Statement made on 27 October 2010 by Senator Claudette Tardif
Hon. Claudette Tardif (Deputy Leader of the Opposition):
Honourable senators, in early October 2010, the government tabled in the House of Commons the second Report on Canadian Official Development Assistance as required by the Official Development Accountability Act. The government has once again opted for under-reporting and minimum implementation when it comes to Canada's new aid legislation.
The act requires all responsible ministers for official development assistance to confirm that assistance disbursements and programming under their authority meet the following three tests: reduction of poverty, taking into account the perspectives of the poor, and consistency with international human rights standards.
Similar to the 2008-09 report, the 2009-10 report fails to fulfill, once again, the spirit and intention of the act. The report provides only a listing of activities undertaken with official development assistance with no analysis or systematic reference as to how or why the activities undertaken with official development assistance resources meet the three tests.
Why does the leader's government refuse to provide any substantial analysis and systematic reference to substantiate the minister's opinion that compliance to the act is being met in these three areas?
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