Mr. Speaker, the week of February 1 to 7 has been declared International Development Week.
The Bloc Quebecois would like to take advantage of this opportunity to draw grateful attention to the exceptional contribution of the non-governmental organizations to improving the living conditions of more than 250 million people in the developing countries.
Unfortunately, the Minister of International Co-operation seems to turn a blind and indifferent eye to the extraordinary work being done by Canada's and Quebec's NGOs. In fact, the government has slashed more than $617 million from the international aid budget since 1993, thus compromising the future of a number of NGOs.
I am calling upon the government to honour its commitment to the UN to devote a minimum of 0.7% of its gross national product to assisting development, in addition to cancelling the $150 million in cuts planned for the 1998-99 fiscal year.