St. Vincent’s Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has rubbished the idea that he visited Canada for the Canada-CARICOM summit under a cloak of secrecy.
On Sunday, Gonsalves, speaking on the WEFM Issue at Hand Program, also told Vincentians why he did not meet with members of the St. Vincent diaspora in Canada following the summit.
Gonsalves said he had to return home to host his mother-in-law’s 95th birthday at Gorse on Saturday and to attend Famo Samuel’s funeral. However, before coming home, he had to meet with the Mustique Charitable Trust in New York last Thursday night.
“I heard some people ask why I did not stay in Ottawa for the meet and greet with Vincentians on Friday. I had made it clear to my staff from the beginning that I had to be back in St. Vincent on Friday. First of all, I had to leave Ottawa on Thursday to get to New York in time to go to a big fundraiser for the Mustique Charitable Trust. They are the ones who raised 5 million dollars to help St. Vincent and the Grenadines after the La Soufriere eruption, and they are involved with us with the housing program—the 21 houses we delivered a few weeks ago and the 20 we are going to deliver on Thursday.”.
“I also had to leave Canada so I could attend the funeral of Famo Samuel, a comrade from Chester Cottage. I had to take time off yesterday, even from the celebration with my mother-in-law, to go to Famo’s funeral as a good comrade”.
“Remember, the De Comrade caravan moves even while the dogs are barking. The barking dogs do not stop the caravan from moving, you know”, Gonsalves said.