Evidence of meeting #14 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was haiti.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Jean-Louis Roy  President, Rights and Democracy
Nicholas Galletti  Latin America Regional Officer, Rights and Democracy
Stephen Wallace  Vice President, Policy Branch, Canadian International Development Agency
Yves Pétillon  Program Director, Haiti, Cuba and Dominican Republic Americas Branch, Canadian International Development Agency
Clerk of the Committee  Mrs. Angela Crandall

4:45 p.m.

President, Rights and Democracy

Jean-Louis Roy

You force me to return to my wording. Maybe we have to be more severe with partners. We also have to take into account fully the fact that two years before the transition and in the last two years--which means in the last four or five years--all conditions were adverse for working in Haiti. But even in those conditions, some villages and cities have electricity because of Hydro-Québec and the help we brought to those people.

Eighty credit unions were established in Haitian villages and small cities. Some of the money we spent gave spectacular results or real results, but the conditions were really not there. We have to build on the fact that we are out of the Aristide period; we're out of the transition. They have been correctly elected--I have said that many times. We have to jump quickly, as your colleague has said, and plan with great exigences the work we will do with them. We need results, period.

4:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

In conclusion, I have a couple of very quick questions.

First, you've been involved in some of your projects there in the short term, for six month and so on. How long have you been involved in Haiti in the long term? You do many different projects there, but when did you begin?

4:45 p.m.

President, Rights and Democracy

Jean-Louis Roy

We have been there in the past—

4:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

The mid-1990s?

4:45 p.m.

President, Rights and Democracy

Jean-Louis Roy

Yes, the mid-1990s, and we quit and returned. We started planning to return and started going to Haiti a year ago, and we started our new project six months ago.

4:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

What is your total budget as an agency or a group? From the Government of Canada, I think you receive roughly $4.8 million a year. Is that correct?

4:45 p.m.

President, Rights and Democracy

Jean-Louis Roy

Due to the work of this committee, Mr. Chair, unanimously last year, we had a substantial increase. We will have a parliamentary allocation of $7.3 million this year.

4:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

So did that increase happen? Did it show up in the budget?

4:45 p.m.

President, Rights and Democracy

4:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

Is that your total budget?

4:45 p.m.

President, Rights and Democracy

Jean-Louis Roy

No. We were also able to raise some money outside of government. Our budget is a little less than $10 million.

4:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

How much of those resources from your annual budget would be earmarked for Haiti?

4:50 p.m.

President, Rights and Democracy

Jean-Louis Roy

We have a budget of $450,000 for this year in Haiti.

4:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

So it's really a small component of your $10 million?

4:50 p.m.

President, Rights and Democracy

Jean-Louis Roy

Well, it's a significant component, plus salaries. If we include everything, it would be $600,000.

4:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

How many countries are you involved in?

4:50 p.m.

President, Rights and Democracy

Jean-Louis Roy

We're involved with direct programming in 12 countries.

4:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

And how many people, as far as resources and manpower, would you have in the Haitian projects?

4:50 p.m.

President, Rights and Democracy

Jean-Louis Roy

We have my colleague Nicholas full-time, and we have six Haitians who work for us in Port-au-Prince.

4:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

You've spoken quite a bit about the partners you work with, the NGOs and other partners. How many NGOs would you work with?

4:50 p.m.

Latin America Regional Officer, Rights and Democracy

Nicholas Galletti

From the beginning of the project until now, we have worked with two coalitions of NGOs. In one coalition I think there are three NGOs, and the other has five women's groups, if I'm not mistaken.

The women's groups we work with are grouped under the Coordination nationale de plaidoyer pour les droits des femmes, or CONAP, which includes SOFA, a group that works on violence against women and has clinics for women who have been raped or have suffered from sexual violence. There is also ENFOFANM, a group that works on documentation and research on women's rights. As well, we work with FOCAL, a group that works on education and has a debate program for young people. We work with the Centre Oecuménique des Droits Humains, which is a human rights organization—in fact, one of the first human rights organization in Haiti—that was working during the Duvalier dictatorship. I think it was formed right afterwards, but the members are still active.

We have a lot of partners. Some are institutionalized, in the sense that we work together on our project, but others we consult with on a daily basis. We have an advisory committee in Haiti that helps us determine how to evaluate and put together our training program.

4:50 p.m.

Conservative

Peter Van Loan Conservative York—Simcoe, ON

I counted four NGOs that you went through, and you said there were five and three, so that would be—

4:50 p.m.

Latin America Regional Officer, Rights and Democracy

Nicholas Galletti

In CONAP, there is also Fanm Deside Jakmel. Because it's a coalition, we work mainly with the secretariat of the coalition. I can't give you the exact name of every one of the other members right now, because we work closely with SOFA, and ENFOFANM. Fanm Yo La used to be part of the coalition, then left, but we continue to consult with them.

4:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson

Are they all Canadian NGOs?

4:50 p.m.

Latin America Regional Officer, Rights and Democracy

Nicholas Galletti

These are all Haitian NGOs.

We also have very good partnerships with the Canadian NGOs working there. We work closely with Concertation pour Haïti, which is a group of NGOs from Quebec, including Développement et Paix, SUCO, and L'Entraide missionnaires, a group that advocates for Haitian rights with the Canadian government. We also have international partners, including the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.