"Open", "Fair", and "Democratic"

[bcholmes]

Canada will spend $5.8 million to help Haiti with its presidential and parliamentary elections in November, Minister of International Co-operation Bev Oda announced Tuesday. The money will go to the United Nations Development Program to help the Haitian electoral council, which oversees the elections; to Elections Canada which will be providing technical support during the Nov. 28 elections; and to Haiti's Conseil national pour l'observation des elections for the training and deployment of local electoral observers.

"Canada has been a long-time supporter of democratic, open, and fair electoral processes in Haiti," Oda said in a news release. "Good governance and strong democratic institutions are essential to ensuring the success of reconstruction [there]."

— "Canada pledges $5.8M to Haiti elections", CBC News

This number is small compared to the $30 million that Canada spent on elections in 2006. But it's still true that Canada is funding these elections that are excluding the parties that really represent the poor majority in Haiti.

The article notes that Haiti is now the largest recipient of Canadian aid; until recently, that was Afghanistan.