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Information on The Turks and Caicos Islands
Chronology of the proposed union between Canada and The Turks and Caicos Islands
Resources

Location of The Turks and Caicos Islands.

INFORMATION ON THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
The Turks and Caicos Islands are a seventy-five minute flight from Miami, Florida. They’re an archipelago of 40 islands and cays, a tenth the size of Prince Edward Island.

From 1872 until 1962, the Turks and Caicos Islands were part of the United Kingdom’s Jamaican colony. Following Jamaica’s independence, the Bahamas took over administrative control. When the Bahamas gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1973, the Turks became a British crown colony with their own Governor.

To this day, they remain a part of the British West Indies along with Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and Montserrat.

The United Kingdom looks after external affairs, defense, and internal security .

Sixteen thousand Canadians visit the Turks and Caicos Islands each year.

An average 16,000 Canadians visit each year, and 30 percent of hotels and resorts are Canadian owned.

Over the last 10 years, tourism has grown by 90 percent.

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CHRONOLOGY OF THE PROPOSED UNION BETWEEN CANADA AND THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
1917
The idea is born when Canadian Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden is sailing through the Turks.

1974
Max Saltsman, NDP Member of Parliament, introduces a private member's bill in the House of Commons to examine in detail the annexation of the Turks. His bill never passes.

Islander Ralph Higgs has been working for almost two decades to form a link between the two countries.

April 1987
Turks and Caicos Islanders Ralph Higgs and Dalton Jones arrive in Canada to rekindle the idea of formal ties between the two countries. The Island delegation bring with them the results of an independent survey.

Over 90 percent of Turks and Caicos Islanders want some kind of association with Canada. They meet before the Progressive Conservative Government's Sub-Committee on External Affairs, chaired by MP David Daubney.

Winnipeg MP Dan McKenzie has picked up where Saltsman left off. He tells a televised press conference that he would like to see the Islands become a Canadian colony.

Tourism is growing on the Islands. There's a construction boom as new resorts are being built.

September 1987
David Daubney concludes that it would be "most inappropriate" for formal talks about political and economic union at this point in time. A general election was expected in the Turks the following year.

Daubney does recommend that Canada should enter into talks with the new TCI government when it is elected - assuming there is a mandate from the people and that the United Kingdom doesn't mind. He also recommends that Canada should increase foreign aid to the Islands, while increasing trade and investment.

1988
The Turks and Caicos' newly elected Chief Minister Oswald Skippings says one his top priorities is a close examination of the Canadian connection and that some form of association between the two is a real possibility.

1989
Recently retired from politics, Dan McKenzie lands a contract with the Department of External Affairs. He visits the islands for a three-week fact finding mission. On his return he produces the "Report on practical measures which might be taken to increase trade, investment, and economic cooperation between Canada and the Turks."

In August, Dan McKenzie dies of a heart attack.

MP Peter Goldring would like to make the Islands Canada's 11th province.

2004
In March, Conservative MP Peter Goldring rises in the House of Commons: "The time for action is now." He wants to make the Turks into Canada's 11th province.

In April, Prime Minister Paul Martin has a telephone conversation with the Island's Chief Minister Michael Misick and invites him to Ottawa for talks. Misick accepts, but no date is set. Chief Minister Misick tells CanWest News Service "They were introductory talks…Obviously, there was no commitment. Just an agreement that some time in the future we will meet in Ottawa to pursue things."

Chief Minister Misick addresses Islanders in a joint radio and television broadcast to clarify that he has no intention of joining Canada. "Our position is that whether it is full internal self government or independence, an association with Canada or the United States or whatever, we feel that in an open society we can talk about it." He says that they should explore the idea to see if there is anything in it for Islanders, and that talking with Canada has one definite benefit: "Every week we are on Canadian television and CNN and so on and tourists are coming here to see this island that Canadians say they want. If we were to quantify the business that we got since we started talking about Canada you are talking about $15 million or $20 Million and you cannot pay for that."

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RESOURCES
CBC News Indepth: Canada's Caribbean Ambition
Turks and Caicos Islands Fact Sheet - from the government of Canada
House of Commons Motion - M474 - on annexing the Turks

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