By . Tuesday, April 19, Nicci Stein Executive Director Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (

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1 Tuesday, April 19, 2011 By Nicci Stein Executive Director Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development ( Dear Madam: Attached are the answers to the questionnaire that you sent us in connection with the 2011 federal election. We hope our answers will help you understand our party s action in the policy sphere. Additional details regarding our policies can be found in the plateforme électorale section of our website at Sincerely, Dominic Labrie Adjoint au contenu 3730 Crémazie Street East, 4 th Floor Montréal, Quebec H2A 1B4

2 Response of the Bloc Québécois to the Questionnaire Submitted by the Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development International development, including HIV and AIDS 1. Do you support un-freezing Canada s aid budget and increasing our foreign aid to reach the United Nations target of 0.7% of Gross National Income within 10 years? 2. If elected, what would you and your party do to ensure that Canada met its commitment to reach the ODA target of 0.7% of GNI? Response to questions 1 and 2 In the 2010 budget, the federal government announced it intended to cap development assistance, thereby confirming that it would not make essential efforts to achieve the target of 0.7% of GNP. As the 2015 target year approaches, we have no choice but to admit that the inaction of successive federal governments makes it increasingly illusory to believe that Canada will be able to meet this international commitment. Nonetheless, the objective of devoting 0.7% of GNP to development assistance remains laudable. Hence, the federal government must come up with a credible and realistic plan to meet it. The federal government must therefore increase its international development assistance budget. We have also asked that the federal government s 2010 budget include a realistic timeline detailing the measures that can be implemented so that Canada, in collaboration with other governments, imposes a tax on international financial transactions. The revenues thereby generated can be allocated to development assistance. The Bloc Québécois has called for the federal government to implement a realistic plan to achieve, as quickly as possible, the UN target for official development assistance, namely 0.7% of GNP. 3. If elected, what would you and your party do to ensure that the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria had sufficient funding to meet the demand expressed in technically sound proposals submitted by implementing countries? Given the prevalence of these diseases in developing countries, we share the desire to fight them.

3 We therefore believe that the government must make every effort to work with international organizations to fight these illnesses. Hence, we unreservedly approve any increase in the budget granted to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. That said, if the Conservative government had produced a credible, disciplined plan to achieve the 0.7% target in 2015, Canada would have far more resources to devote to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This is also why the Bloc Québécois is asking the federal government to implement, as quickly as possible, a realistic plan to achieve the UN s 0.7% target. 4. If elected, how would your party support Canadian NGOs to carry out programs in developing countries? Would you respect the work of wellestablished and successful Canadian NGOs? An unmistakeable and disturbing trend has emerged from the Conservative camp in the past several months: the Conservative government is disengaging from international assistance NGOs in a significant way, and the Harper government is imposing a climate of fear among them. This disengagement is particularly marked when it comes to the needs of organizations that support positions which differ from the government s views. Indeed, since 2009, several CIDA-funded organizations have had to wait several months before getting a response to their funding applications. This has resulted in several layoffs, several and sometimes major program reviews, and, in several instances, a complete cut-off of funding. Since the Conservatives have come to power, CIDA has ended long-established partnerships with organizations that have a proven track record of efficiency and professionalism organizations that have demonstrated their crucial role in the democratic landscape. And yet the Conservative government is acting as though it were prohibited to criticize or question its policies, on pain of heavy reprisals. This attitude is shameful and unacceptable. The Bloc Québécois calls on the federal government to give NGOs predictable and long-term funding. Moreover, the government must ensure that these NGOs are independent: it is not up to civil society to defend a government s politics or policy.

4 5. If elected, what would your party do to renew the focus on foreign aid partnerships in Africa? On February 23, 2009, the Conservative government decided to focus its bilateral aid on 20 priority countries. This changed the 25-country list put in place by the Paul Martin government in By changing this list, the Conservative government stopped prioritizing Africa. Indeed, eight African countries were removed from the priority list, including Rwanda, Niger, Burkina Faso and Benin. The 2009 list contains only seven African countries, compared with 14 in the 2005 list. Moreover, the federal government has halved the number of Francophonie member states that will benefit from Canadian bilateral aid, from 10 in 2005, to five in Given the linguistic and cultural ties between these Francophone countries and Quebec and Canada, the Conservative government is showing that it has little consideration for Francophones at home and abroad. Some of the new countries on the list are better off than the African countries that were withdrawn. These new countries include Ukraine, Colombia, Peru, Pakistan and Indonesia. Based on poverty indicators, the 2005 list contained more poor countries than the 2009 list. The Bloc Québécois calls on the federal government to review its list of priority countries so that African and Francophone countries are not dropped. 6. If elected, will you and your party ask CIDA to incorporate TB-HIV coinfection as part of its larger aid effectiveness agenda? In the Bloc Québécois opinion, development assistance should be based on general but well-defined principles inspired by the UN Millennium Development Goals endorsed by Canada: 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. 2. Achieve universal primary education. 3. Promote gender equality and empower women. 4. Reduce child mortality. 5. Improve maternal health. 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. 7. Ensure environmental sustainability. 8. Develop a global partnership for development. Therefore, the Bloc Québécois calls on the federal government to take all necessary measures to help developing countries fight TB-HIV co-infection effectively.

5 7. A tiny tax on currency and other financial transactions (a Financial Transactions Tax or FTT) could easily raise hundreds of billions of dollars annually to support and strengthen the response to poverty and climate change both domestically and abroad. France, the UK and other European countries support an FTT. If elected, what would you and your party do to support the adoption and implementation of a global FTT? The Bloc Québécois favours a tax on international financial transactions in order to stop short-term speculative movements of capital. That is why it has called on the federal government to include a realistic timeline in its 2011 budget, setting out measures to be put in place so that Canada, in cooperation with other governments, can implement a tax on international financial transactions, from which part of the revenues would be allocated to international assistance. Unfortunately, the Conservative government has not seized the opportunity provided by the latest budget to implement such a tax in accordance with our recommendation. In response to the government s inaction, the Bloc Québécois has intervened in the House of Commons during several Question Periods to note that several economists and financial experts, and several notable heads of state, support the idea of a tax on the currency market. New HIV Prevention Technologies 8. Groundbreaking advances have been made in the past 18 months in the research and development of microbicides and a vaccine to prevent HIV infection. How will your party support the global effort in the research and development of new technologies to prevent the spread of HIV, including microbicides and vaccines? Will your party commit to re-instating CIDA funding to the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiatives (IAVI) at or near historical levels, to support HIV prevention research and development? First of all, the Bloc Québécois, a federal party, has proposed that Ottawa substantially increase budgets allocated to basic research. The identification of the causes of certain diseases, and the discovery of new palliative treatments, makes it possible to considerably improve the quality of life of sufferers. For the Bloc Québécois, research is one of the most promising avenues and must be stimulated.

6 With respect to prevention and support programs, the BQ notes that Quebec s own health care system is already committing resources to fight HIV. Since the Government of Quebec has exclusive constitutional jurisdiction over health, and is the only government that can take action involving all Quebec health care institutions, the Bloc Québécois feels that it is the Quebec government that has the authority to decide on priorities and develop action plans for Quebec. Our party advocates a simple approach to avoid costly duplications: any supplementary funding from Ottawa should be paid directly to Quebec and the provinces so that they can consolidate their own health care systems. Given the prevalence of these diseases in developing countries, we share the desire to fight them. In this regard, we believe that the government must make every effort to work with international organizations to fight these illnesses. We therefore unreservedly approve any increase in the budget granted to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. That said, if the Conservative government had produced a credible, disciplined plan to achieve the 0.7% target in 2015, Canada would have far more resources to devote to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) High Level Meeting on HIV and AIDS (June 2011) 9. The UNGASS Declaration of Commitment (DoC) on HIV/AIDS was adopted by all UN Member States including Canada in It provides a comprehensive framework to halt and reverse the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2010, and includes specific and measurable milestones for 2003, 2005 and In 2006, Canada recommitted to the targets set out in the DoC. The General Assembly in its resolution A/Res/65/180 (10 December 2010) has called for a High Level Meeting (HLM) on 8-10 June 2011, to undertake a comprehensive review of the progress achieved in realizing the 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, as well as to promote the continued engagement of leaders in a comprehensive global response to AIDS. Will you and your party continue to support the DoC and ensure that Canada is doing everything to meet our promised targets? HIV does not occur in isolation, and countries, including Canada, are dealing with other health concerns that have separate policies and approaches that could result in a setback on the progress made on HIV and the goals outlined in the DoC. If elected, how will you and your party support the integration of policies, programs and

7 services for HIV, TB, sexual and reproductive health, maternal and child health and Hepatitis C? Universal Access to treatment, prevention, care and support is something that the world has agreed upon, especially through documents such as the DoC. What will you and your party do to help achieve universal access by 2015 both here at home and in the global community? The Bloc Québécois will pressure the federal government to continue its support of the Declaration of Commitment (DoC) on AIDS. In addition, we believe that countries must be given assistance so they can deliver health care that provides hope to their people for a better future. Canada can play a role through its development assistance. As you know, one of the UN Millennium Development Goals is to eradicate diseases caused by extreme hunger in the world. And yet, in its 2010 and 2011 budget, the Conservative government announced its intent to cap development assistance budgets, thereby confirming that it would not make the necessary efforts to achieve the target of 0.7% of GNP. The Bloc Québécois calls on the federal government to put in place, as quickly as possible, a realistic plan to achieve the UN target of 0.7% GNP on official development assistance. Access to treatment, prevention, care and support 10. Millions of people in developing countries lack access to medicines for AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other public health problems because they cannot afford them. Seven years ago, Parliament unanimously passed a law (Canada s Access to Medicine s Regime CAMR) to help developing countries get less expensive, generic versions of high-priced patented drugs. But CAMR does not work.there is widespread support for fixing CAMR, including from humanitarian organizations, health and development experts, religious and community leaders and, according to a national opinion poll, 80% of Canadians. If elected, will you and your party support legislation to fix Canada s Access to Medicines Regime by creating a simple one-licence process, without additional and unnecessary restrictions, in order to improve access to affordable medicines for people in need in developing countries? The Bloc Québécois supported the bill regarding Canada s Access to Medicines Regime in the House of Commons last March.

8 11. If you are elected, what will you and your party do to ensure that Canada is placing human rights and gender equality at the centre of our response to HIV both here at home and through our international efforts? 12. If you are elected, how will you and your party ensure that all Canadians, including those who are particularly vulnerable to HIV, such as those who use drugs, sex workers, gay men and other men who have sex with men, migrant and mobile populations, have equal access to HIV prevention, care, treatment and support? The Bloc Québécois believes that the federal government must adopt a holistic and cross-cutting strategy to fight all diseases worldwide. But as far as the situation of Canada and Quebec is concerned, it must be understood that this issue falls under Quebec s exclusive jurisdiction. Consequently, the federal government should not be involved in this area unless it agrees to fund Quebec s initiatives without attaching any conditions to its funding.