Daryl Vaz in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (cropped)

Daryl Wesley Phillip Vaz is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n politician who is the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

MP for

Portland Western Portland West is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Representatives of the Jamaican Parliament. It elects one Member of Parliament MP by the first past the post system of election. The constituency consists of the western par ...

. He was the Minister of Information and Telecommunications in Jamaica from March 2009 to January 2016. His party lost the election in 2011 and Vaz served as opposition spokesman on Telecommunications. Vaz is currently Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, with responsibility for land, environment, climate change and investments, since the Jamaica Labour Party returned to government in March 2016. He also serves as Member of Parliament for the constituency of Portland Parish Western Division.

Early life

He was born in

Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica Saint Andrew is a Parishes of Jamaica, parish, situated in the Ordinal directions, southeast of Jamaica in the county of Surrey, Jamaica, Surrey. It lies north, west and east of Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, and stretches into the Blue Mountain ...

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking *Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civi ...

and Sonia Vaz. His father is a former president of the Jamaica Manufacturers Association and former Minister of Industry and Commerce.

Personal life

Vaz's wife

Ann-Marie Vaz Ann-Marie Theresa Vaz (née Lyew; born 13 March 1966) is a Jamaican politician who is the Member of Parliament for the Portland Eastern constituency. Life She was born Ann-Marie Theresa Lyew on 13 March 1966 and raised in the Duff House distr ...

is MP for

Portland Eastern Portland East is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Representatives of the Jamaican Parliament. It elects one Member of Parliament MP by the first past the post system of election. It is represented by Labour MP Ann-Mari ...

Controversy

Daryl Vaz engendered some controversy over his dual United States/Jamaican nationality. His mother, Sonia, was born in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

and thus is a United States citizen by birth, albeit also a Jamaican citizen, currently resident in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In 2008 or 2009 he renounced his United States citizenship in order to remain active in Jamaican politics. Vaz was charged with corruption after an investigation into a traffic violation and bribery charge involving a close personal friend. Vaz's friend Bruce Bicknell was ticketed on 9 April 2012, in a traffic offence and allegedly presented the police officer with JA$2000 along with vehicle documents. It is alleged that Mr. Vaz told the police sergeant in the case that he would be promoted if he gave Bicknell a chance. Vaz stepped down from his shadow minister post for the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), as a result of the corruption charges.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Government ministers of Jamaica Jamaican people of Puerto Rican descent Members of the House of Representatives of Jamaica People from Saint Andrew Parish, Jamaica Former United States citizens Puerto Rican people of Jamaican descent People from Portland Parish Members of the 14th Parliament of Jamaica {{Jamaica-politician-stub