In Barbados last week, the Canadian Prime Minister, Mr. Stephen Harper, conceded that his country had in recent years 'neglected' the Caribbean, which his Conservative government is beginning to put right.

The trip to Barbados, followed by a stop-over in Haiti, another Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member, was part of the process. In a few months time, Canada and CARICOM will begin negotiations on a new free trade agreement to replace the existing, and recently renewed pact, Carib-Can, which provides non-reciprocal preferential access to a wide range of Caribbean products in the Canadian market. That is positive.

We are not quite sure, though, that we share Mr. Harper's view that Canada has so much neglected the Caribbean, rather than change the texture of the relationship that it once had with the region, particularly the English-speaking territories. Some will perhaps see as ironic that it is a Conservative premier who wants to restore to the old, textured context to Canada/Caribbean diplomacy. But the truth is, while the nostalgia around this perceived special bond rests largely on the late Pierre Trudeau and the Liberals, it transcended political parties.

The relationship made sense for the Canadians, living in the shadow, as they do, of their powerful neighbour to the south, the United States of America. Part of the Canadian psyche, which for a long time subtly permeated social life and political policy, is this effort not to be perceived as a kind of "little America". History contrived to make the English-speaking Caribbean part of this buffer against the United States and its projection of power.

British colonialism, Westminster-style government and membership in the Commonwealth provided the basis, notwithstanding the disparity in economic development between Canada and the Caribbean for a contextual discourse that Ottawa could not fashion with Washington. And for a long time, Canadian foreign policy was not encumbered by long strings and muscular warnings. It was mostly defined by quiet argumentation.

In the Cold War years and Kissinger's pressure 'conform-or-else' demands on the Caribbean, Trudeau helped to provide a cushion against the sharpest edges of American policy. Then in the mid-1980s, Brian Mulroney, in a speech in Kingston, offered Carib-Can. Perhaps the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, provided a distraction for Ottawa from the Caribbean, as perhapsdid 9/11 and the debates over the Canadian response to Iraq. The real stress in Canada/Caribbean relations, however, came when Canada, under Chretien's Liberals, became part of the troika with France and the United States that undermined Caricom's initiative to solve the political crisis in Haiti, leading to what, effectively, was the overthrow of the democratically-elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Maybe the days of special relationships have passed and what Canada and the Caribbean should seek to develop is one based on pragmatism and mutual respect. So, Ottawa should also bear in mind that CARICOM represents 15 votes at the UN and a group which, in most cases, speaks with a congruency that is difficult for similar organisations. Canada still provides a buffer to U.S. power, and Caribbean nationals provide a potentially powerful voice to help influence policy.

These are the elements that go beyond the free trade agreement, which perforce, will have to take into account today's global realities, including the disciplines of the World Trade Organisation.