-Canadian ambassador

CARICOM-Canada Trade and Development Negotiations are advancing well, according to new Canadian Ambassador to CARICOM Francois Montour, who says his country is interested in supporting the region’s efforts in tackling crime and security threats.

Speaking at his accreditation ceremony at the CARICOM Secretariat on Tuesday, he said that the third round of negotiations will begin later this year in Canada, which  remains committed to supporting the region in its goals to become “a more prosperous, secure and integrated community, able to generate and sustain economic growth.”

In a news release, the CARICOM Secretariat noted that the CARICOM-Canada trade talks began formally in November 2009 with CARICOM stating its interest in a strong development component, as a distinct chapter of the agreement. The region has been advocating that the agreement must provide for the varying levels of development among CARICOM countries, as expressed in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas in respect of the Special Treatment of Less Developed Countries.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Montour stated that Canada is also interested in supporting the region’s efforts in tackling crime, as it believed that there is need for a “coordinated and concerted effort between all states” to provide security for the people of the region as well as for future investors. In this regard, a Cdn$15 million a year budget was approved for an Anti-Crime Capacity Building Programme which includes the Caribbean region as one of the three regions of focus in the Americas, Ambassador Montour said.

In addition, he noted, CIDA’s Caribbean Trade and Competitiveness programme, with a budget of Cdn$15 million, is supporting CARICOM member states in their participation in the Single Market and Economy.

Ambassador Montour is the fourth Plenipotentiary Representative of Canada to CARICOM.

In accepting his Letters of Credence at the CARICOM Secretariat at Turkeyen, CARICOM Secretary-General Edwin Carrington observed that CARICOM-Canada relations had been characterised by “common values, mutual respect and by support for each other’s viewpoints on a number of issues.” Putting the relationship into historical perspective, he recalled that it had its roots from as early as the late 17th century when Canadian flour and codfish and Caribbean rum constituted the backbone of the trade between the Canadian Maritime Provinces and the West Indian colonies.

Both Secretary-General Carrington and Ambassador Montour highlighted the cultural interaction between the two regions which has been reinforced by a strong Caribbean Diaspora and an increasing number of CARICOM nationals studying in Canada. Montour said that Canada valued the “long and friendly” relations it had forged with CARICOM member states as they were not only “countries of refuge” for thousands of Canadian tourists during the harsh winter season but also economic partners.