Canadian Foreign Policy Journal · 1998 · 16 citations · 2 references
Social SciencesInternational RelationsPolitical ScienceInternational DevelopmentInternational Political EconomyInternational Trade PolicyForeign AidForeign PolicyInternational AidInternational CooperationMultilateral DiplomacyRestructuring AidBureaucratic IndependenceComplete SubordinationForeign Aid FlowsInternational Aid EffectivenessInternational Development PolicyMultilateral AidPolicy StructureTakeover Bid Conditions
The tension between effective foreign aid programs and a policy structure dominated by domestic and political objectives has conditioned the functioning of the Canadian International Development Agency since its creation in 1968. As Cranford Pratt details current arguments for a complete subordination of CIDA to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade have their source within this tension, noting that the official rationale of bureaucratic efficiency is less likely a motive than is the strengthening of policy capabilities within DFAIT. Although efforts to tie Canadian aid to Canadian interests abroad, as opposed to helping “the poorest countries to help themselves,” have come to dominate the Agency's agenda at the behest of its masters within DFAIT, Pratt notes that critics feel the Agency does not serve either purpose with any degree of efficiency. While greater subordination to DFAIT might in the end result in greater coherence of foreign policy and aid objectives, Pratt argues that an independent CIDA must be preserved if the less self‐interested forms of international assistance are to survive. The author concludes that an ultimate solution will require altogether new initiatives that will restructure relations both within and between CIDA and DFAIT.
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