Haiti has become a failed state, says former governor general Michaëlle Jean

Former governor general Michaëlle Jean says Haiti has become a failed state due to its worsening security and economic climate and is calling on Canada to take a leadership role to help stabilize the Caribbean country.

Violence has soared in Haiti and gang activity has intensified since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The number of reported kidnappings rose to more than 1,200 last year, more than double the number reported the previous year. Haiti saw 1,200 killings last year, an increase of 35 per cent over the previous year, according to the UN.

Jean, a Haitian refugee who was raised in Quebec, was asked on CBC News Network's Power & Politics if the ongoing crisis means Haiti is becoming a failed state.

"Haiti is already a failed state," Jean told guest host David Cochrane.

"The governance itself has totally failed. There's a crisis of governance with the state like there is one also within the police. And that's the problem."

Haiti's de facto prime minister Ariel Henry took control of the government in July with the backing of a number of Western countries, including Canada. But Henry's government has lacked popular acceptance in Haiti.

Jean said Canada should have a leading role in an international policing effort to stabilize the country and allow for a transitional government to hold new elections. But she said such a force must involve other Caribbean countries.

"Police teams from countries in the region would be better accepted by the Haitian population, especially if they come in solidarity and as reinforcements," she said.

Jean also cautioned that any change of government needs to happen with the involvement of Haitian community groups.

Top Caribbean leaders are expected to debate Haiti's spiraling chaos and its impact on the region during a biannual meeting this week. The three-day meeting of the Caribbean trading bloc known as CARICOM starts Wednesday in the Bahamas.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will attend that meeting to discuss the crisis in Haiti, among other topics.

In a statement announcing the trip, Trudeau's office said he hopes to find a "Haitian-led" solution to an "egregious" security crisis fuelled by gang warfare that is "having a devastating impact on the Haitian people."

Haiti's foreign minister, Jean Victor Geneus, warned during an Organization of American States meeting last week that insecurity has risen and will spill over into neighbouring countries.

"We must absolutely tackle this problem in Haiti because no one else in the Caribbean will be spared," he said.

Earlier this month, Jamaica's prime minister said he was willing to send soldiers and police officers to Haiti as part of a proposed multinational security assistance deployment. Last year, the Bahamas said it would send troops or police if asked to do so.

Last month, on the sidelines of the North American Leaders' Summit, Trudeau said Canada is "preparing various scenarios" to respond if the situation in Haiti gets worse. He didn't say if that could include leading an international policing mission.

Jean Augustine, a former Liberal cabinet minister and long-time advocate for the Caribbean diaspora, said Canada has a "moral impetus" to help Haiti.

"We see how we've come together around Ukraine," Augustine told CBC. "This is the right time as the prime minister goes down there to make sure that the conversations occur, and that the other leaders are on board with strategies that can help."

The Canadian government said it provided over $90 million in humanitarian and development assistance to Haiti over fiscal year 2022-23. It has supported the Haitian National Police by deploying a long-range patrol aircraft and coordinating the delivery of security equipment.

Since October, Henry and top Haitian officials have been asking for an immediate deployment of foreign troops. The UN Security Council has not yet addressed that request, opting instead to implement sanctions.

On Friday, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti released a report recommending that CARICOM accelerate efforts to control the illegal proliferation of firearms and ammunition in the Caribbean.

Some CARICOM members are pushing to get key Haitian stakeholders to a neutral nation in the region to reach a consensus agreement on holding elections.

Many local officials and voices in the international community have noted that elections cannot be held in Haiti until the violence is quelled. Jean agreed.

"Unless we solve this problem of insecurity, we cannot even envisage elections in Haiti," she said. "It would be a disaster."