The last Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Review of Canada’s development co-operation, held in January 1998, highlighted Canada’s special ability to help lead the international community towards action which pushes out the frontiers of international co-operation. At the same time it noted that, in the context of a fundamental fiscal adjustment to respond to its domestic public debt burden, Canada’s aid budget had been cut by 29% over six years, more than in any other area of Canadian public spending. As a result, Canada’s official development assistance effort (as measured by the ODA/GNI ratio) had declined steeply from 0.45% at the beginning of the 1990s and was projected to fall below 0.30% by the end of the decade. (In fact, partly reflecting fast growth in Canada’s gross national income (GNI), the ODA/GNI ratio fell to 0.25% in 2000 and 0.22% in 2001). The DAC pointed out that these trends had created a paradox at the heart of Canada’s internationalism, given the continuing determination to be involved in a very wide range of issues and with as wide a range of partners as possible. This paradox raised concerns about Canada’s ability to meet expectations, both at home and abroad, for its role in the world...