Tony applauds donation matching for Pakistan (photo)

NEWS RELEASE

TONY MARTIN, MP

************************* Martin encourages donations to Pakistan that Ottawa will now match

SAULT STE. MARIE - Sault MP Tony Martin welcomed Canada’s decision, announced Sunday, to match private donations to Pakistan’s flood relief, urging area residents to be as generous as circumstances permit.

“I am happy the government is stepping up to the plate and rather than dwell now on the slow response I think the Minister (John Baird) is right in asking Canadians to focus on the human catastrophe, not the politics in the region,” Martin said. “It is the right thing to do, with most of the people affected being farmers, peasants and not at all involved in politics. This new funding program will add some legitimacy to the cause.”

New Democrat international aid critic John Rafferty (Thunder Bay Rainy River) urged the government to send its disaster response team (DART) to deal with the massive flooding that began three weeks ago. The government's new program will match individual donations by Canadians, dollar for dollar, between August 2 and September 12.

It has set up the Pakistan Floods Relief Fund, which will be administered by the Canadian International Development Agency.

Among the better known organizations collecting money are the Canadian Red Cross (click here), UNICEF Canada (click here) and the Humanitarian Coalition - Oxfam Canada, CARE Canada, Save the Children Canada (click here).

“While the number of deaths so far is well below the Haiti earthquake, this flooding is only getting worse and will take its toll too on an entire population.”

Citing the political concerns about the region, some charities said a slow response to date has been due to a combination of factors including the fact the tragedy unfolded so gradually compared with the immediate devastation of the Haitian earthquake last January, that it happened in the summer when Canadians are not paying as much attention to the news, and that it took place so far away from Canada. *************************