaucracies abroad.

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

Mr. Chair, with great respect to the honourable member, I do not accept the premise of the question. We will not apologize for helping people both at home and abroad.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

Minister, my question was this: Will you commit to a full public audit of all Canadian aid funding so we know exactly where every dollar went and have proof that it hasn't benefited terrorists or corrupt foreign officials, or been siphoned away into bureaucracies abroad?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

Actually, my continuing to appear at committee, the supplementary estimates process and the work the Treasury Board of Canada does before it releases any funds are all to ensure that this very due diligence process occurs. I know this as a former president of the Treasury Board. I sat around that table numerous times to ensure that accountability and due diligence related to taxpayer dollars were being undertaken.

All funding is subject to rigorous vetting. As minister, I have doubled down on the importance of being prudent with Canadian taxpayer dollars.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

Minister, why should Canadians trust our government—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

I'm sorry. We're out of time. Thank you.

Next is MP Clark.

[Braedon Clark, Liberal, Sackville—Bedford—Preston, NS]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister and everyone else, for being here.

Off the top, I will say that I think Canada's history of foreign aid and multilateral support is something that, as a country, we should be incredibly proud of. It's something that continues to save lives around the world. It is a real testament to our nation's history, culture and influence around the globe.

I just wanted to say that.

Minister, in your opening comments, you mentioned the phrase “principled pragmatism” a couple of times. I think that an effective foreign policy is a coherent foreign policy.

I'm curious about how you see the framing of principled pragmatism. Do you see it as a cornerstone of Canada's foreign policy? How does it trickle down to practical levels, so that the tactics follow the strategy?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

It is helpful to talk about the frame of our foreign policy, given how many specific and detailed questions are arising in this committee appearance, so thank you for raising that.

The foreign policy that we are executing today is a direct response to the very volatile geopolitical environment and the fact that multilateral institutions that we have traditionally relied upon for our prosperity are not functioning as they did.

The gist of the Prime Minister's speech in Davos and subsequent work that we've been doing to build on that framework is to exemplify that while we are pragmatic, while we have signed 20 security, defence and economic agreements on five continents over the past year, we are continuing to uphold the principles that have long been a part of our foreign policy.

I spent the last response talking about humanitarian assistance. In the last year alone, when you look at our humanitarian aid to populations that are incredibly vulnerable, starving or oppressed, you will see that commitment to our values and principles being upheld.

Indeed, I laid out some of these values in my speech to the United Nations on September 29 of last year: the idea that we will stand for environmental sustainability, we will stand for gender equality, we will stand for reconciliation and we will stand for humanitarian aid.

In fact, that's a set of principles that largely defines much of the work in our government. I think many of us would say that while we are pragmatic, we will always stay true to those principles. Indeed, Bill C-35 reflects the principle that we hold dearly, that there should not be slavery in supply chains, and we will not accept goods into this country if they are made as a result of exploitation in the supply chain.

[Braedon Clark, Liberal, Sackville—Bedford—Preston, NS]

Thank you very much, Minister.

I think another example where we've seen this come to life, of course, is our support for Ukraine. I don't have all of the numbers at hand, but I'm sure that Canada has been one of the largest per capita contributors to Ukraine over the last handful of years. Just in the last 24 hours, I saw the Prime Minister with President Zelenskyy in France as well.

Minister, could you just give us, in the minute or so we have remaining, a bit of an update on what we're doing to continue to support Ukraine and what we hope to see over the next six to 12 months to continue the great work that we've done?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

This is a good question that focuses on work that has been ongoing in the Government of Canada since 2015 with Operation Unifier, whereby members of the Canadian Armed Forces have trained approximately 47,000 members of the Ukrainian armed forces. That is part of the work we're doing.

Layer on top of that the work over the past four and a half years, since the illegal and unjustifiable further invasion of Ukraine by Russia, during which we've put forward approximately $25.5 billion in multiple forms of aid. That would be financial, economic and military aid, for example.

On top of that, we are also working with civil society and countries around the world relating to the return of Ukrainian children. We are the co-hosts of that effort internationally. I've just, in the recent past, returned from Brussels, where we had a very large gathering of countries supporting the return of Ukrainian children who have been indoctrinated, kidnapped and taken by Russia during the war.

There's more work to be done to bring Ukrainian children home to their families. We will be hosting another such summit here in Canada, in Toronto, on September 29 and 30. We very much hope that members of our government and beyond will be able to attend. It is extremely important, not just for Ukrainians but for the principle of democracy writ large.

I'd like to thank MP James Bezan from the Conservative caucus, in fact, with whom we have been working over the past number of years to ensure that there is a unified message going forward for Ukrainians in Canada.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Okay.

Next is Mr. Brunelle-Duceppe.

You have two and a half minutes.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister, my question is quite simple. I would like a yes or no answer.

Do you swear that no one in the government ordered Ms. Jaczek and Mrs. Lalonde to cut short their trip to Taiwan in January 2026?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

Not to my knowledge....

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Good. Thank you.

Can you tell the committee how much was cut from international development assistance in the latest 2025 budget? I just want you to give me the figure.

[Shirley Carruthers]

It's $2.7 billion over five years.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

So the Canadian government cut international assistance by $2.7 billion.

Yesterday, representatives from the United Nations Children's Fund spoke before the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. They told us that we couldn't do more with less. When people tell us that we can do more with less, that just isn't true. When we have less, we do less.

How do you explain the fact that the government is spending extraordinary amounts on defence while your department is cutting international assistance by $2.7 billion?

This was done under your department's authority. Yet all the non‑governmental organizations and groups involved in international assistance say that the current situation is appalling.

What would you say to them?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville East, ON]

I thank the honourable member for the question.

It should be noted that we have a program for humanitarian assistance. We're also continuing to diversify our supply chains. We recognize that we were elected because Canadians wanted a more effective government. We'll strike a balance between these objectives.

I'd like to continue by saying that we are operating our program at 85% capacity, so 85% of our work is continuing.

We were elected on a mandate to render government more efficient. That's exactly what we're doing, while providing humanitarian aid and supporting NGOs and international organizations. We're ensuring that the work we're doing across government is as efficient as possible.

Finally, I'd like to underline that there have been no cuts to our humanitarian budget.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ahmed Hussen]

Thank you very much.

Before I move to the next questioner, I would like to get unanimous consent from colleagues.

We have a vote in 28 minutes, and I want to get your consent so we can continue the meeting.

Are you agreeable to that?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.