Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Outremont.
Why are we here tonight? To start with, we are here to discuss Canada's role in Haiti after the devastating earthquake that reduced much of its capital, Port-au-Prince, to rubble and displaced many Haitians. To give members an idea, this was the worst earthquake in the region in more than 200 years. The estimated total cost of the disaster was between $7.2 billion and $13.2 billion, based on a death toll of anywhere from 200,000 to 250,000 people. In fact, there have been numbers later revised up to 300,000 people. Crushed buildings from the January earthquake still spill out onto the sidewalks. There is a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 1,000 people and stoked violent demonstrations against peacekeepers, and now, on top of all that, an election process that has thrown the country into even further destabilization.
Canadians promised to provide long-term assistance to the Haitian people. Canadians gave generously in order to help the country get back on its feet quickly. The aftermath of the earthquake is now being exacerbated by a cholera epidemic and a questionable electoral process. After the elections, there is the risk of an even greater destabilization of Haiti.
There are three parts to this problem. In the short term, we need to save the lives of those who are threatened by cholera. In the medium term, we need to help rebuild basic infrastructure in Haiti. In the long term, we need to focus on rebuilding and strengthening democratic institutions in Haiti with Haitians and not by others.
What does that mean to the current post-election crisis? Canada should engage the political leadership of Haiti to work toward common goals and to stabilize the political situation in Haiti so that the basic fundamental needs of Haitians can be met immediately.
The cholera crisis is horrific. According to the United Nations, 400,000 people might catch it over the next year.
According to Canadian organizations on the ground, the most immediate needs are as follows: a good campaign to educate the people and prevent contagion; the prompt distribution of water purification tablets and soap; the establishment of cholera treatment centres and the training of those who work in them; and safe and respectful transportation of the dead and the holding of suitable funerals.
In the medium term, we need to help Haiti rebuild its basic infrastructure.
In the medium term, we must get on with the construction of housing for the 1.6 million displaced Haitians living in precarious conditions in the camps. It is important that a drinking water system be established.
In the long term, we must focus on the institutions of the country and, above all, on civil society, justice and the participation of women. Never again must the democratic ambitions of Haitians be held back by an electoral process that limits participation and allows abuse to run rampant.
In the long term, we should help rebuild and strengthen Haiti's democratic institutions. No longer should Haitians' democratic ambitions be dampened by an electoral process that limits participation and is open to abuse.
We made a commitment to Haiti, not just after last year's earthquake but before that. What we need to be seized with right now is to ensure the aid and the support that we provide to Haiti is not done to them but is done with them in the spirit of solidarity. What is of concern to many is that for Haitians right now, what they see is a crisis of cholera, an election that is not accepted by many and a world community that seems to be unsure of what to do next.
It is clear what we must do. We must be with the Haitians. We must be absolutely certain that their priorities are met immediately. If this is just about gamesmanship, if this is just about trying to put our guy in power, then it will fail miserably.
I will urge the government, as will many in our party, to be vigilant as to what our goal is in Haiti. It is to support the people, and we must engage our diaspora community to do that. We have an untapped resource with people of the diaspora community in Montreal, Ottawa and throughout the country. They are clear about what they want to see. They want to see Canada take a leadership role to provide the stability that is necessary so we can get on with the work, in the short term, of saving lives; in the medium term, of helping rebuild the critical infrastructure that is required, not only from the earthquake but before that; and, in the long term, that we focus our energies and our support on rebuilding civil society so that it will be a country that will be able to have a democratic election, that will no longer be open to abuse, that will have important institutions and that will be able to withstand the conflicts that can occur.
Those are the things that we need to see. We hope our government is playing a leadership role and that it is doing what we have done best in Canada, which is playing an honest broker role to find the pathway to solutions. If Canada seizes that opportunity, not only will it have the full support of our party but I am sure of all Canadians. Most important, if we are able to provide that time-honoured Canadian value of finding that pathway, then we will have the support and the welcome of the Haitian people.