Trudeau headed to Bahamas for meeting of Caribbean leaders as Haiti crisis deepens
CTV
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to depart today for the Bahamas, where members of the Caribbean Community are gathering to discuss regional issues, including a deepening crisis in Haiti.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to depart today for the Bahamas, where members of the Caribbean Community are gathering to discuss regional issues, including a deepening crisis in Haiti.
Trudeau is participating as a special guest at the summit of 20 Caribbean leaders in Nassau, as the group celebrates its 50th anniversary.
His office says the trip will allow leaders to consider political, security and humanitarian assistance to Haitian people and "Haitian-led solutions to the ongoing situation."
The country is embroiled in crisis, with violent gangs jockeying for territory in capital Port-au-Prince and international watchdogs reporting rampant sexual assault, kidnappings and a worsening health emergency.
Haiti's unelected prime minister Ariel Henry, who is expected to participate in the Nassau meeting, has asked for a foreign military intervention -- and the United States has suggested that Canada lead one.
But the Canadian government has so far kept its powder dry, instead searching for a "consensus" on the ground and levying economic sanctions against elites accused of supporting gang activity.
Emmanuel Dubourg, Canada's only Haitian-born federal member of Parliament, suggested in an interview that the government is not leaving anything off the table as it considers how to help.
