TriniTuner.com | Latest Event:
Moderator: 3ne2nr Mods
Spouses of Caribbean Heads of Government should have their own offices with their own budgets to administer official State policy in a similar manner to that of their Latin American counterparts, Local Government Minister Hazel Manning says.
"You really are an extension of your husband and government," Manning, the wife of Prime Minister Patrick Manning, said yesterday at the Red House, Port of Spain, after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) held a sitting to examine the operations of the National Insurance Board.
Manning said the spouses of the Latin American Heads of State/Government who attended the Fifth Summit of the Americas discussed the details of their official duties during the summit's spousal retreat at the Wild Fowl Trust, Pointe-a-Pierre, last Saturday.
"The spouses in Latin America actually do have an office, they have staff and they have funding. So that the spouses have a programme that they would run. The Caribbean spouses do not have that. Maybe because it is the English system and there was that sense that we needed to meet again to see, to put something in place for the Caribbean spouses or a role for the Caribbean spouses," said Manning, one of the few regional first ladies who holds a Cabinet post.
Asked if she was specifically calling for a greater role for the Caribbean spouses in politics or administration, Manning said, "In providing service to the people and that it is basically what it is."
She added, "We got a presentation from the spouse from El Salvador and she had a particular programme and she was able to show us by video ... what she was doing in El Salvador, comprehensive programmes, staff, funding, et cetera.
"We got a presentation from Mexico and it was the same. We got presentations from Belize and from Trinidad. We got statements from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands but we got a sense that it was not as comprehensive, not as detailed and funded as the Latin American spouses were."
Expressing her disappointment at the absence of US First Lady Michelle Obama and Canada's first lady, Laureen Harper, from the summit, especially with regard to the conversation of the role of the first ladies in Latin America, Manning said she understood why they did not make the trip, as she indicated even they cannot avoid at times having to choose family over work.
"I understand, as parents ... she has her priorities right but it would have been nice to hear and to get a sense of how the system works in Canada and America because the Canadian wife didn't come for the same reasons," Manning said.
Notorious Scullman wrote:Missing the point FTMFW.
She doesn't want, or need this for herself. She's trying to adopt the principle for other Caribbean countries. She's already a minister, why would she want a meagre position like what the article is about?
All it would mean is that come next elections, voters would have another factor to consider about who they vote into power. They'd need to consider whether the wife of the next potential leader is someone who's remembered for a grammatical error or if they're simple arm candy, or used to be the housekeeper
pioneer wrote:ent dey say Oma used to dance on table in some bar before she meet Bas
Notorious Scullman wrote:^^lmao I'm not defending anyone. I simply proposed another view to what you put forward.
How come education's in a mess? Even with GATE and numerous other programs?
Not everyone has parents to put everything in their lap
Return to “Ole talk and more Ole talk”
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 78 guests
