Official Luncheon hosted by His Excellency Leonel Fernandez,
President of the Dominican Republic

Santo Domingo, Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Thank you so much for welcoming me today during my visit to this island that the Dominican Republic shares with Haiti, which is also the island of my birth.

The Quebec poet Hélène Dorion, in a recent book with the wonderful title L’étreinte des vents, [or the winds’ embrace], said that she found “[translation] in the island the very image of what we are, beings of ties, sometimes tying, sometimes tied, always tieable.”

Well, the dire straits that the Haitian people have been in since January 12 is a clarion call to rise up and draw on that feeling of island solidarity within each of us.

We know that the history that ties all of us to this island has been marked by the stigmas of oppression, exclusion, and misunderstanding.

And I know that because, like the some 100,000 Haitian workers and their families scattered in the “bateyes,” I am of Haitian origin.

Dear friends, the time has come to change the course of history and prove that this island we love draws its greatest strength from our cooperation.

Haiti’s unprecedented disaster impels us to care for one another and forge a path together toward a brighter future for our island.

We must aspire together to greater justice and dignity.

The pain of some must not be met with the indifference of others.

The strengths of some must join with the strengths of others.

There are now a number of signs that give us reason to hope.

I am delighted by how quickly the Dominican Republic has moved to support its neighbour, Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas.

Mr President, you have made it a “point of honour” to cooperate with Haiti in terms of solidarity, and those words of yours are a powerful sign of hope.

Those words speak to us of openness, and make us dream of a new ethic of sharing which the world needs so much these days, when the “fend for yourself” mentality prevents us from focusing collectively on what unites us.

I was in Haiti just a few hours ago, to witness the effectiveness of Canada's participation in the reconstruction efforts.

For, like your fellow citizens, Canadians have not remained indifferent to the distress of the children, women and men of Haiti, and have sought by all means to envelop our island in an embrace of exemplary solidarity, to which the whole world has contributed in so many ways, so that all those helping hands do not falter.

I want to talk about our island, because my roots here are so strong.

I was moved to see the Haitian people's vitality and determination to rise up from the ruins, overcome their pain and loss, and get down to the task of rebuilding their capital and so many other devastated communities.

On March 8, International Women's Day, I met with Haitian women from all walks of political, civil and community life, who are so determined to sow the seeds of life among the rubble.

In Port-au-Prince, in Léogâne, in Jacmel, I met with people of all backgrounds and all ages, who are working unflaggingly with relief agencies to meet the most pressing needs and lay the foundations for reconstruction.

The breadth of the ties of fraternity that unite us with one another must be commensurate with the scope of the disaster.

And right here and right now, Mr. President, I hope with all my heart that we are able to draw on that capacity within us to strengthen our ties, in the name of island solidarity and for a better future for humanity.

We are duty-bound to believe we can, and to try our utmost to make that happen.

I thank you, and I ask you to pass on my heartfelt wishes for happiness to all of your fellow citizens.