Armed members of the G9 and Family gang stand guard at their roadblock in the Delmas 6 neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, March 11, 2024. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spoken with Haiti's prime minister about the ongoing humanitarian, security, and political crises in that country. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Odelyn Joseph
OTTAWA – Canada is welcoming the news that Ariel Henry, Haiti’s unelected prime minister, has agreed to leave office as Caribbean leaders scramble to find ways to help stabilize a country overrun by gang violence.
Following months of pressure from Ottawa, Washington and leaders from across the Caribbean, Henry announced early Tuesday that he would resign once a transitional presidential council is created.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly welcomed the political agreement and urged the key players in Haiti to work toward ending the country’s ongoing humanitarian, security and political crises.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke with Henry hours before his announcement, and affirmed the close ties between Canada and Haiti, according to a late Monday notice from Trudeau’s office.
Henry had been locked out of his own country while travelling abroad, due to surging unrest and violence by criminal gangs that have overrun much of Haiti’s capital and closed down its main international airports.
Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, attended a Monday meeting in Jamaica with several Caribbean leaders along with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, looking at ways to respond to the crisis.
Henry remained in Puerto Rico during the meeting, according to a statement from the U.S. territory’s Department of State, and was taking steps to return to Haiti once feasible.
Haiti has faced a protracted security crisis since the mid-2021 assassination of former president Jovenel Moïse. Henry was not elected but put into power as prime minister with the support of Washington, and in 2022 he asked for an international military intervention to clear out the gangs, an idea that remains deeply divisive within that country.
Washington had asked Canada to lead such a military intervention, but Trudeau had doubts it would work. He cited past interventions organized by the UN in which foreign soldiers sexually exploited Haitians and introduced cholera to the country.
Canadian military officials have made similar comments, and argued Ottawa does not have the resources to lead an intervention.
Kenya agreed last fall to lead such a mission, though that decision is being contested by Kenyan courts. Ottawa announced last week that it would provide $80.5 million toward the mission, while noting that it requires vastly more money and personnel from other countries.
The instability has led to a rise in regional gun trafficking that has alarmed the 15-nation Caribbean bloc known as Caricom, which said in a statement late Friday that “the situation on the ground remains dire” in Haiti.
Canada’s focus has been to strengthen the Haitian National Police, to make sure officers can maintain stability when such the intervention ends. The country does not have a military.
Last October, federal officials told Parliament that Canada is likely to deploy RCMP officers to Haiti to act as trainers during such a mission, instead of sending troops. Canada’s work would be focused on preventing sexual violence, they said.
Ottawa is also leading work to assess the needs of the Haitian National Police and co-ordinate with donor countries, to make sure police officers receive the proper equipment to maintain public order.
Canada’s chief of the defence staff said last week that managing security could be a lengthy, difficult process in a country like Haiti, which lacks a solid political and economic framework.
While Haiti has been in chaos for years, gang violence flared up in late February amid progress toward the military intervention aimed at clearing those armed groups. By early March, gangs freed thousands of inmates, leading Haiti to declare a state of emergency. Some embassies have evacuated non-essential staff during the past week, though Canada’s diplomats are working from home instead of from the embassy.
Quebec has a large Haitian community – estimated at more than 140,000.
Many Haitian Montrealers are worried about loved ones amid the violent attacks that have paralyzed the Haitian capital.
Among them is Wedne Colin, who said his family members had to flee their homes several times to find a place that’s safe from the armed gangs that control the capital city of Port-au-Prince.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 12, 2024.
– With files from The Associated Press
