Elizabeth Morgan | CARICOM/Canada – PM Trudeau in The Bahamas

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada was a special guest at the 44th CARICOM Heads of Government Conference held in The Bahamas in February. Again, his visit to this Heads session did not receive much coverage in the region except for his remarks about Haiti. This was the first summit level meeting between CARICOM and Canada in the region since 2007.

PM Trudeau also had bilateral meetings with Heads, including with the CARICOM Chair PM Philip Davis of The Bahamas and PM Andrew Holness of Jamaica.

In this article, I will highlight other issues which he raised in his address to the CARICOM heads as follows:

CLIMATE CHANGE – PM Trudeau focused on Canada’s cooperation with CARICOM on climate change adaptation and migration. In The Bahamas, he announced CDN$44.8 million in new climate change initiatives to support CARICOM and committed Canada’s continuing support to Small Island Developing States (SIDS). He also applauded Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s leadership on the Bridgetown Initiative which, he said, has re-energised the conversation on International Financial Institution reform to better respond to the current crises affecting the region.

He also informed that Canada will be the new chair of the Board of Governors of the Caribbean Development Bank which, of course, is important in regional development financing. It will be recalled that PM Trudeau is co-chair with PM Holness of Jamaica of the United Nations Initiative on Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond, which aims to mobilise international cooperation on financing for development to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

TRADE – PM Trudeau announced that Canada will be seeking to renew its MFN waiver at the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the Canada/Caribbean Trade Agreement (CARIBCAN) to ensure that goods from the region can continue to enter the Canadian market duty-free beyond 2023. CARICAN’s waiver is due for extension in December 2023. This non-reciprocal trade arrangement was first established in 1985. You may recall that the reciprocal free trade agreement negotiation with Canada was not completed.

CARICOM actually needs to expand its goods exports to Canada. In goods, an issue, which has recently been in Jamaica’s media, has concerned the importation of cannabis (marijuana/ganja) from Canada. During the past decade or so, there was interest from Canadians in the development of Jamaica’s cannabis industry. There has been some export of medical cannabis from Jamaica.

The Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator Aubyn Hill, had a press conference on Monday afternoon to address the controversy surrounding the imports from Canada. While seeking to clarify the import situation, he reiterated the Government’s commitment to supporting and building the local cannabis industry.

On services, Canada is a primary market for visitors to the region. There is, however, a need to examine the export of other services to Canada.

Minister Hill announced his intention to lead a trade mission to Canada in the spring.

REGIONAL SECURITY – PM Trudeau recognised that more support is needed to stop the flow of illicit drugs, arms, and human trafficking in the region. Thus Canada will provide $1.8 million to address illicit drug trafficking and strengthen border and maritime security in the Caribbean.

IMMIGRATION – PM Trudeau mentioned the link between CARICOM and Canada through the number of CARICOM nationals and their descendants who reside in or have studied there. You should note that only two CARICOM countries do not require visas to enter Canada and these are The Bahamas and Barbados.

FARM WORK PROGRAMME

An issue which I note was not addressed either in PM Trudeau’s speech or in reports of bilateral meetings was the temporary programme for foreign agricultural workers in Canada (the Farm Workers Programme). There was much controversy last year about the conditions under which Jamaican farm workers were employed in Canada.

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security sent a team to Canada to investigate. Media reports in November 2022 indicate that the team went, returned and submitted their report. However, there has been no media report, which I can find, on their findings and recommendations. At the annual programme review held also in November, it is reported that Minister of Labour Karl Samuda commended the Jamaicans participating in this farm work programme. Given that over 8,000 Jamaicans participate in this programme and there is a desire to increase the numbers, it would be useful to know the findings of the investigation team.

As the former prime minister of St Lucia, Allen Chastanet, had said back in 2020, there is need to further strengthen the relationship with Canada, and not only in matters related to Haiti, climate change, gender, and security, but also in trade and investment and other areas of economic and social cooperation. Hopefully, this high level engagement with regional heads will indeed continue and bear more meaningful fruit.

Elizabeth Morgan is a specialist in international trade policy and international politics. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com