PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release | Canada, Haiti, United States
A foreign policy that respects the sovereignty of peoples is necessary, beyond anti-Haitian remarks and implicit silences.
Solidarité Québec-Haïti (SQH) emphasizes the need to address the real issues following the openly racist comments made by U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump towards immigrants, specifically targeting the Haitian community.
In an attempt to justify his anti-immigration stance during the electoral debate on September 10, Trump claimed that Haitian immigrants were stealing cats and dogs from their neighbours to eat them.
Since then, racist attacks and mockery towards Haitian Canadians have increased here in Canada.
“Many report having faced ostracism since the September 10 debate. They are being given hostile looks, subjected to contemptuous remarks, and even barked or meowed at by colleagues and neighbours. Trump’s absurd statements have not only fueled and reinforced prejudices but have also somehow authorized the open expression of anti-Haitian racism.”
Many voices around the world have risen to condemn this anti-Haitianism. However, Solidarité Québec-Haïti notes party leaders’ silence on the issue thus far from Ottawa and Quebec. This silence was particularly glaring and deliberate on the part of PM Justin Trudeau, when, as a guest on the popular U.S. talk show The Late Show, he used Haiti as an example to illustrate Canada’s supposedly positive and peacemaking role on the international stage. The host, Stephen Colbert, took the opportunity to joke, “Are the cats and dogs okay?”
The Prime Minister failed to seize the moment to show solidarity with the Haitian community.
Solidarité Québec-Haïti emphasizes that beyond hateful words or attitudes, it is the racist and imperialist foreign policies of Canada and the United States over the past two decades that have had severe consequences for Haitians both in the country and those forced to emigrate to places like Canada.
Condemning racist remarks must be accompanied by the recognition that Haitians have had to flee their country because it was destabilized by, among other things, a bloody imperialist coup followed by fraudulent elections financed by Ottawa and Washington.
SQH urges PM Justin Trudeau and other party leaders in Ottawa and Quebec to bravely address the real issues: Haiti’s insecurity is fueled by the flow of weapons of war from the U.S. and by the puppet, illegitimate regime installed by and accountable not to the Haitian people, but to foreign entities (the U.S., Canada, and other members of the Core Group) that have dominated Haiti’s political scene illegally for over 20 years.
Canada must withdraw from the imperialist club known as “the Core Group.” It must also support a global and effective embargo on American weapons, which are spreading terror throughout the Caribbean, particularly in Haiti.
To end anti-Haitian hatred, Canada must adopt a courageous foreign policy that is independent of the United States and, above all, respectful of Haiti’s sovereignty.
– September 26, 2024 –
For further information, get in touch with us:
Solidarité Québec-Haiti
Facebook Twitter: Solidarité Québec-Haiti
Email: solidaritekebekayiti@gmail.com
