No data. No empathy. No credibility. Just spin from a paid pollster.
By Jonathan Marks — a Vincentian writing under a pen name
Peter Wickham recently claimed that the vaccine mandate has “no political traction” in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. That statement is not only wrong, it is scandalous. It is detached from reality. And it comes from a man who has spent the past two decades working as a paid pollster for the Unity Labour Party.
This is not neutral analysis. This is spin.
The record speaks for itself. Wickham’s firm, CADRES, has conducted repeated polls for the ULP in past elections, helping to shape narratives in their favor. Every Vincentian should therefore treat his commentary for what it is: biased messaging, not objective research. His latest claim is not backed by a single new survey. He produced no poll, no data, no hard numbers. Just words. And words, when detached from evidence, are nothing but propaganda.
Meanwhile, reality in St. Vincent tells a very different story. Hundreds of public servants — teachers, nurses, police officers, and more — were dismissed under the mandate. Many gave 10, 15, even 20 years of service to their country. They had mortgages, bills, and children to feed. Families lost homes. Parents struggled to put food on the table. Children suffered. The pain of this injustice remains fresh and raw. Over 500 workers and their families — thousands of Vincentians — are still affected immediately and directly.
“To say the vaccine mandate no longer matters is to trample on the anguish of thousands of Vincentians.”
The High Court already ruled in favor of the workers, declaring the mandate unlawful, unconstitutional, and disproportionate. The government appealed and won in the Court of Appeal, but the unions have indicated that they will take the matter to the Privy Council. The legal battle continues, and with it, so too does the wound in the nation’s conscience.
A courtroom victory for the government does not erase the damage done. It does not feed hungry children or restore homes lost. It does not heal the trauma of those cast aside. The issue remains alive because hardship cannot be swept away by a judgment on paper.
Wickham’s commentary lacks empathy. It lacks evidence. And it reeks of bias. He does not live among the people who still suffer. He has not walked in their shoes. He has not borne their burdens. Yet from a distance, he presumes to tell us what matters in our politics. That is arrogance. That is deception. And it is utterly scandalous.
The truth is this: the vaccine mandate remains one of the most searing wounds in our nation’s recent history. It will continue to shape Vincentian politics until justice is delivered. And no paid pollster’s propaganda will convince the people otherwise.
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