Leader of the National Integrity Party Mr Glenroy Blanchette is of the view that the revocation of visa free access by the Canadian government was motivated by economics rather than the security concerns cited.
He said that while the Canadian government did express some concerns in relation to the Citizenship By Investment (CBI) program the government of St Kitts and Nevis had addressed these concerns.
Blanchette noted that to date no terrorist holds a St Kitts Nevis passport but the same can not be said of the Canadian passports. This he said would suggest that the St Kitts and Nevis CBI program has done a better job of screening applicants that the Canadian government.
Commenting on the effect that the new visa requirement has on nationals of the federation, Blanchette said that it was very unfortunate that nationals now had the added expense of a visa when traveling to Canada and warned that he feels that more is to come.