With one last flight to Haiti, Operation Stork winds down

Friday, January 29, 2010 7:04 PM

With one last flight to Haiti,

Operation Stork winds down

Jane Taber

The Air Canada Airbus A330 was just beginning its descent into Port-au-Prince last Saturday when the message came through the cockpit’s data system from the airline’s operations centre: “Attn: AC2150: Confirmed 24 children for your return. Take care of them.”

There were high fives all around.

Captain Chris Pulley, his colleagues, Captains Jean Castonguay and Eddy Doyle, and Air Canada’s chief operating officer Duncan Dee, who was travelling with them, had been waiting for this news. They were thrilled because they were bringing to Canada the very first group of Haitian orphans to some very anxious parents.

This Saturday, Mr. Dee and other Air Canada officials are flying back to Haiti; it is expected they will bring back another 57 orphans. A group of 52 orphans arrived in Ottawa Wednesday.

It is likely, however, this will be the last flight of orphans.

“The numbers should taper off after that because those are the bulk of the children for whom we have received approval from the provincial adoption agencies,” Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told The Globe and Mail.

Immigration officials had initially identified a list of 154 children, whose cases were far enough along that they could be expedited to Canada. Most of them, including those on this weekend’s flight, have been brought to Canada.

The Haitian government is now discouraging the adoption of orphans not in the process prior to the earthquake. There are concerns about child trafficking.

And so what Immigration Canada has dubbed “Operation Stork,” is winding down.

It began several days after the Jan. 12 earthquake. After receiving calls from MPs with anxious constituents in the process of adopting Haitian orphans and hearing their stories in the press, it became clear that it was crucial these children were brought out.

It wasn’t easy.

One big problem was finding someone in the Haitian government to deal with. Indeed, things were so chaotic, Mr. Kenney was hearing reports that even bureaucrats in the Haitian agriculture department were signing off on allowing children to leave.

Finally, that practice was shut down and emergency powers were centralized with Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive.

As it happened, Canada’s ambassador in Haiti, Gilles Rivard, was meeting with the Prime Minister about a week after the quake. The ambassador was given the list of 154. He presented it to the Prime Minister, who signed off on it. Canadian officials in Haiti scouted around to the orphanages, locating the children.

And then last Friday, Mr. Kenney called Mr. Dee, who is a friend. Between 60 and 80 orphans were ready to come out, he said. Could Air Canada help?

Mr. Dee, whose company has done this before, evacuating children from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, jumped into action.

Air Canada’s caregiver list was activated, as was their medical team, including a doctor who specializes in the effects of cabin air pressure on diseases while in flight. There were concerns about collapsed lungs among the children. An Air Canada customer service agent in Montreal, Jacqueline Dupont, who is known for her baking, baked all day, providing dozens of small cakes and muffins for the orphans.

Everyone volunteered their time; several of the airline’s suppliers donated their services, including supplying food on board, waiving of airport landing charges and air navigation fees. Not the oil companies, however. Air Canada asked the fuel suppliers to donate and were refused.

As the flight left Canada last Saturday, carrying about 35 tonnes of humanitarian aid, the crew still had no idea how many orphans would be returning. Indeed, one orphanage director with 20 children destined for Canada refused at the last minute to allow her charges to leave. They were on Wednesday’s flight.

Early last Sunday morning as the orphans boarded the plane in Haiti for Canada, the flight’s service director Bob Nolan grabbed the intercom: “We thank God for your presence with us this evening,” he said. “You are about to embark on a very exciting adventure.” As they landed in Ottawa, Mr. Nolan said: “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Canada, welcome home.”

(Photo: Two of 52 orphans are carried from a plane after arriving in Ottawa from Haiti last week. Blair Gable/Reuters)

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