Well, trading with the Chinese is one thing, being an actual AID DONOR is quite another. Seems to me that if the Chinese can put a man in space, they can get along quite well without Canadian foreign aid.

Yes - I don't see the need for AID to China...

It's silly to single out conservatives. People of all political leanings are bewildered when told that China receives Canadian aid, especially, as Jonathon mentioned, when they are an economic powerhouse able to place men in orbit.
Although I haven't heard conservatives "yell" complaints, I believe they aren't very pleased with how cozy our government (Chretien was very cozy) is with China, even more so after CISC reports of massive industrial espionage by Chinese spies and BILLIONS in lost patent revenue.
But agian, I think this isn't just a conservative complaint, just that more of them either notice or think it important.

I don't see the need for aid to China either. But every western country gives it.

Chris, CIDA's website has an overview of Canada's aid to China. What I read mentions nothing about feeding their hungry. It seems that Canada concentrates on helping China in matters of justice, human rights, and animal and human health. If we can help China identify and treat animal diseases or SARS before they reach our shores, I'd say it's money very well spent.

Jonathan, the USA put a man into space forty years ago, but we still offer and provide aid to them when they need it. We also help Russians, who were first in putting a man into space, decommission their nuclear submarines in an environmentally responsible way.

http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/CIDAWEB/webcountry.nsf/VLUDocEn/China-Overview

Ed
"If we can help China identify and treat animal diseases or SARS before they reach our shores"

heh heh - Either it's been wasted money so far, or else we haven't been sending enough. :)

Also, China aid is a yearly payment, unlike emergency aid to countries such as to the US.

Chris, boy I hope you were being sarcastic.

Ed, when you say:

'It seems that Canada concentrates on helping China in matters of justice, human rights...'

do you honestly believe there has been any progress in China in either of these areas of late? My overall point was that most people would consider that foreign aid should be spent on developing countries too poor to shift for themselves without help (places like sub-Saharan Africa and Bangladesh come to mind). I have a hard time seeing how this applies to China. True, money is sometimes spent on democratization and social justice issues as well, but China is a repressive autocracy uninterested in either of these.

max, according to the documentation I provided, the SARS program started in 2003. I couldn't tell you how effective it, or any other aspect of the aid, has been.

I was trying to provide some information on this subject, since it seems to be lacking from the public debate. For example, the Conservative critic on the file, Helena Guergis, claims:

"Every dollar that Canada gives to China, no matter how well intended, is a dollar that the Chinese government can spend on its military, space program and propping up other corrupt and abusive regimes like North Korea or Zimbabwe,"

Unless CIDA is lying about what it has been doing these past twenty years ("CIDA's China Program has focused on the sharing of Canadian expertise rather than the provision of financial support."), this statement and others like it are a little misleading. I welcome an informed debate about the efficacy of Canadian aid to China. Unfortunately, all we seem to be getting from opposition parties is uninformed polemic.