I hope Canada will cancel its cuts on international development during the new year. After freezing foreign aid, the Conservatives announced last year they would be cutting the budget of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) by $319 million over three years.
As we know, this would condemn a countless number of men, women and children to suffering, disease and death. It will also slow down all the efforts we have made up until now in vaccination, access to education and better living for the poorest of the world.
For perspective, $319 million over three years is not such a big amount when compared to the $11.5 billion gift the Conservative government is giving the rich companies in tax benefits for 2013-2014 – as indicated by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in its 2012 Alternative Federal Budget.
It is not much either when compared to Canada’s $21.1 billion military budget.
(I use the term “foreign aid” to be well understood but, in my mind, it’s not aid.
It’s rather giving back to the poorest of the world a tiny part of what they were stripped of by rich countries over the years, through intimidation, military presence, destabilization, destruction of their infrastructure and freeze and seizure of their assets.)
I am not rich, I did not contribute to Mr. Harper’s party and I am not either a creationist. Still, I do hope Mr. Harper won’t forget me and the poorest of the world in 2013 and will cancel its cuts on international development.
Bruno Marquis