Canadian Foreign Aid

Canada's contribution to Foriegn Aid: $71,387,050,000.00 and counting....

I searched far and wide to find the answer to one question. Who gave Canada "Foreign Aid" to get to the point we are at? And guess what? I could not find the answer. Not one mention anywhere of foreign aid coming to Canada could I find. I guess if you go back to our origins, way back, you could possibly state that both France and England financed Canada. But could one reasonably call it foriegn aid? I don't think so. What those two countries provided was only the seed money to get the country started. They took more from the country than they gave. They pilfered the grand banks of fish, and did the same with the furs taken back to europe. The people of Canada from times prior to confederation to present, busted their humps, made great sacrifices and payed their own way. The results are obvious. A country that most anyone in the world would be proud to call home. Well almost.

So why do we give foreign aid to other countries? Why can't they do the same as our country has done? Time has changed many things.

The Canadian International Developement Agency(CIDA) as it is now called, may have one of the toughest jobs in all of government. It could also be one of the most rewarding ones, if they give it to the right countries and it actually gets to the people for which it is intended to help. How often this actually happens is up for debate. My personal belief is that most of it does not.

With the recent calls for Canada to meet the goal of .7% of GDP going to foreign aid, and more rescently the question brought forth by Mr. Harper regarding why we are giving China aid, I went and did some homework.

I have gathered up a few stats from our friends over at Stats Canada that I found interesting. I have also included stats from over at The CIA World Factbook.

The records at Stats Canada go back to 1948. What I have noticed is that The % of GDP going to foriegn aid drops every time a new priminister takes power. At times it drops dramatically, and in other cases very little but it does drop.

1948 - 1957 - Louis St. Laurent - (L) - % of GDP low = .03% - % of GDP high = .12%

1957 - 1963 - John Diefenbaker - (PC) - % of GDP low = .09% - % of GDP high = .20%

1963 - 1968 - Lester Pearson - (L) - % of GDP low = .13% - % of GDP high = .34%

*1968 - 1984* - Pierre Trudeau - (L) - % of GDP low = .28% - % of GDP high = .53%

1979 - 1980 - Joe Clark - (PC) - % of GDP low = .47% % of GDP high = .47%

1984 - John Turner - (L) - GDP low = .45% GDP high = .45%

1984 - 1993 - Brian Mulroney - (PC) - GDP low = .44% - GDP high = .50%

1993 - Kim Cambell - (PC) - % of GDP low = .44% - % of GDP high = .44%

1993 - 2003 - Jean Chretien - (L) - % of GDP low = .25% - % of GDP high = .44%

2003 - 2004 - Paul Martin - (L) - % of GDP low = .23% - % of GDP high = .23%

As we can see from these stats, Paul Martin has taken the amount designated for foriegn aid to a level below that of 1968. Very far from the .7% that he claims he is dedicated to.

Where does the money go?

Top 5 countries recieving aid from Canada(2004):

Iraq - independence from the UK in 1932 - GDP = $54.4 Billion - GDP per capita = $2,100 - Canadian Aid = $115.86 Million (previously a dictatorship)(soon to be a democracy?)

Afghanistan - independence from UK in 1919 - GDP = $21.5 Billion - GDP per Capita = $800 - Canadian Aid = $99.38 Million (formerly Taliban Dictatorship) (Now Democracy?)

Ethiopia - one of the oldest countries in the world.
(no actual date found) GDP = $54.89 Billion - GDP per capita = $800 - Canadian Aid = $66.69 Million (previously: Monarchy)( then: socialist state)(currently: Democracy)

Bangladesh - Independence from West Pakistan in 1971 - GDP = $275.7 Billion - GDP per capita = $2,000 - Canadian Aid = $66.31 Million (previously: federal republic) (curently: Parlimentry democracy)

China - About 221 BC - (2nd largest economy in the world) GDP = $7.262 Trillion GDP per capita = $5,600 - Canadian Aid = $46.07 Million - (communist state)

Now lets look at the US figures.
Independence - 1776 from UK - GDP = $11.75 Trillion - GDP per capita = $40,100 (Federal Republic - Democracy)Canadian aid = Nada (remember these are stats for 2004, Katrina has not happened)

And finally here are the stats for Canada.
Independence? 1867 from the UK - GDP = $1.023 Trillion - GDP per capita = $31,500 - (confederation - Democracy)

If one only looks at the GDP, you would seriously wonder why we are sending China $46.07 million in aid. But as you can see when you look just a little bit further and take population into account, they are not doing as well as one might think. However we are talking about a different type of government here, and where they place their spending priorities is obvious to everyone. The people are not high on their list. This in fact maybe a reason not to give them any support at all.

This bring up other questions. Should assignment of foriegn aid take into concideration how the government of the recieving country is currently spending the cash it has? How it treats its own people? Should only "free" democratic societies receive help? How can we make sure that the "aid" is used for which it is intended? How long do we continue to give "aid" to a country before we right it off as a hopeless cause? If it is hopeless, then what is the next step to correct the the problem?

Time and time again it has been proven. Throwing money at a problem very rarely solves the problem and in most cases makes the problem worse. Should we be sending more "knowledge" to these countries rather than cash. “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”—Author unknown

The verdict is still out.