March 23, 2022

Madam President, I
hereby present for the information of the Senate a
report entitled Youth, Culture and Sport, Year End Review 2021/22. Thank you, Madam President
164 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Minister Peets.
The second one is in t he name of Senator
Owen Darrell, but in his absence, Senator Hodgson
will present the announcement.

2021 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INFORMATION
COMMISSIONER’S OFFICE

Sen. Adrianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, I hereby present for the
information of Senate, the 2021 Annual Report of the
Information Commissioner’s Office submitted in accordance with the provisions of section 58(1) Public
Access to Information Act 2010.

The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.
And we also have several announcements, at
least nine of them, in the name of the Junior Minister for Health, and it refers to the Public Health (COVID -
19) Penalties Regulations.
Senator Hodgson you have the floor.

PUBLIC HEALTH (COVID- 19)
PENALTIES REGULATIONS 2021

PUBLIC HEA LTH (COVID- 19) PENALTIES
AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2021

PUBLIC HEALTH (COVID- 19) PENALTIES
AMENDMENT (NO. 2) REGULATIONS 2021

PUBLIC HEALTH (COVID- 19) PENALTIES
AMENDMENT (NO. 3) REGULATIONS 2021

PUBLIC HEALTH (COVID- 19) PENALTIES
AMENDMENT (NO. 4) REGULATI ONS 2021

PUBLIC HEALTH (COVID- 19) PENALTIES
AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2022

PUBLIC HEALTH (COVID- 19) PENALTIES
AMENDMENT (NO. 2) REGULATIONS 2022

PUBLIC HEALTH (COVID- 19)
AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2021

PUBLIC HEALTH (COVID- 19)
AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2022

Sen. A drianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I hereby present for the information of Senate,
the following sets of Public Health Regulations : The
Public Health (COVID -19) Penalties Regulations
2021; Public Health (COVID -19) Penalties Amendment Regulations 2021; Public Health (COVID -19)
Penalties Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2021; Public Health (COVID -19) Penalties Amendment (No. 3) Regulations 2021; Public Health (COVID -19) Penalties Amendment (No. 4) Regulations 2021; Public
Health (COVID -19) Penalties A mendment Regulations
2022; Public Health (COVID -19) Penalties Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2022; and the Public Health
(COVID -19) Amendment Regulations 2021; and the
Public Health (COVID -19) Amendment Regulations
2022.
Thank you, Madam President.

The P resident: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.

NOTICE S OF MOTION S

The President: The first one is in the name of Senator Reverend Doctor Emilygail Dill, Junior Minister of
Transport.
Senator Dill, you have the floor.

MORTGAGING OF AIRCRAFT AND AIRCRAFT
ENGINES (FEES) AMENDMENT REGULATIONS
2022

Madam President, I
hereby present for the consideration of Senate, the
draft Regulations entitled the Mortgaging of Aircraft
and Aircraft Engines (Fees) Amendment Regulations
2022, proposed t o be made by the Minister of
Transport under the power conferred by section
7(1)(b) of the Mortgaging of Aircraft and Aircraft E ngines Act 1999.
And I give notice that at the next day of meeting I will move that the said draft regulations be approved.

The President: Thank you, Senator Dill, Junior Mini ster of Transport.
The second one is the Government Fees
Amendment Regulations 2022, in the name of Senator Hodgson. You have the floor.

GOVERNMENT FEES AMENDMENT
REGULATIONS 2022

Sen. Adrianna Hodgson: Madam President, I hereby
present for the consideration of Senate, the draft regulations entitled the Government Fees Amendment
Regulations 2022, proposed to be made by the Mini ster of Finance under the provisions of section 2 of the
Government Fees Act 19 65.
And I give notice that at the next day of meeting I will move that the said draft regulations be approved.
The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.
I believe you have a second one.



Bermuda Senate NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME (REFUND)
(TEMPORARY) (NO. 2) REGULATION S 2022

Sen. Adrianna Hodgson: Madam President, I hereby
present for the consideration of Senate, the draft regulations entitled the National Pension Scheme (Refund)
(Temporary) (No. 2) Regulations 2022, proposed to
be made by the Minister of Finance under the prov isions of sections 24(9)(c) and 69 of the National Pe nsion Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Act 1998. And I
give notice that at the next day of meeting I will move that the said draft regulations be approved.

The President: Thank you. Carry on with your final
one.

PUBLIC HEALTH (COVID- 19) EMERGENCY
EXTENSION (NO. 3) ORDER 2022

Sen. Adrianna Hodgson: Madam President, I hereby
present for the consideration of Senate, the draft O rder entitled Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency E xtension (No. 3) Order 2022, proposed to be made by
the Minister responsible for Health under the prov isions of section 107A of the Public Health Act 1949.
And I give notice that at the next day of meeting I will
move that the said draft Order be approved.

The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson, Junior
Minister of Health.

PETITIONS
The President: There are none.

STATEMENTS
The President: We have one Statement. And that is
in the name of Senator Hodgson as well, Junior Mini ster of Finance.

MORE RELIEF FOR THE PEOPLE—MAR CH 2022
FUEL PRICES
Sen. Adrianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, among the most expensive
items we must buy in our everyday lives is gas or di esel for cars and bikes. We make time to work, we take
our children to school, we take an elderly relative for a
drive or we use a vehicle to ply our trade. Every Bermudian makes use of fuel and is impacted by an i ncrease in its cost.
Madam President, Members of this Senate
and the public may have noted that in January there
was an increase of 1.7 per cent for gasoline and an
increase of 3.2 per cent for diesel. In February the
increas es were 4.9 per cent for gasoline and 4.7 per
cent for diesel. Madam President, last week the Premier and
Minister of Finance was invited to approve increases
for March of 5 per cent for gasoline (increasing the
price of gasoline by 45 cents per gallon, in addition to
the 56 cents per gallon increases of January and February) and 6.7 per cent (54 cents per gallon) for diesel.
Madam President, this Government promised
to reduce the cost of living for the people of this cou ntry. In the Budget Statement made in the Honourable
House on 25
th of February, the Premier and Minister of
Finance laid out two key themes: “relief now and more
relief to come. ” Madam President, the Premier and
Minister of Finance was pleased to add to the “relief
now” column and I can advise this Senate and the
public that in keeping with the promise made to the
people of this country the Premier and Minister of F inance has rejected the recommen dation to increase
the cost of gasoline and diesel and ordered a review
that will look to see if price reductions can be made.
Madam President, although prices may i ncrease over time depending on supply chain issues
and more recently Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the
situation in Bermuda is different from many other
countries in the world. Due to several factors, the local
fuel companies import fuel on average three to four
times a year which often results in the cost of their
inventory differing from the global fuel prices even
when there is a significant change in global pricing.
Essentially, Madam President, the local fuel companies are often carrying inventory that is either more or
less expensive than the current world fuel prices at
any given time.
At the present time the fuel companies would
mostly likely be carrying less expensive inventory gi ven that fuel prices have increased fairly recently. This
allows the fuel companies to successfully navigate
this price freeze in the short term without significant
operational impact.
The Premier and Minister of Finance was a dvised by technical officers in the Ministry of Finance
that the existing practice is t o adjust prices monthly
and as such the Premier and Minister of Finance has
instructed technical officers in the Ministry of Finance
to review the way in which price changes are approved with a view to reducing gasoline prices as much as possible. The Government’s aim is to lead a
people- centred recovery of this economy, and that
means reducing the financial burden for workers in
Bermuda. The Premier and Minister of Finance has indicated that his aim is to approve a reduction in the
price of gasoline and di esel.
Madam President, representatives of the Mi nistry of Finance spoke with a fuel company stakehol der and the Government is pleased that they have ind icated their support of his decision to temporarily freeze the fuel prices. To do otherwise would place an
undue burden on the public —hard- working Bermudi166 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate ans who are now looking to renew this economy and
improve personal financial situations.
Madam President, jointly, fuel suppliers and
the Ministry of Finance have committed to further
meetings to analy se necessary changes to the pricing
model that is currently being used in this area to ensure that prices can be reduced. Madam President, let
there be no doubt, this Government is determined to
lead the effort to renew this economy and provide tangible financial relief for the people of this country.
Madam President, in this Budget Session alone, we
will have:
• reduced the cost of private car licen ce fees by
10 per cent ;
• instituted no across -the-board increase in
government fees;
• reduced payroll tax for wor kers making less
than $96,000 for the third time since taking office in 2017;
• extended the supplementary unemployment
benefit until the end of August ;
• extended tax relief for hotels, restaurants,
bars and clubs ;
• extended new hire tax relief ;
• advanced land tax relief to the charitable sector;
• advanced land tax relief for nursing homes;
• reduced telecommunications fees; and
• provided a further pension withdrawal to help
those Bermudians who need it most .
And today, Madam President, we can add to that list a
rejection of a price increase of gas and diesel with a
new policy approach to reduce these costs in the very
near future.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson, Junior Minister of Finance.

INTRODUCTION OF BILL S
The President: There are none.

FIRST READING OF PUBLIC BILLS

APPROPRIATION ACT 2022

INVESTMENT BUSINESS AMENDMENT ACT 2022

MUNICIPALITIES AMENDMENT ACT 2022

MUNICIPALITIES AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2022

PAYROLL TAX AMENDMENT
AND VALIDATION ACT 202 2

CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT ACT 2022
MOTOR CAR AMENDMENT ACT 2022

NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME (OCCUPATIONAL
PENSIONS) AMENDMENT AND
VALIDATION ACT 2022

ENDANGERED ANIMALS AND PLANTS
AMENDMENT ACT 2022

The President: The following public Bills have been
received from the Honourable House of Assembly and
are now read for the first time. Their titles are, respectively, the Appropriation Act 2022, Governor’s Recommendation Signified; the Investment Business
Amendment Act 2022; Municipalities Amendment Act
2022; Municipalities Amendment (No. 2) Act 2022;
Payroll Tax Amendment and Validation Act 2022, Governor’s Recommendation Signified; Customs Tariff Amendment Act 2022, Governor’s Recommendation Signified; the Motor Car Amendment Act 2022 ,
Governor’s Recommendation Signified; National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment
and Validation Act 2022; and the Endangered Animals
and Plants Amendment Act 2022.

FIRST READING OF PRIVATE BILLS

The President: There are none.

1QUESTION PERIOD
The President: Senators, we will now entertain questions on the Statement that was read by Senator
Hodgson regarding More Relief for the People.
Would any Senator care to speak?
Senator Ben Smith, you have the floor.

QUESTION 1: MORE RELIEF FOR THE PEOPLE
MARCH 2022 FUEL PRICES

Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam President, and
good morning.
First I would like to thank the Junior Minister
of Finance for giving this Statement this morning. We
in the Opposition would agree that anything that we
can do to reduce the cost of living in Bermuda is an
important initiative for us to do. But I have a couple of
questions based off of the Statement.
It looks like, if I am just rounding figures from
January, February, March, we would have been ha ving an increase of about 10 per cent over that period
of time. By not agreeing to what was going to happen
in March, that would cut that in half, and it would be a
5 per cent increase, and 5 per cent that has now been
put on hold.
My first question is, Can the Junior Minister let
us know when the next order of fuel will happen? B e1 See Question Period recommitted on page 222

B ermuda Senate cause as the Statement says, there are obviously r esources that have been kept in Bermuda which is why
they are able to make this deferment of adding the increase. But at some point this increase is going to
happen. And at the rate the increase was happening, it would be important for us to know when the order happens so that we know if it continues to increase at
this rate, we are just deferring this increase. Potentia lly, three months from now that increase will be signif icant.
The war in the Ukraine is going to have an
impact on fuel prices worldwide. And because of that,
it would be naive of us to think that this price increase
is not going to happen. So are we just making a
statement today that talks about a reduction that could last a month, with a much bigger number coming down the line two months, three months from now, which would wipe out any gains that were brought up
today?
So, can we get some clarification as to when
the order is going to happen and if in this consultation
we have an idea whether this increase will continue to move at the level that it has been moving to date. It was 1.7 per cent and then it continues to go, and now
it is 5 per cent. With a war, if it continues at that 5 per
cent increase, are we looking at 25 per cent in six
months’ time, which obviously will be significant for
the population of Bermuda. If we could get some clar ification on what details we have at this point it would be helpful.
Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator Ben Smith, O pposition Leader in the Senate.
Senator Hodgson.
Sen. Adrianna Hodgson: Madam President, at this
time I do not have a response. But I am waiting for technical support.
The President: Thank you.
Do you have a follow up question?
Senator De Couto, you have the floor.
QUESTION 1: MORE RELIEF FOR THE PEOPLE
MARCH 2022 FUEL PRICES

Thank you, Madam
President, and thank you Junior Minister for that Statement. I second my colleague’s support for an ything that can reduce the burden on families and the people in Bermuda.
I noticed that because, of course, we are storing this cheaper gasoline, that the price increases are not flowing to the people. But what should happen if the prices should go down, but we are storing higher [priced] gasoline? Should the people expect that the prices will not be allowed to drop in accordance to that? That is my first question. QUESTION 2: MORE RELIEF FOR THE PEOPLE
MARCH 2022 FUEL PRICES

My second question is,
my understanding is that the government tax is 55 cents per litre, or about $2.00 per gallon, did the Government consider de creasing that tax? That would
have the advantage, I believe, of taking a slice out of
the fuel cost to the people that would not move around with the price of gas. That would always be available to them.
QUESTION 3: MORE RELIEF FOR THE PEOPLE
MARCH 2022 FUEL PRICES

The third part of my
question is, My understanding is that about 13 per cent of Government taxes go to paying down the Government debt. By my calculations that is about 26
cents per gallon. Has the Government thought about
how the overall reduction of the debt could be applied in the reduction of the fuel prices and other costs for the people of Bermuda to support them? Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto, has
three questions.
And while Senator Hodgson is obtaining r esponses to answer those questions, my question is ,
would any other Senator care to ask questions on this Statement?
We will give Senator Hodgson a couple of
minutes so she can get a response to the questions that have been asked.
[Paus
e]
The President: Senator Hodgson would you like to
provide the answers . . . if [there] is an issue getting
your answers right away, would you care to give your response later in the meeting?
Sen. Adrianna Hodgson: Yes, Madam President,
that would be ideal. Thank you.
The President: Senator Hodgson has indicated that
she will make every effort to get responses to the questi ons that have been asked by Senator Smith and
Senator De Couto and will provide that information later in the meeting.
An Hon. Senator: Madam President, I would just ask
will we have the opportunity to ask supplementaries
based off of those answers at a later time in the session.
The President: Certainly, we would allow that.
ORDERS OF THE DAY
168 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: We will now move on to the Orders of
the Day and the item to be considered under provision
of Standing Order 25.
Senator Arianna Hodgson, the Sena te will
initiate debate on the 2022/23 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure with the second reading of the A ppropriation Act 2022. And that is in the name of Senator Arianna Hodgson, the Junior Minister of Finance.
Senator Hodgson, you have the floor.

BILL

SECOND READING
[Standing Order 25]

APPROPRIATION ACT 202 2

Sen. Adrianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, I move that the provisions
of Standing Order 25 be granted so that the Senate
may now proceed wit h the second reading of the Public Bill entitled the Appro priation Act 2022.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Carry on, Senator Hodgson

[Motion carried: Leave granted for the Appropriation
Act 2022 to be read a sec ond time on the same day
as its first reading.]
Sen. Adrianna Hodgson: I move that the public Bill
entitled the Appropriation Act 2022 be now read a
second time together with consideration of the Est imates of Revenue and Expenditure for the fiscal year
2022/23.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Carry on, Senator Hodgson.

BUDGET STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF
THE ESTIMATES OF REVENUE AND
EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR 2022/23

Sen. Adrianna Hodgson: Madam President, during
the past two years Bermuda has faced some unprecedented challenges. The COVID -19 pandemic has
caused severe stress and strain to families, busines ses and the economy. However, Bermudians have once again demonstrated our willingness to serve and support each other in times of crisis and have worked
together as a community to navigate through this tur-bulent period.
The Budget Statement delivered by the Honourable Premier and Minister of Finance, the Honour-able David Burt, in the House of Assembly on Febr u-ary 25 opens with a message of hop e and builds on
that theme throughout the statement. It highlights that
this Progressive Labour Party Government continues
to demonstrate its commitment to supporting its pe ople and stabilising and strengthening the economy of Bermuda in a fair and equitable way.
Madam President, in that Budget Statement
the Premier stated “Extraordinary measures have had
to be adopted to meet the most unique challenges in a
generation. In the bleakest hours, when hope has seemed in short supply, we have drawn strength fro m
a community that has rallied to the aid of those in need, providing food, mental health support and spi ritual enrichment. It has not been easy, but through our community spirit and resilience, we have overcome
obstacles and disappointments in our path fr om the
coronavirus pandemic. ”
He further went on to note that “ it is important
to recognise that the obstacles and disappointments
we have faced and continue to face are finite, and I
remind us all of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King,
[Jr.] “We must . . . never lose infinite hope.” That
statement eloquently reiterates that our hope must outlast our challenges. Thus, in presenting this Stat ement in Support of the Estimates of Revenue & Expenditure for the Fiscal Year 2022/23, the Gover nment is determined to re- store some measure of hope
to the people of Bermuda. ”
Madam President, the Budget proposals are
focused on providing a framework for continued relief
to recognise the ongoing financial challenges facing
individuals and entities in Bermuda while als o funding
core social programmes and services. This is being done within a framework of fiscal and economic man-agement which will ensure economic success for f uture generations of Bermudians.
Madam President, as we look over the last
five years since this Progressive Labour Party Go vernment came into power, significant progress has been made, notwithstanding the challenges related to the pandemic. We have a solid history of prudent and
considered fiscal management which has been eval uated by external rating agencies such as Standard &
Poor’s and Moody’s and independent reviews includ-ing the Fiscal Responsibility Panel which positively
recognised the work that has been done in this r egard.
In addition, this Government has demonstrated its unprecedented support for the people of Bermuda through the pandemic by providing relief and financial support to businesses and individuals to help
through these most difficult times. We have been able
to find creative solutions during the ongoing economic
and financial challenges to ensure stable public sector
employment and allow for continued delivery of much
needed services. In addition we have been able to
deliver on key platform promises, including an access to higher education for all and providing avenues for
retrai ning as necessary. We have also extended a cBermuda Senate cess to capital and taken steps to boost entrepreneurship through the Bermuda Economic Development
Corporation.
To address the need to sustain and strengt hen the economy particularly given the ravishes of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the Government has developed
and taken the necessary steps to progress the impl ementation of the Economic Recovery Plan with the
focused strategy of economic diversification, increasing fairness and equity in our society, and leveraging
the advantages and resources that we have in our
Island home. We have made significant progress in
developing a successful FinTech sector and there is
solid evidence to show that the sector is poised for
continued growth.
Madam President, in relation to the domestic
economy, we are pleased to report that there are def inite indicators that the economy began to rebound in
2021/22. Positive economic performance was fuelled
by growth in the interna tional business sector , increased visitor spending, and greater l evels of both
household consumption and construction activity.
It is estimated that compared to 2020 levels ,
the gross domestic product grew between 3 [per cent]
and 5 per cent in 2021. It is recognised that sustained
economic activity requires an expansion of jobs and
reduced unemployment levels. Therefore, this Gov-ernment continues to take active steps to address
these issues , including through the work being undertaken in relation to labour and immigration reform, and
steps being taken to revive the tour ism sector.
Madam President, as noted in the Budget
Statement while we manage the local economy, Bermuda’ s status as a top- class international financial
centre is under constant threat from external forces.
These include the OECD global minimum corporate tax initiative, a possible resurgence of the coronavirus,
the impact of climate change and its correlation with
our local insurance and reinsurance industry, geopoli tical tensions, rising global interest rates and increas-ing global inflation. These risks mu st be managed and
addressed head- on and be mitigated.
Madam President, as we address the co nstantly changing requirements in areas such as tax supervision regulations or combatting money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation Bermuda r emains committed to compliance, cooper ation, transparency, and accountability. This will require
additional resources to be allocated in a number of
areas, but we will do what is necessary to ensure that
Bermuda’s valued position as a domicile for international business remains strong.
Madam President, while the international
business sector has remained resilient in the face of
global and economic uncertainty, Bermuda’s tourism
sector has been severely challenged. COVID -19 has
battered a sector that was already fragile. Notwit hstanding the Government is committed to rebuilding and re- energising this sector and based on the projec-tions for 2022/23 in this area our efforts are paying off.
We will continue our work to restore and revive this
sector as we recognise the important role it plays in
our economy.
Madam President, as noted in the Budget
Statement delivered in the House of Assembly, Ber-muda needs to expand its population. As part of our
work to build our economy, work has already started
to address this challenge by taking steps to encourage and foster job creation and further strengthen
Bermuda’s overall attractiveness as a place to live and work. We will continue to take action to provide
solutions in this regard.
Madam President, a key theme of this year’s
Budget Statement is the provision of relief for persons and entities in our community given the significant
need in that regard. This Progressive Labour Party Government demonstrated its support in a myriad of
ways during the pandemic and its strong commitment
and focus on actively helping to meet needs is once
again being demonstrated with this Budget.
The actions to be taken in this regard include
an extension of relief to sectors hit hard by the pan-demic, as well as reduction in payroll taxes for those
earning less than $96,000. The supplementary unemployment benefit is being extended to August 31,
2022, and land tax relief is being provided for regi stered care homes and charities. Car licence fees are being reduced by 10 per cent and there are n o
across -the-board increases in government fees. In
addition, Government is committed to further tax relief in relation to fuel prices following the mid- year budget
review if the funding is available.
Government is also allowing a final one- time
withdrawal of $6,000 for pensions to assist persons
having financial difficulty.
Madam President, the Government is continuing to focus on other areas of required reform in this upcoming year. Recognising the need to address i nequities in relation to our tax system , the promised
Tax Reform Commission will be set up and tasked to
provide appropriate recommendations.
The Government will also be progressing init iatives to ensure that our financial system operates in
a manner that is most beneficial to the people of Ber-muda. Therefore, Banking Codes of Conduct will be
introduced and other legislative initiatives will be pr ogressed to protect borrowers as well as to expand
banking opportunities.
Pension reform work is also being advanced
to address underfunding of our s ocial insurance pr ogramme and government’s pension fund for its own
employees so that these decades old issues are finally resolved.
Madam President, as a brief overview of the
performance of the last fiscal year 2020/21, I will note
that the revised defic it for the fiscal year 2020/21 was
projected to be $245 million. However, the actual def icit according to the final numbers, which were repor t170 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate ed in the 2020/21 Consolidated Fund Financial
Statements, shows that the deficit was $61 million
less, coming in at $184 million.
Madam President, before proceeding further
on the estimates for the fiscal year 2022/23 budget, I would like to provide an update on the Government’s
financial performance, the continued impact of the
COVID -19 pandemic and the forecast for the current
fiscal year 2021/22.
Madam President, the latest revised forecast
projects that the Government will earn $1.03 billion in
revenue in 2021/22. This is $31.3 million or 3.1 per
cent more than the $998.9 million in the original est imates. This is primarily due to Customs Duty, Passenger Tax, Civil Aviation Receipts, and Travel A uthorisation Fees performing better than expected, al though those increases were somewhat off -set by lo wer collections in Land Tax, International Company
Fees and Passenger Taxes.
Madam President, the projected 2021/22 operating expenses of the Government, excluding debt
service and guarantee management, are $904.3 mi llion, or $16.3 million, 1.8 per cent more than the $888
million originally budgeted. Sig nificant contributors to
the increase in anticipated current account expenditure included the additional $11.1 million to the Bermuda Hospitals Board to meet the funding shortfall. To off -set additional operating expenses, the Go vernment realised savings in salaries, wages, and em-ployee overheads, materials and supplies.
Madam President, the effects of the coronavirus pandemic lasted longer than anticipated a year ago, with multiple variants of the virus reaching and spreading throughout the Island. Therefore, the cost
of COVI D-19-related expenses for this fiscal year is
expected to be $35.1 million, $20.1 million or 134 per
cent more than the $15 million that was originally
budgeted. Included within these expenses are unemployment benefits, coronavirus testing and lab oper ations, the vaccination programme, quarantine facilities
and the $16 million airport minimum revenue guara ntee.
The increase in revenue was not enough to
offset the increased COVID -19-related expenses and
operating expenses. Therefore, the Government also
reduced its capital expenditure budget from the $92.9
million originally budgeted to $75.5 million.
Madam President, given the high levels of
public debt and the continued costs incurred by the Caroline Bay project, debt service and guarantee
management cost s are estimated to be $132.8 million
for this fiscal year —$5.1 million above the original estimate of $127.8 million. This increase above budget
is a result of $5 million spent on costs related to the
Morgan’s Point/Caroline Bay project.
Madam President, n otwithstanding the figures
outlined above, I am pleased to report that the revised estimate of the overall deficit for 2021/22 is $117.4
million, or $7.3 million less than the $124.7 million def-icit originally projected. This result demonstrates this
Gover nment’s commitment to prudent management of
taxpayer funds.
As of 31 March 2022, net debt is projected to
stand at $3.1 billion, with the Sinking Fund balance to
be approximately $231 million, which is sufficient to
fund future deficits.
Madam President, I will now provide the
budget estimates for the upcoming fiscal year 2022/23.
The highlights of the 2022/23 budget forecast
a $78.9 million increase in revenue and a $50.1 mi llion increase in the current account expenditure from
last year’s original estimat e. As a result, the current
account balance, before debt service and guarantee
management costs, is budgeted to be a surplus of
$132.7 million. The current account balance, after debt service, is projected to be a $3 million surplus,
representing a $34.9 m illion improvement when compared to 2021/22. The overall deficit, inclusive of cap ital expenditure, is projected at $70 million, a $54.7
million reduction from the 2021/22 original estimate of $124.7 million.
Madam President, the projected current account balance, excluding debt service costs, indicates
whether revenues can support the day -to-day running
of the Government. This year’s budget with a current account surplus of $132.7 million indicates that, ac-cording to projections, the Government will gener ate
sufficient revenue to cover not only the day -to-day
running of government but also interest costs —a major financial milestone as we restore public finances.
Madam President, the estimates for 2022/23
project government revenues of $1.08 billion, which is
$78.9 million higher than the original estimate for the
previous year. This increase in the estimate is primar ily a result of projected strength in tourism -related re venues, customs duty, and stamp duty.
Madam President, the Government has set
the overa ll 2022/23 budget for current account expenditure at $945.1 million, $57.1 million higher than
the original 2021/22 estimate. Key factors for the i ncrease are the discontinuation of the austerity
measures involving the pay of civil servants. Additionally, there is no separate line item for COVID -19, so
all pandemic -related expenses, such as the operation
of the Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory, are now captured within various Ministry budgets. The level of expenditure delivers on the commitments laid out in the
2021 Throne Speech regarding funding for health care reform, implementing Bermuda’s first two signature schools, and establishing a regulated cannabis r egime.
Madam President, debt service cost for the
2022/23 budget is projected at $129.8 million, or
1.6 per cent higher than the 2021/22 initial allocation
of $127.8 million. Although interest payments are estimated at the same level of $127.8 million, $2 million
of guarantee management costs are projected related


Bermuda Senate to the Morgan’s Point/Caroline Bay project and the
Fairmont Southampton project.
The capital expenditure component of the
2022/23 budget is set at $73 million; $19.9 million
lower than the 2021/22 original estimate. Of this $73 million, $51 million is for capital development and $21
million is f or capital acquisitions. The most significant
items of capital development expenditure in the
2022/23 budget relate to the $7 million towards Tynes
Bay Waste Treatment up- grades and to the $3 million
to be spent on the maintenance of our public schools
to ensure that their buildings are safe for our students
to attend.
Madam President, when looking at the $21
million for capital acquisitions, $9 million, or 42 per
cent of that figure, is to be invested in information
technology upgrades throughout the Gover nment of
Bermuda and in our public schools. These inves tments will make the Government more efficient while
upgrading technology in schools. Madam President,
$5 million has been budgeted to purchase additional new buses and to refit one of our fast ferries . Add itionally, the Government has allocated $1 million to commence the installation of the new Island- wide
CCTV system that was promised in this year’s Throne
Speech.
Madam President, this Government has continued to state and demonstrate its commitment t o a
proven and considered fiscal strategy. As noted earl ier, actions taken in this regard have already been
positively affirmed by external bodies. We are commi tted to managing this economy in a manner that will
provide sustainable economic stability and s ecurity.
The Honourable Premier, Minister of Finance,
in the Budget Statement outlined the path to a balanced budget and future debt reduction. In this
Statement a commitment was made to returning to
budget surpluses by 2024/25, with a view to targeting
budget surpluses of $50 million per annum by 2026/27
as recommended by the Fiscal Responsibility Panel.
In addition, given concerns regarding continued i ncreases in interest rates and the almost $1 billion of
debt to be refinanced in the next 24 months, the Honourable Premier indicated that we would be going to
market as soon as possible to refinance existing debt
in line with the recommendations from the Fiscal R esponsibility Panel.
Madam President, this Government is committed to listening to our people and doing what is
necessary to provide the necessary support and services in a cost -effective and efficient manner and with
due regard for the needs and concerns of our consti tuents. We are blessed with considerable talent in this
country and we will do what we can to ensure that
Bermuda is a place where our people can thrive and
reach their full potential. The challenges we face are unprecedented and real. But, as noted earlier, Bermudians have proved that they are resilient and willing
to work together for the benefit of all. Madam President, as I bring this statement to
a close I would like to highlight a section of the Report of the Fiscal Responsibility Panel which was also noted in the Budget Statement and reads as follows:
“Bermuda has now largely emerged from the worst of the pandemic; in our view, with the right policies, the
prospects of the Island are bright. The potential of the
Island and its people should not be in doubt. While
many long- standing challenges remain, policies to
address them are bei ng developed, and we were i mpressed by the sense of urgency on the part of the Government and the shared commitment of other
stakeholders.”
Madam President, as the Honourable Premier
noted in the Budget Statement, this Bermuda Pr ogressive Labour Party Gov ernment has delivered a
budget that funds the critical programmes that we
committed to in our election platform and in the most
recent Throne Speech while providing relief to hardworking families and businesses. We remain on track
with our debt targets and have a clear path to a budget surplus. We are making vital investments in our future while transforming our economy and education
system and delivering on the pledge of universal
health care.
Madam President, the Honourable Premier
further noted “the las t two years have been tough, and
I know that there are so many Bermudians that feel
that they are losing hope. We have been tested like
we have never been tested before, but just like we
have done before, as a country we will persevere.
Bermuda has always innovated in order to survive. We have always adjusted our sails to ensure that we
are on the right course, and a once- in-a-century pandemic will not stop us from doing what we have a lways done” over our history —“coming together to
build a better future for our children.”
Madam President, as he concluded his budget presentation to the House the Premier stated: “we
are building a Bermuda for the future. A Bermuda that
is a leader in renewable energy; a Bermuda that is a
leader in financial technology; a Berm uda that is at the
forefront of financial services; a Bermuda with a r enewed tourism industry that will deliver jobs and o pportunities for residents; a Bermuda that welcomes
foreign investment; a Bermuda that creates a nation of
owners; a Bermuda that has a fairer tax system; and a
Bermuda where affordable health care is a right, and
not a privilege.”
Madam President, that is the vision and hope
embodied in the Progressive Labour Party Gover nment’s 2022/23 Budget Statement. Thank you.

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

172 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate GENERAL ECONOMIC DEBATE
BASED ON GOVERNMENT’S
2022/23 BUDGET STATEMENT

Thank yo u, Madam
President. And thank you to the Junior Minister for her
presentation. I look forward to discussing the finer
points in more detail later on.
Let me first say how honoured I am to be here
today. As you know I am jumping in at the deep end, especia lly with this debate. And I hope that you will
indulge any mistakes that I make and provide any gentle guidance that may benefit me. As you may imagine, I have spent quite a lot
of time thinking about the purpose of this role and how
best to play it and how best for all of us to play our
roles. And specifically what we have to do this week,
the Heads, the numbers, the percentages and so
forth. My goal here is to be an advocate of Bermuda
by holding the Government accountable to do its best
for all of us, to let the Government know when the
socks need to be pulled up, when it has to be nimbler,
when it needs to do a better job taking care of her
people. And when praise is due, I will offer that as
well.
But to be frank, I was raised in a certain trad ition, that I think many Bermudians can relate to, not to
spend too much time patting ourselves on the back,
but looking ahead to where we can and must do better. In my academic training, if you achieve something
good, and in my professional training, not a lot of time
was spent discussing how great you were. Instead,
the eyes were forward. What could be done faster,
better, cheaper, more efficiently, because that is how
you create improvement and better results.
Madam President, because of where Berm uda is now, and with this budget specifically, we do not
have time to waste looking backwards. This budget is
about how the Government plans to allocate its r esources to run this Island and carry out its mission. To
me, and I am sure you would all agree, a core component of that mission is to provide a level playing field with opportunity for all, to provide appropriate
support and assistance to those who are in need, and
there are many of us. And in the aftermath of COVID -
19, this mission has never been more critical. Entire
families out of work, businesses closed, children’s education disrupted and our Island home’s social i ssues amplified by the physical, mental and economic
stresses of the pandemic.
Madam President, you can imagine my di smay when I discovered that t his budget provides no
meaningful change to the status quo, no bold and s erious initiatives to reset the course of this Island. Yes,
there are a few small things. And for those suffering
the most, $100 here, $100 there and so forth, can
make a big impact. But what the Island needs most is
a cure for its economic woes, a shot -in-the-arm you might say. But instead, this budget only provides us
trinkets in an attempt to distract us from the elephant
in the room. And, Madam President, that elephant in
the room is the PLP debt. The PLP debt is a millstone
around the neck of this Island, drowning our economy, preventing our progress both as individuals and collectively as a country.
That PLP debt is a result of $2.6 billion of deficit spending since 1988 by the P LP, including the
massive PLP deficits inherited by the OBA —$300 mi llion alone in 2013/14. This accumulative PLP deficit,
$2.6 billion, has led to the current PLP debt, $3.35
billion. And this $3.35 billion of PLP debt, you have
just heard, will cost us $1 33 million [in] interest just
this year. As I mentioned earlier, that is 15 per cent of
the Government income for 2021/22 projections. Put
another way, of every tax dollar that a Bermudian [pays] thirteen cents of that is just to pay down the
debt.
Without this debt to pay for, we could all have
lower taxes; or, the Government could do more with
the money that it has. Let me give you some exa mples, Madam President. I think we can all relate to this.
My family fills the car up once per week. I
looked it up; it is 45 litres of gasoline, 10 or 11 gallons.
As I mentioned, Government duty is 55 cents per litre. I worked it out. I got out my calculator. My family pays
$1,287 of tax just to run that car. And $149 of that annual tax is just to pay down the interest on the debt.
And I broke out the TCD tables of which the Gover nment is taking a lot of credit for, if we did not have to pay for that debt interest, if I did not have to pay that $149 to pay the debt out of my gasoline, that would be
a bigger savings than I would make on these TCD
rates.
And by the way, I just live in the middle of the
Island. So I imagine that if you are in St. George’s, or
Somerset, or you are on the road for work, you are paying a lot more.
Madam President, another example, which I
think is close to everybody’s pocketbook, BELCO bills.
So, take a bill for 750 kWh, and I picked that number. The first tier with the lowest consumption is
1,000 kWh a month. Forty -seven dollars a year on
that BELCO bill is just to pay for debt interest for t he
Government.
Now, let me to go payroll tax, because again, I
know the Government is keen to take credit for reducing that. And I admit for the lower earners, let us not
discount that; it is money in their pocket. But let me
put it to you another way. If you make . . . let’s say a
fireman makes $75,000 a year. I looked in the back of
the book. That is $821 a year out of your pocket that
is just going to pay the interest on the PLP debt. Or
the difference between an 8.5 per cent payroll tax and
a 7.4 per cent payroll tax. My point is that this debt,
this millstone around our necks is paid by all of us every single day, in everything we do.


Bermuda Senate Let’s look at it another way. What could we do
with that $133 million a year, instead of paying to the
PLP debt? I looked up Youth Development, under
Head 20. And I know we will get into the details, but it
is budgeted for $415,000. I am sure more could be
done there.
I looked at Bermuda College. We know that
tertiary education is a great gateway to future success for people, and Bermuda College is an important
component of that. Their grant $14.7 million. A valuable resource. I imagine $5 million at the college would have a great impact.
My final example, Madam President, Child
and Family Services, budgeted $17.8 million. We
know the need is deep there. Deep. And they will a lways be able to take advantage of more funding that
this Government would be able to provide if it were on
a more stable financial footing.
And the rest of it, Madam President, is the i mpact of this debt, this PLP debt, is borne dispropor-tionately by those who can least bear it because of the drag in the crucial government services that they rely
on.
Economist Craig Simmons recently spoke of
the new Two Bermudas, split by colour, but which col-ours? The blue collar and the white collar. Blue collar
workers, we know, were most impacted by COVID -19,
less able to work from home, more likely to have been employed by businesses that had to shut down and
were unable to operate or pay them, and most likely,
in need of the valuable assistance from the gover nment that was barely able to pay for it. White collar
workers, or the laptop class, if you like, and I am in that category, who in general were able to work from
home, or work in companies whose businesses kept
operating, or at least keep paying, like the gover nment. So this class in general, including most civil
servants, required little or less support from the government.
Madam President, Bermuda has some opportunities ahead that can play to our strengths. But we
also face serious risks. As you have heard me say,
the biggest risk is the PLP debt which cripples our ability to move and manoeuvre by its crushing ec onomic drag.
Another risk is our ageing population which,
as they leave the workforce and enter their golden
years, will need more health care and support. And at
the same time, we have fewer younger workers in
their earning prime coming behind them to support
those health care costs with taxes and premiums to
support the pension funds. While this is common in
many developed countries, it is magnified, like all else,
in Bermuda because of our small size.
A third risk. The global tax challenge from the
EU and the OECD, a major attack on one of our key
economic pillars.
A final risk that I will menti on is the threat to
our reputation as a society, as a destination for vis i-tors and a place to do business in a global world. We
all know [good] reputations are hard to come by, and
easily lost. What Bermuda has earned over many
decades, indeed centuries of careful positioning and
courting external stakeholders, can be lost before we
realise it. I believe many of you have heard that adage
of how one goes broke two ways: gradually, then suddenly.
And of course, Madam President, there are
many other risks. A t the same time we have many
strengths and opportunities and we hope that this
Government will apply itself diligently to effectively
take advantage of them. Our unique and beautiful I sland should be a mecca for tourists and especially
those who value nature and outdoor activities, water
and all the related activities.
Yes, we are a niche in a global industry. But
we must fully exploit our place in it, and we must ac-tively seek out the opportunities that make sense for
Bermuda. International business is st ill strong in Be rmuda. We hope it can continue to be strong. The
Government must partner with them to ensure their success so that Bermuda and Bermudians can be
successful with them.
But our most important opportunity is our
hard- working and entrepreneuri al population, the engine of Bermuda’s success over centuries applying
creative ingenuity and, yes, wiles to make Bermuda successful despite the numerous and shifting cha llenges throughout her history. Whether it be young
artists or craftsmen creating at home, the solo trades
people with a tool bag on a scooter, Bermuda’s own man- with-a-van, if you will, the owners of small retail
establishments, or local businesses that employ nu-merous employees, Government must set the stage
for them to flourish and be successful by stimulating
the economy and getting out of their way, Madam
President!
I worry that the PLP Government’s lack of di scernment and lack of forthrightness will be an obstacle to our progress, will be an obstacle to our ability to
take advantage of our opportunities. Let me speak to
the Government’s discernment first, it’s track record,
or not making good decisions.
We know that the Premier has touted companies such as the FinTech company, Arbitrade, and the AI [Artificial Intelligence ] company Afin iti, as a new
dawn for Bermuda. Now they are gone and we are left
with empty buildings and headlines that besmirch our
reputation. And just to remind you, let me read a few. I
just googled these things last night:
• “Judgment for $427,000 against firms invo lving Bermuda/US crypto scam”
• “Afiniti staff to leave island but ‘company firmly
committed’”
• Next headline: “Afiniti founder resigns as
chairman and CEO”
To be honest, those things never made sense
on the face of it, and now we see how they played out.
174 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate There is promise in FinTech, deep promise. But it will
not be found by hanging out at the pool with flashing
tech bros, and headline and attention- seeking CEOs.
Instead it will be the boring hard slog of careful policy and good decisions taken far away from t he influence
of meddling politicians.
Madam President, let me continue with my
theme of discernment and prudence.
We know that this Government gave away
$800,000 to a so- called record producer who was just
a scam artist. I don’t understand. I heard last night (or two nights ago, I think) that this Government had to
spend $400,000 due to legal costs for a mistake in
issuing, or failing to issue a land licence . And now we
know that the Government spent over $400,000 to
press a court case to prevent people in love from getting married. This is giving Bermuda’s reputation a lot of global publicity that has not been good.
Minister Roban even said they have equal
rights; it’s just the label that’s different. I think we have
all heard that phrase, separate but equal. It is not the
same thing. And even worse, the last time I was in the
Chamber, we just made it easier for people to get divorced. I believe this is where my daughter would say
SMH (shaking my head).
Madam President, I do not know what to say.
These actions do not make sense.
But let me now turn to the PLP Government’s
forthrightness, or what I would clarify as lack of. We
talked about the gas prices, and a lot was made about
this cheap gas in storage. That is just not how it
works. We know expensive gas is coming and has to
be paid for. Madam President, we all know that there
is no free lunch. This PLP Government should not
insult us by acting as if there is. Related, the est imates of inflation for the year coming between 1 per
cent and 2 per cent fro m the Government. But I think
all external estimates have them at 7 per cent to
10 per cent. Much higher. And the best I can say is
that the Government estimates are just not credible.
Madam President, further on this topic of
forthrightness, let me turn to the Economic Recovery
Plan and related projects. I know that the OBA has
urged the Government to really focus the plan, b ecause we know to achieve things you have to have focus. So I was glad to hear the Minister announce the four main initiatives. Unf ortunately, I am not pos itive. So these four initiatives are: Tynes Bay rehabil itation (which we have just heard, I believe, is going to
be $7 million, if I have that right); development of U pTown North East Hamilton; casinos; and vertical far ming. Let me walk you through my assessment of each
of these.
Tynes Bay: Now, I am not an accountant, but I
do not call this a stimulus programme. I call this fixing things you had to fix anyway. And again, I am not an incinerator engineer, but I would imagine that a large
part of that $7 million will be spent overseas on parts and specialised expertise rather than being directly
injected into this economy.
Casinos: The Gaming Commission started in
2015. And as someone who is new to paying attention
to this stuff, the most activity I can remember was the
departure of an internationally recognised non- political
expert running that situation. We know that when the
Gaming Commission remains under political influence
we should not expect very much progress. So, again,
while I hope it can work out, I do believe it would be
beneficial. The way the Government is proceeding I
do not believe it will achieve the goals required.
Vertical farming: I have done some research
here. My understanding is that it will not work. The high tech shiny solutions being sold to Government
are too expensive and require too much energy to operate effectively in Bermuda. And then one has to ask further, if this was such a good idea, why is the
private sector not doing it? Why should the Gover nment be involved in picking specific winners and losers in this industry? Perhaps the Government should
focus its attention on the Bermudian farmers and agr iculture entrepreneurs who are already actively wor king on finding ways to produce food for this Island eff iciently and effectively.
And finally, UpTown North East Hamilton:
This initiative at least we can fully support. And I do hope that it is as successful as possible and I look forward to seeing the results there.
So, that is one out of four by my grid.
Madam President, let me illustrate the Go vernment’s lack of discernment and forthrightness with a few more items. I have been listening closely to
some of the debates online and reading various
things. And I have heard a lot about the public works
stimu lus projects, and I think we have all seen the
signs by the side of the road. However, I learned that certain items in that Ministry’s budget were set to z ero, such as, fixing roadside fences and plantings. And
[to the question] Why a zero budget? the answ er was
that this money was coming out of the stimulus budgets. Again, I am not an accountant, but that looks to
me like just moving money from the left pocket to the
right pocket.
What makes this potentially worse is that I
understand we are paying private firms for that work. Now, I suspect that is quite an efficient way to achieve
the results. But one has to wonder are we also paying
the civil servants and the Public Works staff who are
now not fixing the fences?
Madam President, the National Digital Bank
sounds good on paper. But you have to ask what it is that this bank can do that the existing banks in Bermuda cannot do. Will that national bank be subject to
different regulations? I can assure you that the local
banks are probably quite keen to make a profit. And if
they are doing something they do not want to do, they
are probably being asked to do it by the BMA. I can
support the Government’s idea that Bermuda can beBermuda Senate come a nation of owners. But I would say that if you
want to own shares in a bank, you can go down the
street and buy them today.
Madam President, cannabis. We understand
that one of the motives for legalising cannabis is to
boost the economy. And I do not want to get too much
into the moral aspects of this because this is not that
deba te. But it is well known that this Island suffers
many social issues. And my understanding is that
those in this country who dedicated their lives and
careers to helping resolve those issues have spoken with one clear voice here, this increased cannabis us e
in Bermuda will only multiply our existing social i ssues. And again, leaving morality aside, we know that we will have to spend money to deal with those issues because of the increased cannabis use. So net -net,
will the Island come out ahead? Has that analysis been done? I am not sure.
I did some research in other jurisdictions. In
Oakland, California, they created a special equity pr ogramme to allow historically disadvantaged groups to invest, African Americans, and get a slice of the pie,
which sounds great. I support that. However, it turns
out that it is not so simple. Between paying the taxes,
paying for special security services, between being
subject to increased crime against their businesses,
for most of these people it has not worked out. And in many cases, to continue operating they have had to
go and seek co- investors, investment from people
who already have the deep pockets in capital. So
again, it ends up benefitting those with the money a lready.
In California, three- quarters of marijuana
sales are on the illegal market because users find it
cheaper. So how are we going to get taxes on that?
How will Bermuda fare? Do we have what it takes to effectively regulate and administer this market? I su ggest not. The risks far outweigh the benefits t o this
country.
But, Madam President, I am sure you would
like to know what should we do, then? What should we do? The changes must start at the top. We talked
about focus. Premier Burt must give up the Finance Ministry and the Tourism Ministry so that they can be
run by Ministers who can dedicate themselves full -
time to the difficult and intricate problems that they
present. Every ship has its captain, but also its nav igator, its engineer, its purser and so on. Each of those
important jobs requires full attention.
We frequently hear about the depth of talent
in the PLP Government, and I look forward t o seeing
this talent finally put into action by the Premier. These
Ministers must pay attention and think carefully about
their decisions and policy choices rather than flitting
from buzz word to buzz word. I look forward to them
exercising their discernment and prudence.
More specifically, this Government must fully
engage with international business and other stak eholders on the global taxation issues to ensure that we do the best job possible. I admit that it is a rigged
game. It is not fair to Bermuda; but it’s the game we
are in. We must play it as best we can with high atte ntion to detail and avoid further own goals.
The BTA must be made apolitical agai n. Let
the professionals create our long- term strategies free
of the whims and mandates from the politicians to get
the best outcome for the industry and Bermuda’s people.
To the Government I would say, Stop competing with the people, like the MyUs shippi ng initiatives.
Instead enable the people. Remove red tape, remove
the blockers so that people can innovate and create.
But, Madam President, most importantly for
the long- term future of this Island the Government
must take bold action to reduce the PLP d ebt. Real
stimulus —not just moving money around on the
books, real stimulus —requires an inflow of capital and
people from overseas. Reform our immigration policy
to enable this, thinking creatively about things like
economic citizenship that might be used to pay down
the debt and other strategies. Address the Gover nment spending so that it is more sustainable, effective, and efficient for our small Island, and reform taxes.
None of us wants to pay more, but many of us are
willing to pay a fair amount if —if, Madam President —
we know the Government will not squander it. I look forward to seeing the results of the Tax Reform Co mmission.
Finally, Madam President, this Government
must stop playing political games with our future and be honest with us. Is that too much to ask?
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Douglas De Couto. And may I congratulate you on your maiden
speech?
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Michelle Simmons, Vice President of
the Senate, you have the f loor.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident, and good morning again to you and all of my
colleagues, and the listening public.
Madam President, this annual budget debate
here in the Senate presents the community at large, that is taxpayers, voters and all of us in the legislature,
with the opportunity to look at all of Government’s r esources and the way in which those resources will be
put to use in the coming year. I think this is an i mportant exercise for the community; for the entire
count ry. And so this morning, in my remarks in this
economic debate, I am going to try to look at four aspects of the economy which are really critical in our
forward movement.
Madam President, the Bermuda economy has
been at the forefront of, I dare say all of our minds throughout the past year since there have been so
many negative impacts on it making it very difficult for
176 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate the average Bermuda family to survive and to achieve
a reasonable standard of living. Families in the lower
income brackets have been par ticularly hard hit. And
let me establish right now that most of the negative impacts or negative influences have been external, for example, the chief one being the pandemic, COVID -
19. However, there are long- standing issues, such as
our debt obligations w hich are a direct result of dec isions made by former Governments and the present
Government. So, this debt that is like an albatross
around Bermuda’s neck has been accrued over se veral years.
We need to focus on asking ourselves questions. I am going to ask four questions:
• Are there Government resources which can be reallocated so that they are used where
they are most needed in keeping with the
Government’s social and economic priorities? That is the first question.
• How can Government increase its revenue
without affecting people’s livelihood in a more
negative way?
• My third question is: How can Government
ease the burden on the people of Bermuda
who desperately, desperately need assi stance?
• And my final question will be: How can we r estore our fragile economy to a position of st ability and then growth so that all of us who live
here can benefit?
Those are my four questions. And I will take
them one at a time.
Reallocation of resources, Madam President.
What are Government’s economic and social prior ities? I actually went back to the November 2021
Speech from the Throne for information. This is what I found, Madam President: education reform; achieving affordable universal health care; good stewardship of
our natural environment; implementing a youth employment strategy; expanding Bermuda’s Economic
Empowerment Zone so that more people can access loans and mortgages; and safeguarding our children. Those seem to be on top of the list.
If these are, indeed, Government’s priorities,
Madam President, resourc es should be focused there.
At the same time, I think that more can be done within government departments to track and evaluate the
effectiveness of spending. Line managers need to be
challenged to improve productivity. And in that way, some of the toughes t decisions that may look impossible to make can be made. Unfortunately, Madam President, I find that Government is very limited in its ability to redirect some of its assets as the country is
burdened with this huge debt which has to be paid off
at some t ime. And we do not want to just continue to (I
hate to use the expression, but it seems to fit) kick the can down the road so that the next generation and the
next generation and the one behind it ends up with
this debt to pay off. We all recognise that t he Government had to
make some tough choices just as it was beginning to look towards presenting a budget surplus. These
choices have been very detrimental to Government
finances. But they had to be made because Gover nment had to support families, they had to help us all
navigate the deathly effects of COVID -19. We believe,
I believe, that the worst of the pandemic is behind us. Notice I said “the worst,” not all of it, the worst. Ho wever, the debt is not. Currently, as we heard this morning from the Junior Minister [of Finance] net debt
is projected to stand at about $3.2 [billion] in 2022/23.
That gives us a huge debt -to-revenue, that is, government debt to government revenue ratio, Madam
President, of 300 per cent. That should be shocking to
all of us.
It is clear to me, Madam President, that massive debt is preventing Government from providing the
services we really need, especially in health care, education and social programmes for families. Ther efore, Government had no choice really but to present
us w ith an austerity budget because what is there to
spend? We have to keep government afloat, all those
government ministries must operate. But we would
have seen in the estimates that there are very small
budgetary increases in several ministries, and slight ly
larger increases in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, where there is planning for signif icant reform.
So, Madam President, in answer to my first
question, Can resources be reallocated? It’s pretty tough looking at the circumstances before us, espe-cially with this huge debt which is never, ever going to
be out of our minds for many years.
Then, Madam President, I would like to look at
what Government needs to do to increase gover nment revenue. How is Government planning to i ncrease it s revenue beyond the pandemic? We recognise that there was little choice, as I said earlier. Re venue had to be committed toward fighting the pan-demic. But now Government’s long- term commitments
must be commensurate with its increase in revenue.
So that means, Madam President, basically that if
there is no increase in revenue, then Government
should not be committing to any long- term capital expenditure, except for projects such as Tynes Bay
waste treatment upgrades, which are absolutely necessary for the well -being of the entire community. So,
I can see some capital spending, but it has to be m inute.
This also means that Government must be
committed to identifying new areas for growth because revenue must be increased. There are several
suggestions in Gover nment’s Economic Recovery
Plan, Madam President. I would just like to read some
of the suggestions for looking at ways and means of
increasing revenue. I noted that medical tourism was mentioned, vertical farming, online small/medium size
marketplace, resi dential development in the EEZ, or


Bermuda Senate the Economic Empowerment Zones, and subsea
communications, among others.
So, in sharing this with members of the public,
I think we should all look forward to hearing more
about partnerships that are developing with loca l and
international entrepreneurs which will see these suggestions moving forward towards becoming a reality.
And before I leave this issue of how to increase rev enue, Madam President, I would like to offer congrat ulations to the Government on taking the i nitiative to
implement the Economic Investment Certificate which
has already generated $45 million of new investment
in the local economy. That type of new investment is
what we need more of.
Madam President, my next question is about
what can be done to ease the burden, because we
still have many, many, many people in this country
who are finding it very difficult, very challenging, and
in some cases almost impossible to eke out a sati sfactory standard of living.
I also believe, Madam President, that more
can be done to reduce inequalities in income and wealth so that persons in the lower echelons of our
economy can be lifted out of poverty. And I am going
to go back to something that I keep raising in the
Senate, and I will continue to do so, and that is about
the working poor in our community. We need to i mplement a living wage. We know that Bermuda is the most expensive country in the world in which to live.
We all feel it. And statistics prove it. I am urging the
Government to see through to [its] concl usion the i ntroduction of a minimum wage and then a living wage,
Madam President.
In a Ministerial Statement the Honourable J ason Hayward, then Minister of Labour in the House of
Assembly, on May 21, 2021, delivered the report of
the Wage Commission. It w as entitled “Recommendation for a Minimum Wage in Bermuda.” The Commi ssion was charged with making recommendations for a
minimum wage in the first year, and the recommendation for a living wage in this second year. Indeed, the
Commission discharged its dut y with regard to making
recommendations for a minimum wage, and this i nformation has been disbursed to all of us so that there
could be dialogue throughout the Island. We are now
waiting for the next part of the Wage Commission’s report, Madam President. I t is due this month. And the
hope is that it will address the need for a living wage.
Now, some people may [ask], Well, are we in
the position economically to be pressing ahead with this? But I would say that we need to show more r espect to the people who are earning, I call it, poverty
wages in this country. And we have the obligation, we
have the responsibility to make sure that minimum
and living wages are implemented in this country.
Another way in which Government can ease
the burden on the average taxpayer is to ensure r eform to the system of government taxes, Madam
President. I noted in my reading that the Fiscal R e-sponsibility Panel, and I believe it was mentioned this
morning already, has recommended that the Tax
Commission which has recently been appointed
should consider a more progressive tax structure that taxes earnings from capital, including interest, div idend and rental income, as well as labour. Hopefully,
the Tax Reform Commission, Madam President, will
begin its work very soon, if it has not already done
that.
But, in order for it to have any impact on the
2022/23 budget, it must report soon. It must report in a timely manner. And we all know that budget preparation begins many months in advance. Therefore, the
report of the Tax Reform Com mission needs to be
pushed forward as rapidly as possible.
Madam President, one of the things that I
think Government can assist with in helping to ease
the burden is to help with the education of consumers.
Consumers need to be making sustainable choices
which are economically, environmentally and socially
responsible.
So, what I am suggesting is looking toward
what I am calling “sustainable consumption.” One of the major expenses for every one of us, Madam President, each week, is the cost of food. Food is esse ntial. We all need it in order to survive. Therefore, it is
really important to consider how families can partake
of healthy meals which include a good variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. And I am really thinking mostly
of the fresh vegetables. In my opinion, we need to
reduce our dependence on other people to provide us
with those fresh vegetables by encouraging Bermuda families to grow their own. This is something that has
been started on a minor basis all over the Island. But
in my opinion, Ma dam President, there almost needs
to be a national effort to encourage all of us to have a
small plot, a small farm, or pots in which we are gro wing our own, especially the green, leafy vegetable. It
can be done. At this point, Madam President, I do not see how vertical farming will help to reduce our food
bill because we do not have a low means of generating the electricity that these vertical farms need on a
daily basis —24 hours a day, practically.
So, there are some things that can be done to
help ease the burden, Madam President. And in all of
this, I am hoping that Government will take a signif icant lead.
My fourth question, Madam President, was
about restoring economic stability. This is a big one,
because everything depends on us returning to a
state of stability with regard to our economy. I had to
do a little homework here to see how a stable economy is actually defined, Madam President. And I found
that an economically stable economy is one with fairly
constant output growth, and low and stable inf lation.
So, we are looking for constant, or steady, output growth, and stable inflation. So let’s look at both of those.
178 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Output growth is usually represented by pos itive growth in GDP (that is gross domestic product),
and declining unemployment. The Minist ry of Finance
has indicated that Bermuda’s economy as measured by GDP contracted (it shrunk) by 6.9 per cent in 2020.
However, the Ministry estimates —and there are no
definite figures here—that in 2021 Bermuda’s GDP
grew by at least 3.0 per cent, and they are hoping it
was 5.0 per cent. This is hopeful news. But you need
to look at why the economy, or why the GDP declined
between 2019 and 2020. That decline in GDP was driven by a huge decrease. It was 64.2 per cent in the
accommodation and food service sect or. That is the
sector of our economy that deals mostly with tourists.
There was also a significant decline in co nstruction, another big sector in our economy. The de-cline there, Madam President, was 23.6 per cent.
We should also note that international bus iness was still the largest contributor . . . sorry, Madam
President. We should be aware that international
business was still the largest contributor to the eco nomy in 2020, contributing 27.5 per cent of total GDP.
So that is more than a quarter of GDP coming from
international business. And that is an increase when
compared to 2019 of 3.3 per cent. So the IB sector is
growing, and it is a critically important sector in our
economy because it provides 4,411 jobs, or it did pr ovide them in 2021.
Madam P resident, unfortunately, the tourism
industry, which was a very, very large employer of
Bermudians, contributed only 1.8 per cent to GDP in
2020. Other significant contributors to GDP were real
estate, as well as financial and insurance activities. Clearly , Madam President, we must restore positive
growth in GDP in some significant sectors of our
economy.
Regarding unemployment levels, in November
2020, that stood at 7.9 per cent, or 2,891 people who
were unemployed. If you look just at Bermudian un-employm ent, the unemployment rate goes up to
9.6 per cent. This is an increase from November 2019
when the unemployment rate stood at 3.8 per cent.
So, unemployment is increasing.
If we look at inflation, Madam President, b ecause this is another factor we look at to see if our economy is stabilising, inflation is trending upwards. The annual inflation rate, as reported by the Depar tment of Statistics, is 2.8 per cent. The sectors contri buting the largest increases toward our rate of inflation were health and pers onal care, as well as food. As a
result of our imports, and we all know this, we are s everely impacted by rising prices on imported goods. And this also contributes to inflation.
For example, if we are keeping our eye on the
United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, infl ation in the United States in November 2021 was r eported as 6.8 per cent; in Canada, 4.7 per cent; and in
the United Kingdom it was 7.1 per cent. Those figures
are worth watching because they will probably result in our rate of inflati on increasing. Madam President, I
will say once again, grocery bills, the cost of goods and services, as well as the cost of doing business
are on an ever -increasing trajectory here in Bermuda.
And rising inflation is squeezing all Bermuda families.
Then, to make matters worse, we have to
recognise that the war in Ukraine, as has already
been mentioned, will almost certainly have a negative
impact on our economy. Russia is the world’s second
largest producer of crude oil after the United States.
And if you look at exports of crude oil it is the second
largest behind Saudi Arabia. Oil prices rose almost
instantaneously as the war began. We started off with
a high of $130 a barrel for US crude oil, and now the
price is fluctuating at around $100. So, I would not
take the decline in the price of crude as something
that will continue. I think we will continue to see a huge fluctuation in oil prices.
Then also to be considered as a result of the
war, is the fact that Russia and Ukraine combined
produce about 29 per cent of the world’s wheat supply, Madam President. And with the closure of ever ything in Ukraine, and the ever -expanding sanctions on
Russia and all its businesses, wheat prices have a lready risen by 67 per cent. And that is probably going
to continue. So increased inflation is coming to the
world!
Madam President, in summary, with a lack of
sustained positive growth, and no evidence of de-creasing unemployment, we can conclude, quite rightly, that there is a lot of work to be done to restore our
economy to stability. A stable economy will require a
supply of labour which is ready for employment. We
have already recognised that international business is
the largest pillar of our economy and we should be
preparing Bermudians for employment in IB as well as
in FinTech and the hospitality industry. We cannot assume that the hospitality industry will be absolutely
as it was many years ago. I think it is also poised for change.
Should we be hiring top- notch industry experts who have had real -world experience t o teach
our students and adult learners? Should we seize on
a particular speciality in the FinTech industry and b ecome the very best at this? It is great to see that 13
digital asset businesses have already been licensed
by the BMA in 2021. And I understand there are more
companies that have joined so far this year. This i ndustry, thanks to Government’s efforts, seems to have
caught momentum and the effect will, I hope, be long
term.
Madam President, I am encouraged because I
have looked at many of the models from countries
around the world which have seized on opportunities
to train their people to seize opportunities to encourage FinTech companies to come on board. Most notably, I looked at Costa Rica, which is host, now, to a booming FinTech sector becaus e the territory offers a
highly educated workforce, lower labour costs (well, I


Bermuda Senate do not think we can offer that here), they have a
strong microeconomic framework, they have an i mproved infrastructure, and they tout themselves as
being one of the safest countries in Latin America
now.
Madam President, we need to be as aggressive as possible in forming public -private partnerships
with those entrepreneurs who are interested in inves ting in Bermuda. We need to ensure that there is trai ning and preparation for our workforce to a level r equired for them to be employed in the key pillars of our economy. And I would posit that Workforce D evelopment has a key role to play here.
We cannot wait for things to change and get
Bermudians back to work. We cannot wait to see what
happens, because many Bermudians have been di scouraged from returning home. We need to actively engage with Bermudians and international investors
who would like to be part of a reviving economy here
in Bermuda. There are Bermudians who are interes ted in returning home. There are Bermudians who
would like to invest in our local economy. Maybe they
just need some more encouragement.
I believe Bermuda can be a welcoming place
for both Bermudian and international investors. But we have to do more to make sure that Bermuda is an attractive place to invest in. I believe that the Gover nment is actively seeking foreign direct investment and is also promoting the benefits of doing business in
Bermuda. But, there is more that can be done.
Madam President, I wo uld also like to issue a
word of caution here. As we attempt to attract interna-tional investors to our shores, Government seems to be using, or looking toward using government guarantees. The main concern there is that government
guarantees, as we have seen, can unexpectedly r esult in a demand on the government purse. We saw it
with Morgan’s Point. Is there another way? Are there
other ways to provide the security that potential international investors are seeking? I do not have the a nswer; I will be the fi rst to admit that, Madam President.
But, I think there are many heads that can be put t ogether in Government to ensure that any steps taken toward attracting international investment are made
cautiously.
Madam President, I am nearing the end of my
presentation this morning. And I would just like to say
increasing the workforce so that more people are pa ying government taxes will result in an increase in revenue. There is no mistaking that. The strategy here,
however, should include some changes to immigrati on
policy, but we also need (and I said it earlier) to actively seek Bermudians who want to return home.
And finally, Madam President, I believe that
we need to be focused on expanding our wealth, our main resources, i.e., the people of this wonderful I sland. We want every Bermudian to feel a sense of
ownership and pride in their country. This means we need to invest, invest, invest in our young Bermudians and those who are seeking to be retrained so that
they can become the people who take this country
forward and contribute to the restoration of our economy.
Thank you for your attention, Madam Pres ident.

The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Si mmons, Vice President of the Senate.
Does any other Senator care to engage in this
debate?
Senator Robin Tucker, you have the floor.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
Good morning. And good morning again to all my
Senate colleagues and the listening audience.
I am going to take a little bit of a practical a pproach to providing my comments on t his year’s
Budget Statement. From a practical approach I will be
able to sort of speak to the things that the everyday
person, the sort of grassroots individual may be able
to relate to.
So, Madam President, the Government stated
that the focus of this y ear’s budget is on improving
and stabilising the economy and also supporting fam ilies. There are sections of this budget that did demonstrate steps in a positive direction. For example, there were the initiatives to increase funding to the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation in a reference to
support small and medium size businesses and local
entrepreneurs; exempting registered care homes from
paying land tax; and, of course, extending the sup-plemental benefits to families who needed it. There
were som e other positives as well, Madam President.
But I do want to highlight here that all that glitters is not gold.
Madam President, spending efficiency to bring
about sustainable improvement for families is most
important. Our country is in dire straits. And what I am
most concerned about with this Budget Statement is
that it is almost a picture of smoke and mirrors, because we are highlighting things, achievements, that
the Government has made, obviously things that they
would like to highlight. But, of cour se, Madam Pres ident, I want to ensure that we do not forget about the
critical things that are happening in our country that
need attention. That is not to say that the Government
is not doing something. But what I am mindful of is
that we cannot sort of j ust look at the Budget Stat ement and say this is a panacea for the things that we are experiencing.
So, Madam President, I would just like to take
a moment to remind us about the issues that we are
facing in this country. Anyone who drives or walks
throug h Hamilton sees a growing number of people
sleeping rough and begging. They are begging for money at a rate that, certainly in my lifetime, I have never seen before. We are seeing longer food lines at
churches and food banks. We all know about the ri s180 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate ing unemployment and poverty that we are seeing in
our Bermuda. We are reading about people attending
court for stealing food from grocery stores. Increased
crime, prevalence of gang activity, incidences of all
kinds of abuse, dwindling family structures, educ ational and social issues with our children, increases in
domestic violence, physical and mental health cha llenges, aesthetically we have crumbling buildings,
trees are overgrown, there are boarded up and crumbling buildings all around us. Just taking a sim ple
drive from Dockyard to St. George’s or St. David’s
shows the state of disrepair that our infrastructure is
in.
Madam President, we have feral chickens all
over the place wreaking havoc for our farmers as well
as on our properties. But, Madam President , while the
country is experiencing all of this the Government will have our attention on things like cannabis. And there
are so many other issues that I could speak about that
should not be one of our priorities. Madam President,
with all of the things that I have named, and on r eviewing the Budget Statement I simply do not see a
whole lot of support in this budget that will have a si gnificant outcome for our families.
Now, Madam President, I will turn my attention to some items specifically mentioned in the Bud get Statement. There was little, very little, about lower-ing the cost of living so that people do not have to
choose which necessities they will rely on to survive. If
we see a lot more of that, Madam President, then we
could . . . at least I would be able to honestly say that
we are see something tangible that is going to help
the everyday Bermudian family and give them some support.
It is past time. We have heard some of the
things I am going to mention several times over the
last year and prior about things that we need to do to
further help support our families. It is past time that
the Government work with the grocers to lower the
high cost of food and create a strategy for reducing
the cost of import duties that will bring about some
savings for residents. We must move beyond the excuse that because we have to import everything our costs are high. There are many islands that import
items the same as we do which do not have the high
cost that we have. Madam President, where does it end? At the rate of the increasing cost of living, most
of our future generations will not be able to afford to
live in their own country, and certainly not be able to
afford to retire here.
Madam President, the banking and financial
sector saw a reduction of jobs. Ho wever, we cannot
blame all of our woes on the pandemic as some unemployment results have materialised because of
changes in the way the world does business. Many of
us have travelled and seen self -service checkout
lines. We have experienced automated attendants
when calling businesses as switchboard operators are
virtually non- existent. There are fewer bank tellers and more ATMs. Digital and online banking, cryptocurrency and those things are here to stay.
A reported 14.1 [per cent] decline in the banking and financial sectors is not surprising and is likely
to be the tip of the iceberg. So we must invest money
in preparing our future and current workforce to trans ition into the future of work. Otherwise, Madam Pres ident, we will continue to have generations of people who will be displaced because they are not trained.
On the tourism front, Madam President, the
Fairmont Southampton’s prolonged closure and con-stricted travel and tourism industry is quite disappointing. While we do not have the same capacity we once
had and the Fairmont Southampton will not be back
on line for some time, what investments will we make
in the meantime? Because the economy and ever ything else must go on. More must be done in order to
utilise accommodations that we have and to ent ice
visitors to come to our shores.
I recently read an article in the Cayman Compass where they are talking about how they are star ting to recover. However, they are having a challenge
with finding suitable staff. Madam President, in Bermuda we have an a bundance of people. And, clearly,
we are trying to rebuild [our] hospitality industry. What
we need to do, Madam President, is remember that
hospitality workers are in the service business. So, as
a country we must make a mental cultural shift that support s that reality.
Madam President, the Government awarded a
10 per cent reduction in fees for licensing private cars
which will see class A car owners save $30 a year. The class H car owner will save about $168 a year.
And seniors will see some savings, which is obviously
very good news. Any reduction is a help. But I want to
draw some attention to the fact that there are many
taxi owners who are also struggling, and as the taxi business largely depends on tourism and not locals, it
would have been good to see this reduction in vehicle
relicense fees for the 600 or so taxi owners, many of
which are at retirement age to bring them some relief
as well.
Madam President, it is also good that New
Hire Relief which was originally targeted at international business es and local large employers will be
extended for an additional two years and will now be
applicable to local and international companies. But
the caveat that eligible companies must have annual
remuneration of $500,000 or more renders many local
companies ineligible to take advantage of this benefit.
It would have been good if this relief initiative could
have been extended to companies falling beneath this
threshold to incentivise them, perhaps by using a
tiered system.
Madam President, a quarter of our population
is expected to be senior citizens by 2026. That is four
short years away. The 2021 Fiscal Responsibility Panel notes that Bermuda’s most fundamental challenge is demographic. They said, the shrinking wor kBermuda Senate force and an ageing population inevitably determines
the sustainability of the pension and health systems. A
growing population would make a major contribution.
We all know, it has been said and I will say that the Government has now acknowledged that we need to increase our population.
Madam Pr esident, we know that the increased
workforce does add to the economy. It adds jobs, health coverage, and the like. And the more people
we have lightens the load. An environment must be
created that welcomes job creators and makes it easier for them to wor k and to live here. We must ease
immigration processes and restrictions to encourage
more people to come. We have to move at a speedier
rate because our competition has already figured these things out.
Madam President, I will end as I started.
There is not much in this budget that brings about si gnificant support for our families. There is a little but
there is not much. I believe that we all want the best
for Bermuda and for her people. But, Madam Pres ident, we are in dire straits. We must prepare people
for the very rocky road ahead and not leave them thinking that our financial or social issues will be r esolved by one political party or group of people. The
issues are too deep and are the sort that most of us
have never seen. We must tackle these issues together. Generations and the future of this country is at
stake. The alarm must be sounded. Not doing so for
the sake of political expediency is, in my opinion, doing a disservice to the people that we say that we
serve. All hands are needed on deck to f ix our fina ncial and social problems and to protect our Island from
economic and social ruin. Thank you, Madam Pres ident, for giving me an opportunity to speak on such an
important topic.
The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker.
Would any other Sen ator care to engage in
this debate? The door is open.
Minister Peets, did you want to proceed?

Yes, Thank you,
Madam President.
I certainly also want to thank the Junior Mini ster for her presentation this morning. I certai nly have
enjoyed listening to the early discussions today r egarding a very, very important subject matter. Of course, there will be a time later on, Madam President
for us to do a little deeper dive into some of the parti culars of this particular budget of which we are certainly
here to make time and to facilitate.
But, Madam President, as I thought about
what to share this morning, I certainly wanted to instil
hope, a sense of togetherness, as it relates to how
this particular budget does engender some conf idence. [Consider] the fact that we have been through
a once in a lifetime pandemic, [and] politically things
around the world are very, very difficult. Of course, we all are aware that there is a current war going on with
Russia and Ukraine. And this budget, Madam Pres ident, of course, is now taking place in the midst of all
that.
Having said that, Madam President, I am really proud of this particular budget as it relates to its f ocus. I believe that this budget does have some very
tangible things that t he listening public and the voting
public and those who pay taxes can really take hold
of. There are some things also in the Recovery Plan
that I believe are also innovative, as well as bold. And I cannot say enough about this particular budget as it
relates to its ability even given the constraints that we
have regarding the debt, regarding COVID -19 and
regarding the situation that we have with Ukraine and Russia, that it does provide some relief now with more
to come.
We also mentioned, Madam President, i n
some of our discourse, if not here, in previous places
that there will be a mid- year review which is an opportunity for the Government, of course, to take a look at
its current progress at that particular point to make any necessary adjustments to ensure that this path to
economic recovery and stimulating the economy and
putting Bermudians back to work is something that
continues to occur. And of course, the Junior Minister
did indicate some of those are tangible things that the people who really need hel p and need it now can actually enjoy with this upcoming budget.
Having said that, Madam President, you
know, I would classify myself as being a part of that middle class, that working class, and we certainly need a bigger and more prosperous middle class. Of
course, like many, many Bermudians I am looking
forward to this continued revival of our middle class.
And I believe that this current stimulus, as well as
some of the tax cuts that this Government has
pledged will help that endeavour going forward. So,
Madam President, as I think about some of the things
that we have to deal with and have dealt with over the
last two years, I do not recall in my recent memory
any government that has pledged to make a nation of
owners, and this Progressive Labour Party G overnment has pledged that and has not wavered in its commitment to do that.
So, Madam President I am looking forward to
our conversations later today, as well as our conversations scheduled for the remaining of this particular
Budget Debate. I can promise the listening audience
in this Chamber that this Government has and will continue to always be fiscally responsible as it relates to debt management, as it relates to simulating the
economy, and also never forgetting to meet the needs
of its people. So, w ith those brief remarks, Madam
President, I just want to thank you very much for allowing me an opportunity to speak.

182 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Minister Peets, the Ho nourable Dr. E. G. V. Peets, Government Leader in the
Senate.
Would any other Senator car e to speak?
Senator Ben Smith, Opposition Leader in the
Senate, you have the floor.

Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam President.
So, Madam President, I believe that all of us
would have spent some time over the last few weeks
preparing for the Budget Debate in the Senate, and during that period we would have listened to speeches
that were made at another place. We would have read
a lot of the documents that have been provided, spent
some time looking around our country, reflected on what has happened over the last year and hopefully,
started to think about what we would be doing going forward, because that is what this budget is about,
about where we are going to go to next.
So, Madam President, as I was doing that, I
came to a conclusion that one of the issues that we
have in Bermuda is that we have to admit first that we have a problem. Because that has been part of our
issue. In listening to a lot of the conversation and d ebate that happened in another place and reading the
documentation which was provi ded for this Budget
Debate and the original Statement, we have spent a
significant amount of time pointing fingers and blaming each other. Madam President, the problem with
that is that this is never going to create progress. Yes,
we have to understand the mistakes that have been
made in the past in order for us to build a foundation
to move forward and not make the same mistakes. Those things have to be highlighted.
My colleague, Senator De Couto, talked about
how as an Opposition, one of the things that we have
to do is point out when we see things that maybe are
not being done in a way that we believe is the right
way. But we also have to be in a position to talk about when things are being done the right way, because it
is in the best interest of the country that everyone is working together for the success of our Island.
But Madam President when I said that we
have to firstly accept that we have problems, we cannot start off thinking that the pandemic was the problem. The pandemic came on top of all of the problems
that already existed, [it] pushed us past the brink. But
we as a population, as we have always done, when
things get really tough, we figure out a way to push
forward and survive.
But Madam President, there has been a continued attack on the middle class. We spend quite a bit of time talking about the population who have
completely fallen through the cracks. But what has
happened is the middle class is starting to slip into
that same category. Some of it is for outside reasons, but some of it has been our own issues.
Madam President, we spend a lot of time determining whether we are on the green team or the red team. When you reach the point where we are as
a country, we have to be on one team. We have to
figure out what is going to be in the best interest of
everyone in Bermuda for us to be on a path to success. That path as many other countries have done, means a plan that is [for] 10 years down the road, 20
years down the road. Because Madam President, the
mistakes that were made 20 years ag o, 10 years ago,
five years ago, a year ago, we have those results to
deal with today. This is the reason that when you
make decisions, and when I say we I mean all of us,
you have to make sure that you are looking at all the
data, all the information that is available to you and
making decisions based off all the information that you
have. I have said it several times and I continue to say
it, that our decisions need to be data- driven.
At present, the population will have heard
several times one of the iss ues that we have in our
country, one of the major issues ––and it has been
actually presented several times already this mor ning––is that we have an ageing population. We also
have a declining population, because our birth rate is
negative. When you put those two things together,
that is a recipe for disaster. I believe there are only
three countries in the world that sit in that situation
and Bermuda happens to be one of them, where you
have a negative birth rate and you have an ageing
population; as my col league said, [seniors] will be at a
quarter of the population shortly.
But Madam President, a few years back dec isions were made under Immigration that had ramific ations far -reaching because so many people left the
country at that time. And here we are, y ears later, tr ying to fix what was created by our own community. And that is because a lot of times instead of us having
an open and honest discussion about what it is that
we need to achieve and how we are going to achieve it, it is much easier for us to point fingers and come up
with reasons that we know will give us political gain
instead of what is in the best interest of the country.
That is why it looks strange, because sometimes we
say one thing and fast forward and now, we are act ually having to do the same policies or close to the
same policies that we told everyone was the worst
possible thing for our country. And Madam President, that starts off with immigration reform.
As someone that sat on the Bipartisan Committee for Immigration, I remember i n one of those
early meetings under the late Minister Walton Brown,
my colleague, Leah Scott, who was an MP at the time,
she stated, I think what we have to do is start with a
blank piece of paper . We have to start with a blank
piece of paper because a doc ument that was written
so long ago that it has had so many amendments has become a hitch tangle. Most population in Bermuda
will understand a hitch tangle as we are getting close
to kite flying. Every time we make a decision to try to fix a problem that was created in the last time we
made an amendment, we create another one. Not


Bermuda Senate because we wanted to, but because that is what ha ppens when you are layering one thing on top of the
other; starting with a document that was not intended
for the purposes that we have now in 2022, because
things are completely different from when the original
document was written. In order for us to first of all
catch up with the rest of the world, because we have
fallen behind in a lot of areas and we have fallen b ehind because we have not been willing to make the
changes when we need to make the changes. Som etimes it is making tough decisions that are not in the
best interest of political gain, but in the best interest of
the country.
So, Madam President, yes, we have had a
histor y of issues with immigration because it was used
as a weapon over and over again in the past. But if you start with a blank piece of paper and you actually
build a structure that makes sense, it puts in protections so that you do not fall into those same t raps that
have happened before—that is a better position for us
to be in, when what we are trying to do is attract people from outside of our country. We need to attract
people here to invest. Because the biggest issue that
Bermuda has is that we have the same size pie, and
in actual fact, the pie has actually started to shrink
because the population size is shrinking.
The piece that I did not add earlier when I was
talking about our birth rate and I was talking about the ageing population which means that you are actually
having more people that are outside of work and more
people who are going to be dependent on the Go vernment and on our resources, is emigration. Madam
President, we do not even have a way to gauge those statistics. But I will tell you that on an ongoing basis
presently we have schools knowing that their students
are leaving over and over again, year after year and
specifically, now this year, because of things that have
happened locally, opportunities that are available outside of Bermuda, and now the restrictions that are in
place because of COVID -19 are layered on top of
that. If they can go to a different jurisdiction without
those restrictions, without the interruptions that have
happened, they are doing so!
But the problem with that is , we are sending
our young people away younger and younger, which means that when they actually get socialised, they get socialised outside of the country, not here! It used to
be that when you went away to school, there was a
draw to come back home. Back home was where you
wanted to be. More and more, our young people b ecome educated and socialised outside of the country
and that draw is not the same, because the opportun ities are not the same. Because we do not create
those opportunities for them.
Madam P resident, I now move to the part that
I think is most important. Government should not be set up to compete with private industry, but to create
the framework for opportunity so that private industry
can grow. Because that is where the jobs are going to be, that is where the jobs should be. Because Madam
President, we talk about the debt. We talk about r educing taxes. But those taxes are in place to pay for a very heavy Government. So, one of the things we
have to talk about is, how do we reduce that burden ?
Because the part that is interesting at this point, in
many cases, we are now seeing that not only are we
paying for the Government part, we are actually ha ving to reach out and get the private sector to help us
while we are still paying the bill for the Government.
But you cannot double dip with the same
amount of money. That is one of our major issues. And that is not me saying all of a sudden, we are going to cut a bunch of civil servants. That is not what
this is. But Madam President you actually hav e to look
at the data. You have to look at the details. How can we become more efficient to cut costs? Every decision you make should be made in a way that this is the
most efficient version for us to do this job. If the pr oject is supposed to take a week, the project takes a
week. If the project is supposed to cost $100, we bring
it in at $95. That has to be the mindset. Do you know why that has to be the mindset, Madam President?
Because that has to be the mindset of our people.
When you are at home and y ou are trying to
figure out how to make ends meet, because that is
where our population is right now, our middle class is
now in that situation. Because the lines for food tell us that there is actually a growing part of our population
who cannot make ends meet. They have dropped off
that cliff. They were already in trouble. We are talking
about giving savings to people for cars, some people are having to live in those cars. I am not saying that to
shock people. I am telling you what the reality is in the
country that we have.
That is why we have to agree that we have a
problem. And the symptoms of the problem are ev erywhere: our young people and their antisocial beha viour. The things falling through the cracks in our ed ucation system are partially because the family unit has
broken down. Our young people are angry and they
see nothing in front of them that tells them they will
make it. The opportunities are not there and if you do
not get the correct education, you are not going to
make it. What does that t ell them? Because there is a
difference between the people who have access to
white collar money compared to the people that have
blue collar money. Those opportunities to [get] an education, to know they are going to have the support,
and then to move on and pay for university. So, you
are saying that those opportunities that are available to that [one] group is going to mean that they have a
chance for making it, [but] the others do not?
Madam President, we are in a really tough
position. And the Government has put together a budget because we have no money. They looked
around and they had to make choices based off the tough position that we are in. We had no money before the pandemic, the pandemic wiped out a lot of
184 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate our industries, and now we have to figure out what we
are going to do next. Well, Madam President, this cr eates opportunity. It creates opportunity for you to plan
for the future that you want 10 years from now, 20
years from now. For the child that maybe is going to
be born this year, that whe n they come back from university, the opportunities that are created now are g oing to be the ones they take up when they finish un iversity.
A few weeks ago, I brought up the potential of
bringing the America’s Cup back to Bermuda and it was quickly shut do wn, mainly because once again,
we have a situation where politics means even if an
idea is good, we cannot take it because it is from the
other team. That is a bad situation to be in when we are struggling. When the boat that we are in is taking
on water, you know what? If someone else is willing to
row, you need to let them row! Because it is our survival. And the position that I was taking was not just
about the $300 million that was injected into the economy, it was about the energy, the opportunity for our people to see what hospitality can be. Because most
people when they talk about tourism, talk about what it was. Right? You go back, historic. You back to what it
was when our hotels were full and we had entertai ners going from hotel to hotel to entert ain our people,
and they were going out on boats and entertaining.
Literally, we were the envy of our region when
it came to hospitality! And most people return to Ber-muda, not because of our facilities, not just because
we have beautiful pink sand and am azing water, but
because of our people. Because the hospitality of our
people, that connection is what made people want to
return.
But Madam President, we lost our way. The
generations that came after that group—and mostly
because what happened was the work that led to that
success was hard. It was a struggle to get to that point
and many of the people who worked hard in that i ndustry to take themselves out from lower middle class to middle class, educated their children and told them,
I do not want you to be part of that industry . I grew up
in that household. I am not speaking about stuff that I
do not know. I am telling you that this was the idea.
The problem is, we have to have hospitality as a pillar
of our economy.
And when we lost our way, we moved to international business only, and we realised that it ca nnot hold us up alone! We have an expensive product, extremely expensive. Understand, when someone is
making the choice to go to the most expensive place
on the planet, because that is what we are, an d you
pay $500, $600 for a room and then you get a bottle
of water that could cost as much as $18 sometime,
you better understand that everything else—there is
going to be an expectation that your service level will
be matching that, that the amenities wil l match.
But if you look around, you will see that in
many cases, the infrastructure has continued to de-grade while our prices have continued to go up. So,
how do we get our young people and get our people
back into that industry? And what I will tell you is that
looking at what was happening at the America’s Cup, it was this hope, this opportunity that saw our young entertainers be put in a position where they were
trained to entertain at an international level. You saw
the security and the small businesses and all the people who were involved. As you went west you saw the
opportunities that were there, and you saw that our
people understood that hospitality is something that could be viable for them. So, to just move that aside,
that is not good enough for me. It is one of the biggest
events in the world. It brings more eyes than most
things on the planet can bring. But it was the hope
that was the more important piece. If we are going to
move our people back toward hospitality, we have to train them. Senat or Simmons brought it up earlier. It is
about preparing our people for what is going to be
available, what we are going to create, and the Go vernment’s job is to build a framework for the opportunity, not to actually be the industry. That is the di fference.
Madam President, as I am going through and
looking at it specifically as a sports person and som eone who works with youth, I quickly looked through
the book to try to figure out what we are going to do
with our young people. Knowing all of the issues that are going on with our young people at present, how
are we going to help them now? Because they are the
future. They are the group that we are going to want
to be in our workforce to move this forward when the people in this room are no longer the ones working.
Madam President, I am going to point out
something as quickly as this. The cost of one prisoner
matches the grant of eight sports . I am going to say it
one more time. The cost of one prisoner matches the
grant provided for eight sports . Each sport i f only r esponsible for developing one young person, should be
worth more than that. If we do not shift our mindset and priorities on how we are going to create this new
future that I am talking about, then we will stay where
we are, because we are not admi tting the problems
that we have. And if we spend our time and focus only on the money, and when I say the money, I mean we are just [focusing on how] to get revenue, so the rev enue is going to come from taxes, so we need to figure
out a way to get more tax es. That is not going to work.
Madam President, the food security —a couple
of people have touched on it already. There is an idea
that we are going to have vertical farms as an answer to one of the situations. I go back to this idea that the
Government should be in the business of creating the
framework for the opportunity for the private sector to
flourish, instead of creating a system that potentially is
competing with the farmers that are already in exis tence. Why don’t we sit with the farmers and say, W hat
is it that you need for you to increase your yield and
bring the price down so that everyone can win? That


Bermuda Senate is a different way of looking at it to get to the same
result that I think everyone in this room wants! Lower
costs for food!
But I go back to my data position. Do we have
an answer for what the difference will be from the cost of a head of lettuce today and the cost of a head le ttuce after we spend millions of dollars? Because r emember, if that is the goal, we should already have an idea of what t hat number is. Same thing for a fish pr ocessing plant. Yes, great concept, we are going to try to do things where we are going to export outside of the country, and we are going to process the fish and
the fishermen are saying that this is not something
that they need. There is already a fish processing
plant happening, locally, private. Once again, we are
going to spend money in an area . . . Do we have the
data that says that the fish stocks in Bermuda can actually handle whatever it is we are trying to do? And
boy, with the most expensive place on the planet exporting, anyone who is in business in Bermuda knows,
it is not an easy feat. The cost of labour, the cost of energy, the cost of pretty much everything you do in
Bermuda is higher than whomever you are competing
against. That is just the reality of it.
So, when you throw an idea out, we need to
have the details behind it, not just because we want to
poke holes in the details, but because without the de-tails you do not know if this has a high enough pe rcentage chance of success. Because when you have no money, whatever you are moving toward, we have
to make sure that it has the highest percentage
chance of success. We cannot afford for the losses. It
does not work. We are already in the hole.
The Pres ident: Senator Smith, how much more time
would you like? Five more minutes?

Sen. Ben Smith: Yes. Thank you, Madam President.
So, Madam President another topic that is i mportant to everyone in Bermuda is the cost of
healthcare, the cost of health insurance. And the
Government has actually tried a couple of times to
tackle this subject. I am just going to throw out an idea, because I think part of what we have to do is not
just be critical, but try to come up with solutions. And I
am not saying my solution w ill work, but I am just looking at it as an idea, because I think it deals with two
things at the same time. Sit down with all the insurance companies and work out that what we are looking for is a way to reduce that cost, but at the same
time [improve] the health of our population. Because
understand something: if our population is healthier, then the cost to the health insurers goes down. That is
where the savings is going to come from. So, why
don’t we incentivise healthy living?
If you go for your annual check -up, tick. If you
put on a pedometer and walk a certain number of times per month, tick. If you drink water this many
times per day, tick. And now, in the same way that in a lot of jurisdictions if you do not get in an accident in
your car you get a discounted rate, why don’t we i ncentivise a healthy lifestyle? Reduce the cost based
on you changing your lifestyle. Because Madam President, what we want to do is incentivise that, instead of
the opposite which is what we normally do is make it
punitive for the unhealthy lifestyle. That is not incenti vising people because they are stuck in that rut. You
need to push people off the couch, get them to work,
so that they are healthier, so that we can reduce the
costs for everyone. Just a thought.
So, Madam President as I sum up and look
forward to the debate that we are going to have over
the next few days, I think it is important that we in this
Chamber and Bermuda as a whole start to take personal responsibility, so that we can have collective
responsibil ity. Not one person, not one Government,
not one Senator or one MP put us in the debt that we
are in today. Vice versa. Not one Senator, one MP or
one person in our community will be able to do this
alone. It will take all of us collectively, being respons ible for our behaviours, being responsible for how we
spend our money for us to come out of where we are.
And it is going to be important for the Government to
get out of the way of private industry, build a fram ework for opportunity so that our retail sec tor comes
back, so that our hospitality comes back, so our restaurants can flourish, so that our people can go back to work and our people understand that it will be their
personal responsibility to put Bermuda back on the
top of the map. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Ben Smith, O pposition Leader in the Senate.
Senators, it is now 12:37. We will break for
lunch and we will resume at 2:15. The Senate is adjourned until 2:15. Thank you.

Proceedings suspended at 12: 36 pm

Proceedings resumed at 2:15 pm

(Sen. the Hon. Joan E. Dillas -Wright, President, pr esiding)
The President: Good afternoon, Senators and the
listening audience. The Senate is back in session to resume the general debate on the Appropriation Act
2022. The Sena tor in charge is the Junior Minister of
Finance, Senator Arianna Hodgson.
Several Senators spoke this morning and in
this afternoon’s session I will ask the question, Will
any Senator care to speak?
Senator Owen Darrell, you have the floor.

186 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate GENERAL ECO NOMIC DEBATE
BASED ON GOVERNMENT’S
2022/23 BUDGET STATEMENT

[Continuation thereof ]

Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I sat here before lunch,
and I listened to some of the comments that were made from Senators of the Oppos ition and it comes
as no surprise Madam President that the Opposition
Senators would attempt to throw cold water on a
budget that the Government has laid out. But what was pretty shocking, disrespectful at best, is that our new UBP Senator as he gave his m aiden speech—

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

POINT OF ORDER

Madam President, the
Senator is incorrect. I wish he would repeat his
Statement and correct it as to the party which I represent and make an apology. Because I believe he has
made that statement with intent.

The President: Senator Darrell.

Sen. Owen Darrell: I do apologise, Madam President,
I meant to say the former UBP candidate and current
OBA Senator.
I chose to remain quiet as he gave his maiden
speech. I chose not to interrupt Senator De Couto with a point of order, but my phone would not stop ringing.
And I cringed as I guess he made a mistake
too when he kept referring to the debt as “PLP debt” no less than 15 times, Madam President. I believe
Senator De Couto was referring to Government debt.
And as much as the Opposition does not like to hear
it, the entire reason that the Government finds itself in a very sticky situation with sticky circumstances is a
direct result of the mess that the One Bermuda All iance Government put us in.
You have heard me say it before, Madam
President. I will say it again. Morgan’s Point, $210
million debt. A Canadian airport, $41 million to date and rising. That is Government debt. A sailboat race,
$23 million for Cross Island. And a refusal to invest money into Tynes Bay which is now literally falling
apart. That, Madam President is some of the mess
that the former One Bermuda Alliance Government
has left us in. So, I would like to correct the Senator. I
won’t do it 15 times, but that is Government debt and
not PLP debt.
But what the One Bermuda Alliance should be
doing, I know they won’t, but they should, is applaud this Government for doing a yeoman’s job in keeping
the country f rom falling apart and putting us back to a
situation where we actually have a plan for economic
recovery. Yes, we have a plan in place, Madam President. And you would know, my Senate colleagues would know, the Opposition would know that this is
nothing new for a Progressive Labour Party Gover nment. We have done this before, and we will —we
will—bring Bermuda back to a path of recovery.
So, it is extremely sad, Madam President, that
on the very programmes that most of the workingclass Bermudians are on the streets praising the Go vernment for bringing into fruition, the Opposition will
do anything to make light of these efforts. They would
make the man on the street think that the efforts of the
Government are actually in vain.
I heard, and I cannot remember if it was
Senator Tucker or Senator De Couto, a small quote
here that says, Small things for those suffering the
most. But the relief that we are providing, whether it
be any relief, is not small to hard- working Bermudian
families who are struggling to ma ke ends meet.
Let me remind you what the OBA Government
did when things got tough. I do not know if it was
around 2014, but they decided to introduce a word that a lot of Bermudians did not use. It was called furlough days. They decided that a small thing to do was
to was to actually take money out of the pockets of
working Bermudians, and, I might add, they did that
with no hesitation. I distinctly recall a young labour
leader who might go by the title of Minister now, sa ying that he felt like someone had put their hand in his pocket to take money out. For the life of me, I can’t understand how Senator Tucker would have the pu blic believe that a reduction in TCD registration fees is a bad thing.

POINT OF ORDER
Sen. Robin Tucker: Madam President, point of order
and clarification. I did never once in my Statement say
that it was a bad thing. I simply highlighted the fact
that it was a small gesture.

The President: Point taken, Senator Tucker.
Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Senator Tucker.
Let me tell y ou about a story. I vividly recall a
friend of mine who called me to say thank you. Thank
you to the PLP Government for their birthday gift. To
some people in the community, some people, people
who we represent, a savings of $100 is indeed no small thing. I would much rather take a $100 decrease
on my TCD fees than a $100 increase. It is no small
matter, especially at a time when the global economy
is battling rising inflation. Again, that is why I wear
green and they wear red. Because what is significant
to the hard- working Bermudians that the Progressive
Labour Party represents may just be a small matter


Bermuda Senate for the individuals who are represented by another
party. Mm -hmm.
Again, the new Senator, the former UPB candidate, must be forgiven because he is new to the
Chamber. But I gave a Statement a few months ago
that clearly made out why Tynes Bay incinerator is in
the situation that it is in. There was a time when a di fferent Government was in place and there was money
put aside to refurbish, repair, keep Tynes Bay going,
and that Government money was diverted elsewhere.
It was diverted elsewhere.
I also find it pretty disingenuous of the UBP
Senator . . . sorry, OBA Opposition Senator, to class ify a thriving, successful and much- needed Public
Works stimulus p ackage as little signs around the I sland. I’m sorry —

POINT OF CLARIFICATION

Point of information.
That is an incorrect statement. And I am taking offence to the Senator’s repeated —repeated—
misstatements which I know he is making on purpose for rhetorical and political effect, and I would request
politely that he straighten out his memory because I
am the OBA Senator and I did not refer to the signs as
“little” but they are everywhere. It is much- needed
work, and we are glad that it is going on.

The President: Senator De Couto. You are making a
point of order or clarification and you need [for me] as
President of the Senate to authorise you to speak.

My apologies.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
I say again, I find it disingenuous that Senator
De Couto in his remarks would mention signs around
the Island when that is not what I notice when I go
around the Island. What I see are young Bermudians,
and, I might add, who happen to look l ike me. Many of
them are former students. Some are very close family
members who are thankful to be able to have a job and provide for their families.
This is the type of stimulus, and this is the
type of economic recovery that the Progressive La-bour Part y Government is putting in place for Berm udians. They are working hard. They are improving the
Island’s in frastructure. And despite what some may
not see, this helps them to remain positive.
And he asked about other Public Works staff.
The other Public Wor ks staff are able to give more
attention to other projects that are also in [need of]
desperate repair around the Island.
Just as an aside to that, maybe one Oppos ition Senator can pick up the other Opposition Senator
and take him on a drive down to Devil ’s Hole on Saturday at 1:00 pm. Stand him on the sidewalk at 1:00 pm and let your colleague see what a Gover n-ment stimulus can do for a community. Let him see it.
Let him see the faces of the individuals who got jobs
working on the Harrington Workmen’s Club. Let him
see the faces of the Harrington Workmen’s Club executive and let him see the appreciation that some people have in this country for the work that the Pr ogressive Labour Party Government is doing to put
people back to work. Take him with you, bec ause
there is one sign that may stand out that will say,
Thank you. Welcome back.
Madam President, some of the matters that I
raised here today should not surprise anyone. B ecause what the Progressive Labour Party is doing is
exactly what they said they would do almost five years
ago. We are putting Bermudians first. And, yes, Madam President, while some would like to dwell on how
bad things are or how bad things can be, even in the area that I canvassed in October of 2020 (or before
that, September), I cannot tell you the number of
thank yous that people came out of their house to give
the Progressive Labour Party.
Even individuals who did not look like me said
thank you, because, if it were not for the Government I
do not know where I would be. I don’t kn ow if my
business would have survived.
And people had all sort of names for it —
COVID -19 cheque, stimulus cheque, Government aid.
But the bottom line is that people were appreciative.
And what this Government and what this budget
brings is hope for the fut ure. The Progressive Labour
Party Government has provided unprecedented su pport for the people of this country. And that is som ething that we will continue to do especially when Ber-mudians need it most.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank y ou, Senator Darrell.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Hearing none. Senator Hodgson, you can r espond.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Madam President, I would
like to thank the Senators for their contributions during
this time and I am looking forward to h aving more vi vid debate when we go to the particular heads for each
Ministry. And so I do thank all Senators for their parti cipation today.
Madam President, I move that the Senate do
now resolve itself into a Committee of the whole [Se nate] for further c onsideration of the Appropriation Act
2022, together with the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2022/23.

The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson, I therefore will call on Vice President Senator
Michelle Simmons to take the Chair at this Committee
stage.

188 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Senate in Committee at 2:33 pm

[Sen. Michelle Simmons , Chairman]

COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY

APPROPRIATION ACT 202 2

ESTIMATES OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE
FOR THE FINAN CIAL YEAR 2022/23

Thank you, Madam President.
Senators, we are in Committee of the Whole
[Senate] for further consideration of the Appropriation
Act [2022] together with the Estimates of Revenue
and Expenditure for the financial year [2022/23].
The Ministry under consideration is the Mini stry of Youth, Culture and Sport. The Heads for debate
under this Ministry are Heads 71 and 20. Head 71 can
be found on page B -243 and Head 20 on page B -246.
The number of hours allocated to these heads is two. We are starting at 2:34 and therefore we will conclude
at 4:34.
Senator, Minister, the Honourable Ernest
Peets, how do you wish to proceed?

Thank you, Madam
Chairman.
Madam Chairman, I am pleased today to present the financial year 2022/23 Estimates of Revenue
and Expenditure for the Ministry of Youth, Culture and
Sport, which can be found starting on page B -242 of
our Estimates Book.
Madam Chairman, I will briefly discuss the
Ministry as a whole, followed by information for H ead
71, the Ministry Headquarters, and then in detail the
two departments that fall under the Ministry, namely, Head 20, the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation; and Head 52, the Department of Culture.
Madam Chairman, as you have indicated two
hours have been allocated for these heads, and I i ntend to speak for about one and a half hours in order
to give some time for Senators to ask questions or seek clarification on the 2022/23 Estimates of Rev enue and Expenditure. Madam Chairman, the mission of t he Ministry
of Youth, Culture and Sport is T o develop and cel ebrate our people. I have said it before, and I am happy
to remind us that our people are our country’s greatest asset. Our culture, our values, our strength and resil ience are everything that makes Bermuda the incred ible country that it is today. My Ministry is dedicated to
nurturing our spirit of resilience and forging our collective sense of oneness and solidarity. Madam Chai rman, in Bermuda we look after each other when we fall, and we rejoice as one when we succeed. And
succeed we have.
Madam Chairman, I think everyone will know
that I am referring to Flora Duffy’s extraordinary success in last year’s Olympics in Tokyo and the World Triathlon Championship. The tremendous joy and
pride that Fl ora’s win brought to this country was
simply unparalleled for decades. At a time of so many
challenges as well as difficulties, seeing one of Bermuda’s own on the world stage performing like no one
before her had the effect of bringing us together as a community and as a people. Such is the power of
sport, and such has been the power of Flora Duffy.
Of course, Flora brought home Bermuda’s
second Olympic medal, the first being, as we know,
Clarence Hill’s 1976. He achieved a bronze medal for
heavyweight boxing. And it gave me a great deal of pride to see our two Olympic champions together on
the Cabinet Office grounds during the reception m otorcade in which the whole country rejoiced on that
joyous 11
th of October day when [Ms. Duffy] returned
home to a her o’s welcome. Madam Chairman, the
Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation, the D epartment of Culture, and our Government and community partners put on a spectacular series of cel ebrations. I am truly thankful to them for showcasing
Bermuda at its very bes t. I will say more about the
Flora Duffy events later on in my presentation, but
although Flora’s gold [medal] could not have come at
a better time for Bermuda’s collective psyche, we must not forget what we have achieved collectively
throughout the pandem ic.
Madam Chairman, I am absolutely COVID -19
fatigued. I imagine everyone perhaps has some feeling that is quite similar. We would all like to see this
pandemic behind us. No one has enjoyed the past two
years of restrictions, uncertainty and disruption. However, we must not forget that the persons who suffered the most are the individuals we lost, and the
families and loved ones of those are very real and whose hearts and whose souls we certainly think
about. We must also remember the pain and worry
that survivors and their families experienced. They
thankfully recovered, but a period of severe illness or
hospitalisation is exceedingly stressful and frightening
for anyone. And of course, the economic hardship that many individuals, families, and businesses have e ndured cannot be overstated.


Bermuda Senate But, Madam Chairman, the pandemic may
have decimated our patience, but not our spirit because Bermudians are resilient. We adapt. We pers evere. And we strive forward to come out better toget her just like we do after ev ery storm of every season
that I have seen.
Madam Chairman, another important success
of 2021 for my Ministry was the establishment of the National Youth Policy, which had been a 2020 Throne
Speech commitment. Underpinned by the belief that
Bermuda’s future must be built by those to whom it most belongs, the youth policy sets out the Gover nment’s clear message that we must respect and value
our young people’s contribution to society. The policy
has been launched, and a working group has been established to implement the eight policy goals aimed
at developing and empowering Bermuda’s youth. There is immense value in engaging with our young
people. As such, it is important that we harness their
energy, that we harness their creativity, their ideas
and their p assions about the causes that are most
important to them.
Looking back on the last year, Madam Chai rman, a final success I wish to highlight is the esta blishment of the very popular Creatives Live. It is an
open- air concert series happening monthly on the
steps of City Hall. These safely distanced musical
events showcase Bermuda’s incredibly talented performing artists. And during our current times, this kind
of uplifting entertainment right in the heart of our city
with our locally grown talent has truly been welcomed
by all.

MINISTRY PRIORITIES FOR 2022/23

Madam Chairman,
next year my Ministry intends to continue to develop
and celebrate our people through a variety of initi atives. In keeping with the 2021 Throne Speech t heme
of economic recovery and social renewal, the Ministry
of Youth, Culture and Sport recognises the value of
sport to our country and continues to explore avenues
that will promote Bermuda as a sporting jurisdiction. We are excited to support the organis ers of, at the
very least, the SailGP [Sail Grand Prix], the Bermuda Triangle Cup football competition coming in August and more recently, of course, the CARIFTA [Caribb ean Free Trade Association] Triathlon and Aquathlon
2022 as they prepare to host major events in Berm uda this year. And I believe that international sporting events can assist in bringing much- needed revenue to
our Island but also providing an opportunity for our
amateur and budding athletes to compete internationally on the local stage.
Additionally, attracting more sporting events to
our shores for our amateur and collegiate athletes to
compete in will enhance their development by exposing them to quality international competition, thus cr e-ating more pathways to further their exposure and
training.
As indicated, Flora Duffy’s success highlights
the need for more financial investment in our elite at hletes so that they can be prepared for the international
competition on the world stage. And indeed, in the
upcoming budget we have been able to re-allocate
resources to allow for an increase of $21,000 to further assist our elite athletes. Given the challenges of
our current fiscal environment, we are pleased to be
able to allocate more funds to this important Gover nment priority. This will be one of the primary goals of a
National Sports Policy, which is in development by the
Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation. The pol icy will outline the steps needed to create an environment supporting consistent excellence in sport and
underscoring the c entral role of sport in our society.
Madam Chairman, the ultimate goal will be to
create a platform that allows for us to address the key
needs of our young athletes and a structure that supports the success of Bermudian athletes as a whole.
By doing so, a National Sport s Policy will establish
beyond a shadow of a doubt the fundamental role
sport plays in community well -being. The implement ation of this policy will highlight the impact of sport on
physical health, youth development and, of course,
our nati onal pride.
Regarding the report on the Estimates Book,
Madam Chairman, I would now like to draw your at-tention to page B -242 of the Estimates Book, where
you will note that the Youth, Culture and Sport Mini stry’s budget for the financial year 2022/23 is
$12,868,000. Although this appears [to be] an i ncrease from the [2021/22] revised budget, it is due to the Ministry’s offering significant budget savings in
2021/22. In light of the reduced activity due to COVID -
19 restrictions, which has prohibited certai n events. In
fact the Ministry had a small reduction of $63,995, or
half of 1 per cent, from the 2021/22 original budget.
Madam Chairman, page B -242 also shows a
revenue estimate for the Ministry of $660,800, an i ncrease of $115,500, or 21 per cent from f inancial year
2021/22. This projected revenue increase is due to
programme changes to be implemented by the D epartment of Youth, Sport and Recreation. There will
be additional out -of-school programmes held during
school mid- term breaks, which will increase the department’s capacity to service the public.
Madam Chairman, page B -242 also details
the current account expenditure of the department that make up the overall budget for the Ministry by Head, as follows:
• Head 71—Ministry Headquarters fiscal year
2021/22 estimate is $1.369 million and the
2022/23 revised estimate is $1.273 million.
• Head 20— Youth, Sport and Recreation, the
estimate for 2021/22 was $9.591 million. The 2022/23 estimate is revised to $9.616 million.
190 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate • Head 52—Culture, (which does not featur e into a lot of conversation today) the 2021/22 estimate is $1.973 million. For this year going
forward, 2022/23 estimate is $1.980 million.
The Ministry’s total for the 2021/22 estimate $12.933
million. Our projected budget for the 2022/23 estimate is $12 .869 million.
Madam Chairman, the summary shows that
for the upcoming year, all departments saw increases compared to the revised budgets for 2021/22. Howev-er, this is due to the significant savings provided by
the Ministry due to the impacts of the pandemic. In
fact, compared to the original budgets, both the D epartment of Youth, Sport and Recreation and the D epartment of Culture saw very slight increases of 0.3 per cent, and the budget in Ministry Headquarters was
reduced by 7.0 per cent partly to suppor t public -facing
programmes and also to offset the Ministry’s overall
reduction. I will discuss each change as I present
each head.
Madam Chairman, as seen on page C -20, the
grants and contributions budget across the whole Mi nistry is $3,268,000, an increase of $59,076 over the
previous year, or 1.8 per cent. This small increase
reflects a reallocation of the Culture grant and i ncreases in grants to Youth and Sport organisations. I will discuss these in turn under each head.
The grants and contributions for the Ministry
of Youth, Culture and Sport include the following:
• Head 20— Department of Youth, Sport and
Recreation, $2, 846,000 for sports development, national sporting bodies and youth or-ganisations . This is an increase of $118,076 ,
or 4 per cent;
• Head 5 2—Department of Cultur e, $362,000
for community and cultural activities . This is a
decrease of $59,000, or 14 per cent, due to
the reallocation of funds to support cultural
festivals;
• Head 71 —Ministry Headquarters, $60 ,000 for
parish council commitments and a small all ocation for one- time events that are aligned
with the Ministry’s mission, provided that they
fall outside of the scope of the departments.
This is the same as last year.
Madam Chairman, page C -23 highlight s the
2020 /21 actual allocation made t o sports development
and voluntary youth organisations. The total is
$1,000,034.
Madam Chairman, these grants to the community align with our mission to develop and celebrate our people.

HEAD 71 —MINISTRY OF YOUTH, CULTURE AND
SPORT HEADQUARTERS

Madam Chairman, I
now turn to the current account expenditure for Head
71, the Ministry Headquarters. Madam Chairman, the financial year 2022/23
estimates of expenditure and revenue for Head 71, the Ministry Headquarters, are found on pages B -243
to B-245 of the Estimates Book. Page B -243 shows
that the budget estimate for the Ministry Headquarters for fiscal year 2022/23 is $1,272,905. This is 29 per
cent higher than the revised budget for the prior year
due to the COVID -19 budget savings. But it is
$95,425, or 7 per cent, less than the original budget
for 2021/22.
Madam Chairman, the Ministry Headquarters
comprises a single business unit, 81000, Administr ation, on page B -244, which supports the Minister’s
Office and the Ministry’s Centralised Compliance and
Accounts functions. This unit consists of eight salaries
to provide these services essential to the Ministry’s
operations.
Madam Chairman, the Ministry Headquarters
directs the development and implementation of policy
and legisl ation, has overall responsibility for the management of the Ministry’s budget and provides gui dance on programming to the departments within the
Ministry. Through its Centralised Accounts Section,
the Ministry Headquarters provides accounting and
financial management services to all departments under its responsibility. The key activities of this depar tment are to undertake strategic leadership of Ministry
departments, manage the Ministry’s accounts and ensure compliance with Financial Instructions, lead
and operationalise policy and legislative develo pments, issue and manage ministerial grants aligned
with the Ministry’s mission, and appoint and oversee five boards and nine parish [councils].
Madam Chairman, the Ministry Headquarters
performance measures are listed on page B -245. Our
annual indicators reflect the administrative nature of
Headquarters’ functions. Due to some COVID -19induced reduced capacity, unfortunately we were able to complete only one of the two compliance reviews intended for the year and three of the four training
sessions. These have been postponed to next year.
Nevertheless, COVID -19 did not interfere with timely
and accurate processing of payments, which is i mportant to our local vendors to ensure that they can
meet their own cash f low needs during these difficult
economic times.
Lastly, we completed 100 per cent of the mi nisterial policy priorities this fiscal year, namely, in the form of the aforementioned National Youth Policy, a
Parish Council Review and large group exemptions
delivery. This indicator was not listed as a current year
measure, but naturally it is the de facto key performance indicator for our policy work.
Madam Chairman, looking at the year ahead,
the Headquarters’ budget reduction of $95,425 from the prior year’ s original budget is primarily due to the
transfer of two posts to two new ministries to assist in
the set up of their operations, as well as other oper ational reductions in light of the Government’s fiscal


Bermuda Senate position. Budget reductions occurred in salaries, training and other small operational costs. Budget reductions have occurred in salaries, training and other
small operational costs. There is an increase in the
professional services budget in the amount of $83,000. These funds have been allocated for the
achievement of ministerial policy priorities , special
projects related to communications, social media presence, and support for sport and cultural events.
Madam Chairman, before closing, I would like
to take this opportunity to thank the small, dedicat ed
team at the Ministry’s Headquarters for the work that
they do in ensuring the Ministry meets its mandate.
Madam Chairman, the pandemic has made the past
two years very difficult and very stressful for many in our community. This has affected every fabri c of soc iety, and hardships experienced by Culture and Sport have been significant. Restrictions limited athletes and
performing artists of opportunities to practice their
skill, to perform or to compete. However, my Ministry
has done everything within its power to increase opportunities for athletes and as well as our creative ar tists.
Through our large group exemptions, we pr ocessed nearly 500 applications for events exceeding
the maximum capacity allowed under the public health
emergency measures. Our process recognises events and works with organisers and with the Government
enforcing branches to ensure large events could take
place safely. Standards were established together
with our health colleagues to ensure that health and
safety measures and publi c health protocols were fit
for purpose. These [standards] protected events, attendees and our whole community by preventing
COVID -19 outbreaks. The large group exemptions
process was a very successful undertaking by the
Ministry and it enabled us to resum e some semblance
of a normal life. Our intrinsic cultural rights of passage, such as weddings, funerals and birthdays were
able to proceed.
Large sporting events were able to resume,
from junior team sports to Cup Match last year and international events that benefited Bermuda’s economy. And a process for trusted establishments was
also set up so that venues and organisers could continue to host events with greater ease while maintai ning COVID -19-safe standards. The return to sport
guidelines enabled spor t to return safely and to dimi nish when needed during outbreaks. We are grateful to the numerous sporting organisations who assisted us
with the COVID -19 battle by implementing the r equirements to keep athletes and the public safe. And
we continue to celebrate athletic and sporting excellence with the recent [Annual] Sports Awards and Arts
Council Awards which took place just in the past
month, recognising all of our local talent.
Madam Chairman, resilience is at the core of
our cultural DNA, and this year Bermudians have
proven this time and time again. So as I look to the year ahead, I am very optimistic for our Ministry’s part.
We will continue to do whatever we can to ensure that
our youth, cultural and sport communities are cel ebrated, supported and uplifted. The first highlight, of course, will be the return of a full Bermuda Day cel ebration, which we know the country will be able to participate in wholeheartedly and safely. I imagine, Ma dam Chairman, that there might be a sigh of relief for
that.
Madam Chairman, to conclude, culture is the
backbone of any society. And through sport, we have enjoyed the biggest rush of national pride this year, or
perhaps even this century, thanks to Flora Duffy.
Madam Chairman, this Ministry has a great role to
play i n the fabric of Bermudian society as well as our
national identity. We will continue to develop and ce lebrate our people in every way we can, and we will continue to enhance the quality of life for our entire
community.
Madam Chairman, this concludes my presentation on the fiscal year 2022/23, budgetary alloc ations for Head 71, the Ministry Headquarters, and I will
now move with your permission to Head 20, the D epartment of Youth, Sport and Recreation; and then
Head 52, the Department of Culture, of which I do not
think we have time for.

Thank you, Madam
Chairman.
Head 20, Madam Chairman, is Youth, Sport
and Recreation. I will now present the fiscal year
2022/23 estimates of expenditure and revenue for
Head 20, the Department of Youth, Sport and Recrea-tion, which can be found on pages B -246 through B -
251 of the Estimates Book.
Madam Chairman, the mission of the Depar tment of Youth, Sport and Recreation is to develop
Youth, Sport and Recreation through our services and
to celebrate the accomplishments of our people.

Department’s Objectives

Madam Chairman,
the objectives for 2022/23 are as follows:
• provide funding/support for the National Sport Governing Bodies (known as NSGBs);
• provide funding support for the National Youth
Organising Bodies (or NYOBs);
• manage and maintain government sports and
recreation facilities;
• provide af ter school programmes for school -
aged children;
192 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate • provide summer day camps for school -aged
children; and
• prepare and manage [the] budget to ensure
intended deadlines are met.
Madam Chairman, the Department of Youth,
Sport and Recreation administers nine pr ogrammes
and 2 1 business units for which a general summary
can be found on pages B -246 and B -247 of the Est imates of Expenditure and Revenue for fiscal year
2022/23. The budget allocation for the Department of
Youth, Sport and Recreation in fiscal year 202 2/23 is
$9,616,303, an increase of $25,003, or just less than 1 per cent, as shown on page B -247.
Madam Chairman, I will now discuss each
programme under Head 20.

Programme 2001— Administration

Madam Chairman,
the budget allocation of business unit 30045, General
Administration is $841,437, a decrease of 3 per cent,
or $28,795, from the previous allocation of $870,232.
Madam Chairman, the allocated funds provide
for the administration and operations of the Depar tment of Youth, Sport and Recreation Headquarters,
which is located in the Craig Appin House, situated at
8 Wesley Street, Hamilton. In addition, the Administr ation Section provides administrative support for eight
programmes within the department, and it is respons ible for monitoring departmental spending to ensure that policies and procedures are adhered to in achieving efficiencies and effectiveness.

Programme 2002— Sport Development

Madam Chairman,
the sport development programme is operated
through business unit 30055, [Sports Programme].
The budget allocation is $418,475, a decrease of
$1,436,500, or a 77 per cent reduction. This decrease
is because some of the funds have been re- allocated
to a new dedicated [business unit], 30065, Sports I nvestments. The reason for this will be explained further in the brief. The residual funds in business unit
30055, Sports Development includes salaries at
$269,975; training; recreational services; supplies; and other funds to ensure the effici ent and effective
administration of the sports programmes.
Madam Chairman, business unit 30065,
Sports Investments is a new business unit. The r ationale for creating this business unit was to segregate
the administration component and to dedicate a bus iness unit that highlights how the Bermuda Gover nment is investing in the community through recreational sports.
Business unit 30065 has been allocated a
total of $1,486,000. A total of $600,000 is allocated to
contributions to sports development, which are grants
to the National Sport Governing Bodies; $300,000 to the Bermuda Football Association; and $586,000 is
allocated to the Bermuda Sports Anti -Doping Author ity, (also known as BSADA) which is a statutory a uthority mandated for Bermuda to be able to compete
internationally.
Madam Chairman, during fiscal year 2022/23,
the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation i ntends to continue focusing on all aspects of sporting development. The development of athletes at senior
and junior levels and the provision of education to l ocal coaches and administrators through partnership
with overseas agencies such as Positive Coaching
Alliance and Sport for Life are key aspects of this pr ogramme. Investment in sport is vital for the continued
development of sport island- wide, because without
this support many athletes and sporting programmes would suffer.
The department will also continue to work with
the various government agencies to maintain sporting
and recreation facilities that fall under the depar tment’s remit.

Programme 2003— Sports Incentives and Awards

Madam Chairman,
the estimate for business unit 30030, Athletic Awards,
is $160,000. This represents an increase of $81,250
over the 2021/22 budget, which was $79,750. This increase facilitates the re- establishment of the Annual
Sports Awards and the National Junior Athlete Sponsorship Programme Awards , because during the pr evious budget these funds were redirected to other ar-eas to assist the department and government to manage the f inancial challenges caused by the COVID -19
pandemic.
Madam Chairman, investment in sports ince ntives and recognition is vital for the continued deve lopment of sport in Bermuda. The 2021 Throne
Speech commits the Government to the development of an updated National Sports Policy and to lead the
drive to ensure more funds are invested in our elite
athletes. This business unit supports the achiev ements of these goals.

Programme 2004— Sports Facilities Management

Madam Chairman,
the budget estimate for business unit 30060, Sports
Facilities Administration, is $1,313,069, a decrease of
$2,325 below the previous estimate for 2021/22.
Madam Chairman, the budget estimate for business unit 30060 primarily comprises funding for the Natio nal Sports Centre, which is $1,100,000. There is no
change from 2021/22. The National Sports Centre (or
sometimes called the NSC) provides internationally
certified facilities for sports training and competition,
as well as a venue for recreation and entertainment. It is an essential part of the country’s sporting infrastructure and entirely deserving of the funding designated


Bermuda Senate for it to reflect the Government’s commitment to sport
development.
Madam Chairman, the Minister of Youth, Cu lture and Sport has discussed very openly the financial
and audit challenges of the NSC, which makes this investment critical. Audit deficiencies have occurred
since 2011, spanning multiple administrations. The
board and management are committed to correcting
this and activ ely working with the Office of the Auditor
General. The 2016 audit is underway, and financial statements since that year have been prepared and await audit pending completion of [the audit for] 2016.
Critical to the NSC’s financial recovery is the
installation of an energy -saving micro- grid system.
This project is designed to make NSC energy ind ependent, and it reflects the Government’s commitment
to ensuring an economic recovery that is fair and ba lanced, and a benefit to our entire community. Ult imately, this initiative will eliminate the NSC’s approx imately $600,000 annual electricity bill. This means
fewer taxpayers’ funds will be spent on electricity at the National Sports Centre while ensuring more r enewable energy is generated in our country. The pr oject is also key to getting Bermudians back to work.
Madam Chairman, the remaining budget for the
Sports Facilities business unit, 30060, is dedicated to
salaries and wages totalling $194,269, and operation-al expenses.
Madam Chairman, business unit 30075, WMC
Preece Softball Park is allocated $136,099. This represents a decrease of $12,932, a 9 per cent decrease,
over the 2021/22 budget allocation. This allocation
reflects the cost for industrial staff and funds to mai ntain and operate the softball park.
Madam Chairman, business unit 30080, the
WER Joell Tennis Stadium is allocated $421,531, an
increase of $6,000, or just about 1 per cent, over the
prior budget of $415,531 in 2021/22. This business
unit provides funding for salaries and wages totalling
$337 ,177. The remainder of the funds will be used to
maintain and operate the tennis stadium.
Madam Chairman, business unit 30090, the
Motorsport Park is allocated $10,000. The decrease of $9,250 which represents a reduction of 48 per cent
from the 2021/22 budget. The funds are used for i nsurance, maintenance and water.
Madam Chairman, business unit 30390,
Sports Community Fields is allocated $47,000, a decrease of $3,500, or a 7 per cent decrease from the
2021/22 budget. The funds for this unit are allocated for maintenance and operation of the unit.

Programme 2005—Youth Development

Madam Chairman,
the allocated budget for fiscal year 2022/23 of
$415,306 is for two of the business units under the
Youth Development Programme. Youth Development Administration, business
unit 30210, has a budget allocation of $315,306, a
decrease of $1,000 from the [2020/21] budget.
Madam Chairman, the allocated budget for
business unit 30350, Youth Investments (Grants), of $100,000 has been inc reased by $1,000, or just 1 per
cent. In addition to the grants, Madam Chairman, this
unit is responsible for implementation of the National
Youth Policy, a 2020 Throne Speech commitment,
which was delivered in November 2021. Following a
call for expressions of interest, a working group was established last month to implement the eight policy
priorities to develop and empower Bermuda’s youth. I
look forward to their progress and their ultimate success.

Programme 2006—Community Centres

Madam Chairman,
the budget allocation for three our community centres
under the department’s remit is $1,447,856. There is
no change from the previous 2021/22 budget. The community centres’ full -time equivalent count is 19 for
fiscal year 2022 /23. These staff facilitate a wide range
of programming for seniors, adults and children, providing engagement and participating opportunities
for families while promoting the philosophy for the de-partment’s mission.
The Eastern Zone Community Centre [bus iness unit 30130] has a budget allocation of $447,179.
The Sammy Wilson Central Zone Community Centre
[business unit 30120] has a budget of $517,357, and the Western Zone Community Centre [business unit
30146] has $483,320.
Madam Chairman, the three comm unity ce ntres provide safe, structured programmes with trained
staff and an opportunity to build positive and longlasting relationships. The community centres provide
opportunities for residents of all ages to experience positive recreational activities. They have recently extended their partnership with the After School Pr ogramme to extend services to communities at both ends of the Island.

Programme 2007—Camping

Madam Chairman,
the budget allocation for the Department’s Camping
Programme is $982,000, a decrease of $72,000. This
was achieved by eliminating overtime. This will result
in a small reduction in the hours of access to the i slands by the public, but it was deemed necessary in
the context of the government’s fiscal position.
Darrell’s Island has been allocated $322,000.
That is a decrease of $35,150, or 10 per cent. Paget
Island, has a budget of $271,826, a decrease of
$24,117, or 8 per cent. Ports Island, has a budget of
$118,946, a decrease of $13,909, or 10 per cent .
White’s Island, has a budget of $86,000, a decrease
194 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate of $3,000, or 3 per cent decrease. The allocated
budget for Camping provides for the staffing operation
and administration and includes 10 full -time staff who
maintain the facilities and the marine equipment.
Madam Chairman, if you would just let me know how much time I have.

Thank you. I will just remind the li stening audience that we are in Committee of the
whole [Senate] for further consideration of the Appr opriation Act 2022 together with the Estimates of Re venue and Expenditure for the year 2022/23. The Mi nistry we have under consideration at present is the
Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sport. We are debating
Head 71, which is the Ministry of Youth, Culture and
Sport Headquarters, and Head 20, which is the D epartment of Youth, Sport and Recreation.
Minister Peets, back to you. Thank you.

Madam Chairman,
the budget allocation for the Summer Day Camp Pr ogramme is $750,600, an increase of $18,050, or 2 per
cent increase. Madam Chairman, this programme
supports approximately 1,500 school -aged children
and is provided in various schools throughout the I sland. Approximately 130 part -time work ers deliver
these programmes, supervised by qualified educators. There is also a Special Needs Programme that pr ovides care for special needs children.
Madam Chairman, also included in Pr ogramme 2008 are three preschool -aged camps, which were created specifically for the transition of children
from preschool to their first year of primary school.
This programme also provides camps for primary
school -aged children and middle school -aged chi ldren.

Programme 2009— After School Programmes

Madam Chairman,
the After School Programmes budget allocation pr ovides for staffing, communications, materials and su pplies for 14 programmes .
The budget allocation for business unit 30125,
After School Programmes, for fiscal year 2022/23 is
$1,188,350, a decrease of $5,000. The programme
supports approximately 450 primary and middle
school -aged children across 14 facilities and employs
61 seasonal workers along with two full -time senior
supervisors. The department is committed to providing
quality after school programming for primary and mi ddle school -aged children, ensuring a safe and structured recreational programme.

Performance Measures

Madam Chairman,
the performance measures for the Department of
Youth, Sport and Recreation can be found on pages
B-250 and B -251. For business unit 30030, Athletic
Awards, the intended target for 20 junior athletes to
[receive] financial support to develop skills in their
chosen sport could not be met due to the necessary reallocation of funds in light of COVID -19 and fiscal
challenges. Nevertheless, 16 junior athletes did r eceive awards at an average of $3,000. It must be noted that one of the recipients, Sebastian Kempe, won a
gold medal in sailing at the Youth Sailing Worl d
Championships in Oman. Madam Chairman, we think
he actually has Olympic talent, so we need to watch his career going forward.
Madam Chairman, this year many athletes’
performances and sports competitions were ham-pered by the pandemic. Consequently, the target to
fund 30 athletes could not be met. Nevertheless, 15 of our 30 forecasted received funding this year, and we forecast 17 for the upcoming year as international
competition resumes. Notably, Flora Duffy’s gold
medal performance at the Olympic Games was a first
for Bermuda. That and the world- leading triple- jump
performances by Jah- Nhai Perinchief during this fiscal
year are but a few examples of how well Bermuda athletes can perform when supported.
Madam Chairman, the department requires all
National Sport Governing Bodies (or NSGBs) to be certified. To date, there are currently 24 NSGBs regi stered with the department. Nineteen of the registered NSGBs have received funds to assist in the develop-ment of their sports, which includes athlete, coaching
and administrative development.


Bermuda Senate Madam Chairman, during the Annual Sports
Awards, which was held virtually, 40 awards were
presented, thus achieving the forecasted performance
targets.
Madam Chairman, business unit 30075, WMC
Preece Softball Park, felt t he full force of the COVID -
19 pandemic and the protocols put in place to keep
the Island safe. The necessary restrictions on large
groups and sports caused the decision to keep the
facility closed, resulting in the performance target not
being met. As the Island gradually returns to some semblance of normalcy, the use of the facility will i ncrease.
Madam Chairman, in business unit 30080,
WER Joell Tennis Stadium, the average monthly use was higher than in 2021, up from 300 to 350 persons
using the facility each month but did not reach the
forecasted targets due to the pandemic. The Island is still in the throes of the pandemic, but the number of
individuals seeking to play tennis is still respectable.
The monthly use for tennis events was down by two, which reflects the impact of the health protocols that
were in place.
Madam Chairman, for business unit 30090,
[Motorsport Park,] the pandemic had an adverse effect on the use of the Motorsport Park, which r emained closed. As the Island learns to live with
COV ID-19, use and participation will improve.
Madam Chairman, business units 30120,
30130 and 30146, the Community Centres, increased
the numbers of attendees from the prior year from
18,000 attendees to 25,000. We are pleased with this
improvement, which is thanks to programming changes. But we recognise that it was lower than originally
forecasted at 50,000. Unfortunately, this was due to
the pandemic and the lockdowns and restrictions,
which limited the facilities’ use. The programmes delivered also increased from 13 to 28, although for the
same reasons we did not achieve our original ambitious target of 45 programmes.
Madam Chairman, it must be noted that
throughout the pandemic the community centres r emained open and offered programmes and virtual school opportunities to children of essential workers.
The staff and managers provided a safe environment for all who used their facilities.
Madam Chairman, business unit 30125, After
School Programmes and Clubs increased its average
number of participants from the prior year despite the
pandemic. The aggressive target of 400 students was not met, but the actual numbers of attendees rose
slightly from 365 to 385. The After School Programme operates on the same schedule as the public schools
and followed all protocols established by the Ministries
of Health and Education, ensuring the required testing
and sanitation were in place to ensure that all of our environments were COVID -19-safe.
Madam Chairman, business units 30150,
30160, 30165, 30170, Camping Facilities , saw a si g-nificant rise in the number of campers, which is a pos itive silver -lining effect of the pandemic. Not only did
the number of users increase from 850 to 1,658, the
programme also exceeded its performance target of
1,500. The Camping Section recei ved increased r equests for our camping facilities perhaps because
travel was more difficult and riskier during the pandemic. The large group exemptions and health prot ocols were followed, which limited the number of
campers who could use facilities; otherw ise, the numbers would have been much, much greater. Notably,
the user experience measures continued to reach 95
per cent satisfaction in showing improvement. The
department is very pleased to be able to serve the
country in this way, providing safe, fun and local recreation and holidays.
Madam Chairman, in business unit 30180,
Day Camps, there was an increase to the camping participants from 1,560 to 1,658, which again excee ded the original target of 1,500. Madam Chairman, as I hope we have evidenced by o ur performance
measures, the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation was able to have a successful year delivering
valuable, very well -received programmes to the community despite the impact and challenges that the
COVID -19 pandemic gave us.
Our year -end review. Madam Chairman, in
the past year the National Youth Policy was completed. A working group was selected and tasked with
developing a working plan to
• keep young people safe and protected from
harm, and achieve full potential in learning, development and education;
• minimise antisocial behaviours;
• increase employment and entrepreneurship
opportunities ;
• engage youth in sport , culture and recreation ;
• support young people to be active and
healthy;
• enable participation in civic engagement; and
• encourage diversity and inclusion.
Madam Chairman, the Sports Section pr oduced a monthly sports newsletter to highlight events and performances that may not reach the media.
There were many accomplishments in sport in addi-tion to Flora Duffy’s winning Bermuda’s fi rst-ever gold
medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the sport of triathlon. Madam Chairman, the Director of Youth, Sport and Recreation represented the Minister at the inaugural
Junior Pan Am [American] Games in Cali, Colombia.
There were a number of outstanding performances by our junior athletes. Kaden Hopkins won the bronze
medal in cycling time trial. In other sporting events,
Sebastian Kempe won a gold medal in the Laser class at the Youth Sailing World Championships in Oman.
Sebastian was a recipient of the National Junior At hlete Sponsorship Programme. Those funds were used
to assist him in attending the event. Jah- Nhai Pe rinchief is at present the world’s leading triple jumper in
196 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate sporting athletics. Madelyn Moore has been crowned
the WAC [Western Athletics Conference] Swimmer of
the Year. All of these rising stars deserve to be congratulated on their accomplishments.
Madam Chairman, the department is proud to
have arranged a welcoming motorcade for Flora Duffy. The Olympic gold medal winner, when she r eturned home on 11 October, culminating with her being presented a cheque for $25,000 by the Premier at
Cabinet Office. The celebration was a countrywide
event, as Flora also received the keys to the city from Mayor Gosling on the steps of City Hall, in addition to
getting a special cannon salute by the Spirit of Be rmuda and having a special Goslings rum named after
her.
The ecstatic welcome of the proud and joyous
crowds along the motorcade route, who presented
gifts of flowers and the like, were a pleasure for the
whole country. The other honours granted to Flora in
celebration include the renaming of the former Cor kscrew Hill in her honour, and the naming of the Flora
Duffy Stadium.
Madam Chairman, for the upcoming year the
department is nearing completion of its sports policy
and is conducting a management service review of
the department’s operations and procedures to ensure
that the department’s mission and goals are in line with the needs of the Island.
Madam Chairman, I would like to take this opportuni ty to thank all of the dedicated staff at the D epartment of Youth, Sport and Recreation for the work
that they do in advancing amateur sport, recreation
and youth development for all, which enhances the
quality of life for residents of Bermuda. Also, it is important for me to recognise the significant contributions made by our sportsmen and sportswomen and
the pivotal role they play in inspiring our youth to
achieve their true potential.
Madam Chairman, this concludes my presentation on the fiscal year 2022/23 budgetary allocation
for Head 20, the Department of Youth, Sport and Recreation.

Thank you, Senator, Minister Peets.
Would any Senator wish to speak on these
heads?
Senator Ben Smith.

Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam Chairman.
First, I would like to thank the Minister for his
brief this afternoon. Minister Peets and I have had
several opportunities to talk about sports since he was appointed in that position.
I guess the first thing I would like to discuss is
that from a sporting stand point, Bermuda has had a
long history of success in sports. And in the convers ations that Minister Peets and I have had, we have di scussed how we can capture what happened last year which was the significant event for Bermuda. When we were going through al l of the difficult times we
were going through, we had this highlight that brought the community together when Flora Duffy brought
back the gold medal to our small Island.
And in our discussion, we talked about how
this is an opportunity for us to chart a path for people
who can follow the path that she has just shown us.
The difficulty is that as we are discussing the budget,
we know that there are not a lot of finances available,
even though this is a critical part to our developing our
young people to b e the young adults that we would
like for them to be to take up the mantle for us. And I
thank the Minister for those continued conversations.
And I thank the Minister for giving me the opportunity
to speak today.
I would also like to thank all of the staff of the
[Department] of Youth, Sport and Recreation for their continued dedication to our young people. I think it is
important that we also thank all of the coaches, off icials, all of the athletes and all of the supporters of the athletes that have been with them on this journey,
specifically over the last two years when things have
been so difficult. We have gone through a process
where, in many cases, athletes were not able to train.
They were not able to participate. People that had
dedicated their li ves for an extended period of time
were not able to perform. Yes, at the highest level we had the achievements that we are all proud of. But we have to remember that there were others who did not
get that same opportunity, and we hope that they will
return to the sport and return to be the role models
that all of us would like them to continue to be.
So, Madam Chairman, with those opening
remarks, I would go into starting off with . . . I am a ctually going to start off with Head 71 for the Admi nistration S ection on page B -243. If the Minister could
just give us a little bit of information on . . . there was a
significant number that was in the 2020/21 [Budget]
(just as a reminder) under 81040, labour relations, that was there but now did not show up in 2021/22
and obviously will not show up going forward. Just a
reminder of what that number was just so that we can
make sure that it is not something we have to deal
with again in the future.
In most cases, the Minister’s brief gave us r eally clean information on what is going on in Hea dquarters. And there are not a lot of significant chan ges. There are some slight changes that obviously he
has explained because there are some personnel that
have been moved around. And because of that, I will
move on to Head 20 because I believe the Minister’s
brief covered most of what I was going to ask for
Head 71.
So, Madam Chairman, in Head 71 [sic], on
page B -247 as the starting point.

You are referring to Head 20, I believe.



Bermuda Senate Sen. Ben Smith: Sorry, Head 20. I apologise. Yes,
Head 20, under general administration, 30045. The
Minister has given us what the estimate is for
2022/23 —of $841[,000]. Just looking at what the actual was in 2021, which was $1,367,000, which then
was reduced in 2021/22, and it is reduc ed again in
2022/23. If the Minister can just confirm for us whether
there is any retraining that had to be done to have
certain staff members potentially cover areas that will
no longer be covered. And if that is the case, I just
want to make sure that there is nothing that has been left out because of the reduction in the amount of
money that is available.
Obviously, every time we look at the budget,
there is going to be a line item that would have been
dealing with the emergency. The Minister would have
been part of that transition for the large group exem ptions that came under National Security and then was transferred to Youth and Sport. As somebody who
had to deal with large group exemptions, I can say
that I really appreciated the feedback that was gi ven,
the ability to actually contact somebody, to talk to
them about what it is that you are trying to achieve for
young people and have somebody try to help in any
way they could for us to be able to get those events to
happen. It was much appreciated.
So, Madam Chairman, moving on to sports
development, 2002, still on page B -247. The Minister
explained that most of the . . . there is a separation
between the admin and what is going to be the i nvestment part of the programme. So, I am going to focus on 30065, sports investment.
Madam Chairman, the first question that I will
ask (because this is actually something that comes up often when we are going through the Budget Debate)
is that when you look at the information that is provi ded regarding the grants and investments that are gi ven (I believe it is on page C -23), the information that is
provided is going to be for 2020/21, where today we
would like to discuss what is happening for 2022/23.
So, it would be helpful if we actually had the information for w hat level of funding will be provided to
each of these sports organisations for the investment
for the upcoming year, so we have an idea that each
of these sports are being supported at the level that is
needed.
Madam Chairman, you will recall that earlier
today I brought up something specifically that comes
from this area, and it was just to highlight that we have
a long way to go when it comes to supporting our
young people. The average cost for a prisoner matc hes what I add up eight of these national sports gover ning body grants. So, the combined grant of eight
sports matches what we pay to house one prisoner.
The issue with that is that this should be our opportunity for our sports to help develop our young people so that they do not end up incarcerated.
So, at some point we have to figure out a way
to change the narrative. If we can spend a little bit more time and resources at the early stages to not
only develop sportspeople but to develop good character by making sure that we have coaches that are
trained, officials that are trained, have expectations for
the environment that is provided for our young people,
maybe we have a better chance at reducing the people at the end part that we are paying that high fee for.
So, to me it is commendable that we c ontinue to try to
incrementally raise the amount of money that we are
providing. But understand when you see that difference, we have a long, long way to go.
So, with that first question, I will be asking if
the Minister can give us a breakdown of the rec ipients
for 2022/23, just so that we have numbers that we can deal with that tells us where we are going.
I am still going to be using page C -23, som ething that always gets highlighted because of the large number compared to the grants that go to sports i s
going to be the number that goes to the Sport Anti -
Doping Authority. I am always careful here because it
is something that we have to have. We have to pay
this fee because that is what allows us to continue to have our athletes perform on the international stage
so that we are making sure they are not breaking performance- enhancing drug rules.
The reason that stands out as a flashing light
is because it is so high compared to the money that
we are giving to every other sport and every other or-ganisation. It is $450,000 in 2020/21. I believe that the
Minister just gave a figure that was $586,000 (if I am
correct) which is an increase over that number. And
when you see that this is the number, and you look at some sports . . . I believe even football and cr icket
together do not match that number. So, you start to question, if we cannot give the support in finances to
our sports to develop athletes that will reach the level
to actually need to be tested for performance -
enhancing drugs, if we are at a loss. So, it highlights
that we need to give more money, more support to our athletes.
I had this conversation with the Minister before. As much as we are proud of the accomplis hments of Flora Duffy, it is important that we highlight
that a lot of the support and finances that she was
given came from family. So, the difficulty is —if Flora
had been an athlete with the same ability level and the
same drive without the financial support of family,
would she have been able to reach the pinnacle? And
if the answer to th at is no, then we as a community
need to figure out how we can support the next Flora Duffy that might not have those same advantages.
Madam Chairman, on page C -20, the Minister
talked about the National Stadium trustees and the
money that is put forward to them to run the National
Sports Centre facility. And he spoke specifically about
the money towards this solar panel programme to r educe the cost of power. Can the Minister let us know
whether the $600,000 figure that he presented is a
recent number? Or is that based off of what happened
198 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate in 2020/21, in 2019/20, which would have been i mpacted by less use because of COVID -19? Or was
there a different number that would have been prior to
this that might have even had a higher power use?
The reason I ask that is just to make sure that
what we are looking at are the exact numbers. And then following with that, I would like to have the question answered: What are the anticipated savings that
we will get? So, once the project is up and running,
can we have an es timate of what the reduction will
be? If it is $600,000 today, will it be $200,000? And
how long will it take for us to be able to be able to pay
back the money that was invested into making the
project? So that we can have an idea. How long is it
before w e can see this benefit?
I am going to say something a little radical on
this. And the issue for me is we have a National Sports Centre that the country paid for with taxes, and
we continue to pay for it with taxes. The question that
I have is: What is the actual cost of the entire facility if
we did not have to pay for it, so the individual users
did not have to pay for it? Because the taxpayers are
already paying a portion of it. The reason I ask that
question is because a lot of times the sports organis ations that are charged with trying to develop our young
people are spending portions of their grant —or all of
their grant —to pay for renting the facility. It seems odd
that on something that we as a country use taxes to build are continuing to charge that money when the
impact is that now the sports have less money to help
to develop the athlete, if that makes sense. It is almost
as if we have to come up with what that number is.
And as a community, do we agree that sports
is important enough for us to wri te that cheque?
Right? If the number presently is $1.1 million, is the
actual number $3 million? I do not know. I am just
asking. And if that is the case, then maybe the grant
should be $3 million. And then you have an expect ation for those sports that are using it to develop certain
programmes to make sure that they are taking the
money that they are saving and investing it into ma ybe outreaching to at -risk youth, to the people that we
believe, as a community, need that extra help and
assistance. Because a lot of times, coaches will find
that they take on the role of parent. And there are f inances that are attached to that, in making sure that that young person has the right uniform, they have the
right support, they have food.
So, this is a much bigger deal. And sport can
be a vehicle for us to help our young people navigate
this crazy world that we are living in. And I am just
saying that maybe we should look at that number and figure out if there is a way to help more of our young
people by maybe increas ing that grant in a way that it
covers that cost.
Back on page C -23, the Bermuda Olympic
Association. This is also a conversation that the Mini ster and I have had a couple of times, about the grant
money that is given to the Bermuda Olympic Associ a-tion. I am wondering of the Minister could give us
some clarity on the policies and procedures of the Bermuda Olympic Association to make sure that they
are doing everything that they can to support our at hletes in a way. And I am not saying that they are not. I
am just asking if we have the paperwork for analysis
by the Ministry so that each year when we are looking
at this number, we can we justify if they needed more
or if we should be allocating it in a different way. It is a
simple number, where if we had som e analysis behind
it, it might help us and also push Cabinet to say,
Sports is more important and we should give them
more money , if we had more analysis and more pol icies and procedures behind what is being done with
those finances.
Madam Chairman, on page B -250, the Mini ster talked about sports awards, 30030, athletic awards. I would like to say that I attended the 40
th Annual Sports Awards this year, and I can say that after
it being unavailable for two years, it was a spectacular
event. It was well organised. And it gave an opportuni-ty for us to see what happens when young people are
dedicated and committed to doing positive things. It
was a great opportunity to celebrate them and hold up
the role models for the rest of our community to see.
But it also made you wonder what we could do if we
supported them more. And it is okay for us to . . . and I
am happy that we celebrated them. But would we have more athletes to celebrate if this became a hig her focus and priority? And I am not saying the Minister
is not. Because from our conversations I know that he
agrees with me that this needs to be more of a prior ity. But what has to happen is there has to be more of
us with that voice that pushes this as a priority.
I am going to say that in politics, this is n ot
normally a Ministry that has the heavy voices and the
banging on the desk to get more funding. And what
you will find in Government a lot of times it is the
squeaky wheel that gets the oil, right? And in the co ntext of this, that is why for me Flora Duf fy gives us the
opportunity to say this is what we can do. So, let’s put
some resources behind it. Let’s understand what we
can be if we do this.
This is the opportunity for us to make that
noise. So, it might not be in this budget, but as we go
forward, we have this opportunity to build off of this.
The gold medal by her can lead to world championships for other athletes. It can lead to CARIFTA
championships. It can lead to young people travelling
all over the world, getting opportunities and maybe getting that desire to be the next leaders of this country. This is our chance, and we need to continue to
push it.
With that, I have a question for the Minister. In
the Education Ministry, when we have scholarships, there are specific restrictions and criteria around nationality. I take a message that came from Senator
Darrell earlier about putting Bermudians first. Because
the amount of resources that are available to Sports is


Bermuda Senate so low, I am wondering if the Government is willing to
actually put in place who can represent Bermuda,
what paperwork they need to represent Bermuda, who
is eligible for funding, so that we can make sure that
the pipeline that we are giving these funds to is actual-ly able to represent Bermuda.
Following on from that, it is important that we
also . . . When we are talking about a sports policy,
who can set national records? There should be a pol icy in place that tells all the sporting bodies what it is they should be doing. When we talk about Bermudi-ans, we need to make sure that we are doing ever ything that we can to highlight them, which means pol icies, procedures, good governance and having the information in place that, when we look back 20 years, we are able to identify.
I am saying this because I know it is not in
place yet, but I am asking for it. I am asking if we can
at least start a conversation about it, because there
are issues that have continued to happen in our community because of the confusion because there are not clean lines of what that means. And that confusion
has led to lawsuits, and a lot of money is being spent.
When, really, if we had clarity of what that is from a
Government position, I think it would clean up a lot of
the conflict that is happening in our sporting organis ations.
I have a question going back to the Olympic
Association, it is a question I am not sure that the Mi nister has the answer, but it is something that I have
been thinking about as I was going through the information for this budget. So, last year, we had a lot of
athletes that performed at a really high level, but one
of them that can be highlighted is Jessica Lewis. And
she was highlighted at the Sports Awards. And it
dawned on me that we have an Olympic Association,
but we also have a Paralympic Association. And when
you look at the grants , the grants go under Olympic
Association. Is there a grant for the Paralympic Ass ociation? Does she have access to the same levels of
funding? Because if you look at her fourth place finish,
if she was an able- bodied athlete coming in at fourth
at the Oly mpic Games, we would be highlighting her
just a slight step difference from Flora Duffy’s performance.
That means she would be an A -level elite at hlete. She would be getting significant funding. So, I
think it is important that we make sure that we are
holding her up, because she is a role model for our
para- athletes and for our para- students and for people
who can aspire to be on the world stage who happen to have those challenges. It is important that we do not say we are only going to take care of one s ide.
And if that means that we have to highlight it by putting it here in a different category, so that we make
sure that those funds are available, then that is what we have to do.
Madam Chairman, I am going to stop there to
see if I can get some of thos e questions answered. And potentially there will be further questions once I
hear those responses. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam
Chairman.
I really wanted to echo my colleague’s comments. I can see that the Minister has worked hard to
control the cost and deliver the services in an ex-tremely difficult environment and, frankly, with not a lot
to work with. And I do want to echo the congratul ations to the team on that. S o, thank you.

Thank you, Madam
Chairman. Thank you, Senator Ben for your comments.
Senator Ben is correct. We have had opportunity from time to time to chat. And I certainly enjoyed
those conversations because we certainly share a
very, very similar passion for our athletes, particularly
those that are coming through our junior ranks. I can try the best way I can to answer some of the questions. I did jot down some notes. If I got something
wrong, please just have someone clarify, and I will make sure that I get the information that has been
requested.
In no particular order, I think there was a
question taken from page B -247, in relation to the f inal
numbers for 2022. I think it is indicated in the Budget
Book as zero. If I understood the question correctly,
that information is actually not forthcoming until we get
to April. And once we get to April, we will be able to
quantify a number for that and will be able to put a
number in there for that.
I believe Senator Ben also had a question (I
may be going out of order, Senator Ben, so I do apologise) regarding the energy project. I know we have
about 33 minutes before we get to the end of this particular Budget Debate. On that one, the BELCO Bill, of
course, at the NSC is a significant issue. I will be able
to get you some numbers as quickly as I can regar ding what the average is per month, as well as give you
an indication on the projected savings. A nd just give
me a minute. I will be able to get that for you.
Regarding the recipients for the sports i nvestment, that new business unit, which is 30065, that
is for all of the NSGBs. There is a process of course
for those grants to be disseminated. And so, once that
200 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate process is complete, we will be able to notify the pu blic as well as the NSGBs on what the awards are for
that. But I certainly congratulate the Ministry and the
department for actually separating it in the Budget
Book. It certainly makes it a lot easier to find the i nformation that you are looking for. So, that was a great
idea.
One of the previous questions was regarding
Jessica Lewis. Senator Ben is correct. She placed fourth in the Paralympics, I believe in the 400 metres
or the 100 metres (I cannot quite remember at the moment). But that is a very, very significant accomplishment on her part. We are in conversations r egarding that whole conversation that Senator Ben has
raised in this Budget Debate. At present, the way this
structure is, is that there is a Bermuda Olympic Ass ociation of which there is a funding arm from Gover nment for them, as well as there is a Paralympic Ass ociation of which receives grants and funding.
So, that situation is currently under review.
We certainly recognise the accomplishments of both our abled and disabled— or physically challenged—
athletes. And we certainly want to ensure that there is inclusion as well as a sense of equity so that all of our
athletes have . . . because they are all Bermudian and
they are carrying and representing the same flag, so
we certainly want to ensure that there is support there. So, I can assure the Senator that that conversation is
well under foot.
Now, what else was there? I am unable at the
moment to give any specificity, Senator Ben, regar ding the grant to the BOA [Bermuda Olympic Associ ation]. Of course, it is a grant from the Government. So,
I think your question is probably centred around
whether or not there are any KPIs [Key Performance
Indicators]. I know you did not use th at term, but I
think you are probably asking the question: Are there
any KPIs for the BOA that kind of guide the decision-making for the grant? And I will endeavour to get an
answer to you for that.
I think you had also asked a question about
some of the other individuals who received some support through the Sports Awards. Some of them include Noah Browne and Micah Franklin, who won bronze
medals in doubles in squash competitions at the CAC
Games that was back in 2018, Rickai Binns, also D amien Matthews a nd a few others, all silver medallists
in the team of bowling competition at the CAC Games
in the same year. Those are some of the individuals
who are receiving monies through the elite athlete’s
award.
So, just a quick word, Senator Ben, regarding
the BO A policies and procedures as it related to KPIs.
They actually report to the Ministry annually on how they award their money. Their reports for the fiscal
year are being compiled as we speak. And they will be available after the year end which will be the 31
st of
March. I know there has been ongoing conversation
that you and I have had, not so much recently, but certainly near the end of last year, regarding international representation of which of course we have not
fully resolved, at least not to everyon e’s satisfaction.
There is a letter that has been sent of course to the Attorney General’s Chamber for approval, sort of clar ifying who is a “belonger” or not as it relates to being able to represent the country. The NSGBs have to
provide their own guidanc e about who can represent
in accordance with their own sport. So, potentially
there might be a little difference in individual NSGBs’
constitutions on what that may look like. So, based on
proof of belonging to Bermuda (and this was following
a meeting of June 25 of last year), to provide some
clarity and update on the matter, a BOTC passport is acquired through
1) naturalisation;
2) a BOTC passport or another passport with a
stamp stating that the holder is a registered
Bermudian;
3) a government letter or certific ate stating that
the holder is a registered Bermudian;
4) a Bermuda Status Certificate;
5) a Naturalisation Certificate which identifies the
holder as a British Overseas Territory citizen;
6) a minor child aged zero through 17 with nat uralised parents with proof of naturalisation;
7) the wife of a person to either one or five of the
above, not separated by virtue of court decree
or deed of separation.
I guess the only other complication, notwit hstanding the issues that have been raised on this particular question, is international federations and orga nisations do not have a uniform definition. So, there
might be a difference between, for example, the
Olympic Association overseas and perhaps another
sporting body, as it relates to how they define a local
resident of a p articular country.
Senator Ben, while we have time, if I have
missed something in particular, let me know, and I will
certainly double back.

Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Can I continue?

Yes. Thank you, Minister Peets.
Senator Smith, please continue.

Sen. Ben Smith: Yes. Thank you. And thank you for
the answers that we have received so far from the
Minister.
Minister, just adding a couple of other quick
questions that came to me as you were giving your answers. On page B -247, I am actually going to be
looking at 30080, the WER Joell Tennis Stadium. I just have a question. I brought up last year that there was the potential for a court being added to the facility
that would allow for the tennis stadium to host internaBermuda Senate tional com petitions. I have this information from talking
to members from tennis. I was just wondering if there
has been any discussion and potential of getting the
funding. Because as you spoke earlier, it is that sports
tourism bringing other athletes here that generates that excitement and potentially helps our young pe ople.
I do not believe that the amount of money that
was needed was significant enough for it to not be
something that we could fit even into this budget. So,
just checking to see if the Minis ter had any information
on that, and if not, then I wanted to highlight it so that
he would have that information.
Following on, still on page B -247, under
sports investments, 30065. This is also something that the Minister and I have discussed prior, but I th ink it is
important that we highlight it to the public. We spent a lot of time and energy locally trying to develop young
people, to give them the opportunity to potentially go
overseas and compete or go overseas and train. So,
as an example, a young person might be able to get a university scholarship based off of their sport prowess.
You know, at potentially $60,000, $70,000 a year, getting a sports scholarship is a game changer. So, you
know, the funding that we give them as young people
to develop them and to give the opportunity for local
coaches to work with them to help to produce an at hlete that gets that scholarship —that is a win if we get
to that point.
The next step is that young athlete now gra duates from university, and what happens is the support system that is in place under university then
changes. And a lot of times this is the area where we
lose this potential next medallist because they cannot
afford the transition. So, the Minister and I have di scussed this before. One of the things that is a problem
will be health insurance. As an example . . . so, now
they are going to get their health insurance under their
university scheme sometimes. If not, it is going to
come from their parent. Now, they are a 21- , 22-yearold. The question is: Is there an option for us to pote ntially, say, make our elite athletes come under a go vernment programme. As the elite athlete programme, we are putting them under government, so now they
are going to be covered from an insurance standpoint.
This is a question. And then, by doing that, we then
say to them, Okay. So, when you return to Bermuda,
our expectation is that you are going to speak to three
schools. You are going to give back in this way. You
are going to do a clinic for the young people coming behind yo u.
So, yes, they are getting their insurance benefit as an employee and the job is to represent Berm uda and to do that giveback. Just as an idea of how we
get around that issue. The second opportunity there
would be that sometimes, specifically if you are in the
US (I am not sure if this situation is in other countries),
but in the US, you end up in this visa situation. A lot of
times you will graduate. They will give you a year to stay in the country to continue to train. And then you
transition.
We have a very talented athlete that has just
competed at the highest level in Jah- Nhai who is potentially falling into this category that I am referring
to—you graduate; you become a professional, but
until you get the money to really be able to support
yourself , which is the next step that you will be looking
for, you are going to need to get a visa. That process
can be difficult. And that process can be costly.
So, now there is another opportunity for Government to help our young people by maybe setting up the information that is needed—maybe a convers ation with the US Consulate, maybe having the Attorney General’s Chambers do some of the legal work
that it takes to manoeuvre through this visa process.
Those are just ideas of how we can help our young people to transition to that higher elite level athlete
that potentially holds them in the sport long enough for
them to start to be able to support themselves and
then to be able to produce the kind of results that we
are looking for.
Thank you.

Thank you, Madam
Chairman.
Just going back just a few questions to the
Senator’s question about the National Sport Centre in
relation to the funding for that, particularly as it rela tes
to their issues with the budget. I think the question
was around the savings. The average thereabouts for
the monthly BELCO bill is about $50,000. Depending
on what month it is, it may be a little higher or a little
less. So, you can kind of round that off at $50,000 and
times that by 12, and that will give you an average for
the year.
The estimated savings or the projected sa vings for the microgrid when it is fully operational will
be somewhere around 20 per cent. So, that is a signi ficant savings. Then, hopefully, of course with less
taxpayer dollars going to cover essential overhead like
that, those monies can be reallocated toward other things, such as capital improvements, sports development. The sky is the limit regarding that.
There is an issue that the Senator raised r egarding the tennis stadium. Unfortunately, given the financial constraints that we are currently in as a Go vernment, the capital money needed to expand the
stadium for that particular tennis court . . . it just is not
there this y ear. So, the heart is there. The will is there.
The money is not there. So, hopefully going forward, for some of these things we can find some public -
private partnership. And between the Government, the sporting community, and the private sector, it can re ally help in circumstances like this, at least in my opi nion anyway.
202 23 March 2022 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Flora’s success and others like her have certainly opened up a conversation that is certainly
emerging. And I think that Bermuda is poised to see
more elite athletes, like Jah- Nhai, competing on the
international stage on a more regular basis. Having
said that, now the conversation about how to streamline that process and make it a little simpler for them
to understand and navigate around visas and insurance is a necessary next step. Larg er countries, like
the United States for example, their Olympic Associ ation is sponsored by Aetna which is a national insur-ance provider who, simply by sponsoring the Amer ican Olympic Association, by extension provides i nsurance for all the Olympic athletes. Other individuals who get pro contracts sometimes get their situation sorted out from insurance through pro contracts. But
as you are moving through these ranks that Senator
Ben has indicated, there is this spot where we certai nly need to pay some more attention.
So, he is certainly correct in raising some of
these issues, particularly in Jah- Nhai’s case. But we
can certainly assure the public that when he needs
some help, the Ministry is here to help even if it
means connecting him to Cabinet Office or , by exte nsion, to the Consulate to get some assistance regar ding his visa. So, we certainly hope all of the situations get sorted out for him so that he can continue to travel back and forth from here to the United States to compete and train.
Let’s see, Madam President.

Thank you. We
have been doing this so long . . . It is either by force of
habit and/or . . .
So, I will just wrap that last little part up stating
that the Ministry is very inter ested in developing a
programme to support the athletes and creatives with
health insurance. So, we have publicly disclosed that
today so you can expect that we will be held accountable for that. So, we certainly will be reporting on that
in the near futur e.