Government Orders
Madam Chair, I am exceptionally proud of the amount of work that Global Affairs Canada has done on implementing the feminist international assistance policy, or as we like to call it, the FIAP, in terms of ensuring that gender equality is integrated into our programming. We are well on track to meet this objective. In fact, for the second year in a row, Canada has been the top funder of women's ri…
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Madam Chair, right from the get-go, Canada recognized that we would need to pivot our response to ensure that we were addressing the needs on the ground. In fact, one of the very first things we did, given the border closures, the closures of airspaces and the challenges in humanitarian assistance to be delivered, is that we supported the World Food Programme, which is the humanitarian arm, but al…
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Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for the question; it is an important one. It was important to focus on reducing maternal, child and newborn deaths and improve their health. However, we recognize that much of this work can only be done when we support women's autonomy over their body, over their right to choose, and the fact that they also need to have access to sexual health and reproductive hea…
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Madam Chair, I am very pleased to be here today to speak about the main estimates as they relate to Global Affairs Canada's international development portfolio. It is now over one year since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and it has not been an easy journey for our Canadian or developing country partners. With more than 160 million cases and three million deaths globally, many countries ar…
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Madam Chair, I have to confirm with officials at Global Affairs Canada on that question, since it is very specific. I can get back to the House with an answer.
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Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for the opportunity to respond. We are not there yet, but certainly we will support the COVAX system. As I mentioned, Canada was involved in establishing the mechanism and we really believe that it is the best mechanism for vaccine distribution and redistribution. In addition, Canada donated $5 million to establish a vaccine exchange mechanism within the COVAX sys…
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Madam Chair, again, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. This is a very important issue. Canada is, of course, committed to ensuring equitable distribution of vaccines around the world. That is precisely why Canada was one of the founders of the COVAX mechanism a year ago, investing the initial $25 million. Since then, we have been one of its biggest funders, having injected more than $350 …
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Madam Chair, I thank my colleague for his question. As he said, I think this is an important process. I believe he is referring to the multi-year projects that were renewed in the previous budget, but I will confirm with Global Affairs Canada officials. I also want to reassure my hon. colleague by reminding him that, last year, Canada mobilized close to $1.7 billion more to respond to the COVID-19…
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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 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, 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, 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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