13mobile) MEETINGS ACROSS CANADA MARK 2004 COUP IN HAITI

13mobile)

MEETINGS ACROSS CANADA MARK 2004 COUP IN HAITI

(The following article is from the April 1-15, 2009, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $25/year, or $12 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $25 US per year; other overseas readers - $25 US or $35 CDN per year. Send to: People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 133 Herkimer St., Unit 502, Hamilton, ON, L8P 2H3.)

Chapters of the Canada Haiti Action Network (CHAN) recently organized events in nine cities across Canada to mark the fifth anniversary of the illegal coup d'etat that removed Haiti's elected president and government in 2004. Canada was a key plotter of that coup, and sent military forces and police to carry out the dirty deed. Today, CHAN argues, Canada shares a great responsibility for the deterioration in living conditions and political rights that has accompanied the past five years of foreign occupation in Haiti.

     A highlight of the network's activity was a day‑long conference in Ottawa entitled "Ottawa Initiative on Haiti 2009." The conference was organized by Haitian people in the Ottawa region with the participation of CHAN's local chapter, the Ottawa Haiti Solidarity Committee/Kozayiti. Speakers from Haiti and from the Haitian Diaspora addressed the conference, as did authors, academics and activists from Canada, the United States and Britain. Teleconferencing technology was successfully used.

     Several speakers who defend, or downplay, the coup of 2004 were invited to participate in order to promote a spirit of dialogue and informed exchange. One accepted the offer. More than 100 people took part in the conference.

     Filmmaker Kevin Pina brought his new 80‑minute documentary film, Haiti: We Must Kill the Bandits, to seven cities from Feb. 28 to March 6: Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Saskatoon, Toronto, Guelph and Hamilton. The tour was a rousing success, with more than 500 people attending events. The film is a powerful telling of Haiti's modern history.

     Each showing was followed by comments by Pina on the current situation in Haiti, notably the total failure of the foreign occupation to bring any meaningful improvements to the people there. The filmmaker also offered proposals for what can be done in the coming months to support the sovereignty struggle in Haiti that, according to him, is demonstrably on the rise after suffering heavy blows following the coup.

     Pina's film also screened in Fredericton and was attended by 35 people.

     Sixty people attended each of the events in Victoria, Vancouver and Calgary. The latter event was hosted by the University of Calgary Consortium for Peace Studies. It was a big success, and future collaboration with Haiti solidarity activists seems assured. Thirty five attended in Saskatoon.

     In Vancouver, an arts and craft fair was held at the Delta Baptist Church. Three thousand dollars was raised and will be shared among three social projects in Haiti - the SOPUDEP School, Partners in Health, and the Haiti Baptist Mission.

     In Toronto, Guelph and Hamilton, Pina was joined by former member of the Haitian Parliament Jean Candio. The latter is currently applying for refugee status in Canada, arguing that his safety and that of his family cannot be assured in Haiti at this time. Eighty people attended the Toronto event and 35 in Hamilton. The largest of Pina's speaking events was in Guelph, with over 100 people. The major organizers of the event were students from the University of Guelph and the Toronto‑based Students in Solidarity with Haiti.

     Jean Candio spoke about how he became involved with the Lavalas political movement and his harrowing experiences after the 1991 and 2004 coups in Haiti. He also spoke about the repression he has faced from the U.S. and Canadian governments when attempting to apply for asylum after being forced to flee Haiti. He underscored that the persecution he faced in Haiti because of his affiliation with Lavalas was continued in both the U.S. and Canada.

     (Report from Canada-Haiti Action Network)