Haitian leaders must all agree before Canada would lead a potential military intervention, Trudeau says

U.S. has suggested Canada could lead a multinational force in Haiti

Dylan Robertson · The Canadian Press · Posted: Nov 20, 2022 1:27 PM ET

A potential Canadian military intervention in Haiti can't happen unless all political parties in the troubled nation agree to it, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday.

Speaking from Tunisia on the final day of the two-day Francophonie summit, Trudeau announced $16.5 million to help stabilize Haiti, where gangs are strangling access to fuel and critical supplies amid a worsening cholera outbreak.

About half the money is going toward humanitarian aid, and some of the rest is intended to help weed out corruption and prosecute gender-based violence.

But Haiti's government has asked for an international military intervention to combat gangs who have strangled access to fuel and critical supplies in the middle of the outbreak.

The United States wants Canada to lead any military intervention.

Trudeau said Sunday that Canada is working with CARICOM, the organization of Caribbean governments, along with "various actors in Haiti from all different political parties" to get a consensus on how the international community can help.

"It is not enough for Haiti's government to ask for it," he said. "There needs to be a consensus across political parties in Haiti before we can move forward on more significant steps."

He did not rule out eventually establishing a Canadian military mission on the ground in Haiti.

"Canada is very open to playing an important role, but we must have a Haitian consensus," Trudeau said in French.

New sanctions on prominent former officials
A Global Affairs Canada assessment team sent to Haiti to establish some understanding of what is happening and what could help has already returned and provided a report at meetings Trudeau said he attended.

He said the response is complicated because many "political elites" and "oligarchs" in Haiti have used the country's humanitarian crises "to enrich themselves on the backs of the Haitian people."

"So that is why our approach now is not about doing what one political party or the government wants," Trudeau said. "It's calling for a level of consensus and coherence from all actors in Haiti to call for solutions that we can actually get behind and lead on as an international community."

On Saturday Canada expanded its economic sanctions freezing the Canadian assets of Haitian political elites to now include former president Michel Martelly and former prime ministers Laurent Lamothe and Jean-Henry Ceant.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly accused the trio of helping gangs undermine Haiti's current government and called on international partners to follow Canada's lead.

"Our goal is to make sure that these people that are profiting from the violence, that are part of a corrupted system, are facing accountability," she said.

Haitian Foreign Affairs Minister Jean Victor Geneus said the new sanctions put real consequences on those causing a "nightmare" in his country.

"These sanctions will have a dissuasive impact," he said in French, while seated between Trudeau and Joly.

Geneus said gangs are raping women and girls, preventing children from attending school and not letting sick people through roadblocks when they seek medical treatment. That means refugees are leaving for neighbouring islands.

"If the necessary conditions for safety are not re-established in a fast and urgent manner, a humanitarian catastrophe is possible in Haiti," he said in French.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-haiti-intervention-sanctions-1.6658254

 

[MilEME09]

Basically someone has to go in and be willing to be the bigger bastard, while at the same time fixing schools, hospitals and setting up municipal governments, while they run the higher level of governments.

Being a failed state, you essentially would need thousands of troops and police to secure the country, a army of civil servents to create a functional government.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Being a failed state, you essentially would need thousands of troops and police to secure the country, a army of civil servents to create a functional government.

Which is exactly why we should stay out of it. We've got enough problems right here without getting roped in by a bunch of wankers in New York.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Being a failed state, you essentially would need thousands of troops and police to secure the country, a army of civil servents to create a functional government.

Yep, It's called Colonialism and it worked for the Brits for the most part. Have British Officers, Indian troops and army of Indian bureaucrats to run the place.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Problem; look what happened in Africa, sexual abuse, and crimes by poorly trained troops from India, Bangladesh and others. These third world countries actually make money off sending troops on UN missions, but do more harm them good to the reputation of the organization. That is why you need professional western forces, as much as we hate it, we are better suited to get the job done.

It's the UN's problem to police it's soldiers. It's not our job to be their default choice. So far as the UN's reputation is concerned, that's up for debate. We are not the World's Boy Scouts.

 

[Furniture]

Yep, It's called Colonialism and it worked for the Brits for the most part. Have British Officers, Indian troops and army of Indian bureaucrats to run the place.

Don't speak heresy, all colonialism was bad... What have the Romans ever done for us?

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Basically someone has to go in and be willing to be the bigger bastard, while at the same time fixing schools, hospitals and setting up municipal governments, while they run the higher level of governments.

But it doesn't need to be us.

 

[dimsum]

Don't speak heresy, all colonialism was bad... What have the Romans ever done for us?

The legacy of colonialism is mixed.

There's Singapore and HK, then there's DRC.

Even in places like HK where it was "good", it was only really good for a certain part of the population.

 

[Furniture]

The legacy of colonialism is mixed.

There's Singapore and HK, then there's DRC.

Even in places like HK where it was "good", it was only really good for a certain part of the population.

100%

My intent isn't to paint colonialism as perfect, but it also isn't all evil. The West is what it is today, free, and educated, because the Romans crushed their opponents, and adopted the useful parts of their culture/religion. Canada is a free and prosperous nation that is working to reconcile the wrongs of the past because it was colonized by the British, who instilled their values of freedom, and equality(even if they didn't live up to their own values).

 

[rmc_wannabe]

100%

My intent isn't to paint colonialism as perfect, but it also isn't all evil. The West is what it is today, free, and educated, because the Romans crushed their opponents, and adopted the useful parts of their culture/religion. Canada is a free and prosperous nation that is working to reconcile the wrongs of the past because it was colonized by the British, who instilled their values of freedom, and equality(even if they didn't live up to their own values).

Tribalism has been a hallmark of the human species for tens of thousands of years. Assimilation and conquest happened over and over and over for millenia.

Where things started getting tricky was when conquering parties didn't lay waste to a tribe, but would find the minority group, form an alliance, and become the caretaker administration of a civil war.

Most of the issues found throughout the Third World result from the post-colonial "settling of scores." Without the power backing of the colonial power, the minority with power quickly found themselves at the wrong e d of a machete.

For Haiti, one would think that a nation founded by revolting slaves over 200 years ago would have had time to work out those growing pains.

Instead, they're imploding.

That is an internal issue that cannot be fixed externally. It's a fools errand to think that Canada or any White western nation can impose peace, order, and good government on a society that is at war with its own identity and existence in some shape or form.

Haiti needs to fix Haiti. If it can't, it will fail further and perhaps the Dominicans can expand their holdings eastward.

Either way, a couple of MCDVs and a CP140 are about as much involvement I want to see Canada put forward to that quagmire.

 

[Grimey]

I went down the rabbit hole on that one

Likewise. There’s some classics though. Including a preponderance of water wings.

 

[Grimey]

We'll send our top man.

Ah, the Conveying Helmet.

Seriously though, that was a black mark on the CF that nobody gave him a nudge and mentioned “wrong way ‘round”.

 

[dapaterson]

Don't speak heresy, all colonialism was bad... What have the Romans ever done for us?

Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health?

 

[Good2Golf]

Don't speak heresy, all colonialism was bad... What have the Romans ever done for us?

The Aqueduct?

Ah, the Conveying Helmet.

Seriously though, that was a black mark on the CF that nobody gave him a nudge and mentioned “wrong way ‘round”.

Worse. It was deliberate. The unit hosting the PM set him up that way on purpose to make a fool of him. It was disrespectful, not at all funny, and set the CAF up for harsh treatment at his hands in retribution. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Frankly, someone should have been charged.

 

[MilEME09]

It's the UN's problem to police it's soldiers. It's not our job to be their default choice. So far as the UN's reputation is concerned, that's up for debate. We are not the World's Boy Scouts.

It's the individual nations, not the UN, and when western nations will not help, the UN is forced to take what it can get. I am not saying we need to be the world police, I am just saying let someone else deal with it, is not necessarily the right attitude either, especially when Haiti is in our back yard vs say the DRC

 

[rmc_wannabe]

I am not saying we need to be the world police, I am just saying let someone else deal with it, is not necessarily the right attitude either, especially when Haiti is in our back yard vs say the DRC

I agree with the sentiment, however, the execution of what you're suggesting is far more ugly than it would appear on the surface.

If Haiti is a house on fire, and the West is the fire department, Haitian factions are actively spraying gasoline on the fire while we are trying to put it out. I certainly don't want to risk my life trying to put out a fire someone is continually stoking for some godforsaken reason.

 

[RangerRay]

If the West won’t do it, then we’ll have a failed state on our doorstep, which will be a source of refugees and other disorder. Or maybe China will move in and create a client state/colony on our doorstep.

 

[OldSolduer]

There is no way a Caucasian dominant military can make any headway in Haiti. There will be accusations of racism and any gangster killed will be a poor unarmed underprivileged black Haitian.

 

[Ostrozac]

If the West won’t do it, then we’ll have a failed state on our doorstep, which will be a source of refugees and other disorder. Or maybe China will move in and create a client state/colony on our doorstep.

Now we’re talking strategy! Haiti is one of the few countries that still recognize Taiwan as the legitimate government of China. So we simply convince/entrap the People’s Republic to move in, put in a puppet government that recognizes Beijing, and then we train, arm, advise and enable a Haitian rebel anti communist movement to overthrow that puppet regime.

All the Cold War types will love it — it’ll be just like old times.

 

[OldSolduer]

Now we’re talking strategy! Haiti is one of the few countries that still recognize Taiwan as the legitimate government of China. So we simply convince/entrap the People’s Republic to move in, put in a puppet government that recognizes Beijing, and then we train, arm, advise and enable a Haitian rebel anti communist movement to overthrow that puppet regime.

All the Cold War types will love it — it’ll be just like old times.

Nice try. Remember the Bay of Pigs? And Haiti did have a very brief attempt at a small group attempting to overthrow PaPa Doc.

It did not go well.

 

[dimsum]

If the West won’t do it, then we’ll have a failed state on our doorstep, which will be a source of refugees and other disorder. Or maybe China will move in and create a client state/colony on our doorstep.

I'm sure that has already passed.