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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 90

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 16, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 90 - Jun/16/22
Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie
  • Jun/16/22 7:39:38 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, that is a very good question. In the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, international institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, recommended that developing countries that were struggling—the ones with subsistence agriculture that were struggling to feed their people—specialize in growing cotton, for example. They were telling these countries that they would be able to export it, generate revenue and then import their food. At the same time, the rich countries that properly support their agricultural industries set up aid programs for these countries. When the harvest was good, the rich countries helped them by giving them their surplus crops or selling those crops to them at a low cost. All of this led to the collapse of local agriculture in developing countries, because they were obviously not able to compete with the rich countries' donations in good years. International institutions encouraged countries to move away from this sector and specialize in export sectors. As a result, these countries have had their subsistence agriculture dismantled. When the harvest was bad, they did not receive any aid from rich countries. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank told everyone to grow cotton, so many countries grew cotton. Large corporations were the ones leading it, and the price of cotton collapsed. The do-gooders in rich countries and international institutions thought they were fighting poverty, but they actually made it worse. Who are we to tell those countries what to do? They knew how to go about it. In order to receive international aid, they had to listen to the rich countries, and this made the situation worse. We have to think about that.
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