Johnson Smith updates J’can Canadians on national developments

Jamaica’s minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, last week provided Jamaican Canadians in the greater Toronto and Hamilton area with an update of national developments.

Speaking at a diaspora town hall on September 18 at the Jamaican Canadian Community Centre in Toronto — a day before she co-chaired with Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, Melanie Joly, the Women Foreign Ministers meeting hosted by Global Affairs Canada, and participated in bilateral talks — Johnson Smith congratulated Jamaicans in Canada who have won awards here and in Jamaica, and those who have been appointed to various prestigious positions.

Describing the 10th Jamaica Biennial Diaspora Conference held in Montego Bay in June as the largest one so far, she said it was not only a space for conversations, but business, as well. The minister referenced the example of a Rastafarian man from Tanzania who was working in South Africa on material for sustainable construction who met a couple investing in a housing scheme. They will now partner on a sustainable housing development together, she said.

There were 26 formal sessions on a range of issues and many ideas and insights shared. She said the Diaspora Day of Service impacted lives across the island although primarily in St. James and the western end of the island.

“I really want to thank you and thank those of you who were part of community development programmes, and helped support programmes because we really did touch lives on the Diaspora Day of Service and a critical part of our conference.”

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Johnson Smith also encouraged those gathered to take advantage of the opportunity to claim Jamaican citizenship for their children.

She said the Jamaican Constitution allowed a person of Jamaican descent to have the benefits of citizenship, investments and other initiatives.

“We also want to work harder at the critical consular services that we provide to you here to make an easier, to make a more efficient, to make some of the services more timely as we leverage technology and use different platforms to connect with different generations of the diaspora as we build a stronger community.”

The ministry is looking at better staff complements but also use of technology to enhance its services.

“The truth is though that as the size of the diaspora grows it is a challenge, so we ask for your patience as we continue to try to do our very best to serve you,” she said.

She commended Jamaica’s high commissioner to Canada Marsha Coore Lobban and consul general Kurt Davis and their team for doing their very best.

Johnson Smith said she has been engaged with Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) to see how more of their resources can be exported and placed in locations such as Toronto. They started in New York the rollout of having PICA be physically present “because the truth is passport, and the visa applications take up so much time”, she said.

The minister reminded persons that if they have an E-Passport they can apply online and pay with their credit card. They can receive it by DHL service and it happens like clockwork, she said.

The government, she said, had launched the Jamaica Diaspora Engagement Model portal, JAM-DEM, an engagement and investment portal designed for diaspora members, as well as the Diaspora Registration Portal which is designed to streamline and facilitate access among the diaspora “because we’ve always spoken about how to help the communities overseas engage more with each other”.

VIRTUAL MENTORSHIP

The foreign affairs minister spoke of the launch of the Jamaica Diaspora Mentorship Academy under the leadership of a member of the Global Jamaica Diaspora Council based in Europe. The academy aims to provide virtual mentorship initially to Jamaican students, including students with special needs, from across all 14 parishes from grade six to 13. The hard launch will take place later in the year.

The minister said they also launched the Eat Jamaican Global Campaign to promote consumption of authentic Jamaican food produced across the diaspora. It will be celebrated on November 25, and she said this year will have even more importance because it will be the post-Hurricane Beryl Eat Jamaican Day.

She said the initiative will be an opportunity to find ways to celebrate the resilience of Jamaicans and the resilience of farmers.

Senator Johnson Smith said there was significant youth involvement in the biennial conference, not only from the diaspora but from across Jamaica from youth organisations and youths at the secondary and tertiary levels.

She said the government had been on a mission to build a caring economy to enhance the lives of Jamaican citizens while remaining fiscally prudent and therefore sustainable.

She noted that the government has presented a budget with no new taxes for seven consecutive years and outlined developments in various sectors of the country.