December 17, 2013
Ottawa—With one week remaining for Canadians to have their eligible donations matched by the Government of Canada, the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development and Minister for La Francophonie, today thanked Canadians for their contributions so far to the Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts in the Philippines.
"The generosity of individual Canadians to the typhoon relief efforts has been outstanding. We have seen an outpouring of support for the people of the Philippines, with fundraising drives held in schools, churches, hospitals and local businesses across the country," said Minister Paradis. "As we approach the holiday season, I encourage Canadians to keep donating to registered Canadian charities raising funds in response to this disaster. Every dollar donated by individual Canadians to these charities by the end of December 23 will be matched by our Government which will set aside one dollar for the Typhoon Haiyan Relief Fund."
The Minister recently visited some of the hardest-hit areas of the country where he witnessed first-hand the widespread devastation and met with men, women and children affected by Typhoon Haiyan. He toured the Canadian Red Cross field hospital in Ormoc and had the opportunity to see Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) in action in Roxas City. In addition, the Minister met with local government and United Nations officials, as well as humanitarian partners.
"The people I met and the images I saw during my short stay in the Philippines will stay with me forever. I will always be impressed by the resilience and perseverance of the Philippine people and I will always be proud of Canada's response and the difference our efforts are making on the ground," added the Minister.
Since the typhoon struck the Philippines on November 8, Canada has provided a rapid and well-coordinated humanitarian and consular response. Immediately following the impact, the Government of Canada established the Typhoon Haiyan Relief Fund to help meet the humanitarian needs of affected populations, and to encourage support for the appeals made by humanitarian organizations. In addition to launching the matching fund, Canada also immediately provided more than $20 million in humanitarian assistance, deployed the relief items from Canada's emergency stockpile, supported the deployment of the Canadian Red Cross field hospital, and the deployment of the Canadian Armed Forces' DART team.
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For more information, media should contact:
Margaux Stastny, Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of International Development and Minister for La Francophonie
Telephone: 819-953-6238
Email: margaux.stastny@international.gc.ca
Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD)
Telephone: 819-995-1874
Email: media@international.gc.ca
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