What could be more noteworthy than Wyclef?

Over the past few weeks the media have been closely following the ups and (mostly) downs of Wyclef Jean's bid for candidacy as the next president of Haiti. Maybe they think fluffy stories about the hip-hop singer help make the Haitian election more interesting to the Canadian public, who'd otherwise see it as largely irrelevant.

In fact, all the media have shown is that even with ample opportunity, they've still managed to erase that this election is quite relevant to Canadians; Fanmi Lavalas, by far the most popular political party in Haiti, have once again been banned from participating, as they have in every other election since Canada helped carry out the 2004 coup d'état against then-Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

They've also chosen to largely ignore the question of what exactly, if anything, Canadian aid is doing in Haiti.

Instead they've chosen to give space to other pop culture icons to spread ignorance and perpetuate myths about the country. Arcade Fire were on the CBC last week criticizing Wyclef for not speaking French. In fact, only the most wealthy Haitians tend to speak French. Haitian Kreyol is the language spoken by almost all Haitians.

The man pictured in this post is Yvon Neptune, who was Haitian Prime Minister at the time of the 2004 coup. The photograph is taken post-coup, when he became a political prisoner. He's been approved as a presidential candidate with the "Haitians for Haiti" party and will be interesting to watch. Haitians are not easily fooled. If they choose to elect him, hopefully he's less of a disappointment than the current Prime Minister Réné Préval, who Haitians initially had been excited about.

The one spot in the media the debate around Lavalas has turned up is right here in the Winnipeg Free Press. The article, simply titled Keep Aristide's party out, is an exercise in wilful amnesia and ideological contortions. That they even let the topic surface shows they're feeling confident enough to try to see if it'll fly. Luckily, the commenters have no illusions about what's going on, tearing the pundit apart, so it's likely they'll crawl under a rock again for some time, hoping to quietly maneuver an election victory for any of a number of business-friendly candidates.