Toronto, April 21: Cooperation Canada which brings together and advocates for Canada’s international development and humanitarian organizations has expressed disappointment with the federal budget presented by the minority Liberal government, calling it “a missed opportunity to demonstrate such political leadership” and saying it limits Ottawa’s ability to play a “meaningful long-term role” in a post-pandemic global recovery.

On Monday, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has unveiled $101.4 billion in new spending in the first federal budget in two years. A total 739-page document commits up to $1.4 billion over five years to international assistance to help “developing countries and vulnerable populations respond to this crisis and to meet growing humanitarian needs around the world.” That includes $375 million for the global pandemic response.

The budget proposes to allocate an additional $165 million in 2021-22 to Global Affairs Canada to provide international humanitarian assistance to areas of the world suffering from conflicts, food insecurity and other crises. It also commits Canada to allocating $288.3 million over three years, starting in 2021-22, to respond to the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh. The new budget also proposes to provide $80.3 million over two years, starting in 2021-22, to respond to the Venezuelan migrant and refugee crisis.

But, Nicolas Moyer, CEO of Cooperation Canada said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how important it is to address global crises in a timely manner. Canada’s international development and humanitarian sector has been calling on the Government to commit to a strategic, long-term investment in global solutions to the multiple concurrent crises affecting us everywhere. This Budget missed an opportunity to answer those calls.”

Cooperation Canada stated that, women and girls, marginalized communities and historically disadvantaged countries are bearing the brunt of the harshest economic, social, and health effects of the crisis. Securing their futures requires ambitious action. This is why the international development sector has been calling for the government to invest 1% of its COVID response to support the global response and recovery. Current Budget provides for $375 million in COVID-19 global response, encapsulated in a $1.4 billion increase in international assistance, spread over five years. Such an increase emerges as insufficient against the backdrop of the biggest global crisis in a generation and the need for long-term investments in mechanisms of global health, social protection and economic collaboration on which depends our ability to recover from COVID-19 and prevent and mitigate future crises.

“Canada has an opportunity to do better later this year at the G7 Summit and the Paris Climate Conference (COP21) with a chance to invest in progressive and principled global development that is in everyone’s interest. It is time to commit meaningfully to effective efforts to build back healthier, safer, more equitable and sustainable communities for us all”, it further concluded.