From the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada:
| Recipient Name: | United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) |
| Location: | New-York, New-York, United States / New-York, New-York, États-Unis |
| Date: | 2011-11-17 |
| Value: | $19,161,370.00 |
| Type: | Contribution |
| Purpose: | Canada’s assessed contribution to the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). |
| Comments: | Assessed contribution. |
by Roger Annis
Published in Haiti Liberte, Vol 3 #12, October 6, 2010
For the past several months, the Canadian armed forces have staged speaking events in cities across Canada to vaunt its role in Haiti in the month following the earthquake. Vancouver got its turn on Sept. 17 when one of the commanders of the two warships sent to Haiti shortly after the earthquake spoke at two events.
Commander Josée Kurtz of HMCS Halifax spoke before a small public forum hosted by the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia. For several weeks prior, the Institute featured a large photo display at its entrance of the military's presence in Haiti following the earthquake, a mission it calls Operation Hestia.
Continue reading Exagerated Claims: Assessing the Canadian Military’s Haiti Earthquake Response
If Canada is to play a positive role in Haiti’s future, we must know what the situation actually is, and why.
Recently I described how Haiti came to be in such wretched shape, thanks to its own brutal leaders and the interventions of France and the United States, a story that is rarely told in the mainstream media. What follows is more recent information about Haiti, shortly before and after the earthquake, all of it publicly documented yet little of it known.
For a serious government, there are important lessons to be learned here.
Continue reading In the News: Some facts Stephen Harper should have on Haiti
A letter and petition from Canada Haiti Action Network
The Canada Haiti Action Network, working alongside colleagues in the UK and the United States, would like to announce the launch of a new petition campaign urging the reorientation of the relief effort in Haiti.
It has become increasingly clear that the immediate crisis provoked by the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti has become a pretext for the massive deployment of military forces – particularly from the US, but also from Canada. For many reasons, this is a gravely mistaken policy, hidden amidst the outpouring of genuine concern for the suffering in Haiti.
The petition proposed (copy enclosed below) is an appeal for an alternative direction for this critical humanitarian effort, one that respects Haiti’s sovereignty, and directly acknowledges the need to reconcile Haiti’s past in order to face the future.
Continue reading Haiti Needs Emergency Relief, not Military Intervention!
by Roger Annis
Yesterday, our delegation met with the commissioner (“Commissaire”) of the West Department of Haiti, the department that includes Port au Prince. He is a very busy man, but graciously gave us a half hour of his time.
The commissioners are the representatives in each of Haiti’s ten department of the office of the President. They are responsible for the functioning and delivery of services by the state, especially of its justice ministry. Mr. Gassant gave us an overview of the difficulties and challenges of the justice system as he experiences it.
“Our government is definitely concerned about human rights in Haiti,” he began. “Despite all of our work, it is difficult to get the institutions of the country to respect the law. We have come to the conclusion that many in the police do not understand the law, nor does much of the public. Human rights groups that come here to investigate are not touching the foundation of our problems if they do not look into the institutional problems.”
Continue reading Canada, and Haiti’s justice system