BOTH Trinidad and Tobago and Canada held elections on April 28. Both polls were about charging ahead into an unknown future. The results of both were arguably shaped by anxieties about a dramatically altered global economic and political order.
The resumption of flights by Canada's largest airline, Air Canada, to this country on May 2 comes amid this context.
The return of jets flying between Toronto Pearson Airport and Piarco International Airport is not just about our tourism potential. It is about vital social ties that must now serve as the backbone of deeper economic co-operation.
Outside of the US, there is no larger TT diaspora than Canada's.
According to the country's last census, done in 2021, there were at least 105,965 TT-Canadians, resident in places like Toronto and Montreal. They are part of a broader Caribbean community of at least 774,515 people. This is a huge market. The upcoming 2026 census might reflect even higher numbers.
Air Canada stopped flights in 2020 due to complications wrought by the novelty of the covid19 pandemic. But old ties between Commonwealth states have - pushed by Trumponomics - brought it back.
'Globally, international markets are shuddering, global trade relationships are being amended and countries are asking themselves who their allies and trusted partners really are,' noted Canadian High Commissioner to TT Ryan Callan at a recommencement ceremony at Piarco this month.
'But the antidote for such anxieties can be a return to the relationships and connections that we can rely on and have proved themselves.' The diplomat further acknowledged the broader parameters of what is at stake in the air-bridge.
'It will carry old friends flying in for Carnival, artists launching their international debuts in Toronto and businesswomen ready to pitch their new ideas to Port of Spain.'
This wider vision set out by Mr Callan is in stark contrast to the narrow approach that now prevails in countries like the UK, where the ruling Labour government this month boasted about slashing visa applications by 40 per cent and where Prime Minister Keir Starmer has echoed the poisonous 1968 rhetoric of Enoch Powell by deeming his country at 'risk of becoming an island strangers.'
A white paper published on May 12 referred to an 'explosion' and claimed under the last Conservative government, 'Britain became a one-nation experiment in open borders.'
Little TT was abruptly slapped, for the first time, with a UK visa requirement on March 12 and no convincing policy reason for this seemingly punitive move has been advanced. The new UNC government may well engage the UK on this matter, but the damage has been done; the message was clear.
Visas are required for Canada, but that country, among the first in the world to be hit with US tariffs, is setting a completely different tone through Air Canada. It is a signal which the government and businesses should heed and value. As doors close elsewhere, trade with Canada is a must.
The post Air Canada's return about more than tourism
