March 27, 2023

Sorry, Madam President. I
have another one.
The President: I beg your pardon, Senator Simmons.
You did say you had a second one, a second motion. So please carry on.
DRAFT REGULATIONS
THE ELECTRICITY (REGULATORY AUTHORITY
FEES) AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2023
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I hereby present for the consideration of Senate the draft Regulations entitled the Electricity (Regulatory Authority Fees) Amendment
Regulations 2023, proposed to be made by the Minister responsible for energy for the purpose of establishing Regulatory Authority fees for the electricity sector pur-suant to the Electricity Act 2016 in exercise of powers conferred by section 44 of the Regulatory Authority Act
2011. And I give notice that in a later point in the meeting I will move that the said draft Regulations be ap-proved. Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons,
Junior Minister for Home Affairs.
The next notice of motion is in the name of
Senator Rev. Dr. Emily Dill, Junior Minister for Transport.
Senator Dill, you have the floor.
DRAFT REGULATIONS MERCHANT SHIPPING (FEES)
REGULATIONS 2023

Thank you. Thank you,
Madam President.
Madam President, I hereby present for the consideration of Senate the draft Regulations entitled the Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2023, proposed to be made by the Minister responsible for maritime ad-ministrat ion under the provisions of section 250 of the
Merchant Shipping Act 2002. And I give notice that at a later point in the meeting I will move that the said draft
Regulations be approved.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Dill.
PETITIONS
The President: There are none.
STATEMENTS
The President: There are none.
INTRODUCTION OF BILLS
The President: There are none.
FIRST READING OF PUBLIC BILLS
STAMP DUTIES AMENDMENT (NO . 2) ACT 2023
MISCELLANEOUS FEES
AND PENALTIES ACT 2023
GAMING AMENDMENT ACT 2023
VACATION RENTALS (APPLICATION
AND REGISTRATION) FEES ACT 2023
FAIRMONT SOUTHAMPTON HOTEL ACT 2023
The President: The following public Bills have been received from the Honourable House of Assembly and
are now here read for the first time: The first one is the Stamp Duties Amendment (No. 2) Act 2023; the Miscellaneous Fees and Penalties Act 2023; the Gaming Amendment Act 2023; Vacation Rentals (Application
and Registration) Fees Act 2023; and the Fairmont
Southampton Hotel Act 2023.
And, Senators, these are the Bills that will be
taken up under Orders of the Day.
FIRST READING OF PRIVATE BILLS
The President: There are none.


Bermuda Senate QUESTION PERIOD

The President: There are none.

ORDERS OF THE DAY
The President: These are the items that may be considered under provision of Standing Order 25 or sus-pension of [ Standing Order 71(2) ].
The first one is in the name of Senator Arianna
Hodgson, the Junior Minister for Finance.
Senator Hodgson, you have the fl oor.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Yes.

STANDING ORDER 25

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: I want to move that the provisions of Standing Order 25 be granted so that the Senate may now proceed with the second reading of the
following Bills: the Stamp Duties Amendment (No. 2)
Act 2023; the Miscellaneous Fees and Penalties Act 2023; the Gaming Amendment Act 2023; the Vacation Rentals (Application and Registration) Fees Act 2023; and the Fairmont Southampton Hotel Act 2023.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Carry on, Senator Hodgson.
[Motion carried: Leave granted for the Stamp Duties
Amendment (No. 2) Act 2023; the Miscellaneous Fees
and Penalties Act 2023; the Gaming Amendment Act 2023; the Vacation Rentals (Application and Registration) Fees Act 2023; and the Fairmont Southampton Hotel Act 2023 to be read a second time on the same
day as their first reading.]

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
I move that the Bill entitled the Stamp Duties
Amendment (No. 2) Act 2023 be now read a second
time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

BILL

SECOND READING

STAMP DUTIES AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2023
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, I am pleased to present the
Bill entitled the
Stamp Duties Amendment (No. 2) Act
2023 . This Bill amends t he Stamp Duties Act 1976 to
provide in the legislation greater clarity on the stamp duty calculations on instruments that are approved for the first -time homeowner exemption by the Tax Commissioner. Importantly, it also addresses intended changes to the legislation as relating to the stamp duty calculations for the transfer, assignment or refinancing of mortgages which were inadvertently omitted in the Stamp Duties Amendment Act that was passed by this Chamber.
Madam President, as Honourable Members
may be aware, the calculation of the stamp duty paya-ble on conveyancing and mortgage financing transac-tions can be complex. Therefore, we are taking the time to ensure that this is properly reflected in the law. As I have previously stated, we are transitioning to a marginal application of stamp duty for the first -time homeowner exemption and the mortgage exemption.
In relation to the first -time homeowner exemption there will no longer be a maximum purchase value of a property to qualify for the exemption. Instead, the
first $1 million of the property’s market value will be exempted from stamp duty. Stamp duty on any value above $1 million will be chargeable under the existing applicable rates for conveyances.
To clarify, Madam President, this means that a
first-time homeowner who purchases a property valued
in excess of $1 million would not pay stamp duty on the first million dollars but would pay at the rate of 6.3 per
cent on the next $500,000, and 7.35 per cent on any
additional amount thereafter.
Madam President, the stamp duty exemption
on mortgage refinances and transfers will be based on
the outstanding amount of the original mortgage being
refinanced or transferred up to a maximum value of $1
million. Refinances or transfers of mortgages in excess of the outstanding amount of the original mortgage, or in any case in excess of $1 million, would be subject to
stamp duty on the excess amounts. In such cases, Madam President, the stamp duty rates prescribed un-der Head 31 will apply as appropriate to the principal sum of the new mortgage that exceeds the exemption amount. As with the first -time homeowner exemption,
the applicable stamp duty rate will be based on the new
mortgage amount.
So if an existing mortgage with an outstanding
balance of $500,000 is refinanced and the new mortgage amount is increased to $1.5 million, then stamp duty will be charged on the additional million that ex-ceeds the balance of the prior mortgage. The applicable rate will be .5 per cent, which is the stamp duty rate
chargeable for a mortgage of $1.5 million.
Madam President, it is important that the public
understand the impact of these changes with respect to
how stamp duty will be calculated on the excess amounts and that the law is updated as needed to reflect this approach and to eliminate any uncertainty.
398 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda Senate In closing, I would like to thank the technical
officers within the Office of the Tax Commissioner, Ministry of Finance and Attorney General’s Chambers for
ensuring that this policy is fully implemented and ap-propriately ref lected in the law.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator De Couto, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam President. And thank you, Senator, for that presentation.
Overall , we in the Opposition do support this.
We know that one of the issues with the prior benefits provided was that we felt that the $750,000 was too low and would mean many first -time homeowners would
not be able to receive the benefit. So we are pleased to
see this amount raised. And similarly on the mortgage
transfers which will lead to some competitiveness in the
mortgage lending industry.
I do question a little bit why people who buy a
large property , if they are f irst-time homeowners , would
perhaps receive any benefit at all. I would have sug-gested that perhaps a more progressive approach could have been applied. Let us say, for example, you were to inherit a large amount of money. And then you take that money and then go buy a large property. You would be a first -time homeowner for example, but you
would still receive a benefit on that first $1 million.
This is perhaps a quibble, but you know, perhaps some survey of the property market could have been done or a threshold could have been found that was higher than the $750,000 or even a million but would still ensure that this benefit was being applied to
those for whom it would have the most impact.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Hearing none, then, Senator Hodgson, it is
back to you.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: I move that the Bill entitled
the Stamp Duties Amendment (No. 2) Act 2023 be now read a second time.
The President : Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President. I move that [Standing Order] 26 be suspended
in respec t of this Bill.
The President: I s there any objection to that motion?
No objection. [
Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
I move that the Bill entitled the Stamp Duties
Amendment (No. 2) Act 2023 be now read a third time.
The President: Is there any objection to the third reading?
No objection.
BILL
THIRD READING
STAMP DUTIES AMENDMENT (NO. 3) ACT 2023
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
I move that the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill do now
pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Bill is passed.
[
Motion carried: T he Stamp Duties Amendment (No. 2)
Act 2023 was read a third time and passed. ]
The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson.
Moving on now, the second reading of the Miscellaneous Fees and Penalties Act 2023.
Senator Hodgson, I believe it is your Bill. You
can start when you are ready.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Yes. Thank you, Madam
President.
I move that the Bill entitled the Miscellaneous
Fees and Penalties Act 2023 be now read a second
time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
BILL
SECOND READING
MISCELLANEOUS FEES
AND PENALTIES ACT 2023
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
In 2020 the Registrar of Companies undertook
a review of the department’s corporate fee struc ture
and identified potential fee changes to cover related


Bermuda Senate costs. This review also looked at administrative services provided by the R egistrar for which there was no
correspondent fee. Madam President, the department initially proposed to introduce these f ees in October
2020. However, following consultation with key stakeholders, the proposed fees were reviewed and modified, and their introduction was deferred until now.
With respect to existing transaction fees which
have not been reviewed or amended in at least the last
five years, the R egistrar will implement a 5 per cent increase offsetting the increased costs of the associated
administrative burden.
Madam President, most of these fee changes
were addressed under the Government Fees Amend-ment Regulations which were recently passed. However, the fee for reserving a name for companies and
exempted partnerships and issue of renewal of the licence for local companies is covered under these Regulations. The aforementioned change will bring the fees
in line w ith current costs and will come into effect from
the 1
st of April 2023.
Madam President, this Bill also establishes a
penalty for the late filing of audit reports by real estate
brokers. This report, which must be done by an independent and suitably quali fied accountant, confirms the
client funds received by the broker have been appropriately handled. In addition, the Bill imposes a fee for late filings of licence applications. The licensing process allows for the supervisor to carry out an appropriate assessment of the broker and review relevant documents in that regard. Therefore, it is another protection aimed
at ensuring the integrity of operations in the real estate
sector. These penalties will also be enforced as of April 1, 2023.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator De Couto, you have the floor.

Thank you, Senator.
Senator Hodgson, it is back to you then.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
With the support of my colleagues, I would like
to move that the Bill entitled the Miscellaneous Fees
and Penalties Act 2023 be now read a second time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President. I move that [Standing Order] 26 be suspended in
respect of this Bill.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

MISCELLANEOUS FEES AND
PENALTIES ACT 2023

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
I move that the Bill entitled the Miscellaneous
Fees and Penalties Act 2023 be now read a third time.

The President: Is there any objection to the third reading?
No objection.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
I move that the Bill do now pass.

The President: It has been moved that the Bill entitled
the Miscellaneous Fees and Penalties Act 2023 do now
pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Bill is passed.

[Motion carried: The Miscellaneous Fees and Penalties
Act 2023 was read a third time and passed.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.
Moving on to our next item, consideration of the
draft Regulations entitled the Electronic Communications (Regulatory Authority Fees) Amendment Reg ulations 2023. And this is in the name of Senator Lindsay
Simmons, the Junior Minister for Home Affairs.
Senator Simmons, you have the floor.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam President. Madam President, I am doing two together.
The President: That is fine. Yes.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 71(2)

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you.
Madam President, I move that Standing Order
71(2) be suspended so the Senate may now proceed with considera tion of the Electronic Communications
(Regulatory Authority Fees) Amendment Regulations
400 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate 2023 and the Electricity (Regulatory Authority Fees)
Amendment Regulations 2023.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Carry on, Senator Simmons.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 71(2) suspended.]
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Madam President, I move
that the Senate do now take under consideration the draft Regulations entitled the Electronic Communications (Regulatory Authority Fees) Amendment Regulations 2023 and the Electricity (Regulatory Authority Fees) Amendment Regulations 2023.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Carry on, Senator.

DRAFT REGULATIONS

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS (REGULATORY
AUTHORITY FEES) AMENDMENT REGULATIONS
2023

ELECTRICITY (REGULATORY AUTHORITY FEES)
AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2023
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Madam President, I rise today to introduce the Amendment Regulations entitled the
Electronic Communications (Regulatory Authority
Fees) Amendment Regulations 2023 and the Electricity
(Regulatory Authority Fees) Amendment Regulations
2023 . In both Amendments, the proposed fees form
part of the funding for the Regulatory Authority and are not fees that are paid to the government.
Madam President, I begin with the Electronic
Communications (Regulatory Authority Fees) Amend-ment Regulations 2023, which reintroduces the inspection fee. This fee was previously included in the Regulatory Authority (Service Fees ) Regulations 2018 and
then revoked by the Electronic Communications ( Regulatory Authority Fees ) Regulations 2021. The fees
specific to inspections were not included. And this was an oversight that this Amendment seeks to correct.
While the impact of the omission was —

[Crosstalk]
The President: I beg your pardon.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: I am sorry.
—i n the previous year, this year the Authority
will be reviewing the spectrum allocations which may involve inspections to investigate spectrum efficiencies for which there will be costs incurred.
Madam President, I turn my attention to the
Electricity (Regulatory Authority Fees) Amendment Regulations 2023. I note that the fees for the electricity sector were initially prescribed in the Electricity (Regu-latory Authority Fees) Regulations 2017 to fund in part activities related to the R egulations for the business
sector. In 2021, Honourable Members may recall the increase in fees to fund certain activities including the
assessment of the offshore wind potential in Bermuda
conducted by the Ricardo group and published in Au-gust of that year. With the conclusion of that work which provided pre- feasibility work to better inform prospective wind developers , the fees can now be reduced to
continue funding the day -to-day regulatory activities for
the sector.
As noted in the Regulatory Authority [RA] work
plan, the draft of which was published in September of 2022, the reduction in fees represent a 14.3 [per cent]
decrease in regulatory fees for the electricity sector as compared with those fees currently in p lace.
Madam President, in closing, the Electronic
Communications (Regulatory Authority Fees) Amend-ment Regulations 2023 will reinstate an inspection fee to allow the RA to fund work that is extraordinary, albeit cyclical, the result of which will inform the spectrum licence renewals in 2024.
Madam President, the Electricity (Regulatory
Authority Fees) Amendment Regulations 2023 reduces the transmission distribution retail provider fees as it has achieved its purpose to fund extraordinary items which are not included under the regular activities of
regulating the electricity sector. The reduction will also
provide some relief to the end user, which will be wel-come in these times of economic recovery.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons.
Would any Senator care to speak on this?
Senator Tucker, you have the floor.
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
The Opposition does not have any concerns
about these changes. We certainly recognise that, taken separately, the Electronic Communications (Reg-ulatory Authority Fees) Amendment Regulations are actually correcting an issue that took place in 2021 when the inspection fee was mistakenly removed. And also the Electricity (Regulatory Authority Fees) Amendment Regulations 2023 have served their purpose in
terms of raising the monies required for the review of the offshore wind potential. And now that this is done,
they are now reducing the fees.
And of course, we all welcome the fact that
there will be a reduction of the electricity transmission,
distribution and retail service provider in terms of those
fees related to the kilowatt hours sold, which will obvi-ously translate to [a small amount] in savings for the
community. So thank you, Madam President. We have no objections.

The President: Thank you, Senator Tucker.

B ermuda Senate Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Hearing none, then, Senator Simmons, it is
back to you.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam President.
I will read both of them , separately.
The President: Please do.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Madam President, I move
that the said draft Regulations be approved and that the
following message be sent to Her Excellency the Gov-ernor:
May it please Your Excellency:
The Senate, having had under consideration
draft Regulations entitled the Electronic Communications (Regulatory Authority Fees) Amendment Regulations 2023 proposed to be made by the Minister re-sponsible for telecommunications under the provisions of sections 6 and 11 of the Electronic Communications
Act 2011 as read with section 44 of the Regulatory Authority Act 2011, has the honour to inform Your Excellency that the Senate has approved the said draft Reg-ulations.
The President: Is there any objection to that message
being sent?
No objection.
The message will be sent.
[
Motion carried: The Electronic Communications (Regulatory Authority Fees) Amendment Regulations 2023 were approved.]
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I move that the said draft
Regulations be approved and the following message
be sent to Her Excellency the Governor:
May it please Your Excellency:
The Senate, having had under consideration
draft Regulations entitled the Electricity (Regulatory
Authority Fees) Amendment Regulations 2023 pro-posed to be made by the Minister responsible for energy for the purpose of establishing Regulatory Authority fees for the electricity sector pursuant to the Elec-tricity Act 2016 in exercise of the power conferred by section 44 of the Regulatory Authority Act 2011, has the honour to inform Your Excellency that the Senate has approved the said draft Regulations.
The President: Senators, is there any objection to the
motion being sent ?
Thank you.
[
Motion carried: The Electricity (Regulatory Authority
Fees) Amendment Regulations 2023 were approved .] The President: Thank you.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons.
Moving on now with the next item on our
agenda, it is consideration of the draft Regulations en-titled the Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2023. And this is in the name of Senator Rev. Dr. Dill, Junior
Minister for Transport.
Senator Dill, you have the floor.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 71(2)
Se
n. Rev. Dr. Emilygail A. Dill: Thank you, Madam
President.
Madam President, I move that Standing Order
71(2) be suspended so that Senate may now proceed with consideration of the Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2023.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection, Carry on, Senator Dill.
[
Motion carried: Standing Order 71(2) suspended.]

Madam President, the
purpose of the Regulations today is to revoke the Merchant Shipping (Fees ) Regulations 2012 and implement a new set of Regulations to be known as the Mer-chant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2023.
The new Regulations will increase the fees for
certain service s provided by the Bermuda Shipping and
Marine Authority (or the BSMA) and modernise the scale of charges to align with current industry stand-ards and practice.
Madam President, Bermuda is a member of
Red Ensign Group (or Red) category 1 Shipping Registrie s and is privileged to register ships of any type,
age or size. The registry must ensure ships on its reg-ister comply with Bermuda’s international obligations. In order to maintain the required standards, the BSMA must undertake regular technical surveys, audits and
safety inspections of registered ships and issue statutory certificates.
402 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Ship owners are required to pay a registration
fee, annual tonnage and service fees, and additional
fees levied for certain technical services.
Madam President, fees for services provided
by the Bermuda Ship Registry have not been increased in over a decade, with the last uplift in fees taking effect
from April 1, 2012. Over the past decade, the cost of
operating the registry and provision of services has increased signif icantly and continues to increase as the
registry takes the necessary actions to ensure that we are fulfilling all of our International Maritime Organiza-tion (IMO) and other regulatory responsibilities and obligations.
The Bermuda Shipping Registry has al so
made capital investments in recent years as part of
their ongoing digitisation transition for their core services. In October 2021 the Registry launched their new web- based platform commonly referred to as BOSS,
the acronym for the Bermuda Online Shippi ng Service.
This was a very important step and achievement in modernising the provision of their core services and business functions, namely, ship registration, survey,
auditing and the issue of statutory documents. This
new system enables the provision of electronic certificates with encrypted digital signatures and has vastly improved efficiency while also providing an improved
client experience with the provision of our services
which has been well received.
The Registry recognises the increasingly prevalent role and use of technology in the maritime sector internationally and accordingly intends to consider fur-ther IT opportunities to assist in the promotion, maintenance and accessibility of the Registry.
Madam President, ship registration is a highly
competitive international business, and ship owners
have many options available when considering a jurisdiction to register their ships. Therefore, these Regula-tions make marginal raises to specific fees provided for
in the Schedule to the Regulation as a significant increase in these fees risks positioning Bermuda as more
expensive than other international ship registries.
The fees Regulations set out two types of fees.
The first type of fee is for services provided. These fees
are based on either an hourly rate for attendance on board a ship or a fixed fee for the issue of various documents. These fees can be increased to market rates
with no negative impact on the business and will enhance the business revenue stream. The second type
is an annual charge based on the ship’s tonnage.
These fees are in the form of a tonnage fee payable by
each ship registered and an initial registry fee payable
on [registration]. These fees are still very comparable
with the same fees charged by competing jurisdictions.
Madam President, I will now provide a brief
summary on specific fees and changes in the new Regulations. With the inherent nature of the shipping busi-ness requiring that we provide services to clients who
operate commercial vehicles 365 days a year, 24 hours
a day, we have introduced a flat hourly rate and have eliminated the double- time hourly rate currently
charged for Saturday, Sunday or public holidays in order to simplify the invoicing. The new hourly flat rate
has been increased, taking into considerati on the effective decrease in the hourly rate previously charged for
Saturday, Sunday or public holidays.
Madam President, we have also introduced a
new Table of Fees in the Schedule to the Regulations. The current Regulations are of similar layout and content to the United Kingdom’s Merchant Shipping (Fees)
Regulations that were originally adapted in Bermuda and are now considered to be an antiquated method of
setting out the appropriate fees for services provided.
The new tables will provide an easily ref erenced fee
regulation while also facilitating a simplified process for making future amendments.
Madam President, other changes to the Regulations include the inclusion of a charge for the review
of a seafarer’s medical examination by a medical referee pursuant to the Merchant Shipping (Medical Certification of Seafarers) Regulations 2013 now inserted
into Part 1. In addition, waiting time and travel and subsistence have been included as additional charges in
Part 2, which have traditionally been levied a nd accepted by custom and practice, but were not previously
included in our fee Regulations.
In conclusion, the new Merchant Shipping
(Fees) Regulations will allow the BSMA to continue to provide services to commercial shipping clients with a
new fee structure that will allow Bermuda’s Shipping
Register to continue to be an attractive shipping register to join. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Dill, Junior Minister for Transport.
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator De Couto, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam President.
We support this. It is really important that this
sector is able to maintain its high international standards and operate efficiently. You know, our general position is that we welcome anything that brings efficiency, effectiveness and a modern approach to the government and its operations. I was really pleased to
hear about these initiatives to simplify processes and
the investments in technology.
So in closing, I am pleased to support. Thank
you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
these Regu lations?
Senator John Wight, you have the floor.

Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
As Bermuda’s Shipping Registry is an internationally well- respected one, I am always amazed when


Bermuda Senate I watch movies or shows and I see the Bermuda flag on
the back of a merchant ship. It is a source of pride for me.
The President: Mm -hmm.

Sen. John Wight: So this Shipping Registry is also an
important one for the revenues projected by Govern-ment for the coming year. So I am supportive of this new fee structure. Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator John Wight.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
these Regulations?
Hearing none, then it is back to you, Senator
Emily Dill.

Thank you, Madam
President.
M adam President, I move that the said draft
Regulations be approved and that the following mes-sage be sent to Her Excellency the Governor:
May it please Your Excellency:
The Senate, having had under consideration
the draft Regulations entitled the Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2023 proposed to be made by the Minister responsible for maritime administration under the provisions of section 250 of the Merchant Shipping Act 2002, has the honour to inform Your Excellency that
the Senate has approved the said draft Regulations.

The President: Thank you, Senator Dill.

Thank you.

The President: Is there any objection to the message
being sent to the Governor?
Hearing none, then the message will be sent.
[Motion carried: The Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations 2023 were approved.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Dill, and thank
you, all Sen ators.
Moving on to the next item on our agenda, it is
the second reading of the Gaming Amendment Act
2023. And Minister, the Honourable Owen Darrell, will
present this Bill.
Senator Darrell, you have the floor.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President. Good morning.
The President: Good morning.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I
move that the Bill entitled the Gaming Amendment Act 2023 be now read a second time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

BILL

SECOND READING

GAMING AMENDMENT ACT 2023
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: M adam President, the
Bill before the Senate is the
Gaming Amendment Act
2023 . Madam President, diversifying Bermuda’s economy through the growth of new industries remains a key goal of the Economic Recovery Plan. And facilitat-ing casino gaming for Bermuda is one such element of that diversification.
Madam President, Senators will know that the
Act currently defines “Minister” as “the Minister respon-sible for gaming.” This definition follows modern legis-lative drafting practice by moving away from definitive ministerial titles in legislation, recognising that save for the Ministry of Finance, the titles of Ministers often do
not reflect in the title, the department or areas for which
a Minister may be responsible.
Madam President, this Bill amends the principal Act to provide expressly that the Minister under the Act means “the Minister of Finance.” Madam President, I am sure that the debate on this Bill in the other place
and the media coverage that has followed has crystal-lised the rationale for these amendments. Madam President, in correspondence to the Government in De-cember of 2020, a local bank which had indicated a willingness to consider banking the proceeds of gaming recognised the strategic and economic importance of
casino gaming to the future of tourism and for job creation in Bermuda. Madam President, I will repeat that: the strategic and economic importance of casino gaming to the future of tourism and for job creation in Ber-muda.
Madam President, there were three conditions
outlined by the bank to advance this process. These three conditions were as follows:
1. A need to address the appearance of conflict of interest through the amendment Schedule 1
of the Act to make clear that members of the
Legislature are disqualified from membership
of the Gaming Commission. This amendment was made in 2021.
2. An amendment to Schedule 1 of the Act to ad-dress the perceived independence of the com-mission. That amendment was made to section
2(a) of the Schedule likewise in 2021.
3. An amendment to the Act was to confer full legislative authority and responsibility upon the
Minister of Finance. That, Madam President , is
the amendment before the Senate today .
Madam President, the bank’s position in 2020
(almost three years ago) was that these amendments, when made, would “effec tively align the commission’s
404 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate governance framework with that prescribed for the Bermuda Monetary Authority u nder the Bermuda Monetary
Authority Act 1969.”
Madam President, in the Statement in Support
of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the
fiscal year 2023/24, the Premier and Minister of Finance foreshadowed these amendments, noting that
they would include “a revised definition of Minister in
the Act to establish the Minister of Finance as the min-ister responsible for gaming, similar to the Bermuda
Monetary Authority.”
Madam President, the genesis of the principal
Act was to facilitate an integrated resort model for gaming in Bermuda for free- standing casino operations.
The regulatory framework is accordingly designed to manage that large- scale model operation. In some notable cases potential operators have cited the regulatory framework [as inconsistent] with the amenity -styled
casino proposed for the hotels in Bermuda.
Last month’s Budget Statement also indicated
the following: “Having the integrated resort model as the only available option for casino operation in Bermuda is a flaw in the inherited regime. The law must be
amended to permit potential casino operators to
choose the model that best suits the intended venue for their casino. Likewise, the law must be amended to permit the Gaming Commission the flexibility to consider
and grant licences on that basis. ” Therefore, Madam
President, these amendments to the Act empower the
commission to modify or vary a regulatory obligation
that is or would otherwise be imposed on a casino operator on the application of that casino operator.
I would invite the Senate to take note that such
an application would only be made following all neces-sary due diligence on suitability and other aspects of
compliance. The criteria to be app lied are proposed to
form part of the regulations issued under this Act.
Madam President, this Bill should commend
unanimous bipartisan support as it embraces what the bank indicated were proactive recommendations to
move forward. Madam President, I think it is important
to set out, for completeness, the bank’s position on an
issue that has regrettably become the rallying cry for
those who oppose gaming for Bermuda, at least what appears to be gaming success under this Government.
With your permission, Madam President, I would like to
quote.

The President: Please do.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: “We are aware that there
has been considerable discussion in the media and by
former members of the commission with respect to the
ability of the Minister to give general directions to the
commission as prescribed in section 8(2) of the then
Casino Gaming Act 2014 by way of the 2017 amend-ments. Based on the presence of an identical clause in
the BMA Act 1969 and in the governing Acts of most of
Bermuda’s public authorities and quangos, we do not believe that this section needs to be amended if the
other amendments noted above are enacted.”
Madam President, that position can be summarised as follows: If it is good enough for the BMA
[Bermuda Monetary Authority], it must be good enough
for the Gaming Commission.
Madam President, I am pleased to commend
this Bill to the Senate for consideration. Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Minister Darrell and
spokesperson for the Cabinet Office.
Would any Senator care to s peak on this Bill?
Senator De Couto, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam President.
Of course, we all know that the OBA is in support of our developing this gaming industry to diversify
and bring growth to the economy as it w as the OBA that
brought this forward, and it was the OBA that organised
and helped facilitate the St. Regis Hotel to arrive and
be built on this Island and create jobs, which was to
also include a gaming component. So just to be clear,
we certainly support this.
We have quite a few issues, though. We understand that despite the statements from the Minister,
that political interference remains and is a major con-cern around gaming in Bermuda. And I know that the
Government likes to compare this gaming issue to that
of the BMA. And I will concede, Madam President, that
on paper it is. However, it is not just what the laws are,
Madam President; it is how the Government is seen to
exercise those laws and whether or not it does attempt to exercise influence on th e operations.
So what we see is that things that are put into
laws that probably should be considered as quite exceptional in how they should be applied can easily be
perceived as to be something that would become commonplace. And this current Government, Madam President, has a track record of trying to avoid accountability, of trying to —

[Inaudible interjections ]

Thank you, Madam President.
This Government has a track record of avoiding accountability, of trying to remove institutions or
processes or bodies that are supposed to provide ultimate viewpoints and advice, or flat -out ignoring them,

B ermuda Senate or in many cases, Madam President, just not following
the processes and procedures that are laid out by law.
So let me give you some examples, Madam
President, of why despite the Government’s points —
The Presiden t: Before you do that.

Thank you, Madam President.
The reality is the Government has not interfered with the BMA in the way that it has with the Gaming Commission multiple times. The Government has not shopped and changed the BMA board like it has the Gaming Commission. The BMA has a long history of
steady , reliable leadership. I note that Craig Swan was
appointed in 2021 as CEO. He was in fact a long- time
senior member of the BMA with a well -developed track
record, a very respected individual. Before him, it was
Jeremy Cox for I believe 11 years as CEO.
But if we turn to the Gaming Commission,
Madam President, we will see that (if I have got this correct) Minister Simmons, before the 2017 Act, in fact tried to have the Gaming Commission Chairman fired or tried to force him to resign not once —
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President.

—not twice, Madam
President, [but] three times.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Point of order.
The President: Point of order, Senator.
POINT OF ORDER
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, the
Senator is speaking on matters that he does not even know are correct. You heard him start with, I think I
have this correct. And, Madam President, respectfully,
we can ask the Member that if he does not have his
facts straight to please not include innuendo into this debate.
Thank you, Madam President. The P resident: Senator D e Couto, y ou will s peak f actually.

Madam President, I
quote the Royal G azette articles from that t ime.
Sen. th e Hon. O wen D arrell: Madam President, point
of order.
The P resident: M inister D arrell.
POINT O F ORDER
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: He is coming with an
opinion from his friends over at the daily, Madam President. And I do not think it is appropriate for what we
are speaking on in this debate today.
Thank y ou, Madam P resident.
The President: Senator De Couto.

A nd if t he Government
thinks t hat it i s not a fact —
Sen. the Hon. O wen Darrell: Point of order, Madam
President .
The P resident: M inister D arrell, w hat is it ?
POINT O F ORDER
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: If the Senator can bring
some facts —which I have not heard, Madam President—we can continue on. But again I ask, if he does
not have factual information other than hearsay from
his friends in other places outside of this Chamber, I do
not think it is acceptable to be admitted to this debate.
The President: Senator De Couto.

Madam President, I bring
these facts, which anyone listening can then search in
the newspaper. And of cours e I would have thought that
if the Gov ernment thought that those facts were incorrect, they would have asked for the newspaper to correct them in writing, which has not happened.
My point, Madam President, is to demonstrate—i s to demonstrate —the practice of this Government and its history of interfering with this Gaming
Commission. Now the fact that they changed —
406 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda Senate POINT OF ORDER
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Point of order, Madam
President. That is incorrect! Once again it is not fac tual
information that the Senator is bringing to this debate.
The President: Senator De Couto, there have been a
few points of order taken. So please speak to what you
know.

Yes, Madam President.
Like I said, I have researched public s ources that are
out there in the public but have not been corrected in
writing by the Government. It is well known. Thes e are
known fac ts. And it is my view that these are correct.
So in the absenc e—
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Again, Madam President, point of order. “My v iew.” He continues to do it!
The President: Senators.
Senator De Couto, I am asking you to move on
from that point.

Yes. I will move on from
that point, which is that the Government has a history
of interfering with this commiss ion.
Now in 2017, Madam President, as we recollect, they changed the Regulations or the laws to allow
them to express ly direct the commission. Now I was
comparing the commission to the BMA because that is
in fact the argument that the Gov ernment has brought
forward. And let me just recap that becaus e we got a
little off track there. The BMA since 2010 has had only
two CEOs—t he first one for 11 years, the second one
since 2021, who is in fact a long-t erm senior and highly
respected individual at the BMA.
Now if I turn to the Gaming Commission, I believe the initial CEO or managing director (whichever
term you would prefer), Richard Schuetz (if I am saying
it correctly) resigned in 2017 after only two years. There
was an Acting Executive Director from 2018 to 2019
who then left the commission. There was a further Acting Exec utive Director from 2019. There was a possible
candidate who withdrew their interest in 2022, I believe.
There was a CEO from 2020 to 2022 who res igned.
My point being, Madam President, s ometimes
you have to look at these things and say, What is going
on? If y ou have something set up as operating well that
is being left to its devices to carry out its mandates, run
by professionals whom you trust, who hav e been hired
to do a job, the fact that there have been this many
turnovers in this period of time indicates to me that they
are not being left to their own devices.

Thank you, Madam President.
I think I have made my argument as to why the
comparisons to the BMA are in fact not very useful in
understanding how gaming is operating on this Island.
So I think I will leave it at that, Madam President. The Opposition has great concerns about how the Government is operating this Gaming Commission.
And I think the results speak for themselves. The commission was up and running until a hotel had arrived. It had been built. And then things started changing with the legislation in 2017. And here we are six years later, no gaming.
Madam President, I believe I have summarised
our main concerns with this Bill. Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Senator John Wight, you have the floor.
Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
When the issue of gaming in Bermuda first
started being discussed many years ago, my recollec-tion is that the community was largely divided. Many
considered casino operations to be a good thing for
Bermuda. There are many people based in Bermuda’s
gateway cities, particularly the US Northeast, who en-joy gambling, and Bermuda’s proximity and beauty could be desirable to increase the numbers of visitors
to our Island. Others in our community view casinos as
not being in keeping with the clean reputation of Bermuda as a tourist destination for our traditional target market.
Whichever view you have of casinos in Bermuda, Madam President, in my view if it is to become
part of Bermuda’s future i t must be done appropriately.
When it comes to gaming, the framework in my view
must be one that ensures integrity and independence both in fact and appearance. Rather than having an au-thority of independent individuals, which was the re-gime many years ago free from any apparent influence
of bias, this Bill presented to the Senate, which has the Gaming Commission reporting directly to the Minister of Finance, regrettably does not meet my definition of a strong and independent framework that supports Ber-muda ’s pristine image as a desirable jurisdiction.
Thank you, Madam President.


Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senator Wight.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Senator Lindsay Simmons, you have the floor.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I am just going to be [brief].
But I am not sure if I was the only one who sat in here and read what the Honourable Minister said in here. But this is a great framework that is laid out. And Senator De Couto brought up the Bermuda Monetary Authority
that was in here as well. And in here it is giving the flexibility under consideration and grants on that basis. So I think, Madam President, that it lays out the bank’s po-sition and what they require.
So, Madam President, I think this is a great
amendment to this Act, and that I support the Minister
in pushing this through.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Ben Smith, Opposition Leader i n the
Senate, you have the floor.
Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam President, and
good morning.

The President: Good morning.

Sen. Ben Smith: I just have a couple of quick questions. I am just wondering whether there are any other jurisdictions that would have the leader of the country be the one who presides over gaming and the gaming
industry.
I understand that we are moving toward the
speci fics of the Finance Minister, but in our particular
situation the Premier holds the same role. So I am just
wondering if that is something that is the norm? Or is
that something that might continue to cause delays because the banking industry might find that to be a prob-lem?
Considering that we are six years in since we
have been having this conversation about gaming, I am just wondering if the Minister is able to elaborate
whether this is the final hurdle and we should see gaming occur in Bermuda shortly or whether the situation with the leader of the country overseeing gaming will cause a further delay?
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Ben Smith.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Yes, Senator
Leslie Robinson, you have the
floor.
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Yes. Thank you, Madam President.
First, I just want to say to the Senator Smith
who just spoke that, you know, here in Bermuda with
the Minister of Finance and the leader of the country all being the same person, this is not something new.
There are many other Caribbean Islands to our south
where that would be the case, where the Premier or the Prime Minister may also hold a ministerial position.
But also, Madam President, I just want us to
really go back and focus in on what all of this is mean-ing for us here in Bermuda. And as the OBA said, they
supported gaming. They were the ones, they said, who
brought this to the table in the beginning. So I think all of us here in the room as far as the understanding of what an integrated casino model means and can mean for Bermuda, where we have a resort property that would include a hotel with a casino, but also with convention facilities, entertainment, luxury retail and fine
dining, et cetera, et cetera, golf, beaching, et cetera. I think it is really important to keep our eyes on the prize, which is that through all of this, jobs will be created. Through all of this it means that Bermuda’s product
gets more interesting and exciting for potential persons
who actually want to come and visit here.
So yes, we may have had changes and we
may see some continuous changes. But we are trying to get it right. And I think that these steps that are being taken at the moment are helping us to get to that [goal].
And as I said, we need to keep the eye on the prize
which is the fact that all of this will just continue to help with job creation and also with visitors, attracting more visitors to this Island.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Hearing none, then . . .
Senator Hodgson, did you indicate that you
wanted to speak on the Bill?
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Yes, Madam President.
I just wanted to make just a minor comment. I
did want to make it clear that the comparison to the BMA is actually one that was made by the bank. It is
one that they are actually satisfied with. So I would not
suppose that the challenges from the Opposition would be valid in this space. It is not something driven by t he
PLP.
For me in the same spirit as Senator Robinson,
I think it is important that we stay focused on what can
come. The goal is to get gaming up and running in Bermuda. And I guess that is what both of us on separate aisles of the Chamber ultimately want. You know, there was a time when we were struggling to find an entity that would bank these entities. So I am excited that we are at a place where we could finalise the bits that
408 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate would make the bank comfortable as they move forward in this particular space.
Again, I am just grateful for the willingness of
the bank to work with this entity so that they can provide
the banking services that will usher [in] the casinos and their presence into our economy. We know that it is vital
for gaming businesses to have the right payment solutions for their customers. So more than anything I am
just grateful that we are able to make this progress. And
I believe that this affords us an opportunity to create
better working relationships as we have seen done with the BMA.
So those are my [brief] comments, Madam
President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.
Senator, Minister Darrell. Everyone has spoken, yes.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I just want to sum this up. It
is frustrating. I am going to get the speakers on that
side checked, Madam President, because some of the
very things that actually were brought up by Senator De Couto were actually addressed in the brief. And at the
end I said the position summarised i s that if it is good
enough for the BMA, then it must be good enough for
the Gaming Commission. And it was the bank who actually asked for the Minister of Finance to be specified.
They said that they were fine with what the BMA is do-ing.
Yet, you know, the BMA independence has already been assessed. And international bodies are def-initely, as Senator De Couto said, satisfied [with] the
work that the BMA is doing. And Senator De Couto also brought up and gave accolades to the Bermuda Mone-tary Authority. So this will have the same oversight as
the BMA. The operation of both of these entities will be subject to the same review from international bodies for
AML and ATF purposes.
So getting back to some of the comments on
what Senator De Couto was trying to get out, but he
had no factual information, it is telling me that clearly
there were conversations having taken place outside of
Chambers and other places with individuals who may
have some sort of privileged information that has nothing to do with what we ar e trying to do today.
And there is a great quote, Madam President,
that speaks on excuses. We have heard it before. A famous president said it, and different organisations
use it. It talks about excuses. And I would submit,
Madam President, that “E xcuses are tools of the incompetent used to build bridges to nowhere and monuments of nothingness . . . .” And all I hear coming from
the other side are excuses. They start with, We want to
push this gaming and we want to see it. It was our idea.

Point of order, Madam
President.
We are not making excuses for anything. In
fact, we are questioning the Government’s excuses.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: That was not a point of order, Senator
De Couto.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Da rrell: Madam President, that
is what I keep hearing. We also hear, I would call it a
rant, dribble again (I used to call it) from the other side
with no factual information. When someone gets up
and says that they have factual information because
they think they read it in the Royal Gazette, and then
saying, Well, I didn’t see a response, you have to question, Well, are you really looking out for the best interest
of the individuals in this country? Are you really looking
out for the best interest of progressing our tourism industry?

Is the Minister implying
that those facts were incorrect? Does he deny those
three facts?
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, as I
said before, first of all that is not a point of order. And
second of all, he brought no facts.
So I will continue, Madam President.

The President: Carry on, Minister.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you.
So, Madam President, as I said in the brief, it
continues to be one hurdle after the other that is put in place by other institutions. And one after the other, the Government has come to this place and others to try to
satisfy this requirement so we can finally see gaming
operational in Bermuda. So as I said in my brief,
Madam President, I am pleased to commend this Bill,
and I expect that it should pass.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you.
There now needs to be a motion.



Bermuda Senate Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam P resident, I now
move that the Bill entitled the Gaming Amendment Act
2023 be now read a second time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I
move that [Standing Order] 26 be suspended in respect
of this Bill.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

GAMING AMENDMENT ACT 2023
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I now
move that the Bill entitled the Gaming Amendment Act 2023 be now read a third time.

The President: Is there any objection to the third reading?
No objection.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I do
move that the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
There is no objection.
The Bill is passed.
[Motion carried: The Gaming Amendment Act 2023 was read a third time and passed.]
The President: Thank you, Minister Darrell, and thank
you, all Senators.
We will now move on to the next item on our
agenda, and that is the second reading of the Vacation
Rentals (Application and Registration) Fees Act 2023. And this is also in the name of Minister, the Honourable O. K. Darrell, spokesman for the Cabinet Office.
Minister Darrell, you have the floor.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I do move that the Bill entitled the Vacation Rentals (Application and Registration) Fees Act 2023 be now read a second time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

BILL

SECOND READING

VACATION RENTALS (APPLICATION
AND REGISTRATION) FEES ACT 2023
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, today
I present to the Senate the
Vacation Rentals (Application and Registration) Fees Act 2023 . These amendments pertain to the laws and regulations governing the fees for the application and registration of properties that are used as vacation rental units. Specifically, they
are the Rent Increases (Domestic Premises) Control
Act 1978 and the Bermuda Tourism Authority Act 2013.
Madam President, it is widely accepted in Bermuda that vacation rental units are a significant and val-uable component of the accommodation inventory available in Bermuda. These vacation rentals offer an
enormous range of accommodation choices for visitors
and locals alike and are recognised as a prominent fea-ture of Bermuda’s offerings as a destination. We under-stand that as this segment of the industry grows it will continue to provide more options for visitors to the Island and ultimately aid in enticing travellers to come
here.
Madam President, this Government enacted
the Vacation Rentals Act 2018 which established the
regulation of vacation rentals in Bermuda. This Act sets out the procedure for vacation rentals certificates and the fees to be paid to the Bermuda Tourism Authority,
amongst other minor amendments to the Hotels (Licensing and Control) Act 1969. I hasten to point out, Madam President, that those fees are charged to the renters of the vacation rental units. The proprietor of the vacation rental unit is required to include on any invoice
or receipt delivered to the guest a separate entry for the
amount of the vacation rental fee.
For the sake of absolute clarity, the vacation
rental fee is charged to the guest.
The application and registration fees being implemented for vacation rentals under this Act are a new
charge for the property owners.
Madam President, the Vacation Rentals (Application and Registration) Fees Act 2023 is one more
step to the evolution of this segment of the tourism in-dustry in Bermuda. As I mentioned earlier, prior to now, owners of vacation rental units have not been charged
a fee for a vacation rental certificate.
Madam President, in implementing these fees
we have developed an equitable fee structure for the
vacation rental properties. These fees will be deter-mined by the annual rental value (also known as the
ARV) of the property, with fees being applied in [three]
bands of the ARV. Madam President, the Vacation
410 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Rentals Act 2018 is jointly administered by Rent Control, the Ministry of Legal Affairs and Constitution Reform, and the Tourism Regulation and Policy Unit, the
Ministry of Tourism as well as the Cabinet Office.
The first of the aforementioned bands, those
with an ARV of $22,800 and less, fall under the remit of
Rent Control. Properties with an ARV above $22,800 fall under the remit of the Tourism Regulation and Policy Unit. Madam President, the fee structure as listed in
[clause] 4 of the new Act is as follows:
• ARVs zero dollars to $22,800, is a fee of
$1,500;
• ARVs $22,801 to $90,000, is a fee of $2,000;
and
• ARVs $90,001 and over , is a fee of $2,500.
Madam President, to add some context to
these fees, I would like to point out that the highest fees
paid will be equivalent to $208 per month. That is the
highest. And the lowest fees will be equivalent to $125 per month.
Madam President, we believe that these fees
are not exorbitant, nor are they prohibitive. We therefore do not expect these fees to have an adverse impact on the number of vacation rental units on the market. A further point to note, Madam President, is that as everyone knows, all things are relative. In that vein,
these fees are relative to the ARV of each property,
which will give an indication of the daily rates charged
to visitors and locals for a particular unit.
Madam President, I wish to conclude by saying
that we are grateful for those property owners who make their properties available for vacation rentals.
Thank you, Madam President.

The Presiden t: Thank you, Minister Darrell.
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator De Couto, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam President.
I would like to acknowledge that this is a difficult topic. There are some people who are concerned about the housing availability in Bermuda and what
Airbnbs do for that. But, Madam President, if we look
around at the country right now, we are down, we ar e
missing hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of hotel beds. Our airlift capacity is greatly reduced. And as we
have learned from the Government and industry, this is
directly connected to the capacity of beds for tourists or
other visitors.
Right now, Mad am President, we need to remove obstacles to people to create places like these
vacation rentals where visitors can come and stay and
experience Bermuda. Tourism is at a critical juncture. Airlift is at a critical juncture. We need these beds,
Madam Presid ent.
And while this Government claims to be grateful and claims to recognise that we need to give more options to entice travellers, their actions by charging these fees seem to go against that statement. I always used to say, Madam President, we must look at the actions, not just the words. The Government has said that
we believe that these fees are not exorbitant or prohibitive (if I have quoted that correctly). And that all things are relative. We know the feedback on this from people
who are operating these vacation rentals. It is resoundingly negative.
We also know that feedback is that while certain operators have absorbed some certain prior fee increases or additions of fees, these registration applica-tions costs or fees are the sorts of things that they will
not be able to absorb and will have to pass on to the
guests.
Now, I do note the Government’s comments
about the vacation rental fees charged to the guests
and the application and registration fees charged to the owners and so on and so forth. Madam President, anyone who is in the market for goods and services or
selling goods and services understands that overhead
is overhead. It does not matter what you call it or where
it goes. If I travel and I buy my airline ticket, it will say
“X” hundred dollars for the flights and there will be the
fees and this and that on top. No one really cares what
those fees go to. We just go straight to the bottom line.
In fact, Madam President, I know that places
like Airbnb and other vacation rental websites hav e had
to do things like change their policies to ensure that
when people are listing rentals on these Internet sites,
they are showing all sources of fees rather than just the
(quote –unquote) “room rate” or nightly rate, whether it
be a cleaning fee, a gov ernment fee, a tax, so on and
so forth. Because consumers do not care what the fee is. Consumers do not care that the electricity cost is
high or whether the cost of labour for cleaning is high.
They just want to know the price being charged. Anybody opera ting one of these vacation rental units is just
going to factor this cost and then pass it on.
Madam President, I go back. All things are relative. I believe this also was mentioned by the Government. And I have mentioned that these vacation rentals
are filling a need when the hotels do not have enough
beds. We have to ask ourselves, Why is the Govern-ment adding a tax to this critical piece of our tourism
puzzle right now? Meanwhile, and as we will hear later today and as we have heard in the past, operators like
Gencom are getting massive tax breaks! No payroll tax,
no customs duty on building goods, and so on and so
forth. I do not want to pre- empt that discussion, but the
point being the people who are operating today, filling
a need, are getting additional taxes whereas other
large operators are getting tax breaks.
So again I want to connect the Government’s
actions to its words. That is why, Madam President, the
Opposition cannot support this fee, this tax on these
vacation rental operators. Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.


Bermuda Senate Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Senator John Wight, you have the floor.

Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
I am in support of this Bill. I think we need to
find equitable ways of increasing our tax base. I know
that nobody likes to pay new fees or higher fees than were previously paid. I find these fees to be not unreasonable. So I am supportive of this Bill.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Wight.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Senator Robin Tucker indicated first of all.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
One of the concerns that I have, and I believe
it was also raised in the other place, is with the timing
of these increased fees. We are now in a time where Bermuda is trying to revive its tourism industry. I was
doing a bit of research, and in December 2022 Barbados had 3,000 tourists arrive in one day. Right? And so
here we are at a time where we are clawing our way
out of COVID -19 and low arrivals, air arrivals and all of
those types of things. And so in my view this is not the time to start, at this particular time. This is not the most opportune time to increase fees.
Now one could argue, you know , it is a minimal
fee. But a fee is a fee is a fee. So there are people who are just starting to travel again. There are people who
are considering what their options are. And everyone
wants to be able to get value for money. And so if you are coming to a place where you want to be cautious
about how you spend your money, we are not the only ones who are using our houses and our apartments to be able to attract visitors. So therefore, as we are trying
to rebuild and re- invite tourists to come to Bermuda, I
think that even a nominal fee increase is not the way to
do it.
Because as we all know, Madam President, we
are one of the most expensive places on the planet.
And so why would we do this right now as we are in the midst of rebuilding, when people can exercise their options to go other places? So their money will go further.
I just do not think the timing is right.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker.
And Senator Ben Smith, you indicated you
wanted to speak on this Bill. You have the floor.
Sen. Ben Smith: Yes, and thank you, Madam President.
So, Madam President, I am going to take us
back to a time when a lot of people in Bermuda would
have rented their houses out to tourists, or apartments
or rooms in their house when tourism was booming and Bermudians were attached to the tourism industry. I
think we have all heard over the last probably two decades that this has shifted significantly and a lot of our
people are not as interested in hospitality and in the
tourism industry.
One of the things that is important about what
is happening with Airbnb is that it is a return to hospitality. Because if somebody invites guests into their
house or into their apartment, it is going to be how you
treat those guests and the services that you provide
that makes you stand out and makes people want to continue to give you good ratings and to return to your
specific facility.
And as we are starting to build that reputation
and have our people get involved more and more, it jus t
seems odd that this is the time that we would continue
to levy fees and taxes on this group as they are starting to grow. Specifically considering that you are comparing that at a time that we [do not have enough] hotel
beds. So not only is this group st arting to re- engage
with hospitality, they are also filling a significant need in our country when we do not have the hotel beds to take
care of our visitors. So it is not that we do not think that
there should ever be a fee. It just seems odd that this
would be the time that we would do it.
On top of that, Madam President, a lot of our
citizens have moved toward this industry because they are trying to survive. People are having a hard time
paying their bills. Some people are having a hard time
making the ir mortgage payments. Others are having a
hard time paying for medical fees or being able to supplement the life of their parents. So because of it, they
have decided that maybe this is a way for them to bring in revenue to try to supplement.
And when you look at the different levels of
kind of houses and dwellings that have moved into Airbnb, it is a cross section of our country who have
gotten involved. So when you say that we have added
these fees and it is not a big fee, you have to understand that people in Bermuda are already suffering. So
they are going into this because they need every dime
that they make.
In another place it was considered that in multiple jurisdictions they have added fees and they have
added different costs to the Airbnb industr y. But,
Madam President, Bermuda is already the most expensive place in the world. So any fee that we are going to
pass on to our visitor is making them have to think twice
about whether we are the jurisdiction that they will go to.
Since COVID -19 has started to dwindle out,
other jurisdictions have seen a real boom in the tourism
visitors. And Bermuda has lagged behind. So at a time
when we are starting to do everything possible to try to
encourage more people to come to Bermuda, why
would this be the time that not only we would be adding
taxes that would make it more expensive to be here,
but also add a fee that potentially hurts the people who
are trying to figure out a way to survive?
412 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Ben S mith, Opposition Leader [in the Senate].
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Senator Emily Dill, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam
President.
I would like to take this opportunity to commend
the Junior Minister on the presentation of this Bill and
the Government in terms of the fact that as we listen to
the arguments that have been raised in asking about
the timing, we all have to be mindful of the fact that we
have gone through a time over the last couple of years
that has impacted us in a way that dictates that we have to look for ways that we can increase our revenue while
ensuring that it is not at a rate that is overly exorbitant.
It was really interesting for me to hear Senator
Tucker. The exampl e that she gave was Barbados and
the number of tourists who had come into there. And it
was interesting because they also have a tax. And their
tax is significantly higher than the tax that our Government is recommending at this time. So I want to say, like we said earlier, that we have to continue to keep
our eyes on the prize. Let us continue to do the things that are necessary to advance our tourism industry while also ensuring that our residents are taken care of.
As you know, we have all sorts of soci al problems that impact our Government in terms of the desire to ensure that they are attended to. So we have to keep
moving forward, keep positive and understand that we
are doing all that we can to ensure that we move this country forward in the way that it needs to move.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Emily Dill.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Senator Robinson, Leslie Robinson, you have
the floor.
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
I would like to concur with those sentiments of
Senator Dill in that we must keep our eye on the prize.
And also as Senator Wight said, we are trying to create
an equitable tax base. You know, in a time when it is
difficult to look to see what areas should be taxable and
not taxable, looking at this and noting again that it is
minimal, it is very minimal. When I looked and calculated this, I looked at it and said $125.00 per month, we
are only talking about $4.00 per day. And t he most is
$208.33 per month, which amounts to $7.00 per day.
And I think that visitors opting to go and stay at
a vacation rental, they enjoy the home- grown personal
touch, the hospitality from a very local viewpoint. And I
think to have to pay something very minimal for what
you are actually getting from us being Bermudians and being very friendly people and very hospitable people, I think this is not a problem at all. So, Madam President,
I support this. And obviously Senator Darrell has done
well to pr esent this to us today.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Senator Arianna Hodgson, you have the floor.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
I just wanted to highlight the fact that Airbnb is
often a cheap option for travellers. And in terms of op-erating the Airbnb, it is a lot cheaper than perhaps running a hotel or even a bed and breakfast. I think it is
worth noting that the hotels, they must comply with a litany of health, sa fety, zoning regulations and others.
So I think it is important that we notice, I guess, the extra work that has been introduced for other operators.
The operating requirements for Airbnbs are much less.
I know we have talked about it exhaustively in
the House, and they compared whether or not we
should be looking at full -year occupancy as opposed to
six-month occupancy. And we noted the fact that even
if we operated in terms of a six -month offering to visitors, we are looking at less than two dollars a day in terms of the additional fee. And on the higher end
again, it is still less than five dollars. So I think that this
is an appropriate increase in terms of fees.
I think it is also worth noting, as has been mentioned, there is a shortage of housing in Bermuda. And
it is not just a shortage of affordable housing, but a
shortage of housing generally speaking. So it is important that we also have conversations about why this
currently exists beyond that fact that you know we have
a lower number of beds. We do have decreased numbers in terms of airlift. But there are a number of reasons that we have found ourselves dealing with the
housing issues that currently exist.
Again, I think that it is an appropriate increase.
And although there are persons who are alarmed or
who have expressed a concern, there are also a host
of people who understand that you have to pay to play.
So this is a cost associated with doing business, but I think it is a cost that can be, as was stated, passed on
to the consumers who are in this case the visitors. But
ultimately I do not see this hurting the industry for persons who are operating Airbnbs in Bermuda.
And I was actually doing some research and
recognised that there is a lot of talk about how or whether or not Airbnbs should be responsible for collecting and paying relevant taxes and, you know, com-plying with other regulations in other jurisdictions. And
as it stands now, few actually have to engage with the
authorities and with regulations as other entities have
seen. So aga in I support this Bill, and I support the Minister and his commending this Bill to the Senate today.



Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Hearing none, then, Minister Darrell, it is over
to you.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President. I do appreciate the comments of support from my
Senate colleagues, as well as the Independent Senator, Senator John Wight.
As we clearly understand the intent of this Bill
and we clearly understand that this is another indication
of our adapting as to what has been kind of the traditional way of doing business and bringing a proper fee
structure for these vacation rentals in place, I am not
going to spend too much time on the comments that
were said by others. But it is just (I do not know) shocking that we sit here and we talk about all of the things
that this Government is doing as far as assisting individuals in this economy to make it more affordable to
live. And then we are talking about vacation rentals.
Yes, there are individuals who use this as an additional
source of revenue. But this also is some revenue that
many Bermudians do not have and as a result of that
are struggling in other areas.
We talk about an airport deal and $50 million
that is being literally given away so that foreign companies could make excessive profits. And we do not hear a word from Senators from the other side.

What is this factual information regarding excessive profits that the Senator is
referring to?

The President: Senator De Couto, that is not a point of
order.
Minister Darrell, carry on.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: I can tell you what is
not a fact . Very shortly we are going to get another bill
from Skyport to add to the already $50 million in mini-mum revenue guarantees that this Government has
paid out. So for Senator De Couto to sit on the ot her
side and all of a sudden become concerned about what
the public are paying and act like he cares about the
struggle of the everyday Bermudian is contrary to every
other debate we have ever had in this place.
But I would like to just set the record str aight
with something that Senator De Couto started with.
Again, once again he has facts that are just wrong.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Those are not facts, then.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: All over the place . . . that
are not facts, yes.
[Laughter]

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: He has opinions that are
wrong and tries to throw them off as facts.
So he started by talking about tax breaks that
Gencom is getting. Now we will talk about this in another debate. But I just have to correct this. This is not
a tax break, Madam President. They are not receiving a tax break! And that is the whole point. The taxes are
due, and they will be payable when they repay the loan
from Clarien.
So the difference and the key point here is that
Senator De Couto—

The President: Senator Darrell.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Yes.
The President: Deal with the Bill at hand.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Yes. It is a difference between a relief and a rebate. So I just wanted to help h im
with some facts that he likes to put out.
But with that said, Madam President, I do appreciate the support that we do have from the majority
of the Senators in this Chamber.
And I would like to now commit the Bill So,
Madam President, with that said I move that the Bill entitled Vacation Rentals (Application and Registration)
Fees Act 2023 be now read a second time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I
move that [Standing Order] 26 be suspended in respect of this Bill.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

VACATION RENTALS (AP PLICATION AND
REGISTRATION) FEES ACT 2023

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I now
move that the Bill entitled the Vacation Rentals (Application and Registration) Fees Act 2023 be now read a
third time.
414 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Is there any objection to the third reading?
No objection.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I
move that the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill entitled
the Vacation Rentals (Application and Registration) Fees Act 2023 do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Bill is passed.
[Motion carried: The Vacation Rentals (Application and Registration) Fees Act 2023 was read a third time and passed.]

The President: Thank you, Minister Darrell, and thank
you, all Senators.
We move on with the next item on the Orders
of the Day. And this is the Fairmont Southampton Hotel Act 2023, and this is also in the name of Senator the
Honourable O. K. Darrell, spokesperson for the Cabinet
Office.
Senator Darrell, when you are ready you can
proceed.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
the Fairmont Southampton [Hotel] Act 2023 be now read a second time.
The Pre sident: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

BILL

SECOND READING

FAIRMONT SOUTHAMPTON HOTEL ACT 2023
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you.
Madam President, the Bill before the Senate
today is the Fairmont Southampton Hotel Act 2023
(referred to as the Bill). Madam President, this Bill is the result of the detailed advice received in the course of the ongoing closing process for the redevelopment of the Fairmont Southampton Hotel. Madam President, the 2022 Act is not in force and would only have come
into force once all conditions precedent for closing had
been met. Therefore, this Bill will govern the full pack-age of support to be provided to support the project.
Madam President, this Bill is required primarily
to adjust the method by which tax and customs duty
concessions are granted after reopening of the hotel.
They are being restructured as rebates instead of direct relief. Madam President, rebate versus relief may sound inconsequential. But the change is a critical component of the redevelopment’s financing structure and a key protection for the government. In simple terms it means the hotel must first pay the normal taxes
or customs duty in accordance with existing law before being entitled to a rebate.
In turn, rebate payments will immediately flow
back to repay the loan that the government has guar-anteed. In this way, the value of any concessions the hotel earns after it is reopened will flow only through accounts that are ring -fenced solely for the purpose of
reducing the government’s exposure to the guaranteed
loan.
Madam President, Senators will also recall the
recent amendments to the Public Treasury (Administration and Payments) Act 1969, the PTA Amendment, which provides the legislative mechanism to permit payment of rebates out of the consolidated fund. The
PTA Amendment also requires that any entitlement for
a specific person or company to receive rebates, along with the nature of the relevant rebates, must be granted through an Act approved by the Legislature.
Madam President, the approval of the Legislature in relation to rebates to West end Properties Limited, owner and developer of the Fairmont Southampton Hotel, is the primary purpose of this Act. Rather than amending the 2022 Act, it is being brought forward as a new Bill for practical reasons in parliamentary drafting. Furthermore, in conjunction with the recent
PTA Amendment it will complete all legislative requirements relating to the concessions that will enable the agreement of the various financing parties and ulti-mately the commencement of this nationally important redevelopment project.
Madam President, the modifications this Bill
provides with respect to hotel concessions, along with the PTA Amendment that permits payments under the approved rebate structure, strengthen the protections for the Government of Bermuda.
Madam President, I commend this Bi ll to the
Senate for consideration and look forward to the sup-port. This has been a long journey, Madam President, but I am confident that we are nearing the successful completion that will see jobs created, economic activity generated, tourism revitalised and a signature property
restored to prominence.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Minister Darrell, spokesman for the Cabinet Office.
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator De Couto, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam President.
First off, I want to reiterate the One Bermuda
Alliance’s support for the success of this hotel project which, despite what some people would have said a
year ago, has always been our message as this is a


Bermuda Senate critical component for our economy, for our jobs and for
tourism. As you recall, Madam President, last time we
were here I highlighted that outside of international
business and the financial sector, jobs and GDP are
way down, in some cases as much as 10 per c ent, in
no small part due to the closing of this hotel. So I want
to reiterate our support that this hotel gets opened.
I know that the Minister wanted to get a little
detailed on the usage of the words “rebate” and “relief.”
Madam President, I am going t o propose that we use
the phrase “financial benefits.” Financial benefits that
the developer of this hotel is going to receive. And we
commend the Government for revising its approach to
providing these financial benefits to this project. If you
recall, Ma dam President, we had great concerns originally about the scope, the size and the amount of work to which these benefits applied, these financial benefits applied which were greater than any other project.
We also had concerns about the ability of the
operator to execute and be a good partner with the Government of Bermuda based on things like their ina-bility to pay redundancy payments to their employees
and needing to be bailed out by the government to the
tune of $11 million. So, Madam President, we are quite
keen to support this concept of rebates versus up- front
relief in providing these financial benefits. We consider
it to be prudent risk management, Madam President.
I am a bit confused as to why the Government
did not see fit to put in some mechanis ms like that in
the first place. Unfortunately, to be honest, it is in keeping with this Government’s (I would put it) at best naïve management of the people’s money. Perhaps at
worst —

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, point
of order.
The Pres ident: Minister Darrell, what is your point of
order?

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: My point of order is that
the Senator is once again inputting his opinion into a
debate where the facts are clearly laid out. So for him
to give his opinion one more time is only a way to derail
what we are actually trying to do for the people of Bermuda. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Minister, that was not a point of order.
Carry on, Senator De Couto.

Thank you, Madam President.
So let me just recap the point I am trying to
make here with some examples. I am explaining why
we in the Opposition support providing this financial
benefit to the developer, Gencom, through the concept
of a rebate versus an upfront relief because it provides
better risk management for the people of Bermuda.
And I want to contrast that to the original approach brought by the Gov ernment, just to highlight how
pleased we are with the Government’s bringing this risk
management.
Because I think the Government’s track record
with its handling of the people’s money, and I say “I think.” This is my opinion, Madam President, my opinion. However, I do know that it is shared by many, not
just my friends, Madam President. People I do not know
contact me to share their opinions, Madam President.
And not just in private conversations, Madam Presi-dent. You can go out into the public domain, Madam
President, and you can see these opinions that I am
sharing with you.

[Inaudible interjections ]

So, Madam President,
what I am saying is that these things I am about to say
are not just my opinion. They have been shared with
me by others. And they are also available in the public domain. And that is the fact . . . that is the view of many,
including mys elf and many of my colleagues that this
416 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Government has at times been at best naïve and at
worst cavalier with the people’s money.
That is why I was so pleased to see this different approach which provides prudent risk management
with this counterparty.
Now, Madam President, I do have two questions, very specific questions that I would like to bring
here for the Minister. I just wanted to confirm that when
we talk about the hotel and the hotel redevelopment
that this would include any of the condominiums t hat
the developer Gencom has been communicating that it
intends to develop, which I believe is on the order of
hundreds of units. So that is my first question: Can the
Minister confirm that the financial benefits provided at
this Bill such as customs duty breaks, payroll tax breaks
. . . sorry, customs duty benefits, payroll tax financial
benefits land tax financial benefits. So my first question
is, Can the Minister confirm that those will accrue to the
development of the hundreds of condominium units?
My second question is with respect to the condition of a 70 per cent threshold of Bermudian employment in order to receive some of the financial benefits
that have to be confirmed to the Minister. And I note
that in another place, a Minister noted that it was a
question. What would happen if that 70 per cent was
not met? What would happen? And I believe it was
stated that these merely represented a target and Government would not declare all bets are off. And, Madam President, I would seek clarification from the Minister
on how exactly this legislation intends to handle that ,
because, again, as you know I have only been in this
Chamber for a year, Madam President. But I read in the
Bill 70 per cent. I do not read 68 per cent or 65 per cent
or, We tried really, really, really hard but we couldn’t
quite get there. So I do not see that in the Bill, Madam
President.
So my first sub- part of that question would be,
How does that intend to be handled? And are there
other areas where conditions must be met that the Government is considering perhaps not following the letter
of the law with respect to this Bill, Madam President?
But other than those questions, Madam President, we are in support to this prudent approach to risk
management for these financial benefits. Thank you,

Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Senator John Wight, you have the floor.

Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
I think every Bermudian wants to see the Fairmont Southampton reopened for so many reasons, as expressed by others before me. And I am personally
very excited at the prospect of its reopening. For star ters, approximately 600 jobs will return, jobs critical for
many in our community who lost them when the hotel
closed. When the Fairmont Southampton Bill was
brought to the Senate in 2022, I was opposed to it at
the time. I did not think that the terms an d conditions
offered to the buyers were appropriate for Bermuda taxpayers, and I did not feel that the terms and condi-tions were fair and consistent relative to other major hotels that are deeply important to Bermuda.
Before I read this Bill presented to the Senate
I listened to the Minister of Tourism in the other Chamber on Friday speak to the benefits of this Bill. And before I proceed further, I want to thank him for reaching out to myself and other Independent Senators to discuss this Bill. And in fac t I did meet with him face- toface this morning. So I greatly appreciate the opportunity to discuss this with him.
What I liked hearing from the Minister on Friday
in the other Chamber was his comment, “ In turn, rebate
payments will immediately flow back to repay the loan
that the government has guaranteed.” This was certainly a positive statement. However, upon reading the
Bill, there was no reference to any contractual obligation of the buyer to use any rebated funds to make
agreed loan payments, thus reducing the risk of government’s having to make good on its guarantee should
the lender not receive required loan payments by the
buyer.
I would have preferred to see this Bill brought
to the Senate coterminous with the signing of an agree-ment between the government and the buyer. Because
once this Act becomes effective, there is no leverage
for the buyer to sign a contract agreeing to use the rebates to repay the bank loan and thus reducing the risk
of the government guarantee being drawn upon.
So, Madam President, while the Bill is somewhat useful in ensuring that the buyer will have the necessary funding to pay required taxes before receiving
the rebates, as we sit here this morning in the absence
of that agreement that will be, as I understand, kind of
drawn up at some point in the future. This does not in
my view do much to ensure that the government guarantee will not be required to be drawn upon.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Wight.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Senator Arianna Hodgson, Junior Minister of
Finance, you have the floor.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I just wanted to speak this
morning in support of this Bill. Again, as an Island na-tion, you know, we depend heavily on tourism. And I
think it is important that we recognise the possibilities
and the options that Bermudians are afforded by bringing this Bill forward and by ultimately supporting the development of the Fairmont Southampton. Beyond the
fact that it will create jobs in terms of construction and


Bermuda Senate development, you know, persons are going to be able
to re- enter the industry. And I know that this is exciting
for a lot of persons.
I was actually driving up Burnt House Hill and I
was looking over, and I remembered being a young
person and looking over and seeing the lights and seeing . . . I am still young, right? But I remember even the
fireworks. And I just remember, I guess, how iconic
Fairmont Southampton really was for me as a young
person. I loved attending the events there, the endless
conferences. You know, they were always doing some-thing unique. They had a unique product that our tourists are looking forward to being able to participate in
again.
I know we talk about the challenges i n tourism.
But last year there were a lot of hotels that had a great
tourism season. And I think that as we approach this next season, there is a lot to be excited about. No, we
are not where we were in 2019, but I am hopeful that
by supporting Bills such as these, by ensuring that we
have a better tourism product and one that celebrates the uniqueness of our Bermudian people, that we are
going to be in a better position in the next few years.
So I am excited. A lot of young people are excited that we are supporting this Bill. Again, the comments showed today that persons do support the Bill; the technicalities and some of the political bits not so
much. But generally we are all in support of the reopen-ing of the Fairmont Southampton. And while we are not
at the end, I am hopeful that we will be there soon.
So again, I am in full support of this Bill and
looking forward to all that is to come.

The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson,
Junior Minister for Finance.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Lindsay Simmons, you have the floor.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam President.
I just want to thank the Minister for bringing this
Bill today. I also want to agree with my colleagues, in-cluding pretty much what Senator De Couto said as
well with agreeing that we need this. You know, he said when speaking on another Bill that there are hundreds
and hundreds of local beds that are needed. And this
hotel development is necessary. We need it in Bermuda.
We have so many people who are looking for
jobs. And the Fairmont was one of [the largest employ-ers] if not the largest employer in Bermuda. And prior
to the Fairmont’s opening, we are going to have tons of
people able to come in with construction, putting in windows, people to landscape. So it is going to be thousands of people at a time working at the Fairmont to get
this going. And then when a new hotel opens, between 600 and 800 people will be employed. So this is definitely needed. And if I could reit erate something that the Minister said, Madam President, if you do not mind. He
said, “ In turn, rebate payments will immediately flow
back to repay the loan that the government has guar-anteed. In this way, the value of any concessions the hotel earns after it is reopened will flow only through
accounts that are ringfenced solely for the purpose of
reducing the government’s exposure to the guaranteed
loan.”
This Bill that has come today, Madam President, is a great Bill. And I thank the Minister who is in the other House for bringing this Bill forward and the
Minister in this House for bringing it forward. I am glad
to see that the Fairmont Southampton is almost there.
So kudos to the team for working so hard to get this
started. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Ben Smith, Opposition Leader [in the
Senate] , you have the floor.
Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam President.
As my colleague Senator De Couto stated, th e
Opposition is in support of this Bill. I just think it is important that when we say things about what we are
looking for from this project, that we give all of the details so that the population does not think that this is going to just be a job creator for locals, because as we
were told by Gencom prior to the original debate of this
Bill, a significant amount of the construction work will
be done by people from outside of the country coming
in to do that work. That was the information that was given to us by Gencom. And we also have to have an
understanding that although we are all looking for the
hotel work that will start again, we know that a lot of the
people who will be working in that hotel will have to be
from outside of the country.
And I just t hink it is important that we continue
to be honest about what that conversation looks like so
that when guest workers are brought in, we are not going to see people upset that this has happened. I, for
one, would like to see the hotel project started and c ompleted as soon as possible. So, everything that can move in that direction I think is extremely important. But as my colleague has said, we could have put a lot of
these risk mitigating factors in the original Bill. But we
are happy to see that they are here now, and we are
happy to see that we will be moving towards having this
hotel open as soon as possible. So, for that, we are
supportive of that Bill.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Ben Smith, Opposition Leader [in the Senate] .
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Oh. Beg your pardon. Senator Robin Tucker,
you have the floor.
418 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda Senate Sen. R obin T ucker: Thank y ou, M adam President.
I just want to make a quick comment, and it is
somewhat in the vein of what [Opposition] Senate
Leader Smith just talked about. So, as we . . . well, just
let me say this. Of course, we are all very much looking
forward to the Fairmont Southampton H otel reopening.
I just again want to sort of hone- in a bit on the staffing
aspect of this particular Bill, which as we know, there is
a commitment to try to have at least 70 per cent Bermudian [staff] working at the hotel. One of the things
. . . and this is a comment that I really wanted to make.
One of the things that I think would have really
been good to include in this is that while there is mention of a training programme for Bermudians when a
hotel is in operation, I think it would have been great to
have included a percentage of Bermudians in management positions. That should have been included as
well. One of the reasons is primarily because if we
know for certain that there is a certain percentage of
management positions available, this could also serve
as an incentive to encourage other Bermudians to
come back home, particularly Bermudians that are i n
hospitality in overseas jurisdictions. And also, I think it
can serve as an incentive for people to actually want to
go through the management training process and it not
being just something that is put on a piece of paper to
say that we have this programme, but people do not
actually in a tangible way rise through the ranks.
Thank y ou, Madam P resident. T hat is the o nly
comment t hat I wanted t o make.
The P resident: Thank y ou, S enator R obin Tucker.
Woul d any ot her S enator . . . Senator E mily
Dill, you have the floor.

Thank you,
Madam President.
I certainly am extremely optimistic, if not excited, about, for the second time in a lifetime, seeing
the opening of the Fairmont Southampton hotel. As I
shared previously in these Chambers, I can remember
as a very, very young person my older brother and the
excitement of he and his friends as they were preparing
to start working at the Fairmont Southampton and how
over the years so many of us in Bermuda have worked
in that facility and certainly developed the skills that
were necessary to even transition into other industries.
So, it has certainly been a foundational institution in this
community.
And certainly, today as this Bill is being presented, I congratulate the team and especially in the
Ministry of Finance for the work that they are doing to
ensure that our Government is protected and that everything will be in place as we go forward. I am certain
that there were many who were disappointed that we
were not able to move forward a little sooner. But as
the Scripture says, “the vision is yet for an appointed
time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it
tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come [to pass] .” So, I am excited that there are going to be j obs
in multiple fields during the construction period and
then followed by jobs in a plethora of areas once the facility is reopened. And in particular, it was exciting to hear of their plans for the revitalisation of the entertain-ment industry in Bermuda and the many opportunities
that will be available. But what I thought was extremely
exciting during this period is to see the multi -ministry
initiatives that are beginning to emerge as we see the Department of Labour working assiduously with the team at the Fairmont. To have such a champion like Mrs. Donna Harvey Maybury who is leading in the HR
initiative and the different programmes that they are
putting in place to ensure that Bermudians move into management roles , and that we ensure that every Bermudian who wants to work can work in some way and
fully develop their potential. So, we are excited about what the future holds for us. And I wholeheartedly support this Bill and look forward to the completion of this
project as our country continues to just evolve and grow in strength and go from strength to strength.
The President: Thank you, Senator Emily Dill.
Senator Leslie Robinson, you have the floor.
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
Again , I just want to reiterate some of the comments that Senator Lindsay Simmons made in her remarks, particularly when it came to . . . and again she
mentioned and quoted aspects of this that Minister and Senate Leader Owen Darrell stated. And again, I would
like to reiterate this because I think it is important that we stay focused and think about exactly what this par-ticular Bill is doing outside of the whole larger picture, which of course is to see the reopening of the Fairmont
Hotel. But again, as Senator Darrell said and as Senator Lindsay Simmons said, you know, in this way, the
value of the concessions the hotel earns after it has re-opened will flow only through the accounts that are ring-fenced solely for the purpose of reducing the Government’s exposure to the guaranteed loan. I think this is
so important for us because, yes, there has been talk and there has been quotes by others that say that this
Government is not necessarily fiscally prudent. But to present a Bill like this shows that we are, as a govern-ment, being fiscally prudent about the people’s money.
And so, I commend the Government for this. I
am so glad that the Minister is bringing this particular Bill to the Senate C hambers today. And also, then just
to refocus on the bigger picture and about the jobs and not wanting to necessarily make people think that there is not going to be enough Bermudians working there. I
am so glad that Senator Dill mentioned Donna Harvey
Maybury having been hired there, a well experienced
person in the business community as well as, in partic-ular, HR. And some of the things that she has said that her team is doing and will be doing, it is just wonderful
to see that, you know, there is so much focus on getting
good Bermuda talent and the right Bermuda talent. And


Bermuda Senate I commend the group for hiring her and her team because they are focused on the big prize which is to create more jobs for Bermudians. So, I am looking forward
to it.
And Madam President, I am one of those sitting
here . . . not too many people can probably say this, but
I remember when there was no hotel there. So now I am sort of showing my age, but I remember when there
was no hotel there. I remember that we used to go to
Sonesta Beach [Resort] . And some do not even remember Sonesta Beach because that [has been]
knocked down now. But I remember when there was
no hotel there and I remember when the hotel was
starting to be built. And it was just exciting to see. And
it was just wonderf ul how that hotel evolved over the
years.
And like Senator Dill said, you know, whether it
be entertainment being able to have the ability to come
back and the fact that the Jasmine Lounge will be reopened again (and I know every Bermudian would love
to be able to go up to the Jasmine Lounge) and then just other eating facilities and, of course, the Beach
Club. So, in the bigger scheme, yes, I support this Bill,
but even in this specific scheme of us being able to
show that we are, as a Government, being f iscally prudent with the belt and braces that this particular Bill
brings. I am in full support of the Bill.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Leslie Robinson.
Senator the Honourable O. K. Darrell, Spokesperson for the Cabine t, Government Leader and Minister in the Senate, you have the floor.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. And I do
appreciate the comments that were made by all in sup-port of this.
Once again, lik e the other Bills that have come,
it is very heartening to hear that the Government is doing great work. And we are all in support of moving
things forward so that all of Bermuda can start to benefit
from the work that this Progressive Labour Party is actually doing and not just saying they are going to do.
So, Madam President, with that said, I would like to just
go back on a few things.
This Bill in particular applies to the hotel redevelopment —the hotel redevelopment. And if condos
are used by the hotel, the Hotel Occupancy Tax will be
paid and those will be subject to the rebate.
Land tax will apply to all properties owned by
Westend Properties. (I think that came up.)
To Senator Wight’s point, contractional terms
between the parties are not for legis lation. Those form
part of the agreements between those parties. And I
would go on record and say it is actually not correct that we do not have any leverage in this with the Bill that is
before the agreement, as the agreement cannot be
signed before the l aw establishes the rebate structure. You cannot agree to something that is not yet in the
law. So, I hope that clears up what Senator Wight was
discussing.
To the point of this Bill and what it will do to get
us over the line as far as getting this hotel open . . . you
know, yes, I do also remember, Madam President, that
you have family members as well that have been directly part of this hotel and are looking forward to the
opening of it. Many of my colleagues in another place
in another industry can talk about and give you long
stories about the days when this area in Southampton was a vibrant place for tourism whether you were running down the hill to Sonesta, up to the lighthouse, over
to the reefs or back over to Southampton Princess. It
was definitely, I guess, a one- mile radius that was vibrant with hotels, attractions, restaurants and even some recreational activities if we include the beach, tennis courts —all of which the tourists and Bermudian
workforce are looking forward to getting back in the fray
as soon as possible.
With that said, Madam President, I am happy
to move that the Bill entitled the Fairmont Southampton
Hotel Act 2023 be now read a second time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I now
move that [Standing Order] 26 be suspended in respect
of this Bill.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I do
move that the Bill entitled the Fairmont Southampton
Hotel Act 2023 be now read a third time.

The President: Is there any objection to the third reading?
No objection.

BILL

THIRD READING

FAIRMONT SOUTHAMPTON HOTEL ACT 2023

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I now move that the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill entitled
the Fairmont Southampton Hotel Act 2023 do now
pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
420 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report
Ber muda Senate No objection. The Bill is passed.
[Mot
ion carried: The Fairmont Southampton Hotel Act
2023 was read a third time and passed.]
Th
e President: Thank you, Minister. And thank you, all
Senators.
Senators, we are now moving on with our
agenda.
MOTIONS
Th
e President: There are none.
CONGRATULATORY AND/OR
OBITUARY SPEECHES
Th
e President: Would any Senator care to speak on
this? We are now on Congratulatory and/or . . . sorry.
Senator Ben Smith, I didn’t . . . You have the
floor.
Sen. B en S mith: Thank y ou, Ma dam President.
Madam President, I would like to give congratulatory remarks for both of the CARIFTA teams that
have been selected—t he athletics CARIFTA team and
the CARIFTA Swim Team that will be heading out to
CARIFTA next week. I wish both teams much success
and hope that we can see some medals in the near future. So, best of luck to both of those teams.
Thank y ou, Madam P resident.
The P resident: Thank y ou, [Senator] .
Would any other S enator c are to s peak on
Congratulator y and/or O bituary S peeches?
Senator Dill, I see your hand.

Thank you,
Madam President.
I would just like to first of all take the opportunity to extend congratulations to the Bermuda Parliamentary Prayer [Breakfast] group who on yesterday afternoon presented a luncheon where they celebrated
four individuals in our community who have made a t remendous impact for parliamentarians. They honoured
the Honourable Walter Roberts, the Honourable Ottiwell Simmons, the Honourable John Barritt, and posthumously, the Honourable Arthur Hodgson. It was a
wonderful celebration, which was also an opportunity to
educate those who were present on the history of these
four statesmen and the impact that they have made in
this community. So, I would just like to thank the Parliamentary Prayer [Breakfast] group who are a group of
individuals who come together to pray for all of us who are engaged in the parliamentary process and over the
years have continued to encourage, to provide wisdom and to certainly highlight the contribution of individuals who work for our people in the service of our people.
I w
ould also like to, Madam President, take this
opportunity to offer condolences to the family of Mr.
John Simmons. Mr. Simmons is a former policeman
who rose up the ranks. And he certainly has served as a role model in this community. He was also a devout Christian who was one of the founders of the White Hill
Gospel [Chapel]. And he certainly has left a great leg-acy as a strong man, a devoted husband, father, grandfather and just one who sought to lift up others during
his lifetime. So, we certainly offer our sincere c ondolences to his family. And may his legacy continue.
The President: Thank you, Senator Dill.
Senator Lindsay Simmons, you have the floor.
Se
n. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I just want to congratulate
the community and executive committee members of
the Pig’s Field. Not too long ago, I believe it was April 10, 2021, the Pig’s Field was set on fire by an arsonist. And they came together and reopened the field, and it looks beautiful. So, I want to thank especially Power Girl, Patrina O’Connor and the Minister Walter
Roban for getting it done with their team to get the Pig’s
Field back and operational for the children in the area.
Thank you, Madam President.
Th
e President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons.
Senator Leslie Robinson, you have the floor.
Se
n. Leslie Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
On this past Friday evening, I had the pleasure
of attending the Bacardi Shake Your Future launch
event. And this was an initiative between Bacardi as well as the workforce development in Bacardi’s desire
to want to have some Bermudians —young Bermudians—to go ahead and train to be bartenders and mixologists out in the UK and to get professional training
per the European Bartender School. So, on Friday
night, I was happy to present the awardees. And I will say that there were over 100 applicants, and these
were the seven that were chosen: Sahlay Govia, Kierra
Lee, Sarzjae Minors, Seth Somner, Detre Virgil, Kneiko Brimmer and Dante Trott. And it was just wonderful, Madam President, to meet with all of these young peo-ple, for them to be speaking about their desire to not only go abroad and learn from the best in the business
but to also then be able to come back and make an
impact. And so, today, even with the passing of the Fairmont Bill, it is just one step towards even their
dreams becoming a reality. So, we wish them well. They will be leaving this week for their training pro-gramme. And again, we thank Bacardi for stepping out
and pushing this initiative.


Bermuda Senate Thank you.

The P resident: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator . . . Senator John
Wight, you have the floor.

Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
I was saddened this morning to learn of the
passing of Sinclair White. Sinclair was the CEO of the
Financial [Intelligence] Agency for many years, and I
was on the board of directors of the organisation, so I got to know him well over that period. And he was a
lovely gentleman, very good at his job, very personable. So, I would like to offer my condolences to the family.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Wight.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
Congratulatory [and Obituary]? Senator Arianna Hodgson, you have the floor.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
I did want to extend condolences to the family
of the man who passed over the weekend. I would also
like to say that my thoughts are with those who have
had to experience the tragedy that took place this weekend.
I would like to join Senator Di ll in her recognition of the Bermuda Parliamentary Prayer [Breakfast] group who put together an excellent luncheon. I actually and definitely enjoyed myself. The luncheon, as she had mentioned, was intended to celebrate the lives of my grandfather Arthur H odgson and three men who
I would consider his friends, my uncle Ottiwell Sim-mons, John Barritt (who I have gotten an opportunity to develop a relationship with recently) and also Mr. Walter Roberts.
And it was just great to be in the room with people who understood, I guess, the work that we are trying
to advance now. I guess as one of the younger persons
in the L egislature, it often feels lonely to be the one who
is supposed to speak, I guess, in support of . . . you
know, from the young people’s perspecti ve. And so, I
was encouraged over the weekend to make sure that I
share, I guess, the work and welcome people into the
room when there are, I guess, opportunities to be in the
room. During one of my grandfather’s birthdays celebrations, he expressed frustr ation that he found his
people getting in the room but not making the change
and the impact that he wished to see. So, I feel called
to continue to the work. I feel encouraged. He also
wished that I had more opportunities to actually speak
with the members who came before me to learn from
their experiences, to understand their ways . And I am
just grateful to have been in the room on Sunday.
I know I am going to be followed by our Minister
of Youth, Culture and Sport who will celebrate, I guess, all of the v ictories over the weekend. So, I will leave it
there, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson.
Senator Leslie Robinson, I see your hand. You
have the floor.
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Very similar to my colleague
Senator Hodgson, and I do not want to steal Minister
Darrell’s thunder, but I would like to comment just very
briefly on the wonderful —

The President: Senator Robinson, sorry to interrupt. I
think you spoke already, and I missed seeing Senator
Tucker. So, if you have a comment, I think it is fair to
let—

Sen. Robin Tucker: Madam President, no. I am fine.
Thank you. I was not motioning to speak.
The President: All right.
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you.
The President: Senator Robinson, carry on. Are you
associating yoursel f with comments?

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Yes.

The President: Carry on. I’m sorry.

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
I would like to just congratulate the Ministry of
Youth, Culture and Sport as well as the national sta-dium executive for putting on such a beautiful, beautiful
presentation up at the national stadium this past Saturday when we had the Concacaf games betwee n Bermuda and Guyana. It was just a lovely day. And I am sure that the Minister will comment on it.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
Congratulatory and/or Obituary?
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I
would like to take this opportunity.
Madam President, I would like to start, unfortunately, on a sad note. And I would like to pass condo-lences to the family of Mr. Mark Colinwood, also known
as Colin Basden. Mr . Basden is the late husband to Ms.
Beverly Basden. And I know two of his daughters quite
well. He was the father to Ms . Colita Cook -Shillingford.
Some people may not recognise her last name now,
but Ms. Cook -Shillingford is a former Miss Bermuda.
Also, Mr . Basden was the father to Miss Tsehay Lambert, as well as his third daughter (good friend of mine),
Miss Tiiu Basden, and also the father to Mr. Marques
Basden. So, those who knew Mr. Basden would know
422 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate that he was an avid golfer, would often be seen on the
golfing circuit, as I call it. And he was also . . . although
I never met him personally, I can tell you that he was an excellent cook. And you may say, How do you know
that?
Well, I have tasted his cooking and I can tell
you that when food is thrown down like that, it only
comes from one person, and that is either your mother
or your father. So, I can tell you that Mr. Basden was
an excellent cook and definitely, in the world of sports,
was well known in the sport of golf. So, I would like to pass condo lences on to his family, his children as well
as his wife.
On a happier note, many who follow me would
know that I had a very busy weekend of work, Madam
President. And I tell people all the time, when you love
what you do, it never ever feels like work. But I was happy to be out in the community this weekend. And I
would like to congratulate and touch on many of the
events that I actually attended this weekend. And I will
work backwards, Madam President.
First, late last evening, I attended the Bermuda
Motorsports Hall of Fame. And what this entails,
Madam President, is the Bermuda Power Boat Associ-ation, the Bermuda Motocross [Club], the Bermuda Karting Club, as well as the Bermuda Motorcycle Racing [Club]. And they have gotten together by three or-ganisers, Ms. Takera Dill, Mr. Scott Barnes, and Mr. Ras Mykkal. And they had a previous hall of fame induction class of 2019 where they inducted 40 members
into this hall of fame. And after a couple of dormant years due to circumstances out of their control, th ey
had another induction ceremony last night where they inducted 20 new members from the Power Boat Asso-ciation, the [Bermuda] Motocross Club, the [Bermuda]
Karting Club and the [Motorcycle] Racing Club. I am not going to call all of the members that were inducted, but
they now have 60 total members in the hall of fame.
And it was very, very enlightening for me to sit
and listen to . . . and I will just call one, Mr. Eddie
Roque, who many people would know as a long- time
President of the Power Boat Association and former
racer. Just listening to the stories that he and others were able to tell about how they were racing back in the 1970s and 1980s and how motorsports is definitely a
large part of the culture and sporting community of Bermuda. So, I want to congratulate them.
Also, working back, I want to congratulate the
Paget Lions football club. Many people would not have
bet that Paget Lions would have won the first division
league at the beginning of the season, but they did do
so by beating Wolves in a very exciting and well -attended encounter in St. George’s yesterday. So, congratulations to all of the players and executives of the
Paget Lions football club.
And I must point this out because I know my
family members who have been in the community for a long time, my mom, as they say, Back o’ Town are exciting that the Social Club Bluebirds have also gained promotion to the premier league yesterday. So, congratulations to Paget winning the league and Social
Club also being promoted. So, congratulations to them.
I attended a pickleball tournament. We talked
about pickleball on Friday. And I am excited to an-nounce that the Pickleball Association Bermuda is Bermuda’s newest National Sports Governing Body. And
they invited me to a tournament that they had at Pomander Gate. It was packed. And as we speak, we are
putting courts at the W.E.R. Joell Tennis Stadium. So,
pickleball, Madam Presiden t, as I mentioned before, is
going to be a sport that is going to be exploding on the
scene in Bermuda.
I will save probably the biggest event that I attended over the weekend, and that was the Bermuda
football team taking on Guyana. Unfortunately, the result, Madam President, did not go how all Bermudians
would have liked for it to go, but the stadium was
packed. It was good to see under vibrant sunshine,
Madam President, that our team performed well. We
were able to showcase many of the up- and-coming
young talent in Bermuda that we may not often get to see because they are playing their talents overseas in
England and elsewhere.
It was good. If you have been on any social
media to see . . . if it was his final game, Madam President, it was good to see how the crowd reacted, and
especially young people, to their hero, Mr. Nahki Wells.
So, well done to the BFA for putting on that match. Unfortunately, again, the result did not go our way. But I
think that the future of Bermuda football and the support
that c omes with it from our community is looking bright
for Bermuda.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Minister Darrell.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
No. Then I would just like to associate myself
with all those who have spoken o n the Parliamentary
Breakfast and the honourees who were acknowledged
and recognised. It was a wonderful occasion. And it
was very well attended as well. So, it was an excellent
occasion.
I would like to associate myself with John
Wight’s comments on the condolences for the family of Sinclair White, whom I also knew.
With that, I revert to Minister Owen Darrell for
adjournment.

ADJOURNMENT

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I do
now ask that the Senate do adjourn until Wednesday,
May 10, 2023.

The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
the motion to adjourn?


Bermuda Senate Senator Lindsay Robinson, you have the floor
. . . Simmons. Senator Lindsay Simmons, I do apologise.

MURDER AND VIOLENCE IN BERMUDA—IF YOU
KNOW SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam President, I am not going to be long today.
Madam President, I just want to talk about
something that has happened over the last couple of
weeks that is very disturbing to me. I believe it was just
about a week ago that a video went around of some
violence that happened on our street. And you hear in
the video a mother speaking to her child who witnessed
this action. And then on Saturday morning, the murder
of the young man, [and] the U9 football team was
around when this happened.
Madam President, we have become so desensitised to what we are doing in front of our children . . .
our children are going to need therapy for what they are witnessing. We need to understand that not only are we
killing our own people, but we d o not even care who is
around anymore. You know, murders . . . like I said, I
just spoke about this last week. I just spoke about [at
one time] murders were few and far between, and now
it is just, Oh, someone else has passed. And it is affecting our peopl e. It is affecting them deeply.
I don’t know many people around my circle who
are not affected personally by someone who has been murdered. I just spoke about this, I believe on Thurs-day. But honestly, I want to say it again. We need to put
our feelings aside and speak up. Let the people who are in charge of protecting us —the police— [know] . Tell
somebody. Because people know what is going on.
People know who are doing these murders. People know where the guns are and stuff like that. So, we need to stop and realise that soon we are going to have
very few Black men. I am sorry to say it, but it is our
Black men who are dying. There will be very few Black
men to pick from because if they are not locked up,
Madam President, they are being murdered. So, we
need to put our people first.
Honestly, Madam President, I feel that we are
not raising our children the way that we should. Back in the day, if I got in trouble at school, before I got home
our neighbour found out about it, my aunty found out
about it, my old er sister gave me a lecture about it. Everybody was involved in raising our children. Now, I can personally speak on knowing that parents are telling their children not to play with other children. I mean
where does this come from?
If there is a problem, the village needs to come
together and fix the problem. All this not-my child or Iwill-take- care- of-my-own- child, that is not reality,
Madam President. It takes all of us to come together
and put our children first. A mother takes nine months
to carry a child in most cases to protect and love that
child. Nobody wants their child to be murdere d. I don ’t know anybody who really wants their child to be in Westgate either. But Madam President, we have a responsibility as a community —a small community at
that—to look out for our brothers and our sisters.
And it is not just the males, Madam President.
It is the females, as well , who know what is going on
and keep quiet. All this glitz and glamour of fast money is hurting our population. We have a decline in [the]
birth rate, but we have a bigger problem with our males especially getting locked up. Most of . . . well, I wouldn’t
say most , a good portion of my generation has been
locked up or murdered. I remember when the murders
first started, and it was on 42
nd. I used to drive through
42nd every day —every day. And it was one murder after
another. At first it was hard to swallow but now it is just,
another person is dead. And I know personally, it bothers me. And it should bother more people so that we
stand up for our people and say enough is enough.
As I brought up before, when Dellwood did their
campaign , we need to run that again. Those young
people wrote that themselves and they listed all those murders that happened when they made the film. And
then if they had to redo that film, how many more
names would be added to that, Madam President? And
for somebody to stab somebody to death, it is personal,
Madam President. I could not imagine cutting some-body, let alone killing somebody with your own hands.
So, Madam President, I implore that we all stop
turning our heads [but instead] speak up. I know it is
easier said than done. But the more people talk about it, the more we realise that we have a problem —a huge
problem. Then, Madam President, a change will start to
happen. But we just push it underneath the rug and say, Oh, that ’s not my family member. Everybody wants a
picture or a name —who was it ; who was it —just to be
in the know. But Madam President, people are hurting on both sides. People are hurting and people are getting beat up over drugs and money. At some point,
Madam President, we have to take back the streets.
We have t o put our foot down and we have to be the
change that Bermuda needs.
So, Madam President, with that said, I hope
that we all, including myself , and I know my colleagues
in here on both sides , including yourself, Madam President, would love to see Bermuda reunite and become the safest place.
And one more thing before I end. I actually
have dual citizenship, Madam President. And I remember asking my mom years ago, Mama, why did you
choose to rai se us in Bermuda? And she said, It was
the safest place I could raise my four girls. And I think
if my mother had me now, we might have moved to a
part of Connecticut and live d there in a quiet little neighbourhood, and I would not have been able to embrac e
Bermuda as it was. So, I want to get back to where we
were because we are not far from there. We just have to do our part. Everybody has a part to play.
Thank you, Madam President.

424 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Robin Tucker, you have the floor.

SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILDREN

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
Senator Simmons and I, I think, are definitely
on the same page today. I actually first of all want to
say th at I fully concur with her comments and thank her
for making them here today. I do think that murder , violence and some of the other things that she mentioned
are some of the very symptoms of the great ills that are
happening within our society and that we do need to
talk about them and actually be that village that she mentioned.
Madam President, as I said, I want to talk about
something that is a little similar to what she was talking
about. There are lots of colloquialisms and sayings that
circulate in Bermuda. Most Bermudians around my age
have been told at least once in their lives that what hap-pens in the house stays in the house. And if it has not been said directly, we know somebody who it was said
to. I am unsure whether the saying is as common in the
White community as it is in the Black community. But
for those who do not know what it means, it means do not air our dirty laundry in the community.
Madam President, not airing dirty laundry
meant that you could not tell anyone from the outside if
there was some kind of abuse going on in the house,
whether it was alcohol or other substances or sexual or
domestic violence or domestic abuse, incest or some-thing similar. The secret could have related to a family member suffering from mental illness, for instance, or the family was in financial difficulties and did not want
anyone to know, so you got told, What goes on in the
house stays in the house.
Madam President, while we were taught to
keep these family secrets, the warning that instructed
us to keep family secrets spread to our broader community. So, one would ask why I would bring this up today. I do so because like domestic violence, domestic abuse and others, another taboo subject is sexual abuse. It is a secret that very few want to talk about, b ut
we have to.
SCARS, in partnership with the Bermuda
Health Council, conducted a survey back in November 2017 which involved 5,000 past participants of the SCARS prevention training programme, and over 700 of those people who participated responded. Here is some interesting information from the survey findings from that 2017 report. According to the Bermuda Health
Council findings, which provide the most current (at that
time) national rates on child sexual abuse for Bermuda, several statistics for Bermuda aligned with other countries around the world, which is staggering considering we are a small town on the world stage. One in three adult residents of Bermuda reported being the victim of
sexual abuse before the age of 18. The majority of victims knew their abuser and
classified them as either family, friend or neighbour.
Among the victims, only 41 per cent of those people who were victimised disclosed to anyone that they were [abused], and the majority of those disclosed this at
least 25 years following the abuse. Imagine how painful
that is, if we allow our minds just for a minute to be traumatised as a child and carry that pain and trauma with us. And we wonder why we see the symptoms.
Some of the symptoms that Senator Simmons
mentioned, some of the symptoms that we see in terms of our community impacts are as a result of these types
of things. Not all. I want to make that clear. I am not
saying all. But these are some of the symptoms be-cause people need a way to be able to express and get things out. R ight?
Madam President, 9 per cent of the victims
identified as females. With this survey . . . and of
course, the other 10 per cent identified as males just to
close that point. With the 2017 survey data in mind, I also want to draw attention to the fact t hat during the
2022 Budget Debates, it was noted by the Minister of
Social Development and Seniors in her report that
there had been an increase in referrals for some categories of sexual abuse. Details that I found in the 14
th
of March 2022 Official Hansard Report from another
place show that there were 124 referrals in 2020 and
19[7] cases referred in 2021. It was also said . . . and
this hurt my heart. It was also said that child- on-child
sexual abuse or sexualised behaviour increased signif-icantly from 69 cases in 2020 to 106 in 2021, which equals 56 per cent of the total number of sexual abuse
referrals.
Madam President, I want to make the point that
we know Bermuda has a problem and I want to stress
that Bermuda has a problem. Madam President, the
2017 Bermuda Health Council survey report and the re-ported data that I just mentioned taken from the [14]
March 2022 Hansard shows that there is significant
concern [about] the prevalence of sexual abuse in Bermuda. There are charities and others who have been sounding the alarm and there have been some who have taken action.
It is great, fantastic to know that, for instance,
SCARS training has been made mandatory for some —
quite a few actually —occupations. One thing that I was
not aware of , but I became aware of is that following
some training that was taken by some teachers in 2019, some of the teachers had asked for window panels to
be installed in their doors to allow for greater transpar-ency in the classrooms and to reduce risk. That was following things that they learned from their training, an
outcome that they have gotten from their training, which
is very good.
I think that there is always more that we can
do, but I think that this particular topic is one in which we have to keep the conversation going. As I men-tioned, the last time I spoke, there are a number of resources and there is a lot of conversation that is taking


Bermuda Senate place. But since it is such a taboo topic, people tend to
shy away from it. We have to keep talking. We have to
keep the initiatives going. We have to keep supporting
those who are keeping the conversations going because naturally, it is an uncomfortable thing, but it is
necessary.
Children are exposed, and the impact of sexual
abuse for most has a long- lasting negative impact. And
symptoms of one being abused can result in so many
different ways. We all have the opportunity to lend a
hand to protect the future generations and to help those who are struggling from the effects of being sexually
abused. And the first thing is to encourage . . . which I
would encourage anybody who has been sexually
abused and has not dis closed it, to muster up the courage to speak up.
If one has been sexually abused, they must understand and know that it is not their fault. It is nothing
that they have done. It is something that the person
who has abused them has done. And I pray that if anyone is listening to me today and finds themselves in that
situation, who is trapped by the symptoms and the impacts of not having had the opportunity or taken the opportunity to speak up, that they find the courage to
speak up, to tell someone, call one of the charities that assists, tell a trusted friend who can provide some support and some help.
When it comes to personal safety, Madam
President, our children, and broadly all of our people,
should know that what goes on in the house should
never stay in the house when it impacts personal
safety.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Ben Smith, Opposition Leader [in the
Senate] , you have the floor.

COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY AS AN ISLAND

Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, firstly I would like to thank
both Senator Simmons and Senator Tucker for the message that they are giving on this last [sitting] before
we break before Easter. I think it is important that the
community understands that although we sit on different sides of the political divide, there are issues that are well above politics, and it is important that we get that message to our community. So, as we are heading into
the Easter break and a time for our families to be together and for our commu nities to be together, I think it
is the perfect time for us to have that kind of conversation. I think the message that I would like to give is collective responsibility as an Island. We as a community are going to have to take responsibility for the acti ons
of our neighbours, of our loved ones, of our family, of
our friends. And what I mean by that is that usually at this
time when we break between the sessions, we come
back and we have to give condolences and we have to
remark on things that have happene d in that period that
are not of natural causes. There are more murders;
there is more violence; there are more deaths on our
roads —things that we can prevent. And Madam President, that means that if you know somebody who you
know is speeding at excess, dr iving dangerously on a
regular basis, say something. Talk to them. But if you do not think that your conversation with them is chang-ing their behaviour, you might have to take it further
than that, because I believe that if you are a friend of
that person, you would rather have the opportunity to
talk to them in the future than to have them die on the roads.
It is the same thing when it comes to our people
who are involved in antisocial behaviour. In many
cases we know who they are. We know what they are
doing and [the effect that] the destructive behaviour is
having on them, on their family and on their friends. You need to take the opportunity to talk to them and say,
This behaviour is only going to lead you to either being
incarcerated or losing your lif e. And if you know that
there is a behaviour that you can prevent, it is important
that we tell the authorities so that behaviour can be prevented.
Madam President, I would like to thank all Senators for their hard work that they did over this last session, specifically going through the B udget Debate. And
I would like to wish everybody a happy Easter season
and hope that we can come back with not as many of
the negative stories that we have had to say in the past and that everyone has a happy and healthy period
while we break. Please take care of your neighbours.
Please take care of your family. And take heed of the
messages that Senator Simmons and Senator Tucker
gave today when it comes to protecting our people from
violence and protecting our people from sexual and domestic violence. It is important that we take care of
each other. That is the only way we will move forward.
It is going to be the unity of our community.
Thank you for this opportunity, Madam President. And happy Easter to you. Thank you.

The President: Thank you Senator Ben Smith, Opposition Leader [in the Senate] .
Would any other Senator care to speak at this
time?
Hearing none . . . sorry , Senator Arianna
Hodgson, were you wanting to speak on the motion to
adjourn?
[Crosstalk]
The President: Everybody wants to speak, which is a
good sign.
Senator Dill, you have the floor.

426 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda Senate THE POWER OF WORDS

Thank you,
Madam President. Thank y ou.
I just wanted to certainly reflect also listening to
the speeches of my Senate colleagues and also being
deeply grieved in my spirit this weekend regarding the
murder that took place in Somerset, but more importantly, the impact that this altercation that took place
in the presence of children who are already having t o
be counselled and are dealing with the trauma of having witnessed such cruelty. And I thought a bit about
what I recently heard on a podcast. They were talking
about things that have become normalised in society
today. And one of the things that I thought about was
the power of words and how there are things that have
become normalised in society that actually have an impact on our youth.
The way that people will impute ill intent to our
leaders, the way that people are so free to speak negatively in pub lic about individuals who have been
elected to serve or are just basically . . . you know, Bermuda is not like everywhere else in the world. You
know, when we talk about . . . even if we talk about our
media outlets. And it has been so surprising to me in
the period that I have served in the L egislature that
sometimes I will see or hear something in the public
domain, and I will wonder, Well, where did that come
from and when did that happen?
You know, there are things that are sometimes
reported by some of our media outlets that are untrue.
They appear to be very poorly researched, have soundbites, are decontextualised, and stories are sensationalised. And these are put out there in the public domain
and in a community where, before, when we were coming up, our parents and those who instructed us conducted themselves in a manner that showed respect to
individuals. And they ensured that things were truthful
and that, you know, there were things that you just
would not say about individuals in public. And we held
our leaders in high esteem. And now we find that we
are in a community where people feel that it is okay to
spread stories, spread lies, basically just irrespective of
the impact of their words on people.
There are two proverbs that I can bring to mi nd
this morning. And one of them is in Proverbs [18:21]
that says, “Death and life are in the power of the
tongue.” And the other one is Proverbs 12:18 that says,
“There is one that speaks rashly like the thrusts of the
sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”
Even as Senator Smith talked about, as we go
into this Easter season, earlier today I talked about how
this will be the second time in my lifetime that I saw
something, you know, when I talked about the Fairmont
Southampton. But when I was a teenager, I remember
(and I reflect on it often) following the period that had
been very dismal for Bermuda where we had had the
assassination of a Governor and then we had had the
hanging of two young Black men and how there was a heaviness. But there was a group of men that came.
And I did a bit of research on it to try to get a little bit of
history of what it was about. But it was something that
they did.
These were gentlemen that I came to know,
Mr. Brock was one of them from the Rotary [Club in]
Bermuda. And they came, and they went into each of the schools. They brought posters and they talked to us about the power of words and the importance of us to ask four questions when we speak or when we write something. And the four questions that they suggested that we ask . . . and I am told, and understanding the
history of this the person who put this forward was a gentleman, a businessman who inherited a company that was in trouble. And [there] was low morale, et cetera. And he employed these four questions whenever they would do something, say something, publish something. And the four questions are:
1.Is it the truth?
2.Is it fair to all concerned?
3.Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
4.Will it be beneficial to all concerned?And I am going to repeat them. Number one, Is
it the truth? We cannot get out there talking about, I think this ; and I heard that. Is it the truth?
Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill
and better friendships? And will it be beneficial to all concerned?
This was something that they took from one
end of the Island to the other. They put up posters. They encouraged us as young people to employ wis-dom and grace as we encountered one another. And together we worked to rebuild our community, to speak positivity over the things that were yet on the horizon. And we emerged from that period victorious.
It is my prayer that as we go into this Easter
season we too will experience in Bermuda the resur-rective power that is all of ours to embrace if we would watch what we say, love on one another, and most im-portantly, set an example that our children can follow.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Dill.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Arianna Hodgson, you have the floor.
APPRECIATION FOR THE BUDGET PROCESS
Se
n. Arianna Hodgson: I thank you, Madam President. I am not going to be too long today. But I did want to pause to congratulate the Government and thank all persons for their involvement in this year’s budget process.
As the Junior Minister of Finance, I was able to
gain a better understanding of the budget process, how
it all comes together, you know, not just the Ministers or the budget office but the teams within each Ministry, our Permanent Secretaries [PSs], heads of departBermuda Senate ments, comptrollers, and all those persons who contribute to the budget process. We have talked about it before, and you know we kicked off the pre- budget consultation process back in December. We had the op-portunity t o connect with industry stakeholders, to connect with members of our community, and for us as the
Government to just connect internally in terms of what
we thought the Government’s priorities ought to be in
this next fiscal year.
But I would like to thank all of those who are
involved. I think that it had become just an activity that
is pushed out and we adjust the numbers for inflation,
and we keep going. But the budget process that we see
now requires much more collaboration and input from
a number of persons.
In this year’s budget, I am pleased particularly
that we have been able to emphasise our commitment
to really continue the economic growth that we have
seen over the past year, not to say that there are not
challenges, not to say that our people ar e not struggling
and that they are not feeling the impacts of where we
are today. But we are looking to move beyond where
we are. And [in] this year’s budget, as you all know, the
highlight for us has been the fact that we have been
able to reduce payroll tax not only for 86 per cent of
businesses but for 86 per cent of our workforce. And
while we can go back and forth on the particulars, this is a huge feat, and it is something that I am particularly proud of.
When we initially came out and asked for recommendations and feedback on our initial proposals,
the initial relief was not touching so many persons . So
I am pleased that we were able to extend the relief to 86 per cent of our workers.
Again, we have talked a lot about the debt,
what that means, and how it impacts government services and staff, and not just our Government but the public at large. You know, both the public and private
sector are highly impacted by the economy and the state of the economy. So yes, we are increasing revenues, but we are also proud to be decreasing deficits
and actually being able to be in a place [where] we are
able to pay down the debt that currently exists.
And again, it depends on the headline, but I am
proud that this Government has made the steps to in-vest I guess the highest capital expenditure that we
have seen in 13 years. And I guess the talking point
would be, Hey, we are spending more money. But I
think it is important that Bermudians recognise how essential this investment is in our infrastructure. It is es-sential for us as Bermudians, you know, the persons
who exist in this space. But it is also important when we
look at attracting investment.
You know, a lot of times we talk about the concerns . But some of the actions that we may make or the
changes that we may roll out might negatively impact
that. But I think it is important that persons know that
Bermuda is the place that recognises that investment
in infrastructure benefits all persons. We hear it all the time. We are extending relief.
We continue to extend relief. We increased the child
day care allowance, and many persons are impacted
by that. We increased funding for care homes, and
again, i t is just one of those necessary investments.
And we heard Senator Simmons speak of it before, but
I am extremely pleased that this Government has introduced a transitional living centre for those young people who are transitioning out of care. We often talk
about the numbers. And although it is not such a great
number, it is a great need. And so, I am pleased and excited to stand behind and support the Minister in her
efforts to provide real relief to people.
I was actually talking with my colleagues. And
you know amongst ourselves even in this Chamber, we
talk about the budget process and whether or not we
can make it easier or more palatable, or just something more enjoyable. And we talk about alternative ways we
can share this information. But one of my colleagues
pointed out the fact that this is the one time of the year
that we actually celebrate the accomplishments of the
Government but also speak to what is to come. And so,
I am sure we can . . . and this is a Government who will
get creative in terms of communication. We have a Min-ister who is always looking for ways to share information. And I believe that we can do even more to highlight the work that is being done within our Government.
I recognise that we are a labour government.
And oftentimes we are criticised, sometimes for how we
spend our money. But I want to reiterate and emphasise the fact that we are a government who is about our
people. And ultimately all the work that we do on both
sides is to improve the lives of our people, of our Bermudian people.
When I listen to my peers, they actually say
they are frustrated with all the back and forth. They do not want to hear who did what. They just want to hear
what is to come, what are some things they can be excited about. And again, I recognise the time that we are
in. I recognise the negative impacts of the increased
cost of living, the fact that we have just come out of two
years of a pandemic. These are all real life occurrences
that hav e had a huge impact on our people. And so,
while I recognise that things are not always as sunny as we would like them to be, also they are not as bad as they could be.
I have spent a lot of time thinking about politics
and this idea that we spend a lot of time attacking each other. And I thought about how I can speak about my frustration as a young person without attacking. What I
recognise is that what is most important to me is the
fact that when we are forced to take taxpayers’ monies
to satisfy deals that were not in the best interest of our
people, our education system suffers. Our health care
system suffers. Our infrastructure suffers. I do not think
it is important to place the blame anywhere, but I want
us to be more cognisant of the fact that when we make
poor choices with our money, there are persons who
are impacted.
428 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate And while I do not have some of the same anger of my family members, my peers, [or] my colleagues, I am more disappointed that persons do not
do a better job at highlighting the goodness that does
exist in Bermuda. A lot of times it is hard for us to see all that we are blessed to have in Bermuda. But there
are persons who then can come and arrive in Bermuda,
and they can speak highly of our people, how kind they
are, [and] how beaut iful our roads are. I mean, you
know, we complain about garbage and some of those elements, but we have a lot to be proud of in Bermuda.
And so, again, I am thankful to all of those who
participated in this year’s budget process. As we prepare to go on our Easter break, I would like everybody
to be mindful, to be safe, to be cautious, but to take
some time to spend some time with our families. And
even in this room . . . and I thought about it yesterday
at the Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast group luncheon.
I think we each have a responsibility, you know, Each
One, Teach One. Each One, B ring One. And so, I want
to encourage each person to find a young person. [I am] not sure if you want to use the Royal Gazette as a
starting point, but talk about the changes that we are
making as a Government, talk about the impact, and just have more conversations that get persons in-volved, but also excited about the future.
Thank you, Madam President.

[Desk thumping]
The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson.
Would any other Senator care to speak at this?
Minister Owen Darrell, you have the floor.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, thank
you. And—
[Crosstalk]
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Sorry.
[Crosstalk]
The President: Okay. Senator Robinson. Sor ry I did
not see you, but you certainly have the floor.

WISHES FOR A HAPPY AND HEALTHY
EASTER SEASON
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
I just want to wish all of us out there a beautiful
Easter, Good Friday season and holiday season, and
festive time. We often say that Jesus is the reason for
the Christmas season, but those of us who profess to
be Christians and know the Lord Jesus Christ is their
personal saviour know also that Jesus is the reason for
the Easter season as well.
Even [for] those of us who may not know
Christ, who may even be part of other religions, it would not be a bad thing for us to look at doing some random
acts of kindness during this period when we do take
time out to celebrate, whether [or not] it be with our fam-ilies. And we can do just simple things like getting our
children involved with making the hot cross buns and fish cakes, sharing recipes with family members, and/or
helping our kids with their kite making—not just allowing them to do it in school or do it in their church groups,
community clubs, et cetera, but go with them and help
them with making their kites.
And it could be that maybe some of us know
some of our seniors in the community. And maybe during this period, we might want to put together Easter baskets and other things just to let them know that we
care about them. But I challenge us as Bermudians,
even during this festive occasion when we are going to
enjoy the company of others and the company of our families, [to] think about others, think about those who
might be less fortunate, [and] think about wanting to
maybe just do a random act of kindness to somebody
and for someone in your neighbourhood.
And I will end my comments with the verses
from John 13:34- 35, which reads, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By
this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you
love one another.”
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Leslie Robinson.
Minister, it is over to you. You have the floor,
Mr. Own Darrell.

PLP FOCUSED ON MOVING BERMUDA FORWARD

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, as we come to a close of
this, what we call budgetary session here in the Senate,
I would just like to remind the listeners, and to double
down on what my Senate colleague said, the Junior
Minister of Finance, Senator Arianna Hodgson, and [to]
thank her for leading our team through this portion of the Budget Debate.
I would like to go back to about a month and a
half ago when the Budget Statement was delivered by
the Progressive Labour Party. And the heading on that
Statement was that it is the Progressive Labour Party’s
Government’s path to economic growth. And with that,
Madam President, we have gone through all the nitty -
gritty details. We have counted up all the pennies, and
in some instances we have allowed politics to creep
into these debates. But as you have heard from my
Senate colleagues behind me, it is very refreshing and
clear that the Progressive Labour Party is focused in
many different areas of moving Bermuda forward. They
are very focused on putting Bermudians in this country
first. And they are focused on continuing to show strong


Bermuda Senate leadership for this country as we move into this Easter
season.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH DURING
EASTER SEASON

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President, before we leave, I would like to also highlight some of the
community organisations that are gearing up for one of
their busiest days of the year. And that is this Good Friday. It happens to be on a very special day this year, April 7. We see throughout the country, from St. David’s right on up to Somerset, where different community organisations and clubs —whether it be sporting
clubs, churches, [or] neighbourhood organisations —
get together, and we see the best of Bermuda offered
on this holiday, Madam President.
I know in my community the Harrington Workmen’s Club, also known as Devil’s Hole Club, put on an
exciting c ricket match at the Smith’s Parish community
field. You know, we can talk about up on the west
where you have the Open Your Heart Foundation, you
know, St. David’s, the Gilbert [Lamb] [Fun] Day down
in St. David’s, which has been popular for years. And I
would like to call out those individuals who, despite the
economic challenges that may be happening, get together and they give away kites to young people. They
have fun events like fish cake competitions, bike races, and cricket matches. And that is like w hat my Senate
colleague behind me just said; it is the best of Bermuda.
So, Madam President, to you, to all Senators
from the Progressive Labour Party, as well as the Senators from the One Bermuda Alliance, as we move into
this Easter season and we take some time to reflect on how we continue to work on behalf of Bermudians,
Madam President, I would like to wish you and every-one a Happy Easter. And we shall see you again in May.
Thank you.

APPRECIATION FOR SENATORS

The President: Thank you, Minister Darrell.
And I would just like to take this opportunity to
thank each and every one of you Senators who occupy this place and what you represent. And I want to thank
you for the hard work that you have done in this last
session. Ther e has been a lot of growth, a lot of understanding of various things, and I really have appreci-ated all that you bring and what you represent. Each one of you has constituents whom you represent, and I
think you have represented them and yourselves very
well. And I thank you for that.
I certainly want to comment as a health professional, as someone who has worked in mental health
for a number of years. I do appreciate the comments that have been made by Senator Lindsay Simmons as
well as Senator Tucker because I have been there and
done it. And it is heartbreaking to see the amount [of stress] that the helping professions and those counsellors and mental health professionals who I have known
. . . I think what they have to go through at this stage is
a mammoth task. And it is absolutely astounding to see the manner [in] which they are having to work now to help heal so many people. So, I just want to reach out
to them, too, and to reiterate your comments that you
have made. And we think of them, and we think of not
only them but also the helping families, the families that
are having to go through it.
Those of you who have spoken—and all of us
here, I think —are very, very concerned about our Island at this stage in terms of the accidents. We are on the road every day ourselves. And sometimes you
reach home, and it is just by . . . you know, I suppose I
share circumstances that you do not because certainly
I have had a few [near] misses myself.
So, I just want to reiterate that it is a trying time
for us in Bermuda. And every day you are looking to
hear what is on the news, and it is heartbreaking to know what families are going through right now. But
nevertheless, we are here. We have done the work that
we have been appointed to do, and as I said, I want to
thank each one of you for what you have done. I have seen so much tremendous growth in each and every
one of you, and I thank you for the support that you
bring.

WISHES FOR A HAPPY AND HEALTHY
EASTER SEASON
The President: It is Easter time, and it is a time of reflection or time for families to remember, as someone
has said, the reason for the season. But Easter is the
time for us to spend time, to reflect on our own lives,
and to enjoy our time with our families.
So, I thank you for the hard work. I thank you
for your support of me. I thank each one of you for what
you bring to this place. And I also want to thank . . .

APPRECIATION FOR THE CLERK, MR. SOMNER

The President: We would not be able to do the work
that we do without our Clerk here. And Mr. Somner, I
want to thank you.

[Desk thumping]

The President: You help us achieve the success that
we do. And I want you to remember always that we are
grateful that you are here with us. And I particularly am
grateful, so I thank you.
So with that, Senators, I wish you all a wonderful Easter in spite of all the issues that surround us.
Take time out to enjoy life, to enjoy your families. And
as has been said, if you can help a brother or someone
near you, do so because that would be appreciated.
So, wit h that we are adjourned now until
May 10. The Senate stands adjourned.
430 27 March 2023 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Thank you.

[At 5:27 pm, the Senate stood adjourned until
10:00 am, Wednesday, 10 May 2023.]