The Harper government says it will match the funds donated by Canadians for flood relief in Pakistan, where 20 million people have been affected and an estimated six million have been left homeless.
Government House Leader John Baird announced the dollar-for-dollar initiative on Sunday morning, which he said will apply to all qualifying donations made between Aug. 2 and Sept. 12.
"For every eligible donation by individual Canadians to Canadian-registered charities and earmarked for efforts to assist Pakistan relief efforts, Canada will contribute an equivalent amount to the Pakistan Floods Relief Fund," Baird said at a press conference in Ottawa.
Baird said the government money will be put towards continuing humanitarian assistance, as well as recovery and reconstruction efforts.
"We have not placed a dollar limit on the amount of funds that we will provide through this important program," said Baird.
It's a similar strategy to what the Harper government did in the wake of the devastation following the January earthquake in Haiti. Back then, Ottawa matched tens of millions of dollars that Canadians gave in private donations for the recovery in Haiti.
But Baird said the two disasters unfolded very differently.
"In the case of Haiti, for example, you had upwards of 200,000, a quarter of a million people, killed in less than a minute some three hours from Canada. Obviously the flooding has been incredibly different. It's gotten progressively worse."
Dave Toycen of World Vision Canada said prior dollar-for-dollar measures have been effective in raising donations.
"We know from the past that there has always been a spike in giving, it has always lifted when this has happened," Toycen told CTV News Channel by telephone from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
"Now admittedly this is a somewhat different situation, it's coming further down the line. But when you realize the tragedy that people are facing in that country, certainly our attitude at World Vision is that anything the government can do to help us to encourage the Canadian public to be generous…is helpful."
Prior to Sunday's announcement, Canada had pledged $33 million for flood relief in Pakistan, which Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis had called "a drop in the bucket" in terms of what is needed.
But Baird defended the government's efforts to help out the people in Pakistan.
"To those who say we're not doing enough, we're the fifth largest contributor in the world," he said.
In Pakistan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Sunday that pledges and donations had topped US$800 million.
"The total commitments and pledges that Pakistan has got so far are $815.58 million," he told reporters in Islamabad.
"In these circumstances, when the West and Europe and America are going through a recession ... this kind of solidarity for Pakistan, I think, is very encouraging."
With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press
