Editor’s note: The Canada Files is the country's only news outlet focused on Canadian foreign policy. We've provided critical investigations & hard-hitting analysis on Canadian foreign policy since 2019, and need your support.

Please consider setting up a monthly or annual donation through Donorbox.

Written by: Travis Ross

Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) recently shelved its attempts to rewrite the constitution. The TPC has instead decided to focus on holding elections before its mandate expires on February 7, 2026.

This shift in priorities follows a video posted to X by the U.S. Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires Henry Wooster who called on the TPC and government to “fully fulfill their role by proposing a concrete plan, with a timetable for elections and political transition.”

This post was widely interpreted as an order from Washington to cease efforts to rewrite Haiti’s constitution. Several sectors of Haitian civil society in and outside of Haiti had expressed opposition and outrage at the proposed reforms.

This includes Kepler Norélia, the coordinator of the Montreal chapter of the Association for the Respect and Honor of the 1987 Constitution, known by their French acronym APORK (L’Association pour l’Honneur et le Respect de la Constitution de 1987).

APORK is an advocacy group focused on raising awareness about Haiti’s unelected government’s attempt to rewrite Haiti’s constitution. They have chapters based in Montreal, Ottawa, New York, and inside Haiti.

Norélia accuses Haiti’s political elite and oligarchs, in league with foreign governments, of trying to rewrite Haiti’s constitution to facilitate the exploitation of Haiti’s natural resources and establish a virtual dictatorship in Haiti.

A draft of these proposals was submitted to Haiti’s TPC in May titled “The Preliminary Draft of the new Constitution”.

The TPC formed the Steering Committee for the National Conference, who subsequently organized a Working Group on the Constitution tasked with producing a draft of these proposed reforms.

Although the TPC officially ceased efforts to reform Haiti’s constitution and terminated the Steering Committee’s mandate on October 9, 2025, the project will inevitably continue after elections are held.

This author recently spoke to Norélia about the recent attempt to reform Haiti’s constitution. He explained whose interests these reforms serve, as well as the repeated attempts over the past 15 years by Washington-backed administrations to undermine Haiti’s sovereignty by pursuing reforms that favour foreign interests.

Norélia also revealed how a Canadian in the diaspora was hired by the TPC to represent the Haitian diaspora in the Working Group.

Who is Kerlande Mibel?

In an interview with the Haitian news website Rezo Nodwes, Norélia mentioned an unnamed Canadian woman in the Haitian diaspora who was part of the Working Group tasked with creating “a forum for dialogue designed to gather the opinions of the country's driving forces”. Her role was to represent the Haitian diaspora in the group.

Norélia was critical of her role. Speaking before the Steering Committee was terminated, he explained that she “stays in Montreal, doing nothing, while receiving more than $5,000 a month. She is paid by the Haitian state under the pretext that she will mobilize the diaspora in favor of the referendum. This is an insult to the Haitian people who are fighting for their survival.”

The Haitian-Canadian woman in question is named Kerlande Mibel.

Mibel is the founder of the International Black Economic Forum (IBEF), a Montreal-based Think Tank, and a director of the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations (CORIM).

IBEF focuses on Entrepreneurship and building wealth. IBEF’s stated mission is to “accelerate wealth creation by counteracting inequalities, building inclusive communities, and encouraging stakeholders to work together to promote economic opportunities.”

Mibel had organized one conference for members of the Haitian diaspora in Montreal before being recruited by Haiti’s TPC. This event featured at least four guests tied to USAID, The Open Society Foundations, in addition to one Canadian Senator, and Haiti’s Minister of Justice and Security in the interim government that followed the 2004 US and Canadian-backed coup against Haiti’s democratically elected government.

Predictably, there is an Open Societies Foundation (OSF) member on IBEF’s Administrative Counsel. Founded by George Soros, OSF is the main source of funding for the Haitian NGO named FOKAL. FOKAL was led by former Haitian Prime-Minister Michelle Duvivier Pierre-Louis.

As PM, Pierre-Louis supports neoliberal reforms and once thanked Hillary Clinton for “her personal commitment and that of the United States” to Haiti.

FOKAL also played a small but significant role in spreading anti-Aristide and anti-Lavalas propaganda leading up to the 2004 coup against Haiti’s democratically elected leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Johnny Celestin is also a member of the Council. Celestin worked as Deputy Chief of Staff for the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation under President Michel Martelly.

Celestin also worked as the “Diaspora liaison“ at the Clinton Foundation following the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010. Celestin once argued that the Clintons were “powerful advocates” for Haiti, in direct contradiction to the view of most Haitians, who generally revile them. Bill Clinton helped destroy Haiti’s rice farming sector, for which he apologized, while Hillary Clinton’s State Department engineered Michel Martelly’s election win by intervening in Haiti’s election process.

IBEF’s commitment to neoliberal cliches, in addition to their Board members' associations with neoliberal organizations, bring into question who Mibel represented on the Working Group.

Supposedly, Mibel's role in the Working Group was to represent the Haitian diaspora’s interests while reforms to Haiti’s constitution were drafted.

Once she was selected to sit as a member of the Working Group, Mibel attended several high level meetings organized by large regional bodies.

This includes a meeting in Washington attended by representatives from the Organization of American States (OAS), the American government, the TPC, the Canadian government, and some diaspora groups based in the USA. The Canadian government delegation was led by Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture Steven Guilbeault's Political Attache Fred Lagagneur, while the American delegation included American Congress member Tom Suozzi.

A month later, Mibel attended a three-day conference held at the OAS as part of a “high-level Haitian delegation to the Venice Commission”, which was funded by the governments of Canada, France, and the United States.

Mibel’s cavorting with diplomats from CORE Group nations as a member of the Working Group is a consequence of the installation of the TPC which, until recently, made constitutional reform one of its five main priorities.

The Private Sector has Taken over Haiti’s Interim Government

The TPC is an unaccountable, unconstitutional interim government that was imposed on Haitians by the United-States, with support from CORE Group members and their proxies at CARICOM.

The CORE group is composed of a representative of the UN Secretary-General, the ambassadors of Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, the United States, a representative of the European Union, and a representative of the Organization of American States (OAS).

The Canadian government’s support under former Prime-Minister Justin Trudeau was crucial to establishing the legitimacy of the TPC, along with support from the French government and the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Supposedly tasked with bringing stability and institutional order to Haiti, Washington is essentially occupying Haiti through the TPC.

The TPC has seven voting members representing various political parties and coalitions and two non-voting members representing the NGO and religious sectors. Through its proxies in CARICOM, Washington compelled Haiti’s quarreling political parties and coalitions from Haiti’s bourgeoisie to form the TPC. Members were obliged to agree to the UN-blessed armed intervention force named the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), as part of the April 3 Agreement.

The TPC not only lacks constitutional legitimacy and popular support, it has also been mired in scandals since it was installed. Three members were credibly accused of extorting the Haitian National Bank’s Chairman of the Board of Directors shortly after their installation.

All but one of the TPC’s members have had their support withdrawn from the political parties and coalitions they represent. The exception is Laurent Saint-Cyr.

Haiti's TPC transfers the rotating presidency to a chairman, or interim president, every 6 months. Saint-Cyr is the final interim president before the TPC’s mandate expires in February. As a member, Saint-Cyr represents the private sector on the TPC.

Haiti’s Oligarchs Found a Think Tank and Select their Presidential Candidate

In August, author Jake Johnston explained that Saint-Cyr’s recent ascension as leader of the TPC finalized the takeover of the Haitian State by the private sector.

”With the position of prime minister held by fellow businessman Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, and no elected officials holding office at any level”, Johnston said, “the government is directly in the hands of the private sector”.

“15 years prior to his appointment, Saint-Cyr had worked for Alternative Insurance Company, whose CEO, Olivier Barreau”, was among the original backers and participants in Institut Macaya, a “Think Tank” of which Haiti’s oligarchs and business elite are the sole members. Johnston explained.

Johnston pointed out that Insitut Macaya's (IM) website was registered in 2022, “just days after Reuven Bigio’s father, Gilbert Bigio was sanctioned by Canada”.

Gilbert Bigio is the wealthiest man in the Caribbean. He has engaged in “industrial-scale profiteering from the dismantling of what remained of Haiti’s crumbling state institutions” following the 2004 coup d'etat, according to journalist Kit Klarenberg.

A report by the Miami Herald on the Panama Papers explained that this profiteering is facilitated by Bigio’s monopolistic control of the Haitian economy. “Much of what is bought, sold or consumed in Haiti is likely to touch some corner of the Bigio empire”.

The report goes on to explain that Haiti’s oligarchs “have built their wealth by establishing and controlling monopolies on imports, and have been accused of profiting off chaos and dysfunction in Haiti while offering limited investment in social programs for the poor majority.”

“The vast array of Bigio family and business holdings found in the Pandora Papers”, the report explained, are “connected to numerous offshore tax havens in the British Virgin Islands, Bahamas and Panama and some connecting to Swiss bank accounts.” This results in an inability by the State to collect tax revenue, which limits what Haiti can spend on social programs.

IM membership is also directly linked to the current interim government. Johnston revealed that Haiti’s current unelected, interim Prime-Minister Fils-Aimé sat on the board of Banque d’Union Haitienne (BUH) before taking the position. He sat on BUH Board along with another IM member named Christopher Handal, and Barreau, who was the head of BUH.

According to Johnston, Barreau stepped down from IM soon after its founding and “is expected to be a candidate whenever an election is eventually held.”

Haiti’s oligarchs seem to have a plan to run a presumably well-financed campaign in Haiti’s upcoming elections to install their candidate as President.

An Attempted Coup D’etat Against Haiti’s Popular Sovereignty

Norélia described the plan to rewrite Haiti’s constitution as a “constitutional coup d'état” led by “people who want to liquidate the country for foreign interests.”

Norélia argued that the draft constitution’s main purpose was “to strip Parliament of all power. To concentrate all power completely in one individual, the president.”

This will functionally “legalize dictatorship in Haiti”, he explained.

The President of the Port-au-Prince Bar Association, Mr. Patrick Pierre-Louis, agrees. He told Le National that “the Steering Committee does not have the necessary skills to propose a preliminary draft of the Constitution" and warned of a “constitutional coup d'etat".

The Working Group’s chairperson, Haiti’s ex Prime-Minister Enex Jean Charles, serves to provide “cover and give an appearance of legitimacy”, Norélia said.

A careful review of the evidence supports his claim.

Before shelving the attempt to reform Haiti’s constitution, the TPC had promised to hold a referendum to determine whether the reforms pass. Norélia pointed out that the proposed process was in itself illegal and unconstitutional.

“We don't have the right to have a referendum. It's prohibited by Article 284-3 of the Constitution. It prohibits constitutional referendums”, he said. “ Not only that, but there's Article 150 of the Constitution that limits the president's power. So the Presidential Council, which plays the role of the president, doesn't have the constitutional right to take this step”, he explained.

Jean-Charles argued, however, that the April 3 Accord takes precedence over Haiti’s constitution. He believes the current "rupture" in the constitutional order “means that everything being done at the moment is based on the April 3 Agreement”.

Port-au-Prince Bar Association President Patrick Pierre-Louis disagrees. In an interview with Le National, he said “the April 3 Agreement does not provide for replacing the 1987 constitution with a new one.”

This view that the April 3 Agreement over-rules the Haitian Constitution is a sleight of hand that elevates an imperialist-imposed agreement over the Haitian constitution. Haitians did not approve the suspension of their constitution anymore than they chose the TPC as the interim government.

“In my opinion, the origin of this new constitution project is in the United States and Canada”, Norélia explained. “It's a document submitted by foreigners”, he continued “and then the others will shape it around a few small issues.”

“According to the constitution, the prime minister rules the government,” Norélia said. “Therefore, the constitutional reforms seek to “strip Parliament of all power and concentrate it all in one individual, the president’”.

IM did indeed publish its own Draft Constitution in 2024. It aims to alter Haiti’s system of governance as Norélia described.

Article 144 of IM’s proposed constitutional reforms states that “The President of the Republic is the Head of State. He is also the Head of Government.”

While Article 172 of IM’s draft constitution states that the PM will “assist the President in coordinating government activities”.

Haiti’s 1987 constitution, however, states clearly in Article 155 that the Prime-Minister is the Head of Government and the President is the Head of State.

Article 123 of the Draft Constitution published by the Steering Committee in May of 2025 nearly copies the language from IM word for word. It states that “The President of the Republic is the Head of State. He is also the Head of Government.” While Article 119 states that “The executive power is exercised by the President of the Republic, assisted by the Prime Minister, the ministers and the state secretaries.”

Haiti’s oligarchs' blatant attempt to rewrite the constitution in their favor is also supported by elements of Haiti’s political elites. IM’s draft constitution was first presented in an online conference by its representatives and those of Kafou Lespwa (KL).

Indirectly tied to USAID, KL was initially proposed as a forum to bring together members of Haiti’s political and business elite to “encourage dialogue”. KL was co-founded by SOGEBANK’s former General Director, Charles Clermont. SOGEBANK is one of Haiti’s largest private banks.

KL’s collaboration with IM further underlines the influence of Haiti’s elite on the TPC and the process of “reforming” Haiti’s Constitution to suit the priorities of Washington and their compradors among Haiti’s elite.

The Canada Files reached out to Institut Macaya with a request for comment. They did not respond.

Parliament’s Role in Preventing Foreign Exploitation of Haiti’s Mineral Resources

Haiti’s mineral resources, valued at approximately $20 billion USD, are directly connected to this push to consolidate power in the hands of the President.

Haiti is rich in gold, silver, and copper.

Canadian and American mining companies have plotted to exploit Haiti’s mineral resources for over a decade. Haiti’s Parliament has been the main obstacle.

In 2011, President Michel Martelly was intent on passing new mining legislation to open Haiti’s mineral resources to foreign ownership and exploitation on behalf of the US government which rigged the election in his favour.

Martelly was blocked by the Senate and Parliament.

In 2012, Martelly’s new PM Laurent Lamothe publicly declared his intent to draft new legislation, this time, promising it would protect people and the environment. Eventually he produced a Draft Mining law written “in consultation” with the World Bank.

According to Norélia, “the aim of the 2012 constitutional reforms was to pave the way for the systematic exploitation of the country's natural resources.”

Indeed, the proposed law, designed to favor western mining interests, would have formalized a 10-year confidentiality period for any “reports, documents and data pertaining to… work undertaken within the context of a mining title,” including any newly discovered mineral resources.

A few months before Lamothe’s declaration, the Haitian Bureau of Mines and Energy had already announced that the Haitian government had granted two mining exploitation permits to a subsidiary and a partner of the Canadian mining company Majescor.

In 2013, the Senate suspended the permits, declaring they were given “outside legal norms”. The Parliament then issued a non-binding moratorium on all extraction.

“Parliament passed a resolution to cancel the contracts while waiting to negotiate,” Norélia explained.

The Haitian Parliament’s role in blocking the proposed mining law is a central motivation for the push to diminish its authority by the imperialist governments of The United-States and Canada.

Haitians Do Not Support Constitutional Reforms Drafted by Oligarchs

The members of the Working Group who undersigned the draft constitution, including Mibel, have served to launder the priorities of Haiti’s oligarchy, threatening Haitian democracy and sovereignty.

“She is there to represent her own interests, not those of the diaspora”, Norélia explained.

The Canada Files reached out to Kerlande Mibel with a request for comment. Mibel did not reply.

Even Jerry Tardieu, the former MP tasked with heading the Steering Committee that organized the Working Group, complained that “the preliminary draft of the constitutional text does not integrate the diaspora”.

“Haitians of origin” (the Haitian diaspora) are distinguished from Haitians, and the former cannot participate in elections.

Instead of representing the interests of the diaspora, Mibel’s assisted in an attempt to shut them out of voting in future elections.

Indeed, the draft constitution was roundly rejected by Haitians in and outside of Haiti.

Tardieu also said the proposed reforms to Haiti’s constitution would “render Haiti tragically ungovernable”.

Frantz Duval, editor-in-chief of Haiti’s mainstream newspaper le Nouvelliste, agreed. He said this proposed constitution would propel Haiti “into an incredible maze and paves the way for leadership battles and endless chaos.”

The Working Group’s draft constitution also threatened Haiti’s Judiciary by undermining the legitimacy of the CSPJ, Haiti’s judiciary's oversight body.

The Haitian Times reported that members of the Association des Professionnels Magistrats (APM) and the National Association of Haitian Magistrates (ANAMAH) “warned that the lack of term limits and CSPJ oversight undermines judicial integrity.”

The Canadian Government Backs American Imperialism in Haiti

In May 2023, USAID allocated $5 million USD to the “Consortium for Elections & Political Process Training”. The consortium includes the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).

IFES is partnered with the US State Department, as well as the governments of Canada and France.

The United States and Canada orchestrated Haiti's 2004 coup. This foreign intervention led to the forced removal of democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, as well as approximately 8000 elected officials.

This followed attempts by the Canadian and American governments to portray the election that brought Aristide to power as fraudulent, despite his massive popularity.

USAID’s efforts to “support elections” in Haiti represents yet another attempt by imperialist governments of Canada and the U.S.A. to impose a government that is subservient to their interests.

The likelihood that the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) can organize elections before the TPC and interim government’s mandate ends on February 7, 2026 is very low. The CEP has yet to produce an elections calendar.

TPC member Frinel Joseph recently told the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste that an election date would be set by November 15. Yet, insecurity prevails in Port au Prince and other regions in Haiti, which has caused a crisis of internally displaced people. Over 1.3 million Haitians have fled their homes, making voter registration and participation untenable in the coming months.

The Canadian government seems determined to play a role in escalating violence in Haiti. Rather than encouraging dialogue with armed groups, who have repeatedly called for negotiations, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Amand recently announced that Canada would provide $60 million CAD to “stabilization efforts”, $40 million of which will be devoted to the UN supported plan by Washington to create a “Gang Suppression Force” (GSF).

The GSF would not have to answer to any Haitian authorities and has the authority to wage war directly on Haiti’s so-called “gangs”.

A member of the Black Alliance for Peace, explained that the GSF “would be given a blank check by the so-called ‘international community,’ to do whatever U.S. imperialism commands it to do in Haiti.”

Indeed, if the GSF goes ahead as planned, it will inevitably result in an increase in civilian deaths at the hands of an unwanted intervention force.

Canada also supports Haiti’s National Police (PNH), an institution responsible for hundreds of deaths and injuries over the past several months. A recent UN report revealed that 76 per cent of the deaths and injuries in Haiti between April and June 2025 were caused by the PNH and their paramilitary brigade allies. This includes hundreds of civilian deaths caused by the TPC’s drone program led by Erik Prince, in which the PNH has an active role. These civilian deaths include several children who were murdered about one month ago by a kamikaze drone during a birthday celebration in Port-au-Prince’s poor neighborhood of Simon Pélé.

The Canadian government has so far shown a lack of interest to determine if the training it provided to PNH officers on drone operations played a role in these attacks on civilians. While the PNH role in civilian deaths and injuries has so far only prompted “concern” from Global Affairs Canada.

While Canada's new Prime-Minister Mark Carney is determined to maintain the status quo and continue to support American imperialism in Haiti, there is no doubt that the Canadian government can best serve the interests of Haitians by withdrawing from the CORE group and staying out of Haiti’s affairs.

Travis Ross is based in Montreal, Québec, and is co-editor of the Canada-Haiti Information Project. All his articles are collected on Substack, and he can be reached on X.

More Articles

Featured