Canada and the Caribbean have barely begun to realize what’s possible in their trading relationship, Prime Minister Mark Carney told a working breakfast of Commonwealth leaders Tuesday.
“There’s more than a million people in Canada who trace their roots back to the region,” Carney told the assembled leaders before attending the opening of the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda.
“There is growing trade, $4 billion a year more broadly … It scratches the surface of what’s possible.”
Carney started the day by sitting down with Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne, who told Carney at the start of their meeting that Canada “as a middle power is very influential in the Commonwealth globally.”
“And as we have discussions to make the Commonwealth more consequential, your contribution will be extremely valuable,” he added.
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Carney saluted Browne’s leadership on the Commonwealth meeting, calling it “an extraordinarily important meeting at a crucial time.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand joined Carney at the working breakfast, where the prime minister gave each of the assembled Caribbean leaders a bottle of maple syrup with his own brand on it.
Heads of state and foreign ministers from Antigua, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago were in attendance, along with the secretary-general of CARICOM, an intergovernmental organization representing Caribbean nations.
“We all know how much the world has changed. We’re all responding to it. We all know that the best response is to build out the close ties of friendship,” Carney said in his opening remarks at the breakfast.
Carney is spending one day in Antigua, with a full itinerary that includes other bilateral meetings and executive sessions, as well as a lunch and dinner hosted by King Charles.
Ahead of the breakfast meeting, Antigua’s high commissioner to Canada said he hopes that Canada’s relationship with the Caribbean, which used to be closer, can now be rebuilt.
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Ronald Sanders told The Canadian Press “Canada needs to pay a little more attention to the Caribbean,” adding Carney is likely to find common ground with other leaders during his visit.
During his time in Antigua, Carney will also meet one-on-one with the leaders of Australia, Guyana and Ghana.
Much of the focus of the Commonwealth meeting will be on trade, though experts say it’s also an opportunity to boost diplomatic ties with a variety of countries.
The Commonwealth is a voluntary coalition of 56 countries, the large majority of which have ties to the former British Empire.
The trip is the latest in a flurry of international trips Carney has been making since he became prime minister last year — part of an ongoing attempt to pivot Canada away from dependence on the United States.
The modern Commonwealth was established in 1949 and Commonwealth countries together represent 2.7 billion people. Commonwealth members include large countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, India and Nigeria, and many of the world’s smallest countries — such as Tuvalu, a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean with a population of about 10,000.
Experts say ties with Commonwealth countries can help Canada win support in multilateral forums like the United Nations, a strategy Canada has used in the past.
Ahead of the trip, government officials described the Commonwealth meeting as a platform for Canada to expand trade, investment and strategic co-operation, and noted Canada currently has $100 billion in trade with Commonwealth countries.
The nominal GDP for all of the Caribbean combined is $188 billion USD.
We can not acquire 100% of their nominal GDP, so this might get $1 billion USD.
Also, why were they left out of all North American trade deals along with the other 20 or so North American countries?
Right?
It’s barely worth the value of trade negotiations.
What are they gonna trade with? Sugar? Cotton? Off shore tax havens?
More luxury trips and warm climates for our magnificent PM of Do Nothingness. Our PM of Skip Parliament As Much As Possible. Can this boob be any more useless and expensive?
and another 200 million down the drain courtesy of mindless corrupt Carney.
Why?
Ben once again proving hes an emotional ipad kid with the common sense of a somalian in a daycare…
Bends over is correct. What exactly is Canada going to export or import from Barbuda, Antigua, Australia, Guyana and Ghana? We will not be shipping them Oil or Gas from Alberta. Australia will not be importing our beef or lamb. We are already shipping them whatever wheat, barley and oats they want. Timber? Carney’s Electricity focus?
The last line of the article may be correct, it is just another expensive diplomatic mission.
More travel around the world. Hey Ben please tell what he has accomplished so far? I see nothing but more cost to working Canadians. But your commenting 24 /7 so your just a troll!
This is another opportunity to strengthen and diversify our trade relationships beyond the US. Our heavy dependence on the american market leaves Canada economically vulnerable and puts our economic independence and sovereignty at risk.