President Dr Irfaan Ali on Thursday held bilateral discussions with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa, on the sidelines of the inaugural Canada-Caricom Summit.
The summit, held under the theme “Strategic Partners for a Resilient Future”, ended on Thursday.
The Guyanese Head of State was among the group of regional leaders who travelled to the North American nation for high-level engagements.
According to a post on President Ali’s Facebook page on Thursday, following his engagement with the Canadian Prime Minister, “Discussions focused on Canada’s support for the development of Guyana’s oil and gas sector, the two countries shared values and approaches to climate resilience, food security, investments, and agriculture.”
It was also noted that PM Trudeau further reassured of Canada’s support for Guyana’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of rising tension with neighbouring Venezuela.
During the inaugural summit, a Canada-Caricom Strategic Partnership Agreement was launched on Wednesday to further embed the close collaboration and cooperation between the two sides on mutually agreed sectors.
At the closing press conference on Thursday, Prime Minister Trudeau committed to fighting climate change, crime and vaccine equity in the region, and consequently pledged almost $90 million in foreign aid for the region.
Climate change was a central focus at the Ottawa summit. According to the Canadian Leader, during Wednesday’s session, discussions centred not only on fighting climate change, but also on the fact that protecting the environment is good for economies.
“Clean, reliable, affordable energy is a great example of how climate action and economic growth can and must go together,” Trudeau has said. On this note, he announced that Canada would be spending some $58.5 million on the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to support renewable energy projects in the region, and another $6 million through the Caribbean Climate Smart Fund (CCSF) for resilient and renewable energy systems.
Additionally, the crisis in Haiti was also a top-priority area during the discussions between the hemispheric leaders. Trudeau pledged another 3.4 million of previously approved funds to address firearms violence in Haiti, as well as support the Haitian National Police (HNP) armory and armorers.
Moreover, he disclosed that Canada would also invest $3.2 million in the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap, to address firearms trafficking and proliferation, and deepen coordination between the Canadian Armed Forces and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, to provide rapid delivery of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
An additional $18.3 million from Canada’s Global Initiative for Vaccine Equity to strengthen health and immunisation systems and improve equitable access to vaccination in Haiti was committed by the Canadian PM.
These pledges were made during the first day of the summit. On the second day, Trudeau convened a trade and investment roundtable that included Canadian investors to deepen business ties and create new opportunities for workers. They discussed ways to diversify trade and expand investment in key sectors, like financial services, resilient infrastructure, clean tech, information and communications technologies, and natural resources management.
