"

Foreign ministers to meet January 25 on Haiti aid

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will host a meeting of foreign ministers next Monday to focus on Haiti's needs after the deadly earthquake and to prepare for a major donors' meeting, Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said on Monday.

Among those set to attend the Montreal meeting of the informal Friends of Haiti Group are U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive. France and several Latin American nations belong to the group.

More . . .

"

"

Canadian troops to bring aid and security to Haiti

Canadian death toll now at 11, with 859 Canadians still unaccounted for, foreign affairs minister says

OTTAWA – Canadian Forces personnel are in Haiti providing humanitarian relief but won't shy away from laying down the law if they have to, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Monday.

"They are going to make sure people are safe," Cannon said, adding that soldiers in particular will be operating under United Nations mandate and a separate bi-lateral agreement between Canada and Haiti.

"The issue of security was indentified as one of the key challenges and the need to significantly supplement police forces in Haiti until the Haitian national police can be re-established," he told a press conference, referring to his conversation with officials from other countries.

Cannon comments come as reports of violence in Port-au-Prince come with increasing regularity fuelled by hunger and desperations.

"There is a clear understanding that they asked for our help and so we are there both participating in the relief mission and clearly international rules of engagement apply," MacKay said.

"Security and calm is what we hope to achieve ... we want to assure that we are able to in an orderly way to deliver aid, water and provisions of life."

Cannon told reporters that the Canadian death toll has reached 11 with another 859 unaccounted for, down from 1,115 on Sunday.

"The situation remains fragile and we still face a large number of challenges," he said, adding that the number of Canadians located has risen to 1,433 from Sunday's 1,122. A total of 947 Canadians have been evacuated from Haiti.

"We continue to do everything we can to locate all Canadians so they can rejoin their families and friends her in Canada," the minister said.

A military aircraft carrying about 180 evacuees arrived at Trudeau International Airport in Montreal early Monday.

The group was believed to include 17 high school students from Slocan Valley, B.C. and their adult chaperones who were stranded for five days before being rescued.

However, one student told reporters at the airport that six of the students and three chaperones were not on the flight.

An official in Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon's office says the six students are expected to return on a flight due to arrive in Montreal at about 10 a.m. ET.

MacKay when there are expected to be about 2,000 Canadian Forces personnel — from doctors to engineers — in Haiti over the next days and months.

There are 1,000 soldiers on standby to be deployed to Haiti, 800 of them from Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, Que.

More . . .

"