Canada (Commonwealth) _ The first-ever Canada-Caribbean Community (Caricom) summit began on Wednesday in Ottawa, Canada, with the inauguration of the Caricom-Canada Strategic Partnership, which aims to expand and improve the two regions’ current partnerships.
The new initiative, according to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, “will help us tackle urgent challenges together, creating good jobs, ending poverty, growing the middle class, making life more affordable, fighting climate change, protecting the environment…and, of course, building a secure peaceful hemisphere and a peaceful world.”
Today, we are taking our friendship and partnership to the next level, he added. Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, who is also the leader of the 15-member regional integration movement, stated that as “we navigate the new frontier” in the Caricom-Canada alliance, “our shared priorities are not mere ideals.”
They are the fundamental building blocks for a future that we will design collaboratively, he said, adding that Caricom looks forward to working together to establish a more resilient, economic, sustainable, and secure future for our peoples.
He stated that the Caricom-Canada Strategic Partnership is welcomed by the area and that it will allow for institutionalized and regular discussion at all levels. Skerrit noted that it will ease the implementation of cooperative actions, decisions, and agreements on certain thematic objectives such as health, environment, defense, trade development, and finance.
The Caricom chairman stated that the summit’s theme “Strategic Partners for a Resilient Future” is especially important in an uncertain times, as we attempt to provide meaningful outcomes to meet our current needs and those of future generations.
Climate change and resilience, access to finance and global financial architecture reform, Haiti, regional security, and trade and investment will all be discussed during the two-day summit. Trudeau stated that his administration will continue to play an important role in Haiti, where criminal gangs have destabilized the French-speaking country.
Canada values Caricom’s leadership in supporting inclusive political debate in Haiti. We will continue to collaborate with you to advance Haitian-led solutions, especially in the event of global international intervention, he continued.
Following Prime Minister Dr. Ariel Henry’s plea for aid in restoring peace and security in his country, the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution permitting an international multi-national military force into Haiti.
The inaugural Canada-CARICOM Summit on Canadian soil will take place in Ottawa, Ontario, from October 17 to 19, 2023.The Summit will be co-chaired by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada and Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica, the current Chair of CARICOM. Climate change and resilience, access to finance and global financial architecture reform, Haiti, regional security, and trade and investment are all on the agenda for CARICOM leaders and their Canadian counterparts.
Media representatives who are unable to attend the Summit in person in Ottawa are reminded that the following sessions will be livestreamed. Many CARICOM countries have long-standing ties with Canada on a wide variety of shared concerns, including commerce, security and defense, foreign assistance, and governance.
This Summit builds on Canada’s efforts to improve connections with the region, including the Prime Minister’s travel to Nassau, The Bahamas earlier this year to participate in CARICOM’s 44th Conference of Heads of Government. Every year, over two million Canadians visit CARICOM countries, and over 10,000 CARICOM students study in Canada.
CARICOM is a regional organization founded on July 4, 1973, by the Treaty of Chaguaramas. It has 15 Full Members and five Associate Members. Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago are Full Members. Associate Members include Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands.
