Opinion divided on aid-trade merger
CIDA move will boost development, Baird argues
OTTAWA — Sitting between the Gatineau office building that houses the Canadian International Development Agency and Parliament Hill is the Ottawa River, a real and symbolic line separating the foreign aid agency from Canada’s political centre.
To some, that separation has let the agency and its dedicated staff chip away at global poverty in an effort to make life better for the world’s poorest people without any undue interference for decades.
But to others, that distance has hurt Canadian international development efforts by letting CIDA toil in a world dissociated from reality while enjoying little to no relevance among both decision-makers and the broader public, which is why it has swung from minister to minister and priority to priority in recent years.
And just as CIDA’s autonomy generated mixed reactions, so too has the Harper government’s decision to bring CIDA back across the river — at least figuratively — and merge it with Canada’s diplomatic and trade services to create a new Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.
No one knows exactly how the change — which has the potential to dramatically alter the way nearly $3.5 billion in Canadian foreign aid is used, not to mention affecting Canada’s international reputation — will play out.
“It can go either way,” said James Haga of Engineers Without Borders. “There are real risks.”
The Harper government maintains the change will not dilute Canadian efforts to eradicate poverty in the developing world, but rather strengthen them by providing clear direction and allow for the use of all tools in the federal tool box to achieve the task, including diplomacy and trade.
“Development now will have the full strength of our international presence abroad rather than just putting a few CIDA people there,” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Friday.
“The people there will be able to work as a team under the leadership of the ambassadors.”
Scott Gilmore, founder of the Peace Dividend Trust and a frequent critic of the aid industry, said business and economic development have become increasingly important to development efforts in places like Africa.
“The growth in Africa, it hasn’t been because of charity or aid,” Gilmore said. “It’s because of Walmart and supply chains.”
The Canadian Council on Africa, which serves as a liaison between Canada and the world’s poorest continent, says an increasing number of African countries have been asking for a coherent strategy for both aid and supporting business growth.
“Any meaningful strategy includes international affairs, trade and development assistance,” said CCAfrica president Lucien Bradet.
“It is our hope that this new department will now have all the tools at their disposal to develop and effectively implement such a comprehensive approach.”
Anthony Scoggins, Oxfam Canada’s director of international programs, said if development became more influential in Canada’s interactions with the world, it would be a major advance.
But Scoggins and many others aren’t about to hold their breath. They cite the government’s emphasis of Canadian mining activities, its environmental policies, its reputation as a laggard in terms of aid funding levels, and the appointment of Bev Oda and Julian Fantino as CIDA ministers as indications development is not seen as a priority.
They note it has also severed longstanding ties with dozens of non-governmental organizations and dropped many of the world’s poorest countries as aid recipients.
“Given the track record of this government, there’s not much hope it’s about efficiency and one voice,” University of Ottawa development expert Christoph Zuercher said of the merger.