OTTAWA — The federal government will announce fast-tracked immigration procedures and major military efforts Saturday to help victims of Haiti’s earthquake — including more than 1,400 Canadians who are still missing.
A Canadian Forces official confirmed 800 army personnel from CFB Valcartier are preparing to deploy — including those in infantry, engineering, logistics support, communications and medical capacities. Delivering food and water and keeping security are the immediate objectives, along with ensuring a second bigger catastrophe doesn’t ensue due to disease outbreak, starvation and civil unrest.
“We can get that stuff on the ground fast, we can get ourselves set up under harsh conditions as we are relatively self-sustaining and we can make a difference in the crucial early days of what’s going on,” the Canadian Forces source said. “But we’re not the experts at rebuilding the country, and we think at the end of 60 days those civilian NGOs and the UN and other organizations will step in and the experts on the long-term stuff can take over.”
The troops could be on the ground for 30-60 days, and would be the fourth major Canadian Forces deployment along with the Afghanistan mission, Olympic security and a mass training exercise in California preparing to deploy to Kandahar.
The new mission comes as Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon confirmed Friday at least four Canadians are dead, 13 injured and 1,415 missing. Another 550 have been located, including 50 seeking refuge at the Canadian embassy compound in a capital city littered with rotting piles of corpses and debris from collapsed buildings.
Cannon will update figures during a briefing with fellow cabinet ministers and Prime Minister Stephen Harper Saturday, and while Canada’s death toll is expected to mount as search and recovery efforts continue, Cannon stressed many of the missing are simply unable to make contact in the crisis.
On Friday Harper met with senior members of the Haitian-Canadian community, recapping Canada’s efforts to help victims and extending more condolences. As a show of solidarity, the government illuminated the Parliament buildings with Haiti’s national colours of blue and red.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is expected to announce measures that would help speed up the process for Haiti victims to join family in Canada.
The Canadian Forces will continue to bring evacuees home on at least two flights each day. Calling the situation “challenging and fluid,” Defence Minister Peter MacKay called the military’s swift and co-ordinated response to date “unprecedented.”
“They are tough, well-trained and determined to deliver assistance to the Haitians,” he said. While he has been warmed by stories of relief and reunion from Canadian survivors, MacKay warned of more stories of sorrow and heartbreak to come. “This is a very difficult and dark time for many Canadians,” he said.
kathleen.harris@sunmedia.ca
