Ottawa, 8 July 2023 (TDI): Canada announces $100M to help strengthen the Haitian National Police as announced by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Mélanie Joly upon her meeting with the Haitian-Canadian community.
She announced that Canada would always stand with Haiti.
Haiti Canada Diplomatic Ties
The two countries formed independent diplomatic connections in 1954 and have maintained close bilateral ties since then.
Moreover, the ongoing involvement of Canadian nonprofit organizations in Haiti has helped to enhance their ties over the years.
On the sidelines of the OAS General Assembly in October 2022, Canada, the United States, and Haiti co-chaired a session to carry on the conversation for a stable Haiti.
On the sidelines of the Francophonie in November 2022, Canada hosted a Haiti meeting of Francophonie member nations and their governments.
This was done in order to keep taking action and build a global response to support Haitian officials in their attempts to restore the rule of law and solve humanitarian issues.
In the month of December 2022, Canada dispatched a delegation of diplomats to Haiti with the goal of encouraging communication among Haiti’s main stakeholders.
Read More: Canada, Jamaica Discuss Haiti Crisis Ahead of CARICOM Talks with Stakeholders
Canada’s Concerns in Haiti
Canada is particularly concerned about the safety and socioeconomic catastrophe in Haiti, which has been exacerbated by gangs’ expanding hold.
As a result, Canada continues to provide long-term assistance to the security industry, most notably to the Police Nationale d’Haiti.
Canada recently funded an initiative aimed at assisting the professionalization of the HNP, resulting in the establishment of the National Police Academy.
It also resulted in 480 officials’ instruction in the areas of rules of conduct, constitutional safeguarding, and gender-based assault prevention.
The disaster in Haiti
Following the murder of the president, Jovenel Mose, in 2021, the country has been in political and legislative turmoil.
After the year 2019, Haiti has failed to hold effective elections, and the country has been in peril since the earthquake of 2010, which killed more than 300,000 individuals.
However, President Mose’s demise in July of that year and an enormous quake following that month completely destabilized the situation in the country.
