Mr. Speaker, I listened carefully to the comments made by the hon. member opposite. I want to congratulate him on his speech. Nevertheless, we should not, either inadvertently or intentionally, tarnish all CIDA projects.
I am one of those who had the privilege, during my many years as a member of Parliament, to visit a number of projects in developing countries.
I remember a project in Niger, Africa, where I went to see that a $1,500 grant from the Canadian government made it possible to lay a pipe bringing water to a vegetable garden tended exclusively by village women.
Some 75 families were using that garden and, given Niger's climate, they could have fresh vegetables almost year round thanks to a small investment by this country.
It is all right to talk about all the audits needed to meet requirements, but it would not make much sense to spend $3,000 on audits to review something that cost $1,500.
I remember visiting a well in Niger. This well had cost $5,000 and was providing water for a complete village. This was made by Canadian contributions exclusively. When our delegation entered that village everyone was waving little Canadian flags to greet us.
It made me proud to be a Canadian because of what we were doing for those people. Let us not lose sight of that.
It is easy for all of us to think of a CIDA grant, as what I once heard on television, as buying ham slicers for Muslims. There is no such thing as a ham slicer, it is a meat slicer. There is nothing that says on it that you can only slice one kind of product. In any case, it had been put that way because it was the sexy way, I guess, of appealing to the constituency you wanted to appeal to.
I say to our colleagues across the way and to everyone who cares to listen that it is important for us to keep all of these things in perspective.
All those of us who have worked in the area of international development know that the theories explained by some hon. members-theoretical audits, bills and so on-do not always work like they are supposed to in the field, across the globe, where there is no electricity, no computers, etc., and where someone can be hired off the street to dig a hole. Let us keep that in mind.