Warm farewell for Betton

By RON FANFAIR

Jamaica's High Commissioner to Canada Carl Marshall says he's always marvelled at how outgoing Consul General Vivia Betton has been able to give so much of herself so consistently without counting the cost.

Marshall joined the CARICOM consular corps and community members in paying tribute to Betton who retired from the diplomatic corps yesterday. She has been Jamaica's top diplomat in Toronto for the past 40 months.

"Vivia has performed her tasks with excellence," said Marshall. "The life of a diplomat is good and delightful, but it is also demanding and unrepentant. Vivia has been consummate in the way she has performed her duties.

"She has made herself available without reservation in support of those deserving of her representation and encouragement, understanding fully well that for many, engagement in work and community activism takes up the full seven days of the week."

Marshall acknowledged that Betton has done much to strengthen the bilateral relations between Canada and Jamaica and build and maintain effective working ties with various government agencies and community organizations in the Greater Toronto Area.

"I have noticed that this community has become very attached to Vivia," said Marshall. "I have also noticed that at any occasion that we are celebrating Jamaica in Toronto, some representative office or community organization always finds a loophole in their program to pay tribute to her. You have become truly a great friend of hers and she has represented you with every fibre of honesty in her body.

"The job that she has performed could not have been done better by any other person." Trinidad & Tobago Consul General in Toronto, Michael Lashley, Caribbean Chinese Association president Clifton Li, Alliance of Jamaican Alumni Associations president Alene Miller-Chen, Women for PACE president Diana Burke, Jamaica Diaspora-Canada Foundation head Philip Mascoll and entrepreneur Delores Lawrence also paid sterling tribute to Betton.

"You have served your country well," Lawrence, the president and chief executive officer of Nursing & Homemakers Inc., told Betton. "Your illustrious career as a professional diplomat speaks volumes. You have walked the talk and have been an excellent role model.

"Since coming to Toronto, you have been able to pull together Jamaicans of all walks of life, regardless of the cause. Simply put, you have always been there."

Federal Members of Parliament Jean Augustine and Alan Tonks, Kingston (Jamaica) Mayor Desmond McKenzie, Grenada's honorary Consul Jenny Gumbs, Barbados' Acting Consul General Christobelle Reece, Antigua & Barbuda's Consul General Madeline Blackman and Cuba's Consul General Laureano Cardoso also attended the farewell reception at the Jamaican Canadian Association (JCA) centre.

A graduate of McGill University in Montréal with a degree in Sociology and Political Science, Betton began her diplomatic career 33 years ago as a Research Assistant at Jamaica's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York.

She also served as First Secretary in Geneva, Switzerland and Minister-Counsellor in both Geneva and Bonn, Germany.

Consul Dale Jones will act as Consul General until Betton's replacement is named.