OTTAWA - Another 1,000 Canadian soldiers are preparing to depart for Haiti to provide relief and security as anger, desperation and the death toll from last Tuesday's earthquake mount.
The troops from 3rd Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment (Vandoos) based at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier in Quebec will be involved in peacekeeping and reconstruction, Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Sunday.
"The situation in Haiti is grave and fragile and in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake a lack of basic needs such as food and clean water are causing stress and anger amongst the local population," MacKay told a news conference.
"The government of Canada feels it has a moral imperative to do everything in its power to help with the international relief and stabilization efforts in (Haiti), and to do so as quickly as humanly possible."
The capital of Port-au-Prince was teetering on the brink of chaos, pushed closer to the edge by a deteriorating security situation and a relief effort that many Haitians feel has been far too slow in coming.
Crowds were reportedly attacking UN vehicles in the slums outside the city, accusing the international community of doing too little to distribute food. There were also reports of looting, including at least one case in which looters made off with a coffin from a funeral home.
The Quebec-based troops will complement 500 soldiers aboard two Canadian navy vessels expected to reach Haiti's shores early this week, as well as the 200-plus members of Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team, who are also in the process of deploying.
Two Canadian Forces Hercules and two C-17 heavy-lift aircraft, along with a helicopter contingent, are also operating in Haiti, delivering relief supplies and evacuating Canadians. Officials estimate more than 200 Canadian Forces personnel are already on the ground.
Brig Gen. Guy Laroche will command the Canadian contingent, which will ultimately include about 2,000 Forces personnel, hundreds of vehicles and seven helicopters.
Between Haiti, the Afghanistan mission, a new rotation preparing to deploy to Kandahar and preparations for next month's Olympic Games in British Columbia, there are "four major muscle movements happening in the Canadian Forces simultaneously," MacKay said.
"It's something that the Canadian Forces do very well."
The Vandoos are scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan next December, and many of the 1,000 troops getting ready to leave for Haiti this week are volunteers who've just returned from the war. They require special waivers due to regulations governing their time between deployments.
The new contingent of soldiers will bring along engineering units, as well as headquarters and support elements and 60 additional vehicles, he added. The contingent includes almost enough medical staff and supplies to man a field hospital.
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon spent an hour on the phone with key players in the efforts to get Haiti back on its feet, including Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and foreign ministers from the 16 countries that comprise the Group of Friends of Haiti.
The group, which includes the United States, Mexico and several Central and South American countries, began talks on long-term reconstruction efforts and agreed to meet in Montreal on Jan. 25
"We're all looking to see how we can co-operate and how we can best put to use the different sources of equipment, the aid that we want to do," said Cannon, adding the ministers are on a first-name basis.
"We all want to help. . . . Our neighbour is in difficult circumstances and it's like helping the next-door neighbour. It's all about solidarity. It's all about us wanting to support this country in its hour of need."
He said the Haitian government was "extremely, extremely pleased" with the outpouring of help it has received.
Cannon offered Canada's "heartfelt sympathy" to the families of eight confirmed Canadian dead, including RCMP Supt. Doug Coates, Canada's most senior police officer in Haiti.
He said the number of Canadians deemed missing, based on reports from family members and others, was 1,115 -- a drop from Saturday's tally of 1,362.
"This means a number of Canadians have been located," he said.
"We're continuing to do our utmost to find Canadians and make sure they can come home safe and sound."
Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean added her condolences to the families of the dead and encouraged families and friends of the missing to hold on to hope.
"My thoughts are with all those who remain unaccounted for," she said. "Every effort is being taken to find them and to evacuate those who were spared by this disaster.
"The hope of seeing them alive must prevail."
Six flights to Canada have left Haiti so far and some 593 evacuees have been brought home; a military transport loaded with Canadian survivors was touching down in Montreal as Cannon spoke.
Early Sunday, 17 high-school students from the Slocan Valley in southeastern B.C., along with 17 adults and an infant, were returned to the Canadian embassy compound after they were stranded 44 kilometres outside Port-au-Prince.
