Canadians and the Tragedy in Haiti

Haiti has been a news story up here almost like no other. I suspect—though I have no research to support this—that it has received more coverage in Canada than the hurricane that devastated New Orleans, even more than the tsunami that swept away untold numbers in Southeast Asia.

The outpouring of concern, love, resources astounds me. The amount we have donated as citizens and as a government is extraordinary. We seem to have found an identity we have lost of late: global helpers, peacekeepers, good guys. There’s been some effort here, in the years we’ve been engaged in Afghanistan, to change Canadians self-image of their military from a bunch of blue helmeted U.N. supporters to a well-equipped and capable fighting force, but I sense it hasn’t fully taken hold. Canadians would much rather see their military as unequivocal do-gooders than mired in the morally confusing dust of Khandhar. The relief effort in Haiti allows Canadians to reclaim some of their good-guy mojo.

The attraction to supporting Haiti is natural for Canada. It is another French speaking land in the Americas. Canada, and particularly Quebec, has a large Haitian community. And perhaps, most importantly, at this particular moment in time, our head of state, Governor General Michaëlle-Jean, is Haitian. She has been an eloquent and emotional voice for the suffering of Haiti, unafraid to convey her deep empathy, as in this video of her singing a song of hope her mother taught her in Haiti: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/video/jeans-song-of-hope/%20article%201443391/.

One may have strong disagreements with her willingness to support Stephen Harper’s two requests to pro-rogue Parliament, but how can one not love her spirit? It is hard to imagine any U.S. President—or, for that matter, any other Governor General—willing to be so open-hearted and vulnerable with their feelings for the suffering of others. Bravo, Michaëlle-Jean.