Please call Louisa at 759-4547

Amount raised Thursday by the Sault Ste. Marie offices of the Canadian Red Cross for Asian tsunami relief: $9,033.

Grand total raised here since the December 26 disaster: $147,872.

******************** Special request from Sault Ste. Marie District Manager Diane Lajambe: If any local businesses are interested in doing fund-raisers to benefit the Red Cross Asian Relief Fund either in-house or public - please give Louisa van Lith, Community Development Coordinator, a call and she can arrange for third-party agreements. 759-4547.

******************** Viewer feedback received this week by CBC-TV's The National: "I am sick and tired of all this tsunami coverage. It goes on and on and on. You know this is really not necessary and it is depressing and it's far too much information than we really need. How about a quick update, we could take 30 seconds at the beginning of the National each night. We don't have to have this going on and on and on forever. I know it is probably the biggest disaster in world history, but we don't need all this crap, night after night after night. Knock it off."

How Peter Mansbridge responded today: "Crap? I think it's fair to say that is probably a minority, a tiny minority, view but it's also fair to say that audiences, which have been substantial for most media organizations on this story, are demanding more in-depth journalism looking into the future rather than a repetitive look at what happened in the early days of the tsunami. Again tonight, that is what we will be trying to do."

********************* The following news release was distributed Thursday by steelmaker IPSCO Inc.

IPSCO donates $100,000 to the Red Cross Tsunami Relief Fund Company also pledges to match employee donations made to relief effort

LISLE, Ill., Jan. 6 - IPSCO Inc. (NYSE: IPS; Toronto) today announced it is donating $100,000 to the Red Cross South Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.

This afternoon, the Company pledged $50,000 during a Regina radio station media blitz to help the Canadian Red Cross raise money for survivors of the tsunami.

The other $50,000 will be provided to the American Red Cross and its efforts for their relief work. "IPSCO is a compassionate company that wants to do something to assist those devastated by the earthquake and tsunami that has hit many parts of Asia and east Africa," said David Sutherland, IPSCO's President and Chief Executive Officer. Sutherland added that the Company is in the process of establishing an Employee Donations Fund to facilitate the collection of personal donations from its employees across North America.

In addition to the funds announced today, the Company will also match every dollar contributed by its employees. IPSCO is an electric furnace flat rolled steel producer and a leader in the development of high strength steel and pipe.

Headquartered in Lisle, Illinois, it operates facilities in the U.S. and Canada with the capacity to make 3,500,000 tons of steel annually.

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