Deploying the DART to Asia

[Cdn Blackshirt]

True or false....if you are resident of a mid-sized town on the coast of Indonesia, had just lost everything, and you and your young family had a choice between drinking well water filled with raw sewage and decomposing human remains, how much would you appreciate the DART team showing up with a water purification system?

I'm sorry but you have to do what you can to help, and if we can make even one town a little better off during such a crisis, then we should absolutely commit what we can.



Matthew.    :

 

[Shec]

With all due respect you just demonstrated my point about a knee-jerk and gut reaction.    Sure a DART type team would be welcome, presuming:

1.   They were invited
2.   They could get here.

But neither of those conditions have occured,   for whatever reason.    So the real issue is what is the next, realistic, meaningful, and achieveable course of action?   And that is what I mean by constructive forward thinking.  

We are sending over in excess of $53 Million at this point.   Neither of us are there to put to good use those financial resources we are furnishing.   There are professionals already in situ who can.   Let them do their jobs. They will ask for what kind of help they need and when they need it.

 

[Bograt]

I am amazed how quickly the Israelis were on the scene with their teams and supplies. I think it was within 18 hours?

This is not an example of political expediency/prudence. It is an illustration of political failure and unfortunately/fortuately showcases our weakness in strategic airlift.

We couldn't go to Dominican Republic. We can't go to Sumatra. DART is like my grandmother's living room furniture- looks great but for goodness sake don't use it.

 

[Bert]

I think Shec cut to the chase.

Debating DART and the Canadian response is irrelevant.   Its not the "what to do"
that is in question, its the command and control and the HOW to do it.   This
disaster out-scales relief experiences.

The initial response from the world was communicating with respective governments
and asking questions that have no immediate answers.   Relief agencies have to
co-ordinate their activities and figure out the story on the ground.   Governments
are not gifted relief agencies and require input from affected countries and the
relief agencies.   Relief then becomes as an assortment of individual efforts rather than
a co-ordinated action to manage the entire region.   This wastes time.

I figure this will be a "lesson learned" and perhaps through the UN, a method
of global relief response will be formulated to increase efficiency, gather
intelligence quickly, provide materials, and maximize response time for the next occasion.

 

[Edward Campbell]

I don't think the logistical difficulties matter any more â “ even less important are the diplomatic niceties of â ?We invite your DARTâ ? â “ â Å“Oh, thanks awfully, we accept the invitation and we'll be right along.â ?.

What has happened is that the government fumbled this ball.

Someone said: â Å“Hey! Are we sending the DART?â ?

The correct, honest answer would have been: â Å“No.   Not now, anyway.   We don't know, yet, where it could or should go â “ where can it land and set up and then be useful?   We'll wait a few days until we know more â “ maybe someone will ask for it, maybe only for part of it. We don't have enough airlift to move all of it quickly.   It will be better to wait a short while and do it right ... etc, etc, etc.â ?

The answers (too many answers) given sounded like excuses.   The press may not be chock-a-block full of really bright, switched on folks but neither is it full of dunderheads.   The role of the journalist is to fill the white spaces between the adverts â “ preferably with 'news,' something controversial.   Journalists can smell excuses and the excuses that came out of the various Gov't of Canada spin doctors sounded like a cover-up, that means one can create controversy.   Dragging poor Colonel Laroche and some frazzled junior diplomat out to talk about not the right tool made matters worse.

The Gov't of Canada looks bad â “ it looks inept, it looks disorganized, it looks dishonest.   The cabinet does not like to look bad â “ someone is, always, made to pay.

Who?

Jean Chrétien is gone, Paul Martin is the guy who cut and cut and cut again until he had slashed away DND's muscle and bone (and brains and guts, too, in NDHQ).

We used to say that there were seven stages to all major public projects:

1. Initial enthusiasm

2. Disillusionment

3. Panic

4. Search for the guilty

5. Punishment of the innocent

6. Honours and awards for senior non-participanrs

7. Destruction of all useful documents

Watch for 4 to begin as soon as Martin's Chief of Staff is home from his holidays; watch for DND to be the innocent in 5.

 

[Shec]

I am amazed how quickly the Israelis were on the scene with their teams and supplies. I think it was within 18 hours?

This is not an example of political expediency/prudence. It is an illustration of political failure and unfortunately/fortuately showcases our weakness in strategic airlift.

And it is a possible lesson from which we can learn to address our weakness in strategic airlift.  According to the mainstream Israeli press - Jerusalem Post, Maariv, and Haaretz - national commercial airline EL AL Boeing 747s were used, not the smaller IAF Boeing 707s.

Several countries, including the USA, pay flag-carrying commercial airlines an annual retainer to make available for charter long range aircraft to supplement military fleets as and when needed.   This is clearly what the Israelis have done.    

If it doesn't already exist (perhaps it does) is this something we should consider?

 

[Cdn Blackshirt]

With all due respect you just demonstrated my point about a knee-jerk and gut reaction.    Sure a DART type team would be welcome, presuming:

1.   They were invited
2.   They could get here.

But neither of those conditions have occured,   for whatever reason.    So the real issue is what is the next, realistic, meaningful, and achieveable course of action?   And that is what I mean by constructive forward thinking.  

We are sending over in excess of $53 Million at this point.   Neither of us are there to put to good use those financial resources we are furnishing.   There are professionals already in situ who can.   Let them do their jobs. They will ask for what kind of help they need and when they need it.

So you're trying to tell me if the PM said on December 26/27: "Hey we've got a rapid-response team specializing in disaster relief that includes a water purification system, some engineers, some logistical specialists and their own security detail that we can have there in 48 hours" that the countries affected wouldn't be begging for it?

Regardless of the political issues in the background, the "We weren't invited" argument is about the most disengenuous excuse I have ever heard.  

Total, total BS.....




Matthew.    

 

[Shec]

So you're trying to tell me if the PM said on December 26/27: "Hey we've got a rapid-response team specializing in disaster relief that includes a water purification system, some engineers, some logistical specialists and their own security detail that we can have there in 48 hours" that the countries affected wouldn't be begging for it?

Regardless of the political issues in the background, the "We weren't invited" argument is about the most disengenuous excuse I have ever heard.  

Total, total BS.....

Matthew.    

If, if, if.  Did the PM say that?

 

[Sheerin]

Maybe the affected governments knows (or more likely the US has told them) that we cannot get the DART to there and as such hasn't asked for it?

 

[bossi]

I saw a news report with summaries of the death toll - at that time, it was 80,000 in Indonesia, a bunch in India, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

If you're into conspiracy theories - I suspect that Liberal party pollsters are trying to determine where to deploy the DART in terms of how many votes it will buy - it's all about politics, vice genuine humanitarian needs ... (i.e. I'd be curious to know what the Canadian census reports vis-a-vis hyphenated Canadians from the affected countries).

And, as if my magic ... here's what the CBC is reporting:
Full Story - Ottawa opens doors to immigrants from tsunami-hit areas

Last Updated Thu, 30 Dec 2004 22:19:08 EST
OTTAWA - Canada will speed up its handling of immigration requests from people in tsunami-stricken areas of Asia who have close relatives in this country, Immigration Minister Judy Sgro said Thursday.

Sgro said her department will expedite immigration paperwork for spouses, common-law partners and children from countries such as Indonesia and Sri Lanka if their applications are already in the system.

 

[Big Foot]

i think Sri Lanka asked for it and we're looking at deploying DART. i mean honestly, will people ever give the CF a break?

 

[bossi]

i think Sri Lanka asked for it and we're looking at deploying DART...

Yup - and I finally found the 1996 and 2001 census data (accompanied by the latest stats from CBC):

India - 235,930 -- 314,690 (death toll has hit 11,330 with many thousands still missing)
Sri Lanka - 67,420 -- 87,305   (27,000 people are now confirmed dead with nearly 5,000 still missing)
Malaysia 19,465 -- 20,420 (66 people were killed in Malaysia, mostly on Penang Island)
Indonesia - 8,520 -- 9,375 (tsunami death toll 80,000 and rising)
Thailand -   7,710 -- 8,130 (confirmed 2,400 deaths from the tsunami, among them over 700 foreign tourists, with another 6,000 people missing and feared dead)

So, in the grand scheme of things ... it would seem to make sense to send Canada's DART to Sri Lanka, for both humanitarian and political reasons.

 

[Spr.Earl]

At the mo we do the AEF Militia (air field engineer units) most are all ex reg Inf.,Eng,Arty,who remusterd to Engineering trades and may be available.

I know I have close on 3 months of leave from my Civie Job but have not been called from 4 AES.
(Global Responce)

I'll go right now,it's we need man power on the ground !!!
Thats what is lacking is Man power and organisation!!

Man power to dig and recover and at the same time give a sense of normalcy too the locals as some here can prove.

Oh I forgot we lost a few $$ on some scam!!!?

I have family in the far east and I do know how the other half lives.

 

[Gunner]

Jesus, it's not rocket science.  Deploying the DART would cripple the CF for months for very limited gains.  The DART is of limited capability and the only thing we would achieve would be to pat ourselves on the back for being "Canadian".  We are much better off sending money.  Like I said before, where would you deploy it?

http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/operations/DART/back_e.asp

195 people consisting of: DART headquarters company, the engineer troop, the medical platoon, the defence and security platoon, and the logistics platoon are drawn mostly from Land Force Command units.

The engineer troop, about 40 personnel, includes both field and construction engineers. The field engineer element consists of a water supply section, a field engineer section and a heavy equipment section. The construction engineer element provides limited vertical construction and utilities capabilities. The engineer troop produces bulk and bagged water from its Canadian-built Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit with an approximate 100,000-litres-a-day production capacity. The troop provides water for the medical aid station and for distribution to victims of the disaster. Once the DART's austere camp is established, the engineering troop can also undertake other basic construction and engineer tasks in support of the host nation and humanitarian aid agencies, as required.

The medical platoon staffs a medical aid station of approximately 45 personnel. This tented facility is capable of providing care for 200 to 250 outpatients and 30 inpatients daily, depending on the severity of injuries. There are also laboratory, pharmacy, rehydration, obstetrics, and preventive medicine sections. There is no surgical or trauma capability.

A defence and security platoon of about 35 personnel is staffed and equipped to conduct security and general labour operations for the DART.  The logistics platoon, approximately 20 personnel, is responsible for virtually all DART support services in theatre, such as maintenance, transport and supply. These are functions vital to the sustainment of the DART.

Now, if you are going to argue what we should have...maybe I might agree with you. 

 

[Bograt]

DART mission to region carried too many risks
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20041231/TSDARTS31/TPFront/TopStories
By STEVEN CHASE AND BRIAN LAGHI
Friday, December 31, 2004 - Page A1

OTTAWA -- Senior Canadian officials discussed sending the military's embattled Disaster Assistance Response Team to tsunami-ravaged Asia at a high-level meeting Wednesday but unanimously rejected it because of concern about cost effectiveness and danger to the troops.

The interdepartmental meeting, which included top Canadian diplomats in Southeast Asia, discussed the tsunami disaster and worries about political unrest in Indonesia.

"The major players sitting around the big table were all convinced to the best of their knowledge . . . that DART is not particularly the best suited to be deployed," the source said of the meeting, which included about 60 people from more than seven departments and agencies as well as the Prime Minister's Office.

"In the case of Sumatra and the Banda Aceh area [of Indonesia], it's not a safe area: This has been an insurrectional area and a military-controlled area by the government since 1976," the source said. "It's unstable at best."

"Is [DART] adaptable to that kind of environment? No one is convinced," the source said.

Canada's hesitancy to deploy DART to disaster-stricken Asia has critics questioning how well prepared and adequately funded the military unit really is for tackling foreign crises. It was formed in 1996, amid great fanfare, as a means of responding rapidly to disasters.

But the team's last mission was more than half a decade ago, in 1999, and its last full-scale practice exercise was in 2001.

DART's annual budget is just $250,000 -- not including deployment costs -- and the group has only 15 full-time staff. The rest of the team's 200 positions are filled by designated on-call staff elsewhere in the military.

The team has no dedicated aircraft and must depend on Ottawa and the cash-strapped Department of National Defence to find it transport.

DART is not able to say how long it would take to get a team to Asia, and a spokesman said that would depend on how fast it could get aircraft.

Under fire for keeping DART on the bench, the federal Liberal government yesterday dispatched a reconnaissance team to Sri Lanka, one of the countries hardest hit, to see if the unit might be needed there. The group included nine DART officials.

Critics say they fear the real reason for the foot-dragging is a lack of resources in the country's cash-strapped military. "Is this not the greatest human tragedy of a natural disaster that we have had in who knows how many hundreds of years?" asked Professor David Bercuson, director of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.

"If the [DART] team had been there and deployable, and the air transport was ready, surely to God this caring nation of ours would have sent them."

The decision to set up DART was made in the wake of an international failure in 1994 to get timely medical assistance to Rwandan refugees during a cholera outbreak. It has deployed only twice in its history, the last time to earthquake-rocked Turkey in 1999.

The 200-member DART team includes medical staff, security officers and engineers. They can set up field hospitals and water purification services in disaster areas as well as repair basic infrastructure and communications.

Since 2001 it has also practised assembling all DART personnel on short notice at its Trenton, Ont., military takeoff site.

After the federal government orders DART into action, team members would have 48 hours to assemble for departure from 8 Wing Trenton, where the group's supplies are also warehoused. There are 200 staff on call as well as an unspecified number of backup troops.

The 15 full-time DART staff work in Canadian Forces offices in Kingston and at DART's site in Trenton. The vast majority of the full 200-member team would come from Canadian Forces Base Petawawa if an order to deploy came today.

Retired Major-General Lewis MacKenzie said Ottawa must send the DART unit.

"If you have it, and it's for disaster -- and now we have the biggest one in my lifetime -- then surely it's time to deploy it," he said.

Gen. MacKenzie suggested Ottawa's delay in sending DART is partly because it's scrambling to find scarce air-transport resources to move the team there.

"They're probably frantically looking for [air] lift in order to get it there, and a lot of lift is being used up these days."

Some critics suggest DART exists more on paper than as a dedicated unit, as more of a contingency plan to pull together staff from the already stretched ranks of Canada's armed forces.

"It's like a volunteer fire brigade," said Scott Taylor, a former soldier and editor of Esprit de Corps magazine.

"They got a lot of mileage making it sound like these guys are sitting there with their jumpsuits on, ready to deploy -- but they are not."

------------------------------------
My Comments-

It takes over 60 civilian staff and the PMO to decide to send DART
A couple of points-
1. So we weren't waiting for an invitation?
2. It takes 60 civilian staff and the PMO to decide to deploy?- amd not the PM or MND?

"Is [DART] adaptable to that kind of environment? No one is convinced,"
1. Shouldn't they of asked DND?
2. They don't know DARTS capabilities?

 

[Edward Campbell]

... I suspect that Liberal party pollsters are trying to determine where to deploy the DART in terms of how many votes it will buy - it's all about politics, vice genuine humanitarian needs ...

And ... as if by magic: the Toronto caucus of the Liberal Party has a secret teleconference to get the politics right.   (Secret? Really? And it's in the Post the next morning?   I hope none of these clowns are in charge of CSE ... whoops: that dandified limousine liberal Bill Graham is the minister responsible ...)

The Liberals are, as normal, trying to get the politics straight before Canada does anything rash, like take action to help prevent further deaths and alleviate suffering.   The Toronto caucus, a lot of unreconstructed Chrétienistas there, could not resist a bit of Bush-bashing and, being Liberals, they had to assess the impact on the ethnic vote.

<sarcasm> I'm really, really glad the Liberals are the natural governing party; they're such a class act.
</sarcasm>

From this morning's National Post (http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=769d6ef7-dfa9-462f-b323-82aadfd79b2c   ):

Quit sniping at Bush, Liberal MPs told
Private conference call: One MP wary of U.S. coalition to help tsunami victims
Robert Fife
CanWest News Service

Friday, December 31, 2004

OTTAWA - Defence Minister Bill Graham pleaded with Liberal MPs in a private conference call yesterday to avoid public sniping at President George W. Bush for bypassing the United Nations in forming a U.S.-led coalition to help the tsunami-stricken Indian Ocean region of South Asia.

In the same briefing to the Greater Toronto Liberal caucus, MPs also panned a suggestion from International Trade Minister Jim Peterson that their constituency offices offer to receive money for relief efforts.

Liberal MP Maria Minna said it would be a "nightmare" and added workload for MPs to collect money from Canadians for millions of survivors of the earthquake and tsunamis.
Ms. Minna, a former Chretien minister, then lashed out at President Bush for setting up a four-nation coalition with Indian, Japan and Australia to help the victims.

"I have serious concerns about this coalition that the United States is putting together" she interjected during the hour-long call. "My reaction to this is very negative.... It sounds like this is [Bush's] counterpart to the coalition of the willing in Iraq. I resent it. We are coming across like we are joining a coalition of the willing in the U.S."

Mr. Graham did not immediately challenge her but in a wrap-up urged MPs to keep their anti-American remarks within caucus. "I have to ask you to be careful what you say," he said. "They [U.S.] are not going to have our chequebook and they are not going to be telling us what to do ... but we also want to be perceived by the world and by our American partners as being as helpful as possible."

Mr. Graham said he relayed the message to Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday that Canada would co-operate with the U.S.-led coalition on the "direct orders" of Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Mr. Graham was joined in the conference call by International Co-operation Minister Aileen Carroll, who had just returned from a vacation abroad and did not even know Ottawa had committed $40-million to relief efforts.

Ms. Carroll thought the total commitment to relief efforts was $44-million when she mistakenly added $4-million that had been pledged earlier when she was on holidays. "I am pretty caught up on what was in the papers and of course I knew what we were doing before I left [to return home]. You know this $40-million. That is in addition to the $1-million and $3-million," she said as MPs interrupted her to say she was wrong.

"What I'm telling you is the goods OK. You can be assured of that," Ms. Carroll snapped at her colleagues.

Mr. Graham, who was the only minister in Ottawa to handle the crisis for the first three days, had to explain to her that she was wrong.

The embarrassment did not stop Ms. Carroll from brazenly telling MPs "it is my job to do the announcements" now that she is back in Canada.

"This is not a power play. it's just the way it works," she explained.

Mr. Graham admitted Canada can't immediately send the military's DART disaster relief team because it would take four giant Russian-made Antonov transport aircraft to get the soldiers and equipment to the region.

"There is a lot of political pressure here to deliver the DART because DART is a symbol of what we can do but the fact of the matter you can't just put 200 people ... on a huge plane.... It would take four Antonov planes to deliver it," he told MPs, who complained they were getting heat from constituents over Canada's refusal to dispatch DART.

A source later said it would cost US$12.8-million to lease the Antonovs, making it too expensive for the cash-strapped military.

Mr. Graham also expressed concern that donations sent from Canada to Sri Lanka do not end up buying weapons for the Tamil Tiger terrorists.

MP Derek Lee complained to Revenue Minister John McCallum that the Tamil Relief Organization had been refused charity status but other MPs warned TRO is too close to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that is locked in a civil war with the Sri Lanka government.

"One of the big problems is the collecting of money ... how do we police the groups like the TRO and other Tamil organizations," Mr. Graham conceded. "Money is going to disappear. There is going to be accusations ... we have to have a clear message on our view on how the money is going to be collected and distributed or we are all going to get into trouble."

He said he hoped to set up a task force on how best to collect and distribute aid money for the victims.

© National Post 2004

 

[Bograt]

LOL

Can you imagine if these yahoos were on the Titanic?

PMO: "Perhaps we should poll Canadians to determine if they support the 'Women and Children' first concept"
MP Maria Minna : It is those darn Americans. They are somehow responsible for causing the circumstances that promote iceburgs in the North Atlantic.
Ms. Carrol What ever happens I must make the announcement to man the lifeboats!
MND We will cooperate with the Americans, only at the PM orders.

glug glug glug glug glug glug glug glug

 

[Edward Campbell]

This is extracted from the Globe and Mail web site at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20041231.wtsun1231/BNStory/International/   (Emphasis added)

The United States, India, Australia, Japan and the UN have formed an international coalition to co-ordinate worldwide relief and reconstruction efforts. The Indian navy, which has already deployed 32 ships and 29 aircraft for tsunami relief and rescue work, was sending two more ships Friday to Indonesia.

Canada is also joining the coalition. Prime Minister Paul Martin committed Canada to the group in a telephone conversation early Friday with U.S. President George W. Bush.

A spokeswoman for Martin said the group will work together to ensure rich countries are not competing against each other in the delivery of aid.

"The task will be quite focused to ensure ... that all our efforts are complimentary and not competitive," the spokeswoman said.

Ottawa on Friday put its military emergency response team on 48-hour notice to go to Asia as the number of Canadians missing soared to a possible 150.

...

Brig.-Gen. Brett Cairns said orders were issued Friday to members of the Disaster Assistance Response Team, or DART, and people on leave were being recalled.

An American military cargo jet brought blankets, medicine and the first of 80,000 body bags to Banda Aceh, the devastated Indonesian city near the earthquake epicentre. Nine U.S military C-130 transports took off Friday from Utapao, the Thai base used by U.S. B-52 bombers during the Vietnam War, to rush supplies to the stricken resorts of southern Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, said Maj. Larry Redmon in Bangkok.

Other C-130s were sent by Australia and New Zealand, and the Indonesian government said two flights from 18 countries had reached Sumatra by Friday. But bureaucratic delays, impassable roads and long distances were blocking much of the blankets, bottled water, plastic sheeting and medicines from reaching the needy.

Convoys distributed sugar, rice and lentils in Sri Lanka; India dispatched a ship converted into a 50-bed hospital.

As reported earlier, in the National Post: â Å“Ms. Minna, a former Chretien minister, then lashed out at President Bush for setting up a four-nation coalition with Indian, Japan and Australia to help the victims.â ?   I guess she's now another unhappy Liberal ...

 

[JasonH]

Canada readies DART team for deployment to Asia
CTV.ca News Staff

Canada's military response team has been put on 48-hour notice to be sent to help South Asia cope with the killer earthquake and tsunamis.

Orders were issued Friday to the 200 members of the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), Brig.-Gen. Brett Cairns said.

DART offers services such as water purification, mobile field hospitals, command and control centres and some reconstruction.

"Right now one of the main areas of focus (in the disaster) is the water purification,'' Cairns said. DART can provide 50,000 litres of pure water a day.

DART was created in 1996, but hasn't been deployed in five years. It requires 24 Hercules aircraft to deploy the team. Some officials have said DART's unwieldy nature is the reason why it hasn't been deployed.

Meanwhile, the first Canadian military plane carrying 30 tons of relief supplies touched down in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo on Friday.

The plane landed as Prime Minister Paul Martin pledged Canada's commitment to a coalition of developed countries working to deliver aid to tsunami-ravaged Asia in a telephone conversation with U.S. President George Bush on Friday.

Its cargo included water purification tablets and plastic sheeting for temporary shelter.

Another plane is scheduled to leave on Saturday and will arrive in Asia on Sunday. On board is a 17-member team of Canadian defence, foreign affairs and health experts who will assess how best to disperse Canadian aid funds.

Prime Minister Paul Martin told Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday that Indonesia can count on the all Canadian aid it needs. Indonesia accounts for almost two-thirds of the 120,000 deaths estimated so far.

Martin also said Canada's $40 million aid commitment is only the beginning.

Ottawa will also match cash donations by Canadians dollar-for-dollar until January 11, which may push aid pledges much higher. Canadians have already donated $32 million to the major relief organizations, although that includes some corporate donations.

Canada is also delaying debt repayment for the hardest-hit Asian countries.

"In this way we will address not only the immediate crisis, but also provide significant support in helping the rebuilding efforts of these countries," Finance Minister Ralph Goodale said Thursday.

Recent large international aid pledges, including a $350 million US one from the Unitee States, have pushed the total past $1.2 billion US. But UN Secretary Kofi Annan said billions were needed to make a long-term impact in the affected regions.

Enough help for Canadians?

While Canadian aid is beginning to arrive, there still appears to be little help for Canadians abroad.

Mike Lang told CTV Newsnet in a telephone interview from Thailand there should be more Canadian officials on the ground helping to search for missing relatives and friends.

Lang has been searching for his girlfriend since a magnitude-9.0 earthquake set off numerous tsunamis across Asia and left more than 120,000 dead.

He says he has been looking in hospitals across Thailand -- but without any assistance from Canadian officials.

"It's been difficult because everywhere I go I feel like I need some help and I don't feel like the Canadian government is there right now," Lang said.

"Right now I'm basically looking at bodies and trying to locate my girlfriend and I feel like I'm Canada's lone forensic expert here."

James Fox, of Foreign Affairs Canada rebuffed these claims and maintained that Canadian mission workers were working on the frontlines "day and night."

"We have sent reinforcements from the very beginning both to Sri Lanka and Thailand," he said in a news conference Friday.

But Lang said he has seen French and Israel forensic teams, but no Canadian ones.

With files from Associated Press and Canadian Press

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1104510057506_33/?hub=CTVNewsAt11

 

[Peace_Keeper]

haha finally, but who didn't see that coming....people were complaining and getting mad....Martin won't risk it....so give em what they want to see.....