May 18, 2022

Thank you, Madam
President.
Thank you, Senator Darrell, for that spirited
support of the Bill. You referred to bold steps. Certai nly, we would all like a bold step. But there is a difference between stepping into the unknown versus taking a calculated risk where the downsides can be u nderstood.
Senator Darrell al so made a comment that
this Bill was identical to the 2017 Tourism Investment Act. But of course we know that this is not the case,
both in terms of details in the Bill and the lengths of the concessions.
But let me just state, I want to reaffirm, and I
think everybody in this room agrees, that we all support that there should be a hotel built. We want to see a bustling, thriving tourism industry, a part of our ec onomic engine that provides opportunities for Bermudi-ans whether directly employed by the hotel or not. I
personally believe, and I think many of you will agree
with me, that Bermudians have a special energy and
creativity, especially our newer generations who bring a new perspective, Madam President. Let’s give them
a chance to shine.
Also, Madam President, I and my colleagues
are keenly aware of the need for direct jobs. In fact, while canvassing in 2020, I sat with a family the day
before the announcement of the closure of the hotel. The entire family worked at the Fairmont Southam pton. So, I wou ld suggest that any suggestions that we


Bermuda Senate are not in support of the opening of this [hotel], are
frankly, misplaced and very incorrect.
Now, you know, many people in Bermuda
have had a personal connection to that hotel. I just
want to reiterate that we all understand how that can also create support for having this hotel opened. In
fact, my father, although he did not operate at the h otel, started in a cycle shop. He ran a cycle shop, and
then ran a cottage colony. So even those of us in the
“laptop class” have connections to the benefits of the
tourism industry.
But I want to remind us all, Madam President,
that we are not here to debate whether or not there
should be a hotel. I think we can take that as a given,
what the benefits are. There are many benefit s. So
let’s put that to the side, because the Bill in front of us
is not about that. The Bill in front of us is about how
much will this hotel cost us ? What have we given
away? What kind of deal has the Government done
for Bermuda? And frankly, I think som e of you (and
maybe you too, Madam President), would join me in
being a little curious and a little unsure about exactly
what is in there. There are too many questions; too
much that is irregular about this whole process that
makes it very hard for us to s upport the Bill.
Let me draw your attention to a comment that
we just heard from our fellow Senator. A residential
component is fundamental to success of these developments. One of the biggest questions in my mind,
and [which] is not adequately answered, is, Do the
benefits in this Bill— import duty breaks on construction materials, land tax breaks —accrue if the developer wants to build condos on the sites? And I am not
talking about should they build condos or should they
not, Madam President. I am not tal king about will the
SDO be approved or will it not. That is not the matter
in front of us.
The matter in front of us is, and this is my
question that I hope that we can get some certainly
on, If condos are built by this developer, will they r eceive 100 per cent construction materials import duty
relief? And will they receive the land tax relief set out in this Bill?
My colleagues and I have tried to bring some
adjustments to the Bill that would help clarify that. And I do believe there may be a way that w e may be able
to bring that issue. If there is a clear answer to this, I
really would welcome a point of information, but I will
be waiting.
But let me move on. Let me start with my
main argument. The main argument is: There must be
a better deal for Berm uda than that provided to the
developers by this Bill. But how do we know this? A fter all, were we there in the room? Were we involved
in the ins and outs? Do we have all the information?
No, we do not. But the former Finance Minister, Curtis Dickinson, a professional in the area of finance, pro bably . . . and I am looking around the room here, Ma dam President, so I might cast too wide a net. But he probably has more experience and knowledge in the
areas of finance and deal -making than all of us, or at
least if not all of us in this room —

POINT OF INFORMATION

Sen. Owen Darrell: Point of information, Madam
President.
I don’t think that the Senator is qualified to
make that statement about what financial experience
those of us in the room have. So I would ask him to
retract that comment, please, Madam President.

The President: Senator De Couto, do carry on.

I will rephrase it, b ecause we all can come to our decisions as to who we
think is most qualified and I think we all ought to take
that into account.
So let me get back to my argument. How do
we know if a better deal was available for Bermuda? The former Finance Minister told us so. In fact, he suggested specific things the Government could have
done to arrive at a better result for Bermudians. And
because the Government did not do that, he resigned
his position. And really, who are we to know better?
How could we as an Opposition possibly support this
Bill when the person most responsible, most intimately involved in its negotiations throughout the whole time
thinks it is so bad that he resigned? So, again, I will
leave you, Madam President, and those of us listening
to draw your own conclusions. Let me go on to another line of argument. We
have heard quite a lot, Madam Pr esident, about how
this developer really needs the 15- year concession in
there. But we know that many other new hotels have
opened or been refurbished without these benefits.
And I draw your attention, Madam President, to the St.
Regis, the Hamilton Princess, The Loren, the Azura, for example. None of these required such extensive
concessions. And the information we have been pr ovided does not adequately justify this.
Now, I know there has been an argument that
because of COVID -19 it is more expensive for the developers. But I think we all know that COVID -19 has
been tough on everybody. COVID -19 has been especially tough on Bermudians with the least. Those laid
off by the Fairmont Southampton who were not paid
redundancy were especially hurt by COVID -19. Go vernment had to step in. So, in fact, you might say, Madam President, if this developer needed assistance because of COVID -19, they have already received
ample—ample—assistance by this essentially interest-free loan to the tune of $11 million. And now the
Government is telling us that this developer needs
more, Madam President.
I am sure the other hotels in Bermuda would
have liked help like that during the COVID -19 [pa ndemic]. But like many other businesses, and I am
460 18 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate thinking about the small businesses wi th a handful of
employees, family businesses, they struggle to find
ways to stay afloat and where they could, take care of
their employees, maybe give them short shifts or pay
them a little something. So I don’t feel it would have been out of line for the Government to go back to the
developers and say, You know, we had an agreement
in 2019 and it was good for you then, let’s stick with
that. After all, the hurt from COVID -19 should be
shared, not placed on those with the least.
Let me move on to my next point. We learned
last week at the information session provided by the Government, Madam President . . . and I believe I
saw you there. I guess we should be grateful for that
little bit of information we did receive, even though it was after the fact. This hotel has always made money.
Let me repeat that: This hotel has always made mon-ey! So my question, Why is the Bermuda Government
bending over backwards so much, compared to the
standard concessions that are provided in the 2017
Tourism Investment Act?
I mean, I don’t blame the developers. Their
job is to get the most that they can negotiate. But when I listened, Madam President, in that information
session, I felt that the Government was negotiating
against itself. It is not for the Government to make the
case of why the developers need more. It is for the Government to get the best deal for Bermuda. And
remember, business people are business people.
They recognise that sometimes they don’t always get
the best possible deal they want, but mostly they are
interested in getting a decent deal done. And, again, I
think we have heard that there probably was a decent
deal that could have been done here.
By the way, I did mention that in my view this
Act would probably apply to give the condos benefits. But I ha ve yet to hear a point of information on that,
correcting my understanding based on the limited i nformation that we have been provided. So I would
welcome such information.
We also heard a lot about what other jurisdi ctions do. In The Bahamas there is th is; in TCI there is
that. And let me share a saying in my family. Not my wife’s family, my side. She does not always like this
one, but as we like to say, That’s a matter for them.
We in Bermuda need to do what is right for Bermudians. Now, I have been to The Bahamas. I actually
went there on spring break many, many years ago. I
know that sometimes in Bermuda, Madam President,
we have been accused of being a little bit elitist with
respect to the islands in the Caribbean. But what they
have down there is you go over the bridge and you go to the hotel, the Atlantis, and it is completely separate
from the rest of the island. Now, I did not stay at the
Atlantis. I stayed in a small cottage colony. It is surrounded by barbed wire. Everybody has security fences. Signs for guard dogs. So, you know, I stayed
in another hotel in The Bahamas once and it had a hole in the wall in the room. So, again, I don’t mean to be arrogant as a Bermudian, but I think that we like to
do a better job in Bermuda for ourselves, Madam
President.
Turks and Caicos. We know that Turks and
Caicos is rife with corruption to the extent that the UK Government had to step in. And again, institutions
such as the Senate and procedures and processes
that we follow are the kinds of things that separate us
from islands like that.
Let me move on to the Cayman Islands. I was
canvassing last weekend and I met one of my consti tuents. Madam President, he is Bermudian, of course,
but primarily works in Cayman. And we talked about
this. And I asked him, What is your insight? He is a
very intelligent fellow.
He said, You know, here in Bermuda and
there in Cayman everybody thinks that the grass is
greener on the other side. And in his view, they may
have gone too far in Cayman in giving away parts of
the island. Now that is interesting, Madam President,
because I am actually a supporter in general of attracting the appropriate investment for the Island, but
we know that a balance and attention must be mai ntained. And that is the Government’s role, to step up
and represent for Bermudians. So that leads me back to we have to do what is best for Bermuda and Bermudians.
Now, I am going to move on to a couple of
points that I have heard. They are not in the Bill, but it has been part of the argument for the ho tel. There is
going to be a 10 per cent profit share and it is going to
go into some kind of trust fund for Bermudians. That in
and of itself is a good idea. But that is not in this Bill.
This Bill does not promise that. This Bill does not talk
about that. And in fact, the most information I have
about it is what you have just heard from me.
So, let me move on and remind us. We heard
in the information session that this hotel has always made money. Further, the Premier, essentially, adv ocated that Bermudians should want to invest in this
hotel —invest alongside these investors, never mind
get the 10 per cent profit share. Let me put it this way,
if this is such a good deal for the owners of the hotel that they can afford to just give away 10 per cent of
the profit, why not give that to Bermuda up front? Pay
the same taxes as the other hotels. That is all I am saying.
We have heard about the “nation of owners”
and I am a big supporter of that. I would say that if Government is serious about the nation of own ers,
Madam President, there are many ways, more speci fic and more effective ways, that they could support that rather than trying to get them to invest alongside
this hotel developer. By the way, the proposed plan
. . . actually what it would do, the Bermudian inves tment money would replace the Gencom money. In fact, it gives the developers even less risk, leaving Bermudians with the risk, more risk of the hotel.


Bermuda Senate Speaking of risk, let’s talk about the risk that
the developers are taking in this project an d the risk
that Bermudians are taking. What we would like to see
is an equitable sharing of that risk so that we have a
shared interest, Madam President. We want the hotel open. We want it working well for Bermudians. We
want the developers to be successful, but we have to
have a shared risk. My calculations, based on information that has been publicly available, is that the
concessions for the main hotel itself are worth about
$120 million. And I believe there is a $75 million guar-antee. Let’s call that $200 million, thereabouts.
Now, [from] some various bits of information
that I have been able to gather, I understand the de-velopers equity, that’s the amount of the developer’s money at risk in this investment, [to be] let’s call it $75
million to $100 million. I don’t know exactly, but that is
my educated estimate. And I know that there were
some questions about who is to judge whose crede ntials. I do have a certificate in financial engineering
from the MIT Sloan School of Business, so I think I bring —

POINT OF INFORMATION
Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President, point of information.
I was not challenging the credentials of the
Senator. He was making assertions about the qualif ications and credentials of everyone else in this
Chamber. Just to remind him, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell. That was
a point of information.
Senator De Couto, you may carry on.

No, no. The point is well
taken. I am speaking to my qualifications here as analysing financial deals.
Now, not as qualified . . . I will tell you I am not
as qualified as the former Finance Minister Curtis
Dickinson who resigned because of this deal. But
even I can see . . . by the way, I work in risk asses sment all day. I work in insurance. It is the business of
taking risk and deciding who is paid enough for this
risk.
So I go back to my figures. The Government,
well, on behalf of the people of Bermuda, is taking on
risk of around $200 million. The developer, call it up to
$100 [million]. So, again, by my workings, the people
of Bermuda are taking on twice as much risk for this development as the investors. That does not seem
right to me. I would be willing to share the risk, but I
cannot get behind that ratio. There is further risk to Bermuda because we
are led to believe, again, by those well informed, that the St. Regis hotel may have an agreement, a most
favoured nation’s agreement. And again, if that is i ncorrect, I would welc ome a point of information to correct that. Such that they would automatically get the benefits of any deal that is better than the deal that
they have. So that would be something that we would
not even have the ability to change; that would be
locked in. So that is more income that Bermuda would
be losing, never mind all the other hotels that would
be lining up.
What do you think they will be doing down at
the Hamilton Princess? I can assure you that they will be on speed dial to the Minister who is with us in this
Chamber, Madam President. And then, hopefully, we will be having upcoming developments and there are only going to want as good as this development got.
And you know, I think there is even more
money at risk because I have not heard to the cont rary . . . and I am actually still confused about if the condominiums that will be built will receive a break on the import duty of construction materials and if they will
receive a land tax break. And I have not calculated out
that number . But I believe i t is somewhere around the
same magnitude as the numbers I have already said,
so, even doubling the amount that the Government
would be giving away.
And I want to note . . . again, I do not want to
get into whether or not condos should or should not be bui lt but I want to note that for the St. Regis Act for
condos that were built (and I think they call them r esort residences) in the St. Regis, they had to be made
available to be used as hotel rooms 50 per cent of the
time, and that decision had to be made up front before [signing the] contract with the buyer of the condo. So
we would know, as Bermuda, You can build a condo.
We will give a break, but it needs to act like a hotel
room at least half the time. That is the kind of sharing
that I am talking about. This Bill provides no such pr ovisions.
So, again, I welcome a point of information to
correct me.

POINT OF INFORMATION

Madam President, I
can offer a point of information. I have been waiting,
Madam President, to see if the Honourable Senator
would arrive at his point. I am not sure if he ever will. This Bill is not about condos.
This Bill is about extending concessions from
10 years to 15 years. That’s it. Nothing else; nothing
more.
Asking questions about other things that this
Bill does not speak to . . . this is not what this Bill is
about. So, Madam President, if the Honourable Senator would be mindful of that, perhaps we can continue
to move forward.
462 18 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Minister Peets.
Carry on, Senator De Couto.

The Fairmont
Southampton Act that we are debating today is extending concessions. This is what this Honourable
Chamber needs to be considering.
It is whether or not we are minded to make a
decision, in order to secure a deal so that we can
have the benefit of a hotel and all the things that come
along with it both directly and ancillary, [which] is predicated on the fact of making [that] decision, to
extend concessions from 10 years to 15 years. It is
not about condos and whether or not they are going to
be available for 50 per cent of the t ime. This is not
about a one size fits all , which does not really make
much sense. Things are completely different today as they will be perhaps next year or even a previous
year.
We have an opportunity today to actually do
something and do something grea t. We need to be
about that particular conversation, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Minister Peets.
Senator De Couto, you can carry on.

Thank you, Madam
President.
I appreciate the Senator’s information. I will
just put to the room and to yourself, Madam President, I personally do not feel it has answered my question
because, of course, the condos and the SDO were
mentioned in the Junior Minister’s for Tourism Stat ement about this Act. So, I guess I would have been hoping to have a statement that this Act is not inten ded to provide tax breaks to any condominiums that
may be built later. That would have been something, a statement, that I could have understood more clearly.
But let me complete my statement, overall. I
have given quite a few reasons why I believe this Bill is a bad deal for Bermuda. And I feel like the Gover nment has not interacted with the rest of Bermuda in
good faith. You know, my colleagues and I, and I think
a lot of people in Bermuda and probably in this room
have spent a long time agonising over what is going
on here. What is covered by this Bill? What is not covered by this Bill? How does this Bill compare to
other concessions? Are we against the Bill because
we are not paying attention or w e are not thinking
straight? And we have turned it over every which way.
And as I mentioned in the beginning, there are too
many questions. So for whose benefit was this Bill negotiated,
or the concessions in this Bill negotiated? Was it truly
negotiated for the best long- term benefit of Bermudians? Or was it negotiated for a short -term political
gain? I don’t know.
I do want to conclude with a quote from a r eport, again, because other jurisdictions were brought
up and this came across my desk. It is fro m 2006 and
it is from the UN Economic Commission for Latin
America and the Caribbean. And I would be happy to
provide it to those who are interested. “Challenges to Caribbean Tourism.” And it talks about the kinds of
incentive packages that are given in the region and
that they are relatively standardised with a little adaptation to take account of individual countries. But the
bit that stood out to me, and I think it kind of sums up
many of the concerns that we have in this Bill, be-cause remember, we want this hotel to get done, but
not at Bermuda’s expense.
The report says, “There is evidence of a lack
of uniformity and equity in the administering of the incentives. Generally, the regime is biased in favour of larger . . . hotels and [other] operators, wh ich can exercise more political influence . . . Smaller hotels and
operators have long clamoured for a harmonised i ncentive regime, which will allow them from this standpoint to compete on the same footing as larger properties.”
So in conclusion, while w e are 100 per cent
committed to making this Bill work ––and as you know,
Madam President, we have brought several ideas to the room that we felt would arrive at a conclusion we could support, that would allow this project to go forward––the specific giveawa ys in this Bill are not ones
that, certainly not ones that I can support.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Senator John Wight, you indicated you wan ted to speak and therefore the floor is open to you.

Sen. John Wight: Thank you, M adam President.
I will take a slightly different slant from those
expressed just now by Senator Darrell or Senator
De Couto, or for that matter, a comment made by Mi nister Peets.
So reviving tourism following the pandemic is
obviously critical for Berm uda. The Fairmont Sout hampton is a landmark hotel and its closure has had so
many negative impacts on Bermuda. Madam Pres ident, 700 to 800 residents of Bermuda, Bermudians
and guest workers alike, were employed at the hotel.
These are proud people serving our guests and pu tting food on the table for their families. The closure
was devastating for many of them, and for their fam ilies.
As Senator Darrell expressed, airlift to Bermuda has not recovered as we emerge from the pa ndemic. With two airlines setting the reopening of this


Bermuda Senate hotel as a condition for increasing their airlift to the
Island, many tourists, including the important conve ntion business, choose Bermuda because of the facility
itself and the Fairmont brand that is so highly respec ted globally. What resident of Bermuda doesn’t miss
visiting the hotel for any number of reasons: sta ycations, meals at the restaurants [and] shows in the
amphitheatre? I can say that as a resident of Sout hampton who lives close to the hotel I used to just enjoy walking a round enjoying the vibe and activity in
and around the hotel.
My first thoughts when it was announced publicly that the hotel had an interested buyer was one of
excitement. Finally, a fully open and functioning hotel.
When the public was advised that legis lation was
forthcoming for the House and Senate to review, I was
anxious to receive all the necessary documentation
for myself and fellow colleagues to review.
Madam President, being the CEO of a publicly
traded company headquartered in Bermuda I know what I need to gain the support of my board of directors who represent the owners of the company. In
fact, I think there is a good argument to say that good
governance and good business practices are no di fferent, or shouldn’t be any different, between the pu blic sector and the private sector. A private sector board of directors represents its owners to do what is best for the company in the same way that Members
of Parliament and Senators are responsible for doing
what is best for our country and our citizens.
Madam President, last week the Minister of
Tourism very kindly reached out and met with the I ndependent Senators to address any questions and concerns that we may have. I thank Minister Campbell
for doing just that. He was very helpful. At that meeting, being fully transparent with the Minister, I expressed 100 per cent support in principle for the reopening of the hotel for the reasons I have just cited. At the same time, I expressed concern at the lack of i nformation and detail provided to Senators b y Gover nment.
The Bill itself, very brief as it was, was one
piece of a much larger puzzle. Having heard the
Premier advise at last week’s town hall that Gover nment were either at the finish line or close to it, I asked the Minister to see a copy of a let ter of intent
which surely must be available if we are that close to
execution. The letter of intent, Madam President, sets
out the details and terms and conditions that both parties are obligated to fulfil. This document is what I
would absolutely need to understand the entire project
and its component parts.
I noted Minister Peets’ comments about this
Bill is only about the consideration of extending ben efits from 10 to 15 years, but in my view, it is a much
bigger issue. And that Bill in its entirely req uires our
understanding of all of the component parts including,
but not limited to, details and assumptions behind the
tax concessions, including the hotel occupancy tax, custom duty, payroll tax and land tax, the new full collective bargaining agreement between the Gover nment and the BIU, full details on the Government’s
guarantee of $75 million, full details on financing by
senior and junior debt holders, [and] the amount and timing of the capital infusion by the new owners.
Is there a fair and equitabl e balance between
the benefits and risks of Bermudians and the new owners? Madam President, despite this request for
this information to be provided in advance of today,
myself and fellow Senators have received from Gov-ernment none of the requested information. Without it
I am in no position to be able to support this project.
And in principle, I support it 100 per cent.
The information provided to the Senators was
the following: the brief, four -page Bill entitled the
Fairmont Southampton Act 2022; the let ter of intent
between the buyer and Government dated December 11, 2019, which terminated on December 31,
2020, and is out of date and irrelevant; the property site plan for the Fairmont Southampton dated January
8, 2017; and the last item was certain secti ons of what
we are told is the new bargaining agreement —

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

The President: Senator Darrell, what is your point of
order?

POINT OF ORDER

Sen. Owen Darrell: I heard Senator Wight mention a
letter of intent. There actually is no letter of intent. And
the letter of intent that he is referring to I believe is an
old letter of intent.

The President: Senator Darrell, he did say that. He
did indicate that it was old and it was expired.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Okay. Thank you.

Sen. John Wight: So my point was —

Sen. Owen Darrell: So, Madam President, my point
of order is the Senator is actually asking for something
that does not exist.

Sen. John Wight: My point —

The President: Senator John Wight, continue.
Sen. John Wight: —thank you, Madam President,
was that if we are at the finish line or close to the fi nish line there certainly must be a letter of intent or
heads of agreement. We cannot be that close to ex ecuting an agreement without the terms and conditions by both parties [being set out] in a written agreement. That was a document requested to be seen and that
document has not been provided to the Senators.
464 18 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate So, Madam President, this is hardly the
breadth of information and documentation requir ements for myself as a Senator required to advise
Bermudians that this deal, whatever the deal is, is in
the best interest of Bermuda. My request for the i nformation that I requested from Government was essentially denied. This is, as I read in the local new spaper —

POINT OF INFORMATION

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Point of information, Madam
President.
The information that the Senator would have
requested is actually proprietary information and
would actually be in the possession of the developers.
And so if the developer s were in a position to share
that information, then that would be their information to share.

The President: Thank you for that information, Senator Arianna Hodgson.
Senator Wight, carry on.

Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
This is, as I read in the local newspaper, a
$376 million project. Why is there such secrecy clouding this project?
We all want to get behind a deal that is in the
best interest of Bermuda, to have a new buyer acquire
the hotel and property and redevelop it. All I am as king for is the same strong governance and transparency to be exhibited by Government in the public sec-tor that I am used to seeing in the private sector.
So to be clear, I am, in principle, supportive of
the hotel being acquired and being redeveloped. I am,
in principle, supportive of concessions being provided to the buyer. However, for the reasons stated, Madam
President, I am unable to support this Bill.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator John Wight.
Would any other Sena tor care to speak on
this Bill?
Senator Robin Tucker, you have the floor.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
I will concur with the rest of my Senate colleagues as they have already indicated that . . . I do
not think there is anyone in this room who would act ually say that they don’t support the redevelopment of
the Fairmont Southampton Hotel. I believe that we all understand how vitally important having the hotel back
on line and fully operating is for Bermuda and for
Bermuda’s economy.
The OBA has certainly done its best to make
clear at every point that we support the redevelo pment of the hotel. And like everyone else, we want the
hotel to be reopened as quickly as possible so that we can do the important things like increasing the Island’s
inventory of available hotel guest accommodations
and attracting visitors back to our shores. We want to
welcome the return of large group businesses and
celebrate the Bermudians who will be fortunate enough to be able to work at the hotel. All of these
initiatives, Madam President, have related effects that
will see others in social and transport services, restaurant workers, and other service workers also benefit.
So it is mutually beneficial to all of us to get this hotel
reopened.
The reopening of the Fairmont Southampton
will not only provide some welcome relief for construction and the hotel workers themselves, but the reopening of the hotel is expected to bring added benefits
as well. For example, the benefit of the airport arrivals
stemming fr om overseas increases in airlift, which we
heard earlier , is expected to bring nothing but positive
returns for our economy as more visitors result in i ncreased usage of our services. This will be a welcomed addition since we know that between 2016 and
2019 the Fairmont Southampton guests represented 12 per cent of Skyport’s total passenger traffic. And I
think the Junior Minister spoke to that already.
So, Madam President, I believe that this Bill is
a step in the right direction to help Bermuda realise
the reopening of a treasured hotel and to put our people to work. But will the Bill enable what the Gover nment has promised? Will it provide maximum protec-tion to appropriately mitigate the risk as was spoken of
in another place? We know that the passing of this Bill
will enable investors to do what they are in business
to do, which is to make money —while restoring an
always profitable and beloved Bermuda hotel.
Madam President, it is not lost on me that
there are a lot of people who want to see this Bill succeed. However, Madam President, we have a Bill b efore us that is scant on details.
Where is the information and data needed to
support the decision- making in support of extending
concessions beyond those that are set out in the
Tourism Investment Act 2017? What are the projected
financial statements for the next five years? Simple
question. Without team metrics and other data in support of the decisions made by the Government to pr oceed with tabling this Bill, how can we be sure that the
decision to support it will be a good one in the future,
and that it will benefit all Bermudians not just in the
short term, but in the long run?
Madam President, as I indicated, this redeve lopment project is important. But equally important is the need to ensure that the Bermudian—and I will call
the Bermudian I am talking about “Joe Public” —that
Joe Public’s interests are also protected. The Government has expanded concessions in this Bill by an
additional five years beyond the Tourism Investment
Act. But the same condi tions as set out in the 2017
Act, particularly as it relates to staff considerations
remain unchanged. It will be good for us to underBermuda Senate stand who was actually in the room negotiating the
terms and conditions with Gencom for the deal. If
there were no industr y stakeholders, credible deal
makers, and experienced financiers on the Gover nment side, then the Government was at a disa dvantage and could not possibly negotiate a favourable
agreement [for] all sides.
I would have liked to have seen evidence in
the Bil l of the Government having successfully negot iated and included some additional incentives that
more earnestly demonstrate the hotel’s commitment to hire, train and retain Bermudians. After all, this is
such a critical area that is needed in Bermuda. We
need to have more Bermudians interested in working
in the hospitality industry. And not just in entry -leveltype positions, but in decision- making positions of
leadership. Bermuda has a lot of talent and much of it has left the industry and the country, and many
younger people are not interested in pursuing a career
in hospitality. So why wouldn’t the Government use
every opportunity to gain benefits for the people by including avenues for opportunity beyond simply ev idencing training initiatives that are nec essary? This
would have been an added benefit.
I have not had the opportunity to visit the St.
Regis Hotel in St. George’s, but I have been told by several people who have been there that the majority of the frontline positions, where staff interact direc tly
with guests, are staffed by non- Bermudians. NonBermudian bartenders is a sure sign that hiring practices have failed in attracting locals to recognised jobs
in the hotel that have been —

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

The President: What is your point of information,
Senator Darrell?

POINT OF INFORMATION

Sen. Owen Darrell: All bartenders are Bermudian as
that is a closed category. Thank you.

The President: Thank you.
Carry on, Senator Robin Tucker.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
My point is this: I worked in hospitality in HR.
So I fully understand how difficult it is, what the challenges are in terms of getting our Bermudians back
and engaged and working in the hospitality industry. And this would hav e been a great opportunity to be
able to add an incentive that would have encouraged
that opportunity for our Bermudians.
So the question, Madam President, is how
can we beef up this legislation to safeguard local r ecruitment in the first five years of operation? Madam President, the hospitality industry can provide growth and development for people who wish to make it a
career, but there are many who left the industry b ecause of low pay, long hours, lack of upward mobility
and other related reasons. And the Government is
very much aware of the challenges around getting Bermudians to work in the industry.
So why hasn’t there been any added effort to
step beyond the norm in this Bill and negotiate ince ntives to ensure that the hotel, not just hires Bermudians in all positions, but trains them [and] develops
them for the potential that we see in Bermuda’s ability to more fully engage in the industry that we dominated? We have the talent and the skill. This would have
been a great opportunity to annex those t wo things.
Madam President, why hasn’t the Gover nment used this opportunity to offer extended periods
on concessions to tie- in added benefits for the people? Surely, if we are intending to give more, we
should be looking to get more, and especially get
more for our people. What could those added benefits
be? As an example, giving Bermudian entertainers
priority for hire. Maybe extending housing larger than a dorm that can include a family that will attract Bermudians. Yes, these proposals might sound a bi t outlandish, but that is the recognised starting point when
negotiating for our people, especially when competing
with the likes of the international business market.
Madam President, my hope is that the Go vernment is not so desperate to get a deal done t hat
they will be prepared to do whatever it takes to do it
even if it means getting short -lived gains that could
end up costing the country significantly in the future.
The alarm has already been sounded by the former
Finance Minister who is held in high esteem for his
financial expertise, that there are concerns about this
Bill. So again, I ask, What information do we have to
counterbalance his warning? Or should we just ignore
that fact?
Madam President, the Government has been
selective about the inform ation they will share. The
obvious has been shared. Refurbishments will require
construction companies, and construction workers will
have more jobs. Jobs will be available when the hotel
reopens. But what information do we have that the
small and mid- sized Bermudian construction companies and workers will get an equal share of the pie?
We have been told that this project will result in
around 650 construction jobs. But what information do
we have that the vast majority of those construction
jobs, or even t he roughly 800 hotel job opportunities
will go directly to Bermudians?
Madam President, I am very aware that this
Bill is only really supposed to be about concessions.
And that is the primary issue at hand, and that is what
we must consider. But [neither] we nor the public has
had the full explanation as to why we must award concessions beyond what has already been estab-lished. And we ought to know.
466 18 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Madam President, one reason given in February 2020 in support of extended tax concessions is
that [they hav e given] other countries a competitive
advantage over us as they grant concessions for longer periods. And if that is the case, I know my Senate colleagues have already spoken on one aspect of that, but Madam President, I would say that if
that is the case, how do we explain the successful
investments in the St. Regis, in Aurora, and other
properties that have not had concessions granted to
them for extended periods?
While the concessions offered in this Bill mi rror the Tourism Investment Act 2017, they di ffer on
the extended periods of granting the concessions to 15 years rather than 10 years, and leave many unan-swered questions. For example, why is it necessary to
offer the added five years of incentives when other
properties have not? And will granting t his extended
period become the norm and perhaps grandfather for
other properties? Is there a commitment to ensuring
that a percentage of Bermudian staff will be hired at the hotel between years one and five? What is the
percentage and in what capacities?
What percentage of the 800 hotel positions
will be eligible for work permit holders? How many Bermudian contracting companies will be fully engaged for this construction project and how many work permits will be required for the project? What
percentage of the 650 or so construction jobs will be
held by work permit holders? These are all questions
that I have when I am reading this.
So, Madam President, I understand that as
the Government espouses we will continue to lose
money if the hotel remains closed. But does this consideration outweigh the need for demanding transparency from the Government so we and the public can
fully understand why there is a need to provide extended concessions that go beyond what the Tourism
Investment Act 2017 already provides? These concessions will see the investors [gain] millions of dollars in tax benefit, but taxes will still have to be paid by
others including the workers themselves.
Shouldn’t we all have at least sufficient information and transparency to understand and make an
informed decision about why the country should agree
to doing this, Madam President? We all want to see the Fairmont Southampton Hotel reopened, redeveloped and reengaged. We need the transparency, and
we need the information to be able to make an i nformed decision.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker.
Would any other Senator care to speak at this
time?
Senator Ben Smith, you have the floor.

Sen. Ben Smith: Good afternoon, Madam President. Madam President, I would like to start off right
from the beginning to make sure that everybody fully
understands that we support the redevelopment and
reopening of the Fairmont Southampton Princess. I
can speak personally of living on the border of the Princess property for my entire life, being around the
hotel for my entire life as my father was working at the
hotel and in the hospitality industry when things were
booming significantly more in tourism in Bermuda than
they are today.
So, Madam President, when you sa y that it is
critical and it is of national importance, I am in agree-ment with that. But, Madam President, because it is
critical and because it is important to our country, we
have to make sure that we do the right thing. And the
part that is interesting to me with this . . . Senator
Wight pointed out the good governance point. We
have also heard the word “transparency” because the
lack of information, the lack of being open about what
is going to happen with the project, is something that .
. . in the Senate Chamber we should be looking for
that information so that we are making sure that our
decisions are based off of the data that is available to
us so that we are doing what is in the best interest of
the country based off a sound decision from the facts
that we have. And that would be on any project and
any build that comes before us.
But, Madam President, there are a couple of
red flags that pop up on this specific deal. The first one being that when the former Minister of Finance
discussed the letter of intent that was last . . . that the
Junior Minister pointed out is no longer in effect. But
what [Senator Wight] pointed out was that there were
some targets that were put on it that were not met by
the developer, which is the reason why [the former
Minister] was not comfortable with moving forward—
because they could not meet the targets. That is a flag.
[The former Minister] also had the developer
close down the hotel and then redundancy had to be paid to the workers of the hotel and the developer
could not pay the redundancy. Another red flag.
To me, this would have meant that we should
have had more scrutiny than normal. But instead we
received less information. Lots of questions have been asked by the Independent Senators and the O pposition Senat ors, and we have received some information. But Madam President, a lot of the information that the Opposition has received has come from the
developers not from the Government.
The reason why we were asking the questions
from the Government is because the Bill that is in front of us is giving away . . . when you say “concessions,”
you are giving away revenue that would be coming
into the Government. Everybody in Bermuda can
quickly tell that Bermuda is not in a great place financially. You just drive on our roads, you see the level of crime, you see the reduction in what we are able to
afford to support, and what the Government is able to


Bermuda Senate support. All the agencies that are needed to make our
country function have had to cut back because they
do not have th e amount of revenue.
So when you are making a decision as i mportant as giving revenue away to a company that has shown our population a couple of very visible red flags
. . . remember, they bought a property that was ma king money. We were told last week t hat this facility
has made money every year of its existence. So when they closed down, it meant that those redundancies
moved the collective bargaining agreement off the table that had been in place to protect the workers
who were working at Southampton P rincess. So now
they get to come with a brand- new piece of paper. So
those people who were pushed out on the outside
have to come back under the new terms that have
been decided by about 35 workers, not the 800 that
were there before the hotel closed.
Madam President, people in business will understand the word “leverage.” To me, Bermuda was in a position of significant leverage with this developer. They bought the property. Remember, this is a developing company. They bought the property because
they fel t that they could turn it into something that
would make a profit and potentially sell it off at a later
date. That’s the business that they are in— a private
business. But the Government of Bermuda with the
taxpayers’ money had to bail them out. Well, that puts
Bermuda in the position of leverage to say that we need to make sure that the deal we are getting will be
the best.
Madam President, the only information that
we know is that the person who was sitting at the t able at the time in the negotiations s aid that something
changed and it made him uncomfortable and he
walked away. That is where we are.
And now we have moved forward and we
have changed the terms. Instead of us getting a better
deal we have moved from 10 years to 15 years. That
not only will impact this deal, but it will impact the
deals that come behind it. How did we move from the
position of power to the position of weakness dealing
with a developer that is going to make money?
I know that it has been brought up that we are
not supposed t o be talking about condos, but let’s be
honest to our population. Those condos are going to make this developer a lot of money. And the SDO that
was brought up in the Statement is about that condo
development. So when we ask questions about
whether the concessions that we are giving to a pr ivate entity that is making money that has already shown red flags . . . we want to know whether that
extends into these other properties. Because, Madam
President, the information that we received from the
developers say s that the hotel will be at break -even
after year two of being open. —year two, Madam President. Why are we giving away the farm when it looks like this private entity is going to be in good footing
almost immediately? Madam President, the Government has done
a really good job of telling the population of Bermuda
this is about jobs. Because everybody in Bermuda
knows that we have a portion of our population that is
suffering a lot. They are out of work and a large por-tion is because of what has happened under the pandemic and the changes that have happened in hosp itality. But everybody here also knows the flip side of
that is that a lot of hospitality jobs do not pay well. The
hours are long. And a lot of our people do not actually
want to participate in it. That is the reality of it.

POINT OF INFORMATION
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Point of information. We
cannot assume that persons, our Bermudian people, would not want a job in hospitality, in any of the areas.

The President: Senator Arianna Hodgson, you needed to have permission to speak. But your point of i nformation is taken.
Senator Ben Smith, carry on.

Sen. Ben Smith: But Madam President, my statement
when it comes to the people of Bermuda and hosp itality jobs is not just based off of me saying somethi ng
off the top of my head.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Point of order, Madam President.
The President: Senator Dill.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: No, it is Senator Simmons.

The President: I beg your pardon. Senator Simmons,
what is your point of order.

POINT OF OR DER

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: My point of order, Madam
President, is that you have to make money in order to
pay back the loan.

Sen. Ben Smith: So, Madam President, as I am moving forward on this, the point that I am making specif ically when it comes to hospitality and the concept that we are creating lots of jobs . . . the reason why I think
it is important that we get the population who is listening to us today and knowing that we are doing this
important work today on this Bill, a lot of promises are being made. But the promises are being made behind
closed doors. They are not up front. They are not in
the Bill. We don’t actually protect anybody in the Bill.
We just talk about all the stuff that might happen.
But I will tell you what, supposedly, is going to
happen. The construction of this facility, the redevel-opment, 52 [per cent] to 60 per cent of the workers will
be work permit holders. Madam President, 52 per cent
468 18 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate to 60 per cent of the workers in the construction red evelopment of this facility will be work permit holders.
So, when we tell everybody that we are creating a
bunch of jobs, we need to put it out there —the real
information; what is actually going to happen.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Point of order, Madam President.
The President: Senator Darrell , what is your point of
order?

POINT OF ORDER

Sen. Owen Darrell: The Senator is bringing up
statements and numbers and percentages of information that are actually not in this Bill. And those . . . it
is not what this Bill is about today, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell.
Carry on, Senator Smith.
Sen. Ben Smith: Madam President, the problem is
that we have been presented with a vague Bill that
covers a lot of things. And there are a lot of unknown
[facts] because of the way i t has been presented.
The population has been asking questions.
Members of this Senate Chamber have been asking
questions. We have not received answers. So, Ma dam President, the Opposition has no choice. We have to put forward a bunch of amendments to try to protect
because we do not know. We literally are saying, We
are hearing that you are going to do things for Bermudians. That you are going to hire Bermudians. And
Madam President, the reason I have to put it that way . . . this is not about the Governm ent. This is not about
the Government saying something and then not doing
it. This is because we have a track record that pote ntially these developers have been asked to do things
and they have not done them. That came from the
previous Minister of Finance. So we have to make
sure that we are giving it the proper scrutiny. Because
Madam President, when the country is in the position
we are economically, we cannot afford to make mi stakes that give away hundreds of millions of dollars.
We just cannot do it. A nd I have heard that exact argument coming from the other side on projects that
happened from a previous Government.
So guess what, Madam President? You learn
from mistakes. You don’t repeat them. And it is our job in this Senate to make sure that this is not what is
happening. We need to make sure that we are having good governance, having transparency, asking the questions, getting the information. But, Madam Pres ident, if we don’t have that ability . . . because, r emember, when you move to the 15 years . . . my co lleagues have said it. There are other projects that have happened already that are going to want to
move to 15 [years]. There are projects that are in the
pipeline that are going to want to move to 15 [years]. With a shrinking population, and an ageing
population, and a shrinking pot of people who you can collect taxes from, and that is where the revenue
comes from that pays for all the things that we have
discussed here, when you are giving it away . . . and I
have heard the argument. If the hotel is closed, we do
not collect. But, remember, at the same time, the developers who purchased this property, they are suffering too because it is closed. Although they seem to
have been able to increase their leverage by closing
down, because then it forced the Government to say,
We have 800 who are out work and now we have to
panic to get them back to work and now we are going
to give you the farm.
Once again, that does not make me feel warm
and fuzzy about the way these guys are manipulating
the system. Or —

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Point of order, Madam President.

The President: Senator Simmons, what is your point
of order?

POINT OF ORDER
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: The commitments in the
letter of intent were not met because of the pandemic.
And we just c annot rewrite history and just make up
what we want on the fly, Madam President.

The President: Carry on, Senator Ben Smith.

Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam President.
I think I covered that point when it comes to
what the former Finance Minister sai d.
Madam President, I personally want this hotel
to reopen and be vibrant. I have family members who
were working at the hotel before it closed down. The history of my family is attached to that hotel. I want
that hotel to be vibrant again. That’s personal.
I believe everybody in this Chamber wants the
hotel to be redeveloped and reopened. The population of Bermuda want it. The people who are out of work
and potentially will get jobs want it open.
But Madam President, just because we are in
the situation t hat we are does not mean that we make
mistakes because we are hastening to get it over the
line. And that is where we seem to be right now. Let’s
push it over the line with as little of information as
possible and then the details will get worked out later .
Just remember, in 15 years most of us will not be in this Chamber any longer. The people who will be
dealing with the fallout of this . . . some of them are
not born yet. And the changes that happen going forward as we move from 10 to 15 [years] . . . it is important that we understand how heavy that decision
is.


Bermuda Senate Madam President, we want to revive tourism.
This last week in Bermuda with the SailGP showed
what it looks like when we start to get things moving
again. Last week in the Senate the Junior Minis ter of
Tourism told us that hotel occupancy was at capacity
or was going to be at capacity. All of those things
would indicate that we should have air arrivals because that is how people who stay in hotels mostly will
get there, unless they came by boat. B ut it would not
be a cruise boat, usually, because that is where they are going to [stay].
So there are some indicators that some of
those things are going to do better. We have other
hotel developers who are interested in either rebuil ding or redeveloping. So we need to make sure that the
decisions that we make are in the best interests of all
of Bermuda and we are not just putting out sound
bites [saying] we are going to create jobs [so] that it
gets everybody excited. We say that we are going to
have the redevelopment of the Fairmont, that anybody
who has been in Bermuda over a period of time is excited to see that facility open up again. But it is our job
to make sure that we are doing that with a Bill that is
not only going to be for the best interests of Bermuda
from a financial standpoint, but also going to make
sure that we are doing everything we can for the
workers of Bermuda, for the people who will be in that construction industry, maybe some of the smaller
construction firms that have not been in the bidding,
that have more locals in their staff.
We also need to make sure that not only the
training at the management level is happening, but
training throughout because you have to start som ewhere and you have to give them the foundation that
allows a young person to progress through the industry. That is the way we are going to encourage young
people to come back and be part of that industry.
They need to know there is upward mobility. They
need to know there is going to be training. But the
trainin g should not start after the hotel has its soft
opening in 2023. The training has to start now so they
are prepared for the jobs that might be available so
that we do not have to just give them to work permit holders. Because presently that is what tourism looks
like, mostly, in Bermuda.
Madam President, for that reason we cannot
support the way it is done now because it is not doing
any of the things I talked about and no one has addressed the red flags.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Ben Smith, O pposition Leader in the Senate. Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Michelle Simmons, you have the
floor.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. Madam President, we have heard a lot of di alogue this afternoon. And I am not going to be very
long, but I would like to make a few points which I
think are important with regard to this Bill.
The Bill before us, the Fairmont Southampton
Hotel Act 2022, has the potential to impact on hun-dreds of families in Berm uda in a direct way. Also, we
know that the reopening of the Fairmont Southampton
Hotel will impact greatly on Bermuda’s tourism industry. All of us, as has already been said, want the same
thing. We want to see this hotel reopened. I support the redevelopment of the Fairmont Southampton. Let
there be no doubt about that. And I support this because Fairmont Southampton is vitally important to
our tourist industry.
As the Junior Minister mentioned in his brief,
guests at Fairmont Southampton accounted for 12 per
cent of Skyport’s total traffic between 2016 and 2019.
Also, 845 people, I think at one point that was the
maximum number of people who were employed
there, and 70 per cent were Bermudian. Those figures
are very important because it gives us a sense of the
size of the hotel staff and its composition. We want to
see Bermudians get back to work. We want to see
Bermudians supporting their families and not depen ding on financial assistance to get them to a point
where they can feel that their families are safe, s ecure, taken care of, well fed, clothed and able to get
on with their lives.
I will also add that the Fairmont Southampton,
I think it has been mentioned already today, is the o nly hotel on the Island that can cater to the large con-vention groups fr om overseas, and also even to some
of the large local groups that used their services for many years. One group very close to me could only
have their events at that hotel.
It is also worth noting here how the hotel i ndustry in Bermuda has seen the loss of almost half of
the properties that were in the market in 1990. At that point, Madam President, there were 83 active hotels,
guest houses and cottages in operation, with some
4,248 rooms. Let’s fast forward to 2016. At that point
we had only 42 properties (which is about half) with
2,334 rooms. And now in 2022, Madam President, there are just 34 hotels, guest houses and cottages. So that is a huge decline in hotel beds. I think we all
understand that if there is to be a resurgence in the
tourism industry i n Bermuda, we must —we must —see
an increase in hotel beds so that more air visitors can
be accommodated. And the knock -on effect is that
when the demand for travel to Bermuda increases,
airlift will increase. So the two things go hand in hand,
as we heard earlier.
Another point, the Fairmont Southampton is
the largest hotel and the largest employer of persons in the hospitality industry. It is not just about the hotel
beds. It is also about all the services that this hotel used to offer.
470 18 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Madam President, we all know that we cannot
rely mainly and solely on cruise ship arrivals to boost
our tourist numbers. Because we know that the financial value to Bermuda, the air visitor, is far greater
than that of the cruise ship visitor. So for all of those reasons that I have just touched on, we need to see
the Fairmont Southampton reopened.
Now, let’s look at the Bill before us. This Bill
does follow the format of the Tourism Investment Act
2017, which we have heard already today. However,
the huge difference, the main difference between this Bill, i.e., the Fairmont Southampton Bill of 2022, and
the Tourism Investment Act of 2017, is the increased
period of time during which the developers will be able
to benefit from tax concessions. It no longer is 10 years of tax concessions, but tax concessions have
been extended in this Bill to 15 years.
Madam President, all together if this Bill is
passed, it is estimated that $128 million in concessions will be granted in the form of, as we heard, customs duty relief, hot el occupancy tax [and] the employer’s portion of payroll tax for a period of 15 years.
And also, from the sixth year after reopening, the hotel
will be exempted from land tax until the end of the 15
th
anniversary of opening. All of these exemptions are
being given, I am happy to say, within the structures
established in the Tourism Investment Act 2017. So there are safeguards in place which will protect the
Bermudian taxpayers and employees of Fairmont Southampton.
So, why are we not simply using the Touri sm
Investment Act of 2017 as the framework to provide tax concessions for this project? That would still allow the developers 10 years of tax concessions without
Government giving away an additional five years of
tax concessions. That is one of the questions I had.
And I could not get away from it. And I will add, Madam President, I have agonised over this Bill. It has
been challenging because of the paucity of infor-mation provided in the Bill.
So, what are the risks? First of all, Madam
President, no deal has been signed between the Bermuda Government and the developer of the Fairmont
Southampton. Why not?
I know that the pandemic intervened, but we
are now in 2022 and in a sense, we are being rushed through to the conclusion before we have all the details of what is in the unsigned agreement.
We have been told that investors are pr epared to put $376 million into the redevelopment of
the hotel, but we really have no clear breakdown of
where those funds are coming from. For example, the
outdated letter of i ntent, that is the one dated December 11, 2019, which was provided to all Senators, contains a sources and uses table which shows the total
equity from the purchaser, the senior debt and tax
incentive financing based on concessions from the
Bermuda Governm ent. However, all of that is out of
date. And there is no new updated information that has been provided to us because, we are told, the
lawyers on both sides are still at work. So when will
there be a signed deal?
I will just pause and thank the Minister of
Tourism, who is here in the Chamber today, for a very
helpful meeting that we had on Friday. It did help co nsiderably with understanding some aspects of the negotiations. But there are still unanswered questions.
We have been told that in 2019 the rede velopment
would have cost $300 million, but now in 2022 taking
inflation and the war in Ukraine into consideration, the
cost of the project stands at $376 million. Will we co ntinue to see the cost increased if the deal is not signed
soon? Madam President, I do have a concern there.
Another concern I have is that there are already hotel properties such as the St. Regis, which
has been mentioned a few times today; The Loren; St.
George’s Club; Rosewood Tucker’s Point; and Bermudiana Beach which have already been granted
concessions. So if the Government is intending to
amend the Tourism Investment Act 2017 to extend tax concessions further, then this will result in even more
government revenue being diverted away from social
programmes and basically to the benefit of developers
of these hotels.
One thing I will say, Madam President, is I am
very pleased that the Government has avoided making some mistakes that others have made in the past. For example, they have ensured that the project is
fully funded, so I am told, and that Government is not
guaranteeing all of the money that is being borrowed
for this project. However, Government is guaranteeing
$75 million of the capital which is being borrowed. And
should there be a problem with financing at any point durin g the redevelopment, it will mean that the Bermuda Government and the Bermuda taxpayers will be
liable for repaying $75 million. How will Government find these funds when we are already so deep in debt,
which in March 2022 stood at $3.1 billion? By co ntrast, the owners and developers of the hotel have
recourse to claim the property and owner equity
should there be a problem, so they have recourse.
The Bermuda Government does not.
So, Madam President, to summarise my r emarks, I am in support of the redevelopment of the Fairmont Southampton, but it appears that there are
some significant risks associated with this project and
right now, in this moment, I am not comfortable giving
this project my support.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Si mmons. Would any other Senator care to speak?
Minister Peets?

Yes, thank you,
Madam President and thank you to all of the Senators
who have spoken this afternoon, and of course, I am
pretty sure there are many, many people listening to
this Senate debate today as it relates to this particular
Bill.
I think it has already been said, Madam Pres ident, how important this Bill is. What I have heard t oday is a unanimous (at least in my opinion if I am calculating correctly) support for the redevelopment of
the hotel. That goes without saying. I was thinking,
Madam President, you know, parti cularly [about] what
happened this morning and some of the things that we
have been discussing this afternoon that this is a very,
very, significant moment . . . you know, I think the
moment that all of us have been looking for and wai ting for is the reason why we are here. We think that
these moments have incredible impact as it relates to the decisions that we are making and how it impacts
us as individuals and how it impacts this country.
Out of all the time that I spent in the Senate,
you know, there ha ve been some very special m oments. But some of them that really stand out the
most to me are the ones where we had conversations around COVID -19, because in those moments, we
were really doing our very, very best as Senators and people of the legislative [ branch] to actually save lives.
And we may not have always agreed. But we understood that what we were doing in the moment is doing
whatever we can to save lives. More so, even now, I feel that this is also a moment that saves lives. This
particular projec t is of particular magnitude and i mportance, and the likelihood or the eventuality that this
particular project does not go forth will have tremendous impact.
As we have already stated, Madam President,
that impact is already felt. This particular hotel [ accounts for] at least about a quarter of our available
hotel beds. The number of people that it employs and
the revenue that it generates for the economy is something that cannot continue to go missing from our
landscape.
I think it goes without saying that we need to
reiterate that the Bill that is in front of us is really about
making a decision about concessions. I know an ind ividual . . . Madam President, if you would just allow
me a little bit of latitude, I think the housing bubble
sort of burst in 2006, if anyone remembers. This individual actually bought a piece of property and a house in 2005. They could not do it in 2004, they could not
do it in 2003 and in 2002, because their ability to do
so, to qualify for a mortgage was not available. But
they were in a position in 2005. However, 2005 also
was the height of the market, which means the cond itions in which they were facing themselves as it r elates to prevailing interest rates and things of that na-ture, those were the conditions that were in play in
2005, the height of the housing market.
They had a choice to make, of course. They
could buy a house in 2005, they could not do in 2004, they could not do it in 2003, they could not do it in 2001 or 2002. But they can do it today. But in 2005
those conditions were way different than they were a
few years ago. We could wait. But if we wait a year, if
we wait 18 months, if we wait two years, life happens.
We may not be in a position to close two years from
now. So, they purchased the house in 2005, met the conditions and off they went. They raised their family,
paid their mortgage.
What I am trying to say, Madam President, is
that in my opinion this Honourable Chamber is not the place where we negotiate deals with private develo pers. There is a Minister r esponsible for that. There is a
team of professionals responsible for that. There are hired hands who are lawyers and others who are experts, and there are many of them on both sides. And
what we have today is an opportunity to actually move
forward.
A dea l was not possible at 10 years. If it was,
we would already have it and we would not be having
this conversation. A deal was not possible at 11 years or 12 years or 13 years or 14 years, but at 15 years ,
that key unlocked something that will allow us to move
forward. My fear today ––and I need it to be communicated as openly and as passionately as possible— if
we pass this Bill regarding these concessions, then
we are well on our way to a recovery, a recovery that
we desperately need as a country, as an economy, as a tourist destination. There are families who are depending upon this. If we don’t, then we risk the potential of losing an opportunity, a golden opportunity for this hotel development. And if we miss that, then perhaps the continuation of all the s uffering regarding our
economy will continue. Tourism will continue to languish, and our people will continue to suffer.
I have not really been around a long time, but
I at least have been made to understand that much
may need to be said about 10 years for concessions
as it relates to what is currently in the Tourism Inves tment Act, but it was not always 10 years. At some
point in time, this Chamber and another House passed legislation to change it from what it was to 10
years. Why? Because that was the key to unlock the
deal, to allow something to go forward.
We are in the same position today. This is not
one size fits all. The market conditions are different.
We have had a global pandemic. There is a war going
on in Ukraine. Money does not hang around j ust wai ting to be used. There is a window of opportunity
where the conditions are right to move from no deal to
a deal, and that is where we are today, in my layman’s
understanding. [It is] $120 million in tax concessions
over 15 years. I am made to unders tand that [these
concessions] will yield $1.5 billion in estimated rev enue over 15 years, [for] $121 million you get $15 bi l472 18 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate lion in revenue over 15 years. Yes, I think these are
the considerations that we need to be taking seriously.
The standard conditions for these concessions were not sufficient to secure the deal. These
private developers do not have to build this hotel.
They do not have to. But we understand how i mportant to this country this hotel deal is, and this Government has not stopped negotiati ng over the last two
years and some change, every day, every week, ev ery month, to get us to this point where we are closer
today to having a deal than we have ever [been] be-fore.
So, these negotiations have been extensive
and we are asking today . . . at least some of the
questions that I have heard are asking things of this Bill that this Bill doesn’t speak to. And we are not really supposed to be doing that because that information
is not really in front of us. But what is in front of us is
[this]: We h ave an opportunity to move forward with
the negotiations with this particular hotel development.
What is necessary to make that happen is for conces-sions to be extended from 10 years to 15 years. And
when we consider those things, we have to consider
the impact of that decision, of which all of us, I think,
are trying to do. But we also have to understand that
we have to move now.
I do not think, in my humble opinion, the cou ntry can wait much longer. Given the gravity of this pa rticular hotel property development and what it means
to our GDP, what it means to tourism, what it means
to all of the ancillary industries that are associated
with this hotel, we have to pay attention to what we
are doing today. And this is an opportunity for us to really make the most of our moment. We have done a
very good job in moments in the past where we have
saved lives. I believe if we support this Bill today, we
are going to be saving even more lives.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Minister Peets, G overnment Leader in the Senate.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Senator Lindsay Simmons, you have the floor.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, first I would like to say I
wholeheartedly support this Bi ll, and it actually saddens me today to see so many people that are not supporting this Bill.
Madam President, the redevelopment of
Southampton Princess is extremely important for
Bermuda. This Government is keeping our promise
and getting Bermudians back to work. This deal would
ensure that Bermudians are able to get jobs in the hospitality industry. This country is waiting for us to
deliver. Madam President, with this deal, we will def initely be on the road to economic recovery. Madam President, we are not asking Senators to approve the
deal of the Fairmont Southampton Princess. We are
asking the Senators to support the Bill that is before
us today. This Bill is on tax concessions.
Madam President, we need this Bill because
without it, we as a community l ose. The community as
a whole will positively benefit from this Bill. More jobs
equal more protection for our seniors and [more] help
to create a brighter future for our children and the
generations to come. More jobs means that more
money is paid into our pension fund. Madam Pres ident, this deal will help to create jobs in the construction industry, and this deal will have a trickle- down
effect on Bermuda.
All sectors of Bermuda will positively be affected by this. For instance, restaurants, wholesale
stores, retail and the list goes on, Madam President.
This Bill will allow us to fill more beds. Right now, we
do not have enough beds in our inventory. Southam pton Princess is the largest hotel in Bermuda. Without this deal, it continues to stay empty. Thus, this negatively impacts us all. We need to continue to push forward and to allow this Bill to go through. Bermuda is
competing with the world around us. This Bill will help
to attract tourists to our Island once Southampton
Princess is completed.
And I heard someone say the other day, Why
Gencom? Gencom has a stellar record of getting pr ojects done. This Bill will also have a positive impact on
our environment because protections will be put in
place. Of course, no deal is perfect. But this Bill has
protec tions in place to lower the risk. Madam Pres ident, the Bermuda Industrial Union [BIU] supports this
Bill and Gencom. The BIU took a leading role in not
only representing the interests of their workers, but
also the future success of the hotel.
Madam Presi dent, to answer something that
Senator Tucker said about Joe Public, it is in our best interest to reopen this hotel for Joe Public. Madam President, the fact is, countries make more money
when hotels are opened and not closed. You have to
spend money in order to make money. Southampton
Princess was the largest private employer in Bermuda
and it was a huge hit on our economy when they
closed. Why would we not pass this Bill when we
need to reopen this hotel immediately? Madam Pres ident, this Bill would support airlift for the country.
Madam President, this hotel being opened is expected
to make over $100 million a year in economic activity
in Bermuda.
And I heard in another place, why the rush? I
do not see it as being a rush. Why wait? We cannot wait. We need to get more Bermudians back to work.
Waiting is putting a further strain on the Government
and Bermudians as a whole. It affects everyone.
And I want to leave you with this, Madam
President. A vote against this Bill is a vote to continue the MRGs [mini mum revenue guarantees] at Skyport.


Bermuda Senate And a vote against this Bill is for continued gang vi olence in this country that we cannot afford.
Thank you, Madam President. I hope that
everyone votes for this Bill.

The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Si mmons .
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Yes, Senator Reverend Dr. Emil y Dill, you
have the floor.

Good afternoon,
Madam President.
It was with a sense of great anticipation that I
reported to the Senate Cham bers this morning to join
with my colleagues in the passing of this Bill that will
help to signal the real resurgence of the tourism and
hospitality industry in our country, and the continued
diversification of the Bermuda economy. I may be tel ling on myself, but I can recall when the Southampton Princess was first built back in 1972. I was still in el ementary school at that time, but I can recall the ex-citement in the atmosphere as a new era of possibility
was ushered in for our Island home.
My older brot her and his friends were
amongst the first employees. And it was with great
pride, dedication and genuine commitment that they
assumed their respective roles. And they worked a ssiduously to establish Bermuda as a major player in
the tourism industry.
Many built careers in the hospitality industry.
They worked hard and they were able to raise their
families, to build or purchase homes, to travel and
enjoy a relatively good quality of life. As time passed,
there were those who did not remain in the hotel i ndustry, but instead they used it as a stepping stone.
South P became that place where we could earn money to finance our college education, earn capital
for entrepreneurial pursuits and/or, most importantly,
develop soft skills that are critical in any succ essful
career path.
Hospitality has been the linchpin of the Bermuda economy and has been pivotal in equipping countless individuals with the proficiency to integrate
into almost any industry and make a positive impact. And the South P has been the most si gnificant co ntributor to the success and ongoing development of
the tourism industry and beyond. Like most Bermudians I was deeply saddened to see the hotel close in
2020, and it is with bated breath that we now await its reopening.
There have been hundreds of persons left unemployed. And almost on a weekly basis we are confronted with individuals who are in need and desirous
of being able to get back to work. During the onslaught of the COVID -19 pandemic, this community
has come together to assist these i ndividuals and
families who have been left in need due to having no income due to the closure of the hotel. But it is time
for us as legislators to stop stalling and make the decisions that will allow these persons to regain their
dignity and get back to work post -haste.
The reopening of this hotel is critical to the
ongoing success and growth of this community, and the continued diversification of our economy. But the
reopening of the hotel does not only provide jobs for
those 700- plus of its employees. I t also contributes to
the Bermudian economy as a whole. Since the clos-ing, we have lost 80,000 visitor arrivals, air arrivals, $112 million in visitor spending, $5 million in hotel occupancy tax, and $3 million in BTA fees. By passing
this Bill, we can onc e again be on our way to attrac ting over 55,000 visitors that come here annually and
stimulating the economy with the hundreds of jobs
created in its redevelopment phase through construc-tion and the like.
By passing this Bill, we will be able to i ncrease our airlift. And also, by passing this Bill we will
be able to broaden the scope of opportunity for entr epreneurs and business owners as we increase our overall tourism product development.
One of the challenges that we face in this
community is the increase in violence and antisocial behaviour. The reopening of this hotel through the
passing of this Bill has a key role to play in stymieing this trend. We are all aware of the link between un-employment of individuals and the rise in crime and
violence. Help ing to create jobs and career opportun ities for these persons will help to steer them away
from the lure of fast money and/or criminal behaviour. It is now time for us to move forward.
I have heard arguments today from my esteemed colleagues about the los s of revenue by pas sing this Bill. But if this Bill is not passed, there will be
no revenue. If this Bill does not pass, the hotel will not
open. The country makes money by passing this Bill and reopening the hotel. As someone said, a vote against this Bil l is a vote against getting our people
back to work. A vote against this Bill is a vote for continued MRGs to Skyport. A vote against this Bill is a
vote for an increase in crime and continued gun vi olence.
Madam President and my Senate colleagues,
we must move forward with the passing of this Bill.
The passage of a 15- year-concession is a condition
for this project to move forward. I will repeat. It is a condition for this project to move forward. And one
more time for the Holy Ghost —it is a condition for this
project to move forward! Should you decide to vote
against this Bill’s passing and the eminent redevelopment of the hotel, you run the risk of that beautiful hotel standing on that hill in a state of disrepair as a constant reminder of your failure, a constant reminder of
your failure to put our people back to work , your failure to allow the duly elected Government of this day to negotiate on our behalf.
474 18 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate If you indeed support the reopening of the hotel, you will vote for the passing of this Bill.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Reverend Dr.
Emily Dill.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill? Hearing none . . . oh, you need to catch my
attention. Senator Arianna Hodgson.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: I thought we had made contact. I apologise.

The President: Sorry about that. No, I did not see you
raise your hand. But certainly, you have the floor.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, over the past two years or
so, I have learned a great deal about Bermuda and our Government, our opportunities, our limitations, our obligations to each other and essentially, how to make
tough decisions. Madam President, with economic
recovery well underway, this Government recognises
that we must all lear n to deal with a new economic
landscape that we have now inherited. While many of
us are new in this Chamber, I believe that we all un-derstand and appreciate that each of us are charged
with a duty to act for the benefit of the people we
serve, not our own egos or political preferences.
Madam President, I often find myself frustrated when I come into this Chamber. I find that Mem-bers can claim to support one Bill or another, yet vote against it. We have Members claim that they are
hopeful that Bermuda will progress and grow and find
the successes that we all claim to want. But then they
always have the buts .
Madam President, as has been stated by, I
guess the other Members of my team, if Members of
this House support the redevelopment of the Fairmont
Southampton, they will vote in favour of this Bill today.
Today, Madam President, each of us gets the chance
to decide whether we are prepared to act in the best interest of our people, Joe Public, and all the others.
The fundamental negotiating position of the
Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of Bermuda is and has been the maximum protection to
appropriately mitigate risk. And I know we have some
risk and finance professionals on the other side of the aisle, so I expect that they understand that there will
always be some element of risk involved, and that no matter how good our risk management systems are that we simply cannot plan for everything. But they
should also recognise that these types of risks cannot
be addressed by following a standard playbook. So,
this Government has looked at rewriting this book, Madam President.
Madam President, I think we have heard it
time and time again that the PLP Government will take a different approach to negotiations particularly
surrounding the redevelopment of Fairmont Sout hampton. We have argued about a lot of things. But
there is no escaping the fact that the One Bermuda
Alliance Government decided to guarantee 100 per
cent of the debt financing for the Morgan’s Point pr oject in the absence of full fundi ng without the necessary and requisite protections that were needed to protect you and I, and all taxpayers of this country.
As with any responsible Government, Madam
President, we have made it clear that any Gover nment support would require the development to be
fully funded. I heard one Member of the Opposition
allude to the fact that this might not be the case. But
that is our firm position, Madam President.
There has been a lot of discussion about the
size and the scope of the guarantee or Government’ s
support for this project, a lot of talk about whether or
not there was an agreement in 2019, and whether or
not there was a guarantee as part of that agreement
to purchase the hotel. The long of the short, Madam
President, is that that letter of intent expired. But while that letter of intent expired the developers continued
to work and they continued to work until they put t ogether a package that would complete the reopening
of the hotel.
When the project was brought back to the
Government the developer s had expanded the scope
to add more amenities, such as a pool, additional
meeting spaces, and other elements that would make
this hotel a truly iconic property and enhance the tourism product that we have here in Bermuda. Madam President, we can all agree that no deal is perfect. In
fact, I even discussed the Southampton Bill with my daughter who, from her seven- year-old perspective,
understood that sometimes we don't all get what we
want.
In his comments in another House our Mini ster of Finance communicated that there were three options, or actually four options, that were before the
Government of Bermuda. The first option looked at
demanding that the developers would downsize to
remove the additional amenities that would better
serve our tourism product. The second option looked
at having the developers put additional equity into the
project. The third option was around enhancing the
Government’s credit support to ensure that this redevelopment took place, and that the hotel will reopen.
And the fourth option, Madam President, was to allow
the hotel up on the hill to sit as a monument to Bermuda’s failed tourism attempts. Again, Madam Pres ident, I am concerned because it appears that the O pposition Senators would have preferred the latter.
Although I am not a risk professional, Madam
President, I do understand that an increase in the size
and scope of a project would mean increased costs
and, in turn, a likely increase in the size of the guaran-tee. I am one of those persons who understand this. I
would ass ume that my colleagues across the aisle


Bermuda Senate also understand this, but for one reason or another
they are having trouble getting beyond their egos or
political preferences, or whatever it is that drives their
disinterest in supporting this Bill.
There are alwa ys comments about whether or
not this Government is doing enough to support Ber-mudians to prepare them to get them back to work.
And the short answer is, yes. The Department of
Workforce Development is actively engaged with the
hospitality industry as a whole and we recognise that
there is a need to develop training and interest in the industry. The department has been participating in
joint meetings with the BTA [Bermuda Tourism A uthority], with the hoteliers, with the Ministry of Economy and Labour, as well as the Department of Educ ation. And we are looking to expand opportunities to discuss training and to attract persons to choose hospitality as a career.
We are also currently engaged with the Learn
to Earn Programme that prepares persons to work as servers in the industry. And we cannot forget that the
Bermuda College also has a robust hospitality pr ogramme.
Madam President, we all claim to want the
best deal for Bermuda. But what I want is in line with
the Government’s mission. The redevelopment of the
Fairmont Southampton Hotel requires the support of a Government guarantee. That guarantee, as has been
communicated, is proposed to be for a maximum of
$75 million, which represents 21 per cent of the r evised cost of the total capitalisation of the project
which is now estimated to be $376 million. While this
percentage is higher than the numbers noted in the 2019 agreement, this limited exposure on behalf of
the Government is in direct contrast to the actions and
decisions of the OBA Government.
Madam P resident, in rewriting the book this
guarantee will see that the $75 million loan to the d evelopers and the repayment of the loan will actually be
financed by the taxes collected through the operation
of the hotel. For our finance experts across the aisle,
this means that we have created a structure that will
ensure that all parties do everything possible to finish the redevelopment and open the hotel for operations.
While taxes will be collected in the usual way, they will
actually be used for the repaymen t of the guaranteed
loan.
Madam President, while I have heard many
persons allude to the work of one person or one Mi nister, we must remember that getting to this point has
been the result of considerable time invested in nego-tiations to achieve the best deal for the people of Bermuda. As a Government we continue to learn from
the past and you can bet that we will ensure that there
are appropriate protections in place when we move
this Bill forward.
Madam President, this Bill is just another step
in the m ove to close the financing for this project as it
is part of a framework that will facilitate the renovation and upgrading of the hotel property that is a pillar of
Bermuda’s tourism product. The development plans for this property will create a luxury res ort with first -
class amenities aimed to increase Bermuda’s attractiveness as a tourism destination and play a critical role in the rebranding of our tourism product. And I am
sure that many persons in this room and members of
the public would look forward to the reopening of such
an amazing hotel.
Madam President, again there are questions
about why Gencom. First and foremost, Gencom is the owner. This Government is looking to partner with
the developer with significant experience in the tourism industry, a developer who has successfully built
and operated hotels and key tourist destinations
across the world. In fact, Gencom has either directly
or indirectly completed over $7 billion of real estate transactions which includes the Rosewood Bermuda
at Tucker’ s Point. And none of us can deny [the qual ity of] the product that is offered down at Rosewood
Bermuda.
I cannot speak to the red flags that [Senator]
Ben Smith speaks of, but I see a developer with ex-pertise. These developers understand what is necessary to make a hotel work. They are intimately familiar
with the needs and desires of their customers and the
Bermuda market. And to be completely honest, Madam President, these developers seem to believe in Bermuda more than Members of the Opposition.
Madam President, as noted earlier it has taken considerable time to negotiate a deal. And we have all seen this. However, we recognise that there is a risk to the Government that this guarantee could be
called. We understand that the Government would
have to fin d the funds to either buy out the other lenders and complete the renovation work or look at other
options to complete the project. However, the critical
factor here, unlike the situation with Morgan’s Point, is
that this property already exists, and that i n the worst -
case scenario we could actually scale back this pr oject and still provide benefits to the people of Berm uda. And, of course, this is the worst -case scenario,
Madam President.
Madam President, my colleagues have laid
out the statistics that spe ak to the current state of
tourism, and I am sure that most of us have had a
look at the Executive Summary released by the Bermuda Tourism Authority. So we know the numbers.
We see the shortfalls, and we know what needs to be
done. If there is no hotel operating, again, there are
no taxes. The Royal Gazette actually recently published a story with a headline that drew attention to
the obvious, that although visitor arrivals had i ncreased the numbers were lagging behind prepandemic levels, Madam President. We have to do all
that we can to support the growth that we are seeing in arrivals.
Madam President, it is crystal clear that we
earn more money while this hotel is open. If it remains
476 18 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate closed, we earn nothing. So, to be clear, Madam
President, this Bill w ill ensure that this Government
earns money, that our country earns money, that we
don't lose money. Madam President, if this hotel is not
redeveloped, as has been stated by numerous per-sons , the impact is significant and severe. We can
forget about hundreds of jobs in construction. We can
forget about the opportunities for hundreds of Berm udians with experience in our hospitality sector.

The Senator stated that
if this Bill is passed the Government will earn money.
But in fact, we know . . . in fact the point of this Bill is
that the Government will not receive monies for 15
years. So eventually we will earn money, but certainly not for many years . Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Senator Hodgson, you can continue when
you're ready.
Sen. Adrianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
As I was confirming, i f we decide to vote
against this Bill today, we are saying “forget you” to all
of those persons who have waited for the day that the
Fairmont Southampton would reopen. To all of the
young persons who were hoping for an opportunity in hospitality , we can forget about an improved tourism
product. We can ignore our taxi drivers , our restaurants , our retailers , and all of the creatives and entr epreneurs who rely in large part on the cash injections from visitor spending.
So, Madam President, I think that we need to
take some time to think about our actions and what
our votes represent to the people of Bermuda. One
thing we will not be able to forget is that even if we
keep the hotel closed up on the hill , we will still have
to pay Skyport the minimum revenue guarantee which [will] cost taxpayers more than the $40- plus million we
have already had to pay. If the hotel is redeveloped
then we can see some benefits, Madam President.
We can see government collect revenue from e mployee payroll tax . We can see government collect
customs duty on items. We will see the Bermuda Tourism Authority getting more money from the bus iness fees and enhancing the marketing efforts that they are managing for our Island. You and I will see
our fellow Bermudians benefit from increased visitors.
And, most importantly, this Government will no longer
have to pay exorbitant amounts of money to Skyport
or financial assistance to those who are [now] able to
find employment at the hotel.
There is no denying that the success of this
project, while it may come with risk, will put the cou ntry in a better financial and economic position. It is
very simple. You can either support the reopening of
the hotel or you c annot. If you do support the reopening, you will support and vote in favour of the Bill t oday.
I know that there are persons in this room and
outside of this room who see no problem with waiting
around. My challenge is that these persons are not
represent ing what our people want. I know that my
peers and my colleagues who are constituents want
these jobs, they want these opportunities. And they
believe that Bermuda can see the successes that ot her jurisdictions are seeing.
Madam President, we constantly r evisit the
idea of whether or not the work we do matters. And I
want to remind us all that the work we do does matter,
that the decisions we make affect each of us in this
room, our children and our fellow Bermudians. There
is a popular Chinese proverb that says that the best
time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. And put simply, Madam President,
this means that we have got to move, and that we
have to move quickly. If we want success, if we want
growth, if we want development opportunities for other properties across our Island, Madam President, we
have got to move.
So, in closing, I want to thank the teams within
the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Finance as well
as the team over at the Bermuda Tourism Authority, the leadership of the BIU, my colleagues and other
stakeholders for their tireless efforts to get us to this point. While there is still more work to be done, I am
hopeful that this Chamber will collectively vote to
move beyond the pandemic and on to the path of
economic recovery.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson. I think everyone has spoken. And it is now time
for me to say a few words.
I have listened to each and every one of the
Senators in this room today, and I a ppreciate ever ything that you have said and the positions that you
have taken. I will say that you know in my own family
quite a number of the members of my family have
worked in the hotel industry. And it has been dear, it
has provided us . . . and I think if I just call the name
Toby Dillas, you will know that he is one person that if you just called his name everybody knows he started from way down below and worked his way up to be
able to be in New York.


Bermuda Senate I reflect on him, and in recently talking to his
son and daughter, it reminded me so much of our
conversation both here in Bermuda and overseas. He
was like a brother to me. He was a cousin, but he was
like a brother. And we always talked about his work in
the hotel industry, and my own brothers. And I am
sure each of you can call on family members who
have made a tremendous success in the tourism
business.
While I do have concerns [AUDIO SKIP
2:48:21] and I do also want to say that I did attend Warwick Camp, and listen ed to the presentation there.
And I talked to a number of people afterwards. They
were very, very, very concerned about what is going to happen with this hotel. I am approached by the taxi drivers on Front Street; they know me by name. And
they stop me every time I go to the HSBC Bank in
Hamilton, on Front Street. They want to know what I
am doing; what is happening. So, it doesn’t matter
what we discuss here, and I am sure many of you
have had the same approaches from people in the community who are asking you questions about the
Bills tha t come before us.
I will say this: When I reflect on the letter of i ntent that was signed off by the former Finance Mini ster, the change between that and now is that we have
not seen a letter of intent. But he did support the de-velopment of the Southampton Hotel. And I will say
that while I have questions, I must put my faith in the
representation that this Bill has been prepared by all
the people who have been involved in it.
I do have concerns about 15 years of concessions; don't get me wrong. I certain ly do have concerns about it. But I would like to see the hotel open. I
do not want to see a delay in that. That is my own p osition, and I would take whatever I have to take with
regard to the decision that I make. But I am in support
of this Bill this aft ernoon.
Certainly, coming into today I was not sure. I
have been wrestling with it. I will let you know that.
And there are some unanswered questions. But I am
a woman of faith. And I have faith in the process and I
have faith that this Bill will provide for Bermuda what we need at this time.
So, those are my comments. And as each one
of you have made your comments, I own my com-ments.
So, it is now over to you, Senator O wen Darrell, to make your final comments.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam Presi dent,
and thank you for your comments a moment ago.
Madam President, as I conclude with comments, after we have sat here for a few hours listening
to the debate on this particular Bill, Madam President,
I cannot help but be a little frustrated, a little emotio nal, that . . . and by some of the comments by some of
the other Senators, especially Opposition Senators, on their presentation on this Bill, one thing that you often hear when you come to this place is that indivi duals would like open information. A nd Members would
like further collaboration.
You will recall, Madam President, that a couple of weeks ago I gave a passionate speech on a nother debate where I talked about does the Senate
matter. I was reminded that what we do in this Chamber does matter again today, Madam President. That
is because at about 10:30 when we decided to recess
until 1:00 pm, my phone was flooded with messages
from individuals who have direct connections to the hotel industry, individuals that are hanging on by a
thread waiting for jobs, wondering, Did it pass? I can't
hear anything. Why am I listening to gospel music i nstead of the debate on this Fairmont Southampton
Bill?
I just want to take a moment to explain to
those individuals who are almost without hope, one of
the reas ons why we had to delay today. Senator
De Couto started this presentation by saying stepping
into the unknown. Madam President, at 9:49 am this
morning, after a request from my Senate Leader to
know if there were going to be any possible amendments to this particular Bill , at 9:49 am, messages
were received by the Government Senators of a list of
unconstitutional possible amendments to this Bill. Talk
about stepping into the unknown. Playing politics to
delay a Bill of national importance does not really seem like an act of collaboration, an act of giving i nformation in a timely fashion.
Madam President, while the One Bermuda A lliance sat back in another place with their five Mem-bers, because you will recall that one recused himself
because he had a connect ion to the owners who are
referenced in this Bill, those five Members in another place are Members elected to office by the people of
Bermuda. They sat in that place two weeks ago and
remained relatively silent and allowed this Bill in another place to pas s unanimously, Madam President.
And over the days [following] after that the One Bermuda Alliance seemed to be asleep at the wheel. We
heard nothing from them. But suddenly, shockingly, at
9:49 this morning, Madam President, the One Berm uda Alliance seemed to have found their voice.

The President: Senator De Couto, do you have a
point of order?

I beli eve the Senator
stated that nothing was heard from us. I know that
Senator Smith, for example, had repeatedly asked for
information that had not been provided until the last
478 18 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate minute. And if any amendments that we proposed
were delayed it was unfortunate that we had to account for information that was supplied at what I would
term the last possible moment. Thank you, Madam
President.

The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Carry on, Senator Darrell.
Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
The el ected Members of the One Bermuda A lliance, rather than contributing to a debate in another
place on behalf of the people that they represent, d ecided to send amendments here to a group of a ppointed Senators to represent them.
Shockingly, the individuals w ho are hanging
on by a thread to get back to work at the Fairmont
Southampton had to be subjected to political games
by the One Bermuda Alliance when for many of them ,
the potential workers of the Fairmont Southampton,
the passing of this Bill is a matter of survival. The Opposition Senate Leader here today made a comment
earlier that we must learn from the mistakes of the
past so that we do not make the same mistakes
again. I must ask , quite frankly , Madam President, is
the One Bermuda Alliance finally adm itting to the bad
deals that they have subjected us to in the past ?

Sen. Ben Smith: Point of order, point of clarification
or information.
The President: Senator Ben Smith .

POINT OF INFORMATION

Sen. Ben Smith: So when I made that comment I was
referr ing as a collective that everybody needs to learn
from their mistakes . That would be both parties .
The President: Carry on Senator Darrell.

Sen. Owen Darrell: This deal, Madam President, is
not like the deal that was done under the One Berm uda Alliance. This government has ensured that the
redevelopment of the Fairmont Southampton was fully
funded by developers before providing a guarantee ,
unlike former Governments .
I must ask this question today, Madam Pres ident. Will the One Bermuda Alliance like to s tand in
the way of progress and stop further economic recov-ery and jobs for the people of Bermuda because of
their mistakes ? Again, Madam President, it seems as
if the One Bermuda Alliance, who were quiet a week
and a half ago, were simply playing politics with this
Bill.
This country cannot afford further delays. The
One Bermuda Alliance does not seem to be concerned with that . About everyone who spoke this morning,
Madam President, start ed with I support the redevelopment of the Fairmont Southampton. And we have
heard a lot of incorrect information. We have heard a
lot of fluff from a lot of different places today . But if
you support the redevelopment of the Fairmont
Southampton, Madam President, you must support
the reopening of this hotel which means y ou must
support this Bill.
I just want to take this opportunity , Madam
President, to speak to some of the questions that
were put forth earlier by some of the earlier speakers .
Senator Wight, only because you made mention of a board that you chair, and I put this question
also to the OBA Senators that sit here, I cannot understand why there is such a desire for us to negotiate
a private Bill or a private deal in public. Was the ai rport deal negotiated in public? I think not. Was the
$165 million guarantee for the Morgan’s Point Hotel
negotiat ed in public? I think not.

Thank you, Madam
President. I do not believe anybody has desired that
we do the negotiation in public . We only desire that
we make our judgment and our decision based on an actual deal that has actually been decided with all the
appropriate information required. So I believe the
Senator is incorrectly stating that. Thank you.

The President: Senator Darrell, continue.

Sen. Owen Darrell: I don't think there's anywhere on
earth, Madam President, where private sector entities
are going to come and disclose details on a $376 mi llion deal in the public sector . And I think many boards,
and Senator Wight knows this , would lose their minds
if that information was released to the public prior to
the full execution .
There was a question about why the terms
have move d from 10 years to 15 years . And the [answer] to that is that was necessary for us to get this
deal done. The passage of the 15- year concession
was a condition for the financing.
Quite frankly , Madam P resident, I have to be
frank . If this Bill does not pass today —and we are
forced to shelve this Bill and come back a year later —
I can guarantee you that this funding will go and they
will take it somewhere else and will build a nice fancy
hotel , possibly in the Turks and Caicos.


Bermuda Senate The question was asked, Why are we rus hing? We are rushing because former colleagues of
mine who drive taxi s, former students of mine who
you see on the weekend and they are excited to be
getting into the hospitality field, family members, like
you spoke about , Madam President, they cannot wait
any longer. If we do not pass this Bill today, there is a
great chance that we have a large building on a hill
with beautiful views rotting away for the rest of our
lives. That, Madam President, is a risk that we just
simply cannot take.
I also heard some speakers ma ke mention of
some similarities that they found, or they wanted to
compare, to concessions that were given to the St.
Regis property . Quite frankly, the One Bermuda All iance gave the St. Regis property 20 years of concessions . And then there were some amendments to the
Bill that, you know , the St. [George’s] Resort Act
[2015], where they actually removed all provisions for training in Schedule 1. The argument they made at
the time was that those would be made in the master
development agreement. And the reason why the
Progressive Labour Party agreed to pass it then wa s
because we wanted to get Bermudians back to work .
So, Madam President , I want to thank the
Senators who spoke in support of this Bill today , including yourself . I want to thank my colleagues who
under stand what putting Bermudians first means . I
want to thank my colleagues on be half of the individuals who have been [unemployed] for two-plus years
who can see hope at the end of the tunnel .
I would just like to reiterate, Madam President,
that when we do pass this Fairmont Southampton Bill,
I can assure you that we may walk out of here today
and hear a complete sigh of relief from individuals
who may not have seen hope before we walked in
here.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell.
You [may] now move the second reading.
Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President , I now move
that the Bill entitled the Fairmont Southampton Hotel
Act 2022 be now read a second time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Carry on Senator Darr ell. (You move that we
resolve into Committee.)
Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I now move
that we resolve into Committee of the whole [Senate]
for further consideration of the Bill entitled the Fai rmont Southampton Hotel Act 2022 .
The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell.
And before we do that , I have comment s to
make . PRESIDENT’S RULING
ON OPPOSITION’S PROPOSED
AMENDMENTS

[Bermuda C onstitution Order 36(1)]

The President: Again, g ood afternoon, Senators , I
would like to indicate that the Opposition had presented six proposed amendments to the Fairmont Sout hampton Hotel Act 2022, which has caused me to delay the meeting of the Senate for these past few
hours . And that's why we met at one o'clock instead of
ten o’clock.
On reviewing all six amendments and taking
legal advice , as well as reviewing the Bermuda Constitution , specifically section 36(1), which restricts the
power of the Senate to make amendments to certain types of Bills which may be considered to be a money
or a taxation Bill . . . and to my knowledge the Bill has
not been certified to be a money Bill and is not a tax ation Bill , however, the provisions of section 36(1) in
the Constitution can still apply .
Therefore, having consulted and taken advice,
including legal opinion submitted from the Opposition ,
it is my best determination that the proposed amendment s number ed 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, will not be allowed
to be considered as they are not permitted under section 36(1) of the Constitution. I will therefore allow the
proposed amendment number 4 to be considered in
the Committee stage, if so moved by the Opposition.
Senators , that is my ruling on the proposed
amendment s. Thank you.
I will now ask Senator Michelle Simmons to
. . . are there any questions ?
Sorry , I will ask Senator Michelle Simmons to
move us in to Committee, but I see that we have a
point of order or comment .
Do you have a point of order, or a comment,
Senator De Couto?

Apologies , Madam
President, but I mean an additional amendment , other
than those provi ded in writing ahead. I believe we are
480 18 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate allowed to bring them on the floor . Is that a correct
understanding ?

The President: If it is something . . . only if . . . Senator De Couto, we are obliged to have the information
prior to our meeting in the Senate. And if you are ha ving totally new amendments that you want to bring to the Committee . . . only if the y are very simple , they
should not be anything major, or totally new because
we all need to have advance information. And I need
to clarify that it is in keeping with the Constitution and
with the Constitution governing Senate’s deliberations
as well as our Standing Orders . If it is something that
requires a legal opinion, then I must decline.

I apologi se. I just don't
understa nd the details of your decision, which I don't
question. I would just appreciate an opportunity . . .
perhaps you would be able to look at a propos ed
amendment and apply the same thinking and let us
know , and then we could proceed or not .

The President: It would have to be written and
shared. I mean if —

I could provide that . I
could write it right now or have it written .
The President: But then I would need a legal opinion
on it. If it requires a legal opinion then I would have to
. . . yes, we would need to see it first and make that
decision . So, I am declining that at the moment .
[Crosstalk]

I have major reservations about adding to that circumstance, of which I
am afraid a second revised amendment on the fly on
your feet is not appropriate. It is in my opini on, Madam
President.

The President: Thank you, Minister Peets.
Senator Ben Smith, you —

Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam President .
The only issue is that we presented amendments and we did not, until we got here, know that
those amendments were not go ing to be allowed . It
would not have given us an opportunity to prepare an
amendment and provid e it to everybody in a different
manner because that opportunity was not available.
So, the only opportunity for Senator De Couto to even present that was to ask that question of you now . I understand your position. But just from a
Committee standpoint , it would be important that if
there was a slight adjustment that was put forward by
Senator De Couto, is that opportunity there ? At pr esent we are not even sure w hy specific amendments
were not approved, so we don't know whether his
changes are accepted or not accepted. Do you understand?
Like, that is the issue. We could not present it
in advance because we did not know until we got to
this afternoon.

[Crosstal k]

The President: Well, that is what I've read out . I've
read out that amendments were not in . . . I would just
read this part. My best determination is that the pr oposed amendments number ed 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 will not
be allowed to be considered as they are not permitted
under [section] 36(1) of the Constitution. So that was
my ruling on those that had been submitted.
Now any additional —

[Crosstalk]

The President: —not be allowed.
[Crosstalk]
The President: —under 36(1)—
Sen. Ben Smith: Understood. But until you have seen
what he is proposing you don't know whether it's act ually under [section] 36(1), like if it is against it . That is
the problem .

The President: Senator Ben Smith , I had to take legal
. . . I had to require a legal opinion. And it w ould a ppear to me that anything else that you, your team or
you, prepare to present I would need to have a legal
opinion on. So that is my ruling. And to bring up additional amendments in this area, to me, would require
also a legal opinion. And that is the reason for my d eclining it .
So, I am asking Senator Michelle Simmons to
take the Chair and to resolve into Committee to review
the one amendment , item 4 , if you are still intending to
proceed with it .

Sen. Ben Smith: Yes, Madam President, we will pr oceed with it.
The President: Thank you very much, Senator Ben
Smith .
I will now ask Vice President , Senator
Miche lle Simmons , to take the Chair of Committee.
Thank you all .




Bermuda Senate Senate in Committee at 4:16 pm

[Sen. Michelle Simmons, Chairman]

COMMITTEE O N BILL

FAIRMONT SOUTHAMPTON HOTEL ACT 2022

Good afternoon, Senators . We are
now in Committee of the whole [Senate] for further
consideration of the Bill entitled the Fairmont Sout hampton Hotel Act 2022 .
I call on the Junior Minister of Tourism , Senator Owen Darrel l, who is in charge of this Bill , to pr oceed. Senator Darrell, you have the floor .

Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam Chairman, I move that
clauses 1 through 7 be approved and stand as part of
the Bill .

Senator Darrell, please proceed.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Clause 1 is self -explanatory.
Clause 2 sets out definitions used in the Bill.
The “hotel redevelopment” is defined as meaning the
Fairmont Southampton Hotel redevelopment, inclu ding renovation of the guest rooms, restaurants, bars,
meeting rooms, spa, pool , beach club, kitchen, laundry and staff housing, as described in the summary of
works and site plan submitted to the Minister on 19
April 2022. The “hotel developer” is Westend Properties Limited.
Clause 3 sets out the customs duty and tax
concessions granted in respect of the redevelopment,
as follows:
a) full relief from customs duty for a period of fi fteen years from commencement of the Bill in respect of any building materials, furnishings,
fixtures and equipment which are necessary
for the building, furnishing and equipping of the hotel redevelopment;
b) full exemption from hotel occupancy tax ot herwise payable in respect of the hotel for a pe-riod of fifteen years after the hotel’s opening
date;
c) full exemption from land tax otherwise pay able in respect of the hotel for a period com-mencing six years after the hotel’s opening date and ending on the fifteenth anniversary
of the opening date;
d) full exemption from the employer’s share of
the payroll tax otherwise payable in respect of persons employed by the hotel for a period of
fifteen years after the hotel’s opening date.
Clause 4 sets out the terms and conditions
subject to which the concessions are granted. The
land tax exemption is subject to confirmation that in
years six through fifteen at least 70 per cent of the
hotel’s staff are Bermudian. The payroll tax exemption
is subject to the operation of a management training
programme at the hotel for Bermudians.

I believe he has not finished.

Sen. Owen D arrell: Clause 5 subsection (1) applies
sections 7 to 13 of the Tourism Investment Act 2017
(application of customs duty relief and duty payable
on diversion, offences, penalties, regulations and
guidance) with necessary modifications as those sections app ly to a tourism investment order made under
that Act. Subsection (2) also applies section 6 of the
2017 Act with the necessary modifications to empower the Minister, with the agreement of the Minister of
Finance and following the consideration of any objec-tions made by the hotel developer, to make an order
modifying or repealing any provision of clause 3 or 4 if
there is a breach of any term or condition to which the
relief is subject, if a false declaration is made to the
Collector of Customs, or if any go ods which were i mported subject to customs duty relief are used for purposes which do not relate directly to the hotel redevelopment. Such an order is to be made by the Mini ster subject to the negative resolution procedure.
Clause 6 clarifies that this Bil l does not modify
the requirements of the Development and Planning
Act 1974 as regards obtaining any planning permi ssion necessary for the hotel redevelopment.
Clause 7 provides for commencement.

Thank you, Madam
Chair man. I do have a question on the definitions in
clause 2 to see if the Senator would like to comment .
If the scope of clause 2––I find the word ing a
bit vague–– if it would include any condos , villas , or
resort residences that might be built in the future by
the developer . That's a question I would like to know
the answer to. That would help me understand what
actions I might tak e next .

482 18 May 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The Chairman: Thank you Senator De Couto. I am
sure Senator Darrell has heard you and will respond .
Is there any . . . do you want to respond now,
or shall I invite other Senators to speak ? Are you clear
about the question?

Sen. Owen Darrell: I am not really clear on the question, but we can proceed with any other questions at
this point .

In the spirit of providing
more opportunities for Bermudians and enabling larger proportions of the workforce to develop their c areers and work experiences our amendment would be
to expand the scope of training programmes mentioned in clause 4(2) to include training programmes
for all Bermudians working at the hotel . And I believe
you have the text i n front of you, but if you like I could
perhaps read out the proposed new text .

[Clause 4(2)] To qualify
for the exemption from the employer ’s share of payroll
tax under section 3( 1)(d), the Minister responsible for
workforce development shall, for the relevant period,
confirm in writing to the Minister , annually , that trai ning program mes, including a management training
progr amme, are available for all Bermudians working
at the hotel , and are in operation at the Fairmont
Southampton Hotel .
Thank you.

Yes, thank you, Madam
Chair man.
And while, of course, we believe that management training program mes are important and that
we hope that many Bermudians will take advantage of
them , we know that there are those Bermudians out
there who would welcome a chance to advance their
skills whether it be busboys who wish to train to become waiters, or waiters who wish to advance to become maȋtre d’s, or perhaps mechanics who wish to
manage a department of mechanics or maintenance
people, and so on like that . So, we would like to ensure that more Bermudians at this hotel would have
an opportunity to receive such development .
Thank you.

Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Would any other Senator wish to speak to this
proposed amendment , or any of the seven clauses
that have been moved, clauses 1 through 7?
Senator Ben Smith.

Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Yes, just reiterating that the point of this is that
when we saw that there was going to be training for
management, we thought that was important ; but a lot
of times if you're working in hospitality you start at one
level and you work your way up. It is important that if
we have people at their entry level we start to give
them training so that they can progress to the next
level. Who knows . . . you know , I believe that there
are actual stories in Bermuda presently of people who
started at that busboy level who ended up in management . So, it is important that we look for an opportunity to train our people who are going to be moving
into the hospitality so that we can show our young
people that upward mobility is available to them as
another incentive to get them to go into hospitality . So
that is why we believe this is important .
Thank you, Madam Chair man.

Thank you, Senator Smith .
Would any other Senator wish to speak ?
Senator Robin Tucker , you have the floor .
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam Chair man.
I also just want to add my comments to what
my Senate colleagues have already mentioned. One
of the very key reasons to expand the training opportunities is that it also encourages and creates a foundation for engagement as well . So, I think anyone who
has worked in an environment where training and developing has been part of what has been available to
them where they work , you know , it increases that
ability to feel engaged because you feel invested in.


Bermuda Senate So that is one of the things that I t hink that this particular amendment does .
The nature of hospitality . . . my Senate co lleague Senator Smith is absolutely right . [When] y ou
come into the door no matter what you do you get
some degree of training in the way that this particular
organi sation functions . And so this will give opportunity to be able to build on because this then formalises
the expectation that you don't just come in and get
trained for that one particular position but this formalises the way so that our Bermudians will have ex posure to ongoing training so that we can avoid having ,
or we can avoid having people coming into a property
and staying in one position and 30 years later they
have nowhere else to go.
So, this helps with that type of thing. And, of
course from the emplo yee side, it helps with engag ement because they like they have been invested in.
Growth and development opportunities are always
good .
Thank you, Madam Chairman.

Thank you, Madam
Chair man.
This Government , of course, has been working on this for quite some time and we have reco gnised a lot of the issues that are related to this partic ular clause . As such , the way that the clause currently
reads takes into consideration a couple of things .
One, we recognise that this particular Bill also
runs in tandem with the Tourism Investment Act . So it
is not like this Bill is out there all by itself . Hotels and
these types of properties are . . . and this particular
property, for example, is going to be governed by this
Act. As well , it still comes under the auspices of the
Tourism Investment Act.
All hotels provide training. It has never been
something that we have been concerned with . What
the Government has been concerned with is that we
have hotels that are providing training for entry -level
positions , let's say a busboy for example. What this
particular clause [does] as it is written i s finally a ddress that long- standing issue and problem that hotels, one, are providing initial training for entry -level
positions , but ha ve systematically across the board in
many cases not provided that type of management
training , so that individuals find themselves potentially
isolated in a position.
What this particular clause does, as the Government has drafted it , is indicate and require that
management training program mes shall be extended
to provide training program mes for workers at the hotel, knowing full well that all initial training already
happens . So, a large part of me is just a little bit co nfused about the amendment that is before us , as the
reading of the current clause provides all of the pr o-tections that our workers in the hotel industry have
been asking for and looking for , Madam Chairman.

Senator Ben Smith. I see your hand.

POINT OF INFORMATION

Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam Chair man.
I take what the Minister just said , but I believe
there are layers tha t happen before our Bermudian
workers reach the management level . Sometimes
they don't have the opportunity to move up. And there
have been reasons that have been given that we want to make sure are no longer there as an obstacle.
As an example, if you ar e working as a waiter
and they bring in somebody from overseas and say that this person is now going to be the one [who is] in
charge of the rest of the waiters , they do that based
off of potentially some paperwork that this person has
[brought] regardless of whether that actually matches
what our Bermudians workers have seen in action. So
what we are asking for is to make sure that it is not as
simple as we know that this is a training that is hap-pening and supposed to happen , put it in place so that
they actually have to put that training in , so that this
opportunity doesn't get lost on a Bermudian that
should be able to move up.
This is just another opportunity for us to saf eguard the upward mobility of Bermudians in the hosp itality industry . We all have heard about and seen, for
an extended period of time , the obstacles [preventing]
them [from] being able to progress —one of the reasons why so many people have left the industry . We
are just trying to make sure that we are doing ever ything we can to encour age them to be there and to
make sure that the y are protected so that they can be
trained to move forward .
Thank you, Madam Chairman.