Mr. Speaker, in watching the scenes of death and destruction resulting from the devastating tsunami that hit South Asia, our hearts immediately went out to the more than 220,000 victims and the millions left homeless. This catastrophe made us realize that even with all our scientific and technological advances, we remain vulnerable to the power of nature.
As the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, “The tsunami was an unprecedented global natural disaster” and it deserved “an unprecedented, global response”.
Governments, NGOs and ordinary people have contributed billions of dollars to the devastated countries.
In my constituency, people are doing all they can for the victims. Musicians have held concerts. Students have raised thousands through loonie drives. Maninder Gill of Radio India raised over $700,000 for the Red Cross; I personally spent eight hours on the air as part of his fundraiser.
British Columbians are vulnerable. Our government should learn some lessons from this disaster, including improving response times for our DART and better emergency preparedness.
On behalf of my constituents, I want to thank--