Caribbean News
BARBADOS: CIBC FirstCaribbean pledges another USD$ 1 Million to SickKids-Caribbean Initiative for phase 2 of the Regional Programme.
#Bridgetown, September 28, 2019, Barbados – CIBC FirstCaribbean pledged a further USD$1 million to the initiative that has seen 27 nurses from The Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago successfully complete additional specialised training.
The donation supports phase II of the SickKids-Caribbean Initiative (SCI), which focuses on the improvement of outcomes and quality of life for children with cancer and other blood disorders across the region. CIBC FirstCaribbean signed another Memorandum of Understanding with the SickKids Foundation of Canada, which underwrites the regional effort to provide support for this additional specialised nurse training, as well as for research and advocacy over a five-year period.
In 2013, with the support of the SickKids Foundation of Canada, the SickKids-Caribbean Initiative (SCI) was established. It is a nonprofit partnership with the University of the West Indies (UWI), the SickKids Centre for Global Child Health, and the Ministries of Health, hospitals and institutions of six Caribbean countries, including The Bahamas. This partnership focuses on building sustainable local capacity to diagnose, treat, and manage paediatric cancers and blood disorders.
CIBC FirstCaribbean initially pledged USD$1 million towards the effort over a seven-year period (2014 – 2020) through its charitable arm, the FirstCaribbean International ComTrust Foundation. In this latest partnership, the bank has pledged another USD$1 million to SCI between 2019 and 2024. During this time, phase II of SCI will see 13 more regional nurses begin training in September, in the specialised care of children with blood disorders and cancers. There will also be continued efforts to conduct critical research and work with governments and academic institutions to develop effective national and regional strategies to improve outcomes for children with blood disorders and cancer.
As a partner in nurse training, the bank has supported the development of a Paediatric Haematology/Oncology Nursing Education program at the University of the West Indies School of Nursing (UWISoN), Trinidad and Tobago. The program aims to build nursing capacity in the Caribbean by developing highly-skilled clinical nurses and leaders who advocate for patients and their families, conduct quality improvement initiatives, and mentor other health care providers to deliver safe and effective paediatric care.
To date 27 nurses from Barbados, The Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago have completed the specialised one-year diploma programme.
Chief Executive Officer of CIBC FirstCaribbean, Colette Delaney, hailed the bank’s support for SCI as “one of the most significant partnerships our bank has entered into. The life expectancy and quality of life of this region’s most vulnerable and valuable citizens – our children – who are battling this disease is being significantly impacted by the work of SCI.
“We are confident that phase II will build on those gains as we train more nurses, doctors and other medical professionals and facilitate research to support policy recommendations and advocacy,” said Ms. Delaney, who is also the Chair of the FirstCaribbean International ComTrust Foundation.
To ensure the work of SCI has a lasting impact, a special SCI advisory committee comprised of business leaders across the Caribbean will be dedicated to furthering the mission of SCI. The committee, of which Ms. Delaney is a member, will also work with businesses, charities, and governments, including Ministries of Health, to ensure there is enough capital to continue the work of SCI in the region.
Since the start of the initiative, SCI has installed seven telemedicine sites in hospitals in the six partner countries; trained four excellent, committed haematology/oncology Caribbean fellows; completed more than 450 case consultations; created clinical care guidance documents and supportive guidance documents, all adapted for the local settings; completed more than 70,000 specialized diagnostic tests; registered more than 600 patients in custom-built, local paediatric oncology databases; trained 27 nurses from five countries in the post-basic haematology/oncology diploma program at the University of the West Indies School of Nursing; and participated in knowledge translation activities aimed at sharing SCI’s approach, challenges and success. Underpinning these activities is critical research that will inform policy recommendations for the region.
Release: CIBC FirstCaribbean
Photo Captions:
Header:CEO of SickKids Foundation Ted Garrard and Debra King, Director of Corporate Communications, CIBC FirstCaribbean sign the new MOU witnessed by SickKids Fellow Dr. Chantelle Browne-Farmer (back left) Bonnie Fleming-Carol, Associate Chief of Nursing & Inter-professional Education at SickKids (centre) and Dr. Upton Allen, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at SickKids.
Insert: Debra King, Director of Corporate Communications, CIBC FirstCaribbean presenting CEO of SickKids Foundation Ted Garrard with the pens used in the signing ceremony. Looking on is SickKids Fellow Dr. Chantelle Browne-Farmer (back left) Bonnie Fleming-Caro (partly hidden), Associate Chief of Nursing & Inter-professional Education at SickKids (centre) and Dr. Upton Allen, Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at SickKids.
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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