Julian Fantino tries to parse CIDA’s budget.
“In actual fact, the CIDA budget has not been cut. We’ve just been more selective, if you will, in how we spend Canadian taxpayers’ generosity,” Julian Fantino told reporters on a conference call from Burkina Faso, in West Africa. The federal budget tabled by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty in April called for almost $380 million, or 7.5 per cent, to be cut from the Canadian International Development Agency, which is Fantino’s department…
Stephanie Rea, Fantino’s spokeswoman, contacted The Canadian Press after the conference call to clarify her minister’s remarks. While she agreed that CIDA’s overall budget had in fact been cut, she said Fantino was referring to the portion of his budget that dealt with “humanitarian assistance.” “Our budget measures protected all of our humanitarian dollars,” said Rea. She was unable to provide specific figures as of Tuesday evening.
Postmedia reported in April that a dozen countries would see their foreign aid from Canada reduced.