by Linda Straker
- Terry Noel and Tessa Alexander-St Cyr are new senators in Upper House of Parliament
- Appointed by Leader of the Opposition, Tobias Clement
Almost 2 months after receiving their instruments of appointment to serve as senators in the Upper House of Parliament, Terry Noel and Tessa Alexander-St Cyr took their oath of allegiance as new senators on Friday, 31 July.
They are 2 of 3 senators appointed by Tobias Clement after he became the Leader of the Opposition. The third person is yet to be named. Grenada’s Constitution provides for the Leader of the Opposition to appoint 3 senators to the 13-member Upper House.
“I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that this chamber will be enriched by your participation and I look forward to seeing that academic progress unfold,” President of the Senate, Senator Chester Humphrey, told the new members after they swore their “true allegiance to the Queen, her heirs and successors according to law.” The Queen of England continues to be the Head of State in all Commonwealth nations and she is represented on the island by her representative the Governor-General.
“This is what the country requires, this is what the country needs,” Humphrey told the House after reading extracts from their citations. Both senators are educators with community leadership experience, among other personal accomplishments. Presently Noel is a farmer while St Cyr is a public health administrator.
“This Senate has had the singular distinction of being a chamber with lively debate…and you will find that I am very accommodating on these matters,” Humphrey said in his welcome remarks. “The duty of a parliamentarian is to represent his interest, whatever that interest is, or her interest and we do so by debating.”
“I find it very stimulating to listen to intellectual debates, but debates that must be presented in such a manner that both the highly cerebral as well as the not too literate can understand the points, and therein lies your challenge. I have no doubt that based on your community experience you will be able to execute that duty,” he said.
Both Noel and St Cyr gave the assurance that they intend to maintain a high level of intellectual discourse in the House where all bills must be approved before becoming law.
