Stephen Harper: Man of action total clusterfuck.

Commenter "liberal supporter" draws our attention to this, well, total clusterfuck:

Response team trains as Haiti suffers

While the humanitarian crisis rages in Haiti, Toronto’s highly-skilled emergency response team is stuck on Bermondsey Rd. in a mock training session.

Instead of being on the ground in earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince — doing what it is they are trained to do and eager to do — the modern-equipped, taxpayer-funded Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR) team is on the sidelines while people suffer...

Imagine, with all of the horror in Haiti, we have highly-trained Toronto Police officers, police dogs, firefighters, paramedics, Sunnybrook doctors and public works and water professionals all ready, willing and able to lend a hand but feeling stifled as they stare at their packed bags.

There will be efforts to sweep this under the carpet as the government pats itself on the back. But make no mistake, this mess up is not one of Canada’s finest hours. Since 9/11, the taxpayer has invested more than $20 million into this HUSAR team...

If ever there was a time to make their first trek internationally, this Haiti crisis would have been it.

Mayor David Miller understood this and quickly offered the 65-member team last week. A week later, they are still here and wondering how many lives they could have saved?

Some are trying to pass this off as HUSAR not being properly prepared. Shockingly, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon told Sun Media’s Kathleen Harris, “when you deploy Canadian armed forces, they can hit the ground and they are literally capable of sustaining themselves, not only through food necessity but they do have the equipment required to camp there, to set up there. My understanding is that these capabilities aren’t necessarily there for the group that you are referring too.”

Wrong! It’s nonsense. He should know better.

In fact, Toronto Fire Division Chief Doug Silver and Toronto Police Insp. Bill Neadles said the HUSAR team cannot only respond within six hours of the call, it can also sustain itself anywhere for 10 days without re-supply. They possess their own water supply, provide their own power, have their own food, shelter, transportation, equipment and medical services — precisely what was needed in Port-au-Prince.

Read the whole thing. Read it and weep.

AFTERSNARK: It's amusing to read Cannon's assessment of the HUSAR team and realize he's making it up as he goes along (emphasis added):

"My understanding is that these capabilities aren’t necessarily there for the [HUSAR] group that you are referring too. [sic]”

Is it possible to get any more weaselly and evasive than stating that your "understanding" is that those capabilities aren't "necessarily" there for the HUSAR team? Here, let me translate that for you: Cannon has no clue. None. He's just covering his ass with weasel-speak. I'm betting he never even heard of HUSAR before that interview.