As Canadians continue to give generously to the victims of the devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is calling on Haiti鈥檚 creditors to cancel the country鈥檚 debt in the aftermath of the disaster.
Long considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been in dire need since the massive Jan. 12 earthquake levelled its capital city.
The country lost an estimated 200,000 of its citizens in the quake and another 200,000 have faced amputations or other surgery as a result of injuries they sustained. Hundreds of thousands remain homeless and some two million people are hungry.
Speaking in Ottawa on Wednesday morning, Flaherty said Haiti 鈥渕ust be focused on the priorities of its people, not on the liabilities of its past鈥� as it tries to rebuild and recover as quickly as possible.
Flaherty explained that Canada cancelled its debt with Haiti last fall and international financial institutions cancelled $973 million in loans. Those measures helped cut down Haiti鈥檚 debt significantly, but the finance minister said it鈥檚 important that other creditors do the same, so that Haitian citizens 鈥渄o not take a back seat to prior debt obligations.鈥�
"Our collective goal should be to ensure that Haitians not be required to make substantial debt repayments while reconstructing their nation," he said.
"Rebuilding Haiti is a long-term project. Canada will stand by Haiti in the aftermath of this tragedy and long afterwards."
The finance minister called on Taiwan and Venezuela, specifically, to complete their own debt-relief efforts as soon as possible.
鈥楢stonishing鈥� donations
At the same press conference, it was revealed that Canadians have now donated an 鈥渁stonishing鈥� $82.5 million to non-governmental organizations to be used for relief and recovery in Haiti, said International Co-Operation Minister Bev Oda.
Because Ottawa has agreed to match public donations on a dollar-for-dollar basis until Feb. 12, that means that Canadians will send well over $100 million to Haiti in the wake of the disaster -- money that is arriving as grants, and not as loans, said Flaherty.
Canada has also sent two naval vessels to Haiti, anchored in the towns of Jacmel and Leogane, respectively. Some 1,400 Canadian soldiers, sailors and air crew are in the country, a figure that is to swell to about 2,000 by week鈥檚 end.
As a result, a field hospital has been set up in Leogane and a medical clinic is running in Jacmel that treated 250 people on Tuesday.
The military has also delivered more than 2.5 million pounds of relief and logistical supplies.
As of Wednesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has confirmed the deaths of 21 Canadians in the Jan. 12 quake. Another 147 Canadians remain unaccounted for.
With files from The Canadian Press
