Canadian officials return from Haiti as Ottawa weighs military response to crisis

A team tasked with assessing the crisis in Haiti is now briefing senior officials as the Canadian government weighs a potential military mission to assist the beleaguered nation.

A team tasked with assessing the crisis in Haiti has returned home and is now briefing senior officials as the Canadian government weighs a potential military mission to assist the beleaguered Caribbean nation, according to Canada’s ambassador to Haiti.

Ambassador Sebastien Carriere said Monday that Canada will be expected to take a leading role in assisting the country, which has been plunged into chaos due to rampaging gangs and a worsening cholera outbreak.

“The expectations are fairly high,” Carriere told the House of Commons foreign affairs committee. “People expect Canada to take on a leadership role. We have a very good reputation. And in Haiti, we’re well respected.”

Carriere added that the United States is also hoping Canada will step up, as was noted during recent coverage of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Ottawa and Montreal last week.

While Blinken and Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly studiously avoided any comments on whether Canada would lead a multilateral military intervention to Haiti, U.S. officials have name-checked Canada as a potential key player.

And while the United Nations is currently contemplating a motion that would authorize a mission, Carriere told the committee that the government has not yet decided whether it supports such a move.

“No decision has been made on that,” he said. “That was part of what the assessment came here to do last week. They’re continuing their consultations this week. They’re briefing up in terms of what their findings are.”

The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti was thrown into turmoil after President Jovenel Moise was assassinated last year. The crisis has worsened in recent months as gangs ravage the country and amid a worsening cholera outbreak.