Controversy swirls around CIDA
By PETER WORTHINGTON
Article Link
When Senator Colin Kenny told the Ottawa Citizen's editorial board that CIDA's aid to Afghanistan was screwed up and not reaching recipients, he had no idea his views would be as newsworthy as they were.
He noted poor accountability, corruption rife among Afghans, and CIDA money likely winding up in "Swiss bank accounts."
"I thought at the time this was old stuff and everyone knew it," he said last week, somewhat ingenuously. "I was surprised it was so newsworthy."
Bev Oda, Minister of International Co-operation responsible for CIDA, reacted vehemently and called criticisms "outrageous."
For what it's worth, Colin Kenny, chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, was dead on the money about CIDA. And not only in Afghanistan, but in the distribution of some $80 million that Canada raised for victims of the tsunami that struck Sri Lanka on Boxing Day, 2004.
Ask any Canadian soldier involved in rescue work in Sri Lanka about CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) funds promised for rebuilding schools, providing fresh water, and other vital needs for tsunami victims. The answer will likely be an obscenity, or cynical quip that none of the promised money was forthcoming.
For Afghanistan, Canada has pledged over $1 billion in aid.
No clue
As for Minister Oda -- she hasn't a clue what goes on inside the CIDA bureaucracy. Like her predecessor, she is dependent on what CIDA staff tell her. When the likes of Sen. Kenny ask questions, she prefers to respond with written answers -- supplied by staff, because she just doesn't know.
Not her fault. It's just the way it is. And how CIDA operates.
Although she has called Kenny's accusations "wild and without fact," his observations of CIDA failings are supported by the recent Manley commission in Afghanistan. And the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee's findings.
It would be appropriate for the Harper government to launch an inquiry into CIDA.
When Capt. Alex Watson of the Princess Pats was in Kandahar in the early days, building schools and digging wells, promised funding never materialized. Unconfirmed reports are that the U.S. 101st Airborne raised the money to save the reputation of the Canadian soldiers.
Filmmaker Garth Pritchard who covered the Sri Lanka tsunami, reported in the Sun that CIDA aid never arrived, or was far short of what was promised.
When I questioned federal accountability, I was told money was turned over to CIDA without checks on how it was spent. CIDA, in turn, said it turned money over to appropriate agencies, again with no checks on how it was spent. So there is little or no accountability -- which is what Sen. Kenny found when he tried to follow the money trail. Worse, he says his committee is actively prevented from visiting CIDA projects in Afghanistan.
Ask soldiers
The key to finding out what CIDA is doing -- or not doing -- in Afghanistan is the military. Interview soldiers and there'll be abundant evidence. From Manley to Kenny, the question begs: Where is the Afghanistan aid money?
CIDA has always been controversial. In the 1960s neo-Marxist ideology dominated CIDA's "aid" projects in Africa. In general, foreign aid has been a mixed blessing to recipients -- used by despots to enhance control, as happened during the 1980s Ethiopian famine, when food aid was diverted to feed the army.
CIDA is a story our embedded media in Kandahar could bird-dog -- more important than what happens to Taliban prisoners Canadians turn over to the Afghans.
More on link
By PETER WORTHINGTON
Article Link
When Senator Colin Kenny told the Ottawa Citizen's editorial board that CIDA's aid to Afghanistan was screwed up and not reaching recipients, he had no idea his views would be as newsworthy as they were.
He noted poor accountability, corruption rife among Afghans, and CIDA money likely winding up in "Swiss bank accounts."
"I thought at the time this was old stuff and everyone knew it," he said last week, somewhat ingenuously. "I was surprised it was so newsworthy."
Bev Oda, Minister of International Co-operation responsible for CIDA, reacted vehemently and called criticisms "outrageous."
For what it's worth, Colin Kenny, chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, was dead on the money about CIDA. And not only in Afghanistan, but in the distribution of some $80 million that Canada raised for victims of the tsunami that struck Sri Lanka on Boxing Day, 2004.
Ask any Canadian soldier involved in rescue work in Sri Lanka about CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) funds promised for rebuilding schools, providing fresh water, and other vital needs for tsunami victims. The answer will likely be an obscenity, or cynical quip that none of the promised money was forthcoming.
For Afghanistan, Canada has pledged over $1 billion in aid.
No clue
As for Minister Oda -- she hasn't a clue what goes on inside the CIDA bureaucracy. Like her predecessor, she is dependent on what CIDA staff tell her. When the likes of Sen. Kenny ask questions, she prefers to respond with written answers -- supplied by staff, because she just doesn't know.
Not her fault. It's just the way it is. And how CIDA operates.
Although she has called Kenny's accusations "wild and without fact," his observations of CIDA failings are supported by the recent Manley commission in Afghanistan. And the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee's findings.
It would be appropriate for the Harper government to launch an inquiry into CIDA.
When Capt. Alex Watson of the Princess Pats was in Kandahar in the early days, building schools and digging wells, promised funding never materialized. Unconfirmed reports are that the U.S. 101st Airborne raised the money to save the reputation of the Canadian soldiers.
Filmmaker Garth Pritchard who covered the Sri Lanka tsunami, reported in the Sun that CIDA aid never arrived, or was far short of what was promised.
When I questioned federal accountability, I was told money was turned over to CIDA without checks on how it was spent. CIDA, in turn, said it turned money over to appropriate agencies, again with no checks on how it was spent. So there is little or no accountability -- which is what Sen. Kenny found when he tried to follow the money trail. Worse, he says his committee is actively prevented from visiting CIDA projects in Afghanistan.
Ask soldiers
The key to finding out what CIDA is doing -- or not doing -- in Afghanistan is the military. Interview soldiers and there'll be abundant evidence. From Manley to Kenny, the question begs: Where is the Afghanistan aid money?
CIDA has always been controversial. In the 1960s neo-Marxist ideology dominated CIDA's "aid" projects in Africa. In general, foreign aid has been a mixed blessing to recipients -- used by despots to enhance control, as happened during the 1980s Ethiopian famine, when food aid was diverted to feed the army.
CIDA is a story our embedded media in Kandahar could bird-dog -- more important than what happens to Taliban prisoners Canadians turn over to the Afghans.
More on link
