Madam Speaker, I would like to bring up another thought that I have in terms of the throne speech.
In 2015, I was working at an NGO in the international development sector, and I was delighted when the Prime Minister said that Canada was back. What I did not realize at the time was that Canada was back, way back, in the list of OECD donor countries.
Today, Canada is in the bottom half of donor countries. Currently, Canada gives approximately a quarter of 1% of gross national income, the lowest we have been at in over 50 years. Embarrassingly, despite the platitudes and good words from the Liberal government, we currently invest even less than the Harper government did in making the world a safer and more prosperous place.
Canadians like my constituents in Alberta are proud of Canada's history of punching above its weight on the world stage. When will this government commit to significantly increasing ODA, finally reaching the 0.7%, as promised by Lester B. Pearson and achieved by many countries around the world, including Ireland and Norway?