Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Surrey Centre for raising this important issue and for his tireless advocacy for the communities in his riding.
Our government has responded to both typhoons, Goni and Vamco, through Canada's emergency disaster assistance fund by providing the Canadian Red Cross with $240,000 for relief operations and to help meet the emergency health, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene needs, as well as focusing on disaster risk reduction, community engagement, protection and gender inclusion services.
When typhoon Vamco hit land almost two weeks later, we quickly responded with another $40,000 contribution to the International Federation of the Red Cross's relief operations to help provide—