Mr. Speaker, the People's Summit requested that the Government of Canada pay $140,000 for the travel of Asia-Pacific NGOs to Vancouver.
After careful review the government decided that the best way to support the People's Summit is to provide funding support for policy discussions, not travel. And this is what we did.
The Government of Canada has provided $195,000 to the People's Summit; $170,000 to help cover in-Canada logistical and administrative costs related to the organization of the event; and $25,000 to assist the People's Summit in developing an interactive Internet-based electronic conference that will provide a forum for an exchange of views.
The Government of Canada is the People's Summit largest contributor. It supports the People's Summit because it includes a broad base group of Canadian and Asia-Pacific NGOs and will feature discussions on topics such as women, sustainability, youth and free media.
As chair of APEC in 1997, Canada has done more than any other member to widen the scope of APEC discussions to include such questions.
Canada has a longstanding tradition of supporting organizations involved in promoting human rights—an important Canadian foreign policy objective—and has always sought to ensure that APEC's activities are informed by the views of civil society, including academics and non-governmental representatives. Canada will continue to so.
CIDA is already supporting several of the organizations involved in the People's Summit for their ongoing work in developing countries.