June 9 – CARICOM is hoping that Canada’s Presidency of the G8 and G20, as of this month, will augur well for the region’s call for a restructuring of the international financial architecture and for special treatment to be accorded to small island developing states.

Secretary-General Edwin Carrington expressed the hope yesterday at the accreditation ceremony of the Canadian Ambassador to CARICOM, François Montour, noting that Canada’s on-going interest in the region’s development had recently been extended to advocacy.

He revealed that Canada had agreed that when the G-20 leaders gather in Toronto later this month, it would outline CARICOM’s position on the crippling effects of the global financial crisis on the region and to support its calls for reform of the international financial architecture.

Commenting on the effectiveness of Canada’s advocacy on the region’s behalf, Ambassador Montour said that his country has had a long history of an “effective and efficient” financial and banking system and had sustained minimum impact from the financial crisis.