NEWS RELEASES

January 21, 2004 (3:45 p.m. EST) No. 7

CANADA PARTICIPATES IN CARICOM MEETING TO ADDRESS SITUATION IN HAITI

Canada is participating in a CARICOM (Caribbean Community and Common Market) meeting in the Bahamas with leaders of the Haitian opposition and civil society.

"Canada welcomes CARICOM's proposal to hold this meeting," said Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham. "This is an important contribution to the overall efforts of the Organization of American States (OAS) to help Haiti overcome its current impasse. Canadians want to follow closely the situation on the ground in Haiti."

As Chair of CARICOM, the Prime Minister of Jamaica called for the January 20 to 21 meeting and invited Canada, the U.S. and the OAS to participate as observers. The initiative was discussed during Prime Minister Paul Martin's meeting with his CARICOM counterparts on January 12, 2004, on the margins of the Special Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico.

Canada's Ambassador to Haiti, Kenneth Cook, and Canada's Permanent Representative to the OAS, Ambassador Paul Durand, who is currently Chair of the OAS Permanent Council, are attending.

Canada continues to support the Special Mission of the OAS, which aims to strengthen democracy in Haiti. On December 17, 2003, at the meeting of the Permanent Council of the OAS in Washington, Canada recommended that the Special Mission prepare a detailed proposal to reinforce security in Haiti. Canada also proposed that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights study the possibility of establishing an ongoing monitoring mission in Haiti.

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