An Open Letter About Canada’s Disaster Response
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The Canadian Centre for Emergency Preparedness commends the Canadian Government for increasing its financial commitment to the Tsunami relief effort. It’s one of the larger contributions any government has yet made.
But, we regret that these good intentions are being offset by growing public and media perception that, in one of the largest international disaster relief efforts ever, Canada’s delayed tactical response suggests a lack of initiative and leadership. We’re very concerned that public confidence in Canada’s emergency and disaster response capabilities is dwindling.
The problem lies with the government’s perceived inability to be proactive in deciding, acting, and communicating about what it is doing, particularly with respect to the deployment of Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART). Government spokesmen appear to have been trapped in a defensive position and don’t seem to have planned how to communicate effectively in a major international disaster. Had the Government’s initiative and leadership been seen to be proactive from the beginning, this public relations problem wouldn’t be distracting attention from the real issue. This delay has made Canadians, and the rest of the world, look at the DART deployment as a political decision rather than a humanitarian one.
DART, a major source of pride in the Canadian Forces, is suffering today from the very problem which resulted in its creation. Ten years ago, DART was conceived as a rapid response team for major international disasters. Why? Because Canada’s relief efforts to a crisis in Rwanda arrived too late to thwart a cholera epidemic that brought tremendous suffering. The Canadian Forces website boasts, “The creation of the DART enhanced the federal government’s ability to meet both domestic and international requests for aid, and it demonstrates Canada’s resolve to support disaster victims anywhere in the world.”
Yet, five days after the Tsunami struck eleven countries bordering the Indian Ocean and the death toll approaches 100,000, Canada’s crack multi-disciplinary team of 200 specialists is still on Canadian soil. DART appears to be a vital Humanitarian Relief tool mired in political procedural stumbling. And the Canadian public is showing increasing frustration at the government’s perceived lack of initiative and imagination in responding to a disaster that, in the words of UN Secretary General Koffi Annan, calls for an unprecedented effort from the international community.
Hundreds of thousands of survivors of this catastrophic event are at immediate risk from hunger and disease. We appeal to all Canadians to support the relief efforts by donating now to one of the agencies listed on our web site at www.ccep.ca
Countries affected by Indian Ocean tsunami.
@ December 31, 2004