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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
 
They don't have MANPADs, right?

Right?
Well...when the UN took over us on OP HALO, the Griffons from 430 had to keep their doors closed and guns hidden when on routine flights...of course that's typical UN window dressing, regardless of the potential threat :rolleyes:, because self-defence isn't supposed to be a viable option for anything. I'm pretty sure there weren't any MANPADS, but they had MG's and the odd RPG or equivalent LAW system IIRC.
 
Gunboat diplomacy Patrol boat diplomacy Some boats wandering around . . .

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Canada will send navy vessels to Haiti for intelligence-gathering as part of efforts to quell worsening gang violence in the Caribbean nation, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.

Trudeau made the announcement in the Bahamas at an annual meeting of Caribbean leaders where a key topic has been Haiti’s surge in killings, rapes and kidnappings blamed on gangs emboldened since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry, also at the meeting, has pleaded for a full-fledged international military intervention to stem the mayhem. His country requested help from the U.N. Security Council in October, and has suggested the U.S. and Canada lead a force. No such intervention has come together, and neither country has offered to take the lead.

Canada’s move to send ships, announced at the meeting of leaders of the 15-member Caricom trade bloc, comes shortly after the return of one of its surveillance planes on a similar mission to collect intelligence for Haitian police.

“Right now, Haiti is confronted with unrelenting gang violence, political turmoil and corruption,” Trudeau said. “Now is the moment to come together to confront the severity of this situation.”

I haven't seen this detail in any other media article about this development, but will be interesting to see if this is how they will provide the ships.

Today, the Government of Canada announced the deployment of two Royal Canadian Navy Kingston-class Vessels to Haiti in light of the worsening security crisis in the country. Canada is providing this assistance in response to Haiti’s request for assistance as violence continues to escalate in the country.

His Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMCS) Glace Bay and Moncton, with a combined company of over 90 Royal Canadian Navy sailors, will conduct presence patrols in and around Haitian waters in the coming weeks, focusing on the waters in the vicinity of Port-au-Prince.
. . .
HMCS Glace Bay and Moncton have been deployed since mid-January on Operation PROJECTION in West Africa, building security relationships and capacity with nations in the Gulf of Guinea. They are expected to arrive in Haitian waters in the coming weeks and remain in the region for a number of weeks.
 
Gunboat diplomacy Patrol boat diplomacy Some boats wandering around . . .



I haven't seen this detail in any other media article about this development, but will be interesting to see if this is how they will provide the ships.

How to pretend you're doing something 101! A Govt of Canada specialty!
 
So they are gathering intelligence, what are they going to do with it? Give it to the Haitian government, I don't know if I would really trust them.
 
So we're sending non-combatant coastal defence vessels with no real intelligence gathering, air or drone assets to gather intelligence of Haiti, where the gangs will be better armed?

I suspect we would get more useful intelligence by bringing them home and instead having them monitor Twitter in shifts. Nothing against the ship's companies, but they are really not equipped to do anything like that.
 
So we're sending non-combatant coastal defence vessels with no real intelligence gathering, air or drone assets to gather intelligence of Haiti, where the gangs will be better armed?

I suspect we would get more useful intelligence by bringing them home and instead having them monitor Twitter in shifts. Nothing against the ship's companies, but they are really not equipped to do anything like that.
As I said, we are masters of being useless!
 
As I said, we are masters of being useless!
It's frustrating because the crews deserve better than being a headline and marking time to show the flag. The sail down there can't be fun in MCDVs with how stiff they are, and I doubt the haitian gangs have an active naval presence for the MCDVs to visually observe.
 
So, not knowing anything about these ships, will they stay offshore? Monitor what? Some walkie talkie GMRS radio traffic? If they tie up, how long to untether and get out of range when the first RPG hits a hull? Aren't most MCDVs manned by Reservists? Do they have any effective armament? Or am I going way out on the edges here?
 
Maybe I’m heartless and not showing any sympathy but I think Canada should stay the hell out of Haiti. There are too many factions in that country and huge segments of the population would look on any foreign force as an invader (much like Somalia). I would not risk a single Canadian life the way things stand. Yes, I know much of the long sad history of Haiti but the Haitians themselves have to be the ones to rise up against their current oppressors, much like they did against the French over 200 years ago. This has gone on for too long. If it’s not Papa Doc Duvalier, then it’s Baby Doc Duvalier along with his Tonton Macoute. Or after Baby Doc, it seems there’s one warlord after another. The way I see it, if the Ukrainians can stand up against the Russians, then the Haitians should be ready, willing and able to stand up against the tyranny within their country. If so, I would maybe support sending them some arms and perhaps a few technical advisers but no more. It’s time for the average Haitian to stand on his (or her) two feet and say “Enough is enough!” and to do what’s necessary to ensure their freedom.
 
Maybe I’m heartless and not showing any sympathy but I think Canada should stay the hell out of Haiti. There are too many factions in that country and huge segments of the population would look on any foreign force as an invader (much like Somalia). I would not risk a single Canadian life the way things stand. Yes, I know much of the long sad history of Haiti but the Haitians themselves have to be the ones to rise up against their current oppressors, much like they did against the French over 200 years ago. This has gone on for too long. If it’s not Papa Doc Duvalier, then it’s Baby Doc Duvalier along with his Tonton Macoute. Or after Baby Doc, it seems there’s one warlord after another. The way I see it, if the Ukrainians can stand up against the Russians, then the Haitians should be ready, willing and able to stand up against the tyranny within their country. If so, I would maybe support sending them some arms and perhaps a few technical advisers but no more. It’s time for the average Haitian to stand on his (or her) two feet and say “Enough is enough!” and to do what’s necessary to ensure their freedom.
I’m guessing here, but this might be Canada saying that. If we straight up say “we’re not supporting you” then politically it opens a can of worms - “Trudeau govt denies aid to poor country on its doorstep.”

This is a token presence but politically it shuts critics up. If they say “why can’t we contribute more?” then the govt has a completely valid counter-argument from your reply above.

I also think it’s not fair to the folks there but I can see why it happened.
 
How to pretend you're doing something 101! A Govt of Canada specialty!

International Virtue signalling is a thing.... especially for a self-described feminist ;)


"Meanwhile, the Canadian leader said his government would give an additional $12.3 million in humanitarian assistance and $10 million to support the International Office on Migration, to protect Haitian women and children along Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republic. The neighboring country has deported tens of thousands of Haitian migrants and those of Haitian ancestry in the past year."

 
International Virtue signalling is a thing.... especially for a self-described feminist ;)


"Meanwhile, the Canadian leader said his government would give an additional $12.3 million in humanitarian assistance and $10 million to support the International Office on Migration, to protect Haitian women and children along Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republic. The neighboring country has deported tens of thousands of Haitian migrants and those of Haitian ancestry in the past year."

And a lot of that money will end up in a numbered account offshore.
 
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