Money for Fort McMurray

By Graeme McNaughton and Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

The Region of Durham will soon be on the list of many Canadian institutions and individuals looking to give back to Fort McMurray.

At the latest meeting of the finance and administration committee, councillors voted unanimously to donate $5,000 from the region’s coffers to go toward the Red Cross’ relief efforts in the northern Alberta city.

Oshawa councillor Dan Carter, who was sitting as a visiting councillor at the committee meeting, introduced the idea, citing a recent call by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) for towns and cities to help out any way they can.

“I would like to ask for a lot more, but I know and understand some of the restrictions we have financially, and I think it’s a great way of showing…we are understanding what they are going through,” Carter said at the meeting.

One councillor who was especially moved by the outpouring of support from municipalities and others across the country to help out in Fort McMurray was Pickering’s Kevin Ashe, who has family in Alberta.

“My daughter lives in Calgary and her friend lives in Fort McMurray and she’s hosted her friend in her small one-bedroom apartment,” Ashe said while fighting back tears.

“I don’t know why this particular issue has touched me personally. I just look at the newspaper and the television, and I find it remarkable. I urge everyone who can come forward to do it.”

The motion, passed unanimously, will be voted on by regional council at its next meeting, currently scheduled for Wednesday, May 18.

Oshawa gives back

A few days later, Oshawa councillors were having a similar discussion

At the most recent meeting of the finance committee, councillors approved a $5,000 donation to assist those in the northern Alberta town who have been displaced by the fire.

“For many of us, we can’t even imagine what the community is going through,” said Carter. “They absolutely need not only the moral support of every community, but they also need the monetary support.”

In a call to action, Gary McNamara, AMO’s president, challenged all municipalities to step up and help in this “situation that cries out for compassion and action.”

“I have been deeply affected by the disturbing images and the heartbreak we are seeing of those fleeing the wildfires around Fort McMurray,” McNamara writes.

“We appreciate the hard work of emergency services, civic employees and volunteers to assist in the multitude of efforts to tackle this situation.”

To date, Canadians have raised $67 million in relief funds for those affected and those funds have now started to flow electronically with residents receiving $600 per adult and $300 per child from the Red Cross as well as $1,250 per adult and $500 per child from the province of Alberta.

The fire, which has reached over 220,000 hectares in size when two large fires merged into one, has forced the evacuation of more than 88,000 people and, along with Fort McMurray, which has seen entire neighborhoods destroyed in the blaze, several other towns remain under mandatory evacuation orders.

For Councillor John Aker, he says many in the GTA either have family or connections to someone affected by the fire.

“I think that Oshawa should do its part to show the good people of Fort McMurray and the province of Alberta that we want to be part of their recovery,” he says.

While recent reports state that approximately 2,400 structures in the city were destroyed, 85 percent of the city is still standing.

Oshawa and Durham are just the latest in the region to have sent on funds to Fort McMurray. Ajax announced earlier this month that it would be donated $5,000 to the Red Cross. Since then, similar motions have been passed at the committee level in Pickering and Whitby, and are currently awaiting final votes by their respective councils.