The federal government's rush to aid victims of the devastating earthquake near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince is the latest episode in a close relationship between Canada and the Caribbean nation.
Ottawa is the second-largest donor of international aid to Haiti, having pledged to provide the country with $555 million in assistance between 2006 and 2011.
In the 2006 census, some 100,000 Canadians identified as being of Haitian origin, the vast majority of whom live in Quebec. Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said there may have been as many as 6,000 Canadians lving and working in Haiti when the earthquake struck.
There are 82 Canadian police officers serving there, two of whom are reported missing. Most of the officers are RCMP engaged in training the Haitian national police force.
Since 1993, about 1,000 Canadian police have served on UN missions in the country. At least one of them died in the line of duty. RCMP officer Mark Bourque, 57, was shot and killed in Port-au-Prince in December of 2005.
Over the years, many Haitians have immigrated to Canada to escape the country's economic woes and political instability.
After Haiti's elected president was deposed in a coup in February of 2004, Canada sent 500 troops and six CH-146 Griffon tactical helicopters to the country as part of an international effort to stabilize the country.
The UN then established a mission in Haiti, known by the acronym MINUSTAH. It currently includes five Canadian staff officers serving in senior positions, one of whom works as chief of staff to the commander of the UN force.
Haitian-born Governor General Michaelle Jean drew attention to the ties between the two countries during an emotional press conference Wednesday afternoon.
"Now more than ever, it is time for us to show our solidarity with the most vulnerable people in the Americas, our brothers and sisters in Haiti, whose courage is once again being so harshly tested," she said.
Frank McKenna, a former Canadian ambassador to the U.S. who has visited the impoverished Caribbean nation several times, said he hopes the catastrophic quake will produce an outpouring of aid that will help the country recover from its recent problems.
"My fervent hope is that we take advantage of this terrible tragedy and rebuild Haiti, its civic society, its infrastructure and capital city in a way that it can withstand not only some of the terrible physical events happening to it, but also some of the economic events that have overwhelmed them," McKenna said on CTV's Power Play.
Canada first established diplomatic relations with Haiti in 1954. Three years later, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier was elected president, ushering in decades of oppressive dictatorial rule.
The following is a list of current projects Ottawa is involved with in Haiti:
- $3.7 million for the reinforcement of the Haitian National Police's marine unit to purchase five boats.
- $701,287 for the construction of a slipway and workshops at the Port-au-Prince naval base.
- $3.6 million for "capacity building in migration management"
- $4.4 million to construct the Croix-des-Bouquets detention centre
The following is a list of Canadian projects in Haiti that was released in February 2008:
- $75 million for the construction and rehabilitation of the road between the cities of Jermie and Les Cayes
- $19 million to improve reproductive health
- $13.8 million for technical assistance to the Haitian State Project
- $10 million to support school feeding programs
- $5.4 million to help with tuition fees
- $1.2 million for the Education for All program
- $700,000 for disaster preparedness in Haiti
