Canada’s aid sector says the federal budget makes no mention of foreign aid or international development and is urging Ottawa to lay out its vision in a foreign policy review.
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Canada’s aid sector is expressing dismay after the federal government’s first budget in more than 15 years included no mention of foreign aid or international development, and it is calling on Ottawa to provide more detail in an upcoming foreign policy review.
Co-operation Canada, a coalition that includes most Canadian aid groups operating abroad, said the budget is “largely silent on issues of international development co-operation and humanitarian action,” pointing to what it called a wrong approach given the “stakes around and the world” are “very high.”
The budget tabled Thursday by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government makes no mention of international assistance, foreign aid or international development. It mentions Ukraine only in reference to drone production and refers to aid workers only in passing, within a section describing an existing permit program for aid organizations operating in areas under the control of groups Ottawa lists as terrorist entities.
Co-operation Canada head Kate Higgins said the sector assumes Ottawa will follow the plan it announced last year to cut $2.7 billion in foreign aid over four years, while advocates said they were relieved there were no additional cuts announced. Higgins also urged Ottawa to acknowledge the role of development funding in responding to crises abroad, including the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the spread of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Higgins said she hopes Ottawa will provide more details about “international development assistance and humanitarian action” in a foreign policy review expected later this month.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Friday on Parliament Hill that the foreign policy update will come “in a matter of weeks” and will include “our approach on development.” She said: “Rest assured, development assistance is a priority for Global Affairs Canada. It is the reason why we have come forth with humanitarian assistance for Cuba, for Lebanon, for Gaza, for Sudan, among others, this year alone.”
Other groups also criticized the absence of development-related references. UNICEF Canada said Ottawa should at least mention international development when discussing its response to global threats and volatility, writing that “International assistance helps children survive and thrive while strengthening the health, education and protection systems on which peaceful, stable societies depend.”
Results Canada, an anti-poverty advocacy group, said it searched the budget document without finding terms relevant to its sector, including “International assistance, foreign aid, vaccines, tuberculosis,” and said it saw “nothing on famines.” The One Campaign, which advocates for African partnerships, said Ottawa should commit to spending $5.5 billion on development annually and align its “development, trade and investment institutions” to support coordinated partnerships with African countries.
Advocates pointed to earlier calls for more transparency about where Canada’s aid dollars are going and to focus funding on the world’s most vulnerable. Sheridan said the sector viewed the budget as “a missed opportunity to make a really well-rounded, robust strategy” and called it “confusing,” adding: “Not even a mention.”
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