The province of Quebec and city of Montreal announced a total of $120,000 of relief funding on Friday, money that will be earmarked for areas of Italy devastated by Wednesday’s earthquake.
That money will be split fifty-fifty, with each level of government contributing $60,000, all of which will go to the Canadian Red Cross, which will transfer the funds to its counterpart in Italy.
At least 281 people have been confirmed dead as rescue workers continue to sort through the rubble.
Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre was flanked by International Relations Minister Christine St-Pierre, Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux and Jean-Mance-Viger riding MNA Filomena Rotiroti as they made the announcement.
“When you have this kind of catastrophe, we send this money to the Red Cross and the Red Cross is talking to the country itself,” said Coderre. “The Canadian Red Cross spoke to the Italian Red Cross yesterday and they put in place a dedicated fund for that, so when you send the money it will go directly to that.”
Coderre did not rule out further help for the affected regions, but said it was too soon to say what form that would take.
“After this, because it’s a long run, you have to rebuild the villages and the cities, then you can define another protocol where the government of Quebec, the city of Montreal, can define the best way to send goods and services or some specific help.”
