Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the hon. member for running ads that said that the hon. parliamentary secretary supports free democratic elections.
I can probe the question of the budget for humanitarian assistance in Canada. We just received the budget. It does not give us a total for what development assistance is available in 2015. We have a lot of pressures. I know my hon. colleague takes them to heart and works very hard on them, but we have a huge humanitarian crisis right now of Syrian refugees, which is pressed up against Jordan, Lebanon and also Turkey, with overflowing refugee camps that are under-resourced. We obviously have a real concern for the people of Ukraine. We have our traditional partnerships around the world and the priority on maternal and child care.
From what I have been able to find out, it looks as if the budget for overseas development assistance was cut by $670 million two years ago and it looks as though the amount is frozen. Are there more aid dollars coming? Is there an increase that was not mentioned in the 2015 budget? How are we going to meet all these commitments?