St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas (Photo by Erasmus Williams)

This is the view of St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and current Chairman of the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dr Denzil Douglas in an interview with Embassy, Canada’s Foreign Policy Newsletter.

Douglas, who was in Ottawa last week as guest speaker for the 25th anniversary of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), spoke with Embassy’s Lee Berthiaume.

“Recently there is a feeling that the Canadian relationship with the Caribbean region needs to be improved, needs to be energised, and we are waiting for the first contact with the new prime minister (Stephen Harper) to see exactly what is the new government’s policy with regard to the Caribbean region,” said Douglas.

CARICOM leaders currently enjoy high-level contacts with American officials, including regular meetings with United States Secretary of State, Dr Condoleezza Rice and her assistants.

According to Douglas, Caribbean nations had strong relations with previous Canadian governments under both Prime Ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin.

“A number of things are passing through the heads and the minds of the leaders of the Caribbean,” said  Douglas. “The new government has not said very much about the Caribbean region, and because it has not said much about the Caribbean region, we would want to make sure that the Caribbean region is not an insignificant part of the new government's foreign policy. That's why we need to make sure that it is part of the agenda for this new government.”

“That is why we hope that can be given the same prominence and support that has been given in the past in terms of the new government,” said Douglas.

The Conservative government has been actively working to restart free trade negotiations with a bloc of four Central American countries, and while CARICOM and Canada have met four times since 2001 to discuss the issue, actual work has not yet started.

Canada already has a one-way preferential trade agreement with the 18 Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean, under which 96 percent of exports from the region enter Canada duty free, but Douglas said the trade relationship must be re-energized.

“We have not had that renewed recently,” he said. “We are aware of what Canada is doing with Central America. That is why it is critical that as soon as the new government settles in, we would want the opportunity for the prime minister and his trade advisors to meet with us and to carry forward the CARICOM-Canada trade relationship we have had in the past.”

Canada’s Foreign Policy Newsletter reported that an area where Canada can help the Caribbean is with the development of alternative energy sources, such as ethanol and wind power. The Caribbean community receives most of its energy supplies from Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela, but fluctuating prices and insufficient supply have presented challenges to the region.

“Part of the challenge that we face economically and financially is the large amount of money that we have to spend on the importation of fuel products,” said Douglas. “It is, in fact, the greatest challenge for economic stability and development because of the uncertainty in the price of energy.”

“Alternative energy development has been part of the agenda that we need to bring to the table for the new government,” said Douglas, adding: “This is going to be part of the agenda when we would meet with the prime minister.”

As for the Conservative government’s sluggishness in establishing contact with the Caribbean region, the CARICOM Chairman is giving Stephen Harper the benefit of the doubt.

“We are hoping at the first opportunity it would be made possible,” he said. “So we are assuming that it has not been possible.”