Ukraine could get more Canadian aid, says minister of international cooperation (02/16/97)

Ukraine could get more Canadian aid, says minister of international cooperation

by Christopher Guly

OTTAWA - According to Canada's minister of international cooperation, Don Boudria, rumors that the federal government's shift in its foreign aid development policy will harm its relationship with Ukraine are unfounded.

Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy recently said Canada would re-focus its attention on Third World aid to international security issues. That made some Canadian groups working in Ukraine worried they could lose federal funding.

"It can't happen," said Mr. Boudria in an interview. "Basically, I administer two programs. One is for countries that qualify for Official Development Assistance (ODA), or what we would call Third World nations. The other is for countries in transition, such as those in Central and Eastern Europe. Funds used for those countries can't be used for developing countries."

However, Paulette Schatz, program manager for the Partners in Health project of the Canadian Society for International Health, said the federal government's international priority appears to be more focused on countries in Africa.

"Axworthy has said he wants to continue to work on a peace initiative in the world, but always targets such countries as Rwanda and Zaire," said Ms. Schatz. "Yet that seems to be a contradiction when one of the highest strategic places in the world cited is Ukraine."

She said the Canadian public "is only being educated about the poorest of the poor" at the expense of countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

Partners in Health is one of three components of the Canada-Ukraine Partners Program. PIH receives $1.5 million ($1.1 million U.S.) from the federal government. Earlier this year, Mr. Axworthy said Canada would focus on "human security concerns," through such initiatives as training for Third World journalists, promoting distance education, and transmitting development-related radio and television programs into the world's poorest countries.

That new focus doesn't involve any change in funding, because the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), for which Mr. Boudria is responsible, is already facing a $309-million ($224 million U.S.) budget cut over the next two years.

Since 1991, CIDA's budget has been reduced by 45 percent. Last December - two months after he was appointed to his current cabinet post - Mr. Boudria announced that bilateral aid would decrease by 8.3 percent this year and 8.1 percent in 1998. He said the reduction would be evenly distributed around the world, including Central and Eastern Europe.

However, in a December 10, 1996, address before the Parliament's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Mr. Boudria said that "in keeping with what Canadians have told us about the importance of focusing on poverty and the poorest, 70 percent of these programs will focus on low-income countries."

He added that the federal government would also concentrate 70 percent of its financial aid in 25 countries. Those nations would fall under the ODA banner.

Canada's foreign aid program to Ukraine and its regional partners moved from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to CIDA two years ago.

Since Ukraine obtained its independence in 1991, Canada has committed more than $204 million ($148 million U.S.) in bilateral assistance to it.

Annually, Ukraine receives between $18 million and $20 million ($13 million-$14 million U.S.) from Canada, or about what Russia receives, according to CIDA officials. Ukraine accounts for about 20 percent of the budget allocated to Central and East European countries.

In total, CIDA distributes over $2.2 billion ($1.6 billion U.S.) in foreign aid throughout the world. With the recent cuts, that will be reduced to $1.95 billion ($1.4 billion U.S.) by 1998-1999 - the lowest share of Canada's gross national product since the mid-1960s.

The GNP includes a country's gross domestic product (GDP) plus net factor income from abroad, which is the income residents receive from overseas for such services as labor and capital, minus similar payments to non-residents who contribute to the domestic economy.

The GDP, meanwhile, represents the total output of goods and services for final use produced by an economy by both residents and non-residents, regardless of the allocation to domestic and foreign claims. It doesn't include deductions for depreciation of physical capital, or depletion and degradation of natural resources.

Three years ago, Canada's GNP per capita was $19,570 U.S. In 1995, Canadian foreign aid expenditures, at about their current levels, accounted for .29 percent of the GNP.

Nevertheless, Mr. Boudria said Ukraine could stand to receive more money from the Canadian government in the future. "Countries in Central and Eastern Europe that have had a more rapid transition may have their funds re-directed elsewhere," he explained.

Should Hungary and the Czech Republic be admitted to the European Union, for instance, they would have to relinquish the foreign aid they receive from Canada.

The same will apply to Ukraine, says Real Lalande, who runs CIDA's Ukraine program. "At one time, their transition will be over," he said. "The Canadian government's involvement would not be so much in assistance but in establishing partnerships."

During International Development Week in Canada, which took place February 2-8, Mr. Boudria announced a notarial reform project, sponsored by Quebec's public notaries' association.

Mr. Boudria is expected to make his first official visit to Central and Eastern Europe in April. It is not known whether he will stop in Ukraine.

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