Dr. Richard Bernal was a key member of the Canada-CARICOM free trade agreement negotiating team
January 30, 2023
Though well travelled, there was always a pep in Dr. Richard Bernal’s step when he was in Toronto.
During his four years as the University of the West Indies (UWI) Pro Vice-Chancellor with responsibility for Global Affairs, the eminent Jamaican economist attended the annual Toronto Benefit Awards that raise money for the 75-year-old university.
Bernal died suddenly on the Caribbean island on January 4 at age 73.
“Richard felt so at home in Toronto,” recalled UWI’s Chief Fundraiser Elizabeth Buchanan-Hind. “He loved the culture and diversity and was amazed at the support that the university received from corporate Canada and Caribbean nationals. He was just blown away by the way in which Canada embraced the university.”
While in Canada’s largest city, Bernal attended several institutions of higher learning with the intention of developing relations and signing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreements.
“He believed that the partnerships were mutually beneficial,” Buchanan-Hind added. “His passing is a shock to all of us at the university.”
Bernal was instrumental in the signing of a pact in 2019 between Brock University and UWI to establish an Institute for Canada-Caribbean Studies.
Dr. Richard Bernal (r) with then Canada’s High Commissioner to Jamaica Laurie Peters (l), then Brock University President Dr. Gervan Fearon, Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson-Smith and UWI Vice-Chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles (Photo contributed)
The signing marked the renewal of two existing MOU agreements that served to promote international and inter-cultural understanding and academic linkages and enrich the cultural understanding of both universities.
“Canada has been a very supportive partner for the Caribbean over a very long time and there are important investment, trade and tourism linkages,” Bernal said at the signing ceremony. “This valuable relationship needs to be renewed and refreshed by policy based on multi-disciplinary research which is the purpose of the Institute for Canada-Caribbean Studies.”
George Brown College President Dr. Gervan Fearon was Brock University’s President at the time the agreement was signed.
Dr. Richard Bernal (l) & Dr. Gervan Fearon (Photo contributed)
“Today, the Institute has numerous universities and colleges across Canada and the Caribbean that are engaged in collaborative research and scholarly activities,” he said. “Dr. Bernal was also a key member of the negotiating team for a Canada-CARICOM free trade agreement and we both felt that the Canada-Caribbean trade and bilateral relations were of significance to both parties. This shared vision formed much of our dialogue and collaborative work. Through this work engagement, I came to know him as an outstanding leader, scholar, colleague and friend who was humble and brilliant all in one.”
During a visit to Jamaica last April as part of the dialogue hosted by Mary Ng -- Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business & Economic Development – on Canada’s role in Jamaica’s advancement of sustainable economic growth, Fearon joined Bernal and Dr. Christine Marrett, the UWI Global Affairs senior manager, for lunch.
“It was an opportunity to reflect on the development of the Canada-Caribbean Institute, the future for greater Canada-Caribbean collaboration and our shared interest around working on several projects together,” he pointed out. “We talked about the future and opportunities. It is therefore quite moving and sad to see his life end so suddenly, yet I believe his contributions to Jamaica, scholarly thinking around trade policy and the role of diplomacy all serve as a foundation for a legacy that will endure.”
UWI Vice-Chancellor Sir Hilary Beckles said Bernal was instinctively a regionalist who dedicated his considerable academic research and publishing to the regional development agenda.
“He was an outstanding scholar who committed his extensive internationally accumulated knowledge to the business of crafting the progressive Caribbean consciousness,” said Beckles. “He was a public advocate of the social justice principle and contributed to the democratization of the postcolonial culture. He was a skilled and effective teacher and enjoyed the art of academic communication. He was a kind and reasonable colleague who believed in the values of the academy and was keen to participate in their consolidation. He was a friend of many university leaders and offered sound advice over several decades.”
Bernal published five books and over 100 articles.
During his trip to Toronto four years ago, he visited Blackhurst Cultural Centre (BCC) to promote ‘Dragon in the Caribbean: China’s Global Re-Dimensioning – Challenges and Opportunities for the Caribbean’.
“I remember him saying that the reason that Jamaica and the Caribbean often times need Chinese and other external labour to work on regional projects is because of a lack capacity, like equipment and a number of other things,” recounted BCC Managing Director Itah Sadu. “His presentation that day was balanced and he was clear about the stereotypes we would have about China as a nation. I think he was asking us to have a deeper understanding about China’s relationship in the development world.”
Retired Trinidad & Tobago diplomat Michael Lashley, who resides in the Greater Toronto Area, interviewed Bernal at the book-signing event.
“In response to the question, ‘Is China a threat or an opportunity’? his argument was we are intelligent people conducting regional and international relations with many countries and therefore we should not be afraid of China,” the former T & T Consul General in Toronto said.
Completing undergraduate and graduate studies at UWI, the University of Pennsylvania New School for Social Research and Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies, Bernal taught at UWI for seven years, worked in the banking sector and advised the Ministry of Finance on economic programming and external debt management before joining the diplomatic corps in 1991.
After serving as Jamaica’s High Commissioner to the Bahamas, Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States for a decade, he returned to the Caribbean and was CARICOM’s Chief Negotiator for international trade relations for the 15-member states.
“I knew him in that role,” said Lashley who is a former Dean of the CARICOM Diplomatic Corps in Canada. “He had a first-class relationship with the European Union and he negotiated respectfully and effectively. He treated all parties well while co-ordinating CARICOM’s interests. He was a giant at that.”
At the time of his passing, Bernal was a Professor of Practice in the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social & Economic Studies, a Research Fellow at the P.J Patterson Centre for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy and a Senior Associate with the Centre for Strategic & International Studies in Washington, DC.
