Haitian-Canadian - Haiti Observer Blog

Obed Cetoute was born on January 7, 1983 in Montreal, Canada, as the son to a Haitian woman who had migrated to Canada to escape the poverty that is so rampant in the Caribbean country. At the tender age of 14 he expressed his desire to play well organized professional football. His mother was reluctant to let him go, as she wanted his son to follow the path to academic excellence. It took the intervention of Obed's uncle, who took it upon himself to convince her that football is a noble profession.

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Joachim Alcine was a prominent Canadian boxer who was born in Haiti in 1976. He used to fight mostly in Montreal and Quebec.

Joachim Alcine migrated to Canada when he was nine-years old and showed his interest in boxing when he was 12. However, he got the first taste of boxing at the age of 16. His boxer friend Blaise Mayemba took him under the supervision of legend Mike Moffa. Alcine obtained a record of 42-6 and participated in few international fights during his amateur career.

Alcine's pro career was begun in the middle of 1999. He won the first fight of his pro career against Louis Bouchard quite convincingly and in an impressive way with all the exposure. However, he had to wait a lot for fights during early stage of his career. He won the WBA Fedelatin Light Middleweight Title in 2005 defeating Hilton Dos Santos. Joachim Alcine also won the WBC International Light Middleweight Title in the same year defeating Elio Ortiz. In addition, Alcine defeated Fernando Hernandez to win the NABA Light Middleweight Title in 2006.

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Edrick Floreal, a former long and triple jumper, born on October 5, 1966, in Gonaives, Haiti, is a naturalized citizen of Canada.

As a track and field athlete, he competed at two successive Summer Olympics, representing Canada. At the 1988 Summer Olympics, he competed in the Triple Jump qualifying round, finishing in 18th place; and in the 1992 Summer Olympics, he placed 28th in the qualifying round for the Long Jump.

Edrick Floreal greatest success as a track star occurred, when he competed for the NCAA Track and Field Championships, while at the University of Arkansas, a school known for excellence in jumping. He won, both in the Indoor and Outdoor Triple Jump, winning Indoor Championships in 1989 and 1990, and Outdoor Championships in 1988, 1989, and 1990.
Floreal now directs the Track and Field Program at Stanford University, and is wed to another track star, LaVonna Martin-Floreal, who earned an Olympic Silver Medal in the 100-meter Hurdles event, in 1992. Floreal's most recent honor was being named the "2010 Indoor West Regional Coach of the Year", a recognition bestowed upon him by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

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Georges Laraque, a Haitian-American and former Canadian professional ice hockey player, was born December 7, 1976 in Montréal, Quebec. He joined the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 1996 as a Forward. His team, the Granby Prédateurs, won the 1996 Memorial Cup.

Before joining the NHL, Laraque skated sporadically for three seasons with the Hamilton Bulldogs team, under the AHL banner. While skating for the NHL, in 2003, he won the Best Fighter award, given by The Hockey News, and was also recognized as the 2008 top enforcer by Sports Illustrated.

Georges Laraque, in 2006, was being considered as a free agent by the Edmonton Oilers. He tried to negotiate a contract, in which he would accept a cut in pay, if in exchange, the Oilers would include a no-trade clause, and sign him on as a long-term player. The Oilers refused to do so. Laraque went on to play for the Phoenix Coyotes that same year and then was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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Bruny Surin, a naturalized Canadian and native of Cap-Haïten, Haiti, was born on July 2, 1967. He represented Canada for the first time at the 1987 Pan American Games in the long-jump.

In 1988, Italian coach Franco Barucci took Bruny Surin under his wing and encouraged him to forgo the long-jump for the 100-meter instead. Barucci bargained that Surin could finish the 100-meter in 10.10 seconds. At the Canadian Championship Games, Surin came within four one-hundredths of a second of completing the race in 10.10 seconds.

As a professional runner, Surin has amassed six Gold Medals, two Silver, and two Bronze. He won one of his three Gold Medals for the 4x100-meter relay at the 1996 Olympic Games. He won two more Gold Medals for the 4x100-meter at the World Championships at Gothenburg in 1995 and at Athens in 1997. He won yet another two Gold Medals for the 60-meter at the World Indoor Championships, in Toronto in 1993, and at Barcelona in 1995. His final Gold Medal was won at the 1998 Goodwill games.

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Bruny Surin, a renowned Canadian sprinter, was born in Cap-Haïtien, Haïti on 12th July 1967. He was raised in Canada where his family had found residence in 1975. Though he is famous for short distance running, Bruny began his athletic career in the long jump.

He made his first outstanding performance in the mid 1994 commonwealth games in which he won gold medal in the 4x100 relay. After switching from long jump to sprinting, Bruny Surin has won several medals. In the 1995 world championship games, he won a silver medal in the 100m race. He also secured a gold medal in the 4x100m relay with the Canadian team. He added to his medals in 1996 when he won another gold medal in 4x100m relay at Atlanta.

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David Loiseau, a Haitian-American and Canadian kick-boxer, was born on December 17, 1979 in Montréal, Quebec, Canada. Loiseau started his mixed-martial arts fighting career, with an impressive record of eight wins and two losses, over tough competitors such as Joe Doerksen and Tony Fryklund.

In 2003, David Loiseau began fighting as the first French-Canadian kick-boxer, under the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) banner, beating Mark Weir with a KO, but losing to Jorge Rivera. He rebounded in 2005 at the UFC with three TKOs against Gideon Ray, Charles McCarthy and Evan Tanner.

In 2006, he had a bad year, losing two successive fights against Rich Franklin and Mike Swick. Back at the UFC in 2009, he lost again against Ed Herman and was released from his contract. He fought unsuccessfully again in 2010 at the UFC, but lost to Mario Miranda on a TKO and his contract was not renewed.

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He is one of the best VJ around the world. Quddus is a Canadian citizen but has resided in America as a citizen too where he has been in the music industry for quite some time now. He began as a radio presenter and programmer at his university where he was studying philosophy in University of Ottawa.

Quddus was a good student there and once he completed his studies he followed his dreams in the music industry where he tried various shows and applications. He finally landed on the competition for a VJ at the MuchMusic VJ Search. Quddus however became third and thus did not get the job. However a year later he got a job as the total request lives VJ at the MTV.

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