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Haitian leaders must all agree before Canada would lead a potential military intervention, Trudeau says

U.S. has suggested Canada could lead a multinational force in Haiti

Dylan Robertson · The Canadian Press · Posted: Nov 20, 2022 1:27 PM ET

A potential Canadian military intervention in Haiti can't happen unless all political parties in the troubled nation agree to it, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday.

Speaking from Tunisia on the final day of the two-day Francophonie summit, Trudeau announced $16.5 million to help stabilize Haiti, where gangs are strangling access to fuel and critical supplies amid a worsening cholera outbreak.

About half the money is going toward humanitarian aid, and some of the rest is intended to help weed out corruption and prosecute gender-based violence.

But Haiti's government has asked for an international military intervention to combat gangs who have strangled access to fuel and critical supplies in the middle of the outbreak.

The United States wants Canada to lead any military intervention.

Trudeau said Sunday that Canada is working with CARICOM, the organization of Caribbean governments, along with "various actors in Haiti from all different political parties" to get a consensus on how the international community can help.

"It is not enough for Haiti's government to ask for it," he said. "There needs to be a consensus across political parties in Haiti before we can move forward on more significant steps."

He did not rule out eventually establishing a Canadian military mission on the ground in Haiti.

"Canada is very open to playing an important role, but we must have a Haitian consensus," Trudeau said in French.

New sanctions on prominent former officials
A Global Affairs Canada assessment team sent to Haiti to establish some understanding of what is happening and what could help has already returned and provided a report at meetings Trudeau said he attended.

He said the response is complicated because many "political elites" and "oligarchs" in Haiti have used the country's humanitarian crises "to enrich themselves on the backs of the Haitian people."

"So that is why our approach now is not about doing what one political party or the government wants," Trudeau said. "It's calling for a level of consensus and coherence from all actors in Haiti to call for solutions that we can actually get behind and lead on as an international community."

On Saturday Canada expanded its economic sanctions freezing the Canadian assets of Haitian political elites to now include former president Michel Martelly and former prime ministers Laurent Lamothe and Jean-Henry Ceant.

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly accused the trio of helping gangs undermine Haiti's current government and called on international partners to follow Canada's lead.

"Our goal is to make sure that these people that are profiting from the violence, that are part of a corrupted system, are facing accountability," she said.

Haitian Foreign Affairs Minister Jean Victor Geneus said the new sanctions put real consequences on those causing a "nightmare" in his country.

"These sanctions will have a dissuasive impact," he said in French, while seated between Trudeau and Joly.

Geneus said gangs are raping women and girls, preventing children from attending school and not letting sick people through roadblocks when they seek medical treatment. That means refugees are leaving for neighbouring islands.

"If the necessary conditions for safety are not re-established in a fast and urgent manner, a humanitarian catastrophe is possible in Haiti," he said in French.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-haiti-intervention-sanctions-1.6658254
 
She' so wild to commit treasure and manpower, give her a rifle and after a 6 mo tour I might want to listen
One can hardly blame her for this - that snide remark is uncalled for. Mind you I have made the same type of statements in the past.

They really serve no purpose. They are not helpful.
 
Memories of discussing riot/ crowd control techniques with a group of RCN Officers and one LCdr's solution to all scenarios was to level the main armament and shell them ;)

Park the man-o-war of shore and bombard the bloddy rebels, eh ?

I believe we call that a siege lol
 
To an extent. But Haitians can formalise their French much like many French Canadians can do when speaking to non dialect accent types.
The brief we got was only about 10% of the population in PaP spoke French - we had translators with us, both locals and CAF members that were Haitian or Haitian descent. I can think of only one time I spoke French to someone - and that was because they addressed me in French first.

$0.02
 
The brief we got was only about 10% of the population in PaP spoke French - we had translators with us, both locals and CAF members that were Haitian or Haitian descent. I can think of only one time I spoke French to someone - and that was because they addressed me in French first.

$0.02
From the Worldatlas.com website:

French: An Official Language Of Haiti​

Haiti and Canada are the only sovereign nations in the American region to have French as an official language. In Haiti, French is used in official documents, the education system, and in the media. French is the standard written language in Haiti. Despite French being the administrative language in Haiti, only 5 percent of Haitians are fluent in the language. The few people who speak French in Haiti are the elite and well to do Haitians, mainly found in the urban centers.

Haitian Creole: The Most Popular Language Of Haiti​

Haitian Creole is the most popular language in Haiti. More than 95% of Haitians are fluent in the language. The language is a blend of French, Taino, and some West African languages. Haitian Creole is spoken throughout Haiti, although it differs by region. There are three dialects of the Haitian Creole, namely the Northern dialect, Central dialect, and Southern Dialect. Haitian Creole is an official language alongside French, but it is not perceived as a prestigious language and is therefore rarely used in official matters. Furthermore, there are very few texts written in Haitian Creole. The language mostly exists in spoken form.
 
Despite French being the administrative language in Haiti, only 5 percent of Haitians are fluent in the language.
Furthermore, there are very few texts written in Haitian Creole. The language mostly exists in spoken form.

See the issue in the above 2 sentences?

Only 5% of the population is fluent in French - more than 95% is fluent in Creole, yet there are 'very few texts written in Haitian Creole'. So, how does one go about educating the entire country when there are virtually no textbooks available in the language that more than 95% of the population is fluent in? Do you start with French, across the board for the entire education system? Impossible to start in Creole when it would be virtually impossible to find/create the sheer number of textbooks required. If you decide to move forward in using French, rest assured you (or whoever attempts to do this) would be quickly tarred with the 'cultural genocide' brush because you would be basically wiping out the younger generation from using a language that in essence is not part of the modern educational system anywhere else in the world and in fact is not even able to provide a comprehensive education to its 95% language users today.
 
Despite French being the administrative language in Haiti, only 5 percent of Haitians are fluent in the language.
Furthermore, there are very few texts written in Haitian Creole. The language mostly exists in spoken form.

See the issue in the above 2 sentences?

Only 5% of the population is fluent in French - more than 95% is fluent in Creole, yet there are 'very few texts written in Haitian Creole'. So, how does one go about educating the entire country when there are virtually no textbooks available in the language that more than 95% of the population is fluent in? Do you start with French, across the board for the entire education system? Impossible to start in Creole when it would be virtually impossible to find/create the sheer number of textbooks required. If you decide to move forward in using French, rest assured you (or whoever attempts to do this) would be quickly tarred with the 'cultural genocide' brush because you would be basically wiping out the younger generation from using a language that in essence is not part of the modern educational system anywhere else in the world and in fact is not even able to provide a comprehensive education to its 95% language users today.
French was or still is the language of education. It lead to a high degree of dropping out.
 
Despite French being the administrative language in Haiti, only 5 percent of Haitians are fluent in the language.
Furthermore, there are very few texts written in Haitian Creole. The language mostly exists in spoken form.

See the issue in the above 2 sentences?

Only 5% of the population is fluent in French - more than 95% is fluent in Creole, yet there are 'very few texts written in Haitian Creole'. So, how does one go about educating the entire country when there are virtually no textbooks available in the language that more than 95% of the population is fluent in? Do you start with French, across the board for the entire education system? Impossible to start in Creole when it would be virtually impossible to find/create the sheer number of textbooks required. If you decide to move forward in using French, rest assured you (or whoever attempts to do this) would be quickly tarred with the 'cultural genocide' brush because you would be basically wiping out the younger generation from using a language that in essence is not part of the modern educational system anywhere else in the world and in fact is not even able to provide a comprehensive education to its 95% language users today.
From the preceding sentence in the original post:
In Haiti, French is used in official documents, the education system, and in the media. French is the standard written language in Haiti.
French is already used in the schools and in government as the standard written language. The literacy rate in 2016 was only 61.69% however. It's also important to note the difference between literacy and fluency. Someone might have a functional ability to read in French (i.e. literate) but may not be fluent (i.e. able to communicate comfortably and easily in the language).

With Creole being primarily a spoken language I don't see any other language other than French being a real option for the education system.

That being said...you're still facing a HUGE hill to climb in fixing the education system there.
 
Despite French being the administrative language in Haiti, only 5 percent of Haitians are fluent in the language.
Furthermore, there are very few texts written in Haitian Creole. The language mostly exists in spoken form.

See the issue in the above 2 sentences?

Only 5% of the population is fluent in French - more than 95% is fluent in Creole, yet there are 'very few texts written in Haitian Creole'. So, how does one go about educating the entire country when there are virtually no textbooks available in the language that more than 95% of the population is fluent in? Do you start with French, across the board for the entire education system? Impossible to start in Creole when it would be virtually impossible to find/create the sheer number of textbooks required. If you decide to move forward in using French, rest assured you (or whoever attempts to do this) would be quickly tarred with the 'cultural genocide' brush because you would be basically wiping out the younger generation from using a language that in essence is not part of the modern educational system anywhere else in the world and in fact is not even able to provide a comprehensive education to its 95% language users today.
Canada can fund the writing of elementary textbooks in Creole and pay to have them shipped there. Also develop a Creole/French language package for Highschool, academic students learn both, the trades kids learn Creole and hands on skill.
 
Canada can fund the writing of elementary textbooks in Creole and pay to have them shipped there. Also develop a Creole/French language package for Highschool, academic students learn both, the trades kids learn Creole and hands on skill.
And get the Creole texts written so there's easy phonetic transfer between Creole and French copy.
 
I don't know about that. Créole is pretty hard to understand compare to Continental French. French from France is a bit easier ;)
Bayou Billy is easier to understand in Cajun than Creole is - because Creole is a mixture of West African tribal dialects and French, whereas Cajun/Acadian is just old French...with a Hebrides mixed with Welsh coalminer accent.

$0.02
 
Bayou Billy is easier to understand in Cajun than Creole is - because Creole is a mixture of West African tribal dialects and French, whereas Cajun/Acadian is just old French...with a Hebrides mixed with Welsh coalminer accent.

$0.02
One name:

Troy Landry. Swamp People from the Bayou.

Or Adam Sandler as Cajun Man…

Ok two names
 
One name:

Troy Landry. Swamp People from the Bayou.

Or Adam Sandler as Cajun Man…

Ok two names
I understand Troy when he's speaking English...not so much if he starts speaking Cajun. I dated someone from the North Shore of NB for awhile - family spoke "French" at home and during family dinners, couldn't get more than one word in ten usually, except when the one BiL, who was from Montreal spoke up...or the other BiL who was American.
 
I understand Troy when he's speaking English...not so much if he starts speaking Cajun. I dated someone from the North Shore of NB for awhile - family spoke "French" at home and during family dinners, couldn't get more than one word in ten usually, except when the one BiL, who was from Montreal spoke up...or the other BiL who was American.
Ah let’s go for rek ree eh shon
 
And in fact, when I go in France, I rarely have to change the way I talk, exept in Paris but even the rest of France is misunderstood in Paris ;)
I tend to standardise my French more when speaking to the French. When I am with my family and friends we are way more “French Canadian” in the way we talk. Lots of expressions and words they don’t use.
 
I tend to standardise my French more when speaking to the French. When I am with my family and friends we are way more “French Canadian” in the way we talk. Lots of expressions and words they don’t use.
Of course I do to but even if you dont force yourself much, 90% is the same. It's a bit, a little bit like English vs American but with the 95% same words and same grammar. Then, Paris... :ROFLMAO:
 
Of course I do to but even if you dont force yourself much, 90% is the same. It's a bit, a little bit like English vs American but with the 95% same words and same grammar. Then, Paris... :ROFLMAO:
For sure. I struggle with creole. Needs to be spoken slower but you can still get the jist. It’s how they link certain words and speak almost backwards with where certain words go. Also the use W where Rs go in French. We had a number of Haitians at my high school. And way back when my scout troop did an exchange trip to L’Ile de la Tortue. Part of that was trying to learn and understand Creole at a rudimentary level.
 
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