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CTV.ca News Staff
Updated: Fri. Mar. 5 2004 11:06 AM ET
Ottawa is committing 450 Canadian Forces personnel to Haiti as part of an international stabilization force, Defence Minister David Pratt announced Friday.
Pratt told a news conference the group would include members of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment in Gagetown, New Brunswick.
They will be joined by command and support elements.
Also going to Haiti will be a helicopter detachment from 4-30 Squadron in Valcartier, Quebec and members of the Joint Operations Group based in Kingston, Ontario.
"The chief of defence staff has advised me that the Canadian Forces can fulfil this mission and do so effectively and successfully with the same level of professionalism and dedication for which they are so well known around the world," Pratt said.
"Canada has been involved in the planning of this multinational interim force from the very beginning."
Pratt said the Canadian contingent will move "within the next few days." He said they will start to arrive with strength in the next five days or so.
The troops will help ensure stability, assist police and restore calm as part of the United Nation‘s multinational three-month mission.
Canada will be the third-largest troop contributing nation, behind the United States, which is leading the force, and France. There are 1,000 U.S. marines in Haiti, along with 440 French troops and 130 Chileans.
Prime Minister Paul Martin confirmed earlier this week that Canada would definitely be participating in the force, possibly beyond the three-month period, even though he admitted the military is stretched "quite thin."
There are nine JTF-2 special forces troops and five military planners already in Haiti, along with four Hercules aircraft that have been evacuating citizens to the Dominican Republic. They were sent last week.
The evacuations were completed on Wednesday. A total of 350 people, about 200 of them Canadian, were brought to the Dominican from Haiti.
Other Canadian contributions include:
Delivery of 50 litres of blood from the Dominican Republic to Haiti on behalf of the Red Cross.
Evacuating a woman who suffered gunshot wounds. She is reportedly now in stable condition.
Delivery of humanitarian aid supplies consisting mainly of medical supplies.
© Copyright 2004 Bell Globemedia Inc.
Updated: Fri. Mar. 5 2004 11:06 AM ET
Ottawa is committing 450 Canadian Forces personnel to Haiti as part of an international stabilization force, Defence Minister David Pratt announced Friday.
Pratt told a news conference the group would include members of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment in Gagetown, New Brunswick.
They will be joined by command and support elements.
Also going to Haiti will be a helicopter detachment from 4-30 Squadron in Valcartier, Quebec and members of the Joint Operations Group based in Kingston, Ontario.
"The chief of defence staff has advised me that the Canadian Forces can fulfil this mission and do so effectively and successfully with the same level of professionalism and dedication for which they are so well known around the world," Pratt said.
"Canada has been involved in the planning of this multinational interim force from the very beginning."
Pratt said the Canadian contingent will move "within the next few days." He said they will start to arrive with strength in the next five days or so.
The troops will help ensure stability, assist police and restore calm as part of the United Nation‘s multinational three-month mission.
Canada will be the third-largest troop contributing nation, behind the United States, which is leading the force, and France. There are 1,000 U.S. marines in Haiti, along with 440 French troops and 130 Chileans.
Prime Minister Paul Martin confirmed earlier this week that Canada would definitely be participating in the force, possibly beyond the three-month period, even though he admitted the military is stretched "quite thin."
There are nine JTF-2 special forces troops and five military planners already in Haiti, along with four Hercules aircraft that have been evacuating citizens to the Dominican Republic. They were sent last week.
The evacuations were completed on Wednesday. A total of 350 people, about 200 of them Canadian, were brought to the Dominican from Haiti.
Other Canadian contributions include:
Delivery of 50 litres of blood from the Dominican Republic to Haiti on behalf of the Red Cross.
Evacuating a woman who suffered gunshot wounds. She is reportedly now in stable condition.
Delivery of humanitarian aid supplies consisting mainly of medical supplies.
© Copyright 2004 Bell Globemedia Inc.
