Foreign Affairs committee  We received a two-year special allocation to work with independent reporters on top of our core funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs, because as you know, right now the press in Zimbabwe is at the beck and call of the government. So we're going to work with an organizat

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. The board of directors meets three times a year and is responsible for the orientation, the adoption of the budget, the adoption of regulations. Projects over $60,000 have to be approved by the board. There is an executive committee that meets in between the board meetings.

Foreign Affairs committee  No, we did not.

Foreign Affairs committee  We are an agency of the Government of Canada. It's a shared governance agency under the terminology that is used by Treasury Board. That's what we are, similar to the Asia Pacific Forum. There are five such agencies under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Shared governance means

Foreign Affairs committee  The office will open on November 1, to the immense chagrin of VIA Rail, because we're probably one of their best clients on the line between Ottawa and Montreal. The fact is that our host ministry, the Department of Foreign Affairs, is in Ottawa. There are so many meetings we h

Foreign Affairs committee  We have an office in Kabul made up of Afghan staff. Unfortunately, there's no sign on the door, and you can understand why. It's a simple bungalow where people go to work. The cars are not identified, or anything like that. The identification in Haiti is different. We have an o

Foreign Affairs committee  No. We have projects, and our agents travel. For example, we're doing a mission in Colombia next week with some of our colleagues. Most of our field agents who participate in managing different projects go to these countries about twice a year. I'm also expecting to go to Zimbabw

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. It is important to recognize that the work we do is long-term. We cannot go into a developing country that is experiencing difficulties and think that we can solve all its problems within a year by making a few investments. The long-term funding that you r

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, and we moved from one crisis to the next. Each subsequent intervention cost more than the previous one. In my conversations with the Prime Minister during my last two missions, she said that she hoped that Canada would be there for the long term because their problems could

Foreign Affairs committee  As the Inspector General pointed out, there was a lag in operations when we submitted our programming for Haiti. Fortunately, the issue was resolved rather quickly. What the Inspector General was indicating was that, once we have begun rolling out a program, there has to be fundi

Foreign Affairs committee  The problem is that Department of Foreign Affairs funding is usually allocated over a three-year period. However, CIDA's funding is allocated on a yearly basis. This makes project planning on the ground extremely difficult.

Foreign Affairs committee  We have a separate budget for Afghanistan, over and above our $9.2 million operating budget. CIDA has given us approximately $1 million a year to undertake a specific project, namely to strengthen the rights of women in Afghanistan. Ours is the only agency to deal with that issue

Foreign Affairs committee  I would like to ask Madame Cloutier, our director of finance and administration, to respond. She is familiar with the funding difficulties and money entry.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to join Mr. Guilbeault in thanking you for inviting our organization to today's meeting. I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the presence in this room of two other members of our board of directors: Brad Far