(Vancouver) The Turkish consulate in Vancouver said a private group of volunteers from British Columbia will be the only Canadian search and rescue team in that country’s earthquake zone, after the expiry of a a deadline for the participation of other groups.
Canadian federal authorities have not given the official green light to any rescue team since Sunday’s earthquake that killed thousands, but the consulate says the Burnaby Urban Search and Rescue Team was deployed on Thursday morning after offering independent assistance.
The consulate said in a statement that the Burnaby team, made up of firefighters and other first responders, “is and will be Canada’s only team” as rescuers in the earthquake zone.
B.C. Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma said her government contacted the federal Department of Public Safety as early as Monday morning, just hours after the first earthquake, because such assistance from emergency must be coordinated.
Minister Ma indicated that her government has since been in daily and constant contact with Federal Public Security, but that we have not yet received directives from Ottawa.
While awaiting a federal response, Minister Ma said she could not assume conversations taking place between Global Affairs Canada and its partners.
International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan says Canada’s pledge of $10 million for earthquake relief efforts is the quickest response possible, rather than sending a dedicated research team and urban rescue using heavy equipment (HUSAR).
Mr. Sajjan said that monetary aid could be quickly distributed and used in relief efforts, while sending rescuers is a logistical and geographical challenge, and potentially creates bottlenecks that hinder instead of help.
“We have to make sure the right resource is going to the right place at the right time,” he said.
Mr. Sajjan said it was important to avoid a situation like the one that occurred after the 2021 earthquake in Haiti, with donations pouring into warehouses that have “unfortunately become cluttered with things that don’t were in fact not needed in the field”.
The minister said Canada should focus on “building the capacity” of teams from other countries to provide immediate response to disasters rather than leaving them to rely on outside help.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake, followed by several powerful aftershocks, ripped through parts of southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria, flattening buildings and killing several thousand people.
The most recent report on Thursday showed more than 20,700 confirmed dead in the two countries and more than 75,000 injured.