The federal government is preparing to send more taxpayer-funded aid to Cuba, even as opposition MPs question why Ottawa continues to spend millions in a one-party state aligned with regimes hostile to Canada.Testifying before the Commons foreign affairs committee, Mark Richardson, director general of the Caribbean bureau at the Global Affairs Canada, confirmed cabinet is drafting a new humanitarian assistance package for the island nation.“The federal government is ready to support humanitarian assistance efforts in Cuba,” Richardson told MPs. “We are preparing a plan to do so.”Richardson said Ottawa has provided an average of $6.5 million annually over the past seven years in development assistance through international partner agencies. Blacklock's Reporter said according to the department’s most recent Statistical Report on International Assistance, foreign aid to Cuba last year totalled $6.84 million.The testimony came as Rodrigo Diaz, Cuba’s ambassador to Canada, painted a dire picture of fuel and food shortages that he said have brought the island to a standstill. Diaz told MPs gasoline is so scarce that even ambulances have been sidelined.“We are having problems, not only with access of medicine or equipment, but even for fuel to move patients to hospital,” Diaz said, adding shortages “affect everything.”.Conservative MP Lianne Rood challenged the rationale for further aid, noting Cuba “remains a one-party dictatorship that jails dissidents, restricts basic freedoms and partners with regimes that are hostile to Canada such as Russia, China and Iran.”“Why is the Government of Canada still providing any taxpayer-funded assistance?” Rood asked.Richardson replied that Canada continues to support “the Cuban people.”Rood also pressed officials for a breakdown of how much Canadian taxpayer money has been spent since 2020 on embassy operations, consular services and international assistance in Cuba, and whether it is responsible to continue to spend tax dollars maintaining diplomatic infrastructure in a country aligned with adversaries targeting Canadian interests. Richardson said he did not have the exact figures.Rood further asked Diaz how many political prisoners Cuba currently holds.“In Cuba no one is in prison for their beliefs but for breaking the law,” the ambassador replied..Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand later confirmed an announcement on additional aid is imminent.“It’s important because we’re here as a multilateral country and also for the humanitarian situation on the ground, to be there for the people who are suffering,” Anand told reporters. “We are considering our next steps.”Asked directly whether Ottawa is preparing an aid package for Cuba, Anand responded: “We are. I will have an announcement in the coming days.”Details of what the new package will include have not yet been released.
