Haitians tell Canadian delegation: "We need housing, we need a plan"
Vancouver BC
September 16, 2011
By electronic mail Version française ici.
To: Honourable John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
Copies to: Paul Dewar, NDP Foreign Affairs Critic; Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal Party Foreign Affairs Critic; Members of the Parliament of Canada; Members of the Senate of Canada
Dear Mr. Baird and Ms. Ablonczy;
We are three Canadians who conducted a ten-day fact-finding and solidarity mission to Haiti from June 20 to 30. We are writing to deliver to you a copy of a 17-page report on our findings.
We returned from Haiti with grave concerns over the slow recovery from the 2010 earthquake. Haitians from many walks of life feel that the recovery is ineffectual and even weakening. Political paralysis exists at the highest levels of the Haitian government, for example, there exists no ministry of housing in circumstances where 600,000-plus people are living in atrocious camp conditions. Persistent accusations of human rights violations are levelled at the United Nations Security Council military mission known as MINUSTAH.
We are concerned over the paucity of critical examination by Canada's Parliament and Senate of the policies and practices in Haiti of the Canadian government. The Canadian people have demonstrated overwhelming sympathy and support for Haiti. Yet, Canadian government activity in Haiti prioritizes security over human development–the building of police stations and prisons, training and equipping of police, support to the much-criticized MINUSTAH mission of the UN Security Council, etc.
Our report is attached to this e-letter and can also be accessed online at this link. The French-language version is here. We kindly request that you have your office confirm receipt of the report at canadahaiti@gmail.com or by regular mail.
Please note that our report concludes with several recommendations to Canada’s Parliament and Senate, points one and two, on page 16. These are:
1. By all appearance, Canada’s contributions to human development programs in Haiti are inadequate. We feel that a full-blown review by Parliament of Canada’s policies in Haiti since the overthrow of elected government in 2004 is called for, including how Canada could assist Haiti in establishing a fairer and more effective system of justice.
2. Members of Parliament need to inform themselves more thoroughly on Haiti, including calling upon a wider range of sources for information. The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development has held two sessions on Haiti so far in 2011, but the range of guests invited to testify has been too limited.
Our delegation was organized by Haiti Solidarity BC, the Vancouver affiliate of the Canada Haiti Action Network. For comprehensive information on Canada and Haiti, in English and French, visit the Canada Haiti Action Network website: www.canadahaitiaction.ca.
We would be pleased to meet with interested members of Parliament and the Senate in the weeks ahead in order to explain our findings and answer any questions you may have. Please contact us at canadahaiti@gmail.comor by phone at 778 858 5179.
Sincerely,
Roger Annis, (Vancouver BC) Coordinator of Haiti Solidarity BC and the Canada Haiti Action Network, retired aerospace worker
Sandra Gessler (Winnipeg MB), Professor of Nursing, University of Manitoba
Rosena Joseph, (Toronto ON), learning coach and member of Local 3393 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees
APPENDIX:
Our critical evaluation of the current foreign assistance to Haiti is part of a growing consensus by a wide variety of international observers, as evidenced in this selection of recent reports:
1. Two reports on cholera treatment and prevention:
*Meeting Cholera's Challenge to Haiti and the World: A Joint Statement on Cholera Prevention and Care, May 31, 2011
* and Not Doing Enough: Unnecessary Sickness and Death from Cholera in Haiti, August 2011
2. Comprehensive Update on Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier Prosecution, by the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, Sept 2, 2011
3. Report by Haiti Grassroots Watch on Housing and Shelter Crisis, August 23, 2011
4. “Nobody Remembers Us”: Failure to Protest Women’s and Girls’ Right to Health and Security in Post-Earthquake Haiti, By Human Rights Watch, August 31, 2011.