Posted on 09/28/2004 9:13:04 AM PDT by Clive
The Liberal government has snubbed a Canadian Forces offer to deploy a special emergency relief team to help Haitians devastated by tropical storms. Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said Canada will be "generous" in its response to Haiti's needs, but so far the feds have limited aid to $2 million.
Canadian Navy Lieut. Luc Charron said the military has offered up its Kingston-based Disaster Assistance Relief Team (DART), which specializes in entering disaster zones to meet basic needs such as water, medical treatment and security.
Charron said the team of 200-plus soldiers is on 48-hour standby, waiting on the Liberal government to decide whether to deploy them to Gonaives, Haiti.
"They know that we're ready to go," Charron said.
If they're told to move, Charron said a small team of soldiers will head to Haiti to figure out how the team could get to the devastated area, since roads from Port-au-Prince to Gonaives are flooded.
The team was last deployed to Turkey in 1999 to help earthquake victims.
Pettigrew is heading to Haiti today to hold two days of meetings, pledging to be "sensitive" to the country's needs.
Haiti was hit by tropical storm Jeanne last week, which left at least 1,500 dead and some 200,000 homeless in Gonaives
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" I didn't like it when he compared our troops to Jen-jis Khan.
I don't like his stance on jun control.
And I think John Kerry is jonna jet me killed."
Yes, and then they go to Montreal for treatment.
Pierre Pettigrew makes Joe Clark look like the Terminator.
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