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Ottawa to match donations

Ottawa–Canadians who donate money to humanitarian agencies providing relief from natural disasters in Burma and China will have their dollars matched by the federal government, International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda announced yesterday.

There will be a cap on individual donations and the matching will be limited for a certain period."We will match the private contributions to organizations that are being able to do work in Burma," Oda told reporters.

Oda had earlier promised $2 million in aid to Burma, also known as Myanmar, devastated by the cyclone that the UN and Red Cross estimates could leave as many as 100,000 people dead.

Funding agencies in Burma will help Ottawa circumvent resistance from the ruling junta, which has not been co-operating with foreign relief efforts.

"Our government will be there when the need is there, but most importantly (we will) make sure that whatever aid that we provide is going to actually get to the victims and their families," Oda said.

New Democrat foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar welcomed the funding but said the government should take a more proactive role.

His Parliamentary Friends of Burma group held a press conference earlier yesterday at which Dewar suggested that Canada should consider helping the some 140,000 refugees in camps on the border with Thailand if it cannot enter Burma itself.

"There are problems getting into Burma. We do need to deliver aid quicker," he said.

"But one thing we can certainly anticipate is the numbers in those refugee camps are going to explode."

Joanna Smith