OTTAWA — Canada is preparing to welcome foreign ministers from around the globe Monday who will plot a path forward for earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon said the gathering of nations will not be a "pledging conference" but an initial, critical step forward on the long road to Haiti's recovery.
"Together with the government of Haiti, we need to roll up our sleeves and begin to lay the groundwork for the enormous task ahead," Cannon said during a briefing with reporters Sunday. "My objectives for this meeting are simple but necessary: We need to arrive at a common understanding and commitment on certain basic principles of responsibility, accountability and long-term engagement."
Fourteen countries, including the U.S., France, Japan and Mexico, will participate in the conference along with international financial institutions and non-government organizations such as the Red Cross, Oxfam and Care Canada. Cannon hopes participants will define a "road map" for long-term tasks that lie ahead.
Cannon said the focus of the government is also on repatriating the remains of Canadian victims of the earthquake since the Government of Haiti declared the search and rescue phase over Saturday. He said the government is working through a number of "complex logistical issues" related to identification and proper documentation of individuals.
To date, 19 Canadians are confirmed dead and 216 are still missing after the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney was in Ottawa to help welcome the first wave of Haitian orphans to Canada, and said it must have been like going to "another planet" from the Caribbean to Canadian winter.
Wrapped in blankets, some children were still wearing shorts.
Kenney said inquiries have been flooding in from compassionate Canadians who want to help by adopting orphans, but he insisted authorities must try to find the parents or relatives of the children before giving them to foreign adoptive families. Citing reports of child-trafficking from the disaster zone, Kenney said the government will not install any "corner-cutting" measures that could facilitate the illicit handling of children.
"There is not going to be any fast-tracking of adoptions for post-earthquake out of Haiti," he told CTV's Question Period. "We're going to have to organize this properly to make sure the interests of all of the children come first."
Kenney also rejected opposition demands to extend the definition of family to bring more Haitian victims to Canada, calling it "not responsible" to craft immigration policy on the fly.
The government will also take extra precautions to ensure would-be immigrants are properly assessed for criminality and proper health even though Haiti's justice and medical records systems have been wiped out.
"We're going have to use due diligence and what we call risk management to assess people who are applying to come to Canada," he said.
