OTTAWA — Military and medical supplies were shipping out and hefty dollar donations were flooding in Thursday as Canadians responded fast and furiously to the crisis unfolding in Haiti.
The federal government announced a program to match donations dollar-for-dollar from Canadians to build an emergency fund of up to $100 million toward humanitarian efforts in the earthquake zone.
After dropping his own donation at the Red Cross office in Ottawa, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Canadians have been touched by the tragedy at “an almost unimaginable scale.” While the immediate objective is to help search and rescue efforts on the ground, he hinted the government will soon relax immigration rules to help reunite Haitian families in Canada.
“The minister of immigration has been discussing these matters with us and we will have announcements in the not-too distant future,” he said, noting the situation is “complicated.”
Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis accused the government of acting to score points in the Montreal area which has a large Haitian community. He said permanent protocols should be put in place so they can kick in fast when disasters occur around the world.
“No ifs, ands or buts — we need them,” he said.
NDP MP Olivia Chow also called for broader, expedited measures to help devastated victims seek refuge in Canada.
On the ground in Haiti, the Disaster Assistance Relief Team (DART) touched down Thursday as HMCS Halifax and HMCS Athabaskan loaded with supplies, personnel and search-and-rescue equipment set sail for the five-day journey the disaster zone.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay praised the military’s “professionalism and excellence” responding to the disaster and said the government is taking swift and co-ordinated action to help those in need.
“We are establishing a substantial footprint in Haiti to provide whatever assistance is necessary,” he said.
Government officials praised the support of Canadians but warned of potential fraudsters exploiting the tragedy. Several aid organizations and the federal CIDA department reported temporary crashes on their websites because of “overwhelming” traffic flow of Canadians looking for best ways to donate.
The Canadian Red Cross has collected more than $3.5 million from individuals and corporations, while The Humanitarian Coalition — an umbrella group for Care Canada, Oxfam and Save the Children — has been swamped with donations of almost $500,000 so far.
“The response has been so massive it’s quite literally overwhelming,” said Kieran Green of Care Canada.
An estimated 6,000 Canadians were living in Haiti at the time of the earthquake, but only 700 were registered with the embassy. Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon warned the casualty count will rise as search and rescue efforts continue.
