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Mise à jour du ministre de la Défense nationale sur la réaction du Canada à la suite des tsunamis survenus en Asie
le 30 décembre 2004
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Note: Cette transcription est présentée dans la langue utilisée lors de la conférence de presse. Elle vous est fournie à titre d'information seulement. Il n'y a pas de traduction disponible.
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Seul le texte prononcé fait foi
Good afternoon. I am joined today by phone by Ujjal Dosanjh, the Minister of Health; by Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierre Pettigrew; and Aileen Carroll, the Minister Responsible for the Canadian International Development Agency.
Our intent today is to provide you with an overview of the Canadian government's most recent efforts respecting our support to the disaster in South-East Asia .
I will speak for a moment about our broad governmental efforts, and then ask Minister Dosanjh to say a few words, followed by Minister Pettigrew and Carroll, to speak about specifics within their own departments.
Nous avons l'intention aujourd'hui de vous fournir un aperçu des plus récents efforts mis de l'avant par le gouvernement canadien à propos de notre contribution à la suite du désastre qui a frappé l'Asie du Sud-Est.
United Nations Secretary General Annan perhaps best summed up the situation earlier today when he remarked that this “is an unprecedented global catastrophe”.
The Canadian Government's response is multilateral, multidisciplinary and multifaceted. It speaks to the immediate issues respecting emergency relief, humanitarian assistance, and consular support. There is an immediate human dimension that we need to attend to, but there is also a medium term, and a long term approach to support and reconstruction. That is just starting to take form and we will be contributing to that.
I need to first say, though, that Canadians have responded to this tragedy in a magnificent fashion. Their generosity with their money, time, and interest in helping, is phenomenal.
Canadians can be proud of their government's support to those most directly affected. We have moved to quickly organize our efforts within government, and to make a significant financial contribution. Indeed, our 40 million dollar aid contribution is one of the largest of any nation.
We are also keenly aware that Canadians are concerned about the whereabouts of family and friends in the affected areas. No effort is being spared to assist, and Minister Pettigrew will speak to that shortly.
Nous sommes aussi terriblement conscients que les Canadiens s'inquiètent à propos de ce qu'il advient des familles et des amis qui se trouvent dans les régions touchées. Nous mettrons tout en œuvre pour leur venir en aide, comme le ministre Pettigrew le confirmera sous peu.
Let me describe for you what actions are taking place now.
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Many Ministers, as well as provincial and municipal governments, are actively engaged. I have spoken to Ministers Sgro, McCallum, Bennett, and Volpe; to members of Parliament of all parties; and to Mayor Miller of Toronto , all of whom are reaching out to their communities to find out how Canada can best help the affected regions.
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This morning, I spoke with Colin Powell, and reiterated Canada 's desire to participate in any multilateral aid effort to help coordinate efforts and to encourage other nations to participate in the relief work. We will continue to explore the ways and means to coordinate our efforts in this regard.
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The Prime Minister and President Bush will be speaking today.
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I will also be speaking with Secretary General Kofi Annan to reaffirm Canada 's commitment to work through existing multilateral aid agencies and organizations.
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This afternoon, an interdepartmental reconnaissance team of 17 people, including 11 from the Disaster Assistance Response Team, 3 from Foreign Affairs, 2 from CIDA and 1 from the Canadian Public Health Agency, left Ottawa for Colombo, Sri Lanka, and then on to Indonesia. They are due to arrive in Sri Lanka early Saturday morning. Arrangements are underway by Canadian officials already in country to see that this team is provided the transport and other logistical assets required for their mission.
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This team will liaise with local authorities, NGOs and others as required, to develop recommendations regarding how best Canada can assist in responding to urgent humanitarian needs. This includes assessing the potential requirement for military assistance, including all or part of the DART.
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We are also responding with a new initiative that will see the Government of Canada match the generosity of Canadians dollar-for-dollar. Minister Carroll will tell you more about this in a moment.
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Minister Goodale will shortly be making an announcement on debt relief. Minister Pettigrew will address this in a few minutes.
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Canadian government officials will continue to meet on a daily basis to identify the best ways and means to provide short-, medium- and long-term support to the region. We will provide regular updates as the situation unfolds, on other initiatives underway in departments such as Citizenship and Immigration, and the Public Health Agency.
Let me conclude my remarks by reinforcing to Canadians who are keen to do what they can, that providing cash donations to international aid organizations is the preferred method of assisting those in need.
Permettez-moi de conclure en précisant à tous les Canadiens disposés à faire leur part, que le versement de dons en espèces aux organismes d'aide internationale est la méthode privilégiée pour venir en aide à ceux qui sont dans le besoin.
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