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

 

[WLSC]

For sure. I struggle with creole. Needs to be spoken slower but you can still get the jist. It’s how they link certain words and speak almost backwards with where certain words go. Also the use W where Rs go in French. We had a number of Haitians at my high school. And way back when my scout troop did an exchange trip to L’Ile de la Tortue. Part of that was trying to learn and understand Creole at a rudimentary level.

And it easy to loose when you're not in contact with. Which I did years ago.

 

[Remius]

And it easy to loose when you're not in contact with. Which I did years ago.

For sure. It’s almost like listening to Spanish. I never learned it but spoken slow enough or written down I can make out some of it. Latin language and all that.

 

[Good2Golf]

Of course I do to but even if you dont force yourself much, 90% is the same. It's a bit, a little bit like English vs American but with the 95% same words and same grammar. Then, Paris...

A buddy of mine from Laval told me about his bout with a Parisian waiter, while ordering a «coke diète.» Étienne-Henri (or whatever the waiter’s name was) opened with « Désolé monsieur. Je ne peux pas vous comprendre. Encore une fois. Vous voulez prendre….euhhhh….de quoi? » Followed by some classic looking down on him from above a pair of thin reading glasses perched on the tip of the waiter’s nose. Several rounds repeated of « Je prendrais du coke diète SVP (no doubt with some silent calisse and t-nacs) » but alas, to no avail.

Finally the waiter switched to ‘just as arrogant’ English and says, “So you would like what, monsieur?”

Buddy says in English now, “A Diet Coke!”

The waiter then switches back to French and replies, « Ah, voilà! Un coke à light! »

In recounting his story, my friend noted an intense loathing of Parisians…

 

[Remius]

A buddy of mine from Laval told me about his bout with a Parisian waiter, while ordering a «coke diète.» Étienne-Henri (or whatever the waiter’s name was) opened with « Désolé monsieur. Je ne peux pas vous comprendre. Encore une fois. Vous voulez prendre….euhhhh….de quoi? » Followed by some classic looking down on him from above a pair of thin reading glasses perched on the tip of the waiter’s nose. Several rounds repeated of « Je prendrais du coke diète SVP (no doubt with some silent calisse and t-nacs) » but alas, to no avail.

Finally the waiter switched to ‘just as arrogant’ English and says, “So you would like what, monsieur?”

Buddy says in English now, “A Diet Coke!”

The waiter then switches back to French and replies, « Ah, voilà! Un coke à light! »

I’m recounting his story, my friend noted an intense loathing of Parisians…

I made the mistake of ordering a lemonade in Australia and getting a 7up.

 

[daftandbarmy]

I made the mistake of ordering a lemonade in Australia and getting a 7up.

It's a British thing... the name in no way matches the product

Foods of England - Lemonade

 

[WLSC]

A buddy of mine from Laval told me about his bout with a Parisian waiter, while ordering a «coke diète.» Étienne-Henri (or whatever the waiter’s name was) opened with « Désolé monsieur. Je ne peux pas vous comprendre. Encore une fois. Vous voulez prendre….euhhhh….de quoi? » Followed by some classic looking down on him from above a pair of thin reading glasses perched on the tip of the waiter’s nose. Several rounds repeated of « Je prendrais du coke diète SVP (no doubt with some silent calisse and t-nacs) » but alas, to no avail.

Finally the waiter switched to ‘just as arrogant’ English and says, “So you would like what, monsieur?”

Buddy says in English now, “A Diet Coke!”

The waiter then switches back to French and replies, « Ah, voilà! Un coke à light! »

I’m recounting his story, my friend noted an intense loathing of Parisians…

Typical. Last summer, some were just bluntly refuse to speak French, to no body even other countryman. That one was fun to see going

 

[Retired AF Guy]

It's a British thing... the name in no way matches the product

Foods of England - Lemonade

Kind of like chips vs crisps or the first time a Brit asks you for a fag!!

 

[lenaitch]

I made the mistake of ordering a lemonade in Australia and getting a 7up.

When travelling in the US, I learned fairly quickly to ask for 'sweet tea' when I want what we know as iced tea. In many places, you ask for iced tea, you get . . . cold tea. I've not encountered it but a buddy once ordered cheese with a slice of apple pie. He got essentially a grilled cheese/apple pie.

 

[dimsum]

In many places, you ask for iced tea, you get . . . cold tea.

I feel like I'm the only person who likes that.

Cold, unsweetened tea was my go-to drink on deployments.

 

[Grimey]

Kind of like chips vs crisps or the first time a Brit asks you for a fag!!

Or front fanny vs. rear fanny.

 

[Halifax Tar]

I feel like I'm the only person who likes that.

Cold, unsweetened tea was my go-to drink on deployments.

Youre not alone. Want a cup-a ?

 

[Czech_pivo]

Of course I do to but even if you dont force yourself much, 90% is the same. It's a bit, a little bit like English vs American but with the 95% same words and same grammar. Then, Paris...

I've always had a much better grasp of Walloon French vs non-Parisian French. I find the accent easier to understand and they tend to....speak.....a.....bit......slower.....

 

[daftandbarmy]

I've always had a much better grasp of Walloon French vs non-Parisian French. I find the accent easier to understand and they tend to....speak.....a.....bit......slower.....

 

[Good2Golf]

I feel like I'm the only person who likes that.

Cold, unsweetened tea was my go-to drink on deployments.

Those who have spent time in the Southern US know this to be true as well. ‘Iced tea’ = hot black tea chilled over ice. ‘Sweet tea’ = what most Canadians would think of as iced tea as a very sugary drink.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Convening and chequebook diplomacy... we rock at that stuff

Richard Shimooka: Inability to intervene in Haiti highlights Canada’s international irrelevance​

Haiti is a canary in the coal mine for the CAF's drastically diminished capabilities

Canada’s lacking response goes beyond military instruments, it is absent in a substantial diplomatic fashion, especially compared to 1996. It is clear that the Biden administration desires Canada to take a more active role in Haiti and the region, and previous prime ministers saw Canada’s involvement as important to its interests. Yet this government has effectively avoided taking any major role; its only response has been to practise a form of chequebook diplomacy—basically, providing $100 million in security funding.

Given the current state of the CAF, and the decades long-process to rehabilitate them, these situations will become increasingly common in the future. With its limited military capabilities, countries are increasingly viewing Ottawa as irrelevant. This diminution will have serious consequences not just for this country, but also others in need internationally—as we can witness today in Haiti.

Richard Shimooka: Inability to intervene in Haiti highlights Canada’s international irrelevance

thehub.ca

 

[dimsum]

Convening and chequebook diplomacy... we rock at that stuff

Richard Shimooka: Inability to intervene in Haiti highlights Canada’s international irrelevance​

Haiti is a canary in the coal mine for the CAF's drastically diminished capabilities

Canada’s lacking response goes beyond military instruments, it is absent in a substantial diplomatic fashion, especially compared to 1996. It is clear that the Biden administration desires Canada to take a more active role in Haiti and the region, and previous prime ministers saw Canada’s involvement as important to its interests. Yet this government has effectively avoided taking any major role; its only response has been to practise a form of chequebook diplomacy—basically, providing $100 million in security funding.

Given the current state of the CAF, and the decades long-process to rehabilitate them, these situations will become increasingly common in the future. With its limited military capabilities, countries are increasingly viewing Ottawa as irrelevant. This diminution will have serious consequences not just for this country, but also others in need internationally—as we can witness today in Haiti.

Richard Shimooka: Inability to intervene in Haiti highlights Canada’s international irrelevance

thehub.ca

...or maybe the GoC realizes what a crapshow Haiti would be, as we've said in this thread, and doesn't want to go back there?

I wouldn't say it's "inability", more like "unwillingness".

 

[CBH99]

...or maybe the GoC realizes what a crapshow Haiti would be, as we've said in this thread, and doesn't want to go back there?

I wouldn't say it's "inability", more like "unwillingness".

One of the best foreign policy decisions this government has ever made.

Haiti, look at what the DR is doing next door that's working, and try to emulate some of that stuff. Its not perfect but it's a start.

 

[CBH99]

When travelling in the US, I learned fairly quickly to ask for 'sweet tea' when I want what we know as iced tea. In many places, you ask for iced tea, you get . . . cold tea. I've not encountered it but a buddy once ordered cheese with a slice of apple pie. He got essentially a grilled cheese/apple pie.

The cheese with pie thing is definitely hit or miss. People either understand it, or don't have a clue

 

[medicineman]

Those who have spent time in the Southern US know this to be true as well. ‘Iced tea’ = hot black tea chilled over ice. ‘Sweet tea’ = what most Canadians would think of as iced tea as a very sugary drink.

If you want a cup of tea, you have to ask for "hot tea"...as I found on an American Airlines flight back from Haiti actually routed through Miami. The flight attendant looked at me like I was a four headed alien come to think of it.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

...or maybe the GoC realizes what a crapshow Haiti would be, as we've said in this thread, and doesn't want to go back there?

I wouldn't say it's "inability", more like "unwillingness".

I suspect a fair bit of both.