Canada matches Haiti donations with $113M
Last Updated: Monday, February 8, 2010 | 2:32 PM ET
CBC News
A nurse feeds an injured baby at the Israeli Field Hospital in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 18. (Ricardo Arduengo/Associated Press)The federal government has so far allocated $113 million to match individual donations made by Canadians to the Haiti relief effort, International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda said Monday.
"This amazing response reflects the true values of Canadians," she said.
The deadline for having personal donations matched by the federal government is Feb. 12.
"I encourage everyone to make that one final effort," Oda said during a briefing at Red Cross offices in Ottawa. "One big push as we approach Feb. 12, the deadline for your donation to be doubled by the government's matching fund."
Oda said the matching funds will not come from other programs at the Canadian International Development Agency. She said the agency has a pool of funds that can be used in times of disaster.
The Jan. 12 earthquake that struck impoverished Haiti killed an estimated 200,000 people, and left millions in desperate need of food, shelter and medical aid.
The federal International Co-operation Department said that Canada, through CIDA, has already provided about $85 million in humanitarian aid through UN agencies, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and to Canadian organizations such as CARE, Médecins du Monde, Save the Children, Oxfam Quebec, the Centre for International Studies and Co-operation, and World Vision.
Oda said that Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has distributed more than 17,500 tents, shelters or tarps, 2,000 mosquito nets, nearly 5,000 hygiene kits or kitchen sets, 3,000 blankets and almost 10,000 buckets or jerry cans.
She said they are all maintained for CIDA by the Red Cross.
