BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (BIS): Barbados will play host next week to Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, when he pays an official visit to the island, from July 18 to 20.
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| Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. AFP PHOTO |
While there, the Canadian head of Government will hold talks with his Barbadian counterpart, Prime Minister Owen Arthur and other CARICOM leaders. Harper will also hold separate bilateral consultations with Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Manning, before ending his short visit.
The visit to this country by a Canadian Prime Minister speaks to continued excellent diplomatic relations between the two nations, which formally began some 40 years ago on November 30, 1966, when Barbados became an independent nation.
It was the following year in 1967 that the Canadian High Commission opened a consulate in Bridgetown. Moreover, some 100 years ago, the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service established an office in Barbados in 1907.
Over the years, ties between the two nations have continued to develop, with Barbados and Canada forging several bilateral agreements, including conclusion of a Double Taxation Agreement (1980), a Social Security Agreement (1986), a Foreign Investment Protection Agreement (1997) and a Transfer of Offenders Treaty (2003).
As allies, Barbados and Canada often cooperate within multilateral institutions such as the Commonwealth, the United Nations and the Organization of American States.
The two nations also enjoy a strong cooperative relationship in matters of state security, namely narco-trafficking, HIV/AIDS and defence.
This vibrant bilateral association has fostered initiatives such as the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Programme, more familiarly known as the Canadian Farm Labour programme (CFLP), which Barbados formally entered in 1967.
The initiative sees dozens of Barbadian workers harvesting a variety of crops on Canadian farms in Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia.The first recorded group of workers who ventured to Canada under the CFLP was in 1967, when 218 workers were recruited.
In the last decade, the highest number of workers participating in the CFLP was 657 in 1993. This year, 141 persons are involved in harvesting vegetables, tobacco and ginseng in Ontario, while 21 individuals work on farms in Nova Scotia.
There are 70 Barbadians employed in the Canadian hotels Taboo, Mountain Peak and the Epicurean Restaurant.
Barbadian interests in Canada are represented by the Barbados High Commission in Ottawa supported by Consulates of Barbados in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver.
The Canadian Prime Minister leaves Barbados for Haiti on July 20. |
