Good evening, everyone.
I want to congratulate the members of Parliament and members of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration especially.
I also want to thank Eugénia Romain, who made it possible for me to take part in this meeting.
I would like to thank you for the opportunity I have been given this evening to tall you about the questions, for you to hear my voice and the voices of all the people who are victims of this disaster, who are defenceless and fighting for their survival. I was not able to bring my notes, I left them in my car. I came here with a friend.
The earthquake on January 12 left us all puzzled. I do not want to repeat what others have said, but on behalf of all Haitians in the diaspora and of myself, I want to thank the entire planet, and particularly Canadians and Quebeckers, for their outpouring of generosity and their understanding for the victims of the disaster in Haiti.
Since I will am called on this evening to talk about aid to the disaster victims in Haiti, I have to tell you that I am like everyone else, I heard in the media that Canada... I know that Canada was the first country to speak up after the earthquake, the next day. People have received aid, certainly.
But if we go by what people have told me, what I have heard... People talk about aid, but I think Canada could have done better. We have been hearing people talking since this testimony began. Everyone talks about immigration, which is the sensitive point, the sore point, the point that I, personally, really consider to be a farce.
People in Haiti are impatiently waiting for that aid. People in Haiti are voicing criticism. The people who are here say it is bad faith because immigration is open to everyone, even people who are rotting there, who are eating dust. People wonder what is going on.
I am a member of the Regroupement des Femmes Haïtiennes de la Montérégie and I am the president of the Centre haïtien d'action familiale, which has been providing help non-stop since 6:00 on the morning of January 13. We work in the shadow, you don't see us on television, nobody talks about us, but all the things we accomplish are huge. I can't even say that we have resources; we have none. We try to help the people who come in, from morning to night, every day, who call, who want this and want that.
The centre has had the difficult job of accompanying two Montreal city police officers to the home of a mother to tell her that her son is dead. Then, the centre, with the help of the police, was able to bring three children whose mother is in Quebec to Canada. We arrange to find decent housing for people who have been lucky enough to come here and who have no resources. We try to find them apartments for really lower than low rent.
We are wondering how Canada can do more. The people who are rotting in Haiti have enormous needs. They are suffering from malnutrition and from a lack of hygiene, and they are living off the land. They are housed in improvised makeshift tents most of the time. To survive, these people have to stay standing up all night when it rains, because the ground is mud. The so-called tents are made of plastic that costs a dollar at the store. It is thin and of low quality. When it rains and the wind blows, these plastic sheets tear. They have to put on clothing to protect themselves and shelter themselves.
We are wondering what Canada could do to build temporary shelters made of resistant plastic, with a roof and a door, so that people have protection. I are not telling you anything new when I say that children and women are being raped, repeatedly. People do not dare to report these acts, out of fear of reprisals. I have a sister who, in a quirk of fate, went to Haiti. She came back last week. She had gone to work with a group of Americans. She saw that in some tents there were police and soldiers with guns. She wondered whether she was in Afghanistan or Iraq. Why are the people being sent there not doing anything to provide security for people?
A lot has been said about immigration. I hope these recommendations will not fall on deaf ears. The government had promised to expedite the immigration process, but we are wondering to what extent that promise has been kept. If I go by what we see at the centre, one tenth of the people who come here do not have the resources to bring a family member here, because they have nothing.
I would like to say that the centre, which has no resources, has set up a grief workshop for people who were there and have come back, who can't sleep at night, who tremble and have horrific nightmares. People there are dehydrated. They need psychological assistance, but they have nothing. People here need help too, but one way or another the CLSCs are looking after them a little. There are people in Haiti, however, children who can't sleep at night, who have nightmares, who scream, who see things passing in front of their eyes. We wonder what can be done to improve their situation.
Before closing, I would like us to rise and observe a minute of silence in memory of all the people who disappeared in the rubble. This is undoubtedly unusual, but because I have been invited, I am entitled to ask this.
[A moment of silence observed.]
Thank you.
I would like to add my sincere apologies for leaving my notes in my car.
Thank you.