November 17, 2021

Thank you, Madam
President, and good morning to fellow Senators.
Madam President, the 2020 Throne Speech
committed Government to developing a National
Youth Policy to support, empower and engage Bermuda’s youth. M adam President , the development of
the strategy included extensive consultation with a
wide range of stakeholders including youth representatives from a number of organi sations . Today marks
the launch of a policy aimed at providing an overarc hing, high- level position outlining the goals that we wish
to uphold as country in respect to our youth. Madam
President , the policy is now availab le for download at
www.youthpolicy.bm .
Madam President , the vision of the policy is
“to develop and empower Bermuda’s youth, ” and its
mission is to form a unified approach to tackle issues
faced by Bermuda’s young people and provide them
with the support to have a positive and productive f uture. Together they set the direction of travel for the
way that the Government will approach our youth and
foster their engagement in issues that affect them.
Specifically, the policy aligns the policy goals
and objectives we intend to pursue alongside comm unity, government and private partners to achieve and engage an active youth whose voices are heard and
[to] help mould the future of our country.
Madam President , the National Youth Policy
sets out eight specific goals for Bermuda’s young
people, which are to:
1. keep young people safe and protected from
harm;
2. achieve full potential in learning, development
and education;
3. minimise antisocial behaviour; 4. increase employment and entrepreneurship
opportunities;
5. engage youth in sport, culture and recreation;
6. support young people to be active and
healthy;
7. enable participation in civic engagement; and
8. encourage diversity and inclusion.
I hope you will agree that these goals and the
objectives outlined in the policy itself cover the full
breadth of issues that are fundamental to the conti nued development of Bermuda’s youth and that
achievement of these goals will ensure that we create
a better future together.
Madam President , the next s tep in the pr ocess is to establish a working group that will dri ve implementation and ensure the activities take place to achieve the objectives and the goals of this policy. The working group will be made up of organisations
and individuals from across our community and go vernment who have the authority and the ability to take
action and to make the policy goals a reality.
Madam President, we wanted of course to title
this a working group because that is exactly what we
expect the group to do, and that is to get to work. The
National Youth Policy Working Group will also be
mandated to report annually on their progress.
Expressions of interest if you would like to
participate in the working group are being accepted
now through December 17 by going online t o
https://forms.gov.bm/youth- policy -working- group
. The
final composition of the working group will be decided
in February 2022, and the group will commence construction of a detailed plan of actions as well as deliverables.
Madam President , Bermuda’s future belongs
to our young people, and we look forward to the working group’s progress and the fulfilment of the policy
vision and mission through implementation of these
eight goals. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Minister Peets.
The second Statement is the Ministry of Labour: Throne Speech Initiatives 2021, and that is in
the name of Senator Arianna Hodgson, Junior Mini ster for Labour.
You have the floor.

MINISTRY OF LABOUR: THRONE SPEECH
INITIATIVES 2021

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President , as stated in the 2021
Speech from the Throne and in line with Bermuda's
Economic Recovery Plan, the Ministry of Labour will
focus its efforts on introducing a digitised immigration
application process and the implementation of the
Youth Employment Strategy.



Bermuda Senate Digitised Immigration Application Processes

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Madam President, t he Go vernment will implement a digitised immigration appl ication process that directly aligns with the core imm igration reform strategic priority to leverage technology
to improve operations, leading to greater levels of eff iciency, process consistency and sustainability. The
Department of Immigration is tasked with optimising core processes and modernising existing systems,
including a rigorous process -reengineering review on
the services offered by the department w ith the goals
to
• eliminate the excessive use of paper;
• reduce the volume of data entry;
• increase turnaround times;
• provide analytical and performance data;
• improve customer and stakeholder communications;
• provide a platform for auditing and quality
managem ent; and
• eliminate the submission of incomplete appl ications.
The Ministry of Labour will enhance Berm uda's competitive edge by introducing a digitised imm igration application process to improve the delivery of
services and ensure that the existing manual immigr ation process does not hinder the specialised talent
required to grow Bermuda's economy further.

Youth Employment Strategy

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Madam President, t he N ovember 2020 Labour Force Survey Report placed the
youth unemployment rate for persons 16 to 26 years
of age at over 32 per cent. To put this in perspective,
one in three young persons of working age is unemployed. The Youth Employment Strategy is meant to
meet the identified needs of unemployed persons between the ages of 18 through 26 and guide unemployed Bermudian youth to employment or to return to
the workforce.
This Government is committed to developing
a resilient workforce that provides a sustainable and
stable community by supporting training and helping
to facilitate employment for all young people. To that
end, the Department of Workforce Development is
working to implement a Youth Employment Strategy
which aims to prepare Bermuda's youth for the world
of work, positioning them to prepare for and take advantage of job opportunities. The strategy aims to:
• facilitate access to training and employment
opportunities for Bermuda's youth;
• encourage Bermuda's youth to take advantage of available training opportunities;
• provide career guidance and resources for
Bermuda's youth; • support access to work experience opportunities such as internships, training and apprenticeships;
• motivate Bermuda's youth to develop the
highest level of proficiency in their chosen
field;
• promote training and employment opportun ities locally before resorting t o overseas r ecruitment; and
• ensure that qualified and competent young
people are provided opportunities for deve lopment and growth to support promotion wit hin their chosen careers.
Young people's economic success is rooted in
their ability to secure a sustainable liveliho od through
productive work. Participating in Bermuda's workforce
will empower and enable our young people to contri bute to Bermuda's growth and prosperity.

Conclusion

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Madam President, t he pe ople of Bermuda have entrusted this Government to lead, and the initiatives featured in the Speech from
the Throne will form part of the Labour Ministry's priorities over the next year. Over the last 18 months, it
has become clear that we cannot continue to do
things in the way we have always done them. We
must continue working together and using lessons
learned from our past as well as the current crisis if
we are to ensure the future well -being of Bermuda.
Through our National Economic Recovery Plan, the Government will take decis ive action to restore consumer and business confidence and to stimulate our
economy, creating a clear path to growth and employment. The policies highlighted today aid Bermuda
in minimising the adverse effects of the global pandemic.
Thank you, Madam Presi dent.

The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.
The third Statement is the St. George's Mar ina Development, and this is in the name of the Senator Owen Darrell, Junior Minister for Public Works.
You have the floor, Senator Darrell.

ST. GEORGE’S MARINA DEVELOPMENT
Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President , this morning I would like to
provide Senate colleagues with an update on the
St.
George’s Marina Development Project.
Madam President , during the convening of
Parliament , Senators would have heard mentioned in
the Speech from the Throne that the Legislature will
consider in due course a strategic plan for the Town of
St. George’s , which will include consultation with all
relevant stakeholders and will represent the best
means by which to raise the fortunes of the Old Town
6 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate in the wake of the renewal opportunity presented by
the new St. Regis Hotel and the St. George’s Club
that i s currently undergoing renovations.
Madam President, a key component of this
revitali sation in the Town of St. George’s for the res idents and visitors alike will be the development of a
new marina on Ordnance Island. This new develo pment is being undertaken by private developers , the
St. George’s Marina Development Limited ( which I will
refer to as the Developer) in conjunction with the Corporation of St. George ’s [the Corporation] in a privatepublic partnership. With the upgrades to the Ordnance
Island dock, Ordnance Island will now have the ability
to berth yachts up to the superyacht class as well as
cruise ships. The arrangement will see the Corpor ation leasing land to the Developer for 21 years less a
day, and a sharing of the gross proceeds of the mar ina revenue. The new marina will boast the following:
i. improved and designated dock areas for visi ting yachts;
ii. a newly replaced and repaired dock on the
south side of Ordnance Island;
iii. 650 linear feet of visiting dockage for smaller
yachts;
iv. 10 stern- to-berths for superyachts with mooring systems;
v. marina reception, lounge, food & beverage
and Internet café;
vi. duty-free fuel dock; and
vii. the installation of sewage pumping services .
Madam President , in order for these infr astructure developments to fully function, t he wharf at
Ordnance Island, constructed many decades ago,
needs to be replaced. With the assistance of the D epartment of Works and Engineering, the Corporation
of St. George’s engaged the services of structural engineers, Brunel Ltd., who performed an ini tial inspection of the wharf in March 2021. Brunel estimated the
refurbishment costs would be $2.2 million . However ,
after a more detailed survey was performed, it was
determined that the piles were so deteriorated that
they could not be reused as original ly hoped, with the
replacement cost estimate increasing to $2.7 million .
Madam President , to ensure this project
comes to fruition the Ministry of Public works has
committed $1.5 million to the refurbishment of the
wharf for this fiscal year. Additional funding will be
sourced from the Corporation of St. George’s , who
have the ability to make up the difference using the
UNESCO World Heritage Fund which is to be used to
develop and promote the World Heritage Site. With
funding secured, the replacement of t he wharf is now
poised to take place.
Madam President , work on the new wharf is
slated to take place in February of 2022 following the
tendering process. The work is estimated to take
some four months to complete, with the wharf ready in
May of 2022. In addition to the wharf upgrades, the
marina infrastructure undertaken by St. George’s Ma-rina Development Limited is currently underway and is
slated to be completed in conjunction with the wharf.
These works include internal renovations of the former
termin al building on Ordnance Island and a Welcome
Centre complete with shower and laundry facilities.
The space will be redesigned for an improved décor
and to create an outdoor lounge area.
Madam President , with the opening of the St.
Regis Hotel in May, the planned re- opening of the St.
George’s Club in the second quarter of 2022 and the
new marina scheduled for completion in May of next
year, these developments are expected to provide a
further economic boost to our historic town and be of
great benefit to all Bermudians and residents alike.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell. You have
a second Statement, Steps Taken to Launch the PMO
to Support Implementation of [Bermuda’s] Economic
Recovery Plan. You can proceed when you are ready.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Good morning again, Madam President.

The President: Good morning.

STEPS TAKEN TO LAUNCH
THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE [PMO]
TO SUPPORT IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN

Sen. Owen D arrell: I rise today to inform this Senate
of the progress made toward the implementation of
Bermuda’s Economic Recovery Plan (known as the
ERP).
Madam P resident , Members of this Senate
will recall the tabling of Bermuda’s Economic Recovery Plan by the Minister of Finance in March of this
year and the subsequent debate on its contents. As a
reminder, the Government undertook a three- phased
approach to the development of the Economic Reco very Plan. Preparatory work in phase 1 involved ident ifying the objectives and the guiding principles and a
preliminary list of initiatives , and was undertaken in
July through September of 2020. Phase 2 involved the
developm ent of economic models, prioritisation of in itiatives and an implementation plan, and took place
from October 2020 to February 2021. Phase 3 i nvolved the development of a blueprint ERP with a d etailed plan for effective and efficient implementation
with appropriate Cabinet oversight.
When the plan was tabled in this Senate in
March, implementation was already underway across
government. Despite the pandemic, ministries and
government agencies continued to refine and impl ement initiatives to support the econ omic recovery under their areas of responsibility.
Madam President , as Her Excellency the
Governor shared in the Speech from the Throne two


Bermuda Senate Friday s ago, “Bermuda’s Economic Recovery Plan
has 31 priority projects in 7 broad categories: Ec onomic Diversific ation; Financial Markets; Infrastructure
Investment; Expanding the Residential Population;
Labour Market & Social Development; Healthcare R eform; and Regulatory Reform.” Senators and the public can remain informed about the progress of Berm uda’s Economic R ecovery Plan by visiting
gov.bm/economicrecovery on the government portal.
The website was updated on Friday to provide the
current status of all 31 priority initiatives.
During phase 2, these 31 initiatives were independently confirmed as the projects that will best
create economic growth in the short -to-medium term
while meeting the objective of increasing jobs, divers ifying our economy, and enhancing Bermuda’s infr astructure for t he future.
Madam President , please allow me to share
some updates with the Senate in advance of the new
webpage which is now up and running. Out of the 31
priority projects contained in the ERP, 9 of the 31 pr ojects are already substantially complete. Other pr ojects such as upgrading Bermuda’s water and waste
treatment infrastructure, which incorporates replacing
the plant and equipment at Tynes Bay, have pr ogressed. This is a high- priority infrastructure project
for the Government, given that the existing plant has
now exceeded its useful life. As a result, a cross -
ministry team is already on an accelerated path to
replace key assets and key components within the
plant in the short term with the ultimate goal of a fully
refurbished and repurposed facility within the next
three to four years.
Madam President , another project that has
progressed is to complete the shoreside facility to
process fish caught in Bermuda. A business plan for a
Fisheries Development Centre is being completed
under a steering comm ittee led by the Bermuda Ec onomic Development Corporation, Department of Env ironment and Natural Resources, and the Fishermen’s
Association of Bermuda. The plan will consider how
such a facility will benefit the public ; create opportun ities to show a return on Government’s investment and
offer additional options and cooperative business
benefits to participating fishers. The plan will meet the
current and future needs of the fishing industry, put
fishers at the centre to best control their industry, take
into consideration current economic conditions, as
well as consider short -to-long- term fisheries development factors. The consultation thus far has moved the
facility’s planning from Marginal Wharf to a location in
the west end of the Island .
Madam Presiden t, Bermuda’s Economic R ecovery Plan states , “Complete work to establish the
Uptown Development Authority in North East Hami lton, whose mission will be to implement the North
East Hamilton Development Plan and drive residential
development projects in the area.” Work on residential developments in Bermuda’s Economic Empowerment Zones to increase the supply of quality, affordable
residential accommodation, driving down rental costs ,
has also progressed. Guidelines for submitting appl ications for approved resi dential schemes within the
economic empowerment zones have been developed by the BEDC, with information for EEZ stakeholders,
potential investors and the general public , to be pu blished later this month. Importantly , every approved
scheme will create new j obs for Bermudians.
Madam President , one of the 31 priority pr ojects reads as follows: “Use BEDC resources to create
an online SME marketplace that will allow entrepr eneurs easy access to sell their goods and services
online without having to deal with c ostly individual
setups, large monthly fees and merchant account
complexities.” This initiative is substantially complete,
and on November 29, for eMonday , the online marketplace at www.bybermuda.bm
will launch. The platform, aptly named byBermuda, is a local online marketplace where people come together to sell and buy
unique Bermudian products and experiences.
Madam President , as the world grapples with
the impact of climate change, renewable energy will
become an increasingly important part of the global
economy. An initiative in Bermuda’s Economic R ecovery Plan states , “Develop an energy regulatory
sandbox that will encourage developers of new r enewable energy techn ology to test their products in
Bermuda, giving Bermudians access to new technol ogy.” Madam President , a policy for creating an energy
regulatory sandbox has already been produced. During this session, the Senate will consider a Bill to facilitate renewabl e energy technology developers tes ting their products in Bermuda. Additionally, the Government is currently in discussions with a company
that will likely be the first applicant for a sandbox l icenc e.
Madam President , legislation allowing Berm uda to become a hub for submarine communication
cables is now in effect, with a plan for implementation
developed by the Regulatory Authority in consultation
with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Bermuda
Business Development Agency. This progress fulfils the objective stated in the plan to “ introduce and establish sub- sea communications sector in Bermuda,
supporting plans to develop a sub- sea telecommunications protection zone.” The Regulatory Authority of
Bermuda is currently fielding enquiries for companies
wishing to enter this space.
And, Madam President , in the area of health
care, Bermuda’s Economic Recovery Plan states ,
“Work with pharmacists, hospitals and physicians to reduce the costs of medications.” Legislation to pave
the way for the establishment of a National Drug Fo rmulary was passed by the Legislature in the last session to achieve this objective. The Bermuda Health
Council, using recommendations from the Pharmacy
and Therapeutics Committee, will regulate the prices
at which common, essential medications , along with
8 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate associated products and devices used in medical
treatments , are sold to the public, thereby reducing
the largest out -of-pocket health expenditure for a large
segment of our community.
Madam President , coordination of implementation across the 31 diverse initiatives contained in
Bermuda’s Economic Recovery Plan is being led by a
team within the Cabinet Office reporting to the Cabinet
Committee on Economic Development. The successful execution of these initiatives will ensure the Island
is appropriately prepared to recover economically and
socially as we move beyond the COVID -19 pandemic.
Strong quality assurance, governance and monitoring processes are essential to this effort. The plan always
intended that these functions would be undertaken by
resources operating separately from those engaged in
the day -to-day running of government.
Madam President, against this backdrop and
with the assistance of BermudaFirst, the Government
engaged with the Big Four consulting firms to determine the best way forward. Based on these collabor ative discussions, KPMG was identified as the resource
to launch the PMO [Project Management Office]. The
initial contract valued at $144,000 plus expenses was
agreed in September and provides a lead consultant
with e xtensive experience in economic recovery. At
the conclusion of the KPMG engagement, the consultants will deliver a Project Management Plan complete with resource requirements, key milestones and
timelines, actions and enablers required to progress
the 31 i nitiatives not yet complete, and a risk management regime to identify, prioritise, monitor and,
where possible, mitigate risks. Upon delivery of the project management plan, further resource decisions
concerning the PMO will be determined.
Madam President, as was stated in another
place when the plan was debated, the PMO will be
staffed by government and external resources with
specific expertise. This may include a variety of consulting resources from a number of firms on an as -
needed basis. The degree of support and expertise
will inevitably vary based on the project, with all initi atives subject to milestones and deliverables. As ev idenced by the progress made to date, which the pu blic can view at gov.bm/economicrecovery
, ownership
of each of the 31 initiatives has been assumed by the
respective Ministry or government agency as outlined
in the ERP. Public officers are focused on finalising
policies and implementing action plans. These steps are central to the project’s success, a mechanism has
been put in place to track progress, and the PMO will
update the new webpage every month.
Madam President, while the future remains
deeply uncertain, given public health conditions and the state of the global economy, Bermuda’s Economic
Recovery Plan provides a blueprint for a successful
recovery. Effective implementation is necessary to
ensure Bermuda forges ahead a new path to growth, employment and greater equity. Thank you, Madam
President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell.
Moving on.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS
The President: There are none.

FIRST READING OF PUBLIC BILLS

CRUISE SHIPS (CASINOS)
AMENDMENT ACT 2021

The President: The following Public Bill has been
received fr om the Honourable House of Assembly and
is now read for the first time: Its title is the Cruise
Ships (Casinos) Amendment Act 2021.

FIRST READING OF PRIVATE BILLS

The President: There are none.

QUESTION PERIOD

The President: Senators, we will now entertain questions for the Statements which have been given this morning, the first one being in the name of Minister
Peets, who spoke on Bermuda’s National Youth Pol icy.
Would any Senator care to ask any questions?
Senator Robin Tucker, you have the floor.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Good morning, Madam Pres ident.
The President: Good morning.

QUESTION 1: NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you.
I would like to know specifically what age
group the policy targets? And I have a second question if I am o kay to add it.
The President: You may.

QUESTION 2: NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you. I would also like to
know if there is any plan in the policy to involve parents and educators in the initiative so there is consistency of messaging and collaborative support for
youth.
Thank you, Madam President



Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker.
Would any other Senator care to ask questions? I see two hands.
Senator Smith.

Sen. Ben Smith: Yes. Good morning, Madam Pres ident.
The Pres ident: Good morning.

QUESTION 1: NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY

Sen. Ben Smith: First I would just like to thank the
Minister. This is obviously an initiative that everyone in Bermuda would want to support, to see that we can do everything we can to support our y outh and move
them in a positive direction.
My question with the excitement of trying to
implement this is, one, I think it would be just good for
the public if you could repeat the dates and the tim eline for getting the information; and the second part,
do you have a thought in mind of when we would start
to implement maybe the first initiative? Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Smith.
I believe that Senator Jones . . . I beg your
pardon; I was just making sure. Senator Jones, do
you have questions to put to the Minister?

QUESTION 1: NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY
Sen. Marcus Jones: Yes, thank you, Madam Pres ident. Good morning to my fellow Senators, and good morning to the listening audience.
Like my predecessor, I do want to thank the
Minister for bringing forth this initiative. I think it is
something that bodes well for targeting a certain de-mographic within our community, that being the youth
who need the targeted attention in order to bring
about some good outcomes within this age group.
Sort of tagging on behind my fellow Senator,
Senator Tucker, who asked about parents being i nvolved as part of the working group, my thought was also, Will the Minister also consider including young
people of that age bracket, from 18 to 26, to be part of
that working group? It is one thing for a group to be
planning for a certain category of people to bring
about some good outcomes. But I think it would be
highly effective if that age group which was actually
targeted could be a part of the working group to add
their perspective, to add their experiences. And I think that could bode well to bringing about a very good and effective working group.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jones.
Senator Michelle Simmons, you have the
floor.
QUESTION 1: NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. And I too would like to thank Minister Peets for bringing his Statement this morning.
I just have a question about the working
group. Since there is an appeal going to m embers of
the public, I think it would be very helpful if the Mini ster could share some of the skills that he is looking for
[of] those who would be encouraged to participate in
the working group. Also, I trust that the working group will be heavily weight ed toward having young people
driving this initiative. There might be a temptation to
get a number of more senior people involved, but the
power of youth when they work together for a common goal —it is incredible.
So my question really is, What skill sets are
being sought? And what is the balance that the Mini ster is hoping to get in the working group in terms of
ages? Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Si mmons.
No other questions?
Then over to Minister Peets.

Thank you. We certainly appreciate [the considerable] interest in this particular youth policy that we are getting. So I am certainly encouraged by the questions today. So thank
you, Senators, for your comments.
In reverse order, Madam Pres ident, regarding
the skill sets. Of course this is titled the working group .
So they are not a committee. This is not (what is another word we can use?) a group. This is a working
group. So one of the major, major key skill sets is that
we need individuals who ar e going to get busy getting
the work done. The last thing we need of course is a
policy that sits on a shelf and really just collects dust and we are not really getting any work done.
So we are certainly looking for individuals who
are passionate, who def initely have a background
working with this particular population, who have an
invested interest in this population. But of course, [we
need] individuals who are dedicated to actually ensur-ing that the eight policy goals actually come into fruition.
So we are certainly going to need those types
of individuals involved in the working group. We cer-tainly are encouraging as many youth organisations to
get online, register their interests to participate in the working group by perhaps selecting a designated ind ividual to do that. We certainly want to recognise and
make sure that the working group is properly repr esented by the population which we are trying to a ddress. But having said that, of course, we certainly
need individuals on the working group who are em-ployed in a position where the decisions that are being
10 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate made by the working group can be easily implemented, as well.
So regarding parental involvement, if there
are any parent groups out there who are interested in
getting involved, we can certainly ent ertain their appl ications as well. We certainly would like full representation from the Youth Parliament, so hopefully they will
get involved in the working group as well.
I think it was also worthwhile indicating some
of the dates and how people can actu ally get involved.
So just for redundancy —thank you, Senator Ben
Smith, for your question— the expressions of interest
for participating in the working group are currently being accepted. That particular window is open until D ecember 17. It is online.
If you go to https://forms.gov.bm/youth- policy -
working- group , fill out the infor mation and submit it ,
that will get to our team. And then we will begin to vet
those applications.
As I mentioned i n the Statement, the final
composition of the working group will be decided in
February of 2022 based on the information that we
had submitted from applicants. Of course, if there is a
slow up -take, we will do our best to recommunicate
this information thr ough whatever media that we need
to, because we certainly want this working group to be
a very good composition of individuals so that we can
actually get the work done.
Once we get the working group composition
decided, it is our plan to have the working group
commence their work in detail starting in February of 2022. Hopefully we can stick to those dates and
guidelines so that we can actually get to work very, very early in 2022.
I believe Senator Tucker also asked a question about the policy age. There was a slight amendment to the original [Cabinet Memorandum] cab
memo for this particular policy. After consultation with
the Minister Tinee Furbert from Seniors (and just give me a second; I will go ahead and get that). The ages
are 14 to 24. So by defini tion, youth is designated in
this particular policy to encompass that individual . . .
14 is what, late middle school? Or is that early high
school?

[Inaudible interjections]

Early high school
through [age] 24. I will entertain any other further
questions if there are any.

The President: Senators, were there any other questions?
Senator Ben Smith.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Sen. Ben Smith: Yes. Thank you, Madam President,
just following on from the response that the Minister just gave with that specific target area being 14
through 24.
Will there be any ability to expand that if the
working group, once they start to look into the information, that potentially we need to start younger with
some of our young people, specifically when we are
trying to guide them so that they are going toward
positive activities instead of negative activities? Som etimes you have to start earlier to make sure you are
catching them. So just as a question of, Will there be
the ability to change that later down the road if that is
what comes out of the working group? Thank you.

Yes. Actually, originally the original composition for the group was env isioned to start at age 16 through 24. But after some
dialogue, that was expand ed down to 14. There are
different developmental needs across age groups,
starting from birth through preschool, and then of
course in elementary school there are other developmental issues and considerations. So that particular
comment is certainly noted. I can certainly take that
under advisement and talk to the working group, as well as those at YSR [Youth, Sport & Recreation].
Perhaps there might need to be a separate policy just
for that younger group to make sure that their needs
are accurately repres ented as well. But by the Throne
Speech, of course, we were asked to define what
youth meant as it relates to a particular age group.
And what was settled upon at the moment was age 14.
The President: Thank you.
Senator Robin Tucker, you had two questions.
Do you have a supplemental?

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
My supplemental question . . . well, actually —

The President: Your third question. Go on.

QUESTION 3: NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY

Sen. Robin Tucker: My third question, thank you,
would be, Are there plans to attract young people who
are not normally involved in sports? So is there a plan
to entice young people who are not normally involved
in sports to get involved in sports and become me mbers and participants in the Youth Policy?
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you.

Yes. Well, the Youth
Policy of course is overarching. So it encompasses all
of the categories that our youth may fall into. If they of
course are involved in sports, the Youth Policy has some policy goals and some things to do to support
those. One of the policy goals for those individuals


Bermuda Senate who are youths who are engaged in sport, at least
from a competitive point of view, Madam President, is
to ensure that these individu als are protected from
harm as it relates to being safe as it relates to what-ever activity they are being in.
But we certainly want to minimise their antis ocial behaviour. So one of the policy goals is to make
sure that they have a healthy lifestyle. So i n the event
that they are not actively competing in organised
sport, we do understand that not only are their educ ation and their mental well -being important, but part of
that whole well -being is to ensure that they have a
healthy lifestyle. So as the work ing group begins to
flush out these policy goals, they will be able to do
surveys, they will be able to get into the community, see what the exact needs are in these particular subgroups and begin to make recommendations to make
improvements so that our entire youth population are
being supported throughout the government as it r elates to education, as it relates to any other part of
government, that we are certainly supporting our youth.

The President: Thank you, Minister Peets. And thank
you, Senators, f or your questions.
We will now move on to the second Stat ement, which is in the name of Senator Arianna Hodgson, and that was the Throne Speech Initiatives for
2021.
Would any Senator care to ask questions?
I see Senator Marcus Jones. You have the
oppor tunity to ask questions.

QUESTION 1: MINISTRY OF LABOUR: THRONE
SPEECH INITIATIVES 2021

Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
I have taken notes from these first two Stat ements that have been given and presented by Minister
Peets and then here by Senator Hodgson. At the f ocus of the targeted demographic has been this youth
age, 16 to 26. And, Madam President, I am a firm believer in policy being data driven. With that in mind,
my question to the Junior Minister would be, Is there a
mechanism in place to gather information from this
age group, 16 to 26, either when they are employed in the summer by the government for summer jobs, even
when they are preparing to go to university? Data in
the form of finding out the date of graduation of these
youn g people, their field of study, whether they intend
on actually returning to Bermuda.
I think this is a very important question. B ecause just talking to my son, who now lives and works
in the UK after just graduating, his contemporaries are
not coming back home. They are actually staying in
the UK and finding jobs. So as much as I think this
initiative is going to be very good, I believe it is par amount that the Government gather the information and the data so that they know how to service and to provide t he tools for this age bracket to be able to excel within the labour force within the Island. Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jones. Do you
have a second question or —

Sen. Marcus Jones: No. That is it.

The President: Thank you.
Senator Ben Smith, you have the floor.

QUESTION 1: MINISTRY OF LABOUR: THRONE
SPEECH INITIATIVES 2021
Sen. Ben Smith: Yes. Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I am going to piggyback off
of what Senator Jones just referred to when it comes
to data and the importance of data. Because as I was
listening to the Junior Minister going through the i nformation in the Statement, there were the changes to
the digitised immigration policy, which I think everyone is going to say that this will be helpful for the count ry
to be able to move things in a direction where they are
going to be more efficient, things are going to work
better.
But as we were going through that, I also
thought maybe we should be connecting some of these dots. So there is the workforce development
portion that was discussed. There is the youth employment portion that was discussed. And now we are
digitising what is happening from immigration.
So my question is, Will we be trying to put
those pieces together? So if you are collecting the data on the education of our young people, the job
needs of our young people at the same time that you
are collecting the data on what jobs are available in
the country, potentially you have work permit holders
in certain areas. You know that the timeline is going t o
be three years. But you also know that you have people who are going to be graduating in certain positions
or are taking further studies or being developed because of Workforce Development.
By having those data and the ability for the
data to be able to be cross referenced between Wor kforce Development, between the Youth Employment
Programme and what is happening in Immigration
with all of the new technology, I think it would be i mportant for us to know that this is something that we
will be trying to do. Because if we collect those data,
we will be making our decisions based off of the real
information.
As we move forward and say, Oh, we are g oing to close a specific category, we are doing that b ecause we know that we have 10 young people who
are trained to do these jobs and now we are going to
create that opportunity. We are doing it because we
know it by the data that we have collected. So I am
asking the Junior Minister if that is the process that we
12 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate are looking toward doing, not just digitising what is
happening from the immigration policy, but also bringing in technology and collecting data in these other
areas so that we can know that we are making the
decisions based off of the information collected. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Ben Smith.
Senator Michelle Simmons, you have the
floor.

QUESTION 1: MINISTRY OF LABOUR: THRONE
SPEECH INITIATIVES 2021

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
It is wonderful that we are focusing on our
youth —i.e., the future of this country. My question is
about the definition for youth in this particular Stat ement, because this Labour Force Survey Report embraces persons from the ages of 16 to 26 years. It notes that over 32 per cent of them were unemployed.
My question is, If the compulsory school -leaving age
is 18 years, as I believe it is, why are we including 16and 17- year-olds in this unemployment survey? B ecause technically they should be in school even if it is not in a traditional school setting. But they should be in school. So I just wondered what the reasoning for
that was.
Thank you.

The President: Would any other Senator . . .
Senator Robin Tucker, you have the floor.

QUESTION 1: MINISTRY OF LABOUR: THRONE
SPEECH INITIATIVES 2021
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
My question for the Junior Minister is, I am
just curious to know what specific area of having a
digitised application process . . . what specific area
will roll out first? Is that going to impact work permits
or personal services? What area of Immigration? And I am wondering about that because I for several years
have been involved in work permit processes from a
day job. And I know that the digitised work permit ap-plication process has been spoken about quite some
time ago. So I am just wondering if that is going to be
at the top of the list, or is it going to be sort of, all applications will be digitised?
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Tucker.
Senator Hodgson, when you are ready.
[Pause]

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. To start by answering Senator Simmons’s
question about why 16- and 17- year-olds, I do want to
highlight the fact that only those who are actively
seeking employment are included in that rate. So
while I cannot speak t o the specifics of where they
should be, we do take into account those who are actively looking at the time.
Regarding the data, of course any decision
that we make starts with our goals. And finding and presenting the relevant data is of course the next step.
While we have not necessarily done the greatest with monitoring the data over the years, that is definitely
our aim going forward. A key feature of our strategy is
of course data collection. And we look at data collection on skill sets, career interests and the like. It is also worth mentioning that Immigration and the D epartment of Workforce Development are linked under
the Ministry. So we are looking to synergise that i nformation- sharing. As we continue to look at the a ppropriate systems, that is at the forefront of our purpose.
In response to Senator Tucker’s questions
about the specific areas that we focus on in Immigr ation, we will begin with the PRC [Permanent Res ident’s Certificate] application. That will be digitised beginning in January.
So I hope those are suitable responses to the
questions asked.

The President: Senator Simmons has a second
question.
Sen. Michelle Simmons: It is a supplementary.
The President: A supplementary. All right.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Sen. Michelle Simmons: I hear that data are being
collected. And just because it makes me a little unsettled to know that 16- and 17- year-olds are out there
seeking, I assume, full -time employment, I wondered
if Senator Hodgson could either now or at a later date give us a number for how m any 16 - and 17- year-olds
are actually actively seeking employment? Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons.
Senator Robin Tucker, do you have a second
question?

Sen. Robin Tucker: No, Madam President. I have a
supplementary question.

The P resident: A supplementary.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Sen. Robin Tucker: Just in response to Senator
Hodgson’s answer about beginning with the PRC apBermuda Senate plications, I am wondering when work permit digitised
application processes will be available? As we know
there are si gnificant delays in immigration and r esponses to work permit applications. So if there is an opportunity, as what we are hearing about here with the digitisation process and resulting in increased
turnaround times, I am sure the business community
would be very happy to know —I certainly would be
[happy] (again in my other role) to know —when we
can expect that work permit application process to be
digitised. Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker.
Senator Hodgson.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I will endeavour to find out how many 16- and
17-year-olds are currently seeking employment. I am
actually interested myself to know.
Then regarding Senator Tucker’s comments,
there is no set date at this time, but obviously i t is one
of the things we have been working on. And I know
that there are many industries who are of course looking forward to the day when these applications will be
fully digital. So as soon as we know, I am sure you will
know shortly thereafter.

The Pr esident: Thank you, Senator Hodgson, and
thank you, Senators, for your questions.
We will now move on to the third Statement
that was given this morning, and that was from Senator Darrell, Junior Minister of Public Works, and r elates to the St. George's M arina Development.
Would any Senator care to ask questions on
this Statement?
Yes, Senator Jones, you have the floor.

QUESTION 1: ST. GEORGE’S MARINA
DEVELOPMENT

Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
I am sure that all of the East End is cheering
and excited about this marina coming on board, and I
am going to add my celebration as well.
I noticed on page 2 of the presentation that
the Junior Minister presented this morning under “The
New Marina will boast . . .,” under the seventh bullet
point it says, “the installation of sewage pumping services.” The only question I would have in conjunction
with that particular item —well, we all know that the
Town of St. George's has had a major challenge with
its sewage removal, which has in my understan ding
been a challenge that is going to be taken up by a
private- public partnership between the hotel owners
who are farther away from the square and the go vernment itself.
I just wonder if the Junior Minister can address this for the Senators here and the listening a u-dience to see, What is the status of the developments
of a refurbished or redeveloped sewage removal sy stem within the town that will extend also to the new
hotels that are there in St. George's? If he can, I
would appreciate it.
Thanks.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jones.
Would any Senator care to ask a question?
Senator Michelle Simmons, you have the
floor.

QUESTION 1: ST. GEORGE’S MARINA
DEVELOPMENT

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I cannot let an opportunity pass me by to ask
a question about this Statement because it involves
St. George's. Excitement is building in the Old Town
because the marina seems as though it is closer to
becoming a reality. Therefore, my question is regar ding the second paragraph on page 1, where it says
that, “the Legislature will consider in due course a
Strategic Plan for the Town of St. George's.” Just because we are excited, but also somewhat anxious, I
wondered if the Junior Minister could give us any
more of an idea of when that s trategic plan will be a dvanced, even if it is a kind of timeline to give us a
sense of its also becoming a reality. Because there
have been lots of promises in the past, and som etimes they do not materialise. But I am delighted to see that the marina is going to happen, and we would
just like to know a bit more about a timeline for the
strategic plan.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Si mmons.
Would any Senator care to ask questions on
this Statement?
Hearing none, then it is over to you, Senator
Darrell.

Sen. Owen Darrell: For the first question, like I said,
the question that Senator Jones asked, and I know he
tried to connect them. But point 7 of this Statement
specifically talked about the installation of sewage
pumping services at the marina. But I will answer the
question about sewage. The sewage treatment for St. George's is actually being developed by the Bermuda Land Development Company [BLDC]. They will be the
ones putting forth a new sewage plant. So point 7 that
you referred to is actually only about the pumping services at the marina. The entire infrastructure of St.
George's will come under the Bermuda Land Deve lopment Company.
The [answer to the] second question, to Senator Simmons, I hope will come as good news to her.
14 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The plan is going to engage a large number of stak eholders. I have been told by public officers that the
early meetings will actually start in a matter of weeks.
So I hope this will bring some joy to Members in this
place who are from St. George's and everyone in the
East End, as this is, as I said in the Statement, an ex-citing time for St. George's. Thank you, Madam Pres ident.

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell.
Sen. Marcus Jones: Supplemental, Madam Pres ident.

The President: Yes.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Sen. Marcus Jones: I thank the Junior Minister for
giving the information with regard to the overall se wage waste removal work that is going to be done by the BLDC. Would he happen to have a timeline in
which that will be completed? The only reason I ask
that is because I know it has been an ongoing project.
From the blueprint planning stage to actually being
implemented it has been a couple of years now. I
think that the residents of St. George's, as well as the owners of the hotel, would be interested to know a
timeline in which this project will be completed.

Sen. Owen Darrell: I actually would say that this actually is the same question that I [answered] to Sen ator Simmons. In a course of weeks all stakeholders
will be engaged, and I am sure the sewage [timeline]
and a lot of matters will come up in the strategic plan.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell.
This completes questions on the third Stat ement, and we will now move on to the fourth Stat ement, which is also in the name of Senator Darrell.
And that is the Steps Taken to Launch the PMO to
Support Implementation of Bermuda’s Economic R ecovery Plan.
Would any Senator care to ask questions on
this Statement?
Senator Robin Tucker, you have the floor.

QUESTION 1: STEPS TAKEN TO LAUNCH
THE PMO TO SUPPORT IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
Actually, I have a couple of questions. My first
question is, Given the 31 projects, I would like to know
what the estimat ed number of full -time jobs is antic ipated to be created. I certainly can appreciate that the
number will not be down as accurately as we would
like. But given the number of projects and the stat e-ment that there will be jobs created, then I am just
wonderi ng whether the Junior Minister can just give
some kind of estimate on the number of full -time jobs
that are anticipated to be created.

QUESTION 2: STEPS TAKEN TO LAUNCH
THE PMO TO SUPPORT IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN

Sen. Robin Tucker: My second question relates to a
sentence in the Statement on page 3, the second paragraph from the top, just the very last sentence, which
says, “Every approved scheme will create jobs for
Bermudians.” So while I am taking that as a broad
statement, I am jus t wondering whether there will be
jobs that will require non- Bermudians to do because
we do not have the expertise on the Island to carry them out?

The President: That is your second question. Do you
have a third?

QUESTION 3: STEPS TAKEN TO LAUNCH
THE PM O TO SUPPORT IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN

Sen. Robin Tucker: Yes, that is my second question.
And my third question is very much related, I guess,
which is, What area of the 31 initiatives is anticipated
to create the largest number of jobs?
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker.
Would any Senator care to ask questions on
this Statement?
Senator Ben Smith, you have the floor.

QUESTION 1: STEPS TAKEN TO LAUNCH
THE PMO TO SUPPORT IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN

Sen. Ben Smith: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, my question is in regard to
the changes in implementing a way to lower the cost
of prescription drugs. Because I know that in a country with a significant population that has to take prescri ption drugs on an ongoing basis, a lot of people are
going to be interested in knowing what that number is.
So before the Government went down the path of
making the changes, there would have been some
dialogue on what the potential reduction in these costs would be. So I am wondering if the Junior Minister can
give us an estimate in what the reduction in (as he put
it) the drugs that are used quite often where bulk purchases potentially are going to reduce the cost? Has
there been an i nitial look at what that reduction will
be? And if he knows what that is, can he share that
with us? Thank you.



Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senator Ben Smith.
Would any Senator care to ask questions on
this fourth Statement?
Hearing none, then it is over to you, Senator
Darrell.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
And I thank Senator Tucker and Senator Smith for
their questions.
As I stated in the beginning of the Statement,
right now it is not possible to provide the exact num-ber of jobs. I w ill say this, that we do expect it to be
significant. And the reason why we have not gotten to
that point yet is because in the Statement I did outline
that we are doing this in a three- phase process. We
are only in phase 1 which, as I said in the bottom pa ragraph here, involves identifying objectives, the gui ding principles and a preliminary list of initiatives. We
are still kind of at the end of that phase.
Number two, the question specifically was —
we talked about Bermudian jobs. And the question
was if non- Bermudian jobs will be a part of this. What I
will say is this, that Bermudians can expect to be gi ven first choice.
And once I say that, I would also like to say to
my fellow Bermudians listening, Madam President, that it is important that we are ready. It is important that when these opportunities are presented, we are
ready to grasp them and run with them. So I hope this
answers your question that Bermudians will get prior ity. They will be given first choice and we must be ready.
Third question, r eduction in health care, I
think. (I think that is where we went.) That actually is a very, very technical question. I am not passing the
buck, but that is something that the Junior Minister
responsible for Health could probably answer better
than I can, a nd we can get that at a later time. That is
a very technical question, but a good one. We will un-dertake to look into that at a future time.

Thank you, Senator Darrell.
Senator Robin Tucker, you have a suppl ementary.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President,
and I thank the Junior Minister for his response.
I just want to clarify. He has not answered my
third question, which was, What are the areas, the
industries or the specific initiatives (I should say) that
are anticipated to create the largest number of jobs?
And if I could go ahead now and ask my supplementary question?

The President: Yes, you can.

SUPPLEMENTAR IES
Sen. Robin Tucker: I would like to know, How do we
qualify significant ? Is that 30 jobs or 30, 000 jobs?
How do we qualify that?
My second supplementary is, the Junior Mi nister implied that non- Bermudians will be hired, but
that Bermudians will need to be ready. How and what
is the plan to ensure that Bermudians understand
what is required of them t o position themselves to be
ready? Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker.

Sen. Owen Darrell: I guess I will answer that the
same way I answered the first one. We are still in
phase 1 so a lot of those specifics about jobs and how
many and the greatest area will be answered in due
time.
As always, and we say this: Where there are
no Bermudians qualified for positions, obviously nonBermudians will be brought in. There are many tech
sectors, supporting services that are actually helping
the Government now. You would see some of the
press conferences that the Ministers are putting out;
there are many different agencies and tech companies that actually see what is coming. And they are
actively and have been actively for a while putting t ogether projects that will assist with creating jobs. So again, as we move down the line with the different phases of this, many of these and the details will
come to fruition.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell and all
Senators who have put forward your questions.
We will now move back to our agenda.

ORDERS OF THE DAY
The President: The first Order of the Day is Consi deration of the Throne Speech with which Her Excellency the Governor was pleased to open the present
Session of Parliament.
Senator the Dr. E. G. V. Peets, Government
Leader in the Senate, you have the floor.

MOTION

THAT THE GOVERNOR’S SPEECH
BE TAKEN AS READ AND NOW BE
TAKEN UNDER CONSIDERATION

Madam President,
the Throne Speech provided some very broad strokes
as it relates to the Government ’s plans for the upcoming year. Madam President, Cabinet Ministers are in the process of sharing the details of the critical el ements of the Government’s work, as well as the Government’s strategy for social renewal and economic
recovery. Yesterday, l ast night , I was pleased to share
the goals that we have for the National Sports Policy . I
am looking forward to working with Youth, Sport &
Recreation as well as our athletes and our sporting
stakeholders as we design a platform for future spor ting success.
Madam Pres ident, governing during this pandemic has not been easy. It has been particularly
challenging. Its impact on our economy, as well as our
education, as well as our recreational and competitive
sports has been immense. And it may be years to
come before we are able to really quantify and qualify
exactly the nature and the magnitude of the impact that COVID -19 has had on us as a country.
To worsen matters from a governing point of
view, some of the decisions regarding the $185 million guarantee for Caroline Bay, the minimum guarantee
revenue for payments to the new airport have been
real difficult pills for the Government to swallow.
Madam President, I was of the view that back
in 2017, as well as in 2020, those Throne Speeches
were very bold and very, very ambitious. Madam
President, I am of the view again that in the midst of
what we have experienced in these last few years, particularly in these last 18 months, this particular Government has delivered and has done so in such a
way that we have ensured that our people have not
gone without support.
Madam President, going forward, our mission
has not changed. There may have been interruptions,
but we remain focused on the core of who we are and
what we want to do. And economic recovery is at the
core of our plan for Bermuda. This will promote social
renewal and community development, something that
I think we desperately need.
Madam President, I would describe this year’s
Throne Speech as practical as well as straightforward.
Madam President, you will not fin d, for example, many
grand new promises from the Government, but rather a steady focus on executing the commitments we
have made to the people of Bermuda. Madam Pres ident, there is an attention, for example, to tourism, as
well as with the BEDC, for exampl e, regarding how
tourism can work with the BEDC in doing its vital work as it relates to the Economic Recovery Plan. Madam President, from a sporting point of
view, the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sport recog-nises the value of sport to our country and continues
to explore avenues that will promote Bermuda as a
sporting jurisdiction. We are actively identifying ways that international sporting events can assist in bringing
much -needed revenue to our Island. Madam Pres ident, we have active plans to attrac t more sporting
events particularly for our amateur and collegiate at hletes to our shores. It is my opinion that this will really
enhance the development of our athletes by exposing them to quality international competition and open up
more pathways for th em to further their education
through sports.
Madam President, in addition to the information I shared during my press conference last night,
I am pleased to publicly announce today that one such event has been planned with the help of Berm uda Soccer International. Next year, the week after Cup
Match, on August 3, the Bermuda Triangle Cup will
take place on our shores. This is a preseason tournament for footballers, with quality international teams
which are amateur and collegiate coming from the
United St ates as well as from Europe.
But, Madam President, what really excites me
about this particular tournament and what it actually means as it relates to a concept is that it will feature a seminar during that whole entire tournament —a sem inar where coaches and scouts from top schools and top programmes and top academies will meet with
athletes and their parents to talk about recruitment, to
talk about scholarships, offering our students a concrete pathway for student athletes to be recruited and
to continue w ith their education as well as sports
overseas.
And, Madam President, we have plans to re plicate that type of model across sports. So football,
cricket, swimming, basketball, golf —these are events
that we can plan for our collegiate as well as our am ateur athletes so that these events take place on our
shores, bringing economic development, but also
providing an opportunity for our local athletes to compete at a high level.
Madam President, I was real ly pleased to di spatch an email to Dan [Hugo] and Flora [Duffy], par-ticularly after their visit to Bermuda, as well as an email that I sent to them after our Throne Speech.
One of the questions I put to Flora and Dan was, Gi ven what we have indicated in our Throne Speech, gi ven the fact that you are an elite at hlete who has accomplished so much on the world stage, what is it that
we can do as a country to begin to put things in place so that we can help other athletes replicate what you
have accomplished on your own? And I am glad this
morning, Madam President, that this Ministry, partic ularly myself, were very, very interested in pursuing
that conversation not just with Flora, but with all of our
other elite athletes who may be participating in and around this wonderful planet which we enjoy.


Bermuda Senate So, Madam President , if I may quote the Honourable Premier. He is recently quoted as saying,
“The Throne Speech spoke to the imperative for
change and how changes deferred are now an imperative for survival. We cannot stand still, as a Gover nment or as a country. We must adapt, be bold, and
collectively take ownership of building a better future
for Bermuda. If we wish to see that better future, then
our work for change must continue and be a unified
effort amongst all Bermudians.”
Madam President, these are some of the
highlights as well as some of the goals that this
Throne Speech focuses on. I am looking forward to
working with this Honourable Chamber of Senators for
the betterment of our country, going forward.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Minist er Peets.
Would any Senator care to speak?
Senator Ben Smith, Leader of the Opposition
in the Senate, you have the floor.

Sen. Ben Smith: Yes, good morning, Madam Pres ident.

The President: Good morning.
Sen. Ben Smith: So, Madam President, I was preparing for the Reply to the Throne Speech after listening
to the Throne Speech that we attended and then having the opportunity to listen to not only the Reply to
the Throne Speech, but the debate that happened in
the House last Friday. Madam President, this last
year-and-a-bit has changed the way that Bermuda
operates. It changed the way that the way world operates. The problem is that Bermuda was not in a great
place prior to this pandemic coming to our shores. So
as I was thinking about what we were going to do,
Madam President, it was [that] this Throne Speech is
a plan that the Government is going to try to put in
place to move the country forward and recover our
economy and try to help the people in Bermuda who
at this time need significant help.
The wa y the system of politics works is that it
is our job to point out certain things within the plan of the Government that we think can work; at the same time, we are also going to point out things that we
question whether it is the right decision, the right
move. And we will also put forward potential suggestions for how we move forward. But that is what the
job is.
So, Madam President, one of the things that
you have to do as you are going into creating the plan
as the Government has done, and creating what the
Opposition would put forward, you have to take a
snapshot of where the country is at present and then you have to look forward to where the country needs
to be six months from now, a year from now, 10 years
from now. What I have done is realised that this snap-shot depends on your view, where you sit at the time
that you are taking that snapshot , because the impact
of the pandemic has been different to different people.
If you are someone who is invested heavily in
the stock market, for instance, the st ock market is
flourishing. So you are actually doing okay. If you are
somebody who worked in IB [international business]
and you had the ability to continue to do your job ,
maybe not from your normal office space but from
home, and continued to make your s ame salary, the
view that you have of where we are and where we are
going is different. But, Madam President, if you were
working in hospitality or retail or [you are] someone
who has been working in the health care industry,
your view is significantly dif ferent of what has happened over the last 18- plus months.
So when we are looking at what we see as
our snapshot, we have to take into consideration not
just our own view, but the views of all of the different
people who make up this country. Because som etimes when things are presented that are trying to
help a certain section, there are portions of our population that do not understand why we are spending
that time, energy and money in that area. That is because from their view, they do not see it.
One of the things that I think is important for
us to do is to start to get the country to open their
eyes to other views, not just our own personal view. Because, Madam President, we have discussed in the
last sessions that we have an issue in Bermuda of
persona l responsibility and also our collective responsibility when it came to how we took care of the health
of our population, how we dealt with each other,
whether we abide by rules and regulations or whether
we do not. So I say that to talk about, to me, the eyes
that I have decided to start to look through [ to see] the
multiple views of how we move forward.
There are initiatives that the Government are
putting forward that are positive. Just this morning you could see that the Opposition, the Independents and
the Government Senators together were supportive of
the direction that is being put forward. But, Madam
President, sometimes when we are looking at the
broad strokes, you realise that you cannot just look at
the positive plan that has been put in place. Y ou have
to ask, How is that going to be implemented? The
reason I bring that up is because in the past, polit icians make statements that they are going to do certain things because they know that this is what the
population wants to hear, or at least the l argest voter
base wants to hear because that is how politicians continue to move forward.
The problem, Madam President, is that the
shift that has happened in the world is having an i mpact on this country that is significant, which means
that we have to st art to change the way that we have
done things up until this point. We cannot just assume
that we make a broad statement that we are going to
fix certain things, and this is what we are going to do
18 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate and then not follow through with it. We have to make
sure that there is accountability. From a political
standpoint, accountability happens when you go to an
election and the population decides whether they are
going to vote for you or not vote for you. That is the right of the population to hold their representative to
account.
Madam President, part of what has happened
in Bermuda is actually something that has happened worldwide, but you are seeing those results in Berm uda. And that is that a portion of our population has
started to switch off to what we are doing. I bring that
up because here we are on a day like today where we
have had the Throne Speech, we have had the
Throne Speech Reply, and now it is our opportunity to be part of that debate. How many people are listening
to exactly what we are putting for ward? Not just the
Opposition side, but the Government side also. Are we speaking to the population and what their needs
are from what their perception is of what is happening
around them?
Because, Madam President, when we say
that we are going to lower t he cost of health care, the
population does not actually pay attention to that part.
What they see is that their health insurance costs
went up. When we talk about how we are going to
reduce the cost of energy in Bermuda (and that is a debate that we have in the Senate Chamber), what
the population sees is that their BELCO bill has gone
up. We have talked about some great initiatives that
are coming forward about job opportunities and trai ning and changes that are going to be made within the
government. But if you are somebody today who is
unemployed and do not know how you are going to
pay your bills, that is a different situation for you. If
you are a senior who is struggling because the health
costs are high and your pension does not cover what
it used to cover . . . Madam President, the cost of food
in Bermuda has gone up significantly since this pan-demic has hit.
But you know what, Madam President? We
were in the situation where we talked about what we were going to do to try to get our population to e at
healthier, so we put in a sugar tax. And the concept
was that you were going to use that money to help to
offset the cost of healthy foods. I bring it up because that was the concept. In reality we just collected another tax and the money went into the pot. And now
we are in trouble, so we need the money. But our
population, when they go to the store they are having
a hard time buying any of the foods that are available.
So to talk about the healthy foods, which are expe nsive, that is the struggle.
Madam President, to me it is the idea that
what we have to look at is the prevention, the preven-tion of the [poor] health in our population that leads to the higher cost of health insurance. Because ever ybody here knows the stats that tell us why we are headin g in this direction, and it is not getting better; it
is going to get worse.
We have a low birth rate. We have an ageing
population. We have a sick population. We are having a reduction in the number of people who are in our workforce. All of those things are not pointing [the]
indicators toward a lower cost of health care; it is going to be a higher cost of health care. But that is the
conversation that we need to start to have openly with
our population —of what that is, how we are going to
fix it—in general terms that the average person u nderstands.
Because, Madam President, one of the pro blems that we have in Bermuda is a lot of our popul ation do not even open their bills. They do not look at the details. They do not look at what they are paying
for. So we are over -utilising a lot of the health system,
which is causing the cost to go up. This is where I go
back to our personal responsibility and the account ability.
Madam President, in the Throne Speech there
is discussion about what we are going to do wi th education. And the main topic within this Throne Speech is going to be on the signature schools and what is
happening with the signature schools. I have said it
before: One of the problems that we have is that
across the board we tend to talk about how bad the
public education system is and what the impact is.
There are a couple of Senators here who I know passionately speak to education and know that there are
success stories within our public education system.
But the truth is thar everybody gets paint ed with the
same brush when we make the negative comments.
To me, my suggestion is about the prevention
plan. When we are assessing our children before they
get to school, it is not as simple as doing an asses sment; it is the follow -up of the assessment. I t is ma king sure that this young child has the support that is
needed. If they come close to needing support, we should be supporting them anyway, because with a
low birth rate we cannot actually allow anybody to fall
through the cracks.
The other side of the spectrum is that when it
comes to the national security side, you have people
who are in Westgate. And when they do the analysis and the assessment of the people who are there, you
find out that there is a large portion of them who have
learning disabi lities, who have had childhood trauma.
Well, those are things that we should be dealing with
at the beginning. Because, yes, we need more support and more experts at that early stage so that we can make sure that our young people are on the path
to success from birth to preschool to primary school
so that we do not have students showing up to high
school who are having issues with reading and writing
and basic skills that are then leading them to feel that
they are not part of our country, and [this is] why they
are ending up in the negative position.


Bermuda Senate We can have all of our youth plans. We can
have all of our policies in place. But it is the account ability side. And it is not just the accountability of go vernment, politicians and the workers and the people
whom we are going to put in place to try to implement
these policies. There is a responsibility of the parents,
because these children do not develop themselves.
The behaviours of these children are not developed
because they learned it from themselves; the y are
learning it from the actions of the people around them. The expectation cannot be that we allow our young people to grow up like weeds and we expect som ething different when they are older. It is just not going
to work.
So not only do we have to come up with concepts and policies and working groups, as we have
discussed today, to try to support them, but we have
to have an expectation that the parents do their job.
But, Madam President, as you get to the point
where we are discussing what happens when people
start to move away from what is needed as a citizen of Bermuda, we realise that we have some issues that
need enforcement. But over the last several years the
funding of the police has been moving down. Well, if
the police were funded at too high of a level and you
could reduce that funding in a way that then would
allow the police to continue to operate, I accept it. But, Madam President, if you drive on our roads at the
moment you will see that the behaviour on our roads
has become absolute chaos. People have completely
lost the plot of how you behave on roads.
So in the Throne Speech we talk about we are
going to implement CCTV and we are going to try to make some changes from a technology standpoint.
But, Madam President, we need some old- fashion ed
police force happening. People see that there is going
to be somebody telling you, That can’t happen. You
cannot be overtaking on the inside and outside, dri ving through red lights, going at excessive speeds. Because the result that we are seeing is a c limbing death
toll on our roads. But, Madam President, that death
toll on the roads is actually not as high as it could be.
Because most people in Bermuda will tell you that they have actually prevented the person from getting
into the accident because the y have driven defensiv ely.
Madam President, back to the accountability.
Those individuals have to be accountable for them-selves. You cannot behave that way and then have
the population have to deal with your 10 weeks in the
hospital because you have broken your legs and ev erything. And now you cannot work, and now the government is going to have to come up with a way to
support you. These are all of the behaviours. We are
all connected. The decisions and the conversations
that happen in this Chamber are not separated from
the behaviour of our citizens. Together is how we can
move things forward. The Government can come up with the best
plans. The Opposition can put forward suggestions to
the Government. And all of that can be laid out. But
then there has to be accountability on how those actions are going to be implemented. Because, Madam
President, most when most people go to work they
have certain tasks that they have to do. The boss is
going to say, These are the projects that we have to
accomplish today, this week, this month, this year,
because we have targets that we have to reach. Then
the management has to try to implement that plan,
and then the workers do the job to make sure that it is
accomplished.
But, Madam President, that has to happen
across th e board. We have to start to hold each other
accountable for what we are doing or not doing i nstead of sitting and complaining that person “A” you
know is not doing their job, and nothing changes.
What we cannot do is expect that people are going to
be hir ed to do a job—as Junior Minister Owen Darrell
said in a comment just recently, Bermudians have to
be prepared. It is fine for the Government to create 50
jobs. But we have to make sure that we, [Bermudians], are ready to do them at 100 per cent.
Madam President, this shift that has ha ppened is a significant shift to the way businesses and
the way countries operate. Not everybody is going to
go back to working in the office. It is just a fact. B ecause what has happened is that the pandemic sent
everybody home and they realised that they could
operate [from home]. Not only could they operate from
their home, but they could operate from different coun tries. Meetings are happening on Zoom calls and
virtual calls. So this idea that we think that just be-cause we are this beautiful country, which we are, that
we just put our hand up and people are going to flock
to our shores —because that is what we need. We
have to understand that the last 18 months have shif ted the way everyone operates, and now it is becoming ev en harder for us to attract those people to come
to our shores, which means that we have to give
100 per cent as a population.
We have to put in the effort to change where
we are, because, Madam President, the plans that
have been put forward by the Government, some of them are really good. Some of them, it is going to take
significant changes for them to be implemented.
But, Madam President, the same way that I
am talking about the behaviour on the roads, the state
of the roads, so we are talking about how we are going to invest in some infrastructure projects. Well, we
are not taking care of our roads. We have not fixed
our bridges. We are having a hard time cutting the
grass on the side of the roads. So once again, I talked
about the view. So if you are j ust Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda sitting at home or driving to and from work, and you are seeing the state of the roads, the behaviour on the roads, the fact that the grass and the trees are
out in the road, what is making you think that things
20 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate are going to change? Because if we cannot do the
basics and we are not holding the people accountable
who are supposed to be doing the basics, what is actually going to change?
Because before we move forward in this new
setup to attract more people to Bermuda, we have to pull our socks up. Our country’s belly is exposed. We
are not who we used to be. The country needs to
wake up, and they cannot expect that we are just g oing to put plans forward and it is just going to happen with the snap of a finger. That is not how it work s. The
country, meaning all citizens, everybody together,
needs to hold each other accountable. You need to
have personal responsibility. We need to have community responsibility. Those changes with the plans can start to move us forward.
Madam President, technology is something
that most of us will agree has given advancements.
But if you look down the road, technology, particularly
artificial intelligence, is going to have an impact on the
workforce. Driverless cars, driverless trucks —that
changes job abi lity. Because what happens is bus iness looks for the most efficient version so that they can cut costs, make sure that they reach their tim elines. That means our population needs to start to pay
attention because if you are not giving 100 per cent,
there w ill be someone trying to figure out a way how
to replace you.
Madam President, as Amazon has been
spreading all over the world and retail has been dying,
you will see that in Bermuda, rather than our taking
care of ourselves and trying to figure out a way to
make retail in Bermuda flourish because it employs so many Bermudians, we are joining in. We are joining in
with the industry that is flowing the money out of the
country, and not supporting the locals in the country.
Is this an indicator that we will q uickly do the same
thing with the other industries that start to move in that
direction? Because that is the danger. We are having
a hard time taking care of our people today. If we do
not pay attention to what is happening in our country
. . . these changes are happening quickly. The pandemic showed us that.
How are we going to change? The Gover nment needs to make sure that they are not making decisions based on, This is what I think the help is.
Finish the thought. Go all the way to the end. Make sure you have all of the data. Make sure you have all
of the information so that when you make the dec ision, it is not having a negative impact on your population which you did not realise was going to happen.
Because, Madam President, within the Throne
Speech . . . usually what happens when you are in a
situation like we are in now, you are going to try to do
some kind of major project to try to get things moving.
And the project that looks like it is the one moving forward will be the incinerator, understanding i t could
be about a $100 million project. Madam President, there are a couple of things
in there. One, when you have a project, there is the process of finding out who is going to do the project,
how many people are going to be employed by the
project. And there are some early gains because, yes,
the people who are participating in the project will be
employed, they will be making money. But, Madam
President, let’s be honest, there is a small group of
people who are actually going to make significant
money off of that kind of project. That is just the reality
of how it works when you do a major project like that. But after the project is over, it is not going to create a
bunch of extra jobs. It is an incinerator. We have one
now. When we move forward, if anyt hing, it is going to
be more efficient; maybe we will need [fewer workers].
But the second thought to me is, how do we
maintain the things that we have in Bermuda? B ecause, Madam President, when you do not have a lot
of money, you have to take care of what you have. It
seems that Bermuda has gotten away with not taking care of and maintaining what they have. So what happens is that after a short amount of time you have to replace it. Now we are spending the money again.
That is wasteful, and it does not act ually help the po pulation to move forward.
So the question is, after I believe it is about 25
years for that incinerator, what was the estimated
lifespan of that facility? Were all of the maintenance marks hit? Because there were millions of dollars that
were spent in the last five, six years on upgrading that
facility. And now here we are, we are moving forward
to . . . we are going to have to replace it. Well, Madam President, it is the same thing that happens in other
parts of our country with facilities that are not mai ntained at the level that they are supposed to on a re gular basis. And because of it, we have to spend mi llions of the taxpayers’ dollars to replace them.
To me, it is all connected. We have to be pr eventing. So from health care, we have t o do a better
job of encouraging our population to get healthy from childhood all the way through, because that is how
you can lower the overall cost of health care. We
[need to] do the prevent ative measures for our young
children so that we can make sure they are supported and developed in the right way. And listen, there are things within the education policy that are going to be
moving in that direction. I am not hitting out at that. I
am just saying we need to spend more of our time and
focus and energy on how we are protecting the pr ecious ones at the beginning so that we do not have to deal with the result at the end, which is the negative side of it.
Well, it is the same thing when it comes to our
infrastructure. If we know that there are maintenance programmes that have to happen, we need to make
sure we are holding people accountable that they are
hitting those targets and doing what needs to be done. And when we have projects in Bermuda that are cos tly and you give a timeline that says, This is what you


Bermuda Senate need to do, who is following up to say, This project
was supposed to take a week and it has taken a
month? Because that is the part. Remember, that
money that is being spent, that is not the gover nment’s money. That is not a politician’s money. That i s
the people’s money. And every time that we need to
get more of that money it is going to come from taxes.
And our population cannot afford anything else.
So, yes, the reality is bleak if you go into the
details. But we cannot live there. We cannot be in the
pessimistic world. We have to think positive and opt imistic and how we are going to move forward. But
moving forward with a plan needs to make sure that
everyone is being held accountable for (1) the plan;
(2) the implementation of the plan; and (3) once the
plan is done, how we will maintain, so that 10 years
from now we are not replacing things that if we had
taken care of them we should not have to.
Madam President, I hope for our country that
we can start to move forward in a direction that will see a better tomorrow, because the pandemic is not
the only thing that has caused us to be where we are
today. It has made the situation significantly worse.
We have people who are out of work because hotels
have closed. But, Madam President, if we go back
over the last 10, 15, 20 years, lots of hotels have been
closed. And the same way that we are looking at this
Southampton Princess project and everybody is hop eful, Elbow Beach has been sitting and rotting for quite some time. And there are other facilities that are [in]
the same [situation].
Our issue is that we are going to have to start
to do things to move in that direction. But it is not going to happen easily, because the airlift is going in the
wrong direction. And the Government can throw
things [out] that there is a project that the OBA did
[which] did not work out and that there are bills that
have to get paid because certain targets were not met
for the airport, for instance. Madam President, nobody
knew we were going to have a pandemic that was
going to wipe out air travel. And the truth is that we
are limping along in a direction now that there is even
less air travel, even though we are open.
What does it look like if we do not have flights
on a regular basis? That impacts business. That i mpacts t ourism. That impacts our day -to-day lives. Let
us not just throw rocks at each other. We have to
come up with a solution and then work together, co llectively, collective responsibility for the Government,
collective responsibility for our citizens, we together,
Bermudians, non- Bermudians, elected officials, appointed officials, everybody. That is what it is going to
take for us to move forward.
Plans, as the Minister of Sport laid out, can sit
on a shelf. It is going to be our people who move us forward. A nd I thank the Minister for driving forward on
initiatives for our youth, and I thank the Minister for
driving forward initiatives on our sport. But it is going
to be interesting to see how we are going to pay for any of this stuff. Because as we tried to move forward
to a balanced budget, and we realised that every time we cut something, something is getting left out. And if
what we have been cutting out has meant that the
police force is less funded, it is going to be a very di fficult task for the Minister of Sport to try to get the initiatives that he wants to put forward on that plate, because everybody who wants something is going to
have to have somebody else give up something.
There is hard work in front of us, but I know
that if everybody here rolls up their sleeves we can move in that direction. Let us hope for a better Bermuda for all of us.
Thank you, Madam President.

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

Sen. Curtis Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, and Leaders of the Senate
and Members of the Senate, the Throne Speech is
concise in its brief complexity and consistent with this
Government’s mandate to continue to pro vide the
public with what they elected this Government to do.
The Ministry of National Security recognises that we are in the digital age and technology is here to stay.
But it is not built to last. Updates to such technological
systems are an imperative necessity in order to continue to benefit from the conveniences that are pr ovided through everyday use of our technology. The
CCTV system is 10 years old and has shown to have
reached its end of use.

Sen. Ben Smith: Point of order, Madam President.

The Pr esident: What is your point of order, Senator
Ben Smith?

POINT OF ORDER

Sen. Ben Smith: Madam President, during this part of
the debate, we cannot read our speech. And at the
moment, the Senator is reading. Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator B en Smith.
Senator Richardson, you can, rather than
read directly, just refer to your notes, please.

Sen. Curtis Richardson: Right. I will refer to my
notes. Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, the CCTV system has
reached its useful lifespan. It has reached its end.
CCTV was once coined the Big Brother in the Sky.
This no doubt will continue to be an essential tool to
be used in our law enforcement observation security
forces. Madam President, CCTV is imperative and a
22 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate very important tool for our security forces. It is vital in
its very purpose. I would say that the Ministry of N ational Security is aware that if anyone is questioning
the replacement and upgrade of such a system, then
they may be a little bit out of touch with the i mportance for its replacement and to provide a safer
Bermuda. It is a tool with many benefits, Madam President. So I believe that the Ministry of National Secur ity is on the right path in ensuring that the CCTV sy stem is replaced with newer features to assist the law
enfor cement agencies on the Island.
Madam President, if you allow me to take a
quote from the Throne Speech, a short quote?

The President: You can. You can make that quote.

Sen. Curtis Richardson: Right. Madam President, it
stated in the Throne Speech that “ Data is the new oil,
and Bermuda must ensure that our cybersecurity d efences are adequate to defend our island from dangerous online actors.” Madam President, this quote speaks directly and wholesomely to the importance of
the introduction of the new Cyber security Act, which
the Ministry of National Security has outlined as well
in the Throne Speech.
Madam President, Leaders of the Senate and
other Members of the Senate, in addition to the N ational Security Ministry’s progression through the
Throne Speech, the management of the corrections
facilities unfortunately are now tasked with a major
setback in its maintenance of these facilities. One
quote attached to the lack of industry standards r eview that was due to be held in 2014 when the One
Bermuda Allianc e was the Government, as a cause
and reason of effect for this unfortunate position that
the Government now is tasked, and the costs assoc iated with such repairs and upgrades in its maint enance are extensive now. One might also ask, if the
cost of building what is dissolute in its present state,
Cross Island, to erect a temporary facility? I am wo ndering if one would question the cost of such a facility ,
which unfortunately is still sitting unused, if those
costs could have been more appropriately used for its
close -neighbouring correctional facility at the Wes tgate.
Now this Government, being a responsible
and responsive government, is working with the Bermuda Police Association and the Department of Corrections to get these maintenance issues and matters
rectified under the guidelines of what has been pr ovided as being a priority basis. This will indicate a propitious outcome in the efforts that this Government is putting forward for the replacement and upgrades of
these facilities that are essential to op erational purposes.
Madam President, Leaders of the Senate and
Members of Senate, I would like to thank the staff and
members of the Department of Corrections, Customs,
the Police Service, the Fire Service, the Ministry of National Security and the Minist er for all of their hard
work that ensures a safer Bermuda for all Bermudians on a daily basis.
Madam President, if I could shift over to the
Ministry of Transportation. Madam President and Members of the Senate, might I ask, What would you
spend $41 mill ion on? I would like to ask Skyport that
very question. As a matter of interest, I would love for
the One Bermuda Alliance to tell the Bermuda public
how they now feel about the memorandum that was
put in place for the minimum revenue guarantee that has cost their neighbours and the Bermuda public just
under $41 million to date, just under $41 million. I
would like to know what they would do with $41 mi llion. If we were not giving Skyport so much money,
then at the very least the roads would be paved and
we may have new buses. Meanwhile, the Government
continues to develop strategies in air, ground and sea
modes of transportation to aid in the Economic R ecovery Plan.
Madam President, unfortunately we are faced
with those burdens that the MRG [minimum revenue
guarantee] presents this country with. And the Ministry
of Transportation is doing all that they can and will
continue to do more to ensure that we can remain r esponsible in this obligation that unfortunately could be
seen as very detrimental to our econ omy.
Just in closing, Madam President, Leaders of
the Senate and Members of the Senate, I would like to thank the staff of the Department of Transportation;
the Department of Public Transportation; the staff at
Marine and Ports; all of the owners and the operators
of the public service vehicles like the taxis, minibuses,
limousines, community service vehicles; the members
of staff at the Ministry, the Minister himself of Transportation for all of their hard work to ensure that the
fellow citizens are met w ith the best quality in transportation service.
With that said, Madam President, I do appr eciate the opportunity to speak really quickly on these matters on the Ministry of National Security and the
Ministry of Transport, and I would like to encourage
the public to have faith in the Government as we do
our part in the Economic Recovery Plan.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Curtis Richar dson. And as you have indicated, you are the Junior
Minister for National Security and Trans port. So thank
you for your submission.
Would any Senator care to speak on the
Throne Speech? Now is your opportunity.
Senator Robin Tucker, you have the floor.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to
give voice or to be able to speak my perspective on
this year’s Throne Speech, which in some ways gives
the general public an idea of what the Government


Bermuda Senate intends to do. To use Minister Peets’ words, it is very
broad strokes .
I would like to start my c omments today by
just noting a quote that I saw on page 1, which is from
British anthropologist Dame Mary Douglas. It says, “If you want to change the culture, you will have to start
by changing the organization.” Madam President, one
of the top considerat ions for driving culture change is
defining values and behaviours. So if I may, Madam
President, I would also like to present another quote,
which I think is quite apropos in this instance.

The President: You may.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you.
The quote is from former Vice Chairman of
Deloitte, Jay Samit. And he said, “It’s not incumbent
on the world to conform to your vision of change. It is
up to you to explain the future in terms that those li ving in the past and present can follow.” So, Madam
Preside nt, desired change, in order for it to happen
successfully, the people who are most impacted by
that change must understand what is required of them
and how it affects them on a foundational level so that
they can align themselves accordingly, and that is the
way that we all win.
So, Madam President, I would like to say that
in reading the Throne Speech, I did note some really
good things. There is a refocus on the creation of [an]
affordable and improved health care system for all of
us; the introduction of the digitised immigration pr ocess; plans to get our young people working; and
something near and dear to my heart, which are add-ed protections for our seniors, our vulnerable and our
children.
But, Madam President, while there are bright
sparks, I think that there are also elements that lack
the detail that is needed for the people of this country
to know in a definitive way the changes that the Government intends to make that will (to use a quote if I
may from page 1 of the Throne Speech?) —

The Presid ent: Yes.
Sen. Robin Tucker: —that will mitigate “the inevitable
shocks that will accompany the period following the
COVID -19 pandemic.”
That statement in itself, Madam President,
when I read it and when I certainly heard it, it gave me a cause to pause because that sounds very much like
a red flag warning that the Government wants to let
people know that we are on a cliff and we are in very, very, very difficult times, but yet even more difficult
times are coming.
So, Madam President, if I may I would l ike to
start with my thoughts on health care, which again I
think that there is no person who is listening today
who would disagree that every person, man, woman
and child should have access to health care. But, Madam President, my question is, While the G overnment is working to reform health care, what are we doing in the interim? What are we doing in the interim
to stabilise the costs so that they do not escalate even
further? Better yet, is there a way to reduce the costs? Because the system is broken; w e all recognise that.
But, Madam President, while we are trying to achieve
an end, we need to be able to have some focus on
what we are doing between point A and point B.
Now, Madam President, it was mentioned as
one of the priorities that there is a focus or attention to increase the population. And in my view, Madam
President, we cannot even have a conversation about
improving the state of health care without increasing
the population. These people, the working population,
are not going to magically appe ar. We have to have
immigration reform that leads us to increasing the
working population in this country. So I look forward
and am very hopeful that this will come to fruition quite
quickly.
Now, Madam President, Senate [Opposition]
Leader Smith mentioned the sugar tax. And I would
also like to mention that as well. It is not a point that I
would like to say a whole lot about, because Senator
Smith mentioned it quite well. But I mention it in r egard to again our steps toward preventative health
[care]. Th at was how it was put to the community. It
would be something that would help us make better
and healthier choices. That is something that again,
between our point A and our point B, to getting to
making some changes in the short term to our health
plan wh ile we are waiting to get to more permanent
and substantive changes.
So the sugar tax, again data driven— where
are the data that it is working? Because I walk past
Marketplace frequently. I walk past there mornings. I
see people outside with their doughnuts and see pe ople lined up at KFC and people lined up at all kinds of
places. My observation; I do not have the data, and that is what I am asking for, [the data] to know, is it
working? Because at the end of the day, we still have
a population of obese people. We have people who
are willing . . . I mean, I will put my hand up. I will go
and spend five dollars for my chocolate. So is it hav-ing the intended consequence? We will not know that without the data. But if we focused on those types of
things while we are working out the health reform, we
can see some substantive changes.
Now, I do not know why we have not seen the
data. The sugar tax, as far as I am aware, came into
being in 2018—plenty of time to be able to collect
some information as to the impac t that it is having. We
need to have targeted preventative care and methods
and education, which is what the sugar tax monies
were intended to fund (or be part of that fund), heightened education. We have social media and media and
all of that. Let us put some of those things out there, incentivise the grocers. There was a mention some
time ago, but we need to be targeted because we
24 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate have some critical, critical things that are going on
with our hospitals with people who are experiencing
all kinds of sicknes ses. And we all know what those
chronic illnesses are.
The drug formulary was also mentioned. That
is another thing. We need to expedite the implement ation of the drug formulary. I, like so many others,
would like to know, when are we going to see the r educed costs for those common prescriptions? I can
say that I am a little concerned, though, and I have
mentioned it in this Senate Chamber before, that while there was a pledge in 2020 not to increase seniors’
health care premiums, a year later there was one. So
when will we be able to see that formulary coming into
place?
So I would have liked to have seen, as it r elates to health care, Madam President, more infor-mation and detail about the preventative steps that
are being taken in the short term while he alth reform
is being worked out.
Switching to the environment, I was very happy to note that there are measures that are being tak-en to create a framework to bring about balance to our
marine environment and to promote sustainability in
our waters. We only have one opportunity to mess up
our environment. And we have to make sure that we
take all of the steps necessary to ensure that we pr otect our marine environment, our entire environment.
We all know that the whole world is going through cl imate change. S o therefore, we all know that we are
on the brink of a climate change disaster. So we have got to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and the like.
So, Madam President, I was very happy to read [about] that in the Throne Speech, and I think that this
is a very positive thing and a step toward where we
are going.
The Youth Employment Strategy, we briefly
talked about a bit of that earlier today. Again, I am very glad to see that steps are being taken to help our
young people to become employed. In the contex t of
the Youth Employment Strategy, I believe our ages
were 18 to 26. So, I am very happy to hear that. The
Labour Force Survey in 2020 did say that our rate of unemployment for that age group was 32 per cent,
which we mentioned. But comparatively, it was less than 4 per cent for persons in both the 35- to-44 age
groups and the 55- to-64 age groups. That is a signif icant difference. And certainly we need to be able to
question why that is. Is it education? Is it social ills? Is
it parenting? Are there things going on in the homes?
What is it? Because that is a significant difference, and I think that it is a good step to putting the Youth Employment Strategy in place and certainly the things
that were outlined earlier here today in terms of the
eight initiativ es to try to bring about some improv ement there.
I do want to note, though, that one of the
statements was that the inability for our youth to be
employed, the lack of opportunity was something that was given as a reason for it. I question whether it is
lack of opportunity. I think, Madam President, that we
need to have a holistic approach to include providing
support for parents, because again, as was already
mentioned here by Senator Smith, there is a level of accountability. So as parents, we all know or we
should know what our children are doing. Therefore, I
believe that we may be at a time where the Gover nment may have to look at accountability measures for
parents.
So some of our parents do not have the tools.
And I am certainly not trying to disparage any parent or their parenting styles. I am simply saying that some
parents do not have the tools in order to raise their
children to become contributing, positive members of
this community. And I believe that it is incumbent on
us individually and us as a community, as well as part of Government’s strategy, to ensure that there are
resources in place in order to help parents who need it
for the benefit of the children.
Seniors and our vulnerable population—[I am]
very happy to see that there is going to be added pr otection in terms of protecting our seniors from financial
abuse. I think this is a great thing. But I also think that
we still have a very long way to go to support and pr ovide for our seniors. I do not believe that we do
enough for our seniors. I do not believe, and I have
mentioned it in this Senate Chamber before, that our
seniors should be bearing the financial burdens that
they have to bear. We have all heard the stories about
seniors having to choose between food and medicine.
My personal o pinion is that seniors have contributed
enough by the time they reach their age of maturity.
So I would have liked to have seen in the Throne
Speech more about what we are doing for our seniors.
There was also a brief mention about our chi ldren, which was a bit surprising to me. In fact, the
quote or (I should say) the statement that was men-tioned about our children was not hardly as long as the quote that came before it. We have all heard the
stories; it is no secret. We have heard stories about
DCFS [Depa rtment of Child and Family Services] and
other issues that are going on. So there is no need for
me to go into that. But what I can say is that in [r esponse to] the Throne Speech we need to be able to
show how important our seniors, our children, our vu lnerable populations are. And I would have liked to
have seen more targeted, more defined, more committed statements about what we are doing [for] them.
Now, Madam President, I have a general
comment, and it actually touches on a couple of areas in regard to education and employment. Part of our
economic recovery depends on enhancing . . . part of
it depends on enhancing our tourism product. Now, central to that is a quote, if I may, from page 8 from
the Throne Speech, which says, “Bermuda must r esolve to prov ide an experience that matches its price
point. Our survival in tourism demands that we give visitors what they want and cannot find better deli vBermuda Senate ered elsewhere.” There was once upon a time, Madam President, our tourism product ––this would have
been the abs olute definition for where we were in
terms of our tourism product and our service delivery.
So I say that, recognising the fact that our two
signature schools, which will be coming online in September, do not have as part of their signatures tourism
and hospitality. I fully recognise that the schools
themselves, from what I understand, chose what their
signatures should be. However, there has not been a
whole lot of focus over the last decade- plus to encourage our Bermudian children. I know there have
been initiatives, so if anybody is busting a gasket, I
know that there have been some entities, Take Five
Ltd. being one of them, who has partnered and has provided some training and all of that. So that is not
what I am saying. I am meaning on a broad Islandwide level, a targeted focus.
So with that, and with the need to be able to
[get to the situation] where we have Bermudians trained and focused and being back in that place of providing optimal service for our visitors , we cannot
wait until Southampton Pri ncess opens again. We
have to do it now. There are so many industries that
are operational. There are so many jobs that are operational in Bermuda that a lot of young people, a lot
of the older people, do not have a clue about in the hospitality and touris m industry. Some people believe
it is just about waiting tables and being a taxi driver and serving drinks. It is so much more than that. It is
so much more vast than that. And we have to have
those broad exposures in order to regenerate the i nterest that we had once upon a time. There is lots of
money to be made in hospitality.

The President: Senator Tucker, if I may interrupt. It is
now 12:30. I am just wondering if you need additional
time, whether or not we would break for lunch and—

Sen. Robin Tucker : Five more minutes?

The President: Or you have got five more minutes.
But certainly we will allow you to continue.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
So, yes. While there is no focus on hospitality
and tourism in the signature schools, I w ould have
liked to have seen and heard that there was some
other focus in the meantime while that is being worked
out. Because, Madam President, we have to grow our
own resources. We have to do it. And I do not think
anybody who is thinking about the futur e will disagree
with that.
There was once upon a time (again) when
some of my Senate colleagues probably were not
born or were very, very young. But there was a time in our hospitality and tourism industry where we built
relationships. It was not about s ervitude; it was about
service. It was about when the individual, you know, the visitor came back and we remembered their
name, remembered what they liked to eat and their
families and the whole nine [yards]. That in my opi nion, Madam President, was our secret sauce to our hospitality industry. It was not so much about just the facility. It was about the people. And we must focus on
us as our people because that is our key. You can go
to any island and get similar . . . beautiful beaches
everywhere, fabulous hotels everywhere.
So in conclusion, Madam President, I just
want to finish up with a couple of things that I would
have liked to have seen, just two things in particular.
One, there was no mention of support for men. I personally have mentioned before in this Chamber that I
think that there is an absolute need for that. We need
a men’s resources centre. We have one for women;
we must have one for men. I would have liked to have seen some things targeted around men and their
needs. Also, I would have lik ed to have seen more
about mental health issues. I recently attended a vi rtual conference that spoke to even the prevalence of
mental health issues and the impact of eating disor-ders on teenagers right now. It is happening right here
in our wonderful Islan d.
So, Madam President, with those thoughts, I
certainly did not expect to speak this long. But I am
thankful, thankful for being able to provide my perspective.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker.
And as I had i ndicated, Senators, it is now
12:33, and we usually break for lunch. So I am seeking your indulgence. We will break for lunch and r eturn at 2:15. Thank you.
Senate is adjourned for lunch. We will be back
at 2:15. Thank you.

Proceedings suspended at 12:33 pm

Proceedings resumed at 2:15 pm

(Sen. the Hon. Joan E. Dillas -Wright, President, pr esiding)

DEBATE ON THE
2021 THRONE SPEECH AND REPLY
[Continuation of debate thereon]

The President: Good afternoon, Senators and the
listening audience. Prior to lunch, we were considering the Throne Speech, which was delivered by Her
Excellency, the Governor, and who was pleased to open the present Session of Parliament. This morning
we had a number of Senators who spoke on the
Throne Speech, and so we are continuing this afte rnoon. I will now ask, is there any Senator who wishes
to speak?
26 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Senator Michelle Simmons, Vice President,
you have the floor.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Good afternoon, everyone.
The President: Good afternoon.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, M adam Pres ident.
Madam President, my fellow Senators and the
public who are listening to this debate, the Speech
from the Throne is a very interesting long- standing
tradition. It is meant to give us some insight into Go vernment’s plans for advancing their l egislative age nda. For the past 21 months, the Government has had to attend to a health crisis caused by the COVID -19
pandemic, and so, the resulting Throne Speech or Speech from the Throne this year contains less detail
than we would have expected in order for us and
members of the public to get a clear sense of what is
coming, a clear sense of how Government is going to advance its agenda.
But let me state clearly before I go on, Madam
President, that the Government’s management of the
pandemic has been commendable. And now, as we learn to live with COVID -19, we must have a renewed
focus on doing the things that will put program mes in
place to benefit all the citizens of this country. I do not
think anyone will deny that Government has had to
. . . everyo ne uses the word “ pivot, ” these days . But
they had to. It was out of necessity and now, they are
getting back to their original agenda.
Madam President, may I read a quote?

The President: You certainly may.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: This quote is from Sir Ken
Robinson, who is an international advisor, and let me
say, it is not our dear Dr. Kenneth E. Robinson, who is
deceased, but this is Sir Ken Robinson. He is an i nternational advisor on education. He is a former pr ofessor of Arts Education in the UK. He, too, is deceased but this is his quote. I will read it: “Transfor ming education is not easy but the price of failure is
more than we can afford, while the benefits of success
are more than we can imagine.” End of quote.
I do not think it will surprise an y of you, or i ndeed, members of the public who know me, to know
that I want to begin my comments on the Throne
Speech with looking at education and education r eform in particular.
Madam President, it is laudable that Gover nment intends to press ahead with some necessary
reform to public education, and I will certainly support
the need for some reform of public education. One of
the things I would like to urge the Government to do is to keep stakeholders well informed and to go to great
lengths to make sure that parents, students, of
course, all those who work in public education know what is happening with regard to the reform of our
public schools.
It was heartening to hear, I believe it was
Senator Ben Smith, say this morning that too many
people decry public education as having failed. Well, I know a lot of young people who have been educated
in our public schools and they have excelled. I know a
lot of people who have been educated in our public schools who have struggled to make advances. But
they persi sted, and they have gotten to where they
wanted to be. So, public education has not failed all of
our young people, but indeed, there is room for i mproving our public education system. As I understand
it, the next step in education reform is going to be th e
introduction of signature programmes at the two exis ting senior schools, that is the Berkeley Institute and
CedarBridge Academy , and that will be happening in
2022. Now notice, I do not refer to these schools as
signature schools. I prefer to say that si gnature pr ogrammes are going to be introduced, because I be-lieve that is what is happening. As I understand it,
both senior schools have chosen special themes around which their signature programmes will be organised. And I need to read this part, Madam Pr esident, if that is okay.

The President: It is. Certainly, you can.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: According to the Speech
from the Throne, CedarBridge Academy will focus on
“Trades for Building Construction and Maintenance”
as well as STEM courses, that is “Sci ence, Technol ogy, Engineering, and Math.” At the Berkeley Institute,
the focus will be on “Finance & Insurance” as well as
“Health and Social Care.” Let me say that the understanding I have so far of what Government’s reform
intends, is that these two schools will be the first schools to offer signature programmes. And by saying
they are the first, that means there are others that will follow. So, somewhere in the background, I assume
there is some planning toward developing other
schools which will offer s ignature programmes. We
have had no information whatsoever on that, and I
think that has kind of left the public in a bit of limbo,
because some people, like my Senator Robin Tucker,
some people are very concerned that there has been
no mention of some important industries in Bermuda
such as tourism, and maybe that is coming in future
schools, which will be offering signature programmes.
We just do not know. So, I appeal again to Gover nment and the Ministry of Education in particular to
keep the public informed. Give us more information
than we need. Make sure that everyone understands what is intended so that we can be supportive.
I do have a few questions about the introduction of signature programmes in September. For example—and these are questions whic h I so far have
not had any answers to— will all students be invited to
engage in signature programmes? One of the reasons


Bermuda Senate I am asking is because in my research, there are si gnature schools overseas that require students to do
some form of competency testin g to demonstrate that
they are appropriately ready to embark upon a signa-ture programme. So, will there be certain standards set for students who wish to move into these signature
programmes? Another question I have is —have
schools confirmed that they have appropriately qual ified and trained staff to teach these programmes? If
the programmes are at a level above what is offered
currently in our schools, then the training and the preparation of teachers to provide those programmes
must be looked at. And then the other question I have
is—how many signature schools or schools that offer
signature programmes are being planned? What is
the bigger picture? Because so far, we are just getting
snippets of the overall plan.
Madam President, I understand that this we ek
the public have been invited to see prototypes of the
signature programmes, and I believe by going to the
Ministry of Education’s website members of the public can register to have a taste of the type of programme
which is described as a senior programm e. They call it
prototyping. I have signed up, and I would encourage
any member of the public who is interested in testing
out the prototype to do the same thing. Just go to the
Ministry of Education’s website.
Madam President, also with regard to educ ation, I wondered, what is happening with regard to
Plan 2022? That was the strategic plan which was
developed about four years ago and was the focus of
many of the efforts to enhance public education. I
cannot recall seeing any annual update since about 2019. So, I wondered, what was happening with r egard to many of the initiatives in Plan 2022, especially
since the public were heavily invested in that strategic
plan and we would all like to have an update. I understand that other things have become priorities for
Government in terms of education reform, but there were many, many strategies in that plan that still
should have been embraced as part of the overall r eform of public education.
And then before I leave education, Madam
President, I just wanted to mention the Education A uthority. The Minister of Education held a press conference last week, I believe, and he referred to work that has occurred toward planning for an Education A uthority. But he did not give a target date for the commencement of such an authority. My questions are,
will such an authority be established before the middle
schools are abolished and the number of primary
schools is reduced? And the reason I am asking that
question is because I believe any reform of public education will benefit greatly from a reform of the Mini stry of Education and the Department of Education. So,
I hope that we can hear a bit more about the timeline for implementing an Education Authority, and also, for
how it will impact on education overall going forward. Madam President, I crafted my comments
today around three Es. I have just dealt with one of
those, that is education. My next “E” is economic r ecovery. Madam President, we all know the success of
Bermuda’s economic recovery plan is vital to our survival, vital to our well -being, vital to the growth of this
country. Unemployment has soared to new highs, and that has been mainly due to businesses either closing
for short or extended periods of time. It has also been
due to some businesses just shuttering their doors
and saying, W e cannot go on any further. This has
affected all ages, from those approaching their senior
years right down to the 18- year-olds. But it sounds as
though from the data I have heard and in view of what
Senator Hodgson presented this morni ng, our young
people have borne the brunt of job losses. So, it is right that the Government should focus on getting our young people to work. It sounds as though there are
many prongs to that plan, and, if I may just quote from
the Throne Speech, Madam Pr esident?
The President: You certainly may.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Government has pledged
to, I quote, “meet the identified needs of unemployed persons between the ages of 18 and 26.” That is the
end of the quote. And they intend to focus on training, training, training.
Madam President, while I agree and support
this, I would just like to share that there should also be
an emphasis on creating an environment for job creation, so that many jobs which have disappeared can be replaced with new jobs. I am happy that in the
Speech from the Throne, Government is intending to
advance legislation to modernise the Bermuda Ec onomic Development Corporation, which has been doing tremendous work in helping new businesses to get
off the ground. But I think there is mor e that can be
done with regard to ensuring that the environment in
the country is conducive to job creation, because we
do need to see more jobs created. Of course, any di scussion of economic recovery must embrace tourism,
because that was the main industr y that employed the
largest number of Bermudians, but that is not the case today. And so, every effort must be made to get tour-ism back on its feet. To do this, the Bermuda Tourism
Authority must lead boldly. They are responsible for
the revitalisation of tourism, and without any doubt I
believe that this can be done. But we need to change
our thinking with regard to how we go about doing
this. And even though I am suggesting that we need to change our thinking about how we revitalise tourism, I am also say ing that we should still look to some
of the old ways to ensure that Bermudians are well
represented throughout all levels in the Bermuda tour-ism industry. That is what visitors want to see. Visitors
want to come to Bermuda and have a Bermuda expe-rience, a nd I recall from years gone by how involved
many Bermudian families were in the tourism industry.
28 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate I have heard of friendships that still go on to this day,
friendships built between visitors and Bermudians who
had encounters here on this Island. Our visitors want
to have encounters with Bermudians. They want to
have experiences in which Bermudians are involved, and as I said earlier from the history of people engaging with Bermudians and building lifelong friendships, I
think that this will keep our visitor s coming back again
and again, and the repeat visitor is welcomed.
Sticking with the economy, Madam President,
I would like to point out that one of the pledges Government made some time ago was that it was going to
reduce or contain the cost of living in Bermuda. We do
not hear very much about the pledge that was made a
few years ago, but we are in such a predicament now, having had an economy negatively impacted for so
long during the pandemic that we must not only seek
to rebuild our economy, but we need to try to put
some brakes on the runaway cost of living. We recognise that this is a mammoth task, because there are
external factors such as the increase in the cost of
everyday items that we must import. There are supply
chain disruptions that we see al l over the news every
night. Those two factors alone are going to make it
difficult, but not impossible to help contain the cost of
living. Under this umbrella, we have food, we have
housing, we have transportation, we have health care
and Government taxes . And so, all of those items contribute to the cost of living and so, all of them need attention. All of them need attention from Government
because Government needs to take the lead in hel ping to contain the cost of living in Bermuda.
Also, Madam President, as we get back on
our feet after living through the worst of the pandemic–– and I am the eternal optimist , I believe the worst
is behind us, at least I pray it is––it is essential to r evert to the work of the Wage Commission, again, not
an easy task. But the Wage Commission did produce
a report entitled “ Recommendations for a Minimum
Wage in Bermuda” in April 2021. So, in April of this
year a report was submitted. What is happening on
that front? As far as the Government’s legislative
agenda is concerned, as I read through the Throne Speech, Madam President, I did not see any reference to pending legislation which will help to address
the issue of a minimum wage, and I will say the other
one, a living wage in Bermuda.
Under this umbrella of trying to keep in check
the runaway cost of living, of course, we cannot talk about the cost of living without talking about health
care, and the reform of health care. I am happy to see
that Government has taken a step back and intends to engage with stakeholders again to make sure that as
they develop an integrated health care model, that
there is greater buy-in from all of those who are key
stakeholders and key providers in the health care i ndustry. Government has acknowledged, Madam President, that achieving affordable universal health care
is a multi- year commitment, and I certainly endorse that. This is not something that will happen overnight.
If you do any research on countries that have intr oduced universal health care, it took years. And so,
let’s not jump befor e we have a clear plan for universal health care that is affordable.
Madam President, I am still on economic
things. And another commission that we have not heard very much about lately is the Tax Reform
Commission. When the Tax Reform Amendment Act
was passed by the Legislature in January of this year,
the intention, I thought, was for a new commission to
be appointed and provide recommendations that
would go forward into the next budget cycle. So, I am
asking because I have not heard, maybe it is happening, but has the Commission been established? And if
so, will they be submitting something that will be i ncluded in the budget cycle?
Madam President, as I get close to the of my
remarks, my third “E” is the environment. I want to
share a few thoughts with r egard to our natural env ironment, and I hope that those listening will under-stand the magnitude of this issue—the care of our
natural environment. Over the past weekend, I found it
intriguing to watch some of the sessions of the United
Nations Climate Change Conference, referred to as
COP26. Delegates wrestled with the extent to which
they were prepared to go back to their respective
countries and make changes to behaviours. It really was an interesting experience watching some of the
sessions. Everyone there recognis ed that our env ironment is under serious threat. In fact, in my opinion,
this is the greatest threat that the entire world is fac-ing. But I found it very heartening, Madam President,
that some of the independent small island states were
at the t able giving very , very strong representation.
And I know that Minister Roban was there representing Bermuda.
Madam President, according to environmental
scholars, the biggest threat to the earth is climate
change. I will repeat that. The biggest threat to the
earth is climate change. We have seen increased i ntensity of natural phenomena such as hurricanes, flooding, droughts, wildfires, all caused by climate
change.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: There is no need for us to
speculate as to why it’s happening. It’s happening b ecause we are abusing our environment.
Madam President, I would just like to read a
quote from NASA.

The President: You certainly may.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: NASA has confirmed that
the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has i ncreas ed from 280 parts per million to 400 parts per
million in the last 150 years. And it is all caused, for
the greater part, by the burning of fossil fuels, destruction of forests and other human activities, but the


Bermuda Senate prime culprits are fossil fuel burning and the cutting
down of our trees. Even more shocking, sea levels
have risen by one to four feet just since 2010, and that
is caused largely by the shrinking Arctic ice caps. And
they are shrinking because they are being affected by global warming, climate change.
I refer once again to COP 26, where the voices
of many indigenous people were heard. It was good to
hear them around the table since their environments
are the most severely impacted. Remember, Bermuda
is a small Island in the middle of the Atlantic.
Madam President, if there is any issue on
which we need to work together, it is this: We all need
to come together and plan how we are going to r educe our carbon footprint right here in Bermuda. We
need to come together and decide how we are going
to protect our environment. It is our one and only nat ural resource. In fact, as I thought about these remarks, I said that one of the things I would urge every single
school on this Island to do is to start, and I know many
of them already have this, but they all need to have an environmental club in which our young people, our
children and youth, are engaged in learning about the
natural environment and what needs to be done to
protect it for themselves and for future generations.
Not only should they be discus sing this, but our young
people need to look at how they can be part of the
solution by demanding policy changes by government
and by businesses.
At COP26 voices of our young people were
heard. They were angry because they have seen some of the consequences of the decisions that adults
have made. Here in Bermuda, I think we need to make a more demonstrative commitment to renew able energy schemes. I know there has been a lot of
talk, but how many commitments to moving forward
have actually been made? Perhaps it is necessary for
government to get even more involved in pushing and
prodding to encourage the largest consumers of fossil
fuels here in Bermuda to make changes. And we
know where they are. But targets should be set for
reducing our collective carbon f ootprint, and it needs
to be done sooner rather than later. And I believe that
if we get our young people involved, if we really listen
and hear their voices, we will have to make change
because it is their world that we are affecting.
And then, Madam Pr esident, we cannot talk
about the environment without mentioning disposal of
our waste. Tynes Bay has already been mentioned
this morning in the debate. I wanted to share that I did
some research on Tynes Bay which actually became
operational in May 1994, so it has been around for 27
years. And I believe, according to what I read, that it
has outlived its natural life. Therefore, it would have
been appropriate to have a plan for the replacement
of this facility some time ago. Unfortunately, we are working f rom a point of . . . well, we are behind the
eight ball. And, Madam President, there is no doubt in my mind that the facility needs some serious attention and Government must step up and provide for a new
facility, if that is what is needed, or a drastical ly refu rbished Tynes Bay so that we can continue to safely
dispose of our waste and generate electricity and the
concrete ash that has been used in building.
So, Madam President, the main message
here is that all of us, every single person who resides
in Bermuda, as well as the Government, we all need
to commit to being good stewards of our environment,
our natural environment. And I am going to end with
the quote from Lady Bird Johnson, who said, . . . if I
may read it, Madam President?

The President: You certainly may, Senator Simmons.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: The environment is where
we all meet, where we all have a mutual interest; it is
the one thing all of us share. ”
Since the environment is something that we
all share, we all need to share respons ibility for maintaining it and leaving it in a better state than when we
found it.
So, Madam President, thank you for listening,
and those are my three “Es”: Education, the economy
and the environment.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak at this
time?
Senator Lindsay Simmons, you have the floor.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, I want to thank Senator
Robin Tucker and Senator Michelle Simmons for
bringing up en vironment. As I am the Junior Minister
of Home Affairs, I want to say that this Government is
committed to the strongest level of environmental pr otection, sustainability and climate action.
Minister Walter Roban is 100 per cent committed to protecting our environment, from marine to
even [doing] away with single- use plastic. And Madam
President, April of this year the Government of Ber-muda made our commitment clear to the aspiration of the Paris Agreement. As the Statement outlined, we
will reduce the car bon footprint, protect our environment and our [fragile] ecosystem.
Madam President, if I could just read som ething from the Throne Speech?
The President: Yes, you may, Senator Simmons.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: As the Throne Speech outlined, “Bermuda is a treasure trove of environmental
wealth, a critical habitat for marine biodiversity, . . . .”
It also states, Madam President, “As a small island
vulnerable to the effects of climate change, Bermuda
30 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate must be a leader in the fight to save the planet for f uture generations.”
And you touched on that, Senator [Michelle]
Simmons.
During this session, the Government will i ntroduce a Marine Development Act which will include
a marine spatial plan identifying the 20 per cent pr otected area of Bermuda’s EEZ. The A ct will also cr eate a framework to balance development and sustai nability, providing an application process for the i nvestment in fishing, offshore renewable energy and
“blue tourism.”
Madam President, we have been a successful
partner with the Waitt Fou ndation and the Bermuda
Institute of Ocean Sciences [BIOS] to develop a plan to balance the protection of our marine assets. The
Deputy Premier, Walter Roban, has made sure that all
departments under his Ministry are doing what they
have to do to help save our environment.
I want to commend the Department of Home
Affairs for going over and beyond. I sit in meetings
with the Minister and he is 100 per cent getting us b ehind renewable energy and some of the things going to different places to make sure that we are using r enewable energy to help with reducing our carbon footprint. So thank you to that Ministry.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, very much, Senator Lindsay Simmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak at this
time?
Is there no other Senator wanting to speak at
this time?
Senator Darrell, are ready to . . .

Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President.

The President: You have the floor.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I would like to remind the
listening public as well as all my Senators the title, the
topic, of this year’s Throne Speech, if I may?
The President: Yes, you certainly may.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Social Renewal & Economic R ecovery Working together to move Bermuda beyond
the pandemic .
Madam President, I would like to take a few
moments to speak on the issue of working together. In
the year that I have been in this place, Madam Pres ident, I have learned a lot. I learned a lot from you,
thank you. I have learned a lot from my Senate colleagues. I have learned a lot from the Opposition
Senators, and I have also learned a lot from the Independent Senators. So, I do want to applaud everyone
who comes to this place on a Wednesday and also the individuals who attend other places on Fridays,
morning and afternoon, for the work that everyone is
doing to move Bermuda beyond the pandemic. I must
say that sometimes the different talking points and the
different strategies get a little confusing, but I do think that all of us, elected or appointed, are working t ogether to move Bermuda beyond the pandemic.
Madam President, before I dive into and applaud the Progressive Labour Party Government on
this Throne Speech, I cannot and will not let the opportunity pass to show my Senate colleagues who wear red, [who are] part of the One Bermuda Alliance,
that I was indeed listening to their contributions to this
debate. And of course, I am also obligated to explain
or remind them that some of their points may have
been completely off base. And that is my opinion,
Madam President.
Madam President, if I may start and speak on
some of the points that the OBA Senate Leader gave
in his contribution, I would like to give his contribution a title, Madam President. I would call it the 41- minute
doom- and-gloom speech. Senator Smith started off in
a pretty good space where I thought that he was crediting the Progressive Labour Party Government for
finally, (and I quote) “changing the culture of the organisation.” In his words he used (I will paraphrase)
accountability and putting plans in place. I think he
went down that line.
Unfortunately, Madam President, in my opi nion, his speech went downhill fast. And if I may par aphrase Senator Smith, he boldly said that Bermuda
was not in a great place prior to the pandemic.
Oh, really?
Madam President, I wonder why.
Let me take the opportunity, Madam Pres ident, if I may to lay down a marker right now. Berm uda was in a bad place because previous Governments
decided to burn money [by] bad, bad decision- making,
and they left us debt, upon debt, upon debt. And I
know that we politicians like to list things that we have
done right and things that we have done wrong. But I
am going to make it simple. I will lay my marker at the
feet of three decisions made by a former Government
in red: Morgan’s Point to the tune of $200 million; an
airport deal gone horribly wrong to the tune of $41
million and rising; and how can we forget their boat
race, the America’s Cup, Cross Island payment that
we are still paying to WEDCO to the tune of almost $5
million per year.
So, yes, I agree with Senator Smith. Bermuda
was in a bad place long before this pandemic. And we
have a Finance Minister who is literally working day
and night to figure out a way out of this mess, this
huge debt. It is not a good place. And then comes the
pandemic.
Then Senator Smith discussed his version of
accountability. Madam President, I will paraphrase again. The OBA Senate Leader said that the Progressive Labour Party should be held accountable, that


Bermuda Senate voters were switched off at the last election just over a
year ago.
That is just not true, Madam President.

Sen. Ben Smith: Point of order, Madam President.
The President: Senator Smith, what is your point of
order.

POINT OF ORDER
Sen. Ben Smith: My statement was not about the
PLP Government. I was not putting the responsibility and accountability on them. It was overall accountabi lity. So, if he is going to make mention of what I said,
make sure that he does not paint it that I was pointing
fingers at the PLP Government al one.

The President: Your point is taken.
Senator Darrell, you may —
Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President, thank you.
I will change that. He said that accountability
must be had that voters were switched off at the last election.
I will put it this way, M adam President. I did
not teach math in high school; however, it was clear
that there was one segment of the community who
were turned off at the last election because by the
numbers that I have run, by the numbers that I have
looked at post -election, almo st every single constit uency and every single candidate in the 2020 election
who ran for the Progressive Labour Party actually i ncreased their vote percentage. Flip it the other way,
and almost every single candidate who ran for the
One Bermuda Alliance lost vote percentage.
So I would say, Madam President, that the only individuals who were switched off at the last elec-tion were OBA voters. But that should not surprise us
because we have heard time and time again in this
place individuals from the other s ide come up with
every excuse that they can find about why we took our
vote count significantly higher than it was before O ctober 1, 2020.
Then Senator Smith mentioned planning
down the line. I will speak more about this topic in a
moment. But I would agree with Senator Smith on one
part, and I will say this, proper preparation prevents a
poor performance. And as was mentioned by another
Senator a moment ago, we have got a capital asset
that is failing, and here we are scratching our heads
trying to come up with all sorts of plans to ensure that
we do not have to return [to taking] our waste to the
landfill.
Now, I might be new on the scene, Madam
President, but I am also a historian and I have been
told that prior to 2012, around about December, there
were plans in place to overhaul and renovate the
Tynes Bay incinerator. We all know what happened. Later that year there was a Government that took over
and they felt that the plans that were in place were not
good enough, or they would put them on a shelf and
they would take the money that was put aside to renovate Tynes Bay and spend it elsewhere. I will repeat. Like a boat race, like an airport, and a bad Morgan’s
Point deal. And they talk about planning, when they
left the plans to solve our was te problem sitting on the
shelf?
So I do not accept that the Progressive Labour Party Government has failed to plan. I do not
accept that at all. You can have all the plans in place,
Madam President, but if you do not know how to ex ecute and instead you want to thr ow money at shiny
things instead of practical things, of course, to quote
the Senator again, we will find ourselves in a bad sit uation.
Senator Smith started giving us some nu mbers. He reckoned that the project will cost $100 mi llion to fix Tynes Bay. He even asked, Where are we
going to find the money from? [There was] $200 mi llion, $41 million, $20 million and rising, wasted. By my
math we would have enough money to do Tynes Bay
with money in the bank.
Madam President, I would like to speak on the
contribution by Senator Robin Tucker. While far more
congratulatory with the Government’s plans, she also
had some comments that grabbed my attention with a curious statement of her own. I will paraphrase again;
I am sure if I get it wrong she will remind me.
She mentioned that Government may have
been signalling difficult times ahead by also saying
that times are going to get harder. But Madam Pres ident, I hate to break it to you or my good Senate co lleague on the other side, but this is not new information. We have been screaming this reality for the
last year and a half. We knew this when the Progres-sive Labour Party was elected in 2020. And we knew
that we were elected to provide strong leadership, to make tough decisions, to see this country through the
pandemic and the severe negative economic impact
that it brought and that was still coming.
So she is absolutely right, but we are not hi ding that. We have made that point over and over and
over again. And just a suggestion to Senator Tucker, Madam President, if I may, that she pay very close
attention to the countless ministerial briefings that the
Government Ministers are [giving], almost daily, which
go into great detail about [the] many initiatives laid out
in this year’s Throne Speech.
I am sure that the third Senator from that side
will have many great things to say about the 2021 Throne Speech delivered by the Progressive Labour
Party.
[Inaudible interjections and laughter ]
Sen. Owen Darrell: Absolutely. However, Madam
President, if I can contin ue. Enough about what Sena32 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate tors from the other side have said. Madam President, I
would like to take this opportunity to applaud the Go vernment team for this Throne Speech, and not only
the Ministers but the entire Progressive Labour Party
team, some who si t here and some who sit in another
place, for showing Bermuda that this Government has
put together a plan, and we intend to execute on that
plan.
My former [school] principal will love this part.
I learned many years ago from sitting in the Berkeley
Institute Founder’s Day ceremonies that it is important
to recognise the heroes amongst you as well as the
ones who have come before you. So, Madam Pres ident, I am going to take a few minutes and I am act ually going to recognise the team of Progressive Labour P arty Ministers who are working diligently to put
plans in place and execute the plan.
On Founder’s Day they just used to call their
last names. So with no disrespect, Madam President,
I would just like to recognise and thank Burt, Roban,
Simmons, Ming, Ha yward, Rabain, Scott, Burch,
Furbert and Furbert again. (It is like one of them was a
senior and one of them was a junior at Berkeley.)

[Crosstalk]

Sen. Owen Darrell: Dickinson, Peets and Wilson.
Those are the Ministers who took time and laid out a
plan of social renewal and economic recovery for this
country. Those are the Ministers who are working t ogether to move Bermuda beyond the pandemic.
However, those Ministers do not do it alone.
They are supported by technical officers. And they are
also supported by elected officials who sit in another
place. And, yes, Madam President, if I may, I will call
them by name as well.

The President: Mm-hmm.
Sen. Owen Darrell: Swan, Foggo, Burgess, Richar dson, Campbell, Famous, Caines, Weeks, Adams, Simmons -Wade, Tyrell, Lister III, De Silva, Wade,
Caesar, Simmons, and not to leave out my colleagues
who sit in this place. Junior Ministers Hodgson, Si mmons, Richardson.
Madam President, without everyone working
together to move Bermuda beyond this pandemic we
would not be as successful as we are beginning to
realise.
As I said in a Ministerial Statement this mor ning, Madam President, 9 of the 31 initiatives in our
Economic Recovery Plan have actually been com-pleted. And this Government will continue to work day
in and day out to execute on the other 22 so that the
people of Bermuda can see the cost of living reduced,
increased economic activity, and jobs.
Madam President, I would like to take the time
now just to touch on a few topics that I found extrem ely intrig uing in this year’s Throne Speech. Just like Senator Simmons, I am sure it will come as no surprise to anyone that the first one I decide to discuss or
touch on or applaud is the topic of education. And I
would like to give a story, and this story actually goes
along the lines of something that Senator Smith said
earlier. That the public perception of students that
have gone to or currently are in public education must
change.
It comes as no surprise that when I hear these
types of comments in the communit y, I take them personally, as I did teach for 15 years. I currently have
my children who are public education, and many of
my closest friends are successes of public education.
So I want to tell this story. I was at a place on Friday
evening celebrating. T here was a young man next to
me who holds a pretty good position in our community, jobwise.
And someone said to him , Hey, what school
did you go [to]?
The guy proudly said, I went to CedarBridge
Acade my.
And [the other] guy said, Really? Well, you
must have got some special lessons on the side because I haven’t seen anybody as smart as you with a
job like you [have] come out of that place.
Needless to say, Madam President, I almost
jumped out of my chair. And as I just said a moment
ago, I take comment s like that personally. And along
the same vein of [what] I just [mentioned] a moment
ago, I can tell you that classmates of mine who went
to the Berkeley Institute, like Branch Pilot Mr. Chad
Townsell, Dr. Ayesha Peets [and] Ms. Tenia Wool-ridge, some of us may know, are graduates of the
Berkeley Institute, class of 1997. And I, for one, as
well as their principal as well as their teachers cannot
be more proud of the things that these individuals and
others continue to do as examples of public educ ation.
[Let me] talk about some of my former st udents, Natasha Simmons , who is a top nurse at the
Bermuda Hospitals Board, a graduate of CedarBridge
Academy. Mr. Tashon Talbot , Tiffany Austin —one
went to CedarBridge and one went to Berkeley —hold
managerial positi ons at the Bermuda Monetary A uthority. Mr. Temar Richards, a top actuary in Bermuda,
graduate of CedarBridge Academy. Ms. Dejanee Hill -
Edwards, in the insurance world, a graduate of the
Berkeley Institute. Ms. Kimika Jackson, Ms. Shalini
Johnson, and Ms. A lexa Lightbourne. There is no
shortage of examples of individuals who are success stories of [Bermuda’s] public education.
So, I do agree with Senator Simmons that we
need to move away from that type of language. And I
will finish off with the Education M inister’s daughter,
my daughter, my son, who we entrust the teachers in
the public education system to give them the best education possible.
So I am happy to see in this Throne Speech,
Madam President, that the Government is determined


Bermuda Senate to transform publ ic education. And I smiled when
Senator Simmons mentioned the prototyping that is
actually happening now. And if I may just read a quote
from an individual who is actually taking part in this
prototyping, actually today. And I just asked, So, tell
me what you are doing.
He said, Basically, what is happening is they
are breaking down the main areas: teaching; training;
timetabling; tech advisory partnerships; and having
different stakeholders, teachers, students, private companies participate in the prototyp ing with role- play
activities to understand what the process would look like when the signature schools reform.
And a major piece is having the stakeholders
provide their feedback and their experience on how we can better the process. And there is no short age of
individuals who will come up to me and they will be
excited to say, Hey, I’m working on the Learning First
team. You know I am part of the transformation of the
public education system.
So there is lots of excitement that is in the
community about w hat this Government is doing to
advance the transformation of public education.
Again, to reiterate, this Government is committed to
improving education outcomes.
Madam President, the next topic I would like
to highlight out of this Throne Speech put toget her by
the Government is health care.
I pride myself in getting into the community.
Yes, I lost an election; but I made connections with individuals in Smith’s South. One individual I went
back to see on Saturday. And this individual said,
Senator Darrell , there is one thing that I have been
screaming for for years and years, and that is affordable health care.
And although some changes have been
made, FutureCare and the support [for the] uninsured, the support [for the] pregnant women, obviously those
changes come with a little bit of an increased cost.
However, one of the fundamental plans, and it is laid out in our Throne Speech, of the Bermuda Economic
Recovery, is actually to reduce the cost and to move
to universal health care. And I am glad to see t hat the
Progressive Labour Party has stated again that this is
one of their priorities and that this will be accelerated
very shortly.
And as I left the gentleman I went to see on
Saturday, I assured him that this Government is f ocused on delivering affor dable and essential health
care for all.
Madam President, I would like to touch on the
youth. And I agree that, although we have success stories, we are losing far too many youth to [a neg ative part of] society. As we heard from the Junior Mi nister earlier, whether it comes with youth unemplo yment . . . we heard a report tabled by the Minister ea rlier about the National Youth Policy. And I would like
to applaud this Government for getting the youth i nvolved because this National Youth Policy was actua l-ly put together by some of the brightest and most dedicated young people in this community. So that shows
a commitment of this Government that the youth are
important. And it also shows that there are intelligent
and switched- on youth who are up to the task of assisting with the changes that this country needs.
Madam President, I would also like to applaud
the work and applaud this Government as they look to improve the work of the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation. I have individuals who are very
close to me, again, friends and family, that have ben efited greatly in their entrepreneurial pursuits due to the
work and the assistance of the Bermuda Economic
Development Corporation. And I am glad to see that
this Government won’t just rest on its laurels and point
at success stories. But, as it says, and I quote . . .
may I, Madam President?

The President: You certainly may.

Sen. Owen Darrell: “The Government will advance
legislation to modernise the Bermuda Economic D evelopment Corporation . . . .” And this would sit direc tly in line with Bermuda’s Economic Recovery. And this is a breath of fresh air to individuals who have long
grown tired of monotonous red tape that may hold
their entrepreneurial dreams from progressing. I am also happy to see the work of the Mini ster of Social Development and Seniors to see that the
Government is actually going to advance amendments in the area of a senior abuse register Act. Also,
to protect seniors —and this is a big one, it is huge. It
is actually very low, it is ver y sad, but seniors who are
victims of financial abuse. And a lot of times that comes from direct, close family members. So I am
glad to see that also along with seniors that this Government is going to strengthen some of the protection
on protecting childr en. Much has been said and Sen ator Tucker did speak on this earlier. Much has been
said about the Department of Child and Family Services.
And I am glad to see . . . again, I will go back
to execution. As I am the Junior Minister of Public Works, I have to point out again, as I mentioned earl ier, and if I go back to the beginning on page 1, Madam President, of the Throne Speech, one of the ope ning lines was . . . and if I may quote?

The President: You certainly may.
Sen. Owen Darrell: “Changes that were deferred
have now become imperative for survival. Changes
that were resisted now transcend stubbornness, as
resistance is negligent for future generations.”
There is no greater example of this negl igence of past Governments than where we find ourselves wit h the infrastructure failures of Tynes Bay.
We can sit here and some may accuse me of pointing
fingers; I am just bringing awareness. However, I am
34 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate happy to see that this Government . . . again, if I may
quote, Madam President?

The President: Yes, you may .
Sen. Owen Darrell: [This Government] has come up
with in “Bermuda’s Economic Recovery Plan, a cross -
ministry project management team has been formed
to accelerate the replacement of Tynes Bay and the
upgrading of Bermuda’s waste management and w ater inf rastructure.” So, again, we have plans and we
are shown to be willing and able to swiftly execute those plans.
As I spoke earlier this morning, Madam Pres ident, other areas of interest for Public Works is the
new marina. We also see with new hotel developments there are other infrastructure projects that will
be happening very shortly. And I was actually told during the lunch break that some of these strategic plans
will actually be starting before the end of this month.
I would like to touch on one las t point and I
think Senator Smith may have raised this again, but
after 41 minutes I may have missed it. But it touches
on the issue of national security. And I hate to do this,
but I just want to bring awareness that in 2014 there
was said to be a 20- year review of the Island’s prisons
and the infrastructure. Madam President, this should
come to no surprise to you, again, as what I have laid
out before. This 20- year review in 2014 was not done.
This is just another example of how the former One
Bermuda All iance Government decided that it was not
important at the time to take care of maintenance and
take care of necessary infrastructure improvements.
So I am glad to see that, again in the spirit
and the vein of execution, this Progressive Labour
Party Government has decided it is important to upgrade the CCTV system which will not only tackle bad
behaviour on our roads, but it will also assist in hel ping the police to tackle violent crime.
So, Madam President, I would like to finish my
contribution to this debate on a happier note. And that
note is pointing out Bermudian excellence that we
have seen come to the fore throughout this pandemic. And I am not bragging, but as my former principal
does, I will never miss the opportunity to highlight my
former students who are doing well. So as you would see in this Throne Speech, this Progressive Labour
Party Government pointed out the hard work and the
scholarships earned by Cyana Burgess , graduate of
the Berkeley Institute (I may add). Also, the work of Ms. Andira Crichlow , graduate of the Berkeley Inst itute, as well as her brother. And this excellence has
kept smiles on the faces and continued to give ind ividuals in this community hope that working together
we will continue to move Bermuda beyond the pandemic. Than k you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell.
Would any other Senator care to speak? I see the hand of Senator Jones. Marcus, you
have the floor.
Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
I must say that over the last 30 to 35 minutes I
have been entertained, if nothing else. And I have had
to basically rip up my speech—
[Laughter]
Sen. Marcus Jones: —throw it in the dustpan of hi story and address, quite candidly and targeted, some
of the misconceptions, some of the (shall we say) u nsubstantiated claims made by the esteemed Gover nment Senator Owen Darrell.
But before I get to Senator Darrell, let me first
address Senator Richardson who raised the issue
about the airport and the $41 million that is now being
spent on the mi nimum revenue guarantee. And just
for the purpose of educating, and bringing a little bit of context not only to my colleagues here in the Senate
but also to the listening audience, we have to go back in time and try not to be revisionists of history because
one can easily fall into that trap, Madam President,
when we delve and wade into the waters of politics.
And so it is important that we straighten the record.
Madam President, you know, without me even
going into too much detail that after 14 years of governing this country, the PLP Government had left the
coffers fairly bare. And there is no point going back
down that road, but just for the record, the OBA Go vernment that came into power in 2012 had to be innovative, had to be creative, had to find wa ys not only on
their first day on the job of covering the payroll of its civil servants, but also finding ways to keep the engine
running. And we find throughout their time in office,
from 2012 until 2017, they were able to not only pull Bermuda back from the brink financially, but they were
also able to put projects in place that was able to
stimulate the economy.
Some of those projects, Madam President,
are still reaping benefits in this country. I would hate to see where Bermuda would have been without the
stimulus of America’s Cup. I would hate to think where Bermuda would have been without the stimulus of new hotels. I would hate to think where Bermuda
would be without an airport that was built in time, was
built that offered many jobs and opportunities to Bermudians who otherwise would not have found work.
Madam President, we must follow the facts. We must
not change history; we must see it for what it is.
Now, we are made to understand that the
Progressive Labour Party Government —

Sen. Owen Darrell : Madam President, point of information.
The President: Do you accept a point of information?



Bermuda Senate Sen. Marcus Jones: No, I don’t yield, Madam Pres ident. There were many things that the Senator raised
that I could have raised . . . I just wanted him to say
what he wanted to say. I thank you for allowing me to
speak.
Madam President, now, as it comes to the
airport, we are made to understand that this Progressive Labour Party Government was prepared to go
into debt to build a new airport —go into debt when
Bermuda was already over the red line of debt as it
was. Even if there wasn’t a new hotel, Madam Pres ident, this Government would have to pay minimum
revenue guarantee whether we had a new airport or
not.
I am glad to say, Madam President, we have
a new air port. I am glad to say, Madam President, it is
the envy of the world. I am glad to say, Madam Pres ident, it is a place where you feel good about coming
into your country without putting the Government and
this country into more debt to the tune of hundreds of
millions of dollars. We were able to be creative. We
were able to be innovative, and able to put a new ai rport in this country that we can all be proud of. Madam President, I now switch over to Tynes
Bay, again.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Point of clarification, Madam
President.
The President: Do you accept a point of clarification?
Sen. Marcus Jones: I do not yield, Madam President.
The President: Carry on.

Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you very much.
Now, let’s talk about Tynes Bay. Now, Tynes
Bay, we wer e made to understand by this Throne
Speech, is part of their Economic Recovery Plan.
Now, less we forget, as much as this Government
would like to say that there was nothing put towards
that Tynes Bay [Treatment] Facility while the OBA
was in power, I have done my research, Madam President. And I am happy to say that in 2014/15, the OBA
Government injected $12 million for brand- new
equipment for the Tynes Bay [Treatment] Facility.
Now, that was six years ago, Madam Pres ident. And what did that do? That new equipment, in
addition to the $1 million that was used to build a custom-made facility to house that new equipment, succeeded in allowing us to be able to double the electri city output of that facility. So the idea that the facility has to be entirely rep laced six years later rings hollow.
I recognise the fact that the Government is
looking for projects to do. I get that. But we must ask the question: How much maintenance, how much tak-ing care of that equipment has been invested into that
$12 million capital upgrade since 2014? I leave it to
my fellow colleagues here in the Senate. I leave it to the listening audience to pick the bones out of that
one.
Now, Madam President, one would think that
Senator Darrell is the Opposition. He spent the major ity of his time picking and coming at the Opposition
party rather than spend more time applauding and
celebrating his own Government’s Throne Speech.
But be that as it may, Madam President, I will have to
say this, when Ben Smith spoke about their being apathy wi thin the community in regard to elections, let
me give you some numbers that will shine some light
and give proof that in fact we dealt with a country that
had lost sight and lost interest in politics and elections.
In 2007, 76 per cent of the electorate turned
out to vote. In 2012, 71 per cent of the electorate
turned out to vote. In 2017, 72 per cent of the electorate turned out to vote.
Madam President, do you care to guess how
many showed up in 2020 to vote? There was 55 per
cent!
Well, you may ask, Well, 55 per cent, has
Bermuda ever been that low? No, Madam President.
One can pull lots of reasons from out of the sky of why there was so much voter apathy. One could claim, as I
have heard on the doorsteps, as I have knocked on
the doors of a constituency that I ran in, many of those
excuses were that many of our people were afraid to come out to vote, because in the midst of a pandemic, in the midst of a time when Bermuda was at its height
of a crisis, this Government called an election. It
looked beyo nd the health and safety of its people and
decided that the pursuit of power was far more i mportant than the care and the health and the safety of
its people. That is undeniable. When you knock on the
doors, that is the answer that you get. So that is a li ttle
spiel about the electorate.
Madam President, the PLP Government over
the last 22 years has been in power for 18 years. Eighteen years of those 22 years. The OBA Gover nment has been in power for five years. I would say to
you, most respectfully, Madam President, that if I was
the Government in power for over 70 per cent of the
time over the last 22 years, I would see far more i mprovement in my country than I have seen today.
Rather than go down the list of debt that is out
of control, rather than go down the list of education
that has taken a hard knock, rather than go down the
list of all sorts of facilities that have been run down
and not maintained, Madam President, let’s suffice it
to say that I suggest that the Senator to my left who
just spoke before me practice a little bit of humility when discussing the affairs of this country when it was
his party, it was his Government that has been in
power for this amount of time and we are in the situ ation that we are today.
Now, Madam President, with t hose words of
rebuttal to what I have heard for the last 40 minutes,
allow me to now proceed to talk about this year’s
Throne Speech. Now, Madam President, throughout
36 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate the deliberations and throughout the speeches that we
have heard today , and even in another place, very few
of the speakers have begun their discourse without
first referencing this pandemic crisis. It is not som ething that we like to talk about. It is not something that
we are proud of or happy about. When we think about
the many family member s, friends and neighbours it is
fair to say that most of us have been touched in the
realm of deaths within our families, amongst our
friends, we are all going through a national mourning
for the people who we love that have come under this pandemic. It is undeniable.
We also realise that this pandemic has had an
incredible negative impact upon our economy. Is it the only thing that has impacted this economy to put it where it is today? No. But it is the number one thing.
That goes without saying.
So, whe n I listened to the Throne Speech that
was read two weeks ago, I was very much interested
to see what the Government had in place and planned
to use (the word that I guess has been overused) to “pivot” from a position of crisis management to a pos ition of (in their words) social renewal and economic recovery. And one of their planks, one of their building
blocks for economic recovery planning, is to increase
the residential population.
Now, Madam President, what I found in that
Throne Speech as it relates to immigration was a se ntence that talked about enhancing the digital ability
and capacity of the Immigration Department. Now,
Madam President, as much as I am very much happy
that we are looking at a system that is going to allow
the processing of permits to be far more efficient, I do
not see that as a building block for actually bringing
about the massive immigration reform that this country
needs. After all, our first and initial stab at legislation
for immigration in this country goes back, way back,
into the 1940s.
And since that time, there have been amendments on amendments upon amendments that make
the original legislation look like Swiss cheese. What
this country needs is an overhaul of its immigration
legislation. It needs bold leadership!
Now, m any people on that side have, and
quite rightly, complained that immigration in this coun-try was used to hold down a certain sector of this country. No one can deny that. That is in fact true. But
now that you are the Government, now that you hold
all the cards in determining the pathway forward for
immigration and increasing the residential population
in this country, then you need to go ahead and do it.
There is no one to stop you.
In this Westminster political system that we
work in, the governing party holds all the chips. The
Opposition party gets their opportunity to critique, but ultimately the right and privilege to govern a country rests on the shoulders of the party that has won the
Government. So, no excuses. No hiding. It is out there
clear for all this country to see that immigration reform sits at the feet of this present government. What they
are suggesting that could bring about monumental
change within this immigration reform is simply superficial and window dressing.
Madam President, we h ave seen and heard
with the actual Economic Recovery Plan that was
rolled out back in March of 2021 that only up until a
month ago has there been a subcontractor contracted
to manage this project. So, nine months from its initial
rollout, we then get a statement from the Government
that KPMG has been recruited to manage this Ec onomic Recovery Plan.
Nine months is a long time, Madam President.
Many people have lost jobs. Many businesses have gone under. And we are waiting nine months to put a
team together to get the job done. Not good enough;
we got to do better.
This Government needs to be nimble. This
Government needs to be quick. This Government
needs to move at the speed of business in order for
us to stay above water. And as the Opposition we are
duty-bound to hold this Government’s feet to the fire.
We have to do it. People’s lives are at stake. People’s
health is at stake. People’s piece of mind is at stake,
Madam President.
So, we find with this Economic Recovery Plan
that KPMG has been recruited to manage the pr ocess. Do we not have enough people in the Ministry of
Finance to do this? There are many talented people in
this Ministry who I believe can do it. Or is it that we do
not enough people? Madam President, we have the
largest number of civil servants per capita than an ywhere else in the world. You have got to be kidding
me! A population of 64,000 has over 5,000 civil ser vants at its disposal. But yet this Government finds it important and necessary that, with this bloated civil
service, they h ave to go outside and subcontract and
find others to do the job. It is not just the Finance Mi nistry, Madam President, it is also in the legal fraternity.
This Government has to go outside of its D epartment of Public Prosecutions [DPP] to find a law
firm to represent it, while we are paying hundreds of
thousands of dollars, yes, [thousands and millions] of
dollars to staff -up these ministries. That is fundamentally wrong. That is fundamentally mismanagement of
the people’s purse, Madam President.
Now, wit h this Economic Recovery Plan we
are getting a sense that it needs the muscle of one of the top four financial services companies not only in
Bermuda, but in the world. We say to ourselves, How
can we do this job without incurring so much ex-pense?
Now, o n page 4 of the Throne Speech a
statement was made in relation to the Government’s Youth Employment Strategy in the Economic Recovery Plan. Madam President, may I quote it?

The President: You certainly may, Senator Jones.



Bermuda Senate Sen. Marcus Jones: “There is mul ti-generational
trauma and dysfunction that manifests itself as the
social dysfunction we see in our island. The root of
these issues is a lack of opportunity, . . . .”
I am going to repeat those last words. “The
root of these issues is a lack of opportun ity.”
I could not disagree more with this. Lack of
opportunity is not the root cause of the social dysfunction that we see in this Island. The root cause of these
issues is the breakdown of the family structure, Madam President.
Once upon a time this country was full of
strong families. In fact, it was not a strange sight to
see multi -generations under one roof, three gener ations under one roof! What did that give us? That allowed the generation that was above us to pass down
the values and the legacies f rom one generation to
the next. So grandchildren were able to live side- byside with their grandparents and be able to draw from
them their values, their sense of rightness. And for
many in this country we know that we were once upon a time a God- fearing r eligious country. And with that
comes an automatic respect for law and order. With that come strong family ties . With those strong co mmunity ties, along with a respect for law and order ,
there also comes a drive for a good work ethic. The
dignity of work was passed down from one generation to the next.
The phrase It takes a village to raise a child,
was not just a saying in Bermuda. It was practiced! It
was something that we all . . . as I look around this
room I don’t think there is anyone under 40.
[Inaudible interjection and laughter ]

Sen. Marcus Jones: I’m sorry. Let me rephrase that.
There is a few of us who are under 40, and me not
included. But the point I am trying to make is that as I
look around this room, I can safely say that many of
us, if not all of us, have experienced the benefits of
multi- generational families who lived around us,
neighbourhoods and communities that were well co nnected, who looked out for one another.
You know, I remember quite clearly as a
young boy there was a lady in our neighbourhood who
used to always watch out as I walked home from
school. Her name was Islo Wade. And anyone from
Somerset who comes from there knows Islo Wade.
And she would see me walking up the hill from school,
from West End Primary School, my alma mater. And
she would let my mother know when [I] came home, I
just saw Marcus and Stephen go up to [your house]
there. I was watching them . And my mom always appreciated that.
And you know what made my heart so warm
was later on when I had children of my own and my
kids, as young as they were, would walk to school to
West End Primary from my homestead, who would be
standing on her steps looking out for my children? Mrs. Islo Wade! And I would drive up and she would
wave me down and she said, Marcus, I jus t saw your
children walking back home from school. That is three
generations that we experienced. We are missing that
today.
So, Madam President, you can understand
my passion. You can understand my “ upsetment ” (if
that is a word) —

[Laughter]

Sen. Marc us Jones: —that the root of social dysfunction in this particular Throne Speech can be attributed to a lack of opportunity. Yes, lack of opportunity does
play a part. But Madam President, I submit to you that
that is not the root cause.
Madam President, we need a reformation in
this country. There are some things that we are never going to be able to go back to. This age of social m edia, as good as it is, and I would not want to give it up for the world, but one thing it has done to some degree is replace the reach- out-and-touch dynamic wit hin our community. We have resorted to reaching out
and touching one another digitally when we do need
to go back to the old- time way of making that direct,
face- to-face touch, touching one another.
Now, education was r aised in this Throne
Speech and we read about the signature schools that
this Government is looking to implement. I had the
pleasure, Madam President, of sitting with one of my
constituents in Pembroke West a couple of months
ago, trying to determine and f igure out why my people
did not come out to vote. But that is another topic,
Madam President. But I was able to sit with a gentl eman who many of you in this room would know by his name and by his reputation, who is a giant in this
country when it comes to education. His name is Mr.
Mansfield Brock. I called him up. I said, Mr. Brock, do
you have a couple of minutes to spare me so that I
can talk to you about education?
He said, Absolutely! Come on down, Mr.
Jones.
Well, two hours later I felt like I had been si tting at the feet of Socrates. I felt like I was so smart
and intelligent just by spending two hours with Mr. Mansfield Brock. It was a revelation, Madam Pres ident. It was an awe- inspiring, almost [an] epiphany as
I sat in the presence of Mr. Mansfi eld Brock. And he
schooled me up on education.
For those of you in the listening audience, and
even those in this room who may not know about the reputation of Mr. Mansfield “Jimmy” Brock, he was
once the principal of the Sandys Secondary School
there in Somerset. He was also the former Permanent
Secretary of Education. He was one of the founding
chief executives of the Bermuda College. So he
comes with a breath of knowledge and expertise. I will also say this about Mr. Brock, about his personal i n38 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate vestment in education. All three of his children are in
the top of their field in their industries.
We remember Arlene Brock, was the first
Ombudsman of this country. We know that his younger daughter, Michelle Jackson, is a Senior VP at BF&M who is very well res pected in that industry.
Now, their son, I am a little bit more familiar with b ecause he was a contemporary of mine in Warwick Academy. His name is Dr. Malcolm Brock. He is and
was, still is actually, the Director of Cancer Research
at Johns Hopkins. He is also a specialist in thoracic
surgery there at Johns Hopkins. And may I submit to
you, Madam President, he is probably one of the top
three on the planet in that field. From a little Island of
64,000, this young man has scaled to the heights of medicine.
Where did that come from? It came from an
environment that nurtured and propelled education
within the home. It always goes back to the family,
Madam President. From the family structure that engenders a society that is healthy and wholesome. It also is important and critical for the education of an ybody. I was fortunate enough to have it in my home. And Mr. Mansfield Brock is an example, a fine model
of what education can do.
Now, quite candidly, in the two hours that I
was there with Mr. Brock, one of t he most important
things he told me was, he said, Before you can find
solutions for education, you need a philosophy of education.
I said, Okay. Lay it on me, Mr. Brock.
He said, You need a philosophy. You need to
value the teachers. You need to value t he students.
You need to value all the stakeholders who involve
themselves with the rearing of education of students.
He said , Our expectations need to be high, not only
from the students’ performance, but the performance of the teachers.
I did a little bit of digging and found out that
under his tutelage, as the Permanent Secretary of
Education back there in the 1970s, the grades for the
public school kids were not good. Under his tutelage
he raised the level of the core subjects, of the grades of the children at that time. And what did he do? He
forced the teachers to be accountable. He caused the
parents to get more involved, and it produced good results, Madam President.
Allow me to quote a couple of words that he
said, because I believe they are rich and they are
worth this discourse when talking about education for
this country. I quote his words, “ I cannot think of a
more difficult job in any society than teaching that
produces mastery learning , efficacious teaching. If I
am right and efficacious te aching is one of the most
important jobs in a commercial economy such as Bermuda’s that creates a large number of new jobs ,
which for the most part demand post -secondary levels
of education and training, then that is a sufficient rea-son for compensating our teachers adequately. I do not believe that there is any reason teachers in Bermuda should be paid less than doctors or lawyers or
accountants or underwriters or actuaries. Larger countries such as the USA, Canada, the UK , the EU and
Australia, which create large numbers of jobs which
do not require post -secondary levels of education in
their factories and farms and fisheries and forests, can
get away with underpaying their teacher s. Bermuda
can’t.”
Madam President, on page 8 of the Throne
Speech the Government states, and may I quote, “In
keeping with its core function, the Bermuda Tourism
Authority will deliver enhanced sales and marketing
abroad.” Agreed. I think everybody would agree with
that.
What is troubling is a statement that was
made further do wn on that page. And I quote. “Whilst
the execution of any tourism campaign and marketing
strategy is the purview of the BTA, leadership in tourism policy must come from the Government of Bermuda, who commits tens of millions of taxpayer funds
to the organisation, a commitment which demands a far greater return than has been realised in the years
since the creation of the Authority.”
Let me ask you this question, Madam Pres ident. Is there anyone in the Cabinet, is there anyone who sits around that table —and I ask this respectfully—who would have more expertise, who would have
more experience within the industry of tourism than what you would find at the Bermuda Tourism Author ity?
You would be hard- pressed to find it. Madam
President, that is not being nega tive; that is just a fact.
I would not expect anyone around the table of the
Cabinet to be able to go up to King Edward Memorial
Hospital and administer a surgery in the operating
room. I would not expect them to do it. Would they be looked down on for not being able to do it? Absolutely
not! That is not their expertise. So, Madam President,
to ask and demand that the job for providing policy for
tourism be in the hands of Government . . . and Madam President, if you look at the Tourism Ministry t oday, ther e are literally only five staff members in the
Ministry of Tourism. Four of those staff members deal
with the inspections of the hotels and other properties, and then the other person who tends to be leading
that group is in charge of policy and administration.
They are fine professionals within their field, but they
are not equipped or able to actually lead a country by
providing guidance for tourism policy. It is just not
there.
Ever since this PLP Government has become
the Government, it looks like they have tried to do
their best to dismantle this Bermuda Tourism Author ity. Now, we know that the industry has taken many
hits over the last 20 years. And for the longest time
tourism was a political football. What the OBA decided to do in their wisdom was t o create this Authority, give
it its independence, give it its autonomous privilege to


Bermuda Senate be able to make those executive top- line decisions to
steer tourism out of the depths of the sphere that they
found it in. And Madam President, in the five to six
years that they have been there we have seen measurable improvements and upgrades in the arrival
numbers, money spent by the tourists, a growing
cruise business in this country under the guidance of
this autonomous Bermuda Tourism Authority.
Now this Government that has tried its best to
get involved, not only by infusing its Members of Parliament on the board and wanting to effect the hiring and the day -to-day operations of this Authority, we
find that many of the professionals who were in that
particular Authority are now leaving. It is a stampede
leaving that Authority. Why? Because they see the writing on the wall. This Government wants to take
back a successful Authority, a successful entity that
has brought about major changes, major improv ements in this industry.
One of the things that I was happy to see was
this Government’s intent to expand the boundaries of the Economic Empowerment Zone. Good move. I
would say let’s consider enhancing and enlarging the
Economic Empowerment Zone in the East End and
West End. They need some assistance and some
help as well. How about extending the benefits and
privileges that are extended to those who live in this Economic Empowerment Zone to those persons who
own their business that have found it necessary for
them to leave a commercial building which has lots of
overhead expenses and go into their homes to run
their business?
It is often said, and it is true, small businesses
are the engine of any economy. Of all the business sizes that let go of employees during times of depression, or in this situation a crisis like a pandemic, it is
small businesses that hang onto their employees the
longest. The bigger businesses . . . oops! I’m wrong
there. Our government doesn’t let go of people; they keep as many as they can. But the small businesses
do their best to hang onto their staff, Madam Pres ident.
Senator Michelle Simmons raised the issue of
the newly constituted Tax Reform Commission. I am
really hopeful that this newly appointed Tax Reform
Commission team will do all they can in light of what this pandemic has done to our economy. My sincere
hope is that they get on board to the job at hand, the
assignment that they have been given, and come up
with a reform to our tax structure that is going to assist
and bring relief t o many who are hardest hit, and be
able to bring about a tax system that is going to be
able to assist as many businesses in our economy as
possible.
Madam President, may I ask how much time I
have?

The President: You have 10 more minutes. You will
finish at 4:15. Sen. Marcus Jones: Ten more minutes. Thank you,
Madam President.
There are three things, Madam President, and
as I am losing my voice I am going to bring this to an
end.

[Laughter]

Sen. Marcus Jones: I have hollered and screamed,
yelled and shouted. Now it is time to bring it down a
notch. It is not a bedtime story, Madam President.

The President: It hasn’t been.

Sen. Marcus Jones: There were three things that I
have observed when I read and listened to this
Throne Speech. And may I al so add, Madam Pres ident, that in 2018 the size of the Throne Speech that
was produced by this Government was 17 pages.
Here we are in the year 2021 and the size of that
Throne Speech was 12 pages. I do not know if that is
an indication of weariness on behalf of the Gover nment, a lack of creativity, a lack of innovation, a lack
of ideas . . . I don’t know. But I would think, Madam
President, having been through and in fact still in the
midst of a pandemic, that this Government would
have a Throne Speech that would be full of answers,
full of solutions, full of hope, full of optimism —full of
solutions.
There were three main observations that I had
when reading this Throne Speech, Madam President.
1. This Government’s eagerness to grow an a lready bloated civil s ervice while outsourcing
much of its work. You do not have to look any further than the Ministry of Finance and
within the Legal Department.
2. This Government’s lip service to an important
building block for economic recovery; nam ely, immigration reform, while providing superficial improvements in the processing of work
permits and the like by digitisation.
3. This Government’s hesitancy to allow or tak-ing back independent bodies of professionals, education and tourism, respectively,
whose autonomy is paramount in producing the best outcomes at a time in history when a
global pandemic requires a paradigm shift in
the way we think, the way we live, and the
way we do business.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Marcus Jones.
Would any other Senator care to speak at this
time?
No. Then I would just like to say to those li stening in the audience, this has been a very healthy
debate by all Senators today. And many of you have covered the areas of health care and education that I
proba bly would have, and I just want to thank each
40 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate one of you for your comments. At this time, I think,
certainly those of the listening public will be enriched
and knowledgeable and proud of the Senators in this
Chamber during this debate that you have given t oday.
I would just like to reiterate the words of the
Governor when in her closing remarks she said this, “I
wish to close by paying tribute to the charitable groups
that have been feeding and caring for the people of
Bermuda during their hours of need; and paying tri bute to the dedicated women and men across Berm uda’s public services for everything that they are doing to respond to the pandemic.”

[Inaudible interjections]

The President: I beg your pardon. Do you want me to
repeat what I’ve said?

[Inaudible interjections]

The President: I am sorry about people not being
able to hear what I said. I did indicate that this has
been a healthy debate and all i n Bermuda who have
heard you today would be very proud of all that you
have said. You have touched on all areas of this
Throne Speech. And I think they are certainly proud of you and they are very much more informed by this
Senate.
I have indicated that there were areas that I
would have liked to have spoken to, but they have been covered by you all , and covered quite diligently,
and it won’t be necessary for me to repeat any of the
areas in health care, education and so much more. So
I will not do that this afternoon because I too am very
proud of each one of you and all that you have said
today.
However, I would like to reiterate the comments that have been made by the Governor in her
closing remarks. She [stated]: “I wish to close by pa ying tribute to the charitable groups that have been
feeding and caring for the people of Bermuda during
their hours of need; and paying tribute to the dedicat-ed women and men across Bermuda’s public services
for everything that they are doing to respond to the
pandemic.”
And I must say they are continuing to respond
and we are all very proud of that.
With that, I wi ll hand over to Minister Peets for
his closing comments.

Yes. Thank you,
Madam President. Thank you to the Government Senators, Opposition Senators and Independent Senators for your robust and thoughtful and careful deli beration and discussion today.
Madam President, I move that the following
message be sent to Her Excellency the Governor:
“May it please Your Excellency: The Senate has the honour to thank Your E xcellency for the most gracious speech with which Your
Excell ency was pleased to open the present session
of Parliament.”

The President: Thank you, Minister Peets.
Is there any objection to that motion?
There is no objection.
A suitable message will be sent.
Thank you all very much.
[Motion carried: Message of thanks to be sent to Her
Excellency the Governor.]
The President: We will now move on, continuing with
our Orders of the Day, and the next Order is the consideration of the draft Order entitled the Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency Extension (No. 6) Order
2021. And that is in the name of Senator Hodgson,
the Junior Minister of Health.
Senator Hodgson, you have the floor.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 71(2)

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, I move that Standing Order
71(2) be suspended so that Senate may now proceed
with consideration of the Public Health (COVID -19)
Emergency Extension (No. 6) Order 2021.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Carry on, Senator Hodgson.
[Motion carried: S tanding Order 71(2) suspended.]

DRAFT ORDER

PUBLIC HEALTH (COVID- 19) EMERGENCY
EXTENSION (NO. 6) ORDER 2021
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I move that the Senate do now take under
consideration the draft Order entitled the Public He alth
(COVID -19) Emergency Extension (No. 6) Order
2021.
Madam President, I am pleased to invite this
Honourable Chamber to consider the Order entitled
Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency Extension
(No. 6) Order 2021 .
Madam President, Senators will be aware that
the current Health Emergency Order is scheduled to
lapse on 29 November 2021. The Emergency Order,
which has been in place since 30 June 2020, followin g
the state of emergency put in place on 1 April 2020
was made pursuant to section 107A of the Public
Health Act 1949 and declared that a p ublic health


Bermuda Senate emergency exists in Bermuda due to a communicable
disease that poses a threat to the Island.
We live on a very small Island, and as we
know from previous outbreaks, the coronavirus that
causes the disease COVID -19 spreads quickly and
negatively impacts the whole community. We can
slow the spread of the virus by following basic public
health advice of wearin g a mask to cover our nose
and mouth, as well as physically distancing, dow nloading the WeHealth Bermuda app and avoiding the
three Cs of closed spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings.
Also, Madam President, we are fortunate in
that the COVID -19 vaccine is available to any resident
who wants it. As a reminder, this includes booster vaccines for those who are 50 and older, as well as
for health care workers, essential and critical service
workers, those with chronic conditions between the
ages of 12 and 49, and pregnant women. To receive a
booster, you must have had your second dose at least
six months prior. To make an appointment for a first, second or booster jab, go to gov.bm
.
As has been said many times, vaccines save
lives. The two- dose Pfizer vaccine has been shown to
be 95 per cent effective in randomised trials. Even
with the highly transmittable Delta variant, the vac-cine’s effectiveness remains high. What does this mean? It means that while you as a fully vaccinated
person can still test positive and still contract COVID -
19, you are less likely to get severely ill. You are less
likely to end up in the hospital, and you are less likely
to die. Our ow n data have shown this to be true.
Madam President, this does not mean that
there is zero risk involved. Even if fully vaccinated, your own personal health is a key factor in determi ning whether you will get ill with COVID -19, and, if you
do, whether you are predisposed to becoming ill
enough to be hospitalised or to die.
Madam President, it is clear we must all learn
how to live with COVID -19 because it will be with us
for a long time, both locally and globally. As Health
Minister Kim Wilson stated last week, success in dealing with COVID -19 requires a community effort. It is a
community effort because this is one of the few situ ations where an individual’s decision to adhere to public health measures or not impacts us all. In this pan-demic individual dec isions can, and do, have Islandwide consequences.
This is not the same as choosing not to wear
a helmet or choosing not to use your seatbelt where
the person you are most likely to harm is yourself.
Failure to follow public health measures has a far greater impact as the virus spreads quickly throughout
our Island home, affecting families, schools, bus inesses and more.
Madam President, the Minister of Health consulted with the Chief Medical Officer and determined
that a communicable disease of the first category,
namely COVID -19, and its variants of concern conti n-ues to pose a severe threat to public health in Berm uda. To control and contain the spread of infection,
public health measures such as those provided for in
regulations made under section 107B of the Public Health Act 1949 will continue to be relevant and necessary beyond 29 November 2021.
This Order before us now will extend the Pu blic Health (COVID -19) Emergency Order 2021 made
under section 107A of the Public Health Act 1949 and empower the G overnor to continue the provision of
the Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency Powers
Regulation 2021, which imposed extraordinary measures necessary in the interest of public health to
prevent, control and suppress COVID -19.
Madam President, Honourable Sena tors will
be aware that the Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency Extension (No. 5) Order 2021 was made under
the affirmative resolution procedure effective 30
September 2021 for 60 days, expiring on 29 November
2021. However, the COVID -19 pandemic continues to
rage on globally, and a public health emergency continues to exist on our Island.
Therefore, in accordance with section 107A(3)
and (4) of the Public Health Act 1949, I bring to this
Chamber the Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency
Extension (No. 6) Order 2021 to seek approval for the
extension of the public health emergency for a further 60 days ending on 28 January 2022.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.
Would any Senator care to speak on this O rder?
Senator Robin Tucker, you have the floor.

Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
I just want to say that the Opposition is in
support of the extension to this particular [Order]. I do
want to say, though, that one good thing about where
we are presently is that this is not our first time at the rodeo. And we have a better idea what we need to do
to best protect ourselves during this pandemic period.
We are obviously heading into a holiday per iod, which means that most likely there will be increases in social gatherings and the whole nine [yards]. I do
hope that people will do as the Junior Minister has just encouraged us to do to make sure we do all of the
mask -wearing and the social distancing and so on.
But the reality is there are some people who will not
follow the rules. So therefore, unfortunately, there may
be another wave coming just because of the period
that we are entering. So this extension carries us
through the Christmas holidays, and we think that it is
absolutely necessary.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Tucker.
Would any Senator care to speak on this?
42 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda Senate Hearing none, then it is over to you, Senator
Hodgson.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident, and I would also like to thank Senator R. Tucker
for her comments as well in support of this extension.
Madam President, I move that the said draft
Order be approved and that the following message be sent to Her Excellency the Governor:
“May it please Your Excellency:
“The Senate, having had under considerat ion
the draft Order entitled the Public Health (COVID -19)
Emergency Extension (No. 6) Order 2021, proposed
to be made by the Minister responsible for Health under the provisions of section 107A of the Public Health Act 1949, has the honour to inform Your E xcellency
that the Senate has approved the said draft Order.”
The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.
Is there any objection to the message being
sent?
No.
[
Motion carried: The Draft Order entitled Public Health
(COVID -19) Emergency Extension (No. 6) Order 2021
was approved.]
The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson. A suitable message will be sent.
And thank you, Senators, for your support.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
The President: We will now move on to the third item,
which is the Cruise Ships (Casinos) Amendment Act
2021, and that is in the name of Senator Owen Dar-rell.
Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
Cruise Ships (Casinos) Amendment Act 2021 be now
read a s econd time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Carry on, Senator Darrell.
Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I am pleased
to invite the Senate to take under consideration the
Bill entitled the Cruise Ships (Casinos) Am endment
Act 2021.
Madam President, Senators will no doubt be
aware of the impact of the global pandemic on various
sectors of the economy, of which tourism, and the
cruise ship sector in particular, is one. In consultation with the Ministry of Transport and the Bermuda Gam-ing Commission the Cabinet was invited— The President: Senator Darrell, I am sorry to interrupt. But you needed to move the second reading a second time. I had omitted that —Standing Order 25; I
beg your pardon. Do you have the wording for that? I am sorry to have interrupted. But it is important that we follow the procedure.
[
Pause]
Sen. Owen Darrell: Sorry, Madam President. I did not
have that in front of me.
The President: I am sorry, too, because I should
have stopped us. This was a decision that was made today that we would deal with this.
Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you.
The President: Thank you.
STANDING ORDER 25
Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I move that
the provisions of Standing Order 25 be granted so that
the Senate may be now proceed with the second
reading of the public Bill entitled the Cruise Ships (Casinos) Amendment Act 2021.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Do carry on, Senator Darrell.
[Motion carried: Leave granted for the Cruise Ships
(Casinos) Amendment Act 2021 to be read a seco nd
time on the same day as its first reading.]
Sen. O wen D arrell: Madam P resident, I now m ove
that the Bill entitled Cruise Ships (Casinos) Amendment Act 2021 be now read a second time.
The President: I s there any objection to that motion?
No objection. Carry on.
BILL
SECOND READING
CRUISE SHIPS (CASINOS)
AMENDMENT ACT 2021
Sen. Owen Darrell: Madam President, I am pleased
to invite the Senate to take under consideration the
Bill entitled the Cruise Ships (Casinos) Amendment
Act 2021.
Madam President, Senators will no doubt be
aware of the impact of the global pandemic on various
sectors of the economy, of which tourism, and the cruise ship sector in particular, is one. In consultation
with th e Ministry of Transport and the Bermuda Gaming Commission the Cabinet was invited to approve


Bermuda Senate these amendments to the principal Act to mitigate
some of the economic effects of COVID -19 on both
the cruise ship industry and our home jurisdiction.
The aim is to permanently enlarge the period
of time a licence to operate a casino on a cruise ship
remains valid for vessels making 15 or more voyages
to Bermuda to 12 months, and to provide the Berm uda Gaming Commission with the discretion to change
the statutory c asino opening hours on a case- by-case
basis in response to requests from cruise lines.
Madam President, Senators will be aware that
COVID -19 has had an overall devastating effect on
the cruise ship industry. The recently announced additional 19 voyages to the Island in the latter part of our
summer months signals that the industry is a signif icant component of our tourism industry and economy.
Casinos on board cruise ships are an added amenit y
for passengers. Licences will be valid for 12 months from the date of issue for vessels making 15 or more
voyages to Bermuda, and for each voyage [for] vessels making 14 or fewer voyages to Bermuda.
Madam President , Senators will also recall
that the Gaming (Transfer of Functions) Act 2021 transferred the responsibil ity for the licensing of cruise
ship casinos from the Minister responsible for lotteries
to the Bermuda Gaming Commission [the Commi ssion] as of 1 August 2021. Currently, the statutory
framework governing cruise ship casino operations
prescribes limited [ operating] hours for a casino on
board a vessel while it is berthed in Bermuda. Inser ting into legislation the discretionary power of the Commission to be able to consider a request to
change casino operating hours provides added flex ibility.
Senators will be aware that the request was
made of the Commission by a cruise partner, and it
was noted that the legislation did not give the authority
for the requests, although supported, to be entertained.
The Bill before this Senate addresses the i ssue and provides the necessary discretion to the
Commission. Gaming in the on board casino could be
an added activity choice for guests awaiting results of
COVID -19 tests conducted upon arrival in Bermuda.
Currently, the option of cruise ships is to remain out at sea during the time COVID -19 test samples are collected from passengers, transported to land for testing
and results are relayed, thus permitting some guest
amenities to remain available.
Madam President, as I commend this Bill for
consideration of Senators, the principle which it sets
out is one which will form a critical part of economic
recovery for Bermuda—flexibility and speed to market.
We will need to listen to our stakeholders and act
quickly to ensure that jobs are preserved, new rev enue streams are realised and economic activity is e ncouraged.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell.
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator Jones, Marcus Jones, you have the
floor.

Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
The operative word in this particular amendment Bill of 2021 for cruise ships as it relates to cas inos is “flexibility.” It is very important that we be able
to [accommodate] our cruise ship partners’ request for
additional hours. The Junior Minister has outlined the reasons why. We are 100 per cent behind those re asons, and we believe it is important for us to be able
to pass this amendment so that we can accommodate
our partners so that we can maintain our competitiv eness within the cruise ship business.
Thank you, Madam President.

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

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

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

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

CRUISE SHIPS (CASINOS)
AMENDMENT ACT 2021

Sen. Owen Darr ell: Madam President, I move that
the Bill entitled Cruise Ships (Casinos) Amendment
Act 2021 be now read a third time.

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

The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent itled the Cruise Ships (Casinos) Amendment Act 2021
do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Bill is passed.

44 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate [Motion carried: The Cruise Ships (Casinos) Amendment Act 2021 was read a third time and passed.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Owen Darrell,
Junior Minister for the Cabinet Office.
We now move on with our agenda.

MOTIONS

The President: There are none.

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR
OBITUARY SPEECHES

The P resident: Would any Senator care to speak?
Senator Darrell.

Sen. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
I would like to get through this in the time that
I have. Madam President, it brings me great sadness
to have to ask that the Senate send condolences to
the family of Mr. Leonard William Holder. Many would
know Mr. Holder as the husband of the late Ms. Patr icia Holder, one- time administrator at the Berkeley I nstitute, very popular. I would just like condolences to
be sent to his daughter, Ms. Lisa Latham; as well as
his son, Mr. Scott Holder; and all of their family and
friends. Again, in particular, his grandchildren, Nia,
Nuri and Sahai.
Also, Madam President, I would like the Se nate to send condolences to the family of Mr. Jahtino
Richardson- Martin, aged 23 years old, a former st udent of mine, who was an amazing football player for
the Dandy Town Hornets, and unfortunately lost his
life too soon in a bike accident about a week ago.
And two more young men, I would like the
Senate to send condolenc es to their families, Mr. M icah Nathaniel Davis, aged 22, another former student
of mine who lost his life in a violent attack; as well as
27-year-old, again a former student of mine, Mr.
Ayinde Eve, who lost his life in the same incident.
But before I f inish, Madam President, I would
like to send condolences to a very special lady in my
life, and that is the family of Mrs. Carol Marie Tan-nock. Ms. Tannock passed away on 24 October. You
may know Ms. Tannock was the mother of Mr. Patrick
Tannock, Mark Tannock, Anthony Tannock, Theresa
Tannock and Cheri Adcock, who are all heavyweights in their own right in this community. [Ms. Tannock]
was the wife of the late Davis Tannock, who was a
stalwart of the Progressive Labour Party.
But more importantly, Madam President, Ms.
Tannock actually raised me from the age of birth to I think two and a half years old. She was my babysitter (as they called it then). My mom met her as she
taught her children at the Port Royal. Ms. Tannock
took great care of me. And I got to k now her more as I
grew up. Every time I would go into her place of em-ployment after, as I grew up, she would say, You
know, Owen, I’m so proud of you. Her children to this
day call me “Owie.”
And to bring this full circle, about 40 years after she was watc hing me as a baby, some of you may
recall a motion to adjourn, my maiden speech a year
ago, I gave thanks. And I gave thanks to this lady, Ms.
Tannock, as she was the individual who actually was
my proposer as I ran for office—unsuccessfully, but
she did propose me for election. And I had the opportunity a year ago to go to her house and sit down. And she was so happy that I came by. Again, she told me
how proud she was of me. I was really sad to hear a
year after that that she passed away peacefully. But I
just wanted to take this opportunity to highlight Ms. Tannock, to tell her children, Thank you for allowing
me to be part of [your] family. And may she rest in
peace.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Darrell.
Senator Simmons , you have indicated you
would like to speak. You have the floor.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I would like to associate myself with the comments that Senator Darrell has made with regard to
Ms. Tannock, and also Mr. Leonard Holder.
On a happier note, I would like to send congratulations from the Senate to Roger Parris, who r ecently received the Public Service Excellence Award,
Madam President, for his dedicated service as a hort iculturist in the Department of Parks. Mr. Parris oversees the workmen and workwomen at the Botanical
Gardens, the Arboretum, Government House, Tulo
Valley Nursery. I know him quite well.
If you start a conversation with Roger at any
time, he always steers it around to the Skills Deve lopment Programme, which was his brainchild. His
passion is the work he does with the young men and women in that programme. He has mentored many
young people, taken some over to England where he has a special connection. And he has helped those
who needed a bit of extra guidance and support in
order to make their lives more productive. I have seen some of the results of his programme, some of the
young people who have turned their lives around. But
it would not have happened if it were not for his men-toring and his care and his lo ve. He certainly deserves
the award he received.
Madam President, I would like to congratulate
a young lady whose name has come up in the Senate
[and] all over Bermuda recently —i.e., Flora Duffy. I
called her Our Golden Olympian because she successfully d efended her World Triathlon Championship
Series title on February 5 in Abu Dhabi. It was not an
easy race. Right now because she is the Golden
Olympian, everyone wants to be the first to say they

B ermuda Senate dethroned her. So she headed off a very strong cha llenge, but in the end emerged victorious. That is determination. So, congratulations to Flora Duffy for an-other victory!
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Simmons.
Would any Senator care to speak? Senator [Lindsay] Simmons.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I would like to give condolences to Nikita
Hewey’s family, especially her mom, Barbara; her si ster, Karen; her brother Zico; and the rest of the Hewey family. She is going to be a great miss. She was full of
life and always had a smile on her face.
Madam President, I would also like to give
condolences to [the family of] Mr. Coulbert Bean. I had the pleasure of teaching his daughter at Del lwood, Katherine. I want to send condolences to his loving wife, Ta mmy, whom I have met; his daughter,
Tamara; and the rest of the Bean family.
And last but not least, Madam President, it
actually breaks my heart to give the condolences to Morissa Moniz’s family. Tragically, she lost her life last week. Condolences to her mom and dad, Mr. and Mrs. Moniz; and also her sister, Brittney; and the rest of her friends and family. No one should have to bury
their daughter like this. Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Si mmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Marcus Jones, you have the floor.
Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
I would just like for this Chamber to extend
condolences to the family of the late Mrs. Betty Gilbert
from Somerset. She was truly a matriarch of Somerset, and more specifically of Cooks Hill Road where I
reside. She was truly an inspiration to her neighbours, to her community. She has left to mourn five girls and two boys who did yeoman’s work in taking care of their mother. Whenever I would drive with her, she would talk about her children, how much they took
good care of her, how proud she was of them. Many
of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would know her from the PLP. She was a stalwart in the Somerset area. In fact, many an election campaign quarters would be in her home in her living room for years. She was well known as a cook and a baker.
She was the main chef at the Allen Camp that was
held every summer at Darrell’s Island.
She will be a great miss. She was an incred ibly wo nderful, godly woman who made an impact in
the years that she lived. And her loss will be felt by people all over the Island. And I would like for condolences to be extended to her family.
On the congratulations side of the ledger, I
would like to extend congratulations to the Concacaf
Under -20 [Men’s] football team, who really showed
themselves to be highly skilled. They did this country proud. Although they were not able to make it as a
qualifier to the next round, they really proved themselves to be a force to be reckoned with that bodes well for Bermuda football, at least in the men’s sec-tion. It bodes well for our future accomplishments. And I will state my own personal connection to that Under -
20 Concacaf football team. My nephew, Stefan Jones,
was able to score as a super -sub in the first game, the
last-minute, to win the first game. He then scored
again in the second game. But unfortunately, they
were unsuccessful in the third match that they played. But kudos to this great team! And I expect much more from them in the coming years. Thank you, Madam
President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Marcus Jones.
Would any other Senator . . .
Senator Curtis Richardson, you have the floor.
Sen. Curtis Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I will take u p just a few minutes to express on
behalf of the Ministry of Transportation. [I am] certainly sure that the members of the Road Safety Council
would join in and mirror my sentiments to all of the
families, not just the most recent persons who lost their li ves to a road traffic accident, but every family
who is out there continuing to mourn the passing of loved ones, friends and families, to road traffic acc idents. I want to just put a word of encouragement to
the general public to recognise that the changing of
behaviour is not what this is about. It is more so recognition that these accidents do occur and on more occasions than what one would hope.
Just take your time. Do all that you can to use
the utmost caution as you are traveling these roads. We have roadworks going on all over in the Island, which [calls for] more caution than is [normally] r equired. So I just wanted to pass on those condolences to those families and encouragement to the public to do all you can.
Thanks a lot.
The President: Thank y ou, Senator Curtis Richar dson.
Would any other Senator care to speak?

Yes, Madam Pres ident.
The President: Oh, Senator, sorry. Senator Robin
Tucker had indicated.
You have the floor.
46 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda Senate Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam P resident.
I will be very quick. I just wanted to say first of
all before I call off the names of the people, that I want
to express condolences to their families. I do not know if anybody else here feels this way, but it just seems as though there have been a lot of people who have
passed away. Every time I get a call or look at the
newspaper, it does something to me on the inside. And when I was preparing for today, I have a list of 10
people. And I am not going to go into detail on all of
them. But I do want to call their names and just rec-ognise their families. There are a lot of people in our
community who are going through a lot of sadness.
So I just wanted to say that before I call out these names.
The first group of people that I am going to
call of f are constituents in the area of constituency 7.
And they are Ms. Roslyn Raynor, who lives on Cherrydale. I am sure Senator Darrell knew [her]. There is
Diana Virgil Ming, who lives on Ramgoat Hill. [Withrew] Kingsley Beek; Donald Smith, Alberta Fubler al l constituents in constituency 7.
The next person I want to call off is Keenan
Butterfield. If anybody here knew Keenan, Keenan was—to me, when I stood next to Keenan my head
was probably at his elbow. He was that tall. He com-monly was known as sort of the gentle giant, nicest
person you would ever want to meet. So he suddenly passed away. His wife’s family are friends of my fam ily, and his brother -in-law as well. So I just want to extend condolences to Keenan’s family, Shamell, Car-mel, Lornelle, all of the rest of the Amory and the Butterfield families.
I would like to associate with Senator Jones’s
comments in relation to Ms. Betty Gilbert.
I would like to express condolences to
Hattieann Morissette Gilbert on the passing of her husband, Weldon Gilbert. Si ster Hattieann, I will call
her, attends my church. So I have had the privilege of knowing her for a long time, as well as meeting her
husband.
I also would like to extend condolences to the
family of Eric Goddard. If anyone knows Eric, Eric and
his wife, Betty -Ann, are godparents to my cousin, Ni kki Bascome . So I did get to know Eric and Betty -Ann.
[Regarding] his passing, I want to express condolences there.
Finally, Madam President, I would like to express condolences to Gloria Lee Franklin on the pas sing of her husband, Troy. Troy and I shared a birthday
on October 12. And maybe about a week or two before his untimely passing, we were able to have a little
catch -up chat on the side of the road, you know,
preparation for our birthday, all of the excitement and
all of that type of thing, which we did every year. So it was quite shocking to hear that he passed away. So I just want to express condolences to his wife Gloria Lee, [and] the rest of the family as well. So, on
a lighter note, congratulations. I wou ld
like to express congratulations to Shapri Joell. Now,
anyone who knows Shapri, Shapri is a young lady. She is a hairdresser. I first met her when she worked at Blueprint [Hair Studio] some years ago. And she is a very driven young woman. Shapri is probably not
even 30 yet. She has a young son, and when we first
met she says, Miss Robin, I can do your hair. But just
know in a year’s time I’m going to be gone. And the
reason she said that is because she had all intentions
of being a trichologist. And so she was very focused, a very skilled hairdresser. And she is a very focused young mother.
She stuck to what she said she was going to
do. It was over a year that she prepared herself to pack up herself and her young son and go to the UK
and continue her studies. So I say Congratulations! I
would like for the Senate to send a note of congratul ations to Shapri. She did go to the UK. She completed
her studies. And she has returned to the Island and
now works as a certified consultant trichologist. So I want to express congratulations to her.
Finally, I just want to say congratulations to all
of the 2021 Female Entrepreneur of the Year nom inees. There were 51 of them. So I want to say con-gratulations to all of the nominees there.
Thank you, Madam President.
The P resident: Thank you, Senator Tucker.
Minister Peets, you had indicated. You have
the floor.

Thank you, Madam
President.
I certainly want to be associated with the r emarks regarding Flora Duffy. Congratulations to her!
She is absolutely amazing.
As well as our U -20 team. Senator Jones is
correct. This team has got some talent throughout the
team, including the bench. So there is lots to look for-ward to in the future regarding the team.
Just regarding some happy birthdays, there is
a constituent of mine in C -10 from Loyal Hill Pass,
Tony Hollis, turning 60 today. So happy birthday! But
a little closer to home, my youngest child, Aria h Peets,
turned 12 yesterday. So I am pretty sure she is listen-ing this afternoon. Happy birthday to Ariah Peets!
Thank you so much, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Minister Peets.
Would any other Senator care to speak? No?
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
SENATE VISITOR
The President: Then I would like to acknowledge the
presenc e of Honourable Walter Roban, the Deputy
Premier. He has joined us in the Senate.

B ermuda Senate Welcome to you, sir.
[
Congratulatory and/or Obituary Speeches, contin uing]
The President: And for myself, I would just like to
associate myself with the condolences regarding P atricia Holder [sic]. And I would also like the Senate to
have condolences sent to the family of Rev. Coolidge
“Danny” Durham, the son of Julia “Juju” Furbert
Durham and the late Coolidge Durham; husband to Paula Lynn Francis Durham ; and father to Coolidge
“Coolie” Durham ; brother to Dr. Shangri -La Durham
Thompson and her husband Stanton; and his sisters, Dr. Donna Durham -Pierre and Shelby Durham -
Jackson; and the entire Durham family. He is family. I am cousin to them all. He was funeralised on Oct ober 5.
I would like to also have condolences sent to
another cousin, Margaret DeRosa, and her family, on the passing of her beloved husband, Eldrich “Big Joe” DeRosa. And he is father to sons, Carl Sr., Alvin, J oseph and Anthony Tavares; and [daughter] Sherri Tavares; and the entire DeRosa family. He had
passed on November 12.
And that is it for me.
[
Inaudible interjection]
The President: I beg your pardon? Oh, oh. Yes, I am
sorry. Leonard Holder, yes, because his wife Patricia
Holder had passed earlier. But Patricia’s husband
Leonard Holder is the one whom I wanted to be ass ociated with and which you had indicated condolences for.
Now, with that we move then to adjournment.
Minister Peets, I turn it over to you.
ADJOURNMENT

Yes. Thank you,
Madam President.
I move that the Senate now adjourn to
Wednesday, December 1.
The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
the motion to adjourn?
Senator Lindsay Simmons, I see you. You
have the floor.
DOMESTIC ABUS E—ADDRESSING THE CRISIS
OF IN BERMUDA
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, I always like sharing a st ory that I can relate to. I feel more comfortable, and I love to connect with the topic. Unfortunately, today I
would like to share a story that I wish I did not have to go through personally. But I must admit it made me stronger.
Madam President, like many others, I have
been a victim of domestic violence. My story began in
the year 2000. I met a man and thought we were g oing to be together forever. Little did I know a decision
that I made some 21 years ago would be something
that I would carry with me forever. Madam President, I
thought I met the man of my dreams. We were going to conquer the world, just he and I. In the year 2002, just two short years later, my life would change drast ically. I found out that the man I loved was stepping out on me. For me, I was done with the relationship.
I ended the relationship, and a few minutes
later I was chased into my bathroom with a machete. I was beaten severely with the flat part of it. I remember when the officers came to my house, one looked at
me and said to the other officer, She looks like a beat -
up rag doll. Eighty per cent of my body had welts all
over it.
Madam President, I knew we could no longer
be together. I had never been assaulted in my life. A
couple of months later I had a knock on my door. With tears in his eyes, he wanted to talk and apologise for
his actions. And yes, Madam President, I let him in to
talk. This ended up being a huge mistake. This dec ision changed my life forever. I was beaten with a ratchet. I was raped continuously. I was tortured for hours. And I was scared from the inside out.
After hours of being held against my will, he
let me go. And when I was free, I called the poli ce and
he was arrested. But you see, Madam President, I thought my abuse would stop. Boy was I mistaken. He intimidated my younger sisters, following my youngest one to school. He had his brothers do the same. I felt I had no other choice, so I dropped the charges. My
family urged me not to, even the prosecutor at the time. But I wanted it to end. He promised that he would leave the Island, and I believed at that time I was doing the right thing to protect my family.
Madam President, a couple of nights later he
broke into my house while I was asleep. He dragged me out of my bed. I had my hair pulled out. I was beaten and stabbed, and I was told that night I would die. He broke me. I begged for my life, and I knew he was stronger than me and I could not beat a knife. I just wanted it to end. But you see, Madam President,
one thing that played over and over in my mind while
these horrible things were being done to me was the look on my parents’ face upon finding me dead. I al-most gave up. But I knew at 23 I was not ready to die.
Madam President, I no longer wanted to be
his victim. I wanted to live, and I was going to be a
survivor. After almost nine hours of torture, I was fina lly free. I made it to my dad’s house with blood all over
me, my face scratched up, and I was broken. He let me go because I promised I would leave the Island with him within two days.
48 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate When my dad saw me, Madam President, he
could not even look at me. He jumped on his bike
without a helmet and left. While I waited for the ambulance to get me, I laid on the ground wondering where
my daddy went, my hero. My daddy left looking for this man. By the time I was in the ambulance, my
daddy returned. He said, Lindsay, where is he? I explained where he could find him, which was a few
minutes away. My dad hopped on his bike again. The
police followed him. My dad was still riding without a helmet, saw this man crossing the street, jumped off his bike. And [the street] was busy. It was still in the
morning. People jumped my daddy, wondering why
this crazy man is jumping on this man. [My attacker]
was able to escape and was on the run for hours. The police did everything they could to protect me. I was in
police protection.
And, Madam President, I have been asked on
more than one occasion, How can an ex -boyfriend or
boyfriend rape you? He was someone you are used
to. A lot of people did not understand. But I said, then
Madam President, the answer will always be the
same. I said, No. No one has the right to take advantage of you, touch you when you say no. We have
to change the mentality of some. We are not anyone’s
possession or property. We must teach our daughters
that they can always say no.
Madam President, when it happened I could
not understand how this happened to me. But sitting back and reflecting, the writing was clearly on the wall
years prior. I did not realise that our relationship was
built on him controlling me. I thought he loved me.
And he wanted to know my every move. I thought it was the sweetest thing. Little did I know he made me
his poss ession. When I decided to stand up and leave
him, he lost control over me, which made him lose his
mind. He always knew my weak spot was him, and he
played on it.
Madam President, this time I continued and
pressed charges. Carrington Mahoney was the pros ecutor on my case, and Oonagh Vaucrosson. They did
an amazing job. He was found guilty and sentenced to 14 years in prison, which at that time was unheard of.
I remember seeing the newspaper the next
day, and it had a picture of him because I gave up my
right to anonymity. It had his picture and his face. And
the headline said, The face of evil. The night that he
raped me the last time he spilled his guts and told me everything. I was not his first victim. Another victim
died at his hands who was not in Berm uda. So I knew
that night when he spilled his guts I was going to die.
But I continued to fight and beg for my life.
Madam President, it breaks my heart to see
that another family is having to bury their daughter.
Sadly, women are getting abused daily. Madam Pre sident, I am pleading with our women, our sisters, our
family, our friends and the community that mental, physical and emotional abuse is never okay. We need
to be there for our women when they are crying out for help. In some cases of domestic violence, there might
be elements of mental health issues. Many people are
ashamed if their child, partner or friend exhibits signs
of mental health [problems]. Most mental health disorders can be treated with intervention, medication or both. We need to active ly work toward removing sti gmas related to mental health and treatment.
Madam President, the pandemic has been di fficult for most of us. Unfortunately, domestic violence
is on the rise. This Government has stated time and
time again that if you need help c all 911, 211 or the
mental health hotline at 534- 1111. Bermuda has some
amazing helping agencies that help individuals who
are going through domestic violence. Two of the most
well-known agencies are the Centre Against Abuse
and the Women’s Resource Centre.
Madam President, I have never been afraid to
tell my story. I did not go into all of the gruesome details today. But every scar on my body is a reminder
that I must do my part to continue to tell my story.
Madam President, I do not know if Senator Simmons
remembers, but many years ago she invited me to tell
my story to students at the great Berkeley Institute. I will never forget the look on Mr. Laylor’s face when he
heard my story. He said, Lin, in his deep Jamaican
accent. My God, girl. I always looked at you as an i nnocent student who just sat in my classroom. But, Lin, you are strong. Continue to be strong. And he thanked
me for sharing my story with his students.
One evening I was invited many years ago by
Ms. Vickers to tell my story to a group of mi ddle- aged
students at Spice Valley. After I told my story, a young
girl came to me at the end and explained to me how she was getting abused. She was only 13. I got her to
get help and to speak to her parents. Years later she
came to my job and reminded me of that night. It
changed her. She was able to seek the help she
needed.
Madam President, I also told my story to a
group of men who had been abusing their partners. Shockingly enough, I witnessed these grown men cry.
At 23, I could have been their daught er. I have told my
story countless times in hopes that it could do one of
three things: (1) to keep people aware of domestic
violence; (2) so that people are not ashamed that they
become a victim of domestic violence; and (3) for
abusers and victims to sto p and seek the help before
it is too late.
Madam President, we need to continue to
raise our daughters [to know] that abuse such as
physical, mental and emotional —and yes, financial —
abuse does not equate to love. If someone loves you,
you should never intentionally hurt someone or be
abused by them. We need to raise our young men
and women to value themselves and their partners. I also want to point out that abuse can be a woman
abusing a man, same- sex couples with one abusing
the other or parents abusing t heir child, or even a
grown adult abusing their parent. Our seniors have


Bermuda Senate also been victims of abuse. Violence against another
person should never be tolerated.
Madam President, we need to be the voice for
the voiceless. This could be my family member. This
could be my friend. This could be any of us. And, Madam President, this was me. But, Madam Pres ident, one life lost to senseless violence is one too
many. Madam President, we need to remember the
names of those we have lost to domestic violence.
So toda y I say I am Chena Trott. I am Ruth
Binns. I am Shakeya DeRosa. I am Denise Evans -
Wilkinson. I am Marcus Gibbons. I am Lynae Brown.
And I am many others who have lost their lives to domestic violence. Let their lives always be remembered
and never be in vain. My condolences go out to the
friends and families who have ever lost anyone to
domestic violence. No one should have to go through this.
Madam President, I would like you and an yone who hears my voice today to remember my
name. I am Lindsay Simmons. I am a survivor.

[Pause]

The President: Senator Lindsay Simmons, I want to
thank you for sharing your story. And I am sure on
behalf of all of the Senators present and all of those
listening that they have been touched by your story and the candidness in which you have shared it.
I have worked in mental health myself for
some years. And so I am aware of some of the issues. So I thank you on behalf of the Senate body.
Would any other Senator care to speak at this
time? I see two hands.
Senator Curtis Ric hardson, we will go to you
first. You can speak on the motion to adjourn.

EMPATHY FOR FELLOW BERMUDIANS
ENDURING ECONOMIC HARDSHIPS
Sen. Curtis Richardson: Thank you. Thank you,
Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, when I reflect on the part of
the theme of this year’s Throne Speech with regard to the Economic Recovery Plan, it brings to mind the words of a famous musician whom everyone would
know. Some of the words are, “ Who Feels It ( Knows
It).” Madam President, these words I believe are
heard most loudly right now, especially in these times
of the COVID -19 pandemic. Madam President, there
are people whose lives changed dramatically in March
of 2020 on this Island. This pandemic continues to be
detrimental to the economy not just in Bermuda, but
also on a global scale. One’s personal finances, Madam President, would no longer be the same as ever yone has been impacted with their financial obligations
on a daily, weekly, biweekly, monthly or annual basis.
As a matter of concern, I want to speak to
those who on March 2020 woke up to no source of revenue and no longer earning the money that they
needed that they worked for every day just the day
before. Madam President, some of these people
eventually got back to work, started new jobs. Some
may have found entr epreneurial means to finance
their expenses and the like. Madam President, I want to highlight that this Government has provided just
under $2 million in financial assistant to ensure that
persons like these citizens would not go hungry.
Madam President, much has been done to
help, and there is much more to be done. With that, I recognise the continued success undertaken by the Minister of Finance and his team. Unfortunately, there
are still many who are unemployed, underemployed
and not earning the money that they need to survive
on a daily basis. I could imagine, Madam President,
that there are members in this community who wake
up having had a sleepless night, not knowing how the
day before them is going to present itself to them and
the opportunities th at they may be fighting for to get
ahead. Some may not even know where they are going to get the money for the next groceries. Mortgages, rent, utility bills, groceries and other living expenses are not being paid. Twenty months or so of not b eing able to pay your own bills is the reality for a lot of
people on this Island. Homeowners, businesses, ser-vice providers are all suffering. This is a most difficult position for anyone to be in.
When I think about the way to provide a sense
of understanding, the word “sympathy” comes to
mind. I am not exactly sure if that is an appropriate
word. I know that I feel strongly that the faith of these
people is being tested, the strength that I encourage
them to keep on enduring the hardships that seem to
be a major task here, maybe “empathy,” . . . maybe
that could be asked for. I believe it is a most difficult
undertaking for those fortunate enough to not lose a
day’s work in salary and fortunate enough to make
amends to the adjustment and deal with this COVID -
19 and it s impact that it is having on them as well.
Just imagine that —waking up like I said earlier and
not having the finances that you need for months and months to come.
What I do feel and know is that there must be
an understanding that no one asked to be in t his pos ition. This pandemic has placed them in unprecedented times and an un- thought -of place in their lives that
they could not prepare themselves for. Those who are
owed monies from persons who are unable to pay
these funds to them, I can only encourage you to accept that [situation], although you may find it hard to
understand what it is like to go from having money to
not having any at all overnight.
Madam President, I share these words as I
recognise that I am not alone in this. Only those who feel it truly know it, Madam President. And I just want
to encourage people to understand that we too shall
get past this position in our lives.
Thank you, Madam President.
50 17 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senator Curtis Richar dson.
And, Senator Robin Tucker, you indic ated you
would like to speak on the motion to adjourn. You
have the floor.

DOMESTIC ABUS E—ADDRESSING THE CRISIS
OF IN BERMUDA
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
I want to begin my comments by first of all
thanking the Junior Minister and Sen ator Lindsay
Simmons for sharing her story, her heartfelt, heart -
wrenching story with us. It undoubtedly must have been a very difficult thing to do. And certainly if it helps anybody, thank you, Senator Simmons. It is definitely appreciated.
I do want to say that what is particularly sad or
even sadder, or as sad, is probably a better way to put
it, is that Senator Simmons’s story is happening more
often, maybe not to the same degree. But the issue of domestic violence in this country, in this Island is at a
crisis point. And some of it is compounded by the effects that COVID -19 is having on us. Some of it is
mental health issues. Some of it is just people being
people because of whatever their upbringing or their
life’s perspectives or personalities (howe ver we want
to put it ). And she is absolutely right in saying that
domestic violence, while it is primarily men beating on
women, it could be any combination of things —
women beating men, children being abused by parents, the whole nine [yards].
And it is s omething, quite frankly . . . and my
comment right now is not necessarily one that I want to make as a disparaging one against the Gover nment. It is an observation only, not a criticism as such.
But the issue of protection for our women as it relates
to domestic violence and the increase in domestic
violence is absolutely something that I would have
loved to have seen appear in the Throne Speech. We
are at a crisis point, Madam President. Countless
times, countless stories, if you read social media . . .
just last week I was made aware of a situation where
a woman had to get some friends to help her leave
her house with her children. And she is in hiding as
we speak.
We are beyond a crisis point. And the situation of domestic violence is not going to get better by
our going ahead [with] business as usual. And I do not
mean that in any kind of finger -pointing way, but just
that we have to be very aggressive about how we are going to deal with situations where people are being abused in intimate relationships. It is something that
should be at the top . . . one of the key things at the
top of our priority list.
The situation that occurred with Morissa Mo niz is beyond awful. Nobody should have to go through
that. But we have said that in other cases as well that
have come up. Senator Simmons has called some names already. What I am most afraid of, Madam
President, is that in a year, six months, two years,
whatever the timeframe, Morissa Moniz’s name will be
the second- last name that will be called out because
we will not have acted as quickly and aggressively as
we should to ensure that somebody else is not in this situation. A 28- year-old has lost her life!
We must as a community, as those who are in
decision -making who have the power and the author ity to be abl e to make some changes, let us get some
legislative changes done! Let us get the domestic vi olence court going! We have to put our money where our mouth is, Madam President. We cannot keep wai ting until things happen to decide sometime down the
road that w e are going to do something. Let us be
proactive about protection for our women, for our men who are being abused, for our children, for our sen-iors. This cannot be just words on a page and a reaction when something tragically happens.
So, Madam President, I thank you for the opportunity to speak. This topic is one that is very near
and dear to my heart. I am thankful for entities like our charities that are, Centre Against Abuse, Women’s
Resource Centre. I cannot remember the name of the
organisation that Tammy Richardson- Augustus is a
part of where she and her team are making sure
young people are being educated on what the signs of
domestic abuse look like. But we as a community have to be aggressive and diligent about making sure
that these types of situations, as what has happened
to Ms. Moniz, do not continue. We are too small a
county not to have some kind of positive impact.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robin Tucker.
Would any other Senator care to speak at this
time?
No?
If not, then Senators, we have come to the
end of our Senate session. Senate stands adjourned
until December 1. I wish for all to enjoy the time that
you have and stay safe.

[At 5:18 pm, the Senate stood adjourned until
10:00 am, Wednesday, 1 December 2021.]