Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for bringing this question forward but the question she had for the late show this evening did not deal with the Francophonie and was not the question she had asked in the House. She seems to have taken a different tack tonight but I will try to drill down into the crux of what she is actually asking.
The point is that we are an accountable government and we take international development seriously. This is an extremely serious issue. It is not sufficient to give aid to all countries and expect nothing in return. There are certain standards that countries must meet.
I listened very closely to what the hon. member said and I believe the argument she made is a fairly simple one, which is that because certain groups received money in the past they should receive it in the future. I am sorry but that is simply not the way that we do business. We want to ensure the programs we fund are putting food in the mouths of those who are hungry. We want to provide medicine to those who are sick. We will fund programs that train teachers to educate, farmers to grow food and doctors to care for the sick.
Our government is working diligently to ensure that Canada's international development funding is being allocated appropriately and in a way that makes a significant difference for those in the developing world who most count on our assistance.
The Government of Canada, through the Canadian International Development Agency, is delivering aid accountably and effectively by putting taxpayer dollars toward initiatives that show results and improve lives. We are making Canada's international assistance more targeted and effective, while also improving on how we report development results to Canadians.
As we work to fully untie aid by 2012-13, Canada's multilateral partner agencies can already use our money to buy the most appropriate and well-priced food from suppliers located closest to the area in need. We have also focused our aid more sharply by investing 80% of our bilateral resources in 20 developing countries. This has ensured that Canadian aid is targeted to parts of the world that will most benefit from our support.
Beyond focusing geographically, we have focused thematically as well with three key priorities guiding our work. The first is to secure the future of children and youth, arguably the key agents of change in the developing world. To reach our objectives, we have devised a children and youth strategy that focuses on child survival, including maternal health, access to quality education, particularly for girls, and the safety and security of children and youth.
Our second thematic priority is to increase food security, an area in which Canada has shown consistent leadership. Through our food security strategy, we are concentrating our efforts over the next three years on sustainable agriculture development, food assistance and nutrition, and research and innovation.
Our third priority is to stimulate sustainable economic growth through a strategy that puts the focus on building economic foundations, growing businesses and investing in people. These priority areas are tied together by our government's commitment to use development dollars in an efficient and effective way so we can best demonstrate to Canadians that the money we invest in the developing world is well spent and delivering results that justify the spending.
It is within this context that we review all proposals for development programming, even those—