Tragedy brings tears to vice-regal

FRED CHARTRAND / THE CANADIAN PRESS Enlarge Image

Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean stifles a sob as she struggles to maintain her composure during a statement to the press.

OTTAWA -- Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean had just received word of the worst disaster to hit her Haitian homeland in two centuries of calamities when her American dinner guests arrived Tuesday evening.

The vice-regal, known for her heart-on-sleeve candour, held it together through a long, fraught evening getting urgent but sporadic reports at Rideau Hall with U.S. ambassador David Jacobson.

And she kept her composure during a highly unusual inside-the-war-room photo-op with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his crisis management team Wednesday.

Jean even managed to deliver, unbroken, a French-language statement to the media on the devastating 7.0 earthquake, when "fate once again turned against the people of Haiti."

But shortly after switching to English during a sombre press conference, the weight of Haiti's troubled history appeared to crush one of the country's most celebrated daughters.

Jean started to tear up when she spoke of the Canadian embassy staff in Port-au-Prince. She regained her composure only to lose it again when she mentioned "our dear friend" Hedi Annabi, the UN special representative in Haiti, who remains missing in the collapsed UN headquarters.

"Now more than ever, it is time for us to show our solidarity with the most vulnerable people in the Americas, our brothers and sisters in Haiti," Jean said, her hand suddenly flying to her mouth to stifle a sob, "whose courage is once again being so harshly tested."

She concluded her statement with a Creole message directly to her Haitian homeland.

"I was saying to the Haitian people they are not alone," a teary Jean told reporters before departing.

Despite the industrious efforts Wednesday of the Prime Minister's Office to showcase the concerted government action led by Stephen Harper, the stage belonged to Jean.

She had spent Tuesday evening with Jacobson, in one of those serendipitous dinner meetings arranged long in advance.

When U.S. President Barack Obama came to Canada last year, he struck up an enthusiastic rapport with Jean, revolving around Haiti.

But where the Jean-Obama exchange 11 months ago was tinged with hope -- the new president wanted to hear Jean's impressions of progress in the Western Hemisphere's poorest country -- Jacobson arrived at Rideau Hall at one of Haiti's darkest hours.

Jacobson and his wife were winding their way to a regularly scheduled dinner with Jean and her husband, Daniel Lafond, when news of the Caribbean island tragedy flashed on his BlackBerry.

"I believe she was aware of it just before we arrived," Jacobson told The Canadian Press.

As Jacobson recalled the evening -- careful not to betray diplomatic confidences -- he offered a glimpse into how the Governor General reacted to the worst natural disaster to strike her homeland in two centuries.

"She was very interested in making sure that the Canadian response was effective. But I think most of all, last night she was personally moved by the situation."

Jacobson said he didn't want to get into the specifics of the personal dinner table conversation.

"We had long discussions about buildings in Haiti that had collapsed, about people in Haiti, friends of hers in Haiti and the dire reports last night about the situation."

Almost one year ago, Jean was driven to tears when she travelled back to Haiti and saw the devastating aftermath of a series of hurricanes on rural farmers. On Wednesday, Jean said she'd been in contact with a frail uncle in Haiti and that he was in a safe place. But the day, she said, was not about her.

-- The Canadian Press

Horror hits home

Haiti's tragedy is being felt all over the world, including Canada. Here are some stories from around the country:

Ottawa is contributing an initial $5 million for emergency shelter, medical services, food, relief items, water, sanitation and protection. An advance team of 20 people, including some with medical training, arrived Wednesday in a C130 Hercules transport aircraft to assess needs for further help. A new giant transport plane has been placed on standby to transport emergency supplies. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team, including 200 Canadian Forces personnel, is also on standby.

At least three Canadians have been killed -- Ontario nurse Yvonne Martin and Georges Anglade and his wife, Mireille, of Montreal. The couple's daughter confirmed the deaths late Wednesday. Anglade, a Montreal university professor for 30 years, and his wife were visiting friends in Port-au-Prince and were killed when the house they were in collapsed.

Two RCMP officers and a former MP were missing in the aftermath of the quake: Supt. Douglas Coates of Ottawa and Sgt. Mark Gallagher of Halifax, and Serge Marcil, a former Liberal MP and member of the Quebec legislature.

One Canadian woman who was trapped under rubble in a building was rescued after sending a text message to someone who relayed her plea for help to Canada's Foreign Affairs department.

Canadian engineering giant SNC-Lavalin was looking to locate some of the 65 employees at its office in Petrionville. "They are not all accounted for yet...," said a spokeswoman. The Montreal-based company, which has operated in Haiti for 30 years, set up a residence for workers unable to return home.

The turmoil within Canada's Haitian community is so severe that even people co-ordinating efforts to help earthquake victims have no idea where their own relatives are. Frantz Benjamin is one of Canada's 100,000 Haitians. He says he's trying to keep his mind squarely on the task at hand -- raising money to help his earthquake-ravaged homeland. But the Montreal city councillor is also wondering what has become of his family, including his 88-year-old father, a Canadian citizen who winters in the Carribean country. "It's been a nightmare," Benjamin said. "...Everyone is waiting to have some information."

-- From the news services

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 14, 2010 A4