Minister to seek more funds for ‘feminist’ foreign-aid policy

OTTAWA — International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau says she will fight hard around the cabinet table for increased foreign-aid funding and that her new feminist-focused strategy is a necessary step toward that.

“This is obvious — that we all want more money,” Bibeau said in an interview Friday. “Let’s celebrate this new policy — and the next step is working on financing.”

Bibeau unveiled the federal government’s new feminist development policy, but it made no new spending commitments for foreign aid, despite numerous calls by international agencies to do so.

The plan reallocates $150 million of the existing aid budget to women’s organizations in 30 countries over the next five years.

The announcement caps a week of insight into Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s international strategy, including policy updates from Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan.

Sajjan’s announcement committed the government to a $62-billion increase in defence spending over the next 20 years.

More emphasis needs to be placed on finding new partners in the private sector to fund aid projects, Bibeau said.

She highlighted a new development financing institution, along with a $300-million start-up budget, as the best way to bring more privatesector money into foreign aid.

Aid agencies have been critical of such an approach, because they say companies are beholden to their shareholders, not driven to alleviate poverty in fragile states where it can be difficult to show progress.

New Democrat MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau dismissed Friday’s announcement as “window dressing.”

“They’re just using this as branding and it’s just trying to look good because there’s no new money behind this,” she said.

Meanwhile, the discrepancy between the government’s approach to the Canadian military and international development was criticized by some organizations.

“The juxtaposition of a recommended 70 per cent increase to the defence budget with a recommended zero per cent increase to the development budget is simply stunning,” said Stuart Hickox, the Canadian head of the anti-poverty group One.

During the government’s consultations, agencies urged Ottawa to lay out a plan to boost aid spending toward reaching the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income.

Canada’s annual $5.3-billion aid budget amounts to about 0.3 per cent.

The review launched a five-year, $150-million initiative called the Woman’s Voice and Leadership Program, which is designed to advance the rights of women in developing countries.

Bibeau said in the interview that the focus on women and girls won’t mean decreased attention toward boys.