Protest in Haiti against the impending US-led military intervention. Photo: Haiti Liberté.
By Yves Engler â Nov 2, 2022
Canada is acting just like the junior imperial power it is in a part of the world this country has long considered its backyard.
Washington is asking Ottawa to lead a military mission to Haiti. The Canadian government in turn is leveraging its influence to get Caribbean countries to staff and sell a Haiti force.
Justin Trudeau would prefer to put a black face on his military intervention and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) troops are his preference. On Friday Canadaâs PM said, âIâm so pleased that there is such an interest by the Caribbean countries to be part of any solutionâ in Haiti.
Trudeau has repeatedly met CARICOM to discuss Haiti. On Tuesday the Jamaica Gleaner reported, âPrime Minister Justin Trudeau has, within a one-week period, held a second round of talks with Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders on the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian and security situation in Haiti.â
Haiti: Police and Resistance Clash at Oil Terminal as Russian Fuel Tankers Arrive from Venezuela
The direct outreach to CARICOM is on top of a broader Canadian campaign, which has included Caribbean leaders. Last month Trudeau hosted a meeting on Haiti at the United Nations headquarters in New York while foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly held a gathering to discuss that country at the Organization of American States summit in Peru.
The prime minister of the Bahamas said they would send troops if the Caribbean Community okayed the mission. âIf CARICOM decides that the Haitian situation requires the deployment of security troops, then The Bahamas will abide by the outcome of the organizationâs resolution,â declared Philip Brave Davis. Jamaicaâs Information Minister Robert Morgan echoed that comment.
If Ottawa convinces CARICOM members to join its imperial endeavor it would highlight Canadaâs leverage among the mostly small CARICOM countries. Ottawaâs influence in the region dates to when the Canada First Movement sought âa closer political connectionâ with the British West Indies in the 1870s. By the early 1900s, Canadian policy supported annexing the British Empireâs Caribbean possessions (the various islands as well as todayâs Belize and Guyana). At the end of World War I, Ottawa asked the Imperial War Cabinet if it could take possession of the British West Indies as compensation for Canadaâs defence of the empire. London balked.
Canadaâs sizable financial sector drove these efforts. With their presence in the region dating to the 1830s, Canadian banks were major players by the late 1800s.
Canadian banks continue to be influential. After independence Canadian politicians, businessmen and Bank of Canada officials developed banking and taxation policies in a number of Caribbean countries.
The Caribbean Development Bank is a half century old multilateral bank that provides Ottawa with influence over the regionâs economy. Initially staffed by Canada and the UK, those two countries each control 9.31% of of the bankâs voting shares (down from 20%).
Canada has also played an important role militarily in the region. Canada, notes Canadian Caribbean Relations in Transition, âcooperated closely with Jamaica in setting up the latterâs national security organizationsâ after the countryâs independence. Over the past half-century Canada has regularly trained Jamaicaâs security forces and has a small military base on the island.
If Ottawa convinces CARICOM to send forces to Haiti it will reflect Canadian influence in the region. Imperial powers always want others to do their dirty work.
Yves Engler
Yves Engler is Montreal-based writer and political activist. In addition to ten published books, Engler's writings have appeared in the alternative press and in mainstream publications such as The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, and Ecologist.
