Keith Mondesir

Keith Raymond Rufus Mondesir (born January 23, 1948) is a Saint Lucian politician. He has been a United Workers Party member of the House of Assembly of Saint Lucia and a member of the Saint Lucian cabinet since 2006, serving in the administrations of John Compton and Stephenson King.

Early life and career in Canada

Mondesir was born in Castries, grew up in Saint Lucia, and later moved to Canada. His ministerial biography indicates that he graduated from George Brown College and later earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Waterloo, a further Bachelor of Science degree in Optometry from the University of Aston in Birmingham, and a Doctor of Optometry degree from the University of Houston in Texas. He worked as an optometrist in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for twenty-six years.[1]

In 2000, the office of the Manitoba ombudsman received a complaint alleging that Mondesir had sold and disclosed patient information to Lenscrafters International Inc.[2] As a result of the complaint, Mondesir became the first medical professional in Manitoba to be charged under the provisions of the province's Personal Health Information Act. His attorney, former cabinet minister Sidney Green, said that Mondesir had done nothing wrong and had not disclosed any health information or anything that could not be found in a telephone book.[3]

On May 17, 2002, Mondesir pleaded guilty in the Provincial Court of Manitoba to disclosing personal health information to DPD Software Ltd. As the result of a plea bargain, he received an absolute discharge.[4]

Political career

In 2001, while still residing in Canada, Mondesir ran for a seat in the Saint Lucian assembly as a National Alliance candidate in Anse-la-Raye/Canaries. He finished second against incumbent candidate Cyprian Lansiquot of the governing Saint Lucia Labour Party.[5]

Mondesir later returned to Saint Lucia on a full-time basis and joined the opposition United Workers Party, becoming one of its leading spokespersons and running for the party leadership in 2003.[6] In 2005, he was the UWP's spokesperson on agriculture.[7][8]

Minister

The UWP won a majority government under John Compton's leadership in the 2006 general election, and Mondesir was narrowly elected over Lansiquot in Anse-la-Raye/Canaries. When Compton formed a new administration on 19 December 2006, he appointed Mondesir as the country's minister of home affairs and national security.[9] Shortly thereafter, Mondesir said the UWP would honour the previous government's commitment to allow Caricom nationals who had lived illegally in Saint Lucia over the last three years to seek full citizenship.[10]

Mondesir was demoted to minister of national mobilization and physical development on 6 June 2007, following a public dispute with the country's police leadership.[11] There is a news dispatch from August 2007 suggesting he had been returned to home affairs and national security by this time.[12] In any event, when Stephenson King succeeded Compton as prime minister in September 2007, Mondesir's role was restructured as the minister of health, wellness, family affairs, national mobilisation, human services and gender relations.[13]

Workers at the St. Lucian ministry of health took labour action against Mondesir in November 2007 in a bid to remove him from office.[14] The action ended after Mondesir's permanent secretary was transferred to a different government department and Prime Minister King worked out an agreement with the ministerial workers' union.[15]

Mondesir has developed health service links between Saint Lucia and Taiwan.[16] He also accompanied Prime Minister King on a visit to Cuba in 2010 that was intended to build relations between the two countries.[17]

In February 2011, Mondesir announced that Saint Lucia was planning to complete a new general hospital by the following year. He indicated that the health ministry would expand its services for the institution rather than contracting out to the private sector.[18]

Mondesir delivered a statement to the United Nations General Assembly in June 2011 on Saint Lucia's policy for addressing HIV/AIDS.[19]

Tuxedo Villas controversy

In August 2008, the opposition Saint Lucia Labour Party accused the King administration of allowing Mondesir to classify part of his Tuxedo Villas private residence as a tourism facility in order to take advantage of duty-free government concessions.[20] Opposition leader Kenny Anthony subsequently brought the matter to court,[21] and a High Court judge overturned Mondesir's tourism contract in August 2009 on the grounds of a perceived conflict-of-interest.[22] Mondesir later repaid fifteen thousand dollars to the office of the Comptroller of Customs for duty-free concessions.[23]

In June 2010, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States's Court of Appeals ruled that the concessions offered by the King government to Mondesir were inappropriate.[24] King dismissed attorney-general Nicholas Frederick from office over his handling of the matter.[25] Mondesir retained his position.

Electoral record
2006 Saint Lucian general election
Anse-la-Raye/Canaries[26]
Keith Mondesir United Workers Party 2,132 51.00
(x)Cyprian Lansiquot Saint Lucia Labour Party 2,042 48.85
Kensley Peter Independent 6 0.14
Total valid votes 4,180
Spoiled ballots 81
Total votes casts 4,261 60.35
Total electorate 7,060
2001 Saint Lucian general election
Anse-la-Raye/Canaries[27]
(x)Cyprian Lansiquot Saint Lucia Labour Party 2,061 58.65
Keith Mondesir National Alliance 1,198 34.09
Petra Desir United Workers Party 255 7.26
Total valid votes 3,514
Spoiled ballots 116
Total votes casts 3,630

References
  1. Honourable Keith Mondesir: Curriculum Vitae, Government of Saint Luica, accessed 26 June 2011.
  2. 2002 Annual Report Archived 2012-03-16 at the Wayback Machine (pdf file), Ombudsman Manitoba, accessed 26 June 2011.
  3. "Wpg optometrist first to face charges under Personal Health Information Act," Canadian Press, 23 August 2001, 21:53.
  4. 2002 Annual Report Archived 2012-03-16 at the Wayback Machine (pdf file), Ombudsman Manitoba, accessed 26 June 2011.
  5. 2006 general election results: Anse-la-Raye/Canaries (also includes 1997 and 2001 results), Saint Lucia Government Statistics Department, accessed 26 June 2011.
  6. "St Lucia - Opposition urges government to disclose cost of Clinton's visit," BBC Monitoring Americas, 15 January 2003, 08:41; "St Lucia: Opposition spokesman on poor Christmas season for business; debt," BBC Monitoring Americas, 7 January 2005, 07:06.
  7. "Wibdeco denies buying fruit from Dominican Republic," BBC Monitoring Americas, 23 November 2005, 18:31.
  8. Honourable Keith Mondesir: Curriculum Vitae, Government of Saint Luica, accessed 26 June 2011.
  9. "St Lucia premier names new cabinet," BBC Monitoring Americas, 20 December 2006, 13:09.
  10. Most of the Caricom nationals were from Guyana. See "St Lucia starts processing illegal Caricom residents," BBC Monitoring Americas, 25 January 2007, 10:57.
  11. Marion Barbel, "Foreign Affairs Minister Dismissed in St Lucia's Cabinet Reshuffle," Global Insight Daily Analysis; "St Lucia police commissioner returns following cabinet reshuffle," BBC Monitoring Analysis, 11 June 2007, 14:27.
  12. "Saint Lucia," Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments, 23 August 2007.
  13. "New St Lucia premier names cabinet," BBC Monitoring Americas, 12 September 2007, 14:59.
  14. "St Lucia government concerned over ministry staff industrial action," BBC Monitoring Americas, 22 November 2007, 09:15; "St Lucia minister accuses union of playing politics," BBC Monitoring Americas, 23 November 2007, 08:18.
  15. "St Lucia premier intervenes to end public service dispute," BBC Monitoring Americas, 28 November 2007, 10:34.
  16. Chiehyu Lin and Deborah Kuo, "St. Lucia seeks closer medical ties with Taiwan," Central News Agency English News, 22 August 2008. See also "TAIWAN-FUNDED TISSUE CULTURE LAB OPENS IN ST. LUCIA," Asia Pulse, 4 September 2009; and "Health Minister Earmarks St. Jude Reopening for September 2011" [press release], Targeted News Service, 15 June 2011, which references Taiwanese medical aid in Saint Lucia.
  17. "St Lucia premier wants stronger links with Cuba," BBC Monitoring Americas, 7 January 2010, 11:58.
  18. "New General Hospital Will Result in Expanded Service" [press release], Targeted News Service, 11 February 2011.
  19. "30 YEARS AGO AIDS WAS DEADLY, SPREADING FAST," States News Service, 8 June 2011; Donn Bobb, "St. Lucia says the prevalence of HIV/ AIDS is estimated to be less than 1% in the general population", United Nations multimedia, 10 June 2011, accessed 26 June 2011.
  20. "St Lucia opposition threatens legal action against government," BBC Monitoring Americas, 11 August 2008, 5:53; "St Lucia opposition leader calls on premier to resign," BBC Monitoring Americas, 25 November 2008, 04:25.
  21. "St Lucia opposition leader awarded legal costs against government," BBC Monitoring Americas, 2 February 2009, 06:29.
  22. Kate Joynes-Burgess, "Ministers under Pressure to Resign over St Lucia Tourism Contracts," IHS Global Insight Daily Analysis, 7 August 2009.
  23. "St Lucia opposition to protest to force cabinet resignations," BBC Monitoring Americas, 21 August 2009, 04:35.
  24. Irenea Renuncio Mateos, "St Lucia Government Loses Appeal at OECS's Highest Court," IHS Global Insight Daily Analysis, 16 June 2010.
  25. Irenea Renuncio Mateos, "St Lucia's Prime Minister Dismisses Attorney-General," IHS Global Insight Daily Analysis, 19 July 2010.
  26. Source: Anse-la-Raye/Canaries constituency election results - 11 Dec 2006 Archived 13 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Saint Lucia Government Statistics Department, accessed 26 June 2011.
  27. Sources: Constituencies '87–2001 Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine (results) and Saint Lucia General Election Results Archived 2011-09-01 at the Wayback Machine (names), Saint Lucia Government Statistics Department, accessed 26 June 2011.
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