Jim Karygiannis, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Member of Parliament for Scarborough-Agincourt, Canada, strongly expressed these views during a press conference here on Tuesday.
He was of the view that as few billion dollars were required to rebuild the quake-hit areas, the rebuilding should have started immediately.
When asked why the international community's response to earthquake was slow, he said that many people in the West had an apprehension over the Pakistani government's attention, and they believe that why they should help a country that was buying F-16s and nuclear submarines.
To another question, he said that it was better to spend money on education and other welfare projects rather than purchasing arms. "If Pakistan forgoes nuclear submarines, like it did on F-16s, the Western people's attitude can be changed and they may contribute to the tragedy," he added.
According to him, the Canadian government has committed $57 million for the earthquake disaster, which was the highest in terms of per capita. Moreover, it had also sent a disaster rescue team comprising 220 men.
He lauded the Pakistani government's efforts in the rescue work and added that cancelling of F-16 fighter planes purchase speaks volume of the government's efforts.
"I will brief the Canadian Prime Minister of the situation in the quake-hit areas and ask him to do more," he assured.
According to him, the earthquake caused unimaginable damage and loss to human lives. He had the opportunity to see some of the damages. Some of the leading NGOs and United Nations officials briefed him that over 3 million homeless were receiving necessary food and shelter, and they were faced with a lack of resources.
They need funding to ensure that the food, shelter and the means of transporting this aid was available. Many countries have committed to providing re-construction aid, now is the time for fulfilling the commitment. Food costs money; shelter costs money; and the means of transporting this aid to the victims costs money. Many countries have contributed to this aid, but many need to do more. Canada's commitment was one of the highest per capita.
"I want to urge every country to match Canada's per capita commitment. If we all work together, we can help the Pakistani government rebuild the lives that were so cruelly shattered by this earthquake" he added.