Canadian Troops Face Deteriorating Security Situation In Quake-Ravaged Haiti

The 1,000 Canadian soldiers departing for Haiti over the next week are facing an increasingly volatile security situation as anger and desperation grow in the wake of last Tuesday’s killer earthquake.

Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon says security has been fingered as one of the key challenges facing relief and reconstruction efforts as aid slowly ramps up and the death toll continues to mount.

“Although the concern over an increase in civilian violence is shared by several countries involved, it will be resolved by our capacity to deliver aid and our capacity to stabilize Haiti,” Cannon said Monday.

Some of the infantry coming out of the Royal 22nd Regiment’s base at Valcartier, Que., will be tasked with ensuring the “humanitarian corridor” remains open, he said.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke with Haitian President Andre Preval on Monday. Preval was in the Dominican Republic attending an international conference on Haiti.

Harper conveyed the “deep support and unwavering commitment of the Canadian government and the Canadian people for Haiti,” said a release from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Harper also outlined Canada’s funding commitments and relief efforts.

“Prime Minister Harper reiterated Canada’s pledge to stand firmly by the people of Haiti during this time of need.”

The deteriorating security situation – looting, attacks and other violence – was identified as a key challenge during a teleconference Sunday with the Friends of Haiti, which includes 16 countries.

Cannon said the foreign ministers from North, Central and South America, along with UN officials and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, said police efforts must be supplemented until the national force can be re-established.

“We all called for a better co-ordination,” Cannon said Monday.

“Obviously there’s a problem in getting this (aid) through.”

The group agreed to meet in Montreal next Monday to discuss long-term reconstruction. Peter Kent, junior minister for the Americas, met Preval and regional officials in the Dominican Republic on Monday, co-ordinating short-and mid-term relief efforts.

Due to “technical difficulties,” Preval took Harper’s call on Kent’s cell phone.

Twelve Canadians had been confirmed dead by Monday – up three from Sunday. No new names were immediately released.

Another 859 were still missing, Cannon said. Eleven flights had evacuated 987 Canadians from the quake zone.

But he said hopes of finding people alive were waning with the catastrophe in its sixth day, and Canada’s efforts were increasingly focused on evacuation and provision of basic needs.

“The situation remains fragile and we still face . . . a large number of challenges,” he said.

Canada is fully engaged in the relief effort and will remain so as reconstruction of the ravaged Caribbean island country gets underway, Cannon added.

Two Canadian ships loaded with soldiers, equipment and supplies were to dock soon, although a final decision about where to land had not yet been made, said Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

Canada is looking closely at using Jacmel, Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean’s hometown, as a port of entry for at least one of the ships. The coastal town is about 50 kilometres from Port-au-Prince.

MacKay said its airstrip, after some repairs, could handle Canada’s C130 Hercules planes, but not the enormous C17s. The port was damaged, but the ships could anchor nearby and ferry goods and people to shore in inflatable boats or by helicopter.

“It is becoming increasingly evident the scale and scope of the devastation wrought by the earthquake is enormous and presents a substantial challenge,” said MacKay.

“But the momentum and the movement and the commitment shown so far illustrates that we’re making a positive difference.”

Force protection and security remain fundamental elements of the relief effort, and Canadian troops “want to ensure that we’re able, in an orderly way, to deliver aid, water and provisions of life.”

A reliable death toll may be weeks away, but the Pan American Health Organization estimates 50,000 to 100,000 died in the 7.0-magnitude quake. Haitian officials believe the number is higher.

People were still dying on the streets, pregnant women were giving birth and the injured were showing up in wheelbarrows and on people’s backs at hurriedly erected field hospitals.

Water began to reach more people around the capital and, while fights broke out elsewhere, people formed lines to get supplies handed out by soldiers at a golf course.

Still, with a blocked city port and relief groups claiming the U.S.-run airport is being poorly managed, food and medicine have been scarce. Anger was mounting hourly over the slow pace of the assistance. 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 Vandoos will complement 500 soldiers aboard the two navy ships, as well as the 200-plus members of Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team.

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 is commanding the Canadian contingent, which will ultimately include about 2,000 Forces personnel, hundreds of vehicles and seven helicopters.

The Vandoos are scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan next December, and many of the troops preparing to leave for Haiti 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. Among them are almost enough medical staff and supplies to run a military field hospital.

International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda said a Red Cross emergency field hospital, along with 10 Canadian medical and technical professionals, was functioning in Haiti by Monday.

Ottawa is providing $800,000 to the effort, working with the Norwegian Red Cross and the Canadian Red Cross. Medical staff can provide surgical and medical care to up to 300 quake victims a day.

Many hospitals in the Haitian capital have collapsed, and those that are open are full. The field hospital includes customized modules for surgery, first aid and triage, a ward of 70 beds, a community health unit, and a psychosocial support unit.