Just when you liberals think you once again have us mendaciously convinced that we’re leading the world in disaster relief (just yesterday our benevolent and ever-so-honest liberal leader reinforced that hypothesis and yup, sending our support team two weeks after a disaster proves that Canada has “always led”—his words—the world in these things), well there’s still more proof that we’re lagging miserably behind if the other truths—you know, the non-liberal ones—were known.
I know my telling you won’t satisfy you, so let me quote the National Post a lot. I know it’s not coming from the state-run CBC division of your party, but the Post has union workers too, so, you know, they’re legit.
It seems that among other nations already there helping save lives, including Finland and Russia (and dare I mention your arch nemesis the U.S.A.?), the Italians beat Canada in the race to save lives. (Hey didn’t they also send troops to Iraq to fight in the multinational unilateral U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq to steal its oil?) So Canada is leading the world all except most of the rest of the world, then. I’ll try to confirm that with Prime Minister Martin later today if he isn’t busy leading the world or pressing ahead with the emergency gay marriage legislation. Or would that call just confuse him more?
Canada’s team will arrive on Saturday. Two weeks after the disaster. They expect to be operational early next week.
KINNIYA, Sri Lanka – By the time Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team lands in Sri Lanka, its Italian counterparts will have been up and running in this devastated city for more than a week.
An Italian team of doctors, paramedics and firefighters was rushed to this island nation two days after the tsunami that killed more than 30,000 people here, caused about $1-billion in damage and left a million people homeless.
[…] While Ottawa was debating whether to send the 200-member Canadian Forces emergency team, the Italians were setting up a temporary field hospital in Kinniya, which went into full operation last Friday, just five days after the tsunami.
They were starting work yesterday on a more permanent, 80-bed facility, complete with a maternity ward and operating rooms. It will be almost half done by the time Canada’s emergency team arrives in the field.
Then there’s all those annoying experts who, like the thousands of scientists who oppose the Kyoto Accord you will dismiss out of hand. I’ll go ahead and quote one anyway just in case their opinion matters to you.
Alain Pellerin, director of the defence lobby group Conference of Defence Associations, said from Ottawa that DART was slowed to a near crawl by government indecision.
“The response last week was very slow … they should have been considering deploying the DART right away,” he said.
But Mr. Pellerin said the Canadian Forces were also struggling with a shortage of transport aircraft. The air force’s Hercules transports are nearly 40 years old, and there are not enough of them to handle the team’s heavy equipment.
“They don’t have the ability to deploy it rapidly … they just don’t have the airlift,” he said. ” [So] the DART is not a capability, it’s a concept—just an idea on paper.”
I guess Pellerin shouldn’t expect to receive any sponsorship cash or federal subsidy this year. That makes three of us.
And while Canada’s team will arrive to save lives (and let there be no mistake—that’s all I really care about) with much national pride and fanfare aboard rented RUSSIAN aircraft because Canada doesn’t have anything newer than 40 years old with its own flag on it, the Italians arrived in Italian aircraft built by…. CANADAIR.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
Contact Mr. Johannesen about this article using this form. Please refer to article's title.
FOLLOW @JoelJohannesen ON X!
- Say something. - Friday October 25, 2024 at 6:03 pm
- Keep going, or veer right - Monday August 26, 2024 at 4:30 pm
- Hey Joel, what is “progressive?” - Friday August 2, 2024 at 11:32 am
