Mr. Speaker, while the Prime Minister was discovering the scope of the tsunami devastation for himself, the report “Investing in Development” was laying the blame for world poverty on the rich countries that have not achieved the promised objective of 0.7% of GDP.
Canada is one of those countries, and the present Prime Minister was mainly responsible for the drastic cuts to Canada's international aid when he was Minister of Finance.
Unlike a number of other countries, Canada is still a long way from that 0.7% target. So here we are with a Prime Minister who has been trying, since the tsunami, to show Canada's sense of responsibility for the affected populations, after constantly refusing to make any clear commitments to achieving the millennium objectives.
This being International Development Week, Canada should indicate its intention to respect its commitment to the millennium objectives and endorse Jacques Chirac's proposal to levy a tax on international financial transactions.