H.C. Nawbatt (left), Brazilian Ambassador, Governor General and Wife, Malaysian H.C., Qatar ambassador
Guyana’s new High Commissioner to Canada, His Excellency Harry Narine Nawbatt, former Housing Minister and Ambassador to Brazil officially assumed office last month. The occasion was marked by a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on March 22, at which the High commissioner’s credentials were presented to Canada’s Governor General His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston who noted that Canada and Guyana enjoys a long-standing, positive relationship; and that people-to-people diplomatic ties are vital for sustaining the bilateral relationship as well as the regional and multilateral institutions to which the two countries belong.

The High Commissioner is in Toronto to meet with the Diaspora and attend to other business.  This is the first interview that he has given since taking office.

Welcome High Commissioner and best wishes on your new appointment.  Thank you for taking the time.  Not only have you made a dramatic change between climate zones, the working languages have gone from Portuguese and English to French and English, and in terms of land mass from the 5th to the 2nd largest country in the world.

Certainly it’s a change as far as climate is concerned, as you know both Guyana and Brazil are very warm.  It was a bit of a shock especially on passing through New York.  It’s the first I’ve seen New York under so much snow and coming to Canada it was equally cold if not colder.   I’ve been to Ottawa before but this is the coldest I’ve seen it.  Guyanese and Canadians whom I’ve met say this is a mild winter, I hope I don’t see one that’s severe.   We had a lot of friend in the diplomatic field in Brazil; in fact I left just after the inauguration of the new President, Dilma Rousseff.  I was just getting into Portuguese, now I’m here I’ll have to dig out my old high school French..

For much of the previous week you were in CANADA/CARICOM trade negotiations.  UWI Professor Norman Girvan has made the observation that most of CARICOM’s exports to Canada already enter duty free under Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status and that any treaty resulting from these negotiations could constrict the ‘policy space’ of regional governments and complicate completing The CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).  How do you respond?

Actually those negotiations are absolutely necessary because of WTO (World Trade Organization) regulations.  The current agreement between CARICOM countries and Canada expires this year and there has to be an agreement embodying the entire region that extends those arrangements.  Not all from CARICOM goods currently enter Canada duty- free, as is the case of our rum, and rum from the Caribbean as a whole.  Every province in Canada has different rules of engagement, some provincial liquor boards permit our rum sales others don’t.  So what we’re looking for is a general federal agreement covering all the provinces for exports from CARICOM.

Rum is a good lead into the very next question.  Canada has been Guyana’s largest trading partner in terms of exports for many years with Canadian companies focusing on Guyana’s extractive industry.  Do you see any opportunities to grow trade in non-traditional areas?

Yes.  Years ago when I used to come to Canada, I would see produce from Guyana in the West Indian stores– mangoes, peppers, bolonjay.  Now you see produce like mangoes coming from Dominican Republic or Miami.   There is also opportunity for fish – we have good gillbacker.  The big problem is a lack of air cargo service for getting those things here now.  GAC (Guyana Airways Corporation) had a cargo section that used to take produce to the States and Canada.  Caribbean Airlines does not do this now.  But I heard that my friend Carl Stuart made a statement a couple of months ago that Caribbean Airlines will be starting back a cargo facility between the Caribbean and North America.  So I would hope to see coming here things we produce a lot like peppers and cherries and those non-traditional items that people crave for in Canada – and not only the raw source but value added items like jams.
Guyana is known for producing agricultural products.  Our President is head of the agriculture section of the CARICOM cabinet.  This export area is something we want to be doing.
Let me also mention that now we grow rice in the Rupununi, and we mill it there.  And now they’re now looking to expand that and sell it into the neighbouring Roraima province in Brazil.  We have also been spreading out into other areas and cottage industries.  You can go into an area like Mahdia or Kurupung and you’ll find things being produced there that were never done before. For example, in Region 1 they produce organic coco which is used for making Cadbury chocolate.

The best of friends have disagreements.  The Guyana government has on occasion expressed concern over what it views as inconsistency in Canadian policy which entertains refugee claims from Guyana, while it deports other would be immigrants (including some with criminal records) to Guyana – i.e., to the very same jurisdiction.
The refugee claimant/deportee juxtaposition may be the symbolic hitching post of a larger underlying issue of the inequitable character of the best of all worlds cherry-picking accruing to Canada at the expense of Guyana from both ends – immigration and deportation.  Some negotiated arrangement is required to establish criteria for sharing the burden of reintegrating deportees in general, and criminal deportees in particular, some of whom have been out of Guyana so long they have become unfamiliar and have little support systems there.
Are you at liberty to say if some quiet diplomacy is in play in this area?

This is a CARICOM problem.  Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, Guyana – we’ve all complained about deportees being sent back.  Some of these deportees have acquired let’s say “their skills” in North America.  Many of the deportees start in the drug trade and branch out into other criminal activities.  If there were not a market for drugs in North America there wouldn’t be a drug trade.  So greater focus has to be on dealing with the issue where it is occurring at source.  Deporting some offenders is not a solution for anyone.  They are not born citizens of the country but some of them have been here for twenty or thirty years.  We don’t have the infra structure to handle them when they’re deported.
With respect to refugees, I find it extremely difficult to believe that the Canadian Government which has an embassy in Guyana, can grant refugee status to someone who makes a refugee claim, without confirming through the embassy in Guyana, the validity of the allegations made by persons who want to come to Canada for  various reasons of their own – after all that is what embassies are for.

Your counterpart Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana Francois Montour has pledged to work to maintain the close relationship with Guyana and extend commercial exchange, technical and knowledge exchange and assistance to Guyana in as much as he can.  Have you been able yet to exchange ideas with High Commissioner Montour?

I met with High Commissioner, he is a very nice person and he’s very interested in cementing and establishing further relations between Canada and Guyana.   He himself hasn’t been in Guyana very long; I just met with him on my way to Canada from Brazil. Actually he was here during the CARICOM negotiations – we were in the same room but didn’t have an opportunity to talk.  He’s coming back this way in June when hopefully will have some time for discussions.

Many Guyanese who immigrated in 60’s and 70’s are reaching the age of retirement – and may be looking at Guyana for retirement or just to vacation, is anything being done to make this a more viable option and in relation to safety and security?

There is much talk about violence in Guyana but relatively speaking Guyana is a peaceful country.  Look at Mexico, people are killed every day just on the border with the United States, and not just in single digit but double digit numbers.  This is a worldwide phenomena and Guyana has its share.
But apart from that, Guyana has been taking steps to encourage Guyanese to go back home.  We’ve introduced a scheme for re-migrants could purchase house lots, build their own homes and come and live and contribute to the economy of Guyana.  When I was at the Ministry of Housing, Guyanese on vacation would come in on a one off basis to make enquires about obtaining building lots.  There is now a formal policy in place to institutionalize that process.

Remittances from the world wide Diaspora, including the vibrant community in Canada, provides a significant offset to Guyana’s balance of payments through its capital account – not to mention the assistance to Guyanese families.    What about those who would also like to lend their skills?

This might sound like a joke but it’s not.  At one time instead of remittances from North America to Guyana, Guyanese were sending remittances to their families in North America who were feeling the pinch of recession.
Right now we have a very positive reserve and we’re striving for Guyanese families at home to be more self-sustaining.  You know at one time there was a high volume of barrel shipments into Guyana, I’ve been told recently that is now significantly reduced, so much so that Laparkan hardly now sends barrels to Guyana – they’re mainly doing carton boxes now.
With respect to skills – we need skills. Guyana encourages anyone of Guyanese heritage who wants to comeback and live – not only the older ones but also the younger ones with skills, who can contribute to the Guyanese economy in areas such as technology, the medical field, in teaching like the University of Guyana and places like that. I heard of a couple of Guyanese Doctors in Canada who’re prepared to go down to Guyana to put interns through a training period and certify them especially in the field of pediatrics – these are the things we need.  A tremendous amount is spent on education and training in Guyana, very often people trained at the Technical Institute – plumbers, electricians, etc. leave for North America where there’s a high demand for those skills.  People aren’t prevented from leaving the country.

What are a few of your priorities for the year ahead?

The advice I got on coming here was to meet as many Guyanese as possible and their organizations.  Fortunately I’ve started to do that in Ottawa, where I’ve met with three or four groups – a general cultural organization, a Muslim group, a Hindu group and so on.  I was invited to Calgary but couldn’t go.  However, Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh was at the Board of Governors meeting in Calgary and I was able to arrange for him to meet the group, which turned out to be extremely useful.  It’s very good to have Guyanese in all these areas, as you said is the second largest country in the world – and they bind themselves together.  That is also why I’m here in Toronto to meet the Guyanese community.
I’m also very interested in Investments particularly by Guyanese/Canadian in Guyana.  We talked about non-traditional exports, there are also other business opportunities for Guyanese with the skills and Capital – you know the areas we’re concentrating on like the fibre optic cable from Brazil, deep water harbour construction in Berbice, the Linden to Lethem Road, the one Laptop per Family program and Amelia Falls hydro to name some.

Thank you High Commissioner.  Any closing remarks?

I hope to have a fruitful stay while I’m in Canada, though not as long as my predecessor.  But while I’m here I’d like to contribute to Guyana’s economy, areas like sport, exchanges in education and health and poverty reduction especially in Guyana.  I’d like the help of all Guyanese/ Canadians.  And I can say that those I’ve met so far have made the winter warmer.