KLEIN: Canada sends $8.5B overseas while Canadians line up at foodbanks (2025)

On March 9, Canada’s Minister of International Development, Ahmed Hussen, stood at a podium and announced $272.1 million in new funding for 14 development projects in Bangladesh and across the Indo-Pacific region.

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These projects aim to promote gender equality, advance sexual and reproductive health, and expand education and skills training.

The news came and went, barely causing a ripple in most media circles. No outrage. No tough questions. No debate. It was just another line item in the growing list of handouts from Canadian taxpayers to foreign governments and agencies.

The number deserves our attention: $272 million. Not a loan. Not an investment that guarantees a return. A gift. Money borrowed against our future. Money our children and grandchildren will still be paying back decades from now.

Let’s be clear: This isn’t an attack on helping others in need. Canadians are some of the most generous people in the world. We give to charities. We support humanitarian relief. We stand with allies, but at what point do we stop and ask: Who is standing with us?

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Who is helping our seniors living on fixed incomes, many of whom can no longer afford food? Who is helping the thousands of Canadians waiting months — sometimes years — for basic health care? Who is helping the small business owners strangled by high taxes, crime, and endless government red tape?

While Ottawa is busy writing cheques to overseas governments, Canadians here at home are being told to tighten their belts. Families are skipping meals to pay their utility bills. Retirees who built this country are turning down their thermostats and delaying prescription refills to save money. Our veterans are still fighting for proper housing and mental health support.

In 2023 alone, Canada’s food bank usage reached record highs. According to Food Banks Canada, 1.9 million visits were made to food banks in March 2023 — a 32% increase from the year before. That isn’t a blip. That’s a crisis.

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Yet, the federal government continues to behave as if there is an endless supply of money. There isn’t. In fact, we don’t even have the money we’re giving away. It’s borrowed. Our national debt is now over $1.2 trillion. Interest payments on that debt are expected to hit $54 billion this year, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. That’s more than we spend on health transfers to the provinces. You read that correctly: More on debt interest than on health care.

This isn’t sustainable. Anyone running a business knows you can’t spend more than you earn and expect to stay open. You can’t borrow endlessly without consequences. Yet, this is exactly how Canada is being managed.

The $272 million to Bangladesh is only one example. Since 2015, Canada has increased its foreign aid spending by nearly 27%, according to Global Affairs Canada. Last year, we committed over $8.5 billion in foreign aid. That’s a lot of borrowed money sent abroad while things at home continue to erode.

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It’s time we start asking the tough questions: Who is making these decisions? Who do they answer to? Most importantly, who do they represent? Because it doesn’t seem like it’s you or me.

We are heading into an election soon — whether it’s federal or municipal, it doesn’t matter. We need to stop voting based on party loyalty. That’s failed us for years. Look at the debt. Look at inflation. Look at crime rates. Look at our health care wait times. Party loyalty has bought us very little and cost us a lot.

This election needs to be about the future of Canada, not Donald Trump, not climate change theatre, not empty promises about equity and inclusion. It needs to be about common sense issues. Cost of living. Public safety. Immigration that works for Canadians. Government spending that we can actually afford.

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Ask yourself a simple question: If you owned a business, who would you hire to run it? Someone who spends recklessly with no plan for repayment? Someone who thinks activism is a substitute for experience? Activism is not a skill — it’s a liability.

We need leaders with real-world experience, people who understand budgets, who know how to make tough decisions, and who understand that every dollar spent must bring value.

We need a government that knows it is managing a country, not running a charity. We need leadership that understands Canadians are generous, but we are also struggling. Helping others is important, but not at the expense of our own survival.

If you’re in the private sector, you already know what it means to live within your means. You balance budgets. You ensure payroll is met before you donate to a cause. Why is it any different for government? If you ran your company the way Ottawa runs this country, you’d be bankrupt, your employees laid off, and your creditors knocking at your door.

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Here’s what we can do. Start by paying attention. Read the reports. Follow where your tax dollars are going. The government counts on you being too busy or too discouraged to look. That’s why they get away with it.

Demand answers. When candidates come knocking, ask them why we’re sending millions overseas while food banks are overrun. Ask them why our debt continues to climb while services here at home decline. If they dodge the question or give you a rehearsed line about “Canada’s role in the world,” show them the door.

Educate yourself. Don’t rely on television ads or media headlines. Don’t listen to polls. Don’t vote based on who makes the best promise. Vote for the person who has a plan and a track record of delivering. Vote like your children’s future depends on it — because it does.

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If we don’t take a stand now, we are leaving behind a legacy of debt and dysfunction. We are handing our children a country weakened by endless spending and mismanagement. That’s not compassion. That’s negligence.

Canada is a nation worth fighting for, but that fight starts at home.

— Follow Kevin Kleinfollow onFacebook,Xand visit his websitekevinklein.ca

Have thoughts on what’s going on in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, or across the world? Send us a letter to the editor at wpgsun.letters@kleinmedia.ca.

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