Rich nations must help build Haiti consensus: former governor general Michaelle Jean
Former governor general Micha毛lle Jean says wealthy countries must admit mistakes they've made in Haiti and pressure that nation's elite to find a path out of an ongoing humanitarian crisis.
"What is endangered, at great risk, is the very national sovereignty of this country," Jean said in French during an extensive interview with The Canadian Press.
Jean said countries such as Canada need to take responsibility for ushering in debilitating policies in Haiti and deporting criminals who have sowed chaos in its capital, Port-au-Prince.
Jean was born in Haiti and was a UNESCO special envoy for that country after serving as Queen Elizabeth II's representative in Canada from 2005 to 2010.
Violent, feuding gangs have taken over the Haitian capital in recent months, sexually assaulting women and children and curtailing access to health care, electricity and clean water.
Hundreds have been killed and kidnapped by gangs who have filled a power vacuum in Haiti, which has not held elections since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In July 2021, President Jovenel Mo茂se was assassinated after a crackdown on Haitian democratic institutions that Jean argued the West should have called out, instead of allowing Mo茂se to provide impunity to gangs.
"By destroying the country's institutions, and even in wanting to manipulate the constitution to stay in power 鈥 eventually, the monster started to grow much stronger and bigger, and Jovenel Mo茂se himself ended up being swallowed by this monster," she said.
Jean recalled years of protests over Mo茂se's consolidation of power and armed conflict between the country's armed forces and its national police.
"The public was fleeing in all directions under gunfire," Jean said. "The international community was looking in a different direction."
After his assassination, Canada joined the U.S., France and the UN in recognizing Mo茂se's unelected ally Ariel Henry as prime minister, who Jean said never had legitimacy in the eyes of the Haitian public.
"Here is the embarrassment in which the international community finds itself: they put in place a de facto prime minister that the population does not recognize as legitimate. Now we see the failure of this de facto government."
A year after he took over, as gangs ravaged the capital, Henry called for an international military intervention to allow for humanitarian aid and to create conditions safe enough to hold an election.
The U.S. supports the idea, arguing it could stem a growing migration crisis and prevent gangs from destabilizing the entire Caribbean.
Washington has said Canada would be an ideal country to lead such a force. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has responded that Ottawa will only act based on a political consensus of Haitians.
Jean said that means there must be a deal between Henry and the civil society groups who have demanded his resignation.
At the same time, she said she is baffled that the West hasn't condemned Henry after he rebuffed a request to speak to prosecutors about Mo茂se's assassination. Investigators had alleged that Henry spoke to the suspected killer multiple times hours after the murder.
Still, Jean said she supports the Liberals' decision to sanction 13 of Haiti's political and economic elite, saying it was one of the few times the people responsible for human trafficking and arms trade have been called out.
"Now, for the first time that sanctions have been imposed on these individuals, it's panic for them," said Jean.
The U.S. also sanctioned some of the same people, and Jean argued France should join them in applying pressure.
She also said rich countries need to own up to policies that have sowed instability in Haiti, from economic reforms that led to the collapse of agricultural sectors to turning a blind eye when leaders who support the U.S. undermine civil society.
"We want a Haitian solution, while we're doing dealings with political forces (that) have largely betrayed this population. We must stop doing so," she said.
"It takes humility," Jean added. "Haitians also recognize their own responsibility in this situation, which is bad governance."
Jean was among dozens of high-profile signatories to an open letter issued this week in French, with the title "Taken hostage, Haiti is dying."
The letter argues Haiti needs international help to avoid becoming a failed state.
The signatories include Senegalese President Macky Sall, who currently chairs the African Union, former UN under-secretary-general Adama Dieng and the former heads of government of Timor-Leste, Chad, Mali, Nigeria and the Central African Republic.
The letter notes that virtually the entire Haitian population descends from slaves brought from Africa, and that the country was the first to successfully overthrow a colonial government in 1804.
"The first Black republic, perhaps the most fragile within the family of nations, is short of food, drinking water, fuel, peace, justice," the letter reads.
When the country ousted the French, Paris imposed a crippling debt to compensate slaveowners. The country faced a series of invasions, corrupt governments and deforestation.
"These factors could only result in a failed state, fed for many decades with the adrenaline of violence and the jolts of anarchy and chaos," the letter reads.
"It is difficult to imagine the resolution of this Gordian knot without outside intervention," the letter reads, stressing that this might mean support for justice and governance systems instead of a military occupation.
Jean said that could mean building up institutions led by Haitians and providing technical support.
She said she witnessed RCMP and provincial officers provide training to local police that helped them prove more successful at weeding out crime than peers who had been instructed by UN peacekeepers.
"We cannot look at all this with fatalism and say that this country is cursed. It is not cursed. It carries within it men and women of very strong will, who have even worked very hard to find a Haitian solution 鈥 but who also realize that they cannot achieve it alone," she said.
The open letter strikes a similar tone.
"History will not be kind to those who remain inactive or who choose to look elsewhere," the letter warns.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2023.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government鈥檚 three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party鈥檚 popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn鈥檛 be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
5 million adults without primary care, but surgeries returning to normal: CIHI report
A new report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information says 83 per cent of adults in this country have a regular primary-care provider, but that still leaves 5.4 million adults without one.
W5 Investigates Heists, arson and a baseball bat brawl: the violent side of clothing donation bins
In part three of a four-part investigation into the seedy underbelly of the lucrative clothing donation bin industry, CTV W5's Jon Woodward and Joseph Loiero look into allegations that the industry is rife with organized crime activity.
BREAKING
Four people are dead and another is in hospital following a fiery crash in downtown Toronto that happened overnight on Lake Shore Boulevard.
Used car market expecting supply crunch as fewer off-lease cars return
Already low on inventory, the used car market is facing an additional supply crunch as fewer off-lease vehicles return to dealership lots 鈥 and that's contributing to higher prices.
The president and CEO of New Brunswick-based Covered Bridge Potato Chips is taking an 'extended leave of absence' after being charged with domestic violence this past weekend.
Pope Francis denounces a world 'losing its heart' in 4th encyclical of his papacy
Pope Francis issued the fourth encyclical of his papacy on Thursday, denouncing a world that 'is losing its heart' during times of global turmoil marked by 'wars, socio-economic disparities and the uses of technology that threaten our humanity.'
DEVELOPING Trudeau to announce massive drop in immigration targets
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce a major drop in the number of new permanent residents Canada will accept in 2025.
BREAKING
Quebec鈥檚 Bureau of Independent Investigations (BEI) is investigating after police in Gatineau, Que. shot and killed a man who allegedly stabbed an officer during an investigation.
Martha Stewart has the funniest reason for not wanting to do 'The Golden Bachelorette'
Martha Stewart may be hot in the kitchen, but she鈥檚 not looking to replicate that on a dating reality show.
Local Spotlight
He is a familiar face to residents of a neighbourhood just west of Roncesvalles Avenue.
A meteor lit up our region's sky last night 鈥 with a large fireball shooting across the horizon over Lake Erie at around 7:00 p.m.
Residents of Ottawa's Rideauview neighbourhood say an aggressive wild turkey has become a problem.
A man who lost his life while trying to rescue people from floodwaters, and a 13-year-old boy who saved his family from a dog attack, are among the Nova Scotians who received a medal for bravery Tuesday.
A newly minted Winnipegger is hoping a world record attempt will help bring awareness for the need for more pump track facilities in the city.
A Springfield, Ont. man is being hailed a 'hero' after running into his burning home to save his two infant children.
Hortense Anglin was the oldest graduate to make her way across the platform at York University's Fall Convocation ceremony this week. At the age of 87, she graduated with an Honours degree in Religious Studies.
Looking for a scare with good intentions this Halloween season? The ghosts and ghouls of Eganville, Ont. invite families to tour the Haunted Walk at Lekbor Manor.
The image of a sleepy Saskatchewan small town with 'not a lot going on' is a well-known anecdote. However, one Saskatchewan company is hoping to change that 鈥 and allow communities both on and off the beaten path to share their stories and advertise what they have to offer.