Monday, the Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe, met to the Primature, the Ambassador of Canada to Haiti, Henri-Paul Normandin, around the Canadian government's decision to freeze funds allocated to Haiti as part of the international development assistance.

During this meeting, Mr. Normandin indicated that the freezing of funds announced, is related only to the next programming cycle of Canada's aid to Haiti and that ongoing projects that receive Canadian funds, particularly through the Canadian NGOs, will not be affected.

This meeting, to which took part, Pierre Richard Casimir, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador of Haiti to Canada, Frantz Liautaud and Stephanie Von Westarp, the representative of the Canadian Agency for International Development (CIDA) in Haiti was an opportunity for the Chief of the Haitian government to return with his interlocutor on the recent statements of the Canadian Minister for International Cooperation, Julian Fantino.

The Ambassador noted that the Canadian Government was in period of reflection and that after this period, the Canada with Haiti will be better able to decide which projects will be implemented.

Convinced that Canada remains a partner for Haiti the Prime Minister stressed the importance of analyzing in mutual respect new avenues of solutions aimed at boosting the cooperation Haitiano-Canadian and align it with Haitian priorities.

Both parties have agreed to strengthen their partnership and to dialogue through the "Framework for Coordination of External Aid Development (ACCD)" recently introduced by the Government to channel and more effective the international aid from sovereign control mechanisms based on transparency and accountability.

In addition, Ambassador Normandin confirmed the statements of Marie-Carmelle Jean-Marie, Minister of Economy and Finance, who stated that there was no gourdes from Canada in the Government Budget https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-7564-haiti-reconstruction-canada-freezes-funds-for-haiti-confusion-and-reactions.html "It is absolutely true [...] But we must put things in perspective. Many of our projects and our programs are implemented in collaboration or with the involvement of the Haitian State [...] we should not focus solely on the issue of money transfers [...]"

Concerning the travel warning for Canadian travelers, the Ambassador indicated that contrary to what some media reported, Canada made ​​no warning concerning Haiti on the whole, but only in December an update notice for Jérémie [removed since] https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-7317-haiti-canada-warning-for-canadian-travellers-going-to-jeremie.html "There is no warning for the entire country. What we're saying is if you come to Haiti, exercise caution. It is very clear at this level," stressing that this advice is the same that Canada gives its citizens a for several countries in the region and that Haiti was not treated differently.

HL/ HaitiLibre