CIDA’s Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund Raised Millions From Canadians - Hasn't Spent A Cent Yet!
Canada's International Development Agency gladly took millions in donations from Canadians with the promise that funds received by February 12, 2010 would be matched by the Federal Government. Yet to date ... over two months since the disastrous Haitian earthquake ... not one cent of your donated money has been spent as it was intended!
"I called the agency yesterday with questions about the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. You probably remember this. It’s where the Canadian government promises to match funds Canadians donate to Haiti to help with, among other things, “early recovery” and reconstruction. I had heard from a contact who does relief work in Haiti that no one who has applied for money from this fund had heard back from CIDA. Seemed a little strange. It’s been two months since the quake and one month since the donation window closed on February 12. So I called CIDA to find out how much money has been raised, how much has been disbursed, where it’s been disbursed, and, if nothing has been disbursed, as my contact told me, when it will be. [...]
I asked how much of the money raised through the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund has been spent. CIDA’s response included a paragraph about where Canada has spent money that doesn’t come from the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund, before adding the line: “Funds from the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund will be disbursed in the near future.” In other words, they haven’t spent a penny.
Macleans
Cartoon by kind permission of
Graeme MacKay at mackaycartoons.net
