Anesia read letter to Eustace to her mom

Before sending it to Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace, Anesia Baptiste read to her mother the 11-page letter that resulted in Eustace firing Baptiste as a senator in April.{{more}}

“To me, she didn’t have to seek advice. Because, like I said, she is her own woman,” Baptiste’s mother, Octavia Richards, told SEARCHLIGHT on Monday, when asked if her 32-year-old daughter sought her advice before writing the letter.

“But she came to us with the letter when she finished writing it and she read it to us before it got out in public,” Richards further said in the joint interview with Baptiste.

“And when we sat down and listen to her reading it, I didn’t see anything wrong with that. Am telling you the truth,” Richards further said of the letter, which even critics of Eustace say was insulting of the New Democratic Party (NDP) leader and Baptiste’s former boss.

Baptiste’s letter to Eustace was in response to an NDP policy prohibiting its candidates from making adverse comments about religion.

Baptiste said she could not obey the policy, because it was undemocratic and contravened her constitutional rights and freedoms.

“She stand up for truth. She stand up for principle at that moment,” Richards further said of Baptiste’s response to the policy.

She further echoed Baptiste’s argument that the policy was formulated at an internal NDP meeting, without giving the persons who triggered it a chance to be heard.

“… you cannot fire somebody based on lies or propaganda,” Richards further said.

“You cannot allow somebody to come and tell me well, Anesia said that and you didn’t check it out for yourself. That, in another case, is not professional.”

Richards said Eustace could have met with Baptiste and discussed what happened and fire her if they could not make amends.

“So, let me tell you something: I support my child 100 per cent in whatever she does, because when we listen, she has done nothing wrong in the letter,” Richards said. (kentonchance@searchlight.vc)