St. George’s, January 26, 2012 – MP for St. Patrick West, Hon. Joseph Gilbert, on Thursday evening addressed his constituents on issues surrounding his dismissal from cabinet by Prime Minister, Hon. Tillman Thomas.

Gilbert, the former Minister for the Environment and Foreign Trade, hosted a town hall meeting at the St. Patrick’s Anglican School.

Here is the text of an address delivered by MP Gilbert to open the meeting.

Sisters and Brothers; ladies and gentlemen.

I feel mandated to come back to you tonight to report directly to you the people of St Patrick’s West, who in those historic elections of 2008 voted me as your duly elected representative in the island’s parliament.

Tonight I stand before you – unbowed and unconquered – and more determined to wake up each morning to fight for you – and for the things you dreamt of when you voted nearly four years ago this year.

Those dreams have been under assault; and the change you voted for has been systematically undermined.

As you know by now, last week I lost my job in government. And I join many of you, who know how it feels to be abandoned by the very government you voted into power.

I just thought that I will make this symbolic point, though you dare not worry about me – I will be alright.

The real challenge tonight – and in going forward – is to make sure that you are alright.

When I asked for your vote back in 2008, I came to you as a proud member of the National Democratic Congress. Tonight, I return, still an unshakeable and unmovable member of the National Democratic Congress.

Nobody, but the people, can run me.                                                                                  

My firing last week was just the latest line in a series of things that have come between us and the delivery more services and more benefits for people.

When I got involved in politics, I was clear why I wanted to serve.

I was a Civil Engineer doing relatively well – at least better than most; and I fully understood that becoming a minister would involve a serious pay cut.

But it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

I wanted to make a difference in the community in which I grew up; for I felt I was one of those who had an opportunity to give back.

There is a saying that to whom much is given, much is expected.

And I came to you with that genuine humility that a boy who grew up in the village of Marli and went to school right here in St. Patrick, but who was given the opportunity on a state scholarship to study, had an obligation to repay this eternal debt to my community.

I also fully understood the rough and tumble of politics – and expected knocks from my opponents in other parties. With no hard feelings, I understood that’s how that game is played.

What I did not bargain for was this unceasing effort by just a few of my own colleagues to sully my name.

You know me from birth – the proud son of Eslyn Bayne and Israel Gilbert. I was brought up with the same moral principles like most of you tonight; and share the same rich values that the community instilled in us.

I won’t stand by – and you must not stand by – and watch those rich traditions come under attack.

The values of those who are trying to destroy are not better than ours. Their sense of moral grounding is not deeper than ours. They can’t demonize us because we know who we are, we know where we come from; we may be poor but we are proud.

When Prime Minister Honourable Tillman Thomas fired me last week, he was exercising the powers that he has under the constitution.

Let us not ever debate his right to do so.

What we must debate, however, is whether anyone has the right to spread innuendo and – in some cases – outright untruths.

Some of them so vicious, so upsetting, that it might soon become the issue of a matter to be settle in court.

My dignity is all I have and I will defend my honour, and that of my family, and that of my community and that of my constituency.

I know those hangers-on around the Honourable Prime Minister are unfortunately leading him down a dangerous and disastrous path.

We must pray for him because he is our colleague and our leader, and we have spent many good times together.

We want him to succeed as leader because if he does, Grenada will succeed.

We must continue to show him love and respect – even when we disagree with his public actions.

At the core he is a good and decent man – as most of us are; but he is not infallible.

The problem he faces is not a character flaw. He is just ill-advised and badly served.

Those hangers-on around him are a bunch of misfits who have no character; no wonder they are quick to question the character of others.

Brothers and Sisters, it is those people from whom we must rescue the National Democratic Congress.

Those people who refuse to sign a membership card; who refuse to pay any dues; who refuse to wear a yellow jersey.

Those people can’t have more power than us in the party.

I know this is a dark hour for most of us; but we must have abounding fate in a dawn that will come.

They can only hijack the NDC, if we allow them to.

They can only divide NDC, if we allow them to.

At the last national convention of the NDC, you spoke loud and clear. Your voices must be heard and we must respect your decisions.

The executive you voted for is the executive we must work with – and we must view with distaste the many moves to divide and rule the NDC.

People who are true democrats must not just support electoral results when it suits them.

All who are planning so-called party meetings without the full elected executive must be put on notice, that we won’t accept your contempt for the democratic norms and principles of the NDC.

I therefore call on the highest leadership of our party – show who you are; you either take a stand for democracy or division.

Tonight, I stand on the side of the unity of the party. I follow its democratic norms and traditions and I accept its processes.

And I ask all my other colleagues to do the same.

We cannot afford to run our party the way our cabinet is run – with one rule for some people, and another rule for another set.

I understand too well now that cabinet is not an exercise in democracy or reason. But, fortunately, our party is a constant exercise in democracy and reason.

And it is that democracy, and it is that reason, that will keep our party together.

We must not accept anything less – and we must not let any clique of non-members – usurp the will of the collective. To do so will be to sow a dangerous seed.

I come back to you tonight for both your guidance and protection.

You would hear many stories about me.

Let me tell you what’s true.

I am nobody’s yes-man and I don’t follow leadership blindly. Some people call that rude. I call this strength of character.

I have paid a price for standing up for you in cabinet and out of cabinet.

I don’t consider it rude to stand-up and demand more for the people of St Patrick’s West.

I don’t consider it rude to push to make government more efficient.

That struggle continues tomorrow.

What this struggle is about is how to maintain the unity of the party so we can fight for the things you care about – and you expect us to address; things like jobs, better health care, more investments in education, and delivering on our campaign promises.

The problems we face are not insurmountable. There is no national crisis – just a crisis in leadership.

Respecting democracy and showing leadership can effectively take care of all the problems we now face.

If there has to be good governance, then we must allow a good internal debate, without members fearing that they will be victimized or demonized.

Good governance is not an abstract. Managing your team well is good governance. Even handedness and fairness are elements of good governance. Natural justice and fair hearings are more elements of good governance.

Unfortunately, Brothers and Sisters, last week we failed that test in good governance – because there was neither even-handedness nor fairness; there was no natural justice.

When I became a minister of government, I walked into office every day searching myself on ways I can serve you better. Not a day passed when I was not fretting with myself – because all the things I wanted to do were not happening fast enough.

Each time I met a potential investor, I remembered ordinary people right across Grenada; the young lady from Hermitage who asked me for a job; the Brother from Chantimelle who asked for a change because he had lost his construction job.

Each time I met a potential investor – I always wondered how I can use the opportunity to help all these people who ask me to use my position to help them find a job or to improve their lives and living conditions.

We were voted to help solve problems, not create them.

In regard to this specific issue – cabinet had taken a decision to institute steps to research a gaming license proposal that was before it. We understood fully well that this process will take some time – and I understood fully well even while we wait, we should keep the potential investor interested; not because we love them so much, but because in my case, my mind always went back to what more can I do to help the people who voted for me.

I am satisfied that I used my position always for the greater good.

In the last three-and-a-half years, I’ve worked strenuously on behalf of you, the people of St. Patrick, to try and bring to fruition several projects. Allow me a few moments to list some of the projects that are in the pipelines that we hope we can see completed:

§  The plan for the construction of a cultural centre

§  The acquisition of land in Snell for public use, including the construction of playing field and resource center for the people of Snell Hall, La Fortune, Madeys, and Morne Fendue

§  The land acquisition and construction of lockers for the fishermen of Darvie

§  Expansion of the road network in the Town of Sauteurs

§  Reconstruction of the Welcome Hall Road in Chantimelle

§  Purchase of land for the  construction of a hard court in Upper Hermitage in St. Patrick West

§  The Sauteurs Port/Marina project  which is essential for the economic development of the parish and

§  The construction of several Kuwait-funded feeder roads.

 

For objective and subjective reasons we did not achieve all the things we wanted – but don’t let them tell you that we did not fight for you.

What I did was standard operating procedure of a government minister.

And unlike what the Prime Minister said in his address, I did not – and could not – commit the cabinet or government to anything; and I did not expose the country to any jeopardy.

People who expose this country to jeopardy are people who leak sensitive cabinet information to their friends in the weekly press – in breach of the very same rules they swore to uphold; who leak sensitive information to their newspaper friends but demand that other journalists must go investigate and accuse them of being unpatriotic and anti-government if something is written that does not meet their whims and fancies.

People who expose this country to jeopardy are people who sign MOU’s with fake companies and con-men from the Far East.

People who expose this country to jeopardy are people who leave Grenada saying they going to Korea but somehow ended up being wined and dined in Taiwan – in the name of the people of Grenada.

People who expose this country to jeopardy are people who don’t listen to the MPs who people voted for, but rather depend on the appointed and the anointed.

For the Prime Minister or anyone else to suggest that I could promise and have delivered a gaming license to anyone – is either a stranger to the truth or just simply don’t know anything about anything.

I challenge the Prime Minister to a town hall discussion on all these issues at anytime and any place of his choosing.

Brothers and Sisters, I recommit to continue serving you, the people of St. Patrick, with every drop of my blood and with the same vigour and spirit that I exhibited on July 8, 2008.

I thank you for standing with me in this most difficult period; I thank you for your kind words of encouragement and your prayers.

I thank God for his grace and blessings upon me and my family. I also thank my parliamentary and NDC colleagues for their support, love and understanding.

God bless the people of St. Patrick. God bless the people of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

I thank you.