Canada 'carefully considering' pleas for help from Haiti

As Haiti rapidly spirals into chaos, a high-ranking Haitian diplomat has called on Canada and the United States to form a strike force to confront gangs creating a humanitarian crisis in the Caribbean country.

The two countries should take the lead in confronting Haitian gangs that have blocked access to a key fuel terminal, Haiti's ambassador to the U.S. said on Monday. 

"We wish to see our neighbours like the United States, like Canada, take the lead and move fast," said Bocchit Edmond, in reference to providing security assistance.

"There is a really big threat over the head of the prime minister [Ariel Henry]. If nothing is done quickly, there is a risk of another head of state [being] killed in Haiti," he said, referring to the 2021 assassination of then-president Jovenel Moïse.

Shortages, protests, gun battles

Acute shortages of gasoline and diesel have crippled transportation and forced businesses and hospitals to halt operations, even as the country faces a renewed outbreak of cholera that has killed at least 18 people. 

In addition, demonstrators have blocked roads in the capital and other main cities to demand Henry's resignation and protest rising fuel prices after the prime minister announced in early September that his administration could no longer afford to subsidize fuel.

Gas stations and schools remain shuttered; banks and grocery stores are operating on a limited schedule; and sporadic looting and gun battles between gangs and police have become increasingly common.

In response to the chaos, Henry last week asked the international community to provide a "specialized armed force" to control gangs that have been blocking the Varreux fuel terminal since last month. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has proposed that one or several countries send "a rapid action force" to help Haiti's police, according to a letter to the UN Security Council. Guterres was not suggesting that the force be deployed by the United Nations.

Canada expresses concern

So far, Canada has only said it is "carefully considering" Henry's appeal in consultation with "Haitian authorities and our international partners." 

On Monday, Global Affairs Canada said it was extremely concerned about the impact of armed gang activity that has reached "an unprecedented level."

Last Friday, Canada's foreign ministry said 19 member countries of the Organization of American States were committed to helping Haitians "overcome the complex security challenges facing the country."

Meanwhile, the United States on Wednesday said it will boost support for the Haitian police and will speed up delivery of aid. The State Department has also created a new visa restriction targeting those who support the gangs and has sent a coast guard vessel to patrol Haitian waters.

U.S. officials who briefed reporters on Washington's response stopped short of offering to send troops to the island.

"We are ... working to increase and deploy in the coming days security assistance to the Haitian National Police to strengthen their capacity to counter gangs and re-establish a stable security environment," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

"We will accelerate the delivery of additional humanitarian relief to the people of Haiti."

Many Haitians unhappy with foreign intervention

Frédéric Boisrond, a Haitian-born sociologist at McGill University in Montreal, said it's not Canada's place to decide what should be done.

"I think we also need to hear the regular citizen in Haiti to know what they want, what they expect, how far they want to go with a country where this is no legitimate government, with nobody in power," he said Wednesday. "At this point, I'm even asking myself if Haiti, at this point, is what we call a country."

He said Canada has attempted to lend legitimacy to Henry's rule, when there are only 10 senators remaining in government who were elected out of 149 members of parliament.

"Anybody else that is in charge in that country is not elected, has not been chosen by the citizens of the country."

Opponents claim Henry hopes to use foreign troops to keep himself in power — a leadership he assumed last year after the assassination of Moïse and that many consider illegitimate because he was never elected nor formally confirmed in the post by the legislature. He has failed to set a date for elections, which have not been held since November 2016, but has pledged to do so once the violence is quelled.

Furthermore, many Haitians are unhappy with the idea of a foreign force, having seen little improvement during three previous interventions since early last century.

"Having the same solution and expecting a different result is kind of foolish," Boisrond said.

On Sunday, Haitian senators signed a document demanding that Henry's "de facto government" defer its request for deployment of foreign troops, saying it is illegal under local laws.

Many local leaders reject the idea of UN peacekeepers, noting that they've been accused of sexual assault and of sparking a cholera epidemic that killed nearly 10,000 people during a 13-year mission in Haiti that ended five years ago.

The possible presence of international armed forces is something that bothers Georges Ubin, a 44-year-old accountant, who said he knows of people who have been victimized by peacekeepers and believes foreign intervention would not improve things.

"The foreign troops are not going to solve the major problems that Haiti has," he said. "These are problems that have been around since I was born. It never gets better."

'The whole city is under siege'

The letter that the UN secretary general submitted Sunday suggests that the rapid action force be phased out as Haitian police regain control of infrastructure, and that two options could follow: member states establish an international police task force to help and advise local officers, or create a special force to help tackle gangs "including through joint strike, isolation and containment operations across the country."

The letter notes that if member states do not "step forward with bilateral support and financing," the UN operation may be an alternative.

"However, as indicated, a return to UN peacekeeping was not the preferred option of the authorities," it states.

Not everyone is opposed to the arrival of troops, however. Allens Hemest, 35, hopes to see them soon. The unemployed man said he recently worked at a factory that produced plastic cups but was shut down amid the crisis.

"The whole city is under siege," he said, referring to the capital Port-au-Prince. "If this is going to bring peace, I'm all for it. We can't continue living like this."