Mr. Speaker, no one understood that the expression “Canada is back” could also mean “Canada is lagging behind”. However, this is absolutely the case when it comes to international aid.
Instead of joining the leading group of countries that devote 0.7% of their GDP to the fight against extreme poverty, the Minister of Finance is plunging us into an era of austerity whose mantra is the age-old refrain, “Do more with less”.
Does the Minister of International Development and La Francophonie approve what her colleague from the Department of Finance is saying, or will she stand up to demand more?