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MONTREAL — Twenty-four hours after being skewered by a coalition of non-government organizations for not doing more to help ordinary Haitians in the wake of last year’s devastating earthquake, International Cooperation Minister Bev Oda has announced more than $90-million worth of projects focusing on health, education and agriculture in the impoverished island nation.

Ms. Oda made the announcement in Montreal at the same time an alliance of Canadian municipalities unveiled their plan to provide professional expertise to jump-start the shattered bureaucracies for four Haitian cities, including the capital Port-au-Prince.

“A year ago there was hope for a better life in Haiti,” Ms. Oda told an audience that included city officials and members of Montreal’s Haitian community. “Then, on Jan. 12, everything changed.”

The projects announced by Ms. Oda include:

• a program that will provide free, basic health services to three million people including women, newborns and children under five;

• the reconstruction of Haiti’s National School of Midwifery and 10 new maternity clinics, which will offer a full range of maternal and neonatal services, family planning, HIV/AIDS prevention and testing and services for the victims of sexual violence;

• the addition of a 30-bed maternity ward, a 35-bed pediatric ward, and a waiting home for pregnant women to a planned hospital in Gonaives;

• improved maternal, newborn and child health services in Upper Artibonite province that will equip and provide staff training at nine maternity clinics and seven community health centres.

The federal government is spending $50-million on those projects, $40-million from the $400-million pledged by Canada last year for Haitian reconstruction.

Ottawa will also spend $20-million over two years to help fund the construction of 35 semi-permanent schools, allowing 35,000 children to receive free primary education and another 35,000 to receive school supplies.

Canada will also spend $19.5-million over seven years to provide financial credit for “viable agricultural enterprises” and encourage local banks to lend funds to help farmers manage risk.

The government also will fund a project to ensure food security for 20,000 rural families, as well as training to increase employment for Haitian farmers.

Ms. Oda’s announcement comes a day after a coalition of Quebec NGOs urged Canadians to “harass” their local MPs to find out why Canada’s aid to Haiti seemed more focused on rebuilding prisons destroyed by the earthquake and ensuring border security instead of assisting those Haitians still trying to rebuild their lives after the earthquake.

The projects announcement in Montreal raises the total spent from Canada’s $400-million commitment to Haiti to more than $200-million.

Postmedia News