The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, concluded her visit to Washington, D.C., where she attended the 53rd General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS).
At the OAS General Assembly, Minister Joly engaged with regional counterparts and delivered Canada's national statement, which highlighted the need for concerted multilateral engagement to strengthen democracy, human rights and the rule of law and to resolve the security and humanitarian crises in Haiti and Nicaragua.
Minister Joly and Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica, hosted the third meeting of the Canada-Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Foreign Ministers' Group, where they reaffirmed their commitment to the values shared by Canada and CARICOM.
Minister Joly announced that Canada has imposed sanctions for human rights violations, including sexual violence, against 4 additional individuals related to the situation in Haiti: businessman André Apaid and gang leaders Lanmo Sanjou, Vitel'Homme Innocent and Johnson André. These sanctions impose a dealings prohibition that effectively freezes any assets these individuals may hold in Canada. These individuals are now also inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
While in Washington, D.C., Minister Joly met with members of the U.S. Congress to discuss shared priorities, including the situation in Ukraine and Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy.
