Trudeau allocates approximately $90 million towards addressing climate change and promoting vaccine equity in the Caribbean.

During the Canada-Caribbean Community Summit on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled a substantial foreign aid package of nearly $90 million. This financial commitment is aimed at addressing critical issues in the Americas, including climate change, crime prevention, and equitable access to vaccines.

The summit, titled “Strategic Partners for a Resilient Future,” held in Ottawa, placed significant emphasis on climate change as a primary concern. It brought together representatives from various nations and overseas territories in the Caribbean region, such as Haiti and Jamaica.

In his announcement, Trudeau specified that $58.6 million of taxpayer funds would be allocated to the Caribbean Development Bank for the support of renewable energy initiatives.

“Furthermore, an additional commitment of $6 million was made to support 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.

In the realm of healthcare, Trudeau also revealed that Canada would dedicate $18.3 million from Canada’s Global Initiative for Vaccine Equity to support Haiti.

Additional financial commitments encompassed $3.4 million designated for the Haitian National Police and $3.2 million allocated to the Caribbean Firearms Road Map, which also includes humanitarian support from the Canadian Armed Forces.

Collectively, this brings the total new funding pledged by Canada to $89.5 million.

Notably, Trudeau has faced criticism for initially understating the expenses of his Easter vacation in the Bahamas earlier this year. According to disclosures, the prime minister and his family incurred a total of $215,398 in charges for security and related services during their stay in the Caribbean nation.

This final amount exceeded the initial disclosure to Parliament by a substantial $127,187.