Maria Minna

[Foreign Aid, June 8th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, what is happening in Afghanistan is horrendous. The Government of Canada would call on the Taliban to stop immediately the policies that are very destructive to its people, especially women and children.

However, in order to assist in the situation, I recently announced an additional $2 million of spending in Afghanistan. The money will go to improving medical facilities, providing fresh water and sanitation, and assisting women and children especially with medical assistance.

[Canadian International Development Agency, June 1st, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I have been consulting with Atlantic Canadians for some time now, over the last year or so, with respect to accessibility.

This is why two weeks ago I opened a regional office headquartered in Moncton, New Brunswick, with staff also responsible for Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island.

This should facilitate greatly the access of Atlantic Canadians to CIDA programming and break down some of the barriers that I know have existed for some time in the past.

[Canadian International Development Agency, May 28th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as I have already said and as the hon. member knows, the auditor general was quoted very clearly as saying that after thousands and thousands of programs, 97% were found to be accurate.

All CIDA programs are monitored. The money is not wasted as the hon. member has suggested. Corrective actions in those areas that were recommended have already been taken and they continue to be improved.

[Canadian International Development Agency, May 28th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the auditor general also said that CIDA does fantastic work, that 97% of all the programs analyzed were doing very good work.

However CIDA has already taken corrective action with respect to the areas that were identified, especially with respect to the regulation regarding use of former civil servants in receipt of pensions.

[Foreign Aid, April 27th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the government increased the budget by $435 million in the year 2000. In fact we are doing a great deal more in development.

The economy is growing much faster and that is why there is a difference in numbers. We are doing more. In the Speech from the Throne, as all members know, there was a major commitment to increase ODA yet again for Canada. I am very hopeful that will happen.

[Cida, April 25th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, I assure the member that every program at CIDA is thoroughly monitored. In fact the auditor general in all audits said that 97% of all the programs that were audited showed 100% compliance.

We are very careful and the department is extremely vigilant in all the programming that we do.

[Cida, April 25th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, one of the main priorities of my department is peace building and conflict resolution and to try to bring peace in different parts of the world where thousands of people are still dying.

It is absolutely critical that we continue to assist and work very hard to ensure that peace is negotiated and brought about and victims get the kind of assistance they need.

[Summit Of The Americas, April 23rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the summit was a great success. My department announced $191 million of programming. In addition, we established a collectivity institute for the area to assist in bridging the digital divide.

In addition, not only has a tremendous amount of work been done by my department but also by all of my colleagues with civil society. The document in fact includes civil society very much in its response.

[Canadian International Development Agency, April 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said before in the House many times, the information on that file is very clear. There were seven companies that were sent to the minister's office. That was the procedure at the time.

As a matter of fact we now have an open bid system. That was the old system which we inherited from the Conservative Party.

[Canadian International Development Agency, April 3rd, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as I said many times in the House, there were seven companies sent to the minister at the time by the officials of the department.

Of those seven companies three went to bid. Transelec was one of the bidders. It bid 30% below, $2.5 million less than all the other bidders, and it saved the country that much money. Those are the facts.