-St.Lucia Opposition leader Allen Chastenet

St. Lucians in Toronto were told last Saturday that supporters of the opposition United Workers Party (UWP) have “one set of people to blame” for losing the last elections in St. Lucia – themselves.

“The Labour Party did not beat us. We beat ourselves,” said Allen Chastenet, St. Lucia’s Opposition leader, at the official launching of the Canadian caucus of the UWP at the Reggae Café.

“We lost faith in ourselves,” the UWP leader told them.

(In general elections in St. Lucia last year, the St. Lucia Labour Party won 13 of the 17 seats in the House of Assembly while the United Workers Party lost nine of its eleven seats.)

The UWP Canadian Caucus, headed by Minerva Ward, is a sub-group of the UWP, comprising Saint Lucian members in Canada. 

Its aim is “to reinforce the vision, values, and programmes” of the UWP, mobilize and channel information to its membership base and raise funds to support the campaign activities of the party.”

“We are going to win the next election but we have a lot of work to do to organize ourselves,” Chastenet told supporters.

Speaking at the launching of the Canadian caucus, St. Lucian businessman Therold Prudent called on fellow nationals to be vigilant and be ready to stand with your party and to return home and “deliver a vote for your party.”

The party has organized a “barrel drive.”

“You have a voice because you are the ones who send remittances to your families and as Christmas is coming, we are depending on you to send those barrels to be able to help our economy and to keep it afloat,” he told party supporters.

“Because we are in opposition does not necessarily mean that as a party we cannot do good things for our community. So you can contact myself and others to get those barrels going to St. Lucia.” he said.

 

The UWP recently launched a caucus in the United Kingdom.