Giving's Getting Good

Governments might be slow, but at least they're catching on.

The timing of this disaster was the worst it could possibly be. For this catastrophe to have been so perfectly timed with such an international holiday (and on a Sunday, no less) is absurd, but there it is.

Paul Martin has finally returned to Ottawa from his Morroccan vacation and has addressed the issue of Canada's response to this situation. There's more of the pat we're-doing-what-we-can bit, but at least the money is coming, and the responses are beginning to occur.

In the recently concluded press conference held by Martin money was a big issue. Canada has upped its immediate cash contribution to $80 million. The government has taken the pledge of doubling whatever Canadians donate to the Big Five NGOs--Unicef, World Vision, Red Cross, et al--and beefed it up with an ammendment that will now allow Canadians to contribute any amount to these charities before January 11th and have that be a tax-deductible donation applicable to the 2004 taxation year.

It's a small change but with huge financial incentives for those who can't find enough deductions. Canadian citizens (there's about 30 million of us, for those of you joining us internationally) have already chipped in $36 million, which, when doubled, effectively takes Canada's contribution to nearly $160 million--with a lot of room to grow before the deadline of January 11th for the Federal donation-matching scheme.

Ottawa has also officially announced the planned fast-tracking of any immigration applicants from the affected region, if they have relatives that are current Canadian citizens. I applaud this measure. Kofi Annan of the UN has stated it will take probably a decade or more before the affected regions return to a quality of life close to what it was before Christmas, 2004, so if we can help a few folks lead better lives, then that's exactly the mission Canada should have.

Beyond these borders, though, other nations are stepping up--particularly the United States and Japan. With respective phenomenal, though still very initial, pledges of $350 million and $500 million, there's starting to be an awful lot of putting money where our mouths are.

There's a lot expected of the United States in this calamity, and I realize some Americans may begrudge the word "expected," but if you're going to dominate the world stage, then such is life. This is the first true opportunity the Americans have had in many, many years to really show their generosity, and they are indeed a generous people.

With an almost irrelevant budget for foreign affairs that do not include warring regions in which the US has a stake, the American government is not exactly "generous." Its people, though, without question are some of the most generous in the world when it comes to private funding in international charities. And it's never been needed more than it is now.

But all of us, including American citizens, need to examine our generosity and improve upon it. We need to care far more than we have about the rest of our world.

Tragedy and adversity, on a personal scale, often tends to result in leaving you as a better person. It schools you in what's important and what isn't, and teaches you compassion and acceptance. We can only hope that this massive tragedy, and the adversities to come, will help us all learn a greater kind of global community and have us be the better for it.

Meanwhile, give, give, give.