By Lincoln DePradine
Jamaicans residing in Canada have been labelled as “Model Ambassadors’’ for his or her “important contribution’’ to their Caribbean birthplace.
They have been recommended on the weekend in Toronto by state minister with duty for Diaspora Affairs, Alando Terrelonge, who mentioned many Jamaican-Canadians have spent a “lifetime in supporting’’ and constructing what he termed, “Model Jamaica’’.
“Jamaicans have made their mark and earned their ceremony of passage on this place. I’m pleased with your achievements,’’ Terrelonge mentioned, in delivering the keynote handle at this 12 months’s “Regional Jamaica Diaspora Convention Canada’’, on the Ebenezer Holiness Church in Toronto.
“I take this chance to remind each single one in all you, that you simply’re all Model Ambassadors. It’s due to your contribution right here in Canada and, after all, the contribution you make at house to your Jamaican households and kin, and likewise to nationwide improvement, that make each single one in all you an Ambassador of Model Jamaica,’’ the minister mentioned.
“You retain the hopes and goals of our forebears alive. You might be, in reality, the manifestations of their wildest goals and I ask you all, please, to applaud yourselves, as you proceed to wave the flag excessive.’’
The regional convention was final held in 2018. The Toronto occasion is a part of a sequence deliberate for numerous Jamaica Diaspora communities internationally in 2023.
Final Saturday’s convention goal was to have fun Jamaicans’ “shared heritage, promote cultural understanding and discover alternatives for collaboration and development,’’ mentioned Dr Sylvanus Thompson.
Thompson, chairman of the Regional Jamaica Diaspora Convention Planning Committee in Canada, and likewise a member of the World Jamaica Diaspora Council, mentioned the gathering additionally was designed “to offer a platform for us to interact meaningfully in discussions, and collective actions, about necessary points impacting Jamaican-Canadians; share data and change concepts’’.
The Jamaican-Canadian neighborhood, numbering near 250,000, has tailored to the Canadian surroundings and “has flourished, whereas holding steadfast to the colourful traditions and wealthy cultural heritage of Jamaica’’, mentioned Thompson.
“The Jamaican Diaspora in Canada is a residing testomony to the resilience, energy and creativity of our individuals,’’ he mentioned. “Collectively, we are able to forge a brighter future for our beloved Jamaica and the prolonged Jamaican Diaspora in Canada.’’
Convention matters mentioned included healthcare, the prison and justice system, schooling, and the way forward for tourism.
Terrelonge, a lawyer and MP for East Central St Catherine, and likewise State Minister within the Ministry of International Affairs and International Commerce, expressed confidence that the convention’s targets, similar to “exploring collaborative potentialities, exchanging concepts, creating networks that may result in joint ventures, social tasks, and mutually useful initiatives’’ for each Jamaica and Canada, “will likely be realized’’.
He mentioned the ruling administration in Jamaica, headed by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, is dedicated to “ongoing efforts to attain a strengthened and mutually useful strategic
Again: World Jamaica Diaspora Council Members – Captain Kevin Junor, Rhona Dunwell, Lisa Rutty,Dr. Sylvanus Thompson, Bishop Glenford Duffus, Steven Getten, Dr. Hugh Simmonds.
authorities of Jamaica/Diaspora partnership’’.
Jamaica, Terrelonge mentioned, is guided by a Nationwide Diaspora Coverage, “which has been intentionally designed to empower all Jamaicans’’, and likewise “represents the dedication of the federal government of Jamaica to defending and selling the welfare of all Jamaica, wherever they reside, to interact, join and empower’’.
Jamaica is “the place of option to work, dwell and do enterprise. I now check with Jamaica as ‘Vacation spot Commerce and Funding’’, Terrelonge mentioned. “There are thrilling developments going down in Jamaica, on the financial and enterprise fronts.’’
Terrelonge, who’s visiting Ottawa and Montreal earlier than leaving the nation, additionally referenced the historic ties of friendship between Canada and Jamaica.
“For so long as Canada and Jamaica have maintained bilateral ties and bonds of friendship, so, too, have our people-to-people exchanges been vibrant and dynamic,’’ he mentioned.
“Though the overwhelming majority of Jamaicans reside in Toronto, it’s noticeable that Jamaicans have populated provinces all through Canada, making important contributions to its political, financial, social and non secular mosaic. We should, subsequently, acknowledge and acknowledge the various stalwarts, on whose shoulders we now stand, for his or her superb contributions. They’ve been giants of Jamaica, forging the way in which for the subsequent technology, proper right here in Canada.’’
