The Trudeau Liberals continue to send millions in foreign aid to China to “advance” LGBTQ rights, new Department of Foreign Affairs records show. The department detailed millions in aid under the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives and stated the campaign is a “tool for advancing two spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender … rights internationally,” per Blacklock’s Reporter. “The program was developed with the objective of addressing local needs through local partners in line with Canada’s foreign policy priorities,” the department wrote in an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons. “As such, the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives projects are designed, proposed and implemented by local civil society organizations active at the community and grassroots level.”Funding to China totaled $3.08 million in the past four years. The figures were disclosed at the request of Conservative MP Kelly McCauley, who asked, “How much funding was provided through the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Canada Fund For Local Initiatives since 2016?”The Canada Fund spends $26.9 million a year worldwide. “The fund continues to be a tool for advancing two spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and additional sexually and gender diverse peoples’ rights internationally,” said the Inquiry.“The fund has provided consistent advocacy support on this issue.”Opposition MPs four years ago proposed an immediate end to all foreign aid to a “Communist dictatorial government that abuses human rights.” Canadian foreign aid to China overall has declined from $41 million in 2020 to $7.8 million last year, according to Statistical Reports On International Assistance.“I don’t believe Canadian taxpayers should be sending any money to China,” Opposition House Leader Andrew Scheer earlier told reporters. “We’re talking about a Communist dictatorial government that abuses human rights, quashes freedoms, violates rights of its citizens and has a very aggressive foreign policy all throughout the region.”“We’ve been calling on this government to stand up for itself, stand up for Canadians, stop being bullied and pushed around on the world stage especially by China.”The Inquiry did not name foreign aid projects currently funded in China. Past subsidies financed “small scale but high impact projects” like $37,654 to “foster dialogue on the challenges of young female offenders” in Chinese prisons, $31,791 to “help low income single mothers and girls grow up happily,” $30,801 to promote “environmental justice and ecological restoration” and $1,248 in grants to “increase understanding” of sanitation workers.China aid figures do not include Parliament’s 2017 passage of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Agreement Act that pledged up to US$375 million to buy shares in the Beijing based institution. The Department of Finance in 2019 Access To Information records said it considered the bank shares an “investment” and not charity.
