[R-G] Critic slams role of Canada in Haiti

[Anthony Fenton]

Critic slams role of Canada in Haiti
Straight Talk By Matthew Burrows
Publish Date: September 27, 2007
http://www.straight.com/article-111607/critic-slams-role-of-canada-in- 
haiti

When it comes to assisting Haiti, the Canadian government is part of  
the problem rather than the solution, according to Vancouver resident  
Roger Annis, who was part of a human-rights delegation in Haiti in  
August.

"What we learned is that what the Canadian government is doing is not  
helping in Haiti," Annis, a member of the Canada-Haiti Action  
Network, said on September 25 during a slide show at the Maritime  
Labour Centre for members of the Vancouver and District Labour  
Council. (Today [September 27], Annis will speak at SFU Harbour  
Centre at 7 p.m.)

Haiti, an island republic that borders the Dominican Republic, is a  
former French colony and the poorest country in the western  
hemisphere. On February 29, 2004, Canada, the U.S., and France were  
all involved in the overthrow of democratically elected president  
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who now lives in exile.

At the VDLC meeting, Annis said the federal government is "pulling  
the wool over Canadians' eyes" by legitimizing the brutal overthrow  
of Aristide, which was undertaken on former Liberal prime minister  
Jean Chrétien's watch. He added that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's  
Conservative minority continues the same "scandalous" foreign policy.

Annis said Canada's emphasis should be on aid and core funding that  
addresses improvements to road networks, sanitation, and better job  
creation rather than beefing up security that threatens to undermine  
civil liberties. "And the justice system they [the Canadian  
government] claim to have financed is starved of resources, as the  
Haitian national police operates outside of the justice system,"  
Annis claimed.

Annis also called on the Canadian government to condemn the  
kidnapping of Haitian human-rights activist Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine,  
who works with victims of the 2004 coup d'état. Calls to Conservative  
foreign-affairs minister Maxime Bernier were not returned by the  
Straight's deadline.

NDP MP Peter Julian (Burnaby–New Westminster) defended his party's  
record on Haiti, adding that NDP foreign-affairs critic Alexa  
McDonough has spoken for Haitians.

"We continue to be concerned about issues surrounding Haiti and the  
taking of political prisoners and increased privatization," Julian  
told the Straight . "Alexa is speaking up on the issues and these are  
issues that we are bringing up.…So I hear his [Annis's] point, but I  
disagree."