Foreign Aid

Foreign Aid

There has been a lot of talk lately about Canada's role in foreign aid, what with the changing of the guard, Julian Fantino taking over from Bev Oda. It has been pointed out that in recent years Canada's foreign aid policy has shifted from a focus on the world's poorest to places where Canada has corporate interests. It seems a lot of Canada's International Development Agency (CIDA) funding has lately been going to work in partnership with resource development corporations operating in south and central America. These are companies that could easily afford to fund their own programs if they were truly interested in being moral corporate citizens.

In my humble opinion, aid should be given out of concern for humanity. Not predicated on corporate greed. It seems to me that our government has lost sight of the concept of altruism. Altruism, if you are unfamiliar with the term, is giving because it's the right thing to do. Giving because there is need and because you are able to give. It is not giving because there is any advantage to be gained. It is giving because of genuine concern, without strings or expectation of compensation or reward. “Agape” (pronounced a-gap-ay) is another term for the same thing. Giving with love.

As a child, I learned about giving from my mother. She was selfless. She took in elderly people and looked after them. Some were close relatives (her mother, my Dad's mom and dad, her aunt), others I was never sure how, or if, we were related. My childhood was a stream of impossibly ancient people in our home. They often smelled funny and said peculiar things and some were strange enough to be a bit scary to me as a small child, but my Mom took care of them. She cut up their foods, cooked according to their special diets, cleaned up after them if they had “accidents”. She took them to appointments, did their hair, read to them, did their laundry and tried to make them comfortable. Most did not have long to live. Six, eight months, maybe a year or even two. And she did her best to make their last days happy. She did it without payment or promise of reward. Indeed, I recall her having to endure complaints from my Dad and peevish little me, who was never allowed to run in the house or be noisy because it would wake someone or distress them. I think the most tangible reward she ever got was when one old lady died and her relatives showed up (where were they while she was with us?) and took away her belongings, and there was a beat-up old dresser they didn't want. I believe she did it because she wanted to help. Because she really believed it was the right thing to do. Because she had compassion and love. Because she felt it was her duty. And her privilege. I say privilege, because she shared with these people the ends of their journeys and did her best to make them feel safe and at peace. Not so many people these days have the opportunity to offer such a gift to others.

That is giving. Tying aid to access to resources is not giving. It is a commercial exchange. Sometimes more roundabout than others, but a commercial exchange, nonetheless. I believe Canadians want to feel their country is making a difference in the world. Genuinely, altruistically helping other people far away. This government has changed that landscape.