Above: Haiti President Michel Martelly (second from left) with Canada PM Stephen Harper and a Haitian delegation (Photo: OP Haiti)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Haiti President Michel Martelly and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe met Thursday with Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper in New York.

The two sides discussed Haiti’s current political situation, and what Martelly called the “interest that the new government grants to the institution of democracy in Haiti.”

Haiti’s President thanked Canada for its efforts to create social housing in the country, and invited Harper to visit the country.

Canada has been working since 2010 to relocate victims of the earthquake from public tent camps.

Earlier this month, Bernard Valcourt, Canada’s associate Minister of National Defence, visited Haiti on a trade mission.

He said Haiti remained a “focus” for Canada, which is looking to deepen its relations with nations in the Western Hemisphere.