Thank you, Chair.
Thank you for the series of questions.
Just to confirm, we already have been funding a series of partners in Syria beyond the Red Cross movement for an extended period of time. They are delivering assistance and are members of the Humanitarian Coalition. We have strong partnerships already in place.
Why is it $10 million? It's a question we have faced in the past. We used to work through something we called a relief fund. This relief fund was open-ended. There was no limit to the amount of funding that would be provided. It was up to the generosity of Canadians.
The challenge with that kind of open-ended approach is that we don't have the fiscal resources within our own budget to manage that, so it takes a long time. We need to secure the resources. It's open-ended and the final requirements are uncertain. It was also open to a large membership of actors that could apply for the funding. As a result, it would take us a tremendous amount of time—much longer than we thought was useful and, more importantly, responsible—to respond in a rapid manner to these emergencies. By putting it at a level of $10 million, I can fund it through the budget that I have for humanitarian assistance.
The date limit is something we've learned from our partners. Indeed through their own interactions with us, they have indicated a shorter limit because the money usually comes in early or right at the end. In between, not a lot happens, so they feel like the shorter period actually gives a focused target to the giving. It allows us to effectively respond quickly, so we can release the monies to our partners.
Maybe just to give you some example of the timing for previous relief funds, we had one in Pakistan for previous flooding. It took 200 days to get the money out. With this last flood in Pakistan, it took 30 days. We have an extremely fast tool at our disposal that allows us to respond.
I'd just like to remind, Chair, that it's one tool among many. We have a broad group of tools. We're releasing relief supplies tomorrow. They are flying out from Dubai. It includes 10,000 blankets, enough hygiene kits for 2,000 families or 10,000 individuals, and other items as well. We have a broad range of tools. The matching fund is one that we think is important for public engagement, but again, it's just one of those tools.