Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced nearly $90 million in foreign aid at the Canada-Caribbean Community Summit on Wednesday, pledging to fight climate change, crime and vaccine equity in the Americas.
Climate change was a central focus at the “Strategic Partners for a Resilient Future” summit in Ottawa which saw representatives from most of the nations and overseas territories which make up the region including Haiti and Jamaica.
Trudeau announced he would be sending $58.6 million in taxpayer funding to the Caribbean Development Bank to be put towards renewable energy projects.
Additionally, another $6 million was pledged for the Caribbean Climate Smart Fund.
“Canada has been proud of its strong development cooperation in the Caribbean region which has been at its highest level in recent years but we know there’s much more work to be done,” said Trudeau.
On the health front, Trudeau also announced Canada would allocate $18.3 million from Canada’s Global Initiative for Vaccine Equity towards Haiti.
Other funding included $3.4 million for the Haitian National Police and $3.2 million for the Caribbean Firearms Road Map which includes humanitarian assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces.
When added, total new funding amounts to $89.5 million on behalf of Canada.
Trudeau has recently come under fire for underreporting the cost of an Easter vacation earlier this year to the Bahamas.
Disclosures show that the prime minister and his family billed taxpayers $215,398 for security and other services while in the Caribbean nation.
The final figure was a a whopping $127,187 more than originally disclosed to Parliament.
