Thank you, Madam.
Let me first of all answer the question. As was indicated clearly at committees, publicly, and also within the House of Commons, CIDA has never financed abortion and does not finance abortion.
What we have done and have indicated as a G8 family is that family planning is part of contributing to the health of mothers. What family planning does is enable a woman to space her children and also have more control over the number of children she would have in her family. I just want to make sure that's clear.
I also want to make sure that...the definition used by the world agencies internationally, the multilateral organizations, was based on the Cairo program of action. If you look at paragraph 8.25.... I will read it: “In no case should abortion be promoted as a method of family planning”. It then goes on to say: “Prevention of unwanted pregnancies must always be given the highest priority...”.
That is the action plan we are following. That's the action plan that the UNFPA has based their definition on, as have other United Nations agencies. So we are in step with the definition of family planning. Family planning, as you would see....I hope it was provided to you with a summary of our G8 development ministers' meetings and it is in the list of possible actions that could be taken.
We have consulted. In my opening presentation, I've indicated the organizations that have been consulted. I know that the department has also extended the consultations as well. Not only that, I've met with my G8 counterparts by travelling internationally to their countries, as well as consulting with them at the Halifax development ministers' meeting.
I also consulted with the experts we have in Canada. We invited all the major children's hospitals in Canada to send representations and to give us advice, and so many of them came forward with extensive experience in developing countries to give us advice. These are scientists, academics, and doctors who are actually working and giving advice to the World Health Organization. We should be proud that so many of them are Canadians.
So we have consulted, and if you would like a fuller list, I can ask the department to provide that to you--a full list of not only those I've consulted with, but also the consultations we've had as an agency.