New Canadian High Commissioner, Security Minister discuss security issues

Georgetown: Vice President and Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan met with the new High Commissioner of Canada Pierre Giroux, to discuss several security related matters.
The meeting was held on Friday, as the High Commissioner paid a courtesy call on the Public Security Minister at his Brickdam office, during which they discussed judicial educational programmes as well as programmes to enhance Police training.
Minister Ramjattan gave a brief preview to the media before heading to the meeting with High Commissioner Giroux. According to Ramjattan, they will be focusing more on training, noting that it will not be only for Police Officers.
“It will involve more than merely Police training, this time we will include Magistrates and the judiciary as a whole. We want to finalise when this programme will start,” he indicated to reporters.
Prior to her departure in June, former Canadian High Commissioner, Dr Nicole Giles met with Minister Ramjattan and had talks on various areas of mutual interest between the two countries. One such matter was training and capacity building for ranks of the Guyana Police Force.
Additionally, the former High Commissioner had committed a grant of Cdn$750,000 to help develop the justice system in Guyana. This money is a part of a project with the Justice Education Society (JES) of British Columbia, a Canadian Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that aims at strengthening the justice system.
Following Friday’s meeting, a release from the Ministry’s office detailed that the two officials discussed the Government of Canada two-year strengthening the Guyanese Criminal Justice System Project, which will be implemented by the Vancouver-based JES. The JES delegation is expected to meet with the Minister sometime in the near future.
During the meeting, the Canadian High Commissioner informed Minister Ramjattan about the objectives, project activities, scope and structure of the project. He also mentioned October this year as a possible date for the commencement of training. Giroux added too that a coordination committee for the project will be created.
The programme is expected to enhance cooperation among participating agencies including the Magistracy, the Director of Public Prosecutions Chambers and the Legal Affairs Ministry.
Minister Ramjattan expressed gratitude to the Canadian High Commissioner, highlighting the immediate outcomes; being competencies in crime scene investigation, strengthening skills of prosecutors to organise and present cases, and enhancing legal knowledge of Magistrates. The Minister said he is looking forward for the project to be a success while further indicating his desire to see the project being replicated in other parts of the country.
The new Canadian High Commissioner was welcomed to Guyana by President David Granger and Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge on August 19, when he presented his credentials.
High Commissioner Giroux said he intends to carry out the legacy of mutual respect and cooperation, noting that the relationship between the two countries has always been a strong one.
Pierre Giroux has worked in the federal public service for 34 years, during which time he has held a wide range of positions relating to international affairs.
Overseas, Giroux has served as Ambassador to El Salvador; Chargé d’affaires en pied to The Dominican Republic; Deputy Head of Mission to the Organisation of American States in Washington, DC; Canadian representative on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s development assistance committee in Paris; Adviser in the Canadian embassies to Venezuela and to Algeria; Cooperation Section Chief in the Canadian embassies to Tunisia and to Guatemala; and technical expert in planning for the Governments of Mali and Haiti.