The ailing Haitian government has accused Canada of delaying promised deliveries of armored vehicles, arguing that the delay is stymieing a plan to eliminate violent gangs from Port-au-Prince.

But the Toronto-based company that makes these mine-resistant, raid-proof vehicles says it is working as quickly as possible in the face of supply chain disruptions and mistakes by Haitian officials.

In an interview on Haitian radio on Monday, acting justice minister Emmelie Prophète-Milcé said the majority of the 18 armored vehicles ordered by her country had not yet arrived. She claimed that the company that has to supply these armored vehicles “did not keep its word”. Violent gangs have controlled much of the Haitian capital for months, leading to shortages of basic food and medical supplies and a rise in sexual assaults.

As part of Canada’s response, Ottawa says it was flying armored vehicles purchased by the Haitian government. Canada has so far chosen to support the Haitian police rather than embrace the scenario of international military intervention. But Minister Prophet-Milcé reiterated that “if all armored vehicles were delivered on time, the police could implement their strategy.”

The company involved, INKAS, claims to have acted as quickly as possible and not to have breached the contract. “Statements made by someone new to their position are not necessarily accurate,” said Eugene Gerstein, deputy director of INKAS, who has visited Haiti several times.

Mr Gerstein claimed on Wednesday that between seven and 10 ordered vehicles had arrived in Haiti, that four “will be out shortly” and that about four more “are expected a few weeks later”. He also pointed out that his company had donated other vehicles to Haiti, such as B. $1 million armored personnel carriers.

The former military officer said there were two main reasons for the delays. First, he said, Haitian officials continue to change their minds about the modifications, particularly how best to protect the vehicles’ tops from fire from above. The other issue he points to concerns supply chains, particularly those of wire harnesses. Automakers have insufficient numbers of these, which forced INKAS to develop them from scratch rather than wait.

Gerstein also said the Haitian National Police wrecked one of the new vehicles by switching from two-wheel drive to four-wheel drive, causing the differential to lock up.

Global Affairs Canada has not yet responded to a request for comment on Haiti’s allegations.

Canadian sanctions

The minister’s comments come as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to call on Europe and the United States to emulate Canada and sanction Haitian elites.

“For me, the best way to restore stability to Haiti is to first sanction the elites, telling them they can no longer fund the gangs. [ni] political instability,” he said Monday at a public meeting in Montreal’s Saint-Michel neighborhood.

Canada has imposed sanctions on 17 members of Haiti’s political and business elite over their alleged gang links. Ottawa specifically prohibits them from financial transactions in Canada. Many of those affected by the sanctions dispute these allegations, arguing that Ottawa acted on substandard information.

Last December, Mr Trudeau called on Europe to follow suit. Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, said in January France could change the situation by imposing similar sanctions. Trudeau said Monday he was not satisfied with the response those countries have had so far. “The United States started imposing more sanctions. We need them to do a lot more. We need the countries of Europe, France, to do more,” he argued.

France has said it is instead adhering to a United Nations process that sanctions bad actors in Haiti, banning them from visiting most countries and banning them from doing financial transactions with foreign entities. This slow UN process has only affected one person since it started last October.

In an interview in December, the French ambassador to Haiti, Fabrice Mauriès, criticized Canada’s actions and preferred those of the UN. And “if the sanctions remain Canadian, they will fail,” he told Radio France International.

Military intervention?

Haiti’s unelected government has called for international military intervention to eliminate gangs, but this scenario deeply divides Haitians.

The UN has previously found that foreign military personnel it supervised in previous operations in Haiti sexually abused residents and caused an outbreak of cholera.

Meanwhile, Trudeau said Wednesday that Ottawa has helped Haiti in many ways since the end of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986, but more permanent changes are needed. “We’ve carried out military missions, we’ve built hospitals, we’ve trained police officers, provided prison guards – we’ve done a lot of work and yet the problems persist,” he said at a news conference in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Trudeau advocated a “new approach” that puts Haitians in the driver’s seat. “External intervention, as we have done in the past, has not helped bring long-term stability to Haiti. »

In any case, the Chief of Defense Staff doubts that Canada has the military “capacity” to carry out such an intervention in Haiti. “There are so many things to consider […]. It would be difficult,” General Wayne Eyre admitted in an interview with Reuters last week.

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