XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ont.politics   
   From: {~_~}@nyet.ca   
      
   They simply sit on money that has been advanced to them for spending on   
   major projects.  IOW - they don't use those monies and those monies now   
   form 'revenue' on the credit side of their books.  Lots of other   
   departments and programs have been short-changed in the same way.   
   Their new term for this sleight-of-hand:  'reprofiling'.   
   ___________________________________   
      
   Globe and Mail - April 22, 2014   
      
   Two reasons why $290-million in foreign aid went unspent   
      
      
   Canada's international development minister is defending his   
   government's record on foreign aid, saying a recent lapse in spending by   
   the Canadian International Development Agency occurred largely because   
   of instability in two of Canada's priority countries   
      
   Canada's international development minister is defending his   
   government's record on foreign aid, saying a recent lapse in spending by   
   the Canadian International Development Agency occurred largely because   
   of instability in two of Canada's priority countries.   
      
   Christian Paradis told The Globe and Mail in an interview last week that   
   the agency spent less money than budgeted because of a review looking at   
   how Canada's aid to Haiti was being spent and the coup d'etat that   
   occurred in Mali.  Official government figures show that $290-million in   
   money that had been allocated for foreign aid in the 2012-2013 fiscal   
   year went unspent, leading critics to accuse the Conservative government   
   of attempting to cut foreign aid through the back door.   
      
   The lapse likely played into the Organization for Economic Development   
   and Co-operation's recent finding that Canadian foreign aid declined by   
   11 per cent overall in 2013 – the second biggest drop of any country in   
   the world.   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
      
   Development experts have suggested the lapse in spending could be linked   
   to a recent policy change requiring every proposed development project   
   to receive direct ministerial approval – regardless of its size or   
   relative importance. That requirement is widely believed to have   
   contributed to a bottleneck of unapproved projects sitting on the   
   minister's desk.   
      
   In an interview with The Globe last week, Mr. Paradis offered a   
   different explanation for the recent decline in spending, saying the   
   lapse was largely the result of external events that made it more   
   difficult to ensure aid money was being spent appropriately.   
      
   "You have serious files like Haiti and Mali in which there were some   
   issues," Mr. Paradis said.  "This is the biggest reason why [there was a   
   lapse].  At the time, there was some review [of aid to Haiti], and the   
   coup in Mali."   
      
   Ottawa suspended all bilateral aid to Mali in 2012, after Islamist   
   militants orchestrated a coup in the West African country. Mr. Paradis   
   said the halt in funding was necessary to ensure development money was   
   "going in the right hands." (Canadian bilateral aid to Mali only resumed   
   this spring.)   
      
   The federal government also paused new funding for aid work in Haiti, a   
   change that came to light when former international development minister   
   Julian Fantino announced he was unhappy with progress in the Caribbean   
   country and had frozen development funding while programming was   
   reviewed.  The announcement appeared to catch both Canadian and Haitian   
   officials by surprise.   
      
   Mr. Paradis added that some of the money was "reprofiled" for other   
   initiatives while another pool of money, set aside for crises and   
   emergencies, was not spent because it was not needed.   
      
   The spending lapse was particularly concerning for those who worried   
   that the merger between CIDA and the Department of Foreign Affairs could   
   result in more development funding being appropriated for diplomatic or   
   trade purposes.   
      
   However, Mr. Paradis said the former CIDA is projecting a lapse of less   
   than $30-million for the year that just ended, suggesting more of the   
   money budgeted for development was actually spent, when compared with   
   the previous year.   
      
   "Canada is focused on delivering real results for those in need around   
   the world as well as Canadian taxpayers," Mr. Paradis said in a   
   statement sent by e-mail after his interview with the Globe. "We pay   
   what we pledge, we meet our commitments and we are helping save the   
   lives of millions of mothers and children around the world."   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)