Written by Dan Howse

“Most Canadians do not realize that Canada played a role in not only the coup d’etat, but also the installation and direct support of the ‘installed’ regime lasting two years following the coup” Mary Skerrett, Canadian Haiti Action Network.

If someone told you Haiti needs to rebuild better, you’d probably think they were referring to architecture. Anyone who owns a T.V. has seen the tragic images of sunken buildings, buried families and massive destruction caused by the recent earthquake. Yet many people don’t realize that one of the reasons the devastation has been so severe is that Haitians have been plagued by similarly catastrophic social and economic disasters.
At 1pm this Saturday Mar. 6, the Bookshelf Cinema will be screening Artistide and the Endless Revolution, directed by Nicholas Rosser. Mary Skerrett, one of the event organizers and members of the Canada Haiti Action Network, described the film as “a balanced and fairly detailed account of the removal of the democratically-elected government in Haiti, in February, 2004, by forces from the United States, Canada, and France.”
Many Canadians do not know the role that Canada played in the removal of this government six years ago. This documentary will provide insight into actions that have gone virtually unreported in the mainstream press. Skerrett thinks it is important that Canadians are aware of the part they have played in the current state of Haitian governance.
“Most Canadians do not realize that Canada played a role in not only the coup d’etat, but also the installation and direct support of the ‘installed’ regime lasting two years following the coup,” Skerrett said.  “This brutal regime resulted in military occupation by a supposed ‘UN Peacekeeping Mission,’ and severe repression of the Haitian masses.” Furthermore, many of them do not know the role that Canadians play in the support of the government in power currently. “Most Canadians do not realize that Haiti is Canada’s largest aid commitment in the Americas and the second-largest aid commitment in the world after Afghanistan,” Skerrett added.
Although Canadians have jumped to Haiti’s aid in response to the recent tragedy, very few of them know precisely where their money is going. Skerrett contended that much of the support going into Haiti is in the hands of loaning institutions and other groups not furthering Haiti’s best interests. “Most of the money in Haiti right now is in the coffers of the International lending Institutions, and the many thousands of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) which have been operating in Haiti for the past few decades; many of which are funded by Canadian aid dollar.” Skerrett said.  “The Haitian government must be strengthened in order to work alongside the Haitian population to rebuild their country.”
The event has also been supported by local Guelph labor advocacy groups. Local CUPE 3913 Chair, Trudi Lorenz, urged citizens concerned with where their tax dollars go to check out the screening.
“[Much] of the poverty exists because of the foreign policy, imperialism and colonialism that Canada has been implicated in” Lorenz said, “and a lot of people don’t know. We’ve been concerned about the earthquake but we should also be concerned about why the devastation has been so horrible and how we’ve been implicated in it.”
The screening will be followed by a question and answer session with speakers from the Canada Haiti Action Network. For further information, check out canadahaitiaction.ca.