» Canada Should Annex Haiti
Haiti is an ongoing humanitarian disaster. The earthquake, which the Haitian government lacks the infrastructure to recover from, is just the latest chapter.
Canada has already declared our intention to affect real change in Haiti. We have the means, motive and opportunity. Many of our diplomats and soldiers speak the same language; Quebec has a large Haitian-immigrant population. Canada lacks a foreign aid focus and a common cause to unite our peacekeeping dreams.
But disaster relief will not reform Haiti into a functioning state. In 2003, we lead a conference to plan the overthrown of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and instillation of interim President Boniface Alexandre. Why meddle from the shadows when both the Haitian population and the international community would probably support our above-board involvement?
Michaëlle Jean should propose annexation to the Haitian population: we’ll never have a better ambassador. Members of our government should explain to the leaders of Haiti that being a member of a federation is very different from being a French colony. Thousands of under-employed and altruistic Canadians would sign up to help the relief effort.
The opposition is calling for Visa Applications to be sped up and I started thinking why not just open up immigration from Haiti but I like your idea better.
Karen
14 Jan 10 at 6:03 pm
I was thinking why not? Maybe similar to the Turks & Caicos proposal to have them join the Federation? It might be costly initially but long term benefits would be enormous. Canada forever!
Softwaredude
16 Jan 10 at 2:36 pm
Okay, I agree (good link!).
First things first: how do we pay for that? Assume that since Haiti is a quarter of our population that it will take a quarter of our GDP to raise them to our standard of living. According to Google (wow!) our 2008 GDP was $1.4 trillion USD, so that works out to $350 billion. Per year.
That’s roughly twice what we spend on health care. We’re running a deficit. Stopping the war won’t help: Afghanistan has cost us less than $20 billion.
One way to pay is to make repairing Haiti a for profit enterprise, take the $350 billion out of taxes on new business opportunities. But now it’s beginning to sound cold, calculated, and Iraqi. No, thanks.
Each time you text ‘haiti’ to 45678 anywhere in Canada someone in Haiti gets $5 of help.
Jack
16 Jan 10 at 3:43 pm
I know it would be cheap and it would be a long term investment. I do agree, if it wasn’t for the war in Afghanistan, perhaps it might have a chance?
Softwaredude
17 Jan 10 at 10:37 am
Sorry, but we americans already called dibs. But I’m impressed, maybe in a few years we can has 2 evil empires in the wester hemisphere. Lonely being the only one :’(
p.s. – 1.3 trillion? pft, thats cute….
Mike
22 Jan 10 at 7:13 pm
I just tweeted about the same damn idea we got a demographic problem with the boomers getting too old and not enough kids to replace them. We also have a lot of empty land so an easy solution would be to just give them all citizenship you don’t annex the country you just empty it. The increase in population would end up increasing our GDP.
Rambling Johnny
27 Jan 10 at 12:12 pm