Closer Links Between Canada And Turks & Caicos Explored Once More

by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington

22 January 2004

Canadian parliamentarian Peter Goldring is in the Turks & Caicos Islands this week, attempting to revive an old idea of annexing the Caribbean jurisdiction as Canada’s ‘eleventh province’.

According to Goldring, the annexation of the islands by Canada would result in numerous mutual benefits apart from the obvious boost to tourism. “It just makes good business sense for Canada to take advantage of a willing marketplace to expand into that will benefit the people of both countries,” he argues.

Goldring explains that the initiative would give Turks & Caicos the opportunity to expand and diversify its economy, in addition to providing greater regional stability. Meanwhile, he points out that the islands will provide Canada with a manufacturing and distribution hub for the Caribbean and South America.

The current proposal is based on an idea by Canadian mutual fund executive Richard Pearson, who is promoting his campaign via his website ‘A place in the sun.’ He claims that there are “clear advantages for both countries” from the proposed association.

"The Islands have a strategic position in a marketplace of many millions of people. The Turks & Caicos would become not only a sales centre for Canadian business people supplying products to the Caribbean, but an excellent trans shipment point for Canadian goods sent into the area,” Pearson explains.

As for the Turks & Caicos: "They would reach self-sufficiency almost immediately and have no further need of a British Grant-in-Aid,” argues Pearson, adding that:

“The increased development would allow them to quickly rise to the level of their more developed Caribbean neighbours.”

It is not the first time that closer links between Canada and the Turks & Caicos Islands have been mooted. In the early 1970’s a bill was introduced that proposed to annex the islands for Canada. A similar move was attempted in the 1980’s, although neither came close to fruition.

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