Update on the crisis in Haiti and emergency contact information

January 25, 2010

Reminder: Friends and relatives in Canada seeking information on Canadian citizens believed to be in Haiti should contact DFAIT's Emergency Operations Centre in Ottawa by calling 1 800 387 3124, or for those in Ottawa (613) 943-1055, or by sending an email to sos@international.gc.ca

 Canadian citizens in Haiti requiring emergency consulate assistance should contact the Canadian Embassy in Port-au-Prince at +509-2-249-9000, or call DFAIT's Emergency Operations Centre collect at 613-996-8885.  An email can also be sent to sos@international.gc.ca

CIC/Applications & Adoption: Effective immediately, priority will be given to new and existing sponsorship applications from Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons who have close family members in Haiti. They must, however, identify themselves as being directly and significantly affected by the current situation and notify Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). Priority consideration will also be given to pending adoption cases with the visa office in Port-au-Prince.

New sponsorship applications should have “Haiti” prominently written on the mailing envelope. Sponsors and applicants presently in Canada who have applications in process should notify the CIC Call Centre at 1-888-242-2100 (in Canada only, from 7 am to 7 pm ET Monday through Friday) or by email at question-Haiti@cic.gc.ca to identify their existing applications, if they or the family they have sponsored have been adversely affected.

To read the latest news release please visit: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2010/2010-01-16.asp
Updated notice (January 18, 2010): http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/notices/notice-special.asp
Haiti FAQ:  http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/backgrounders/2010/2010-01-16.asp
Should you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to e-mail me at McColeman.P@parl.gc.ca, or call my office at (519) 754-4300.


Statement by Minister Kenney
Wednesday January 20th 2010

Thank you. As you know, we are working to reunite families affected by this crisis. Today I will update you on our activities to expedite adoption cases that were already in the system when the earthquake struck.

Adopting from a foreign country is a complex process. First the province determines whether parents are fit to adopt. The foreign government must then agree to the adoption and match parents with a child. We only become aware of cases at the end of the process, when CIC’s role is to allow the child to come to Canada.
We have already identified about 100 such applications in process in our system. We are working to contact those adoptive parents to let them know what we are doing, and we hope to complete those calls by noon today.

We have also contacted the provinces and asked them to send to us their lists of parents already in their systems and we have begun receiving those. We are determining whether we have some level of approval in principle from the Haitian government and we will be approaching Haitian authorities with this list to have their confirmation we can take these children to Canada.

Once we receive that confirmation I have directed my officials to issue temporary resident permits to allow these Haitian children to enter Canada. Regular processing fees will be waived and the federal government will cover health costs until they can be covered under provincial programs.

We will be sending staff to Port-au-Prince to help with these and other immigration files, and we have also established an office in Santo Domingo. But as you know, the government’s own infrastructure in Port-au-Prince has been severely compromised and that does put limits on our services.

We are working urgently with the provinces to identify all the relevant adoption cases we can act on. But we encourage any adoptive parent who has an adoption case under way for a child in Haiti, and who has not been contacted by us, to call the CIC Call Centre at 1-888-242-2100, or by email at question-Haiti@cic.gc.ca, to discuss their case.

I would note that the CIC Call Centre received 55,000 calls on Monday alone—a 61 percent increase over regular volumes. We are expanding our hours and doing all we can to serve people who are understandably anxious.

Our CIC office in Montréal is organizing a meeting next week with stakeholders to talk about the special measures we are taking, and to discuss concrete ways CIC can support the Haitian community, including providing assistance in filling out sponsorship applications.

I appreciate the interest expressed by many Canadians to adopt children who have lost their family and friends in this terrible tragedy. It’s certainly a testament to Canadians’ generosity and open spirit, but I have to caution that we’re not there yet.

It is international policy and practice to try to first find homes for children who have been orphaned in their own country before placing them in a foreign country.
Over the long term, we’ll consider how we can work with international organizations such as UNICEF in terms of bringing orphans to Canada for adoption. In the meantime persons who are interested in international adoption of a Haitian child should contact their provincial government ministries or adoption agencies to start the process.

In closing, I also want to mention the government is concerned that members of the Haitian-Canadian community are being misled by paid immigration consultants who claim they can speed up the arrival of their loved ones from Haiti.

Let me remind the public that no immigration consultant can speed up this process, and I would ask that you be particularly vigilant with independent consultants at this time.

Statement by Minister Mackay
Wednesday January 20 2010

Thank you
 
First, let me reiterate that the Government of Canada and the Canadian Forces join with all Canadians in extending our continuing support to the Haitian people. As we move ahead with Op HESTIA, our mission in Haiti, our thoughts continue to be focused on the many people in Canada, Haiti and around the world who are living with the effects of this tragedy every day.

Much has happened in Haiti over the past 24 hours. Canadian Forces members remain engaged in the humanitarian assistance efforts in Haiti. HMC ships Halifax and Athabascan arrived in Haitian waters yesterday and stationed off shore from Jacmel and Léogâne respectively. The vessels immediately began offloading vital drinking water, equipment, and people and began reconnaissance of the immediate areas. Due to the damage sustained to the ports, the humanitarian support assistance teams are using the Navy’s rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB) to shuttle between the ships and shore.

In Jacmel the reconnaissance team focused on the area near the jetty and the surrounding town in order to assess where best to commence clearing roads and debris and assist in delivery of aid. The team confirmed 80 to 90 per cent destruction in the area. In Léogâne the shore team began assisting with setting up the first aid centre.

I have been advised that through the exceptional efforts of the CF men and women on the ground in the Jacmel area, the Jacmel airfield will become a fully functional airport within the next 24 hours. This achievement is crucial, as it will allow the Canadian Forces access to a viable landing strip 24 hrs a day, making it easier to ensure a continuous flow of aid supplies and equipment. Although this airfield lacks radar capability, HMCS Halifax off the coast at Jacmel has the capability and will be a valuable asset in the execution of airfield operations. Once this airstrip has been cleared for use, the CF will be in a position to control/manage the airspace in that region of Haiti to allow our aircraft to move into and out of Haiti and avoid the congestion we’ve seen at the Port-au-Prince airport.

These efforts are made easier by an agreement that we have reached with the Government of Jamaica to allow the Canadian Forces to use Norman Manley Airport as an air bridge to improve and enhance the movement of equipment and people into and out of Haiti. It also helps reduce some of the strain on the airport in Port-au-Prince, by diverting CF air traffic.

With this air bridge, we will be able to use our C-17 Globemaster aircraft to carry people, supplies and equipment between CFB Trenton and Kingston, Jamaica. From there we will use our CC-130 Hercules aircraft for the short haul flights between Jamaica and the Jacmel airstrip in Haiti.


This agreement is made possible by the strong ties between the Government of Canada and the Jamaican Government as well as a history of the Canadian Forces working cooperatively with the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF).  This is a relationship that is important to Canada’s contribution to the security pillar of the Government’s Americas Strategy in the Western Hemisphere. For decades we have maintained a close working relationship between the CF and the JDF - members of the CF and JDF have trained together in both Canada and Jamaica, and we cooperated in two major military exercises held in Jamaica in 2008. As well, a JDF exchange officer recently returned from a six-month deployment to Afghanistan with the Canadian Forces. We are very pleased that Jamaica has agreed to support Canada’s efforts in Haiti.
 
I am proud that Canadians were among the first on the ground and into action following the earthquake but individual Canadians are in key leadership roles in support of the international community’s efforts.

I cannot emphasize enough that the primary focus of our mission is to support the people of Haiti during this very difficult time. To date, the Canadian Forces have airlifted over 530,000 pounds of aid into Haiti, bringing the total to more than 290,000 pounds in relief goods alone, in addition to equipment and supplies transported into theatre.

Also in the past 24 hrs, DART medical efforts have treated 100 people at the Jacmel Hospital, 15 individuals at the multi-national field hospital, and 25 people at the Canadian Embassy.
 
Now an update on the CF assets committed to support this massive humanitarian assistance effort include:
 
*The Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), including engineering, medical, logistical, and defence and security personnel;
*A Naval Task Force, made up of a destroyer and a frigate, and a CH-124 Sea King helicopter;
*Six CH-146 Griffon helicopters;
*One light infantry battalion, standing by to deploy;
*CC-177 Globemaster and CC-130 Hercules airlift support;
*Medical facilities; and
*Four water purification systems including three NOMAD sand-water systems and one reverse osmosis water purification unit (ROWPU) - an advanced water treatment system capable of purifying any water source found in the world including fresh, brackish or seawater, bringing our clean water production capacity to thousands upon thousands of gallons of water per day.
 
We must not lose focus on the fact that this is a tragedy of unspeakable proportions and that Canada and the Canadian Forces want to be there to do whatever is possible as part of the international response. Our hearts continue to be with the Haitian people. Their strength has been tested beyond what we can ever imagine and it is our duty to do what we can to assist them in their time of need.