May 25, 2022

One second, Madam President.

The Clerk: Senator Hodgson, you are muted.

BERMUDA MONETARY AUTHORITY ANNUAL
REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED
31
DECEMBER 2021

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I hereby present for the information of Senate
the Annual Report and Account s of the Bermuda
Monetary Authority for the year ended 31 December
2021.

The President: Thank you. You can continue with
your second announcement.

PHARMACY AND POISONS (FOURTH SCHEDULE
AMENDMENT) ORDER 2022

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. I hereby present for the information of Senate
the Pharmacy and Poisons (Fourth Schedule
Amendment) Order 2022 as made by the Minister r espons ible for Health under the provisions of section
48A of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act 1979.
The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson.

NOTICE S OF MOTION S
The President: This is also in the name of Senator
Arianna Hodgson in her role as the Junior Minister of Health.
492 25 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Senator Hodgson, you have the floor.

PUBLIC HEALTH (COVID- 19) EMERGENCY
EXTENSION (NO. 4) ORDER 2022

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, I am pleased to invite this
Honourable Chamber to consider the Order entitled
Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency Extension
(No. 4) Order 2022 .
Madam President, Honourable Senators will
be aware the current public health emergency Order
is scheduled to lapse on the 30th of May 2022. The
emergency orders which have been in place since the
30th of June 2020 following the state of emergency put
into place on the 1st of April 2020 are made pursuant
to section 107A of the Public Health Act 1949 and de-clared that a public health emergency exists in Bermuda due to a communicable disease that poses a
threat to the Island.

The Clerk: Senator Hodgson, you are just reading the
notice of motion right now. So it should just be the
notice of motion.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: I do apologise.
Madam President, I hereby present for the
consideration of Senate the Draft Order entitled the
Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency Extension
(No. 4) Order 2022 proposed to be made by the Mini ster responsible for Health under provisions of section
107A of the Public Health Act 1949. I give notice that at a later point in the meeting I will move that the said
Draft Order be approved.

The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.

PETITIONS

The President: There are none.

STATEMENTS
The President: We have one Statement this morning
and it is in the name of Senator Owen Darrell, the
Junior Minister of Education.
Senator Darrell, you have the floor.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President, good morning
and thank you.

The President: Good morning.

UPDATE ON SCHOOL REFORM —BEYOND
SEPTEMBER 2022
Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President, today I would
like to provide an update to the Senate and the listen-ing public on the tremendous amount of work that is
being done with the Ministry of Education , the D epartment of Education, and the Learning First Pr ogramme.
It was in March that I last provided an update
on the work going on with those groups. But I am
happy to say t hat there is still much work taking place
and great things to report about.

MATH INTERVENTION PROGRAMME

Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President , one of the
three Rs that form the foundation of learning in school
is, of course, “aRithmetic,” more commonly know n as
Maths. While the methods have changed over time,
their importance has not. As important as this core
subject is, what we found was that our students were
not performing at levels that were comparable with their peers around the world.
Madam President , a solution was needed,
and a solution was found. In early 2018, through the efforts of the principal and math teacher at Harrington
Sound Primary School, a school that I am proud to say my children attend, a programme offered through
Primal Academic Innov ations (PAI) was piloted at Ha rrington Sound Primary S chool. The success of this
year-long pilot was noted and in 2019, the Department
of Education contracted Primal Academic Innovations
to deliver a phased mathematics intervention pr ogramme in the public school system. Primal Academic
Innovations Limited has a strong track record of transforming schools that have underachievement in mathematics into becoming centres of mathematics excellence.
Madam President , PAI was tasked to improve
the quality of teachi ng mathematics through training,
resources, support, and leadership development. Their work included:
1. training and coaching of teachers with low-performing classes;
2. curriculum development;
3. assessment of materials for standards -
based grading;
4. guidance to sc hools falling behind due to
COVID -19 restrictions;
5. development of teaching resources;
6. assessment and analysis;
7. guidance to math teacher leaders and
school principals; and
8. monitoring student work to ensure stand-ards increase.
Madam President , the work of PA I has proven
to be exactly what our system needed. From 2019 to
2020 compared to 2020 to 2021, the data has shown
that primary student outcomes have doubled , and in
some cases, tripled. These are outcomes that this
Government wants to see and will continue to build
on.


Bermuda Senate Madam President , this math programme
aligns directly with Education Reform, which is to i ncrease academic rigour and enhance the quality of
teacher practice and systematic leadership. PAI will
continue its great work as the programme expands into our middle schools and senior schools. Over the
next 15 months, starting in September 2022
, this will
include:
1. monitoring, training, and writing analy sis for
supporting the effective delivery of the math
mastery programme;
2. assessment analysis and curriculum modific ation for identifying and closing gaps in student
learning due to COVID -19 and other disruptions;
3. a Math Mastery Summer School to equip Pr imary 3 to Middle 3 teachers with tools to close
the achievement gap in math resulting from
COVID -19;
4. conducting an IGCSE math assessment gap
analysis for all S2 students at the senior
school level;
5. development training for transitioning middle school teacher delivery to signature senior
school curriculum; and,
6. develop a cadre of strong mathematics teac hers as experts in the subject knowledge of
math associated with world -class teaching.

SIGNATURE LEARNING PROGRAMMES
FOR OUR SENIOR SCHOOLS

Sen. Owen Darrell : Madam President , we have di scussed several times in this Chamber that our Signature Schools will include Signature Learning Pr ogrammes based on sectors of the economy and soci ety. These Signature Learning Programmes will:
• help each and every student to f ollow their
passions;
• build on their talents; and
• achieve their career and further education aspirations.
Madam President , in September 2022, incoming S1 students entering the Berkeley Institute and
CedarBridge Academy will be educated in a way that has ne ver been done before. I am very pleased to
share that the incoming S1 students will, in addition to
their Core Curriculum, have access to:
• signature curriculum which is relevant for our children of Bermuda and globally;
• a model of teaching and learning whi ch incorporates authentic, real -world learning exper iences and meaningful projects, attentive to
the differing needs of each and every child;
• assessment which demonstrates what chi ldren have done and can do, as well as what
they have learned;
• graduation r equirements which ensure that
children who leave with the Bermuda Signa-ture School Diploma have the necessary experience, skills, knowledge, values and rel ationships to take up jobs or apprenticeships in
their chosen profession or trade [and] contri bute to the requirements for entry into colleges
and universities;
• system policies, procedures and frameworks
that will support and sustain 21
st century
learning.
Madam President , this has been achieved by
collaboratively “co- designing” our future schools and a
school system with teachers, students, parents, and
business and community leaders, informed by r esearch on best practices worldwide and supported by
our change partner Innovation Unit. I cannot thank those involved enough for their tireless work.

WORKSTR EAM CO -LEADS

Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President , learning just
like I described will require an education system with a
different mind- set. For these new learning models,
teaching and schooling to be sustained, they will need to be nurtured and enabled by reoriented systems,
policies and procedures. In addition to working on what happens inside the school, the workstream teams involving principals, teachers, Department of
Education officers, and partner individuals and organ isations have been advancing the necessary changes
to our system conditions. I now wish to highlight the
work that has been advanced in just one of these
workstream teams, the workstream focused on Lear ning Partnerships.
Madam President , just as our community will
be successful when educ ation is successful, our sy stem will also be successful with the community’s i nvolvement. The Signature Learning Partnerships
Workstream has been working diligently to foster rel ationships between the Department of Education and
each respective business to bring the real -world experiences that students will require. There is much to be
gained from these partnerships not only [for] students
but teachers as well. The Partnership team s have described several opportunities for teachers to connect with partners through various opportunities like externships.
Madam President , Signature Externships are
professional learning opportunities for teachers to connect the classroom to the workplace through explicit time spent in industry/sector environments [and]
alongsid e professionals. This kind of engagement enhances not only teachers’ professional development but their ability to teach students as they can bring
real-world understandings that will motivate and excite
students. This, Madam President , is the kind of
reimagining of education that will improve our system.
Madam President , as the largest and most
varied employer in Bermuda, I am pleased that the
Government of Bermuda has truly embraced the idea
494 25 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate of being a Signature Learning Partner. There is no
Government Mi nistry that our Signatures do not touch.
There is no department that does not have something
to offer our students, and I am pleased to say that
they are all motivated to provide learning opportunities for our students.
Madam President , I am excited about what
these partnerships mean for our students and the Government. I wish the same level of excitement for
businesses in the community. There is still time to get
involved and be a partner. Whether you are a mom -
and-pop small business or a large business wi th dozens of employees, you can support and provide o pportunities for students and for our teachers.
I encourage everyone to reach out to
www.learningfirstbda.com
to figure out how they can
be a part of this education reform .

BEYOND SEPTEMBER 2022

Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President, on April 1,
2022, the Minister of Education announced that Parish
Primary schools and the next Signature School s anticipate opening for our young people in the academic year, st arting September 2023. These schools are as
follows :
• Francis Patton [Parish ] Primary School site;
• Purvis Parish Primary School site;
• Hospitality and Tourism and Education Ser-vices Signature School (at a site to be confirmed).
Madam President , in addition to the work
needed for the anticipated introduction of two Parish
Primary schools and another Signature School , the
work at Signature Schools opening in September
2022 will continue. Work is needed to build the Health
and Social Care and Financial and Insurance Services Signature Learning [ Programmes ] for years S2 and
S3 at the Berkeley Institute, and the Science, Tec hnology, Engineering and Math [STEM ] and Trades
and Professions for years S2 and S3 at CedarBridge
Academy. Additionally, we will expand the f eatures of
Signature Schooling into the core curriculum at both senior schools.
Madam President , the Ministry of Education is
establishing School Transformation Teams to partic ipate in the designing, prototyping and implementation of new models of teaching, learning and schooling.
The School Transformation Teams will bring together education professionals, parents, business and community members who are passionate about redesigning Bermuda’s public schools to best prepare young
people for a purposeful and t hriving future.
Again, I urge anyone interested in collabora ting to build an improved school system for Bermuda
to visit www.learningfirstbda.com
and express an i nterest in joining a School Transformation Team.

EDUCATION REFORM IMMEDIATE NEXT STEPS
Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President, over the past
26 months those involved in Education Reform have
been incredibly busy and there has been little time to
rest. Across the remainder of May and June, we will
induct and onboard the new School Transformation
Teams , bring the teachers involved in delivering the
new Signature Learning Programmes together across
two weeks for a learning and planning immersion, and
continue to engage each and every teacher across
the Is land in professional learning on the features of
our transformed system.
Madam President , to enable this, the Commissioner of Education recently announced to parents
and the school community that we are bringing fo rward the end of the school year. The las t day for st udents will be June 24, 2022, rather than June 29,
2022 , as published on the a cademic calendar. This
was not an easy decision to make and required the department's senior leadership team and the Ministry
of Education to weigh up the advantages as well as disadvantages in terms of children’s learning, the i nconvenience to parents and families and the longer -
term vision that we have for learning.
Madam President , the continued transformation of our school system is a complex and chal-lenging under taking that requires the engagement of
each and every educator across our [ school ] system.
These extra three days at the end of the term will allow our schools to work with undivided attention, en-suring that we are even more prepared for the next
design an d implementation phase.
Madam President, w e understand the disruption that this unexpected closure may cause, and [we]
have connected with our colleagues at the Depar tment of Youth and Sport and they will commence their
summer camps a week early and start on Monday,
June 27. Registration for camps will be online and
they started this morning, May 25. Please note that
spaces at the camps are limited. To help parents and
guardians manage these adjustments to the school year, there [will be] no charge for the first week of the
summer camp. More information on summer camps
can be found in the school newsletter , called Scoop ,
sent from the Commissioner of Education to every
family . It was sent last Thursday, May 19, as well as
[being] on the Youth and Sport webs ite.
Madam President , transforming an education
system is no easy feat , as I have said before. It has
required and will continue to require sacrifices from each and every one of us. I wish to thank our parents
and families, teachers and leaders across the system,
and members of the community for their continued
support and effort to improve the quality of education
for our students.
Thank you, Madam President .



Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell, Junior
Minister for Education.

INTRODUCTION OF BIL LS

The President: There are none.

FIRST READING OF PUBLIC BILLS

MARRIAGE AMENDMENT ACT 2022

MOTOR CAR (LIVERIES) AMENDMENT ACT 2022
The President: The following Public Bills have been
received from the Honourable House of Assembly and
are now read for the first time. Their titles are, respectively: the Marriage Amendment Act 2022 and secondly, the Motor Car (Liveries) Amendment Act 2022.

FIRST READING OF PRIVATE BILLS

The President: There are none.

QUESTION PERIOD
The President: Senators, you now have the opportunity to ask questions of the Junior Minister of Educ ation, Senator Owen Darrell, who has just given you his
Statement on the Update o n School Reform.
Would any Senator care to speak?
Senator De Couto, I see your hand up.

Thank you, Madam
President.
May I just ask, because this is [my] first time,
can you just confirm the right way to ask the question
as to click the raised hand on the Webex?

The Pres ident: Yes, certainly. To attract my attention,
I need you to indicate . . . or you speak . . . then I will
acknowledge you.

Thank you for clarifying
that. As you know, many organisations have their different conventions at these virtual meetings, so we
will feel this out.
I must say, I was particularly pleased to hear
the Statement from Senator Darrel l. I am, like many
here and most of us in Bermuda, an incredible fan of the power of education to uplift and develop ourselves. And as we know, and especially math, which
is very consistent with my personal educational bac kground, and an important tool for careers and today’s
more complicated modern lives. So I am particularly
pleased to hear about the success of this Primal Ac ademic Innovations (if I heard that correctly), at the Harrington Prim ary School.
So my first question would be, and in the context as I understand this to be sort of . . . it sounds like
it is an outsourcing arrangement. So I would like to
understand how outsourcing will play a role in the
general overhaul and improvement and reshaping of
our education system going forward versus what role
the permanent staff would play. That would be my first question. Shall I go to my second question?

The President: You can respond to the first question.
Senator Darrell, would you like to receive . . .

Sen. Owen Darrell: Outsourcing. I don’t think I used
the term outsourcing, but I think what Senator
De Couto is referring to is training . These organis ations, or companies, come in to help train the staff.
Once the staff is trained up, basically they can carry the mantle from there. So I think that is what he was
asking.

[Audio skip]

Sen. Owen Darrell: —they play a role from us changing from one system to another.

The President: Senator De Couto, that was your first
question. Do you ha ve a secondary one, or . . .

SUPPLEMENTARY

Yes. Thank you for that
clarification. I do have a follow -up on that one. Do we
envision many external companies coming in to pr ovide training in many of the future initiatives? Is that
something we can expect to see a lot more of?

Sen. Owen Darrell: I don’t if you can quantify “many.”
But if we identify that there is expertise out there who
496 25 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate can come to this Island and train our educators to help
transform our system and make it one of the best sy stems in the world, yes, you can anticipate some more.
The President: Senator De Couto that was your first
question and your supplementary, do you . . .

I have a second question.

The President: Carry on.

Sen. Ben Smith: May I ask a supplementary off of
the—
The President: Certainly, Senator Ben Smith, Opposition Leader [in the Senate] . You have the floor.

SUPPLEMENTARY
Sen. Ben Smith: Yes, the Junior Minister was just
saying that obviously we are going to bring these experts in to do training. Once the teachers in Bermuda
have received that training , they will be the ones that
implement. Can the Junior Minister give us an indic ation of how often this group will have to return to Bermuda to check up on how the implementation has worked?
Just because normally what will happen is
they are going to give you the information and they
are going to want to check up to make sure that we
are following the information the way they have laid it
out. If the Junior Minister can just let us know whether there will be follow -up and how often that follow -up will
happen.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Yes, the follow -up of these teams
coming in to assist will be as needed.

The President: Senator Robin Tucker, do you have a
supplementary to that [first] question?

SUPPLEMENTARY

Sen. Robin Tucker: Yes, I do have a supplementary
question. I am interested to know, how long is the ini-tial contract?

Sen. Owen Darrell: I believe the initial contract ends
later this year.

The President: Senator B en Smith.

Sen. Ben Smith: Yes, thank you, Madam President.
So if there is a cost for the initial contract, can
the Junior Minister let us know whether there will be a
follow -up contract that will be needed in order to get
this group to come in and do the follow -up visits?
Sen. Owen Darrell: Absolutely. I am sure they are not
going to come back and sign another contract for free.
The President: Thank you, Senator Ben Smith.
Senator De Couto, you can move on to your
second question.

QUESTION 2: UPDATE ON SCHOOL REFORM —
BEYOND SEPTEMBER 2022

Thank you, Madam
President.
I was pleased to hear the update on the Si gnature Schools, let’s hope that they are as successful
as they can be.
I did have a question about this site that was
planned for the hospitality -focused school. I have in
my memory that originally the T. N. Tatem site was
mooted for this and I was quite confused because my
understanding was that this site had been determined
not to be fit to be a school. So I unders tand of course
that the Hospitality Signature School site is TBC, [to
be considered] . Perhaps the Senator might provide
some information about the possible sites being considered for that school. Thank you.
Sen. Owen Darrell: As mentioned in my Statement, it
is to be determined, so once it is determined we will
bring it to the Senate and we will let you know.

The President: Senator De Couto, do you have a
supplementary?

No, thank you, Madam
President.

The President: Thank you.
Senator Robin Tucker, then you have the
floor.

QUESTION 1: UPDATE ON SCHOOL REFORM —
BEYOND SEPTEMBER 2022
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
Again, I share my colleague’s sentiments in
terms of the importance of education and certainly the


Bermuda Senate importance of making sure that we get this right. So
whatever resources we need to have then, you know,
it can only be a good thing.
I am just wondering, though, can the Junior
Minister share with us any data that reflects specifically the students who were identified, the year groups,
maybe, that were identified as low performing and
specifically how the programme that has been impl emented has improved those scores? And for clarity, I
am just wonderi ng whether the data that we have
been provided in the chart includes all the students, or
is there any information that he can share that is r eflective of the students who have specifically . . . sorry,
the years that have specifically been identified as l ow
performing?

Sen. Owen Darrell: Let me . . . if I understand it correctly, you had two questions there. One was which
year level was performing below standard, particularly, right?
Sen. Robin Tucker: Yes, so I am just trying to get an
appreciation for the real and the true impact of the
programme that has been piloted. That’s all ; just trying
to get a good appreciation of it.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Okay. I do not know if this is going to completely answer your question, but I am going to answer it the best I can here.
All levels were reviewed, right? And as stated
in the Statement, in general, overall math proficiency across all levels was particularly low. Now I know from
personal knowledge that when this first started, the pilot was actually done at P4 at Harrington Sound, I
believe. And the reason I say that is because I think
when it started my daughter was actually in P4. So,
that does not particularly answer your question, but I
am sure there was a reason why they decided to start
with P4. And once I get further information, or the data
that you are asking for, I will certainly share it with you. At this time I do not have it.
Yes, that is the information I am getting. It was
one class that started at Harrington Sound and then
they decided to spread i t to all schools because the
programme was such a success. Like I said, I just happen to know that the class that they started in was P4 at Harrington Sound.

The President: And your second question, Senator
Robin Tucker?

QUESTION 2: UPDATE ON SCHOOL REF ORM —
BEYOND SEPTEMBER 2022
Sen. Robin Tucker: I am also wondering whether
there is . . . sorry. Apologies. Thank you, Madam
President. And I thank the Junior Minister for his r esponse as well. I am wondering whether there is going to be
any enhancement for the guidance counsellors as it
relates to helping the students to follow their passions
as was mentioned in the Statement. Often we have
students who are of particular ages who do not have a clue about what they want to do. And then sometimes
there are parents who do not know how to help su pport those students either. So I am just wondering
whether the department will be shoring up the gui dance counsellors as well to help them to help the st udents to be steered in the right direction. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Well, to that end I can speak to at
least one of our public schools. The CedarBridge
Academy has a designated career counsellor. They
have been on that path for a while where there is one
particular c ounsellor that students can go to and di scuss different career options and they do all sorts of
assessments to see which direction they may be good at and they want to go in. And I cannot definitively
speak, but if the counsellors are involved in this red esign of the education system, I can pretty much bet
that they will be getting additional training to have
some of those career talks a lot earlier in the schoo ling pr ocess.
You know, there are different trains of thought
as to when you have the conversati on about a career
with students. I know there are some people who go to university and do one or two years and still have no clue which career choice they want to make. And
some counsellors would say that this is a good way of
figuring out where you want t o go, as well.
So, like I said, I would look to get definitive
answers for you on that. But I do know that career
counselling is already happening in at least one
school, and I am sure that counsellors will undertake to do more of that at maybe the middle school or pr imary level going forward.

The President: Thank you, Senator.
Senator Tucker, do you have a supplementary
to your second question? Or third question?

Sen. Robin Tucker: A supplementary, please, Ma dam President.

The President: Carry on.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Sen. Robin Tucker: If the Junior Minister can tell us
how many guidance counsellors there are in the sy stem this would be helpful. It is important for the reasons that he mentioned, that they have a guidance counsellor at CedarBridge; however, if we do not have
them throughout the schools then obviously there
498 25 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate could be a breakdown there. So if he could tell us exactly how many guidance counsellors are in the sy stem, that would be helpful. Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
The President: Thank you.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
And thank you, Senator Tucker, for your question.
Currently I can confirm that every public
school in this system has access to a counsellor or
has a counsellor assigned to them. And work is already underway with the counsellors now.
Going back to your previous question, I just
got more information on it so I will tie it all in here.
Previously, or this year, there has been signature test
programmes that have been run [for] the M3 students.
And these programm es actually helped the M3 st udents to choose which signatures they wanted to go
into it. So those programmes are being run. Next year
this programme is being extended, or expanded for M2 and M3 students to help them to identify their passions, talents, and interests before making choices to
go into the Signature Learning Programme.
The counsellors . . . we are actually in this
new system changing the name of counsellors a little
bit. Some of them are going to be called “career adv isors.” And career advisor s, along with the middle
school teachers, are involved in designing these pr ogrammes that you are asking about. And they will
build upon what is best practice and [in] this space
they will relate to employment and study opportunities
here and overseas.
So thank you for your question. It seems to
me as if there is quite a [number] of those pr ogrammes and counselling and career advisors currently happening in the middle school level.

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell.
Senator Tucker, do you have supplementary
to your third question ?

SUPPLEMENTARY

Sen. Robin Tucker: Yes, Madam President, I do.
Thank you. And again, [I] thank the Junior Minister.
My question is whether there are specific init iatives to involve the parents in that aspect as well.
[What I am referring to is] in sort of any guidance being given to the parents to help support the initiatives of the guidance counsellors and of course the teac hers in helping the students to determine career options and certainly the direction of Signatur e Schools
that they may choose to apply to. Thank you.

Sen. Owen Darrell: What an excellent question.
Thank you, Senator Tucker. You must have been
reading my notes. The young people and their parents are act ually involved in this programme. So this programme of
career advisors and the signature tester programmes
have included the young people as well as their parents.

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell and Senator Tucker.
Would any other Senator care to ask questions?
Senator Ben Smith, Oppos ition Leader in the
Senate, you have the floor.

QUESTION 1: UPDATE ON SCHOOL REFORM —
BEYOND SEPTEMBER 2022

Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam President.
Just following on with the pilot programme
that was introduced by Harrington Sound School, could the J unior Minister let us know if once the initi ative had been put forward to the department from Harrington Sound and the decision was made to move forward with the pilot, did the department look at any
other programmes while that pilot was happening and
then make the decision that, because of the success
of this particular programme, they decided to stay with
it? Just because it seems that the programme came
out of Harrington Sound, I just want to make sure that we . . . because there is going to be costs ass ociated
with it, there are going to be experts coming in, and
this is a change for the long haul, did the department
look at any other organisations in this process?

Sen. Owen Darrell: I am sure that there were others
that were looked into. Just do note t hat the pilot pr ogramme at Harrington Sound was actually funded by
a private donor. I just want to put that out there. So,
that is how that got started. There was a need. I know
the PTA at the time at Harrington Sound ––and let me
declare my interests, I am not on [the PTA]. The PTA
at Harrington Sound was very instrumental in getting
this group here.
So at this point I cannot speak to how the d ecision was made to expand it, other than the huge
success that it had. And if we were to do a little bit of resear ch, PAI are leaders in their field in this area. But
your specific question, I do not know at this time who
else was looked at as far as options and why the specific reason other than their success rate . . . was to
expand it beyond that. But if something comes, Senator De Couto, I will make sure I pass it to you.

The President: It was Senator Ben Smith’s question.
Sen. Owen Darrell: I got it, Madam President.
Senator De Couto knows exactly why I said
that comment.
The President: You highlighted him, y es.


Bermuda Senate Senator Ben Smith, you have a supplementary?

SUPPLEMENTARY

Sen. Ben Smith: Yes, thank you, Madam President.
So, following all of that line with Harrington
Sound, not only there being a pilot, but kind of being on the cutting edge of looking for a w ay to improve
their school, not just what they are doing, but the r esults of their students, are there any other initiatives that are being put forward by Harrington Sound that
we should highlight at this point? Considering how
important this particular on e is and its success rate, is
there one for science? Is there one for English? The
Junior Minister might be able to speak —

[Audio skip]

Sen. Owen Darrell: Sadly, I do not know of any other
programmes that are currently being held at Harrington Sound. But there may be programmes happening
at other schools. And I know that Harrington Sound was highlighted in this statement simply because of
the math programme and the success that they had.
So many times we see headlines in publications of
how bad things are, and I don’t recall a headline in said publication of how successful this was at Harrin gton Sound and highlighting the individuals who initially did the research to bring them here.
But I am sure that there are other successful
programmes. I know I can s peak to Francis Patton,
and the work down there that the Principal Mr. Todd Fox, is doing [was] started years and years ago by
Ms. Garita Coddington, the “ Leader in Me” pr ogramme. I have no doubt that the success of the
“Leader in Me” programme is one of t he reasons why
Francis Patton was chosen as one of the first Parish
Primary Schools to actually get started. So that is another programme. I know we have been talking about
Harrington Sound, but I can specifically talk about the
one at Francis Patton that has been happening for
many years with success.
But I can undertake to get a list of different
pilots or different programmes that are happening in middle schools, primary schools across the Island and their success rates.

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell.
Senator Smith, you have an additional supplementary or second question?

Sen. Ben Smith: I just wanted to thank the Junior
Minister for reaching out to get that information because, as he said, most of the time when the discussion is on publi c education it tends to be on the negative side. So if there are programmes that are working
well, we need to highlight them. And that is the reason
why I think it is important that we highlight what Har-rington Sound has done and if there are others we
could do the same [highlighting for them], because the
success of these students is important to all of us.

The President: Absolutely.

QUESTION 2: UPDATE ON SCHOOL REFORM —
BEYOND SEPTEMBER 2022

Sen. Ben Smith: Madam President, my final question
is about the closing of schools early. I fully understand
that as we are going through this major transition it is
going to mean that you are going to have to get the
teachers and the organisers and everybody together
in order to do this development. And there have been
issues in the past of trying to increase development
time while cutting into teacher off -time. So I know this
would have been one of the reasons they had to make
this difficult decision. But for me, knowing that we
have had issues over the last couple of years with
COVID -19 and missed school and the potential of
some of our students falling behind, can the Junior
Minister give us any indication of whether pr ogrammes are going to happen in the summer that are
going to target those students who have had is sues of
falling behind because of COVID -19? And considering
that now school is going to be finishing a little bit early.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Ben Smith.
Sen. Owen Darrell: Well, it is interesting. And let me
just use it to say th is. It has been very unfortunate that
over the last two years there have been interruptions
because of COVID -19. And I will take this opportunity
again to thank the parents who have stayed at home
and they have done the online learning with their st udents and they have done the extra research. I mean,
there is a former student of mine who has started her
own business of tutoring her daughter and different
programmes to help learning. So around this Island
there have been many examples of people who have
filled the gap and the shortcomings. Even my children,
they have had additional tutoring from my mother
(who is a former educator), and there are stories [like] that all around the Island.
I want to skip forward to the three days that
the Department of Educ ation has decided to close
schools. Traditionally, as an educator, and another Senate colleague who is a former school principal, will
tell you that there is very little in- class instruction that
happens on that last day of school. Everyone has
known since we have been in school that the last
week of school if used for school picnics. It is used for
school field trips to go maybe to parks, because the
weather is so nice, and [there are] beaches that our
students may not ordinarily get to go to. And if that was going to happen regardless of a day or two lost
with COVID- 19, that is not something that the school
500 25 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate teachers and principals were going to take away from
our students. These field trips and fun days, let’s call
them, were going to happen regardless.
And we just feel that what better department
to run summer activities and educational programmes than the Department of Youth and Sport. So I think it
was a good collaboration with the Department of Education, the Department of Youth and Sport to say, Well, how can we still make this a beneficial week for
our students? They will still learn. I was informed
about an hour ago that my son has been signed out to
one of these camps. And he is looking forward to it.
He loves to go to the beach. And that is going t o be a
learning experience for him, although it is outside of
the classroom.
So, I do understand your question, Senator
Smith. I understand that this is an easy target to say . . . and I am not saying you are targeting, but to say,
Well, what about the time lost to COVID -19? Respec tfully, I would say to all parents and all educators and everyone would know that (again, I will repeat myself) that last week teachers find very unique ways to educate students. And it is not necessarily in the clas sroom with tex tbooks and assessments.
For the most part, as a former educator,
grades are actually due weeks before the final week
of school. So you have to submit your grades to the grades administrator. The grades administrator then
takes a couple of days to verify t hem. After they are
verified they have to then be put in the system.
Teachers (I will say) who do not have enough time on
a good day have to spend time late at night putting in
grades and putting in comments for report cards. So, if we can use these three days to enhance our educ ation system going forward and allow other agencies to
educate our students in the fun traditional ways that
they would normally have anyway, I think it is a winwin for everyone.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell.
Senator Ben Smith, do you have a suppl ementary to that?

SUPPLEMENTARY
Sen. Ben Smith: Yes, Madam President.
I guess the point that I am trying to make, and
Senator Darrell knew I was trying to connect the two
things together, not because I was looking specifically
to those last three days because everybody who has been through the school system understands that those last few days are going to be more fun. But rea lly, based off of even the response by the Junior Mini ster, where he talked about how there are some initi atives that have helped some of the students, and that is going to be based off of the parents who have gone
out of their way to find that opportunity for their chi l-dren and give them more to make sure they did not
fall behind over the last two years.
But it is important to know whether there has
been testing done to know that there are specific st udents who have fallen behind during this period and
whether there will be some initiative over the summer
to help them to c atch up considering that we have had
the interruptions.
And it becomes an easy point to say, We
have taken another three days off and they have had
other days off. I would rather move away from that
point and figure out how we are going to support the
students who potentially need more help over the
summer so that they can take on these great initi atives that are supposed to happen in September.
Sen. Owen Darrell: Yes. And to answer that . . . I’m
sorry, you did ask that the first time and I forgot to
[answer] that part.
Summer school will be offered as normal. And
I will say, even before this decision was made, as
happens every year, any students who are involved in
the learning support, or extra classes, per se (I don’t
know the term that they are usi ng now), would have
had their (kind of) end- of-year meetings with their st udents and with the parents and give an update. What happens is evaluations are done at the beginning of
school. Assessments are done. And if a child is in need and they need services, they help them
throughout the year. And if we get to the end of the
year and there are still some gaps, that child would be
referred to summer school. And summer school is happening as normal this year.
And it is always a delicate balance, right? It is
a delicate balance with making provisions for our current students and ensuring that we give ourselves,
going forward, the best chance to improve the system for every young person. So, to answer your question,
yes, students who have fallen behind due to wh atever
reasons, will be given the opportunity. They probably
have already been assessed, their parents have been
notified, and the process of putting them into summer
programmes in ongoing and taking place at this time.

The President: Thank you, Senator D arrell and thank
you, Senator Ben Smith.
Would any other Senator care to speak to this
Statement?
No other Senator wants to put questions to
the Junior Minister?
Hearing none, we will move on.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

The President: The first order of the d ay is the co nsideration of the Draft Order entitled the Public Health
(COVID -19) Emergency Extension (No. 4) Order
2022 .


Bermuda Senate And this is in the name of Senator Arianna
Hodgson, the Junior Minister for Health.
Senator Hodgson, you have the floor.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 71(2)

Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I move that Standing Order
71(2) be suspended so that the Senate may now pr oceed with consideration of the Public Health (COVID -
19) Emergency Extension (No. 4) Order 2022.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
There is no objection. Carry on.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 71(2) suspended.]
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I move that the Senate do now take under
consideration the Dr aft Order entitled the Public
Health (COVID -19) Emergency Extension (No. 4) O rder 2022.

The President: You can carry on Senator Hodgson.

DRAFT ORDER

PUBLIC HEALTH (COVID- 19) EMERGENCY
EXTENSION (NO. 4) ORDER 2022
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President —

[No audio]

An Hon. Senator : Madam President, it appears —

The President: Senator Hodgson, we can’t hear you.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Oh, I do apologise, Madam
President. Sorry.
Madam President, I am pleased to invite this
Honourable Chamber to consider the Order entitled
Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency Extension (No.
4) Order 2022.
Madam President, Senators will be aware that
the current public health emergency order is scheduled to lapse on the 30th of May 2022. The emergency
orders which have been in place since the 30th of June
2020 following the state of emergency put into place
on the 1st of April 2020 are made pursuant to section
107A of the Public Health Act 1949 and declared that
a public health emergency exist s in Bermuda due to a
communicable disease that poses a threat to the I sland.
Madam President , the virus that causes
COVID -19 spreads easily and quickly, but we can slow its spread by following basic public health advice
such as wearing a mask to cover our nos e and mouth,
as well as physical distancing and practicing good
hand hygiene. We can also avoid the three Cs —
closed spaces, crowded places and close contact settings —to reduce the opportunities for infection to
spread.
In addition, Madam President , we are fort unate in that the COVID -19 vaccine has been available
to any resident who wants it. We have fully vaccinated
74.4 per cent of our population now and even with the
highly transmittable Delta and Omicron variants, the vaccine’s effectiveness remains high. As a fully vaccinated person, you can still test positive and still contract COVID -19, but you are less likely to get severely
ill, less likely to end up in a hospital and less likely to die. Our own data continues to show this to be true. Hospitalisations and deaths are overwhelmingly
among people who are not vaccinated rather than
people who are vaccinated. A lthough the Gover nment’s mass vaccine campaign is at an end, residents
continue to have access to the vaccine through parti cipating medical practic es and pharmacies and by a ppointment at the Hamilton Health Centre.
Madam President , as the Minister of Health,
the Honourable Kim Wilson has indicated to our Be rmuda community many times, it is clear we must ensure we live safely with COVID -19 because it will be
with us for a long time both locally and globally. D eclared as a public health emergency of international
concern by the World Health Organization in January
2020 and confirmed as a global pandemic in March of
that year, the COVID -19 pandemic is not over yet.
While the Government has relaxed various public
health measures, there are some settings where r estrictions cannot be eliminated.
Madam President , as a reminder, you must
wear a face mask when travelling by bus , ferry, taxi,
limousine or mini bus ( and this applies to both passengers and operators), while working in or visiting health
service providers such as doctors or dentists, nurses,
physiotherapists, occupational therapists, et cetera,
health services such a hospital, dental facility, labor atory and residential care facilities, et cetera, whilst vi siting or working at correctional facilities and inside the
L. F. Wade International Airport building.
Madam President , several businesses have
set their own mask requirements for staff and customers. These are appropriate for their establishments
and all members of the public must comply with these
requirements.
Madam President , the c oronavirus is very
easily transmitted. It is mainly spread from person to
person by small virus -containing droplet s that are exhaled when an infected person is speaking, singing,
coughing, sneezing or breathing. Well- fitted masks
are a simple and effective form of personal protective
equipment forming a barrier from getting and sprea ding respiratory infections. In add ition to the continued
502 25 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate requirement to wear masks indoors, we also recognise it is important to apply essential controls at our
border which are specific to and meet the challenges
of COVID -19.
Madam President, the Minister of Health consulted with the Chi ef Medical Officer and determined
that a communicable disease of the first category,
namely COVID -19 and its variants of concern, do persist and continue to pose a severe threat to the public
health in Bermuda. To control and contain the spread
of infection, public health measures, such as those provided for in regulations made under section 107B
of the Public Health Act 1949, will continue to be rel evant and necessary beyond the 30
th of May 2022.
Madam President, this Order before us now
will extend the P ublic Health (COVID -19) Emergency
Order 2021 made under section 107A of the Public
Health Act 1949 and empower the Governor to make
public health emergency regulations [pursuant] to section 107B of that Act, which impose extraordinary
measures necessary in the interest of public health to
prevent, control, and suppress COVID -19.
Madam President, Honourable Senators will
be aware that the Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency Extension (No. 3) Order 2022 was made under
the affirmative resolution procedure for 60 days, expi ring on the 30th of May 2022. However, we know the
COVID -19 pandemic continues globally and is still
pervasive in Bermuda. We also know a public health emergency will continue to exist on our Island beyond
the 30
th of May 2022. Therefore, in accordance with
sections 107A (3) and (4) of the Public Health Act
1949, I bring the Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency Extension (No. 4) Order 2022 to this Honourable
Chamber to seek approval for the extension of the public health emergency for a further 60 days ending
on the 29
th of July 2022.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson.
Would any Senator care to speak on this O rder?
Senator Robin Tucker , you have the floor .

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President ,
and thank you to the Junior Minister for the update that she has brought us today .
Madam President , I think we all recognis e that
the pandemic is not over , and it is still very much with
us. We have, however , Madam President , seen the
relaxing of qui te a number of restrictions . We are seeing the return to large gathering sizes , in fact this
week we are all preparing for the Bermuda Day holiday, the marathon and the parade and the like. So
there is a lot of returning back to normal , and certainly
peopl e, the public , are doing what the Minister and the
Junior Minister indicated in terms of learning to live
with COVID -19. So, Madam President , I want to say this : With
the Government's mantra to learn to live with COVID -
19, and they are absolutely ensuring and encouraging
that we do so, I am still a t a bit of a loss as to why we
need to continue extending the public health emer-gency orders . And, Madam President , one reason for
that is that , again, we have been learning to live with
COVID -19 for a little whi le now and, as well , it has
been said previously in another place specifically that
you know that we need to be able to make . . . if we
need to implement restrictions and the like then this
order is in place. However , Madam President , we
have seen on occasion and most recently where parliamentarians have had to come in the room very
quickly . They have been able to be galvani sed very
quickly and execute on their business . So I am not
particularly convinced that this is the primary reason
why we need to extend this particular order .
Madam President , I would say that a question
would be, What conditions would be required in order
for us to no longer need these emergency orders to be extended ? Surely there must be an end som ewhere. Is the end related to perhaps the Travel A uthorisation , which is supposed to come to an end in
April? What is the signal ? As we know , COVID -19 is
with us indefinitely . Will we have these extensions
indefinitely ? Where does it come to an end, Madam
President ?
So, as we are learning t o live with COVID -19,
as we continue to extend these emergency orders , I
would specifically like to know from the Junior Minister
if she could share what conditions would be required for us to . . . I should say Government to determine
that these emergency extensions can be brought to
an end and that they are no longer required? Surely
there must be some trigger point . So if we can get an
answer to that, it would be great .
So, with those comments , Madam President ,
again, I thank the Junior Minister for bri nging the O rder, and I look forward to learning if there is a r esponse.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker .
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Order?
Yes, Senator De Couto, you have the floor .

Thank you, Madam
President . Thank you to the Junior Minister for the
presentation of this .
We know that the impact on Bermuda and the
world from COVID -19 and its associated illnesses and
deaths and family tragedies has been severe and has
impacted man y, many people. We know to our west
over about one million people have died in the United
States , and many , many people in Bermuda have lost
their lives tragically and unexpectedly .


Bermuda Senate Unfortunately , we know that this virus is with
us. And what is going on now is probably no longer
extraordinary . And there are some real concerns with
giving the Government this extra discretion outside of
the normal channels for us to operate in terms of cr eating these regulations , and so forth. My colleague ,
Senator Tucker has spoken about how easy it is for us
to come together like this to address specific issues
for the country . And you know it is my view that this is
really about the Travel Authori sation.
The Junior Minister referred to border controls. We know that the Tr avel Authori sation has been
a huge burden. And I am going to give you some examples of that . We have been calling for its abolition
since June. We look to the south where we are competing against the Caribbean among other jurisdi ctions in tourism . They are opening up, and visitors are
streaming in and have a very streamlined experience
to visit . But here, we know that visitors are struggling
and are being held back and taking on extra expense .
International business is being impacted. We
know of a long- time Bermuda company that wanted to
have a major celebration and chose to not host it in
Bermuda but moved it to Florida, at a loss of a very
large amount of income to the local economy. We
know the board members for international business ,
which we rely on a s a pillar of our economy , are being
delayed or blocked from attending their board meetings and carrying out their business in Bermuda, not
being provided with Travel Authori sations in time. So
this is actu ally having a major knock -on effect . It is
holding back our tourism and, you know , negatively
impacting major drivers of our economy .
And it brings some real —

An Hon. Senator: [Madam President, Senator De
Couto is] misleading the Senate.

Another Hon. Senator: Point of order.

The President: Sorry , I did not recogni se who was
speaking just now .
I heard someone speaking and they did not
ask for recognition . I don't know who was speaking, so
Senator De Couto, you may proceed.
An Hon. Senator: He is misleading the House.

Madam President , as I
was saying , the Junior Senator referred to the border
controls that this Order is enabling, which , to me,
would include the Travel Authori sation documentation .
And I was referring to the cost of that on Bermudians .
I know , for example, that the people are stuck
on hold while traveling internationally —a $180 cell
phone bill trying to get through to the hotline . So these
costs are not just the upfront cost to people. Think
about our seniors and those who are not as technically savvy who are struggling with this just to exercise their right to travel and to return. We know that it is
possible to do better . We know that other jurisdictions
are less cumbersome. And if we wish to have things
like, you know , vaccine requirements , we know that
this could be done without this fee and without all of
this excessive paperwork . We know this because it's
happening elsewhere.
Then to the topic of this being an emergency
that requires special Government discretion that we
are being asked to approve here outside of the normal
procedures . Here are some emergencies to which I
wish the Government w ould pay this kind of attention:
Gun violence and murders , I view that as a public
health emergency , and those whose families have
been affected I think would agree w ith me . You know ,
perhaps we should see some orders about the funding for the police. How about the lack of firefighters ,
this may be quite a public emergency in the East End,
I know it is impacting the airport and the access to
emergency services for the residents there. And while
we heard about some positive up-ticks in education
here, we know that the continued lack of a suitable
education for our children is in fact a public emergency for Bermuda. And, you know , lack of trash trucks .
And that is a sanit ation issue. Again , I view that as a
health situation.
So, we know from experience that when this
Government has been given extra discretion that it
has not been well exercised. And since this Gover nment is in front of us asking for extra discretion , let me
give some examples of where it is exercised poorly .
We know that the Government exercised discretion when it gave almost $1 million to a scam artist in the
Savvy [Entertainment Ltd] studio.
You know that this Government exercised
discretion when it paid Ewart Brown .

The President: Senator De Couto, can you speak to
the Order that is before us ?

I am speaking with r espect to—

The President: Senator Darrell.

POINT OF ORDER
[Sub judice]
Sen. Owen Darrell: I think the senator is actually
speaking of actual cases that are still in front of the
courts. So I think he should probably withdraw those
statements , Madam President .
504 25 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Senator De Couto, if the cases are
sub judice, then you are not allowed to speak to them .

Yes, Madam President,
of course
As m y colleague, Senator Tucker , referred to,
we know that people have the information they need .
We know that the vaccine is effective . We know that
people who do as they are provided information to do
are getting better outcomes . So it is my opinion that
this Order is less about the people's public health, because all the components to ensure the people’s public health are in place and do not require extra Go vernment discretion . But they are really about enabling
this extra Travel Authori sation fee. And I have a lot of
concerns about that .
We know that people are testing themselves .
People will travel , they will get a test overseas , they
will get a test at a private facilit y. So we know that the
$40 fee is no longer covering tests . The fee that
comes through the Travel Authori sation comes
through this emergency order . So it is clear that the
Government doing this is less about enabling the
health of the people, because we know that there are
other routes for that . We know this is really about the
money . We know that Government budgeted for this
money . So it is hard for me to reconcile the concept of
an emergency order that must be regularly reviewed
by the various bodies with something that has been
put into the budget . It indicates the Government isn't
even truly considering this as an emergency basis . It
is just another fee that this Government is placing on
the people, like the sugar tax.
So, you know , these taxes are pili ng up. Government is getting them . But what is the average
Bermudian getting for that money ? That is my co ncern, that this Order is not truly addressing the underlying issue, and it is just a way for the Government to
grab tax .
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Order ?
Senator Ben Smith, you have the floor .
Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam President .
Madam President, I am just going to ask sp ecific questions . Could the Junior Minister let us know
what specific parts of the Emergency Order continue
to be necessary considering that the hospital is not
overrun? We are in a situation where most people are
testing at home using antigen tests . In a lot of cases
the numbers that we have seen published in our country are not as accurate as they as they were in the past because people are testing positive and just selfisolating. So the numbers are not part of the overall
official numbers .
Because we have changed our restrictions the
way that w e have, I am just wondering what part of
the emergency powers are necessary for us to conti nue in this direction . As my Senat e colleague, Senator
Tucker was stating, if we knew what those benc hmarks were then I think the community would have an
understandi ng of why we continue to move the emergency powers forward and when they could expect to
see those change.
And then one final specific question. If the
emergency powers ended today would the Travel A uthorisation continue, or does the Travel Authori sation
have to be part of the emergency powers ?
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator Ben Smith .
Would any other Senator care to peak on this
Order ?

Sen. Owen Darrell: I woul d like to just say a few
words , Madam President .

The Pres ident: Senator Darrell you have the floor .

Sen. Owen Darrell: Yes, I just want to raise a couple
of points that the One Bermuda Alliance, especially
Senator De Couto, continues to raise . It is actually
quite interesting to me as I sit here and listen to the
Senator from the other side bounce all over the place
rather than speak to the fact that we are still in a pan-demic . And if we are still in a pandemic , Madam President , this Government will do, and will continue to do
everything to the best of our abil ity to lead this country
and to keep our people safe. There are still people
around this Island who are scared to come outside of
their homes . There are people in this country who still
think that we may not be doing enough to protect
them . But yet , the Senator who spoke a few moments
ago wants to bring up that a TA form is hurting tourism.
I am not going to go back to a debate from
last week , but it is actually quite funny and ridiculous
that the Senator will say that a TA form of $40 is hur ting tourism when he was quite happy seven days ago
to keep a hotel shut and to send Bermudians home
and line up outside of Global House looking for financial aid . Madam President —

The President: Senator De Couto, what is your . . .
you have a point of order ?

POINT O F ORDER
[Misleading]

Thank you, Madam
President , the Senator is misleading the Senate. I beBermuda Senate lieve we were quite clear last week that all of us were
unanimous in that we wanted that hotel to open. The
question was the cost to the future of Bermuda.
Thank you.
The President: Carry on, Senator Darrell.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you , Madam President .
So, what we have today is when my colleague
wants to extend through the Minister of Health the
Emergency Powers Order , and it is a matter of health,
we have the One Bermuda Alliance, through Senator
De Couto, bringing up a whole lot of social issues that
he thinks are connected to a pandemic . But I would
like, since he wants to go there , to ask Senator De
Couto and his One Bermuda All iance colleagues , and
there would be no surprise to the people of Bermuda
that the alternative for not having this TA form is trying
to find funds from other sectors of the community to
take care of our health needs . So what would the One
Bermuda Alliance like to do? I am sure Senator De
Couto and his colleagues would love to send public
office rs back on furlough days. I am sure Senator De
Couto and his colleagues would love to take money out of the pockets of the public officers of this country .
I am sure Senator De Couto and his colleagues would
love to take money from the gang mitigation task force
which Senator Tucker so eloquently tried to blast
about two weeks ago in our daily publication.
So I ask Senator De Couto, what are the a lternatives for his party as far as making Bermuda safe and trying to find revenue to actually keep Bermudians safe? The alternatives are—

The President: Senator Darrell, there is . . . Senator
De Couto what is . . . do you have a point of order?
Do you have a point of order, Senator De
Couto?

He is misleading the
Senate by saying things that I did not say .
Thank you, Madam P resident .
The President: Senator Darrell, do carry on .
Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President , I would like to
also answer and rebut a point made by Senator
Smith . And Senator Smith asked, and it was a good
question, when will the Emergency Powers end? And
my answer to Senator Smith, quite frankly , is when
the powers that be in Bermuda and throughout the
world decide that the pandemic is officially over , then we can actually revisit and say that maybe we can
end our emergency powers or health powers . But th e
key thing is to keep Bermudians safe and to continue
to find ways to supplement the cost that it . . . that it is
taking to actually keep our country safe.
So I actually applaud the Minister of Health
and the Junior Minister for bringing this to the Senate
today . And I just wish that individuals like my great
Senate friend over there from the One Bermuda All iance would be able to stay focused on helping Bermudians instead of trying to score cheap political
points amongst other issues that have absolutely
nothing to do with the health of Bermudians .
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell .
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Order ?

Thank you, Madam
President. I certainly do not want to take too much
time away from the Junior Minister in responding and
speaking to this issue, but I just have to reiterate what
I think we alrea dy know . And that is that the World
Health Organization has not declared that the pa ndemic is over. It has not switched from a pandemic to
an endemic. As such , it makes very , very good sense
from a public health point of view to be cautious , but
optimistic ; to be progressive, but also to be careful .
So we are still trying to balance the best way
to open up the economy , protect our health care sy stem and keep this country moving forward. And this is
something that this Government is passionate about .
There is no one- size-fits-all, per s e. We are certainly
taking the advice from people who provide the necessary guidance or information. We are also taking a
look at what is happening inside of our country as well
as outside of our country as it relates to the decisions
that we are making. But we can absolutely say with
great confidence to the list ening public that this Go vernment is focused, one, on keeping this country safe;
and two, moving this economy forward. And the [extension Order we are seeking] today we think is ba lanced as well as reasonable.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Minister Pe ets, Gover nment Leader in the Senat e and the Minister of Youth
Culture and Sport, and spokesperson on legal affairs .
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Order ?
Hearing none, then Senator Arian na Hodgson
it is back to you .

506 25 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Sen. Adrianna Hodgson: Thank you Madam Pres ident. And I would like to thank Members of the Senate
for their comments this morning, as well as my teammates for providi ng some of the responses that I ha d
planned to give.
I can say that the Emergency Order will co ntinue to be necessary again as long as the public
health emergency that we see worldwide continues to
exist. As a short answer to Senator Smith's question
the TA system would definitely remain in place if the
emergency powers were to end today . And I want to
make it clear that the two do not rely on each other .
We obviously recognis e that COVID -19 has
had a dramatic impact on travel and tourism and our
local ec onomy . However the T A system was the one
element I would say that made it possible to really
protect our health system , to protect our borders and
delay the arrival of the variants of concern on our I sland. Obviously we can understand the politics surround ing the matters and the inconvenience, I would
say, expressed by a small percentage of persons . But
I would say that I truly believe that the benefits out-weigh the inconvenience, particularly in this instance ,
Madam President .
I would like to reiterate th at the alternatives to
scratching the TA would mean cut ting services, rai sing taxes and/ or borrowing more money . And unfort unately , Madam President , we are not in a position to
do those things . So, yes, that TA will be around until
March 31, 2023.
I would also like to note that the principles and
practices of seamless travel are a priority for our Mi nistry. The Ministry en courages all travellers to apply
for the Travel Authori sation as early as possible. They
have even extended the window up to a month bef ore
travel to allow the quarantine authority to do their necessary checks. So we are making the efforts . I think
that the public can do their part in as sisting the team
by applying as early as possible .
And I would also like to just say that generally
our tourism sector is showing signs of recovery . Our
hotels are full . Our cruise ships are filling up . And,
while there have been some challenges , I think that
the general consensus is that our TA is doable. Sure ,
we can make some things a bit shorter , or we can r emove some of the pieces . But I think that we will take
the necessary steps to streamline the process as much as possible.
I do believe I have answered any other questions that . . . oh, sorry , yes, I did want to highlight the
fact that the Emergency Order is necessary for the
mask mandate. And, ultimately , we are looking to pr otect our vulnerable people . We have to protect those
in our correction facilities , those within our rest homes,
those within our hospitals . And we definitely want to
protect our airport . So, yes, we will continue to extend
the Emergency Order as necessary .
The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson. And you will now make your final comment
and move this Order.

Sen. Adrianna Hodgson: Thank you , Madam Pres ident.
Madam Presiden t, I move that the said Draft
Order be approved and that the following message be
sent to Her Excellency the Governor :
May it please Your Excellency : The Senate
having had under consideration the Draft Order ent itled the Public Health COVID -19 Emergency E xtension (No. 4) Order 2022, proposed to be made by the
Minister responsible for Health under the provisions of
section 107A of the Public Health Act 1949 h as the
hono ur to inform Your Excellency that the Senate has
approved the said Draft Order.
Thank you, Madam President .
The President: Thank you, Senator Arian na Hodgson.
Is there any objection to this Order being sent
to the Governor?
Hearing none, the Order has been approved
and the suitable message will be sent to the Governor.

[Motion carried: T he Draft Order entitled the Public
Health COVID -19 Emergency Extension (No. 4) Order
2022 was approved.]

The President: Thank you, Senators , for your deli beration.
We now move on to the next item on our
agenda.

MOTIONS
The President: There are none .

CONGRATULATORY AND/ OR
OBITUARY SPEECHES
The President: Would any Senator care to speak at
this time?
Yes, Senator Tucker . I saw your hand first .
You have the floor .

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President .
I would like to express condolences to the
families of several people .
It is weighing very heavily on me that we a re
in this period where so many people are passing
away . And, again, we expressed condolences to you
during our last meeting, but I also want to take this
opportunity to expres s condolences to all families that
have lost a loved one.
Specifically for me , Madam President , I would
like to express condolences to the family of Craig


Bermuda Senate Musson. I remember Craig from Warwick Sec. I was a
few years ahead of him , but I just remember him being . . . I don't know if you have experienced that person in high school who is a nuisance. And he was a
nuisance! He was short and a pest. But he was very
much loved by everyone. He got along well with ev eryone . And I was very shocked to see that he had
passed away . So condolences to his family .
I would also like to express condolences to
the family of Junius Burrows , otherwise known as JB.
I used to live on Farmstead Lane in Somerset where
JB’s plumbing s hop was . I also used to work with his
lifelong p artner, Pat. So I know them quite well . I
haven't seen them in recent years . You know , I again
want to express sincere condolences to Pat and of
course JB's fami ly.
As well [I express condolences to] the family
of Florette Gibbons. A thousand years ago I worked
with her at, I believe, Bank of Butterfield. She was a
lady with lots of personality and always dressed to the
nines. Never , as they say , was there a fly on her . So I
certainly want to express condolences to her [family].
The last family I would lik e to express condolences to at this particular point is to the family of Mill icent Minors . I was very shocked to learn that she had
passed away particularly because just a week before I learned that she had passed away I actually was walking up the street with her on Church Street and
we did a bit of catching up . I had hired her at one of
the places where I had worked. I had worked with her
probably five years , I want to say . If not , just shy of
that. And every day Millicent was the same, a very
quiet , kind personality . No drama, nothing . She was
just a very , very lovely person. So, again, condolences to her family .
On the congratulations side, I would like to
say a huge congratulations to all of the Bermuda col-lege graduates . I am a two -time graduate of the Be rmuda College, and I know very well what that feeling
is like through blood, sweat and tears , going through
Bermuda College . And getting that feeling of having
your robe on and finally getting that piece of paper in
your hand is the best feeling ever . So, again, I want to
say congratulations to th ose students (well, former
students at this point ) and certainly wish them well
and success in their future endeavours .
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker .
I notice S enator De Couto. You have the floor.

Thank you, Madam
President .
First of all, p lease allow me to associate m yself with my colleague ’s comments , the condolences
to all those who have lost friends and loved ones
throughout this COVID -19 pandemic . It is not a very
good outcome. I would like to send my condolences to the
family of Pamela Kempe who recently passed this
week . The Kempe family is very large and a few of
them are very close friends of mine and have had a
large impact on their community and upon this Island.
Moving on to some more positive news , I
would like to associate myself with my colleague’s
comments and congratulations to those graduating
from the Bermuda College. And I would like to further
congratu late all of those in our community who are
taking that next step finishing one phase and leading
on to the next, whether it be high school or university
or certificate. I would like to congratulate them for their
efforts and achievements in their . . . in their learni ng
journey.
I would also like to congratulate several of my
constituents . And I won't get into numbers , because I
am just going to tell you that they all start with a nine,
but they all had birthdays this week, or recently. But that is Miss Evelyn O’Neal, Miss Ursula Tyrrell, Miss
Alice Redford, and Mr. Clarence Hill . And I am not
going to call birthdays, but I would just like to congratulate them on their long achievements and marking
another milestone. I wish them all a fabulous weekend.
Finally , I particularly would like to wish good
luck to all of the participants on Friday ’s cultural and
sporting events that I think are really unique to Bermuda, especially those involved in the various races
which I will not attempt to enumerate. I wish them all
great results , whether they be in the back or the front ,
but may they achieve the ir personal goals . And the
parade, which I know will bring joy to everybody in
Bermuda. We have been waiting for it .
And I would just like to make a special mention to all of thos e who will be in St . George ’s Harbo ur
on Sunday in the tradi tional Bermuda- fitted dinghy
races kicking off the season. Like many of our traditions this weekend it is truly a unique Bermudian experience. I wish them all a lot of success .
Thank you, Madam P resident.
The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Would any other Senator care to speak at this
time?
Yes, Senator John Wight, you have the floor .

Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President .
I would like to offer condolences to a longserving em ployee of BF&M, now a retiree, Jan WoodSwan whose husband, Benson, passed away recently. She's a lovely lady . I had the great fortune of wor king with her for many , many years . I am very sorry for
her and her family’s loss.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator Wight.
Would any other Senator care to speak ?

508 25 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Sen. the Hon. Dr. Ernest Peets: Yes, Madam Pres ident.

The President: Yes, Minister Peets, you certainly
can. And you have the floor.

Yes, thank you.
I certainly want to associate myself with the
condolences shared by Senator Tucker. It was certainly a surprise and a heartfelt loss to hear about Millicent Minors . We certainly send our love and pra yers
out to her husband and her children , her m other -inlaw and the entire family . She was a really special
person. I am still grappling with the knowledge of her
passing. So I certainly want to associate myself with
those condolences.
Also, I just recently learned that a dear friend
of our country, Charles Farmer , has recently passed.
He may not be a name that may be familiar to most of
us, but anyone who would have come through the
Camp Spirit program me or perhaps is in recovery ,
Charles spent a number of years here sharing his love
and faith and inf ormation and knowledge around recovery. Many people were able to find recovery
through his leadership and his dedication to The
Twelve Steps . So I know throughout the recovery
community Charles was considered to be a real pillar.
A massive loss to those of us who really knew
Charles . So to his family and to all those who h e mentored, we certainly send out love and prayers.

The President: Thank you, Minister Peets.
Would any other Senator care to speak at this
time?
I recogni se Senator Dill.

Thank you, Madam
Presi dent.
I would certainly like to associate myself with
all of the condolences that have been offered this
morning, and, in particular , the condolences to the
families of Florette Nash and Mr . Junius Burrows .
I would also like to share condolences to the
famil ies of two lovely ladies in the West End, Mrs.
Marian Roberts , and Ms. Icilda Bean, who happens to
be the great -grandmother of the infant who passed so
tragically last . . . a month or so ago. So we certainly
offer our sincere condolences and our prayers to that
family as they go forward .
On a positive note, I join with everyone in
congratulating our Bermuda College graduates and all
of our gradu ates as we have seen the Facebook tim elines light up with so many Bermudian students that
have reached their goal , some at the bachelor ’s level
and beyond. We want to congratulate them , but also
commend the parents and the educators who have played an integral role in helping our students to reach
these milestones . So congratulations to all of our st udents , our parents , and the educators . Thank you so much, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Reverend Dr .
Emily gail Dill.
Would any other Senator care to speak at this
time?
Hearing none, then I would lik e to associate
myself with the condolences that have been raised by
Senator John Wight regarding Senator [sic] Jan
Woods -Swan on the passing of her husband, Benson
Swan. They both at tend the church that I attend, so
they are well -known to myself as well as the congr egation.
I would also like to associate myself with the
congratulations for all the students both here at the
Bermuda College and any universities. I think that ,
you know , they put in the work . I was pleased to see
that the Bermuda College was able to hold their cer-emony outdoors . And I am sure they , as well as the
fact that parents who were able to attend, enjoy ed
that.
So, with those comments it is over to you
then. The adjournment, Minister Peets.

ADJOURNMENT

Thank you, Madam
President.
I move that the Senate do now adjourn to
Wednesday, 8 June 2022.

The President: Thank you.
Would any Senator care to speak on the m otion to adjourn ?
Yes, Senator Lindsa y Simmons , I see you.
You have the floor.

FOSTER CARE MONTH

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. I am going to be [brief ] today.
I just wanted to recognis e that May is Foster
Care Month, and I want to just thank the Ministry of
Social Development and Seniors for bringing a tea in
recognition of foster parents in Bermuda last week
Sunday , because foster parents are unsung heroes in
Bermuda. They take on the most vulnerable children
and raise them .
I really want to thank Minister Furbert and her
team and the team at Family Services for going out of
their way to recognise foster parents because this is
the first time I have been able to do it in person since
two years ago. I want to thank them. I also want to
thank the Foster Parents Association. I will declare my interest as the president , but the Foster Parents A ssociation is a charity that helps to make sure that the
foster children ’s needs are met in the community .
I also would like to encourage all Members in
this Honourable Chamber and members of the co mBermuda Senate munity to rec ognis e foster parents for the rest of this
month. And if anybody is interested in becoming a
foster parent , please , please reach out to Se lena S imons at 296- 7575. I will repeat that number . The
number is 296- 7575.
It takes a great person to open the ir heart and
their home to our children. So I would encourage ev erybody to do that. I have been an active foster parent
for the past 17 years . And I still believe I hold the title
for being the youngest foster parent at 24. But, you
know , it is something that you can think you do not get
thanked enough for, but I do want to thank the foster
parents .
In closing, Madam President , I want to send
out a message to all of our foster children. For some
[children] life in foster care can be extremely challenging. Sometimes they feel displaced, a lone, unwanted,
disconnected, confused and unlo ved. We must recognise that these are real feelings , and we should a lways acknowledge their feelings . Always know, foster
children, that you are not alone and that you are important no matter what the circumst ance is. If you are
given a firm place to stand, stand tall and concentrate
on moving heaven and earth.
Thank you, Madam President . And thank you
again to the foster parents and all of the foster chi ldren in our community . You are special!

The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak ?
Senator Ben Smith , you have the floor .

BERMUDA DAY
Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam President .
Madam President , I would like to take this opportunity to just wish everybody an early [and happy]
Bermuda Day . For those that prefer to call May 24th,
May 24th, you know , celebrate all the people that
would have celebrated that yesterday . But, really , as
we move into this holiday weekend where we cel ebrate our country I think it's important not just for us to
celebrate and enjoy our time with our community and
with our families , Madam President , as we lead into
any kind of holiday we always have to remind our commu nity to be safe on our roads . This is always a
time when people start to enjoy themselves a little bit
more than normal , so be safe when you're on the
road. Make the right decisions . If you're going to be
partaking of alcoholic beverages , please make sure
that you do not drive. Let's slow down on our roads .
But also , when it comes t o our young people
and some of the ant isocial behaviou r that we've been
seeing, let's try to have a safe and non- violent wee kend. So I am wishing the entire community a safe and
healthy Bermuda Day weekend. Let's hope that when
we see each other again we w on't have to have more
condolences to announce.
Thank you, Madam President . The President: Thank you, Senator Ben Smith.
Would any other Senator care to speak at this
time?
Senator Darrell, were you indicating?
No?
Minister Peets, then it is over to you.

Looks like Senator
Robin Tucker .

The President: Oh, I beg your pardon, Senator Robin
Tucker , you have the floor.

KEY QUESTIONS LEFT UNANSWERED BY THE
GOVERNMENT
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President .
I actually just want to say a few words follo wing on from some comments that my Senate c olleague, Doug las De Couto, made during his last m otion to adjourn. And that is just following on concer ning accountability.
Our role is to ask questions and to challenge
when necessary. I recognis e, Madam President , that
we are under a Westminster system that is quite
unique, to say the least . However , Madam President , I
just want to encourage all of us that we are all in the room to try to make and do the best we can for Bermuda. And we have a unique opportunity to show
Bermuda that we can be different , we can treat each
other respect fully, and we can act differently and do
the best we can demonstrating that we are doing the
best we can for Bermuda.
We h ave differing opinions . We have differing
viewpoints . And that's perfectly . . . that's great . It's
great for Bermuda. But I would just encourage us —all
of us —not to [view the Oppos ition’s] questioning or a
challenge [that] we put forward as an attack. And if it
is, then I would encourage us not to do it , because at
the end of the day we need to make sure that we're
about Bermuda first and not about political systems .
So, if we put Bermuda first in all that we do then we
would be better for it as a country , as well as all of us
individually .
So, as we have our little bit of a break , reconvening on June 8, then I would hope that we could
reflect on what we are all in the room to do and certainly be mindful of showing the respect that we have
for each other , because it has got to start with us first .
So, thank you, Madam President . I, like Se nate Leader Smith, would like to also wish everybody a
wonderful , restful , peaceful , fun-filled Bermuda Day
holiday and Memorial weekend.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker .
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?

510 25 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President.

The President: Senator Darrell, you have the floor.
Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President, if you would
allow me just a few moments. I listened carefully to
the comments by Senator Robin Tucker just now . And
it's very inter esting the words that she uses: accountability. She ac cuses, I belie ve a veiled attempt to accuse the Government Senate team of interpreting—
Sen. Robin Tucker: Madam President . Madam President .

The President: Senator Robin Tucker.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Yes.
The President: You have a point of order ?

POINT OF ORDER
[Imputing improper motive]
Sen. Robin Tucker: I do, because I feel like t here is
motive . . . unfair motive of what I was saying and my
intent . If the Junior Minister could rephrase that , I
would appreciate it .
The President: Carry on Senator Darrell.

OPPOSITION’S ATTACK ON THE GOVERNMENT
Sen. Owen Darrell: I am just getting into my comments . And the reason why I actually raised an ey ebrow to the commentary that Senator Tucker was going on was because at the end of the session last
week there was a Senator , a relatively new Senator ,
who decided that it would be a good idea to attack the
Progressive Labour Party Government for their role in
the Senate and their performance in the Senate. Quite
frankly , a number of the people that this party repr esents took offenc e to the line of questioning and the
innuendos that the Senate Member who once ran as a
candidate for the United Bermuda Party was laying
down last week.
Senator Tucker, with all due respect , I was
going to leave this one alone too. But it's impossible
for us as a Government to take with sincerity the calls
of the One B ermuda Alliance of accountability and us
not thinking that they are attacking the Government when a little over a week ago there was a headline
carried by the One Bermuda Alliance champion that
went on an attack of the work that public officers are
doing o n a daily basis to attempt to reduce the
scourge of violence and gang ac tivity that we see on
our Island.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Madam President , may I interject
please? Sen. Owen Darrell: I have often said before—

Sen. Robin Tucker: I have a point of order.
The President: Senator Tucker, what is your point of
order?

Sen. Robin Tucker: My point of order is that the art icle that the Junior Minister refers to was not an attack
at all. It was simply high lighting initiatives and reques ting information for acc ountability purposes . That is all
that article was .
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Senator Darrell , carry on.
Sen. Owen Darrell: And there goes the word again ,
accountability , which is almost insinuating that this
Government is not doing all it can for the people of this country . And, quite frankly , it's interesting that the
One Bermuda Alliance will come to this place, the
Senate, and we e specially saw it in the debate last
week and we're seeing it again here that the Senate is
now becoming the place where the three appointed
OBA Senators seem to be having a lot of voice in c arrying the message of the One Bermuda Alliance.
I question why are these similar comments
not being heard in a different place ? It's clearly some
sort of strategic at tack to bring these accountability
attacks or these accountability questions by the One
Bermuda Alliance to the Senate where they , and r espectfully Madam President , feel that they have a better chance of influencing three other unelected ind ividuals to car ry the message of the people that were
actually elected in another place to represent them .

Sen. Robin Tucker: Excuse me , Madam President .
May I raise a point of order please?

The President: Senator Robin Tucker what is your
point of order? It should be your last one.
Sen. Robin Tucker: My point of order is that the Junior Minister is not awar e of the conversations that are
being held amongst us . And, certainly , the people of
Bermuda are sick and tired of all of the bickering.
Hence, the reason for my enc ouragement .
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Senator Tucker, that is not a point of
order .
Senator Darrell, carry on please.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Interesting about what Senator
Tucker talks about , that the people of Bermuda and
this Progressive Labour Party are unaware of what
happens in the One Bermuda Alliance caucus .
Let me help the people of Bermuda to understand what I witnessed last week . I witnessed during


Bermuda Senate the debate and 10 minutes before we were supposed
to start a debate, I witness ed a Member from another
place —who decided that he had to recuse himself
from a particular debate because he had a particular
interest —I happened to see him with my very own
eyes meddling around the Chambers of the Senate to
try to get his team in position to say wh at he couldn't
say, or did not want to say , in another place where he
is actually an elected official . So let's talk about accountability , and let's talk about what the people are
Bermuda who the Progressive Labour Party go to bat
for every single da y do not see and are not seeing.
We can't hear Senator De Couto, so it is
probably best that we don't hear him—

The Senator is getting
quite personal in his comments , and I would urge him
to stick to the topic . Thank you.
The President: That is not a point of order.
Senator Darrell —
Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President. I
would urge the Senator w ho seems to have a strange
case of amnesia right now, to go back and listen to his
comments last week when he took a personal attack
against myself when I was not even in the Chamber .
So let's not talk about personal attacks and, Oh well,
we're just trying to do what's best for the people of
Bermuda. Absolute rubbish , Madam President .
As I have said before, and I actually said in
the debate last week , and I say every single time, the
Progressive Labour Party , Senator De Couto, is the
only party that I ha ve ever been a member of . It is the
only party that I have ever won as a candidate for . It is
the only party in this country that represents the peo-ple of Bermuda and represents what is best for the
work ing class man and all Bermudians.

The President: Senator Darrell, your comments
should be directed to myself as the President of the Senate. Thank you.
Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you. I do apologis e, Madam President .
So while Senator De Couto and his blog buddies would like to take attacks at the Progressi ve Labour Party on every single social media outlet there is ,
we will continue to work hard and fight for the causes
of the Progressive Labour Party , and all 30 of my colleagues who sit in another place will continue to stand
on their feet and speak to the issues that affect Be rmudians . And they will not try some silly strategy to try to bring it to a place where they think they have a better chance of fooling the electorate to think that they
actually care about them .
So, Senator Tucker, while I believe t hat your
comments may have come from a place of care and
concern, I hope that you are also not being misled in
other Chambers and not being shielded from some of
the attacks of the One Bermuda Alliance.
Madam President, there is one particular
Senator, and it is that plainly obvious that he comes
with an agenda and he carries the red pompoms ev ery single time he walks into this Chamber. And I , quite
frankly, Madam President, will not sit here and allow
such a Senator , who i s brand new , to attack the Pr ogressive Labour Party and my colleagues on the
terms of accountability and not working hard for the
people of this country . So, while certain Senators forget very quickly , and they seem to get their feelings
hurt very , very fast , my memory is long, Madam President . There are pictures and there are articles that
show certain Members who now sit in this Chamber
marching for a different political party .
So, Madam President , I will end with this : The
Progressive Labour Party in this place and another
place will do its very best to work hard on behalf of all
Bermudians to make their lives better .
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell.
Would any other Senator care to speak ?
Senator De Couto, do you wish an opportunity
to speak on the motion to adjourn?

CALLING OUT ERRORS OF PLP GOVERNMENT

Thank you, Madam
President. If I speak too loudly , please advise. I do not
want to damage anyone’s speakers .
I had sincerely hoped I that we were all going
to get to lunch today . I do apologise but I do feel that I
have to address a few topics that I thought we might
let lie in the interests of a pleasant weekend.
The PLP Government, which we have heard
is representing the people, received only 16,000 votes
at the Ge neral Election, out of 40,000 eligible voters.
So I think it is safe to say that less than half of the el igible voters came out to vote for them. And, yes, they
won, of the people who came out to vote. But a mandate it was not. Unfortunately, with our firs t-past-thepost system we know it ended up with 30 to 6. But a
mandate it was not.
I also find it interesting how nervous this PLP
Government is about the activity in the Senate. It is as
if they do not have the confidence in the Bills that they
are bringi ng and the way that they are approaching it.
And we have seen that with the failure to provide the
correct information, the failure to bring Bills that are
even constitutional, the marijuana Bill, the cannabis
512 25 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Bill that has been brought twice despite knowi ng that it
could not be approved.
So while there are those out there who insi nuate that we in the One Bermuda Alliance are kno wingly trying to bring unconstitutional amendments, I
can assure you that if we have made a mistake,
which, Madam President, we f ully respect your opi nions and judgments and accept them, but we certainly
would not have brought something that we knew well
ahead of time could not be put into effect. Now talk
about disrespect for our system of government, talk about failure to carry out their duties properly! Is this
Government doing all it can for the people? No!
Let me repeat that. Is this Government doing
all that it can for the people? No!
Look at the trash on the side of the roads.
Look at the violence. Look at the health care outcomes. Now, the plans, we like the plans. Let’s hope
these plans succeed. But look at the outcomes. Look
at the educational outcomes. We heard about some
initiatives today which I do not want to rehash, but we learned they were privately funded. So is thi s Go vernment doing all it can? Apparently not ; it needs
help.
Was I a member of the UBP? Yes —15 years
ago. How many PLP Ministers today —

Sen. Owen Darrell: Point of information, Madam
President.

I might get them neck
braces because they must have whiplash to reconcile
their political positions with the real ity on the ground.
And I point to my fellow Senator’s article two days
ago, maybe, in the Royal Gazette disparaging the
outcomes of the America’s Cup in the very same
newspaper that the BTA was extolling the virtues of
SailGP where we learned about all of the fabulous
programmes that impacted young Bermudian sai lors—not just those who look like me, actually.
So, again, I do hope that you recover from
your whiplash, for those in the PLP.
I hope that the PLP Government can set their
eyes forward. I hope that they can focus on outcomes and less on controlling, but more on enabling a better
outcome for the people of Bermuda. Can we come to
a Bermuda where our children have the opportunities that we had? Can we come to a Bermuda where they
will have good health, and the health care outcomes
that they need? Can we arrive at a Bermuda when
everybody will receive the education required to be
successful ? Will we arrive at a Bermuda where the
conditions are set for everybody to have a fulfilling,
successful life in w hatever that means for them,
whether they drive a laptop or a truck, operate a
shovel or a cash register ? I hope so. And that's why
I'm here.
And if I call out the errors of the P LP Gover nment , I make no apologies for it . And am I waving red
pompoms ? Well no, and I am not wearing a red tie
today either, actually , Madam President . But, of
course, I do represent the O BA and the OBA’s vision
for the people of Bermuda.
Now, with that, Madam President , I bid you a
safe and enjoyable and relaxing weekend. I thank you
for the time to speak .

An Hon. Senator: Madam President, I think you are
[muted].

The President: Yes, sorry about that .
Senator Dill, did you want to have . . . did you
want to speak at this time Senator Dill ?

I am us ing—

An Hon. Senator: Perhaps maybe Senator Dill can
turn off her camera t o save a little bit of bandwidth.


Bermuda Senate The President: Senator Dill, it has been suggested
that you turn off your camera and maybe we can hear
you, because you are going in and out of us hearing
you.
You have the floor , Senator Doctor Emily Dill .
Unmute, Senator Dill. You can speak .

CELEBRATING PLP
GOVERNMENT’S SUCCESSES

Madam President
and my Senate colleagues , and certainly the list ening
audience, the comments that were raised by the last
Senator . . . in listening to the speeches that went pr ior and certainly the appeal by Senator Robin Tucker in terms of the way that we can move forward . . . but
to have listened to these comments which were ex-tremely disingenuous and misleading, and to have
watched over the years the w ays in which the prev ious Government , many of whom are now part of the
OBA . . . when we talk about the disaster of December 2, you know let's not talk about when you discuss
the America's Cup and basically the fact that we
struggle with is the debt that the OBA left us with, the
high taxes that they raised, the changes that they
made in the tax structure which have adversely i mpacted our economy and have left us with a Gover nment that is now struggling to deal with the issues that
were left behind by the l ast Government .

Okay. So I would just like to say that as we prepare
to leave for this holiday that we celebrate the successes that this Government has had. As we have
gone through a pandemic which had the potential to have wiped us out but this Government worked very
hard and we continue to work to ensure that our
community is safe. As we prepare for the restructuring
of our school system and the school reform, I am excited about what I see when I go from place to place.
Like you go from M inistry to M inistry and see how
hard our government workers are . . . even with
stretch ed resources , how [hard] they are working.
They are innovative. They are committed. And I want
to just commend this Government on the job that they have done.
I want our community as we get ready for
Bermuda Day , for our celebration , to celebrate the fact
that we have come through this pandemic . We conti nue to move forward. And together we are going to r ebuild this community . Together we are going to erad icate the ills that , you know , were passed on to us .
Together we can move forward. Together we will see
our children excel . Together this community will move
forward.
So a happy Bermuda Day to everyone. Have
a blessed weekend. Let us work together , let us love
one another , and let us be united in our commitment
to make this community the best in the world.

The President: Thank you , Senator Doctor Emilygail
Dill.
Would any other Senator care to speak ?
Minister Peets.

PLP GOVERNMENT’S
OVERWHELMING MANDATE

Sure , thank you ,
Madam President . I get the distinct pleasure of speaking last.
I have enjoyed our Senate session today
probably a little bit more than previous sessions . I will
say for the record that 30 to 6 sounds like a mandate
to me. We can make a lot of conversation about voter
turnout . The truth of the matter is that the votes that
did com pile that day put the Progressive Labour Party
in Government .
I thought I heard something about nervous .
Never ! I have never seen this party nervous . Focused? Absolutely . I thought I heard something about
whiplash . And in my head I was like, seriously ? Whiplash? The airport deal , Morgan ’s Point , leaving the
incinerator in disrepair , that's the legacy of the Opp osition. And with their famous failure I believe it pop ularised the song So long Goodbye . I remember that .
Whiplash? I would suggest , Senator , that's
the unfortunate experience of the voters who put their
faith in the OBA. And the deserve d outcome for that
was that the voters decided in the last two General
514 25 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Elections to put their faith and trust in this Gover nment .
I haven't heard anything serious about these
talking points . Most of them are really void of anything
serious , particularly given the insane poor track record
of the Opposition. These are the things that I think the
voters pay attention to. These are the things that are
not lost on this Government . And I do severely and
seriously hope that in future debates we actually see
far more cooperation that relates to the overwhelming
mandate that this Government has to fulfil the wishes of the people who voted this Government into power.
To deliver for its people we are appointed
Senators working on the behalf of the elected officials of this parliamentar y process . And it behoves us to
pay attention to that and never forget the fact that we ,
in this Senate, as important as the work that we do
[is], do not get or have the right to override the will of
the people as it relates to the elected officials of another House.
So in a parting, as we continue to move forward into the next 48 hours , I certainly thank Senator
Dill for her comments in wishing all of us a wonderful
and happy Bermuda Day . Thank you so much to the
Opposition Leader in the Senate, Senator B en Smith
for his wishes for Bermuda Day. Of course, our heri tage and our culture is something that we need to cel-ebrate, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity of
spending some downtime with my family , as most of
you are wishing and wanting to do the s ame.
So I look forward to having a great time on
Bermuda Day. And I certainly wish [safety] and health
to all of our listeners and all of you who are participat-ing in our Senate session today . Thank you , and God
bless you.

The President: Thank you, Minister Peets.
I would like to join you in your comments . And
certainly remind each one of us that we are here to do
the work of the people. We must do it respectively ,
respecting ourselves and each other in this place, and
the people we represent .
Yes, there is a full week of activities ahead,
and they have been touched on by each one of you
Senators who have spoken about all of the cultural
activities , the parade , the St. George's Harbou r dinghy
race. And I would want us to enjoy all the activities
with our families . But always remember to be safe.
With that , Senators , I bid you ad ieu and have
a wonderful holiday weekend and we'll see you back here on June the 8
th. Be safe and be safe with your
families but enjoy the time that we've been given .
With that , the Senate stands adjourned.
Thank you everyone.

Some Hon. Senators: Thank you, Madam President .
Enjoy your weekend as well .

The President: Thank you. [At 2:17 pm, the Senate stood adjourned until 10:00 am, Wednesday, 8 June 2022.]