Government Orders
Madam Chair, I take allegations of anti-Semitism extremely seriously. As the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor who spent time in Theresienstadt and Auschwitz and made their way to Canada, I take this seriously. We are taking it seriously. However, if there is one thing I will not do, it is deny education to 500,000 Palestinian children. That was denied to my grandfather by Nazi Germany, and I …
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Madam Chair, we increased our contribution to the WHO this past year. I announced more than $100 million to address the COVID-19 crisis. We are stepping up to address the COVID-19 crisis. That is very important.
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Madam Chair, the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates why it is so important for a country like Canada to be engaged on the world stage. We know that until everyone is safe from COVID-19, no one is, so that is why we have stepped up so much over the past year and will continue to do so.
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Mr. Chair, as my colleague knows, Canada's ODA/GNI ratio is currently 0.31%, which is the highest it has been since 2012. In fact, on a volume basis it is higher than it has ever been. That includes a 2018 commitment to increase our ODA by $2 billion, which is going through, as well as the additional $1.7 billion we raised specifically for the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year.
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Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for her advocacy. I know she has worked for a long time in this sector. I would note that we have actually increased the proportion of aid going to organizations based in Canada. When we came into office, it was just over $600 million a year. It is now over $970 million a year. We have also created a $100-million window for small and medium-sized Canadian-based orga…
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Mr. Chair, of course we have not. The $1.7 billion that we provided and mobilized over the course of the past year is continuing to respond right now. In fact, in India, UNICEF provided 1,400 oxygen cylinders from that money that Canada helped provide over the course of the past year. The $375 million is in addition to that, and this means that Canada is now one of only two countries to pay their …
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Mr. Chair, as the member knows, we launched a $40-million call for proposals alongside the launch of the “together for learning” campaign. We are doing significant advocacy work around the world to work with partner countries to ensure that refugees in their borders have access to education, and we will continue to do this work. We are a strong supporter of education—
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Mr. Chair, this is a top priority for us in Canada. As my hon. colleague mentioned, Canada has contributed significantly to development in Afghanistan, making gender equality and the rights of women and girls a top priority over the last 20 years. We are watching this situation closely, and we are certainly advocating at every opportunity that whatever a future Afghan government looks like, the ri…
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Mr. Speaker, the following reflects a consolidated response approved on behalf of Global Affairs Canada ministers. The following is in response to parts (a) to (d). Canada is committed to focusing its international assistance on the most vulnerable communities, including those served by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA. Canada’s support help…
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said numerous times, this government stands against anti-Semitism, and we have been very clear about that. As soon as I learned about this material I was deeply concerned and contacted my officials, as well as UNRWA itself, to get to the bottom of this. I have been in touch with counterparts around the world, and we are working with UNRWA to ensure that the materials it teac…
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Mr. Speaker, as I have communicated to the House on several occasions, we take this issue with the utmost seriousness and became engaged as soon as we learned of it. I continue to engage with UNRWA on this, but let me remind the hon. member that UNRWA provides education to 500,000 Palestinian students. Without UNRWA, they would not have access to education. We remain absolutely committed to uphold…
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Mr. Speaker, I share the hon. member's deep concern for the humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia. As the member mentioned, we have committed an additional $34 million for the humanitarian situation in Ethiopia to be used flexibly to address the crisis. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister and I have all spoken to our counterparts in Ethiopia. We are supporting the work of the UN Human Ri…
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Madam Speaker, I had the honour of participating in the pledging conference for Yemen a couple of weeks ago, and Canada actually increased its humanitarian assistance. With respect to official development assistance, we increased it by over $1.7 billion last year alone, and we have been stepping up in the fight when it comes to COVID-19. We are responding to humanitarian needs around the world, in…
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Mr. Speaker, we tremendously value the incredible work that humanitarian workers are doing on the front lines here in Canada and around the world. The policy our government has put in place is designed to keep Canadians safe, which is why quarantine measures are very important. However, we stand by the important work humanitarian workers are doing.
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Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member mentioned, equitable access to vaccines is the top priority for our government. In fact, I am pleased to note that COVAX, over the past couple of weeks, has delivered millions of vaccines to dozens of countries in the developing world. It is a good-news story that vaccines are being distributed right around the world. When it comes to intellectual property, we have …
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Mr. Speaker, we very much welcome the contribution by the United States. In fact, Canada was the leading donor. We were the first to donate to COVAX and welcome countries all around the world making these contributions. I would correct my hon. colleague, in that COVAX was intentionally set up to have wealthy countries contribute to COVAX both to provide vaccines and to grow purchasing power so it …
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Mr. Speaker, upon receiving these allegations, I contacted UNRWA, and we have been in touch with UNRWA ever since. Canada takes our support for vulnerable people around the world, including Palestinian refugees, very seriously. Of course, there is no place for hate or incitement to violence. We fund neutrality training, and we are working with UNRWA on this, but more importantly, we recognize that…
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Mr. Speaker, as I have said, there is absolutely no place for hate or incitements of violence. Canada is working with our partners in this regard with UNRWA, and we are getting to the bottom of this. That being said, I would ask the hon. member to consider that there are 500,000 Palestinian children who rely on UNRWA for access to education. That is 500,000 Palestinian children whose hopes and dre…
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Madam Speaker, if I may, I will correct the record. The COVAX facility was actually designed to have the buy-in of wealthy countries. It has two tracks: one for self-financing countries to purchase vaccines through COVAX, as well as to make donations. In fact, Canada has done both. We have contributed $220 million to provide vaccines for the developing world, while also purchasing on behalf of Can…
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Mr. Speaker, COVAX's goal is to ensure that everyone has access to the vaccine at the same time, whether it be richer countries that can buy doses or poorer countries that need donations. Canada was one of the first countries to make a donation to COVAX. We can be proud of what we have done and of what we are doing to ensure that everyone receives the vaccine.
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