Calls growing in the GTA to support Haiti amid recent gang violence

With safety concerns sharply rising in Haiti over recent weeks, there are growing calls in the Greater Toronto Area for the federal government to help the country as well as the people who looking to leave.

“One thing that I would love for [the Canadian government] to do is to have that same energy that they have with other countries that are facing situations similar or even worse than this where they opened their doors,” said Djiny Saint Jean, the founder of the charity Haitians of Toronto.

“I’m not saying to open the doors to everyone because obviously, they have to be vetted properly, but to have a special program for Haitians and to not make it so difficult or so hard.”

Saint Jean, along with her sister Jasmenta St. Jean, told CityNews they have family members in Haiti facing dire circumstances. They said their cousin has been able to send text updates, asking if they could send money to help her get food as it becomes increasingly scarce.

Djiny also described how it has been cumbersome to help her aunt file the necessary paperwork to come to Canada and escape the current situation.

“She had to leave Cap-Haitien to come to Port-au-Prince so she can get her fingerprint, her medical, and her police certificate because all that stuff has to happen in Port-au-Prince. Cap-Haitien is very peaceful,” Djiny said.

“Now they’re stuck there and we cannot control what can happen to them … so it’s very scary for us. We’re just praying that the violence, the shooting will end soon.”

For Djiny and Jasmenta, what’s happening in Haiti is a far cry from what they experienced growing up in the country.

“Haiti has been and will always be in my heart … Haiti is bad right now, but don’t believe everything you hear about Haiti. Haiti is a beautiful country. Haiti is a rich country,” Jasmenta said.

“It’s such a beautiful feeling waking up at my grandma’s house smelling the coffee. There’s no traffic or the sound of cars, it is just so peaceful and beautiful — so green, so lush. We always used to be in the rivers,” Djiny added.

Djiny also emphasized there is a strong sense of community spirit among many.

“You have the whole neighbourhood. You have the kids to play with outside. You have the grownups to look after you,” she remembered.

“The neighbours, they all take responsibility to really raise the children.”

As they became teenagers nearly two decades ago, Djiny and Jasmenta had to leave the country with their family for the United States due to emerging security threats.

Fast-forward to two years ago when Djiny began Haitians of Toronto as a way to bolster the community in the Greater Toronto Area as well as Haiti itself.

The recent spike in gang violence and the carnage left in its wake has shaken the family.

“Haiti is drowning right now. Kids can’t eat, kids can’t go to school, they don’t have water, like help us,” Jasmenta said.

“I keep telling my friends, ‘We need to start marching just like everybody else march(es) because maybe that’s when [the federal government] will hear us, maybe that’s when they will see us,’ but it seems like they don’t really care to help us.”

Kevin Edmonds, an assistant professor specializing in Caribbean studies at the University of Toronto, said the latest wave of violence isn’t surprising.

As the country has dealt with various political, security and natural crises in recent decades, he said residents haven’t had the support they truly need from international entities.

“I think it’s a long time coming given that a number of initiatives that have been put forward on the ground by Haitians have been totally sidelined during this process,” Edmonds said.

“With this breakdown of the state where you have no elected political figures in the country at all, the gangs have really been able to move into this vacuum.”

As talks have ramped up about an intervention in the country, Edmonds said there aren’t any easy answers but countries like Canada need to do more to get Haitians directly involved in a solution.

“We’ve been pushing these kinds of interventions on them and then blaming the Haitians when it’s not working, which I really think is not fair to them,” he said.

Edmonds said one of the major issues facing Haiti is a lack of jobs. He said there should be ways to kickstart economic development through farming.

“What we have is land, we have people, let’s develop agriculture, right? That’s a way to keep people in the country, to provide a basic market, (to) allow people to grow food for themselves so they aren’t dependent on food aid,” he said.

Meanwhile, Djiny and Jasmenta added they have a farm property in Haiti. They said they would like to build a farm to further develop the agricultural industry and create jobs.

“I know a lot of people when they donate, they give them money and they go and buy food. That doesn’t really do anything. It’s just a band-aid kind of solution,
Djiny said.

“I know there’s so many opportunities to create jobs, then things will probably get better.”