By Stephen Handelman

Just before Quebec Premier Jean Charest visited Haiti this month, some of his advisers suggested that he find a polite way to back out. You couldn’t blame them. A Canadian working there was kidnapped in early June (and later released), and the French honorary consul was shot to death on May 31. Meanwhile, an Ottawa travelers’ alert warned that Haiti’s worsening thuggery made it "dangerous and unpredictable" for foreigners. The Premier would not be dissuaded. "If I had canceled, it would have been a victory for those who are prolonging the violence," he told Time afterward.

Charest’s three-day trip, it turns out, gave his hosts a sorely needed morale boost. Traveling under tight security, the Premier visited Port-au-Prince, the capital, and Gonaïves, a city in the northwest devastated by Hurricane Jeanne last year. He pledged C$400,000 in aid, augmenting the C$4.4 million the province has provided since 1997. More significant than the money, however, was the symbolism of the hemisphere’s two French-speaking nations working together. Acting Prime Minister Gérard Latortue declared Charest’s trip "historic" and "extremely important."

That wasn’t just diplofluff. Charest’s visit—the first ever by a Quebec Premier—consolidated Quebec’s increasingly important role in Haiti’s reconstruction. In addition to money, Charest offered the services of Quebec’s National School of Public Administration (enap) to train Haiti’s budding civil servants. And he promised to use Quebec’s influence to attract financial and political support for the government following next fall’s scheduled elections. "There is no magic solution to Haiti’s problems," Charest says. "But nothing will be done unless there’s a minimum of security for the Haitian people." While Charest was careful to add that Ottawa calls the shots on Haiti, the security woes of a small Caribbean country are not exactly the usual policy preoccupations of a provincial Premier.

Call it diaspora diplomacy. Québécois missionaries have been toiling in Haiti for decades, but Charest’s extraordinary mission was prompted by the estimated 120,000 Haitian refugees who have settled in the province since the 1970s. Montreal has one of the largest Haitian populations in North America, rivaling Miami, New York City and Boston. Haitian immigrants have "become some of our best engineers and surgeons, so we feel it’s important to give something back," explains Quebec International Relations Minister Monique Gagnon-Tremblay. Perhaps just as persuasive is the growing political clout of Quebec’s Haitian community.

That wouldn’t surprise Americans, whose state Governors are often dragged into international politics by powerful ethnic constituencies. Quebec has added its own twist. Charest is promoting a North American "conference of the Haitian diaspora" with Governors Jeb Bush of Florida, George Pataki of New York and Mitt Romney of Massachusetts—possibly to be held in Montreal. "We’ve all become very involved in the idea," he says. Aside from its political payoff, there’s a good reason that the plan is compelling. While the policy debate about Haiti drags on in the U.N.—on June 24 the Security Council will reassess the 7,400-strong Haiti peacekeeping force—the country’s murderous internal divisions could spill into expatriate communities, and thus turn into a law-and-order headache for local Montreal authorities.

What’s surprising is that Ottawa doesn’t appear to mind Quebec’s mediation in Haiti. The province’s Caribbean initiatives happen to jibe with the federal government’s new foreign policy review, in which provinces are encouraged to play a creative role, all under Ottawa’s guidance, of course. "Our view is that on Haiti, Quebec provides added value," says Denis Coderre, Prime Minister Paul Martin’s special adviser for Haiti. But he cautions, "Reaching out to the diaspora makes sense, as long as you remember that when Jeb Bush does it he’s not acting just as a Floridian but as an American."

O.K.—not quite a ringing endorsement. Nevertheless, it’s a change from the days when any Quebec venture abroad raised Ottawa’s hackles. Charest’s ardent federalism helps. But the truth is, this Quebec-Ottawa engagement profits both sides. By supporting Quebec’s laser focus on Haiti, Ottawa stands to improve its tattered image in the province. It was no coincidence that the feds sponsored a major international conference on Haiti in Montreal last week. Says Coderre: "When you have this kind of suffering two hours from Miami, it’s about time we all got our act together." Thanks to diaspora diplomacy, Quebec already has.