Ottawa Initiative

The Ottawa Initiative on Haiti or simply the Ottawa Initiative, was a conference that took place in Montreal on 31 January and 1 February 2003, to decide the future of Haiti's government, though no Haitian government officials were invited. The conference was attended by Canadian, French, and U.S. and Latin American officials. What exactly transpired is difficult to say, since Canada is keeping the documents that came out of this conference secret.

Michel Vastel Leak and controversy

Journalist Michel Vastel leaked information about the conference that he says was told to him by his friend Denis Paradis, Canada's Secretary of State for Latin America, Africa, and the French-speaking world, in his March 15, 2003 article in Quebec news magazine "L'actualité". In the article, he claims that the officials at the conference wanted to see regime change in Haiti in less than a year. Paradis later denied this.

Just over a year later, U.S. marines removed Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide from the country and flew him to the Central African Republic. Critics suspect that the secret meetings in Ottawa were the first step that led to the coup.