January 13, 2015 – Quebec (Quebec)
Check Against Delivery
Good morning, everyone.
I am delighted to be here with you today, five years and a day after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
Thank you, Mr. Labeaume, for welcoming us this morning.
The project we are about to announce this morning is particularly dear to us, as well as to the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, who sends us her voice today from Paris.
Thank you for your commitment to and solidarity with the Haitian people.
Over the past five years, Canadians have demonstrated the deepest compassion toward Haiti.
Their donations to Canadian organizations working in Haiti have totalled more than $220 million.
The Government of Canada has also played a leading role responding to humanitarian needs and supporting the reconstruction efforts.
Together, we have helped to make significant progress.
The number of displaced persons has fallen from 1.5 million in 2010 to some 85 000 in September 2014.
More than 4.3 million Haitians have received emergency food aid, and 440 000 have received financial assistance, including loans to pay for their children’s tuition.
Countless facilities and installations have been rebuilt with Canada’s support, including roads, schools and health-care centres.
The cholera epidemic has declined, and three million women, infants and children have had free access to health care across the country.
Canadians can be proud of their contribution.
Canadian expertise and generosity will once again save lives in Haiti, thanks to a project designed to strengthen the response capacities of Haitian firefighters. The project, titled Renforcement durable des capacités d’intervention des sapeurs-pompiers haïtiens, is being led by the City of Québec.
Currently, Port-au-Prince fire brigade personnel are working in a damaged facility that could collapse at any moment.
Quite apart from the risks posed by the building, infrastructure and training needs are significant.
And yet this institution is of crucial importance to the safety of the city’s residents, in a country where natural disasters are all too frequent.
That is why our government is pleased to contribute $2,640,000 to the City of Québec for its project in Haiti.
These funds will go toward rebuilding the Port-au-Prince fire station, equipping it with a better truck and training its firefighters.
Fire prevention campaigns will also be launched to increase public awareness.
The solidarity that Canada showed after the [2010] earthquake has further strengthened the special ties that have bound our two countries over the last few decades.
From the moment my term began, I made Haiti one of my priorities.
In fact, Haiti was the first country I visited in 2013 as Minister of International Development and La Francophonie.
We all want to see a more stable Haiti emerge, a more prosperous Haiti offering its citizens greater economic opportunities.
In June 2014, the Government of Canada confirmed that Haiti would remain one of the target countries to benefit from our international development assistance.
This shows that Canada is indeed resolute in its commitment to stand with Haitians as the country rebuilds and becomes more developed in the long term.
It is my hope, however, that Haiti can step up the pace of the progress achieved to date.
To do so, we need improved coordination of the assistance offered, along with better transparency and accountability.
Haiti must also resolve its political problems so as to gain the necessary stability to ensure its long-term development.
Canada has asked all of the country’s political actors to find compromise in order to proceed as soon as possible with long-delayed municipal, local and legislative elections.
Our position remains the same, and we support all efforts made to that end.
Canadians, like Haitians themselves, want to see a stable and prosperous Haiti, where everyone has access to greater opportunity.
So that, at long last, Haiti can achieve its full potential.
Thank you.
