Mr. Chair, I thank the member for Edmonton—Leduc and the previous speaker as well who talked about the diversity and the spectrum of capabilities offered by the modern Canadian Forces.
It is very much a challenge when there are simultaneous events such as the Olympics and the preparation for the G8 and G20, which will bring a lot of that knowhow and lessons learned to bear during that important summit. We have of the ongoing mission in Afghanistan, as well as other UN missions to which we are committed such as Haiti, or Op Hestia as it became known, which happened very suddenly in the aftermath of the earthquake that occurred off the coast of that island country.
As the hon. member would know, this resulted in a very quick response from the Canadian Forces. Two ships, the Halifax as well as the Athabaskan were deployed. The Athabaskan is in New York taking part in the American Fleet Week. I had the pleasure to be there with the captain and crew of that vessel, as did the Secretary-General of the UN who dropped by to pay his respects.
To respond to the question in terms of the challenge that was faced, we received the call and the Canadian Forces made the decision to deploy. As a result, the Canadian Forces, working in conjunction using our DART team and with other departments, were able to evacuate 4,620 Canadians. They treated medically over 22,000 patients, distributed over 2.6 million litres of water, supplied millions of meals. This was an unprecedented effort, resulting in lifesaving, life enhancing during our time in Haiti, something that is truly a proud moment for all Canadians.