On January 12, 2010, an earthquake crippled the island nation of Haiti. Within 24 hours, a team representing multiple facets of the Canadian government was on the ground, aiding the Haitian people, assisting local agencies and searching for colleagues. In the year since, Canada has continued to play a prominent role in rebuilding Haiti. Here are four stories of public servants leading that effort.

An honest broker

As political counsellor and head of the political section at Canada’s Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Adam Barratt has experienced more life-altering events over the past three years than most officers see in a lifetime of overseas postings. “Five hurricanes, four governments, one earthquake, one cholera epidemic, and the return of one former ‘President for Life’: Haiti is many things, but it’s never dull,” he quips. His current assignment is worlds away from his previous 10-year career at Rideau Hall where he was responsible for the Governor General’s domestic and international programs.

In a highly unpredictable work environment, Barratt’s calm demeanour serves as a stabilizing factor among his colleagues, ensuring unity and focus. This consistency has enabled him, and by extension his team, to be reliable and effective interlocutors even in the most chaotic of times, further reinforcing Canada’s reputation as a credible partner and experienced leader in Haiti.

In a country teeming with NGOs and foreign government presence, Canada has successfully differentiated itself from other partners. “Our ability to act as an ‘honest broker,’ bringing together fractious political actors, civil society, the business elite, to create a space for dialogue and debate, has traditionally been one of our strengths here,” he explains. This leadership proved particularly useful during the recent electoral crisis when access to Haitian political leaders and key stakeholders was crucial, and following last year’s earthquake when coordination was extremely challenging.

Barratt credits the support, dedication and professionalism of his colleagues, including two skilled ambassadors (Gilles Rivard, followed by Henri-Paul Normandin), a highly adept political section, as well as colleagues from across government departments and agencies, for mounting the robust and impressive Canadian response.

“An earthquake of that magnitude is certainly something I hope to never experience again. But if it had to happen, then the outpouring of support from the Canadian people, and watching the Embassy staff, the Canadian Forces, the RCMP, and public servants from DFAIT, CIDA and CIC working together in a truly whole-of-government manner, to evacuate people and help restore the lives of others – it brought hope to what was a pretty grim place at the time.”

While Barratt will conclude his posting this summer and return to Ottawa, he is aware of Haiti’s staying power. He recalls former Governor General Michaelle Jean’s parting words to him when he left Rideau Hall for Port-au-Prince in 2008. “She told me that Haiti leaves no one indifferent. After three unforgettable years, I can certainly tell you her words ring true.”

 

Guiding the UN police

It would seem that Marc Tardif has been preparing for his new role as United Nations police commissioner his entire career.

Over the past 32 years, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer has been involved in a wide variety of national and international investigations, from drugs and organized crime to human trafficking. The Quebec City native, now serving in Haiti, has also served on two previous international peace missions: Haiti, in 1995, and Kosovo, in 2000, where he was in charge of setting up a human trafficking and prostitution investigation unit.

“I realized I could make a difference, no matter how small, in the lives of a people,” says Tardif of his experience in the Balkans. “I was particularly engaged because my daughter was around the same age as most of the victims I was rescuing.”

Tardif’s path in and out of international policing led to higher positions in Canada, including a two-year stint at the Privy Council Office advising the Prime Minister on security. It also helped lay the groundwork for a senior position with the UN, to which he was called unexpectedly in early 2010, after then-UN Deputy Police Commissioner Doug Coates perished in the devastating earthquake.

“I was very humbled by this request, and determined to honour the memory of my fallen colleagues, especially Doug, who was my troop mate when I joined the RCMP,” recalls Tardif. “He believed in a better future for the people of Haiti, and made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of peace.”

Despite his background, nothing prepared Tardif for the shock of seeing Haiti after the earthquake. At the same time, he knew there was an urgent need to get down to business.

As Deputy Police Commissioner, he was responsible for managing 3,300 UN police officers (UNPOLs). He quickly mobilized them to address the challenges of a humanitarian crisis and operational requirements, while trying to rebuild a crippled UNPOL infrastructure.

With the escape of nearly 5,000 prisoners during the earthquake, crime burgeoned within the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, especially rape and domestic violence. In response, Tardif launched 24/7 police patrols in six major camps, mobile patrols in 66 other camps, and community policing programs to combat sexual and gender-based crime.

Through such challenges as the earthquake, cholera outbreak and recent elections, Tardif has been fortunate to have a contingent of highly qualified and experienced Canadian UNPOLs to draw upon. Canadian police played a lead role in helping the HNP capture escaped prisoners, deal with kidnappings and criminal gangs, as well as improve security in the IDP camps.

As he officially takes the reins of UN Police Commissioner, Tardif sees an important place for Canadians in the mission.

“Canada can best contribute by continuing to provide skilled and experienced officers to the mission and ensuring they are deployed according to their expertise,” he emphasizes. “Canadians from all walks of life can contribute in every way to rebuilding the country. Haiti still needs more doctors, nurses, engineers, administrators, lawyers – and it needs them urgently.”

 

Overcoming time, distance

When Helene Girard volunteered to lead the new Ottawa Haiti Processing Office (OHPO) she was motivated by the challenges she saw ahead.

Trying to process visas for applicants that are thousands of kilometers away, in a country with little to no infrastructure, in conjunction with a visa office in Port-au-Prince (PAP) that was severely damaged by the earthquake was a unique challenge. Then there was the fact that the Ottawa office had to be developed from scratch. Add to that an expectation to get processing times down from the regular year-and-a-half to 12 weeks, and one can start to see the scope of the problem.

But sometimes it takes a crisis to demonstrate the art of the possible. While technology is helping Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) modernize its processing systems across the board, the need to respond rapidly to the situation in Haiti meant pushing paperless processing to its limits.

“One of the biggest challenges was how absolutely necessary it was to innovate,” says Girard. “This was the first time that you had two visa offices,