The Canadian Federal Government Announces Dollar Matching For Pakistan Donations

On Sunday, August 22, 2010, the Canadian federal government announced it will match dollar for dollar donations made to registered charities destined to aid the relief efforts in Pakistan. House leader John Baird told reporters that the government will match donations made between August 2 and September 12 and this will be in addition to the $33 million it has already committed to Pakistan.

 

Baird was quoted as saying, “For every eligible donation by individual Canadians to Canadian registered charities and earmarked for efforts to assist Pakistan relief efforts, Canada will contribute an equivalent amount to the Pakistan Floods Relief Fund.”

 

He went on to explain that this 6 week window offered by the government is slightly longer than the usual 4 weeks set aside for such a crisis in part because Ramadan is underway. This dollar matching is similar to what the government did in response to the earthquake in Haiti this past January and the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.

 

Baird dealt with the suggestion that Canada has been slow to responds to the disaster by explaining that it has taken some time to gauge the full extent of the problem. “Canadians have shown that they’re always ready to help those in need,” he said. “However fast we can reach these people, it’s not fast enough. We will do everything we can humanly possible to get assistance, whether its food, sanitation and other measures.”

 

The various charities have all said that donations have been slower for Pakistan than for Haiti. Nicolas Moyer, coordinator of the Humanitarian Coalition, including Care Canada, Oxfam Canada and Oxfam Quebec and Save the Children was reported as saying that member agencies so far have only received about 10 per cent of what they did for Haiti. A number of factors have been cited to explain this including U.S. criticism of Pakistan’s efforts in dealing with Taliban terrorists. However charities are optimistic that this matching dollar announcement will revitalize interest in the importance of this aid. There is apparently no dollar limit in this matching dollars program.

 

More than 1,500 people have been killed; the lives of 20 million people have been disrupted; nearly 5 million have been displaced. The World Health Organization has announced new numbers associated with the dangers of communicable diseases: over 204,000 are suffering from acute diarrhea; the number of skin diseases such as scabies has reached 263,000 and over 204,000 Pakistanis are reporting respiratory illnesses.

Click HERE to read more columns by William Belle. 

 

 

The BBC: In pictures: Pakistan flood devastation

 

 

 

Canadian Red Cross

 

World Vision Canada

 

 

We all want to help however we should practise some measure of prudent donating before forking over our hard earned dollars. What can we do before donating to ensure our money is, in fact, being used for good purposes?

 

The Canada Revenue Agency has information about charities on their web site entitled Giving to charity: Information for donors.

 

Every charity must be registered in order for your donation to be tax deductible. Ask for that number and if you don’t get it, don’t donate.

 

You can also verify a charity’s official status by using the search feature of the Canada Revenue Agency’s web site. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/lstngs/menu-eng.html

 

We all want to help but let’s do our homework before signing the cheque or handing out our credit card. Let’s make sure our money is getting to those we want to help, to those who really need it.

 

2010-08-22