The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

The Bahamas has been caught up in another negative narrative. This time relating to foreign investment.

The Canadian Government recently issued a warning to Canadian's about investing in real estate in The Bahamas because settling a dispute could be "prolonged and costly". (The Tribune, October 19, 2012).

Mr Fred Mitchell (PLP), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, is reported to have responded in The Tribune of October 22, 2012 as saying:

"My own feeling is that there are judicial disputes in Canada that are equally as tortuous, so I’m not sure it (the investment advisory) truly represents the picture in the Bahamas. So I have the responsibility to ensure the record is set straight.”

One would have thought that in these difficult economic times, having The Bahamas sanctioned over Foreign Direct Investment would elicit a more reasoned response from the minister, but instead he attempted to turn the tables by suggesting the same thing happens in Canada. (A quick Internet search did not confirm his analogy but even if it's the case is that supposed to excuse the system here?)

Mr Mitchell, an attorney himself, knows of the difficulty and expense related to having a case heard by Bahamian courts (it's often suggested some lawyers cause the problem), and it seems appropriate that a more diplomatic response should have been forthcoming.

Canada does not seem to be facing the economic dilemma The Bahamas is, nor are they as dependent on Foreign Direct Investment as The Bahamas, but their citizens do invest quite a bit abroad, as well as in this jurisdiction. So to publicly thumb our collective noses at them seems most inappropriate.

Mr Mitchell can "ensure the record is set straight" by providing the Judiciary with the resources it needs to have cases heard in a more timely manner. Maybe establishing a voluntary conciliation process for matters like these would also be a useful step?

Far too often in recent years the narrative about The Bahamas is negative, and there's enough blame to go around because instead of making more of a fuss about issues like this, most people simply shrug their shoulders and laugh about how ineffectual things are.

Who is John Galt http://atlasshrugged.com/ again?

RICK LOWE

www.weblogbahamas.com http://www.weblogbahamas.com