<html>
<head>
<meta name="generator" content="Corel WordPerfect 10">
<meta http-equiv="content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<style>
p
{
margin-top: 0px;
margin-bottom: 1px
}
body
{
font-family: "Arial", sans-serif;
font-size: 12pt;
font-weight: normal;
font-style: normal
}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">March 14, 2005 <i>(4:50 p.m. EST)</i><br>
No. 45</span></span></span></p>
<br>
<p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 14pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">MINISTER PETTIGREW TO TRAVEL TO HAITI AND FRENCH GUIANA</span></span></span></p>
<br>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew today announced that he would be in
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 16 and 17, 2005. The Minister also announced that he
would be taking part in a ministerial meeting on Haiti on March 18, 2005, in Cayenne,
French Guiana.</span></span></p>
<br>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt">“During my trip to Haiti and at the Cayenne ministerial meeting, I plan to reiterate the
importance Canada places on stabilization and reconstruction efforts in Haiti,” indicated
Minister Pettigrew. “I will also be discussing with my counterparts Canada’s priorities
with regard to the Interim Cooperation Framework, namely, the urgency of establishing
a sound disarmament program and the importance of supporting the holding of
elections in Haiti within the prescribed time frame. The international community must
fully support the implementation of these priorities.”</span></span></p>
<br>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt">While in Haiti, Minister Pettigrew will take part in numerous meetings with interim
government officials and with members of political parties and the Provisional Electoral
Council. Discussions will focus mainly on Haiti’s current situation and the municipal,
legislative and presidential elections scheduled for the fall of 2005. The Minister will
also be meeting with the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Head of
the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Juan Gabriel Valdés.
Minister Pettigrew will be accompanied by Denis Coderre, Special Adviser for Haiti, and
members of the Haitian diaspora in Canada. </span></span></p>
<br>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt">On March 18, at France’s invitation, Minister Pettigrew will travel to Cayenne to attend a
meeting of ministers from the countries most involved in Haiti, including Canada, the
United States and a number of Latin American countries. Participants will consider
concrete projects that could be implemented quickly to benefit the Haitian people in
areas such as infrastructure, health, education and rural development. Haiti’s interim
prime minister, Gérard Latortue, and Mr. Valdés will also attend this meeting, which is a
follow-up to the International Donors Conference held in July 2004 in Washington.</span></span></p>
<br>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt">The Government of Canada is contributing more than $180 million over two years to
reconstruction and development efforts, including $154 million in support of the
transitional government’s Interim Cooperation Framework and 100 civilian police
officers for MINUSTAH. Canada has also committed $17 million to facilitate the smooth
running of Haiti’s electoral process.</span></span></p>
<br>
<p style="text-align: center"><span style="font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt">- 30 -</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt">For further information, media representatives may contact:</span></span></p>
<br>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Sébastien Théberge<br>
Director of Communications<br>
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs<br>
(613) 995-1851</span></span></p>
<br>
<p><span style="font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt">Media Relations Office<br>
Foreign Affairs Canada<br>
(613) 995-1874<br>
</span></span><a href="https://bac-lac.wayback.archive-it.org/web/20070221022725/http://www.international.gc.ca/"><span style="font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span style="color: #0000ff"><span style="text-decoration: underline">http://www.international.gc.ca</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 12pt"><span style="color: #000000"></span></span></span></p>
</body>
</html>
