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In these circumstances, the Canadian government, through its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, has announced sanctions for gang members and politicians terrorizing the country. While some might consider this a first step towards contributing to peace building efforts, it is appropriate to question Canada’s positioning on the matter.
Over the past few years, Haiti has been experiencing a mass exodus akin to that of 1980’s (during the Duvalier era) and the early 2000’s.
At the time of writing this text, roadblocks and protests are still interrupting the daily lives of Haitians. The school year failed to start on the already postponed date of October 3rd.
After years of depleting the capacity for local production, by both local and international forces, Haiti’s dependence on imported goods now places the country in a precarious situation. Water and other essential goods are scarce and expensive, businesses are forced to shut their doors and banks are currently opening on a three-day schedule. In addition, the proliferation of gangs operating throughout the territory makes day-to-day life hazardous across the country, as these gangs continue to strengthen their hold on acutely perilous, lawless zones.
In these circumstances, the Canadian government, through its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, has announced sanctions for gang members and politicians terrorizing the country. While some might consider this a first step towards contributing to peace building efforts, it is appropriate to question Canada’s positioning on the matter. With a stance generally siding with its neighbor, the United States, it is part of a group of countries who has been accused of influencing the political landscape in Haiti. Along side the U.S, France, Germany, Brazil and Spain, they are commonly referred to as “the International” and are widely criticized within Haitian society for legitimazing a illegitimate government, with alledged ties to gangs and a head of state whose name has been cited in the murder investigations of former president, Jovenel Moise.
Canada funds the Haitian National Police (PNH) and offers training to its officers, an institution that is rife with corruption, political manipulation and whose officers are often seen violently suppressing protesters and journalists. As recently as October 15th, Canada along with the United States delivered armored cars for the PNH. Canada is now considering leading a military intervention in Haiti, having recently sent a team to assess the situation on the ground. While the failures of this institution rests at the feet of Haitian leaders, these failures have ensued whilst receiving funding and training from countries like Canada. The chaotic situation in Haiti, quickly becoming a humanitarian crisis, has led thousands of Haitians to flee the country – seeking shelter in neighboring countries like Canada. While these socio-political events are complex and cannot be attributed to one specific reason, it is important to consider the link between times of unrest in Haiti and the economic needs for immigration elsewhere, particularly in Canada.
The Canadian population is aging, and its labor market suffers from an urgent need for a young competent workforce to strengthen its ranks, in several sectors such as education and healthcare. To respond to this, for decades now, Canada and its provinces have put in place a carefully thought out immigration process to control who comes to settle in its territories, with each province outlining its needs for immigrants. It is most of the time a long process, strewn with medical tests, proof of revenue and academic achievement, language proficiency, culminating in a point-based evaluation. As a result, statistically, immigrants account for 84% of the growth in the total labor force, and 55% of the growth in high and medium-skilled jobs in Canada.
The immigration process can be long, but the Canadian provinces (especially Ontario nowadays) offer more expensive Express programs with shorter delays, accepting newcomers that meet their requirements. Canada is often a smart choice in terms of place of residence given its progressive stance on matters such as access healthcare, education, etc. Quebec is furthermore a smarter choice, for Haitians, because of linguistic similarities.
Canada is very vocal about the sort of immigrants it seeks.
Canada is very vocal about the sort of immigrants it seeks. Take the health sector for instance. In February 2022, the Minister of Labor and Immigration, Jean Boulet, announced that the Quebec government was spending 64 million dollars to recruit 1,000 nurses from abroad, over the next two years. Previously, Quebec has sought to recruit 1,700 nurses in 2021 up from 330 in 2019. All this to say that, contrary to popular belief or perception, Canada and its provinces carefully choose their immigrants, based on their merit and the needs of each territory.
Some activists and scholars believe that Canada’s meddling in Haitian internal affairs, and support for repressive and corrupt leaders contributes to the weakening of both the democratic system and Haiti’s sovereignty. Other historians like Professor Georges Eddy Lucien argue that the poor conditions in Haiti enables countries like Canada to indirectly profit economically. Lucien argues in an interview accorded to Ayibopost, “the massive displacement of Haitians always responds to the objective of the capitalist system.” This economy of insecurity in Haiti places countries like Canada, France and the United States in the convenient position of profiting from the exodus for their benefit, effectively draining Haiti of its young workforce and its brains.
Despite the evident need for and the welcoming of educated immigrants, the subject of immigration in Canada remains a contentious topic during elections, oftentimes framed as an “us versus them” to divide and exacerbate old wounds.
A recent example of this took place on September 21st 2022, during a debate a few days prior to the provincial elections. The same Minister, Jean Boulet, who is actively recruiting foreign nurses declared that “80% of immigrants [who] go to Montreal, do not work, do not speak French, or do not adhere to the values of Quebec society”.
This trope of the lazy (and french-threatening) immigrant deployed in Boulet’s statement, highlights deep-rooted prejudice that contradict the proven facts as well as the province’s migration statistics. The party in question was, since then, effortlessly re-elected, by a large margin, despite this xenophobic statement.
Incidents such as the killing of Fredy Villanueva, in 2008, in Montréal-Nord, shot during a police intervention, or more recently the “excessive force” used by Quebec police to subdue an 18-year-old black man, have highlighted the racial profiling and systemic bias that some minorities face on a daily basis. Racism in Canada, while not as (frequently) violent as its American neighbor, is alive and well. Profoundly embedded in institutions and perceptions alike, it is also more subtle – more subtle to expose and more elusive to address.
At the height of the pandemic, asylum seekers who had been at the front lines in the healthcare sector (primarily orderlies and nurses) were threatened with expulsion – coupled with the under-representation of visible minorities in public entities – has since then clearly been identified as systemic discrimination.
Black and Indigenous people in Montreal are four to five times more likely to be arrested by police than white people. Black people are nearly 20 times more likely to be shot by Toronto police officers than white people, when they represent only 8.8% of the population.
Laws such as the recently adopted Bill 96 have also been criticized for its potential negative impact on both First Nations, immigrants and refugees alike, further marginalizing minorities in the name of secularism and the protection of French as the primary language.
At the height of the pandemic, asylum seekers who had been at the front lines in the healthcare sector (primarily orderlies and nurses) were threatened with expulsion – coupled with the under-representation of visible minorities in public entities – has since then clearly been identified as systemic discrimination.
While credit can be ascribed to Quebec society, with its opening the floor to dialogue and conversations surrounding these sensitive issues, the Canadian Government has also been called to answer for its violent past regarding the murders of thousand of First Nations children, separated from their families and placed in boarding schools, notably following the discovery of 751 anonymous graves during an excavation on one of these schools. While the principle of systemic discrimination is still being debated (and undermined by the likes of the current premier of Quebec who has denied its existence), the affected populations continue to speak out on these issues.
Provinces like Quebec are walking a thin line between catering to their aging population who often view the immigrant as a threat to their cultural exception from the rest of English-speaking Canada, and their need for new minds, workforce and talent – coming together to unveil a delicate balance of appearances and economic interests, placing Haitian newcomers fleeing gang violence and instability right in the center of a new world of competing interests, institutionalized violence, and well-mannered racism.
After experiencing successive traumas in Haiti, newly arrived Haitian Immigrants find themselves tip-toieng around prejudice and discrimination in their new place of residence. They will join the ranks of other generations before them, living proof of decades of political instability, benefitting from the resources and safe haven provided by the countries willing to welcome them, and needing them.
Of course, this situation of crisis also unequivocally points to the political class and economic elite’s inaction and disregard of the crumbling institutions safeguarding Haiti’s sovereignty, and their failure to take a stance in front of Haiti’s so-called “friends”.
There is however no doubt that this workforce is a tool for socio economic issues, conveniently addressing both the aging of the population and the shortage of labor. Some would argue that the social unrest in Haiti purposefully serves as a useful lever, toward that goal.
At the height of this on-going crisis, and while Haiti has been, for years now, in the throes of a political crisis, Haitians continue to flee. There is no data, as of yet, to fully comprehend the impact that this exodus will have on Haiti for the years to come. But by fully understanding the relation between economic benefit and immigration policy, only then will we begin to grasp the extent of the engineering of this constant state of chaos.
Featured Image: Aljazeera
