 St. Lucia bids farewell to outgoing Canadian High Commissioner, her Excellency Marie Legault. His Excellencies, her Emmanuel Neville Snack, hosted a ceremony for the diplomat at Government House. A send-off as heartwarming as St. Lucia-Canada relations, government officials and members of the diplomatic corps gathered to honour departing High Commissioner, her Excellency Marie Legault, for her transformative endeavours in St. Lucia on Canada's behalf. Prime Minister Hon. Alan Chastney expressed gratitude to the departing diplomat for her humane approach to the job. Invaluable input goes into Canada's policy coming from Europe, and I think that's the part that we're all going to miss is the compassionate side that you've had and your willingness to look past just being a diplomat, but being a humanitarian. So on that note I want to say thank you, you're going to be missed, but hopefully it's au revoir, but not goodbye. Hon. Sara Floodbober, Minister with Responsibility for External Affairs, highlighted notable initiatives during her Excellency Legault's tenure. These include the Establishment of a Canadian Visa Application Centre on Island, the School Computer Program, the First House Project for At-Risk Women and Children, and support amid the pandemic. We were really heartened when we were trying to get quite a number of our St. Lucia citizens who were stranded in Canada to COVID, and you gave up space that was reserved for Canadians on the plane so St. Lucia could come. The External Affairs Minister encouraged the outgoing ambassador to continue advocating for St. Lucia. There is some unfinished business I would, it would be remiss of me if I did not mention here, and that is the visa-free access that we used to enjoy, where St. Lucia's were able to visit Canada without having to apply for a visa. As friends we hate to ask for too much, but when we really have a true and solid friendship we believe we can ask for the things we need, and we are sincerely hoping that you're being closer to capital, perhaps closer to immigration Canada, perhaps where these decisions are made, that you will continue to remember and advocate for St. Lucia. High Commissioner Legault reflected on some of the highlights of her time representing Canada in St. Lucia and reaffirmed Canada's commitment to the region. We worked on climate change and the crisis and the resilience, and you mentioned Prime Minister Sid's issue which is still ongoing, there's a lot of issues into that and we will continue to work on that. It's by far not solved, concessional financing, and you just mentioned the financing for development that Prime Minister Trudeau and Prime Minister Holnes are working on and we will continue to completely be engaged on that. Thank you for your support in the UNSC campaign, the United Nations Security Council seed campaign, we really appreciated that. A token of appreciation was presented to her Excellency Legault on behalf of the government and people of St. Lucia. For the Government Information Service, I am Jesse Leance reporting.