What happened to the National Police academy project in Haiti promised by Canada?

Haiti's Stability depends on Stronger National Police Force. Canada has reneged on its commitment, made six years ago, to construct a new national police academy near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The $18 million police academy would have included classrooms and equipment to instruct 300 mid-level police; among them commissioners and inspectors (the Haitian National Police operates without either higher-ranking officers).

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The UN Security Council commented the Haitian National Police needs bolstering and it has become a "most critical task". The government of Haiti (GOH) must assume complete responsibility for its security needs pivotal to the country's general stability and economic growth. The UN peacekeeping mission, in Haiti for over 10 years, has renewed its stay until 2016.

What Canada has done in place of building a new academy is to renovate the current police academy for $16 million. It graduated 77 police commissioners in the past year. Professor Stephen Baranyi of the University of Ottawa feels the training program is making a difference. It also has authorities wondering if a new police academy is even necessary. An argument is being made the GOH can't contribute to its maintenance, so how can it absorb ". . . the cost of maintaining an entirely new, additional facility."

But even if Canada continues to invest in the temporary facilities the training program will stop in March 2015. Baranyi says, "There's been very, very little money for programming in the area of security and justice . . . . Clearly we can't continue to operate like this forever."

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