February 29th Haiti Solidarity Events

[editor’s note: The following article is intended to give a report of statements made by speakers at two different events. The writer intended to write the report as a story about a series of claims, as opposed to a story about historical facts. In this way, some of the statements included have not been, and in some cases cannot be, verified.]

On February 29^th a pair of Ottawa events were hosted by the organization Solidarité Québec-Haiti to mark the 20^th anniversary of the 2004 coup against the Haitian government led by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a coup allegedly supported by Canada. The first such event was a rally at Parliament Hill at noon where roughly a dozen participants joined in.

The second event was a public lecture held in the evening that same day at the Bronson Center, with over a couple dozen attendees including the PEN’s Treasurer. A series of Haitian Canadians and self-described “anti-imperialists” spoke for over two hours criticizing Canada’s foreign policy record towards Haiti since 2004.

A Haitian citizen residing in the Haitian town of Saint-Jean by the name of Mario Joseph spoke remotely to the audience. He witnessed ongoing violence within the country but said that at the time there did not seem to be violence against the impoverished citizens, as if there is a kind of “revolution” going on. He said that there are no elected officials in Haiti now [ed. note: Haiti currently has a transitional council charged with selecting a new prime minister and Cabinet], but that the source of Haiti’s problem is not within Haiti but in foreign capitals.

One of the lead organizers, Jean Saint-Vil (Jafrikayiti), commented that kids cannot go to school, but that governments still organize carnivals within the same areas. Mr. Saint-Vil argued that “weird things are happening” in the country and speculated that American elites are controlling gangs. He argued that all three governing institutions, not just the Haitian Presidency, were overthrown in 2004, and that Canada, the U.S., and Franc have been engaging in racialization and demonization in their foreign policy towards Haiti.

Another speaker was Kevin Skerrett, formerly of CUPE. He explained at length how skepticism of mainstream media following the Iraq War had prompted him towards a fact-finding exercise with respect to Haiti, and then concluded in 2004 that the then unrest against the Haitian President was in fact a coup. Mr. Skerrett argued that progressive Canadian institutions were implicated in the coup in real-time. There was a false conventional narrative of the time of Aristide being a dictator, but in reality, Haitian affairs were manipulated through financial strangulation by Canada as represented by CIDA, the US, and France. Skerrett said that he witnessed the brutality of the coup firsthand when he travelled to Haiti in the aftermath.

The next speaker was the author and activist Yves Engler. Mr. Engler similarly argued that progressive NGOs had backed the coup, and that Canadian police and military were involved in a “literal invasion”. He said that the foreign-led coup began with delegitimization of the 2000 Haitian election which Aristide did not oversee nor was even a candidate in. The Haitian opposition claimed there to be questionable tabulation in 8 electoral senate seats, a “technicality which wouldn’t have effected the election.” He further argued that “everyone knew” that Aristide would win the 2004 Haitian election by 60% of the vote, yet that this knowledge was somehow cited by foreign powers as justification for cutting off previously agreed upon loans to strangle the Haitian economy. 

Engler further alleged that what happened in Haiti was not unique in Canadian history, as there were 20 other examples of alleged coups allegedly supported by Canada against other progressive governments. He accused Canada of being involved in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba in the Congo.

Engler further argued that Canada worked with the French slave-owners in 19^th century, but that now Canada has displaced France as the second primary power influencing Haitian affairs. After the 2010 earthquake an internal government document said that Canada sent 2000 troops to Haiti because the Government of Canada feared a power vacuum in which Aristide could return. Mr. Engler described this as deeply callous “anti-human thinking”. He also said that the recent Haitian President Ariel Henry was “appointed through a Tweet” by foreign powers.

There were multiple other speakers who commented more briefly, generalizing about international solidarity, anti-war messaging, and urging against “international imperialism”. Mr. Saint-Vil further acknowledged that some Haitian Canadians “to their regret” were complicit in the coup.

The PEN reached out to Mr. Engler and Mr. Saint-Vil with the invitation for further clarification. They were asked, “Can you please explain in 300 words or less which key non-elected government advisor you would like to publicly debate or question regarding Canadian foreign policy in Haiti, and why such a debate or public questioning has been impossible to date?” This question was asked to better clarify to what extent various Canadian Prime Ministers have potentially been receiving the same misinformed advice. 

Mr. Engler responded to us, “It’s definitely a cross party policy but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s due to mistaken advice. The policy is driven by support for the US, racism, a corporate mentality, and domination.” 

“I’d be happy to debate Bob Rae on Canada’s role in Haiti. He has made lots of statements on the matter, frames himself as a liberal minded individual and has been heavily involved in building support for a foreign mission. Yet he supported the 2004 coup and backed Ariel Henry.” Mr. Engler disrupted Mr. Rae at a University of Ottawa talk in January 2023 without challenging the Ambassador through the Q&A. Mr. Rae denied one of the allegations Mr. Engler made, although the particular accusation is not audible in the video. 

Mr. Engler further pointed us to a blog of his, “Canada participated in the coup as a way to make good with Washington, especially after (officially) declining the Bush administration’s invitation (order) to join the “coalition of the willing” that invaded Iraq in 2003. Former Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham explained: “Foreign Affairs view was 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 on side on Haiti, so we got another arrow in our quiver.”

Mr. Saint-Vil also responded to us, “For my part, Mélanie Joly and Justin Trudeau are the key players who should be pushed to explain why they have resisted the call to shift Canadian foreign policy towards what is just, noble and in sync with true Canadian interest. In the particular case of Haiti, since the 2004 US-led multinational coup, what former foreign minister Bill Graham said remains true, Canada is essentially doing what the US asks "getting another arrow in our quiver". So, to be honest, I have not sought to debate or question our PM or Minister Joly because they are just going along with established tradition, fully aware of its disastrous consequences on Black Haitians.”

Last fall Canada rejected a request from the U.S. government to send Canadian soldiers to lead a mission to Haiti to quell the violence there. However, U.S. foreign policy could be argued to have been testing the independence of Canadian foreign policy ever since the Kingston Dispensation of 1941.

You can watch a recording of the lecture in this Twitter weblink.

Stefan Klietsch sits on PERC’s board as Treasurer. He is finishing studies in Political Science for his Master of Arts program at Carleton University.