Father Ho Lung and Friends has applied for visitors’ visas for nine of its members to go to Canada for a goodwill tour. It has been two months since the application. Plane tickets have increased in cost, we have tried many times to phone the Canadian High Commission authorities and we have even tried to visit them physically in Kingston to no avail.

I have attempted to get an appointment by telephone but we are told everything has to be done online. We have gone ahead to pre-book tickets for our travel to Toronto. We are scheduled to perform on December 15, 2024 at 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm at Saints Peter and Paul Banquet Hall. This is a goodwill concert for the poor. It is in thanksgiving for food, clothes, medicines and a fellowship gathering. In the past, before the COVID-19 pandemic, our performing group had staged many concerts and productions in Canada. On the other hand, Canadians have visited and lived with Missionaries of the Poor in our monasteries and went to our apostolates to serve the poor.

Father Ho Lung and Friends is a well-known performing group in Jamaica. Our first overseas tour was in Peterborough, Canada. After that we expanded to Toronto. Now we are well-known throughout the United States and we have performed in Germany, England, Brazil, and The Philippines, etc.

In Jamaica, we have performed annually since the year 2000 at the National Arena. The audiences have ranged from 30,000 to 50,000. The productions are mounted with the intention to provide drama with music, dance, and theatre. We receive help with finances to provide for the homeless and destitute under the vow of free service. People from the embassies and high commissions have attended our shows.

We have had hundreds of Canadians visit, some of them are young people who have expressed that it was a life-changing experience and a wonderful socio-religious exchange. Many containers of food have been sent to us annually from Canada, and the poor have been greatly helped. We, therefore, do not understand why this Jamaica-Canada relationship, which has been so valuable, seems like it is being curtailed now. I am surprised that we are treated like strangers in our attempts to get visas for our goodwill tour.

I am hearing complaints, in recent times, from fellow Jamaicans that there seems to be prejudice against Jamaicans when they apply for Canadian visas. This is not a matter of people trying to illegally migrate to Canada or trying to export crime and ganja.

The singers in our group are good citizens, Christian people who volunteer annually with their talents to serve the poor.

There are intelligent middle-class people who are alarmed that it takes a very long time, sometimes eight to nine months, to have their visa applications processed. This begs the question, “Does the high commission have a prejudice against Jamaicans?”

Our experiences and expectations are that Canadians are not an inefficient people, nor are they discourteous. Still, I sense there is a purposeful policy that the Canadian attitude towards Jamaicans must be to exclude.

In comparison, the United States visa application process is quite the opposite.

Jamaica is a small country with too much crime, and too much violence. Canada is a large country with less difficulties. We cannot stand apart and alone. We are part of a western hemisphere with similar cultures and breathing the same air.

I ask the High Commissioner of Canada to Jamaica Mark Berman to tell us what is your country’s position and where do you stand.

Father Richard Ho Lung can be contacted at 876-550-8987