Welcome to High Commissioner Berman
Kaieteur News – We in this news network present the red carpet of welcome for His Excellency, Mark Berman, Canada’s new High Commissioner to Guyana. Welcome, sir! And we trust that this time will be respectful and helpful. When this happens, then the interests of Canada and Guyana will be well served. If it’s not, as in one side, then things go downhill.
As we extend the courtesy of His Excellency, we remind him and his team that we have only one agenda. It is about what is good for Guyana and all its peoples. All other considerations fade to the margins. We can appreciate that High Commissioner Berman has the same priorities in terms of his own responsibilities to his country and fellow Canadian citizens. As much as we understand and respect the position of the Canadian High Commissioner, where Guyana’s interests are at stake, we have no friends, we have no competing loyalties, and we do not have no doubt about presenting in the clearest terms where we stand.
One of the things that we have taken a firm, robust stance on is this oil of ours and what was done to us from the beginning, and which continues to plague us through more misstatements and hesitation. One of these involves the vulnerability and exposures we have to our environment, and which flow from our oil production. In particular, this is how our contracted oil production partners are close to where the High Commissioner originates; act at the expense of this nation and its reputation for caring for the environment by doing everything it can.
To be honest, we do not currently have the expertise to manage our oil production environment to our advantage. Because of this vulnerability, we are taken advantage of and held in ransom. We do not know enough, we are not strong enough. But we noticed from a brief biographical sketch that we had published announcing the naming of His Excellency as Canada’s next High Commissioner for Guyana that he had considerable exposure despite being long-standing and at a high level involved in environmental work in several official roles . In fact, we would go so far as to state that the new High Commissioner qualifies as a bona fide expert on environmental issues. Against this backdrop, High Commissioner Berman could be worth his weight in gold for Guyana.
It is something that we urge the Guyana sitting Government to examine early and exploit smartly. The one thing we respect is inviting High Commissioner Berman to lend a hand here and there, from behind the scenes, and especially in debates and crisps about this oil of ours. It could be the authoritative voice of hope in our oil environment, one that we do not currently have a serious lack of. We see him as a partially resident unofficial consultant and in such a way that he does not violate his national obligations.
What we do not have knowledge awareness, the High Commissioner could skilfully furnish. For those who say this is not the role of the High Commissioner, we wholeheartedly agree. Still, as we do so, we remember (and call on our fellow Guyanese and Canadian guest friends to remember, as well) the ongoing and powerful role that the immediate predecessor of the High Commissioner played in the quest of this country and struggle for electoral democracy. The more we press that and think about that, the more we think we are not stepping out of bounds or straining the parameters of a diplomatic protocol. In fact, as we see it, we are simply extending the continuum of helping hands on issues that matter and in times of urgent need. This has not previously caused any insurmountable problems; therefore, we fail to see how it could present anything at present, and for what we encourage.
Explore this particular ambassador, and he’s clearly been a trusted advisor at home for older people, a capable authority in many overseas locations, and someone who’s always on the rise when the environment is under the microscope. We say again, so why not? And don’t forget: welcome and have a lovely stay here.