Canada For Haiti telethon a star-studded fundraiser

Canadian band the Tragically Hip has signed on to headline Canada For Haiti, while a pantheon of stars from Wayne Gretzky to Nelly Furtado and James Cameron will also participate in Friday's telethon to raise funds to support earthquake relief for the stricken nation.

Organizers from broadcasters CBC, CTV and Global unveiled on Thursday a celebrity-studded list of participants for the one-hour, commercial-free, cross-network special event.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean are scheduled to deliver messages to Canadians, while the Tragically Hip and K'naan will perform live.

Prominent Canadians from music, film, television and sport to appear on the special include:

• Musical acts Nelly Furtado, Measha Brueggergosman, Justin Bieber, Céline Dion, Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, David Foster, Chantal Kreviazuk, Raine Maida and Simple Plan.
• Directors James Cameron, Jason Reitman and Norman Jewison.
• Actors William Shatner, Joshua Jackson, Pamela Anderson, Eugene Levy, Sandra Oh, Tom Jackson, Ryan Reynolds, Michael J. Fox, Rachelle Lefevre, Will Arnett, Hugh Dillon and Brent Butt.
• TV personalities Mike Holmes, Rick Mercer and Alex Trebek.
• Sports stars Wayne Gretzky and Steve Nash.
• Humanitarian Craig Kielburger.

The money raised during the telethon will be distributed equally amongst a coalition of 10 large Canadian non-governmental organizations — including World Vision Canada, Canadian Red Cross Society, UNICEF Canada, Oxfam Canada and Save the Children Canada — with the funds exclusively earmarked for Haiti.

'Still people are hungry, still people are not getting water, and still people are not getting adequate medical care.' —Dave Toycen, World Vision Canada

World Vision Canada president Dave Toycen, who just returned from a six-day visit to Haiti, described the situation as "one of the worst [he's] ever been involved in" after 30 years of working on disaster-response campaigns.

"Still people are hungry, still people are not getting water, and still people are not getting adequate medical care and all the other things that go along with that," he said.

"Every day it's getting better but it's still a race against time."

Acknowledging that it is unusual for the charitable organizations to team up in this way, "it says how critical the situation is," Toycen added.

"We've put down any sort of competition and said we're going to do this together ... We will collaborate, we will leverage any way we can to help."

The program, which will precede the U.S.-organized Hope For Haiti telethon, begins at 7 p.m. ET. It will be hosted by Cheryl Hickey, Ben Mulroney and George Stroumboulopoulos and air on CBC Television, CTV, Global Television, MTV, MuchMusic and National Geographic Channel.

CBC Radio 2 will carry the broadcast, hosted by Garvia Bailey, and it will also be streamed online on CBC.ca, CTV.ca, GlobalTV.com and MuchMusic.com.

The telethon will also be simulcast on Canadian Forces Radio and TV.