The Virgin Islands raised objections this month to how the territory is represented at the 69th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, held in Cape Town, South Africa from 13 to 19 September.
Speaker of the House of Assembly Corine N. George-Massicote led the delegation and addressed the CPA General Assembly, which brought together more than 500 voting delegates. She objected to arrangements that called for displaying the flags of territories' metropolitan countries rather than the territories' own flags.
George-Massicote stressed that the Virgin Islands takes part in the conference as an independent participant with its own Legislature and delegation. She pressed for affected territories to have a say in decisions about how they are represented at Commonwealth Parliamentary Conferences and other official CPA functions.
Montserrat, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands faced the same issue, the Speaker noted. She framed the matter as touching on questions of identity, recognition and substantive involvement in the conference.
Delegates from Botswana, British Columbia and Scotland backed her position, along with representatives from Gibraltar and St Helena.
The BVI delegation also included Leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition Marlon A. Penn; Honourable Ronnie W. Skelton; Honourable Melvin M. Turnbull; and Clerk of the House of Assembly Bethsaida Smith-Hanley.
The conference gathered Commonwealth parliamentarians to examine parliamentary democracy, artificial intelligence, climate resilience, human rights, disability inclusion, youth participation and difficulties facing smaller jurisdictions. George-Massicote called for the concerns to receive continued attention and for revised protocols to be put in place ahead of future gatherings.
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