Former High Commissioner to Canada, Reginald Farley, has been officially sworn in as a senator.
This paves the way for his elevation to President of the Senate when Parliament resumes next Tuesday, September 15.
He took the Oath before Governor General Dame Sandra Mason during a brief ceremony at Government House, today. The event was witnessed by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley; Attorney General Dale Marshall; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Jerome Walcott; and his daughter Lydia Farley-Brathwaite and her husband Shane.
Dame Sandra, in congratulating Senator Farley, stated: “I am sure that you will do an excellent job. Unfortunately, you had to leave our business up in Canada and I have been told reliably that everybody is crying, but you just do what you have to do here and you will know that you are versatile enough that wherever you are put, you can equip yourself…. I wish you all the very best.”
The former High Commissioner said it was a deep honour to serve his country, in whatever capacity. “I am returning to the legislative arm of Government – away from the diplomatic service, but in many ways I am going back home. My entry into wider public life was as a member of the Senate in 1994. I had a wonderful time there under the Presidency of the late Sir Fred Gollop, and to be asked to return in 2020 to serve in the Senate, and if elected on Tuesday as President, is a deep honour for me.”
Senator Farley, who was a parliamentarian from 1999 to 2008, said the legislature was important to a country’s governance, and although the world was changing, he cautioned that the law must “never lag too far behind our development, economic, social and political needs”.
“So, I look forward with great anticipation in this COVID-19 environment and moving to the post-COVID-19 world, where the world has noticeably changed, for Government to introduce an active legislative programme that reflects the things that we do to ensure Barbados’ competitiveness; ensure that our new economy is buttressed by law of certainty while preserving the rights, privileges and freedoms which democracies are required to have. I certainly will commit to maintaining the honour and the dignity of the chamber and I look forward to working with my fellow senators to get the job done,” he underlined.