Port-au-Prince, Monday, May 15, 2006

It gives me great pleasure to be here with you today. If you only knew how privileged I feel to mark this solemn occasion in the democratic life of this country, the land of my birth.

I would like to tell you a little about my impressions since I arrived. I began by looking. I looked closely at the women, the men, the children, in the streets of Port-au-Prince.

What I saw is a population on the alert, at the very end of its tether. I saw the effects of a hard life on their bodies. Those effects don’t lie. The light has all but gone out in so many eyes, their faces weary. This is deeply troubling. Because we all know that misery will extinguish hope, leaving behind a powder keg.

For Haitians, hope has always been a golden rule of life, even when it was only held together by a thread. Let’s take this thread and trace a new starting point for Haiti. The signal is given: Go! This is the sound that rose from the Haitian people yesterday. The strength of those words resounded in calls for dialogue, the rallying of a nation around the common good, and ultimately the silencing of endless and sometimes deadly divisions that has allowed profound social injustices to reign for far too long.

A president who spoke to the people and said that the solution would come from every Haitian woman and man, not just one man. That democracy rests on security and a respect for rights, that Haitians themselves are responsible for their own destiny. Everywhere I went yesterday, I heard people talking about building a society that would revolve around the common good. You know as well as I do how devastating the every man for himself and his clan mentality has been for Haiti. You know how wide the gulf is between the haves and the have‑nots.

Yes, we are all standing at that starting point. We all share the same responsibility. The responsibility that will put an end, once and for all, to despair in Haiti. And to give the people of Haiti the means to turn their dreams into realities.

As the nation rallies around the common good, there stands each individual Haitian, responsible and strengthened by the support of the international community. I am here to tell you that Canada stands beside you.

And I know that in this room are chambers of commerce representing civil society organizations, not to mention the Diaspora, a willingness to be innovative, that you recognize the need to go the extra mile, to increase investments in priority sectors that have a direct impact on the betterment of all of Haiti.

You must seize this opportunity. The stars are in alignment for Haiti. You must strike while the iron is hot and answer the call for change. Now is the time to change mentalities, to change the way people see and do things. Once and for all, we must learn from the many lessons of the past. The time has come for real action for real results. That is the vision that Canada’s prime minister, Mr. Stephen Harper, shared with me. And I promise to tell him that you are willing to do what it takes and that Haiti is ready to make it happen.

And I am proud to be a part of the unbreakable bond that exists between my adopted country and my country of birth.

I want to express my profound gratitude to my Haitian brothers and sisters for their many messages of hope as I took the office of Governor General of Canada. I carry them still in my heart, where they remind me every day that nothing is impossible for those who believe in life and a better future.

Haiti has a right to a better future and a more dignified present. And Canada will remain a partner with the Haitian people, so anxious to turn this important page of their history.

So many projects are already underway and are a good sign of things to come. They are at the very heart of the democratic impulse and touch every facet of civic life. Some address security and the creation of a fair and accessible system of justice, where respect for human rights will prevail.

Others are dedicated to bolstering governmental and non‑governmental organizations and associations. We are counting on a productive and responsible collaboration with civil society, which has a duty to meet the desperate needs of the people.

Not to mention the many initiatives to ensure the quality and viability of health services, or the development of education and improvement of learning conditions: all of the endeavours that will bring comfort to so many communities, where infant mortality is a daily threat, where illiteracy touches more than half the population.

The fragility of women’s and children’s rights requires constant vigilance and attention.

And it is essential that infrastructures be established to rebuild the local economy and improve day‑to‑day lives. Nowhere is this more evident than in projects like the modernization of Jacmel’s electrical system so as to provide regular service and help develop the region.

And what of the help given to Haitian farmers, whose resources are synonymous with survival, so that they can diversify their production. Or the rehabilitation of the Artibonite basin, Haiti’s primary watercourse, to halt the process of erosion, soil degradation and environmental pollution.

During my visit, I will have the opportunity to visit the places where some of these projects have been launched thanks to the courage of women and men who often keep these projects alive through sheer determination for the betterment of their fellow citizens.

The determination with which some of you overcome challenges and remain focused on the common good reminds me of the determination I saw in a young Haitian boy whom I met during a previous visit to Jacmel, where my mother was born. Let me tell you a little about his story.

This child was proud to speak to me in impeccable French. He told me of his parents, poor, illiterate farmers whose sacrifices meant he could go to school. He told me it was his chance, because his brothers and sisters had to work in the fields to support the family. He told me, as the tears began to well up in his eyes, that with what he learned, he dreamed he would one day have the means to improve the lives of his loved ones and his community. He wanted to become a teacher or a doctor. He wanted to nourish minds or heal bodies right here, in his country.

That 11‑year‑old child wanted to believe that. And with a sob that went right to my heart, he told me that what needed to change in Haiti was the rampant selfishness.

His story is forever etched in my memory, and I share it often with Canadian children. It speaks to me of possibilities. And while I took part in the swearing‑in of President Préval yesterday, it was that young boy who occupied my thoughts.

I thought how in his own way, he embodied the hope of all young people—the majority of Haitians—who want to dream their dreams. It is up to us to help make those dreams a reality, not for the future, but right now. Right now.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.