I believe in the DART. The Disaster Assistance Response Team is something Canada can contribute to countries devastated by disaster, such as the Boxing Day Tsunami or the recent earthquake in Pakistan. I wanted to throw the damn DART back in December and we discussed it quite a bit.
The team consists of a group of engineers, a medical party, logistics people and a security detail. Its water-purification units are capable of producing 50,000 litres of clean, drinkable water a day even from heavily polluted sources. The medical team can handle up to 200 out-patients a day. The engineers can help open roads, clear debris and repair infrastructure. We should all be proud of the DART.
I've been reading a great deal this week about the DART's deployment to Islamabad. There's one piece of the puzzle that always makes me cringe. We have this team and equipment, but we have no means of getting everything to Pakistan. Unless the disaster is in Eastern Ontario, we literally have to hitch a ride.
This time we chartered a six-engine Antonov AN-225 from Ukraine. The cost of renting this massive air taxi is millions of dollars. I'm not suggesting the positive effect the DART will have on victims of this disaster isn't worth the coin, I just wish the DART was completely self sufficient and Canada didn't have to charter planes from foreign countries in order to provide the service.
