November 12, 2021

So it would be fair to say
then that there was no centralised Project Manag ement Plan at that time?
Hon. E. David Burt: If I may, Mr. Speaker, that is a bsolutely correct. The fact is that individual plans certainly had those things. But we were speaking on a
project management, PMO perspective. And if we go
and refer back to the public plan which was tabled in
the House in March and debated in May, it speaks to all of these particular issues about the individual plan
and coming up with a broader framework to make sure that all of the areas of government can effectively
deliver all of the 31 initiatives.

As it relates to the Honour able Premier’s Statement, on page 2, which reads, “ A
business plan f or a Fisheries Development Centre is
being completed under a steering committee” and that
“the plan will consider how such a facility will benefit
the public .” Mr. Speaker, my question is, Given that
the ERP on page 18 says that they are currently
“complet ing construction of the Shoreside” fish pr ocessing plant. (In other words, it sounds like there is one already in development.) My question is, How much of that shoreside plant has already been constructed at Marginal Wharf?
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: None.

Response?

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It
seems the Opposition Leader has answered the question of the Opposition Whip.

[Laughter]

Hon. E. David Burt: Yes, your microphone is still on,
Opposition Leader, so everyone heard t he response.
But as was given in the Statement, Mr.
Speaker, the initial plans, as has been previously announced, were for the Shoreside facility to replace the
Marginal Wharf. However, what we want to ensure is
that the plan is successful. So with consul tation taking
place (with the persons who are known) as between
the Department of Environment and Natural R esources, the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation and the Fishermen’s Association of Bermuda, it
has been determined that it is a better siting for the
project to take place in the West End. So that is where
the development work is moving. Money has been
budgeted for this project to proceed. We want to ensure that this project proceeds.
But what we want to make sure is that it works
for the fishermen. We recognise the plan which was

B ermuda House of Assembly laid out on the Shoreside facility from way back in
2005, had spoken about this. But what we are determined to do is to make this a reality. There is money to be earned from fishing inside of our waters. There is addit ional stuff of which we can do to boost ec onomic output domestically. And that is what this is in-tended to do. But we want to make sure that we get it
right. And the consultation efforts are ongoing. And we
want to complete the consultation effort, identif y the
new site, which is now going to be in the western part of the Island, so that we can proceed with the co nstruction and implementation of this very important project.

Premier, that was the last question for
you this morning.
We will move on to the next Statement. The
next Statement is from the Minister of Finance.
Minister of Finance, you have a question this
morning from the Opposition Leader.
Opposition Leader, put your question. Oppos ition Leader, is yo ur microphone on?
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: I muted it last time, so I
turned it off. The Speaker: Okay. We hear you now. Present your
question.
QUESTION 1: HALF -YEAR FISCAL
PERFORMANCE FOR FINANCIAL YEAR 2021/22
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Thank you.
On the second page the Minister indicated
that there was a variance of $25.9 million, a possible variance of $25.9 million in customs duty. And stamp duty varied by $7.3 million. Can the Minister give us a breakdown of the variances, i.e., their source—customs duty, like retail, construction —anything that
can provide more meat on the source of this additional stamp duty and additional customs duty?

Minister.
Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker, I do not have
that information readily available, but I certainly can undertake to get it. But I would provide just some con-text.
Honourable Members would know that b etween April 1 of last year and September 30, we had a
full-on lockdown and a suspension of air travel in and
out of Bermuda. Between April 1 and September 30 of
this year, we did not have a similar occurrence. So the number of people traveling would obviously be higher during this year than last year. And, correspondingly, you would see a potential for more customs revenues.
We will undertake to get specific line items
around what goods were brought in by quantum so we can kind of identify and share with the Opposition Leader the details around what is giving rise to the variance.
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: And the same thing applies
to—
The S peaker: Would that be a supplementary question?
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: No. I asked a double question, for the stamp duties as well.

Supplementary or new question?
QUESTION 2: HALF -YEAR FISCAL
PERFORMANCE FOR FINANCIAL YEAR 2021/22
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Yes, second question.
18 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report
Ber muda House of Assembly Page 4 reads, “ This includes $7.6 million e xpenditure for the first quarter of the Airport Revenue
Guarantee and $1 million in consultancy costs for
Morgan’s Point/Caroline Bay.” Can the Minister ident ify the consultants who enjoyed this $1 million in co nsultancy fees?
Ho
n. Curtis L. Dickinson: I cannot give an exhaustive list from top of mind, but consultants would i nclude the Joint Provisional Liquidators [JPL]; the EY; the Joint Provisional Liquidators’ lawyers, which are Marshall Diel & Myers. They would include the Go vernment’s lawyer, Trott & Duncan. They would include
the Queen’s Counsel that have been retained by both
the lawyers for the Government and the lawyers for the JPL. They would include Rose Investment Ltd., who are financial advisors to the Government of Ber-muda. They would include Alvarez & Marcal, who are also restructuring experts who provide advice to the
Government of Bermuda.
Th
e Speaker: Supplementary?
Ho
n. N. H. Cole Simons: No. Thank you very much.
That is it for me.
Th
e Speaker: That is it? Okay.
Minister, you also have a question from MP
Pearman.
MP Pearman, would you like to put your question?
QUESTION 1: HALF -YEAR FISCAL
PERFORMANCE FOR FINANCIAL YEAR 2021/22
Mr
. Scott Pearman: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank
you, Honourable Minister of Finance, for your most
informative Statement this morning.
I just have one question, and that is in relation
to the paragraph at the bottom of page 5 of your Statement where you state that “ it is imperative that
the budget deficit target for fiscal 2021/22 is not ex-ceeded . . .” and you regard any breach of the deficit
target to be a serious issue. You go on to make reference to the $1 billion of debt that needs to be r efinanced.
In view of the serious issue and that r efinance, can the Minister share with us any thoughts on the need or otherwise to raise the debt ceiling i n
the coming period?
Ho
n. Curtis L. Dickinson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Colleagues will remember in August of last
year when I announced the successful completion of the debt transaction last August, that I did mention that we had gone to market to secure funding, one, to
refinance existing bonds, but also to raise additional capital to fund the government during the inevitable economic fallout occurring from the pandemic. At that time I mentioned that we had sought to achieve the
financing which provided us with funds to fund the
government for two to three years of deficits while the economy recovered.
I do not foresee at this point any need to raise
the debt ceiling. In actual fact, the plan that we have laid out anticipates that there will be no need to raise
the debt ceiling if we are able to live within our means
with respect to the deficit protections that we have set out. The plan calls for a deficit of $124.7 [million] this year, approximately $41 million deficit next year, and the following year a slight surplus. So we are operating toward those plans, taking measures to ensure
that we set priorities and fund them accordingly so
that we can meet our targets.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank
you, Minister.
Minister, on the $1 billion debt r efinance for
the next 2 4 months, ar e you able to s hare with the
Hous e how t hat is progressi ng at this s tage, whether
you are optimistic, pessimistic, et cetera?
Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: We are one year out from
the first set of maturities. So in actual fact, over the
course of the next 24 months there will be four sets of
bonds that will be maturing. About $400 [million] and
change in December of next year, $170 million in December
of 2022 and then a further $300-plus million in
early 2023. Then again in late 2023 and then early
2024. So I look at these re-f inancings in tranches of
$5 million buckets. It is slightly less than $5 million.
We are a year out. And my current thinking is
that we would try to approach the markets next N ovember in advance of the maturities that will happen
in December of 2022. And at that point we would seek
to refinance the maturity debt in December, as well as
the debt that is coming due in January or February of
2023. My team has certainly started to engage underwriters to get their views on what the best strat egies are going to be. We are somewhat early in this
exercise, but I do not mind being early for this to get
the best thinking. But we will be to some degree subject to the interest rate environment that exists at that
point in time.
When we accessed the market last August,
we were fortunate enough to tap into investor d emand, and rates were there at historic lows, probably
at the trough of the interest rate cycle. Over the
course of the last 15 months rates have been increas-ing by about 100 basis points. So we will see what
happens in the market over the course of the coming


Bermuda House of Assembly months and be able to respond at a time appropriately
inasmuch as we see that rates are going to move far
ahead of where we think they should be when we enter the market to refinance next November.
Having said that, all I am saying is that the
plan now is for November. But market opportunities may dictate our going a bit sooner. So we are preparing ourselves now for the eventuality that we tap into
the market next year.

Minister.

Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: That is a good question.
And I think that the best way for me to answer would
be by just outlining what the Ministry could have done with those funds. The money that is being transferred
to Skyport, or Aecon’s New York base es crow account
by the Ministry, could hav e subsidised two flights per week from Boston, two flights per week from Balt imore. And that would have been able to allow for con-sistent connectivity for Bermudians need ing off Island
medical care. We could have subsidised that for the whole year.
We cou ld have then done three- times -perweek service to Miami, which would have helped the
Bermuda Postal Service expedite and streamline their
delivery of transportation of overseas mail and pac kages. That could have also been done for the year.
We could have then also subsidised twice- aweek service to and from the Caribbean, which would
have put us into a new market with new revenue
streams or even new supply chains, which could have
helped the young entrepreneur and/or small business
owner.
That, right now , what I have just described,
would have totalled roughly around $15 million. So we still have another $4 million that we could have all ocated. And for that additional $4 million, we could have either purchased 30 new or 30 additional electric
buses on top of the 30 that have already been purchased, which would have put all of our transport ation, public service transportation issues to rest when
it comes to getting children to and from school, getting
people to and from work on a timely basis. And also,
that would have put us as a world leader for having over 50 per cent of our public transportation system
electrified, especially with COP26 being topical.
Now, let’s just say we did not want to go with
the public buses and we wanted to allocate those funds elsewhere, because the 30 public buses would have cost $4 million. Let us say we did not put the $4
million there. We could have actually retrofitted a ferry, which would have allowed for more service, and
taken congestion off of our roads, putting it on our w ater. That would have been $3 million. And for that last $1 million, we could have put on the much- needed
ferry service to St. George’s. That is how it affects the
average person.

Hold on. I do not know if that question
actually relates to his Statement. It may be a valid
question, but it has to relate to the Statement that wa s
given this morning.

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, I am just
commenting because he indicated what he would do
with the money had the money been not collected. So I am just saying all along that line, he should also
think about the monies that were not collected by
Government. Had they collected it, they could have
done —
[Inaudible interjections ]

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and good morning.
Given the rundown that the Minister of
Transport has just given us, if we had been able to
redirect that money from the minimum revenue guar-antee, how much of that w ould have gone into the
maintenance of our old airport? Because that would I
guess still stand if we had not proceeded. And if we
had proceeded with the PLP’s $500 million airport, which would have been substantially more money —
Hon. Walter H. Roban : Mr. Speaker, a point of order—

Hold on, hold on, hold on. Hold on.
What is your point of order, Minister?

POINT OF ORDER
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Speaker, it does not appear that the Honourable Member is adhering to the
rules around parliamentary questions —
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Walter H. Roban: —and germane to the Stat ement of the Minister. They are talking about things
that are not germane. Her question is a rather long for
one, and not germane to the Statement of the Mini ster, which I believe is a primary rule of asking these
parliamentary questions on a Ministerial Statement.

Thank you, Minister.
Thank you, Minister. I was listening very
closely, as I have done with t he former Member who
tried to put a question. And I guided him. And this one
. . . I am listening very closely, and I am going to let
her continue unless she passes a line that I think we
need to pull her back on.

Yes, yes.
My supplementary question was that those
were all of the lovely things we could have bought with
that money. But I would like to know what expenses we would have had? How much would we have been
paying for the old airport that we had in maintenance
and the rest? And if we had moved ahead with the
$500 million PLP airport, how much—

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Speaker!

No, no. Minister! Minister! I indicated to
you that I am listening carefully. I understand the
rules. Do not interrupt me again, please. Thank you.
Member, your question is on the line of almost
speculation as to what it would cost to have run the
old facility. What it would have cost to have mai ntained the old facility, et cetera.
The Minister’s Statement gave specifics as to
where the dollars could have been spent had those
dollars been in their pockets. He knew, not necessar ily a speculation, but he knew what it would cost to
purchase new buses. He knew what it would cost to
do the ferry. He knew what it would cost . . . those


Bermuda House of Assembly things that he indicated in real numbers that he could
say, If I had that money in my purse still, I could have
bought so many buses, I could have repaired so many
ferries.
That is the difference between the speculation
of what would have been spent on repairing and upkeeping the old airport, not knowing what repairs may
have come up.
That is the issue with the wording of your
question at this point. Okay?

Well, try and stick as close as you can
to the answer and not draw it out. I think the other
Minister just now when he responded spoke to us
about not trying to keep things lengthy.

Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: Okay. No problem.
Every person who transverses that airport
contributes approximately $100 toward the MRG
payment, or the regulated revenues. So when we go to implement phase 2 of the Air Service Development
Strategy, that would see Bermuda entering a region
that has roughly 44 million individuals who reside
there with a mar ket share that we have identified as
135,000 people.
If we were to now be able to get in the best -
case scenario, 100 per cent of that market share, that
would generate roughly $13.5 million in additional
revenue for the country, taking us outside of that MRG
threshold. And even if we were to get a quarter of that,
that would be $3.3 million, which may not take us ou tside of the threshold for arrivals, but it would reduce the payment significantly by 75 [per cent] to 80 per
cent.

Can the Minister elaborate on
that market share that he just mentioned?

Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: Yes, I can.
So when we talk about the market share, that
is entering a new market, just like we entered a new
market with the phase 1 of the Air Service Development Strategy which took us to, or saw us entering the
Azores market with Azores Air, who has seen that to
be successful. They will be back in December and
then back again next year for the summer.
We are looking to replicate that success, build
on that success and enter a market to the south. We
are looking to enter the Caribbean market, which
could see us making not just travel better for B ermudians, which means that part of the Air Service Devel-opment Strategy is serving the underserved; it is also dovetailing into the national tourism strategy, which
would see us marketing to more affluent lifestyleholders, otherwise known as jet -setters, and having
them come to Bermuda and become not just a locally
driven market, but also a tourism destination.
And in the case of COVID -19 where the airline
industry is transitioning from luxury travel back to consistent demand, it is easier for the Government to
trace, track and project local demand or local travel
trends than it is for us to trace, track and project the
new luxury destination.
Therefore, we are mitigating the risk of any
further MRG payments while also enhancing Bermuda
as a tourism dest ination and helping to diversify our
tourism product.

Supplementary. Go ahead, MP Jackson.

SUPPLEMENTARY

22 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Ms. Susan E. Jackson: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I appreciate the Minister discussing his strat egy in two various regions. But I would like to know
what efforts are being made to secure routes that l ocals depend on for medical reasons, to reach out to
family, for schooling, et cetera. What is being done to
make sure that the routes that locals depend on are
going to be secured and that we can generate enough
of a minimum revenue guarantee contribution from
those groups so that t he Bermudian community can
travel where they need to go?

Minister.

Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: I thank the Opposition for
that question, because that is exactly what we are
doing.
I did not mention Boston, Baltimore, for all
these medical servi ces or medical transportation and
consistency just to pick two routes out of the air. And I did not also talk about Miami or the Caribbean as just
hypotheticals. This is what we are looking at as part of
the Air Service Development Strategy phase 2. And
although we do not have the $15 million that would be
necessary to be able to do this year -round on a consistent basis, we have a strategy.
We have a plan which we are about to impl ement over the course of the next year to see just that,
to see that we can marry new consistency, new service availability, additional air seat availability with the
traditional air seat capacity to make sure that Berm udians get consistent, reliable and sustainable service
year-round.
That is what we are doing. That is what we
are in the process of, and that is what we should be
hearing about more over the course of the next polit ical and fiscal year.

Thank you.
Minister, you have questions as well from MP
Dunkley.
MP Dunkley, would you like to put your question?

QUESTION 1: SKYPORT MINIMUM REVENUE
GUARANTEE
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Good morning, Mr.
Speaker, and good morning, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the Honourable
Minister’s Statement in regard to Skyport payments
being made. I would like to ask a question to the Honourable Minister: If the Government was running the
airport through COVI D-19, in other words we did not
have a contract with Aecon, what would be the comparative costs in required funding to carry the airport
through COVID -19? Costs , such as debt costs, operating loss through staff payments, all of the general
daily operating expenses.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.
Minister.
Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: I thank the Member for that
question, because he assumes that there are add itional costs.
Airports are run based off of service provided,
not service that might be provided. So there would not
have been any additional costs, and the cost of running the airport is usually taken out of the operating revenue that is generated by the service provided. So
therefore, we would not be having an MRG to pay. We
would not have to provide anybody with additional
profits. We would have been able to set our budget
based off of the service demand. And as service d emand drops, so does operational cost.
In this case, under this model, operational
costs increased while demand dec reased. So, this is
why in previous iterations under previous [Gover nments] (when the now -Government was Opposition)
we lobbied against putting the country in this position. If we were not in this position, we would still have
enough revenue to be able to do what we need to do
without having it as an expense. This deal that we
have entered into, which I say time and time again we
maintain that we will [fulfil] our contractual obligation,
we would not have these obligations and thus we would be better off as a country.

Supplementary?

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes. Supplementary, Mr.
Speaker.
I appreciate the answer, but I look at it a di fferent way. The Government closed the airport for a
period of time last year. Can the Honourable Minister
please provide any expenses that would have had to be met when the airport closed? If there were no expenses, Mr. Speaker, it would mean that the staff
would not get paid.
Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: That is exactly correct. You
get paid for the time that you work at an airport, not
based off salary. So once again, the only additional
expense that would have been there would have been


Bermuda House of Assembly electricity, which would not have resulted in the $2
million a year that we are paying now under this pr oject agreement.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
So, the Honourable Member does admit that there are
expenses.
Let me ask a second question, Mr. Speaker.

Put your second question.

QUESTION 2: SKYPORT MINIMUM REVENUE
GUARANTEE

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, can the
Honourable Minister please provide to this Honour able House the passenger volumes in the years 2018,
2019 and 2020 at the airport?

Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: I do not have those specific
numbers. I will undertake to bring them back.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I
look forward to those because in those numbers you
will see the answers of why we have expenses for the
airport, because passenger volumes dropped off drastically.
So I wait for those answers.

Put your supplementary.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: As the Minister of
Transport, can the Minister give any comment to any airports which have actually made money or turned a
profit through the COVID -19 pandemic?
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Well, Aecon.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Speaker, just, you know, I
beg your indulgence.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, that did not
sound like the Minister of Transport.
[Inaudible interjections]

The Minister’s Statement was specific
to the cost of the guarantee. And he spoke to the
guarantee. He did not speak to the overall [subject] of
what airports were doing elsewhere. If we had a broad
international [scope] in it in any way, you may have
been able to put your question here. But it was speci fic to the guarantee and the impact that the guarantee
is having on the Minister’s purse.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, of course I
accept your ruling. But I think when you look at the questions and Ministerial Statement in regard to
Skyport —

The Spe aker: Member, if you accept the Speaker’s
ruling, that is the end of the question.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: And I was just giving you
any understanding of where I am coming from, Mr.
Speaker.

Thank you.
Minister.

Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There is no specific date right now. We are
currently talking through [it], and [we are] in negoti ations with other destinations and going through all of
the administrative process and doing due diligence.
So as it is ready for public consumption, it will be broug ht in a Ministerial Statement, if not more, to the
House.

Minister.
Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: Mr. Speaker, I t hink it goes
without saying that the people who are putting this strategy together are subject matter experts who are
not only familiar with the local travel trends, they are
familiar with global travel trends. And that means they are familiar with the way the projections . . . and being
able to do risk assessments and due diligence. That is how we can ensure that everything that is said can be
done within and/or on budget.

Okay.
Any further question?
No further question? We will move on.
Minister, that is the last question for you on
your Statement.
We move on to the next Statement. The next
Statement where there are questions indicated is the Statement from the Minister of Immigration.
Minister, you have a question from MP Pearman.
MP, would you like to put your question?

QUESTION 1: COMMENCEMENT DATE OF
PERMANENT RESIDENT’S CERTIFICATE FOR
LONG -TERM RESIDENTS

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And
thank you, Honourable Minist er, for the Statement you
gave to the House this morning.
If you look at page 3 of the written Statement,
at the top there are three bullet points. When you read
your Statement to the House this morning, you omi tted the third bullet point. I was not sure if that was
merely just an oversight or if that bullet point should
intentionally be struck from your Statement.

Minister.

Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Speaker, the fee associa ted with the third bullet point is also the fee that was mentioned in the introductory paragraph to that parti cular portion on page 2 at the bottom, where it says,
“spouses of Permanent Resident’s Certificate holders
under section 31B of the Act . . . is $3,150.”
So children and spouses were already mentioned. That [reference to the] fee was a duplicate
[reference]. So the bullet point fee is in alignment with
the fee that I had verbally mentioned when I read the
Statement.

So do I understand the Mi nister that I should just cross out that third bullet point from your Statement, as it is not intended to be there?

Hon. Jason Hayward: The bullet point does not cr eate any additional value. It is still relevant, as that was
one of the amendments that was actually made. But there was no additional new fee for that particular section.

Thank you.
Honourable Minister, below that on the same
page, you set out a series of steps 1 to 4 that w ill be
taken where someone commences an application for
a PRC, or for the certificates, and then they receive it.
How long does the Minister anticipate it will take from
start to finish? If someone was to apply today, they will have their certificate in what number of months or
longer, in your view?

Thank you, and I thank the
Honourable Minister for his Statement.
Honourable Minister, in your Statement you
spoke about fees and there being fees as it relates to
the type of application, such as $10,000 for a longterm resident, ordinarily resident for 20- plus years,
and also a PRC fee of $50,000. Would the Honour able Minister please explain whether or not these fees
are refundable where an application fails?
Hon. Jason Hayward: That is correct. Mr. Speaker.
Where an application has been denied, those fees are
refundable.

Deputy Speaker, would you like to
make a contribution at this time?

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. S peaker, I would like for this House to
send congratulations to former 24
th of May Marathon
[Derby Classic road race] winner and champion, Mr.
26 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly “Ed” Edmond Sherlock, who celebrated his 90th birthday yesterday, November 11.
Also, Mr. Speaker, on a sad note, I would like
to send condolences to the family of Associate Pastor
of Bethel AME Church, “Danny” Coolidge Durham.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Please associate me, Mr.
Burgess.
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Certainly.

Go right ahead.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you. And a good mor ning to colleagues and the Bermuda community.
I would like to ask that a note of condolences
be made for the late Ms. Ivy Symons, who was a longstanding senior resident of the Pembroke East constituency, a long- standing supporter of the Progressive Labour Party and certainly was a great admirer
and follower of Dame Lois B rowne -Evans. She actua lly is also (which is why it is germane to this House)
the mother of Cathy Symons [Brangman], who used to work here at the House previously, Mr. Speaker, doing work generally around the House of Assembly,
she and her husband. I thought it important to mention
Ms. Symons. She was somebody whom I certainly
was supported by and was a supporter of our community in Pembroke East. Certainly her daughter ha ving worked closely with many of us, and her husband,
I thought it important that we ma ke note of her pas sing.

Yes. Minister Furbert, go right ahead.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to also express my condolences
with regard to the family of Danny Durham. Danny
Durham was my cousin. We went to school together
at Francis Patton School for a period of time. But then he also worked at the Ministry of Works and Engineering. He was a great individual, Mr. Speaker, as Members have already given condolences . . . not condolences but have asked to be associated with the r emarks b y MP Burgess.
[Mr. Durham] studied hard and recently, as
you may be aware, M r. Speaker, he became the A ssociate Minister of Bethel, and also he passed some
qualifications in regard to the ministry. So again, he
will be sadly missed by us in Hamilton Parish and by
his family, my cousin Juju Durham, also Shangri and
the rest of them , who are great cousins of myself. So I
would like to be associated with the remarks coming
from the Honourable Member Derrick Burgess.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to send condolences
out to the Martin family. Just recently, Ms. Martin lost
her daughter, a young mother with tw o children. And
whenever someone that young leaves even younger
ones behind, it is really a tragedy. I can say that St.
David’s holds hands with Ms. Martin. The mother is a
constituent of Minister Ming. So I will associate her with these remarks. However, her young daughter
who did lose her life is a constituent of mine in St. D avid’s. And our hearts go out to the family, and we stand in solidarity with the family as they mourn the
loss of this young daughter. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to start my r emarks off on a humble note. I would like the House to
send condolences to the family of Mr. Jahtino Ric hardson- Martin. He was a recent road traffic fatality
victim, November 3, last week. His parents, Michael
and Tonya [Richardson- ]Martin are good friends of
mine. Mr. Speaker, Jahtino was a bright star and now
that he was here, a good footballer for Dandytown
Sports Club. He represented Bermuda on our national
team. So he had so much potential, Mr. Spe aker. And
I would take this opportunity at the House to send
condolences to his family.
Mr. Speaker, on a lighter note I do not know if
congrats have been sent to the college lecturer up at
Bermuda College, Mr. Joseph Weeks. I would like the
House to send a letter of congrats to him. I know him
pretty well, Mr. Speaker.

Go right ahead.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Mr. Speaker, on a personal
note, I would like to extend a word of condolence to
my family on the loss of my grandfather, who recently
passed away, Mr. Speaker, while we were on break,
Leon Rabain, “Plick” as he was known. Quite a character, well known amongst Works & Engineering electrical staff and the Hamilton Princess mechanical staff, Mr. Speaker.
28 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Also, continuing on that same vein, Mr.
Speaker, I would like to send condolences to the fam ily of Raymond William Smith, of North Shore, Devonshire; Alliston Dill of Alexandra Road, Devonshire; and
Germaine DeVaughn Trott of Alexander Road, De vonshire, as well. All constituents of mine. I would like
for this House to acknowledge their loss and send
[their families] words of c ondolences.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very muc h, Mr.
Speaker. I was not sure you were actually hearing me.
I did try to get in.
First of all, Mr. Speaker, let me associate with
the remarks to Pastor Danny Durham. Pastor Durham and I were friends even before he joined the cloth.
And I was very impress ed with him then. And certainly
when he did join the pastoral ranks, he certainly got
my attention. But what I would like to do also, Mr. Speaker, is ask that this House send condolences to
the family of Mr. Wilton Fishenden. Mr. Fishenden
actually was a c onstituent of mine who gave me a lot
of time whenever I knocked on his door. He and his
wife, Edith Fishenden, were very kind to me. So I
know he is going to be missed by certainly her and the rest of the family. So I ask condolences to be sent.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Minister Furbert.
Yes, Minister Furbert. You have your three
minutes.
Hon. Tinee Furber t: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to be associated with the remarks of condolences for Rev. Danny
Durham, a constituent of mine. Also just wanting to let
his wife, Paula, know and his son know that they continue to be in my prayers . They are constituents of
mine.
Mr. Speaker, I would just also like to give
condolences to the family of Diana Ming, mother to Gladnora, Juneann and Michael. Ms. Ming— people
may know Ms. Ming. She worked at Temptations C afé.

Please associate me, Minister.
Thank you.

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Associate MP Foggo. Thanks.
She was known to work at Temptations,
where she made really delicious sandwiches and salads. And I know that her family will miss her greatly.
Mr. Speaker, also sending condolences to the
family of another constituent of mine, Ms. Brenda Ho llis. Ms. Hollis was known in the Friswell’s Hill area
actually, but lived in Harlem Heights. She was the wife of David Hollis and mother of Yusef and Jason. She
was also known for work ing in the group homes at the
Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute. So that family, as well
as her family, will also miss Ms. Hollis greatly.
Also sending condolences out to the family of
another one of my constituents, Ms. Carol -Ann Bu rchall, long- time—

[Inaudible interjection]

Opposition Leader.
Opposition Leader, your microphone is on.


Bermuda House of Assembly Go ahead, Premier.

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I wish to be associated with the
condolences that were given to the family or Jahtino
Richardson- Martin. Certainly, a tragic loss at this time.
I know that those condolences were given by a number of Members, but I want to be associated with that.
Also, Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated with the condolences to the family of the late Pas-tor Durham, which were mentioned by a number of
Members.
I would also wish to associate myself with the
condolences that were given by the Minister of Social
Development and Seniors for the family of Brenda
Hollis.
But, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Honourable House to send a number of letters of condolences as well, as [since] the last time we met there
were a number of persons certainly whom we have lost. Mr. Speaker, first speaking in my constituency to
the family of the late Mr. Keenan Butterfield, who was
a constituent of mine who passed away, leaving a
young family behind. But a gentle giant, as I would call
him, an employee of the Department of Works & E ngineering, Ministry of Public Works. He certainly, Mr.
Speaker, will be missed.
Mr. Speaker, also I would like to ask that a
letter of condolences be sent (as you would know, Mr.
Speaker, as we attended the burial together) to the
family of Ms. Betty Gilbert, from Somerset. A long- time
supporter of the Progressive Labour Party, but also a
long-time matriarch inside of the Somerset community, she was laid to rest last week, and I would ask that
condolences be sent to her family.
Mr. Speaker, on a personal note, I would ask
that the House send condolences to the family of the
late Mr. Renalda Bean, who passed away recen tly.
Renalda was a good friend of myself, constituent to the Minister for Transport, and without question was a
loss before his time, Mr. Speaker. I would ask that a
letter of condolences be sent to his family.
Mr. Speaker, I also ask that a letter of con dolences be sent to the family of —

[Timer chimes]

Okay.
Good morning, Mr. Speaker and fellow Members of the House of Assembly.
I just want to express condolences for me mbers in [constituency] number 7. We seem to have been heavily hit by many persons being deceased of
late. And it is difficult when we do these things b ecause you want to make sure you do not miss an ybody and do not cause any inadvertent offence. But I do want to mention these five persons who were
again from number 7 and who have died since the last
session in September.
These would include Mr. Withrew Kingsley
Beek, Mr. Beek; Donald Wilchester Smith. And both of
these are icons in the area. Then there is Alberta
Cheyenne Olivia Fubler.

Good.
These are all senior members of the comm unity, and they have a signifi cant impact well beyond
their immediate families because many young people,
for example, would have known them as grandparents
or Nana, as we say in the community. So I just want a
shout -out or give condolences to everybody and for all
of us to recognise t hat in this difficult time we all hold
them up in prayer.
Thank you.

No problem.

Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Speaker, I would like to
echo the condolences that have been given to the
Martin family for the passing of their son, Jahtino Martin. That loss is not just a loss for that particular family, but for an entire community. Certainly, that family has
been influential in the Western Stars Sports Club, the
club [where] I spent most of my youth delivering on
the football pitch.
Mr. Speaker, by extension I want to send
condolences to the Darrell family, which is one and the same. That family resides within my constituency
in Pembroke Central and is a staple in the Mount Hill
area. So cer tainly, that has been a loss for the entire
community. And I would like to be associated with the condolences that have already been sent.
Mr. Speaker, I also want the House to send
congratulatory remarks on two significant celebrations
this year. Number one, ABIC, the Association of Bermuda International Companies. They celebrate their
50
th anniversary this year. It cannot be overestimated
or overemphasised the important role that international companies have played in Bermuda’s economic
success. Certainl y, we would want to see continual success from that particular industry. And congratul atory remarks should be sent to the Chairman, Mr. Pat-rick Tannock, on the 50
th anniversary.
Mr. Speaker, the Bermuda long- term reinsurers are also celebrating 10 years i n Bermuda. And
that is also significant because that is one of the sectors that we have seen tremendous economic growth
from. And as a result, I would like for the House to
provide both ABIC and ABIR [Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers] and BILTIR [Bermuda International Long Term Insurers and Reinsurers] congratulatory remarks for their success on their respective
anniversaries.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes. We see you and hear you. Go
ahead.
Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: Mr. Speaker, I would like to
take my three minutes to speak to those who are in
my constituency. And also, I declare my interest: A
very close friend of mine, Mr. Renald a Bean, who
passed away due to complications of COVID -19. So
for me, I wanted to just make sure that I took the time
out to speak to this and just wanted to share that I
know that I am not the only one who has lost som ebody, both a family member, an uncle, and a friend,
nor am I the only one who has lost a friend to COVID -
19. I just wanted to share my sympathies with the
House and also make sure that a note was sent to the family of Mr. Bean.
But I also think that there have been others
who have been affec ted by non- COVID -19-related
deaths. And I just wanted to let them know, those who
are in my constituency and those who are in my di fferent social circles and professional circles, that they
are in my thoughts and prayers, and that they are in
our thoughts and prayers as we come to grips with
this. So, Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to share that.

Thank you, Minister.
Does any other Member wish to make a contribution? Any other Member? No other Member?
Now before we move on, I would just like to
associate myself with some of the condolences, par-ticularly those that have been expressed this morning.


Bermuda House of Assembly I will start with the last one that Mr. Hayward and ot hers spoke on to the Richardson- Martin family on the
passing of a young man who tragically lost his life at
such a young age. Minister Hayward mentioned the
Darrell side of the family, and that is where my con-nection actually comes in with the family. I know the
Darrell side very well, and I and my family express our
condolences to them at this time.
I would also like to be associated with the r emarks that have been expressed to the Durham family
on the passing of Pastor Danny. Much has been said, and all true. He was a very lik eable gentleman and
had an impact on all who were around him.
We move to the Somerset community. The
condolences that were expressed by the Premier in reference to the Gilbert family on the passing of the
mother and long- time matron in the Sandys community. We share the sentiments that were expressed by the Premier and the condolences sent to the family.
Also in Somerset, to add a couple of names.
We would like to acknowledge the passing of Mr.
Weldon Gilbert, the husband of Hattieann. And our
condolences go out to Hattieann and her daughter on
the passing of Mr. Gilbert. As yo u know, he was from
another well -known Somerset family.
Also to the Scotland family on the passing of
Ms. Judy Scotland, wife of John, mother of Makeba, all persons who were very close to me. We share in
the loss and just want the family to know that we
acknowledge them during this time.
Also Mabel Smith, mother of Leon Smith, Lorin and Nicole Smith. Again, they grew up in the neig hbourhood of Sound View, where I resided for many years in my younger years. I know the family well and
want to express [my condolences] to the Smith and
Phillips families on their loss.
Finally, since I have sat in this chair, for the
last three and a half years it has been now, I guess, there is a person who has been very helpful to me
when it came to the media and press and s peech,
presentations and things that we have to do some of
from this office, who is no longer with government.
And I would just like to express congratulations to her as she moves on to a new phase of her life and
acknowledge that we will miss her around here.
And that is Ms. Aderonke Wilson, who has always provided outstanding service to this office, and
me particularly in my time that I have been here as
Speaker. And I will miss the services that she had
provided for us.
With that said, let us now move on to the next
item on the Order Paper.

MATTERS OF PRIVILEGE

We have one Bill to be introduced this
morning by the Minister of Labour.
Minister.

FIRST READING

GOVERNMENT FEES AMENDMENT
AND VALIDATION ACT 2021

Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Speaker, I am introducing
the following Bill for its first reading so that it may be
placed on the Order Paper for the next day of meet-ing: the Government Fees Amendment and Validation
Act 2021.

Thank you, Minister.
There are no further Bills.
We now m ove down the Order Paper, which
brings us to the Orders of the Day.
Members, we now have about 10 minutes on
the clock before we would have broken for the lunch
period. The first item on the Order Paper would be the
resumption of the Throne Speech, with t he Reply being given by the Opposition.
I am going to ask the House for indulgence
that we break now for the lunch period and come back
so we can have the Reply (without any interruption)
from the Opposition Leader.
Members, are you in favour?

Thank you.
Members, the House now stands adjourned
until 2:00 pm, at which time we will start the Orders of
the Day with the Reply to the Throne Speech.
Thank you, Members.
See you at two o’clock.

Proceedin gs suspended at 12:20 pm


32 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Proceedings resumed at 2:00 pm

[Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair]

ORDERS OF THE DAY

Good afternoon, Members. It is now
2:00 pm, and we will resume the session for today.
We are now at the top of the Order of Business for
today. For the public’s knowledge, we are resuming the Throne Speech, which was read last week to lay
out the Government’s upcoming legislative session.
And we begin today with the Opposition’s Reply to the
Throne Speech, and then we will open for Members to
debate the Throne Speech and Reply.
The Premier moved a motion in the last si tting, so Premier, would you like to put the motion to
continue on so that the Opposition Leader can make
his presentation?

[Crosstalk]

Remember, he moved a motion so that
it would lead int o the Throne Speech when we came
back for business today. My fault, I overlooked that.
Continue with your Reply.

REPLY TO THE 2021 THRONE SPEECH

CREATING A VIBRANT BERMUDA
THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, before I delve into our response
to the Government’s Throne Speech, it would be r emiss of me, if I first did not address the elephant in the room —the COVID -19 pandemic.
Mr. Speaker, we are here in November 2021,
and who would have thought that we wou ld still be
facing this pandemic, a pandemic which in 19 months,
has turned this country upside down, inside out and
sadly has resulted in over 100 COVID -19-related
deaths? It has changed how each one of us goes
about our daily lives, and how we manage our community and cultural activities. Just look at the fluid
manner in which our schools must now operate. Look
at how our work/life balance is distorted. The number
of people working from home would have been u nheard of pre- COVID -19. Look at telemedicine or at the new hitch culture. Indeed, there is a new spirit of en-trepreneurialism in Bermuda. We have only to look at
the exponential growth of online shopping both locally
and abroad, and the increase in restaurant take- out
orders.
As a result of the pandemic, we now have r educed the size of our family gatherings, be they chri stenings, graduations, marriages, or funerals. Chris tmas, Easter, Cup Match and Bermuda Day activities have also been scaled back to adhere to the safety
protocols. In fact, look at this scaled -back opening of
Parliament. Due to the Government -imposed state of
emergency, there has been an increased strain on our
health care system, and the added pressures on our
social support networks. Unfortunately, we have also
had to implement and c ontinue to provide millions of
dollars in unemployment benefits, with additional strain on our Financial Assistance programme and our
security forces.
To date, there have been four COVID -19
spikes, with the latest one finally coming under control. And, thankfully, we are adjusting our lives accor dingly, as we have had to do with other catastrophes.
Mr. Speaker, it is time that we come to terms
with COVID -19 and accept that it has changed the
way that all Bermudians live their lives. While we have
longed to return to normal, we in the Opposition b elieve that it is time to accept a new paradigm and that
we, the people of Bermuda, must come together and
rebuild the vibrant, prosperous, and safe community
which we were in the habit of taking for granted preCOVI D-19, because let’s face it, there were many
things that were broken before the onset of the pa ndemic.
As a country, we need to be cognisant of and
recognise that some of the decisions made by this
Government and others have failed to provide the
needed s olutions. If we are going to successfully
come out of this crisis, we must learn from our fai lures. Ed Yong, a journalist for The Atlantic, a U.S.
magazine, recently said: “[N]ormal led to this. To avert
the future pandemics we know are coming, we MUST
grapple with all the ways normal failed us. We have to
build something better.”
The OBA agrees that it is time for us to capitalise on the new opportunities that have presented themselves to rebuild a better Bermuda, both socially
and economically.
Mr. Speaker, many may say that I am very optimistic, and that I should take a reality check. My answer to those critics is this: I am confident; in fact I know that we can get through this, because I know
that Bermudians are a very resilient and resourceful
people. We have worked our way through many cha llenges and pandemics in the past, and we will do so
successfully now and in the future, because that is
who we are.
What makes this pandemic more challenging
is understanding who the enemy is. As a small nation,


Bermuda House of Assembly where generations of locals, long- term residents and
foreign workers live, we must recognise that public
enemy number one is COVID -19 and not one another.
We must use our collective wisdom and energy pos itively, and we must be laser -focused on the fight
against the pandemic together. It will take discipline,
respect, resourcefulness, creativity and a spirit of
community on a level playing field where there is s ocial, economic, and cultural equity for all.
Mr. Speaker, in that vein, let me begin my r esponse to the Government’s Throne Speech by co ngratulating, thanking and showing our appreciation to
our frontline workers, the executive team at Berm uda’s Department of Health, Bermuda’s Chief Medical
Officer and his team, our health care workers, our armed forc es, our supermarket staff, and medical
support staff, our hospital staff, the media, those who care for our seniors, and others whom I may have
missed, who have placed themselves at risk by
provi ding outstanding service to our country by managing and mitigating the risks associated with COVID -
19.
May I also take this opportunity to commend
and congratulate the people of Bermuda for their commitment, patience, diligence and discipline in the
continued mitigation and management of Bermuda’s
COVID -19 pandemic .

The Economy

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, as indicated
by BermudaFirst, economic diversification and growth
are rarely the result of a government plan. They come from innovative entrepreneurs and visionaries who
have an appetite for innovation and risk -taking. In
many ways, growth is the product of the Government
getting out of the way and facilitating access to onand off -Island capital and talent. Government should
be the enabler; Government should not be the sol utions provider.
Considering t his, Bermuda needs a creative
and workable economic recovery plan, a plan which
does not only address infrastructure development and tax concessions. Given the economic malaise faced
by the global community and Bermuda, this Gover nment must make economic diversification a real prior ity beyond the digital and e- commerce industries.
Mr. Speaker, the Bermuda Government has
touted much in the Throne Speech about the 31- point
Economic Recovery Plan, which will include the crea-tion of new industries such as medi cal tourism, vert ical farming, space communications and other initi atives. In addition, they have engaged KPMG to pr ovide project management and delivery services which will support Bermuda’s economic recovery.
I have also been advised that KPMG will be
the primary project manager which will oversee and
parcel out sections of this major project to the other
big three international audit firms that have a pres-ence on the Island. How much will this cost the people
of Bermuda? And can the Government provide details
on the tendering process which resulted in KPMG’s
engagement?
In addition, one questions why this project
was not managed within government. The Minister of Finance has a strong team of competent executives.
During this time of austerity, what expenses will be
trimmed within the Ministry to cover the costs assoc iated with the KPMG engagement?
Anecdotally, it has been my observation that
the small army of people performing COVID -19 testing
and vaccinations, including those keeping the records
straight and those providing security, is probably the
largest stimulus recipient group to date. The question
is are they civil servants, or are they private contractors?
As one senior executive said to me, this Government should choose three of the top economic recovery initiatives and deliver three well -crafted, world -
class initiatives which will position Bermuda to suc-ceed both socially and economically. He went on to say that to try to address 31 initiatives all at once is
farcical and should be a non- starter. Another senior
executive said that we should address the economic
recovery by addressing immigration, inward inves tment, and restructuring the cost of government.
Mr. Speaker, around the world, people and
businesses are facing shortages of everything from
coffee to coal. According to the British Broadcasting
Company, supply chain disruption caused by the
COVID -19 pandemic is mostly to blame, and its effects are being felt in different ways. Mr. Speaker, you
may ask, why I am bringing these supply challenge
issues to light. It is because we and other countries around the world are all interconnected and interdependent economically because of our global trading
systems.
What we sell on the shelves here in Bermuda
are sourced from around the world —from the US ,
China, UK, Thailand, Brazil, and other distant countries. What impacts these countries will ultimately i mpact us in Bermuda. When their production costs go
up, when their shipping costs continue to rise along
with energy costs, and the cost of goods and services
increases, this will result in the increased cost of
goods and inevitably, global inflation.
If current global inflation is hovering at around
4 per cent to 5 per cent, you can rest assured that
Bermuda should expect new inflation rates to be between 6 per cent and 7 per cent for the next year or
so. What does this mean? Bermudians will have less
purchasing power, and experience less value for
money, as our real purchasing power will decrease
accordingly as the price for a basket of essential
goods increases.
Mr. Speaker, Bermuda’s fuel prices have i ncreased at the pumps. A gallon of gas costs approx imately $18 per gallon, compared to other overseas
34 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly territories [where it is] priced at between $4 to $6 per
gallon. This differential must stop. We must review the
taxes which are applied to our fuel at the pumps as it
has a significant negative impact on Bermuda’s cost
of living.
Mr. Speaker, a very interesting revelation pr esented in the Throne Speech is the Government’s i ntention to work with the Island’s lending institutions to provide financial loans and mortgage assistance to
communities of faith and the third sector entities. It
goes on to say that the role that they play has been vital to our community well -being. This must be a
revelation for the PLP Government!
Mr. Speaker, most of our churches and char ities are strapped for money and financing and can ill afford loans from the private sector. In fact, just a few
months ago, this Progressive Labour Party [PLP]
Government withdrew 50 per cent of the charitable
contribution streams to Bermuda’s charities when the
recent amendment was made to the Trade Union and
[Labour] Relations (Consolidation) Act [2021]. In es-sence, this is a real example of Government biting the
hand which literally feeds our com munity.
We in the Opposition take a different view. We
believe that our third sector partners are doing an ex-cellent job. They continue to fill the voids and gaps left
by Government in our communities. Their outreach programmes provide a much- needed safety net for
some of our seniors, the vulnerable, the homeless, and some of our young people. These entities must
be supported.

International Business
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, when it comes
to international business, the Fitch Ratings agency believes that the tax advantages held by Bermuda’s
insurers and reinsurers will eventually be reduced because of a recent G20 endorsement of a 15 per cent
global minimum tax. Thankfully, the Fitch agency said: “Bermuda’s advantageous tax status for the
(re)ins urance industry will be reduced at the margin
with the expected passage of the recent multilateral
agreement to establish a 15% global minimum tax
rate under Pillar Two of the OECD Inclusive Fram ework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS).”
Fitch made it clear that Bermuda will continue
to benefit from an established position in the global reinsurance marketplace, with demonstrated underwriting expertise, a strong and efficient regulatory r egime, Solvency II equivalence and reciprocal jurisdi ction stat us in the US.
Fitch went on to say, “The overall benefits of
maintaining a Bermuda market domicile and oper ations will likely endure, but the net profitability gap b etween Bermuda and non- Bermuda incorporated companies is expected to narrow over time.”
In essence, while the agency does not for esee taking a near -term rating action against Bermuda reinsurers because of the agreement, there is some
long-term uncertainty. For this reason alone, Bermuda
must continue to support international business. We
must co ntinue to work with them so that as their bus inesses flourish, our economy will flourish. In fact, we
should work with CEOs in the executive suites as they
may be a source of innovative ideas and may be able
to suggest policies that will help Bermuda flour ish.

Tourism
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, I was very
startled when in this Throne Speech, the Government indicated that they were leaning towards dismantling
the Bermuda Tourism Authority [BTA]. I then reflected
on the historic tension and strain between the PLP
Government and the BTA. As a former PLP tourism
minister once said that they, the Government, were
going to, and I quote, “rip out the engine of the BTA.”
End quote.
Mr. Speaker, we in the Opposition take another view. Bermuda Tourism should be managed and
led by tourism professionals who are independent of
the government. Moreover, as a country we should
salute the work performed by the executive and staff
members of the BTA who are performing yeoman services during these very trying times , especially given
that the resources made available to them have dr amatically declined with the decline in BTA cruise pas-senger fees, BTA hotel guest fees and vacation rental
fees to the tune of approximately $12 million dollars.
This reduction is directl y attributed to COVID -19 and
its catastrophic impact on Bermuda’s tourism revenue,
and the reduction in grants made to the Authority in
2020/21.
Mr. Speaker, according to a former BTA CEO,
in response to the massive global tourism industry
decline, Bermuda experienced 155 cancelled cruise
calls, resulting in a loss of 445,469 cruise ship pas-sengers, and $99.7 million dollars in cruise visitor
spending. On the air service side there was a loss of
137,967 in air visitors and a staggering loss of $206.8
million dollars in air visitor spending. It was only
through the prudence of the BTA, and their robust
austerity programme that they were able to find their way through this very dark period.
Mr. Speaker, a year later, despite the conti nued presence of COVID -19, there is now pent -up energy and resources, and the global tourism industry
has begun to re- emerge. In November 2021, people
are now living with accepted global COVID -19 prot ocols and are beginning to travel again. We are begi nning to see some shoots of v ibrancy in Bermuda’s
tourism industry. But there is much more to be done to
revive this important sector for all Bermudians to enjoy.
This revival must begin with an updated N ational Tourism Plan. We in the Opposition believe that Bermuda’s Tourism Plan should be the guiding light


Bermuda House of Assembly for the BTA and Bermuda tourism going forward. The
BTA should look for more social media engagement
and an active presence in the digital space. The plan
should focus on our visitors to ensure that their exp erience is authentic and enjoyable as it will always
have positive knock -on effects in the growth of hosp itality jobs and more fee revenues.
Mr. Speaker, if we are going to get tourism
back on its feet, the plan must also include increasing
our airlift routes and getting our air line carriers and
partners sorted out. The Government knows that the
loss of our Boston route deeply affects one of our core
East Coast markets, and those who rely on the direct
flight for overseas medical treatment.
Other key air links have drastically r educed
service, including Miami, which for months has been a
hit or miss as far as flights are concerned. Not only is
Miami a link to the Southeast, but it is also a key link
to the Caribbean, and Central and South America. So,
the question is: Why are air lines cutting back services
to Bermuda when travellers appear to be regaining
the confidence to fly again? Let’s not forget that our
residents also rely on airlift, which has an impact on
the hospitality bottom line.
Mr. Speaker, shifting gears, the Gover nment
has been very vague on the status of the re- opening
of the Fairmont Southampton Hotel. It appears that they still have challenges in finding and securing the
required capital for the $180 million dollar develo pment. In addition, there has been no pro gress on the
Caroline Bay Hotel to bring it to completion and no update on the status of the Bermudiana Beach R esort.
If this Government is committed to the growth
of Bermuda’s tourism and is focused on letting people
know that Bermuda is open for business , tourists ca nnot come here with their hard- earned dollars only to
find a ghost island. The country needs answers; and this Government must provide them. The Fairmont
Southampton cannot and must not be another Car oline Bay Hotel which remains devoid of inv estors.

Gaming

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, Bermuda’s
gaming challenges must be settled once and for all, to
make gaming a reality in Bermuda. The Opposition
understands that the Government holds the key to
opening this industry, which is vital to the growth of
our economy. All they must do is provide the Bermuda
Gaming Commission with the same independence
and autonomy that the Bermuda Monetary Authority enjoys. With the stroke of a pen the Government can
get our local banks’ correspondent banks on board to
support this industry if the Minister [responsible] for
the Gaming Commission is shifted from the Premier to the Minister of Finance.
Mr. Speaker, it is not lost on the Opposition,
nor should it be lost on the people of Bermuda, that there is a possible conflict of interest when the Premier, who is also the Minister of Tourism and has gam-ing as an amenity in the tourism portfolio, [is also] r esponsible for the Ministry that regulates gaming. Why is the Premier and Minister of Tourism also respons ible for the Bermuda Gaming Commission? Again, the
country and the Opposition want and deserve a nswers to this very important question.
Mr. Speaker, I have been advised that if the
Gaming Commission is shifted to the Minister of F inance, Bermuda should finally be poised to open the
gaming industry with cashless gaming using credit
cards only at this time.

Immigration and Labour

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, from an ec onomic perspective, Bermuda will not improve without more people paying taxes and consuming services. A
person with no long- term residential security, who is
treated like a second- class citizen, cannot reasonably
be expected to commit to a place that will not commit
to them. Treating a person as a second- class citizen
hurts our economy, offends this very important group
of people, trashes our reputation of hospitality, i mpugns upon our sense of dignity and respect, and u ltimately deprives our people of opportunities.
The current efforts, including the Economic
Investment Certificate & Residential Certificate pr ogramme implements the simplest, least contentious parts of the Pathways to Status programme. The
Government needs to address the hard questions such as what a transparent, equitable route to achieve
full Bermuda status looks lik e. What is the pathway to
Bermuda status? It needs to be clear, transparent and equitable.
There could be cross -ministry cooperation between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labour who, together, can present mutual benefits for job seekers, cor porations who are looking for economic incentives and local resources. And the government
can achieve its immigration priorities, making this a
win-win for all of the relevant stakeholders.
Mr. Speaker, it just makes sense that the
Government should make life easier for the industry
groups that are keeping the economy afloat. That
means as the insurance sector experiences a hard
market the Government should increase speed to
market by cutting red tape and further incentivise
spending in Bermuda and on Berm udians with good
corporate citizen benefits, such as, charitable giving
closely connected with public policy outcomes.
Strategically, the Government should clarify
specific skill sets for each work permit job and then create a specific training path at Ber muda College to
generate that specific skill set. If it requires overseas travel or experiences, then build that into the budget of Bermuda College and explain why it is necessary.
36 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The enforcement team at Immigration must
also be empowered to bring cases to court quickly
and efficiently. Those who contravene the trust we put
in them as job creators must be publicly held accountable for their disregard of Bermuda.

The digital industry and e -commerce

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, as indicated
last y ear, the One Bermuda Alliance supports the di scussions regarding the digital industry and ecommerce. With Bermuda’s legislative, regulatory and
telecommunications frameworks and digital communications infrastructure, we stand ready to capitalise on
this e merging and growing industry. We expect the
provision of robust training and internship pr ogrammes, and the creation of new jobs for Bermudi-ans.
From a taxation perspective, the digital sector
will also enjoy the traditional tax schemes currently in place in Bermuda, such as company taxes, payroll
taxes and land taxes. The Opposition recommends
that the Government should consider further examination of a negotiated value added tax for the privilege of
companies booking their local and global Internet
busin ess earnings from Bermuda. This approach is
not new to industry stakeholders. According to the
Organisation for Economic Co- operation and Deve lopment, in the absence of a new rulebook, a number of member governments are planning their own digital
service t axes. They are taking this action because of
growing public pressure on large multinationals, such
as, Google, Facebook (now “Meta”), and Amazon, to pay their share under international tax rules after
COVID -19 strained national budgets.

Bermuda’s small bu sinesses

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, throughout
the past 18 months, a number of small businesses
have been absolutely decimated. Local businesses
which have been around for decades were dramatically forced to close or downsize. For example, where is
the A.S. Cooper’s Man shop? Where is the Cake
Shop? Where is the Muslim bakery? Where is the
Hickory Stick?
Many surviving businesses have had to r econfigure their business model such as Crisson’s
Jewellers, Calypso, the English Sports Shop, and let us not forget our friends in the Town of St. George’s.
The Island appeared to be systematically shutting down. What is this Government doing to remedy this? This decline cannot continue. How do we remedy
this?
Mr. Speaker, the Opposition firmly believes
that businesses must be given the freedom to grow,
and that the Government must support their aspir ations, not kill them. We recommend that for the time being, corporate taxes must be kept to a minimum. This Government must do all it can to encourage our
entrepreneurs and silent investors to invest in small
businesses to increase business productivity.
With respect to customs duties, we recommend implementing a tax deferral scheme for up to
one to three months, which will enable retailers and
other small busin esses to pay their customs duties
after their products are sold, and not at the time the
products are imported. In addition, there must be true
equity when it comes to Bermuda’s immigration pol icies. These policies must be just as user -friendly to
local [s mall] businesses, as they are for our international business sector and partners.
Mr. Speaker, from Somerset to St George’s
the stories are the same. Small [Bermudian] bus inesses lament that they must give business away because they cannot get local employ ees to service their
clients. We have heard the repeated refrain, We want
to hire Bermudians, but they do not stay . The sent iment is prevalent within the landscaping, restaurant,
farming, and grocery sectors. In fact, one small bus inessman approached me and said that he is trying to
get one expat guest worker for his workforce of 15
Bermudian employees, but the application keeps getting rejected, while, he said, a chain of convenience stores has all expat workers. He asks, Where is the
equity?
The other challenge for small businesses is
securing financing from our local banks. These small
business entrepreneurs feel that they are unaccept able or unwelcome when they go into our banks and
ask for support. This must change, and the Gover nment has a role in maki ng this change, despite the
support and guarantees provided by the Bermuda Economic Development Agency.
One businessman also shared that he wanted
to secure a truck permit to help grow his business,
and it took him over eight months to receive his truck
permit. What a nightmare! This kind of experience is just not good enough. How can small businesses
grow or, for that matter, survive in these circumstances?
To help our economy grow, this Government
must cut the bureaucratic red tape when dealing with
government agencies for small businesses and other stakeholders. Another small business owner said that
because of customs duties, they are not bringing their
beauty care products into Bermuda. Instead, they are
drop- shipping, which mean that the wholesaler wr aps
the product using the local business’s wrapping and packaging and then ships the orders directly to the client whether they are in Bermuda or overseas.
This innovative idea reduces the operating
costs for their businesses, by reducing their customs duty expenses.




Bermuda House of Assembly Employment

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, the disa ppointing employment numbers are not unexpected
and are consistent with other economic indicators which point to a very bleak future. Essentially, ec onomic suffering will increase in Bermuda until this
Government changes its policies, or when Bermudians change this Government.
The job numbers represent what we already
know. There is less money flowing in our economy, so there is less money to pay and to be paid. Distressin gly, it continu es to get worse before it gets better.
As mentioned, the cost of goods is increasing,
predominately due to supply chain challenges, shi pping, and resource costs from other countries. Local
inflation is expected to increase. Working seniors,
some of whom have already taken funds out of their
pensions, will be forced to quit working due to retir ement and redundancies, meaning less money going
into health insurance and pensions. This also means less money to be spent on consumer services and
purchases. When spiralling unemployment is added to
the list, sustainable living will get harder and harder
every year.
And even more alarming is the fact that guest
workers and locals alike will have to recalculate how
long they can afford to live, work, and invest in Bermuda. Can they afford to step aside so that the next
generation can take their place on the job ladders? Is
the Government trying to staff the economy as it was,
rather than as it is and as it will be in the future?

Public Access to Information (PATI)

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, the Public
Access to Information Act 2010, grants Bermudians
and residents a legal right to access public records. It
takes away the discretion of a public officer to decide
whether or not to give information to the public . In e ssence, it allows individuals and organisations who b elieve that our government institutions have not r espected their rights to access records that they have, and holds these agencies to a higher degree of transparency and accountability.
The Inform ation Commission Office [ICO]
spearheads PATI requests for information, investig ations, and addresses dispute resolutions in an effort to resolve complaints. It also monitors the performance
of government agencies under the PATI Act and, on
occasion, provi des legal advice on investigations r elated to legislative matters. This makes the entire
government more accountable and removes unnecessary secrecy.
Considering the Government’s proposed
amendment to our Public Access to Information Act,
Bermuda must not compromise the authority and i nvaluable services provided by the Information Com-missioner’s Office. The Opposition takes the view that the ICO and its staff are doing an excellent job under
trying circumstances. They are professional, independent, and tru ly apolitical.
The ICO’s Information Commissioner, Ms.
[Gitanjali] Gutierrez, is tenacious and is doing an ex-cellent job, and her role and responsibility should not
be trimmed or diminished for political gain or political
expediency. The public have a right to request information from public agencies with the expectation that
the Government is committed to being transparent. If
the Government is having challenges with their own operational efficiencies that should be examined further.

Flight of our young people

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, another gro wing concern which we need to address is the challenge faced by our young people who fall between the
ages of 20 and 35 years old. Candidly, and unfort unately, they feel that both political parties ar e a waste
of time. They see no future opportunities in Bermuda
for their passion- based careers, or any entrepreneur ial opportunities for that matter. They find it difficult to
find jobs that they love doing and are prepared to sacrifice the stability of ni ne-to-five jobs to do a job that
they are passionate about and love.
Bermuda’s young people want an environment that is more progressive and more receptive to
their lifestyles and career choices. In fact, they are
remedying these dilemmas with one- way tick ets to the
United Kingdom, the US and Canada to chart a new
path forward. They see Bermuda as a place to make
some fast money that will give them an economic
foundation which will eventually help them to leave
and settle in other jurisdictions overseas. This scena rio is most prevalent for young people who are inter-ested in careers in the performing arts and fine arts. It
also applies to the sporting and coding industries, just to name a few.
Mr. Speaker, the Government must do more
to develop and support t he performing arts in Berm uda by promoting local artists and entertainers. In addition, we should also have a national performance centre and an institute for the arts. We in the Opposition would like the Government to also establish more tech
fairs to expose our young people to the cutting edge in
robotics, coding and animation skills.
The Opposition encourages the Government
to develop more festivals so that our artists and entertainers can have year -round opportunities to work, to
expand film and TV incentive programmes to attract
Bermuda- based production and create visibility for
Bermuda and career opportunities and promote public-private partnerships to expand the availability of
scholarships for the arts.
To help Bermudians to buy a piece of the
rock, the OBA f urther recommends helping first -time
Bermudian home buyers with tax friendly lease- to-buy
38 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly opportunities and waive stamp duties on such purchases.

Education
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, when it comes
to education the people of this countr y are expecting
more details on what the Government’s plans are for
next year. We all know that our education system is in
transition. And I have to say that the OBA was quite
surprised that there was no mention of the new ed ucation authority in the Throne Speech. We were also
surprised to learn that the first two signature senior
schools are the Berkeley Institute and the CedarBridge Academy.
The Throne Speech states that the Berkeley
Institute will deliver “Finance and Insurance” and “Health and Social C are” programmes. CedarBridge
Academy signature programmes will include “Trades
for Building construction and Maintenance” and
“STEM” subjects. What will the curriculum for these specialised subjects look like? Where will we source
the teaching professional s to teach the new signature
curriculum?
Mr. Speaker, while on the subject of the si gnature senior school curriculum, why has one of our
primary industries not been addressed? How are we
going to address the tourism, restaurant and retail
industries? The T hrone Speech does not speak to any
of these sectors.
Mr. Speaker, now more than ever there is a
dire need to view education through different lenses.
We need to look at the destination of our students
from a career perspective—where are they hea ded?— instea d of just looking at their academic qualif ications. We must ensure that all subjects are equally weighted. Vocational subjects are just as important as
academic subjects.
In fact, educational snobbery and biases r egarding the development of our young peopl e through
the academic routes versus the vocational routes has
no merit. There must be equal opportunities and i mproved outcomes to help both students and teachers
to realise their full potential. More resources and capital should be directed towards professional development and training so that our teachers can be the best that they can be. We must also elevate the status of
our teachers in our school system.
Mr. Speaker, another important issue which
needs to be addressed is the publishing of the results
of all our external and internal exams in all of our
schools, not just our private schools. This is vital be-cause these exams hold everyone accountable. They
should be used to judge the performance of our st udents, our teachers, our principals, our school s and
our school systems.
In this COVID -19 era when it comes to external exams there is a lack of certainty on how to assess both teachers and students moving forward. Mr. Speaker, this is a work in progress. We should also be
aware that up until the age of 14 most of our young
people are discovering their subject preferences,
which will ultimately lead to either an academic or v ocational career choice. In the 21
st century it is time to
develop a curriculum that results in an overarching diploma which has academic, vocational and extracurricular components and features, a diploma that
will prepare our young people for their rightful places in the real world and make them more marketable and
employable in the global arena.
In the UK, students were surveyed about their
educational needs, and results are similar. They want
options. Some want vocational training, others want
academic education, and others prefer a hybrid of a
vocational and an academic educational path. Having
taken these options, these career paths should be
supported by a broad- based [general] education with
math, science, social skills, and languages.
A sound educational policy should be one
where parents, students and counsellors work toget her. It should provide a roadmap for students who also
want to achieve careers in the arts, theatre, sports,
trades, supplemental health care, and in the digital
arena. More time and effort should also be invested in
internships and apprenticeship schemes.
Mr. Speaker, another area in education which
needs immediate attention is that of mental health and
social and pastoral care. For over 19 months we have
been bombarded with so many negative headlines
relating to the pandemic. What started out as a trickle
of information has escalated into a tsunami of negative headlines, day in and day out, cascading into a
mental assault on the psyche of good- natured Berm udians, which has taken its toll, especially on some of our most vulnerable— our young people.
Currently most schools help their students develop physica l fitness skills. But little is done to develop mental health skills and critical thinking skills. With COVID -19 and the challenges of our social media un iverse, more needs to be done to ensure that our st udents are also prepared and have mental health agi lity. The same mental health support, skills and agility should be available to our teaching staff as they also
face difficult social challenges.
Mr. Speaker, the other crucial issue that this
Government has failed to deliver on is the implementation of an independent education authority. Both the
One Bermuda Alliance and the BermudaFirst group
have promoted this for over five years. The most r ecent report from BermudaFirst indicated that the real ities in today’s education “make the case for . . . the
creat ion of an independent authority for public educ ation that is responsible for the performance management of educators and researching and implementing
a holistic public education system that is appropriately sized/structured, resulting in a learning environment
that facilitates optimum student success.”


Bermuda House of Assembly After five years of the Government kicking the
can down the road, the Opposition is asking the Government to provide a status update on this very i mportant initiative.

Physical development and our young pe ople

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, Bermuda’s
hero and 2020 Olympic Gold medallist, Ms. Flora
Duffy, put Bermuda on the map and showed the world
and every [young] person in Bermuda, that dreams really can come true through commitment, hard work,
discipline, blood sweat and tears, and family support.
However, for far too many, inactivity, obesity,
unemployment and conflict are not only global but l ocal challenges as well. In this time of high anxiety over health and finances, it would be easy to forget the i mportance of sports.
Creating opportunities for our young people to
be student athletes should be identified. If we aim for
the Olympics but succeed with university scholarships or university attendance through sport, we can be
seen to have succeeded. Having a resource to guide
young people to gain all the necessary physical trai ning, mental health, nutrition, and sport scholarships is
overdue.

Health care

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, there is no
doubt that the focus of health care over the past 19
months has been on the management of the [coronavirus] and now the Delta variant. Globally, gover nments are tasked with ensuring the safety of their
people. The One Bermuda Alliance is today looking
beyond the pandemic and asks the Government this
question once again: How can they develop a healthy
Bermuda without a National Health Plan?
What is the status of Bermuda’s National
Health Plan? If this pandemic has taught us anything,
it is that we cannot take our eye off the ball and that
everyone should have access to basic health care. No
one should be impoverished by the cost of coverage. When we read the Throne Speech, it appears that our
Government is guiding and leading Bermuda down
the path to socialised medicine as we know it in the UK and Cana da. That comes with its own unique set
of problems and challenges.
As the PLP Government has run Bermuda’s
health care for most of the past 20 years, it is unco nscionable and incredible that there is currently no health care plan. Bermuda deserves better.
Mr. Speaker, as far as hiring digital support
and utilising technology, we acknowledge that our
health care system needs to be efficient. And in pri nciple we are very supportive of this initiative, even
though it may increase the cost of the delivery of
health care in the interim. When crafting a new plan,
we would like to know what the Government’s plan is to address our shrinking population, which is driving
costs up and resulting in increased taxes and slower
services.
As a reminder, here is what we know about
Bermuda’ s current health care landscape.
• Over the past 15 years, the cost of health care
in Bermuda has increased a whopping
193 per cent.
• Per capita, the cost of health care in Bermuda
ranks in the top two countries on the planet.
• Despite the hi gh spending, our current health
care does not provide coverage for the entire
population. Approximately 10 per cent of the
people of Bermuda have no insurance. And due to the economic impact of the pandemic
that number is constantly rising, whereas
most hi gh-income countries spend far less
than we do on health care and do provide
cover for everyone.
• The present system has not been able to slow
down the rise in costs and it is unaffordable
for people with low earnings, which has now
been exacerbated by increased unemplo yment.
• The Standard Health Benefit (SHB) only c overs sick or chronically ill people, but does
NOT cover preventative medical care.
• Over the next 50 years, Bermuda’s senior
population is set to grow by 68 per cent.
• With an increase in the ageing population,
there is an exponential increase in the d emand for personal at -home caregivers.
Mr. Speaker, the One Bermuda Alliance supports the recommendations made by the Berm udaFirst 2019 Reform Report, wherein they state, “Gi ven the clinical partnershi p we are currently negotiating
with Johns Hopkins’ Medicine, we should utilise this
relationship with Johns Hopkins University to access
Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health, a
world class expert in advising on the design of health
care systems . Ignoring the advice of best -in-class e xperts, in this instance, would be pure folly and would
certainly lead to under -informed choices. Bermuda
cannot afford to delay leveraging this and other sim ilar, influential resources.”
Given that health care represents the largest
expenditure of the Government, getting control of this
cost and implementing a sustainable long- term sol ution is a high priority. We must also ensure that the
regulatory oversight is best in class and mirrors the
reputation, resources and quality found in the Berm uda Monetary Authority. Bermuda deserves nothing
less. Further, regulatory oversight of physician and
medical practices and accountability should be the responsibility of the Bermuda Medical Council.
Moreover, the OBA recommends that the PLP
Government should
• Develop a National Health Care plan to ensure that every Bermudian has health care
40 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly coverage, one that is evidenced- based and
managed by independent professionals.
• Each patient would have a Unique Patient
Identifier (UPI). This will ensure that everyone
has coverage, reduce duplication of services,
and drive down the cost of health care for all.
It will assist in services being streamlined and produce a true number of those who are uni nsured or underinsured to develop solutions to reduce this figure.
• Create a national physical fitness programme
to encourage well -being, sound health, exercise, and good personal diet, from primary
school throughout life.
• Work with health care providers to ensure that health care reform results in improved popul ation health and more affordable health care.
• Legislate that insurance plans that offer mental health coverage must cover it in the same
manner as medical coverage and not discri minate or offer lesser coverage for mental
health services.
• Provide additional assistance to those who,
for whatever reason, simply cannot afford i nsurance.
In essence, the focus should be on the prov ision of patient -centric services, giving the patient
more options to be in control of their own health care
choices, which are not defined by the practice of s ocialised medicine.
Mr. Speaker, the Opposition believes the pr otection and support of our vulnerable should go one
step further. There should be a combination of qual ified legal services, direct support, community interaction, training, and partnerships with the aim of provi ding practical and emotional support to advance the
well-being of our community.
Services such as the Office of the Public
Guardian should be embedded in a broader community resource centre to support issues of stress management, domestic violence and ageing at home.
Costs and resources could be controlled by working in
partnership with the third sector including charities,
churches, and social entrepreneurs.
The Opposition further recommends t he enhancement of the work on reforming seniors’ care, to urgently review the structure, funding, and regulations
of the sector. This will ensure sustainability and quality
going forward. The review should address workforce
issues and care, including acknowledgement of the
contributions of unpaid caregivers.

National seniors’ strategy

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, seniors are
Bermuda’s national treasures. Statistics show that
while this demographic are living longer, health concerns and the challenges stemming from COVID -19 highlights a need for a national seniors’ strategy to
help seniors navigate through the ageing process.
An effective strategy must consider the early
stages of ageing, helping seniors to retain their ind ependence and retain or i mprove their health. Seniors
have significantly contributed to the economy and yet
still find themselves having to make the very difficult choice between food, medicine and housing. We must
do more to honour their societal contributions by i mproving their income security through reducing finan-cially burdensome items such as car licensing fees and land taxes that drain the resources of those on
fixed incomes.
In addition, all seniors diagnosed with debil itating diseases like Dementia and Alzheimer’s should have access to dedicated caregiver support. The third
sector has experienced increased demand for support for seniors with Alzheimer’s and Dementia. There
must be increased support for family members and
caregivers who either dedicate themselves to look
after their loved ones afflicted with these diseases,
while balancing work and family responsibilities, or are
fortunate enough to be able to afford to engage exter-nal caregiving support. Family and non- family car egivers are sometimes overlooked as needing support,
but the mental and physical toll of taking care of loved ones places a heavy burden on them and also places
the primary caregiver at risk for developing physical and mental health problems themselves. More needs
to be done to support our caregiver s.

Transportation

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, Bermuda is
clearly at the precipice of a new era in transportation.
This is an opportunity for Bermuda to positively impact
climate change and demonstrate how our small land-mass can take a leadership role in transforming transportation into an environmentally efficient beacon for
the rest of the world.
Presently, Bermuda’s public transportation i ncludes an ageing and inefficient fleet of ferry boats. Our buses and their maintenance have reduced [the
bus] services to unreliable at best, and private cars
and bikes on our roads are increasingly dangerous
and environmentally inefficient. Is it time to consider
the privatisation of our local public transportation sy stems as is done in other jurisdictions? T his move will
result in economic efficiencies and better value for service to the people of Bermuda.
Having recommended this, we also note that
our public transportation services are primarily used by people with limited incomes to go to school, work,
shop or visit friends, namely seniors and students.
Any increase in ferry and bus fares will have a dr amatic impact if these people are residents of either Somerset or St. George’s because most of them trav-el to the city.


Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, legislation must be re- visited to
include and enhance support for victims of road traffic
accidents. Too many are falling into this category,
through no fault of their own, yet receive little to no
financial support for expensive, long- term health care
expenses. There is communit y and judicial support for
amendments to the Motor Car Insurance (Third Party
Risk) Act 1943 to increase compensation to $125,000
for victims.
Mr. Speaker, careers in aviation continue from
its inception 26 years ago, when Bermuda’s first Air Traffic Contr oller, Patricia Peets, welcomed USAir in
conjunction with the U.S. Navy handover of the Base
lands in 1995. This year, the Bermuda Airport Author ity welcomed three new Bermudian Air Traffic Controllers to the team. Following extensive overseas training
these young men have returned home to take their
rightful place in the air traffic tower, firmly extending
the professional aviation history for Bermuda. We offer our congratulations to these young men, their fam ilies and support systems.

Updating our taxation system

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, last year’s
Throne Speech proposed that the Tax Reform Co mmission of 2018 update its recommendations in light
of the new economic realities created by the pandemic.
Our question to this Government is why has
this not been delivered? When does the Government intend to re- embody the Tax Reform Commission?
Have they refreshed themselves with the 2018 report?
And what has been done thus far to implement any of
the recommendations?
We submit that there are recom mendations
found in that report which are fair, equitable, do not
place undue burden on the lower paid workers of this
country, and do much to effectively broaden the tax
base without stifling the economy. But just like the
SAGE report, the Fiscal Responsi bility Panel’s report,
and other similar reports, this administration has not
put into practice recommendations made by these commissions.

Bermuda’s national debt

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, I would be
remiss if I did not acknowledge the comment s recently
made by Bermuda’s Auditor General about Bermuda’s
national debt. She underscored her concern by stating
that, as in her previous annual reports, the Gover nment continues to make decisions without knowing
the combined financial position of all the organisations
that make up the Government reporting entity.
She further added that there are no effective,
comprehensive long- term plans for reducing the annual and accumulated deficits or the associated debt,
the unfunded liabilities of its major pension plans or the size of taxpayer indebtedness, all of which conti nue to grow unsustainably.
This continued behaviour must end, and fiscal
prudence should and must be implemented if we are going to bring our national $3.5 billion dollar debt in check. We cannot pass this $3.5 billion dollar burden
on to our young people and generations to come.

Parliamentary reform

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, you will recall
in last year’s Speech from the Throne the current
government indicated that they were exami ning constitutional reform, which has yet to be defined.
As stated in last year’s [Reply], we in the O pposition would like the Government and this Parli ament to take further action to ensure that Bermuda’s
Legislature meets the standards prescribed in the
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s [Recommended] Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures.
Mr. Speaker, you may recall that after much
deliberation, a Parliamentary Joint Select Committee
on Parliamentary Governance and Reform presented
its final report to Parliament on March [5], 2014, which
was unanimously approved by the House at that time.
Mr. Speaker, that report recommended that Parli ament establish an independent body known as the
Management Commission, which would be respons ible for the adminis tration of the Legislature.
This initiative will truly support fundamental
principles of democracy, with the true separation of powers between the Executive, the Judiciary, and the Legislature. This independent parliamentary commi ssion would also give our Parliament more independence, allowing it to operate more efficiently, reducing
the influence and interference by the Executive
Branch of government.
You may also recall that the Joint Select
Committee on Parliamentary Reform also crafted draft
legislatio n which summarised details on the Commi ssion’s mandate, its functionality, and its structure. It
was submitted to your chambers for review and approval so that it could be presented as a Private
Members’ Bill. Yet six years later, the legislation has
yet to see the light of day, even though the legislation
was sanctioned by Parliament in 2014.
Mr. Speaker, we in the Opposition take the
view that it is time to resurrect and effect this legisl ation. Let us make this parliamentary Management
Commission a real ity in this session. It could be our
gift and our legacy for generations to come.

National Security and Policing

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, as mentioned,
with over 100 COVID -19 related deaths, and the pain
experienced by the affected families and friends of the
deceased, unfortunately many people in Bermuda
have also become desensitised to the increase in
42 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Bermuda’s road traffic deaths. Sadly, this state of i ndifference has had a detrimental effect on our road
use and now places many road users at risk. There is
an increase in a series of bad habits on our roads,
such as road rage, driving under the influence, and other irresponsible driving habits which are totally unacceptable and, in most cases, illegal. Yet these examples continue while the Bermuda Police Service
[BPS] constantly faces enforcement and funding cha llenges.
This dilemma has been going on long enough
and must become a priority. We need a more robust
police presence on the roads if we are to deter traffic
fatalities. In addition, t he community is urged to play
their part. If members of the community see som ething, then they must say something.

Gang violence

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr Speaker, unfortunately,
we have had reoccurring spates of violence in Berm uda and the sad thing is that our community appears to
have become numb to this type of behaviour and has
begun to accept this behaviour as new way of life.
We have had eight shooting incidents so far
this year. Just last week we had two young people lose their lives as a result of gang violence at a local
restaurant in Hamilton. In addition, there were also
brawls and youth violence at one of our South Shore
tourism properties. This must stop. We must also stop
living and believing that we live in a dream land. When
it comes to youth and gang violence we must stop
saying that this is not who we are and this is not who
we want to become. Sorry, Mr. Speaker, this is who
we are, and this is who we have become.
It is clear that we are killing our own brothers
and sisters, and our leaders must retire from that state
of denial because youth violence is here, and it appears that it is here to stay as we are unable to arrest
this scourge. As a community we have failed some of
these young people. We have failed them in educ ation, we have failed them when it comes to emplo yment and in some cases we have failed to parent
them properly.
As parents, we must hold our young people
accountable for their behaviour, and not enable or support bad and antisocial behaviour. If our son or
daughter comes home with unaccounted amounts of
money every week, and they are not working, we
must really question those children to see where
these funds are coming from. We cannot and must not
allow our families to survive on illicit means of income. If we do, those family members are complicit in these
nefarious activities, especially if members of the family
benefit from these illicit earnings.
Mr. Speaker, gang violence is a reflection of
our society and how society has managed its young people. We all must take o wnership of this problem and we all have a role to play in addressing this pro blem.
Mr. Speaker, one of the fundamental respo nsibilities of any government is the security of its cit izens and ensuring a safe environment in which all can
thrive. This begins by valuing all our uniformed personnel by providing the best possible conditions of
service and physical environment, but it also requires
vigorously confronting the causes of crime as well as
being tough with the perpetrators of the crime itself.
Mr. Speaker, the Government has disrespec ted our uniformed services. They have slashed the police budget; they have not provided our firefighters
with the necessary equipment, and they have allowed
conditions at the prisons to fester. They also failed to
provide s ome frontline workers with the necessary
PPE during the COVID -19 lockdown.
We believe in law and order and value our
uniformed services. Their performance during the
COVID -19 crisis underscored their commitment and
diligence and we all owe them our gratitude for their
service. They worked above and beyond anything we could have asked.
Therefore, Mr Speaker, the One Bermuda A lliance recommends that the PLP Government
• fully invest in our uniformed services by e nsuring they do not lack for basic needs such
as clothing, and equipping them with modern
technologies to better ensure safety and crime
prevention, including body cameras for police
officers, updated fire equipment and emer-gency ambulances;
• address the serious facilities deficiencies at
our prisons to ensure our prison officers work
in a safe and healthy environment;
• ensure our uniformed services are fully
staffed, so that services are routinely provi ded, with reduced reliance on overtime pay and
the promotion of well -being for those who give
service to our Island;
• provide clerical support to our uniformed services so that they are free to concentrate on
their important core tasks and not be bogged
down by non- critical duties; and
• provide on- call mental health and social wor kers to support the police in r esponding to noncriminal calls to provide de- escalation or crisis
assistance.
The OBA believes that strong preventative
and rehabilitation programmes are important in mai ntaining safe communities, to provide ongoing support to victims’ families, to support and guide at -risk youth
and to give offenders a second chance.
Mr. Speaker, tacit support also should be gi ven to the formation of a police authority. After all, we
all should support the police with greater community
involvement. We also should support t he BPS by
building more confidence and trust in the organisation.


Bermuda House of Assembly We commend the BPS for its stance in addressing
standards of professional behaviour.
Having said that, though, it is disappointing
that the Government has not mentioned the Police
Complaints Authority in the Throne Speech. This body
is important for public trust and public engagement. Its
work should be supported and highlighted.
Mr. Speaker, community policing is critical for
the BPS. We should support the Commissioner of P olice and the enti re Bermuda Police Service in their
efforts to enhance community engagement and i nvolvement.
Too often the Bermuda Fire Rescue Services,
Corrections and the Royal Bermuda Regiment are the
forgotten children of National Security. This must end. We look forw ard to the Government sitting at the table
with them and addressing their outstanding concerns.

The Environment

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Mr. Speaker, when it comes
to the environment, this Government must do more to
preserve our garden paradise. We agree with Go vernment that Bermuda is a treasure trove of environmental wealth, and a critical habitat for marine biodiversity. We also support the initiative that Bermuda
must become a key player on the global stage of cl imate risk financing.
As far as the pro posed Marine Development
Act, we anxiously await further details given that the
marine spatial plan has been in process for the past
10 to 15 years. From what I understand, this may be a
re-branding initiative as it may have been formerly
referred to as Bermuda’s Blue Economy.
More must be done to protect, maintain and
improve Bermuda’s environment and manage our
natural resources for sustainable results. We must
also do so by managing our contributions to climate
change and mitigating climate risks. Bermuda must
reduce its dependency on fossil fuels and its dependency on hydrocarbons. We must be more aggressive
in defining policies which require the use of renewable
energy fuels and low carbon fuels. We believe that this Government should transition the government’s
small vehicle fleet to electric vehicles within the next
five years, and in addition the Government should provide incentives for the creation of energy charging
stations throughout Bermuda.
The OBA would modernise and move our bus
fleets towards the use of low carbon fuels. We would
also continue to build on current policies and pr ogrammes to control the proliferation of invasive species, protect our marine resources and to continue to
protect our marine parks and marine protected areas.
When it comes to food security farming and fishing,
we must commit ourselves to securing policies that
support the environment and nature. It should also
tackle climate change and support a sustainable agr icultural industry and fisheries industry. Our policies an d legislation should provide
fairness to our farmers and fishermen. As we support
other industries, it is time that this Government consider a farmers and fishermen support revolving fund,
which could be funded by government with approx imately $1 million d ollars to allow our fishermen, liv estock farmers and our vegetable and fruit farmers to
enhance their capacity for increased production in a
sustainable manner.
While on the topic of our fisheries, I want to
invite this Government to meet with our fishermen to discuss the fisheries processing plant that the Government has proposed at Marginal Wharf in St. D avid’s. From my discussions with fishermen and marine
scientists around the Island, there is no appetite for
such a processing plant. They always raise t he issue
of the failed Sargasso processing plant, which was at
Morgan’s Point years ago. In addition, the fishermen
also question the logic of having the fish processing
plant in St George’s when the fishing grounds are
primarily around Challenger Bank and Argus Banks,
which are at the west and southwest end of the Island.
Moreover, the main fuelling and supply st ations are in the west end of the Island, or in Hamilton.
They are also interested in examining the benefits of
having a fishing co- op.
In closin g, as Rahm Emanuel, the former
Mayor of Chicago once said, “Never let a crisis go to waste.” It [provides the] opportunity to do things [that
were not possible to do] before.”
Mr. Speaker, clearly, Bermuda is facing one of
the most dire and unprecedented periods in its history,
a time when all hands are needed on deck to chart the
path through this turmoil. Yet this is one of the most
abbreviated Throne Speeches from the Government I
have ever seen in my 20- plus years in politics. This is
incredible.
Mr. S peaker, the One Bermuda Alliance’s r esponse to the Throne Speech is our rallying call to the
Government and the people of Bermuda to collectively
shed the debris of the pandemic, rise to our feet as a
united people, seize the ample opportunities outlined,
and move forward together with confidence.
Mr. Speaker, we must look beyond the pandemic and breathe in a new life of optimism and op-portunities for ourselves, our families, our businesses,
and our country, if we are to create a vibrant Bermuda
that works for everyone.
Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Opposition Leader.
Members we have heard the Reply to the
Throne Speech. This now opens the opportunity for Members to speak to last week’s Throne Speech and
today’s Reply. Would any Member wish to m ake a
contribution at this time?
Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: Mr. Speaker.

44 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Is that Minister Scott?

Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: Yes sir.

You have 60 minutes, sir.

Hon. W. L awrence Scott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, you know me well enough to
know , and those that listen on a regular basis know
me well enough to know that this is the time that I
would normally stand to my feet in this Honourable
Chamber and start my s peech off with an introductory
story, which could be anything from aviation and flying
behind the power curve , to characters or a plot stemming from the MCU. And for those that are not comic
aficionados, MCU stands for the Marvel Cinematic
Universe. Whereas , in my last speech I started talking
about the Creation story in Genesis [chapter] One,
about the creation of an environment.
Mr. Speaker, the Reply to the Government’s
Throne Speech that the Opposition Leader gave was
a long speech from a tall man that made little sense.
And so, Mr. Speaker, in these times where we struggle with just finding out what is normal and what normal look like in a world that is in the state of transition,
and with a Government that has some serious dec isions to make, not to mention that this Government is
tasked with putting together a plan or a strategy on
how to rebuild our country and move Bermuda beyond the pandemic , Mr. Speaker, needless to say, our
community has been rocked and shaken to its core. I
am someone who looks at things in a somewhat abstract kind of way, looking at how do I take something
verbal or two- dimensional and put it into a threedimensional space. And so, if we were to look at Ber-muda now as a construction project, Mr. Speaker (I
know you know a little something about construction),
I think that Bermuda would be in what we consider the
rough- in phase. Now, for those that are not as well
versed in construction as yourself and me, Mr.
Speaker, the rough- in phase is the stage of a construction project where the various mechanical, electrical and plumbing lines are all brought in after the frame of the building is done. That is when the roughin phase of construction begins.
And so, Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but be r eminded of Mr. Carl Friedrich Gauss. I am a bit into the
Big Bang Theory and sort of intellectual humour kind
of circles sometimes, but I am also a great fan of math
and all its different properties. And so, for me, personally, I believe that Carl Gauss is probably the greatest
mathematician in hi story, and it is mainly because he
realised that ultimate two- dimensional geometries are
possible that do not satisfy Euclid’s parallel post ulates. Now, he went on to describe these areas as
non-Euclidean, and for that, Mr. Speaker, I believe
that he is ar guably the founder and the creator of nonEuclidean geometry.
So, now you might be asking, Mr. Speaker,
what does non- Euclidean geometry have to do with
architecture, have to do with building back Bermuda’s
foundation after being rocked by COVID -19 and moving us beyond the pandemic. And I am glad that you asked that question, Mr. Speaker, because I think it would be helpful for me to just explain that Euclidean
geometry is the mathematical foundation (pun inten ded) to your traditional architecture. So, the building
that we are in now, the building that everybody listening to this is in now is basically built on the rules and
policies or procedures based on the Euclidean geom-etry. Now, on the other hand, non- Euclidean geometry
is the math and the scientific foundation (once again,
pun intended) of contemporary architecture.
Now, I come from a family, Mr. Speaker, that
has a basis in architecture. I do not know if you r emember the old John Swan building on Victoria Street
that was designed by my father. I know a little bit
about architecture through watching him. And for
those who are not as familiar with architecture, co ntemporary architecture includes all of the latest innovations, the newest trends, as well as thoughtful i mprovements and changes to the archi tectural features
from prior eras. For example (and I encourage persons to google this while I give my speech), the Gherkin in London. I believe that the Gherkin is the one
that looks like a fancy pen top. Or the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, or even, I think, the most
iconic form of contemporary architecture is the Sy dney Opera House in Sydney, Australia.
Now, Mr. Speaker, Walt Disney told his crew
to build the castle first when constructing Disney
World, knowing that the vision of the castle in the
background and the surrounding area would continue
to serve as motivation throughout this project. Mr.


Bermuda House of Assembly Speaker, this Throne Speech is the Government’s
castle and rebuilding our country is the primary pr oject.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I included Walt Disney as
an example of contemporary architecture just so that
the OBA can continue to follow along, as they ran a
Mickey Mouse operation from 2012 to 2017. And so,
Mr. Speaker, this Government , like every other government around the globe , is tasked with rebuildi ng
the nation, moving beyond the pandemic . And what
this Throne Speech outlines, what this Throne Speech highlights is that we do not , we are not and we will not
approach this with a traditional mind- set, and that the
only way in which we will successfully move Bermuda
beyond the pandemic is by a contemporary approach,
contemporary meaning incorporating new ways of
thinking, new ideas and new technologies.
Mr. Speaker, the opening page of the Throne
Speech quotes Dame Mary Douglas . And Mr. Speaker, with your indulgence, “If you want to change the
culture, you will have to start by changing the organization.” Mr. Speaker, I think it bears repeating. If you
want to change the culture, you will have to start by
changing the organization. Now, Mr. Speaker, I believe, and I might be partisan, that this is the second
most significant line in the entire Throne Speech, and
only second to the line that is found on page 9 that says, “The Ministry of Transport . . . will pursue an air
service development [policy] to sec ure increased airlift
. . . and . . . connectivity for Bermuda.” Mr. Speaker,
air service development is vital to this country.
Mr. Speaker, air service development is a n ecessity, and you have heard me say before that there
is no tourism without transpor t. And we all know and
accept that tourism is a pillar of our economy. Earlier
today (without reflecting on the debate because there
was no debate on it, it was just asking questions and me providing answers ) we discussed the OBA’s bad
deal for Bermuda that has increased the cost of doing business by a good $300 [million] to $400 million, Mr.
Speaker. And over the course of 30 years, we will see
$1.3 billion —$1.3 billion— leave this country and go to
an escrow account in New York City, with no plan on
how to protect the Bermuda interests, with no plan on
seeing how we are going to be able to make this work in the best interest of Bermuda.
They put Skyport in charge of air service development and for the two years that they had that
responsibility [it was] unchecked, unchallenged, [and]
they lost air service. Therefore, the OBA is respons ible for not only increasing our deficit . . . or no, let me
not say deficit. Let me scale things back . . . increasing our financial risk , Mr. Speaker, to the tun e of $400
million.
And so, Mr. Speaker, there was no plan to i ncrease air service development, although we have a
revenue guarantee that is based on the air service
development! And the Opposition which is led by the
Opposition Leader who at that time sat in the room and agreed that this was a good deal to go down and
increase our financial risk by $400 million, not put in place stopgap measures, not find a variation clause to
protect Bermudian interests has the audacity , Mr.
Speaker, the outright gall to say that this Throne
Speech is weak . And as I said, that is why they were
in charge of a Mickey Mouse operation.
Mr. Speaker, this Government put in place the
country’s first air service development strategy, which, Mr. Speaker, dovetails into that of the National Tourism Strategy. The same strategy which the Opposition says needs to be updated was never updated under
their rem it, was never updated under their time as
Government. So, all the things they overlooked as
Government we have to now make sure that we clean
up.
They increased our financial risk by $400 mi llion on one deal. I have not gotten to the $200 million for Morgan’s Point yet, Mr. Speaker. And so, speaking
about Morgan’s Point, if we add the $400 million with
the $200 million for Morgan’s Point, that is over half a
billion dollars of financial risk that the OBA Gover nment hung around this PLP Government ’s . . . or let’s
just say future Government’s necks . And they are
supposed to be the ones that are financially prudent.
They are supposed to be the ones t hat run busines ses. They are supposed to be the ones that are bus iness savvy and successful. So, Mr. Speaker, it burdens me and I cannot fathom, how these people who
run businesses in our community that are currently
successful bec ame successful in the fir st place?
Could it be that they created an organisation that
stacked the deck in their favour ? But I will . . . let’s
stick a pin in that.
Mr. Speaker, I am going to go back to that
quote on the page 1. To me, when we speak about
changing the culture, I se e that as changing the mind -
set, Mr. Speaker. And when you speak about chang-ing the organisation, to me, Mr. Speaker, that talks
about changing the environment. So, this Throne
Speech, Mr. Speaker, in my interpretation, as I inte rnalise it, says that first we must change our mind- set.
And if we change our mind -set, there is a greater lik elihood of us changing our environment. And depending on what we change our mind- set to determines
what environment we create for ourselves.
So, if we continue to look at t hings and people
within our community as “ us” versus “them, ” we will
only perpetuate an environment in which the status
quo . . . remember that status quo that I said to stick a
pin in? Let’s take that pin out now. So, that is the st atus quo that will cont inue. However, if we change our
mind -set, or if even just the scope ever so slightly, Mr.
Speaker, change our mind- set from us versus them,
Black versus white, us versus them, vaccinated versus unvaccinated, to us versus them, the have and
the have- nots, t o us as Bermudians versus them as
the rest of the world, this allows us to create an env i46 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ronment where the collective focus is that no Berm udian gets left behind.
We do not want Bermudians to get left behind
like all of Flora Duffy’s competition in the Oly mpics.
We do not want Bermudians to get left behind like
those football teams that will have to go up against
Arsenal for the rest of the EPL season. Yes, I am tal king about West Ham . Yes, I am talking about Liverpool. But I digress. And, no, we do not want Bermudi-ans getting left behind like they did under the UBP
and further put behind under the guidance of the OBA. And the only way that we are going to do this, Mr.
Speaker, is if the Government looks at things in a nonEuclidean contemporary approach, meaning using all
of the latest innovations, using all of the latest trends in conjunction with thoughtful improvements and
changes to our economy through economic diversif ication, our financial markets, the investment in our infrastructure, expanding the residential population,
our social development and the labour market, and to
both health care and regulatory reform. And all of this
is to help address the shortcomings and inefficiencies
that were established and perpetuated under prior
eras. And we are doi ng this, Mr. Speaker, in the interest of future success.
Now, Mr. Speaker, at no time should one co nfuse future success with that of continued success. And this is what I was starting to get to earlier, because continued success in this context speaks to a
person, a family, a company or even an organisation
(using the word from the first page in the Throne
Speech) , that is not only currently successful, but
most likely has been successful for generations. And
so now, how did they get that way? But before I go
into that, let’s talk about what future success entails.
Future success in this context speaks to a
person, a family, a company that is attempting to
break into a market [to] introduce a service, but for
whatever reason, . . . it could be that they lack access
to capital, because the banks no longer want to loan
money to start -ups. The banks are withholding that
ability for us to start building a nation of owners. The
banks are starting to once again . . . the same banks
that relied on the Government to bail them out when
they needed help. They had their hand out real quick
last year in a hurry . But when the same people that
the Government that bailed them out needed help
themselves to build up this country, to start infusing
and investing once again back into our economy, all of
a sudden those revenue streams and those capital streams tend to run dry.
Could it be, Mr. Speaker, that they have a lack
of resources or a lack of support? The same support
that those who currently and continue to have success
had through (how can I say it ) the decisions that were
made in the yacht clubs and then ratified on Parli ament Hill, the same support that they got from a generation when the Government was referred to as the
Forty Thieves. Could it be the same support that went and took from Blacks, took from those that have . . .
let me just say , took from the have- nots to give more
to the haves , and to ensure that the have- nots work
for those that have to make sure that their success is
continued. So, now, Mr. Speaker, that is the lack of
resources that they need to get their idea off the
ground or even take it to a next level. And so, Mr.
Speaker, those who achieve success under a status
quo would like to enjoy continued success while those
who did not have would like to be able to enjoy future
success.
Mr. Speaker, how can you identify someone
who has continued success? Those that have conti nued success, meaning they got their success and
have been successful for generations would say
something like, This is a weak Throne Speech . Those
that have continued success would sit there and say,
Hmm. We need to look at making sure that busines ses, established businesses get more concessions.
They would sit there and look to say that almost ev erything the PLP is doing is bad for the country, is bad for business. But, Mr. Speaker, I want to start focusing on those that want to enjoy future success, because if
you want to change the mind- set, you will have to start
by changing the environment.
And on nearly every page of the Throne
Speech, Mr. Speaker, there are examples of ways
that this Government plans on either using the latest
innovations, meaning leveraging technology that will
streamline administrative expenses as found on page
3, new trends in renewable energy technology as
found on page 4 , and improvements and changes to
11 pieces of legislation from previous eras found on
pages 9 and10 .
So, Mr. Speaker, when you hear Members of
the Government talk about fighting against or looking
at changing the status quo, what we are commun icating is our efforts to remove the roadblocks, which if
I am being holistically honest, in some cases and sometimes are a result of governmental bureaucracy.
I am going to pause right there, Mr. Speaker,
to give a real -world example of governmental bur eaucracy and those who are trying to hinder some small
business owners from being successful. This Gov-ernment brought a Bill to the House and it was in the
interest of guided tour vehicles. Its interest was in
helping us to diversify our tourism product wh ile simu ltaneously allowing for small business and entrepr eneurs to get their foot in the door, to be able to provide a service that is much needed, because we heard the
Opposition talk about our tourism product. They talked about the BTA and all the BTA’s efforts in which
should be going on to make Bermuda more viable to
our people and to more people.
But yet, Mr. Speaker, the same Bill that came
to the House and was passed through the House with
only one question, went to another place and had per-sons fr om the Opposition —the same Opposition that
agreed to it in this House —disagree to it in the other


Bermuda House of Assembly House. So, Mr. Speaker, I am going to take this opportunity to go biblical for a minute. In the Good Book
it says, A house divided amongst itself cannot stand.
Hey! Yea, yea, yea! I actually got a little touched
there, Mr. Speaker.
So, if the Opposition is divided amongst
themselves . . . there are only six of them up here. If
the Opposition is divided amongst itself, but yet has
the audacity to ridicule and cr iticise the Government
for doing exactly what they agree we should do, that is
confusing at best, Mr. Speaker . And I am being polite.
But there is something wrong when the Opposition
overtly stands in front of progress, overtly stops Bermudians from making money and putting food on their
table. And the way they did it, Mr. Speaker, was by an
almost . . . they wanted to restrict . And they restricted
access to a key piece of our tourism product from someone who is trying to provide a tourism product or
a prod uct to our tourists.
So, there is nothing that could be said in that
Reply to the Throne Speech that could be taken ser iously because actions speak louder than words. The Opposition willingly and knowingly stopped Bermudian
small businesses and entrepreneurs from future success. But they have not gone in to try to stop any of
their people from having continued success. Ther efore, these are some of the roadblocks that we are
trying to remove, because we do not want to prevent
our people from future success.
Mr. Speaker, I am an eternal optimist. I am
the proverbial glass -is-half-full kind of person. If I were
to ask a girl out on a date and she responded by sa ying, The odds of that happening, Lawrence, are one in
a million . . . Ha! I would take that as her t elling me
there is a chance! Now, we are smiling. I tend to get
that response more often than not . But, hey, I digress.
Mr. Speaker, when I hear political pundits say
things like (I have said before and you heard it again
today ) what is written in the Throne Speech and what
actually happens are two different things . Or when
they describe this Throne Speech as lacklustre, weak
or unimpressive, I hear someone who is unable to
grasp the concept of non- Euclidean geometry, som eone who cannot engage in contemporary thinking, and
is most likely relying on the status quo for continued
success. But they will be quick to tell you that the
1970s and 1980s were historically Bermuda’s best
years, instead of saying, The best is yet to come.
Mr. Speaker, let me take a litt le trip down
Memory Lane. My Memory Lane is not as long as
yours, Mr. Speaker . And nowhere near and is prob ably one- half or a quarter of that of MP Derrick Burgess. But, Mr. Speaker, going back to the tourism
product, I have heard people talk about the fac t that,
and I heard statisticians look at the numbers, Oh, air
service dropped from 1981 all the way down and it is
continuing to drop. But Mr. Speaker, what they did not
talk about is what was going on in not just the aviation
industry in the early 1980s, but what was also going on in our local tourism industry in the early 1980s. Let
me start with the aviation industry.
In the early 1980s there was a thing called
ETOPS. And ETOPS basically allows for aircraft that
have two engines to be able to fly more than 60
minutes away from land or away from a suitable
emergency airport. So, if you look back at the 1980s
(those that can remember that are listening) you will
remember that British Airways was a 747. That has
the four engines underneath and had the litt le doubledecker, but it is sort of what Air Force One looks like
now. That was what was flying from Britain to Berm uda. Also what happened, you would start your numbering. Eastern and/or Delta were flying the L- 1011.
That had three engines, one under each wing and one
engine on top.
So, as ETOPS comes into play, that meant
that the smaller planes could fly further away from
land. And that put more of our competition at play. A
two-engine aircraft does not have to stop in Bermuda.
It does not have to go the long way around. It can
make direct flights. So now, that came into play. So,
aviation technology expanding allows for us to have
more competition. Now they start looking at this new
technology, which was then expanded from 60
minutes in 1985 and went to 120 minutes, in 1988 it
went to 180 minutes. And that is how you now have this two -engine, twin- engine Boeing 777 come direct
from London and land in Bermuda.
So, that what was going on now and Bermuda
no longer became a stop, or what they call a tech stop, where they would stop, refuel and go on. B ecause remember, we had flights that went from London to Bermuda to Jamaica; Jamaica, Bermuda and
back to New York. So, we were not making money
that way. So, of course, air visitors were declined on
that side.
But historically what was happening was that
the UBP had changed the mind- set and thus was
changing our environment. The UBP changed our
mind -set from focusing on tourism and our tourism
product and hospitality to focusing on international
business. Therefore, those that were in the guest
house industry started taking their guest houses out of
the tourism block and putting them in the long- term
rental block and started fixing them up so that they
could get the most return on investment. So now we
had less pl aces for tourists to come and stay, but we
had more places for the international companies to
pick and choose from.
I can almost guarantee you dollars to doug hnuts that those that transitioned from tourism and hospitality industry into the international company i ndustry back then, under the UBP, continue to be successful today.
But Mr. Speaker, I go back to what was happening. So, those who will sit there and say that the 1970s and 1980s were historically Bermuda’s best
years, instead of saying that the best is yet to come.
48 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, the worst thing about comments like that
is that they indicate a loss of faith, not in the Gover nment, but in your fellow Bermudian. Mr. Speaker,
those individuals do not see that services once considered frivolous have become imperative. Ideas once thought to be outside the box are now readily accepted. So Mr. Speaker, if you want to change the mindset, you will have to start by changing their enviro nment.
I cannot stress this enough, if you want to
change the mind- set, yo u have to start by changing
the environment. And I heard the Opposition Leader
talk about all the businesses that struggled under COVID -19. He almost seemingly took joy in talking
about the different businesses that even folded, that
were not able to adjus t fast enough to the change that
COVID -19 brought. Could it be that he took joy in the
businesses that he named? Because I do not reme mber, and my memory is not the best —I did not take my
gingko biloba today. But I do not remember the Oppo-sition Leader speaking about any Front Street bus inesses that did not make it through COVID -19. I do
not remember the Opposition Leader speaking to any businesses that would have come under the “conti nued success” category. But I do remember the Opposition Leader talking about small businesses, talking
about entrepreneurs, that did not make it, that suc-cumbed to COVID -19.
But Mr. Speaker, I noticed that at no time did
the Opposition Leader try to sell seeds of hope, try to
show us that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Instead, the Opposition Leader is trying to tell this
country although you see light at the end of the tunnel,
it is a train headed in your direction. Therefore, Mr.
Speaker, I can say from what I see, being an eternal
optimist, that the change in our environment has al-ready begun with the creation of small businesses,
like Sargasso, like the success of ER Fisheries, the
introduction of the Government’s unemployment
bene fits, and a historic first with homeporting.
Mr. Speaker, unemployment benefits and
homeporting have contributed over $74 million of ec onomic stimulus to the Island. And Sargasso and ER Fisheries have employed and continue to employ
countless Bermudians. As I said before, the change in our environment has already begun. And to think that is the easy part. The hard part of change is the
change in our culture or the change in our mind- set.
Because, Mr. Speaker, it is easy to be sceptical. It is
easy to poke holes in any and every idea. It is easy to
be dismissive of new policies and innovati ons that are
put in front of you. How do I know that it is easy? The
Opposition is able to do it.
So, Mr. Speaker, what is hard is leadership.
The hardest part of leadership is not the slings and arrows that are thrown and hurled your way. What is hard is believing in someone who might not believe in
themselves, trying to understand for the life of you how the greatness you see in someone they themselves are seemingly blind to.
Mr. Speaker, that is what the Premier and this
Government are trying to communic ate. And that is
the point that we made with that quote on the first
page, that we believe in you Bermuda; you just have
to believe in yourself. And we know that governments
of a previous era with their traditional Euclidean a pproach felt the need to deter mine what person, what
family, what company or organisation was successful
and that your role in society was to ensure their suc-cess. That is where the status quo mentality originated. So, we grew up in a society, in an environment
where our mind- set was almost programmed that if
you are not already successful you cannot be successful, you will not be successful, and you should not
even try to be successful.
So, we now have to come in and show you
that you can be who you want to be. You can do what
you want to do, and you can be successful at it and
you can change the world and not to listen to those
persons who are trying to play down this Throne Speech, because you do not have to go any further
than the first page to see that we are telling you get
ready, be prepared, think outside the box, be your
own boss, chart your own course, because the day
has come that your Government is creating the env ironment in which you will have the ability to determine
your destiny.
We are levelling the playing field so that all of
us have the same opportunity at future success, r egardless of whether you are Black or white, vaccinat-ed or unvaccinated, part of the haves or you are part
of the have- nots. Just know that when you hear this
Government speak about changing the stat us quo, or
that if you want to change the culture, you will have to
start by changing the organisation.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that former Premier
Alex Scott said it best, let the haves continue to have,
but the have- nots need to have more. And I guess thi s
will be my closing salvo. I want to start that closing
salvo by saying to my fellow Bermudians, I know that
the last 12 to 24 months have had you questioning
everything that you knew or thought you knew, and
that even sometimes that might have even included questioning your own religion. But Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda, I am here to tell you that this setback that we
have experienced, your Government —the PLP Go vernment with its 30 MPs and 5 Senators —that you
elected, is transforming that setback into a setup for
our collective comeback. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker?
I cannot hear you, Mr. Speaker.

Sorry, yes, I was muted. I am sorry
about that.
Thank you. Mr. Dunkley, would you like to . . .



Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Michael H. Dunkl ey: Yes, sir. It is like that
workday commercial . . . you think you have it on, you
are putting it on, and it is not going through.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

No problem. So, you have the floor
now.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, I appreciate
that, Mr. Speaker, and good afternoon. Good afternoon to all colleagues and to the listening audience.
Mr. Speaker, first let me just address some of
the comments that the Minister just said before me.
And unlike the last speaker who loves his stori es, and
sometimes I do enjoy his stories, I will stick to reality,
because, Mr. Speaker, our position at this point in
time, in the middle of a pandemic, is very serious.
Unlike the last speaker, Mr. Speaker, I
thought the Opposition Leader’s Reply to the Throne
Speech was comprehensive. I thought it offered some
very sound initiatives. I thought it was very fair in its critique of the Government’s Throne Speech. I also
thought, Mr. Speaker, that it was quite realistic with its
initiatives and policies that we would like to see put in
place. And I thought, Mr. Speaker, that it offered a
solid vision of where we believe we need to go.
So, having said that, Mr. Speaker, I quote
what the Honourable Minister said. The Throne
Speech is Government’s castle. Well, if the Throne
Speech is in fact Government’s castle, it signifies, in
my view, Mr. Speaker, that we have gone back in
time, not forward in time as we need to be.
I am going to spend just a couple of minutes,
Mr. Speaker, because the Member who just spoke before me seemed to like to focus in on the work of
the former Government, or governments not including
the PLP, and he referred to the OBA in a somewhat
discouraging view by calling it a Mickey Mouse oper ation. And I ask the Honourable Member to take his blinders off, because I am not going to get into a debate here today on past governments. We need to
focus in on the future going forward. But two of the
projects that the Honourable Minister keeps referring to over and over again I will continue to push back on.
First off in regard to Skyport, Mr. Speaker , the
Government has been very critical of the deal that was put in place and been very critical of the ai rport.
And I have always asked the question: If that is the
case, then how would the PLP have built the ai rport?
It is unfair just to criticise with not having a sol ution of
your own when we know it was a fact, Mr. Speaker,
that the Government under the PLP back in 2010 to 2013 were certainly looking to build a new airport. And
so, if they did not like t he option that we came up with,
which I believe will stand the test of time over time . . .
clearly, it is very unfortunate that we are in the middle
of a pandemic which has changed our lives and
changed our strategy. But I believe it will stand the
test o f time. The PLP needs to show how they would have had a better option, rather than just criticise
without offering anything construc tive on what else
could have taken place.
The Member talked about the first air service
strategy. Well, I do not think that is the case. It might
be the first air service strategy in his short time in pol itics. Over the years with my involvement with politics and even, Mr. Speaker, with my activity outside of politics, I am well aware that there have been various air
service st rategies or we would not have had the pr ogress we had with airlift to Bermuda, Mr. Speaker.
And the other big bugaboo that the current
Government keeps picking on is Morgan’s Point, or
Caroline Bay, as it is now referred to. And Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member is quite young. He is still a
junior member, as they sometimes say in politics. And you cannot overlook the fact that that project actually started in his backyard. It started in his backyard, but
because of the great concern at the time just befor e
an election, the project was quickly moved up to Mor-gan’s Point and therein started the challenges. B ecause as we all know, it was moved down to what is
called the brownfield site. Difficult decisions have to
be made. And so, I am going to leave it there, Mr.
Speaker, and I will continue to raise those comments
over and over and over again to challenge the Government when it is necessary. Obviously, the OBA was not perfect; but we did a lot of good to progress the country moving forward.
And Mr. Speaker, the Opposition Leader, in
his Throne Speech Reply, referred to young people and how they thought about politics. And he quite rightly stated that oftentimes young people (and these
are my words adlibbing from the Reply that the Opp osition Leader gave) have little time for either political
party. And I believe, Mr. Speaker, that is because they
seem to believe that politicians are disconnected from
their reality. They are disconnected from the issues
that face them. They are disconnected from understanding w hat they believe needs to get done for us to
move forward. And quite often, Mr. Speaker, I believe
that the belief that politicians are disconnected stems
from the fact that we continue to try to criticise what
somebody might have done in the past without learning from it and moving forward into the future.
So, you know, it is easy for me to sit here t oday and criticise what the PLP Government has done.
But Mr. Speaker, if we continue to look back in time
and criticise vehemently what gets done, we are not
going to move forward. We are in a very difficult pos ition. The facts show that our unemployment levels are
as high as they have been for some time. That is under a PLP Government . That is a fact —the lowest job
numbers that we have had for a significant period of
time. As the Opposition Leader stated during his R eply to the Throne Speech, Bermudians are emigrating at very high levels. And emigration is certainly growing to all parts of the globe, Mr. Speaker. And it is also a
fact that the cost of living i s rising at the current time,
50 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker. Those are the issues that the people
want dealt with.
The Opposition Leader also referred to a
193 per cent increase in health care over the past 15
years. You cannot blame the OBA. You cannot blame
the OBA for the high cost of health care over the last
15 years when we had only been the Government for
four years and the cost of health care decreased or
slowed drastically in increasing over that time. You
cannot blame the OBA for what has happened in the
past three or four years when the PLP has been in
charge, because they have actually been in charge.
So, Mr. Speaker, we get to this position this
afternoon in debating the Throne Speech, one that is titled from the Government “Social Renewal & Ec onomic Recovery.”
Mr. Speaker, I think that there are a couple of
critical points in the political calendar that all polit icians look keenly at, and most Bermudians also focus
in on them because those two critical points can be
significant points in a calendar year for the country. Those two critical points would be the Throne Speech,
which comes in November, and the Budget Debate,
which traditionally happens in February. And so, you
look at the Throne Speech as an opportunity to see
what Government’s legislative agenda will be for the
next year. And this Government has talked about s ocial renewal and economic recovery.
But Mr. Speaker, honestly, as the Opposition
Leader stated at the very beginning of his Reply to the
Throne Speech, he was very surprised to see that
there was not more of a conversation around COVID -
19 because, in my view, and of many people of Bermuda, COVID -19 is still the predominant factor in our
lives today. It still drives us with so many restrictions
that we have and it still is that real dark cloud that
hangs over our heads that we have to deal with. So,
when we look at the Throne Speech by the Gover nment, we have said it is weak for many reasons. And one of those reasons is that it does not deal, as the
Opposition Leader said, with the elephant in the room
to any real extent.
Perhaps, Mr. Speaker, the Government wants
COVID -19 to disappear. Or perhaps, Mr. Speaker, the
Government is tired of talking about COVID -19. Or
perhaps, Mr. Speaker, they have exhausted their plan
to deal with it. But we still need to deal with that challenge because of all the initiatives that the Gover nment might raise. Whether we agree with them and
support them or not, if COVID -19 precludes us doing
those initiatives, there is no plan. There is no hope. And then there is no con fidence for the people of
Bermuda.
Now, Mr. Speaker, the Premier said earlier
this week that execution is the key. Of course, Mr. Speaker, it always is the key of something so simple, that if you do not get out of bed in the morning you
cannot start a productive day. And I recall debating
this economic plan that the Government refers to—the seven step economic plan that the Government refers
to in the Throne Speech. I recall debating it last year.
And at the time I said I thought it was weak and I gave
my c onstructive criticism of it. And I said at that time I
did not believe it would turn around our current aby smal situation.
It is a fact, Mr. Speaker, in my view, that the
economy under the PLP before COVID -19 was poor.
And now, after the pandemic has spread its wrath on Bermuda, our economy is stuttering at best. And so, it
is important that we continue to focus in on COVID -19
because it is going to drive what we can and what we
cannot do. Tourism is virtually non- existent, Mr.
Speaker. Hospitality has been brutalised. Retail has
continued to struggle, although there were points when we were locked down and people could not
travel that retail did see a bit of a rebound. Many small businesses are on life support. Whether it is those
who cater to us for food or various products that we
want to buy, those small businesses are on life support. Those entrepreneurs, those visionaries that any
economy relies on to move forward, are frustrated. They are lacking hope. They are lacking confidence
and they are exhausted.
Mr. Speaker, many people are just trying to
survive. That is the plain and simple of it. And then, of course, we have emigration. And along the way we
have seen unemployment continue to rise. There have been some bright spots on the horizon with the
digital nomads, but now that the world has opened up
again I would be surprised if those digital nomads
continue to stay in Bermuda. So, unemployment has
continued to rise and, sadly, with the thousands of
cases we have had of COVID -19, we have now had
over 100 of our fellow brothers and sisters perish through this time. And Government has come up with
policies. Some have been quite effective along the way, but some have made the Opposition ask questions. And some have proven to be inequitable and unfair and not working in the appropriate way. And I
mentioned SafeKey. There is a lot of frustration with
people in the community in regard to SafeKey.
But thankfully, against that backdrop, Mr.
Speaker, the core that has driven the Bermudian
economy over the past 15, 20, 25, 30 years or maybe
even more—international business —has managed to
somewhat weather the pandemic by working from
home.
Now, Mr. Speaker, while we must rebuild, and
the seven broad categories do offer some opportunity
in there, we must also realise that we still have a lot of work to understand where we are going to go from
here and how we are going to reconstruct, rebuild,
strengthen our foundation in the community.
So, execution is always the way forward. And
it was noted today in a Ministerial Statement that
Government has hired KPMG to be part of the recon-struction effort with this plan for a significant cost of
$144,000. And we have to be hopeful that this change


Bermuda House of Assembly will actually come about and our economy will grow.
But I have to say, as I said dur ing the economic debate, that the confidence is low that we will see much
fruit being put on that because the plan, while the
Premier, I believe, said that 9 of the 31 initiatives are ongoing, or have been done at this time, I do not believe many people in Bermuda could actually give you
more than a thumbnail sketch of what the plan is. And
because we are in such a critical position in Bermuda
where we need to move forward, we cannot continue
to stay where we are, we all need to understand the plan, we need to buy in to the plan, and we need that
plan to work so we all rise together and not fall t ogether, Mr. Speaker. So, the answer to all of these questions going forward is what will define our recov-ery.
Now, Mr. Speaker, much of the developed
world . . . and I think we just have to look around us at
our closest trading partners. For example, the United
States of America has opened up. Just look at the
United States. They are trying to catch up from the shackles that have been put on them from the pandemic. They are trying to catch up. Their supply lines
are strained. But economic activity is quite strong in
the United States and most of their economic indic ators show that. People are out and about. Stadiums
are full. People are travelling. Businesses are open, schools are open, transport systems are running. The
economic engine of the US is churning and they are
trying to overcome the pandemic.
So, in my view, Mr. Speaker, the United
States has taken the approach that since much is known about COVID -19, they know how to act. They
know how to control it to some extent, and they have
effective vaccines. They have decided to open up with
precautions. And Mr. Speaker, furthermore, just r ecently, on November 8, I believe, we have seen that
they have opened up with common sense border control, a negative PCR test and proof of vaccination. So,
travel and commerce are rebounding in that economy.
Mr. Speaker, I contend, respectfully, that we
must do the same thing. It is time for us to move to more normalcy. And Mr. Speaker, let me be very
clear, when I say “normalcy,” I am not saying go back
to where we came from. I am stating, Mr. Speaker,
that humans are born to live. Humans are born to get out and about, not be prisoners of their own home or
restrictions. It is time for us as humans to be able to
make decisions, to live our lives and be able to be out
and about in the community —whether it is business,
whether it is pleasure, or whether it is taking care of educational needs, medical needs, whatever it might be.
Mr. Speaker, it is time for us to move back to
a more normal way of life as far as people are con-cerned. Because if it is not now, Mr. Speaker, when is the time? It is a real question because with all of the
initiatives one might come up with, if there are sti ll restrictions and we still live in fear over COVID -19, those initiatives will be severely blunted and will not
work.
I say now is the time. And why do I say that,
Mr. Speaker? Using the examples of our biggest tra ding partner and our closest neighbour, and probably
our best friend, the virus is unlikely to go away now or
perhaps even in the next year or two or three, Mr.
Speaker. Experts say that, like most viruses, it will
keep circulating with cases rising and falling. And we
have certainly seen that in our community with spikes
and then the ebb and flow.
But Mr. Speaker, the difference between now
and 20 months ago, or even a year ago, is that now
we have the tools to manage the virus. And if we have
those tools to manage the virus and if we believe in
those tools, we must use them. The Government has always said that vaccines are effective, and they be-lieve in the vaccine. Well, if we believe it, then we
need to open up.
Mr. Speaker, we also have the opportunity for
treatments that have proven to be ef fective to fight the
illness of the virus. Certainly, Mr. Speaker, because
we got on board with rapid testing quite quickly because of the support of the UK in continuing to give us
the means to do that and the equipment to do that, we
have the availabilit y for rapid COVID -19 testing. It is
important for us to have information that is quick so we can identify what the challenges are. So, Mr. Speaker, I contend we have the tools to manage the
virus going forward. And with the fact that it is not going to go away anytime soon, we need to open up.
I am not in any way meaning to downplay the
significance of the pandemic, Mr. Speaker, or underestimate the potential significance of the pandemic
going forward. But in my view, this virus presents a
similar risk to most people as many illnesses or sic knesses we have had in the past where we had a steep learning curve and then we got ahead and we learned
about it. And so—

The Member needs to do
a bit of r esearch. Countries in Europe are about to go
back into lockdown due to COVID -19.
52 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly COVID -19 is not . . . when you free up, it
causes problems. The Member needs to ask himself,
does he want our country to go back into lockdown?
Because that is what Europe is about to go into.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Honourable Member, it may just be an
update that you may have overlooked, but —

Hon. Michael H. D unkley: I do not think so, Mr.
Speaker. I do not think so.
MR. Speaker, I tend to do a significant
amount of research before I even speak. And you
know, the Honourable Member has just elucidated a
point that I said earlier in my presentation, that we will
see the virus spike and the spikes diminish. We know
how to handle it now, Mr. Speaker.
Lockdowns proved effective in the beginning
because there was great concern about our ability and
our capability to handle a surge. And the Bermuda
Government has alw ays said, and our health officials
have always said, that the biggest concern that they
had was the ability for our health care system to deal
with that. We have proven through the surges, even in
spite of the last one where we were close to that
straining point, that we can get it done. If we continue
with a trend of keeping restrictions in place, not allo wing businesses to have the freedom they need to i nvest and to potentially have the revenue to cover their
expenses, we will see an economy that continues to
go downhill, Mr. Speaker.
In addition, if you continue to lockdown economies, once you open up you start the process all over again with the pandemic. You start the process
of the pandemic getting a hold in your community and
then forcing another loc kdown, Mr. Speaker. And so, I
followed what has happened in Europe. I am not so
sure that we will see lockdowns in Europe. Germany is going through, I believe on of their worst spikes in
recent times. Cayman is getting close to opening up
their economy and they are facing a pretty bad spike,
Mr. Speaker.
So, I understand those facts. I have done a
tremendous amount of research. But what I am saying now, Mr. Speaker, [is] if we have gone through all of
these restrictions, if we accept that vaccines work, if
we accept that we have treatments that work, if we
accept that we have rapid testing that helps us identify
the challenges that we have, and if we as a people
are smarter now because we understand that social
distancing works, that wearing masks works, what are we afraid of, Mr. Speaker? We cannot continue to live
in fear of the virus. Now, if we did not know anything, we would
still live in fear, Mr. Speaker. This is my view. And so,
if the Honourable Member believes we should conti nue to be locked down as appropriate, that is his view. I respect it; I do not agree with it. And Mr. Speaker, if we were going to be put back in lockdown, there was
no better opportunity for the Premier to do it [than]
during the last spike. And the Premier said he does
not wa nt to go back there again because those pos itions are somewhat unrecoverable from, Mr. Speaker. People should not have to continue to organise their lives around a fear of COVID -19. It was fine to fear it
18 months ago when we really did not understand
what it was or how it impacted us or what we could do
to ameliorate our position to a better place, but now
we know.
And here, Mr. Speaker, in doing some of my
research, I was reading an article [about] an Epidem iologist from Johns Hopkins University, Jennif er Nu zzo, [who] was asked a question about the pandemic. And the question was a simple question: When would
the pandemic end? And she replied straightforward “It doesn ’t end.” She went on to say, “We just stop caring.” Or we care less about it. Now, this i s a professional who understands viruses. She went on to say that for most people it just “fades into the background”
of their lives.
And this goes exactly to what I am sa ying, Mr.
Spea ker. We have a choice. We have a choice here,
now in November of 2021. We open up with sensible
precau tions or we carry on living in fear of COVID -19.
And those are the two simple choices. But they come with different consequences all the way through.
So, Mr. Speaker, if you look at where we are
today, we still have the Trav el Authorisation Form
costing $75 a pop, and a number of tests to boot. I
think we need to consider if that is the most appropr iate way to go forward. Simply, I state, Mr. Speaker, that it is very difficult for us to compete with other j urisdictions when w e have restrictions that could impact
us in tourism, and they could impact us in international
business. Businesses can go anywhere in the world now as the world starts to open up. And we have seen
travel start to take place, so we have seen people
want to go, get out and about, conduct their business,
enjoy their time.
So, capital will flow to areas with less stringent
regulations. It is just natural. Whether it is the red tape in government or COVID -19 testing, it just naturally
will go that way as long as people feel safe. And if that happens, then the economic engine that was som ewhat successful in driving Bermuda through the
years —international business and tourism —is going
to struggle. And then the local economic engine,
which is so important, which f eeds into that industry, is
going to continue to struggle.
So, Mr. Speaker, I believe strongly in what I
have said. And I believe international business is having a concern about where we stand at the present


Bermuda House of Assembly time because I have been approached by leader s in
that industry who have told me clearly that the r estrictions with respect to gatherings and post -arrival
testing is now becoming a real challenge. That was
the exact wording that one mentioned to me in inter-national business. In the beginning they wer e able to
run their business remotely or in isolation without a
great concern. That was because the world was in a
very difficult place. We were in lockdown and people
were concerned about stuff. But now, there is a need
for regular travel and there is a need for those visitor activities that are so important to international bus iness to resume.
A lot of what international business actually
does, Mr. Speaker, is be with their client and to offer hospitality to their clients, to be able to move around
the w orld, to host them in Bermuda, to show them
what we provide on the Island with our significant i nfrastructure for the industry in all frames. Now, Mr.
Speaker, if they cannot do that, their plans for 2022
and 2023 could include other jurisdictions more than Bermuda.
Just look at the conversation around airlift, Mr.
Speaker. The conversation around airlift has been
very strong because through the winter months our
airlift has been reduced significantly. That impacts not
only our tourism industry, but it also impacts the ability
of international business to do their job. And why has
airlift been reduced? Well, airlift goes where people
want to go. So, if planes are not being used in jurisdi ctions, they will shift to other places, Mr. Speaker. So,
now we need t o rebuild the faith in the airlines and our
industry so not only can our business rebound, but we
need to see our tourism rebound.
International business activities, Mr. Speaker,
will not resume to any significant extent until some of
these requirements are eased to allow them to do
what they normally have to do.

The Member is either mi sleading the public of Bermuda or is very much not i nformed.
Mr. Speaker, our biggest competitor in this
space is the Ca yman Islands. The Cayman Islands
are not even allowing people with non- residence into the Island presently. In London, which is also a competitor, one has to fulfil a negative PCR test before
they arrive. And on day two they have to do another
test.
So, we do a day 4 and a day 10, that is not
prohibitive, Mr. Speaker. The Honourable Member is
painting the picture as if our competitive cities are
having people just walk into their countries with no
tests —

All right. I find it quite . . . the point is
that there are restrictions going into other countries. I
do not think any of the countries are allowing people
in without some type of proper protocol.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, I said that. I
said that the United States of America has changed
and their protocol at the present time is a negative
PCR test and a vaccination.
Cayman is in a different position from us, Mr.
Speaker, because they have been locked down for so
long they are just trying to open up. And if the Honourable Member is realistic about the business that they do and the business that we do, our international
business is much different from theirs, Mr. Speaker,
much different from theirs.
So, I am not in any way casting a blind eye to
what it must take in other jurisdictions. I certainly appreciate it. I am passing on what members of international business have talked directly to me about. And
Mr. Speaker, if Government members want to poohpooh that and not pay a ttention to that, that is up to
them. That is up to them . I take my responsibility ser iously and I am just passing on the information. And I believe what these people told me has some merit to
what they have to say.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, for one m inute—

I hear you clearly. There you go . . . hit
it one more time.

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Mr. Speaker, I thi nk the
Honourable Member is misleading the House. I think
that when he says “if we want to pooh- pooh” the international business, it is certainly misleading, Mr.
Speaker.
It is a well -known fact that our Premier and
Finance Minister, in particular, spend a lot of time with
our international business partners, Mr. Speaker. And
I think that . . . I do not know which international par tners the Honourable Member talks to, but I know who
we are talking to, Mr. Speaker, and they are very, very
happy with the way we have handled the pandemic
and our outlook for handling it in the future.

Thank you.
Continue, Member.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I recognise the dress code of the Honourable
Member today. I certainly do not suppor t what the
Honourable Member has said, Mr. Speaker, because I am getting a different message than the Honourable
Member who has left his video on at this time.
So, Mr. Speaker, let me get back to what I
was saying. Not for one minute am I throwing caution
to the wind.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: How does it suit you, Honourable Member? I noticed you do not have on your
jacket. I just did not have mine on.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: It is more the tie, not the
jacket, but I will carry on.
Mr. Speaker, as I s aid earlier, we must use
what we know —

—try to get back to the point where you
are supposed to be. Yes, there is a dress code. And
we would expect him to respect the dres s code, [ IN-AUDIBLE], in Parliament as if we are sitting in our
chair, even though we have going virtual.
Continue.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, so not only do I believe—

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Just a point of clarifi cation,

Yes, your 30 minutes.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Okay, Mr. Speaker, so, as
I was saying about international business, the same
pertains to tourism. I bumped into the CEO of the Bermuda Tourism [Authority] on Sunday and he was
off to two conventions to sell Bermuda. And I got to
thinking, what would he say? He wou ld say, Come to
Bermuda, our testing is more onerous than other loc ations and we lack airlift so it might be hard to get to
the Island. Now, how does that sell the Island, Mr.
Speaker? How do we expect tourism to increase when we do not have many levers that we can pull
and push to make us successful as we open up?
So, having said all of that, Mr. Speaker, I
would like to see more initiatives in the Throne
Speech to deal with national security, not just the r eplacement of the existing CCTV system, which has
been contained. I would like to see some initiatives to


Bermuda House of Assembly deal with road safety. Over the past couple of weeks, I
have had two road deaths in one stretch of my constituency and two other vehicles go through the fence
down onto the rocks. We need to do much better than
that because the scourge and the carnage on the road
continues.
I would like to see more initiatives to deal with
gangs, guns and drugs. And while we are all aghast at what happened at a public place —

You have your 30 minutes.
Hon. Jason Hayward: Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker,
and thank you for allowing me time today to weigh in to this debate.
Parliament is an august body. What we say in
parliament has meaning and we should take seriously
what is actually said in our deliberations. And the last
speaker, the Honourable MP Dunkley, raised an interesting question that caused me to ponder. And the
question he raised was, What will define our reco very? That is a very serious question to ask. And I b elieve that the Government has a responsibility to pr ovide an appropriate answer.
And if I can answer the question that was
raised by the former Premier, I would answer by sa ying that the Go vernment’s response in this recovery
will be a human- centred response. I would answer by
saying that the human- centred response means that
the laws and the policies that we put in place would be
those that ensure that we have the best interests of
the Berm udian people at heart. A human- centred r esponse means that this Government will work hard for
the working- class people of this country. A humancentred response means that this Government will uphold the social contract that it has with the people of Bermu da when it was elected into Government.
Mr. Speaker, we will work hard to fulfil that obligation through the work done with the initiatives that were featured in the Throne Speech and the elaborate and comprehensive set of initiatives that are outlined
in our Economic Recovery Plan. The Government will ensure that it carries out its mandate to our best ability
for the people of Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, this pandemic started out as a
health care crisis that has translated into an economic
crisis. And this Gover nment has been quick to r espond. We worked hard to manage the health care
side of things, but equally, we have worked hard to
ensure that we support the people of Bermuda. One
key element to any country’s recovery is to ensure
that we provide the necessary social protections to
our people.
Mr. Speaker, this Government has spent over
$70 million in unemployment benefits to the people of
Bermuda. That is on top of the $47 million that we
provide in grants to Financial Assistance recipients.
Despite our fiscal challenges, we have not waivered
on ensuring that we provide social protections to the people of Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, we came into Parliament in the
last session and we passed a Financial Assistance Bill
which extended the time period in which one can r eceive a financial assistance benefit from five years to
seven years. A very small change in legislation, but a
very big change for families of Bermuda. Over a hundred families, Mr. Speaker, in the midst of a pandemic
would have been removed from social pr otections.
The extension that we put in place, Mr. Speaker, was a lifeline to many and that should not be [underest imated].
Mr. Speaker, hundreds of families would have
to grapple with where their next meal was coming from. Hundreds of families would have to grapple with
whether or not they would have a roof over their head.
Hundreds of families would have to grapple with their
basic necessities. However, this Government was determined and wanted to ensure that we look out for
the best interests of the peop le of Bermuda. And we
passed a Bill in Parliament which extended their ben efits for another 24 months. Additional to that, we
passed a piece of legislation which puts personal employment plans in place so we can better equip persons to be financially indep endent. That is an element
of a human- centred recovery. That is what putting
people first looks like in practice.
[INAUDIBLE ] last year that the level of jobs
was contracting in our economy. This was before any
meaningful statistics were actually produced. We saw
economic contractions in large portions of our industrial sections and we saw where there were large le vels of job contractions. The immediate thought was that we need to ensure that we put a strategy in place to get people back to work.
Mr. Speaker, we developed a national reemployment strategy. And in this House I have been providing updates on the number of Bermudians that
we have supported through our training programmes.
Over 700 Bermudians were provided direct emplo yment support. Over 750 Ber mudians have actually
found employment through our Job Board referral sy s56 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly tem. And it is imperative that the Government conti nues to provide support for our people because that is
part of our human- centred recovery —working hard for
the working- class people of this country, Mr. Speaker.
And when we set out to execute our national
re-employment strategy, we realised that more work
had to be done to support our young people. And that
is why in this year’s Throne Speech we see where the
Ministry of Labour has been tasked to execute on our
youth employment strategy, a strategy that will pr ovide greater opportunities for our young people in this
country, a strategy that aims to connect our young
people with jobs, and jobs with the young people wit hin Bermuda. It i s a strategy that aims to target at -risk
youth and provide them with the support that they r equire so that they can be successful in our economy.
Mr. Speaker, in the future I will roll out the
comprehensive strategy as to what we are going to do in support of our youth. But it is not just good enough
to say that our youth are disenfranchised. Regardless
if our youth are disenfranchised with politics in Ber-muda, it is still our responsibility to ensure that we put
our best foot forward to ensure that we prov ide the
necessary resources and support that is needed to
have our young people as active participants in our
economy. We launched our first graduate training
programme, Mr. Speaker, this year —a pilot with 15
initial interns. We have put out an appeal for a second
award so that we can run it for a second time coming.
Mr. Speaker, much has been said in terms of
Government’s priorities, and despite our funding cha llenges we were still able to provide over $350,000 in scholarships to our young people. We were still able
to run our Summer Employment Programme. We
have demonstrated to the young people of this country that we care. Education reform is 100 per cent
about the young people in this country. It is 100 per
cent geared to prepare those individuals and put those individuals on pathways to success. It is a people-[centred response], it is a human- centred r esponse.
Mr. Speaker, if I can shift gears a little bit and
talk about immigration. This Government has em-barked on a journey of immigration reform, Mr.
Speaker, let me make absolutely clear that “immigr ation reform” is not synonymous with “Bermuda status.” I am going to repeat that: Immigration reform is not
synonymous to the granting of Bermuda status. Mr.
Speaker, I outlined the four strategic prioriti es of our
immigration reform:
1. achieve a simplified, fair, modern immigration
legislative framework;
2. leverage technology to improve operations
which will lead to greater levels of efficiency,
process consistency and sustainability;
3. strengthen enforcement of laws and policies;
and
4. support economic growth and the expansion
of jobs in Bermuda. Those are the immigration strategic priorities that we
will be embarking on as a Governm ent.
And in line with strategic priority 2, which is to
leverage technologies to improve operations which
will lead to greater levels of efficiency, process consistency and sustainability, the Ministry of Labour has
been tasked in the Throne Speech to ensure that it
automates and digitises the processes within the D epartment of Immigration. As the Minister, I have to
admit that we can do better in terms of cutting down
our processing time for all types of applications: pas sports, Bermuda status, permanent resident’s applic ations. We can and we will do a better job, Mr. Speaker.
But as we talk about immigration reform, and
as I continuously see in the paper in terms of, That is
what is required, the Government needs to progress
immigration reform, there is never any detail behind it.
Because the level of reform that we have done thus
far, Mr. Speaker, is also uncomfortable for some in
terms of the rate of change and what we have been
able to progress in immigration in a very short period of time.
But what we have done, Mr. Speaker, is put a
moratorium on a number of job categories. And I constantly hear individuals talking about how that may
have crippled some industries, and they have talked
to business people and business people say, We
need to do A, B, C or D. But I wonder if those indivi duals have talked to the people who have benefit ed
from these policies, the Bermudian people who have
benefited and have had increased opportunities by our closing categories.
Mr. Speaker, if you would allow me to read a
letter that I received today from an employer?

It is going to be bri ef, is it?

Hon. Jason Hayward: I will read an excerpt.
“As a follow -up to our last meeting with you in
June 2020, we have made a diligent effort to stand by our commitment to train and employ Bermudians. We
have hired a total of 47 Bermudians since June 2020,
with 27 remaining in our employment to date, bringing our total current staffing of Bermudians to 93.”
Mr. Speaker, this is specifically speaking to
employment in a closed category. Closing that category removed foreign demand. It forced employers t o
look inward. Some employers put training pr ogrammes in place, and Bermudians have benefited
from the policies of this Government, Mr. Speaker. That is using immigration to the advantage of the
country.
Mr. Speaker, that is not the only policy that we
have progressed as it relates to immigration. I hig hlighted that the Work from Bermuda Programme has
been a relative success. We have estimated over $23 million of direct impact on our economy from that particular programme. We continuously have persons


Bermuda House of Assembly who continuously seek to reside in Bermuda, Mr.
Speaker. We removed the requirements for an affidavit of domicile for applicants who wanted to obtain
Bermudian status.
Mr. Speaker, I read comments in the Royal
Gazette from a learned Member of this Chamber as it
pertains to immigration. The question that was asked
was, What reason would we give him to come to r eside and do business on our Island? And this is pertaining to investments into Bermuda. [How] can Bermuda be attractive to foreign investments when the OBA are Government, but then somehow turns into
being unattractive when the Progressive Labour Party
is in Government?
The principles as to why investors want to i nvest in Bermuda remain constant. We are a relatively
safe jurisdiction. We are sophisticate d and well regulated. We have a moderate climate. We are the Jewel of the Atlantic. And there are people who have dwelt
in Bermuda whom wealthy investors know that they
can make money from. And that is the bottom line.
And through our economic investment c ertificate we
have seen where there is interest and they have been residing and investing in Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, we really have to consider
whether or not . . . and this is the debate that has
been happening in the UK. We continue with the title “Learne d” for Members of our legal fraternity who sit in
this Chamber, but sometimes the questions that they pose are not in alignment with the definition of
“learned.” Mr. Speaker, all of what we have done as a
Government has been directly aligned with supporting
the people of Bermuda since the onset of the pan-demic: keeping families safe; providing social protections; ensuring individuals a place back into the wor kforce; ensuring the use of immigration as a tool that
could actually support our economy, move it f orward
with the implementation of the Economic Recovery
Plan that has seven main themes; the diversification
of the economy; focusing on leveraging our financial
markets; investment in infrastructure; expansion of our
residential population; ensuring that we focus on our
labour market and social development; ensuring we
get health care to a more affordable place; and assuring that we have a sophisticated regulatory framework
that will allow for the expansion of business opportuni-ties in this country.
I do not accept that the Throne Speech has
[INAUDIBLE]. And that very said speech gives direct
reference to the Economic Recovery Plan and is
comprehensive. I accept that the Government must
execute. But the Government will execute its strategy not because we are trying to appease this busines sman or that businessman. We will execute our strat egy because we know that it is in the best interest of the people of Bermuda.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank y ou, Mr. Speaker.
I welcomed the multitude of information that
has been shared through the Throne Speech this
year. And yet I have to marvel at the Government’s Throne Speech introduction, in that the last couple of
years have been a humbling experience for all of us.
And having said that, I certainly reflect on how much
impact illness and death have had on our community
over the past year in particular. I am also very cogni-sant of the fact that so many of us have been restric ted in our movements not only about the Island, but
also restrictions from being able to travel overseas.
So this humbling situation that we have had to
live through does raise an opportunity. It is as if there
is nowhere else we can go at this point except up. So when I look at the possibility of opportunity, I think
about that maybe we can begin to reinvent ourselves
as a community.
The Government had mentioned in their
Throne Speech, and it has resonated with me, that
this is about “ culture ” and “organisation.” Those two
words just snapped out at me. And I thought about that. Most importantly, “culture” really hit me. I am not
getting into culture based on heritage and things like
that. I am talking more about how we as a community
really think about things, how we approach things an d
that maybe it is time for us to have a bit of a cultural
change.
Mr. Speaker, when I say a cultural change, we
have been doing things the same way with the same mind -set for so long. And for so many of us it has not
necessarily served us well. So, as much of a hard
truth as it may be for all of us, it might be time for us to
look a little deeper at what that cultural transformation
might actually mean. I have to give it to the Gover nment. They are trying really hard, and they are brin ging in at least the conversation about equity and social
justice and many of the other very strong and ambitious goals that any country and any community of
people would want to build on, Mr. Speaker. But in
this situation, my fear is that the Government may be
trying to hav e a culture change in a system that is still
not working for us as a people.
There is this hard truth, Mr. Speaker, that our
systems may not have been designed for everybody
to succeed in, that some of our systems may have
58 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly been designed for us to fail. And yet we, as a Go vernment in 2021, are still trying to make a change
when the system was never set up for us to change or
succeed at. So maybe, maybe, Mr. Speaker, we can
begin to recognise that we do have a chance—at this
stage we are at rock bottom, Mr. Speaker —to begin to
look at the systems and begin to wonder if maybe it is not time for us to make that organisational change.
And Government brought in organisation, so
they clearly get it. But I am not sure whether we have
got the innovation, the imagin ation and the real stic king power to make those changes. Because we are
only going to get one shot at it, Mr. Speaker. If we try
to make a change, whether it is a cultural change or
whether it is an organisational system change, we are going to have to get it right or we will suffer as a
community for the next medium -to-long term.
So if we take both the Government’s Throne
Speech and the Reply to the Throne Speech and all of
the gaps in between—and I am going to be addres sing some of those gaps in between, Mr. Speaker —
then maybe we can make a change and maybe we
can find that ray of light and hope that we all so desperately need right now in order to come out of this
ahead.
Mr. Speaker, I am going back to the Gover nment’s Throne Speech. They brought up four terms,
and it was in like a quote, like the first page. It is the
very first page. If you do not mind, I will try to find it
and read it again. If not, I will leave it alone. No, it is
not coming to me right now.
But under Culture and Organisation, ther e
were these four words that popped out for me: We
were exposed. We have deferred. We have resisted.
And we have had denial; we have been denied. When
I go through those . . . (I really would like to find that
quote, too. It is not even that late.)
But wh en I think about those terms that the
Government used in their speech, I think about we are exposed. Mr. Speaker, from a security, safety, secur ity [standpoint], all of us are exposed! When we get to
the level, Mr. Speaker, where you can go basically into a family restaurant and get shot, not one, but two,
and the perpetrator rides away, I would say we are
exposed. And I believe that security is our biggest
threat right now.
When I think about, Oh, it’s been deferred.
We are going to look at it another day , Mr. Speaker,
our health care system . . . we have kicked that can
down the road for a very long time. And according to
the Throne Speech, we are going to be kicking it down
the road a little longer. Now, I am not criticising, and I know these things take a long time. I know we have
been interrupted by COVID -19 and things have not
been good. But it does not change the fact that if we continuously delay [reforming] our health care, then we are going to face some real problems.
And, Mr. Speaker, you know what really hurts
me? It is that when I listen to these Throne Speeches, I find that so many people (and I am not pointing any
fingers) are caught up on the money. It is whether we
are spending it or we are making it. And health care,
in my opinion, is not t he place to be talking about the
money.
The first priority is the health of our people. If
we put as much effort [as we do] thinking about the
money, put that kind of effort, even half of the effort
into making sure, I mean committed to the health of
our people, we would have at least a chance to
(1) save some lives for people who are living with
chronic diseases who do not have to; and (2) then
maybe we will see some of those costs come down
naturally. I do not know; I am not an expert when it
comes to health. But I am just saying, Mr. Speaker,
that no one is much talking about the personal, people, social side of our health care system. And we keep kicking the can down the road.
Mr. Speaker, resist ed. Economic development, business sustainability we have resisted. There
are so many ideas out there, Mr. Speaker, so many ideas. I am not saying that the Government is not working to try to shift the (quote/unquote) “ sandbox ” to
make lots of room for us to play in the sandbox and to
learn and to create new thi ngs. But, Mr. Speaker, we
have got to be more open- minded. We have got to
consider that there is an opportunity for some kind of
minor cultural shift that will allow our businesses to prosper and survive and increase.
And I am going to give you a good example of
when I use the term “ economic development,” our r esisting it. People under the age of 28, people under the age of 30, maybe even a little older, have a totally
different concept about purchasing items online. I am
going to use that as an example. S o here we are, Mr.
Speaker, in our age and wisdom. I tend to veer toward
brick -and-mortar. That is what I grew up with. And I do
like to go into a store. I like to actually try on the clothes or touch the item, make sure it is the quality I am looking for. But, Mr. Speaker, we are going to
pass on. And I am not sure that the future is necessarily going to be about what we understand in our
limited capacity at the age of almost 60 years old. And
we are going to have to stop resisting. We are going
to have to let these children create and come up with
things that we do not understand.
But what we are very responsible for is ma king sure that we have got legislation in place that pr otects these young people who are exploring different
ways of entrepreneurship. We have got to protect
them. Because heaven forbid on the Great White Web
you are exposing yourself to every single human be-ing and every single risk in the world, every kind of
criminal, every kind of fraud, every kind of cybercrime.
But, Mr. Speaker, we have to allow the next gener ation and the next generation after that to explore di fferent ways, because we might not be able to depend on brick -and-mortar for our retail and our entrepr eneurship in the future.


Bermuda House of Assembly So we, as legislators, do have a responsibili ty.
And I do not necessarily know what that legislation
looks like, but we do have a responsibility to make
sure that we set up a framework that does protect the
youth, that does protect the imaginative spirit of the entrepreneur.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I am g oing to get to that
last term, denied. And education just hurts my heart. It
hurts my heart. But for the last two years, I do not care
how hard we have all tried we have denied our chi ldren their education, Mr. Speaker. It hurts my heart.
And it is not our fault—not pointing fingers, not critici sing. But we have got a lot of work to do. Mr. Speaker,
there was quite a conversation earlier in the year
about the preschool programme. Marvellous! Abs olutely marvellous. And I appreciate the way that the
Minister and the Ministry of Education have sorted
that out. I believe that they are on the right track with that.
But there are a couple of suggestions I would
like to add, Mr. Speaker. That is that these little threeyear-olds and these little four -year-olds who are hea ding into preschool need our support and they need our help. This is what we call catching a child early. And
we have not got a lot of legislation to protect them. So
I would like to earmark that. The other thing, Mr.
Speaker, is that we need to ma ke sure that there is
some kind of structure in place.
Now I know. I have worked in the system. I
have worked in speech and language for seven– eight
years with the Department of Education when
speech/language was in Education. Now it is in
Health, and I w ant to speak to that in a minute. But my
point, Mr. Speaker, is that we need to make sure that
these children are somehow assessed. Even if it is
that there is someone there who understands and can
observe these little three- year-olds and make some
kind of beginning foundation of where these children
are and we have an opportunity to then build on their
learning milestones from there. So I would like to i mplore Government, the Ministry of Education, et
cetera, to consider assessments.
Now, three- year-olds, that is a whole new
bucket of worms, right? We usually start with five -
year-olds. Five -year-olds you pretty much hav e got
your man at that point. But with the three- year-olds
there are certain complexities and still some nimbl eness about the child, some i nnocence. And that brings
me to my point. Again, it is not a criticism, but maybe
a suggestion. I have not heard anyone talk about the
Child Development Project throughout this entire ed ucational reform. Now, I may have missed something,
and I will put my hand up to that. But, Mr. Speaker, we
have got to be able to partner with people who have
an in- depth knowledge about little people.
And the Child Development Project and now
the Child Development Programme has continuously provided service to this community. And somehow
they have been deferred, resisted, maybe even d e-nied. I do not know what the situation is. But it is almost imperative that we partner with the Ministry of
Health that has the Child Development Programme,
the Ministry of Education that has the preschool infr astructure, and we take a look at any other services.
And I think that I want to say —

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Private preschools.

Yes? What was that?

POINT OF CLARIFICATION

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: A point of clarification.
I just want the Member to know that the Child
Development Programme falls under the Ministry of
Education, and it is tightly intertwined with Early
Childhood Development, which comes under Ms.
Sherry Bucci. And there is a very, very much aligned
programme between them and our children and to our
preschool. I just wanted to clarify for her.

Thank you very much. That
absolutely works. Thank you. Much appreciated.
But the third entity that was added to that was
Financial Assistance, working with the parents who
are qualified for the allowance which then makes their three- year-old eligible for preschool. I t would be
nice—and again maybe the Minister can shed some
light on this. Whether it is the parent of the three- yearold or the parent of the 17 -year-old, it would be interesting to understand what possibly could be put into place to get the parent more in volved, get the parent a
little more accountable for making sure even the b asics out of the Children Act, of making sure the child
gets to school every day or —
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Mr. Speaker, if the Member
would accept a point of clarification?

Another point of clarification? Go
ahead, Minister.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Yes.
60 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Through the Child Development Programme,
there are parental classes that are put in place; ho wever, they are voluntary. But they do tak e place at that
level because it is critically important that our children
receive that type of support that our parents learned
when their children were newborn. So it is something
that stays with them throughout.

With that I am going to move
on because I do believe that Education is doing their very best to really keep their finger on the pulse.
Mr. Speaker, I have delayed bringing this up
because it is emotional. And I will try not to get em otional about this. But, Mr. Speaker, we are going to
have to do something about domestic violence. We
have not yet talk ed about it. I have not seen it much in
anybody’s Throne Speech. Mr. Speaker, we absolut ely have to take a look at putting in place some measurement of protection for the victims of domestic
abuse.
Mr. Speaker, I am so sorry that we have gotten to this po int. And my heart goes out to the families
of all victims out there, whether they are silently suffering or have incurred the kinds of traumas that we
have heard about occurring in the recent days. And,
Mr. Speaker, if you were to ask me . . . and I am not
trying to go down a garden path here. But we had a
horrible situation happen on Remembrance Day.
I personally will say that yesterday I started a
new legacy of remembrance. For me it is going to always now be about the victims and the survivors of
domest ic violence. And as a Government and as a
country, I really believe that we need to step forward
and make some real movement in the protections around domestic violence. Mr. Speaker, we have had
the third sector. We have had other parliamentarians.
We have had members in the private sector all speak
up for a domestic violence court. Mr. Speaker, that is
the kind of initiative that would make this legislative
agenda for this and the coming year worth my while. If
we could look at how we can pull together and create
a special space where these domestic incidents can be dealt with in a more private, secure and protected place than having [victims] exposed, thrown in with
the rest of everybody and everything else that is going
on.
Clearly, domestic violence in Bermuda is a
very, very touchy subject. And it is sensitive. We are a close community. We need to provide as much pr otection for our victims as we possibly can. Mr. Speak-er, we are fortunate enough that we have a Madam
Attorney General. When I hear and whe n I listen to
and when I feel the kinds of campaigns that are out
there, the #MeToo and the others, you know, I am not
thinking about that as, Oh, well, only the people who
may have had some trauma need to go out and support. I am going to be straight up. I might get in trouble
for this, Mr. Speaker. But if a woman is a victim of
domestic violence in Bermuda, in my opinion that one
person, that one victim deserves all of the women of
Bermuda to come and stand and support her through that.
And if I am being discriminatory, then I will
stand up and I will take the brunt of it. But, Mr. Speak-er, what I am saying to you is that this is not about
me. This is about the fact that one woman needed our
help, and we need to be there for her. Stand up for it! It has n othing to do with what I am doing today, Mr.
Speaker, and I am going to try not to be emotional.
We need to drop everything. I do not care—man,
woman, child— drop everything. We cannot have this
kind of violence in this country. And much of it is going
on behind closed doors! We need to figure this out.
So I am calling for a domestic violence court,
and I am calling on the idea that we need to strengt hen our domestic violence legislation. We cannot have
people running out on bail! We cannot have people
going through . . . I understand getting a protection
order in Bermuda, and any court, takes forever. And it
is ridiculous! They are victims! So the victim goes
through all of that confusion to get her protective order, and he (or she) looks at it, spits on it , Mr. Speaker, spits on our legislation and goes back and does
what it is they want to do.
Mr. Speaker, we have got to stop this. And we
have got to put legislation in place that says i f we
have or the police have fair and enough warning signs to say that somebody is being victimised in their
homes , then we need to step up and act on it. Pull the
person out, pull the victim up, pull the perpetrator out. And we need to protect them until we can figure this
out, not throw them back in together and have things
escalate. It is unacceptable! Now, we have a strong
Attorney General right now. And I am calling on her.
Please, I am begging you! We need a domestic vi olence court, and we need to take a good hard look at
our domestic violence legislation and strengthen that
up. Clean it up!
This is the kind of example of how we need to
have a cultural change, Mr. Speaker. We cannot act
like, Oh, this was how it was done in the 1960s. We
are not there anymore. We cannot just put a Band- Aid
on it. It is time! Take the or ganisation, take the culture,
shift it up! Take a new look at it. That is what our job
is. And the Opposition is just as —this is all of us.
I am moving on, Mr. Speaker. Do I have a few
minutes left?


Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Member, you have about just under
four minutes left.

Mr. Speaker, I am going to
squeak in a little bit on transport. Transport was abs olutely mentioned one time. The word “transport”
showed up one time in the Throne Speech. And I am
going to focus in on road safety because I did not see
that hardly anywhere.
Now, when I say road safety, Mr. Speaker, I
have seen the commercials for road safety. I know the
Road Safety Council is working hard trying to do what
they are trying to do. And everybody is trying to get
out there and do their part.
But again, Mr. Speaker, this is cultural and
organisational transformation. We have got to change
the culture. And I love the culture. I am going to speak
to road safety, Mr. Speaker. So Bermuda is absolutely
darling. When you can drive dow n the street and pe ople are waving, and people will slow down and stop
their car on a primary road to let the person who is
coming out of the carriage lane— Let’s give them the
right of way. Mr. Speaker, we have got 40,000- odd
vehicles on these roads now, on roads that mostly are still horse -and-carriage roads. We cannot act like the
Sunday leisure driver making up our own rules as we
go on the roads.
I believe, Mr. Speaker, we need to take a
good hard look at our road safety rules. Let us get back down to business. Make it illegal. Make it illegal
to put your hand out of the window and wave people
down to slow down because you have decided you
want to stop in the middle of the road and let som ebody out. I appreciate that. It is lovely. And I feel so
good wh en people slow down and let me out of a
main road. It is lovely. But I am not sure we can [co ntinue to live] with that.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Another point of clarific ation, Mr. Speaker.

Go right ahead.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Speaker, I would
like to also thank all of those workers who have been
on the front lines since we had the pandemic here in Bermuda. In fact, I want to single out the Bermuda
police and also the sanitation workers. These guys,
the police and the sanitation workers in parti cular,
they work. Whether it is rain, thunder, you get your
garbage collected. And the police likewise, if they
have to go out in the weather, they do that, and all of
the other workers [too], Mr. Speaker.
I also want to thank those who donated food,
particularly the Marketplace, the supermarkets, the
banks who donated money, international business who donated money. The supermarkets, Marketplace
and Supermart, continue to provide cooked and uncooked food to the Bermuda public during this difficult time, M r. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in our Throne Speech there is a
quote from the book Heritage, excerpt, I should say,
about the Doctor Kenneth Robinson’s book. Mr.
Speaker, I would like to go out on a limb to say that I
think . . . I am going to ask the Premier of Bermuda to
consider making an apology on behalf of Bermuda for
the treatment Dr. Robinson received when he was in
education. Some may recall that when the job was
advertised for a Chief Education Officer, even though
he had a doctorate and had all of the qualifications,
the job was given to someone else who had a sports
degree. But Dr. Robinson continued to go and try to
fix the education curriculum, particularly for Blacks.
62 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly And in doing so, his mortgage was called even though
he had never missed a payment. So all of the hard
work that he did, I believe it is appropriate that we give
an apology, send a written apology to his family for all
of the work that he has done and how he was treated in those days, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in the Reply Speech from the
Opposition they talked about the Economic Recovery Plan. I am so glad that our finance in Bermuda is
headed by our Minister Curtis Dickinson. I think I said
in this House before that he is probably the best F inance Minister we have ever had in the las t 30 years.
I think it is 40 now when I add up. He is very cool,
calm and competent. And I feel so comfortable knowing, even though the position we are in, that I am very happy that he is the one who is there leading us here.
Because Curtis Dickinson is one who could be making
more somewhere else. But he has given some of his
time to the country to help us out. And I am so proud
of him, and I hope he stays on for us some more time,
Mr. Speaker.
I also heard the Opposition say the Gover nment disrespected the police in slashing the budget. Well, Mr. Speaker, if you call $145,000 a big slash in
the budget, I am not too alarmed by that at all. Not
one iota am I alarmed by that, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in the Throne Speech the Government has increased the cov erage for prescription
drugs by $1,000. I think people are very thankful for
that. I certainly am thankful for the people, particularly
our seniors. But one concern I do have is that the i nsurance companies have taken liberties to not pay for
certain drugs , a particular drug, when it has been pr escribed by their doctors. And it is a drug that they paid
for before. I think they are wrong. And I think the i nsurance companies have to pay those people back
because the people are paying for coverage for pr escrip tion drugs. And they are prescribed by a doctor
because you cannot get it without a doctor’s prescri ption. And they should not be taking advantage of that,
Mr. Speaker. I would urge that they start to pay for the
cost of those drugs, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, on the hotel industry, the Opp osition continues to say that the hotel industry is going
back, or we have got decreasing numbers from the
1980s. But let me say, Mr. Speaker, from 1988 up until early 1999, we lost over 1,000 rooms. That is
over 2,000 bed -nights a day through hotel closures —
closures . Not closed for a period of time, but closed
forever. Marriott, Belmont, Bermudiana, Club Med,
and I think some of the smaller ones. So, yes, the
numbers can be down. Because when you talk about 2,000 beds, that is 14,000 bed- nights a week, it has to
go down. I repeat. I have said this before. At one time
we had over 10,000 beds in Bermuda. Now we have
barely got 5,000. So, yes, it has gone down, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I am not going to be very long.
But I want to thank the Minister of Transport for . . . well, let me say this here, Mr. Speaker . It is more u nder Tourism, Mr. Speaker. As we all know, Bermuda is a very expensive destination. And we need five- star
properties in order to be commensurate with what it costs to live and travel to Bermuda. I want to thank hotels like the Hamilton Princess. They have done
and continue to do improvements in that hotel to make
it a five -star-plus hotel. Then you have the Tucker’s
Point, The Reefs and the Loren. And as I understand
it, Cambridge Beaches and the new owners of Pri ncess (both of them, new owners), I think that is their
endeavour, to make those properties five- star, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in my estimation I think Bermuda
needs at least 90 per cent of thei r hotels at the fivestar level because they are so expensive. I think there are plenty of clientele out there who are prepared to pay that five- star rate. But you have got to get service.
Five-star service is good service. It is push- button
service. They are not asking for slaves; they are as king for service. That is what you get from five- star-plus
hotels. So I think that those hotels . . . in fact, Hami lton Princess seems to be training a lot of Bermudians
and giving them promotions. That bodes well for us
here in Bermuda, for all of us in Bermuda, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, also I would like to thank the
Minister for Transport for trying to make lemonade out of sour oranges. Now, Mr. Speaker, you are much
older than me. You know what sour oranges are, or
sour lemons. There is a lemon and then there is a
sour lemon. And with the sour lemons, you have to
mix up a little salt, pepper and some baking soda in
order to consume them.

One of those old remedies.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes. Su gar would not
even sweeten them up. But this Minister is doing his
best to convert those sour lemons into lemonade, Mr.
Speaker. So I applaud him trying to get more airlift
when we have no money because all of the money is
going to Aecon on a deal that the previous Gover nment signed with them. And they paid $4.4 million— I
know was over $4 million —to lawyers to draw up a
contract that has no variance, Mr. Speaker. That is
unusual for any contract that long. Law contracts have
variances in them. So the Minist er is doing his best to
try to help us, trying to get some improvements there.
But there is no way we can get it back from them
without paying a hefty sum of money that we do not have, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the people of Bermuda are pa ying millionaire s, guaranteeing them minimum revenue.
This is what was signed by the OBA Government.
They signed a minimum guarantee. We do not even
own a plane. We do not control the weather, nor do we have any control over a pandemic. Nothing is in
that contract about any things like that that would


Bermuda House of Assembly happen that we have no control over. How can you
guarantee a contract, Mr. Speaker? I can assure you
if I had my way, I would not pay one monkey dime to
those folks. They would have to take me to court because I think that is a contract that needs . . . it needs
to be addressed by the court because nobody can
guarantee a minimum guarantee when you do not
even own a plane, Mr. Speaker.
Then the previous Government has even got
groups out there to verify and say it is a good deal.
How can it be a good deal when over the last 15 months we are paying them an average of $2.7 million
a month in the minimum guarantee— $2.7 million? Mr.
Speaker, when you take our revenue down there in
2012 –2013 and the maximum that we were getting in
revenue was $2.1 million a month, why are we paying
$600,000 or more per month to this group? That is not
a good deal at all, Mr. Speaker. There is nothing good
about that deal, Mr. Speaker. A lot of money, Mr.
Speaker, that we are paying. And the previous Go vernment says that was a good deal, Mr. Speaker. So
again I want to thank the Minister for trying to make
some lemonade out of those sour, sour oranges, Mr.
Speaker.
Now also in the Throne Speech, Mr. Speaker,
the Government is trying to expand the resi dential
population and also trying to get more youth emplo yment. Now, this is a very emotive topic to Bermudians
and for good reason, Mr. Speaker. One has to know
the history to understand why Bermudians get very
emotive about that.
Mr. Speaker, it was in 1842 that they had an
Act passed in Bermuda, it was called an Act to e ncourage emigrants to Bermuda. And not only that, but
every time they have been on an initiative or an Act of
Parliament to bring people in, it is for two reasons.
One is to increase th e white population, and two is to
undercut the recently freed slaves’ demand for wages.
Those are the reasons why they brought them here.
So it has not been very good, Mr. Speaker. And when
we look at the history of bringing in foreigners to Bermuda, Bermudians have seen foreigners take their
jobs. [They] trained foreigners, and the foreigner was the one to get hired, Mr. Speaker.
So I understand it. I understand the dynamics
of it, increasing and expanding the residential popul ation. But we must understand why our people get very
emotive about that. The history would tell you why
these folks were brought in here. And with the exper ience that a lot of them have had . . . So my thought on
this, Mr. Speaker, is that the more people you bring
into this country for jobs, the more protection Berm udians need. I mean, there is only one group of wor kers in Bermuda that has protection because they are
Bermudian. And they are the civil servants, Mr.
Speaker. Under the Public Service Commission Regu-lations 2001, by Ber muda statute Bermudians come
first under this legislation. Not only that, where there is a non- Bermudian
who comes second, it would be a non- Bermudian
spouse. They come second. So I am not requesting
that my Government do anything that is out of the ordinary. The white- collar workers, civil servants are
protected through laws. And I think we need to protect
all Bermudian workers because of our history. B ecause you will find many jobs in Bermuda right now
that Bermudians once had being held by PRCs.
I am not against PRCs. As I said it earlier, I
understand why we are trying to increase the reside ntial population. I am just looking for protection for
Bermudian workers, Mr. Speaker, because we already
have it in place. I repeat: We already have it in place
for the public service, all of the workers who come
under the Public Service Commission status. So I ask for that for all workers in this country because we know what could happen if there is no protection.
Bermudians will not get hired first in most instanc es. It
has been proven, Mr. Speaker.
Also, you know, Mr. Speaker, when you were
coming up (I am much behind you), when we were
going to school most of these firms had apprentic eship programmes. You had PW’s, Holmes Williams
and Purvey, Masters, Burland, Conyers & Marirea ,
and the list goes on. They had apprentice pr ogrammes. And we were always able to supply our
carpenters (that is from Burland’s), motor mechanics from PW’s and Holmes Williams and Masters. And
masons. We had those programmes in place. I do
know there are some programmes in place that the Government has had people working via the Wor kforce Development. They hire people to be waiters
and this type of thing.
But somehow I think we have to make some
arrangements with some of the employers. Now ,
some employers are very good. I must say that be-cause you see they are training our young lawyers.
You always see in the papers they have taken two here who are doing the pupillage in these firms, which
is great, and we encourage that. We just hope that
more employers would take it upon themselves to
take on apprentices in their firms to train our Bermudians. That is when I would see the commitment to
Bermudians. I am not against foreigners. I am not against PRCs. The thing is that we must protect Bermudi ans. That is what we have to do. They have got
to be protected.
And they have to feel protected, because if
they do not, Mr. Speaker, we are going to have some
problems. If you know the history, it is very easy to appreciate how our people feel. And I thi nk we have
got to take that on because we had landscapers. In
fact, I was talking to some landscapers who asked to meet me, and I met them, actually two of them. The
experience that they had in a landscaping firm was
not good at all. I think we should mandate whatever we want to do to control this, that if you have got a
landscaping firm that has X number of foreign em64 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ployees, they should be made to take on X number of
Bermudians with a structured programme to enhance
the training that the Bermudians have already had.
So you find guys like Roger Parris and Wor kforce Development and a lot of other folks that have these programmes training guys about landscaping—
not only landscaping, but also how to use the tools.
They are training all of these fellows up, and some of
them are getting jobs of various [kinds]. There is a
little grey area out there, and I think we need to fix
that. And I think we can fix it without much fanfare. We just call these guys in. I think basically we have got
some people who are fair employers. We call them in
and we put this to them. And I think we can get that
going.
But again I really believe that just like the civil
servants under the Public Service Commission are protected; all Bermudians should be protected as per
those Public Service Commission Regulations 2001.
This is a Bermuda statutory instrument. It is written in
there: Bermudians come first, then the spouse. So we can fix that. So I am not asking for anything outside of
the ordinary, just some protection for our Bermudian
workers. And I think if we had done that, Bermudians
would be . . . I think there is a perception that some
Bermudians do not like foreign workers. I do not think so. But I think even if that were true, then you can r emove that by protecting Bermudians.
I am not saying that we have got to hire any
Bermudian, you know. You have got to be sensible
about the whole thing. I do not think I even need to
have to even explain that. But Bermudians want pr otection for their jobs, because some Bermudians are
having pr oblems with this expanding of the residential
population because they do not see any protection for
them.
So, Mr. Speaker, with those remarks I thank
you for allowing me to participate in this.
Thank you so much.

Okay. I will speak up, Mr.
Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for this
opportunity to make a contribution to this debate.
Mr. Speaker, I wanted to start by stating my
gratitude for the front -line workers, as expressed by
the Opposition Leader , during COVID -19. I do think
that the front -line workers have done an incredible job,
and I think a lot of people (I hate to say it) get credit. But the front -line workers are the tip of the spear and
have always been so.
I can probably say that I was a member of the
Bermuda Police Service and got to work with some
people who really, really made Bermuda a better
place by their contribution, as well as the Bermuda
Regiment, now the Royal Bermuda Regiment. And we
are starting to see thanks being extended to some of
our front -line workers by everyone. There is a new
Royal Bermuda Regiment Association, et cetera, who is trying to make sure that our soldiers get acknow ledged and get some benefit out of service from other industries.
So with that, Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to say
that I really appreciate their work. I am tremendously grateful. And I will always pay attention, and I think we
all should pay attention to the things that they say
about Bermuda, because the things that they say are
the things that are most evident. They are the ones
who deal with everything from our crime to our social ills, and they are the ones who have to pick up the
slack. To that end, they are the ones we should be
listening to in this regard.
Mr. Speaker, with your permission, I would
like to read from the Throne Speech, specifically page
number 1, about changes.

Mr. Speaker, the Throne
Speech reads, “Changes that were deferred have now
become imperative for survival. Changes that were
resisted now transcend stubbornness, as resistance is
negligent for future generations. Changes denied defy
the sacred trust of elected office and do not serve the
needs of the people.”
It is very powerful and very true, Mr. Speaker.
But I suspect that the author and myself might have a different perspective on what changes we wanted to
bring about. I would start, Mr. Speaker, by saying the
first change is when we deliberate in this Honourable
House under your stewardship, Mr. Speaker, that it is
done with a kind of seriousness and decorum. I speak
about that, Mr. Speaker, because I am still a freshman
for all intents and purposes. I am quite new to this. But
oftentimes I hear comments that just boggle the mind.
They are not sensible or logical in any way. And
sometimes they come from friends of mine, Honour able Members, one of whom said something like, The Opposition opposes success.


Bermuda House of Assembly I just wanted to be absolutely clear that I just
could not disagree more with that statement. I do not
think that those who have a different political philos ophy than mine . . . I do not believe that they oppose
success of Bermuda. I think that is a very unfair com-ment. And it does nothing, absolutely nothing to make
sure that we work together in this Honourable House.
Mr. Speaker, the Opposition Leader said in
his Reply to the Throne Speech that what we are look-ing for is a vibrant, prosperous and safe Bermuda.
That is true. So, Mr. Speaker, with that now I will con-tribute to this debate on the Reply to the Throne
Speech and the Throne Speech itself. I likewise would
go to that Good Book, and there is a quote from there.
I would like to read with your indulgence, Mr. Speaker.

And it is, “See, this alone I
found, that God made human beings straightforward,
but they have devised many schemes.”
I say that, Mr. Speaker, “schemes” is a very
negative way of describing this. But I do think that a
better description is over -complicating something. I
think that having some 31 pri ority projects in an Ec onomic Recovery Plan, given the significance of our challenge, is an over -complication, to be frank, Mr.
Speaker. We have quite a few categories of silos to
concern ourselves with in this Honourable House. E ducation, jobs, crime, roads, labour relations, legisl ation—there are a few things happening here, Mr.
Speaker. But the Opposition Leader had spoken to a
point of view where he said, Let’s focus on one, two,
three, four priorities and get those over the line. B ecause we have enough issues, Mr. Speaker, that we
could, quite by accident, tie ourselves up in knots chasing all of the things that we can conceive of.
That ideation, that sort of perpetual thinking,
down the road, next thing, next thing, next thing, next
flavour, next flav our, next flavour, means that we
leave a lot in our wake left undone or half -done, Mr.
Speaker. And to that end, though, I will pick up where my honourable colleague left off with domestic vi olence, because I do think that this is something we
have left behind.
Mr. Speaker, when a uniformed officer gets
called into a scenario, they do not have the full tools of
a $1 billion government available to use at that point
in time. They have to deal with the circumstances as
they see them. And there may be an abil ity, there may
be a later facility to connect with another government department to another resource. But the one thing that always struck me, as one of those responding to
those scenarios, Mr. Speaker, was how that circumstance arose and how it kept arisi ng. So my honour able colleague was speaking to the courts, for example,
or the protection orders. And uniformed officers are
replying to the same events night after night. And it
seems like there is no other branch that is dealing with this seriously. Now, that cannot be true, Mr. Speaker.
And that is my point on absurdity; that just cannot be right.
But what it does indicate, Mr. Speaker, is that
there is a lack of connection between the people who are showing up in an emergency capacity and the
people wh o are doing it on a nine- to-five. Obviously,
this kind of job does not bode well for a nine- to-five
personality —but those who are showing up when it is
not 3:30 in the morning. And that connection is what
we are missing here again.
We have, along with my honourable colleague, roads that are designed for horses and buggies. And we do not have any horses and buggies.
You see one on the roads these days, Mr. Speaker,
you feel just so nervous for them. What we have is
rocket ships connected to wheels, these bi kes zipping
around like it is the Mad Max of Thunderdome out
there, Mr. Speaker. And our roads are simply not designed for it. Monday morning traffic is like we are tr ying to get killed out here. But road design and maint enance . . . Have the police opined on these matters,
especially given the state of the roads when they are
poorly maintained, Mr. Speaker? The scheduling of
roadworks, for example, means that we are going to
see overflow from one road into another one. Are the
police okay with that overflo w? Because they are g oing to need to change their patrol patterns based on that. So again, Mr. Speaker, what I am saying is that
there is a connection. We are not seeing the connection.
Mr. Speaker, another one we are missing
here is gangs. These gangs did not come from nowhere. They are not disappearing so that we cannot
see them anymore. They are a presence in our lives.
They are persistent. And they will not go away on their
own. Mr. Speaker, those gangs did not show up from
nowhere. There is no way that we can turn around
and say we did not see it coming. So where do they start, Mr. Speaker? The problem for me is that if we
have a gang shooting, it is bad no matter where it
happens. That [a gang] was large enough and well -
equipped enough to shoot someone is the problem,
Mr. Speaker. That someone is of that mind- set that
this was how you resolve conflict, Mr. Speaker . . .
that came from somewhere. That was not accidental.
And what are we doing to stop that from manifesting? Because parts of our communi ty have been
living with gangs on a more consistent basis than ot her parts; that is no doubt. And the residents and communities where gangs are able to move about freely, control the movement of residents . . . that is no way
to live a life, Mr. Speaker. A nd sure as heck you can
bet your bottom dollar that it is hard to pay attention to other things like jobs, like education when that is the
reality you are facing. Someone somewhere . . . this
did not come from nowhere, and it is not going to go
away by its elf. What are we going to do about these
66 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly gangs, Mr. Speaker? And I do not think that CCTV is
the answer to the problem.
In fact, Mr. Speaker, my point is that these
problems are all interconnected and their causes are
multiple. So if we think that speedin g would get dealt
with by screaming at the police, then we are wrong. If
we think that speeding is going to get fixed by just
speed cameras, then we are wrong. If we think speeding is going to get dealt with by putting 20 more magistrates on the bench, then we are wrong. Speeding is
likely to get fixed if we do all of that stuff, or certainly take parts from every one of those silos, Mr. Speaker.
That is my point for how we are going to pr oceed forward from where we are today, Mr. Speaker, is fewer ideas at the national level and clearer projects within the space that we have to concern ourselves
with. So, for example, domestic crime, domestic vi olence, working within that space, figuring that out. The disaster that is the roads right now, figuring that out .
Gangs, working on that. Thirty -one initiatives in ec onomic recovery, Mr. Speaker? I do not see it. The
reason I do not see it, Mr. Speaker, is because there
is a conflict between the words that get uttered and
the actions that we all see in Bermuda right now.
The Opposition Leader mentioned, for example, the withdrawal of 50 per cent of charitable streams as a consequence of the Trade Union [and
Labour Relations] (Consolidation) Act [2021], Mr.
Speaker. The ability to retain some money was taken away, an d then we are going to turn around and tell
the charities, Well, we’ll help you get loans. Mr.
Speaker, a loan is hardly a good thing. It might [give
you a] break [even] for a minute, but it is not going to last, not when you are teetering like a lot of our char ities are, not when they are seeing an increase for
their services and certainly not for the benefit of that
charity over time.
Speaking of which, Mr. Speaker, going back
to the point on connections, the need for more char itable services again did not come from nowhere.
Right? So are we engaging with them? Are we asking
them, Where do you see this coming from and what
can we do to help you? Because I know what is not
going to help them, Mr. Speaker. Or rather . . . I am
sorry. That sounded . . . I just cannot believe I said
that. I think I have been hanging around with the wrong crowd, Mr. Speaker. I do not believe, Mr.
Speaker, that putting loans and debt to charitable organisations is a good idea.
Mr. Speaker, we have been told, on my point
of conf licting words versus actions, that casinos are
an important part of tourism. But they are not here,
Mr. Speaker, so how important could they be?
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to conflicting
words versus actions, we heard for some time that there are going to be proposed amendments to the
Bermuda Constitution. We have heard for some time
that the structure of our Constitution Order will be in
some way updated and amended. But we just do not see any forward motion in that space, Mr. Speaker.
That gets down to t rust, because everyone is going to
trust this Honourable House, Mr. Speaker, to do the
best thing. Even though we are going to sit in this
Honourable House and propose one thing and debate another and object and, theoretically, Mr. Speaker,
what comes out of this Honourable House is the best
of all of those ideas. But I cannot see how we are
building trust with the voters, Mr. Speaker, if words
constantly conflict with actions.
With that said, Mr. Speaker, I would like to
wrap up with some thoughts on the Throne Speech. I
look forward to going into the Budget Debate and seeing how these initiatives tie into the key performance
indicators for the budget, Mr. Speaker, because that
continuity would show connection, intention, trust. It
would show that we are n ot just using words for the
purpose of using words, but rather there is an actual
performance for an outcome coming from this. Mr.
Speaker, one of the things I am looking forward to as
an outcome is to see how we navigate using the Bermuda Plan or using the model of the Bermuda Plan to apply to the marine development Act . That would be
quite something to see how we get all of that, Mr.
Speaker.
But if we could do one thing—I would say one
more thing before we go —and put all of these great
ideas into action, so to speak, Mr. Speaker, if we
could pay attention to the spaces between the ideas,
to the cracks, to the connections, if we could start li stening to our experts . . . because oftentimes we seem
to want credit for low -hanging fruit, Mr. Speaker, like
having a press release, a press conference because someone built or repaired some stairs. We have lots
of stairs in Bermuda, Mr. Speaker, and a lot of them
require repair. And we do not want to have a press
conference every time someone fixes a set of stairs .
To the credit of the Minister of Labour and
Immigration, we are going to move into a digital pr ocess for administering the immigration applications. I recently countersigned one of them, and you could
see the line on the paper, Mr. Speaker, from when th e
documents were originally made and obviously they
have gone through facsimile and photocopy. And I just
thought, Sheesh. Here we are, 2021, multi -billion
economy. And apparently we haven’t figured out how
to put paper into the computer yet. So as much as I
think it is a good idea, I do not think it is something to
put a flag up about. I think that this is the kind of thing
you have got to do to move forward. That is the kind
of connection between the silos that matters, Mr. Speaker.
So I hope that all 31 priority projects and pol icies come into fruition. I really do, because I think it is absurd that there is a position that we do not want
success for Bermuda, that I do not want success for
Bermuda. I really do hope it works. But what I think would work better, Mr. Speaker, is focusing on one,
two, three, four priorities on that huge national level,


Bermuda House of Assembly and then spending the rest of our time fixing all of the
little broken things that other people have to accommodate for, like our charities.
With that said, t hank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the time.

You have your 30 minutes.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this debate, Mr. Speaker.
Though I was not here physically when the
Throne Speech was delivered, like many others, cer-tainly most of the country, I had the benefit of the
presentation virtually. But I was certainly on the Island
in spirit and remembering that last week was a very
important day of presentation for the country. Certai nly, as I was in another jurisdiction, people were having
similar discussions and certainly paying attention to
Glasgow about issues that pertain to the future of humanity and the issues that not only Bermuda, but the
globe faces when it comes to our future climate and
nature and the environment that we all share with all
other species on the planet.
So here we are today. It is part of a process of
certainly dealing with what will be the agenda for the
Government and the focused priorities for at least the
next parliamentary year. As today is essentially the
last day before the discussions in Glasgow come to a
conclusion and countries deliberate on what will be
that agenda, we are also in a part of a process of de-liberating on what will be this country’s and the Government’s agenda for the upcoming year.
I must thank my colleagues, and not only my
Cabinet colleagues, but my other parliamentary co lleagues as part of the Progressive Labour Party for the attention and contribution they made to how we as
a Government have put together this agenda. I do
note, Mr. Speaker, that sometimes the Opposition has
sort of given a next -level critique on the Throne
Speech and seems to have thought that it was uni nspiring or unimagi native or did not have anything new
or these sorts of things. Well, I do note that the length
of the Reply was considerably longer than 2012. Per-haps the Government is more focused on what ma tters. It does not necessarily need to have a lot of text to say what the country needs, to show that we know
what direction this country should take for the next year [and] how we will be focused on the affairs of state. You do not necessarily need a lot of text to say
that. But you must be substantive. You must be clear.
You must show that you know what needs to be accomplished and make it clear as to what you are going to be focusing on. And certainly the Throne
Speech does that.
We are in a period, Mr. Speaker, coming out
of certainly one of the most trying and chal lenging periods of Bermuda’s history with the very health of our country challenged by the presence of the pandemic,
by the economic well -being of our Island under considerable stress, the social dislocation that those two
experiences have brought to the c ommunity and certainly the need to chart our way forward, as we still
deal with the issues of the pandemic.
This Throne Speech outlines the focus of this
Government, an Economic Recovery Plan that makes
clear 31 key initiatives, seven key areas of focus t hat
we as a Government, having had contributions from
within and outside of the Government amongst our
Cabinet Members, our caucus and other persons, and
[having] benefited from globally or internationally qual-ified expertise to shape what we have put toge ther,
the thoughts and ideas of the Government and those
whom we have worked with to make sure that we can
reshape this country going forward in a positive and a
restorative way out of this experience.
We are in a position like so many other countries, Mr . Speaker, gripped by the same circumstance.
And some perhaps suffering much more than we
have, having to find their way. But we have crafted an
Economic Recovery Plan for Bermuda that focuses on
the key areas that are needed to ensure that we are
on a pat h to restoring the Island to better economic
and social health, and a new plan for health care,
which after the past nearly two years one should not
doubt that a better way to finance and provide quality
care is sorely needed.
This is not an era or a time, Mr. Speaker, for
doing what you used to do. It is what you should be doing going forward. There is not a country on this
planet that is not looking for a better way forward on
almost every aspect of life, and particularly as we face
climate change and the volatility that that in itself
brings to the planet and certainly to our little Island.
Mitigating its impacts and doing what we can to co ntribute to the global effort must be a part of the agenda. And the Throne Speech focuses on that.
I can just touch on some of the areas for
which I myself have responsibility, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the Island is moving away from fossil fuels and sha ping an environment where we can attract the inves tments, because this is definitely about attracting i nvestments, creating j obs and economic growth. And in
68 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly some cases, Mr. Speaker, some of the themes of the
Paris Agreement are also the themes that we as a
country must think for ourselves. We must deal with
litigation adaptations, resilience, and loss and damages. Those are things that countries like us have to deal with, the loss and damage from volatility of
weather, the mitigation of the impacts of climate
change and adapting to the new environment that the
globe is facing by taking the necessary steps.
Certainly the regulatory sandbox that is pr oposed in the Throne Speech, Mr. Speaker, is about attracting innovation in the energy sector so that as
new technology emerges, we have a framework that
attracts and invites innovation in Bermuda as we have
desired innovation in so many other parts of our economy. Certainly the international business, insurance and reinsurance sectors themselves thrive on
innovation and adaptation.
To be competitive across the globe, we must
do the same in the energy sector because diversifying how we generate our power is not only essential, but it
is also necessary for us to move away from fossil
fuels to convert to a platform that is reliant on renew ables and that is clean and that is safe. But also, such
diversification brings about growth. It will attract new
investment into energy in Bermuda. It will also create
new jobs because the renewable energy sector will need new skills, new expertise to maintain it. So there
are new jobs that are going to be created.
As we diversify with different types of [power]
generation that grow the economy, that grow econom-ic activity and that potentially lower the cost of energy
for every consumer as well (which is why there is a proposal to address the issue of how we regulate fuel,
Mr. Speaker), there is certainl y a fuel surcharge on
every bill that aggravates many a person. As we continue to be dependent at this time on fossil fuel, that
fuel adjustment rate will continue to be a feature in our
billing of every resident and every business in Berm uda. And right no w the cost of oil is going up, so that
[has] an impact on that bill. That is not a factor that we
control; that is a factor of the global market. But the
only way to release ourselves from that exposure is by moving away from fossil fuels altogether.
So the path moving toward [power] generation
that is not dependent on fossil fuel is actually great economic sense. It is great environmental sense. And
it is a great decision for this country. And because this
Government is bold, brave and ambitious, we have
set a high standard for Bermuda. Not our predecessors, who had much lower goals set in this area, we are going for 100 per cent renewable generation for this country ultimately, Mr. Speaker.
The IRP [Integrated Resource Plan] talks
about 85 [per cent rene wable energy], but I hope, and
I am working as the Minister responsible for energy, to be able to tell the country how we are going to get to
100 [per cent]. And I look forward to telling that story
when all and everything is put together. But it will take innovation. It will take new technology. But that will
also add new skills, new investment and diversity to
our energy sector.
Some of the other things that we have done,
Mr. Speaker, to actually ensure that Bermuda is on the right path, is put together . . . and the Honourable
Premier talked about how we are advancing the ec onomic recovery of the country. We have a framework in place, Mr. Speaker, that will further grow our presence in the global telecommunications sector with
subsea cables. We already are a crucial participant in the transatlantic telecommunications network. This
Government has put in place legislation to expand
that participation further. And we are getting the actual
interest from real global companies to run those
transatlantic subsea cables through Bermuda as the
need grows for greater broadband, greater telecommunications activity. Bermuda will be the hub of the
North Atlantic.
Mr. Speaker, to just touch on further issues
around the environment, this Government has made a
step to ma ke Bermuda better. If Build Back Better is a
theme that is very much involved with how we are g oing to redevelop in the post -pandemic world, we are
building back better the protection for our enviro nment. We have already passed legislation, Mr.
Speaker, that will create a higher threshold of protection for our land, for private holdings, so that not only will the existing levels of protection exist as they do for
public holdings, but a higher level of protection for pr ivate holdings so that we can protect m ore of our land
space. We in the Ministry of Environment are doing
more to ensure that we focus on nature- based sol utions to improving the environment, such as a tree-planting strategy. Many others have begun to do this,
but we as a Government are actually putting together
a plan as well.
But the recovery, Mr. Speaker, will not only be
about nature- based solutions, but also will be peoplefocused. And the 31 initiatives that the Government has put together are also people- focused, about rej uvenating our workforce, about ensuring that business,
small business in particular ––where part of our focus
has been in giving greater opportunity to small bus inesspeople, and people aspiring to be entrepreneurs ––will have greater capacity available to them from
the Ber muda Economic Development Corporation.
It is also ensuring fairness when it comes to
people’s relationships with financial institutions, which
is why the conduct of banks is a focus. And there will
be greater legislation to address that as well, Mr. Speak er, in the next Parliament. Because as we did
the same thing with the debt collection industries,
which was essentially a Wild West of unregulated o perators who did not always treat persons fairly, we
want to bring a much sounder regulatory framework to
the conduct of our banks. This is not anything novel.
This is what goes on in every well -run financial juri sBermuda House of Assembly diction in the world where banking is a key pillar of the
actual economic life.
Banks are required to have a certain standard
of conduct. And as we k now, Mr. Speaker, in the past
there have been issues around certain historical practices of our banks. I am not suggesting that they are
necessarily rampant now, but those practices brought
about certain fear and intimidation and concern in the
past. But i t is important that we have a banking and
financial services industry where conduct is aspiring to be what is best practice internationally, as well, even as we try to improve the financial health of the country. Because people need to feel that they can m ake
an investment in their lives and be treated equitably
and fairly in the marketplace. This is very important, very, very important, as we hear stories about some of
the unfortunate experiences of people certainly during
the pandemic period, as well as predating the pandemic. It is important that people feel that they can get
fairness in their dealings with financial institutions.
So, Mr. Speaker, this Throne Speech is laser -
sharp in its focus on what we need to do to improve
and move beyond the pandemic economically and to
improve the welfare and quality of life for the citizens
and residents of this beautiful Island.
As I have returned from a very interesting
conference in the UK, I am more inspired to work on
these areas because I am not only concerned about
the welfare of our people and their health —that
means their medical health, their financial health, their
social health and the overall welfare of our country. I
am also concerned about the fact that we also must
work together, Mr. Speaker, so that our environment
is protected and that we have a balance between finding opportunity as well as protection of the natural
world that we live in, and that we ensure for the future
of our children that we make the right choices, that we
make the right choices economically, we make the
right choices in our social and health welfare, but we
make the right choices that will ensure that they have
a world that they will inherit, that they will be able to
aspire to leadership and opportunity in, and that we in
this era will have made the right decisions in our lives.
Certainly this Government is aspiring to make
the right decisions in their education, in creating op-portunities and a healthy economic environment so that those of today and those coming by tomorrow
take advantage of what we all love about Bermuda.
We will have it available to them as we in this era
have had it available to ourselves.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I will close my comments and look forward to listening to the rest of the debate.
Thank you ver y much.

Mr. Speaker, I am no longer a
freshman, as MP Richardson described himself, but I
am certainly still a sophomore and these are still early
days in the House for me, having started in 2018. I
have got a theme going so far on Throne Speech R eplies, and that is why I try to offer constructive criticism in a bipartisan effort, recognise the good and the bad
in a Throne Speech. So I do offer some crit icism this
evening, but I offer it as constructive criticism.
Mr. Speaker, the context of this Throne
Speech and today’s Throne Speech Reply is singular.
It is COVID -19. And there is no denying that. I too
would like to follow on the Opposition Leader and
70 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly many other speakers this evening from both sides of
the aisle and thank our front -line workers. And by that
I do not simply mean those in emergency services,
although I thank them too. But I thank those who went
to work during COVID -19 and toiled, particularly in our
grocery stores or our petrol stations, in order to make
sure that Bermuda, as best it could, kept moving.
Mr. Speaker, in terms of the Throne Speech, I
have already gone into press on it and been som ewhat critical. I am not suggesting that al l of the failures
in the Throne Speech are the fault of the Government.
I recognise as anyone who read and considered the
Throne Speech would have recognised, sensibly recognised, that there are many errors and problems in
Bermuda as a result of COVID -19. But we must not
kid ourselves; Bermuda’s economy was in no great
shapes before COVID -19. And some of the solutions
that have been offered in our Throne Speech are good. We will commend them. But some are very thin
indeed.
Mr. Speaker, before going to the Throne
Speech, I would also like to just comment on two
statements that were made by the Government this
week between the Throne Speech and our Reply t oday. Mr. Speaker, it is A Tale o f Two Statements , with
apologies to Charles Dickens, who said, “ It was the
best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness . . .” How
true. The Throne Speech as we all know was last Fr iday, and on Tuesday there was a follow -up statement
by the Premier. With your leave, Mr. Speaker, I will
quote it directly.

This is what he was reported to
have said: “I don’t think that the Government requires
any more imagination . . . The people of this country
don’t need more ideas, what they need is execution.”
So it is A Tale of Two Statements, Mr. Speaker, and that is the first. Now let me politely both agree
and disagree. I would respectfully disagree with the
Premier when he says that the Government does not require any more imagination and that the people of
this country do not need more ideas. I would respec tfully agree with the Premier that execution is critical. Service delivery is the beating heart of government.
You can have all of the ideas you like, but if you do
not deliver the services, people are not going to be
very happy.
And yes, execution is important. But, Mr.
Speaker, it has to be execution of the right policies. If
you are out at sea and stranded in a boat and you
start to row with great gusto and efficiency and effectiveness, b ut you are rowing away from the shore, that
is not a very good idea. So it has to be execution of
the right policies and not of the wrong ones.
Mr. Speaker, I called it A Tale of Two Stat ements. It was reported today. I think the statement was made on Thursday by the Minister of Finance.
And again with your leave, Mr. Speaker, I quote: “ Curtis Dickinson added it was part of his job to help develop creative ways to fund the Government.
“He asked: ‘ Does the Government have the
money today, in a conventional sense, to pay for all of
the things in the Throne Speech? The answer would
be no.
“‘But that assumes that we look at conve ntional financing and part of my job is to kind of help to
develop strategies around financing that may be inno-vative and creative. ’”
A Tale of Two Statements.
So again, respectfully, Government does r equire creativity and imagination or we are not going to
get out of this mess. Government does require new
ideas. As one of the speakers on the other side of the aisle said earlier, it is about adaptability. I entirely
agree. We must adapt or perish. Yes, execution is
mission -critical, and again I would just go to the
Throne Speech itself for a moment. Again with your
leave, Mr. Speaker, I quote from the top of page 5: “Any and all servi ces that we provide to the global
economy must be viewed from the lens of how we
improve the delivery of services . . .” Delivery and execution. Yes, agreed. But it might be the right policies
that need to be executed.
Again, Mr. Speaker, “It was the best of times,
the worst of times, the age of wisdom, the age of fool-ishness . . .”
We heard from the first speaker in the batting
order for the PLP today that the Throne Speech is the
PLP’s castle. Let us hope that it is not a castle built on
sand. Mr. Speak er, let me start by seizing on what I
think is one of the most important elements of the Throne Speech and an area where I would be incred ibly supportive of what the Government has said. And for those looking at the Throne Speech, it is at page 3,
which is the statement by the Government on health
care. This was then followed up today by the Stat ement from the Minister of Health, a Learned Member
of this House, and deservedly so. I would respectfully
say with respect to one of the earlier speakers, actually those of us who have taken the trouble to be
learned do put a lot of effort into it. And I am grateful
for the Learned Members of this Chamber.
And I am grateful for what the Honourable
Minister of Health had to say because it takes a brave
man or indeed in this case a brave woman to admit
that a change of direction may be needed. So I think
the Government is entirely right to press pause on the
basic health plan, and I do not criticise in any way the
course change. I think this is a chance to get it right.
Yes, the Government had described it as a multi -year
journey toward universal health care coverage, and
yes, we are supportive of that journey. But again it has
to be right. The previous iteration, which viewed a sort of government -led unified system, w as a tremendously bad idea. But again I am not just playing politics


Bermuda House of Assembly here. Universal health care is a tremendously good
idea. But it has to put patients first. Patients have to
be at the centre of what is driving the reform.
We need to bring costs down. W e need to rely
on private sector professionals, not the government. Because very rarely is the government any good at
service delivery. Hence The Tale of Two Statements.
And the comments by the Premier about execution
and the comments by the Minister of Finance about
the need for public –private partnerships I very much
agree with and commend the Minister for looking at.
Because the reality is we do not have much money
left. As you learned today in a Statement from the
Minister of Finance, our debt is $3.3 5 billion. So if we
are to have projects to better enhance Bermuda, to try
to improve the lot of all of us, we are going to need to
find a way to pay for them.
The solution to that payment, as the Minister
of Finance has recognised, is not to try to raise more
taxes in a declining economy if we can avoid it. And
he had not locked himself in; I recognise that. But we do not want to raise taxes in a declining economy. It is
not sensible economics. So we are going to have to
look at finding others who might be prepared to pay
for the projects that we need. Therefore, I commend
the Minister of Finance for exploring public –private
partnerships. It is a very sensible course of action.
And as I will come to at the end of my speech, Mr.
Speaker, I also want to touc h on how we attract
wealthy foreigners to bring their wealth to Bermuda.
Another point that I would like to praise in the
Throne Speech, and this is at page 6, is the statement
by the Government that it intends to look more clos ely, and I quote: “ During t his Session, the Department
of Child and Family Services will be strengthened in
the area of child safeguarding to reduce the harm,
abuse and distress of children on our island.”
This has been a long time in coming, Mr.
Speaker. I very much hope that that will be a root -andbranch reform of DCSF [ Department of Child and
Family Services ]. It is extremely regrettable . . . and I
know I have banged on about this for several years.
But it is regrettable that we have not had independent and comprehensive invest igation into the allegations
of abuse and neglect at DCFS. The bright light of truth needs to be shone on this dirty episode in our com-munity. And I very much hope that going forward the
efforts for child safeguarding will be thorough and they
will change the way we have been doing business
previously in that area. I look forward to seeing the Bill
to reform the Children Act as and when it comes to
the Honourable House. Mr. Speaker, those are the goods as I see it —

MP Pearman, let me just offer a suggestion. I know you are gathered in the Opposition
Boardroom there and you are trying to use the larger
technology that is in there. Would you happen to have
your tablet? Because if you have yo ur government -
issued tablet, maybe if you used the audio and just
speak to the tablet, it may come through louder for the
sake of being able to hear you.

No doubt you will allow a minute
or two back on the clock for my benefit, given the i ntervention.
Mr. Speaker, I had just identified certain el ements of the Throne Speech that I felt deserved praise. Certainly, the approach to health care reform,
the idea of public –private partnership and the undertaking by the Minister to have child safeguarding with
DCFS.
Now I would like to turn to some of the points
on which I am slightly more critical, although as I said
at the outset of my speec h, it is intended to be co nstructive criticism.
The Throne Speech by any view contained a
number of vague promises. It would be very easy
when reading the Throne Speech as a whole to pose
questions: Well, how? And with what money? Mr.
72 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Speaker, anyone can make a promise. It is principled
leadership when you make a promise only when you
know you can deliver it. And promises should be few
and seldom and really should be deliverable. I am not
going to repeat what my honourable colleague, MP Richardson, said earlier to the House, which is that
perhaps the idea of tackling 31 points would be far
better if you just picked 3 and really drilled down on
them.
Mr. Speaker, I do have some concerns about
certain other suggestions in the Throne Speech, and I will touch on them very briefly. But some of these
again, the questions I would pose are, How? and,
With what money?
One is the Tynes Bay Facility to be replaced;
that is at page 7 of the Throne Speech. We are told
today that it would be $150 million, perhaps, altho ugh
there was a cheaper option where there might just be some maintenance to it. We are told that it has already started or it will already start. So there is a lack
of clarity there.
Mr. Speaker, another point is the Bermuda
Tourism Authority [BTA]. That is dealt with at page 8
of the Throne Speech. This is obviously a political
football. The OBA created an independent BTA. In my
respectful opinion, it was one of the best things the
OBA did when they were the Government. They rec-ognised that politicians r eally are not there as professionals to manage tourism, and they put the man-agement of our Bermuda tourism in the hands of i ndependent professionals. And I think it was the right
idea. So on this point I would respectfully say leave it
to the professionals .
We heard today I think from the Opposition
Leader who quoted the former Tourism Minister who
talked about ripping out the engine of the BTA . Mr.
Speaker, if you rip the engine out, do not be surprised if the car doesn’t drive.
Turning to page 5, a litt le bit back in the
Throne Speech, there is also a proposal in respect of
the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation
[BEDC]. Mr. Speaker, the BEDC has been quite a
successful vehicle. And what it primarily does is [INAUDIBLE] small and medium -size busines ses. It is
pursuing a goal of entrepreneurialism. And it is a gi ving a hand up to those who are trying to make their lives better. And, Mr. Speaker, I think those of us on
both sides of the aisle agree that this is a good thing.
Therefore, using the old adage, if it ain’t broke, don’t
fix it, I am concerned that we would now take the concept of the BEDC and pivot it toward the development
of residential construction. To me, that sounds fool-hardy. “It was an age of wisdom; it was an age of foolishness”.
Mr. Speaker, we also hear from this Throne
Speech that there may be constitutional changes su ggested to the United Kingdom. I think it is regrettable
that we have not heard what those constitutional
changes might be. I think if you are going to undertake significant changes to the structure of the Island, you
might as well have the courage to say what those changes are.
What are they?
Another concern I have, Mr. Speaker, is in
respect to page 7 of the Throne Speech, and that is in
respect of the Public Acce ss to Information. This has
been something that has been very good for Berm uda’s governance on both sides of the aisle, no matter which party was in Government. Letting the light of
day into governmental decisions is a good thing. Hav-ing to justify, if you are in Government, why you are
doing what you are doing, is a good thing because it
leads to greater clarity of thought, and your actions
need to be defended. And if you are right, you should
not be afraid to defend your actions. And any curtai ling of the Public Access to Information is not a good
thing, in my respectful submission. And I hope that when the Government does its restructure, this is not
going to be a fig leaf for curtailing access to information.
Mr. Speaker, turning to the environment, we
have seen a complete U -turn on shoreside. That is
possibly no bad thing. In a statement made to the
House today, and I quote, we should “put fishers at
the centre to best control . . .” And I agree with that.
You cannot give people something they do not w ant
and then expect them to be pleased about it. The ex-ample was given by the Opposition Leader last Friday
after the Throne Speech about why would a fisherman
come all the way around the western part of the Island
and head over to St. George’s? We now learn today that in fact this might move to the West End. Anyway,
I am glad to see that something that the Opposition is
saying is being listened to.
I note also on page 4 of the Throne Speech
there is this statement talking about this sandbox faci litating developers to renewable energy to come and test their products in Bermuda. Mr. Speaker, that is potentially a good idea. It depends on who they are,
how much money they have, and what they do. But in
theory it is a good idea. But, Mr. Speaker, the Throne
Speech then goes on to say “This legislation will lay
the groundwork for additional investment in Bermuda whose innovation can reduce the cost of electricity for
local consumers. ”
What?
Because some people want to come in and
test technology, that is going to reduce the cost of
electricity for local consumers? Well, maybe, som eday, somehow, but it is hard to see how that is really going to happen.
So, Mr. Speaker, it is not in my brief, but I
want to say something very quicky about education. And I apolog ise because education deserves more
than a very quick few words. At a very high level, Mr. Speaker, my suggestion would be that our schools will get better if the people who run the schools are given
greater autonomy and accountability. And if you want


Bermuda House of Assembly to fix the problem with our schools it is not about buil ding new buildings, it is about bringing together the
parents, the principals, the teachers and the children,
and about the parents and principals and teachers
having a greater say in what happens in a c hild’s ed ucation.
It was observed by the Opposition Leader in
his speech that not much was said about the educ ation authority. And that is regrettable because it
seemed to be the case under this present Minister
that our suggestions and his suggestions of the importance of an education authority were coming t ogether in a bipartisan way. And we were supportive of
his suggestions to this Honourable House that we
were going to see more about an education authority. We very much hope that this is the case and remains
the case.
Still on education, Mr. Speaker, just looking at
today’s reality and the reality of COVID -19, our chi ldren have suffered three school years of, potentially, irreparable harm and damage by interrupted learning. That is not the fault of the Government, and that is not
the fault of the Opposition. And it is COVID -19 that is
to blame. But together the Government and we the
Opposition should at least look to see how this can be
addressed and remediated. I praise the Education
Minister for his e fforts to get our kids back in school,
but we need all our kids back in school on a regular
basis.
And I would respectfully suggest that we need
to look afresh at the concept of close contact in our schools because if one student tests positive, and potentially falsely tests positive, we cannot have ever yone going back into quarantine. We need to get out of
the morass and move forward. And I think that viral
testing is —

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Mr. Speaker.

I will take a point of clarification.

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: It is a point of order. It is
probably a point of clarification for that Member. I do
believe he is unintentionally misleading the House.
If he had tuned into my press conference on
Tuesday where we spoke about the revised quara ntine facility that is currently in place, currently now there is a new definition for close contact and casual
contact when currently only close contacts are asked
to quarantine from school and casual contacts are treated differently. And that has been in place since ––
for about a week and a bit, almost two weeks now. It has affected both a pu blic . . . two public schools and
a private school have benefited from that new policy.

Right. I will pick up the pace.
Mr. Speaker, just quickly moving to the issue
of crime, I think all of Bermuda has been rather
shocked at the recent state of multiple shootings,
stabbings, and home invasions. And it really must make us stop and ask, Is this who we have become?
And this is t he responsibility of all of us. My honour able colleague, Jarion Richardson, MP, spoke very
passionately and powerfully about this earlier, and I
agree with his words and would echo them.
I would also commend the police for their efforts because it is very easy to look for a scapegoat
when the horrific, horrible things happen on our I sland. And I think the police have responded very swif tly and very well. And let us hope that together, as a community, we can bring this to an end, because this
must stop, Mr. Speaker. And in relation to a recent oped by a former PLP MP, let me say this. It must stop
on Front Street, and it must stop on Court Street, and
no distinction can be drawn. It must stop now because this affects all of us, the whole community, and we
must come together to do what we can and work t ogether to do what we can.
Mr. Speaker, turning now to the idea of the
Economic Recovery Plan, some of those on my side
who have spoken already have observed that perhaps
31 points is biting off more than one can chew. I pr oposed earlier in the week and would repeat again now
to this Honourable House what I see as the three
most important high- level points if we are to try to get
out of the difficulties in which we find ourselves. Diff iculties which I have fai rly recognised are not simply
the making of this Government but are very much the making of COVID -19 as well.
My three suggestions are not rocket science.
They are not even what the Premier might call “crea-tive new ideas that are unneeded.” They are these :
We need real immigration reform, and it must be
comprehensive. We welcomed the reform that the Honourable Minister Jason Hayward brought to this
House. We supported it. But we observed that it did
not go far enough, and we need to reconcile that. And I also agree, Mr. Speaker, with what the Deputy
Speaker said earlier, that the topic of immigration is a
74 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly hot topic with some serious historic concerns. And he
is right that it is emotive, and everyone must understand that it is emotive. But also we must look and do
the right thing if we are not to sink beneath the waves.
Secondly, Mr. Speaker, we need inward i nvestment of foreign capital. Circulating the same dollar
from one to the next to the next, within the confines of
this Island, is not going to work. W e have to grow the
pie. And if we are going to grow the pie, where is the
money coming from? Because taxing those of us who
are still here, as people leave, is not the idea. That will make more people leave, which would be foolhardy.
“It was an age of fool ishness”. We must try to
persuade people to come to our Island to be wealth
generators and job creators. And in order to do that
they must feel welcomed. And with the greatest of
respect to the Minister of Labour, there is a difference
between the ability to create jobs on this Island now
and the ability to create jobs on this Island five years
ago. And I think he recognises that. And if he doesn’t,
I would invite him to think again.
Mr. Speaker, my third argument, again, is not
complicated. It is that we need to reduce the cost of government. And that does not mean getting rid of
public sector workers, but it means looking at what we
are spending as a whole and trying to rein that in. And
again, in my observations earlier in my speech to the
House tonight I was commending the Minister of F inance because he is doing a tough job right now. But we do need to look at the spending costs of gover nment. Government has had 20 years in the hot seat
and unfortunately when times were good, it seemed
okay to spend and s pend. But we recognise that what
is needed now is invest, invest, and invest. And if that
investment cannot come from within, we must look to
without.
Mr. Speaker, to conclude, Throne Speeches
permit lofty language, and they make overarching statements. S o let me make one. We absolutely need
to see greater social equity and justice on our Island. We need to feel that we are one community —not an
Island with many communities. And if we are going to
do that, we desperately need economic prosperity. It is not easy to achieve that, and we will only achieve it
if we work together.
I, too, was most struck by a statement in the
Throne Speech, as one of the other speakers was
earlier, in fact two, I think. It was the statement in the
third paragraph, page 1. It say s this: “ Changes that
were deferred have now become imperative for survival. ” That is a statement about which we can agree.
I am not going to take a cheap shot about who
deferred them or have that argument. I am just going
to agree that this statement is right and we need to
move now. And we need to “execute,” to use the
Premier’s words, or “deliver” (to use my own) the right ideas, because the wrong ones will put us even further into the hole. And we need the delivery of the
right ideas now. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister of Education, you have your
30 minutes.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we are at that time of the year
again. The Government gave its Throne Speech d etailing what they plan to accomplish in the next legisl ative year and the Opposition gave their Reply that
should speak to what they agree with, disagree with,
and what they would actually do better. I do believe
that this concept could work if it is actually done . But
unfortunately, this year once again we were treated to
a document that is lightweight [and] devoid of ideas. Error filled is probably the best way that I could say it.
And [it] really just continued to highlight, you know, [to]
the people of Bermuda the blundering irrelevance
about the Opposition in the current way they are o perating and how disconnected they are from the Bermudian people, Mr. Speaker.
I am sorry but, you know, I am trying my very
best to say something, to find the nuggets of joy in
this, but I just . . . I just can’t.
As the Minister of Education, I really do want
to focus on education because i nterestingly there
were three pages dedicated to education from the
Opposition. And you know, Mr. Speaker, there was
something that was once said to me. It goes like this.
In politics, by the time you are tired of saying it, people
are probably just starti ng to hear it. And so, Mr.
Speaker, time and time again, whenever the current OBA leader speaks ––and how I would like to refer to
him as, thankfully, the last -ever OBA Education Mini ster––that saying comes to mind.
I myself would never get tired of touting the efforts of our reform team and the things that they have been doing over the last two- plus years. But no matter
how tone- deaf the One Bermuda Alliance is about the
reforms and what is going on, surely the public deserves an Opposition who can speak as if they are
actually paying attention to what is happening to education so that they can be more informative, so they
can be more helpful, so that they can give sugges-tions that are even really suggestions. They [could]
give suggestions. Right now they a re giving suggestions that are not even really suggestions. They need
to be in a position where they are giving things that
can be used by us, Mr. Speaker.
Now, I don’t know if they do this deliberately
or if it is just the way they are, but I just get the feeling sometimes that there are some people in the Oppos iBermuda House of Assembly tion who just do not want education to succeed. I have
lost count of the amount of times that I stood up in the
House and said—

Be mindful that all Members come to
this House with proper intentions to do best for those
who elected them to be here. So keep that at a for efront of how we conduct ourselves during—

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Spe aker: —this session in the House.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Mr. Speaker, I will be gui ded—

Your view of the issue may be different
from that of the other Members, but that does not
mean that they do not come with the same positive
approach to try to find . . . and represent those who
put them here.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I
will be guided by you as I continue on.
As I was saying, Bermuda is too small to fail
education. We all need to be pulling in the same direc-tion if we want to see this work as it should work.
Mr. Speaker, I have continuously extended
my hand, invited the Opposition Members to take
place and be updated on a regular basis of what is
going on within Education, whenever we have wor kshops, whenever they could sign up for things, whenever. I have even invited them to come and meet with
me on a regular basis so that I can keep them updated. Unfortunately, seldom are these opportunities taken up, Mr. Speaker. But we still continue to find certain Members asking the same questions that have
already been answered, whether it is in the public
sphere, whether it is by press conference, press r elease, things that are happening in school. So, if they
continue to not want to engage, they will continue to
make statements that are just not true.
Mr. Speaker, I truly believe that education is
the key to every country’s success. And why is that,
Mr. Speaker? Public education is the only education
system in a country that is comprehensive. This is no
knock on our private school entities because they pr ovide a service that people are asking for. But public
education is the only one that is comprehensive and
deals with every and any sort of student that comes
through our door. So this is why it has to work. It has
to have the support of everyone in Bermuda in order
for it to work.
But I know that COVID -19 has done some
things to education reform and it has not allowed us to move as quickly as we want to, but, Mr. Speaker, we
have made steady progress. And this is wh y I was so
surprised at what I read today, what I listened to t oday. So Mr. Speaker, if you will allow me to look at
page 13 of the Throne Speech Reply. There were three things that were said in there that I really want to
address.

Yes, you may.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: One quote was, “ We were
also surprised to learn that the first two signature senior schools are the Berkeley Institute and the Cedarbridge [sic] Academy. ”
The second quote, Mr. Speaker, was, “ What
will the curriculum for these specialized subjects look
like? Where will we source the teaching professionals
to teach the new signature curric ulum?”
And the third quote, Mr. Speaker, “ While on
the subject of the Signature Senior School curriculum,
why has one of our primary industries . . . not been
addressed? How are we going to address the Tourism, Restaurant and Retail Industries?”
Well, Mr . Speaker, as Minister in the last two
years I have spent hundreds of hours in these ses-sions. We have released about 10 or 12 press releas-es in the last two years. Countless Ministerial Stat ements and press conferences have been had ad-dressing these exact same topics. In fact, Mr. Speaker, three days ago, on Tuesday, I held a press conference that specifically addressed these three topics.
But yet again, I am simply baffled at the Opposition
Leader’s Throne Speech [Reply] direction.
Mr. Speaker, I am going to try and break this
down so that hopefully some Members on the other
side can comprehend where we are. And I still invite
them to be a part of the solution. And now if you permit me, I will take us through a quick timeline of some
important things that have happened in the last year plus, Mr. Speaker.
In March 2020, we announced the start of
system transformation and the Learning First pr ogramme.
In October 2020, a recruitment process was
done to recruit school design teams. Mr. Speaker, 175 people applied. This was an open application process,
but it was not an easy one. Anyone who wanted to be
part of this team, they couldn’t, just send in their name
and their email address. They sent in their name and
their information. They had to explain why they w anted to be a part of it. And we were delightfully surprised
at how many people sent in their applications. What
we ended up with was a core team of 54 persons, Mr.
76 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Speaker. Sixteen of them were teachers. Twelve were
community and cultural members. Nine were school
leaders; nine were members with school system experience; six were parents, and two were industry par tners.
Mr. Speaker, this was probably the most surprising thing ever to me when I read the [Reply to the]
Throne Speech. In March of this year we passed the
Education Amendment Act in this very House. The
sole purpose of that Act was (1) to provide the pat hway to phase out middle school and return to a twotiered system; and (2) to create signature schools at
CedarBridge Academy and the Berkeley Institute to
open in September 2022.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, we passed legislation in
this House that said if we pass this we will be able to
introduce signature schools in 2022. Mr. Speaker, that
legislation spoke to four signatures that we had di scussed at that time. Those four signatures were tourism, finance, insurance and trade. What do you know! We passed legislation to say we were going to have signature schools in September 2022. And it also i ncluded tourism, what we wanted with signatures. But, Mr. Speaker, I move on.
In April 2021, after that legislation was
passed, featuring the results of the Future World of Work [Bermuda], which took almost a year to do, Mr. Speaker . . . and for those who had not been paying
attention, because it seems to be some of t hem, the
Future World of Work [Bermuda] was a comprehensive study that was taking place using our local educators, our local business community, the Department
of Workforce Development, the Bermuda College and
many, many others who have an idea of what Ber muda will look like and what Bermuda’s needs will be in
the coming year.
The Bermuda Future World of Work was used
to come up with 11 different signature subjects that
we wanted to have within our schools. But we then
held sessions over the course of just over a month
with the general public as we convened all along to
have them opine on these and fine- tune those signature subjects that we came up with. Ironically, Mr.
Speaker, entrepreneurship was one of them. That was
the 11
th one. Based on the feedback that we got, e ntrepreneurship would now form part of the curriculum from primary through senior school. And so that left us
with 10 signatures, those being STEM, Mr. Speaker,
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math; climate, environment, agriculture, and resources; health and
social care; community and social investment; arts and culture; education services; sports and leisure
management; financial and insurance services; hosp itality and tourism; and the trades and professions.
And, Mr. Speaker, we all know, everybody keeps tal king about, Where is the trades going to come back in?
Well, they are coming.
So, Mr. Speaker, moving on, in May 2021, it
was announced that CedarBridge and Berkeley had selected the signatures that suit their current school
infrast ructure. Of course, Mr. Speaker, as established
senior schools and with our commitment to consult
and have everyone who is involved in these pr ogrammes can ever say that those schools came back and selected the ones they felt were better suited for the inf rastructure they had. As we move forward with
the introduction of further signature schools in the
coming years, we will be able to just assign them
whatever signatures they want because they will be starting from scratch. But also during this time in May
we also outlined how we would get from May 2021 through December 2022 in the introduction of signature schools.
Mr. Speaker, again, I make reference to the
statement I made just three days ago that talked
about signature schools with further updates on that and everything else that is going on in Education.
And, Mr. Speaker, as I spoke earlier about inviting all
of my colleagues to participate in helping shape what
our school curriculum will look like, what the teachers
will be learning and all of that, we will be holding pr ototyping sessions for the signature school curriculum so that the general public, parents, [and] students can
get an opportunity to see what is being worked on by
the system design teams who have been working extremely hard since earlier this year to design what
these systems will look like and what sorts of things
teachers will have to have under their belt in order to
be successful in that.
There is still time for Members of the Oppos ition to sign off, Mr. Speaker. Go to the Ministry www.moed.bm
, click on the sign- up alert button, and
we will try and get you into one of the sessions that
you can see first -hand what it is that these systems
will be doing and how they will be taught.
Mr. Speaker, we hav e been consulting exhaustively to move education forward. The Learning
First programme has been in existence for over two
years. Two years, Mr. Speaker! They have been wor king hard to redesign our system, and as we have a lways said, it is not just about st ructural changes to the
building. That is part of our reform, but that is not the
be-all and end- all. As a matter of fact, that is probably
even less than 50 per cent of what needs to be done.
What needs to be done is collaborative co- designing
of curricul um with our educators so they are capable
of performing in this new system.
We have the public . . . we have our students
also giving input on how we redesign our system, Mr. Speaker, because this is a system for Bermuda by
Bermuda. What we want is people to stop . . . we want
people who will send us constant videos and constant
articles about what is happening in Thailand and Swi tzerland and Finland and the like . . . we want smaller
island countries to be looking at Bermuda and saying, We want to do what they are doing. That is what we
want our system to be—by Bermuda for Bermuda so it


Bermuda House of Assembly specifically addresses the concerns that Bermudians
have.
Now, Mr. Speaker, moving back to the Throne
Speech Reply, I want to quote from page 14, another
gem that I find v ery, very difficult to take comfort in.
And it says, Mr. Speaker, and I quote: “ In the 21st
Century, it is time to develop a curriculum that results
in an overarching diploma which has academic, voc ational, and extra- curricular components and features.
A diploma that will prepare our young people for their
rightful places in the real world and make them more
marketable and employable in the global arena. ”
Well, Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what signature programmes within our schools are supposed to
do. The only problem is we announced this maybe
two years ago. But that is what we want our children
to be. So, just for clarification, for those who just had not heard what we have been saying for the last year -
and-a-half-plus, all students will attend our seni or
schools and do everything that they need to do to o btain their school leaving diploma, as they do now, but with a revised curriculum. They will spend 30 per cent
of their time on their chosen signature.
Mr. Speaker, this will present our children with
the opportunity to do exactly what the Opposition’s Throne Speech [Reply] is saying that we need to be
doing— prepare them to be work -ready right from high
school, accelerated into the workforce, prepared for
further study and ready to be great citizens of this I sland home we call Bermuda.
So, Mr. Speaker, I guess we do agree on that,
although the Member either did not know, or did not
realise, or had forgotten that this was the purpose of
educational reform as announced two years ago.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the Opposition is not
being disingenuous in the way they are speaking.
They just do not know, because some people just
have not been paying attention. But they could learn a
lot, Mr. Speaker, through our Learning First newsle tter. They could sign up for it. They could participate in
the prototype. Or, Mr. Speaker, they could just start
[INAUDIBLE ]. And if they did that, Mr. Speaker, they
would have those answers to the questions they
posed. They would not come here with the statements
that were made toda y that, you know, where will instructors come from, or what the curriculum will be,
because they would already know what we are doing to get to that point, Mr. Speaker.
But, personally, I view as an insult to our quite
capable educators what has been said by the Oppos ition Leader on numerous occasions about where will
the instructors come from? Is it that he just does not
believe that we have the skill and knowledge amongst
our ranks now that when given the opportunities to
retool and use professional devel opment opportunities
they are still not capable of being a part of educational reform? Mr. Speak er, those hard working men and
women surely cannot listen to that and feel that they
are being supported by the Opposition. We have 60 -plus member teams working at both of our senior
schools right now designing what our curriculum will
look like moving forward in conjunction with Learning First. They are co- designing the curriculum and they
are discussing what professional development is
needed for our signature programme to succeed.
But, yes, Mr. Speaker, we will have the staff
skilled up and doing exactly what needs to be done. We will have the facility that needs to be in place to do
what needs to be done. And we will not fail our chi ldren in providing them wit h the opportunity to succeed
in Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, moving on with the Opposition
Leader’s Throne Speech Reply, he mentioned words
about the Authority, and the speaker that spoke before me talked about the Authority as well. Those
quotes can be found on page 15 of the Throne
Speech Reply. And, Mr. Speaker, instead of quoting
what came out of the Throne Speech Reply I want you
to permit me to quote the exact words I said on Tuesday when it came to the education authority .
“The Governance Structure and Ac countability
Team consists of members from the Board of Educ ation, the Ministry and Department of Education, Bermuda First and Innovation Unit. Their focus is on cr eating an Education Authority for overseeing public education to lead all aspects of perform ance and accountability in public education. Much work has been
done in this area, and their initial report will be r eleased in the coming months. ”
Yes, Mr. Speaker, they have been hard at
work since January of this year. And we will have a
report. Their initial report is due to me very shortly. So, again, Mr. Speaker, listening is fundamental. We cannot have a Throne Speech [Reply] asking What is
happening with the education authority ? when there
was a statement three days earlier that actually talked about it, not to mention the statements that have been
made all year long about where they are, who is wor king on the Authority, and what it is that they are performing and when we expect to have them to release
something.
Mr. Speaker, my last comment on the Throne
Speech [Reply] is something that the Opposition
Leader mentioned. And it is quite serious. We do have
to look out for the well -being of our children and our
parents, especially with COVID -19 affecting them in
ways that has never been experienced bef ore. But Mr.
Speaker, I draw the Opposition Leader’s attention to a biweekly online show that was launched by the Mini stry of Education, which is hosted by myself and our DC officer. I only speak to this because I want to draw
the Opposition Leader’s attention to the episode of
October 7.
On October 7, that episode was specifically
about discussing what we already have in place and
put in place to help our students manage their em otional well- being and mental health. School Psychol ogist Dr. Lana Talbot and School Counsellor, Mr. T y78 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly rone McHardy joined us and provided a very enligh tening and very informative update on what has been
happening in our schools and what is still happening
in our schools.
Ironically, Mr. Speaker, the purpose of this episode was specifically to address the people who were asking questions like what was asked today about
what is going on in our schools to help our students.
So, that episode . . . because we do them online, Mr.
Speaker, anybody can go back and watch them again. So I i nvite the Opposition Leader to head to our Mini stry of Education Facebook page, CITV page, or whatever page he wants. He will be able to actually see
that episode and see what exactly is being done to
help our students and our parents cope since COVID -
19 arrived on our shores, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, while I am disappointed with the
OBA’s education reply, I am sure there are hundreds
of hardworking educators, parents, students and
members of the public who have dedicated their time
and energy to contribute to education reform over the last two years [who] are disappointed as well. It almost feels like their efforts have been completely i gnored by the One Bermuda Alliance, and certainly that
cannot be right, Mr. Speaker.
COVID -19 has knocked our Island for a loop,
Mr. Speaker. But we must continue to forge ahead. I
was shocked when the Opposition Leader said last
Friday, Why are we still moving ahead with education
reform when we should be concerning ourselves with COVID -19? I do not know why he said that, Mr.
Speaker, but he did.
This PLP Government has dedicated itself to
focusing on the recovery of our Island both econom ically and psychologically, bringing health care reform
to fruition and continuing to reform our education sy stem because, Mr. Speaker, as we have stated for the
last four years, we have a responsibility to ensure that
we educate our students so that they can lead personally and professionally, compete locally, and contribute globally. Mr. Speaker, we will transform educ ation by providing a public school system that produces
students equipped for the vocational, academic and business career of their choosing. We are on the way.
There is nothing that can stop this train from moving
despite the naysayers, despite the people who are not even paying attention and just watching the train roll
by them.
Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of work to be done.
I will continue to invite all, including the Opposition, to
join us as we move forward. With or without them, we
will continue to make the improvements and changes necessary to bring education reform for what is best
and required every day for a better, fairer and stronger
education system for our children and Bermuda’s f uture.
Mr. Speaker, we cannot afford to fail. We will
not fail. And I encourage t he Opposition to just stop making empty statements and come on board and be
part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I think I would like to just first start off by
[agreeing with] the sentiments given earlier by other
Members of Parliament. Thank you to all of the emergency service workers. Thank you to those within
government civil service who have contributed to hel ping us to get through a very trying time since COVID -
19 struck our shores and of course affected the whole world. I cannot say enough about what has taken
place as far as people’s endless amount of time that
has been dedicated to ensuring that Bermudians are
as safe as possible.
We are in no way out of the woods. Certainly,
as we see COVID -19 strengthening in areas like
Germany, Poland and throughout Europe, we know
that in order for us to survive as an economy it is i mportant that our shores be open so that w e can invite
that investment into the country. Without it . . . we a lready know and have seen through COVID -19 that it
is devastating to us.
One of the passions that I have had from day
one as an entrepreneur myself is that local busines ses here in Bermuda continue to struggle. We have seen through circumstances [INAUDIBLE ] that many
of our local businesses have not found a way forward.
And it concerns me that when solutions or ideas are
put on the table we continue, year after year ––for
whatever reasons, through bureaucracy or through
political fighting ––not to continue to move with swif tness to ensure that we put these solutions in place for
their longevity and for their survival at this point in
time.
So, when I hear some of the bantering going
back and forth . . . and here we are once again, another Throne Speech, another Throne Speech Reply,
and essentially seeing most times nothing new under
the sun. But as a bureaucracy we have found a way to lengthen out the solutions to the challenges that we
have. And what is more concerning to me is that when


Bermuda House of Assembly those solutions are being given from the industries
themselves, for some reason as legislators we are
way too long in getting the solutions to the tables. And
it is not just businesses that are affected, but the fam ilies who are involved in these businesses are extremely affected by the fact that they lose revenue and
the ability to survive.
Every day we hear on the street right now that
the cost of living is too high, and the cost of doing
business is too hi gh. Now, I am just talking about the
local sector right now. And I will get t o foreign inves tment and spikes . But the challenge that we have is
when local businesses are giving solutions we are not
moving swiftly enough to get those solutions to the
table. And then when COVID -19 comes along we
move with swiftness because we have got to get
things done and we can see the immediate results.
But when local businesses are telling us what the
challenges are that they are having, we are still moving very slowly t o get these solutions done.
And so my colleague before me, Mr. Scott
[Pearman], said that we must move now. I have been
on the bandwagon for many years now. We need to
get foreign direct investment into the Island. Our
popu lation continues to decline. Our birth rate . . . you
might as well say that it is at a negative rate. We are
not growing as a population. And in order for us to sustain the standard of living that we have, in order for
us to sustain the businesses that we have, we have
got to address th e issue of getting more people into
the Island and more investment into the Island. Quite
frankly, I believe that we need to have at least 10,000
more people on the Island in order to generate enough revenue to keep the businesses that have
survived thus f ar in business. Now quite frankly I have
not seen much in the Throne Speech that is going to
make that happen.
In the Reply to the Throne Speech one of the
things that I have been crying for over and over and
over is that the local businesses have told us that they
have a cash flow problem. It makes no sense for them
to go to the bank. And we have heard it through the
Throne Speech, you know, going to banks and getting
loans, charities and the likes. Who is going to loan
money right now when they cannot pa y you back? So
I understand the concept and the idea that we want to go to the banks and loan money, but it is at the very
institutions that we are talking about going to to get
money where it takes six months to get a bank account open. So why in the worl d would we believe that
we are going to go in and get a loan?
Do you know how long it takes to get a loan in
Bermuda right now? Your arm is asked for, your leg is
asked for, your house is asked for, your family’s i ncome is asked for and you are trying to go and get a
loan, and it is going to take you forever. So I do not
see anything right now, quite frankly, in the Throne
Speech that is going to address the main issues at
hand right now. Now, let me qualify this by saying, first, I do
want to thank Minist er Jason Hayward. He did qualify
some things within his Ministry. It was very good to
listen to some of those. Minister Roban, the same.
[He] qualified some of those things that were not in the Throne Speech. And also the Minister of Educ ation did the same thing, albeit, in my opinion with a bit
of attitude. But, hey, he gave some interesting information.
The challenge as we go forward is that this
Government has got to figure out how to stimulate the economy. Hope is dashed right now. I am talking to
peopl e, and people who read the Throne Speech ev ery year just cannot be bothered. And I am not saying
that it is because, you know, the PLP has done all this
wrong. I am saying that people are not motivated anymore. And the Throne Speech, quite frankly, has not
motivated anyone, in my opinion, to feel that we are
on the right track and the right trajectory to improve
the plight of our people. And the struggle right now is
real. The OBA knows that struggle because when it
became Government in 2012, it was faced w ith some
dark and dire situations economically.
This Government has spoken about social i ssues. It has spoken about economic issues. But in 2021 we are still wrestling with the issue that many
people believe this Government came in on, [which was] the mandate of reducing the cost of living. I see nothing but a hint that we are going to get energy
costs down.
And as my colleague said, it is a very confusing paragraph because it says that it is going to r educe this by fuel storage, or something to that effec t. I
am interested in hearing a little more about that and
how it is going to work. Not too many people know
that the fuel companies here have at least three
months of fuel, about, in their storage tanks or vats.
We have a problem with ships not being able to get to
us. We can, at least for that period of time, continue
on generating power so that people can get on with
work throughout the Island. So I am still not clear on
that particular statement and how that is going to work
and how that is going to reduce the cost of energy in
Bermuda. But we are still in a state whereby we ca nnot see clearly how the cost of living for the average
Bermudian is going to go down.
And then it becomes even more complicated,
Mr. Speaker, by the fact that COVID -19 hits. Som ething else is coming. Maybe it is [worse than] COVID -
19. I don’t know. But we have got to move now. And with our population growth [being] the way that it is, we have got some challenges ahead of us. And we
keep talking about these challenges, but no one really
truly is seeing a clear path and hearing it explained
clearly as to how we are going to get to the point
whereby we can be comfortable.
Our standard of living is being eaten away
every day. The middle class has become low income. And I am reflecting on a comment that was made by
80 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly the first speaker, the Honourable Lawrence Scott,
when he said . . . it is interesting, the quote that he
made. And I wrote it down here. I have got to find it.
He mentioned that former Premier Alex Scott mentioned that the haves will always have (something to
this effect); but the have- nots need to have more. And
I found that a bit rich because I think the most famous
quote that I remember from Premier Alex Scott was
on budget and on time, concerning the Berkeley Inst itute school —which did not come in on time and did
not come in on budget. That is the famous quote that I
recall from the former Premier. Only to have one of
our local businesses go out of business who I think
that some of the Government MPs who are still i nvolved today in this Government thought that some of
the companies that were involved could have resolved
the issue.
So, you know, we have this going back and
forth. And, you know, Mr. Speaker, I love a good debate. But if we are going to change the trajectory of
where we are going politically, and to have the open-ing one hour, a statement made, that spends half the
speech (in my opinion) on poor PLP, what the UBP
and what the UBP did, and what the OBA did not do,
and then halfway through the speech, he says, I d igress. I don’t want to go that way. And then the very
second sentence after that, he goes back to the same
thing. That is how we started out this debate today.

Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Point of order.

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: The Honourable Member is
misleading the House for two things. One thing, the
quote is incorrect. It is: The haves can continue to
have and the have- nots need to have more.
The other point of order is that the Honourable
Member is making it sound like, it is not, Oh, poor
PLP; it is about changing mind- sets. The old mind- set
of yesteryear and the status quo must change in order for us to move Bermuda forward.

Yes.
It is important that we get back to the co ncerns that Bermudians have. And those concerns in
my opinion are not being addressed in any substantive way in this Throne Speech. And those concerns are the cost of living and the cost of doing business.
Now, I give credit to the Minister Jason Ha yward. He laid out what these foreign investment and direct investment firms and private equity funds and
companies are looking for, and individuals for that
matter, what they are looking for in a jurisdiction. But the one thing that he left out of that was the cost of
doing business.
I can assure you, Mr. Speaker, that in the field
that I find myself in, there is a lot of money out there. And until we start addressing the real issues that
Bermuda is faci ng, and until we start speaking the
language that these foreign investment companies
want to hear, we are not going to get them here. And
that is what we are experiencing. So there are entities
out there right now with billions of dollars to invest.
Right now, during the midst of COVID -19, we have
innovation like you have never seen before knocking
on the door when it comes to energy and the like, for
opportunities to come to a place like Bermuda to put
in recycling and the likes, to dismantle the incinerat or
that we have, so that we do not have all that soot go-ing over the roofs in the neighbourhood there. There is innovation there right now and there are people with
ideas and with money, they can move in right now.
The Honourable Member, MP Derrick [Burgess], said that the best Finance Minister is the current one. I think there are many who might argue that,
but I do not envy the position that he is in right now. It
is a tough one. And I think we all acknowledge the
challenge that he has as we move forward. But one of
the challenges that all of us as MPs have, and more importantly this Government has, is that it almost
sounds as if from Throne Speech to Throne Speech what we are doing is legislation, legislation, legisl ation. We will pass legislation, legis lation and more legislation. Yet the real issues that we are facing when it comes to thriving here— getting the investment here,
cost of living and the cost of doing business —are not
being addressed in any substantial way. Otherwise, the community would feel it.
But we can already see, when we looked at
the Reply to the Throne Speech, where the Honour able Opposition Leader . . . and I must give him credit
for saying this here, Government should be the enabler. Government should not be the solutions provider.
And it almost feels sometimes as if . . . and we have
seen just recently with the debacle with the post office. It appears as if Government now is in competition
with the very people who are hiring Bermudians. And
these companies are local companies. And so som ehow and in some way, we have got to get across to
the public that Government is not trying to wrestle


Bermuda House of Assembly against the very local businesses that are here, but it
is trying to be an enabler.
So we cannot on one hand be seen to be, as
the Honourable Lawr ence Scott said, taking food out
of people’s mouths and accusing us of that when
people feel that they are doing the exact same thing.
This has got to be something that we address and
understand that it is real. Bermudians are suffering.
And the fundamentals of that are what I said, those
two things: The cost of living and the cost of doing
business.
Bermudians have thrived over entrepreneurship. That no longer is the case. Now we have a declining population in my estimation and a low birth rate
as you look at it. We are in serious trouble. And COVID -19 exemplified more so the challenges that we
already have, Mr. Speaker. That we already have! A lot of solutions have already been talked about t onight. So for any Member to say that the Opposition
has not put any solutions forward is just being antagonistic, in my opinion, not really adding anything to the
equation.
I have thanked Members thus far who have
spoken in ministries. Some have explained more because the Throne Speech is, quite frankly, very light
when explaining exactly what this Government is tr ying to do. So I am hoping that as we move forward,
and as I look at my notes, that we are going to find a
way forward.
Now, one of the pressing things that I see
happening right now, and my colleagues have talked about it, [is] domestic violence, the wild things that
they see on the street —we are now going into resta urants —and, quite frankly, Bermudians killing Bermudians. We have got local businesses who are screa ming for help. And bureaucracy, quite frankl y . . . because many times governments have solutions, but bureaucracy is killing [it]. It is kind of like, Mr. Speaker,
we know that someone is drowning. We can see them
in the water and they are drowning. And through the
process of it all, somebody says, Hey, listen guys,
Bermudians are drowning over here. We have got to
do something about it.
And what the bureaucracy does is this: It
says, Okay, well, let’s have a meeting so we can di scuss what we should do to help this person and these
people who were drowning. So we have these mee tings. A month goes by, two months go by.
And then the committee says, Well, we better
get experts in so we can resolve the issue and get it done. Another couple of months go by. And finally we
get to people putting solutions on the table.
One person says, Well, look, you know, while
they are drowning, let’s put a metal pipe down with air
in it so they can breathe through that until we figure
out how to pull them out of the water.
And another person says, Well, maybe we
should j ust give them a stick and just pull them out. Another person says, Well, let’s give them a
plastic pipe they can breathe through and until we can figure it out, and we will get them out of the water.
Valuable time has been lost. And this Government and t his Opposition can no longer continue
on stalling the solutions that are going to resolve the
issues we have. We must move now. Now! And that is
what this whole process is about, the Throne Speech
and the Throne Speech Reply.
Now I had intentions of rippin g apart the first
speaker who had an hour because I can’t believe some of the things that were said. But I think the public [has] heard enough of that. For the first speaker to
come out and address the public on the Throne
Speech Reply in that manner, quit e frankly, just
doesn’t make any sense. And for the rest of his colleagues to say, Oh, well, you know, the Opposition is
not offering any demonstrable solutions; all they do is
complain . . . when the very first speech that was gi ven drove us back into what the UBP did, what the OBA didn’t do, and then we have a point of order on a
quote which I basically paraphrased which said the exact same thing.
Are we really serious here? What I said was
the exact same thing he said with a few different words. It meant the same thing. And that is what I
mean by bureaucracy. Why are you wasting my time in the House of Assembly with a point of order like that? Are you really serious?

Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: Mr. Speaker, point of order.

Minister, let me just clarify.
82 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly You have a right to express your point. Ever ybody does. But we are not going to do it in a way
where we are demeaning people. And to say that he
is trying to fool people into thinking he cares, that is
not acceptable. We are not having those tones this time around.
You need to just withdraw that please and say
what you are going to say in another manner but wit hout saying that somebody is trying to hoodwink som ebody to feeling a certain way.
You have a bigger vocabulary than that. So I
am calling on you to use a bet ter vocabulary.

Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: All right, Mr. Speaker, I will
withdraw that and say that the Honourable Member is
trying to mislead the House by trying to rewrite history
as though his Government did not add close to $2
billion of financial risk to the people of this country.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I
think I have done enough in the past to point out,
many of the overages. I have pointed out one that
quite frankl y fell under former Premier Alex Scott (he
brought the name up), where we had overages. And
that is just one of many where local businesses, and
not just local businesses, Black businesses were put
out of business over the very issue that I talked about.
So if we want to go into depth about many of
the Black local businesses that went out of business under the PLP Government, I am more than glad to have that debate, because I saw more [Black] local
businesses go out under a PLP Government than any
other Go vernment.
So, I say this to say that —

Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, I would encourage the Honourable
Member if he thinks that I don’t know that, and that I have never felt that before, then he is mistaken. I feel the same pain as a Black man as he has felt. So, if he
wants t o talk about the issues of this country that
Black people have faced, I am more than willing, again, to have that conversation, because I can as-sure you that we have been the worst enemies to ourselves than anybody else. And that is clear throughout
our hi story.
So if we want to move forward, as I said, we
need to move now. And I want to hear how we are
addressing those legacy issues. Yes, we may be put-ting legislation in place, but guess what? The banks
are still there. Go get a loan. You cannot get one. And
if you do, it is going to take you eight months. Guess
what? Your business is gone. So how are you addressing that?
And let me be clear about this here. One of
the main banks that is causing the problem here was brought in under a PLP Government. And we are still
facing these issues. So, as I said, Mr. Speaker, I am more than willing to have that debate, for sure! And if
we have to have something put in place for that to happen, let’s do it, because I am one of those Black
business owners struggling t o survive, just like others
who are out there.
Do you want me to name them? They are out
there. And they are challenging you as a Government
to do something now about their plight because they will be extinct. Black -owned businesses will be extinct.
The v ery ones who have been thriving, and we
thought were doing well are now in trouble. And I am talking to them because we are colleagues.
So, we got to find a way to move. We got to
find a way to move! And I love the idea of reducing and doing away with pay ing duty up front, which I
have been saying for years. Take it away , because
cash flow is paramount right now. And these local
businesses, whether they be Black or white, need that
cash flow. They do not have it because we do not have the people and the population to sustain them.
We do not have it! So reduce, take away paying the
duty up front. It does no one any good in this day and
age. And allow them to be able to pay it when they
sell.
That is what has got to happen because ot herwise the perpetual thi ng is this. Government is going
to continue to have to loan money. How do they pay it
back with a population that is declining? How? They
are going to have to continue to borrow money. Infl ation then goes up. How will we survive? And so the knock -on effect of all of these things we are seeing
and we are feeling now.
I appreciate the Government’s attempt at
showing us where we are going to go in the future. But what it is lacking in, as has already been said, is
detail. So I appreciate those Ministers who have given
us some detail. I do not, in my opinion, appreciate the statement [about] what this person did not do and
what that person did not do, and legacy issues. Here


Bermuda House of Assembly and now, Mr. Speaker! Let’s deal with here and now.
We can talk about the past, but it ain’t fixing right now.
We need some solutions on the table.
So I thank you for this time, Mr. Speaker. I
believe that it has been a fairly good debate. And so I
thank you, and, once again, I thank all the Members of
Parliament who have stuck it out thr ough this COVID -
19 time. I know it has not been easy for the Ministers.
It certainly has not been easy for us as Opposition,
looking and watching at what is going on. So I appr eciate the hard work that has been put in. But I do
know that more can be done. And I know that more
can be done even swifter.
So let’s get on with it, Government, otherwise
it is going to be a tough year for you. Get it done.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Okay.
Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Many have spoken before
me, and I think there is a bunch more after me. So I am not going to s pend a whole lot of time going
through the entire response to the Throne Speech. I
do, however, want to focus on a couple of areas that
fall within my portfolio.
There was mention earlier today of the Car oline Bay project and the Fairmont Southampton Hot el.
And I always think it is really important that we deal
from a common set of facts. And so, with your indu lgence, Mr. Speaker, I will provide a brief update on where things currently stand.

Go right ahead.

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: As it relates to Caroline
Bay, Honourable Members should recall that the
courts appointed joint provisional liquidators to take over the handling of the Caroline Bay asset. And as of
today, the joint provisional liquidators are still respo nsible for that asset.
In the meantime, the Government team has
been working very, very hard because we have probably 95 per cent of the secured claims against the asset. So the likelihood of us getting the asset in the event of the liquidation is very high. And so my team
has been working on a plan to take the asset forward
once we are awarded the asset.
I think it is really, really important that folks
kind of understand how we got to this place. And this
is not in any way an effort to try to point fingers and
assign blame. I mean, I think people can decide for
themselves what has happened and where we now
find ourselves. But the reality is that, with the benefit
of some time and some experience, we determined
that the project as initially conceived was ambitious. However, it lacked financing, it lacked proper project
planning and oversight, it lacked proper project management, and it lacked proper project execution. So in
light of all of those gaps, I am duty -bound to ensure
that when the Government of Bermuda takes posses-sion of this asset in due course, that all of those gaps
have been filled.
Earlier today I issued a Ministerial Statement,
and one of the questions coming out of the Statement
asked, Who are the consultants who have been paid a
certain amount of money over the course of the first
six months? What we have done this time around is
we have hired some experts to advise us. And I am
duty-bound as the Minister of Finance to take advice
and then make a decision. What we are doing now is
determining what the best way forward is, because
what we have learned from this exercise is the notion
that the Government will step in to support a project
means that the Government is taking on all the dow nside risk. And I have $200 million of it to show.
So let me pivot from there onto the Fairmont
Southampton because I think the lessons from the Caroline Bay project are very instructive. And any
Minister of Finance or anybody in Bermuda who does
not take heed of the lessons of Caroline Bay when
dealing with Fairmont Southampton would be rec kless.
Now, we have been working with the developers and the owners of the Fairmont Southampton
over the course of the last 18 to 24 months as they
have tried to secure financing for redeveloping the
asset. That process has been very, very diffi cult. The
negotiations have been spirited. The asks have been generous, and our responses have been appropriate.
It is not the Government’s responsibility to
take on the risk of private developers. And that was a
classic case of what went wrong at Morgan’ s Point.
And so I can tell you categorically that we will not do
the same thing with Fairmont Southampton where the
Government stands in line to hold the bag of nothing when things go wrong. And while I appreciate that
there is a whole lot of economic acti vity to come out of
both Caroline Bay and Fairmont Southampton, my
responsibility in the first instance is to understand the
risk, to figure out how to mitigate it, and then to manage going forward from there. And so we are taking our time and we are chall enging the developers to do
their work with their investors to find a capital structure
84 12 November 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly that makes sense and push the project in the best
light to be successful. It should not be the Gover nment’s job to make that happen for them.
It is interesting that one of my colleagues
used the words tale of two speeches earlier on today.
Because on the one hand it seems as though I am
being asked to kind of hurry up and get it done, but in
the process of hurrying up and getting it done, don’t
make any mistakes. So we are going to take our time
to do this properly with a view that a good deal for the
country is the best deal for the country. And doing one in which we focus on only one aspect, economic acti vity, at the risk of financial consequence, has been
proven alread y with Morgan’s Point not to be so much
of a good deal.
So we will continue to work with the folks who
purchased the hotel. We are in ongoing discussions
with them regularly. My hope is that over the course of
the coming weeks we will find some way to fin d common ground in the best interests of their asset, but
also of our country and our balance sheet.
Now, switching gears slightly, there was a
comment made earlier about why isn’t the Ministry of
Finance which has a strong team of competent exec utives, l eading the economic recovery programme, the
project management activities? I would like to thank
the Opposition Leader for the compliment of my team.
They are a very good team, but they are a small team
who are stretched very thin. This is the same team
responsible for the public pension reform, economic
substance, taxes and new tax regime, the budget,
business development activities, financing of our debt,
and our AML/ATF framework. So the team is busy; it is short -staffed, and we do not have capacity toda y to
then take on the responsibility of managing the Project
Management Office for the Economic Recovery Plan.
And so inasmuch as we identified a need to get r esources to help us get stuff done, I find it rich to be
criticised for seeking the help that we need to get
things done properly.
Mr. Speaker, there was a comment made earlier about, and the previous speaker just made a ref-erence to duties and custom duty and the payment of custom duty. I would like folks to know that today in
place already is a scheme that allows persons to defer
paying their duty on the goods that they import. The programme exists today. It is very seldom used. So I
have tasked my team with getting an understanding
on why are people not using the programme, but it
exists. The consequence of this course is, you know,
the custom duties present a substantial portion of the
Government’s revenue and the Government’s cash flow. So inasmuch as we defer the receipt of those
duties, we put a strain on the Government’s liquidity in
the short term. That is a consequence and so, again,
my job is to kind of develop solutions but also understand the impacts of those solutions to make sure
they are not creating other problems as we are trying
to solve something else. The last thing I want to talk about, Mr. Speaker, is the reference to the lending or borrowing by charities. I think I referenced this earlier this week in
my post -Throne Speech press conference when a
reporter asked me about the challenges that were b eing faced by third sector partici pants. Do I believe and
do I accept that a loan product is the right product for
every charity? Absolutely not. But what we are [not]
trying to do here is create a one- size-fits-all solution.
What we are trying to do here is be creative to kind of help those who may have the ability to avail them-selves through a credit product. And inasmuch as they
can use it, then it will be available for them at a competitive price. We certainly accept that there is more to
do to aid the third sector and we are working wi th the
third sector to kind of create solutions for them that make the most sense for them and their stakeholders.
Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of work to be done
and I have spent my time in the last three years trying
to focus on things that come across m y desk that are
in my portfolio. And I do not think that most people
really care that I inherited a problem. All they want me to do is to get on with getting it fixed. And so that is
where I choose to focus my energies. And with [Fai rmont] Southampton and with Caroline Bay I am going
to bring together good people who are going to help me figure out how we move this forward, accepting
that sometimes the best solution is not going to hap-pen overnight. It is going to take some time and some
proper introspectio n and for the Government to fully
understand its position and the value that it brings to
the table, as opposed to being in a rush to get som ething done for the quick win which in the long term
creates a massive problem for the country.
Thank you, Mr. Spe aker.