“Scientists tell us there is no longer any excuse for human starvation, yet 2/3 of mankind remain hungry, while the world spends 150 billion dollars a year on armaments.” [Lotta Hitschmanova, 1969]

During the spring 2025 federal election campaign in Canada, our now Prime Minister made it crystal clear to voters, “My government will not cut foreign aid.”

And yet, he and they have done just that. At the same time, they have called for massive increases in defense spending. How is this possible? Does it make any sense at all?

There was a time – thanks to the extraordinary efforts of humanitarians like Dr. Lotta Hitschmanova – when Ottawa was considered to be a Canadian centre for compassion and caring for those less fortunate around the world. That time, sadly, appears to be in the rearview window.

We’re at a unique moment in time where Canadians so desperately want to take pride in our country, our values, and our government programs. We look at what’s happening south of the border, where the whole foreign aid program has been gutted. Is this our model now?

We look at all the crises around the world, in Africa in particular: increased poverty, environmental degradation, livelihoods being destroyed, democratic structures in peril, seeds being planted for yet further crises.

If ever there was a time for Canada, not just to maintain our foreign aid budget, but to expand it, it is now!

Apart from any moral or philanthropic considerations, even our own self-interest would tell us the same thing. Canada was once such a highly respected actor on the international development stage, people listened to us, for we tried to walk the talk in those days. This budget will only reaffirm our slow but steady decline.

If Lotta Hitschmanova were alive today, what message might she be bringing to Canadians across the country? Here are the exact words Lotta spoke in one of her Public Service Announcements in 1969, as relevant today as they were 56 years ago:

“This is Lotta Hitschmanova of the Unitarian Service Committee. Scientists tell us there is no longer any excuse for human starvation, yet 2/3 of mankind remain hungry, while the world spends 150 billion dollars a year on armaments. Won’t you invest a constructive dollar in the fight against need and poverty, with a contribution to the Unitarian Service Committee, 56 Sparks Street, Ottawa 4.”

My message to politicians of all stripes in Ottawa is this: propose and pass budget amendments to increase foreign aid. Canadians did not vote to slash foreign aid. Let’s keep in mind what Lotta Hitschmanova was telling us half a century ago.

Let’s make Ottawa great again, as a centre for compassion and caring for those less fortunate around the world.

David Rain