Church chastises his colleagues

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Parent Category: Feb 2012

Category: Week end Feb 18th, 2012

Published on Monday, 20 February 2012 20:28

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Government Backbencher Michael Church has taken a swipe at some of his former Cabinet colleagues accusing them of continuing their “gang psychology” war against him. Church, the Member of Parliament for St. John  made the comment after abstaining on a vote to push through the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) bill through all its stages during a sitting of the House of Representatives last week Friday.

The opposition called for the Bill to be debated at another session but government argued that sufficient time was already given for public discussion. When the vote was taken, six government MP’s voted in favour, three opposition members were against with one abstention in the person of Church.

All other government and opposition members of Parliament were absent. Church told the House that although his abstention on the vote did not have any bearing on the outcome of the balloting, “I was very surprised at the consternation I saw on the faces of some of my learned friends”.

According to Church, it is very unfair and unreasonable to expect individuals to follow blindly “when we know that you’ve not made any effort to consult with the individual or individuals so that at least we would set a foundation or basis for getting the support or the vote of that particular person or persons”. 

“We need to do better than that”, asserted the MP for St. John.

Church told the house that after having read the speech of Prime Minister Tillman Thomas on the occasion of Grenada’s 38th Anniversary of Independence, he concluded that philosophically he and the Grenadian leader tend to have the same beliefs and was moved by some of the statements.

However, he said he still sees the need to remind the House that he is still the Member of Parliament for the Constituency of St John and should be treated with respect. “And by virtue of that status, my people need to be treated much better. Too often I am confronted by individuals in the constituency who ask me questions, questions of policy and keep in mind, although I am a backbencher I still consider myself a member of Government”, he remarked.

The former Minister of Environment, Foreign Trade and Export Development complained of writing letters to sitting government ministers and do not get any responses from them with the exception of Prime Minister Thomas. “You know what is worse, Mr Speaker, some of the most arrogant ones are those who never want anything, those who are selected, not those who are elected”, Church told the parliamentary sitting. 

 Church tendered his resignation letter to Prime Minister Thomas in November 2010 after the Grenadian leader took a decision to demote him to a junior minister after he made a controversial overseas trip without the knowledge of Cabinet.

Government insiders said that Church had informed: PM Thomas that he was travelling to Atlanta in the United States to visit a sick family member but instead visited Geneva, Switzerland to attend a meeting with Dr. Patrick Antoine, the controversial former Trade Policy Advisor with the former Keith Mitchell-led administration. Since taking office following the July 08, 2008 General Elections, Prime Minister Thomas has been forced to take punitive action against some members of his Cabinet.

The first was former Attorney General, Jimmy Bristol who in July 2009, admitted to writing a personal letter on a government letterhead to a United States Prosecutor asking for leniency for his stepson Emmanuel Ganpot, who was convicted on drug related charges.

Junior Culture Minister Senator Arley Gill was the second victim. He was banned from a number of Cabinet meetings after allegedly signing an agreement with a Jamaica-based entertainment company, which was not approved by the Cabinet.

The most recent was former Minister of Works, Public Utilities and Physical Development, Joseph Gilbert who admitted to writing a letter to a foreign company giving assurances without the consent of Cabinet that a licence would be granted to operate a casino in Grenada.

Gilbert told an emergency Cabinet session called to deal with the issue that the letter was not sent out and when PM Thomas eventually found proof that the minister was not honest the Governor-General, Sir Carlyle Glean was asked to revoke his appointment as a Cabinet member.

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