Canada – Page 2 – Go Lean…Caribbean

Tag: Canada

Ferries 101: Economics, Security and Governance

Posted on June 27, 2017 in Economics, Government, Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

The absolute best way to get from Point A to Point B is a straight line. If those two points are separated by water then the best way is a causeway or a bridge.

That is the ideal. Then there is island life, where we have to accept the Less Than ideal. Many times the best way to get from Point A to Point B across a body of water is a boat, or more specifically a Ferry.

Welcome to a discussion of “Ferries 101”. Also, welcome to British Colombia, Canada. They provide the Caribbean such good role models and lessons of how to facilitate modern life with the realities of coastal and island living.

May we pay more than the usual attention to this Canadian model and these lessons.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – proposed a plan to better unite the 30 Caribbean member-states – all islands and coastal territories – that incorporated a full deployment of a network of ferries. This would be so transformative for the Caribbean region that we had to study a successful deployment of such a scheme. The best role model was the Pacific North American coast – the Salish Sea; this is the intricate network of coastal waterways that includes the southwestern portion of the Canadian province of British Columbia (Vancouver) and the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of Washington (Seattle). Its major bodies of water are the Strait of Georgia, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and Puget Sound. This inland waterway features international borders, constant trade and travel to facilitate year-round tourism and commerce. (See VIDEO in the Appendix below).

Copying such a model is a Big Deal for the Caribbean – too big for any one member-state alone. The Go Lean book thusly serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), an inter-governmental entity for all 30 member-states. The purpose is to better facilitate the societal engines (economics, security & governance) of the region that would lead to the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. The book states this vision emphatically with this quotation:

The CU envisions a similar – [to North America’s Salish Sea] – water-based highway system of ferries and docks to facilitate passenger, cargo and vehicle travel connecting the islands of the Caribbean region to the mainland ports. This ferry system will be a component of the Union Atlantic Turnpike. – Page 280.

This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the homeland; and the seas.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

The book stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society. The deployment of ferries is integral to the Go Lean roadmap for a “Union Atlantic Turnpike” – this is defined in the book as …

“a big initiative of the CU to logistically connect all CU member-states for easier transport of goods and passengers. The Turnpike is virtual … made up of many physical transportation modes envisioned for the region: Pipeline, Ferries, Highways, and Railroad”. – Page 205

Here is a sample of references to the ferry eco-system through-out the Go Lean book:

Community Ethos – Group Purchase organizations (GPO) – Big Ferry purchases	Page 24
Strategy – Competitive Analysis – Buy foreign or buy local – Ferries could neutralize transportation challenges and high costs	Page 51
Strategy – Stakeholders – Visitors – Snowbirds can bring RV’s on ferries	Page 55
Strategy – Agents of Change – Technology – Industrial efficiencies for transportation options like “Fast Ferry”	Page 57
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Transportation – Turnpike Operations: Integrated Ferries	Page 84
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Department of Transportation – Marine Administration to include Ferry Operations	Page 84
Implementation – Ways to Develop a Pipeline Industry – “Pneumatic Capsule Pipeline” as an advanced ferry system for cargo	Page 107
Implementation – Ways to Re-boot [Sample City] Freeport – Shipbuilding options to build/maintain ferries	Page 112
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean – Ferries create Virtual “Turnpike” Operations	Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce – Ferries operate as transportation arteries	Page 129
Planning – Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce – State License Plates Online Registration Access as Ferries allows cars to “island hop”	Page 129
Planning – Lessons from New York City – Many transport options including ferries	Page 137
Planning – Lessons from the American West – Railroads and Highways opened the West for better commerce, the same as ferries will do for the CU.	Page 142
Planning – Lessons from Canada’s History – well-developed trade networks made for Advanced Economy.	Page 146
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs – New Jobs for Infrastructural Build-out (Ferry docks)	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Housing – Pre-fab Industry/Jobs depend on Ferry deployment for logistics	Page 161
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Public Works – Union Atlantic Turnpike requires Ferry Piers	Page 175
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security – Naval Authority: to ensure and protect the waterscapes and vessels of the region to mitigate against “bad actions and bad actors”.	Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism – New Winter Season Product: Snowbirds can transport RV’s with Ferries	Page 190
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism – Dynamic Sea-lifts: Consider Fast Ferries boats and Spring Break traffic	Page 190
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Events – Sea lifts for Passengers and Freight	Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Fairgrounds – Ferries can transport “real” fairs	Page 192
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Extractions – Ferries Schedule for Transport to Offshore Rigs	Page 195
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce – Logistics & Delivery options improve	Page 198
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Transportation – Islands and Coastal areas demand more seafaring options i.e. ferries	Page 205
Advocacy – Ways to Develop Ship-Building – Ferry Operations – Fleet Demand & Supply	Page 209
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Rural Living – Ferries can optimize rural transportation options	Page 235
Advocacy – Ways to Impact US Territories – Puerto Rico could be Transportation Hub	Page 244
Appendix – New Transportation Jobs: Building/maintaining/administering toll roads, electric lines, and ferries: 15,000	Page 257
Appendix – Model of Alaska Marine Highway – Facilitated by ferries	Page 280
Appendix – Model of Eurotunnel – The Ferry Link	Page 281

This Go Lean book projects the roll-out of this Union Atlantic Turnpike as Day One / Step One of the Go Lean/CU roadmap. Over the 5-year implementation more and more of the features of the Turnpike will be deployed and their effect on the region will be undeniable: they will help to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

This Go Lean roadmap seeks to foster best-practices in the administration of a “ferry eco-system”. We will have a lot of coordinate – “many balls in the air”: shipbuilding, border protection, customs, events facilitation, trade and tourism promotion. These topics are just a sample of subjects previously addressed in many Go Lean commentaries; see a relevant list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12304	Caribbean Festival of the Arts – Transport Options for Events
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12146	Commerce of the Seas – Shipbuilding Model of Ingalls
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12144	Commerce of the Seas – Book Review: ‘Sea Power’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12126	Commerce of the Seas – Stupidity of the Jones Act
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9179	Snowbirds Tourism – First Day of Autumn – Time to Head South
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9070	Securing the Homeland – From the Seas
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6867	How to address high consumer prices: Welcoming ferries
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3713	Lesson from Canada: NEXUS – Facilitating Detroit-Windsor Commerce
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=673	Future Tech – Autonomous cargo vessels without a crew

The subject of ferries could be strategic and tactical for the Caribbean. They can create new lines of business for our region and help to optimize existing economic activities. Traditionally, building roads and building bridges have always been good for society and good for a local economy. Building ferries should be even easier than building a road or building a bridge.

While national-building is heavy-lifting, the administration of ferries need not be. We have so many good examples and role models to consider. For example, this weekend (June 30 / July 1, 2007) is a Big Deal in North America; Canada is celebrating Canada Day on July 1 and the US is celebrating its 4^th of July Holiday. We see an example of the best-practices of governance in the news article in the Appendix below. The experience shows how good governance works; due to mechanical problems the ferry operations in this one British Colombian island had to be suspended and a recovery plan executed: free reservations. That is sure to go a long way in forging goodwill among Western Canadian “ferry” stakeholders. This provides a good example for our Caribbean planners, who are observing-and-reporting on Canadian efficiencies. See photos here and the VIDEO in the Appendix below:

Yes, Ferries 101 could exacerbate nation-building 101. These activities can have a positive impact on a nation’s economy, security and governance. The industry of ferries is just one of the basic functionalities that must be embraced for an Industrial Reboot; in fact, this can be catalogued as an Industrial Reboot 101. This commentary is 1 of 4 in an occasional series considering Industrial Reboots. The full series is as follows:

Industrial Reboot – Ferries 101
Industrial Reboot – Prisons 101
Industrial Reboot – Pipeline 101
Industrial Reboot – Frozen Foods 101

Yes, we can … reboot our industrial landscape, for our waterways. Past generations of Caribbean people lived off the sea; it is now past-time to do that again. This plan – the roadmap to deploy a regional network of ferries – is conceivable, believable and achievable. We urge all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to this roadmap for economic empowerment. We can make the Caribbean homeland – with better interconnectivity between the islands and the “mainlands” – better places to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

————

Appendix – News Article: Free B.C. Ferries reservations to help Mayne Island travellers
By: Louise Dickson

B.C. Ferries is offering free reservations on the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay route for people travelling to Mayne Island in the next few days after hundreds of weekend travellers were caught in a massive traffic jam as they tried to leave the island on Sunday.

All sailings of Queen of Nanaimo between the Lower Mainland and the Gulf Islands were cancelled on Friday due to propeller problems. The Queen of Nanaimo, which has room for 160 cars and 900 passengers, is still out of service and won’t be operating until at least Thursday.

The smaller Salish Eagle, which holds 140 cars and 600 passengers, is running between Tsawwassen and Vancouver Island. B.C. Ferries is adding 12 sailing for the smaller ferry. The sailings will be on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

B.C. Ferries is working on getting Queen of Nanaimo back into service on Friday, in time for the long weekend, said corporation spokesman Darin Guenette.

If Queen of Nanaimo does not return to service, B.C. Ferries will put another ship on the route, if possible, he said.

The corporation is encouraging Lower Mainland customers to travel through Swartz Bay to the southern Gulf Islands. People interested in travelling through Swartz Bay to the southern Gulf Islands can contact the customer care centre at 1-888-223-3779.

Source: The Times-Colonist – Western Canada’s Oldest Daily Newspaper – Posted & Retrieved June 26, 2017 from: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/free-b-c-ferries-reservations-to-help-mayne-island-travellers-1.20780665

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Appendix VIDEO – Passage ferry QUEEN OF NANAIMO, Tsawwassen – Sturdies Bay (BC Ferries) – https://youtu.be/4c0U6qq2238

Published on Jul 6, 2016 – BC Ferries (06/2016)

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10 Things We Want from Canada and 10 Things We Do Not Want

Posted on October 14, 2016 in Government, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

“The Caribbean is the greatest address in the world”…

… so argues the book Go Lean…Caribbean in it’s opening (Page 3). Yet, a large number of Caribbean people live abroad. They live in places like the US, Canada, the UK and Europe. This commentary is Part 2 of 4 in a series examining the destinations of the Caribbean Diaspora. The full series is as follows:

10 Things We Want from the US and 10 Things We Do Not Want
10 Things We Want from Canada and 10 Things We Do Not Want
10 Things We Want from the UK and 10 Things We Do Not Want
10 Things We Want from Europe and 10 Things We Do Not Want

So for Canada, we must ask the questions of our Diaspora there:

Why do they live in Canada and what can we learn from that experience?
What can we gather for the Pros and Cons of Canadian life?

There are “push and pull” reasons why Caribbean citizens have emigrated in the past – and continue to do so now – to places like Canada.

“In the 2006 census, 578,695 Canadians reported that they originated from the Caribbean, and the overwhelming majority of these people have immigrated to Canada since the 1970s. … the largest populations of Canadians of Caribbean origin were from Jamaica (231,110), followed by those from Haiti (102,430), Guyana (61,085) and Trinidad and Tobago (58,415).” – Historica Canada

To our chagrin, the extent of that societal abandonment is so acute that it is now at an atrocious 70% rate among the region’s college-educated classes. Yes, this is bad! The frank admission, in the Go Lean book, is that the Caribbean has societal defects … in the economic, security and governing engines of society.

In the course of these Go Lean blog-commentaries, we have looked inward and identified the defects of our society. Now we need to look at these refuge countries and glean the Good and Bad of those destinations. This can be considered a “competitive analysis” as the Caribbean region is competing with these foreign locales for the hopes and dreams of our young people. (See the full immersion of Caribbean culture in Toronto in the Appendix-VIDEO below).

Here is a laundry list of the Good and the Bad of Canada; and how the roadmap to elevate Caribbean society, the Go Lean book, describes how the lessons should be applied in the implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU):

Canadian Imports

*10 GOOD* Things We Want from Canada**		*10 BAD* Things We Don’t Want from Canada**
1	Free Market Economy Canada has always embraced Free Market capitalism; today, their brand is more Liberal Socialism than Conservative Republicanism. Many social programs are offered to Canadian residents as a result, so the government plays a BIG role in the lives of most citizens. The Go Lean roadmap promotes Free Market principles for the region’s industrial development. The structure of Self-Governing Entities allows for further Free Market expressions without local government constraints.	Massive Tax Burdens Many Canadians complain of high taxes. The governments defend the policy as necessary to support the many social programs (healthcare, subsidized college education, advanced infrastructure, etc). The Go Lean roadmap advocates deploying balanced tax schemes that mostly “skim off the top”. The CU will deploy systems to help member-state governments do better at collecting their tax revenues. Overall the Caribbean tax burden will increase, but only marginally.
2	Universal Healthcare Canada is a great example of successful healthcare for all of its citizens. They ensure that everyone has access and quality delivery. This minimizes the expensive repercussions of indigent care. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for schemes to mandate healthcare insurance for every adult. With the leverage across the 30 member-states and 42 million people, the wholesale cost could be reduced.*	Healthcare Egalitarianism The Canadian Health delivery is a Single Payer and not an insurance program. So everyone gets the same level of treatment. The realities of healthcare is that different people have different needs, so a “one size fits all” approach is not preferred. The Go Lean* roadmap advocates for a mandated insurance solution. The key is that every adult will be required to select some insurance plan, of their choosing.*
3	Weather – Cool Summers Climate Change is a reality. So the warm seasons in Canada now last longer, 8 months instead of 6 months. Summertime in Canadian cities is pleasant, without air-conditioning. The Go Lean* roadmap promotes better infrastructure for Caribbean cities, developing refrigeration utilities for urban areas. This will leverage energy costs for cooling.*	Weather – Cold Winters Canadian winters are not preferred, especially the months of January and February. The Caribbean Diaspora dread life there for those months. The Go Lean* roadmap details the invitation to Canadian senior citizens to be Snowbirds in the Caribbean for the whole season. The economic returns of this strategy are too appealing to ignore.*
4	Tourists There is a lot of competition for Canadian tourists; the Caribbean continues to make the case that its region is the best tourist destination in the world. The region wants to continue to appeal to Canadians of all demographic persuasions to come visit the islands for stay-overs (land-based hotels) and/or cruise ships. We want to forge vacation options and traffic for the upper, middle and lower classes of Canadian society.The CU forges plans, advocacies and re-boots to further enhance the Caribbean tourism product array.	Expatriate Workers During the early days of nation-building, many Canadians workers came to the English-speaking Caribbean to work jobs (teachers, nurses, bankers, etc.) that many locals could have done. This practice led to the ethos that “White” Canadians were “better” than local personnel. The Go Lean roadmap dictates a labor standard where local workers get priority for jobs, then regional citizens, then and only then foreign workers (like Canadians).The Single Market would have freedom of movement but with this labor-qualifying caveat.
5	Capital There is a long history of Canadian banks in the Caribbean region. (Think Scotiabank, Royal Bank of Canada, and the First Caribbean-CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce)). Despite recent losses for Canadian banks in the Caribbean region, there is still the need for these banks’ active participation in the region. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for strenuous oversight for the Caribbean Dollar (C$) and regional banks participating in transactions using this currency.*	Devalued Currency The Canadian dollar was 1-to-1 with the US dollar in the 1970’s. The currency has since been devalued, but only a little; between $.95 and $1.08. When a Caribbean financial transaction is executed in US dollars, a Canadian customer has to endure higher prices. The C$ is not designed to be pegged to the US dollar, rather a basket of foreign currencies including the Euro, British Pounds and Japanese Yen. So Canadians doing business in the Caribbean will not be as vulnerable to US$ fluctuations.

Canadian Imports (cont’d)

*10 GOOD* Things We Want from Canada**		*10 BAD* Things We Don’t Want from Canada**
6	Supportive Defense Canada is not a militarized state like their American neighbor, but they do feature a robust internationally respected Army, Navy, and Air Force in support of their homeland.The CU roadmap provide for a complete Homeland Security apparatus to defend the Caribbean region. In addition, there is a comprehensive Intelligence Gathering and Analysis functionality.	Deportees Canada repatriates Caribbean citizens guilty of criminality on Canadian soil. So these one become the concern for Caribbean authorities once deported.The Go Lean roadmap calls for proactive mitigations for “bad actors” that might bring a lawless ethos to the homeland. We seek a treaty with Canada for full intelligence sharing for those affiliated with organized crime (gangs) and low-level felons.
7	Foreign Aid Canada was one of the only foreign supporters for the defunct West Indies Federation; they have always shown our region “love”. Plus they always step up to aid the Caribbean in their “time of need” after natural disasters (earthquakes and hurricanes). But they prefer to help as a regional bloc rather than country by country.The CU/Go Lean roadmap is designed to process all foreign aid from Canada; from both the Canadian government and NGO’s.	Condition for Philanthropic Support Many Giving Organizations attach strings to their gifts. The burdens of compliance is so difficult that many times, public-private entities – think Red Cross – attach themselves to the gifts to ensure accountability. This adds an additional layer in administrative costs, and less funding goes to the beneficiaries.The CU envisions a federal agency for oversight of the NGO’s in the region. We must do the heavy-lifting ourselves, rather than submitting perils of “bad actors”.
8	‘First Nation’ Reconciliation Like other European settlers in the New World, Canada had a history of repression of the indigenous peoples, but this country has reconciled that bad history with many positive empowerments. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for formal reconciliation commissions to settle a lot of bad treatment in the past.*	Virtual Segregation Canada has the same history of racial divide as many other American Northern cities. While not a legal segregation, there is a de facto segregation with many ethnic migrants living in pockets. The CU proposes repatriation back to the Caribbean homeland. There is nothing like being home.
9	Bilingual Co-existence Canada is a bilingual society, with the majority French culture in Quebec Province. The English and French co-exist well and insist on bilingual media expressions. The Go Lean* roadmap calls for multilingual media and government communications. There is also the need for Minority Equalization for different language groups.*	Quebec Pull for French Caribbean Migrants Many French-speaking Caribbean people target Quebec as the destination for their emigration. In the 2006 Census, there were 102,430 people of Haitian descent living in Canada. The CU/Go Lean* roadmap calls for managing the country of Canada as a competitor for the hearts of our youth.*
10	Professional Sports Role Model Despite the regional domination of continental sports (baseball, football, basketball) by Americans, Canadians still dominate in their own rite – they are usually among the best hockey players in the world. They nurture the skills from youth participation up to the professional levels. The Go Lean roadmap calls for empowering the sports eco-system in the region, allowing for more opportunities for amateur, collegiate and professional participation. Other benefits of the regional focus will include better oversight of sports academies, agents and leagues.	Recruitment of Caribbean Athletes During the 2016 Rio Olympics, there were many Track and Field athletes representing Canada that were of Caribbean heritage. Canada extends a “welcome mat” to these ones, therefore encouraging more to naturalize and discouraging loyalty to the Caribbean homeland. The Go Lean roadmap seeks to reboot the Caribbean societal engines. This will lower the “push and pull” factors that cause citizens to flee to other countries and switch their allegiances. This will allow athletes to fully engage their professions without leaving home.

Canada has been a frequent topic for considerations from the Go Lean movement (book and blogs). The opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14) recognized that there is value in considering the Good and Bad examples of Canada, with this statement:

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions to avoid the pitfalls of communities … On the other hand, the Federation must also implement the good examples learned from developments/ communities like … Canada….

The book specifically addresses Canada with these direct references of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification – Cold Weather Residents Must Wait Until Spring	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Minority Equalizations – Model of Canada’s Territories	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Strategy – Invite empowering immigrants – Like Canadians Snowbirds	Page 46
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Secretary of State – Trade Mission Offices	Page 80
Implementation – Reason to Repatriate – From Canada	Page 118
Planning – Lessons Learned from the previous West Indies Federation –Canada’s Support	Page 135
Planning – Lessons from Canada’s History	Page 146
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora – Toronto‘s Large Pocket	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Foundations – Many Canadians NGO’s	Page 219
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights	Page 220
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Elder-Care – Snowbirds Invitations	Page 225
Advocacy – Ways to Empower Women – Canada‘s great example	Page 226

In addition, previous Go Lean blog/commentaries addressed many issues in regards to Canada and the interactions of Caribbean people and Canada; see sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9179	First Day of Autumn – Time for Canadians to Head South
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6937	Canada’s Great Example of Women in Politics
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3694	Economic Help: Jamaica-Canada Employment Program
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3582	For Canadian Banks: Caribbean is a ‘Bad Bet’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1014	A Canadian’s View: ‘All is not well in the sunny Caribbean’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=732	Turks and Caicos Drama with Canadian Healthcare Contract
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=214	Canada: The Best Address/Destination … per this Bahamian

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU. Our scope is to impact the Caribbean’s economic, security and governing engines, not Canada’s. But we do hope to engage the Caribbean Diaspora living there.

There are Good lessons and Bad lessons that we can learned from Canada. So let’s pay more than the usual attention to these insights. Everyone is urged to lean-in to this Go Lean/CU roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation, to make our region a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Appendix VIDEO – Caribbean West Indian Street Food｜Toronto – https://youtu.be/8ECKojESpOs

Published on Jun 18, 2016 – If you never had West Indian/Trini/Caribbean food, you are seriously missing out. They might not be the healthiest foods out there but it is definitely hot and delicious. Their foods are pretty much like their people, warm and welcoming. I’ve had doubles once before and it made me realize what I have been missing out my entire life. The aloo pie with tamarind sauce gave me the exact same shiver. No fancy complexity, just simple west Indian food.

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ENCORE: First Day of Autumn – Time to Head South

Posted on September 22, 2016 in Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Imagine a world – the new Caribbean – where every year at this time, the first day of Autumn, the efforts begin to move “snowbirds” down south, to the Caribbean to pass the winter months.

We welcome this!

This is the business model envisioned in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. It asserts that with the right guidance, investments and the adoption of best practices that the Caribbean region can give refuge to northern snowbirds for the winter, and profit our communities at the same time. One required investment would be a complete network of Island-hopping ferries, as depicted here.

Imagine the scenario – in the VIDEO here – but a ferry of cars and RV’s (Recreation Vehicles) arriving in one Caribbean port after another:

VIDEO – RVing on the Gulf Coast Ferry System – https://youtu.be/XlTYa83EoTM
Published on Mar 6, 2013 – … On a recent trip from New Orleans, LA to Galveston Island, TX, both Google Maps and our GPS suggested that we drive inland, along interstate 10. Since we prefer to stay on more scenic local roads whenever possible (and we were also eager to take the RV on the ferry ride to Galveston Island) we stayed along the coast instead. As a bonus, we drove through peaceful and scenic marshland and got some views of the Gulf of Mexico as well.
While researching our route, we discovered that there would be an additional water crossing required, on the Cameron-Holly Beach ferry. We weren’t sure if a large motorhome would be able to make the crossing. Were large vehicles allowed? Was there a problem with low tide causing steep approach or departure angles? A little online research showed that it wouldn’t be a problem, although we’d recommend that anyone planning to follow this route check for any updates or changes to ferry policies or conditions. The Cameron-Holly Beach ferry trip is laughably short… only 1/4 mile and about 3 1/2 minutes. …
When we arrived in Port Bolivar, TX to catch the ferry to Galveston Island, we were pleased to find that the trip was free for all ages! During the crossing we saw dolphins riding in our bow wave and were lucky enough to catch one of them on video, as you can see. Next time you’re RVing along the Gulf Coast, get off the Interstate and head out onto the water. It’s a great way to travel by RV!

Consider the original blog-commentary here from April 11, 2014. It is being ENCORED for this first day of Autumn 2016:

============

Title: Florida’s Snowbirds Chilly Welcome

To the Canadian Snowbirds, looking for warm climates and a warm welcome, we say:

“Be our guest”.

To the Caribbean Diaspora, living in Canada and other northern countries, we say:

“Come in from the cold”.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean aligns with the news story in the foregoing article. While the US may be retracting the Welcome Mats from Canadian snowbirds, after 180 days, the islands of the Caribbean extend the invitation for them to pass the wintry months here. They are invited to bring their time, talent and treasuries; (according to the foregoing article: billions of dollars).

Need an extra month? No problem.
Need access to cutting-edge medical treatment? Got it.
Need protection from crime and harassment? Got you covered.
Need video communications to interact with Embassy and government officials? Sure thing.
Need access to your Canadian dollar bank accounts? No problem.

The source news article is embedded here as follows:

Title: “Congress protects America from Canadian pensioners”
Gulfport, Florida – A chore combining carpentry with diplomacy awaits Gordon Bennett, a retired Canadian soldier, after his move to a larger mobile home near Florida’s Gulf coast. As commander of an overseas post of the Royal Canadian Legion, he likes to fly his national flag from a handy palm tree. But as a respectful guest—one of about half a million Canadian “snowbirds” who own winter homes in Florida, using special visas good for a total of 180 days in any 12-month period—he knows to follow strict protocol when mounting his flags, or face complaints from American neighbours. His Canadian flag cannot be flown on its own but must be paired with the Stars and Stripes (though never on the same pole). The American flag may not be smaller or fly lower, and must be flown in the position of honour (the right, as you emerge from a doorway).

Mr. Bennett, a genial octogenarian, does not resent the fussing. In his winter home of Pinellas County—an unflashy region of mobile home parks, “senior living” complexes, golf courses and strip malls—the welcome is mostly warm for Canadian snowbirds, who pump billions of dollars into Florida’s economy each year. His post shares premises with the American Legion, and has introduced local veterans to Moose Milk, a lethal Canuck eggnog-variant involving maple syrup. He routinely brings 50 or 60 Canadians to ex-servicemen’s parades, picnics or dinner-dances.

But once issues of sovereignty are raised, America’s welcome can chill. Visa rules force Canadian pensioners to count each day after they cross the border, typically in late October. They are enforced ferociously: overstayers may be barred from re-entry for five years. Some members of Congress have been trying to ease the rules for Canadian pensioners since the late 1990s. A law allowing Canadians over 55 to spend up to eight months in America each year, as long as they can show leases for property down south and do not work, passed the Senate in 2013 as part of a comprehensive immigration bill, but like the bigger bill, it has now stalled. In the House of Representatives an extension for Canadian snowbirds has been tucked into the JOLT Act, a tourism-promotion law introduced by Joe Heck, a Nevada Republican.

Canadian pensioners are not an obviously threatening group—few Americans report being mugged by elderly Ottawans armed with ice-hockey sticks. They pay property and sales taxes in America. They must cover their own health-care costs while down south, through the Canadian public health-care system and private top-up policies. If allowed to stay for eight months, most would stay only seven, predicts Dann Oliver, president of the Canadian Club of the Gulf Coast (staying longer would complicate their health cover and their tax status). They just want a few more weeks in the sun.

Yet even something this easy is proving hard. Mr. Heck is willing to tweak his bill to focus on two reforms: the Canadian extension and visa interviews by video-conference for Chinese, Brazilian and Indian would-be visitors, who currently face long journeys to American consulates. But many members of the House “are reluctant to do anything with the word immigration in it,” says Mr. Heck. Optimists hope the bill might come up for a vote this year. For Mr. Bennett and his wife, Evelyn, Canadians whose “bones ache” in their homeland’s cold, it can’t come too soon.
Source: The Economist (Retrieved 03/08/2014) –http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21598680-congress-protects-america-canadian-pensioners-chilly-welcome

The book, Go Lean…Caribbean, serves as a roadmap for the implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) over a 5 year period. The book posits that tourism products can be further extended to attract, accommodate and harvest the market of Snowbirds. These ones bring more than they take, and therefore should be viewed as low-hanging fruit for tourism’s economic harvest. While some CU member-states may target a High-Net-Worth clientele, there is room too for the hordes of retirees who may seek more modest accommodations. In the end, billions of dollars of economic output from the Snowbird market are still … billions of dollars.

From the outset, the book defined that the purpose of the CU is to optimize economic, security and governing engines to impact Caribbean society, for residents and visitors. This was pronounced in Verse IV (Page 11) of the opening Declaration of Interdependence:

Whereas the natural formation of the landmass is in a tropical region, the flora and fauna allows for an inherent beauty that is enviable to peoples near and far. The structures must be strenuously guarded to protect and promote sustainable systems of commerce paramount to this reality.

In line with the foregoing article, the Go Lean book details some applicable infrastructure enhancements and advocacies to facilitate more Snowbird traffic:

Ferries – Union Atlantic Turnpike (Page 205)
Self-Governing Entities/Fairgrounds (Pages 105, 192)
Optimized Medical Deliveries (Page 156)
Marshalling Economic Crimes (Page 178)
Improve Elder-Care (Page 239)

The purpose of this roadmap is to make the Caribbean, a better place to live, work and play; for snowbirds too! This way we can benefit from their presence.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Canada, Sales, Ships, Tourism, Trade

[Top]

ENCORE: In honor of “International Women’s Day” – #OneDayIWill!

Posted on March 8, 2016 in Government, Social

This Go Lean blog-commentary from November 14, 2015 is re-distributed on this occasion of International Women’s Day – originally called International Working Women’s Day. This is celebrated on March 8 every year. (See more details at Wikipedia). Google gave it a great honor this year, with this VIDEO here – https://youtu.be/ztMIb6nEeyg:

See the original blog here …

———-

Go Lean Commentary

The Caribbean member-states, despite their differences, (4 languages, 5 colonial legacies, terrain: mountains -vs- limestone islands), have a lot in common. Some similarities include:

Lack of equality for women compared to men.
The government is the largest employer.

So the reality of Caribbean life is that while the governmental administrations are not fully representative of the populations, they are responsible for all societal engines: economy, security and governance.

This is bad and this is good! Bad, because all the “eggs are in the same basket”. Good, because there is only one entity to reform, reboot and re-focus.

So how do we seriously consider reforming government in the Caribbean?

Start anew.
Start with politics and policy-makers.
Start with the people who submit for politics, to be policy-makers.
Start with people who participate in the process.

Considering the status-quo of the region – in crisis – there is this need to start again. But this time we need more women.

Consider Canada!

(The City of Detroit is across the river from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean are here to “observe and report” the turn-around and rebirth of the once-great-but-now-distressed City of Detroit and its metropolitan area. This proximity also allows us to observe-and-report on Detroit’s neighbor: Canada).

The Canadian political landscape can serve as a great role model for the Caribbean; (its a fitting role model for Detroit too). Consider these articles on Canada’s recent national elections:

News Article #1 Title: 50% population, 25% representation. Why the parliamentary gender gap?

A record 88 women were elected in the 2015 federal election, up from 76 in 2011. The increase represents a modest gain in terms of representation, with women now accounting for 26 per cent of the seats in the House. The following feature — which was initially published before the election — examines the gender imbalance in Canadian politics.

Canadian women held just one-quarter of the seats in the House of Commons when the writ dropped back in August. This figure places us 50th in a recent international ranking of women in parliaments.

The 41st Canadian Parliament featured 77 women MPs, with a record 12 female ministers in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet.

The NDP’s success in Quebec during the 2011 federal election largely triggered the uptick in the number of women in Parliament, with the proportion rising to 25 per cent from 22 per cent in the 2008 election.

In spite of this, a large gender gap persists after decades of relative stagnation in Canada’s House of Commons. Women comprise just 33 per cent of the candidates from the five leading parties in this election.

“There is no doubt that in the old democracies, including Canada, there is stagnation,” said Drude Dahlerup, a political scientist from the University of Stockholm who has consulted in countries such as Tunisia and Sierra Leone on gender equality in parliament.

“We have this perception that gender equality should come naturally. Our research shows that is not necessarily a fact.”

Old democracies don’t favour ‘gender shocks’
There is significant growth in women representatives in what Dahlerup calls “fast-track” countries — places that have experienced recent conflict or are a new democracy.

In fact, some of the countries outpacing Canada in terms of parliamentary gender equality include Rwanda, Bolivia, Iraq and Kazakhstan.

Newer democracies like Bolivia can experience a gender shock as it did in an October 2014 election, rising from 22 per cent to 53 per cent women in the lower house.

Older democracies take the incremental approach, which is slower and involves grappling with the conventions of older institutions.

…

Does the electorate share some of the blame?
Despite what some term as a patronizing treatment in the public sphere it appears that gender is not a chief concern for voters.

Sylvia Bashevkin, a political scientist from the University of Toronto, looked at the negative effects of underrepresentation for women in her 2009 book Women, Power, Politics: The Hidden Story of Canada’s Unfinished Democracy and found a persistent marginalization of women’s contributions to politics in the media and public sphere.

“There’s a certain stream of gender stereotyping that still colours our discussions of public leadership that often tends to trivialize the contributions of women by paying particular attention to things like their appearance, speaking style or their personal lives rather than positions on policy.”

According to a recent poll, party loyalty factors far outweigh individual factors such as gender. In fact, respondents said women often tend to represent leadership qualities the voting public admires. The online Abacus survey was conducted in December 2014 and included a sample size of 1,438 Canadians.

“The argument is that [women] tend to be more community focused… and that they tend on average to be more honest and trustworthy than male politicians,” said Bashevkin.

The core of the issue comes back to the political parties and their nominations processes, says Melanee Thomas, a political scientist from the University of Calgary.

“We can find no evidence that voters discriminate against women candidates. We did find considerable evidence that party [nomination committees] were more likely to discriminate against women candidates,” said Thomas.

Thomas’s 2013 research with Marc André Bodet of LavalUniversity looked at district competitiveness. They found that women were more likely to be chosen as nominees in areas considered strongholds for other parties.

Where women are involved in the party nomination process, Thomas also said, more women are recruited to run for that nomination. Former MP and deputy prime minister Sheila Copps agrees.

“People try to replicate themselves and their social circle is usually very like-minded. I probably recruited more women in my time because it’s human nature,” said Copps.

Copps played a role in pitching the concept of a gender target of 25 per cent to former prime minister Jean Chrétien in 1993.

The target concept relies on the ability of the party leader to appoint women nominees required to meet the target.

Former prime minister Paul Martin opted to not have a target for women in the federal Liberal Party for 2004 while Stéphane Dion increased the target to 30 per cent in 2008.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is running with an open nomination policy for the upcoming election, although this has caused some recent controversies. Ultimately, women comprised 31 per cent of the Liberal candidates.

The NDP has internal mechanisms to attempt to foster diversity. They say they have “parity policies,” that aim for gender diversity in the party structure, leadership and delegates.” It also insists that ridings must provide documentation of efforts to search for a woman or minority candidate before selecting a white male. When the final candidate list was released, the NDP touted a record proportion of 43 per cent women candidates.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Conservative Party holds that the matter should be left up to the local riding associations to determine. After running only 38 women candidates in 2006 the party’s figure spiked quickly in 2008 to 63 candidates. In 2015, 66 women, representing 20 per cent of the Conservatives roster of candidates, are in the running.

Read the whole story here: CBC News Site retrieved 11/13/2013 from: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/women-politics/

VIDEO 1 – Canada’s First Woman MP Agnes Macphail – https://youtu.be/0ALgilFMkug

Published on Sep 11, 2014 – Canada’s first female MP takes up the cause of Canadian penal system reform (1935).

————-

VIDEO 2 – MacPhail’s Successors – https://youtu.be/fyK7C6DA9lI

Published on Oct 21, 2015 – Political Scientist Sylvia Bashevkin reviews Canada’s gender facts: 50% population, 25% representation Why the parliamentary gender gap?

————

News Article #2 Title: New PM unveils cabinet that looks ‘like Canada’
Sub-title: Justin Trudeau’s younger, more diverse team comprises old-guard Liberal politicians and newcomers, half of them women.

Justin Trudeau has been sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister, appointing a cabinet that he says looks “like Canada”.

The 43-year-old Liberal party leader, who swept to power in a general election two weeks ago to end nearly a decade of Conservative rule, took the oath on Wednesday and promised big changes as he introduced a younger, more diverse cabinet.

Most of the new ministers are between the ages of 35 and 50, while half of them are women – in line with Trudeau’s campaign pledge.

Asked why gender balance was important, Trudeau’s response was: “Because it’s 2015.

“Canadians from all across this country sent a message that it is time for real change, and I am deeply honoured by the faith they have placed in my team and me.”

The new cabinet includes a mix of old-guard Liberal politicians with many newcomers.

Among them is Indian-born Harjit Sajjan, a former Canadian soldier and Afghanistan war veteran who was named as Canada’s new defence minister.

He was Canada’s first Sikh commanding officer and received a number of recognitions for his service, having been deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Sajjan, a lieutenant-colonel in Canada’s armed forces, will oversee an anticipated change in Canada’s military involvement in the battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters in Syria and Iraq.

…

Read the whole story here: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/canada-pm-trudeau-diverse-women-cabinet-151105062433796.html posted November 5, 2015 by Al Jazerra News Service; retrieved November 13, 2015

This is not just a case for feminism. The issues in the foregoing news articles relate to policy-making participation and optimization, more than they relate to feminism. This story is being brought into focus in a consideration of the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the societal elevation in the region. This roadmap calls for a fuller participation from women as stakeholders.

How do the foregoing stories relate to the Caribbean? The book relates that Canada (Page 146) has always provided a great role model for the Caribbean to consider for empowerment and elevation of our society. That country is a “friend” of the Caribbean; but it is also a competitor; a “frienemy” of sorts. How are we competing? What is our rate of participation of women in politics? See CHART here:

CHART – Caribbean Women Political Participation

Member-states
Women Eligible To Vote*

Women Eligible for Office*

Number of Legislators^#

Number of Women Legislators^#

Percentage

Anguilla
1951

1951

11

2

18.18%

Antigua and Barbuda
1951

1951

19

3

15.79%

Aruba
1949

1949

21

7

33.33%

Bahamas
1961

1961

38

5

13.16%

Barbados
1950

1950

30

5

16.67%

Belize
1954

1954

31

1

3.23%

Bermuda
1943

1943

36

8

22.22%

British Virgin Islands
1951

1951

15

3

20.00%

Cayman Islands
1959

1959

18

2

11.11%

Cuba
1934

1934

612

299

48.86%

Dominica
1951

1951

22

3

13.64%

Dominican Republic
1942

1942

183

38

20.77%

Grenada
1951

1951

16

5

31.25%

Guadeloupe (Fr)
1945

1945

41

11

26.83%

Guyana
1953

1945

65

18

27.69%

Haiti
1950

1950

95

4

4.21%

Jamaica
1944

1944

63

7

11.11%

Martinique (Fr)
1945

1945

41

14

34.15%

Montserrat
1951

1951

9

2

22.22%

Netherlands Antilles (Ne)^
1949

1949

150

56

37.33%

Puerto Rico
1920

1920

51

6

11.76%

Saint Barthélemy (Fr)
1945

1945

19

5

26.32%

Saint Kitts and Nevis
1951

1951

15

2

13.33%

Saint Lucia
1924

1924

18

3

16.67%

Saint Martin (Fr)
1945

1945

23

7

30.43%

Saint Vincent
1951

1951

23

3

13.04%

Suriname
1948

1948

51

13

25.49%

Trinidad and Tobago
1946

1946

42

12

28.57%

Turks and Caicos Islands
1951

1951

15

5

33.33%

US Virgin Islands
1920

1920

15

5

33.33%

TOTAL

1788

554

30.98%

^ Includes: Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten
* – The Women Suffrage Timeline: http://womensuffrage.org/?page_id=69
# – Women in National Parliaments (2015) retrieved October 29, 2015 from: http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm

The Go Lean book advocates for more women in position of authority and decision-making in the new Caribbean.

Why is this necessary?

Simple: With 50% of the population, there is the need for 50% of the representation; (this is the target). The foregoing CHART, however shows a different reality. These facts align with the Go Lean book’s quest to elevate Caribbean society.

Among the crises that the region contends with is human flight, the brain drain or abandonment of the highly educated citizenry. Why do they leave? For “push-and-pull” reasons!

“Push” refers to deficient conditions at home that makes people want to flee. “Pull” refers to better conditions abroad that appeals to Caribbean residents. They want that better life.

An underlying mission of the CU is to dissuade this human flight (and incentivize repatriation of the far-flung Diaspora). Canada is one of those refuge countries; a large number of Caribbean Diaspora live there. This country does a better job of facilitating participation from women in the political process. In competition of the Caribbean versus Canada, the Caribbean needs to do better.

For this lofty goal, of which we are failing, we can learn from Canada – our competitor – and follow their lead!

Change has come to the Caribbean. As the roadmap depicts, there is the need to foster more collaboration and optimization in the region’s governing eco-system. This involves including all ready, willing and abled stakeholders, men or women. In the Summer 2015 Blockbuster Movie Tomorrowland, the main character Frank Walker – played by George Clooney – advised the audience hoping to impact their communities for change:

“Find the ones who haven’t given up. They are the future”.

Women participating more readily in the political process can help a community.

This has been proven true. Consider the example of Rwanda. (The country first on the above list). This country has endured a lot (Genocide in the 1990’s between Hutu and Tutsi tribes). Now, despite being a poorer African country, they have healed a lot of social issues. They now have many women in policy-making roles; and they have transformed their society and now feature a great turn-around story. See details here:

Since 2000 Rwanda’s economy,^[51] tourist numbers,^[52] and Human Development Index have grown rapidly;^[53] between 2006 and 2011 the poverty rate reduced from 57% to 45%,^[54] while life expectancy rose from 46.6 years in 2000^[55] to 59.7 years in 2015.^[56] …

Following the 2013 election, there are 51 female deputies,^[78] up from 45 in 2008;^[79] as of 2015, Rwanda is one of only two countries with a female majority in the national parliament.^[80](Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda#CITEREFCJCR2003 retrieved November 13, 2015.)

The Go Lean roadmap posits that every woman has a right to work towards making their homeland a better place to live, work and play. The book details the following community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates to impact our homeland:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Minority Equalizations	Page 24
Strategy – Fix the broken systems of governance	Page 46
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Member-states versus CU Federal Government	Page 71
Implementation – Reason to Repatriate	Page 118
Planning – Lessons Learned from the previous West Indies Federation – Canada’s Support	Page 135
Planning – Lessons from Canada’s History	Page 146
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora –	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Foundations – NGO’s for Women Causes	Page 219
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights – Women’s Rights	Page 220
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Elder-Care – Needs of Widows	Page 225
Advocacy – Ways to Empower Women	Page 226
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth – Steering Young Girls to STEM Careers	Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Persons with Disabilities	Page 228

There are serious issues impacting the Caribbean; these must be addressed . Since many of these issues affect women, it is better to have women as stakeholders, as policy-makers and as politicians.

Many of these issues have been addressed in previous Go Lean blog/commentaries, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6836	Empowering Role Model – #FatGirlsCan
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6722	A Lesson in History on Birthright Mandates from the US Civil War
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6434	‘Good Hair’ and the Strong Black Woman
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5720	Role Model and Disability Advocate: Reasonable Accommodations
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5648	Role Model Taylor Swift – Wielding Power in the Music Industry
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3490	One Woman – Role Model Rallying a Whole Community
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3244	Sports Role Model – espnW – Network for Women
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3078	Honoring Women Victims – Bill Cosby Accusers’ Case Study
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1918	Philadelphia Spirit Empowered Women and Other Causes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1037	Role Model & Humanities Advocate – Maya Angelou – R.I.P.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=809	Case Study: Bad Treatment of Women – Abductions of Nigerian girls
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=695	Case Study: Abused wives find help by going to ‘Dona Carmen’

Politics represent the power of the people. Women represent 50% of the population; to engage the population, we must engage women. But, we need the women to engage as well, to lean-in, to this roadmap to elevate their societal engines (economy, security and governance). The goal of the Go Lean roadmap is to make the Caribbean a better place to live work and play; for all, regardless of gender.

This is not politics. This is not feminism. This is simply a quest for “better”. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Canada, Civil Rights, Detroit, Gender, Power, Transform

[Top]

Women in Politics – Yes, They Can!

Posted on November 14, 2015 in Government, Social

Go Lean Commentary

The Caribbean member-states, despite their differences, (4 languages, 5 colonial legacies, terrain: mountains -vs- limestone islands), have a lot in common. Some similarities include:

Lack of equality for women compared to men.
The government is the largest employer.

This is bad and this is good! Bad, because all the “eggs are in the same basket”. Good, because there is only one entity to reform, reboot and re-focus.

So how do we seriously consider reforming government in the Caribbean?

Start anew.
Start with politics and policy-makers.
Start with the people who submit for politics, to be policy-makers.
Start with people who participate in the process.

Considering the status-quo of the region – in crisis – there is this need to start again. But this time we need more women.

Consider Canada!

(The City of Detroit is across the river from Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean are here to “observe and report” the turn-around and rebirth of the once-great-but-now-distressed City of Detroit and its metropolitan area. This proximity also allows us to observe-and-report on Detroit’s neighbor: Canada).

The Canadian political landscape can serve as a great role model for the Caribbean; (its a fitting role model for Detroit too). Consider these articles on Canada’s recent national elections:

News Article #1 Title: 50% population, 25% representation. Why the parliamentary gender gap?

A record 88 women were elected in the 2015 federal election, up from 76 in 2011. The increase represents a modest gain in terms of representation, with women now accounting for 26 per cent of the seats in the House. The following feature — which was initially published before the election — examines the gender imbalance in Canadian politics.

Canadian women held just one-quarter of the seats in the House of Commons when the writ dropped back in August. This figure places us 50th in a recent international ranking of women in parliaments.

The 41st Canadian Parliament featured 77 women MPs, with a record 12 female ministers in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet.

The NDP’s success in Quebec during the 2011 federal election largely triggered the uptick in the number of women in Parliament, with the proportion rising to 25 per cent from 22 per cent in the 2008 election.

In spite of this, a large gender gap persists after decades of relative stagnation in Canada’s House of Commons. Women comprise just 33 per cent of the candidates from the five leading parties in this election.

“There is no doubt that in the old democracies, including Canada, there is stagnation,” said Drude Dahlerup, a political scientist from the University of Stockholm who has consulted in countries such as Tunisia and Sierra Leone on gender equality in parliament.

“We have this perception that gender equality should come naturally. Our research shows that is not necessarily a fact.”

Old democracies don’t favour ‘gender shocks’
There is significant growth in women representatives in what Dahlerup calls “fast-track” countries — places that have experienced recent conflict or are a new democracy.

In fact, some of the countries outpacing Canada in terms of parliamentary gender equality include Rwanda, Bolivia, Iraq and Kazakhstan.

Newer democracies like Bolivia can experience a gender shock as it did in an October 2014 election, rising from 22 per cent to 53 per cent women in the lower house.

Older democracies take the incremental approach, which is slower and involves grappling with the conventions of older institutions.

…

Does the electorate share some of the blame?
Despite what some term as a patronizing treatment in the public sphere it appears that gender is not a chief concern for voters.

Sylvia Bashevkin, a political scientist from the University of Toronto, looked at the negative effects of underrepresentation for women in her 2009 book Women, Power, Politics: The Hidden Story of Canada’s Unfinished Democracy and found a persistent marginalization of women’s contributions to politics in the media and public sphere.

“There’s a certain stream of gender stereotyping that still colours our discussions of public leadership that often tends to trivialize the contributions of women by paying particular attention to things like their appearance, speaking style or their personal lives rather than positions on policy.”

According to a recent poll, party loyalty factors far outweigh individual factors such as gender. In fact, respondents said women often tend to represent leadership qualities the voting public admires. The online Abacus survey was conducted in December 2014 and included a sample size of 1,438 Canadians.

“The argument is that [women] tend to be more community focused… and that they tend on average to be more honest and trustworthy than male politicians,” said Bashevkin.

The core of the issue comes back to the political parties and their nominations processes, says Melanee Thomas, a political scientist from the University of Calgary.

“We can find no evidence that voters discriminate against women candidates. We did find considerable evidence that party [nomination committees] were more likely to discriminate against women candidates,” said Thomas.

Thomas’s 2013 research with Marc André Bodet of LavalUniversity looked at district competitiveness. They found that women were more likely to be chosen as nominees in areas considered strongholds for other parties.

Where women are involved in the party nomination process, Thomas also said, more women are recruited to run for that nomination. Former MP and deputy prime minister Sheila Copps agrees.

“People try to replicate themselves and their social circle is usually very like-minded. I probably recruited more women in my time because it’s human nature,” said Copps.

Copps played a role in pitching the concept of a gender target of 25 per cent to former prime minister Jean Chrétien in 1993.

The target concept relies on the ability of the party leader to appoint women nominees required to meet the target.

Former prime minister Paul Martin opted to not have a target for women in the federal Liberal Party for 2004 while Stéphane Dion increased the target to 30 per cent in 2008.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is running with an open nomination policy for the upcoming election, although this has caused some recent controversies. Ultimately, women comprised 31 per cent of the Liberal candidates.

The NDP has internal mechanisms to attempt to foster diversity. They say they have “parity policies,” that aim for gender diversity in the party structure, leadership and delegates.” It also insists that ridings must provide documentation of efforts to search for a woman or minority candidate before selecting a white male. When the final candidate list was released, the NDP touted a record proportion of 43 per cent women candidates.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Conservative Party holds that the matter should be left up to the local riding associations to determine. After running only 38 women candidates in 2006 the party’s figure spiked quickly in 2008 to 63 candidates. In 2015, 66 women, representing 20 per cent of the Conservatives roster of candidates, are in the running.

Read the whole story here: CBC News Site retrieved 11/13/2013 from: http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/women-politics/

VIDEO 1 – Canada’s First Woman MP Agnes Macphail – https://youtu.be/0ALgilFMkug

Published on Sep 11, 2014 – Canada’s first female MP takes up the cause of Canadian penal system reform (1935).

————-

VIDEO 2 – MacPhail’s Successors – https://youtu.be/fyK7C6DA9lI

Published on Oct 21, 2015 – Political Scientist Sylvia Bashevkin reviews Canada’s gender facts: 50% population, 25% representation Why the parliamentary gender gap?

————

News Article #2 Title: New PM unveils cabinet that looks ‘like Canada’
Sub-title: Justin Trudeau’s younger, more diverse team comprises old-guard Liberal politicians and newcomers, half of them women.

Justin Trudeau has been sworn in as Canada’s new prime minister, appointing a cabinet that he says looks “like Canada”.

The 43-year-old Liberal party leader, who swept to power in a general election two weeks ago to end nearly a decade of Conservative rule, took the oath on Wednesday and promised big changes as he introduced a younger, more diverse cabinet.

Most of the new ministers are between the ages of 35 and 50, while half of them are women – in line with Trudeau’s campaign pledge.

Asked why gender balance was important, Trudeau’s response was: “Because it’s 2015.

“Canadians from all across this country sent a message that it is time for real change, and I am deeply honoured by the faith they have placed in my team and me.”

The new cabinet includes a mix of old-guard Liberal politicians with many newcomers.

Among them is Indian-born Harjit Sajjan, a former Canadian soldier and Afghanistan war veteran who was named as Canada’s new defence minister.

He was Canada’s first Sikh commanding officer and received a number of recognitions for his service, having been deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Sajjan, a lieutenant-colonel in Canada’s armed forces, will oversee an anticipated change in Canada’s military involvement in the battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters in Syria and Iraq.

…

Read the whole story here: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/canada-pm-trudeau-diverse-women-cabinet-151105062433796.html posted November 5, 2015 by Al Jazerra News Service; retrieved November 13, 2015

—————

CHART – Caribbean Women Political Participation

Member-states	Women Eligible To Vote*	Women Eligible for Office*	Number of Legislators^#	Number of Women Legislators^#	Percentage
Anguilla	1951	1951	11	2	18.18%
Antigua and Barbuda	1951	1951	19	3	15.79%
Aruba	1949	1949	21	7	33.33%
Bahamas	1961	1961	38	5	13.16%
Barbados	1950	1950	30	5	16.67%
Belize	1954	1954	31	1	3.23%
Bermuda	1943	1943	36	8	22.22%
British Virgin Islands	1951	1951	15	3	20.00%
Cayman Islands	1959	1959	18	2	11.11%
Cuba	1934	1934	612	299	48.86%
Dominica	1951	1951	22	3	13.64%
Dominican Republic	1942	1942	183	38	20.77%
Grenada	1951	1951	16	5	31.25%
Guadeloupe (Fr)	1945	1945	41	11	26.83%
Guyana	1953	1945	65	18	27.69%
Haiti	1950	1950	95	4	4.21%
Jamaica	1944	1944	63	7	11.11%
Martinique (Fr)	1945	1945	41	14	34.15%
Montserrat	1951	1951	9	2	22.22%
Netherlands Antilles (Ne)^	1949	1949	150	56	37.33%
Puerto Rico	1920	1920	51	6	11.76%
Saint Barthélemy (Fr)	1945	1945	19	5	26.32%
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1951	1951	15	2	13.33%
Saint Lucia	1924	1924	18	3	16.67%
Saint Martin (Fr)	1945	1945	23	7	30.43%
Saint Vincent	1951	1951	23	3	13.04%
Suriname	1948	1948	51	13	25.49%
Trinidad and Tobago	1946	1946	42	12	28.57%
Turks and Caicos Islands	1951	1951	15	5	33.33%
US Virgin Islands	1920	1920	15	5	33.33%
TOTAL	.	.	1788	554	30.98%

^ – Includes: Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten
* – The Women Suffrage Timeline: http://womensuffrage.org/?page_id=69
# – Women in National Parliaments (2015) retrieved Oct. 29, 2015 from: http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm

—————

The Go Lean book advocates for more women in position of authority and decision-making in the new Caribbean.

Why is this necessary?

Among the crises that the region contends with is human flight, the brain drain or abandonment of the highly educated citizenry. Why do they leave? For “push-and-pull” reasons!

“Push” refers to deficient conditions at home that makes people want to flee. “Pull” refers to better conditions abroad that appeals to Caribbean residents. They want that better life.

For this lofty goal, of which we are failing, we can learn from Canada – our competitor – and follow their lead!

“Find the ones who haven’t given up. They are the future”.

Women participating more readily in the political process can help a community.

Since 2000 Rwanda’s economy,^[51] tourist numbers,^[52] and Human Development Index have grown rapidly;^[53] between 2006 and 2011 the poverty rate reduced from 57% to 45%,^[54] while life expectancy rose from 46.6 years in 2000^[55] to 59.7 years in 2015.^[56] …

Following the 2013 election, there are 51 female deputies,^[78] up from 45 in 2008;^[79] as of 2015, Rwanda is one of only two countries with a female majority in the national parliament.^[80](Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda#CITEREFCJCR2003 retrieved November 13, 2015.)

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Minority Equalizations	Page 24
Strategy – Fix the broken systems of governance	Page 46
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Member-states versus CU Federal Government	Page 71
Implementation – Reason to Repatriate	Page 118
Planning – Lessons Learned from the previous West Indies Federation – Canada’s Support	Page 135
Planning – Lessons from Canada’s History	Page 146
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora –	Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Foundations – NGO’s for Women Causes	Page 219
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights – Women’s Rights	Page 220
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Elder-Care – Needs of Widows	Page 225
Advocacy – Ways to Empower Women	Page 226
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth – Steering Young Girls to STEM Careers	Page 227
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Persons with Disabilities	Page 228

There are serious issues impacting the Caribbean; these must be addressed . Since many of these issues affect women, it is better to have women as stakeholders, as policy-makers and as politicians.

Many of these issues have been addressed in previous Go Lean blog/commentaries, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6836	Empowering Role Model – #FatGirlsCan
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6722	A Lesson in History on Birthright Mandates from the US Civil War
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6434	‘Good Hair’ and the Strong Black Woman
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5720	Role Model and Disability Advocate: Reasonable Accommodations
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5648	Role Model Taylor Swift – Wielding Power in the Music Industry
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3490	One Woman – Role Model Rallying a Whole Community
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3244	Sports Role Model – espnW – Network for Women
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3078	Honoring Women Victims – Bill Cosby Accusers’ Case Study
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1918	Philadelphia Spirit Empowered Women and Other Causes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1037	Role Model & Humanities Advocate – Maya Angelou – R.I.P.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=809	Case Study: Bad Treatment of Women – Abductions of Nigerian girls
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=695	Case Study: Abused wives find help by going to ‘Dona Carmen’

This is not politics. This is not feminism. This is simply a quest for “better”. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Canada, Civil Rights, Detroit, Gender, Power, Transform

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Jamaica-Canada employment programme pumps millions into local economy

Posted on January 8, 2015 in Economics, Locations

Go Lean Commentary

“Where there is no vision the people perish” – Bible Quotation (Proverbs 29:18) posted in the book Go Lean … Caribbean (Page 125).

It is the assessment of this commentary that Jamaica’s Minister of Agriculture, Labour and Social Security, Derrick Kellier in the subsequent news article, is probably a man of goodwill. He only hopes to help his country and his people; he simply wants to fight for any opportunity. But this man is bringing “a knife to a gun fight”. As a result, his constituents suffer.

This is the assertion of the book Go Lean…Caribbean, and many aligned blog submissions, that the problems facing the Caribbean are too big for one member-state alone to address; there needs to be a regional solution. This book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU).

The Good Minister, in the following news article, is not advocating for a regional solution, only trying to facilitate another 7,952 low-skill, low-wage jobs for Jamaicans in 2015. The Go Lean roadmap on the other hand, strives to create 2.2 million new jobs, many in the highly paid, highly coveted STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) category. The news article is listed here:

By: Alecia Smith-Edwards

KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Remittance inflows from the Jamaica-Canada employment programme contributed Cdn$15.5 million (approximately JA$1.7 billion) to the Jamaican economy during 2014.

This was disclosed by Minister of Agriculture, Labour and Social Security, Derrick Kellier, who noted that the programme, which is a vital source of foreign exchange remittances, “continues to be a beacon of hope and opportunity for thousands of Jamaicans.”

The minister was speaking at a send-off ceremony for the first batch of farm workers for 2015 under the ministry’s overseas employment programme in Kingston on Monday.

Kellier further noted that, during 2014, approximately 7,952 Jamaicans benefitted from employment opportunities in Canada.

“The farm work component accounted for 90 percent (7,156) of this number, while the others travelled under the low skill and skilled worker programmes,” he said.
A total of 340 workers, selected under the Canadian seasonal agricultural workers programme, were due to depart the island on Monday to take up employment opportunities on various farms in Ontario, Canada.
This batch of all males, most of whom will do eight-month stints, will be employed in greenhouse crop production, food processing, tobacco plants as well as nurseries which are involved in the cultivation of various vegetables. They will also be engaged in packaging tobacco and fruits for shipment.

The minister noted that 20 percent of the workers are new employees, while the remaining 80 percent are ‘returnees’ or requested workers, noting that “this is a testament to the hard and dedicated work provided by Jamaican workers abroad.”

He implored the new cohort to continue being professional while on the job, so that the programme can be expanded to provide opportunities for more unemployed Jamaicans.

“I am urging you too, to observe regulations as much as possible for your safety and health. I advise you all not to breach rules (such as absence without leave), which will disqualify you and other Jamaicans in the future,” he said.

The minister reminded the workers that the Overseas Employment Family Services Unit will continue to focus on the welfare of their families through a range of social interventions, including household visits, referrals for assistance, care for the sick and injured, care of children and self-empowerment programmes.
Caribbean News Now – Regional News Source (Retrieved 01/08/2015) –
http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Jamaica-Canada-employment-programme-pumps-millions-into-local-economy-24290.html

Jamaica has one of the highest rates of societal abandonment in the Caribbean. In a previous blog commentary, it was revealed that the Caribbean loses more than 70 percent of the tertiary educated to brain drain, but Jamaica’s rate is at 85%; (plus 35% of the secondary educated population leaves). This Foreign Guest Worker program, in the foregoing article, seems to be a “double down” on the itinerant Jamaican strategy. Imagine the analogy of a teenage runaway leaving his family behind; then when the parents finally discover that prodigal’s son’s whereabouts, they send another child to join them, rather than encourage a return home and a plea to prosper and be planted at home. The people of Jamaica deserves better.

As revealed in the foregoing article, the Government of Jamaica is counting on the short-term benefits, the remittances of these guest workers back to the homeland; they seem unaware and unconcerned for the mid-term and long-term well-being of Jamaica and Jamaicans. The fears and threats is that Guest Workers will mix-and-mingle with people in the host countries, establish new personal-family ties and relocate permanently, as legal migrants. In addition, there should be the concern that pregnant spouses left behind would travel to visit their husbands, just in time to give birth … in Canada, availing the birth-right privileges of that country. Just that easily, one family’s next generation would not be Jamaica-based, but pursue a life in the Diaspora community instead, “fattening frogs for snake”.

The Caribbean Diaspora amounts to 10 million people, compared to 42 million residents in the region; Jamaica population is listed at 2,825,928 people (2010), but their Diaspora is estimated at follows (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaican_diaspora):

US:          740,000
Canada: 257,000
UK:         800,000
Total:    1,797,000

In addition, there is a report that there are 100,000 illegal Jamaicans in the US alone.

Legal or not legal, a great measurement of the economic activity of this diasporic population is their remittance activity. A previous blog reported that Jamaica has been experiencing 5.3% annual growth rate in the amount of remittances transferred to the island.

Change has come to the region! The forgoing article describes a negative ethos that the new Caribbean planners want to break from.

The Go Lean book describes that the CU will assume the role and responsibility to empower the regional economy and facilitate trade, not just “count the money” in remittance activity. The following 3 prime directives are explored in full details in the roadmap:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

A mission of the CU is to minimize the need for the Caribbean labor force to migrate to foreign lands for work; and also to invite those that have left, the Diaspora, to repatriate. The Go Lean roadmap features a methodical implementation over a 5 year period, to create more and more local jobs.

Consider the employers described in the foregoing article. They need Guest Workers to facilitate their winter agricultural expressions: greenhouses and incubators. The Go Lean roadmap calls for expanding agricultural production in the Caribbean region – winter crops are opportunistic in their marketability – then exporting the produce to markets like Canada, utilizing strategic concepts for frozen food industries like refrigerated warehouses and refrigerated containers (reefers). Those Canadian stakeholders can be Direct Foreign Investors in the region rather than employers. This approach is better! We still profit more from trade, but keep our human capital at home. This is a win-win.

This sample business model reflects the technocratic approaches being advocated in the roadmap, from top to bottom. This commences with the recognition that all the Caribbean has defective business models, underemployment, and suffering on the wrong side of the globalization divide (producers versus consumers). These acknowledgements are pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence, (Page 13 & 14). The statements are included as follows:

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xx. Whereas the results of our decades of migration created a vibrant Diaspora in foreign lands, the Federation must organize interactions with this population into structured markets. Thus allowing foreign consumption of domestic products, services and media, which is a positive trade impact. These economic activities must not be exploited by others’ profiteering but rather harnessed by Federation resources for efficient repatriations.

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

xxv. Whereas the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries, like … frozen foods… In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing … – impacting the region with more jobs.

xxx. Whereas the effects of globalization can be felt in every aspect of Caribbean life, from the acquisition of food and clothing, to the ubiquity of ICT, the region cannot only consume, it is imperative that our lands also produce and add to the international community, even if doing so requires some sacrifice and subsidy.

The message now being trumpeted to the Cabinet Member in the foregoing article: No more migrant culture! Already, a new Jamaican – American sub-culture has emerged and is now thriving; see Appendix for a sample of “Jamerican” music. (Once the “genie leaves the bottle”, there is no returning; the “Jamerican” legacies, though appreciative of their Jamaican influences, will perhaps never take up residence in Jamaica).

We want solutions built around staying home, not “renting” our young men to foreign shores. This is a vision for all the Caribbean to embrace, not just Jamaica; it entails confederating the 30 member-states into an integrated “single market”, thereby fostering economic growth to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion (from the 2010 base of $378 Billion). This growth would be the cause-and-effect of 2.2 million new jobs. The following list details the series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to effectuate these empowerments for the region to graduate from this migrant culture, described in the foregoing article:

Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Voluntary Trade Creates Local Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier	Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Strategic – Vision – Integrated Region in a Single Market	Page 45
Strategic – Vision – Encourage Repatriation of the Diaspora	Page 46
Strategic – Vision – Agents of Change	Page 57
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Growing to $800 Billion Regional Economy	Page 67
Tactical – Separation of Powers	Page 71
Tactical – Interstate Commerce Admin – Econometrics Data Analysis	Page 79
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change	Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Planning – Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region	Page 127
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008	Page 136
Planning – Ways to Measure Progress	Page 147
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs – Feed Ourselves	Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Foreign Exchange	Page 154
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Food Consumption – Agri-Business	Page 162
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Leadership	Page 171
Advocacy – Ways to Develop a Frozen Food Industry	Page 208
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora	Page 217
Appendix – Job Multipliers	Page 259
Appendix – Trade SHIELD – “Strategic“ planning & “Logistical” solutions	Page 264

The people of the Caribbean deserve every opportunity to prosper where they are planted. If this is to be the quest, then the region’s leadership should lean-in to this roadmap. One person can make a difference; this fact has been demonstrated time and again. The Go Lean book provides the step-by-step instructions on how to move Caribbean society from the status quo to the desired destination: a better place to live, work and play.

The Go Lean roadmap calls for both “Top-Down” (leadership) and “Bottoms-Up” (popular) movements to effectuate this change. We need better leadership, yes. We also want the people, the common men and women on the streets to demand this change. They do not have to sit and watch their loved one leave their beloved homeland to make a living abroad. We can all prosper right here at home.

No more! Let’s change this culture. This means you Jamaica, and the rest of the Caribbean region.

Now is the time for all of the region, the people and governing institutions, to lean-in for the empowerments of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation. Now is the time for this viable plan to make our homeland the best address in the world. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———–

Appendix: Reflection of the New Jamaican Diaspora Culture – http://youtu.be/t4iRnETnmtw – Born Jamericans – Wherever We Go

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Canada, Diaspora, Jamaica, Jobs

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For Canadian Banks: Caribbean is a ‘Bad Bet’

Posted on December 31, 2014 in Economics, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

There is no one entity designated to regulate the Caribbean banking sector in its full entirety. There are however some financial institutions doing business in much of the region who thusly have to make regionalized assessments. This includes NGOs like the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, plus for-profit institutions like the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and the Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank).

The subsequent news articles reflect the assessment of Caribbean economics from the point-of-view of Canadian Bankers: RBC and Scotiabank. Their conclusion:

All is not well in the Caribbean.

These articles highlighting the need for regional stewardship and oversight of banking in the Caribbean. This is the siren call of the book Go Lean…Caribbean; it serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and Caribbean Central Bank (CCB) to provide better stewardship, to ensure that the economic failures of the past, in the Caribbean and other regions, do not re-occur here in the homeland.

According to these following articles, the need for this CU/CCB administration is past due:

Title # 1: RBC Wealth Management pulls out of Caribbean markets
Caribbean 360 – Regional News Site (Posted 11/21/2014; retrieved 12/30/2014) –
http://www.caribbean360.com/news/canadas-largest-bank-shutters-wealth-management-branches-in-the-bahamas-barbados-and-the-cayman-islands

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is now the latest Canadian bank to cut its losses in the Caribbean, following a decision to close its Caribbean wealth management divisions and several international advisory businesses in North America.

The move follows RBC’s sale of its Jamaican operations earlier this year, and an announcement by The Bank of Nova Scotia earlier this month of its plans to close around 120 branches in Mexico and the Caribbean (35 in the Caribbean specifically).

Canadian bank CIBC also suffered a net-loss on its FirstCaribbean bank operations in April 2014, for which it incurred a CDN $420 million goodwill impairment charge primarily related to its under-performing operation in the Bahamas.

Speaking to media sources in Canada following the RBC developments, Craig Fehr – an analyst with Edward Jones – said:

What we’re seeing is the banks are doing a thorough evaluation of their business mix and figuring out what makes sense long term and what is probably best left in the hands of someone else.

Sources indicate that the closure of RBC’s regional wealth management divisions – domiciled in The Bahamas, Barbados and the Cayman Islands – as well as management teams in Toronto, Montreal and the United States, could affect over 300 employees.

While heads of RBC’s regional wealth management divisions in the Caribbean declined specific comment on the exit and its impacts, RBC spokesman Claire Holland has confirmed the closures, while declining to offer specifics on the bank’s exit strategy:

“As there are a number of strategic options being considered as part of the exit, it would be premature at this stage to estimate the number of employees that will be impacted”, she said, while adding that the focus of the bank’s international growth strategy will now be on operating in major financial centres where RBC has “competitive strengths.”

RBC’s Caribbean wealth management divisions manage a portion of over CDN$43.2 billion in assets under the affected US and international wealth management operations.

When contacted for comment, Director of the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA), Henderson Holmes, said that his organisation was still trying to ascertain the facts before making a full statement on the RBC exit.

Holmes however cautioned that an exit “would not be good for Barbados”, while stating that BIBA’s current considerations were in whether a purchaser has been identified for the Barbados business, and whether its assets would remain in the country.

According to the International Monetary Fund, RBC, CIBC and the Bank of Nova Scotia hold around 60% of total banking assets in the Caribbean – a fact which the Fund says places the region at an increased risk of exposure to foreign financial crises.

For its part, RBC indicates that the closures will allow the bank to place increased focus on high net-worth and ultra-high net worth clients in key expansion markets, including Canada, the United States, the British Isles and Asia.

————

Title # 2: Scotiabank loans to hospitality sector ‘impaired’
Nassau Guardian Daily Newspaper Website (Posted 11/07/2014; retrieved 12/30/2014) –
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/bahamas-business/40-bahamas-business/51574-scotiabank-loans-to-hospitality-sector-impaired
By: K. Quincy Parker, Guardian Business Editor

Scotiabank loans to the Caribbean hospitality sector have apparently lost hundreds of millions of dollars in value; a portfolio worth $1.3 billion a year ago fell to a $1 billion before a restructuring which has led to write-downs in the region, and which may mean branch closures and job losses in The Bahamas.

It appears that Scotiabank’s Caribbean write-downs – or adjustment to the value of its business – largely stem from three “net impaired” loans to the hospitality sector in the region. In fact, Canadian financial publications note that “trouble in the Caribbean” is becoming a common refrain. Scotiabank’s write-down follows on the heels of an even bigger one by First Caribbean earlier this year.

After 125 years of operations in the region, Scotiabank’s Chief Executive Officer Brian Porter said during a call this week that the bank will close a significant number of branches in the Caribbean (35 branches was the estimate given) as part of the restructuring. The shift is expected to mean layoffs as well, but local representatives could not speak to the extent – if any – of closures or job cuts in The Bahamas.

Scotiabank’s spokespeople told Guardian Business on Thursday that the lender’s growth in the region has “created some overlap and duplication of services”.

“As a result, we undertook a review of our operating model and international distribution network and found opportunities to strengthen our retail presence by investing in areas that are going to improve the speed and quality of service for our customers,” the bank said in a statement released to this paper.

Porter has announced changes including branch closures, restructuring charges totaling more than $450 million, 1,500 layoffs – mostly in Canada – and loan losses of $109 million in the Caribbean. He also revealed that Scotiabank will either close or downsize 120 branches, largely in Mexico and the Caribbean, to focus on high-growth markets such as Chile and Colombia.

The Scotiabank Bahamas statement said: “The numbers announced relating to branch closures were across the Bank’s international network.

“The bank is still undergoing its review and while this process will take some time, it will be carefully planned with consideration given to all affected stakeholders including employees and our customers”.

The Caribbean has had to learn hard lessons on banking … abroad. Due to the interconnectivity of the financial systems, bank troubles in foreign countries easily become trouble for the region. This was definitely true for the 2008 Banking Crisis that spurred the Great Recession. (Eventually the middle classes were impacted and shrunk our tourism marketing prospects). The events of this period were the lynchpin for the Go Lean movement, (book and blogs). This Go Lean book, and the associated movement, posits that the effects of the 2008 Great Recession continue to linger in the Caribbean. Therefore the book advocates instituting the appropriate governance on the region’s banking sector so as to apply the learned lessons from 2008. We do not want to be vulnerable to any financial mis-management of our North American neighbors; or some “plutocratic” elements there-in.

2008 was all about Wall Street (New York City). Today’s headlines are all about Canada. Though there is elasticity from these foreign financial centers, the Caribbean is big enough (42 million people in 30 member-states) to streamline its own viable financial / securities market. We can exert some control over our own economic destiny. We must assume the coveted role of protégé to our North American partners, not parasites, as experienced … to date.

The CU’s prime directive is to elevate the Caribbean’s economic-security-governing engines. Early in the book, the need for a regional steward was pronounced (Declaration of Interdependence – Page 13) with these statements:

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

xxv. Whereas the legacy of international democracies had been imperiled due to a global financial crisis, the structure of the Federation must allow for financial stability and assurance of the Federation’s institutions. To mandate the economic vibrancy of the region, monetary and fiscal controls and policies must be incorporated as proactive and reactive measures. These measures must address threats against the financial integrity of the Federation and of the member-states.

The Go Lean book, and previous blog/commentaries, stressed the key community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies necessary to establish the regional financial eco-systems for Caribbean self-determination. These pointed are detailed in the book as follows:

Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future	Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Money Multiplier	Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Return on Investments	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-around – 2008 Crisis	Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Mission – Fortify the Stability of the Securities Markets	Page 47
Strategy – CU Stakeholders to Protect – Banks & Depositors	Page 47
Tactical – Growing the Economy – Minimizing Bubbles	Page 69
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Depository Insurance & Regulatory Agency	Page 73
Anecdote – Turning Around CARICOM – Effects of 2008 Financial Crisis	Page 92
Implementation – Assemble Caribbean Central Bank as Cooperative	Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt – Optimizing Wall Street Role	Page 114
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Single Market / Currency Union	Page 127
Planning – Lessons Learned from the old West Indies Federation – Canada’s Help	Page 135
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008	Page 136
Planning – Lessons Learned from Canada’s History	Page 146
Planning – Ways to Measure Progress	Page 147
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Credit Ratings – 2008 Lessons	Page 155
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Housing – 2008 Mortgage Crisis Lessons	Page 161
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Labor Unions – 2008 Effects on Main Street Jobs	Page 164
Anecdote – Caribbean Industrialist – Growth and Success	Page 189
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Wall Street	Page 200
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Main Street	Page 201
Appendix – Offshore Financial Services Industry Developments	Page 321
Appendix – Bahamas & Tax Info Exchange Agreements	Page 322

The points of effective, technocratic regional stewardship, especially in response to the 2008 Great Recession / Financial Crisis, were further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3397	A Christmas Present for the Banks from the Omnibus Bill
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3090	Lessons Learned – Europe Sovereign Debt Crisis of 2009
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3028	Why India is doing better than most emerging markets since the crisis
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2930	‘Too Big To Fail’ – Caribbean Version
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2090	The Depth & Breadth of Remediating 2008
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1896	The Crisis in Black Homeownership since 2008
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1014	Canadian View: All is not well in the sunny Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=841	Post 2008 – Having Less Babies is Bad for the Economy?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=782	Open/Review the Time Capsule: The Great Recession of 2008
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=709	Analyzing the Data – Student debt holds back home buyers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=518	Analyzing the Data – What Banks learn about financial risks

Canada has been a dear friend to the Caribbean – see Appendices below. It is unfortunate that so many of their banks have experienced losses doing business in the Caribbean – we have been a ‘bad bet’. We want these Canadian banks and Canada in general to have good returns on their Caribbean investments and nothing but pleasurable experiences interacting with our culture and society. We want the Caribbean to be a better place to live, work and play for Canadians.

According to the foregoing news articles, our parasitic regional culture has not being gracious to our Canadian guest and direct investors. We need the proposed successes of the Go Lean roadmap for so many reasons; one strong motivation is to turn-around the results of the Canadian-Caribbean relationships. We must diversify our economy, fortify our security and improve our governance so that Canada would consider us in the role of a protégé, not a parasite again and again. This is the purpose of the Go Lean roadmap, to provide a turn-by-turn direction to move the region to that destination.

Don’t give up on us Canada!

🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——————–

Appendix A – Scotiabank in the Caribbean and Central America
We have been part of the Caribbean and Central America region since 1889 when we opened our first office in Kingston, Jamaica to support the trade of rum sugar and fish. This was the first time a Canadian bank had opened a branch outside the U.K. or the U.S. Scotiabank had a branch in Kingston before opening a branch in Toronto, Canada, where the Executive Offices are now located.

Some 120 plus years later, Scotiabank is the leading bank in the Caribbean and Central America, with operations in 25 countries, including affiliates. We are the only Canadian bank with operations in four of the seven Central American countries, namely Costa Rica, Belize, Panama and El Salvador.

Scotiabank Facts:

Scotiabank employs 7,765 people in the region
Serves more than two million customers
About 99% of employees are hired locally
There are 294 branches and over 655 automated banking machines (ATMs) throughout the region

Our international strategy focuses on investing resources in high-potential markets where Scotiabank anticipates solid, long-term economic growth. We pride ourselves on leveraging the best Canadian sales and service practices to retain and attract high-value customers abroad. Our core purpose is to be the best at helping you become financially better off by providing relevant solutions to meet your unique needs.
(Source: http://www.scotiabank.com/jm/en/0,,37,00.html retrieved December 31, 2014)

VIDEO – Scotiabank Celebrates 125 Years in Jamaica – http://youtu.be/17WPQTE4Lr8

————-

Appendix B – Scotiabank and the Diaspora

The Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival Toronto is an exciting three-week cultural explosion of Caribbean music, cuisine, revelry as well as visual and performing arts. In its 45th year it has become a major international event and the largest cultural festival of its kind in North America.

As Carnival is an international cultural phenomenon, the great metropolis of Toronto and its environs will come alive as the city explodes with the pulsating rhythms and melodies of Calypso, Soca, Reggae, Hip Hop, Chutney, Steel Pan and Brass Bands. This colourful exhibition and display of genius is truly a musical panorama that is certain to bring a pleasing smile to the ancestral titans of Pan and Calypso music.

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Jack M. Mintz: ‘All is not well in the sunny Caribbean’

Posted on May 27, 2014 in Economics, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

“All that glitters is not gold” – Old adage.

This is a similar expression as the title of the below commentary by Canadian Public Policy Professor Dr. Jack Mintz:

“All is not well in the sunny Caribbean”.

The opinions of Canadian stakeholders are and have always been important from a Caribbean perspective. “Look to the Northern Star!” – the book Go Lean…Caribbean relates the hope and refuge that Canada always provided to this region (Page 146).

This book purports that an examination of the history of Canada can be productive for the Caribbean. Despite the different geographic address, Canada has had to contend with a lot of challenges similar to the Caribbean; Canada has succeeded while the Caribbean has failed. Early in the book, the point of lessons from Canada is pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14), with these opening statements:

xxxiii. Whereas lessons can be learned and applied from the study of the recent history of other societies, the Federation must formalize statutes and organizational dimensions … to implement the good examples learned from developments/ communities like … Canada.

Canada recognizes that the Caribbean is in crisis; and despite billions and billions ($$$) in Canadian investments, the region is still in crisis.

Commentary By: Dr. Jack M. Mintz
Economic problems in the Caribbean should be a wake-up call for governments and businesses operating there.

As a middling power, Canada has limited influence in most areas of the world — save for the Caribbean countries. To escape the winter, three million Canadians trek annually to one of the islands to enjoy the sun and relaxation. Roughly 600,000 Caribbean [expatriates] have migrated over the years to Canada, with the largest contingents coming from Jamaica, Guyana, Haiti and Trinidad.

Canada has also invested over $140-billion in capital in the Caribbean islands, especially in Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda and Cayman Islands. Capital stock held in Barbados alone is over $60-billion, more than any other country except for the United States. The money does not stay there but moves on to other countries so that Canadian multi-national companies can take advantage of the Canada-Barbados tax treaty to achieve lower global effective corporate tax rates through tax-efficient financial structures.

So when Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce announced a $420-million write-down in goodwill invested in CIBC FirstCaribbean, it should attract attention, given our deep ties to the region. All is not well in the Caribbean region with its bloated, over-indebted governments operating in slow-growth environments. The economic and fiscal problems in the region raise critical economic and security concerns for Canada.

Many Caribbean governments face financial instability. Gross public debt has risen to over 80% of GDP in 2013 for Antigua, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia. Many of these countries are also heavily exposed to global markets with the current account deficit over 20% of GDP in the Caribbean region. Foreign direct investment inflows are more than 8% of GDP for Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and Trinidad-Tobago.

At a flick of the switch, international lenders could turn off the spigots, resulting in a financial crisis and hefty devaluation of currencies. The implications of a severe economic contraction in the region would put the Caribbean countries in limbo and have important consequences to Canada, given our relationships in the region.

The outlook for the Caribbean countries is not exactly cheerful. Overall, economic growth has been poor, about 1.5% for the region, and close to stagnant for Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada and Jamaica. Many of the Caribbean countries face competitiveness problems with some of the highest electricity rates in the world, unionized wage costs and high real interest costs. The business climate is weak with poor regulatory practices, enforcement of contracts and crime.

With the global economic slowdown, tourism has been relatively flat, lagging most regions of the world in 2013. Tourism, after all, is not a necessity and more money is spent on it only when people are better off. The outlook is not looking much better in the near future with little income growth in North America and Europe. Should there ever be reconciliation between the United States and Cuba, U.S. tourism could significantly shift from other islands.

Nor are commodity prices expected to be booming as China and the rest of Asia slow down, with little take up from the rest of the world. Only oil and gas prices seem to be firm, which is good news for Trinidad and Tobago.

With the G20 and OECD countries focused on curbing tax evasion and avoidance, several Caribbean countries – Bermuda, Barbados and Cayman Islands – would be subject to a tightening tax noose. These countries could face a deceleration in economic activity if international tax structures are to be dismantled.

Thus, economic and fiscal problems in the Caribbean should be a wake-up call for governments and businesses operating there. The CIBC write-down is just the tip of the iceberg.

A financial crisis will heavily impact many Canadian businesses that have turned to the Caribbean islands to set up financing and insurance structures. A major economic slowdown in the Caribbean islands would also raise security issues for Canada as crime, including drug trade, could become more problematical to control.

The Canadian government should therefore work with other major countries and international organizations to stabilize Caribbean economies. Attempts to build capacity for good governance in the past years have not been easy but it cannot be abandoned. Some new initiatives should be considered that would help the Caribbean islands improve their fortunes.

Certainly, trying to harmonize policies and merge certain institutions to achieve economies-of-scale across the region would be a useful step. This includes post-secondary education, financial markets and transportation. A shift by Caribbean countries away from oil to natural gas from Trinidad-Tobago and North America would reduce their cost of oil imports.

At the same time, Canada and other Western countries should invest in improving the judiciary and security forces in the [Caribbean] region. The reduction in crime would also benefit our economies by reducing risks faced by tourists and investors. Drug trade with Canada would be curbed.

Debt relief for some of the countries would be appropriate so long as certain commitments are made to reform governance and economic policy. This has been the role of the IMF over the years but Canada should itself pay more attention to the region.

For Canadians looking to bask in the sun and escape harsh winters here, a stronger Caribbean region will be welcome.

Jack M. Mintz is the Palmer Chair, School of Public Policy, University of Calgary. Contact: policy@ucalgary.ca

Source: Financial Post – Canadian Daily; retrieved 05-23-2014 from: http://business.financialpost.com/2014/05/22/jack-m-mintz-all-is-not-well-in-the-sunny-caribbean/

The underlying theme of Jack Mintz commentary is that Caribbean society needs a reboot. The book Go Lean… Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), a reboot for Caribbean society with these 3 prime directives:

Optimize the economic engines of the Caribbean to grow the economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establish a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines and stakeholders.
Improve Caribbean governance with technocratic excellence.

The foregoing article highlights the mis-management of credit/debt of the governments of the region. The commentary specifically warns:

At a flick of the switch, international lenders could turn off the spigots, resulting in a financial crisis and hefty devaluation of currencies.

Why such poor financial planning? It is obvious that there is a lot of success missing in terms of fiscal expedience. It is not reasonable to expect that current administrations can solve Caribbean fiscal problems with the same tools and techniques of the present. The Go Lean roadmap calls for a different toolbox and different techniques.

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then perhaps this commentary is just one person’s assessment of ugly – just a perception. But unfortunately, the facts are the facts. Dr. Mintz relates ugly examples, such as the fact the region has the “highest electricity rates in the world”. There is no denying the “Amount Due” figures on actual electric utility bills.

This is the present, as perceived by Dr. Mintz. Plus, his assessment of the near future is even more “gloom-and-doom”.

True, there is work to be done. But not the job of a Calgary professor, or any other Canadian stakeholder, to do the heavy-lifting. No, this is the job of the Caribbean for the Caribbean. Who is up to the task?

The Caribbean Union Trade Federation hereby “reports for duty” for the job to forge this change.

The Go Lean book details that solutions must come from all aspects of society. There are community values/attitudes that must be in place to ensure that any quest for permanent change would have some measure of success. Those attitudes are referred to as community ethos. There must first be the adoption of many such ethos, followed by the executions of strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to impact the region’s prospects, as detailed here:

Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future	Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship	Page 28
Anecdote – Entrepreneur’s Best Place To Live? Canada	Page 39
Strategy – Vision – Integrate Region into Single Market	Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization	Page 57
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union	Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Separation of Powers – Banking Regulatory Authority	Page 73
Separation of Powers – Justice Institutions	Page 77
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up	Page 102
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up	Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Implementation – Ways to Improve Energy Usage	Page 113
Implementation – Ways to Better Manage Debt	Page 114
Implementation – Ways to Foster International Aid	Page 115
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization	Page 119
Planning – Lessons from Canada’s History	Page 146
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy	Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage ForEx	Page 154
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism	Page 190
Advocacy – Reforms for Banking Regulations	Page 199
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora	Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage	Page 218
Appendix – Offshore Tax & Financial Services Industry Developments	Page 321

The Go Lean roadmap calls for a different entrepreneurial approach than some of the tax avoidance industries promoted in the past. These strategies have actually failed. Most offshore financial centers have modernized their lax laws to mitigate terrorism financing, thus lowering their attraction to tax evaders. The hold-outs, (Bermuda, Barbados and the Cayman Islands), are now being forced to cow-tail to the New World Order. The people of the Caribbean deserve better than waiting for “illicit bread to fall from the table” of rich nations (G-20). We have the world’s best address, for goodness sake, people should be beating a path to our doors (like the 3 million Canadians annually), not the 600,000 Caribbean citizens who have beaten down our doors to get out.

Time for change! The Go Lean roadmap is hereby presented.

The region is hereby urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap, to fulfill the vision of making the Caribbean region a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Turks and Caicos Premier’s disclosures raises conflict questions

Posted on May 2, 2014 in Ethos, Government, Strategy, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

These are the lyrics of a previously popular Bahamian folk song:

Show & Tell what your family got
Show & Tell what your family got, from the top of your head to the tip of your toe.
Mr. MP, Mr. Senator…
Oh, Mr. MP, let me see your money. Show the world you ain’t no crook. Let me see your bank book.
My people, oh my people. You know I “is” your MP. But “yinna” does hardly see me, how you expect to see my money.
— Chorus –
Different strokes for different folks
Different egg got different yokes
Different man take different stand
Dog like road and cat like sand
Show & Tell – Eddie Minnis
(MP = Member of Parliament)

This above song tells the story of the introduction of a Financial Disclosure law in the Bahamas in the 1970’s. The concept of open financial disclosures, as is related in the song and below news article, encountered resistance and apprehension. The above song duly captured the public fears and scrutiny of the process.

The advantage of public disclosures is that it mitigates corruption and bribery temptation in the government contract bidding process. The disadvantage is that capable, competent technocrats may shy away from public service because their business – personal and family finances – is “put out there in the streets”.

Personal financial disclosure requirements are standard among the First World, but scorned in the Third World. It is what it is! See the story here:

By: Caribbean News Now contributor
PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands — The recent publication of an extract from Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) Premier Rufus Ewing’s statement of registrable interests has raised conflict of interest questions regarding a controversial healthcare contract with Interhealth Canada.

Under the heading “Income Sources”, line item number two in Ewing’s statement lists “Salaries, benefits and allowances – Interhealth Canada TCI Ltd”.

Under section 25 of the Integrity Commission Ordinance 2008, all persons in public life (including members of the House of Assembly) are required to file with the Integrity Commission declarations of their incomes, assets and liabilities and those of their spouses and dependent children once every two years. This is otherwise referred to as “Section 25 Declaration”, and it is strictly confidential and may not be divulged to any person. Any breach of this confidentiality by any member of the commission or a third party and attracts stiff criminal sanctions under the ordinance.

However, the published excerpt of the Register has nothing to do with the section 25 Declaration of Financial Affairs but relates to an additional requirement under the constitution and the ordinance for members of the House of Assembly to file with the commission, once every year, statements of registrable interests of themselves and those of their spouses and dependent children.

According to Eugene Otuonye QC, director of the Integrity Commission, the published extract of Ewing’s statement of registrable interests appears genuine. He also pointed out that the register of such interests is available in the public domain and is not therefore confidential.

Otuonye went on to say that it is common and public knowledge that Dr. Dawn Perry, a gynecologist and the spouse of Premier Ewing, is legitimately employed in her own right at the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre (Interhealth Canada). She receives salaries, allowances and benefits for being so employed and these are part of the interests that the Ewing has disclosed to the public as part of his registrable interests.

However, as one observer commented, the mere fact that Ewing’s household is receiving a financial benefit from Interhealth Canada is bound to raise presumptions of a conflict of interest and may therefore explain, amongst other things, an apparent ongoing reluctance on the part of Ewing and his government to conduct or release the findings of either a financial and/or clinical audit of the operations of Interhealth Canada.

In addressing this issue, Otuonye said that any conflict of interest (perceived or actual) this scenario may present is a matter for the premier to manage within and guided by the existing legal framework, including the standing orders of the House of the Assembly and the code of conduct for persons in public life.

“As guardian of the code of conduct, the commission is interested not only in how a conflict of interest is managed but in providing such assistance as would enable the relevant conflict of interest to be effectively managed. The commission is committed to this responsibility,” he said.

It is not clear at this time how Ewing is managing this conflict of interest, whether real or perceived, except to try to distance himself from the health portfolio, which may be ineffectual given that he is ultimately the head of the elected government.

The financial cost of the $120 million debt for building two small hospitals at a cost of $4 million dollars per bed and outsourcing secondary healthcare to Interhealth Canada that together will cost the TCI around $1 billion over the course of 20 years has been the subject of ongoing controversy and concern since the contract was signed in 2009.

In response to Ewing’s earlier attempts in 2012 to distance himself from what was described by former chief financial officer Hugh McGarel Groves as a “financial disaster”, former TCI government CEO Patrick Boyle pointed out that Ewing had a “central role in developing the policy that led to the creation of the NHIP [National Health Insurance Plan]”.

A sworn statement by former health minister Karen Delancy also confirmed that Ewing made relevant decisions without consulting her and agreed the hospital construction contract without the benefit of competitive bids.

According to earlier reports, a number of civil servants (believed to be five) received payments of as much as $20,000 each — described as an “honorarium” — for doing a “good job” in negotiating and concluding the health care contract with Interhealth Canada. As then director of medical services, Ewing was said to be one of the five civil servants that received such payments.

The opposition Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) has called for a review of the Interhealth Canada contract and the release of the relevant audits.

What has magnified the problem is that the Ewing-led government continues to raise taxes and fees while ignoring numerous calls for renegotiating the Interhealth Canada contract at a lower cost and refinancing the hospital mortgage, which is reported to have an exceptionally high rate of interest of 12%. The potential savings from such renegotiated healthcare costs could eliminate and/or reduce the need for the increase in taxation.
Source: http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Turks-and-Caicos-premier%27s-statement-of-interests-raises-conflict-questions-20931.html

The book Go Lean … Caribbean focuses on economic issues, governance and optimizing the civil service administration for the Caribbean region and for the 30 member-states. This book is a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), proffered as a super-national administration, a federal government for these states. There are 3 prime directives of the CU:

Optimize the economic engines so as to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
Establish a security apparatus (including persecution of economic and public integrity crimes) so as to mitigate the eventual emergence of “bad actors”.
Improve Caribbean governance.

The tactical plan for this roadmap is a separation-of-powers for this federal government versus the governmental administrations of the member-states. Based on issues and cases similar to the foregoing news story, there is the need for accountability of public integrity.

(We are not levelling any accusation of towards Mr. Rufus Ewing, the Premier of the Turks & Caicos Islands. This commentary is simply in response, and as an analysis of the foregoing news article. There is due-process and an assumption of innocence).

There is also a CU mission to marshal against encroachments of Failed-State indicators. Any allegation of corruption or appearance of conflicts-of-interest by a Head of Government may undermine faith in that jurisdiction’s government. This might dissuade Foreign Direct Investors or efforts to repatriate the Diaspora or invite empowering immigrants. There must be a continuous sentinel; this role is assumed by applicable CU agencies.

This function is paramount in the vision of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation. The specific public integrity requirement is pronounced early in the Go Lean roadmap, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12) with these statements:

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.

The people may cry: “How dare you, Caribbean Union, get into our business here in the TCI? This is not your concern”.

This argument is true, based on the status quo, but change has come to the Caribbean. The CU treaty compels a Security Pact for all the member-states, enacted even with the legacy sovereign countries of the United Kingdom, United States of America, Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Republic of France – the CU serves as their proxy. But this CU administration is executed by the Caribbean, for the Caribbean. The pronouncement continues:

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

The goal of the CU is to elevate Caribbean life, culture, economy, security and governing engine. Federal authorities would therefore have jurisdiction under a Good Governance mandate to review this case in consideration of the allegations. This is new for the region. This new community ethos in this case is lean government.

The CU roadmap affects economics, security and governance. Based on the blatant needs depicted in the forgoing news article, the CU solutions will impact change in the region. These solutions are detailed in this book Go Lean … Caribbean as new community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates; as follows:

Community Ethos – Privacy versus Public Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Whistleblower Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Witness Security & Protection	Page 23
Community Ethos – Light Up the Dark Places	Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations	Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Negotiations	Page 32
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good	Page 37
Strategy – Repatriating Caribbean Diaspora	Page 47
Strategy – Inviting Foreign Direct Investments	Page 48
Strategy – Promoting Good/Clean Government Image	Page 48
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy	Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Justice / District Attorneys	Page 90
Implementation – Assemble – UK Territories Oversight	Page 96
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up	Page 103
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate	Page 118
Implementation – Ways to Promote Independence	Page 120
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices	Page 134
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Healthcare	Page 156
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance	Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract	Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Leadership	Page 171
Advocacy – 10 Ways to Impact Justice	Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications	Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Impact British Territories	Page 245

The Go Lean roadmap will make the Caribbean a better place to live work, and play. The role of government is not divorced from this process, rather the member-states governing administrations are primary stakeholders, customers of the CU.

Change has come to the Caribbean. This is illustrated as a moving freight train. It cannot – must not – be stopped. Everyone must be “on board”. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Florida’s Snowbirds Chilly Welcome

Posted on April 11, 2014 in Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

To the Canadian Snowbirds, looking for warm climates and a warm welcome, we say:

“Be our guest”.

To the Caribbean Diaspora, living in Canada and other northern countries, we say:

“Come in from the cold”.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean aligns with the news story in the below article. While the US may be retracting the Welcome Mats from Canadian snowbirds, after 180 days, the islands of the Caribbean extend the invitation for them to pass the wintry months here. They are invited to bring their time, talent and treasuries; (according to the article: billions of dollars).

Need an extra month? No problem.
Need access to cutting-edge medical treatment? Got it.
Need protection from crime and harassment? Got you covered.
Need video communications to interact with Embassy and government officials? Sure thing.
Need access to your Canadian dollar bank accounts? No problem.

The source news article is embedded here as follows:

Title: “Congress protects America from Canadian pensioners”
Gulfport, Florida – A chore combining carpentry with diplomacy awaits Gordon Bennett, a retired Canadian soldier, after his move to a larger mobile home near Florida’s Gulf coast. As commander of an overseas post of the Royal Canadian Legion, he likes to fly his national flag from a handy palm tree. But as a respectful guest—one of about half a million Canadian “snowbirds” who own winter homes in Florida, using special visas good for a total of 180 days in any 12-month period—he knows to follow strict protocol when mounting his flags, or face complaints from American neighbours. His Canadian flag cannot be flown on its own but must be paired with the Stars and Stripes (though never on the same pole). The American flag may not be smaller or fly lower, and must be flown in the position of honour (the right, as you emerge from a doorway).

Mr. Bennett, a genial octogenarian, does not resent the fussing. In his winter home of Pinellas County—an unflashy region of mobile home parks, “senior living” complexes, golf courses and strip malls—the welcome is mostly warm for Canadian snowbirds, who pump billions of dollars into Florida’s economy each year. His post shares premises with the American Legion, and has introduced local veterans to Moose Milk, a lethal Canuck eggnog-variant involving maple syrup. He routinely brings 50 or 60 Canadians to ex-servicemen’s parades, picnics or dinner-dances.

But once issues of sovereignty are raised, America’s welcome can chill. Visa rules force Canadian pensioners to count each day after they cross the border, typically in late October. They are enforced ferociously: overstayers may be barred from re-entry for five years. Some members of Congress have been trying to ease the rules for Canadian pensioners since the late 1990s. A law allowing Canadians over 55 to spend up to eight months in America each year, as long as they can show leases for property down south and do not work, passed the Senate in 2013 as part of a comprehensive immigration bill, but like the bigger bill, it has now stalled. In the House of Representatives an extension for Canadian snowbirds has been tucked into the JOLT Act, a tourism-promotion law introduced by Joe Heck, a Nevada Republican.

Canadian pensioners are not an obviously threatening group—few Americans report being mugged by elderly Ottawans armed with ice-hockey sticks. They pay property and sales taxes in America. They must cover their own health-care costs while down south, through the Canadian public health-care system and private top-up policies. If allowed to stay for eight months, most would stay only seven, predicts Dann Oliver, president of the Canadian Club of the Gulf Coast (staying longer would complicate their health cover and their tax status). They just want a few more weeks in the sun.

Yet even something this easy is proving hard. Mr. Heck is willing to tweak his bill to focus on two reforms: the Canadian extension and visa interviews by video-conference for Chinese, Brazilian and Indian would-be visitors, who currently face long journeys to American consulates. But many members of the House “are reluctant to do anything with the word immigration in it,” says Mr. Heck. Optimists hope the bill might come up for a vote this year. For Mr. Bennett and his wife, Evelyn, Canadians whose “bones ache” in their homeland’s cold, it can’t come too soon.
Source: The Economist (Retrieved 03/08/2014) –http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21598680-congress-protects-america-canadian-pensioners-chilly-welcome

Whereas the natural formation of the landmass is in a tropical region, the flora and fauna allows for an inherent beauty that is enviable to peoples near and far. The structures must be strenuously guarded to protect and promote sustainable systems of commerce paramount to this reality.

In line with the foregoing article, the Go Lean book details some applicable infrastructure enhancements and advocacies to facilitate more Snowbird traffic:

Ferries – Union Atlantic Turnpike (Page 205)
Self-Governing Entities/Fairgrounds (Pages 105, 192)
Optimized Medical Deliveries (Page 156)
Marshalling Economic Crimes (Page 178)
Improve Elder-Care (Page 239)

The purpose of this roadmap is to make the Caribbean, a better place to live, work and play; for snowbirds too! This way we can benefit from their presence.

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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