Media Advisory: Governor General Opened the International Symposium "Haiti Today, Haiti Tomorrow: Contrasting

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, Apr 06 (MARKET WIRE) --
Her Excellency, the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean, Governor General of
Canada, delivered today remarks at the opening session of the
International Symposium "Haiti Today, Haiti Tomorrow: Contrasting
Perspectives", which was presided over by Mr. Allan Rock, President of
the University of Ottawa.

Organized by the School of International Development and Global Studies
(SIDGS) of the University of Ottawa, the event aimed to initiate a
dialogue between guest lecturers from various disciplines including
governments, co-operation agencies, non-governmental organizations,
universities and the Haitian community.

Governor General's Speech for the International Symposium "Haiti Today,
Haiti Tomorrow: Contrasting Perspectives":

In these turbulent times, the immediate, and certainly most promising,
response to the burning question 'what do we do in the face of an
unprecedented catastrophe?' is to show unshakeable solidarity through our
words and actions.

In a letter published in L'Actualite magazine addressed to Haiti, my
native country, when the tragic and unbearable images of suffering,
destruction and devastation caused by the January 12, 2010 earthquake
were being shown around the world on a daily basis, I spoke of an almost
fatal blow to hope, which had always ruled life in Haiti. Hope, even when
it was hanging by a thread, even as that thread continued to wear down,
but never break.

I began by thanking-and would like to once again thank-Canadians for
their immense and exemplary generosity, for collectively and unanimously
rejecting indifference when it came to the fate of their sisters and
brothers in Haiti.

I am all the more proud to represent a country where everything is
possible-as I said in my installation speech when I was sworn in as
Governor General of Canada-, a country of great compassion when it comes
to human dignity and the responsibilities of friendship.

Although we are still in a state of shock, and showing the same degree of
solidarity we did in the first days after the disaster, the time has now
come-as I am sure you will agree-to help an entire country rise from its
destruction and, as Haiti's Action Plan for National Recovery and
Development states, to "reverse the spiral of vulnerability."

I have just returned from the International Donor's Conference held at
the United Nations-which Canada helped to co-organize-and I would like to
share the global approach that the Haitian government, Haitian civil
society and the international community, including governments,
non-governmental organizations, institutions as well as the private
sector, all decided to build on.

While there is certainly a need for emergency measures to provide food
and drinking water, to relocate disaster victims, to erect temporary
shelters and to prevent the spread of disease-especially as the rainy
season approaches, posing a serious threat to tens of thousands of
lives-we must also, and perhaps more importantly, ensure that Haiti's
reconstruction is planned and carried out as a test of our ability to put
solidarity for the greater good before personal or specific interests.

When speaking at the United Nations, the President of Haiti, Rene Preval,
was right when he described the disaster that destroyed his country as an
opportunity to dream of another kind of humanity, one in which the spirit
of sharing triumphs over corporate greed.

It would be no less than a development framework that places human
dignity at the heart of all systems, all intervention strategies, every
joint effort, one that urgently calls for a new ethic of sharing.

I was in Haiti myself just three weeks ago. I was there to celebrate
International Women's Day on March 8 with Haitian women whose courage,
mobilization, inventiveness and conviction are one of Haiti's greatest
strengths, women without whom reconstruction in Haiti would be
unthinkable, impossible even. Nearly 3,000 women came to welcome me.

The incredible daring, tenacity and originality with which the women of
Haiti find solutions to the most difficult social problems is truly
remarkable.

This is what makes me also and quite firmly believe that Haitian civil
society is an extremely stable foundation on which sustainable
development in Haiti can be built.

I would like to share with you three observations I made based on what
the people of Haiti told me and on what I saw with my own eyes when I
visited disaster areas, standing amid the rubble and makeshift shelters,
where people are trying to organize their lives in the midst of chaos.

The first observation is that education can be a development tool.

A little girl standing in front of me, surrounded by dust and debris,
wanted to know where and when her classes would resume. The thirst for
knowledge shined in that child's eye like an oasis in the desert of the
ruins at her feet. Haiti's self-sufficiency will rise from this oasis.

This child's concern for her school was a powerful reminder of the
importance of re-establishing Haiti's education system. And all the
education sector representatives I met on the ground insisted the same,
recounting all the losses to human life, as well as to the
infrastructure. The toll is horrific: over 4,000 students and hundreds of
teachers and staff members died, and over 89% of schools and educational
institutions, including two universities in Port-au-Prince, were
destroyed in the earthquake.

When contemplating reconstruction, the first thing we must do is ensure
that every system-from the elementary to the professional training and
higher education levels-is built on the notions of accessibility and
quality.

We must not forget how much arts and culture also contribute to
education, and to daily life in Haiti. A number of heritage and memory
safeguarding sites collapsed in the earthquake, essential landmarks that
have always cemented the Haitian identity. Artists and creators are
working to assemble, list, file, rebuild, protect and participate fully
in collective efforts so that life triumphs over misfortune and the
country's spirit can catch its breath. Throughout their history, when
faced with adversity, the people of Haiti have always turned to song,
dance, rhythm, poetry and painting as a way to group and meditate so as
to better regain self-control. Today, as in the past, this is an
essential resource.

My second observation is that the regions must be included in the
national reconstruction plan.

It is mostly a question of decentralization, deconcentration of resources
and powers, and relieving congestion in the capital, which is dangerously
overpopulated because of rural exodus. It is a question of urgently
relocating people from Port-au-Prince and the communities hardest hit by
the earthquake. This awareness has restored the vital role that Haiti's
regions and rural areas have in the national recovery plan-areas that,
frankly, have been ignored by the capital for a long time.

Haiti's regions must play a full part in finding solutions for and
developing the country as a whole. Only a decentralized approach will be
productive in the short, medium and long term.

In this regard, the civil society representatives I met in
Port-au-Prince, Leogane and Jacmel all agreed and said that we must
strengthen abilities outside the capital and decompartmentalize the
regions; build "villages of life" with infrastructure, services,
development and employment opportunities; support the expertise of small
farmers and agriculture production to fight food insecurities; put
forward environmental protection measures, notably to slow down the
tragic process of erosion. Designing viable living conditions with a
national vision will also strengthen local governance. To do all this, we
must establish a land register to ensure that land is distributed fairly
and especially take the time to consider the situation and the needs in
Haiti in collaboration with its people, fully acknowledging that their
initiatives are part of the solutions.

My third observation is how committed young people are.

The danger of seeing a generation of young people falling victim to
organized crime and those who prey on human suffering is very real. It is
our responsibility to get this large and daring generation of young
people involved in reconstruction efforts and to engage them by
developing their ability to act and supporting their willingness to work.
Over half the Haitian population is under the age of twenty!

A number of people I met at the conference in New York-people who have
also been to Haiti since the earthquake-told me they have the same
concerns, and that it is essential we respond to the disaster with an
approach that both respects the priorities and expertise of the Haitian
people, and could be used as a model for development.

This is something sincerely hoped for by all the leaders I spoke with,
including the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, his
Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Stabilization
Mission in Haiti, Edmond Mulet, the United Nations Special Envoy for
Haiti, Bill Clinton, and the United States Secretary of State, Hillary
Rodham Clinton.

I am delighted that this Symposium here at the University of Ottawa would
like to reaffirm our commitment-through reflection and action-to a
development model that provides so much hope.

Because there is no doubt that what we are doing is taking stock of what
we can accomplish, as a species, when we decide to all work together and
reinvent life.

This is the dream the people of Haiti speak of.

It is also my dream.

That is, in the words of sociologist Edgar Morin, "to learn to be, to
live, share, communicate, commune as humans of Planet Earth."

Contacts:
Rideau Hall Press Office
Marie-Eve Letourneau
613-998-0287/613-302-0912 (cell)
meletourneau@gg.ca
www.gg.ca

University of Ottawa
Nadine Saint-Amour
613-562-5800 ext. 3149/613-724-8326
nadine.saint-amour@uottawa.ca
www.uottawa.ca

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