(No. 90 – March 3, 2011 – 1:45 p.m. ET) The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today met with a group of 36 Haitian students who are in Ottawa as part of the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP).
"On behalf of the Government of Canada, it is my pleasure to salute a group of 36 undergraduate and graduate students from Haiti who are currently in Canada under Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program scholarships," said Minister Cannon. "They are the future leaders of their country and have the potential to be agents of change in the reconstruction of a new Haiti."
The goal of the ELAP is to support the development of human capital and a next generation of leaders in the Americas while strengthening the linkages between Canadian post-secondary institutions and those in Latin America and the Caribbean.
This special ELAP competition was launched in June 2010 as part of the Canada-Haiti Scholarships Initiative, which was developed in response to the January 12, 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti.
The event is part of a week-long Democracy Study Tour to Quebec City, Montreal and Ottawa that will expose students to Canadian models of governance, business and civil society as well as build long-lasting linkages with young Canadians.
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For further information, media representatives may contact:
Lynn Meahan
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
613-995-1851
Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874
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