An Analysis Of The Instrumentalization Trend Of Canadian Foreign Aid In The 21st Century

As a veteran middle-class country and a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development,Canada always regards foreign aid as a powerful tool for exerting international influence and make commitment to the development of foreign aid.It had a rapid development of foreign aid during the period of the Pierre Trudeau administration.In the 1990 s,due to the lack of attention about foreign aid from the government and under the impact of the financial crisis,Canada's foreign aid scale declined.With the change of international and domestic situations in the 21 st century,Canada's foreign aid began to revive.Actually,foreign aid itself has two orientations,which is humanitarianism and self-interest,and the struggle between humanitarianism and self-interest is always a prominent feature of Canada's foreign aid.This is also the purpose of my paper.Since the beginning of the 21 st century,Canada's foreign aid has demonstrated a certain degree of humanitarianism.For example,it has refocused poverty reduction as a priority for aid,and the key assistance area is Africa.It focused on humanitarian issues such as gender equality,paid attention to aid effectiveness and abolished tied aid.At the same time,it is also very concerned about the realization of self-interests,which is highlighted as a concern for domestic security interests and economic interests.The focus on security interests is reflected in the key assistance to “fragile countries” like Afghanistan.After the Harper administration came to power,Canada's attention to self-interest was even more pronounced.The government attached importance to economic interests in Canada's foreign aid.It focused its aid on the mining industry of the Americas for the development of self-private sector.why Canada's foreign aid pays attention to the self-interest are influenced by the international background and domestic political and economic considerations,It also influenced by the weak strength of the domestic people and social organizations Canada's foreign aid in the future should make a positive contribution in Poverty reduction and for the whole world's development.