The success of the Better Aid Bill is our success, regular citizens claiming our right to have a say in how all of our tax-paid, aid money is used. Last year, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) had a $3.2 billion budget that was, at one point, our hard-earned cash. The real benefit of Bill C293 is the legal and political backing for an open, public forum of aid discussion. The Bill not only advocates the allocation of Canadian foreign aid to the poorest countries and the allocation of more of the government's income, 0.7% to be exact. But the most advantageous aspect of the Bill is its demand for annual, PUBLIC reports. Reports that can explain where the money is going, who it is going to, the priority with which it is spent, and what it is being used to do.

As of right now, this information is divulged to the public however CIDA, or the government of Canada, see fit. Even most international aid organizations, partisan or not, have little to no independent knowledge about what Canada's foreign aid really does. Most aid, however, becomes unused, misused or ineffective when we ask too much of what it does. We forget to see it as money.

It is easy to get caught up in what money can achieve, that is why aid is such a great form of help. It can take the shape of almost anything - anything that could be needed. This is especially true when looking at relief aid. Relief aid tends to be more obvious supplies and support that can help curb the suffering from disasters like that in China and Burma right now. But it can become too easy to forget that money is a noun with one main action. Personified, money can buy. It is helpful because it can buy medical supplies, food, emergency services and eventually rebuilding services and counselling.

But especially when we look at development aid, the question of what to buy, whom to give it to and why, all comes into factor. Bill C293 indoctrinates the fact that we have a say in that. We, as citizens and taxpayers, have a right to see where our money is going, what it is buying and why. Even more so, we have a right to influence those choices.

Now that the Bill has passed, we have to seriously consider this new role. Do we know enough about the recipient situation to know which type of aid is the most helpful? Do we know who and what countries are in most need and most deserve our help? Most importantly, do we recognize that aid is money and money, while versatile, can also be political, impositious, and distorted. We have to remember to see aid as money - when that is what it is - if we hope to spend it in the best ways.

When I visited the Democratic Republic of Congo last year, one of the most important criticisms of foreign aid I heard was from a Congolese friend. He asked me how the people could be expected to trust aid and the countries giving it, when they give no matter what government, militia group or warlord is in power at the time. He rushed through a list of leaders over the area for the past few years and then a list of humanitarian aid organizations. Even when the leaders switched from opposing sides to sworn enemies, the humanitarian organizations remained, striking deals and making contacts.

When recognizing that aid is money, you recognize that aid is the transfer of monetary funds from one person, government or organization, to another. Whether that money is in cheque form or material form, it still is money. Whether it is a gift or agreement, it is a monetary transaction and therefore, it is political. Many times it is interference by one country into the politics of another. Especially when giving and investing in countries that endure a very tense political climate, like the DRC, who is giving the money, how much money and why, can all have very severe effects.

Even with humanitarian aid, like relief aid that helps with immediate disasters, there can be politics to consider. It may be obvious that there are people who need food and medicine but how, for example, can this material be brought into the country? Even in the simplest situations, to physically deliver material, roadblock guards must be paid off, trucks must be rented, and security must be protected. It all costs money, and it means someone must be paid.

Many in the field or back here in Canada would answer my friend's concerns easily: the humanitarian aid organizations were doing their job! There were people in need of help, and their job is to help them. Of course this is true, but it is a truth ignorant of the fact that those medicines and powdered food also represent money. In a place like the DRC, especially, money represents power. Power is politics.

If we are ready to take our role under Bill C293 seriously, we need to educate ourselves as much as possible on the issues we are involving ourselves in. If we are ready to take our role under the Better Aid Bill seriously, we have to be ready to see aid for what it is. Money.