Canada & International Banditry Against Haiti

Dear Stephanie,


Re:  http://www.apologytohaiti.ca/


Thank you for standing up for a better Canada!

I will attempt to answer your very pertinent questions to the best of my ability. However, I also hope that a few brave souls among the elected officials you contacted will help shed light on this important matter.

You asked: “Why is N. America & France interested in keeping Haiti and it's people so oppressed ?   Is it for the cheap labour for the few Canadian and American manufacturers operating in Haiti ?”.

My answer: It is likely a combination, if not all, of the above and more.

We know that in addition to the sweatshops, there are Canadian mining companies that are well-positioned in Haiti as they are on the African continent and in Latin America. Exploiting an impoverished population with foreign-controlled militarized regimes is too often the preferred modus operandi of gold diggers, whether operating in Guatemala, the Congo or Haiti.

As for the necessity to keep the people oppressed (under control), a couple of quotes from Michel Vastel’s March 2003 article are worth another read.

Describing the motivation of former Canadian Minister Denis Paradis who convened the Ottawa Initiative on Haiti meeting (January 31-Feb 1, 2003) to plot the 2004 coup, Journalist Michel Vastel wrote:

“Time is running out because, it is estimated that Haiti’s population could reach 20 million in 2019,”. According to Vastel, Minister Denis Paradis went on and on during the meeting, describing Haiti’s 99 percent African population as “a time bomb which must be stopped immediately!”

So, Haiti’s very population is seen as a ‘threat” to some people. The foreign troops are effectively deployed to contain that "threat".

On the geopolitical front, Haiti is also an easy prey that offers enticing political rewards. Take for instance the following statement from a former Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs:

“there is a limit to how much we can constantly say no to the political masters in Washington. All we had was Afghanistan to wave. On every other file we were offside. Eventually we came onside on Haiti, so we got another arrow in our quiver.”

Bill Graham, Former Canadian Foreign Minister in January 2007 interview cited in Janice Gross Stein and Eugene Lang, The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar (Toronto, ON: Viking Canada, 2007), pp. 126-27

Stephanie wrote: “I have been writing to various Prime Ministers on this matter for years now.   I never have received any kind of response…I am not aware of any Canadian Parliamentarian, except for Stockwell Day, who has spoken out on this matter.  That was years ago.   Am I badly informed ?”

As can be seen in the Records of Parliament (available online), the matter was discussed before the coup as well as after. The quote from Stockwell Day which we include in the Letter of Apology http://www.apologytohaiti.ca/ dates from March 10, 2004. As a member of the Conservative opposition he was then questioning the wisdom of the Liberal Government to participate in the illegal and violent removal of a sovereign and “friendly” people’s Head of State. However, I have yet to hear Mr. Day, whose party is now in power, say or do anything about reversing the barbaric, racist and illegal actions he had once questioned.

As for other voices that were raised on the Hill about the coup, there are a few timid ones. For instance, records of a March 19, 2003 Senate hearing titled “Meeting on Regime Change in Haiti” include Senator Consiglio Di Nino inquiring about a “secret initiative referred to as the “Ottawa Initiative on Haiti” that is being led by the Secretary of State for La Francophonie.” The Senator asked: “Can the leader of the government in the Senate tell us if this meeting actually took place?” to which Liberal Senator Sharon Carstairs answered: “I cannot honestly say whether this meeting took place. I have no information whatsoever on such a meeting.”

See http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/Sen/Chamber/372/Debates/041db_2003-03-19-e.htm

Apparently, New Democratic Party MP Svend Robinson had asked for a release of the full unaltered minutes of “The Ottawa Initiative on Haiti”. This was never done, as far as I know.

Thus, it is left to individual Canadians to tell the world that we are not all a bunch of racist bullies.

Over 700 signatures on the online letter is a good start but, regardless of the volume of well-orchestrated propaganda about “Canadian aid to Haiti” the embedded media shall no doubt continue to spread - also in our name, ordinary Canadians will need to do much more to deserve and to regain the respect of Haitians who actually know what really happened.

On February 28th, in Gatineau, Québec, site of the infamous “Ottawa Initiative on Haiti”, a Press Conference will take place at 11 a.m. During the Press Conference the Letter of Apology to Haiti will be read in public and handed to Haiti’s Leading Human Rights Lawyer Mario Joseph.

(About Mr. Mario Joseph's hard work to force dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier to face justice, despite the complicit obstruction of powerful international allies and the neo-Duvalierist, post-coup puppet regime they imposed on Haiti, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21536629 ).

Professor Michel Chossudovsky, Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization will also join the panel. His February 29, 2004 article titled The Destabilisation of Haiti is MUST READ material for all Canadians wishing to understand what really went on in Haiti, in our names and with our hard-earned tax dollars.


In solidarity,


Jean Saint-Vil
“A better Haiti is possible. Dignified Haiti-Canada relations are an urgent necessity”
www.apologytohaiti.ca



January 12, 2012 - "President" Michel Martelly and his wife greet former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier at a ceremony to commemorate the earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010. Duvalier was supposedly under orders not to leave the capital of Port au Prince before he stands trial for crimes against humanity including political murder and torture. (note: Bill Clinton is in background with jaw agape as Martelly greets Duvalier).



In picture: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton shaking hands with former U.S.- backed Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, January 12, 2012. There they stood smiling on "Titanyen", site of a known mass grave of victims of the Duvalier dictatorship. Current U.S.-installed puppet president Michel Martelly was also on the podium.  

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From: Stephanie
To: Jean Saint-Vil
Cc: stephen.harper@parl.gc.ca ; justin.trudeau@parl.gc.ca ; louis.plamondon@parl.gc.ca ; MP Thomas Mulcair
Sent: Friday, February 21, 2014 4:20 PM
Subject: Question Mr. Sait-Vil Re: Canada & International Banditry Against Haiti

Dear Mr. Sanit-Vil:
Re:  http://www.apologytohaiti.ca/

Why is N. America & France  interested in keeping Haiti and it's people so oppressed ?   Is it for the cheap labour for the few Canadian and American manufacturers operating in Haiti ?

I have been writing to various Prime Ministers on this matter for years now.   I never have received any kind of response.

I am deeply ashamed of Canada, it's Parliamentarians, our Opposition Leaders, and it's citizens for the lack of interest in the suffering of the Haitian people.

They say what goes around comes around.   If something similar happens to Canada, Canadians will deserve it.

I am not aware of any Canadian Parliamentarian, except for Stockwell Day, who has spoken out on this matter.  That was years ago.   Am I badly informed ?

Sincerely,
Stephanie ..., Nanaimo, B. C.