Le gouvernement canadien doit mettre fin à l’appui qu’il donne à un président haïtien répressif, corrompu et dépourvu de légitimité constitutionnelle
(Lettre publique en français ci-dessous)
Vendredi 19 février 2021 ((rezonodwes.com))–
Prominent artists, academics and politicians demand end to Liberal’s support for dictatorship in Haiti
Former UN ambassador Stephen Lewis, broadcaster David Suzuki, author Naomi Klein, Professor Noam Chomsky, poets El Jones and George Elliott Clarke, rock legend Roger Waters, Green MP Paul Manly, as well as former MPs Svend Robinson, Libby Davies and Jim Manly and more than 100 other academics, activists and artists, are calling on “the Canadian government to stop propping up a repressive and corrupt dictatorship in Haiti.”
The public letter sponsored by the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute notes that “Jovenel Moïse has been occupying the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince in defiance of the overwhelming majority of the country’s institutions.” It adds that “the Canadian government must end its support for a repressive, corrupt Haitian president devoid of constitutional legitimacy.”
The public letter will be formally delivered to the office of new Foreign Affairs Minister, Marc Garneau, during a rally organized by Solidarité Québec Haïti and Mouvement Québécois pour la Paix on Friday February 19 at 12 PM (4060 Sainte-Catherine W.).
“The letter criticizes Canada’s training and financial support for a repressive Haitian police force that maintains an unconstitutional president in power”, said Bianca Mugyenyi, director of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute.
In recent days La Presse and Le Journal de Montréal have reported that a local Haitian consulate official, the spouse of governing party Senator Rony Célestin, purchased $6 million in Montréal area property. Many suspect the payments were made with ill-gotten gains.
“The recent revelations are fueling anger against the vast corruption of Haiti’s governing party”, said Mugyenyi “But, Moïse and his acolytes’ well documented corruption hasn’t deterred the Trudeau government from supporting the illegitimate President.”
“During Black History Month we should all be questioning Canada’s role in a country born in struggle to make Black lives matter”, concluded Mugyenyi.
For more information:
Bianca Mugyenyi info@foreignpolicy.ca or 514-436-7629
Dear Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
It is time to change Canadian policy towards a nation born in struggle to liberate Africans from slavery.
The Canadian government must end its support for a repressive, corrupt Haitian president devoid of constitutional legitimacy. For the past two years Haitians have demonstrated their overwhelming opposition to Jovenel Moïse with massive protests and general strikes calling for his departure from office.
Since February 7 Jovenel Moïse has been occupying the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince in defiance of the overwhelming majority of the country’s institutions. Moïse’s claim to another year on his mandate was rejected by the Superior Council of Judicial Power, Haitian Bar Federation and other constitutional authorities. In response to the opposition selecting a Supreme Court judge to head an interim government after his mandate expired, Moïse arrested one and illegally dismissed three Supreme Court justices. The police were also sent to occupy the Supreme Court and repress those protesting, shooting two reporters covering the demonstrations. The country’s judges have launched an unlimited strike to force Moïse to respect the constitution.
