Debates of Nov. 20th, 2013

Crisis in the Philippines

[Mike Sullivan, NDP, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Chair, there are 600,000 Filipinos living in Canada, nearly half in the Greater Toronto Area, and of that number there are 6,000 in my riding of York South—Weston. Many of them are very worried about what has happened in their community and what communications they can expect from that community. They are actually quite grateful for the government's matching funding. However, it is unfortunate that it is such a short period of time, because it does take some time to organize the funding to be matched.

On Saturday, I will be participating in an event to raise money at the Iglesia ni Cristo Congregation in Mount Dennis in my riding. Our hearts go out to the victims of this disaster.

I urge the government to consider extending the matching funds time beyond December 9. I am aware of fundraising for Haiti that went on well beyond the period of time that was set aside by the government. I understand there needs to be some closure on it, but it would be easier on these communities if they were given more time to organize themselves around fundraising in order to access the matching funds from the government; although we do appreciate the fact that there are matching funds from the government.

I know the minister did not like the fact that this was brought up, but I will comment on the series of natural disasters on this planet in the past few years: Katrina, Sandy, the snow storms in Europe, the recent flooding in Alberta, the flooding in Toronto and, just last Sunday, a series of tornadoes in November in the United States, which caused a tremendous amount of damage.

I am not suggesting for a moment that there is some reason in a take note debate to ascribe blame in some fashion to anyone or anything, but I would note that the world is watching as these storms become more frequent and more dangerous. It is something for which Canada and every government in the world has to be prepared. We have to be paying attention to the fact that these things are becoming more difficult.

The City of Toronto has asked the Government of Canada for assistance in infrastructure spending to prepare itself for future storms such as the one that happened on July 8 of this year, which caused $1 billion of damage in the city of Toronto alone. So far the response from the government has been to say no.

We must take stronger preventive action to prepare ourselves for natural disasters, the likes of which many of us have never even imagined. It has happened in the Philippines and it can happen anywhere in the world, and it would appear it is happening with much more frequency.

I will close by saying that I too want to thank the members of the disaster team from the Canadian military who have gone to the Philippines. They make Canada proud every time they are sent out. I want to thank every one of them for the work they are doing and the selflessness with which they leave Canada and go into a disaster area.

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development]

Mr. Chair, I would like to thank my colleague for his comments and especially for his good wishes to our DART team and the things it is doing.

As members of Parliament, we have the opportunity to help in our communities. The member talked about a fundraiser that is going on. I wonder if there is some way he is participating in helping to get that message out and if that is a message we can take to the rest of our colleagues in this House.

[Mike Sullivan, NDP, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Chair, in fact I am taking that message out to my entire community.

All members of Parliament have tremendous communication tools, but one of the difficulties is the time frame. The December 9 deadline does not allow us the time to send mail out to the riding to advise of the necessity of fundraising.

It is fairly well known in the public, but I am going to make as much use of my communication tools as I can to make sure as many people as possible are aware of the fundraising that is going on this weekend and, generally, that the government is matching funds.

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Chair, just to clarify, yes, human resources; Canadian government presence in the Philippines has been reinforced. It is mostly, obviously, on the military side and the consular side because there was an acute need there to track Canadians, many of them still missing. That role is not a particularly large one in normal times in the Philippines. Our immigration program is a large one, one of the largest we have in the world. It is being adjusted. It is being supported, but it is handling prioritized cases within its already very large workload quite well.

There was a very important point made by the member opposite about the future for the Philippines and other countries. Would the member not agree with us that the best investment that can be made with the support of donor countries, but also by countries subject to typhoons and earthquakes and other natural disasters themselves, is to build that resilience, to build that ability to respond quickly and to prevent the kind of damage that is much worse when preparations have not been made?

Of course it takes resources. Of course it has to be done over the long term, but this has to be part of the development process, surely, in parts of the world that are subject to these acute and intense climatic phenomena like the typhoon we saw in the Philippines. Is that not something we should all work on together?

[Mike Sullivan, NDP, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Chair, absolutely, I must agree, and I am glad the member opposite has agreed with me that preparation is important. Climate change adaptation is the term that has been used by the government and by others. Part of that is recognizing it, not just in developing countries or in far-flung places in the world, but right here in Canada.

In Alberta, in Toronto and in Mississauga there were effects of storms this summer that were unthinkable, and they clearly displayed that some parts of this country are not prepared for the worst-case scenario and for the scenarios we likely are going to see more of, as a result of global climate change.

We welcome the government responding “yes” when the City of Toronto asks it for help with infrastructure spending in order to prevent the kind of property damage that occurred because its sewer systems could not handle the rain that fell in this last storm. However, in addition, funding assistance and best practices to developing countries or to countries where infrastructure is weak or unable to withstand the kinds of devastation that have come from this typhoon are another welcome goal that Canada can set for itself in its role in the world.

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Chair, I would have liked to have asked the minister something along these lines. I think the preventive theme that is being discussed here is really quite important. Without branching out to prevention more generally, would the member be as interested as I am in knowing from the government whether or not discussions may be already under way about what kind of co-operation Canada is prepared to give or work on with the Philippines when it comes to prevention for the future?

One of the biggest concerns I hear is that we know that the Philippines of late has been subject to more and more typhoons. We know it is extremely vulnerable. The indomitable spirit of the Filipinos that is actually famous and renowned around the world is only going to take them so far, without help from us. If we are really the friends we say we are, I am hoping that these discussions are already starting.

[Mike Sullivan, NDP, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Chair, I would welcome a more fulsome answer from the government on its long-term strategy for helping the Philippine government develop and redevelop itself and would love to hear that answer from him.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am humbled to be able to join in this debate tonight and know that it is a very important debate for many of the constituents of Scarborough—Rouge River. As my colleague from York South—Weston mentioned, about 300,000 Canadians of Filipino descent are in the greater Toronto area, and about 10,000 of them are in Scarborough—Rouge River. My heart goes out to all my constituents who have family members and friends living in the Philippines, as do I. Know that I have many friends and people who have become like family for me living in the Philippines and are dealing with the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, as we call it, or Yolanda, as they call it in the Philippines.

This typhoon has displaced more people than the tsunami of the Indian Ocean and Hurricane Katrina put together. More than 500,000 homes have been completely destroyed by this typhoon, and we know that at least 13 million people have been affected throughout the Philippines.

I am very grateful and want to, first and foremost, thank every single person who has taken immediate action to make sure that we are doing what we can as civil society members to support our friends and family and our global colleagues, our global citizens in the Philippines, who have been affected by this natural disaster.

I want to share with members an email I received from Lory Grace Bautista, who is a constituent who lives in Scarborough. She was very nervous and very concerned about what was happening and how her family in Aklan province, on the Panay island were. She was worried that the Panay island was not getting as much support in the Panay region as many of the other people were. She was very grateful that our government had deployed the DART team and is very grateful for the support we are seeing here in Canada from everywhere. She was really hoping that we would extend our operations to Aklan province and other provinces, such as Antique and Capiz.

I am happy to let Ms. Bautista know that our DART team has been sent to the Panay island. It is very good to know that I can write back to Ms. Bautista to tell her that we have been able to do what she is asking and what many other people have been asking.

My colleague mentioned the fundraiser he is going to. Just a week ago, I met with MANET, the Ministerial Association of North-East Toronto. This is an association that brings many congregations of different faiths together. We sat there, around a table, to figure out how we could work together to do our own community fundraising to send money back to the Philippines to help with the aid efforts everybody around the world is doing.

I was in conversation with Migrante Canada, as well, about the work it is doing nationally here in Canada to raise money, and I want to thank everybody who is doing that.

I also need to thank our government for the quick response we have seen with the monetary commitment, the initial commitment of $5 million and the further commitment of matching funds. I am a fan of giving credit where credit is due. With the donations from Canadians, the matching to date is at $15 million. That is fantastic news, because that is money that is very much needed on the ground in the Philippines.

I am a very big fan of DART and personally know the benefits of DART. I want to thank each and every single member of the DART team for the work they do and thank our members, our Prime Minister, and our ministers, whoever was involved in making that quick decision to send the DART team out. We know that the sooner DART is on the ground, the positive response from the communities becomes exponentially better.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank my colleague from Scarborough—Rouge River for her comments tonight. It is important that we have these respectable debates and talk about the issues that are important. She mentioned how important the donations are right now and how important it is that we got boots on the ground as quickly as we did. I want to let her know that I appreciate her acknowledgment of all the efforts of the government.

My colleague also talked about how people in the Canadian Filipino community have been active in fundraising and addressing the needs in the terrible tragedy that we are seeing in the Philippines. I hope she can also speak to the broader audience, to all Canadians. We need every Canadian to get out and raise money and find those dollars. I know that we are going into the Christmas season, and people have other priorities. Sooner or later, the news will change the channel again, and we will not be listening to what is happening with the ongoing human crisis taking place in the Philippines. If we can continue to encourage Canadians from coast to coast to coast to continue to donate until December 8, that is something we want to continue to work collaboratively on.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Chair, I agree with what the parliamentary secretary mentioned. That is the same point I made. When I spoke about the Ministerial Association of North-East Toronto, it is all the northeast Toronto faith groups that are coming together, not just Canadians of Filipino descent. It is congregations of people in our community in northeast Toronto who are coming together to help.

The parliamentary secretary spoke about Christmas coming and that the priorities of people may be changing. Being a Hindu, my understanding of Christmas is that it is about love and giving. That is what we are seeing here and is exactly what we need. We need people to open their hearts just a bit more and maybe dig a little deeper into their pockets. When we do not have much is when we give more. If we look at statistics, it is people who do not have much who give the most.

I ask all Canadians to dig a bit deeper and look to how they can help with this horrendous crisis that is affecting human lives. The rebuilding will not be easy or quick. Canada will need to coordinate with the Philippines government in its rebuilding efforts. However, before we can start rebuilding, we need to make sure that we have enough right now for the people who are affected to sustain life and move forward. In order for that to happen, we need to make sure that we are all working together collectively in this country to give.

[Kirsty Duncan, Liberal, Etobicoke North, ON]

Mr. Chair, my colleague's speech was heartfelt. The UN has reported that nearly half the health facilities in four affected regions remain closed. I am wondering if she could talk about the health impacts, the needs of our mothers and our children, and what steps the government could be taking to help.

[Rathika Sitsabaiesan, NDP, Scarborough—Rouge River, ON]

Mr. Chair, I thank the hon. member for Etobicoke for her question and for always focusing on health impacts in our communities and around the world.

The UN has had to close down four centres of health care provision. People in these areas will need emergency medical assistance. If centres of health care provision have to be shut down, we know it will exacerbate the situation even further.

I am just coming from a meeting where I was hosting a dialogue on early and forced marriages. I learned that one of the health care workers who was helping in that situation has also lost her life in the Philippines because of Yolanda. It further exacerbates the situation when health care workers and medical facilities are lost in this disaster, this crisis, this tragedy.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to be able to participate in this very serious debate tonight. As all of our speakers have already stated, our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in the Philippines. Our encouragement goes out to those who are reaching out and providing humanitarian assistance in the Philippines, as well as those here in Canada who are still missing family members or have not heard from them because of communication lines telephone lines and other infrastructure being destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan. It is important that we continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers as they still struggle with knowing how their families are coping during this time.

I want to use my time tonight to talk about the very quick response to last week's typhoon by the Department of National Defence and our Canadian Armed Forces. This is a story of profound and terrible loss. We are talking about people's lives, their homes, infrastructure, and livelihoods. We have already talked about entire crops being wiped out. Much of the Philippines is an agrarian society, with people living off the land. If we quietly considered the despair we would feel if this happened to us right here in Canada or to our families, all of us could truly understand the despair and grief in the Philippines today.

Our natural instinct in times of crisis and times of danger like this, when there is storm of this magnitude bearing down on us, is to run and get cover. We have citizens in our country who do the exact opposite. Of course, I am speaking of the brave men and women who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces as part of our Disaster Assistance Response Team, DART. Sure, they are military members of the Canadian Armed Forces, the Air Force, and the Royal Canadian Navy. These are soldiers, but they are armed with shovels, water, smiles, and medicine. They are going out there proudly wearing the maple leaf on their uniforms as a unit crest. It is a simple yet poignant moto on the uniform that says “Humanitas”.

Just a week ago, these members were sitting in their homes, unaware that they were going to be called. It really is a credit to the training, expertise, and readiness of the Canadian Armed Forces that it is always in a position to deploy the DART team. Now they are sitting in the middle of a major disaster zone, but they are bringing much needed help and assistance to Panay Island in the Philippines.

We all know that the story of DART is an important one. It is a story that all of us as Canadians are justifiably proud of. DART has proven time and time again that it can make a crucial difference in people's lives around the world. It does this by offering medical aid, engineering, logistical support, and of course, safe drinking water, the basis of healthy human life. DART can act as a stabilization resource immediately after an emergency. That is exactly what we are seeing. This way, it is bridging the gap between the disaster that has already hit hard and the arrival of civilian actors, NGOs, and those who are in the business of dealing with humanitarian aid and will be there to provide the long-term assistance that will be so desperately needed in the recovery from Typhoon Haiyan.

DART works alongside local authorities, first and foremost, non-governmental organizations from around the world, and international agencies, such as the United Nations. They will be there until regular services are able to be restored by the local governments.

Canadians and the international community have seen the great work of DART many times already. For example, in 2010, when Haiti was hit by the devastating earthquake, the Canadian Armed Forces had boots on the ground in less than 24 hours after the disaster. That included search and rescue personnel, medics and firefighters, and they were all directly helping the people in Haiti.

We have learned many lessons from the previous demanding missions, realizing just how important and challenging a rapid deployment is. We have been maintaining a flexible and rapid response capability and we know that is critical to the success of disaster relief operations where every few hours can save thousands of lives.

People are watching the TV right now and seeing all the different reports coming in. They know that when there are corpses still being collected and livestock carcasses laying all around, those situations are not only disease potential vectors, but also can cause contamination of the water source. We have to ensure that all of this gets cleaned up, that the infrastructure gets restored as quickly as possible and that the water is purified to ensure the sustainability of people's lives.

It is thanks to all the lessons that we have learned for the readiness, the training, the expertise of our people, as well as our equipment, as the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has already talked about. The Canadian Armed Forces are now set to answer the call for help whenever it comes and they are proving it right now in the Philippines.

The first step was for the military to deploy to the Philippines as part of the Government of Canada's assessment team. It was on the ground very quickly, understood immediately what the needs were and started working with the Philippine government to determine where our DART capabilities were best going to be used. We responded quickly and got our resources into our area of focus, which is Panay Island. Since then, we have opened our headquarters in the city of Roxas, with operations focusing on the northeast coast of the island, an area that was in the direct path of the typhoon, an area that is still not accessible by road, an area where much of the country has yet to pay any attention because of all the other devastation in other parts of the Philippines. What we are seeing on TV, of course, is Tacloban.

There are already over 300 members of the Canadian Armed Forces on the ground and this is all part of the DART. These are people with medical expertise, doctors, nurses and medics. There is logistical support and engineers, who are very important for restoring the infrastructure. We are using C-17 Global Masters and 150 Polaris aircraft. They are doing the strategic heavy lifting, getting personnel and equipment into the Philippines, which is over half the world away, over 16,000 kilometres. There are two Griffon helicopters that have already been deployed. Part of the team was able to fly in and give us mobility to get to the parts of Panay Island that we would not able to get to otherwise. They are getting in before the roads are cleared. A third helicopter is actually slated to arrive later tonight.

The work that our military personnel have been able to accomplish so far is quite impressive. We have a reverse osmosis water purification unit that has been installed and tested, and that will start providing purified water very shortly. A second unit is in transit right now. These water purification units will provide up to 50,000 litres of drinking water every day. That is going to make a difference in the lives of many people affected by this disaster.

Our men in uniform are also doing other important work, such as clearing the roads between different cities on the island and allowing vital transportation routes to reopen. They have already reopened 36 kilometres. They have also installed and repaired the generator in the hospital in Roxas so they can immediately start doing surgeries. We know that hospital has already been able to handle patients. As well, the medical team has already seen over 400 patients since it arrived.

This is what is really important. There is still much work to be done, but with its equipment, training and experience, DART is in its element, working with the authorities of the Philippines and our international partners, like the UN, to ensure that the help we provide meets the needs of the people of the Philippines.

[Peter Julian, NDP, Burnaby—New Westminster, BC]

[Member spoke in Filipino and provided the following translation:]

Long live the Philippines.

Mr. Chair, I think all of us as members of Parliament in the House of Commons join together to speak with Filipino Canadians from across the country, from coast to coast to coast and indeed with all those around the world who have been very concerned by the tragic events that took place just a few days ago.

I would like to particularly speak, through you, Mr. Speaker, to the community in Burnaby—New Westminster, the Filipino Canadians who are mobilizing across the Lower Mainland and many other residents in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia who are mobilizing right now to provide support.

This is the time given the fact that the aid needs to be delivered now to the victims of super Typhoon Haiyan. This is also the time, because the government is matching those funds, for the communities to mobilize.

We support the government in its rapid response to what the official opposition, NDP and so many Canadians across the country said needed to be done, an immediate response. The government has reacted promptly and this is extremely important.

We also know that this is a new class of super typhoon, and that Canada needs to engage with other countries. Once we have moved from burying the dead, feeding the hungry, giving aid to the injured and rebuilding the Philippines, internationally we have to work so that this type of super typhoon does not come again.

I would like to say again:

[Member spoke in Filipino and provided the following translation:]

Long live the Philippines.

I hope the member joins with me in this.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank my colleague from Burnaby—New Westminster for his comments.

Manitoba is home to one of the largest Canadian Filipino communities, including in Selkirk—Interlake. Our hearts and prayers are with them and their families and the work they are on relief efforts in the Philippines.

We are fortunate that we have such a great Canadian Armed Forces. The members of the DART are first-class citizens of our country, the best of the best. They are over there representing us well.

Panay Island has had a fairly significant Canadian footprint over time because of the work of CEDA. There have been lots of projects done in the area. It is an island that is only about the size of Cape Breton Island, with over four million people. These people have a great need.

Our military is very happy to go there and support those four million people who have been so devastated by Typhoon Haiyan.

One of the things that made it possible for us to get there quickly is our strategic lift. We purchased the C-17 Globemasters and now we can move troops and equipment very rapidly. We just proved that.

We were actually the second major country to go in there. We did not have logistical capabilities, like the United States, which is mainly focusing where the typhoon made landfall in Tacloban.

The United States has resources at Guam. It has a base in Okinawa, Japan. Both are only three or four hours away. The U.S. was able to move marines and equipment in.

We are moving equipment and personnel over 16,000 kilometres. It is an amazing accomplishment. We have a bigger presence there than the majority of countries.

[Jim Karygiannis, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Mr. Chair, I want to confirm two things.

I understand that any money spent on DART or DART operations or payment to the personnel will be above and beyond what has already been promised. I think we heard assurance from the parliamentary secretary that this has happened, but I do want to hear it again.

I also want to confirm that the minister sitting beside him has not confirmed to us that there will be additional personnel, immigration personnel, at the embassy helping with the processing of visitor visas, family cases. If the member could confirm those two things, it would be greatly appreciated.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Chair, I can tell the member there is sufficient personnel at the embassy in Manilla handling the citizenship claims. I can also tell him that we still have not done an accounting of what our deployment of the DART to the Philippines has cost. However, everything that is a direct cost of moving our troops over there, putting DART on the ground and having those boots on the ground to help the people of the Philippines, will be accounted for above and beyond all the contributions the government has already dedicated itself to, as well as the matching donations that will be made by Canadians up until December 8.

Again, I want to encourage everyone across the country, in the spirit of Christmas, Diwali and Hanukkah and all the other major holiday festivities that are coming up in the next month or so, during this time of giving, this is a time to remember those in need, and there is no greater need than what we see in the Philippines.

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration]

Mr. Chair, we join our colleagues opposite in saying mabuhay ang Pilipinas. Our thoughts are with the affected people, those who are victims of this typhoon as well as their friends and families and those most in need.

I am grateful to my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence, for correcting my pronunciation. It must have been the late hour, but I was calling the island that the Canadian Forces is on by a different name. It is actually Panay.

Let us recall why we are here. It is to continue that projection of Canadian expertise and resources to those in need. The Canadian Forces are doing it. We are doing it through our immigration programs, through Canadian development assistance and humanitarian relief.

Would the parliamentary secretary agree with me though that as Canadians look to channel their generosity, in the spirit of Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, et cetera, that one of the ways for them to have the greatest impact is not to send that can of food or that clothing, which itself has a huge logistical cost associated with it, but to give generously to humanitarian agencies that have a proven record? The Canadian Red Cross, CARE Canada, World Vision and others are on the ground and have proven networks that can translate those funds into an immediate impact on the lives of people who still have not been reached.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake, MB]

Mr. Chair, it has been said before, money is the best donation. It does not cost anything to send it. One can send it by wire and it gets over there. Then people can buy the food, the clothing and the supplies from the local economy. When they bring in canned goods, clothing, or other consumer needs, they are actually depressing the local economy. This way people will be able to help those who are not now going to have many business opportunities because everyone is so busy rebuilding.

Pretty much everyone there lived from paycheque to paycheque and at very low salaries at that. Therefore, it is important that we support the local farmers, local shops and that we get those goods, supplies and food stocks into the hands of those who need them.

The best way to do that is to work through major organizations like World Vision, the Red Cross, UNICEF, United Way and Mennonite Central Committee. I know there are so many others that are active right now in collecting those dollars. They have the expertise and the knowledge of dealing with humanitarian crises around the world. They will ensure that those dollars are used the most efficiently and to the benefit of the local economy and of course in delivering the needed aid and food that the people so desperately need.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am very happy to participate in this important debate this evening on the crisis in the Philippines.

Typhoon Haiyan, or Yolanda, has had an absolutely devastating effect on Filipinos. As we understand, it has displaced an estimated four million people, which is more than those displaced by the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina combined, with more than half a million homes completely destroyed. It is our understanding that at least 13 million people have been affected throughout the Philippines, with over 4,000 people estimated to have died, 18,000 injured and 16,000 people still missing.

I want to begin my comments this evening by extending my sincere sympathies to all those affected, obviously the Filipino population who have been so devastated by this terrible event, but also the many friends and family members and colleagues around the world who have been affected as well. It has created terrible uncertainty, terrible worry, and it has also mobilized people around the world to act as quickly as possible.

I want to especially extend sympathies to the Filipino community in my riding of Parkdale—High Park. I have reached out to the community centre, to Kababayan Multicultural Centre, which is the heart of the Filipino community in Parkdale—High Park. I know it has served many newcomers of Filipino descent to our area, and today continues to work with those Canadians of Filipino descent, including seniors and young people as well as other community members needing assistance. The people at the community centre perform wonderful work in services, language training and job help. I want to specifically offer to the executive director, Flordeliz Dandal, with whom I have worked so often in the community, and all of the staff and volunteers and to Aguido Dela Cruz, the chairperson of the board, and to all the board members and all members of the Filipino community, my sincere sympathies.

I did have the opportunity last week to meet briefly with the ambassador from the Philippines. I asked him what we as members of Parliament can do. He encouraged us to encourage people to donate, to contribute funds so we can get aid as quickly as possible to those affected. I went this week to the embassy here in Ottawa and signed a book of condolences that the ambassador is compiling and will be sent to the Filipino Canadian community.

I note that the international community has pulled together quite quickly to work to provide aid for relief efforts, and the international aid commitment so far has reached nearly $248 million. In addition, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank have readied $500 million in loans to help finance the reconstruction, because of course reconstruction will be enormous once the immediate needs of people in terms of water, food, shelter and clothing have been taken care of. Canada's commitment of $20 million so far, including $15 million to match funds that have been donated by Canadians, as well as mobilizing relief efforts and our DART members to provide direct assistance is extremely welcome. We thank the government for this very quick action.

I want to hit home to people who are listening from our community in Parkdale—High Park, or anywhere in the Toronto area, or indeed across Canada. We have an opportunity right now to secure matching funds from the federal government. We applaud this initiative, so the best relief, the best initiative that people can offer is to donate so that the money can get quickly translated into relief and aid on the ground.

There are a number of fundraising initiatives taking place in local communities. People can donate online through organizations such as Migrante Canada, which does such terrific work with caregivers from the Filipino community. They can work through Kababayan in Parkdale—High Park, or people can donate directly to humanitarian organizations, the Humanitarian Coalition, the Canadian Red Cross, World Vision, UNICEF, whatever their preferred recognized charity is that knows how to translate this money quickly into action on the ground.

I also note one specific event in which I am going to be participating in a couple of weeks. It is being organized by Long & McQuade Musical Instruments in Toronto. There is a singing contest with John Santos and we are going to be singing to raise funds for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan. That is Friday, December 6, at Casa Da Madeira Community Centre on Dupont Street in Toronto.

One further point I would like to make is that this typhoon was especially hard-hitting for the Filipino community because so many people of Filipino origin in Canada, and indeed in other countries around the world, are separated from families back home. Many people of Filipino origin have come here to Canada to work as caregivers in people's homes, or in the health care sector. Often these are people who have left their own families and children behind. They have missed milestones in their children's lives because they may be caring for other people's children. That presents its own special hardship, but when they are separated and something disastrous happens such as this typhoon, it is especially gut-wrenching for people separated from their loved ones.

Many who come here to Canada want to sponsor family members. We meet with people from the Filipino community in our constituency office regularly. They are trying to sponsor family members and it is a very long wait. This has an even bigger impact on them.

In addition to urging people to donate so that we can get matching funds from the federal government, I would also urge the federal government to do what it can to speed up family reunification, applications for permanent residence, the immigration process, so that people who are separated from family members can be reunited and be assured that their loved ones are safe and sound.

With that I welcome any questions or comments from my colleagues in the House.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Chair, it is important for us to acknowledge the effort that Canadians from coast to coast to coast are making. It goes well beyond just individuals of Filipino heritage.

Last week, for example, I went to the local McDonald's and saw a little tin cup asking for donations. Carte International, a wonderful company where a lot of people with Filipino heritage work, gave my office a call because it wanted to have a Philippine flag on its float for the Santa Claus parade. The company raised thousands of dollars the previous night for a social. We had groups that were there for prayer services at numerous churches within the community. We had senior groups getting together and soliciting donations. The Association of Ilocano of Manitoba had a giant fundraiser where a great deal of money was made, all to try to help. It has touched the hearts of all Canadians in some fashion or another.

As we reflect on it here this evening, we should emphasize that it is so wonderful to see Canadians as a whole coming together to support another great nation. It is a nation with which we have been building a healthier and more prosperous relationship over the last number of years, a relationship that deals with more than immigration. It hopes to build more in terms of trade and so forth, and to help both countries. This is why I am very proud to say that when we see this, what we really see is one country, a friend in need, and Canada rising to be there for its friend, the Philippines, in a wonderful and masterful way.

Does the member want to make a general comment with regard to the overwhelming response that Canadians are providing in this time of need for our true friend, the Philippines?

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Chair, he is quite right. There is a special connection between Canadians and Filipinos. We have seen it, partly because of the nature of this crisis, which is such a horrible and devastating catastrophe that has happened to people who, in so many ways, had so little to begin with.

Because there is that close connection with people from the Philippines and because there are so many Canadians of Filipino origin, there is a special bond. There is an outpouring of sympathy and concern, as well as genuine, altruistic support and people wanting to help in whatever way possible. So many people have donated through many organizations. We see so many grassroots initiatives coming up from various communities to raise money in a genuinely selfless way to try to help people as quickly as possible.

I just want to note that I think the government has acted quickly. Rebecca Davies, from the Canadian branch of Doctors Without Borders, has said that “The key to saving lives in emergencies is speed”. The rapidity of our response here in Canada has been quite significant, yet many of those who are affected need additional support. For example, women and children need support to protect them from violence, trafficking or exploitation as a result of the catastrophe.

There needs to be a special effort for those who are particularly in need of special care. I know that UN humanitarian coordinator, Valerie Amos, has highlighted that particular need in this situation.

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Chair, I appreciate my hon. colleague's comments tonight. As we have heard from so many who have spoken to the need, my colleague spoke about her meetings this past week with the ambassador and other officials from the Philippines, working here in Canada.

Clearly, the government is reacting, but we are hearing from these officials. I had the opportunity last week to meet with a number of people within the Catholic community, who said that they just cannot handle any more of the hard supplies and gifts, or the outpouring of foodstuffs that is being shipped over. They need money to be contributed to the various agencies that can deliver much more efficiently and effectively with cash by putting it to work in a hurry in the Philippines.

Could my colleague just confirm whether, in her meetings over the past week, she is hearing the very same thing?

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Yes, Mr. Chair, the difficulty sometimes with physical donations, physical goods, is that they can be difficult to transport and it is difficult to get the particular goods to those who need those specific goods, so the most effective way to transmit aid is with financial donations.

For anyone who has concerns whether the money is getting to where it is supposed to go, there are recognized, reputable, reliable, experienced, humanitarian agencies that are on the ground. I did name some of these earlier, but just let me repeat: the Humanitarian Coalition, Canadian Red Cross, World Vision, UNICEF. These are just some of them.

I certainly do not want to exclude other agencies that do an excellent job, but especially because the federal government is matching financial donations until the first week of December, it is desirable that people donate now so that the money can get as quickly as possible to those in need.

[Craig Scott, NDP, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

Mr. Chair, I very much appreciate the comments from my colleague from Parkdale—High Park.

I want to go back to one of her last comments about local organizations and link it a bit to what the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration had to say when he talked about the need in the future to be helping build resilience. I go back as well to my own worry that these typhoons will not necessarily be the exception, that we may continue to see more typhoons, maybe more strong typhoons of this nature, and we may be called upon again to play the role that is happening right now.

As I was talking to the ambassador for the Philippines yesterday, we talked about a central trait that I have discovered in so many individuals from the Philippines, which is their immensely positive outlook along with their sense of perseverance and indomitable spirit.

I am wondering if my colleague is seeing in her own community the beginnings of a community reaction on which we can build to sustain for the future. I do not want to be pessimistic about the fact that the future will again call on us to play this kind of role, but I am hoping that out of this we can have local Filipino communities, along with the broader Canadian community, even readier than we have been this time. Does she see any signs that would be possible?