OTTAWA, QUEBEC CITY AND MONTREAL - The Maison des collectivités territoriales ("House of Local Governments") will be inaugurated on Thursday, December 11, 2014, in Delmas, a borough of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. By bringing the country's three largest federations of elected officials together under one roof, the Maison is poised to become a hub for both tackling the issues affecting Haiti's municipalities and supporting the efforts being made to coordinate and decentralize these municipalities.
"The creation of the Maison des collectivités territoriales will lead to improved dialogue and foster greater solidarity among all Haitian elected officials. The initiative falls perfectly within the mandate of the second phase of the Haiti-Canada Municipal Cooperation Program (MCP2), of which the Union des municipalités du Québec (UMQ) is a partner, to complement efforts already being made to strengthen Haiti's territorial communities," said UMQ President Suzanne Roy.
"This new institution will help Haitian municipalities build credible and effective local governments through improved devolution of powers and resources to local authorities," said Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) President, Brad Woodside.
"We should never lose sight of our primary objective, which is to help Haiti rebuild, while restoring the institutional capacities of communities affected by the 2010 earthquake. Our efforts are in line with the Haitian government's new development framework, which seeks to make municipalities central to the country's economic development," said Montreal Mayor, Denis Coderre.
The Maison des collectivités territoriales receives assistance from the FCM, the UMQ and the City of Montreal as part of the second phase of the Haiti-Canada Municipal Cooperation Program (MCP2). Through this program, Canadian municipalities share their knowledge, know-how, expertise and experience with their Haitian counterparts in order to bolster the management capacities of local governments over the long term.
MCP2 is a five-year program (2014 to 2019) funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD). Its $21.4 million budget includes a $19.1 million contribution from the DFATD and a contribution of services valued at $2.3 million from FCM, the City of Montreal and the UMQ.
The Haiti-Canada Municipal Cooperation Program benefits from the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD).