The problem of international aid in a post-CIDA Canada

The federal government has made an unfortunate error in transferring responsibility for development assistance to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, a department incapable of delivering this service.

Canada’s foreign aid program is made up of two distinct components.

The first, humanitarian assistance, or disaster relief, is meant to respond to immediate crises. Whether it is an earthquake, a tsunami, or a toxic spill, there are times when even the most prosperous peoples can be overwhelmed. In such circumstances, states like Canada step in to help.

CIDA Email Directs English Communications Only From Julian Fantino

OTTAWA - Another document dictating the language of communication from the office of International Co-operation Minister Julian Fantino has surfaced a day after he denied the existence of any such directives ordering messages be in English only.

On Monday, The Canadian Press obtained an email dated July 11, 2012, that was a written by a manager to some employees at the Canadian International Development Agency.

Morale ‘rock bottom’ at CIDA, still reeling from feds’ budget cuts, policy direction

Details are still scarce and staff at CIDA are nervous about their jobs as the aid organization is still reacting to the news announced in the federal budget that it will merge with Foreign Affairs and International Trade, but one observer also says it is status quo for now.

“They’re not going to fire everybody in Hull … and give all the projects to the foreign service officers who are already overstretched. At least for the time being, all of these people are going to stay in Hull and keep working,” said University of Ottawa professor Stephen Brown, editor of Struggling for Effectiveness: CIDA and Canadian Foreign Aid. He spoke to The Hill Times from Duisburg, Germany, where he is currently senior fellow at the University of Duisburg-Essen’s Centre for Global Cooperation Research.

Julian Fantino's Office Issues English-Only Communication Directive Twice

OTTAWA - The office of International Co-operation Minister Julian Fantino twice issued a directive that all communication with his signature be in English only, even if the recipient was French-speaking.

Official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser has agreed to look into the matter after a complaint from the New Democrats, who argue the order may violate the Official Languages Act.

I founded CIDA, but its death worries me less than Harper’s foreign-aid agenda

As one who was closely involved in the establishment of the Canadian International Development Agency, I am deeply concerned with the fundamental and largely negative effects of the changes recently announced by the government to Canada’s development assistance program.

Restructuring CIDA, and giving it the formal status within government that it never really had, is a positive step.

Global evidence suggests merging CIDA and DFAIT will be a mistake

The merger of CIDA and DFAIT is bound to dilute Canadian development commitments so that it serves the interests of private constituencies rather than the poor.


The merger between CIDA and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade announced in last week’s federal budget has been almost universally applauded in the Canadian media. It is claimed that integration will improve development and foreign policy coherence, advance a progressive trade agenda, expand access to the corridors of power and increase aid’s focus and efficiency. Integration with DFAIT is portrayed as the only cure to solve Canada’s aid woes. That simply isn’t true.

Canada has to deal with a different world

The return of the Canadian International Development Agency to the Foreign Affairs fold after a 45-year absence — an event that was strangely almost hidden in the 433-page budget Finance Minister Jim Flaherty introduced in the House of Commons last Thursday — is no small deal. The news certainly set off a good bit of chatter, and happily not all of it has been partisan, predictable and boring.

Dropping CIDA, snubbing the public purpose

The announcement last week that CIDA was being folded into the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade provoked its strongest reaction in Quebec. Let's see about creating a Quebec Ministry of International Co-operation blurted out Jean-Francois Lisée, Quebec Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs.

For Montreal-based Alternatives, the major international affairs NGO, putting international development under the authority of diplomats spells the demise of international solidarity networks once fostered by CIDA.

The Mandate of Poverty Reduction Must Not Be Lost in CIDA's Merger

In yesterday's budget the government announced that Canada's International Development Agency (CIDA) will be merged within the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). A new Department -- possibly with the amusing acronym DFATD -- will be created, although we have no idea how soon and at what cost.

Let's be clear: placing CIDA within DFAIT is not, in principle, a bad idea. In fact, this kind of arrangement has worked fairly well in other countries, including Norway, the Netherlands, and Ireland -- all respected international donors with strong records.

Decision to roll aid agency into Foreign Affairs seen as both an opportunity and a disaster

OTTAWA — Sitting between the Gatineau office building that houses the Canadian International Development Agency and Parliament Hill is the Ottawa River, a real and symbolic line separating the foreign aid agency from Canada’s political centre.

To some, that separation has let the agency and its dedicated staff chip away at global poverty in an effort to make life better for the world’s poorest people without any undue interference for decades.

Changes to NCC, CIDA best, Baird tells constituents

OTTAWA — Ottawa residents who go to Winterlude or Canada Day on Parliament Hill won’t notice much of a difference after the NCC hands over responsibility for celebrations on the Department of Canadian Heritage, Ottawa West-Nepean MP John Baird told supporters on Saturday morning.

“Canada Day is half run by Canadian Heritage and half by the NCC,” he told about 300 people at a breakfast for constituents.

“We’ve decided to consolidate the works on those kinds of festivities. If you go to Canada Day, you won’t notice much of a difference.”

Internal memo tells CIDA staff that current policies, programs will be maintained

OTTAWA — Officials with the Canadian International Development Agency, Foreign Affairs and International Trade say current policies and programs will be maintained and delivered consistently as the departments are amalgamated to become a new super department combining them all.

In a memo obtained by the Citizen, the senior executive and deputy ministers from CIDA, foreign affairs and trade asked staff to be patient as the amalgamation takes place and said that it will be done “respectfully and openly, recognizing the important work that is under way in our organizations and the skills, knowledge and expertise of our staff.”

New departmental legislation, the memo said, will be introduced in coming weeks.

CIDA's Death Leaves a Foreign Aid Skeleton

The young agency didn't even make it into its 20s. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) burst into public notice with the announcement of its first minister in 1995. Sadly, with yesterday's Conservative budget, CIDA suffered a premature passing.

Prior to that moment in 1995, Canada's foreign aid and development projects and policies were worked out and monitored under the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Yet under Brian Mulroney's government, and in partnership with Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Clark, government commitment to the world's needy took on a far more prominent role and Clark made it a matter of principle to ensure that the world understood that this country took its role in foreign aid seriously.

CIDA Shutdown: Harper Transition Team Wanted Merger With Foreign Affairs In 2006

OTTAWA - The seeds of the Canadian International Development Agency's demise were sown in the days before Stephen Harper was sworn in as prime minister.

After the Conservatives won power in January 2006, the veteran diplomat and public servant leading Harper's transition team recommended the merger of CIDA with Foreign Affairs, but he was slapped down by a hostile bureaucracy that included the Privy Council Office.

CIDA’s sudden demise shifts control to PMO

For 45 years, the Canadian International Development Agency has been synonymous with Canada’s efforts to alleviate poverty and respond to disasters abroad.

That brand – as Canada and the world know it, at least – is no longer. On Thursday, the Conservative government announced that CIDA, once a standalone agency, will be absorbed into the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. The change, which was spelled out in the budget, is a bold and symbolic final step after years of efforts to more closely align the agency’s priorities with other government objectives.

CIDA Closed: International Aid Agency Merged With Foreign Affairs

OTTAWA - A 45-year-old federal agency that's spent billions improving the lives of people around the world is closing.

The Canadian International Development Agency will be merged into the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Thursday's federal budget announced.

The move finishes something the Conservatives began in 2006, when they remarried the trade and foreign affairs portfolios to emphasize that trade policy was a key part of their foreign affairs agenda.

Canada Cuts Direct Foreign Aid To China

OTTAWA - Canada has cut direct foreign aid to China as part of an overhaul of international assistance spending.

It's one of 14 countries that will see their aid either reduced or eliminated by the end of next year as the Canadian International Development Agency slashes $377 million in aid spending by 2014-2015.

The cuts are part of an overhaul of bilateral aid programming, with CIDA aiming to target funds more precisely and work more with the private sector.

John Baird slams anti-gay statements by CIDA-funded group

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird took aim Tuesday at "offensive" and "mean-spirited" statements on the website of an organization that gets federal funding to do aid work in Uganda.

The Canadian International Development Agency is providing $544,813 over three years to Christian Crossroads Communications Inc. to provide water and sanitation in Uganda, a country that is considering the death penalty for gays and lesbians.

Anti-gay religious group gets CIDA funding for work in Africa

OTTAWA, Ont. -- An evangelical organization that describes homosexuality as a "perversion" and a "sin" is receiving funding from the Government of Canada for its work in Uganda, where gays and lesbians face severe threats.

The federal government has denounced virulent homophobia in that East African country and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has condemned plans for an anti-gay bill that could potentially include the death penalty for homosexuals.

CIDA official misused taxpayer money: Integrity commissioner

OTTAWA—A senior executive at the federal agency responsible for billions in overseas aid was using taxpayers’ time and money to conduct private business, an investigation has found.

The executive, a director general at the Canadian International Development Agency, also had civil servants doing their personal bidding, the public integrity commissioner concluded in a report released Tuesday.