RENEWING CANADA’S ROLE IN INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT Report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development Michael Levitt, Chair JUNE 2019 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION Published under the authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons SPEAKER’S PERMISSION The proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees are hereby made available to provide greater public access. The parliamentary privilege of the House of Commons to control the publication and broadcast of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees is nonetheless reserved. All copyrights therein are also reserved. Reproduction of the proceedings of the House of Commons and its Committees, in whole or in part and in any medium, is hereby permitted provided that the reproduction is accurate and is not presented as official. This permission does not extend to reproduction, distribution or use for commercial purpose of financial gain. 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For greater certainty, this permission does not affect the prohibition against impeaching or questioning the proceedings of the House of Commons in courts or otherwise. The House of Commons retains the right and privilege to find users in contempt of Parliament if a reproduction or use is not in accordance with this permission. Also available on the House of Commons website at the following address: www.ourcommons.ca RENEWING CANADA’S ROLE IN INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT Report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development Michael Levitt Chair JUNE 2019 42nd PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION NOTICE TO READER Reports from committee presented to the House of Commons Presenting a report to the House is the way a committee makes public its findings and recommendations on a particular topic. Substantive reports on a subject-matter study usually contain a synopsis of the testimony heard, the recommendations made by the committee, as well as the reasons for those recommendations. STANDING COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CHAIR Michael Levitt VICE-CHAIRS Hon. Erin O’Toole Guy Caron MEMBERS Ziad Aboultaif Leona Alleslev Frank Baylis Pamela Goldsmith-Jones (Parliamentary Secretary — Non-Voting Member) Kamal Khera (Parliamentary Secretary — Non-Voting Member) Robert Oliphant (Parliamentary Secretary — Non-Voting Member) Raj Saini Jati Sidhu Anita Vandenbeld Borys Wrzesnewskyj OTHER MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT WHO PARTICIPATED Kelly Block David de Burgh Graham Gérard Deltell Linda Duncan Pat Finnigan Stephanie Kusie Larry Maguire Darrell Samson Gagan Sikand Sven Spengemann Dave Van Kesteren iii CLERK OF THE COMMITTEE Erica Pereira LIBRARY OF PARLIAMENT Parliamentary Information and Research Service Allison Goody, Analyst Brian Hermon, Analyst Scott McTaggart, Analyst iv THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT has the honour to present its TWENTY-EIGHTH REPORT Pursuant to its mandate under Standing Order 108(2), the Committee has studied Canada's role in international support for democratic development and has agreed to report the following: v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................................... 1 RENEWING CANADA’S ROLE IN INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 5 What is Democratic Development? .......................................................................................... 6 A broad definition of democracy ........................................................................................ 7 Local context .............................................................................................................................. 8 The Purpose of Democratic Development ............................................................................. 8 Democratic development as an expression of values ................................................ 9 Democratic development as part of effective development aid ............................. 9 Democratic development as part of Canadian foreign policy .............................. 10 Democracy around the World and Canadian support for Democratic Development .................................................................................................................................. 11 The Current Context for Democratic Development ................................................. 11 History of Canadian Support for Democratic Development ................................. 13 Canadian Government Support for Democratic Development ............................ 15 Current funding in context ......................................................................................... 17 A Renewed Canadian Democratic Development Strategy ............................................ 20 Elements of an Effective Democratic Development Strategy ............................... 22 A long-term and incremental approach ................................................................ 22 Prioritize civil society ................................................................................................... 23 A gender focus ................................................................................................................. 24 Respect for local context ............................................................................................. 25 Opportunities and need for Canadian engagement ................................................. 25 Countries with similar systems to Canada ........................................................... 26 Countries where Canada has existing development ties ................................ 27 Women’s political empowerment ............................................................................ 27 vii Support to political parties ......................................................................................... 28 Implementing A Canadian Democratic Development Strategy .................................. 28 Building Democracy Expertise within Global Affairs Canada .............................. 29 A Revitalized Partnership with Civil Society .............................................................. 30 A New Canadian Democratic Development Institution .......................................... 31 All-party support and civil society engagement................................................. 33 Independence from government .............................................................................. 34 Grant funder versus project implementor ........................................................... 35 Governance ....................................................................................................................... 36 Financial Support to Democratic Development ........................................................ 38 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 39 APPENDIX A: LIST OF WITNESSES ............................................................................................... 41 APPENDIX B: LIST OF BRIEFS......................................................................................................... 43 REQUEST FOR GOVERNMENT RESPONSE ................................................................................ 45 SUPPLEMENTARY OPINION OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA ............... 47 viii LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS As a result of their deliberations committees may make recommendations which they include in their reports for the consideration of the House of Commons or the Government. Recommendations related to this study are listed below. Recommendation 1 The Government of Canada should make democracy a priority concern within its international policy by putting in place a comprehensive democratic development strategy. Democratic governance, including engagement of local civil society, should be considered a valuable component of every Canadian international assistance program and project. .......................................................... 21 Recommendation 2 The Government of Canada’s international support for democratic development should embrace a long-term and incremental approach with respect to the evaluation of results, and be oriented around consistent engagement with partners. .....................................................................................