Canadian mayors promise to help rebuild Haiti

The mayors of Canada's 22 largest cities pledged Thursday to do their part to help Haiti rebuild after a massive earthquake ripped through parts of the country and left as many as two million people homeless.

At a meeting in Ottawa, the Big City Mayors Caucus of Canada unanimously supported a proposal put forward by Montreal and Calgary that commits municipal resources to reconstruction efforts in the Caribbean nation.

The plan calls for cities to work with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to create a pool of experts who will work with the federal government, non-governmental organizations and Haitian officials to help rebuild roads and bridges, water and sewer services and other infrastructure.

Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier, one of the sponsors of the plan, said municipalities can contribute by providing staff and support as the country tries to rebuild infrastructure and get essential services up and running.

"I believe there will be no shortage of volunteers from the City of Calgary workforce," Bronconnier said. He added that volunteers don't have to be city employees, though he said most of the volunteers would likely be city staff or recently retired employees.

Bronconnier said he's already had offers from six people who are willing to help, but he noted that it will likely be several weeks before rebuilding teams are able to start working in Haiti.

Claude Dauphin, a city councillor from Montreal, said his city has a very strong relationship with Haiti, as Montreal is home to the largest Haitian community in Canada.

"We have already sent police officers, doctors and nurses to help during the recovery, and the Haitian people can count on Montreal and all of Canada's big cities to help them through this."

Since the Jan. 12 quake that ruined much of Port-au-Prince, about 50 aftershocks of magnitude 4.5 or higher have hit the area, reducing many buildings to rubble and destroying much of the local infrastructure.

Emergency officials believe at least two million people are homeless in Haiti — 500,000 more than originally estimated — and fear an outbreak of disease among earthquake survivors living in makeshift camps.