Professor Dane Rowlands comments on cuts to Canadian foreign aid
“Overall, the Conservative government is not ‘ideologically’ attracted to development assistance as a principle because of problems accounting for funding and showing results, said Dane Rowlands, a professor and the associate director of Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs in Ottawa.
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“Over time, the countries that the Canadian government has targeted for funding reductions will not to a great degree notice Canada’s withdrawal, though this may depend somewhat on whether [CIDA] also slashes financing to these states via its ‘Partnership with Canadians’ branch, said Rowlands. The branch supports Canadian organisations improving the quality of life in poor, developing countries.
“Smaller communities, however, will experience ‘noticeable effects’ when specific projects are terminated, Rowlands said. A further danger is that Canada’s rationale for selecting the countries for cuts—high operating costs—may influence a possible ‘piling-on effect’ whereby donors prefer concentrating in a few countries with an easier operational environment, he noted. As a result, some of the countries [CIDA] has earmarked for the ‘chopping block’ may become ‘aid orphans that few donors want to deal with,’ he added.”
(Fawzia Sheikh, “Canada cuts aid budget but middle-income trade partners unaffected: Canada accused of turning its back on the world’s poorest countries after slashing $319m of aid funding,” Guardian Development Network, guardian.co.uk)