1. The Pros and Cons of Canada’s Foreign Aid

2. Pros Support development and reduce poverty.
Makes for a more secure world.
Develops good relations with other countries.
Hopefully they will return the favour.

3. Enhances foreign trade. Aid creates jobs in the receiving country
Enhances foreign trade. Aid creates jobs in the receiving country. Those people spend money, hopefully on Canadian goods.
A lot of aid is “tied aid”: receiving country must spend the money in Canada.
Therefore helps Canadians; a form of government aid to industry.

4. Develops military alliances.
It’s the “right thing” to do. Reduces human suffering.

5. Cons A burden on taxpayers; taxes high enough.
A lot of foreign loans never get repaid.
This just causes the receiving country to be even more poor as it tries to pay the loans off.
Creates dependency, not independence.

6. Sometimes foreign aid gets spent in the wrong areas: the military and not on the poor.
Have to be careful that aid does not create bitterness or enemies by helping one country and not another.
A lot of problems still in Canada (eg., Native communities) so why spend hard earned taxpayers dollars in another country.