Mr. Speaker, today the Prime Minister is welcoming the Secretary General of the United Nations. It is interesting to note that the amount Canada devotes to international aid keeps dropping year after year. Lester B. Pearson set the objective for international aid at .7 % of GDP. In the time of the Conservatives, the percentage was around .45% of GDP. Since the Liberals took office, the percentage has been almost halved.
How can the Prime Minister explain that, during his watch as finance minister, Canada's international aid spending was reduced by half?