OTTAWA — Canada has two Disaster Assistance Response Teams available to send to Japan, as well as rapid-deployment field medical facilities, and teams of engineering, humanitarian and search and rescue experts. But all that assistance is sitting idly, while Ottawa awaits a formal request for its services.
They only requested specific assistance from specific countries,” Ablonczy said. “The Japanese government has a very experienced emergency-response mechanism in place. So we want to collaborate and let them take the lead on what might be necessary and when.”
But the minister said she can sympathize with Canadians’ eagerness to help.
“As Canadians, we really want to get in there and help everywhere we can,” Ablonczy said. “But the Japanese government does have things in hand, and they know what’s available.”
A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper echoed Ablonczy’s comments Sunday, saying “Canada stands ready to provide any and all possible assistance to Japan.”