Tracking Change in Canadian ODA
| Author | Brian Tomlinson |
| Published date | 01 March 2001 |
| Date | 01 March 2001 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070200105600104 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
BRIAN
TOMLINSON
Tracking
change
in
Canadian
ODA
New
directions
forpoverty
reduction?
Canadian
NGO
reflections
IN
MARCH
1999, the
Canadian
Council
for
International
Cooperation
(CCIC)
and
a
group
of
over
thirty prominent
Canadians
urged Prime
Minister
Jean
Chr~tien to
make
the
goal
of
ending
global
poverty
the
central, and
not
merely
the
rhetorical,
purpose
of
Canadian
aid. In
August
of
that
year
the
government
appointed
Maria
Minna
as
minister
for international
co-operation
and,
two
months
later,
Len
Good
as
pres-
ident
of
the
Canadian International Development
Agency
(CIDA).
Both
appointments
were
important
signals
for
the
future
of
Canada's
aid
pro-
gramme. Both
bring
new
energy
and
vision
to
their
positions.
Minna
was
a
committed
Canadian
social
activist involved
with the
rights
of
immigrants
in
Canada;
Good
was
a
Canadian
executive
director
to
the
World
Bank
from
1994
to
1998
when
James
Wolfenson,
the
president
of
the
Bank,
launched
his
reform
initiatives.
These
appointments
were
greeted
with
high
expectations
by
Canadian
non-governmental
organizations
(NGOs)
looking
for
a
deeper
commitment
to
poverty
reduction in
Canada's
development
co-opera-
tion
efforts.
But
have
those
expectations
been
fulfilled?
Policy
Offli
Policy
Team,
Canadian
Councilfor
International
Cooperation.
The
author
would
like
to thank
the
other
members
of
the
policy team
for
numerous
discussions
ofaid
issues
over
the
past
two
years;
his
colleagues,
Gauri
Sreenivasan,
Andrea
Botto,
Tim
Draimin,
and
Betty
Plewes
at
the
CICCfir
helpful
comments
in
the
preparation
of
this
article;
and
Cranford
Pratt
for
inspira-
tion
and
thought/ul
input.
The
views
expressed
here
are
the
author's
and
do
not
necessaril reflect
those
of
the
ccic.
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Winter
2000-2001
Tracking
change
in
Canadian
ODA
Two
years
later
the
outlook
is
cautiously
optimistic,
but
a
definitive
answer
will
have
to
wait
for
a
number
of
years.
Leadership
and
deci-
sions
that
demonstrate
the
efficacy
of
new
approaches
for
focusing
Canada's
aid
resources
and
interventions
on
the
elimination
poverty
will
determine
change,
but
some
directions
can
be
discerned
by
look-
ing
at some
important
benchmarks
and
aspects
of
a
poverty
focus
in
Canadian
aid,
arising
from
Canadian
NGO
assessments
of
over
30
years
of
development
practice,
and
by
analyzing
the
'tracks
of
change
for
CIDA,'
as
articulated
by
Minna and
Good.
ASSESSING
A
POVERTY
FOCUS
IN CANADIAN
ODA
Canadian
NGOs
and
others
have
been
strongly
critical
of
the
use
suc-
cessive
Canadian
governments
have
made
of
Canadian
aid
resources
for
a
wide
array
of
foreign
and
domestic
policy
concerns.
The
goal of
ending
poverty
has
never been
the
sole
focus
of
Canadian
aid;
indeed,
it
usually
runs
a
poor
third
to
Canadian
investment
and
commercial
interests.
This
confusion
of
purpose,
combined
with
a
bureaucratic
'culture
of
compromise'
and
CIDA's
need to
demonstrate
measurable
'results,'
has
resulted
in
an
aid
programme
that
is
spread
thinly
across
countries
and
over
many
sectors.
Both the
diffusion
of
efforts
and
the
concern
over results
has
led
to
the
micro-management
of
a
large
num-
ber
of
projects
undertaken
by
a
variety
of
Canadian
institutional
or
'stakeholder'
interests
(the
private
sector,
Canadian
NGOs,
and
other
Canadian institutions).
At
the
same
time, financial
resources
have
declined
sharply.
Since
the
early
1990s,
Canadian
official
development
assistance
(ODA)
has
been
the
victim
of
shrinking
funds.
Despite
modest
increas-
es
in the
federal
budget
for
2000,
it
remains
at
a
30
year
low.
For
fiscal
year
2000-1
the projected
amount
is
approximately
$2.5 billion
or
0.26
per
cent
of
gross
national
product
(GNP).'
Aid
has
been
cut
in
real
terms
(removing
the impact
of
inflation)
by
more
than
34
per cent
since
its
peak
of
$3.5
billion,
or
0.49
per
cent
of
GNP,
in
FY1991/92,
significantly
closer
to
the
United
Nations
target
of
0.7
per
cent.
1
Figures
for
Canadian
aid
for
1991/92
are
in
1999
adjusted
Canadian
dollars.
Since
1994
Canada has
included
in Canadian
aid
approximately
$15o
million
directed
towards
support
of
Third World refugees
during
their
first
year
in Canada.
If this
amount
were
removed
from
ODA
for
2000/01
(making
it
more
comparable
to
1991/92)
the
figure would
be
0.24
per cent
Of
GNP.
For
an
analysis
of
projected
Canadian
ODA
see
the Development Policy
page
of
cecc's
web
site:
www.web.net/ccic-ccci.
INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL
Wimter
2000-2001
55
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