Canada Promises Immediate Help to Lebanon, Looks for Long-Term Political Reforms

OTTAWA—Canada is joining France and other countries in emphasizing the need for economic and political reform in Lebanon over the long term as it looks at immediate ways to help the country following this week’s deadly explosion in Beirut.

The destroyed silo sits in rubble and debris after an explosion at the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, on Aug. 5, 2020. Hussein Malla/AP Photo

OTTAWA—Canada is joining France and other countries in emphasizing the need for economic and political reform in Lebanon over the long term as it looks at immediate ways to help the country following this week’s deadly explosion in Beirut.

Canada has so far pledged $5 million in emergency aid after Tuesday’s blast in Lebanon’s capital, and International Development Minister Karina Gould said the federal government will continue to help the country when it begins to rebuild.