Bruce Gilley

Pèp ayisyen, Nou prèske fin deplwaye sòlda nou yo ak ekipman nou yo sou tè Ayiti. Sa a se pa yon operasyon kont pèp ayisyen an, ni yon envazyon peyi Ayiti. Nou pa yon gwo pisans. Nou pa gen okenn enterè ni pou nou vin domine pèp ayisyen an, ni pou nou mete men sou richès Ayiti. Nou se yon peyi modès k ap devlope. Sèl sa nou vle, se pou kat teknisyen avyasyon nou yo tounen lakay yo. Epi n ap bay gang yo yon leson, gang sa yo k ap fè pèp ayisyen an soufri, ki touye moun pèp la renmen yo, k ap anpeche l viv yon lavi nòmal, lib, san laperèz. Se prèske nou menm sèl k ap peye pou operasyon sa a. Menmsi nou resevwa yon ti èd lojistik nan men kèk lòt peyi, se ak pwòp ti kès nou n ap kouvri 90% nan depans yo. Sa koute nou chè, men nou te aprann nan pwòp soufrans nou: jistis ak lapè pa gen pri. Nou te pase nan menm soufrans Ayiti ap travèse jodi a. Nou te viv yon beny san ki te pi terib toujou pase sa pèp ayisyen an ap sibi kounye a. Nou konnen sa sa vle di: viv nan laperèz, pa fè politisyen konfyans, pa kwè okenn moun ki pwomèt l ap ede w. Paske pèsonn pa t vin ede nou, e moun ki te vini yo pa t gen bon entansyon nan kè yo. Men nou te rive chape anba sa. Apre 200 lane soufrans, finalman n ap viv nan lapè, e jodi a nou se peyi ki gen plis sekirite sou kontinan an. Nou pa vin ann Ayiti pou nou touche lajan, paske pèsonn pa peye nou pou sa. Nou vin ann Ayiti pou nou goumen kont mechan yo. Men sa m ap mande nou: fè nou konfyans, lapriyè sèl vrè Bondye a, epi mande L pou L geri Ayiti. “Lè sa a si pèp ki pote non m lan lapriyè nan pye m, si yo soumèt devan mwen, si yo pran chache m ankò, si yo vire do bay vye peche yo t'ap fè yo, m'ap tande yo nan syèl kote m ye a, m'ap padonnen peche yo, m'ap fè peyi a kanpe ankò.” 2 Kwonik 7:14 Ede nou ede Ayiti. Epi lè misyon nou an fini, n ap tounen lakay nou. Petèt jenerasyon Ayisyen k ap vini yo ap sonje nou kòm zanmi ki te vin ede yon lè.

“It’s time to colonize Haiti”, noted a recent UK Spectator column. According to Bruce Gilley, Canada should oversee “a formal UN trusteeship over the country.” The Montreal raised, University of Toronto graduate, demonstrates a scarcity of imagination in making his colonialist appeal. Highlighting an openly colonial streak in Canadian politics, prominent voices have repeatedly promoted formally usurping Haitian sovereignty. “The only way to save Haiti is to put it under UN control,” noted a 2022 Globe and Mail headline. In 2014 right-wing Quebec City radio host, Sylvain Bouchard, told listeners, “I would transform Haiti into a colony. The UN must colonize Haiti.” Two years later another Quebec City radio host, André Arthur, labeled Haiti a “hopeless” and “sexually deviant” country populated by thieves and prostitutes that should be taken over by France as in the “heyday of colonial Haiti” (“belle époque de l’Haïti colonial”). “There is no hope in Haiti until the country is placed under trusteeship”, bellowed the former Member of Parliament in 2016. “We will never dare to do it, political correctness, it would be racism to say: So you say to France: … ‘For the next thirty years, you are the owner of Haiti, put it right. Kick the asses that need to be kicked.” During the 2003 “Ottawa initiative on Haiti” conference to plan the ouster of elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide US, French and Canadian officials discussed putting the country under UN trusteeship while a 2005 Canadian Military Journal article was titled “The case for international trusteeship in Haiti”. In the US edition of the Spectator - “the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the English language” - Gilley lays out a startlingly biased portrayal of Haiti’s revolution and subsequent history. The Portland State University professor writes, “If only the rebels had waited. The abolition of slavery within the French empire came in 1794. But by then, Haiti was already hurtling towards misery under its new rulers.” It was the Africans of Saint Domingue freeing themselves that spurred the French to (temporarily) abolish slavery. After winning their liberation from slavery and colonial rule in a war that killed half the population over thirteen years, Haitians were forced to pay their former masters an astronomical sum for their freedom. Under threat of invasion and the restoration of slavery, Francophile Haitian president Jean-Pierre Boyer agreed in 1825 to pay French slaveholders 150 million francs for lost land and now free Haitians. In a remarkable inversion, Gilley calls a ransom that took the beleaguered country a century to pay as helping Haiti “get its house into order.” The author of a controversial 2017 Third World Quarterly article headlined "The Case for Colonialism", claims “the indemnity was the only thing that prevented Haiti from sliding into pure dysfunction in the 19th century.” While calling for a UN trusteeship, Grilley ignores the abuses of the 2004-2017 United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), which consisted of 8,000 foreign troops and 2,000 police (a smaller UN force remained for several more years). After helping oust thousands of elected officials in 2004, 500 Canadian soldiers were incorporated into MINUSTAH as it backed up a coup government’s violent crackdown against pro-democracy protesters between March 2004 and May 2006. The UN force also killed dozens of civilians directly when it pacified Cité Soleil, a bastion of support for Aristide. The UN force was responsible for innumerable sexual abuses and its disregard for Haitian life caused a major cholera outbreak, which left over 10,000 dead and one million sick. The UN occupation introduced a form of multilateral colonial oversight to Haiti. The April 2004 Security Council resolution that replaced the two-month-old US, France and Canada Multinational Interim Force with MINUSTAH established the Core Group, which includes representatives of the US, Canada, France, Spain, Brazil, OAS, EU and UN. The Core Group periodically releases collective statements on Haitian affairs and meet among themselves and with Haitian officials. It’s a flagrantly colonial alliance. After President Jovenel Moise was killed in 2021, for instance, the Core Group effectively appointed Ariel Henry prime minister through a tweet. Last year the UN approved a foreign Gang Suppression Force for Haiti. After four El Salvadoran troops were killed a week ago that country has quickly deployed upwards of 1000 troops to Haiti. Its authoritarian President, Nayib Bukele, is using bellicose language, which echoes Gilley’s call for a “Rambo” mission that should tell the gangs we “will wipe you out.” Those calling for foreign control of Haiti ignore its loss of sovereignty since the 2004 coup. By what standards was the usurpation of Haitian sovereignty successful? By basically any metric, 22 years of US/Canada, UN, Core Group influence in Haiti has been a disaster. But imperialists don’t simply ignore the damaging impact of foreign intervention. In a stark demonstration of how power affects ideology, the more Haitian sovereignty is undercut the more forthright the calls to usurp Haitian sovereignty.

The best person for the job should get the job. Period. Today we tabled legislation that would ensure hiring and promotion decisions in the public sector are based on merit, not DEI policies. Mandatory workplace training will be relevant to the roles and responsibilities of the employee, instead of mandatory DEI sessions. Every Albertan deserves a fair shot, and fairness means everyone competes on the same terms.

Oregon's future shouldn't be dictated by trillion-dollar corporations - it should be decided by Oregonians. I'm proud to stand alongside @Janefonda in the fight to put people over mega-corporate interests. As your Governor, that's exactly what I'll continue to do.

Merci aux jeunes de Génération Zemmour pour leur engagement sans faille à nos côtés ! L’avenir est à ces jeunes qui ont la France chevillée au corps. 🇫🇷