February 7, 2013
In September, Canada and Great Britain signed an agreement that will see the two countries sharing embassies abroad. The idea is to extend each country’s diplomatic reach while cutting costs. The move has been criticized because it could compromise Canada’s independence and its foreign policy. Canada and Australia already have this kind of arrangement in some 26 countries, but let’s face it, Britain isn’t Australia, and the Brits have issues and image ...
Continue Reading →Jan 10, 2013
Readers of McLeod Group blogs will know that the relationship between Canada and Haiti is an important issue for us. As we approach the third anniversary of the January 2010 earthquake that killed 225,000 Haitians and made over one million homeless, it is critical to take a look at the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country and largest recipient of Canadian bilateral aid.
Let’s take stock. While most of North America – certainly the media – was fixated on the effects ...
Continue Reading →December 4, 2012
The recent Foreign Affairs’ Parliamentary Committee report entitled ‘Driving Inclusive Economic Growth’ presents an often confused mix of the old and new: poor regulation, weak transparency (and associated corruption), micro-finance, the innovative role of the cellphone in banking, etc. Much is interesting, some is worryingly ambiguous, but little is innovative.
The Committee should have focused on how Canadian support for the private sector can foster stronger, pro-poor, inclusive growth in CIDA’s low-income priority countries.
But their final text focused on ...
Continue Reading →November 5, 2012
If you’ve seen the new Ben Affleck film, Argo, you’ll know that Canada didn’t really play much of a role in the rescue of six American embassy employees during the Iran Hostage Crisis of 1979-80. Although the Americans were secretly housed in the homes of Canadian diplomats and were given Canadian passports, forcing Canada to close its embassy, it was actually the CIA, and more especially Hollywood, that did the real work.
The basic Argo plot: a CIA operative (Affleck) goes to ...
Continue Reading →August 27, 2012
“Uh oh, we goofed,” is an admission you are very unlikely to hear from the Harper government, especially when it comes to its behaviour internationally. Recent events in the Harper Government’s approach to Syria are no exception. The conclusion from the now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t support for Canadian Relief for Syria is that Foreign Minister John Baird, International Cooperation Minister Julian Fantino, and the Prime Minister himself, aren’t very interested in effective humanitarian aid, respect for international agreements and conventions, ...
Continue Reading →July 10, 2012
Not long after Stephen Harper snubbed the UN and instead went to New York to collect a “Statesman of the Year” award from the Appeal of Conscience Foundation—handed over tellingly by Henry Kissinger—John Baird mounted the podium at the UN General Assembly. Finally getting a slot late in the queue amidst other second stringers like Oman, Djibouti, The Holy See and Palau, he told the nations of the world that in their collectivity, they are simply no good.
His ...
Continue Reading →June 27, 2012
The OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) has just released its most recent Peer Review of Canada’s foreign aid efforts. Led by France and the Netherlands, DAC member countries (the 24 leading traditional aid donors) made some useful and pointed remarks about how Canada is seen internationally. Interestingly, they do not share the view expressed by Minister of International Cooperation Bev Oda that Canada is a leader in global development cooperation efforts.
Among other things, Canada is faulted for not ...
Continue Reading →May 15, 2012
There is a curious juxtaposition between CIDA Minister Bev Oda’s sense of personal entitlement – a room at the Savoy, $1000-a-day limousines – and the ruthlessness with which she has presided over cuts to CIDA’s operational budget. It isn’t just the luxury spending on herself as compared with how many children might have been inoculated with that $1000. It seems that no amount of bad behaviour on her part will go unrewarded by the Prime Minister.
By reappointing her ...
Continue Reading →April 25, 2012
In 2011, Canada joined the International Aid Transparency Initiative, a global standard that aims to make information about aid spending easier to access, use and understand. The move was timely (although there is still no implementation schedule, four months after signing), not least because obtaining meaningful details on CIDA spending has always been difficult.
But transparency, it seems, will be limited to “where” and “how much”. The “why” will continue to be elusive, as will predictability and consistency. When ...
Continue Reading →March 12, 2012
“Defanging”—that’s what one observer has called it. “Wrecking” might be another term for what CIDA is doing to Canada’s once vibrant, once independent NGO sector. A survey of 158 organizations just released by the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC) and its seven provincial/regional counterparts has confirmed what many already suspected: that CIDA’s new rules of engagement have weakened the credibility and the capacities of NGOs, added to their costs, damaged or disrupted their overseas programs and put ...
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