By Anthony Joseph

The Consulate General of Trinidad and Tobago on Sheppard Avenue buzzed with “sweet Tobago ole talk” and serious policy isues last Monday evening when Farley Augustine, Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), addresssed Tobagonians and friends.

Under the theme “Rooted in Tobago, Reaching the World,” Augustine mixed charm with straight talk on crime, tourism, jobs and investment, urging the diaspora to see themselves as partners, and beneficiaries in Tobago’s next chapter.

From the outset, Augustine framed the conversation as an invitation.

He said “Tobago needs its people abroad to return, physically or virtually, as investors, consultants, educators, creatives and mentors.

“I don’t only want you to invest in good and lose money,” he quipped.

“Invest in good and earn, create employment while you build.”

Questions quickly moved from the big picture to nuts and bolts. One attendee, a real-estate professional with ties to Canada’s choral scene, called for reliable direct air links and smarter marketing beyond downtown Toronto.

Augustine agreed that aviation remains a chokepoint for growth and said that Tobago is courting competitive, direct routes to feed both leisure and niche markets like sports tourism and basketball development.

Visual artist and pan-African scholar Sheena Ravel Thompson asked how Tobago will safeguard heritage at home and in the diaspora.

Augustine pointed to the Department of Antiquities, launched in 2021 to protect artifacts on an island “littered” with reminders of a complex colonial past.

He also mentioned the Tobago Heritage Festival, where living tableaux keep traditions alive, and THA’s ongoing support for visual artists through purchasing, cataloguing and exhibitions.

The weak link, he conceded, is documentation: “We’re not writing enough books.”

He pledged to back young researchers through DATAS grants and scholarships to capture community histories, whether as academic work or fiction grounded in fact.

Younger professionals wanted a pathway back. Morgan Blackman, a holistic wealth coach and digital marketer with Tobago citizenship, asked about flexible work and employment support for returning Gen Z and millennials.

Augustine said policy has shifted: remote work arrangements already allow Canada- based professionals to serve on state boards and even staff THA offices from abroad.

He cautioned that Tobago’s pace “moves slower than Canada” but promised openness to virtual interviews and placements, particularly in digital content and education technology, where global reach can amplify the island’s marketing.

Crime and safety, always a tourism bellwether, drew a sober update. Augustine credited a targeted push on border controls, policing support, and post-pandemic systems with sharply reversing last year’s violent crime trend. “It didn’t happen by accident,” he said, noting Tobago’s “comparatively low

incidence” and emphasizing ongoing work in school safety and rehabilitation centres for suspended students that pair counselling with skills training.

Entrepreneurs and creatives asked for clearer lanes to contribute. A Canada-based animation producer urged more media support to teach civic history through cartoons and games.

Augustine welcomed proposals” to expand that pipeline.”

On investment facilitation, one Brampton non-profit leader spoke of the difficulty reaching decision-makers for projects in recycling and wellness tourism. Augustine directed such proposals to the THA’s investment desk, “Process mattered as much as policy.

Diaspora organizers called for a formal, government-linked network in Canada to cut red tape, opening bank accounts, renewing IDs, and registering land, before people fly home.

Augustine endorsed building a one-stop virtual desk so returning nationals “hit the ground running.”

Others pressed for practical fixes in trades and hospitality;

Augustine pointed to National Training Agency certification for builders and a drive to train 5,000 people in customer service, alongside a shift away from exclusionary dress codes in public offices toward a “welcoming” service culture.

Augustine reaffirmed a “locals-and-diaspora-first” policy for consultancy where skills exist, explored the idea of remote voting for THA elections, and invited proposals for boutique hotels, villas and new tourism products, not just from foreign capital, but from Tobagonians abroad with credible plans and credentials.

He also applauded ongoing medical missions and outlined a workable pathway for diaspora doctors to serve in short stints, with digital health integration speeding care and easing hospital loads.

By evening’s end, the room had sketched a shared to-do list: airlift and marketing, documentation and arts education, smoother public-service processes, remote work, investment facilitation, and youth pathways into meaningful careers at home.

The Chief Secretary’s refrain, “Rooted in Tobago, Reaching the World”, felt less like a slogan and more like a standing offer.

Tobago, he told the audience, is ready to meet you halfway.

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