Canada is ready to send troops to Haiti as part of an international stabilization force, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said Sunday.

Graham made the promise shortly after Haiti's leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, fled the country.

Hundreds of armed rebels advancing on the capital, Port-au-Prince, did not immediately go into the capital, and there are fears that a power vacuum could lead to bloodshed. During the past few days, gangs have been looting and killing.

Bill Graham
Bill Graham

Aristide left the country in 1991 and over the next three years of military rule thousands of people were killed, freelance journalist Claude Adams told CBC Newsworld. "That could happen again."

U.S. Ambassador to Haiti James Foley said an international force "will rapidly be in Haiti."

Protesters in Montreal on Sunday
Protesters in Montreal on Sunday

U.S. President George W. Bush ordered several hundred marines to leave for Haiti. They're the first wave of what's expected to be a multinational force. The United Nations Security Council held an emergency session Sunday night to consider Washington's request to authorize more troops.

Graham didn't say how many soldiers Canada would send, or when they would be ready. "We'll be there when the conditions are right."

Prime Minister Paul Martin called Caribbean leaders Sunday to ask how Canada can help, and will tell the UN on Monday that Canada is ready to join an international stabilization force, Graham said.

The foreign affairs minister said he spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell about the situation in Haiti, and Powell told him U.S. soldiers would land before Monday.

About 50 Canadian Forces personnel are in Haiti to help fly out any Canadians who want to escape from the Haitian capital and provide security for the Canadian embassy.

On Saturday, a Canadian Hercules transport flew 20 people from Port-au-Prince to safety the nearby Dominican Republic. On Sunday a few more dozen Canadians were airlifted from Haiti.

Mixed reaction in Montreal

In Montreal, meanwhile, a small but vocal group protested outside the American Consulate Sunday. About 40 members of the city's Haitian community accused the U.S., Canada and other western governments of helping oust Aristide.

"You cannot take a president that was officially elected, and take him from power, and replace him by an opposition that wasn't elected," said one man.

"Aristide is a priest," said another woman. "He is a good man, and I believe in him."

But across town, many Haitians celebrated his departure. They accused Aristide of becoming corrupted by the authority and wealth he enjoyed as president.

Montreal has one of the largest Haitian population in North America, with about 120,000 members.