Haitian-born Quebec Liberal MNA reflects on 15th anniversary of Haiti earthquake

Haitian-born Quebec Liberal MNA Frantz Benjamin, who represents the provincial riding of Viau in Montreal’s Saint-Michel, remembers how he was spurred into action, after Jan. 12, 2010, when a devastating earthquake rocked his home country of Haiti.

“I remember that in the first five or six days after the earthquake, I was really focused on my work to do everything that I can do to help the members of the Haitian community here, which was desperate,” said Benjamin.

“For the members of the Haitian community, of course, it was a shock. But we’ve said at this time also, in every shock, there is an opportunity to rebuild.”

Benjamin was a city councillor in Montreal when the 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti and claimed the lives of up to 300,000 people – including two of his young cousins.

“Two young girls. One of them was a student in medicine school. The other one was just high-graduated as a teacher,” said Benjamin.

“I start to think about my own feelings, about my own loss, maybe two weeks after the event, because it was so huge, there was so much to do at this time, that we don’t have any big time to think about our own hurts.”

Before immigrating to Montreal in 1986, Benjamin grew up in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, which was near the epicentre of the earthquake.

“That means for me, I have a clear idea of what went on in Haiti at this time, because I know the cities,” he explained.

“Fifteen years after, unfortunately, the situation is still not clear. I shall say, things get worse for the Haitian people, unfortunately.”

Since 2018, Benjamin has been representing Saint-Michel at the National Assembly in Quebec City – a borough that’s the heart of the Haitian community in Montreal. He says he hasn’t been back to his home country in the last year for his annual trip because of ongoing gang violence.

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“Especially on security matters, things get really worse. Where you have gang members taking away a huge part of the capital under criminal activities.”

Despite the turmoil, he says it’s important to honour the beauty of Haiti, and commemorate the Jan. 12 anniversary.

“I hope that people who are watching this will show their solidarity with the Haitian people.”