OTTAWA (Staff) — A British Columbia Reform MP wants an overhaul of Canada’s foreign aid program to focusing more on the most needy nations.
Chuck Strahl (Ref – Fraser Valley East) said last week the Canadian International Development Agency should narrow its focus to humanitarian aid and development assistance to the world’s worst-off nations.
In the CIDA he would create through a private member’s bill tabled in Parliament, there could be more emphasis on food aid.
Focus on poor
“I think there should be more emphasis on the poorest of the poor and that likely would involve more food aid and other kinds of help,” he said.
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The bill may spark some debate about Canada’s aid program but it is almost certain not to receive Commons approval.
Strahl said his complaint is CIDA, with a $2-billion budget, is not sufficiently accountable to Parliament and is spread too thin.
Helping the rich
While countries like Rwanda and Haiti could use more help than they receive from Canada, CIDA spends $5 million helping to finance post-graduate degrees for Indonesian engineers. “Even most Canadian engineers don’t have those degrees,” he said.
The MP estimates hundreds of millions of dollars could be saved by being more selective and reducing the 1,300-strong CIDA bureaucracy.
CIDA decisions on which countries to help should be more public and open to scrutiny, said Strahl.
“I’m not talking against our aid program,” he said. “I am saying it should be offering more help to those who really need it and narrowing the range.”
