Ottawa To Match Donations To Fund For Iran Plane Crash Victims - Parliamentary Secretary

TORONTO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2020) Canada will match donations made to a fund for grieving families of the Ukrainian jet crash that killed 57 Canadian nationals and 29 permanent residents, Parliamentary Secretary Omar Alghabra said on Wednesday.

"Today, I would like to announce that the Government of Canada will match donations to this fund [of] up to $1.5 million [$1.14 million US dollars]," Alghabra said.

The government, he added, will also match donations that have already been made to the Canada Strong fund, which was organized by Paramount Fine Foods President Mohamad Fakih.

Earlier, Fakih said the Canada Strong fund has raised $434,000 so far.

Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the government would pay $19,000 to the families of each Canadian victim killed in the crash.

Trudeau said the government took this step because strict international sanctions on Iran make it difficult for the families to receive aid. The president also said Canada expects Iran to fully compensate the families of the victims.