1. We promised we would.

Not once, but many times, we have said we would give more foreign aid to the poorest countries. We made the promise in 1970, in 2002, and twice in 2005, to name a few. But the fact is, while we have been making these promises, until 2010 our level of foreign aid has been increasing, but only very slightly and not fast enough to get to the point seven percent any time soon. Then in the 2010 Federal Budget the government announced that they were going to freeze aid at 2010 levels starting in 2011. This means we will begin to move backwards, away from the 0.7% target. We need to un-freeze the aid budget and get back on track to achieve the 0.7% aid target within 10 years.

2. It was our idea.

The idea of giving 0.7% of our national income has ‘Canada’ written all over it. It was a committee led by former Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson that came up with the idea in the ’60s. And we like to think of ourselves as a generous nation, don’t we? But the fact is, successive governments have all but given up on this idea, allowing our foreign aid to drop from 0.5% of our income in 1987 to 0.32% in 2008. This needs to change.

3. We are aiming for a 'C' grade in generosity, and earning a 'D'. We need to raise the bar.

Canada is lagging behind other countries, who are already giving 0.7% (or more) of their income in foreign aid. Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper committed to matching the average aid effort (which is 0.47%) in the 2006 election, but since being elected as Prime Minister has done little to achieve even this unambitious goal. Meanwhile, Sweden gives 1.12%, Norway gives 1.06% and Holland gives 0.82%.

4. The global economic crisis, food crisis and impacts of climate change is stalling progress on poverty reduction.

You may have seen the headlines: the Wall Street meltdown, rising fuel prices and climate disasters sent food prices skyrocketing, further starving the world’s poorest. In 2009, 1.02 billion people were undernourished, up by 129 million since 2004-2006 and achingly distant from 420 million, the target we promised to hit by 2015. People are going hungry. We're seeing food riots and incredible scarcity. This crisis is not going to resolve itself and, as Canadians, we need to do our part.

Getting rich countries to deliver on the 0.7% target is also key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, which aim to halve extreme poverty by 2015.

Many developing countries are doing their part by investing in health and education. But Canada is not keeping its end of the bargain to deliver more in the fight against poverty.

5. It’s less than the cost of a cliché a day.

We need to give 50 cents more per Canadian per day to reach the goal of 0.7%.

That’s less than the cost of a cup of coffee, a newspaper, or a shoeshine - take your pick. You’ve heard all the clichés before, but the basic fact remains: it's a tiny amount to make such a huge difference.