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From the Globe and Mail website.
UPDATED AT 1:26 AM EST Tuesday, Jan 4, 2005
Canada will send troops to areas of the world levelled by last week's tsunamis if requested to do so, Prime Minister Paul Martin said yesterday, adding that the financial assistance his government is contributing to the relief effort will continue to rise.
With Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team finally preparing to head to Sri Lanka, the world has turned its attention to Indonesia, where remote areas of the country are relying on U.S. troops to deliver aid.
When asked whether Canada's military might have a similar role, Mr. Martin said he had been told that other armed forces already on the ground are capable of performing the required tasks.
"If, in fact, that were not the case, we would certainly be there," he said yesterday after meeting in Toronto with leaders of communities from countries most affected by the disaster. "We're certainly prepared to respond if the requests are made."
In fact, Aang Iswayuda, a spokesman for the Indonesian embassy in Ottawa, said Indonesia would love to have Canadian troops and helicopters delivering food to remote regions destroyed by the giant waves.
"If the government of Canada will send troops and helicopters, the government of Indonesia will be very pleased," Mr. Iswayuda said yesterday.
He praised Canada for a planeload of relief that left for Indonesia last Saturday and other flights that are expected to depart this week. But, because the waves swept away so many bridges and roads, helicopters supplied by the Indonesia army and the U.S. armed forces must distribute that aid.
"So that if any other government would send helicopters," Mr. Iswayuda said, "it would be really helpful for us."
The Canadian Forces are willing to deploy a supply ship out of Vancouver or provide other required military capabilities, Defence Minister Bill Graham said in Ottawa yesterday.
"We are obviously ready to offer what we have in relation to local needs," Mr. Graham said after confirming that the DART is leaving for Sri Lanka on Thursday to provide fresh water and a field hospital in the badly damaged eastern district of the country.
The international coalition in charge of relief efforts has a list of other required military needs, and Canadian officials are considering what else they can offer, Mr. Graham said. But Canada cannot meet certain requests. For instance, it cannot send air-traffic controllers even though they are needed because those in the Canadian Forces are already deployed in Afghanistan.
Still, the Defence Minister hinted that the supply ship HMCS Protecteur could be sent to the Indian Ocean. And a Canadian Forces Airbus is on standby to fly in equipment weekly. The plane made its second flight to the region yesterday with a trip to the Maldives.
The humanitarian effort is being stepped up as the death toll across Asia hovers just below 150,000 and teams work to determine the identity of the thousands of bodies found in the water and under the rubble.
Jack Straw, the British Foreign Secretary, has warned that nearly 200 people from his country who are still listed as missing were "highly likely" to have died. But Mr. Martin was not willing to give up on the roughly 150 Canadians who were in the region and have yet to make contact.
"I still think that there's hope," he said, "and if you take a look at earlier events, earthquakes, where weeks later people are found alive, I'm not prepared to close that door yet."
Meanwhile, federal officials said yesterday that the Prime Minister's trip to India later this month may be changed because of the catastrophe.
"We can say with certainty that there will be changes," said Scott Reid, a spokesman for the Prime Minister. "At this time, I don't anticipate that those will necessarily affect Japan or China, but India is likely to be impacted. It is difficult to be more specific right now because we're getting new information all the time on the situation on the ground in India."
Sources also said that having the Prime Minister visit one of the ravaged areas could be a logistical difficulty.
Mr. Martin said the federal government will provide more aid than the $80-million already announced, but he did not specify when or how much.
He said the government will ultimately set a cap on the amount, "but we are not there yet."
While most of the community leaders who met with Mr. Martin yesterday praised the attention he is giving to the disaster, some from Sri Lanka want the Canadian government to be more forceful in ensuring that the aid is not kept away from the regions held by rebel Tamil Tigers.
Manuel Jesudasan, a Toronto lawyer of Sri Lankan descent, said he wrote to Mr. Martin last week to warn him that equal amounts of aid were not reaching all areas of the country.
Mr. Martin said Sri Lankan officials assured him that aid was being sent to all regions equally.
"I raised the issue, first off with the President of Sri Lanka and was given her assurance. Second, I raised the issue with the Canadian High Commissioner, who gave me her assurance that, in fact, aid would be distributed equitably, that she would supervise it, and that we would be notified if in fact it were not," the Prime Minister said.
"We will not accept that Canadian aid is not distributed equitably. That was a condition of our aid and is one that we will insist upon."
With a report from Brian Laghi in Ottawa
UPDATED AT 1:26 AM EST Tuesday, Jan 4, 2005
Canada will send troops to areas of the world levelled by last week's tsunamis if requested to do so, Prime Minister Paul Martin said yesterday, adding that the financial assistance his government is contributing to the relief effort will continue to rise.
With Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team finally preparing to head to Sri Lanka, the world has turned its attention to Indonesia, where remote areas of the country are relying on U.S. troops to deliver aid.
When asked whether Canada's military might have a similar role, Mr. Martin said he had been told that other armed forces already on the ground are capable of performing the required tasks.
"If, in fact, that were not the case, we would certainly be there," he said yesterday after meeting in Toronto with leaders of communities from countries most affected by the disaster. "We're certainly prepared to respond if the requests are made."
In fact, Aang Iswayuda, a spokesman for the Indonesian embassy in Ottawa, said Indonesia would love to have Canadian troops and helicopters delivering food to remote regions destroyed by the giant waves.
"If the government of Canada will send troops and helicopters, the government of Indonesia will be very pleased," Mr. Iswayuda said yesterday.
He praised Canada for a planeload of relief that left for Indonesia last Saturday and other flights that are expected to depart this week. But, because the waves swept away so many bridges and roads, helicopters supplied by the Indonesia army and the U.S. armed forces must distribute that aid.
"So that if any other government would send helicopters," Mr. Iswayuda said, "it would be really helpful for us."
The Canadian Forces are willing to deploy a supply ship out of Vancouver or provide other required military capabilities, Defence Minister Bill Graham said in Ottawa yesterday.
"We are obviously ready to offer what we have in relation to local needs," Mr. Graham said after confirming that the DART is leaving for Sri Lanka on Thursday to provide fresh water and a field hospital in the badly damaged eastern district of the country.
The international coalition in charge of relief efforts has a list of other required military needs, and Canadian officials are considering what else they can offer, Mr. Graham said. But Canada cannot meet certain requests. For instance, it cannot send air-traffic controllers even though they are needed because those in the Canadian Forces are already deployed in Afghanistan.
Still, the Defence Minister hinted that the supply ship HMCS Protecteur could be sent to the Indian Ocean. And a Canadian Forces Airbus is on standby to fly in equipment weekly. The plane made its second flight to the region yesterday with a trip to the Maldives.
The humanitarian effort is being stepped up as the death toll across Asia hovers just below 150,000 and teams work to determine the identity of the thousands of bodies found in the water and under the rubble.
Jack Straw, the British Foreign Secretary, has warned that nearly 200 people from his country who are still listed as missing were "highly likely" to have died. But Mr. Martin was not willing to give up on the roughly 150 Canadians who were in the region and have yet to make contact.
"I still think that there's hope," he said, "and if you take a look at earlier events, earthquakes, where weeks later people are found alive, I'm not prepared to close that door yet."
Meanwhile, federal officials said yesterday that the Prime Minister's trip to India later this month may be changed because of the catastrophe.
"We can say with certainty that there will be changes," said Scott Reid, a spokesman for the Prime Minister. "At this time, I don't anticipate that those will necessarily affect Japan or China, but India is likely to be impacted. It is difficult to be more specific right now because we're getting new information all the time on the situation on the ground in India."
Sources also said that having the Prime Minister visit one of the ravaged areas could be a logistical difficulty.
Mr. Martin said the federal government will provide more aid than the $80-million already announced, but he did not specify when or how much.
He said the government will ultimately set a cap on the amount, "but we are not there yet."
While most of the community leaders who met with Mr. Martin yesterday praised the attention he is giving to the disaster, some from Sri Lanka want the Canadian government to be more forceful in ensuring that the aid is not kept away from the regions held by rebel Tamil Tigers.
Manuel Jesudasan, a Toronto lawyer of Sri Lankan descent, said he wrote to Mr. Martin last week to warn him that equal amounts of aid were not reaching all areas of the country.
Mr. Martin said Sri Lankan officials assured him that aid was being sent to all regions equally.
"I raised the issue, first off with the President of Sri Lanka and was given her assurance. Second, I raised the issue with the Canadian High Commissioner, who gave me her assurance that, in fact, aid would be distributed equitably, that she would supervise it, and that we would be notified if in fact it were not," the Prime Minister said.
"We will not accept that Canadian aid is not distributed equitably. That was a condition of our aid and is one that we will insist upon."
With a report from Brian Laghi in Ottawa
