Canada Joins US-Led Tsunami Relief Coalition

[NATO AIR]

good on em

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20041231.wdart1231/BNStory/National/

Disaster team put on standby

Ottawa — Leaders of Canada's military emergency response team are preparing for potential deployment to south Asia as the number of Canadians missing in a killer tsunami soars to a possible 150.

Five Canadians are confirmed dead.

Brigadier-General Brett Cairns says orders were issued Friday to several top members of the Disaster Assistance Response Team, or DART, and some who are on leave are being recalled.

The announcement was made at a news conference where officials also said up to 150 Canadians were presumed missing in the Asian tsunami disaster, mostly in Thailand.

James Fox of Foreign Affairs emphasized the number won't necessarily remain that high as more information is gathered.

"The range at this point that we're looking at is probably in the vicinity of about 150," he said.

"But I want to emphasize that that number does not indicate in any way whatsoever that there is a presumption that we have 150 people who at the end of the day are going to be presumed missing."

"This is just the best number that we have available right now."

DART, touted as a team that could move quickly to areas of need, has not been deployed for almost five years.

It has been criticized as unwieldy, and officials said earlier this week that the difficulty of moving it quickly was one of the reasons it wasn't deployed.

The team consists of four units — water purification, medical, command and control, and a limited reconstruction section.

"Right now one of the main areas of focus (in the disaster) is the water purification," Brig.-Gen. Cairns said. DART has two purification units that can provide 50,000 litres of pure water a day.

A decision on whether to deploy will likely be made in the next few days, he said.

Mr. Fox said his department has received 40,000 call from worried Canadians looking for information about loved ones lost Sunday when the tsunamis hit an area where tourism is a major industry.

He said 40 Foreign Affairs officers are fielding calls and calling families trying to establish how many Canadians are missing and how to track down what happened to them.

Another Canadian was confirmed dead Friday, bringing the total to five — four in Thailand and one in Sri Lanka. Two have been identified: Mathieu Lafond of Repentigny, Que., and Gilles Bouchard of Gatineau, Que.

Prime Minister Paul Martin told Indonesia on Friday that it will get all the Canadian help it needs in the aftermath of the disaster. Indonesia was hardest hit, so far registering almost 80,000 of the more than 120,000 deaths across 11 countries.

Mr. Martin told the Indonesian president Canada's $40-million aid pledge is only the beginning.

Jonathan Freid, a Martin spokesman, said the prime minister spoke to his counterpart, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, and the two agreed they should be part of an international relief coalition led by the United States but working through the United Nations.

Mr. Martin committed Canada to the coalition in a telephone conversation early Friday with U.S. President George W. Bush.

Federal aid could soon shoot past $40 million because of the government's commitment to match the donations of individual Canadians.

Andrew Graham, a spokesman for Aileen Carroll, minister for international co-operation, said that $25 million of the initial federal aid package would be used to match individual private donations to charities and relief agencies.

As of Friday, a total of more than $32 million head been collected by the country's five major relief organizations. The Canadian Red Cross alone had taken in $26 million.

"The response has just been overwhelming," said Red Cross spokesman Bernard Barrett.

Mr. Graham says the government will match as much as is donated.

The other $15 million of Ottawa's original $40-million commitment is earmarked for specific projects.