More cash needed for rapid-response teams, Air India probe told

Ottawa: Foreign Affairs wants to set up rapid-deployment teams to help Canadians abroad in times of crisis, but it's having trouble finding the money, says the man in charge of consular services.
Robert Desjardins, testifying Wednesday at the Air India inquiry, said he likes the idea of flying squads of quick-response specialists.
"That is something that we have as a plan, which we haven't yet implemented because we don't have the resources," said Desjardins. "But certainly that need has been identified."
The comment came as he was grilled on whether the department has reformed its practices since the 1985 Air India bombing, when relatives of the victims complained they weren't getting enough help.
Desjardins said things have indeed improved, pointing to the effort to help Canadian survivors of the Asian tsunami of 2004 and the evacuation from war-torn Lebanon last summer.
08/11/06 Jim Brown/Canadian Press/Canada.com, Canada

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