Envoy hails Canadian partnership in BDF visit

Canada’s High Commissioner to Barbados Lilian Chatterjee has touted Ottawa’s relations with Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as a Canadian armed forces team provided training to the army on a newly recommissioned hyperbaric chamber housed at the Barbados Defence Force St Ann’s Fort.

The equipment which has been traditionally housed here at the BDF headquarters is used to bring sickened scuba divers’ bodies to normal pressure but can also be used for a variety of therapies and treatments for burns, bone disease and some types of poisoning. The air pressure in a hyperbaric chamber is three times higher than normal air pressure.

On a visit to the chamber, Chatterjee told reporters that since she arrived in 2021, the BDF has requested Canadian expertise in working with the staff who operate the hyperbaric chamber. “We are so pleased to be here with a medical team from the Canadian Forces who have provided training,” she said.

“They have said that they have received as much as they’ve given in terms of expertise. So that’s the Canadian way . . . we provide expertise, but we also learn from our partners. And that’s what makes it a true partnership.”

The Canadian envoy pointed to the ongoing collaboration through the Tradewinds military exercise as evidence of the Canada-CARICOM relationship. Over the past year, Canadian Forces have provided training to the Barbados Defence Force, the Regional Security System, and representatives from various CARICOM countries.

Sponsored by the United States Southern Command, Tradewinds, the annual, joint Caribbean training exercise marks its 40th anniversary this year.

The Canadian offshore patrol ship HMCS Margaret Brooke is due here in May for this year’s Tradewinds, the high commissioner announced. “We’re bringing divers as well to provide some training to the dive staff here and you’ll see all kinds of community engagement between our forces and people in Barbados, the citizens of Barbados and we will be hosting a reception as well on the navy ship,” Chatterjee added.

“We have a long-standing relationship with CARICOM; deep, deep ties to CARICOM countries, which was evidenced by a Canada/CARICOM summit last year in October in Canada . . . and we are grateful to work with CARICOM on wide range of issues and Tradewinds is just one example of that.”

Regarding future collaborations, High Commissioner Chatterjee pointed to the ongoing support provided by the Canadian military police to the Barbados Police Service.

(RG)