Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition signed by a number of people from the greater Montreal area. This petition highlights the fact that, although the government committed to contributing 0.7% of the GDP to development assistance, with this government our assistance is currently less than 0.3%, which is one of the lowest rates among donor countries. The petition also points out the cuts made to Development and Peace, a well-known organization that does important work.
The petitioners are calling on Parliament to adopt the following policy goals: demonstrate international responsibility by re-committing Canada to contribute 0.7% of GDP to official development assistance; prioritize responsive funding to those NGOs that Canadians support and which have seen their funding cut by CIDA; and in the spirit of global solidarity, provide in full the funding of $49.2 million requested by Development and Peace over the next five years.