McLeod Group Blog, March 21, 2018

The initial reaction to the February 27 federal budget was “two cheers for development,” with the announcement of an addition of $2 billion over the next five years to the International Assistance Envelope (see our previous blog). Now that the excitement has died down, and since the budget is as much a policy statement as a fiscal document, several questions are emerging. These questions are worth examining in light of the government’s claims of “global ...

McLeod Group blog by Stephen Brown and Hunter McGill, February 28, 2018

If you watched Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s budget speech in the House of Commons yesterday, you had to be paying close attention to catch the one sentence that refers to foreign aid: “We will also do more to help vulnerable people around the world by making the largest new investments in international assistance in more than a decade, including greater support for the world’s women and girls, through ...

McLeod Group Blog, January 26, 2018

When Global Affairs Canada (GAC) announced the Women’s Voice and Leadership program to support its new feminist aid policy, with a budget of $150 million over five years, observers hoped for the creation of a fund with a clear purpose, approach, and implementation that would support women’s organizations in developing countries. Canada already has experience with this type of fund, as it established regional gender equality funds in the period after the Beijing World Conference ...

McLeod Group Blog, January 22, 2018

Every year, heads of government of the G7 member countries (United States, France, Japan, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany and Canada) get together for a day or two to discuss global issues and matters of mutual concern. This year, it’s Canada’s turn to host, in Charlevoix, Québec, during the first week of June. What will Prime Minister Justin Trudeau bring to the table by way of agenda and initiatives, and what commitments will he be asking ...