BASSETERRE, St. Kitts–Canadian politicians have exposed the former Douglas Administration for its poor management of the Citizenship-by-Investment (CBI) Programme that resulted in St. Kitts and Nevis’ visa free access to Canada revoked.
In a letter dated January 11, 2016, written to Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stephane Dion, P.C., M.P., two members of the Canadian House of Commons have raised questions about whether Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, had held discussions with the Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis about Canada’s revocation of visa-free access to the twin-island federation.
A hornet’s nest was raised over the cavalier handling of the Citizenship-by-Investment programme by the banished Douglas Administration in the wake of a 10 day private family vacation taken by Prime Minister Trudeau and his family on the island of Nevis recently.
Official Opposition Foreign Affairs Critic and Member of Parliament for Parry Sound-Muskoka, Tony Clement, and Official Opposition Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Critic and Member of Parliament for Calgary Nose Hill, Michelle Rempel, have resurrected the sad narrative that Canada, which has been a long-standing ally of St. Kitts and Nevis, had to resort to drastic measures to protect its borders and citizens in the face of lax controls and improper due diligence by the ousted Douglas Administration in its running of the CBI Programme.
“Minister, the decision to impose visas on St. Kitts and Nevis citizens was not taken lightly. It was taken as a way to ensure Canada’s sanctions policy against the dictatorial regime in Iran (one of the greatest threats to peace and security in the world today) remained strong. As you no doubt know, Iranian interests were taking advantage of lax citizenship rules and the ability to purchase citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis to enter Canada and other countries like the United States,” Clement and Rempel said.
“One example is the case of an Iranian individual who travelled to Canada on a St. Kitts and Nevis diplomatic passport purchased for $1 million US (Toronto Star, January 9, 2014). It has also been noted that individuals with Syrian passports have also tried to use St. Kitts and Nevis passports to enter Canada (Toronto Sun, November 22, 2014). In addition, the United States Treasury Department noted that an Iranian individual holding a St. Kitts and Nevis passport was contracted by the regime in Tehran to convert Iranian funds denominated in non-Iranian local currency into US dollars for the use of the regime, and in violation of sanctions,” Clement and Rempel added.
“We would ask that you disclose whether or not any commitments were made by Prime Minister Trudeau to lift visas on St. Kitts and Nevis residents, since the matter involves ensuring that the Iranian regime is prevented from end-running Canada’s tough sanctions policy on that country, and also involves ensuring the safety and security of Canadians remains high,” they further added.
St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister, Dr. Timothy Harris, said that this letter by Clement and Rempel is further evidence of how the ejected Douglas Administration has done severe reputational damage to the St. Kitts and Nevis CBI Programme and has as a result placed Kittitians and Nevisians at a disadvantage of gaining visa-free access to Canada.
Dr. Harris said that his Government of National Unity is working in the best interest of the country to restore the good reputation to the programme.
At an NTL Caribbean Citizenship Summit 2016 held in St. Kitts yesterday (Jan.13), Dr. Harris said that there must be a commitment to common and high standards with the programme.
“We all have collective responsibility, a responsibility to each other as well as our own citizens to run robust and honest programmes, which is why I welcome regular events and interaction such as this event. We should share data and information. We must commit to high common standards and best practices. Somebody who is rejected by Grenada, for example, should not be allowed to succeed to Saint Lucia. In other words, we must have a common high standard of due diligence across the Caribbean, so persons cannot play one country off against another,” he said, adding that “nor do I think we should compete on price; it should never be a race to the bottom. Our patrimony must never be devalued.”
Dr. Harris said that “a major 2015 accomplishment of the Team Unity Administration was the recalibration of the Citizenship by Investment (CBI) Programme that was seriously under threat of collapse as a result of the Federation’s loss of visa-free access to Canada for our citizens and the US FINCEN Advisory against our country,” adding that “similar sanctions from other major jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom were coming fast on the heels of these two injurious body blows, due to the Douglas regime’s sale of passports to certain foreign nationals of questionable repute.”
“The Team Unity administration brought a Fresh Start to the CBI programme by making quick work of corrective steps to co-operate with the Governments of Canada and the USA in revamping the programme,” he said
“We hosted two service providers’ seminars here in the Federation. These were the first of their kind to take place in the region. We attracted top level representation from the governments of Canada, the UK, the USA, and the EU,” adding that “the improvements to the CBI programme will continue into 2016.”
“They have commended us on our leadership and our taking steps in the right direction,” he noted.
I guess it will also cost st Lucia visa access to Canada also.