Canadians watched with horror in January as news of death and devastation emerged in the wake of the magnitude-7.2 earthquake that rocked Haiti Jan. 12.
Many French-speaking Canadians especially watched the news with personal enthrallment, given the linguistic and family ties between the Caribbean nation and French Canada.
Canada has a large Haitian expat community with some 100,000 ex-Haitians said to be living in Montreal alone. In many cases, it was younger Haitian Canadians who had sought a better life in Canada who were distraught over missing relatives including parents back in their homeland.
Social networks and traditional media outlets such as the Toronto Star posted wrenching notices of missing kinfolk. Here are two typical messages from the Star message board indicating seniors still not found as of Jan. 20:
• Pierre-Jean Alexandre, 69, is Haitian-born but lived in Montreal. He left his homeland during his formative years and landed alone in Montreal to forge a better life for himself, leaving behind the violence and tragedy encountered by his parents. Now Pierre-Jean's family has to deal with its own tragedy.
"He always goes back to Haiti every year," said Micheline Alexandre of her father. He travelled to Croix-des-Bouquets on Nov. 24 and has been out of touch since the earthquake shook the nation.
• Jean-Claude Olivier, 68, is also from Montreal. He took himself out of Haiti, but Haiti never left him. Arriving in Canada in the 1980s, he loved his new country for welcoming him, but "his heart was always in Haiti," said his daughter Fabiola. "He always wanted to go back, to finish his life there."
Olivier had a house in Jacmel, south of the capital of Port-au-Prince, and arrived there in December, scouting out opportunities to return permanently.
Praise and pans for Governor-General
The most prominent Haitian expat in Canada is Governor-General Michaelle Jean, a former journalist who originally arrived in Canada as an 11-year-old immigrant.
She gave an impassioned speech the day following the earthquake, calling on the world to help the "most vulnerable people in the Americas" in her native Haiti. After spending a sleepless night, Jean, 52, told her audience that she was speaking as Governor-General as well as a child of Haiti.
"We know every minute, every hour can make a difference and draw a line between life and death," she said tearfully, expressing anguish for the people affected by the enormous tragedy.
"Like me, Haitian communities across Canada are heartbroken and overwhelmed by the magnitude of this catastrophe. The images and news reports are unbearable to watch," said Jean, who has friends and family members still missing. "It's as if an atomic bomb had fallen over Port-au-Prince. People are stuck in the rubble and there is nothing to help people get out." Though she broke briefly into tears, she managed to press on with the media conference.
However, her honest emotion in the face of personal tragedy prompted criticism from one critic.
In a letter to the Globe and Mail, "Irish immigrant" James C. Mullan of Toronto wrote disdainfully:
"Governor-General Michaelle Jean's emotional TV performance was a disgrace. She put her country of origin before the country in which she holds office and evoked emotion unbecoming the Queen's representative."
His opinion differed from the majority of letter writers.
"Since when is it disgraceful to show emotion when confronted with indescribable suffering?" wrote Nadia Hanson of Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que. to the Globe.
"It seems to me she conducted herself with great grace," chipped in R.G. Johnson of Winnipeg in another Globe letter.
The Toronto Star's Haroon Siddiqui had nothing but praise for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and sympathy for the Governor General.
"Jean stirred the Canadian soul,” he wrote in an editorial dated Jan. 17, before noting the critical comment from Mullen.
"Harper's response to Haiti has been exemplary – setting up the Canadian embassy in Port-au-Prince as "a base camp" for the 6,000 Canadians in Haiti," Siddiqui wrote.
Where you can send donations
The federal government has announced that it will match each dollar donated to a registered Canadian charitable organization to a maximum of $50-million.
Organizations providing help for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti include:
• Canadian Red Cross: Donations can be made by calling toll free 800-418-1111 or online at redcross.ca or at any Red Cross office.
• Save the Children Canada, CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada and Oxfam-Quebec are united as The Humanitarian Coalition: For donations by phone: 800-464-9154 or visit thehumanitariancoalition.ca
• World Vision Canada: For donations by phone call 866-595-5550 or online at worldvision.ca
• Free the Children: Visit freethechildren.com or email info@freethechildren.com
• Medecins Sans Frontieres: Phone 1-800-982-7903 or 416-964-0619 or look online at msf.ca.
The Salvation Army: Phone 1-800-725-2769 or online at salvationarmy.ca
See thestar.com/topic/Haiti for an extensive listing of charities taking donations.
