Canada is 'elbows deep' in helping Haiti, Trudeau says

OTTAWA — Canada is sticking to its plan to help Haiti by boosting its support for the Haitian National Police — for now.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sidestepped direct questions Thursday demanding to know if Canada has been asked to lead a military intervention in Haiti. Canada's response in Haiti is being guided by lessons and “difficult experience” from past interventions and missions, he said.

“Canada is elbows deep in terms of trying to help,” Trudeau said in Nassau, the Bahamas. “The best thing we can do to help is enable the Haitian leadership and the patient people themselves to be driving their pathway out of this crisis.”

Trudeau announced Canada will send two navy vessels to the Haitian coast as part of a surveillance and intelligence operation.

The announcement is the latest in Canada's piecemeal response, short of the military intervention requested by acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

Trudeau said the deployment of the navy vessels is intended to deter gangs from using waterways as “an extra sphere of influence.” They will not be there to intercept migrants, he added.

“They are there to assist the Haitian National Police in their efforts to control the gang activity in Port-au-Prince and along the coast,” Trudeau told reporters, wrapping two days of meetings with Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders.

Haiti and climate change topped the leaders’ agendas.

In addition to the two ships, Canada will airlift three MRAPS (mine-resistant light armored vehicles), purchased by the Haitian National Police, to the country “in the coming days.”

The Canadian leader said his government’s focus is to intervene in an “atrocious situation” by strengthening the Haitian National Police. “What's happening in Haiti is absolutely heartbreaking — and we need to do everything we can that will help.”

Both the White House and Canadian government have for months emphasized the need to find a Haitian-led solution to prevent the country from descending further into lawlessness.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Tuesday that discussions continue with Canada and other partners in the hemisphere, the Organization of American States and the United Nations about what can be done to bring stability and security to Haiti.

A Haitian-led response has yet to emerge, and enduring interlaced humanitarian, political and security crises risk plummeting the country into further misery.

Canada has leaned on sanctions as a tool to choke financial flows to Haitian elites and gangs linked to violence in the country — a strategy that saw the addition of two names to its list of 17 sanctioned individuals Thursday.