International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda has welcomed development ministers from around the world to a two-day meeting in Halifax in advance of the G8 leaders summit in Ontario in June.

"Something important is about to happen," Oda said in her introductory remarks, addressing officials from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Britain and the United States.

International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda greets Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Development, at a meeting of G8 development ministers at Pier 21 in Halifax on Tuesday. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)

The ultimate goal, Oda said, will be "to reach a consensus on a G8 initiative to save the lives of millions of mothers and children under the age of five, to continue our work to meet the challenge of food security, and to do [both] effectively, sustainably and accountably.

Such an initiative will not include support from the federal government for the funding of abortions in the developing world, Oda stressed.

"Within the scope of this G8 initiative, countries will be able to identify their own priorities," Oda said. "Canada's contribution to maternal and child health may involve various interventions, including family planning, which includes the use of contraceptive methods.

"However, Canada's contribution will not include funding abortion," she said.

Concern over policy

The deliberate omission has met with disagreement in Canada and abroad.

Ontario Liberal MP Bob Rae says the Tories' position is ridiculous, adding that the federal government is trying to impose its moral agenda on other countries. Opposition members also accuse the Conservatives of reopening the abortion debate, suggesting the issue of funding abortion and providing legal access to abortion will follow.

International aid groups, such as the Ottawa-based Action Canada for Population and Development, worry Canada may stop funding any developing nation where abortion is legal.

"Anytime you have an underfunded area … where developing countries are asking for aid, you're undermining the health system and you're putting women's lives at risk," Katherine McDonald, the group's executive director, told CBC News.

"If women are denied access to abortion and resort to unsafe abortion, they put their lives and their health at risk," McDonald said.

In March, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said any discussion of maternal health should include contraception, family planning and access to abortion, but emphasized she was not going to join any discussion about specific Canadian government policies.

The two-day meeting in Halifax will lay the foundation for proposals that will go to the leaders summit in Huntsville, Ont., in June.

With files from The Canadian Press