Multicultural Must Read: Controversy surrounding Michel Martelly’s visit to Canada

Haitian: Sweet Micky’s concert cancelled after heated protests

​Port-au-Prince’s daily online source, Loop Haiti, published an article highlighting the voices of activists:
 
A lot of protests were sparked in Montreal because of singer Sweet Micky’s (Michel Martelly’s stage name) arrival, two days before his show that was scheduled for Friday, March 22, but cancelled last minute because of all demonstrations. Martelly, former President of Haiti, is accused of having made indecent, salacious and sexist comments against women in the past. Many people among the Haitian community in Montreal were concerned by Martelly’s visit to Canada, especially some major women’s organizations, such as Maison d’Haïti, CLES, MCVI and RQ CALACS. "He is a notorious misogynist," Marjorie Villefranche, Executive Director of the Maison d'Haïti, said. "This incitement to rape and the trivialization of rape is not a speech that is possible for us in Montreal." For many activists, Martelly is not welcomed in Montreal because of numerous accusations of corruption and embezzlement of public funds weighing on him. Last January, sociologist Frédéric Boisrond sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking for Sweet Micky's concert to be cancelled. "We are at a time when we must take responsibility as citizens," Boisrond said. The issue is not to prevent an artist from coming back, but rather to prevent a type of speech from returning to Canada. (20/03/2019)

MIREMS monitors ethnic media sources and provides valuable insight into the dominant opinions of different cultural communities. These stories are collected and cross-culturally translated by MIREMS multilingual consultants from coast-to-coast.