Straight Talk

Conservative government will match Canadians' donations to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan

by Charlie Smith on November 11th, 2013 at 9:20 AM
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      International Development Minister Christian Paradis has announced that the federal government will make more assistance available to people affected by Typhoon Haiyan.

      Ottawa has created a "matching fund" for those who contribute to relief efforts.

      "Through this fund, for every eligible dollar donated by individual Canadians to registered Canadian charities in response to the crisis in the Philippines the government will donate an additional dollar—effectively doubling their contribution," Paradis said in a November 10 news release.

      The previous day, the government announced up to $5 million in support to humanitarian organizations, but there was no mention of a matching fund at that time.

      Wind speed in Typhoon Haiyan gusted up to 275 kilometres per hour, exceeding the power of Hurrican Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005.

      One of the hardest hit areas in the Philippines is city of Tacloban on Leyte Island, where the mayor has estimated that up to 10,000 people may have died.

      (Click photo below to enlarge and see the wind speeds in various areas of the country.)

      Comments

      6 Comments

      DavidH

      Nov 11, 2013 at 10:57am

      This is a continuing Conservative joke.

      - Eligible donations must be earmarked specifically for Philipine relief ... even though most large aid organizations are trying to avoid earmarking. Earmarking puts handcuffs on aid organizations.

      - Eligible donations must be less than $100,000. This denies the possibility that wealthy donors might be able to donate more, but it protects the government from the generous.

      - The government matching funds will not necessary go to the same aid organizations that appealed for and received the public donations. Bureaucrats in "Foreign Affairs, Trade & Development Canada" will decide where the money goes.

      Mark Murphy

      Nov 11, 2013 at 7:49pm

      How much are oil companies ponying up for disasters they are creating?

      G

      Nov 11, 2013 at 11:34pm

      Harpo annonces $5 million and people complain the government didn't offer to match donations. The government agrees to match donations and people find other reasons to complain.

      DavidH

      Nov 12, 2013 at 9:55am

      @G: The Harper Government did agree to match donations ... but with conditions. Very typical of conservatives, the party of "No" and "But".

      - If you believe that a government requirement for earmarked donations is fair, then you must believe that it's fair for taxpayers to earmark their contributions to the public purse. I'm happy to pay taxes, but I guess I should have the right to decide exactly how they're spent. Right? No more "big bucket". Great!

      - Can you explain why an individual donor (e.g. a wealthy business person) must be limited to $100,000 if they want to see a matching government donation? Why would the Harper Government not match a $500,000 donation?

      - Why does an agency responsible for "trade and development" get to decide where humanitarian aid funds actually go? Supplementary question: Why is our diplomatic corps now tied directly to trade and development?

      RUK

      Nov 12, 2013 at 12:41pm

      @DavidH

      Why wouldn't the Canadian govt dept in charge of development specify where the humanitarian aid funds go? Which dept would you prefer?

      Supplementary question: is not this aid a form of diplomacy?

      (I only ask because I do not think all aid agencies are equal. Many are terrible, they send food that sits on the docks, or Bibles. I give to MSF, they have low overhead and they actually do stuff for the people and not for the warlords/terrible government in the aid-receiving land. There may be other groups just as wonderful as MSF but anyone can call himself a humanitarian.)

      DavidH

      Nov 12, 2013 at 1:59pm

      @G: It's "trade and development". And the reason is that Canada's global diplomacy is now ruled by trade. Those nations with strong economic (trade) ties will have strong diplomatic ties, and will receive solid humanitarian aid. Others, not so much.

      MSF is a great organization. But remember, if you donate $1 to MSF, they will not receive a matching donation fron Ottawa unless they spend those donations on the Philipines.

      Even if there is another terrible disaster somewhere else. MSF, and all other organizations are stuck. That's called earmarking.