INCLUSIVE GROWTH AND THE END OF POVERTY: CANADA'S ROLE FOR GLOBAL CHALLENGES

Year after year, at home or abroad, Canadians are often reminded of the many challenges the world is facing and the problems we need to address to help our fellow citizens enjoy a decent, honest, and sustainable way of life.?The list is long and daunting and needs urgent attention: climate change mitigation, poverty reduction, affordable access to healthcare, economic stagnation, inflation and the high cost of living, geopolitical tensions, forced migration, and the list goes on. ??

Thankfully, the international community, including Canada and like-minded countries, can come together in various settings to address these concerns, learn from one another, and consider problem-solving measures.?The World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are two organizations at the heart of these discussions and with the political clout, international support, and capital wherewithal to achieve real results for citizens the world over.

Earlier this month, I had the honour, as Chair of the Canadian Chapter of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to attend the 2023 Global Parliamentary Forum in Washington. ?For two days, some 200 Parliamentarians from approximately 100 countries, along with leaders from civil society, partner organizations and top officials from international financial institutions, debated and discussed ways to stabilize the economy, tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems, and foster inclusive growth.

This year’s Forum was themed “Tough Challenges, Tougher Choices” and focused on the multiple crisis facing the planet. ?Beyond an exclusive Parliamentary Townhall with the President of the WBG David Malpass and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, Parliamentarians were invited to participate in various sessions with leading experts and legislators. Some of the topics addressed included empowering women in our societies, transforming governance and accountability, and bridging the human capital gap.?My colleague Senator Rosa Galvez was a panelist on a session during which we were reminded that any future growth most be greener growth.

Many of our discussions focused on the need for the world to be better prepared financially to face the challenges of tomorrow.?There is an obvious need to increase funding to safeguard the lives and livelihoods of people from around the world.?Parliamentarians have an important role to play in holding their governments accountable and in encouraging them to increase its support, financial and otherwise, to global funding mechanisms like the WBG and the IMF.

While in Washington, I also took advantage of the opportunity to attend many of the sessions of the World Bank’s Spring Meetings where I had the privilege of meeting our Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and her Deputy Minister of Finance, Michael Sabia. At one session, Janet Yellen, US Secretary of the Treasury, took the time to reassure attendees and the world that our major banking systems are healthy.?I made that same argument in my column last month.

Despite the IMF projecting low growth in the years to come, major economies should not ignore some of the most pressing global needs and they must continue to invest in the wellbeing of individuals and nations who may not enjoy the same basic rights and privileges as we do in Canada.

The federal government needs to pursue, and perhaps even accelerate, its international development agenda, but the private sector is also called upon to play a much bigger role in helping developing countries.?As Minister Freeland pointed out while in Washington, “given the scarcity of official development assistance, the Bank must also bolster its ability to facilitate private capital for development and increase domestic resources mobilization.” She added that “in doing so, it is essential to address real and perceived barriers to investment in emerging and frontier markets.”

I know Canada, as a proud member of both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, remains committed to helping fulfill their vision of ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity.?As a founding member of the WBG, Canada has contributed, since 1960, approximately $15 billion to the Bank’s International Development Association which provides grants and zero-to-low interest loans for projects and programmes in some of the world’s poorest countries.

As the Atlantic Council asserted, a common theme during the deliberations in Washington was how to balance clear but competing needs in the short term versus the medium and long term.?The path forward may not be clear, but we know the world’s response, through the WBG and the IMF, must be coordinated, ambitious, speedy, impactful and of scale to attain lasting results, and Canada can play a key role in this agenda.