Opposition Leader Tillman Thomas, who has been bombarded with complaints from Grenadians about the visa restriction that was imposed on nationals travelling to Canada, has raised the issue with a leading Canadian diplomat.
The visa matter was one of several topics discussed last week when Thomas met in St. George's with David Marshall, the Barbados-based Canadian High Commissioner to the Eastern Caribbean.
"It was a productive meeting,'' said Thomas, who heads the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) party."We plan to meet again to continue our dialogue and to follow up on what's going on between Grenada and Canada", he added.
The visa requirement was imposed following the September 1, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.
It came amidst concerns from U.S. and Canadian officials about the ease with which non-nationals of Grenada were able to obtain Grenadian passports under the controversial Economic Citizenship Programme initiated by the Keith Mitchell-led government.
Under the scheme, several con-men including ex-diplomats Viktor Kozeny and Eric Resteiner were allowed to gain possession of Grenadian official passports.
As a result of the move by Ottawa, several Grenadians, who previously were able to travel to Canada for personal and business reasons were required to now obtain an entry visa.
Opponents of the ruling New National Party (NNP), have blamed the policies pursued by Prime Minister for forcing the Canadian to take sch drastic action in 2001.
Many Grenadians have expressed a desire to see the lifting of the visa restriction.
Thomas said the Canadian High Commissioner was sympathetic to the concerns of the Grenadian people.
The Opposition Leader pledged that he would use future meetings with Marshall and other Canadian officials to press for the lifting of the visa restriction.
Marshall was one of two visiting officials who met with the NDC leader while in Grenada last week.
The other was the European Union representative, Valeriano Diaz, who is also based in Barbados.
Thomas said he was pleased with the outcome of the meetings with the Canadian High Commissioner and Diaz."Both meetings went very well,'' he confirmed. "In terms of the representative from the European Union, we discussed matters relating to the economic development of Grenada, and how Grenada could benefit from the recent agreement that was signed by CARICOM and the E.U., in particular from a private sector point of view.''
In terms of Canadian economic assistance, Thomas said that High Commissioner Marshall promised continued help to Grenada through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).
