I DO not agree with a widely held view that foreign diplomats should not pronounce on political matters of the host country to which they are accredited. Of course it depends on the particular issue. But outside of very sensitive developments, I think it is strategically wise for the host country to let these diplomats speak because it provides a forum for local academics, editors and political actors to ask questions of these diplomats.
The current High Commissioner to Canada, Mr. Sebastian Sigouin, ran into some chastisement at the beginning of this year when he stated that the Guyanese people should interface with the Guyana Government to get it to accept the EU Observer Mission Report on the 2025 election. In such advocacy Mr. Sigouin noted: “Democracy belongs to the Guyanese People. So speak up, call on your elected representatives, on your National Assembly, on your Government to take action and make the changes needed so that your electoral process is truly free and fair. It’s your right and your responsibility.”
Please see my comment on the High Commission’s opinion in my column of Thursday, November 27, 2025, “Canadians must hold their government accountable.” In that piece I didn’t reject the High Commissioner’s intervention. I asked Mr. Siguoin if Canadians hold their government accountable as he wants the Guyanese to do.
And I went further to ask Mr. Sigouin about whether the Canadians are asking their government about its pro-Israeli position on genocide in Gaza. In my article of November 27, I noted that I called to speak to the High Commissioner for his thoughts on the Gaza genocide. His office said they will get back to me. They never did. I regard that as rudeness. I want the High Commissioner to know that I am perhaps the longest-serving newspaper columnist in the Caribbean and some courtesy was in order. But of course I wasn’t surprised. I am not a fan and will never be a fan of a fictional construct called Western democracy.
Guyanese should allow Western diplomats to speak on local issues because it offers them a chance to direct questions about the double standards and hypocrisy in Western countries that profess to be more democratic than nations in the Global South, and that was exactly my pursuit when I replied to Mr. Segouin last November.
Now here is a question for Mr. Segouin. I will not call his office for his comment because I simply don’t have time for the reception you get. It is impossible to get through to the High Commissioner’s Office. The Canadian Government has refused visas for the three top officials of the Palestine Football Federation and the Iranian Football Federation.
These people were not visiting Canada for a holiday. They were going to a FIFA meeting as part of the upcoming World Cup, of which Canada is a co-sponsor. Israeli football’s officials were given visas. This is not only a despicable act by the Canadian government but also a violation of international norms that separate politics and sports.
Iran did not start a war with any country. Palestine has been under violent bombing the past two years by Israel. By what logic can Canada refuse these countries’ football officials? Where is the democracy that Canada is supposed to be? Let’s quote Mr. Segouin once more for emphasis: “Democracy belongs to the Guyanese People. So speak up, call on your elected representatives, on your National Assembly, on your Government to take action and make the changes needed….”
My question to Mr. Seguoin is, does he accept that democracy belongs to the Canadian people and they should call on their government to reverse this despicable decision that may have racist determinants? Does Mr. Sigouin believe on this issue the Canadian people should speak up?
This column here has given me the opportunity once more to address the Guyanese people on democracy that the West purports to embody. If Mr. Segouin had never commented on a topic in Guyana, I could not have done two previous commentaries on his remarks on the EU Observer Mission report and this column here. So we should not reject remarks by Western envoys when they centre on the political developments in Guyana.
Their viewpoints provide us here in Guyana with a platform to speak to Guyanese about the hypocrisy inherent in the so-called democracy in the West. How many Guyanese knew that the Canadian government denied visas to Iranian and Palestinian officials? Sadly, if this visa atrocity continues then Iranians and Palestinians will not be allowed to see games in Canada. And what is FIFA doing about this state of affairs? The solution is for the Canadian people to speak up.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Guyana National Newspapers Limited.