TFUS01 - CANADA: STATUS OF ASSISTANCE REPORT 2,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 002669 SIPDIS SENSITIVE FOR R, WHA/CAN; WHA/EPSC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL ECON AEMR ASEC CASC MARR AMGT US CA SUBJECT: TFUS01 - CANADA: STATUS OF ASSISTANCE REPORT 2, SEPTEMBER 6, 2005 REF: A. STATE 163366 ¶B. OTTAWA 2638 ¶C. STATE 162270 ¶1. (SBU) After the long weekend and initial confused flurry, things seem to be running smoothly. We will direct most future offers of Canadian assistance to the GOC for coordination. Deputy Prime Minister Anne McClellan told the Ambassador this afternoon that the USG should let her know of anything else we need. She is pleased the ships have left (para 6) and is trying to reach Secretary Chertoff to reiterate Canada's desire to help. Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada (PSEPC) -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) PSEPC, the newly-created DHS equivalent, is charged primarily with coordinating the Canadian federal government response and is also the clearing house for offers of assistance from the sub-federal level. Note: Some organizations and border states and cities with existing MOUs with US counterparts have been operating directly. End Note. ¶3. (SBU) As of 4:00 pm on September 6, the Senior Watch Officer at the PSEPC operations center reports that things are working quite well. The Director ofthe operations center confirmed that PSEPC is distributing the USG request list nationwide and will coordinate response. He said they have already requested greater detail about the objects requested ref A. (For example, what type of veterinary supplies? Would that include pharmaceutical items?) but communication with Washington is working smoothly. The Ops Center is operating at "level 3" due to the hurricane, meaning they are dealing with only emergency requests. The Ops center phone number is 613-991-7000. Foreign Affairs Canada (FAC) -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The operations center at Foreign Affairs Canada (613-996-8885) also plays a role in disseminating requests to other federal agencies. From a consular perspective, FAC has resolved 178 welfare and whereabouts cases, with only about 10 Canadians still unaccounted for as of September 6. In most of those cases, consular officers have been able to confirm that the individuals left the hurricane area, but have not been able to locate them. There are no reports of Canadian deaths and there are very few new calls coming in. The Director General of the North America Bureau told DCM �A;that "State has been earning high marks for its professionalism and competence" in facilitating foreign government assistance to their nationals. Department of Defence -------------- ¶5. (U) The Canadian Forces support to the U.S. has been named UNISON. Canadian Chief of Defence Staff Hillier is in contact with Chief of the USJCS General Richard Myers and with Admiral Tim Keating of NORAD and US Northcom. ¶6. (U) As of September 6, post is aware of the following contributions (in reverse chronological order): -- Ambassador Wilkins, at the Prime Minister's invitation (septel),participated in the launch of three ships that departed Halifax the afternoon of September 6 and are expected to reach the affected area in four days. The ships, whose deployment was announced September 2, are: --HMCS Athabaskan (Iroquois class destroyer) --HMCS Ville de Quebec (Halifax class frigate) --HMCS Toronto (Halifax class frigate) The three ships will be accompanied by the Coast Guard ship Sir William Alexander and three embarked sea king helicopter detachments. -- Team of navy divers from Esquimalt, B.C. and Halifax, N.S., plus army Combat Engineer divers from 4 Engineer Support regiment in Gagetown, N.B. The first divers left Esquimalt for Pensacola, Florida the morning of September 4. The group from Halifax left that evening, with the remaining members of the team departing September 5. The divers are headed for NAS Pascagoula, MS and will work with the 2nd Amphibious Group of the Second Fleet. A total of over 35 divers, liaison and administrative staff were deployed. -- Two officers from the Canadian Forces Joint Operations Group in Kingston, ON to support Brigadier-General Mark McQuillan, CF liaison Officer to Norcomm in Colorado Springs and to assist in planning future Katrina-related deployments. They departed on September 4. -- 27 Canadian Red Cross and five Foreign Affairs Canada officials were transported to Houston September 3 by the Canadian Air Force. -- Separate from UNISON, Canada's air force sent two CH-146 Griffon helicopters to assist the USCG in covering the Boston search and rescue area over the Labor Day weekend. Province of Manitoba -------------- ¶7. (SBU) On September 2, the Manitoba Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team tried to contact state governments in the affected area to send 61 individuals over the weekend for a total of 14 days including travel. As of September 6, Manitoba officials had heard from the GOC and Louisiana State officials that the team's skills would not be needed. Private Sector -------------- ¶8. (U) Despite minimal excess capacity, Canada is working to comply with the IEA's directive to make more petroleum available. Although the GOC is counting on high gas prices to lead to lower consumption, the province of Alberta's Energy and Utilities Board has also "opened the taps" on the province's oil wells, lifting monthly production limits, which could provide an extra 30,000 barrels a day in production. ¶9. (U) Frank Stronach of Magna International has opened a dormitory facility in Palm Meadows, Florida (Palm Meadows Training Center, 8898 Lyons Road, Boynton Beach, FL 33437). Working with the Red Cross and FEMA, the facility is currently housing 300 people, with the capacity of up to 400. The project received press coverage in Canada. ¶10. (SBU) The task force received an offer September 6 from Joe Patel of Spot Vision offered its giant screen TV/displays for "free advertising or announcements. Its system will be in place for the Florida Gators game October 26-30. The company is also willing to make a private contribution. Contacts are Patel (514-398-9111, ext. 235) or Senior VP John Anderson (ext. 233). ¶11. (SBU) B'nai Brith Canada is planning on September 25 to collect 250,000 pounds of clothing that will be directed to B'nai Brith personnel in the affected areas to distribute to the most vulnerable of the victims. They extended condolences and offered to be of any assistance possible. ¶12. (SBU) A private individual sent the embassy a money order for $100 for the US Red Cross. Post will forward it to the Red Cross. Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa WILKINS