A 1970 UN resolution set foreign aid at 0.7 per cent of gross national income.
Canada has never met that commitment although millions starve or die from dirty water, curable illnesses, and climatic disasters. Andrew Scheer plans to gut our already anorexic foreign aid budget.
In 2006, economist Sir Nicholas Stern determined the benefits of combating climatic change considerably outweigh the costs. He calculated costs at one per cent of global GDP. He forecast ignoring climate change will damage economic growth and create risks similar to the great wars and depression of the early 20th century.
Canada has never allocated one per cent of its GDP to greenhouse gas reductions. We’re failing to meet our Paris Accord commitments. In contrast, Canada agreed to NATO’s request to spend two per cent of its GDP on defence by 2024. In 2018, Justin Trudeau fattened Canada’s defence spending by 70 per cent. Our international priorities are shamefully inequitable and inhumanely skewed.
Robert M. Macrae
Castlegar
