DOWNLOAD HAITI FILE		ABOUT THE AUTHORS

CANADIAN ROLE Updated March 30, 2009

Brief background

The Canadian leadership sees itself reinforcing its position, notably in Haiti where it has had an aid program since the 1960s. Haiti is the main beneficiary of Canadian development aid and personnel deployed in the Americas, and by far the most significant worldwide after Afghanistan. Canada is committed for the long term.

(Extract from 2008 strategy document not yet published.)

Canada has maintained diplomatic links with Haiti without interruption since 1959. It has been involved in Haiti for over 30 years via CIDA and has participated in all the United Nations and OAS missions by providing military, police and civilian personnel. Towards the end of the Duplessis premiership in Quebec (1960), the winds of secularization sweeping through Quebecois institutions generated an intensification of missionary activities of numerous religious congregations towards Africa and Haiti. Numerous Canadian NGOs followed suit and pursued support for development in Haiti.

The Canadian Haitian diaspora is significant (around 120,000 people), spread over several cities (Montreal, Quebec, Ottawa, Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke, etc.). This diaspora was in the first wave made up of political refugees (the Haitian intellectual and professional elite) escaping the Duvalier dictatorship of the 1960s and 70s; thereafter the subsequent influxes became more diversified. Many of the members of the diaspora participated, and continue to do so, in the community and political life of Canada (as members of parliament, senators, etc.). The Governor General of Canada, Michaelle Jean, made her first official visit to her native country in 2006.

The three following periods defined Canada's engagement over the course of the last 15 years:

1994 to 1995 was the period of return to constitutional order and the end of Jean Bertrand Aristide's mandate; Canada concentrated on emergency aid, food aid, reconstruction and quick impact projects.

1996 to 1999 was the period of the first election to the presidency of René Garcia Préval; Canada wanted to reinforce the capacity of public institutions to deliver essential services to the population.

2000 to 2003 was the period of the contested 2000 elections, not recognized by the OAS. Extremely high levels of corruption forced Canada to bypass the state and provide its aid via a combination of national and international NGOs in order to put pressure on the state for a more transparent management of aid. Canada was not the only country to tie its aid to conditions.

Since then, the international community has learnt some lessons from these experiences.

Current Approach

CIDA expenditures in 2006-2007 on projects and initiatives in Haiti: $92.5 million: CIDA Statistics for 2006-2007

Canada is the second largest bilateral donor with $555 million CAD committed over a period of five years (2006-2011). in its efforts to help in Haiti's reconstruction and development. It is the country's second largest bilateral donor. Haiti is the largest recipient of long term Canadian development assistance in the Americas and the second in the world.

Canada's priorities in Haiti include: reinforcing good governance, helping to build a transparent and responsible government, fighting against corruption, and reestablishing the rule of law.

Canada's assistance is mostly provided through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). It works with the priorities of the Haitian government to focus on the following three pillars: reinforcing the State, providing access to basic services (health, education, and infrastructure), and quickly improving the socio-economic environment.

Increased standard of living

Canada works on many fronts to contribute to poverty reduction in Haiti. In particular, it looks to increase access to heath services and education and to develop basic infrastructure (i.e., roads and electricity). It also contributes to job creation programs and has championed Haitian debt alleviation.

Safer environment

Canada contributes to improving security throughout the country by deploying police offices, military troops, and correctional services expert to the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). In addition is the important role that Canada plays in helping to reform the police and jail systems, the reduction in community violence, and boarder reinforcement.

Sounder democratic structures

Canada is supporting the implementation of a responsible and effective political system. Among other things, Canada is helping strengthen Haiti's executive and legislative branches, public service and civil society so that each can play its rightful role in a modern nation. Canada is also working to strengthen electoral structures to ensure the success of future political transitions in the country.

Strengthened rule of law

Canada is working with the Government of Haiti to strengthen and modernize Haiti's justice system so it can better protect the rights of all its citizens. Efforts are directed at improving access to justice and extending its reach to all areas of government activity.

Better living conditions

Canada is working on several fronts to help reduce poverty in Haiti. Efforts are particularly aimed at improving access to health and education services, and at developing basic infrastructure, such as roads, and electricity. Canada is also contributing to job creation programs and is an advocate for international relief for Haiti's debt.

A more secure environment

Canada is helping to improve security throughout the country by deploying police officers, military personnel and corrections experts to MINUSTAH. In addition, Canada is playing a crucial role in reforming the police force and prison system, reducing violence in communities and enhancing border management.

Fragile states strategy

For Canada, Haiti is part of the group of fragile states, that is to say, countries whose governments are not disposed to assuming the fundamental functions of the state, or who do not have the capacity to do so i.e.: ensure security and legitimate authority; promote and respect human rights and gender equality; respect the rule of law; and provide basic services. Countries are fragile not only when they are on the road to collapse, but also when they are becoming viable once more.

The Canadian strategy in Haiti, which is part of its strategy for the Americas, aims to reinforce the strategic partnerships in the hemisphere. Canada sees this as an occasion to develop projects in trilateral cooperation, which reinforce relations with key countries in the Americas (Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, the Dominican Republic). More generally, Haiti can become a laboratory where a new multilateralism for the Americas can be developed which could in turn serve as a model to manage other high-stake situations like the transition in Cuba.

Canada advocates putting into effect principles that favour more efficient international aid. These principles are taken from the Millennium Declaration and its development goals, the Monterrey Consensus, as well as the Paris Declaration and the principles of engagement with fragile states of the OECD. The application of these principles and goals imply a thorough knowledge of the context, as well as an acceptance of the different rates of change that exist between the providers of aid and the recipients of that aid.

In the framework of their first coordination meeting on Haiti in December 2006, the deputy ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (diplomacy), the Canadian International Development Agency (development), National Defence, Public Safety, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (defence), reached an agreement on a government-wide development strategy. This approach, referred to as 3D (diplomacy, development and defence), is advocated for fragile states.

Canadian ministers of international cooperation, foreign affairs, the Prime Minister himself, as well as the Governor General have all visited Haiti over the last three years. Conferences that brought together ministerial representatives from Brazil and Canada and which focused on Haiti were organized in Brazil, illustrating the diplomatic aspect of the 3D approach.

Pangovernmental team

Canada is providing crucial support to Haiti through a variety of Canadian government departments and agencies - in particular, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Correctional Service Canada, and the Department of National Defense (DND).

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT)

The Department contributes by coordinating pangovernmental efforts as well as mobilizing Canadian, international, and regional partners thanks to its high-level contacts in the political and senior government officials. Haiti is one of DFAIT's priority countries for its Global Peace and Security Fund, which is administered by the Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force (START).

Canadian International Development Agency

The Agency is in charge of Canadian assistance to Haiti. (See below the list of projects.)

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

Through the International Peace Operations Program of the RCMP, members of the Canadian Civil Police force are sent abroad through UNPOL and work with the Haitian National Police on areas such as management, professional standards, training, and mentoring.

Correctional Service Canada (CSC)

The service works in collaboration with its partners in the international community to contribute to the reform of the legal system and supports the Haitian government's efforts to reinforce its correctional system. [i]

In its strategy document CIDA underlines Canada's support for MINUSTAH in the long term and in the context of the evolution of traditional peace missions which tend now to be more complex and integrated. The mandate assigned to aid in the face of conflict (where there is neither war nor peace and a resurgence of the conflict is possible) has widened and become more complex. Aid today has to deal with issues that were not traditionally part of its remit - security sector reform, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration - in a preventative approach which tackles the tensions and dysfunctions that are likely to lead to another conflict.

Finally, as far as the development aspect is concerned, since the figures for recent engagements and those yet to come, which will be included in the context of national strategy (NSGPR, Haiti's National Strategy for Growth and Poverty Reduction), are not yet known, below we have used for illustrative purposes a table which synthesizes the breakdown of aid by sector for the past few years.

CIDA expenditures in Haiti: 2002-2012
In little over a week at the end of August 2008, Haiti suffered the devastating effects of hurricanes Fay and Gustav in addition to tropical storm Hannah. Evaluations put the estimates at close to 800,000 in need of humanitarian assistance and reconstruction aid. The number of Haitians directly or indirectly affected by these extreme metrological conditions was much higher. Some estimate that the economic impact of these catastrophes might actually be greater than hurricane Jeanne that hit Haiti in 2004. A large percentage of the population was already trying to overcome massive challenges - 53% of Haitians live on less than USD $1 a day while the cost of basic foodstuffs has increased more than 40% since the beginning of the year.

Economic relations

Canada signed an accord with Haiti in 2003 in the context of the Initiative for Less Developed Countries (ILDC) which aimed to eliminate customs tariffs on all Haitian products with the exception of milk, poultry and eggs. Interest in this initiative resurfaced during a conference sponsored by CIDA and Scotiabank and coordinated by the Canadian embassy in Haiti on 15 March 2007.