KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has defended his resolution to not meet with Vincentians within the Canadian Diaspora when he attended the latest Canada-CARICOM summit in Ottawa, saying that he had a number of urgent issues to take care of in Washington and at dwelling.
In an interview on native radio on Sunday, Dr. Gonsalves mentioned he left Ottawa on Thursday to attend a fundraising operate of the Mustique Charitable Belief, which happened that very same night time.
“To begin with, I needed to depart Ottawa Thursday to get to New York in time to go to a giant fundraiser for the Mustique Charitable Belief,” Gonsalves mentioned, including that “they’re those who elevate $5 million U.S. to assist St. Vincent and the Grenadines with the Soufriere. And they’re concerned with the housing program, the 21 homes we delivered a couple of weeks in the past and the 20 we are going to ship on Thursday coming.”
He mentioned he left New York on Friday to be again in St. Vincent in time to have fun his mother-in-law’s ninety fifth birthday together with her on Saturday and to attend the funeral of Famo Samuel funeral, “a comrade from Chester Cottage.”
“When you’ve got a selection between…coming to host your mother-in-law’s ninety fifth birthday, which I did at Gorse yesterday, or to speak to 50 individuals, Vincentians, vital as they’re, in Ottawa –” Gonsalves mentioned on the radio.
“… what’s fallacious with me returning to be with…my mother-in-law at her ninety fifth. Since her home was blown down in 2017 in Dominica, she has been residing right here in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” the prime minister advised listeners.
“However I didn’t go beneath a cloak of secrecy,” Dr. Gonsalves mentioned. “I booked my passage in the identical method. The workers did it. The Canadian authorities met me in Toronto; they met me the place I lay over; they met me in Ottawa.
“I don’t perceive. You see, these fellas inform themselves a lie for a few years, and so they start to imagine it. There’s by no means been any motive, authorized or factual, to restrain me from going to Canada. By no means!
“I didn’t go to Washington for practically 12 years, and I simply went there. If I don’t have a motive to go, a compelling motive, and as I advised you, I used to be not occupied with making use of for any visa and my persevering with demand for a liberalization of the visa regime for Vincentians.
“I didn’t have a compelling motive to do this. I had a compelling motive this time as a result of I needed to go to the summit.”
Since 2012, Vincentian passport holders have required visas to go to Canada, and Gonsalves mentioned this is among the points he raised with Trudeau.
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