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September 14th, 2018

NDP Statement on OECD Review: Canada Must Do Its Part

Linda Duncan, the NDP Critic for International Development released the following statement:

"The release of a damning OECD periodic review on Canada is yet another significant call to action: the Liberal government must increase official development assistance (ODA) to meet their own rhetoric of renewed engagement in international development, as well as internationally accepted targets.
While the NDP supports increased spending dedicated to women and girls, it is simply unacceptable that, as this review notes, Canada’s ODA has decreased from 0.31% of gross national income (GNI) in 2012, when the Harper Conservatives were in power, to 0.26% in 2017, lagging behind many other OECD countries. The Liberal government’s plan for the next five years will not even bring us back to 2012 levels, let alone reach the international accepted target of 0.7% of GNI. Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg and Sweden have now surpassed this target by a wide margin.
Canada, like all wealthy donor countries, has an obligation to contribute to the betterment of the world. Foreign aid saves lives, particularly in areas such as sanitation, reproductive health services, or education. International development assistance is crucial to enabling developing countries to support their own populations, building a healthier and safer world for all. Canada must do its part.
I therefore urge the government to develop and release a plan to meet our GNI targets on international aid as soon as possible. I also call on the government to fully respond to the OECD review’s recommendations, notable among which are to address the several significant shortcomings highlighted by this report on the government’s commitment to sustainable development. The world’s most vulnerable depend on it."