Black Immigrant Daily News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to depart today for the Bahamas, where members of the Caribbean Community are gathering to discuss regional issues, including a deepening crisis in Haiti.

Trudeau is participating as a special guest at the summit of 20 Caribbean leaders in Nassau, as the group celebrates its 50th anniversary.

His office says the trip will allow leaders to consider political, security and humanitarian assistance to Haitian people and “Haitian-led solutions to the ongoing situation.”

The country is embroiled in crisis, with violent gangs jockeying for territory in capital Port-au-Prince and international watchdogs reporting rampant sexual assault, kidnappings and a worsening health emergency.

Haiti’s unelected prime minister Ariel Henry, who is expected to participate in the Nassau meeting, has asked for a foreign military intervention — and the United States has suggested that Canada lead one.

But the Canadian government has so far kept its powder dry, instead searching for a “consensus” on the ground and levying economic sanctions against elites accused of supporting gang activity.

Emmanuel Dubourg, Canada’s only Haitian-born federal member of Parliament, suggested in an interview that the government is not leaving anything off the table as it considers how to help.

“We are trying our best to have that consensus to have a diplomatic solution,” the Liberal MP said.

“But we also heard that the national police is under-armed, and the situation, it’s really difficult there. So we are discussing all types of options to help people in Haiti.”

Dubourg added that a discussion about Haiti is likely to play into Trudeau’s conversations with U.S. President Joe Biden in March, when he is expected to visit north of the border.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said in French on Tuesday that Canada would continue working with the U.S. and other allies to help improve the situation on the ground.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also responded to questions about Haiti in French outside the House of Commons, saying that he thinks it’s important to work with Haitian people on a way forward rather than “forcing a solution” as a foreign country.

Trudeau was last expected to join the Caribbean leaders at a meeting in February 2020, but cancelled the trip amid criticism of his government’s handling of anti-pipeline blockades in Western Canada at the time.

More than two million Canadians travel to the countries represented in the group every year, and Canada’s two-way trade with them totalled nearly $6 billion in 2021.

The prime minister is expected to return to Ottawa late Thursday evening.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The University of the West Indies (The UWI) on Tuesday announced the appointment of Christine Randle as the new Director of the UWI Press. Randle’s appointment became effective in January.

Randle comes to the Press with a vast amount of industry experience in publishing, where she successfully ran a family business, putting it on sound financial footing and building on the name and reputation of the company in Jamaica, regionally and internationally. She launched the company on a path to further growth in a period of little development, and leveraged the use of innovative publishing models, partnerships, and collaborations. The UWI Press will benefit from her extensive experience and network as Managing Director and Publisher at the company for the past 15 years.

A qualified attorney-at-law, she earned her Bachelor of Laws in 1993 at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She was then admitted to the Bar of England and Wales at Gray’s Inn in 1994 and the Bar of Jamaica in 1995.

As the new Director of the UWI Press, Randle has oversight of its strategic and operational arm, and reports directly to Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles through the Press’ Advisory Board. She is responsible for operationalising the vision of the Board, which is to ensure that the Press becomes an independently financially viable and sustainable arm of The UWI, while maintaining its high-quality standards of cutting-edge academic publishing.

Commenting on Randle’s appointment, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the UWI Press, Professor Densil A. Williams expressed, “Ms. Randle’s extensive experience and her tenacious management will bring the transformational leadership that the Press needs at this point in time.” Professor Williams added, “I am especially pleased that she is the first Caribbean national to hold the post of Director of the Press in its 30th anniversary year. I know she will leverage her experience and comprehensive knowledge in her new role in service to The UWI.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government are set to have talks with several bilateral and multilateral partners as the Community deepens relations regionally and within the global community.

During the 44th Regular Summit of the Conference of Heads of Government scheduled for 15-17 February in Nassau, The Bahamas, Heads will engage with several special guests including the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau; Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; the President and Chairman of the African Export-Import Bank, Prof. Benedict Okey Oramah; and the Executive President of the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), Sergio D?az-Granados.

Assistant Secretary-General of the Directorate of Foreign and Community Relations within the CARICOM Secretariat, Ambassador Donna Forde said Canada is a “longstanding bilateral partner” and CARICOM is happy that another opportunity presented itself for an inaugural meeting between the Conference and Prime Minister Trudeau.

They were slated to meet in Barbados in February 2020 during the Thirty-First Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference, but the Foreign Minister of Canada, the Hon. Francois-Phillipe Champagne deputised and set out an agenda for strengthening ties between his country and CARICOM.

In May 2020, Prime Minister Trudeau worked closely with Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica, as well as the United Nations Secretary-General to advance solutions to the global economic crisis occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic in a global leaders’ forum.

Prime Minister Holness and Prime Minister Trudeau also collaborated in November 2020 for a High-Level Event on Financing for Development in the Era of Covid-19 and Beyond in which they called for assistance to countries that did not have the financial cushion to cope with the economic fall-out from the pandemic.

They jointly advocated for the international community to increase the resources available to the International Monetary Fund, including through a new allocation of Special Drawing Rights and a voluntary reallocation of existing Special Drawing Rights to help teetering economies.

In October 2022, the Chairman of CARICOM Chandrikapersad Santokhi, President of Suriname, and Prime Minister Trudeau held discussions on Haiti. The two leaders had agreed to continue to work together to advance a Haitian-led solution and encourage inclusive political dialogue among Haitian stakeholders. When CARICOM Heads and the Canadian Prime Minister meet in Nassau on February 16, they will continue the discussion on the evolving situation in Haiti.

Concerning the discussion with the head of the WTO, Ambassador Forde said that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has taken a special interest in Small Island Developing States (SIDs) and is aware of the vulnerabilities [economic, social, environmental] CARICOM countries face.

“She is aware of the need for us to build resilience to the challenges of Climate Change and all of the struggles that our economies continue to face, and which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Ambassador Forde said, adding, “it would be interesting to hear the message she will bring to CARICOM.”

Africa and the African Union were identified as “important partners” ASG Forde said as she touched on the engagement the CARICOM leaders will have with Prof. Oramah. She recalled the September 2021 CARICOM-Africa Summit in which the leaders committed to strengthening collaboration in trade, investment, and people-to-people contact.

“There should have been a follow-up Summit last year, but due to the intervening challenges from the pandemic, it was difficult to schedule that. We are hoping that the engagement with the President and Chairman of the African Export-Import Bank would signal a further strengthening of our engagements with African Institutions,” Amb. Forde said.

Sergio D?az-Granados is meeting with CARICOM Heads of Government as the Development Bank of Latin America seeks to strengthen linkages in CARICOM with a focus on post-COVID reconstruction and building green economies within Latin America and the Caribbean.

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