There is no word yet from the Canadian government as to which specific organizations will receive the money it earmarked to match donations by Canadians for Haiti earthquake relief efforts. The sum totals 154.4 million Canadian dollars (USD151 million).
In an e-mail to Mia Rabson of the Winnipeg Free Press, Jessica Fletcher, spokeswoman for Canadian International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda, said the Canadian International Development Agency is “working with the Government of Haiti and partner organizations to identify priorities and decide on disbursement of the fund.”
Oda did not discount the possibility that organizations such as the World Bank, not one of those to which donations by Canadians were made, could get a portion of the funding.
Kieran Green, a spokesman for CARE Canada, believes the funds should go to organizations that raised the money, similar to aid initiatives for past disasters such as the China earthquake of 2008.
“We don’t know what CIDA’s plan is,” Green told Rabson. “We think Canadians who donated to CARE expected their donations would be matched to us.”
CARE Canada gathered 2.7 million Canadian dollars in eligible donations and is ready with proposals worth 6 million Canadian dollars for consideration by government. CIDA gave the organization 1.5 million Canadian dollars in January to support its relief efforts.
