Canada sends humanitarian assistance to Indonesia

By Levon Sevunts, Radio Canada International 

Canada has deployed a military transport aircraft to deliver vital humanitarian supplies to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, which was struck by a devastating earthquake and tsunami on Sept. 29, federal officials announced Thursday.

A C-130 Hercules transport plane takes off from CFB Trenton in Trenton. Ont.

The CC-130 Hercules will deliver humanitarian relief stocks, including tarpaulins and shelter kits, to help respond to the immediate needs of the vulnerable people affected, International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said in a joint communique.

The aircraft, which departed October 8, 2018, from Trenton, Ontario, is expected to arrive in Indonesia in the coming days, officials said. Upon arrival, it will support the transportation of assistance and supplies to the affected region.

“Canada remains deeply concerned about the impact of the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, and our thoughts are with all those affected,” Bibeau said in a statement. “Canada has responded quickly to bring support to those who need it most, and the relief items provided will help to address immediate humanitarian needs on the ground.”

This is in addition to the $1.5 million in humanitarian assistance from Ottawa announced on Oct. 2, 2018.

“Canada stands with the people of Indonesia and the Canadian Armed Forces stands ready to assist as Indonesia recovers from the effects of the earthquake and tsunami,” Sajjan said in a statement.

Indonesia’s national disaster agency said the official death toll had risen to 2,073 as of Thursday, with most of the fatalities in Palu.

Officially, 680 people are missing but officials fear the number could be several thousand because hundreds of homes were literally sucked into the earth.

Save the Children in Indonesia estimates there could be as many as 1,500 children missing.

DART Team on Standby for Caribbean Relief

The Canadian Press

The Canadian government and aid agencies were setting the wheels in motion Sunday to come to the aid of Caribbean islands who suffered damage by Hurricane Irma.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan tweeted Sunday evening that a team was being sent to determine how Canada can provide humanitarian assistance to the region.

Among the tools that the government can use is its Disaster Assistance Response Team, made up of members of the military and civilians from Global Affairs Canada. The DART can go to anywhere in the world on short notice to provide humanitarian assistance.

Meantime a Toronto-based aid organization said it sent four people to storm-battered St. Maarten to deliver supplies to those affected by Irma.

Rahul Singh, executive director of Global Medic, says the agency’s volunteers headed to the Caribbean country on a Sunwing rescue flight.

“Everyone’s trying to get out of the one place that we’re getting into,” he said.

St. Maarten, located on the Dutch side of an island divided between French and Dutch control, was devastated by the hurricane. An estimated 70 per cent of the homes were damaged or destroyed by Irma and four people have died, according to the Dutch government.

There was concern that hurricane Jose could hit the island Saturday night, but the Netherlands said the island was spared further damage because the storm passed farther from shore than expected.

Sunwing said its rescue flight left from Toronto on Sunday morning, and will drop off one tonne of humanitarian aid supplies, along with the Global Medic volunteers.

The Canadian airline said the flight will be picking up Canadians, Americans and Europeans stuck on the island.

Singh said his team of volunteers, which includes a paramedic, a firefighter and a pilot, will distribute hygiene kits and water purification kits, along with water purification units that will be used in hospitals.

“Our getting in could make the world of difference to the patients in that hospital with no clean water, to those 1,700 folks that are going to get aid, and to the overall emergency system,” he said.

On top of that, Singh said, they brought enough water purification tablets to purify a million litres of water.

“People have some pretty significant needs down there, and we’re racing against time to meet them,” Singh said.

He said the St. Maarten government has also asked that his team use drones to gather “aerial imaging and comprehensive mapping” of the damage.

More than 9,000 Canadians have registered with the Registration of Canadians Abroad Service in the region, Global Affairs said Sunday, but added that the number only provides an estimate since registration is voluntary. Out of those registered in the area, 296 Canadian citizens have requested assistance.

“Our thoughts are with all those affected, both Canadians abroad and their families at home,” spokeswoman Natasha Nystrom said in a statement. “During this difficult time, the Government of Canada is making every possible effort to assist Canadian citizens affected by hurricane Irma and those who may be affected by hurricane Jose.”

She said Canada’s diplomatic missions are working with local authorities, airlines and tour operators to further help affected Canadians.

Canada is also working with international partners such as the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia, France and the Netherlands to information and co-ordinate our efforts, she added.

US Official: CAF Needs to Examine Roles for Future Disaster Aid

By Elliot Ferguson
The Whig

Canada and the United States may need to be willing to re-examine the role of the military in their societies as part of the preparations to deal with major natural disasters, says an American military expert.

Prof. Bert Tussing, director of the Homeland Defense and Security Issues Group at the U.S. Army War College, said preparations need to be made to respond to a "catastrophic incident" that would cause large numbers of deaths and injuries and destroy infrastructure over a large geographic area.

"You want to plan and prepare for the worst and pray that the worst never happens," Tussing said while addressing the 11th annual Kingston Conference on International Security at the Residence Inn Kingston Water's Edge.

Tussing said the role of the armed forces in times of natural disaster is to support civilian agencies in their response, not assume control.

In recent cases in the United States where the military was called in -- after the 1992 Los Angeles earthquake and in 2005 after hurricane Katrina -- the operations were short and the military withdrew quickly when its help was no longer needed, Tussing said.

Tussing used the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 as an example of a natural disaster that could threaten the stability of the country.

Three earthquakes in late 1811 and early 1812 -- all registering more than 7.3 on the Richter scale -- caused damage across 600,000 square kilometres and temporarily reversed the flow of the Mississippi River.

Rebuilding after that disaster took several months, at a time when there was little infrastructure.

Tussing said a similar earthquake now would cause widespread devastation. He added that it would take about 18 months to restore critical services, such as electricity and water.

In that time, local law enforcement agencies would be hard-pressed to maintain social order and it may fall to the armed forces to keep society together.

Tussing said governments need to put in place plans that give the military and civilian agencies clear roles during times of widespread and enduring disaster.

"It's time for us to plan now," he said.

This year's conference examines how militaries change and adapt to new situations during war and peace.

Conference participants looked at the "grey zone" between war and peace populated by non-governmental organizations, private corporations armed groups and states.

"It is hard to grasp, define, put borders and boundaries around it," said Maj.-Gen. Jean-Marc Lanthier, Canadian Army Doctrine and Training Centre.

"If we define the problem too narrowly, we will miss the solutions because the complexity of the problem makes it necessary to analyze it in the broadest sense."

This year's conference was meant to bring together military, academic, private sector and non-governmental organizations to discuss different issues.

Joining Tussing on the first discussion panel on Tuesday morning were Andrew Carswell from the International Committee of the Red Cross, Almero Retief from the mining company Rio Tinto, and Diego Ruiz-Palmer, an economics and security adviser to the NATO aecretary general.

"As an academic doing security and defence research, I really cherish those opportunities to have members of the armed forces, people from government and even the private sector react to the kind of research I am doing," said Prof. Stefanie von Hlatky of the Centre for International and Defence Policy at Queen's University.

"It usually takes the discussion in unexpected places."