Dear Editor,

Many people support foreign aid.  It seems like a reasonable thing to do for many when they see how little others have relevant to what they may have. Regardless, aid not always falls into the right hands and some make money just to administer the process. Further, be reminded that it comes out of those who pay taxes when your government decides to increase foreign aid and that tax funds spent on foreign aid are not available to assist those who may be your neighbors living in your country.

Foreign aid should be the responsibility of the private sector or your church. Our governments are good at spending our tax dollars on things we may or may not support. The government should be more accountable to taxpayers before they decide to make another contribution. Canada’s recent commitment to increased funding for foreign aid is party driven by the government’s campaign to earn a seat on the United Nations Security Council, the organization’s most powerful body.

Currently, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) administers 80 per cent of Canada’s foreign aid and has a budget of about $2.5 billion. Now these are your tax dollars and you should at least have a say in how the funds are spent and the government should be able to account for what the funds were spent on and who benefited. This is information that is not readily available. An access to information request is not an option as a lot of Canada’s foreign aid is pooled with that of other countries. 

Unbelievably, it is too often at the discretion of foreign agencies administering the various aid projects around the world as to whether you can be informed as to how your tax dollars for aid are being spent. It can’t be right when a foreign agency can veto your right to know what your foreign aid tax dollars are being spent on. I want my government to demand transparency and audits for programs funded by Canadian taxpayers. Anything short of this is unacceptable.

Yours truly,

Larry Birkbeck

Regina