On Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Laureen Harper visited the Canadian Red Cross office in Ottawa to make a personal donation towards the relief efforts in Haiti.

Cash donations are the fastest, most efficient way to get help to people living in a disaster zone. Our Government encourages all Canadians to show their generosity by contributing to the registered charity of their choice to help in the earthquake relief. In order to avoid potential fraud, we urge everyone to ensure that their charity of choice is a registered charity. More information can be found at: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/donors/index.html

To acknowledge the generosity of Canadians, our Government has announced that we will match, dollar for dollar, Canadians’ charitable contributions to registered organizations for disaster assistance in Haiti. Thus far, over $30 million has been donated. This is in addition to the $5M preliminary emergency contribution announced earlier this week.

After speaking with the Haitian chargée d’affaires – as well as President Obama to coordinate our relief efforts with the United States – Canada has provided rapid response to the current situation in Haiti:

• A Canadian Forces DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team) team has been sent to Haiti.
  
• Canadian Forces aircraft are being dispatched daily to bring such things as emergency supplies, personnel, and search and rescue helicopters.
  
• These same planes are being used to bring Canadians home. To date, almost 1000 people have been brought safely back home.
  
• Within a short time, we will have approximately 2,000 men and women, seven helicopters and two ships contributing to rescue, recovery and reconstruction efforts in Haiti.
  
• The HMCS Halifax and HMCS Athabaskan, two Canadian naval ships loaded with food, bottled water, medical equipment and humanitarian supplies, are set to arrive in Haiti later today.
  
• A Canadian field hospital is now operating in Haiti.
  
• We are setting up expedited immigration procedures for Haitians with family in Canada.
  
• On January 25th, Canada will host a meeting of foreign ministers and key multilateral players to begin laying the groundwork for the reconstruction of Haiti.
  
• The Canadian Embassy in Port-au-Prince continues to provide emergency support to Canadian citizens in need.

Our Government offers our most sincere condolences to those who have lost friends and family in this terrible event. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Haitian people, as well as those who are worried about the safety and security of their loved ones.

Friends and relatives in Canada seeking information on Canadian citizens believed to be in Haiti should contact the Emergency Operations Centre by calling 1-800-387-3124. They may also send an email to sos@international.gc.ca.

Updates on the situation in Haiti are available at:  http://www.international.gc.ca/humanitarian-humanitaire/earthquake_seisme_haiti.aspx.

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