... Again
When the Auditor General comes calling, it’s best to pay attention. Sheila Fraser’s investigations have historically struck fear into numerous agencies within government. Her no-nonsense, direct approach has not only provided effective accountability within government, she has also put her conclusions in language that resonates well with the public.This past week she unveiled her findings on the Canadian International Development Agency and, as seems a recurring theme these last few years, the Agency has come up short … again.For Canadians themselves, Fraser delivers a report that concludes our tax dollars are not being used as effectively as they should be. Despite 15 years of investment, six different strategic plans and five different ministers, the Agency is still stuck in the mire. There have been so many shifts in CIDA priorities in just these last few years that it’s hard to imagine how aid dollars can be disbursed effectively when there’s always a moving target. Money is wasted in such a setting, something the Auditor General hearkened to: “The nature of international development calls for stable, long-term programming and CIDA needs a comprehensive plan going forward.” But such a plan would be the seventh in just the last few years. Overall direction is good, but as CIDA’s recent failures have shown, such a plan can’t lead to ultimate success alone.As strange as it may sound, the answer to the Agency’s legendary drift might well be political. CIDA has no legislated mandate; its minister isn’t senior; and despite having a budget in the billions, it is merely the runt of the litter in Canada’s foreign policy establishment. As the British and other European nations have shown, foreign aid can be effective when a government makes it a priority. This is something that has been missing in both recent Liberal and Conservative governments. Until some Canadian government opts to give international development its own enhanced role at the table of decision-making, CIDA will continue to be the modern embodiment of the “gang that couldn’t shoot straight.”In fact, with so many shifts taking place in a relatively short period of time, the Auditor General wondered if CIDA is really capable of improving. The Harper government especially seems to delight in tinkering on foreign aid when it should be providing stability. When you have a previous Liberal government just a short time ago promising to double aid to Africa, then a Conservative government pulling its long-term development aid out of 8 African countries a short time later, you have a real problem.Sheila Fraser is surely correct when she says the Agency requires more focus. The lack of direction and the constant shuffling of priorities have left an Agency at sea and failing to deliver to the Canadian taxpayers the kind of efficiencies they would expect from a well-managed government department.At a time of relentless political name-calling and a brutal form of partisanship, CIDA is the one sector of government that can fly below the partisan radar screen and speak to the greater values of Canadians. But try as it might, CIDA has become so burdened down with bureaucracy and indecisiveness that it can’t get off the ground. It knew Sheila Fraser was on her way, yet it couldn’t summon up the political will to get its house in order in order to prove its humanitarian worth. As such, it has just been given another failing grade, only this time from a very high level. Unless the political will is provided to bring the Agency out of the doldrums, Canadians will never get their money’s worth, and, worse yet, the one billion poorest people in the world will never effectively experience the humanitarian compassion Canada was once known for.