The misconception of Canada’s foreign aid generosity

Earlier this year, Statistics Canada reported that in 2017 there were 278,000 fewer children living below the poverty line, compared to 2015 when the Liberals took office. Through policy measures, including the introduction of the Canada Child Benefit, the Liberal government has done some admirable work in reducing poverty in this country. For this, credit is deserved. Alas, when it comes to reducing poverty across the globe, the Trudeau government has been found wanting. Despite its lofty rhetoric to “restore Canadian leadership in the world,” the Trudeau government has allowed foreign aid contributions to remain at a bare minimum. As such, when Justin Trudeau recently pledged to increase aid funding at the Women Deliver Conference, enthusiasm should be tempered. After all, the money is contingent upon Liberal re-election and would only be made available come 2023. A better gauge would be to look at the Liberal’s record. In their almost four years in government, the Liberals have actually spent less Official Development Assistance (ODA) as a percentage of Gross National Income (GNI) than the Harper Conservatives. While Stephen Harper was prime minister, ODA contributions averaged out at 0.3 per cent. In contrast, the Liberals have spent an average of 0.27 per cent of GNI since forming government. So much for Canada being “back.” The truth is, when it comes to ODA spending, Canada hasn’t been back in decades. Not at least since Brian Mulroney served as prime minister. In 1988, right in the middle of Mulroney’s tenure, ODA reached 0.5 per cent of GNI, almost double the percentage we see today. Even then though, our foreign aid spending was far short of the recommended benchmark of 0.7 per cent of GNI, established in 1970 by the United Nations. While countries such as Denmark, Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have all reached the 0.7 spending target, Canada remains tied in 14th place for its ODA contributions. This is shameful for a country of our wealth and size. While the Trudeau Liberals have allowed ODA contributions to dwindle, they certainly are not unique in doing so. Under the Harper Conservatives, Canadian aid often fell below the average percentage spent by the member states of the Development Assistance Committee. And the Chrétien Liberals before them were responsible for the massive cuts to the aid budget in the first place. In 2001, ODA spending fell to 0.22, an all-time low not seen since the 1960s. It has long since been acceptable to rely on the usual excuses to justify Canada’s weak performance in aid spending. After all, the Chrétien Liberal’s draconian efforts to balance the budget and pay down the debt occurred almost two-and-a-half decades ago. And while apologists for the Harper Conservatives can point to the 2007-08 recession to justify a lack of aid commitment, it did not have to be so. Germany, Norway, and the United Kingdom all found the financial resources within their budgets to maintain, and even increase, the percentage of their aid contributions in the years following 2008. Of course, aid spending is only one factor (albeit an important one) in judging a country and its commitment to international development. Nonetheless, the question remains: Are Canadians content to sit back and abandon our efforts to alleviate global poverty? In the wake of last year’s federal budget, the Angus Reid Institute polled Canadian’s for their views on foreign aid spending. Alas, some results proved disheartening. Almost half of Canadian’s polled, at 46 per cent, were content with the current level of aid contributions. A further 27 per cent wished for Canada to spend even less. To simply maintain current spending, let alone to reduce or “abolish foreign aid” as People’s Party leader Maxime Bernier has so shamelessly tweeted, is beneath us as Canadians. Unfortunately, Bernier would have Canadians believe that they must choose between alleviating the poverty of their next-door neighbour and of those across the globe. A responsible leader would not use foreign aid as a scapegoat. Instead, they would look to alleviate poverty, both here and abroad. And they would realize that the real culprit is not foreign aid, but rather the staggering level of wealth concentration found in the world. According to an Oxfam report released this year, the world’s richest 26 individuals control as much wealth as the poorest half of the population. Evidently, there are financial resources to be found. It just hasn’t been reaching a vast majority of the population. For far too long, Canadians and our political representatives have shirked away from our moral responsibility to adequately address the overwhelming poverty still found in much of the world. It’s time that Canada prioritized our aid commitments and re-engaged in the struggle against poverty. Ideally, with as little government self-aggrandizement as possible. Now that would really be something to be proud of. Wyatt James Schierman recently completed his Master of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, and an internship at The Carter Center in Atlanta, Ga. The Hill Times