Canadians Give Generously to HaitiThe Lede, New York Times: While almost 90 million Americans tuned in to a celebrity telethon for Haiti on Friday, and donated more than $61 million, about 6 million Canadians watched one of two similar telethons broadcast the same night and donated nearly $20 million.
Taking into account a promise by Canada's government to match, dollar for dollar, every donation made by its citizens, the two telethons -- 'Canada for Haiti' and 'Ensemble Pour Haiti' -- raised almost $40 million for the devastated country. Given that Canada only has about one-tenth the population of the United States, the success of their two telethons is quite remarkable.
Canada has played a leading role in the emergency relief effort to help the survivors of this month's earthquake in Haiti. On Monday, world leaders met in Montreal to discuss plans for rebuilding, which Canada's foreign minister, Lawrence Cannon, said could take ten years.
On Sunday, Canada's Haitian-born governor-general, Michaelle Jean, sang part of what she called 'a song of hope,' which her mother used to sing to her when she was a child in Haiti, during a speech in Calgary.
Canadian troops are currently working in Ms. Jean's hometown of Jacmel, on Haiti's south coast, providing disaster relief and emergency medical care.
