Canadians in Haiti: Stories of Loss and Remembrance

Georges Anglade
• Anglade was staying in a house where he was killed during its
collapse
o Defined as a “man in three pieces” – geographer, a
politician, and a writer.
• Anglade was born in Port-au-Prince, and came to Canada.
o He was imprisoned under the Duvalier regime and
continued to fight for democracy in his native country, Haiti
o He was former Haitian Cabinet Minister
• “Big bear of a man” huge personality.

Douglas Coates
• Acting as a police commissioner for the UN mission in Haiti,
latest peacekeeping role in four tours of the country.
o He saw his peacekeeping mission as more than a job,
working together in service of the people.
• “Purpose-driven life” and “it was his humanity in the face of
inhumanity that defined him as a proud Canadian, a proud
member of the RCMP, a proud peacekeeper, a proud father and a
proud husband”

Tran Trieu Quan

• President of international taekwando federation, leend in martial
arts world.
o Studied engineering at Laval University.
• Running a company that helped improve building codes in
developing countries, staying at Montana Hotel in Port-au-Prince.
o “He was one of the most remarkable people I’ve ever met.
The goal he held so dear was to make the International
Taekwondo Federation a model for all other martial arts
organizations and ultimately an avenue by which the world
would become a better place.”

Dominick Boisraond
• Born in Port-au-Prince, moved to Quebec when she was 10,
divided her time between Montreal and Haiti
o Vibrant woman who loved socializing.
• Organizing an import-export business that focused on rice and
beans.

Mark Gallagher
• On a nine-month stint in Haiti.
o Training police officers there, as part of the UN’s
international peacekeeping mission
 • “One of new Brunswick’s most beloved Mounties.”

Seven Moves to Peace and Stability

Hold Credible Elections

• The fall electoral crisis was triggered by insecurity, which led to
fraud
o Afghan institutions did not have the ability to make
legitimate elections
o Failing for new institutions
• There is at the present little or no prospect of high quality
elections being held
o Challenging conditions remains slender and deserves
widening.

Plan Together
• Growth of Afghan state responsibilities and capacity, expanded
donor commitments, need planning.
o Effort to stabilize Afghanistan have grown in scale and
complexity
• Donors, Strategy, and planning are distributed among a host of
authorities from UNAMA and ISAF in Kabul
o Proliferation of demands for priority setting
 Strategic Direction within the Afghan cabinet, JCMB
o International conference setting

Renew the Public Service

• The building blocks are in place for a more successful Afghan
civil service
o The ANDS has set goals and mandates for each ministry
and agency
• Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF)
o Largest pooled fund for single country
• Priority areas that need funding come to focus: rural
development and agriculture, social and infrastructure and
economic development
o Vital for Afghan government to show leadership in this
respect

Empower the Provinces

• Provincial service delivery suffers from an absence of resource
and funding
o Weak focus, weak coordination
 • Assets already developed at provincial level by national and
other development programs, PRT’s
o Local business justify an accelerated move to provincial
level (economic development planning)

Reintegrate the Taliban Base

• Insurgent fighters have no way of leaving the fight due to
reconciliation and reintegration initiatives before the London
Conference
o Taliban pressure, alienated tribal and community groups
and caused their divide
• Programs should set clear timelines for compliance,
consequences for failure to participate
o Work with Afghanistan ulema, media, civil society, and
community groups
• Make the threat of IED’s more emphasized and serious, suicide
attacks, and other asymmetric insurgent tactics that threaten
the safety of the population

End Interference
• Principal drivers of Talibal-led insurgency in Afghanistan continue
expertise passing, funds, and materiel entering the country from
neighbours
o Ending foreign interference will not cost Afghanistan as
much, conditional assistance disallowed.
o Efforts to stop interference should be rewarded by
concrete steps to enhance bilateral relations

Attack Impunity
• Nearly one decade after the Taliban regime fell, continues to
face inability to prosecute major crimes
o Unlikely result in more than incremental process
 May continue to pose handicap to counter-
insurgency efforts
o Afghan government and partners should consider
establishing a special investigator and special tribunal for
one or more of the following fields
 Terrorism, corruption, counter-narcotics, and civilian
casualties.