February 19, 2021

Yes. Just curious as to why
was Jordan Scott’s name not included in the initial . . .
[it was] missing when you read out the answers to the
question?


Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. E. David Burt: I will be pleased to ans wer that,
Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I have answered the questions
as were stated in regard to the dates on which the
questions were submitted. But I will be happy to acknowledge that this was not on my sheet here, [it]
was an oversight . Mr. Jordan Scott has been hired
inside my office , and I will provide his remuneration

before the Question Period is finished.

Okay. Can we expect to have them
next week?

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Mr. Speaker, you would see
that one of the particular questions does require quite a lot of research with respect to the compensation
detai ls of those persons who have been retained to do
testing and vaccinations. So we will provide that i nformation at the earliest [possible time].

QUESTIONS: ALL COVID -19 RELATED
CONTRACTS UNDERTAKEN
BY THE GOVERNMENT
[Deferred]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Will the Honourable
Minister please inform this Honourable House about all COVID -19 related contracts undertaken
by the Government for the provision of goods, services or consultancy, listing them individually with reference to the contractor’s name, the cost
of the contract and the product or service provi ded?

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Will the Honourable
Minister please inform this Honourable House as
to which of the COVID related contracts referred above were sole- sourced or publicly tendered?

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Will the Honourable
Minister please provide this Honourable House
with a listing of the compensation details for all
COVID PCR Testing and Vaccinations agents?
[Pause]

Thank you.
Is there a supplementary . . . no, we have
moved on. Okay. The process is that we would normally gi ve an indication in the chat, Members who
may have questions on the Statements this morning,
and thus far there is only one question this morning.
And that is from MP Cannonier to . . . actually, there
are two questions (sorry), one from MP Cannonier to
the Minister of Education.
MP Cannonier, would you like to put your
question?

MP Cannonier, I am going to ask that
you sort out your technical, and I am going t o go to
the second question. I will come back to you.
The second question is actually from the O pposition Whip. And it is to Minister Hayward, the Mini ster of Labour.
396 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Opposition Whip, would you like to put
your question?

QUESTION 1: ECONOMIC INVESTM ENT
CERTIFICATE

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Would the Honourable Minister please inform
this Honourable House as it relates to his Ministerial
Statement if he could clarify that the holder of the Residential Certificate will be gr anted automatic approval to work in the business to which he or she may
have invested or to work in any other business? Is this
unlimited permission to work in Bermuda?
Hon. Jason Hayward: No. Mr. Speaker, the person, if
they have investments, business, t hey get automatic
approval to work in the business in which they have
invested. However, if they want to work outside of that
business, they will be subject to the Work Permit Policy.

Yes. I do have a supplementary, Mr. Speaker, just because the Statement says
“to work in any other business.”
“The Residential Certificate holder desires to
work in Bermuda.” It says, “If the spouse [or] the de-pendent” wants to seek work, they require a work
permit. But it says that the holder of the actual certif icate will be allowed “to work in any other business.”
So my supplementary is: Is the Statement in error, or
is the policy different from the Statement?

Hon. Jason H ayward: I believe it is the way in which
you are interpreting it. If it was written “and” it was the
ability to automatically work at the work and the bus iness that the individual actually invested in and another business . . . because it says “or” it gives the
ability to seek a permit and work at the business of what that person’s [INAUDIBLE].

Would the Honourable Mini ster please clarify who will be the determining authority
for accepting the investment?
Mr. Speaker, the Statement says that the
“Economic Investment Certificate applicant can make a minimum investment in Bermuda in any one or more
of the following ways . . .,” but those are not exclusive.
So it is clear that it is envisioned that there would be
alternative or additional ways of making investment
into Bermuda. Who will determine that the alternative
investment was sufficient to meet the eligibility crit eria?

Hon. Jason Hayward: The Department of Immigr ation.
The Minister will probably be the one who approves the certificates, and the Minister has to be satisfied that there is evidence that the sufficient inves tment has been made to Bermuda's economy. And so
we have a process where we have asked those ind ividuals who go to the government concierge service
that all of these other things that are required to do the vetting are put in place prior to the time when that
person shall be granted a certificate.

Mr. Speaker, would the Ec onomic Development Minister inform this Honourable
House, in relation to his Ministerial Statement, [about]
the Economic Investment Certificate [which] will r eBermuda House of Assembly quire a person to make a $2.5 million investment in
Bermuda in those categories he has previously di scussed. [So] at that point what rights [does that person] have?
The Ministerial Statement then says, following
on from the investment . . . and then it picks up in the
chain of thought or in the chain of events that “if at or
after five years.” So within that five- year period after
they have made the investment of $2.5 million, what
do they have the right to do within that five- year period
before they can apply for the Residential Certificate?

Thank you.
Minister.
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Speaker, the way in which
the Economic Investment Certificate or Residential
Certificate is actually structured would be [that] one
would obtain an Economic Investm ent Certificate,
which is a five- year certificate. And they have to mai ntain their investment over that period of time. During
that period of time the person will have rights to work
in a business that they have operated in. They would
also have the abilit y to work according to our current
Work Permit policy.
If the person decides that they want to remain
in Bermuda for an indefinite period under the residen-tial portion, what they would have to do is satisfy that
they met the five- year criteria for the Economic I nvestment Certificate, and that provides a gateway for
that person to obtain a Residential Certificate.
Once that person obtains a Residential Certi ficate, they have the current rights which are laid out
for the Residential Certificate holder, the difference
being the person would have the ability to reside and
seek employment under our current Work Permit pol icy.

As it relates to substantial
sums being invested into Bermuda, and the criteria
appears dependent on decision- makers that we in the
House do not have regular interface with, we will not
regularly see this approval process, but we are talking about very large sums of money for these rights in Bermuda. How will the Minister, or will the Minister be
reporting back to the House [about] the success of this programme, and when could w e expect such r eport?

I appreciate it, Mr. Speaker.
And on page 3 of the Honourable Education
Minister’s Statement, at the very top he mentions E ducation Workforce Strategy for designing high- level
learning for school leaders for shaping the next generation. And I was hoping that the Minister could help
us in understanding a bit more about the professional
development to me and career progressions that he has in mind and how it is taking shape. What are they
doing right now about that and even assisting with
financial issues? Can he elaborate on that?

Thank you.
Minister.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker,
and thank you, Honourable Member, for that.
Honourable Member, the Department of Education’s core strategy is part of the Learning First Pr ogramme. The Learning First Programme is a team
that has been designed to look at learning as it occurs
now. What we want learning to be––what it should
be–– we look at what processes our educators are
using now to design what the future of our system
should look like from a learning perspective and from
a curriculum perspective.
Of course, there will have to be a refinement
for professional development to be provided to our
398 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly educators and our l eaders within our system in order
for them to bring forth this new educational system.
So as that is developed and the professional deve lopment is identified, the Ministry and this Government have committed to ensuring that we provide every and all opportunity to our current educators to gain those
skill sets so they can be a part of the system.

That was a bit general. But I
guess the next question I would ask is: Has this pr ofessional development been identified? And where will this professional development come from? Will there
be a US system, a British system? Have we gotten that far yet?

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: As I stated in the Stat ement, and as I stated in the public domain, the Lear ning First currently are beginning to engage a prototy ping of what the system could look like. The idea [is]
that we have a system designed by Bermudians for
Bermuda, not a system that is imported wholeheartedly from somewhere else. Of course we will use best
practices that are seen in other countries. But it is very
important for us to have a system that is by Bermudians for Bermudians.
But once that system is design ed . . . and I
understand. I understand the impatience because we
are moving very, very . . . we are moving methodically
and very deliberately through this because we have to get it right the first time. We want people to take as
long as we need to make sure that we get this right.
But in terms of professional development for
our teachers, that still continues. In fact, just a few
months ago we had intense professional development
for our teachers during the midterm break. Prior to the beginning of school we had intensive professional development going. We put learning the use of both pla tforms, such as Schoology, which we have introduced into our system.
So the professional development continues.
But this particular thing that we are talking about here from the Learning First is that they are in the process
of gathering the data that they need now to talk about what it is that our system will look like in the future. And then professional development will be designed
around what those needs are.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
On page 6, the third p aragraph down, this has
become an ongoing question, and I am glad that the
Honourable Member has addressed it in an additional
paragraph. And I am talking about high- performing
schools being proposed for closure. There has been a
lot of talk around that. F urther on down the paragraph
there, it says, “It would not be fair nor prudent to pr opose school building sites based on the performance when there are many other social and economic factors . . .”
Taking into consideration that some of these
schools are a stone’s throw away from each other,
where one is kept and one is not going to be held o nto, I guess what I am trying to understand is if it is from a high- performance school, it might also contain
social and economic factors that might impact the performance of these students who go to schools . . .
high performance based on students doing well.
So I am just trying to understand a little more
about that part. It is kind of contradictory, because you
do not need fancy schools, necessarily, to have high performance. So I am just hoping that he can help us
out here a little.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: I think I am going to r espond . . . I am not quite sure what exactly you are
trying to say, but I will attempt to put this in perspective.
High-performing schools are not dependent
on the building. They are dependent on the learning
that happens within the building. And if a system or
whatever is happening is working within it, we are committed to looking at what is happening within the
building and using that as far as our education reform.
So if we do have a quote/unquote nonperforming
school, it is not necessarily a result of the actual buil ding that in fact exists.
So, when you look at our system, we are looking at a system that has to progress to give ever y single one of our students the opportunity to succeed.
And we have to meet them where they are. And so
with the system that we are proposing, all of the r esources and things that are necessary to ensure that all of us, at least the children, will be cons olidated into
one building, that building can become, I guess as you
want to refer to it, high -performance. But all of our
students will be high performing, not just a segment of
our society.

My question is around the
spend. I am just curious if you could provide the
House with the estimated amount of money that has
been spent so far on the consultation period and the
Innovation Unit, and just the total cost of the spend
this year.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: I can commit to bring that
back. As the Innovation Unit contract, which was r ecently put in the public domain and was dis cussed in
this very place last year when we did our item in
March—

Yes.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: —it is a commitment over
the course of around three years. And I believe it is
$2.1 million over the course of three years.
But there are other expenses that would have
to be tallied if we are looking at, if you want to know the total cost of reform, because local persons on
Learning First are being provided with a stipend. They
are doing an awful lot of work.
And there are some other things. When we
organised our meetings prior to COVID -19, we did
have to furnish all that. So if you want a total amount,
or if you are only concentrating on our Innovation Unit,
that contract is currently in the public domain and can
be easily accessible by yourself.

Okay. Thank you.
Minister, those are the only questions for you.
The last question today is for the Minister of Health
from MP Dunkley.
QUESTION 1: INTRODUCTION OF A DRUG
FORMULARY FOR BERMUDA

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the Honourable Minister of Health: Mini ster, on page 5 of your Statement, you state, “To be clear, Mr Speaker, the purpose is not to control the price of every medication sold in Bermuda.” And the
last part of that paragraph goes, “medications . . .
which are intended to be medically appropriate, cost -
effective and sold at a regulated price.”
The question to you, Honourable Minister, is,
How will that regulated price be arrived at? What basis, what guidelines will the Government provide to
the Health Council and this Authority in their deliber ations?
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Mr. Speaker, with respect to
that . . . and more details, obviously, will come out of
this when we debate the Bill in two weeks hence. But
the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee will act ually be charged with helping to assess which drugs, as
well as types of medical equipment will form part of
the drug formulary. And then there will be, obviously,
regulations that will come from this.
But there will be a number of factors that will
go into this, and particularly the actual parts of the
drug, the cost of importation, et cetera. And I think [it
is] of importance to note that these will not be . . . the
formulary will not include every single drug known to
man. It will be the most common drugs that are ut ilised here in Bermuda, based on the information that the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee obtain
from the requisite sources such as pharmacists, ph ysicians, pharmaceutical regional reps, et cetera.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I appreciate and understand that. A supplementary, Mr. S peaker.

Supplementary.

SUPPLEMENTARIES

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, in the Stat ement it appears that Government will get involved in
negotiating with overseas suppliers for the importation
of drugs if need be. Does the Minister beli eve that in
the longer term, Government will directly bring in a
medication, new drugs, themselves for provision to
locals who require them?
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: I appreciate the Honourable
Member’s question. Actually, as the speech speaks to
[this], it wi ll be the Health Council that will assist with
respect to . . . or that will have power to assist in negotiating pharmaceutical costs [for medications] that
are imported into the Island. Obviously we may have economies of scale, and they may be in a better place
to negotiate such prices for these pharmacies. So at
400 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly this point it is envisioned that it will be as the legisl ation says, which we will table soon; it will be the
Health Council that will be charged with negotiating
with pharmaceutical companies to allow for best -
pricing concerning the drugs that will be made avail able in Bermuda.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes, Mr. Speaker. I understand that the Health Council takes direction from the
Government, so let me be more specific.

Put your supplementary.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I will be happy to, Mr.
Speaker.
So in this regard, does the Minister envision
that the Health Council will import drugs directly to
ensure that the lowest possible price is provided to the
public?

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: As is envisioned, Mr. Speaker,
the [Health] Council may partner with the local pharmacy or importer to assist in t securing the best possible drug prices for Bermuda.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes. Hold on one sec, please. There is
a clarification that was required on one of the com-ments that was made.
Premier, would you like to make the clarific ation?

QUESTION 3: MINISTERIAL ADVISORS OR
CONSULTANTS AND THEIR REMUNERATION
[Additional information provided
for Hon. N. H. Cole Simons ]

Hon. E. David Burt: Absolutely, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, again as we have had the questions, I did offer my apologies as the time between the time the question was submitted and et cetera. So
some answers were ready, and some were not. So I
apologise for that omission. And I have clarified that.
Mr. Speaker, as I know that political items, as
these things can become political in nature, I just wanted to make sure that Honourable Members, especially the Honourable Member who asked the question, that it should be noted that I have directed the
annual remuneration of contracts for personal staff
who became Members of the Legislature following the 2020 General Election to be reduced by 50 per cent of
their annual legislative salaries. So I just wanted that
to be noted. And that was communicated in late last
year.

Okay. I do not think I
will need them. I wish to have condolences extended
to the family of Ms. Joanne Raynor, who was funera lised this week. She was of course a friend of mine,
but she also worked for 12 years in the Department of
Tourism Office in New York and lived in New York
subsequent to that. Anybody who knew Joanne, the
first thought that comes to mind was laughter . She
had a personality that was designed for tourism, I
think, and thus the success she had representing
Bermuda in the New York office. I would ask that condolences be sent to her two sons, Omar and . . . (I
have them right here, Mr. Speaker) —Omar and Micah, and the grandchildren and the rest of the family. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Premier. You have your three minutes.
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated
with the condolences that were expressed to the fam ily of Joanne Raynor from the Minister of Public Works
just now. I did attend the eulogising and offer my condolences to the family. As the Colonel said, she was a


Bermuda House of Assembly long-time employee of the Bermuda Tourism Authority
or the Department of Tourism.
Mr. Speaker, as Leader of the Bermuda Pr ogressive Labour Party in this Honourable House, I
wish to ask that this Honourable House do send co ndolences to the family of the late Sister LaVerne
Furbert, JP, who served in the Legislature in the other
place. And I would like to associate all Members of the
House of Assembly with these condolences, Mr.
Speaker. I am sure there will be other tributes that will
be offered by Members later today.
Sister LaVerne supported the Progressive
Labour Party in countless ways over decades of service. She served as right hand to the former party leaders, Dame Lois Browne- Evans and L. Frederick
Wade in his time as Leader of the Opposition. Friend
for the Progressive Labour Party in multiple general
elections, amongst them the 2010; was appointed to
the Senate; and by the then Premier the Honourable
Paula Cox who served as the Minister of Education,
Youth Affairs and Community Development. We cer-tainly know of her active time in the Progressive Labour Party [serving in] many different capacities,
whether it be at the branch level, whether it be at the
international level or the executive level , and could
always be counted on for support and counsel in
many times.
Without question, she was a freedom fighter
and forcef ully stood up for persons who were not able
to stand up for themselves. And at never a point in
time was she afraid of stating her views, her positions
and her convictions. After her time of serving in the
Opposition, of course, she went on to the Bermuda Industrial Union and served for a long time there,
serving the presidents and members and staff of the
Bermuda Industrial Union.
No question, Mr. Speaker, it is an incredible
loss. And I would like, as I ask the House to send a letter . . . of course, we will make sure that she is recognised tomorrow (we will give her recognition at the funeral), but on behalf the Government and the people
of Bermuda, I want to extend our condolences to her
sons, Vance and David, their wives, her grandchi ldren, her sister Maxine, her relatives and friends, her
BIU family and her Progressive Labour Party family. And we will forever remember our dear and departed Sister LaVerne Furbert. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Okay. Minister Scott, you have your
three minutes.
Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I would just like to have the
House send congratulatory remarks to the Public Service employee [INAUDIBLE ], who hosted a [ INAUDIBLE] step and activity challenge for all public offices
through an app called MoveSpring [INAUDIBLE]. The
Government of Bermuda [INAUDIB LE] step challenge
took place between October 5, 2020, and January 8,
2021. Out of 65 teams, the TCD, or the Transport Control Department, won with with 1 4,989,522 steps .
Mr. Speaker, so can we send a letter of congratul ations to the TCD team of Yolanda Jo hnstone, Vernon
Tucker , Raymond Bean, Sue -Ann Smith, Debra- Ann
Tucker, Charles Clark e, Lisa Smith, Claire Williams -
Stovell , Terry Spencer and Lavette Ford- Durrant. So if
a letter of congratulations could be sent to the TCD
team which won the MoveSpring challenge, that
would be most appreciated.

I would like to give my
condolences to the family of the late Thelma Robi nson, mother of Delores, Deborah, and Doreen Robi nson from Paget.
I would also like to give my condolences to
the family of the late Cecily Seaman from Pembroke.
She was 100 years old earlier this year. She was the
mother of Shirlene and Dawn.
And I want to say both of these ladies are examples of women who lived their lives to the fullest
and who aged well —a perfect example for our young
people and our older people to tak e care of themselves so that they too may make 100 years old.
Thank you very much.

Thank you, MP Simmons -Wade.
Mr. Opposition Leader, would you like to
make your contribution?
Hon. N. H. Cole S imons: Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Opposition, I
would like to associate myself with the comments
made in regard to the former Senator LaVerne
Furbert. As we all know, she was a champion for the rights of labour and the labour movement . She was a
fighter with passion. She was fearless. If she had you
402 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly in her sights, you were in trouble. So I would like to
send condolences to her entire family, her sons Vance
and David, her grandsons and her sister, Maxine.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to also send condolences out to the family of James [E.] Smith. Mr. Speaker, as you will know, James Smith was a former
Clerk to the House of Assembly. He was a history pr ofessor at Bermuda College. And he was an Honorary
Fellow of Bermuda College. He had a passion for wri ting. He wrote about Black inequality and slavery in Bermuda. He was a born Bermudian. In addition, he was an avid sportsman. He was tennis pro at Be lmont. And he was a coach for the Bermuda T riangle
Swimming Club. This gentleman was a real Bermudian and crossed many racial barriers.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to also send condolences out to the family of the late Alan “Boopsie” Bur-rows, a former family friend.
I would like to also send condolences out to
[the family of] Hadley Lionel Woolridge. He was one of Bermuda’s tourism ambassadors. He is survived by his son Lionel, and [daughter] Wyonnie, and his sister,
Una Mae Bean. He was a founding member of F athers Unite, a charity that we worked for fathers in
Smith’s Parish. And he also did a lot of work, charit able work for Summerhaven. He was one of the patr iarchs of Smith’s Parish and a member of the Smith’s
Parish Woolridge family. Obviously, he was well
known. He was well liked and well respected. So I
would like to send condolences to his fa mily as well.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Is that the Deputy Speaker?

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, yes, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated
with the remarks concerning the former Senator
LaVerne Furbert, who was a very dear friend of mine.
And Ms. LaVerne Furbert was a true freedom fighter,
one of integrity and action, Mr. Speaker. She wi ll sur ely be missed around in Union Square, missed by the
whole family on Union Square, Mr. Speaker. It is a big
loss for us, Mr. Speaker. And I pray for her sons, her
aunt, and Dr. David and sister Maxine and the rest of
the family.
Also, Mr. Speaker, I would like to send condolences to the family of Mr. Raymond Astwood, who
was funeralised some weeks ago. He leaves his wife,
Ms. Linette Astwood, and his children.
Also, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Charles “Charlie”
Simmons, who passed some weeks ago. He also leaves his daughters Angela, Charlita, and stepson
Robert.
And, Mr. Speaker, I would like to send condolences to the family of Ms. Betty (Fubler) Outerbridge,
who leaves children Hubert, Gerald, Glenn, Shane,
Donna. (I think there is one more).
And Ms. Wendy Trott from Harris’s Bay, the
daughter of Suzanne Simons Trott, Mr. Speaker.
I also would like to be associated with the r emarks concerning Mr. Hadley Woolridge.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to send
condolences to the family of Ms. [Lynn Hafisa] Ali of
Sun Valley, a constituent of mine. And she passed since we last sat in this House.
Also, to another constituent of mine, who is
well known, the former Financial Secretary, Mr. A nthony Manders. I would also like to send condolences
to his family.
And, Mr. Speaker, while it is always sad to
lose anybody, it is more [disheartening] to lose a young person in the prime of their life. And I would like
to send condolences out to the family of Ms. Kevina
Santucci. She was a former —we were not in the same
class, but she was a few years behind me, so I have
known her all throughout elementary school, middle school and high school.

[Crosstalk; Feedback]

Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker. Good morning, colleagues.
Mr. S peaker, I would appreciate if the House
could send a letter of condolences to the family of the
late John Edmund White, from Rocklands Estate. Mr.
White’s family was the first family that welcomed me
into Rocklands 40 years ago. So we became quite
friendly . We would talk across the fence quite often.
And he will be missed in the neighbourhood because
he was certainly a person who looked after our cars.
He worked on his car almost every day. He liked new
gadgets and things. In fact, I will miss hearing his c ar
coming into the yard because he had a voice notific ation on his backup, which said, This car is backing up.
So I will always miss that. And I hope that his family
find [consolation] during their time of grieving.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. Good morning.
I would very much like to be associated with
the condolences to the [family of] the former Senator LaVerne Furbert. I did not know her in a political c apacity, but I did know her as a supportive mother. And
I just admired her. She was, for me, a role model as a
supportive mother while her son, David, was authoring, publishing, distributing free to the schoolchildren
his Daddy and I Explore children’s book series. And I certainly was able to engage in a n umber of convers ations with the former Senator during that period of
time. And David must have published about a half -adozen of the Daddy and I Explore books series. And
she was always so supportive. She was so consistent
and very much engaged. And certai nly as a mother, I
admired her.
I would also like to send out condolences to
[the family of] a constituent, Richard Butz. He lost his
life at the end of last year. And he was certainly an
active participant within the constituency in that I r emember him being one of my tougher —you know, sort
of tougher constituents when I first came into pol itics—and have developed a relationship with him and
his wife over the years. And I certainly send condolences to his wife Antoinette, known as Toni, and the
time that we spent together, making sure that she r emains healthy and supported in future years. Thank
you.

Yes, there you go. Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated
with the condolences offered to the family of Sister
LaVerne Furbert, whom I had gotten to know rather
well and have known from both sides of the divide and
always had great respect and admiration. Because
once a Death Valley girl, always a Death Valley girl,
even though you have got relatives down in Flatts and
you have got a name that comes from Crawl . And she
was a Death Valley girl, and we were always proud of
that. May she rest in peace.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated
with the condolences to former Clerk, Mr. James Smith, whom I knew as a tennis pro at Belmont back
in the early 1970s when I was starting off my career.
And [I would like to] be assoc iated with the
condolences to the Santucci family, with whom I am
very closely connected.
I would like for condolences to be sent, Mr.
Speaker, to the family of Ms. Muriel Brown from the
Wellington Hill family. Many would know the Curtis family up there, closely associated with them. Her son
Maxwell, daughter Muriel, deceased son , and her
404 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly grandchildren, Max and Mak eisha. We offer our condolences.
And to the Engelman and Tramm family on
the passing of Olaf Engelman, they are offered si ncere condolences to them.
Certainly to the family of my father’s good
friend and cricket buddy, Mr. Junius Durrant, Mr.
Speaker, I offer condolences. I only spoke to him a
couple of weeks ago, getting some historical information. He is going to be sorely missed.
The famil y of Mr. Tom Smith, [sports advisor
to] the Department of Youth and Sports, and also he was a past executive of the Bermuda Golf Association
many years ago, Mr. Speaker.
Also to the family of Mr. Vernal Burns, his
widow, Peggy Burns. So we send our condol ences
out to them as well.
And finally, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vincent Smith,
whom I played cricket with at Somerset Bridge. Smitty used to walk down there by George’s Bay across the field. And, Is he coming? Oh, there he goes with the
Afro coming, coming throu gh down there on White Hill
Field to play cricket with us, Mr. Speaker. May he rest
in peace.
And finally, Mr. Speaker, if anybody who did
live in Somerset Bridge, before GP cars, there was Nurse [Moira Valentine] Cann driving that car through Hogg Bay le vel who has passed on. May she rest in
peace, Mr. Speaker.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker.

Yes. I want to share in the
condolences to Sister LaVerne Furbert. During the
four years we were in Opposition she helped to —she
was instrumental in teaching many of us the proper
way to protest. And as we can see, our protests were
effective.
I want to give condolences to some Devonshire people, Mr. Speaker. Mr. John Ming of Jubilee
Road; Ms. Sherrilyn “Tappy” DeSilva of Hermitage
Road; Mr. Antonio de Frias of Collectors Hill; Ms . Viola
Powell of Green Acres Road; and Mr. Earl “Gabby”
Hart. I am not sure if he was mentioned already, but
Mr. Earl “Gabby” Hart of Green Acres, as well. These
were elders in the community who did a lot to help keep Devonshire people together. Thank you , Mr.
Speaker.

MP Dunkley, you have your three
minutes.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I too would like to be associated with the co ndolences given for Mr. Hart, a former constituent of
mine and now a constituent of Mr. Famous; and for
Mr. James Smith, who was in Parliament when I first arrived.
And condolences to the family of Anthony
Manders, who was a very professional civil servant
whom I enjoyed working with. He always had an answer, and he could always give you another answer if you were not quite happy with the answer he gave
you. He w as not only professional, but he knew his job
in and out. And he treated everyone fairly. And I was
shocked to see him pass away. So, condolences to
his family.
Mr. Speaker, I am sure many people in the
House would like to be associated with these cond olences to a good friend of mine, Keith Pearman, who
passed away about 10 days ago. I have known Keith
for decades. As a young child, I first learned how to play golf with Gilbert “Butch” Lindo and Keith Pearman
down at the old National Sports Club, where we would
hit balls. I played many tournaments with Keith as a senior and junior; I was under the age of 18 at the
time.

Associate.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Politically, he was big
supporter of mine, Mr. Speaker. He canvassed with
me for many, many years. He lived in MP Famous’s
constituency right now. And when I moved to Smith’s
North, he continued to canvass in that area. Keith was
excellent on the doorstep, but he had one weakness.
He did not like dogs. So that became a problem from
time to time. He knew many people. He had many friends. He had very few enemies, Mr. Speaker, because he would always say, When the going got


Bermuda House of Assembly tough sometimes, it’s best just to keep your dog tied
up. He broke barriers in our community as a Black
man, especially in golf. Many people will know him as
the head pro at Mid Ocean. And he made countless
friends from all over the world.
Mr. Speaker, Keith will be sadly missed by his
friends. He was a valued counsel to myself. And most
importantly, Mr. Speaker, he was a wonderful Berm udian, and we shou ld never forget the values that he
lived by. May he rest in peace. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.

Minister Ming, is that you?
Hon. Renee Ming: Yes, it is.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to first of all associate myself
with the condolences that have been given for former
Senator LaVerne Furbert; Mr. Anthony Manders; and
also for Kevina Santucci.
I would also like to extend heartfelt prayers to
the family of Olaf Engelman, “Ingy.” A well-known St.
Georgian.

[Pause]

Hon. Renee Ming: Hello? Sorry.

Continue.
Hon. Renee Ming: [He was a] well -known St. Georgian who passed away last week. And I just want his
family to know that they are in our thoughts and pra yers.
And I would also like to extend condolences to
the family of Roderick Peterson, who passed in Jan uary; and also Mr. Vernal Burns.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to have one congratulatory mention, and that is for Ms. Florenz Maxwell. And that was on her recognition by US media book guru Oprah Winfrey for her book that she has
written with regard to young ladies.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Today I would only like to
acknowledge one const ituent who has indeed passed
away. And therefore I must associate myself with the
remarks coming from Minister Ming when she expressed condolences for Mr. Vernal Burns. He was a
solid PLP supporter, an ardent worker in Branch 3.
And he indeed was the husband to Ms. Peggy Burns. They worked closely with us in the East for everything.
And so he will be missed. And my condolences go out
to Peggy and her daughters, Joanne and Dawn (and
his son’s name escapes me, but . . .)—

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to send our condolences to the
family of Michael Whalley of Bostock Hill West, who
as a member of Christ Church was very active in the church family and their activities, constantly v olunteering to assist in all of their functions and repairing all
kinds of electrical issues. He was a very active elder
and stalwart of that church family. And I would like our
condolences be sent to [his family].
Further, Mr. Speaker, condolences to the family of Elsie L. Thorne, nee Graze, of Tamarind Vale, who had a very quiet strength, a very gracious and
strong lady, one of the founding members of Peace
Lutheran Church, one of the elders of the church who
brought a lot of Lutherans —or introduced Luther anism
into a lot of Bermudian families. Lost her husband at a
relatively young age, and then went on to raise five
children on her own and now has a very wide and di406 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly verse family spread across the Island. So condolences to the Thornes of Tamarind Vale, as well.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

And, M inister, you have your three
minutes.

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Yes. Good afternoon.
I just also want to be associated with the
comments in regard to Sister LaVerne Furbert, as well
as Ms. Betty Outerbridge of Hamilton Parish. Cond olences to the families of both of those persons.
As well as condolences to [the family of] Ms.
Kim Hendrickson, who recently also passed.

Thank you.
Does any other Member wish to m ake a contribution?
Does any other Member?
Before we move on then, I would just like to
add my —acknowledge some of the condolences that
have been given this morning, particularly for the fact
that those who were associated with the Legislature in
the past , and I would like to be associated with the
[comments regarding] the former Clerk, Mr. James
Smith. He was the Clerk when I came to this House
many years ago, and he was always one who was
extremely helpful and willing to go the extra mile to
help in the procedure and processes of information
that we needed.
To Ms. Furbert, who sat in the other Chamber,
and much has been said about her. We know the contribution and value that she brought to fighting for
causes in this community.
And also Mr. Manders, the Financial Secr etary. We are all familiar with his presence in this Chamber frequently during the debate, Budget D e-bates and things of that nature. And we know that he
will be a valuable miss to government for the service
and to his family as well.
And wh en we speak of clerks who have been
serving here, I would like to also acknowledge the fact that the former Clerk Mrs. Roach lost her husband
during this period and I would like to acknowledge his
loss.
And on a constituency matter note, let me be
associa ted with the remarks expressed to [the family
of] Nurse Cann. And that is so sad. She was always
very familiar, moving around our community many
years ago. And she was well valued in our community,
and we feel her loss as a community.
And lastly, I would like to be associated with
the remarks that have been expressed to [the family
of] Ms. Kevina Santucci. She is gone at a young age. But her short time on this earth has impacted many
people. When you listen to the comments and expressions that have been ex pressed since her passing, it
is duly noted that she had sincerely impacted all who
came in contact with her. And our sincere condolenc-es go out to her entire family. Her father who is well
known by most people in this House, Chaplin Santucci, his wife, Ka ren. Our thoughts and prayers are
with you at this time. Thank you.
Now moving on to other matters.

MATTERS OF PRIVILEGE

I believe there are three to be intr oduced this morning. The first is in the name of the
Minister of Transport.
Minister, wou ld you like to introduce your
Bills?
FIRST READING

MOTOR CAR (DRIVER’S LICENCE RENEWAL)
AMENDMENT ACT 2021



Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I am introducing the following
Bill for the first reading so that it may be placed on the
Order Paper for the next day of meeting: Motor Car
(Driver’s Licence Renewal) Amendment Act 2021.

Thank you. I believe the second is also
in your name.

FIRST READING

MOTOR CAR AND AUXILIARY BICYCLES
(VALIDATION AND AMENDMENT) ACT 2021
Hon. W. Lawrence Scott: Yes, Mr. Speaker.
So, Mr. Speaker, I am introducing the follo wing Bill for its first reading so that it may be placed on
the Order Paper for the next day of meeting: Motor
Car and Auxiliary Bicycles (Validation and Amendment) Act 2021.

Thank you.
And the next Bill, the third Bill is that in the
name of the Minister of Health.
Minister.

FIRST READING

BERMUDA HEALTH COUNCIL
AMENDMENT ACT 2021

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: 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 meeting, namely, the Bermuda Health Council Amendment
Act 2021.

That now brings us to the Orders of the
Day.
And the first matter to be dealt with this mor ning will be in reference to the public health emergency extensions regarding the COVID -19. And that is in the
name of the Minister of Health.
Minister.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 23(3)
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I move that Standing Order
23(3) be suspended to enable the House to proceed
with the consideration of the Order entitled Public
Health (COVID -19) Emergency Extension Order 2021,
proposed to be made by the Minister of Health in ex-ercise of the power conferred by section 107A of the
Public Health Act 1949.

Are there any objections to that?
No objections.
Continue, Minister.

[Motion carried: Standing Order 23(3) suspended.]

ORDER

PUBLIC HEALTH (COVID- 19) EMERGENCY
EXTENSION ORDER 2021

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to
invite this Honourable Chamber to consider the Order
entitled Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency Extension Order 2021. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this
opportunity to remind the public of their civic responsibility to take steps to protect themsel ves, their loved
ones and their neighbours during this global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus. We live on a very
small island, and as we have experienced already and
as recently as late last year, COVID -19 can spread
quickly and impact our whole c ommunity as scores of
people test positive and hundreds end up in quara ntine.
We can slow the spread of the virus by wearing a mask to cover our nose and mouth, as well as physical distancing, downloading the WeHealth Bermuda app and avoiding the three Cs —closed spaces,
crowded places and close- contact settings. The more
barriers and space between you and others, the har der it is for the virus to spread.
Mr. Speaker, also, after enormous hard work
by scientists around the world there is another layer of protection we can add, and that is the COVID -19 vaccination. As has been said many times, vaccines save
lives, and it is no different with the Pfizer BioNTECH
vaccine that is being used in Bermuda now. Getting
the vaccine greatly reduces your chance of cont racting COVID -19; in fact, the Pfizer vaccine has been
shown to be 95 per cent effective after two doses. If
you do get COVID -19, you are likely to experience
milder symptoms and become less ill, as your body is
better able to fight off the virus. This means we can
keep people out of the hospital and have fewer deaths
408 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly due to COVID -19. With the reduced viral load in your
system, it is also hoped that you are less likely to
transmit the coronavirus as well, although this aspect
of the vaccine’s power is not f ully known at present.
Mr. Speaker, of the 14,605 vaccinations a dministered to Bermuda, up to and including Wednes-day, 17 February, 8,072, or 55 per cent, were given to
women and 6,533, or 45 per cent, were given to men.
Bermuda’s goal of herd immunity w ill be achieved
when 70 per cent of the population (and our popul ation currently is 64,054) has been immunised. To date
17 per cent of the population has been vaccinated
with one dose, and 6 per cent of the population has
been immunised having two doses. T hese are great
results so far, and I thank all those who have taken the steps to get their vaccinations to protect themselves, their families and their community.
As a Government, we recognise that it will
take some time to reach that goal of herd immunit y,
and so a more immediate goal is the immunisation of
90 per cent of persons over 65 years. And this is our
most vulnerable group. In addition, we continue to
encourage our extremely clinically vulnerable persons,
health care workers and essential service workers to
please get vaccinated.
To repeat: Preventing infection, the onset of
the disease itself and community spread via mass vaccination will be a critical part of how we navigate
our way out of this current crisis. We have all felt the
impact that C OVID -19 has had on us personally, and
we all know how it has impacted our Island’s econ omy. Getting vaccinated is an integral part of our ong oing collective effort to reduce the spread of the virus here on the Island. And this is essential not only for
our health, but also to help and to allow us to return to
a sense of normalcy with our daily lives.
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, as we all
know now COVID -19 was caused by a new virus that
spread quickly throughout the world. Unfortunately, it
still exist s in large parts because it can be transmitted
so easily between people who are in close contact or
through coughs and sneezes. While most infected
people suffer mild flu- like symptoms, some become
seriously ill and even die. In my role as the Minister of
Health, I consulted the Chief Medical Officer and determined that a communicable disease of the first or second category, namely COVID -19, continues to
pose a severe threat to public health in Bermuda. This
Order will extend the Public Health (COVID -19)
Emergency Order 2021 made under the Public Health
Act 1949 to permit the Governor to continue the Public
Health (COVID -19) Emergency Powers Regulations
2021, which imposed extraordinary measures necessary in the interest of public health to prevent, control
and suppress COVID -19.
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members will be
aware that the Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency
Order 2021 was made under the negative resolution
procedure, effective on the 25
th of January 2021 for 30 days, expiring on the 24th of February 2021. However,
the COVID -19 pandemic continues to rage on globa lly, and a public health emergency continues to exist
on our shores. Therefore, in accordance with section
107A(3) of the Public Health Act 1949, I bring this ex-tension Order to this Honourable Chamber to prolong
the state of public health emergency for a further 60
days, ending on the 25
th of April 2021. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.

MP Dunkley, you have the floor.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I
thank the Honourable Minister for that overview of the Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency Extension O rder 2021.
And I guess the first question that I would ask
before I make some brief comments . . . the Minister
has come to this Chamber today via a Zoom meeting and asked for an extension for 60 days. And we all
know that COVID -19 has gripped our Island home and
the world for almost a year now, Mr. Speaker. So it is
very hard to predict what is going to happen in the future. But there are some positive changes that have
taken place recently that I think give us more hope
that we have had in some time.
So the first question to the Honourable Mini ster would be , Does the Honourable Minister have any
idea about how long we think we might have to use
this extraordinary Order, to have it in place, Mr.
Speaker? I say that only because I know the answer
will be very difficult to come by, but it would be better,
I think, for the public to understand more the rationale
behind the thinking of the Government in the extension and only extending it for 60 days, not for a shor ter period or for a longer period of time, Mr. Speaker.
Obviously, with this extension Order comes
significant power and responsibility, Mr. Speaker. And as we in the Opposition have said from the beginning
of COVID -19 . . . we have been generally supportive
of the moves that Government has taken. We have
also been supportive of the Public Health (COVID -19)
Emergency Extension Orders from the beginning, Mr. Speaker, because we believe it is necessary. We had to take action that no one would have believed would
have had to be taken at this time.
Mr. Speaker, we all know that this virus can
spread very qu ickly. We found that out at the end of
November and right through December where it
spread like wildfire in our community because some people let their guard down. Sadly, and most unfort unately, this virus spreads without knowing it until peo-ple actually f eel sick or people get tested and they are
found to be positive with the virus. So it is a silent


Bermuda House of Assembly challenge. It is a quiet challenge that has rocked the
world and rocked our lifestyle, Mr. Speaker. And it will
have dire consequences even when we are able t o
achieve herd immunity.
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, many people have
been rocked with their health and well -being, [have]
been put in a fragile state, whether it is their mental
health or their physical health. Many people have
seen the freedom of their movement . . . all people
saw the freedom of their movement curtailed drastica lly when we were in lockdown. And the freedom of movement is still somewhat curtailed at the present
time. Many people have felt it with the loss of e mployment. Many people have felt it with the loss of
income and loss of jobs. Families have been separated. This pandemic has struck us and the rest of the
world in ways that we would have never foreseen a
year ago this time as we just rounded ourselves into
the start of a new year i n 2020.
And, Mr. Speaker, it will take a long time. It
will take a long time for the Island to recover. And
some people may never be able to recover to the position they were in before. That is the length, the
breadth and the severity of the impact of thi s virus. So
the sooner that we can get ourselves in a better pos ition, Mr. Speaker, the better we will be. And Orders like this help us get into that better position, Mr. Speaker, because we found out that we have to make
sure that we watch what we do at a ll times because of
this virus. And generally, Bermudians have been very
supportive of the policies that are put in place. I have
found that Bermudians have been wearing masks and
have been practicing social distancing, have been doing all of the things that are important, Mr. Speaker.
However, there are always a few amongst us who will
let their guard down or intentionally take action that
could impact not only them, but our community. And
that causes us great consternation.
Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Mi nister did
mention the vaccination process and where we stand
right now, that as of Wednesday (I believe it was)
14,605 individuals have been vaccinated, 55 per cent
of them women and 45 per cent of them male. The
Minister did mention that she believed the health off icials who informed her that herd immunity would be
effected at 70 per cent of our population vaccinated.
And to date, I think the Minister said that we are at
17 per cent of those who have been vaccinated. So,
Mr. Speaker, in looking at many of the hurdles, the
challenges we face in rebuilding our lives, rebuilding
our economies, getting our children back into the
proper school environment, getting our freedom of movement back, [being] able to do things in life that
are important to us, one of t hose big challenges is
also the ability to get 70 per cent of our community
vaccinated.
And why do I say that? Because we have had
a great deal of talk, Mr. Speaker, in the time since
vaccinations became available on the Island that there is significant h esitancy about vaccinations. And so I
would ask the question to the Honourable Minister, or to any one of her Government colleagues: What are
we doing to address this hesitancy, Mr. Speaker? B ecause, clearly, if we intend to get 70 per cent of our
populati on vaccinated to have this herd immunity that
everyone speaks about —and I believe it will be effective if we get to 70 per cent —what are we going to do
to make sure we can get to that 70 per cent in a quick -
as-possible timeframe?
The hesitancy is real, certainly amongst the
Black population. And I understand much of the hes itancy that people have. I have made it part of my daily
movement to have discussions with people about, Have you signed up for the vaccination? Have you got
the vaccination yet? What ar e your thoughts on it?
And it is amazing to me, Mr. Speaker, that so many
people have no intention of getting it or are taking a
wait-and-see attitude. So we have a big hurdle that we
need to get over in this case. And if we do not get over that hurdle, we will continue to fight this virus in a
more difficult way than is necessary.
And so, while we have been blessed to have
great support from the UK, first in making sure that we
have the availability to the PCR test, and we have
managed to launch that programme, and the Go vernment has heralded the significance and the wid espread capacity we have . . . and it is true, it has
helped us in many ways to control the virus in testing,
and we are still doing that. It helped us to open our
borders and to control the spread of the virus even
with our borders being open. We have to thank the UK for that. We have to thank the UK for our first couple
of batches of the vaccinations, which have arrived,
and the third batch, which is arriving shortly. Without
that assistance and help, we could still be in a very
difficult position.
But now that we have had that assistance and
now that we have had that help and it is has put us in
a position of envy for many countries around the
world —because with vaccinations, the Premier has
touted that we also rank up there very highly —that
ranking can rise even faster and further if we can get rid of some of the hesitancy. It is all very good for one
person to get vaccinated, but we need our community to get vaccinated, and we need to be able to dispel
those myths and to make more people get and be
comfortable to have the needle, more people being
comfortable in having the vaccination and more people to understand that any side effects for the vast
majority of our population are minimal or very small, Mr. Speaker. That is our next big hurdle right now.
That 70 per cent, that bar for herd immunity is a long
way off with the hesitancy that we have in our community.
So, I would ask the Honourable Minister to
give some more information to the public on how we
are going to address that. Public service announc ements are well and good, but they do not reach down
410 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly into many sectors of our community, and they certai nly do not deal with personal challenges that some i ndividuals may face.
Mr. Speaker , with that overview of the Public
Health (COVID -19) Emergency Extension Order, I
thank the Honourable Minister for sharing it with the
Opposition Leader and myself and colleagues yesterday. We still face significant challenges within our
community in deal ing with COVID -19. There are many
people who are still struggling at the present time. And the future does look dark quite often. But I have faith. I have faith in Bermuda. And I have faith in Bermudians, because when times are tough we manage to
come together. And times are tough now.
We have made great strides with COVID -19,
but we cannot take our foot off the accelerator in this
case. We must continue to drive this Bermuda bus
forward for a better Bermuda because COVID -19 can
linger, can jump up at any time and get us, as we
found out in December. And we do not need for that to come back.
So in that vein we support this Extension O rder 2021. I would appreciate the Minister’s bac kground on some of the questions we asked, and
would support the Government in urging Bermudians
to make sure that we pay attention to the three Cs and please sign up for vaccinations. Because it will allow
all of our lives to improve at a quicker pace and we
can all be in it together for a better, healthier Berm uda.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.
First, I would at every opportunity just want to
acknowledge and thank the so many people in our
community who have persevered through these challenging times. It has been a really tough road. Ever yone has stuck to the wicket. And as a community, I think that this is something that we should be proud of.
The other thing that we have an opportunity to
be proud of as well is that we are one of the nations that has the vaccine, and we are small enough to get that herd immunity pretty quickly. And if we could just
convince or share with the community as often as possible the idea that if we can all get the vaccination and achieve herd immunity, then we can start to open
up our borders again as a unique place for vi sitors to
come to the Island because there is the immunity here
amongst the population. And it will make the citizens
of Bermuda safer because we are vaccinated, and it will also be attractive to the visitors who want to come
to Bermuda, because they will understand that the
virus is minimal on our shores because we are all
vaccinated.
I believe that if we are able to share that message with the community, this may help to motivate some folks who are feeling hesitant about receiving
the COVID -19 vaccine. I mean, it has been a number
of months. There has not . . . I have not, at least, been
made aware of any major repercussions or side ef-fects from the vaccine. So I do not believe that the
vaccine is taking us into any risky environment. So if we can do everything we can do to encourage as
many people to get vaccinated, and then we can pr omote ourselves to the world as being a jurisdiction that is (quote/unquote) “COVID -19 free” or have minimal,
minimal incidents of COVID -19 as local transmission,
then we ca n really get the economy going again and
start being more active outdoors and get our life back
to normal, or as close to normal as we possibly can.
I just wanted to share that idea in case that is
something that the Government may be able to use in
messa ging, because I do believe that it presents a
powerful argument for vaccination.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, thank you very much,
and good morning once again, colleagues and Bermuda.
Minister, I just want to go through [briefly]
some things that I have seen come to the [fore] here in researching the vaccine and the challenge that we
are having with Bermudians, especially those of us of
Black descent, and not coming forward, cautious,
concerned, about the taking of the vaccine.
I will declare my interest. I have had my first
vaccine shot. And I too was leery about the fact that
not enough information is being given, worldwide I
think, just about the pros of getting this and the fears
that we are having and dispelling those fears.
I have noticed that the BBC [ British Broa dcasting Cor poration ] in the UK have gone on a thirdparty validation promo, which I think is a brilliant, bri lliant idea to get third- party validators out there,
whether they will be talking to doctors and actors and


Bermuda House of Assembly the like, comedians would sing the pros in getting the
vaccine to help dispel some of these myths. And I
would encourage the Government and our Minister to
maybe speak to the media on how we can go about
doing something similar in having third- party validators in Bermuda promoting this here.
We certainly have third- party validators who
were dispelling and putting a whole lot of information—misinformation —out there about the “ socalled vaccines ,” even questioning, What is this? Is it
a vaccine or not a vaccine? And so we could go a
long way in helping to d ispell some of those fears.
Just to come out and say, we as parliamentarians,
Well, look. Go and get the [vaccine]. It is not going to
be enough.
I do have a question about that as well, because when it came up, people are asking, Am I ta king it? And I wa s hearing other folks saying, Well, listen. You politicians should wait last. Let everyone else
go first. And I am curious as to whether or not the Mi nister has thought about the fact that all parliamentar ians should be encouraged to get it so that we are se tting examples to Bermuda to ensure that we get to the
point that we need for herd immunity — [INAUDIBL E]

[No audio]

—especially those of us of
colour. So I would encourage our Minister to continue to press on. We in the Opposit ion will continue to support in this matter. The Shadow Minister has been
speaking to us on an ongoing basis of his updates
with the Minister. So I appreciate the correspondence that has been taking place.
We are living during a very testing time. And
we in Bermuda, because of its economic prowess in
the international world, are at risk here. And other countries are going to take advantage of this here if
we do not get ourselves and get to herd immunity as
soon as possible. And I think that that threat in and of
itself is a challenge. But more importantly, our people
in Bermuda need to get to the point whereby it is i mportant that we look out for one another. And this herd
immunity is vitally important, getting to that point as
quickly as possible. We are a destination that you can
come to. And the numbers are speaking for themselves. Now we need to back it up and ensure that we
get the vaccine.
There are a few other things that I thought
about as far as this process is concerned. And having
watched the process, I was very curious as to how we
are making out. I notice there were a lot of people who were showing up who were not scheduled to take the
[vaccine]. And so I am curious as to whether or not we
are seeing the numbers of those who have appointments but are not showing up is going down. I do not know if it is an extensive amount or not, or whether or
not it is a concern or an ongoing concern of the Mini ster’s. But I did notice that there were, when I had my [vaccine] taken, at least two dozen folks were on
standby there just in case someone did not show up.
So if the Minister could elaborate on where we are
with that as far as people not showing up to take the
[vaccine]. Is that still an ongoing challenge that we are having?
At the end of the day, we al so need to be
concerned about the disposal of the drug as well. Where are we with that, and are we disposing a concerning amount by the Minister of the drug because
people are not showing up for their [vaccine]? But at the end of the day, Mr. Speaker, I think that we are
doing a fairly good job here. The challenge we do
have. . . so, if she can address some of these issues,
it would be wonderful. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Member.
We were trying to do lunch for 12:30 as normal. I am going to ask, is there any other Member? Or the Minister, would your concluding remarks be long?
Or would you like to come back at two o’clock?

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: They will not be long actually,
because we do seem to have bipartisan support. So I
will only be a few moments.

Okay. We will let you bring this to a
close, and then when we come back from lunch we
will start with the second Order of the Day.
Go ahead, Minister.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I
thank the Honourable Members for their contributions.
More importantly, I thank them for their willingness to
raise their hand on having received the vaccination.
One of the issues that was raised concerned
the vaccination, and what we are trying to do actually
is change the messaging. And instead of referring to
“vaccine hesitancy, ” refer to it as “ vaccine a cceptance. ” Because we all, I think, appreciate the i mportance of an immunisation as it relates to matters
such as COVID -19. We have seen in the past certain
worldwide pandemic diseases have been completely
eradicated through properly utilised immunisation pr ogrammes.
I would also like to thank the MP from consti tuency 20— and I share her sentiments —for thanking
all of those frontline workers who have been at t he
forefront of this COVID -19 exercise, since many of
them [have been] leading for up to a year. With r espect to the Ministry of Health, I am so incredibly
blessed and fortunate to work with the most amazing,
committed, dedicated team at this Ministry, as well as
those persons from National Security, the hospital,
everybody who has contributed, all of our frontline
workers, towards helping Bermuda to mitigate and
navigate through this thing called COVID -19.
Mr. Speaker, there were a couple of questions
that were asked, one with respect to what we are do412 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ing to address the Members’ concerns with respect to
vaccination. We obviously have a very strong communications plan which includes education, open
communications, Facebook Live, social media. There
will be a mail -out coming out this week actually to address that. We invite everybody to go to the gover nment as a resource. There are FAQs concerning the
vaccine, concerning COVID -19, et cetera, on the go vernment website. So we are encouraging people to
look at t he government website with respect to getting
their information as opposed to unauthorised sources
such as on Facebook and the like.
And I would like to conclude by [considering]
the first question which was asked by the Honourable Member, Mr. Dunkley. He answered his own question,
you know: When do we see an end to this? It is “diff icult to come by,” and I am quoting him. We do not know. We would like to be able to extend this Order.
Obviously, we are seeking for 60 days. And I would
like to be able to represent in 60 days that because of
the level of vaccination we do not necessarily see a public health crisis continue. But we obviously do not
know. Day by day is unfortunately the mantra with
respect to COVID -19.
I want to just add real quickly, I did re present
these statistics recently at the press conference. It is interesting that from the registrations from the 7
th of
February to the 13th of February, the disparity between
registrations for the vaccine concerning the races is
starting to greatly decli ne. So we did see approximat ely 42 per cent of persons who registered were white,
and 34 per cent were Black, and then the others identifying as other or not caring to indicate their race. So
we are seeing that disparity being addressed. And I
think it is because of the education. And a lot of people are just kind of having a wait and see.
I see you looking at your clock, Mr. Speaker.

[Laughter]
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: I would like to thank Members
for their contributions with respect to this, Mr. Speaker. And as such, I move that the said draft Order be
approved and that a suitable message be sent to Her Excellency the Governor.

Good afternoon, Members. It is now
2:00 pm. We can resume today’s session, after our
lunch. And we broke at lunch—just to give a refresher
for our listening audience —we were about to begin
the second readi ng of the Cannabis Licensing Act
2021 in the name of the Attorney General and Minister
of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Reform.
Minister, Attorney General, are you ready?

Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Yes, sir.
Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker.

Yes.
Are there any objections to that?
No objections.
Continue, Minister.

BILL

SECOND READING

CANNABIS LICENSING ACT 2021



Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am pleased to introduce to this Honourable
House the Bill entitled Cannabis Lic ensing Act [2021].
This Bill ushers in a new regulatory regime, licensing
all activities involved directly or ancillary to the cultiv ation, import, export, production, sale, supply, the use,
the transport of cannabis or medicinal cannabis or
products deriv ed from cannabis or medicinal cannabis
in Bermuda. The Bill establishes the Cannabis Licens-ing Authority to be the statutory regulator to oversee the issuance of licences, inspection, compliance and
enforcement of the cannabis licensing regime.
The Author ity will also make recommendations to the Minister responsible for Drug Prevention
on related policy issues and the administration of the
Act. Provisions in the Bill will permit lawful activities
relating to the cannabis plant, medicinal cannabis,
cannabis products and cannabis -infused food products.
Mr. Speaker, this Honourable House has before it today a multi -faceted and transformative Bill of
significant national importance. Before I detail the schematics of the Bill, allow me to put on record for
the first time in this Honourable House the full policy
context and the Government’s objectives of a regula ted cannabis regime.
Legalising Bermuda’s cannabis laws is certainly long overdue. This is undeniable in a society
and a world awakening to an inflectio n point the di scussions about systemic racialised disparities and
inequities within institutions, laws and policies, Bermuda’s own peaceful Black Lives Matter and policies. Backtracking for a minute, Bermuda’s own peaceful
Black Lives Matter demonstration last year that gat hered 7,000 people amidst a backdrop of a global pa ndemic and physical distancing rules is a historic mar ker that transformative change is necessary.
Mr. Speaker, we can all remember a time
when Bermudian society was not always so even-tempered when demanding rights for marginalised
groups. Bermuda’s civil uprisings of the 1960s and
1970s cannot be recounted without acknowledging that cannabis prohibition laws were used as one of the
many tools by the Colonial Government and police to
quiet Black disquiet and to systemically criminalise
Blacks on the front lines of the racial progress mov ements. Many of our own families, if not some of their
own Members who have served in this Honourable
House, were directly impacted by the historic stain of
colonialism and the oppression of a white oligarchy. If Black lives truly are to matter, we should not hasten to recognise, deconstruct and reform laws, institutions,
and systems that have racialised and [have been]
harmful to Blacks. Crises are often t he precursor to
revolutionary change and we are in an unprecedented
economic crisis demanding radical new thinking. I ncreasingly, cannabis legalisation is not that radical at all. Mr. Speaker, our 49- year old Misuse of Drugs
Act 1972 is a carbon copy of t he Misuse of Drugs Act
of 1971 in the United Kingdom. Strict drug controls
which were duplicated across the British Empire
based on an imperfect Nixon- era war on drugs originated out of the United States with its specific use of
marijuana enforcement laws to demonise and crim inalise Blacks and Latinos in their country. The great
Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his 1963 Letter from the Birmingham Jail gifted humanity with his
perspective: “ I submit that an individual who breaks a
law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who wil lingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for
law.”
The unjust colonial legacy of our local laws
has not been fully dismantled after generations of
Black Bermudians being incarcerated for minor cannabis infractions. As the entry point to our reforms,
cannabis prohibition laws, designed to help society
feel safe and secure, have undoubtedly had enduring damagi ng social, economic and health effects upon
our small community. The impact of the enforcement
of cannabis laws in Bermuda is disproportionately
borne by Black Bermudians.
These costs of prohibition controls are no
longer justifiable by modern standards and contempo-rary science. Criminalising cannabis, primarily through
enforcement of personal use offenses [as found] in
the Misuse of Drugs Act 1972 is ineffective, costly,
and represents poor public policy in contemporary anti-colonial and antiracist theori es. Evidence of the
tangible human cost hides in plain sight within our jus-tice system: inequities and disparities based on race
and police stops and arrest data, drug- related crime
rates, prosecutions for cannabis offences, and our prison population. Blac k males are over -represented
in all relevant metrics, even though it is proven Blacks
are no more prone to drug use, or cannabis use, specifically, than any other racial group.
Collateral consequences cause separation
and breakdown of families and persona lised trauma
within families affected by cannabis enforcement.
Cannabis users and persons convicted of cannabis offences are endlessly excluded from jobs, housing
and travel.
Mr. Speaker, to underscore this point, a clear
thread recognising the very same racialised social
disparities and the social economic impact is woven
through the findings of the Clark Report of 1978, the Pitt Report of 1978, the Gurr Report of 1984, the Archibald Report of 1986, the National Drug Strategy Pr oposal of 1991, and the Tumin Report of 1992, among others. Looking back at the recommendations in these
seminal reports demonstrates that our society must
collectively confront, interrogate, and dialogue with our past using today’s knowledge, respectful of the
aspirations of futur e generations.
414 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly It is undeniable that cannabis use is part of
Bermuda’s culture, despite it being unlawful to trade,
share or even to use. Cannabis use is common at s ocial and football matches and, certainly, at Cup Match and other large public events. Ess entially, unlawful
use happens in plain sight for police officers who are
unable to effectively enforce cannabis laws at such
events.
The illegal market in cannabis is estimated to
be valued at [between] $6 million and $6.5 million.
This puts tremendous st rain on public resources
through enforcement, criminal justice, and the health
system.
Mr. Speaker, the drug data supporting the
Government policy is captured in the Bermuda Drug
Information Network 2018 Annual Report [BerDIN]. I
will highlight some of the salient figures.
In the reporting year 2017, some 71,160
grams of cannabis were seized— plants, resins, seeds
and edibles. This accounted for 84.5 per cent of all
drug seizures by weight. Criminal trials for cannabis
possession were at 56 with a total of 18 trials for cannabis possession with intent to supply. Contrastingly, convictions for cannabis offences were reported as:
possession, 47 convictions; intent to supply, 10 convictions; importation, 14 convictions; and cultivation, 2
convictions. Only 11 per cent of all total drug arrests in
2017 were for importation offences.
For the fiscal year of 2017/18 a total estimate
of $9 million was spent on drug treatment; $770,000 in
drug prevention; and $5.7 million spent on drug e nforcement and interdiction. H istorically, the cumulative
government spending for drug use issues is approx imately $15.5 million per year. Cannabis enforcement
is overly represented in the drain on these gover nment resources.
Further, Mr. Speaker, when analysing the
prison population i n 2017, at least 94 trials for cannabis offences were initiated. Most of those accused
would have spent some time in custody, either on r emand or after conviction. The annual cost of housing a
prisoner is recorded at $70,000 per year or $5,800 per
month. I t is also noteworthy that the recorded primary
drug for those seeking treatment in order of prev alence are: opioids, cocaine, and cannabis. Yet, the order of prevalence reverses once persons are incar-cerated, the cannabis overtaking cocaine and opioids.
This suggests the accessibility of cannabis contr aband within the prison population.
Mr. Speaker, the status quo has not been effective at deterring illegal consumption and trade in
cannabis by any matrix. When faced with the paradox of these truths, how doe s a society progress from
cannabis prohibition to regulation? Thinking of it as a
continuum, the stages of cannabis laws reform are as
follows: total prohibition, decriminalisation, regulated
medicinal cannabis, partial legislation via a strict l icensing r egime, legalisation with a light touch regul ation, and full legalisation without regulation. Currently, Bermuda has partial decriminalis ation of cannabis as persons are permitted to possess 7 grams of cannabis without criminal penalty since
December 2017. Hemp and CBD formulations are
also legalised in Bermuda since November 2019. The
legal definition of hemp is purposefully defined to i nclude cannabis which contains concentrations of not
more than 1 per cent THC. Further, approved medic inal cannabis pharm aceuticals like Marinol, Cesamet
and Sativex are lawfully available for prescription in
Bermuda.
Other formulations of cannabis for medicinal
purposes can be authorised for patients under a l icence by the Minister responsible for the Misuse of Drugs Act 1 972. Globally medicinal cannabis is reg ulated or authorised by law in all of North America, most of South America, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
Mr. Speaker, this Government’s efforts to take
the next logical steps to establish a regulated medic inal cannabis regime were curtailed after public feed-back was largely indifferent. Public consultation over-whelmingly showed the public thought the cost, complexity, and proposed bureaucracy outweighed any
likely benefits for limited patients who would partic ipate or for attracting prospective entrepreneurs and
investors. The overarching call was for broader steps
toward legalisation for cannabis. The Government took a deeper look at how far cannabis reforms could
go. Raising the decriminalisation amount to above
7 grams of cannabis, similar to Portugal’s model of
wholesale decriminalisation, was not a feasible option
for Bermuda’s size and limited resources. Therefore, a
balancing exercise acknowledged that full legalisation
of cannabis without a robust regulatory framework
might have the unintended consequence of increasing
cannabis abuse and could negatively impact Berm uda’s pristine reputation. Inadequate regulation woul d
neither dissuade cannabis use nor eliminate the illegal
cannabis market, or prevent the known health risks
and associated social harms.
Mr. Speaker, the Government’s conclusion
was that we need a regulated cannabis regime tailored to Bermuda which would improve public health
and safety and which is not unjustifiably punitive. Opening up entrepreneur opportunities for all in the
post COVID -19 economic recovery, including for persons convicted of minor cannabis offences, became a necessary consideration. Soft -touch regulation w as
ruled out because it could not achieve the needed protections for vulnerable groups and would not sati sfy our national commitment to maintaining our favourable assessment in the mutual evaluation report by
the Caribbean Financial Action Taskforce for our effective anti -money laundering framework.
Mr. Speaker, the G overnment is mindful to
ensure that reforms effectively curtail the persistence of the illegal cannabis market of unknown quality and
potency and that the inherent exploitation within crim iBermuda House of Assembly nal enterprise would fade over time. The longer cannabis use remains criminalised, cannabis users would
largely be out of reach of prevention and risk reduction protocols and treatment services without also being caught up in the criminal justice system.
Mr. Speaker, scientific advances and attitudes
about cannabis now in dicate that the health risks of
using cannabis are lower than that of alcohol and t obacco. Dependence potential of cannabis is moderate
to low and on par with that of caffeine. However, local
cannabis use data places cannabis and alcohol side by side as dr ugs of choice in Bermuda. Reported lif etime consumption rates are at 78.7 per cent for alc ohol, 76.5 per cent for cannabis, and 70.4 per cent for
tobacco.
There is no escaping that alcohol and cannabis are cultural staples in a country where almost 99 per cent of people admit to taking drugs in their
lifetime. Law and policy models around cannabis i nterventions globally are shifting focus towards identif ying persons at high risk, modifying risk factors and risky behaviour, and modelling responsible use—the
same as for alcohol —instead of outdated criminality
focused models.
Mr. Speaker, the cannabis policy follows the
leading science that signals that health risks for can-nabis users are heightened for adolescents, persons with mental health challenges or a f amily history of
such, individuals with cardiovascular problems, and pregnant women. These high- risk factors can be
worsened by initial cannabis use in early adulthood,
near daily cannabis use, smoking cannabis plant m aterial, and by consuming cannabis wit h excessively
high THC levels. Because illegal cannabis is of u nknown quality or could be laced with other more har mful chemicals or drugs, available data suggests that
contamination of street cannabis could be an aggr avating factor.
The Cannabis Licensing Bill provisions effectively address each of these perspectives. An objective of the Bill is to restrict access for young persons
and discourage inducements to use cannabis, specif ically, persons under 21 are not permitted to consume
or use cannabis under the Bill. It will, therefore, be an
offence to supply or sell cannabis to a person under 21 years of age. Licensees will also have a duty to ensure that persons under 21 are not employed by
retail shops and not gain access to retail shops and
that cannabis or cannabis products from retail shops
are not procured for persons under 21. Applicable offences and penalties are included in the Bill with fines
for non- compliance being between $8,000 and
$40,000.
Mr. Speaker, examples of other safeguards
provided in the Bill are such that the Minister may, by
order, exclude harmful strains of cannabis from the licensing regime. Availability of cannabis is being curtailed to approved premises meeting strict guidelines,
and clearly prescribed packaging and design are r e-quired. Supply chains will need the approval of the
Authority to keep out criminal elements, and mechanisms for policies and resources and enhancing ed ucation, prevention, and treatment for at -risk groups
are also included. Strict security requirements for l icensed facilities and conditions on licences will be
imposed by the Authority.
Mr. Speaker, public education campaigns and
outreach will be promptly executed so that young per-sons and the general public understand the known
dangers of cannabis in the s ame manner as we educate on the dangers of alcohol and tobacco. The D epartment of National Drug Control and the Authority
will be tasked with collaborating to design and deliver
effective, targeted, prevention campaigns, improving
understanding of drug abu se, and the development of
the best possible responses to it. The intended messaging will emphasise responsible adult use and will
be sufficiently nuanced so as not to demonise positive
uses of cannabis. Public messaging ought to coincide
and reinforce other community -wide values exempl ified by parents and family members, educational inst itutions, and society generally. In addition, the mes-saging will promote responsible attitudes and beliefs
which will provide young people with the tools to decide on the m ost healthy course of action in regard to
the use of potentially addictive substances. Research shows that educational programmes focusing on learning how to manage emotions and stress do better in addressing the root causes of addiction and di ssuading you ng people away from using addictive substances rather than direct programmes focusing exclusively on drug abstinence.
Mr. Speaker, licensed cannabis activities wit hin the Bill’s licensing regime are ultimately designed to
allow adults to access regulated, quality -controlled
cannabis plant material, medicinal cannabis, cannabis products and cannabis -infused food products for m edicinal and personal use. The licence categories are
as follows:
• a tier 1 cultivation licence, to allow for the
growing, harvesting, drying, trimming or curing
of cannabis for adult personal use;
• a tier 2 cultivation licence, to allow for the growing, harvesting, drying, trimming, curing
or packaging of cannabis for medicinal cannabis for commercial purposes;
• a cannabis retail shop lic ence, to allow for the
operation of a cannabis retail shop for the sale
of cannabis or the sale and consumption of
cannabis;
• an import licence, to allow for the cannabis
and medicinal cannabis planting material for
cultivation from any country from which i t is
lawful to do so;
• a tier 1 manufacturing licence, to allow for ac-tivities relating to the processing of edible cannabis; and
416 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly • a tier 2 manufacturing licence, to allow for the
manufacturing of cannabis products or medi cinal cannabis products;
• an export l icence, to allow for the export of l ocally cultivated cannabis to a country in which
it is lawful to do so;
• a research licence, to allow for the conduct of
scientific research relating to the development
of medicinal cannabis;
• a transport licence, to allow for the transport
of cannabis or medicinal cannabis in Berm uda; and
• a cannabis event licence, to allow for the sale
and supply of cannabis at authorised private
or public events of an infrequent, but tempo-rary, nature.
Mr. Speaker, collectively, the proposed Bill
creates strict national regulation of cannabis to be en-forced by the Authority and police, each empowered
under the Bill to control and regulate cannabis within
the framework. HM Customs Department Officers r etain their role and powers for protect ing our borders
from drug trafficking. Ongoing cooperation between agencies will continue under the Bill and is essential
for the integrity of the regime.
Mr. Speaker, another dimension of the Bill is
that the associated licence fees are designed to avoid
a situation of champagne for the few instead of water
for all— to borrow an African expression from Thomas
Sankara. It is a priority of this Government to prioritise economic access to the licensing regime for all segments of our society. Licensing fees are accessible
and affordable, ranging from $500 for a tier 1 cultiv ation licence, $500 for a transport licence, and $750 for a private cannabis event licence. On the higher end of
the licensing regime, entrepreneurs can opt for retail
shop licences and research licences at $10,000 or
tier 2 commercial cultivation licence for $6,000.
Mr. Speaker, the Bill presented is the culmination of a comprehensive social justice reform project which includes extensive consultation and stakeholder
engagement from entities and experts across health,
law enforcement, finance and justice. The final iter ation of the initiative began during the previous legisl ative term, with the Government renewing its promise
for cannabis reform in the 2020 Speech from the Throne. The policy b ehind the Bill was informed by a
substantive public consultation throughout the policy
development phases and included the presentation of
an illustrated draft Bill. The final public consultation
exercise closed on July 3, 2020 with over 500 comments made by approximately 150 members of the
public, stakeholders, and affected entities.
Mr. Speaker, the public consultation not only
showed large numbers of supportive comments and ideas for improvement, it showed there is an over-whelming appetite for changes to our cannabis laws
and that the populace generally accepts that cannabis should be available lawfully under a licensed regime. The public feedback can be chiefly described as supporting the licensing system. Most contributors gave
views and insights into p articular provisions or shared
their individual opinions for or against the different policy options being pursued. There were less than a handful of persons holding against a regulated cann abis regime as proposed.
Most opposing attitudes offered explanat ions
and suggestions. Certainly, all contributions were
constructive, thoughtful, and valuable. Not surprisingly, the quality of some consultation submissions un-covered substantial local cannabis expertise waiting in
the shadows and margins of society to t ake root. It is
anticipated that our homegrown experts are readying
themselves to start their local cannabis operations.

[Desk thumping]

Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Mr. Speaker, on 2 D ecember 2020 the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs
decided by 27 votes to 25, with one abstention, to delete cannabis and cannabis resin from Schedule IV of
the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the
listing of the most harmful psychotropic drugs. The UK
Government voted in favour of this change.
Mr. Speaker, with this change by the United
Nations’ oversight bodies they radically removed
some of the structural hurdles in emerging cannabis industries globally. It effectively allows for greater n ational competence for signatories to enact legislation
to allow increased medic inal, scientific and industrial
uses of cannabis without falling afoul of the three m ajor international narcotics conventions. The reclassif ication of cannabis was resulted from World Health
Organization [WHO] recommendations, recognising
therapeutic and t reatment benefits of cannabis, further
indicating that it is not liable to produce ill effects sim ilar to other drugs in Schedule IV, such as heroin, fentanyl and opioids.
Mr. Speaker, the Government is aware that
United Nations Treaties oversight body, th e International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), has articulated the limitation that domestic laws of cannabis can only
be allowed for medicinal, scientific, and industrial purposes. The Bill before us goes to permit lawful uses of cannabis for personal adu lt use and other licensed
activities. In doing so, the Bill’s provisions will exceed
the prescribed limits of the various narcotics conventions. The Government of Bermuda is pursuing all di plomatic and legal options to deliver on its promise to our people, fully cognisant of the UK’s role to ensure
compliance with International Narcotics Conventions
extended to Bermuda. However, Bermuda, as a small
overseas territory of the UK, democratically desires for
social, cultural, and public health reasons to chart its
own distinct course in the difficult area of cannabis reform, while adhering to international law to the greatest extent possible.



Bermuda House of Assembly [Desk thumping]

Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: As Bermuda is a nonstate party to the Narcotics Conventions, the conventions are extended to us by the United Kingdom Government. International law requires that territorial application of treaty obligations of signatory state parties
requires the consent of the territory government. The
UK Government and Government House has confirmed support for Bermuda’s policy and legislation
only so far as it does not contravene the UK’s international obligations. To be clear, the Governor has indicated that she will be unable to assent to any legisl ation that contravenes our international obl igations.
Mr. Speaker, it is worth noting that the UK are
already entangled in a diplomatic stalemate with the British Virgin Islands because of Her Majesty’s UK
Government’s refusal to assent to two cannabis related Bills. The BVI’s Cannabis Licensing A ct, 2020
would open up commercial opportunities related to
medicinal cannabis in the territory. Also, the BVI’s Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Amendment Act, 2020
sought to decriminalise possession of small amounts
of cannabis and erase some previous convict ions. It is
reported that the UK is withholding assent because
they were not consulted during the Bill’s development
and to secure a Memorandum of Understanding grant ing the UK Government a binding role in the terr itory’s licensing authority.
Mr. Speaker, the Government of Bermuda has
consulted with the UK and Government House during
our laws development. As previously stated, Bermuda
has already passed laws to decriminalise small amounts of cannabis, and medicinal cannabis is a lready available under our existing law. Should the UK
Government take the same approach for Bermuda as
they have in the BVI, the Government of Bermuda will
have to reconsider the terms of its consent to the Na rcotics Convention.

[Desk thumping]
Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Mr. Speaker, the mut uality of Bermuda’s relationship with the UK requires
the UK Government to support the democratic aspir ations of Bermuda by representing our interests in the
international arena, insulating Bermuda from any potential INCB [ International Narcotics Control Board]
sanctions. Even though we are officially represented
by the UK Government at the international level, Bermuda’s own voice on issues which affect our political,
economic or financial interests must be represented. This was a position framed as far back as the tenure
of Sir Edward Trenton Richards, Bermuda’s first Black
Government Leader from 1971 to 1973. [.

[Desk thumping]
Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Mr. Speaker, let us be
clear, Bermuda is met with a dilemma—continue to
wait for the INCB and other state parties to catch up to
modern attitudes on cannabis and miss the opportun ity to give a real change and economic opportunities for our people, or to meet the potential international
challenges head- on. The road to progress is never
perfect. Pr ogress comes at a cost. The legendary US
Congressman John Lewis, best known for his lockstep advocacy alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., po werfully tweeted in June 2018: “Never . . . be afraid to
make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” Defending Bermuda’s democratic policy pos ition on cannabis on the international front is the type
of “trouble” this Government is not afraid to get into.

[Desk thumping]

Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Mr. Speaker, Bermuda
can be confident that the pathwa y to a regulated ca nnabis legal framework has been trailblazed by Canada
and 36 states within the United States of America. Other jurisdictions further afield, like Uruguay, have a
completely regulated cannabis sector with Mexico’s
legal cannabis industry expected to come on line by
the end of 2021. Remarkably, Mexico’s legalisation
was driven by a Supreme Court ruling that cannabis use falls under constitutionally protected modes of individual self -expression and that country’s desire to
eradicate drug car tels.
Canada and the USA by enacting domestic
laws permitting personal adult use of cannabis and creating regulatory frameworks for cannabis for cannabis industry are in the position of respectful noncompliance in regard to the International Narcotics
Conventions. Notwithstanding, neither country has
been subject to any sanction by the INCB despite Canada being called an international rebel and the
INCB declaring its legislated regime to be weakening the drug treaty framework. Respectfully, it would be
disingenuous for the INCB to take a hard- line a pproach against Bermuda’s cannabis laws in the face
of two G7 state parties to the conventions notoriously
in non- compliance with their treaty obligations.
Mr. Speaker, the cannabis policy and laws
emanating fr om the Americas and Caribbean region
are more coherent with local views and culture. Pr evailing views in these regions, like those in Bermuda,
recognise that contemporary science and risk -based
harm reduction strategies are far more effective at preventing cannabis misuse and illegal trades in cannabis than a prohibitionary approach advocated by the
INCB. The cannabis laws from the model jurisdictions
informing this Bill are sensibly consistent with the
overall objective and purpose of the narcotics conve ntions, that is, to be concerned with the health and welfare of mankind. This is per recital to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
418 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly This Government believes that a regulated
cannabis industry, even one which permits respons ible adult use, has greater likelihood of safeguarding
the health and welfare of our population than the st atus quo, systems that criminalise users and continue
to proliferate despite all the best law enforcement efforts.

[Desk thumping]

Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Mr. Speaker, I expect
this Bill will receive bipartisan support. Let me explain
why. Despite the rainbow coalition of candidates run
by the OBA in the 2020 election, they collectively
failed to address cannabis reforms or even examine the impact of drug enforcement or drug use in their
election platform. Fanciful buzz headings in their platform, such as, “equitable wealth creation,” “restorative
justice,” and “social contract,” they remained silent on
the subject of cannabis reforms and without any su bstantive discussion or critique of the Government’s
policy intentions.
At the time of the election cannabis reforms
had been widely reported on, two public consultation exercises had been completed, and two illustrative
Bills have been laid in the legislature for public and
parliamentary scrutiny. In fact, cannabis is referenced
only once in the OBA’s 2020 party platform and there
is no reference to drug policy generally. I dare you to
search.
And what, you ask, is the singular cannabis
issue the opposition party was focused on? I quote, “Re-examining cannabis growing legislation to ensure
that any legalisation would provide real entrepreneur ial opportunities.” The failure to engage meaningfully
on cannabis reform in the OBA’s platform was trailed
by the silence on cannabis reforms in the Opposition’s
Reply to the Throne Speech under the new party
leader, the Honourable Member for constituency 8.
Mr. Speaker, if I may, let me also cast our
memories back to 2014. That was when the Honour able Member from constituency 10 held t he portfolio of
Minister of National Security. In January of that year
the Honourable Member is on record “rubbishing” the
PLP Opposition’s proposals to decriminalise small amounts of cannabis. He spoke publicly calling de-criminalisation reckless and that he would “refuse to
believe that this is supported by the people of Berm uda.” Yet, by November the OBA had changed tack proposing policies to allow for approved medicinal
cannabis pharmaceuticals and giving wider police di scretion to caution first -time cannabis possession offenders in his 2014 Throne Speech.
Also, that same year, the OBA Government
commissioned and supported a comprehensive analysis of cannabis reform in Bermuda by a group called the Cannabis Reform Collaborative. That group’s fin dings and recommendations, published in April 2014 in
a 137- page report, by and large captures the policies of this Government’s cannabis reforms, including the
social justice and social equity underpinnings to ca nnabis reforms. One month after that report’s public ation, the Honourable Member was appointed Premier,
retaining the portfolio of Minister of National Security.
So, what exactly did the OBA do while in government to advance cannabis reforms? Did they
shelve the report? Was it simply an exercise to pl acate or garner Black support? Respectfully, I leave it
to the Opposition Members to explain their party’s
half-baked position on cannabis and inertia in impl ementing the substantive reforms recommended in
2014 report they commissioned. They can choose to
rise today banging pots and pans in a display of [INAUDIBLE] against the Bill, if their conscience allows.
But in reality, the Opposition have no real standing to
oppose the policy changes in this Bill because they gave no input during its development and they r epeatedly failed to deliver on meaningful cannabis r eform during their term in Government.
Whatever the OBA’s position today, they never had the public trust to advance credible reforms on cannabis. Incontestably, it is the PLP Government
who possessed t he legitimacy and audacity to pr ogress cannabis reforms on a resounding mandate
from the people.

[Desk thumping]

Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Mr. Speaker, political
dynamics aside, cannabis has already gone mai nstream. Industries are emerging and growing st eadily
in all of our gateway neighbours. We have fixed our
gaze towards Canada’s and the USA’s example. We
are bold enough to chart our own course to create
economic opportunities for our citizens. The Bill pr esented opens the door for a viable, vibrant an d equitable cannabis industry in Bermuda. There will not be
large monopolies dominating the industry. We have designed a framework that encourages entry to the
business for small and medium -sized entrepreneurs
as well as large companies.
Overall, the Bill accomplishes an agile regul atory framework for cannabis in Bermuda that can grow
in line with the evolutionary needs of local industry and can be further adapted as cannabis regulatory
models emerge globally.

[Desk thumping]
Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Mr. Speaker, construc ting an entirely new regulated industry is not altogether
unlike building a house. This Bill represents the tent,
foundation, walls and roof needed to shore up the
cannabis industry in Bermuda. The legislation cannot
possibly, at this st age, capture every eventuality, a nswer every technical challenge the industry may face,
nor be tailored to match the myriad of business pr oposals imagined. Continuing with the same metaphor,


Bermuda House of Assembly the expert tradesperson, such as industry experts,
entrepreneurs, investors, the banking industry, the
Office of the National Anti -Money Laundering Commi ttee, and the Authority will be able to influence the f uture design of added specifics within the existing l icensing regime. Each of these stakeholder groups will
have the benefit of the clear regulatory framework of
the Bill to inform their due diligence and risk analysis
before participating or discharging the operational
mandate with regard to the cannabis market. With
their expertise, they will have the best understanding of the potential risks associated with any ambiguities
in the licensing regime, identify ways of improving s ecurity issues, safeguards, and dynamics from within
the specific areas they operate.
Thus, Mr. Speaker, regulation- making powers
are included within the legislation, allowing the Mini ster responsible to make specific and general regul ations to enhance the regulated licensing regime. Add itionally, the principal Act can be amended by regul ation to include future development. By modelling our framework on the Canadian model, Bermuda can also
rely on Canada’s experience with regard to maintai ning its high anti -money laundering rating, notwit hstanding its regulated cannabis industry. Applying the
Canadian lessons will ensure that our Mutual Evalu ation Report by the Caribbean Financial Action Task
Force continues to demonstrate our effective anti -
money laundering compliance.
Mr. Speaker, the totality of the proposed legi slation, together with the miscellaneous amendments that will shortly be proposed, provide for a better, effective regulatory control framework for cannabis to displace the illicit market, protect the youth and vu lnerable persons, and finally, redress legacy harms
afflicting Black families. It provides fair and equitable
access to part icipate in the proposed market at a time
when the economy and families are suffering and
searching for new economic activities and opportunities. The passage of this Bill and the future implementation will deliver the greatest good for the greatest
number.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this time to
thank the team of technical officers who have worked
tirelessly over the last two years to get us to this point:
Jason Outerbridge, our lawyer and policy analyst; Amani Lawrence, our Parliamentary Counsel, a ided
by Assistant Parliamentary Counsel Alsha Wilson. All
are part of an effective and dedicated team and to
them I will always be thankful.
With those remarks, Mr. Speaker, I move that
the Bill be committed.

[Desk thumping]

There we go.
Mr. Speaker, this Bill has a lot of problems.
But it does have one positive. It is consistent. The
consistency of t his Bill is that no matter what position
you may take on cannabis use, this Bill is not for you.
That is right. No matter what your position on cannabis use may be, this Bill is not for you.
If you are a believer in the prohibition against
cannabis, if you believe that drug use and abuse
erodes the very fabric of our society, then this Bill is not for you. Because this Bill will legalise cannabis
and, in all probability, it will lead to increased drug
use.
If you are a believer in decriminalisation of
cannabis, if you believe that it is wrong for people to
be incarcerated or criminalised for cannabis use, then this Bill is also not for you. Cannabis is already d ecriminalised in Bermuda, it was decriminalised in
2017. This Bill does nothing to alter that. Dec riminal isation has already happened.
If you are a believer in full legalisation of cannabis, if you believe that adults should have the freedom of choice to use cannabis where and when they
wish, then this Bill is also not for you, because this Bill
is no t about freedom of choice.
What this Bill is is actually very clear from the
title of the Bill itself. This Bill is about the licensing of
cannabis. And licensing and licences, as we know, Mr. Speaker, are ultimately about control. Licences
are about cost .
Mr. Speaker, the Bill before you today is
somewhat different than the Bill that was originally provided to the public in draft. It is notable that in the
draft Bill there was Section 3, which said what the object of the Bill was, and it was to provide for a regul atory and licensing system. Well, Section 3 of the draft
420 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Bill with the stated object of the Bill has now been r emoved from the final Bill before the House today. Why
is that? Why would someone want to not say what the
object of the Bill was anymor e?
In short, Mr. Speaker, this is a Bill
which is really about who controls the manufacture, importation, and supply of cannabis in Bermuda.
Simply put this Bill is about money —cold, hard cash—
and ultimately, it is about who gets that money. This
Bill is about corporate cannabis. It is about the commercialisation of cannabis. It is about a licensing sy stem to dictate where the money will go and who will get the money. So, yes, the Bill is about the licensing
of cannabis because, ultimately, this is about w ho
gets the cash.
Mr. Speaker, let me first speak to those who
think that cannabis is a bad thing, those who think that
there are perils involved and that the society is right to
prohibit cannabis. This Bill is clearly not for you. If you
are a believer in prohibition, if you believe that drug
use and drug abuse erodes the very fabric of our s ociety, then this Bill is not for you. If you are concerned
that the proximity of drugs will lead to increased drug
use, then this Bill is not for you, because cannabi s will
be more widely available than it is now. And as the
legalisation in Colorado and other places has shown
us, there will likely be an increase in use. And if you are concerned as a Bermudian that the increased use
of drugs will lead to greater risk of abuse of drugs,
then this Bill is not for you. Because this Bill does not
provide —

Hon. Jason Hayward: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

As I was saying, Mr. Speaker, if
you are against cannabis, if you are for the prohibition
of cannabis, this Bill is not for you because this Bill
does not provide adequate support systems for
abuse. It is about licensing. It is about the commercialisation of cannabis. It is about corporate cannabis.
If you are concerned that the increased use of
drugs will lead to increased addiction, then this Bill is not for you as well. Bermuda already has substantial
addiction issues. Bermuda already has insufficiently
supported addiction issues. If we have significant a ddiction issues before this Bill, then what does our
community look like when this Bill passes? Mr. Speaker, like many, many others in Bermuda, I have witnessed personally the damage that
addiction can do, the damage that addiction can do
both to the life of an addict and the damage that a ddiction can to do the lives of those who love that a ddict. For people who have been there, who have seen the sadness and the depravity, have experienced the
lies, the tears, the breakdown and the damage that
addiction can cause—cause to anyone who just
slips—then this Bill is not for you.
Mr. Speaker, let us speak next to those who
think that people should not be punished for cannabis use, and that decriminalisation of cannabis is the correct approach. This Bill is not f or you either. Bermuda
has already decriminalised cannabis possession of up to 7 grams when the law was changed in 2017. Al though the Honourable and Learned Attorney General,
when introducing the Bill in the Senate and again t oday, spoke about social justi ce, the fact is that the r emoval of the injustice of criminality for cannabis pos-session happened four years ago. That is not what
this Bill is about and it should not be dressed up in this
way.
Take the stop list. What about the social injustice of the U S stop list? If you believe that Bermudians
should not be prevented from going to the United States —

Hon. Jason Hayward: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

I cannot tell that you are reading direc tly because we are not in the House, but I am just cautioning everybody that we k now you are not supposed
to . . . you should not be reading directly a word for
word speech. But you are entitled to look at your
notes. But I trust that you are not reading word for
word.

It will be good when we are.
So, if you believe, Mr. Speaker, as I do, that
Bermudians shoul d not be prevented from going to
the United States because of a prior cannabis convi ction, then this Bill does not resolve that significant i ssue for you. It does nothing. This Bill is not about
whether people should be incarcerated for cannabis
possession. Ironically, if you believe in decriminalis ation of cannabis, Part 6 of this new Bill provides for a
cluster of new criminal offences. And I will come back
to those offences in a bit.
But if your objection to the illegality of cann abis is that people—and most often, people of colour —
are wrongly charged, convicted and sent to prison
when they should not be, then this Bill does not ad-dress that either, because that is decriminalisation
and that has been dealt with.
Mr. Speaker, let me now speak to those who
think that cannabis is a question of personal freedom—legalisation —people who think that as freedom -
loving adults, that they should be able to go to the
park or to a beach or to a bar, smoke a joint, swallow
an edible and for a little while block out the frustrations
which life may be throwing at them. It may surprise
you to hear this, but when you actually read and think about this Bill, you will find that this Bill is not for them
either. This Bill is not about the people’s plant, it is
about corporate cannabis plain and simple. If you support legalisation, you should know
that the 7- gram limit under the 2017 Act for decrim inalisation is not being changed unless you pay for a
licence. Take a look at [clause] 19 of the Bill. Take a look at [clause] 44(1) (c) of the Bill, and you will not be
free to sit down where you like and spark a joint. And
if you want to grow your own cannabis at home, you
will have to be licensed. There will be an application
fee of $250 and a licence fee of $500 for you to pay.
And that is an annual licence fee every year —the
Government’s stealth cannabis tax for homegrown
weed.
There will also be a limit on what you can
grow. The Bill actually provides that the police come into your home if you have more than your permitted
amount. [Clause] 44 with Offences provides for a fine
of $5,000 or up to two years imprisonment. That is not
the legalisation of cannabis. That is not even the decriminalisation of cannabis. Someone is going to jail,
potentially for two years, and for what? One or two
extra pot plants on their back porch? That is what this
Bill is.

And my point of order is to the
MP who is speaking now, what you are saying is that
if you . . . that this Bill says that if you got caught with
over the limit that you are allowed, but at present, if
you got caught with just one you would get more than two years for growing just one plant at your house.
So, we are at least fixing that, Mr. Speaker, just for a
point of order.

This is not the legalisation of
cannabis.
Before you even get a licence for those pot
plants, the Authority has to come to your house, conduct an inspection, take photos, they can even estab422 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly lish the boundaries of your property. Take a look at
[clause] 23 of the Bill. It provides that there—

An. Hon. Member: Mr. Speaker, there was a point of
order.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am
not quite sure what that point of order was, but as I
have said, for those who seek legalisation of cannabis
as an opportunity to enhance personal freedom, this Bill is not for you.
The Government will still be able to control the
strains and the strength, take a look at [clause] 6 of
the Bill. This is relevant because if the strength of the
cannabis sold on the Island is regulated, as it will be
by this Bill, the pe ople will look for stronger cannabis if
they wish and the illegal drug market will continue.
Take a look, Mr. Speaker, at the Penalties for
the Bill in Part 6. Take a look at [clause] 44. “No person shall knowingly” (and I am reading, Mr. Speaker,
now fro m the Act) “No person shall knowingly —(a)
use or engage in the use of cannabis in a public place, except in a cannabis retail shop or at a cann abis event.” So, no park bench for you, no beach, no
bar . . . cannot go to the dock, cannot go out on your
boat. Also, “No person shall knowingly —(b) supply or
sell cannabis to a person under the age of 21 years.”

I am looking forward to the other
speakers, Mr. Speaker.
Continuing on, the Offences in [clause] 44.
“No person shall knowingly —(b) supply or sell cann abis to a person under the age of 21 years.”
Twenty -one years. I will come back to that in a
second. [Cl ause] 44(1)(c) “No person shall knowin gly— (c) possess cannabis that is more than 7 grams in
a public place” —

Hon. E. David Burt: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Point of order.

POINT OF ORDER
Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, if . . . just so one
question, I understand the Honourable Member is excited about this debate and is clearly going to tell everyone what he opposes, but I do not believe that we
are permitted to refer to actual clauses as we are debating the principles of the Bill. If we are going to be
examining particular clauses, those would be done during the Committee stage. I think we are speaking
on general principles and not specific clauses during
this part of the debate, Mr. Speaker.

I am sorry. I am duly directed,
Mr. Speaker. Duly directed and I am sorry that the
Honourable Premier feels the need to intervene.
What I am doing is pointing out the various
offences that are being introduced by this new B ill.
And without reference to the clauses, I will refer to the
next one— No person shall knowingly possess cannabis that is more than 7 grams in a public place unless
he is the holder of a relevant licence that authorises
him to do so.
No person shall know ingly handle cannabis
with intent, whether by him or some other person, for


Bermuda House of Assembly supply unless he is the holder of the relevant licence
that authorises him to do so, et cetera, Mr. Speaker.
So, we are introducing a whole slew of new
penalties. And if you suppo rt legalisation, then this Bill
is not legalisation.
Turning to the issue, Mr. Speaker, of age. I
say it again, people who think that as freedom -loving
adults they should be able to go to the park or to a
beach or to a bar and smoke a joint or swallow an e dible, the Bill is not for you, because you may be an adult at 18, you may be a husband or a wife, you may have children, you may serve in the Regiment, but this
Bill will not let you have a licence until you are 21
years old. I will not refer to the sect ion, but it is in
there.
And not only that, let us say you already have
a shop and you want to get a licence to sell cannabis,
but you have employees who might be 18 or 19 or 20,
well, you are going to have to fire them. I will not refer
you to the section. How can you tell an 18- year-old
that he or she is too young to have that job? And as
for that Bermudian entrepreneur who wants to run that
cannabis shop, for every year the application fee of
$250 and the licence fee of $10,000 —every year.
And what about the illegal drug market? What
about those under 21? Does anyone actually think that people under 21 are going to stop cannabis use because of this Bill?
So, Mr. Speaker, who is this for? If this Bill is
not for all of the people I have mentioned, if this Bill is
not for people from all sides of the cannabis debate,
then who is the Bill for? Who will be the Mr. Big in
terms of manufacture, importation and supply of can-nabis? This Bill is about the creation of a licensing
system for corporate cannabis. Who will be the shar eholders of that company? Will it be a monopoly? Do
tell.
When the Attorney General tabled this Bill on
the 11
th of December, she stated that she “[looked]
forward to debating the provisions of this Bill and the
benefits the proposed n ew law would provide . . . .”
She said, “I am confident that the . . . Bill is . . . suff iciently comprehensive to garner cross -aisle support.”
Given how little this Bill actually meets anyone’s ex-pectations, other than one or two big players and their
shareholders, people who already have enough mon-ey to secure and pay the licenses for manufacturing or
importation, what is the benefit of the Bill?
The Opposition calls upon those across the
aisle to tell us why this Bill should be passed. We
would genuinely like to hear from the Honourable and
Learned Minister of Health as to what impact this Bill
will have on the physical and mental health issues of
Bermuda, Bermudians, and on addiction issues.
Where is the increased support for those who, like so
many of us, may battle with addiction and fall victim? In Colorado, just before cannabis was legalised, in
that period and for the next five years hospital visits nearly doubled in Colorado because of cannabis l egalisation.
As to the Honourable Minister of Nationa l Security, we would like to hear what she thinks of the Bill
as the Minister responsible for drug prevention. What does she think the impact of the Bill will be? In partic ular, what will it be on the illegal drug market and the
illegal market —

Hon. Derri ck V. Burgess, Sr.: Point of order, Mr.
Speaker.

Point of order. We will take a point of
order.

POINT OF ORDER
[Standing Order 19(7)]
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes. Mr. Speaker, the
Honourable Member is continuously reading his
notes. Mr. Speaker, the rule is quite clear, if you are
going to read your notes then you have to provide copies to all Members. You cannot read like that. You
can refer to your notes, you cannot read them. Standing Orders are very clear.

Yes, duly directed, Mr. Speaker.
Excuse me for one second, I am just plugging in my
device here as the battery is getting low.
So, Mr. Speaker, what I was saying before the
point of or der was that I hope that we will hear from
the Minister of National Security, the Honourable
Renee Ming, as to what she thinks will be the impact
of this Bill.
Likewise, we would like to hear from the Mi nister of Education, the Honourable Diallo Rabain, as to
what he thinks of this Bill. What does he think will be
the impact on our kids and the impact on our schools?
Many of those in this Chamber will have chi ldren, some of us will have very young children, I
would like to hear from MPs about what they t hink this
Bill will do to our children and families. We would like
to hear from —genuinely hearfrom —the Minister of
Labour, the Honourable Jason Hayward, as to what
he thinks of this Bill. What does he think will be the
impact on work attendance, employee performance,
and job retention?
The Opposition would like to genuinely hear
from the Honourable Minister of Social Development as to what she thinks about this Bill. What does the
Honourable Tinee Furbert think will be the impact on
those who fall victim to addiction? And how does the
Minister and our community plan to cope with this when it happens? Because it will happen, just as it already happens now with alcohol and with prescri ption and legal drugs. Our social support system is
424 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly struggling already. What does the Honourable Mini ster have to say about this Bill and its impact? What
about the impact from third sector agencies? What
have they told the Minister?
Leaving aside the money that will almost certainly be made by a select few on the importation, manufacture and sale of cannabis, what are (quote)
“the benefits the proposed new laws will provide”
which the Honourable and Learned Attorney General
has hinted at?
We have had a long opening speech from the
Honourable and Learned Attorney General. In fai rness, the speech that she gave was largely directed,
quite properly, at the unfortunate fact of illegality for
drug use and for cannabis use, which is already dealt with by those who support decriminalisation. But her
speech was not about the Bill today.
So, Mr. Speaker, the Opposition shall wait to
hear with genuine interest what is said in the debate
by those on the Government’s side. But as things
presently stand, this Bill really seems to offer one thing —the prospect of a whole lot of money placed in
the hands of very, very few. The Honourable and
Learned Attorney General made a reference to champagne for the few instead of water for all. Unintentio nally, I think she hit the mark with this Bill.
If you support prohibition, this Bill is not for
you.
If you support decriminalisation, this Bill is not
for you.
If you support cannabis legalisation, this Bill is
not for you.
Then who, then, is this Bill really for? Mr.
Speaker, on this very, very important issue for our
island community the Opposition b elieves this: For a
range of reasons, all of them carefully considered, and
from a range of beliefs, all of them reasonably held,
Bermudians deserve far better than the Government’s
current corporate cannabis Bill. The Premier has indicated publicly that t his will be a conscience vote for
PLP MPs and the Opposition will be calling for a name
vote.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Okay. Good afternoon to the
listening public and to my fellow colleagues.
Mr. Speaker, I speak in support this afternoon
for the Attorney General and her team for bringing this
Cannabis Licensing Act 2021 to the House. I have
four short words to say, Mr. Speaker. It is long overdue.
In my comments I have three key points I
would hit on, Mr. Speaker, but I will first give a short, brief history of my experience. I do not proclaim m yself as an expert on cannabis, Mr. Speaker, but I can
say that over the last 20 years I have done much r esearch and collected as much information as possible
about it as I can. And I have been advocating for the
change of the stigma of cannabis, Mr. Speaker. I was born in the 1980s, during the era of
Nancy Reagan, the wife of President Ronald Reagan.
I grew up and I can always vividly recall the Just say
no commercials, the Nope to dope commercials, Mr.
Speaker. I also can vividly recall watching TV and
seeing commercials where you have a big circle and it
would say This is your brain and then a small circle
that would say This is your brain on drugs. I also recall
other commercials, Mr. Speaker, where there would
be a hard- boiled egg in a frying pan and it would say
This is your brain, and then they would crack it open
and as the egg white and the yolk fried in the pan it
would say This is your brain on drugs.
Mr. Speaker, that is when we grew up —my
era—a [biased], one- sided opinion on what drugs
were.
Mr. Speaker, at about 15 and a half or 16
years of age I had a wide awakening when I found
that that was not the only opinion on cannabis. At 16
years of age I then wanted to learn as much as I could
about cannabis because for so long we had been
taught that drugs kill, that you can . . . and Mr. Speaker, I was , maybe, a little naïve when I was younger,
but I assumed that it meant you would die instantly or
that, you know, drugs kill you the moment you take
them. And that is because from that one- sided a pproach that is all we got.
So, Mr. Speaker, at 16 years old when I found
out otherwise, I wanted to do as much research as
possible. At 18 when I went off to college, Mr. Speaker, in my freshman year there was a class project
where we had a debate on cannabis, to legalise it or
not, and I had to be on the side t hat was for it.
Mr. Speaker, with the materials and resources
or access to resources at a collegiate level, I was able to delve deeper into my research on cannabis. And,
again, I sort of broadened and got away from that one
biased opinion that I had been brought up on all my
life.
Mr. Speaker, I do not want to go too far down
that way because I do have my points to hit, but I will
just finish that by saying this: In the mid- 2000s there


Bermuda House of Assembly was a documentary series that came out called Wired.
It was put on b y Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a well -known doctor. He has been on the TV and different talk shows
before. At that point in time he was an ardent [INAUDIBLE] he did not support cannabis. He was against it
as far away from it as possible. At the end of this docu- serie s where he did investigations on cannabis
and the medicinal benefits of it and how it would help
those who dealt with chronic illnesses, he had a total
[180] degree turn and he is now an advocate for the
responsible and correct use of cannabis, whether m edicinal or recreational use, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I will go to my three points that I
have. My first, there is much that I can say on cannabis, but I know there are other speakers and I know that they do not want to hear my voice all night. So, I
will just limit it to three points that I want to hit.
Mr. Speaker, the first is redemption. I say “r edemption” because for the last 70- odd years there has
been this war on drugs. For 70 years —you say that
and it is mind- blowing— we are going to do the same
thing for 70- odd years and get the same result, which
is not success, Mr. Speaker. And if I look up the def inition of “insanity” in the dictionary, Mr. Speaker, it
says doing the same thing over and over again and
getting the same result. So for the last 70- odd years
world governments have been insane because they
have been doing the same thing over and over again.
Mr. Speaker, it is well -known that the prohibition of cannabis has been used as a discriminatory
racial tool to harm minorities. In Bermuda the B lack
people might not be a minority, but they are in other
parts of the world. In Bermuda we are the majority and in Bermuda, in the majority, [cannabis is still being]
used as a discriminatory and racialised tactic. For 70
years this has harmed and negati vely affected young
Black men, Black families, even white families, Port uguese families —everyone has been affected, Mr.
Speaker. There were young men that got caught with
a small joint and they could not go off to school to further their education and they are then stuck on this
rock, Mr. Speaker, all because of one joint.
Mr. Speaker, the time has come for change
and redemption. Redemption, I refer to, again, Mr. Speaker, because [it] states in the Bill that the Bill is
looking to encourage persons who ha ve been affected
by this, persons who have been incarcerated, persons
who are . . . while now it is an illegal illicit trade , Mr.
Speaker, but persons who have the experience in it,
at present, they are being criminalised against. So,
redemption is that t hose who have served time in
prison, away from their families for something that the
world’s attitude is changing on, Bermuda is not the
first place to take this approach, Mr. Speaker. We
have seen Canada. Canada did it in 2017. And as
much as the previous speaker before me said that
“this Bill is not for you,” the way it is now is not for you,
Mr. Speaker. The OBA and all that was said by the previous
speaker before me, not one alternative was mentioned, Mr. Speaker, not one. So, you would rather
have it t he way it is now and not change it, [rather]
than try to at least have some changes so that we can
. . . as the consultation period showed, that this is for
Bermuda. The consultation period that was done last
year showed that medicinal [use] was not the in terest,
they wanted recreational use. So, Mr. Speaker, the
next consultation showed that this is what Bermuda
wants. And, yes, there are those who opposed it, but the overall majority that did this consultation, Mr.
Speaker, showed that this is what Bermuda wants.
Mr. Speaker, the redemption for persons who
have been affected by this, persons who were using this illicit trade to make illegal funds before, can now
do a 180 degree turn and now apply for permits to have legal businesses which they have the expertise
in. We talk much of importing expertise into Bermuda.
Well, in this particular case, Mr. Speaker, with this
cannabis industry, we have the expertise here in multiple Bermudians who, while this is an illicit drug, par-ticipate in it.
You know, they h ave been caught and they
have served their time. They have the expertise, Mr. Speaker. So, they now can have the opportunity to
take what they were making . . . what was an illegal
substance and making illegal cash, they can now make legal cash and have legit legal businesses. So,
this is about giving a second chance to persons that
fell afoul of a law that is unjust, Mr. Speaker, and it
has been proven to be unjust.
The usage rates of cannabis are equal, one to
one, in people of colour versus white people, Mr. Speaker. But the incarceration rates, Mr. Speaker, are
almost triple to quadruple that of Blacks to whites. So,
this goes to prove that this is an unjust system the
way it is. It has been used as a racial tool to harm and
to negatively affect and dis proportionately harm the
Black people, whether in Bermuda as a majority or in
other parts of the world where they are a minority, Mr.
Speaker.
So, Mr. Speaker, this Bill as a way to redem ption will help to address and correct. And I will just
input, Mr. Speaker, that the PLP has shown over the last three years that step by step we have been looking to address that. — In 2017 we did the decriminal isation of marijuana of up to 7 grams. The speaker
before me referenced much of that, but Mr. Speaker,
he did reference to say that if you feel that you can
carry in public, if you are over this you can still be charged.
Mr. Speaker, research has shown that 7
grams is an acceptable personal amount to have on you. So, persons who want to carry more than that . . .
that is not the average. The average person, at pr esent, that carries more than that on them is for retail [reasons]. So, we are looking at the persons who want
426 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly to have personal possession, which is 7 grams or
less, Mr. Speaker.
And Mr. Speaker, the Member bef ore me
mentioned a lot about how this Bill we are putting forth
“is not for you” because it would encourage the usage
of young people to go higher. Mr. Speaker, I would
ask of that Member to do research on the country of
Portugal. In 2000 Portugal decriminalised all drugs, all
hard drugs —cannabis, cocaine, crack, heroin, dope —
all drugs. They decriminalised it and allowed for persons to, instead of using it on the street hidden in an
alley somewhere, that they can go to a clinic, use
clean needles so that there is not the sharing of AIDS
and that, you know, people are not overdosing and
dying in the streets by doing that, Mr. Speaker. And the research is across all the drugs, but as we are
specific to cannabis, I will talk specifically to cannabis.
What the P ortuguese have found is that, since the
year 2000, which is over 20 years ago, Mr. Speaker,
the usage rates of young people, which was expected
to go sky high, [remained stable]. They did not . . .
after a few years it evened out, it did not drop, it did
not go higher.
And what one reason used for that, Mr.
Speaker, is that it is human nature. If you tell som eone not to do something because it is bad, it is wrong,
it is illegal, they will do it. If you tell your seven -yearold child, Do not touch that hot s tove, they will consider it and, if you are not looking, they will do it. If you
tell your seven- or eight -year-old child, Do not take the
cookie out of the cookie jar , they will, when you are
not looking, take the cookie out of the cookie jar, Mr.
Speaker .
So, the research showed that by making it decriminalised, the attraction of something decriminalised has gone away. It is not the big bad bogeyman
that your mama said don’t do or don’t try because it is
now decriminalised. So, that attraction has been taken
away, Mr. Speaker.
So, Mr. Speaker, I did get caught up, but I will
now move on to my next point and it is about the ed ucation. And when I say “education,” I refer back to my
earlier comments regarding Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Educ ation on the medicinal benef its of cannabis, Mr. Speaker. And I will apologise in advance that I may go a little deep but, as I said, I have done a lot of research, Mr. Speaker.
The chemical that makes up cannabis, CBD,
which is c annabidiol, . . . is well -known by research
and science and scientific fact that our bodies have
cells in them called CBD receptor cells, which means
that our body has already been wired and pr ogrammed to accept the CBD from cannabis in our
bodies. That is why persons who have chronic illnes ses, Mr. Speaker, off-hand I cannot think of any chronic
illnesses, but persons who live in constant pain, they
have seizures and different things like that, it is well -
known, researched, and a proven fact that cannabis has a healing effect on that. It calms down persons who have seizures. They can live better lives, going
from having 20, 50 seizures a day it is proven that a person can down to having two seizures a day and
even less, being able to live a normal life, Mr. Speaker.
So, we have to educate people on the medic inal benefits of cannabis. Everywhere when we hear
about cannabis, people get caught up on recreational.
Recreational cannabis is one small part of the vast
numerous opportunities and endless utilisation of
cannabis, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like t o cast persons’
minds back. You will all recall Dr. George Washington
Carver, who in the late 1800s [and] early 1900s di scovered over a hundred ways and, I dare say, if I am
correct, over 1,000 ways to use the peanut. But most
people only really know of peanut butter and the more common uses. There are over almost 1,000 ways to
use the peanut. That is similar to cannabis, Mr.
Speaker. There are various ways to use it, but people
always get caught up in the recreational and they do
not understand the medicinal benefits, Mr. Speaker, which can help us, as much as has been referenced
earlier in . . . much has been referenced before about
Bermuda’s state of health. It is a well -known fact that
Bermudians suffer a lot from bad health.
Mr. Speaker, research has pr oven and shown
that cannabis can help with cancer, multiple types of
cancer, and Bermuda is a place with a high population
of cancer patients. So opening this legislation for cannabis, Mr. Speaker, also opens up the opportunities of
medical research and gaining the benefits of that medical research.
Also, is to educate persons . . . and much has
been said, Mr. Speaker, on the negative effects of
cannabis, which are also well known. But Mr. Speaker, just as with anything in life, there are good and bad, there is a yin and a yang to everything.
Mr. Speaker, alcohol, cigarettes , which are l egal and at the age of 18 you can purchase alcohol and
cigarettes, which is a well -known scientific fact that
they do more harm to your body. From alcohol and
cigarettes yo u can get liver cancer, lung cancer, throat
cancer, eye cancer, tongue cancer. Mr. Speaker, the list is unlimited.
Mr. Speaker, I put on my hat as Road Safety
Chairman. The number two cause of accidents in
Bermuda outside of speeding, the second is drunk
driving, Mr. Speaker. So, while we have these well -
known facts, Mr. Speaker, what are we doing to ad-dress the alcohol usage? Nothing. Yes, the Road Safety Council does push and promote the advocacy
against it, but we still see it is still legal. While we
know that persons drink and the previous speaker
mentioned “addicted,” we have alcohol addiction. It is
rampant in Bermuda. But yet, alcohol is still legal. We
do not have cries to make alcohol illegal, Mr. Speaker. We do not hear those cries. Why? And the Member


Bermuda House of Assembly before me made much reference to it, why? Because
it is business in alcohol, Mr. Speaker.
And Mr. Speaker, we well know it in Berm uda—the Goslings, the Burrows Lightbourns —they
make money off the sale of alcohol. But we do not
hear the outcry when it comes to . . . we know the addiction rates of alcohol, the drunk -driving rates, where
is the outcry for the prohibition of alcohol in Bermuda, Mr. Speaker? There is none. Why? Because in the
1920s prohibition proved that it does not work, Mr.
Speaker —the prohibition of alcohol. So, they legalised
alcohol and regulated it.
Mr. Speaker, the same with cannabis. It is
proven that the prohibition of cannabis does not work. So, Mr. Speaker, we must now look at how we can make it work by regulating it. The speaker before me
made much mention that this is a “corporate” this and
“corporate” . . . Mr. Speaker, we are regulating it so
that persons, yes, you might not have the full legality
to walk around and smoke at your free will, but you
cannot do that with a cig arette and alcohol now. You
cannot walk in a building and smoke a cigarette. Most
places have dedicated spots where you can go and
smoke on your smoke break, Mr. Speaker. You cannot just drink alcohol when you want. You cannot
even have an open bottle of alcohol in your own pr ivate car.
So, Mr. Speaker, all of this talk of expect ations of full legalisation in Bermuda . . . that is not the
dream. The understanding is a regulated market, Mr.
Speaker, where we can regulate those who do want to
participate in it.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, reference was made earlier
by the previous speaker, this creates other offences. But Mr. Speaker, those other offences are persons
choosing to do something outside of what they are
permitted. If you know that your licence is only for
personal cultivation to grow four plants in your house
and you are getting caught with growing 10, Mr.
Speaker, that is a choice that you made on your own.
But Mr. Speaker, at present, now, today, if you have
one plant in your house you can get arrested and your
life [will] be turned upside down— over one plant.
So, Mr. Speaker, again, the previous Member
before me mentioned a lot, but as I said, if the Bill that we are proposing is not for you, then what is? The way it is now is not for you.
Mr. Speaker, personally, the last point I want
to touch on is opportunities. As I mentioned earlier under redemption, not only persons who have been
convicted and charged and have a record of cannabis
[possession] before, Mr. Speaker, but for the everyday person that wants to get into the industry of cannabis.
As I mentioned before, the opportunities are endless.
We see, Mr. Speaker, Bermuda is a very creative,
inventive place. Every weekend you can drive up and down this Island and see people selling their wares,
whet her it be food, small objects, clothes, whatever it
is. Cannabis has those same opportunities, Mr. Speaker. The edible industry of cannabis is worth bi llions of dollars. We see Bermudians . . . on a daily
basis in Bermuda, if you walk into a gas station, t hey
are selling popcorn, Mr. Speaker, they sell other little
snacks. You can do the same with cannabis, canna-bis-infused foods. And, again, the list is endless. You
can have cannabis -infused foods with oils, outside of
food products you can have lotion bar s, I mean, soap
bars, the products of cannabis are endless.
So, if now, in a time pre- and post -COVID -19
where the economy has not been in our favour, per-sons have been struggling, looking for ways to make a
little money on the side, Mr. Speaker, this is a perfect
opportunity for that person who is a baker and they
know they can whip up some [good] -tasting food i nfused by cannabis.
Mr. Speaker, yes, much has been made of the
cost of these licences, but if a person can afford and
pay for that licence, they can then open themselves to
business opportunities that come with that.
Also, Mr. Speaker, and I did make reference
to it before under medical benefits, under education, is
the medical tourism. I mentioned how cannabis can
have a healing and calming effect for persons with
chronic illnesses. But if we do more research and find
that it has other opportunities, Mr. Speaker, Bermuda
can be a medical cannabis tourism hub. And as I ref-erence that, Mr. Speaker, there are already countries that are really getting into that. Indonesia is already
one of the largest medical cannabis tourism destinations in the world. Their government has already
made that the direction they want to go in, Mr. Speak-er. There is also Jamaica. And I did have it written
down, there was a therapist, Mr. Speaker, but we will
not be the first. Medical cannabis tourism is taking off, Mr. Speaker. Indonesia is a distinct example because
in Southeast Asia, across that region, the tolerance for
marijuana is zero. Zero tolerance. If you import i t, they
can chop your hand off. There is a high rate of death
penalties for that, Mr. Speaker.
So, to see Indonesia make another 180 degree turn from their stance on cannabis, again, shows that the attitudes around the world are changing on
this. You can only for so long—70 -odd years —fight
the same battle with no positive effect, Mr. Speaker.
The previous speaker before me made mention to
where would the cost come from. But Mr. Speaker, if
you regulate it, that means the funds and efforts that
will be put into the enforcement side of it can be d irected into the social services and the health services side of it. As I said, in Portugal they have clinics where persons can come and be treated and not have to
then go and hide in the dark alleyways.
Mr. Speaker , our resources can treat this as a
health issue instead of a criminal issue. By treating it as a health issue you are able to get to the root causes. Mr. Speaker, for the last 70 years we have been treating it as a criminal issue and have not got into the
root causes of it. As much as we would like to take
428 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly pride in saying that, we have not. The root causes are
also expanded on by incarceration. So, if we can
change this from a criminal issue to a health issue, we
will be able to address it just as any other health i ssue, any other sickness, disease or addiction. We will
be able to get to the root causes of this, Mr. Speaker.
So, Mr. Speaker, as I do near the end of my
comments, I do want to—

Okay, thank you, Mr. Speaker, it
should not take that long.
I do want to make reference to a piece of work
that has been discovered and was researched by Al icia Lister. And Mr. Speaker, I will have to ask if I can
present this to be tabled. But this is actually an excerpt from the front page of the Royal Gazette’s , Saturday, August 14, 1784. I will hold it up in front of my camera if anyone would like to see, but I will have to
ask for permission to table this.
Mr. Speaker, on August 14, 1784 . . . that is
238 years ago, and I would know because my birt hday is August 12 in 1985, so it resonates to see som ething just around my birth, even being some 200 years
before. This is a proclamation from the Government of
England which gives Bermuda the authority to grow hemp and the derivatives of it and to import it into the
United States, Mr. Speaker.
So, in 1784 Bermuda was given permission
by His Majesty in England to grow and export and transport hemp outside of Bermuda. So, we have a
long history, Bermuda as an Isle, with the hemp plant, or cannabis or marijuana, whatever it is called, Mr.
Speaker, we have a long history with it that dates
back over 200 years ago.
So, Mr. Speaker, in closing, again, I would like
to thank the Attorney General and her team for bring-ing this Bill to the House. As I said in the beginning, it
is long overdue. It is time to us to stop being insane
and doing the same thing over and over again. I look
to be progressive, proactive, and pro cannabis, Mr.
Speaker.
Thank you.

[Desk thumping]

Well, Mr. Speaker, I li stened and I want to congratulate the Honourable
Member who took his seat before me for his well -
researched and well -thought -out presentation.
Now, if I had listened only to the presentation
by the Oppositio n, I would almost be under the i mpression that we were putting black tar heroin and crack out on these streets, Mr. Speaker. And I would also be under the impression that they stood for pr ohibition and stood for legalisation, they stood for
greater enforcement and stood for greater freedom,
they stood for those who want hot air and hot coffee
and cold war and cold breeze or whatever, but they
were all over the place. They were quick to say what this was not for, but they were very slow to say what
they are for. And that has been a pattern on this issue
and several issues of basically trying to have it all
ways.
Leadership requires taking a stance, taking a
position, and having the guts to move ahead with it. And so far, we have seen one person speak from


Bermuda House of Assembly notes, all over the place, trying to represent ever ybody.
Mr. Speaker, I learned a long time ago that
the best things in life do please nobody completely.
And I think that we have been very often, as a cou ntry, very slow to act and very slow to move because
we have allowed perfect to be the enemy of the good.
And so, while I recognise, Mr. Speaker, me personally, I am a free guy. I am the type of person that says
let’s legalise it completely, but the Attorney General
has made a very strong reasoning as to wh y we have
come to the position we have come to. And I cannot
oppose that. I cannot allow perfect to be the enemy of
good.
Mr. Speaker, when I speak to a lot of my
young constituents, there is a repeated refrain: We
don’t do anything; nothing ever changes. And while I
do not agree with that, I understand why a person
could feel that way. Because when it comes to a lot of
issues, we have dragged our feet. When it came to
gaming, we were late to the dance. When it came to getting something as simple as a drink served to you
on the beach— late to the dance. And while we are still
not that late, not that early to this dance, the music is
still playing and the opportunity is there for our people
if we are willing to take it.
I think that we have tried to strike a balance.
And the balance is one where it is about regulation, it is about allowing people to have greater freedom, but
it is also about making sure that the freedom comes
with a certain degree of responsibility. You know, if
you listened to part of the Ho nourable Member’s
speech, you would assume that they want it to be a
free-for-all. And I think we recognise, as a society, a
free-for-all is probably not where we want to be at this
time.
Mr. Speaker, this is a living law. I believe that
when we look at t he pledge from the Honourable Mi nister, and incorporated in the Act, that there will be a report given back on its progress in a year’s time. And
in two years’ time an evaluation and reassessment will
be made. And I think that is a very wise thing to say, it
is a wise thing to incorporate in the Act, because it
allows us the opportunity to correct, nip, tuck, expand,
or contract as best fits the needs of the country. And I
think that with this Minister, in particular, I am encour-aged by that because the consultative process . . .
and I have to give her tremendous credit on the consultative process.
The Bill that was tabled originally, as the O pposition Member said correctly, is not the same one
that we are debating today. And it is not the same one because there was an opportunity for the public to
weigh -in, share their views, and contribute to the
shaping of this document. Is this a perfect document? I would be the first to say no, it is not. But perfect must not be the enemy of good.
And the good within t his Bill is this: There will
be greater opportunities for our young men and wom-en to avoid being prosecuted, to avoid being targeted,
avoid being victims of a lifestyle choice that they have
made. Good is the opportunity for more of our people
to enter the business, to become entrepreneurs, to
become profiteers in this. And I recognise that there
are people quaking in their boots in their mansions
who have profited off the status quo, but the opportunity for new people to enter the field legitimately and
to be able to enter the field in a regulated fashion is an
opportunity that many Bermudians take up. And not just that, I hope that entities such as the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation will be at the
ready to ensure that they are able to participate fully.
I think the greatest sin that we could look back
on 20 or 30 years from now is this, because I believe we will manage the health aspects of it, informing the
public of what the dangers and the issues are. I be-lieve we will handle the enforcement as pects, but I
think that we have to not look ahead—too far ahead —
and see that the same faces, the same loaded poc kets, benefit from this legalisation that have benefited from everything else in this country.
It is my hope that those who occupy the grey
economy will move into becoming part of the real
economy —the traditional economy. That they will become the entrepreneurs and the moguls and they will
be the ones who will be hiring and providing opport unities. And that is not something to be afraid of. I know
that there are some who are afraid of the competition
of people who are not their kind, but that is okay. This
is something that is good for our country and opport unities present and we must make sure that we do all
we can to make sure that those who wan t to transition
into this from an entrepreneurial standpoint, have ev ery opportunity to do so.
But Mr. Speaker, I think we also have to look
at, on the other side, is that with more freedom, more
opportunities, more chances to do better, to live di fferentl y, we also have to exhibit more discipline. As a
people we have found many ways to self -medicate.
We have found many ways to dull ourselves to the
various stresses and pressures of our world. As a
Government and as we go forward with this process,
we must investigate further why so many of our people, based on the numbers the Attorney General pr esented, feel the need to medicate themselves and
address those from a social, a policy, and a gover nmental perspective.
But we also must take self -discipline as wel l. I
have worked for a number of employers who did drug
testing. And I know many people who would say to me during those times, you know, they might offer me
something and I would say, No, I can’t because I get
drug tested.
And they would say, Well, how co uld you work
in a place where they have drug testing?
And I would say, Well, I’ve got bills to pay,
dude. But, you know, you would sometimes have to
sacrifice because that is what you do. And we have to
430 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly make sure that with these new freedoms we do not
become undisciplined, that we do not become dependent on things to numb ourselves. And, as a Government, we should make sure that we continue to
inform, continue to press on and give people options to recognise as an adult you have choices, but also
you must b e responsible.
Mr. Speaker, with those brief remarks, as I
said, I am a person . . . I would have probably liked to
have seen it go even further. But I am not going to let
perfection be the enemy of good.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It is 49 years old. And in those
49 years our knowledge of the cannabis plant has i ncreased tremendously, Mr. Speaker. We know that it
has medical and other health benefits.
During that same 49- year period, Mr. Speaker, we have also seen a softening of the public att itude to one of acceptance more so than not when it
comes to the cannabis plant.
Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the Bill, as we
have heard, is to create a new regulatory regime
around licensing all activities related to the cultivation,
importation, export, production, sale, supply, use, or transport of cannabis, medical cannabis, or products
derived from cannabis or medical cannabis.
Mr. Speaker, in addition, the Bill allows for
lawful activities relating to cannabis, medicinal cannabis and cannabis products. There w ere a whole lot of
things attributed indirectly to what the Bill was supposed to do by the Member of the Opposition that
spoke earlier, but it is as simple as that. The purpose
of the Bill is to create a new regulatory regime that will
allow for lawful act ivities relating to cannabis, medic inal cannabis and cannabis products through a licensing programme. And that will be done through the es-tablishment of a Cannabis Licensing Authority, Mr.
Speaker.
So, we have the issuance of licences that will
be one of t he main responsibilities of the Cannabis
Licensing Authority. We have inspection, compliance
and enforcement on the other side of that licensing
regime which will fall under the Authority.
Let us not kid ourselves, Mr. Speaker. The
use of cannabis is already prevalent in our communi-ty, even amongst our young, and currently it is illegal.
So, what argument are we going to make? That our kids are going to have access to it? They already
have access to it. You would be surprised—maybe
not, Mr. Speaker —how young our kids [are when
they] get access to cannabis. Under this Bill those
under 21 will be precluded from having access. It will
be illegal to supply them. That is a good thing, Mr. Speaker.
We said that [currently] use is prevalent and
that use takes place right out in public places. Som etimes . . . I will not say that, I will not say that. It ha ppens in places that you would least expect it to hap-pen. And as we have heard, that illegal market is
worth somewhere between $6 million and $6.5 million.
We know that there are cannabis -based pro ducts that are already available in Bermuda through prescriptions. We know that the Minister responsible
for the Misuse of Drugs Act 1972 has the power to authorise cannabis formulations, products, for medic inal purposes f or patients. That is already there.
Mr. Speaker, by creating a regulatory regime
for lawful activities, the quality of the cannabis in circ ulation can be controlled, particularly when it comes to
the harmful chemicals that are sometimes found laced
in the cannabis product that we have. Under a regul atory regime, Mr. Speaker, potency can be controlled.
We can control where cannabis can be smoked. We
can control who can be smoking it. Although I have
already said that our young people are smoking it now, we c an better control (than we are now) the use
of cannabis by those under 21 by putting it into a
regulatory regime. We then remove the stigma for
those who may be addicted and who really want to
seek help. They now are free, without shame, to go
and seek that help.
The Bill moves us from a system that is penal,
intent on punishing, to one that is remedial in its approach.
We have heard from a Member of the Oppos ition today that the Bill is not for anyone. Mr. Speaker,
did they participate in the consultation process to ensure that it was for someone? The information that I
have is that they did not participate. It was said by the
Member of the Opposition that if you support legalis ation of cannabis, the Bill is not for you. I would say if
you support the lega lisation of cannabis, they are
quite pleased with this Bill as it moves Bermuda closer
to what you are looking for, as it makes certain activ ities lawful within the constraints of the relevant l iBermuda House of Assembly cence. If I own a shop currently and I have young
people work ing for me and I really want to get into the
cannabis business, why would I not open up another
shop and only have those who are 21 and over wor king there? Why would I look to put the young people
that I have currently working for me at risk and out of
work? There are options. We always think the extreme when we want what we want.
Mr. Speaker, we heard from the Attorney
General that education is a key component, it is crit ical in this process. We heard from the Opposition
Member that our kids are going to be at risk. Our kids
are at risk now, Mr. Speaker. It is our goal as parents
now to educate our kids on the pros and cons, not just
on cannabis, but on all harmful drugs, just like we ed-ucate them on the simple things, if you put your hand
in a fire, it is going to burn, it is going to hurt.
So, by introducing this Bill we do not change
any responsibility or add any burden to parents that
does not exist already. We should be educating our
kids. It is our job. And I spoke on that when I was in the Senate. It is our job, as parents, as the first teac hers of our kids, to educate them.
Mr. Speaker, what this Bill does not propose
to do . . . it does not eliminate the employer’s right to
have a drug- free work environment. And I am speaking to those who may misunderstand what this Bill means. It does not mean that you can smoke and
then walk into your job and if you have a positive test
that there is going to be some protection there for you.
If you work at a job which drug tests now, do not
smoke cannabis. If you w ant a job at an establis hment, at a business that drug tests, do not smoke
cannabis.
It is quite clear, Mr. Speaker. And that is the
way we should put it to our citizens. I would say young
people, but it is not just young people, there are older
people who like to smoke or would like to smoke cannabis as well. But you have to be responsible. Part of
becoming an adult is becoming more responsible. So,
if I work for some place and I know they drug test and
I want to keep my job, I do not smoke cannabis. And
the same is if I want a job at a place that I know has a drug testing policy.
The Bill does not claim that the illegal of cannabis will cease altogether. That would be naïve, Mr. Speaker, to think that all of a sudden that illicit trade
will disappear. But it gives those who might participate
in the trade illegally an opportunity to obtain a licence
and legitimise their operations.
The Bill does not legalise the possession of
more than 7 grams of the cannabis plant without a licence. The Bill does not leg alise cannabis use in
public, outside of licensed cannabis shops or events.
We are simply creating a regulatory framework around
the licensing of the cannabis product, the cannabis plant and all the products derived from it.
One thing we know about our Opposition, Mr.
Speaker, is that they are consistent. Mr. Speaker, in today’s Royal Gazette there are comments attributed
to an MP of the One Bermuda Alliance which ind icates that they do not support the Bill as presented,
and that it was such a complex issue in one piece of
legislation . . . and I am reading, Mr. Speaker, with
your blessing, hopefully.

That “‘It’s such a complex i ssue—in one piece of legislation that’s trying to do so
many things at once, we are not confident that it will
do what it sets out to do.’”
And I continue reading, Mr. Speaker: “‘ concerns over the probability of success of implementing
such a large regulatory framework ’ under the legisl ation, and that the criteria for where cannabis could be
grown appeared to exclude much of the island’s property.”
I continue, “‘ We do not see the average man
on the street being able to compete against people
who have the assets .’” Historically, they have not
been concerned about the average person. So, I find
that quite amusing.
It goes on in this article, Mr. Speaker, to say
that “the OBA supported the idea of ‘removing a rev enue generator from the criminal fraternity’ by legalising
the drug.” That is not exactly accurate. We are not legal ising the drug. It is lawful within certain constraints under certain licences. It is not legalised
across the board.
And they continue, “‘But what we’re questioning is, will it do that?’”
So, basically, Mr. Speaker, it sounds . . . and
then we heard toda y from the Member that spoke earlier, that the opportunities —the financial opportun ities—who are they going to go to? Where is the . . .
who is going to benefit? Who is going to make the
money? It seems to me that if you read the Act it is quite clear that it is going to be a broad range of people. Perhaps, the Honourable Member on the Oppos ition is concerned that the opportunities are going to someone other than the interests that his party repr esents, historically.
But once again, Mr. Speaker, we have an example of the old Bermuda Alliance . . . sorry, Mr.
Speaker, the One Bermuda Alliance, not prepared to
move away from the status quo. Perhaps, you know, it
seems that they are saying with this particular Bill (in
any event, in the article), that if we do not know that
we can guarantee that the outcome is going to be what we want it to be that we do not do anything. How
is that leadership? We do not move unless we know
we are going to be successful. We do not have chi ldren unless we know they are going to grow up to be
doctors and lawyers or whatever profession we consider to be successful.
Is the Bill perfect? I believe my colleague MP
Simmons summed it up best when he said, No, it’s not
432 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly perfect; but let’s not let perfect get in the way of good.
And I like the phrase that the Attorney General used in
her brief of avoiding the situation that we find in Bermuda all too often—champagne for the few. This is
not about champagne for the few, Mr. Speaker. And it
is not just about money. It is about economic divers ity,
yes. But it is also . . . as I said, it contains an educ ation component. It is about protecting those under 21.
Am I happy with everything about the Bill? No.
I still have questions that revolve around the banking of the proceeds that are legitimately earned under the
regime that is proposed by this Bill. But, perhaps, the
Attorney General can clear that up. She may.
But in any event, Mr. Speaker, I think this is a
good step in changing something that is 49 years old.
And as MP Lister pointed out, this will assist, move us
away from fighting a losing battle over a 70- year per iod by putting some regulations and licences in place.
So, although I am not completely happy with ever ything about this Bill ––I know it could be better ––I will
be supporting this B ill.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I am trying to get the video . . .
okay, I think it is on now.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Progressive Labour Party
Government said that it is a future- forward Gover nment for the people of Bermuda. The Attorney General has brought a piece of legislation that she felt compelled from the onset to shift the direction som ewhat to ensure that we address many of the inequities
that prevailed within the society that we operate. I would say her hope was to make certain that living in
this environment where all of us have witnessed many
times discriminatory behaviour where certain groups of people are treated one way while others have been
treated another way, in a beneficial way. And so, it is
imperative that we try and put in certain barriers, regulations, which aim to at least, as best we can at this juncture, somewhat create a more level playing field
so that the door is open for all Bermudians to try and participate in what we see as a viable market for per-sons as we continue to help progress the market of
marijuana use and distribution.
Mr. Speaker, I can say that in my former pr ofessional lif e I not only was a science teacher, biology
in particular being my area of expertise, but I was also
a health teacher. And when it came to teaching young
folks about the ills and even the benefits of drugs, but
the ills, the misuse and abuse of certain drugs, I often
first-hand took my students to the drug addiction services where they got to meet those who abused and misused drugs and could speak to them first -hand
about the serious impact of the use and abuse— not
just from a legal perspective, but from a medical and
biological perspective. So, many of my students got to see first -hand the abnormalities that can manifest in
persons when there are abuses that are . . . especially
on a continuous basis, and especially for those per-sons who were quite young, w ith the use of marijuana.
The Attorney General has made sure that she
has put in age and other restrictions to combat against
having those that we recognise, if their exposure is
too soon, would more than likely experience some adverse effects. I can say that for me personally I am
not an advocate of marijuana use or any other illicit
drugs, and even prescription drugs. I am not. I am one
of those persons who always looked for what I co nsider the real traditional medicine, and that is the herbal medicines.
But Mr. Speaker, if I have to be honest, I have
to stand on the side of what I consider progress to
ensure that we create a regime in this world . . . I will
call it the world of marijuana, but stops criminalising
certain groups of people that cuts or pr events certain
persons from being able to progress their lives and that encourages looking at ways for persons to be
able to engage in this realm in a way that is beneficial
for all.
I certainly embrace the medicinal use of mar ijuana. There is a whole worl d of research that has
been done—tested, tried, proven— in terms of the
medical use of marijuana. But I say again, the Attorney General knew that she could not just stop there
because in trying to make certain that we create the
space and environment for our persons to be able to
operate freely she knew that she had to address cer-tain aspects of the law, again, that whether it is i ntended or not, tended to target certain groups of people within our society.
As a Member of Parliament and as an adv ocate for my constituents, and looking at the various
communities that have arguments for and against, I
think it is imperative that as a regime here in Bermuda
we enter into this economic race at this point in time,
because we all know those who hesitate are often
those who lose out or get on the band wagon too late
to be able to operate in a way that is going to prove to be beneficial.
As MP Campbell has pointed out, and others,
while this is not the end- all and be- all in terms . . . and


Bermuda House of Assembly I know it is not for the Attorney General, because I
think she has mentioned it, but also, she always tries
to address things from a perspective that is going to
be best for all, puts people in proper stead and good
stead, and creates an avenue where we can continue to progress. And I stand behind her with what she has
introduced thus far because I can see how addressing
the legislation this way, again, is trying to eradicate
many of the ills that we have seen operating within our
society from a legal perspective and otherwise, and
opening doors that allows what has heretofore been black market activity where millions upon millions u pon millions of revenues for some have been realised.
It opens the door for us to properly look at and figure
out a way for us as a society to responsibly c reate a
situation where we can all benefit from it.
And looking at this from specifically a medical
perspective, knowing that there are many sorts of
remedies available for the natural use of marijuana, as
I said in the beginning, tried, tested and proven, I, for
one, cannot sit back and say no to something that I
think overall, if addressed properly (and I think we are
already heading in that direction) will put us in better
stead.
And so, based on those few comments, Mr.
Speaker, I thank the Attorney General for trying to bring legislation that addresses the situation in a more comprehensive way. I will work with her. If she needs
my assistance, I will work with her to try and continue
to take this legislation forward in a way that encompasses all of the areas where we see can be issues.
And one of them, yes, being we have to put on a tr emendous education programme because even though
the literature, the evidence, the scientific evidence,
has been there for decades, there are still many in our
community and worldwide that do not avail themselves of this education, so that if they are going to
use marijuana in whichever form, they are able to do it
in a way that promotes beneficial results as opposed
to using it in a way where we know from the prepo nderance of evidence, the impact has largely been
negative on the human body, for the most part.
And so, again, Mr. Speaker, I thank the Attorney General and I do not think I need to say any more
on this. I think I have touched on some of the key
things that I wished to. And I look forward to progres sing this in a way that Bermuda and her people will
benefit.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

You have your 30 minutes, Minister.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: All right.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to thank the Attorney
General for bringing this legislation here today b ecause I feel that it is long overdue. I want to thank the
speakers on my side that have spoken as well in support of this legislation because it is long overdue.
I know there will be people who will be cautious about any sort of changes in drug law. But Mr. Speaker, I think we all here today can admit that the
unfair, discriminatory practices of criminalising our
Black population over small amounts of cannabis
needed to be r egulated and that policy thrown in the
trash can. And this is the next step in doing that.
Mr. Speaker, you know, when I read the Royal
Gazette online (because I refuse to spend any money
actually buying that paper) and I saw the comments from the Opposit ion, I was not surprised. I expected
them to bellyache and moan over this Bill. And the
one speaker that has come forth from them thus far
has not disappointed. But what really had me here
smiling and chuckling to myself was how easy it is for
them to revert back to their old oppressive, boge yman, UBP roots when they talk about things like this. And they do it with such impunity to themselves that they really think that the electorate is just not smart
enough to see through it anymore.
Mr. Speaker, MP Pear man spent a great deal
of time on those scare tactics, and I believe MP
Campbell touched upon it , you know : Who is this for ?
Who will benefit? Doing their best to try and malign
the Progressive Labour Party to [INAU DIBLE] Black
politicians. But Mr. Speaker , it is almost laughable the
diatribe that came from that Member. But thankfully
our people see straight through it.
He did make reference to the Bill. I am sure
he read clause 4 of the Bill and, perhaps, that is what
made him so upset to talk about the Bi ll the way he
did. Yes, there are people who benefit —and they will
be people who look like me, who have been systemat-ically, historically, and racially oppressed by people
who look like him. Maybe that is why he is so upset.
But Mr. Speaker, as pointed out by the Atto rney General, their track record on cannabis needs to
be relegated to only talking about it when it serves
their purposes. Let us review some history on the topic of cannabis reform.
In 2014 they wrote in their Throne Speech,
and I will quot e this time, Mr. Speaker, if you will allow
me, to examine “the issues surrounding cannabis use
in this community.”
In May 2014 the OBA (then the Government)
tabled a report in this Honourable House, the Cann abis Reform Report . And that went nowhere.
In 2016, again in their Throne Speech they
promised to decriminalise small amounts of marijua434 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly na, and did none such. So, nearly two years after their
report was tabled in the House they were then talking
about decriminalisation marijuana and [it] never made
it up in their agenda.
But do you know what did make it up into their
agenda, Mr. Speaker? We got a rushed- through ai rport Bill. We got a boat race that catered to the prim ary elite of the elite white in this country. And we got a
hotel project that has now cost the Government $2
million and an unfinished building. That is what we got from them. The OBA is not morally sound to do an ything that will benefit Black Bermudians.
Mr. Speaker, during those years that the OBA
spent just talking about doing somethi ng, the data
continued to show that arrests were always slanted toward Blacks, and unfairly so. There are tons of data—tons of data— that support that Blacks are more
disproportionately criminalised by our justice system. But what did they do about it? They just talked.
From the numerous reports that have been
written dating back to the Pitt Report in the 1970s, the
Mincy Report in the 2000s, and the OBA commi ssioned cannabis report in 2015, the plight of unfairly criminalising and disenfranchising the Blac k popul ation has been highlighted over and over and over. The
cannabis report that was commissioned by the One
Bermuda Alliance even went as far as to specifically point out the disproportionate impact that cannabis -
related offences have on the Black community in pa rticular. This is why we, with a degree of urgency, look
at ways of how we can address these institutional,
structural and systematic issues that plague our
youth, particularly our Black youth.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand today and
speak to another PLP pledge coming to fruition. As we
move towards a system that provides a more balanced approach and potential economic empowerment for those who have been historically and crim inally marginalised, it can only be described as pr ogressive. Only a One Bermuda Alliance MP would find
this oppressive.
A responsible Government makes change r esponsibly. And the extensive consultation evidenced
here allows for the people to have had their say,
which is important. There are times when Gover nments will find themselves having to respond to who is
yelling the loudest with their own personal agendas,
but this is not productive. This is not taking in best
practice. Collaboration and consultation that lead to
actual decisions is more productive.
Mr. Speaker, I was also very, very happy to
hear the Attorney General speak about the need to protect our vulnerable, our children. Research has
shown that cannabis does influence the growth of
children’s brains, MP Pearman. Limiting the age to 21
years old will go a long way to protect our children.
Now, Mr. Pearman asked about the money
raised from cannabis regulation. Well, let us take off his gloom and doom bogeyman UBP glasses for just a minute and think of it from this perspective: The money raised from a regulated in dustry and the money
saved from unwarranted arrests and prosecution of
the same Black boys and girls we are trying to save
can now be used for educational campaigns. Our chi ldren deserve to be protected and educated in the
dangers of using any form of drugs, whether they be
legal, such as alcohol and cigarettes, or illegal. Here
we have a win- win situation, and we should view it
from that angle instead of trying to scare people into thinking about who is going to profit from it.
Once again, Mr. Speaker, the PLP is looking
out for Bermudians by putting them first. First over the
objections of a toothless Opposition, first over the opposition of our colonisers, and first in a land that has
for far too long wanted to relegate us as second- class
citizens.
Mr. Sp eaker, leading the way on this topic the
PLP first put forth legislation to decriminalise cannabis
for 7 grams. Next, we put forth a Bill to expunge cannabis convictions, paving the way to right decades of
racist and discriminatory policies. Now, we are moving towards cannabis regulation. This is what progress
looks like when you have a government that cares for
the people and is by the people.
Mr. Speaker, the PLP will always move pr ogressively forward with policies that will narrow the
gap between the Tw o Bermudas and provide opportunities for those who have been denied for far, far too
long.
So, with that, Mr. Speaker, I told the Attorney
General I was not going to speak very long on this. I
just want to thank her and thank her team for working
on this and bringing it here today. I want to thank her
for having the fortitude to do what is right for Bermuda despite the empty rhetoric and protest from the other
side. Attorney General, continue to walk the path of what is right for our people.
Thank you, Mr . Speaker.

[Desk thumping]

MP, you have 30 minutes.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker,
and good afternoon to colleagues.


Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, let me start by saying first off
that I thought my colleague, the Honour able Scott
Pearman, presented his thoughts in a very balanced
and fair way.
Mr. Speaker, some might have a selective
memory. When the speaker just before me in his pr epared remarks, which, like some of the other people
who raised a point of order on my colleague said b efore, appeared to be pre- written and read.
Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member r eferred to the record of the OBA. Well, here is what the
OBA did for Bermuda: We turned the country around.
We got an economic turnaround, we brought it back
from the brink. I think many will forget —

Continue, Member.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, I thank for
the clarification, but when I speak, I speak for all of
Bermuda—everyone is important to me. Unlike what the PLP would like to cast to Bermuda, everyone is
important to the One Bermuda Alliance, Mr. Speaker.
So, we are proud of our record of turning the
country around, of building hotels. Yes, we made mi stakes, Mr. Speaker, I have said that many times and I
will keep saying that.
But Mr. Speaker, in 2017 when we had that
“boat race,” that this Government likes to refer to,
there was opportunity in Bermuda. There was an ec onomic turnaround in Bermuda, Mr. Speaker. People
were feeling pretty good about the way we were going, Mr. Speaker. And you know what, Mr. Speaker? It
just hit me that that boat race that the Government
talks about now, the PLP Government, they are bringing a similar boat race back to Bermuda in April, Mr.
Speaker. Now, if that is not hypocrisy (to be polite), Mr. Speaker, I do not know what it is.

—just be guided by your comments,
that is all.
Hon. Michael H . Dunkley: Yes, Mr. Speaker, I am
sorry to laugh at the point of order. While I respect the
Honourable Member’s opinion, if that body was so
independent, then I wonder how we have so many
Government members sitting on the board of that
body, Mr. Speaker. A nd if that body is independent,
then tell me now, Mr. Speaker, that the Government —

Wait, wait, wait, wait! All Members stop.
We have had a decent debate thus far. The
first Member who decides they are going to take it in a
different direction, I am throwing you out. I am telling
436 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly you right now. Because this topic has the ability to go
off track, and I am not going to allow it go off track.
It is a serious matter. Let us deal with it and
keep the personality out of it.
Thank you.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I
certainly appreciate and understand that, and that is
the direction I want to go. I was just referring back to
some comments colleagues made earlier.
So, Mr. Speaker, there was a great deal of
conversation earlier in this debate about the Oppos ition being shy to speak. Well, Mr. Speaker, when it is
36 you have to pick your spots when to speak. And
so, as an Opposition, we allow Government Members to speak and we will certainly speak. On an important
issue like this I would be surprised and shocked if we
did not see all 35 Members of the House of Assembly
speak this afternoon and this evening, Mr. Speaker.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I respect everyone’s views
on this Bill and I know that we will probably have 35
divergent views on this Bill because it is such an em otive subject, it is a subject that we all get on the door-step, and it is a subject that has been talked about for
some time.
But Mr. Speaker, I believe that this Bill does
not really help those who just want to have an occ asional joint. It creates bureaucracy.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that this Bill really does
not help those who are uncomfortable with the legal isation of marijuana because they do not get much
comfort from how we are going to deal with the cha llenges around marijuana. And I will come to that more
through my comments here this afternoon, Mr.
Speaker.
So, what we are doing now is making cann abis legally available to anyone, almost at any time, Mr.
Speaker, even our young people, as colleagues have
said prior to me in this debate. Even our young people. So, Mr. Speaker, sorry, but I am not going to join
the party or the clapping over this Bill because this Bill
has some challenges that we need to address.
Mr. Speaker, I understood from early on in
this Bill that the Government was, in my view, again
. . . in my opinion Government struggled with this legislation because we all have divergent views, as I said
to you earlier. Plus, during the Honourable Attorney
General’s presentation, she took some time to criticise
not only Government House in the UK, but took some
time to criticise the OBA in itself. And that tells me that
we need to try to divert so me views away from what
we are dealing with at hand to the Opposition that we
might t race, Mr. Speaker. And that is all well and good
if that is the way people wish to go as we discuss the subject, because at the end of the day the Gover nment has 30 votes and it is likely that their Members
will vote fully to support the Bill. But Mr. Speaker, I cannot allow some of the comments that were made
to go without speaking to them, because we cannot write our own selective piece of history and what we
thought took place prior to today.
Now, Mr. Speaker, at least two Members of
the Government have criticised the OBA’s position on
cannabis. And that is acceptable. That is their right. They have the ability to do it on the floor of the House
of Assembly anytime they speak. But Mr. Speaker,
they should also reflect that just like they have reflec ted in the conversation around this Bill, that there are many divergent opinions and the Bill will always
struggle to meet everybody’s approval totally.
Now having said that, Mr. Speaker, I think it
would be inappropriate if I spoke today and did not
mention that the OBA did grapple with cannabis r eform. Members have alluded to the collaborative that
we set up. What Members have forgotten to mention
is the great strides we made with medicinal marijuana.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I have always been a big
proponent of medicinal marijuana, because, while I
am not an expert on the subject, obviously, as Members of Parliament and as a former Minister of National Security and Premier, I took the time to make sure I researched the subject in detail. And I found out very
clearly, not only from my research but from my conversations with people who are knowledgeable on the
subject, from doctors to scientists, it was very clear
that the properties of marijuana, cannabis specifically—and I refer to CBD —have excellent health benefits
in dealing with pain, in dealing with nausea, addiction,
depression, and I am informed that CBD is nonintoxicating in itself, Mr. Speaker.
Now, Mr. Speaker, we know that THC causes
the high, but the CBD has medicinal benefits that we
can use. And colleagues have referred to the excellent property within that to deal with seizures. And I
think as Members of Parliament who are in touch with
the people that we serve are all aware of individual constituents and some of the challenges that they
have. When I was the Minister of National Security, certainly, I was always lobbied by people over medic inal marijuana. And it was with great delight, when we
passed legislation to make it available, to hear the
stories of people who were getting better comfort,
maybe not a cure for their challenge, but they were
getting better comfort in dealing with their challenges.
And there are certain things, Mr. Speaker, for
example, just like CBD oil, which is just like a cream
and if you have a shoulder pain you can rub the cream on your shoulder. It has some effect in relieving
the pain, but maybe no long- term effects. But these
are all important, Mr. Speaker, as we deal with some
of our health challenges. So, the OBA did tackle the
real large propensity for medicinal marijuana. So, here
we are. We move on forward to today where we deal
with this Bill this afternoon, Mr. Speaker.
I find it interesting, in listening to Members as
they spoke earli er, and I will applaud all Members as
we speak about responsibility in education. I think the
Honourable Member Simmons and the Honourable


Bermuda House of Assembly Member Campbell talked about our responsibility as
adults in making sure that we educate our families,
our friends, and the community about the pluses and,
certainly, the minuses of cannabis. Because that is
one of the shortcomings that this legislation faces and that is one of the shortcomings that we face with all
drugs. So, I applaud Members for talking about the
responsibility that we have, Mr. Speaker, because
that, to me, in my humble opinion, is a glaring concern
and a problem that we need to address going forward.
I was somewhat surprised and taken aback,
Mr. Speaker, by the Honourable Attorney General’s comment w here she said that cannabis was part of
our culture.
Now, Mr. Speaker, it is a good talking point,
but I never have seen us, up until this day, celebrate cannabis as part of our Heritage Month in May. And
while some people might want to say that cannabis is
part of their culture or our culture, Mr. Speaker, I certainly do not think that that is something that we
should say is part of our culture. I think we are better than that as Bermudians. We know what our culture
is, Mr. Speaker, we know the things that we stand
proud of and I do not believe that we should consider
that part of our culture. But it is a challenge that we
have to deal with today, Mr. Speaker.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I have never supported the
legalisation of cannabis. I fully support the decrim inalisation, Mr. Speaker, because I understand that many
people, and specifically our young Black males, have
been put in a very difficult situation for a long period of
time—for their lifetime —because they were stopped
when they were young and then put on a stop list. And
that is why we were so keen to deal with the decrim inalisation aspect. But the stop list is still there and that
is a debate for another day, but we still need to deal
with the stop list, Mr. Speaker.
But now that the Government has decided to
move forward with the legalisation of marijuana . . .
and I thought the Honourable Member Lister III gave a
good history of it. I did not always agree with ever ything he said, but I thought he gave a good history.
The world has clearly changed from t he conservative
position of saying that marijuana should not be legal,
probably because it has not worked where marijuana
is illegal and the war against drugs has not worked in many areas, to a position now where marijuana
should be legal and we should try to deal with it the
best way we can, Mr. Speaker. He also made a co mment about alcohol and that there is no push in any
way to clamp down on the legality of alcohol. And I
appreciate that point.
But as we make cannabis legal today, Mr.
Speaker, we need to make sure that we are protecting
the vulnerable in our society. Just like we have had to do with COVID -19, Mr. Speaker, we have had to pr otect the vulnerable in our society. With COVID -19 it
was our seniors, it was the people who were not as healthy as most people. Here, Mr. Speaker, it is our young people. It is our people who are addicted, Mr.
Speaker. It is the people who are looking for a better
life and are feeling down on their lot and they need
some easement from the challenges in their life, Mr.
Speaker.
We have serious consequences to face, Mr.
Speaker, when we legalise marijuana today. We
should be aware of the consequences as we go forward.
Mr. Speaker, we know now that we have huge
issues with drinking and drugs, and the Honourable Member Lister III who spoke as Chairman of the Road
Safety Council talked about drunk driving. And I think
he said (in my words jotted down really quickly) . . . he
said, What are we doing to address drunk driving?
And the answer he answered himself was “nothing,”
Mr. Speaker.
Well, Mr. Speaker, we need to deal with these
challenges of drinking— excess drinking—and excess
use of drugs, because it is not only ruining lives and
families and creating violence in certain areas, Mr.
Speaker, it is taking the drive out of peo ple to do
things in their lives that are sustainable for them and
their family. It is taking them away from making work
at the proper time. It is taking them away from their
initiatives to get ahead in the world, Mr. Speaker. And
as we liberalise this worl d—

I just wanted to clarify the c omment that the Member said. I did say that . . . when I
said, What is being done in road safety? I said, None.
And then I followed that and said, There is no outcry
for the prohibition of alcohol. And the Member has
continued on and he has stated the reas ons why. So,
again, with the reasons that he said and we have, where is the outcry for the prohibition of alcohol if it
has done so much damage?
Those were my comments, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.
Continue, Member.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes, I thank the Honour able Member for the clarification to the general public. I
am focusing mostly on the comment about what are
we doing with drunk driving—nothing, Mr. Speaker.
And I use that, not as a criticism of the honourable colleague, because I think he has good intent, but as
438 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly a criticism of us generally, Mr. Speaker, because we
realise we have a huge problem with drinking.
At the same time that we realise we have a
huge problem with drinking we are not doing enough
to deal with it, Mr. Speaker. Yes, we have made some
significant moves with roadside sobriety [checkpoints]
and things like that, but Mr. Speaker, getting on the
roads after you have had one too many drinks is still —
taking the Attorney General’s words, Mr. Speaker —
part of the culture for s ome people in Bermuda. It is
not acceptable.
So as we deal with drinking and drugs, we
need to have a firm hand in helping those who are impacted by it, Mr. Speaker. We cannot slough it off
because it is a family member and we do not want to upset a famil y member or a friend. We cannot turn a
blind eye because it is our neighbour, Mr. Speaker. Because when an accident happens and a loved one
is killed by a drunk driver, we all had an opportunity to
make a difference about it, Mr. Speaker.
So, as we deal w ith this cannabis legislation
today, the most important part of this is not getting
enough voice and that is: how are we helping those in
our society to deal with it? And in today’s Royal G azette, which hardly any Members of the House said
they buy, but they read (and I find that interesting in
itself, Mr. Speaker), we heard some of the people who are concerned socially about what is going on remark
on that. And in today’s debate we have had a reasonable amount of conversation so far, as well, about our
young people, Mr. Speaker.
Now, Mr. Speaker, in today’s Royal Gazette
as well, Dr. Perinchief said that the impact on our
young people, the body development and, specifically,
the brain takes place up until your age of 25 or 26.
And I quote directly, Mr. Speaker, Dr. Perinchief said:
“the last thing you want to do is to be bringing on
board a chemical which is going to screw up the choreography of that brain. ”
Now, Mr. Speaker, how are we going to deal
with that? We have already said that the legal age is
going to be 21, but we still have got a number of years
of development going forward from there. And then it goes on to say, in the paper, Dr. Perinchief says, you
know, if you see an 18- year-old smoking a joint it is
likely his 13 -year-old brother or sister is going to want
it as well .
Well, Mr. Speaker, an 18- year-old should not
be using a joint, but a 21- year-old, Mr. Speaker. And
those are the real challenges that we have to confront.
Because while we want to take the penal enforcement
away from marijuana that we have had for so long, we need to put a system in place that works to protect the
people who need protection. And I do not see that
here today. And I think my colleagues do not see that
here today as well, Mr. Speaker.
So, we have to be very car eful because in 5or 10- years’ time down the road, and we look back at
the consequences —and we love to go look back at what has taken place in other jurisdictions, Mr.
Speaker. And we hang our hat on it and we say how
successful they have been in other ar eas. But at the
same time we forget to look at some of the negative that has come in those other areas. We just want to focus in on the positive.
We talk about Canada and what Canada has
done, but Canada still has a black market for canna-bis, Mr. Speaker. This Bill is not going to deal with the
black market in any way. That black market is still going to be there. It is still going to exist. How are we going to deal with that? Will people actually pay $500
to grow eight plants in their backyard, or will the y just
try to get away with it and allow their neighbour to
have a few of those plants?
The black market will find its level, Mr. Speaker. And I am not hearing enough from the Government today on how we are going to deal with that challenge.
Mr. Speaker, I was interested, and I was concerned, before I read this Bill and listened to the
speaker, but I am now more concerned when I hear
the Attorney General say that they have been in di scussions with . . . I am trying to look for my note where
I wrote down exactly what the Attorney General said,
but they have been in discussion with other jurisdi ctions about how we handle cannabis and how they
would handle it. And it is clear that there is some fri ction between the Government of Bermuda and Government House a bout this, Mr. Speaker.
But I am concerned because I believe this Bill
will not get the Royal assent and, perhaps, that is what the Government wants —to create some friction
so they can push another agenda, Mr. Speaker. But I
would have thought, if we were that serious about this
challenge—and I think we all are—that we want to
stop criminalising our people, especially our young
people. We want to try to deal with the stop list. The Government says they want to create economic opportunity (and I will get to that in a minute, Mr. Speaker), but if we are that serious about it, would we not try
to frame a Bill that we know can get the assent from
Government House? I do not think this Bill is going to
do it.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I even heard Government
Members outsi de of the Attorney General (when she
gave her brief) refer to money laundering and CFATF.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I, too, have my concerns because I
think as this Bill is drafted, with my understanding, that
we are going to have some challenges with banking
and compliance.
Sadly, Mr. Speaker, the world that we live in
nowadays is fraught with a multitude of layers of com-pliance. Everywhere you turn, Mr. Speaker, it is
fraught with compliance. And I say “fraught,” not in a
negative way, but I say it in a way that it takes so
much more time than it ever did before, even very small companies are having to divert so much energy to it they just cannot get ahead, Mr. Speaker.


Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, you and I, when we were
younger, if we went into the bank when we first started
working and got our first pay cheque and said we
want to open up a bank account, we could walk in and
walk out and get it done in a very short period of time—a few minutes, Mr. Speaker, make your first
deposit. If you walked into a bank right now to open
up a savings account, Mr. Speaker, I do not want to
say how long it would take you, but it would not be a
walk in and a walk out. It would be a plethora of forms
to fill out before you can get there. That is the compl iance that we have to do because there are those
throughout the world who want to try to abuse right
and follow in the wrong, Mr. Speaker.
And sadly, because we are a small fish in a
big ocean, we jump to everything that everyone
around us says we have to do, Mr. Speaker. And I am
afraid that this Bill is going to ruin the great reputation
that we have generally as a jurisdiction, Mr. Speaker,
and we need to make sure that we do all we can to
avoid that. But that is one challenge that I share, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, this Bill al so cr eates more bureaucracy, an Authority and staff. Now,
Mr. Speaker, I have confidence in many areas of government and there are many first -class civil servants
who work in government. I was blessed to be able to
work with some of them and I mentioned in cond olences earlier the good man Anthony Manders as one of them. There are many like that within government.
But, Mr. Speaker, if you ask members of the public
about bureaucracy and the ability to get things done,
they will step back for a minute and say, Well, it’s
questionable at times. How can we be sure that this
added layer of bureaucracy is going to be fair and
balanced, Mr. Speaker? Because I have heard . . . the
previous speaker said it is going to take care of people who look like him, Mr. Speaker .
Now, I have no problem . . . and I think we
should strive for equality in every area, Mr. Speaker.
However, we have to be careful where we draw the
line and how we draw the line. I want to make sure
that this Authority is respected, gets the job done, people are comfortable with it, people trust it, and
people have the opportunity that Government says they are going to get.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I do not believe —and I am
not as bullish as the Government Members are—that
this is going to be the boon economically that they
have led on to believe. I would love to be proven
wrong in 5- or 10- years’ time, Mr. Speaker. But I think
cannabis liberalisation is the thing that everyone is
getting into because people are demanding it. Polit icians play for votes too often in it and do not say really
want is on their mind. They say what people want to hear, Mr. Speaker. But the economic boom, I do not think is going to be there. Because I think everyone is
going to want to do it and there is only so much to go
around, Mr. S peaker. Time will tell, but we need to make sure the Authority gets the job done in the appropriate way.
Now, Mr. Speaker, colleagues have talked
about the different tiers and the licences. You know, a
number of people I have talked to about the Bill have raised their eyebrows about the cost of some of the
fees—$500 just to grow a few plants in your backyard,
Mr. Speaker? Well, Government is doing it to raise
funds and that is fine, Mr. Speaker. But if we are ser ious about creating economic opportunity, if we are
serious about making sure that some of the harms of the past are dealt with, maybe that tier phase would
have a different representation in those costs.
Now, Mr. Speaker, my honourable colleague
even went so far as to say it was “corporate cannabis”
and it was a “cash cow.” I think in the beginning it
might be, but I think in the longer term it will wane away, Mr. Speaker. Yes, it provides some economic
diversity, but it is not something we can hang our hat
on or get out of our challenges with, Mr. S peaker. It is
going to take a lot more than that. So, just like bitcoin,
it might be a small peg, Mr. Speaker, but I do not see it rising up to amount to much that the Finance Mini ster will be overly pleased about.
Now, Mr. Speaker, [I am] cognisant that I only
have a few minutes left. I want to just reflect back on
some of the most critical points in regard to this.
The Government will win the vote because it
is 30 to 6. We know that. The Opposition will never
shy away from stating what is on our mind after we
listen to the people we serve. And we will not shy
away from speaking what on our minds, even with the criticism that will come from the Government, Mr.
Speaker.
We know that this Bill is going to create an
Authority. We want that Authority to be effi cient and
effective.
We know that this Bill is going to create some
challenges for family and friends, Mr. Speaker. We
want to make sure that social services can handle the
crunch that comes with it, Mr. Speaker.
We know that this Bill is going to create s ome
real challenges on education, Mr. Speaker. We want to know, we want to feel comforted that that educ ational aspect will be dealt with, Mr. Speaker. I have
not heard anything about it today.
We look forward to understanding how we are
going to work thr ough some of the compliance issues.
And, most importantly, if the Government is so keen
on this Bill being effective, as they say they want it to
be, we look forward to seeing how we are going to heal any division that might take place between the
Government of Bermuda and Government House for
the benefit of the people we all serve.
So, Mr. Speaker, I have always had reserv ations about legalisation of cannabis. I will not support
it for my family or my children. But they can make de-cisions when they are old enough and, hopefully, with
the upbringing they get they will make the best dec i440 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly sions for themselves. Any drug we take has its cons equences, Mr. Speaker, and we need to be aware of
those.
Thank you for allowing me to have time to
make a contribution, Mr. Speaker.

It is all yours. It is all yours to use.
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
First, I want to thank the Attorney General for
being brave enough to bring such a Bill to Parliament,
Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, let me just remind the Oppos ition that they were the ones who made alcohol avail able seven days a week from t he retail shops and, co nsequently, it certainly increased the profits of the r etailers. It is our hope that when this Bill is passed
those who will reap the benefits will be those who
have been deprived of profits so many years ago.
Now, let me say right up front that my party
knows my stance on this here. I am against increasing
any elements in our society that is going to cause us a
problem. And when I [say] “a problem ,” I am talking
about the protection of children. I am always going to
be there, Mr. Speaker. One may say, Well, children
are using alcohol at a young age. Yes, they are, because it is available. It is legally available for them. Not legally available as far as sales. But it is around them. And the more you have [of] whatever it is
around people, whether [they] be young or old, there
is a chance that they may use that.
Also, let’s look at probably some of the ben efits. Alcohol has its health benefits. And so does weed
have its benefits. But, Mr. Speaker, what concerns me is that we may solve one problem, but we create three
more. Because, Mr. Speaker, there are many emplo yers who have drug policies in place where employees
in safety -sensitive areas are randomly drug tested.
And if they are found to be under the influence of
drugs, then there i s a programme there for them to
clean up— not to lose their job, but to clean up. And if it happens one too many times, maybe three times,
their job is in jeopardy, Mr. Speaker.
I do know, as we all know, that Black s in particular have been the beneficiaries of the cons equences of drugs. I mean, there are many Bermudians who cannot travel for just having a seed a couple
of years ago. They cannot travel. I am sure you, being
the Speaker, an MP, have gotten calls, and all of us
have gotten calls, from Bermudians who need to go
away for medical assistance but who cannot travel to
the United States because their names have been forwarded to them. And I reply to [these Bermudians]
that they probably need to go to Britain to get treatment because if you are able to get to the United
States, by the time you get there the problem may
have taken you out somewhere, or whatever. So
those are the consequences of that, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I can remember as a bartender
some years ago, not many years ago, and I was wor king where the buses would come almost up in the
yard of the establishment where I worked. And an o perator came inside, this is [around] noon (I can r emember it like it was yesterday.) and asked for a Scotch. And they were dressed in uniform and I said,
No, I cannot give you a Scotch. The driver got annoyed at me and I invited him, Well, you need to get
the manager because I am not going to serve you any
liquor here because I have children who may be on
the streets, on their bikes (push bikes because they
weren’t old enough to drive motorcycles at that time)
[or] nephews, cousins, neighbours, and if you are dri ving that big bus I am not going to give you a drink be-cause it would put our kids at risk.
Not to say that this person would have an accident, which I hope they wouldn’t, but when you consume alcohol and other things that affect your mind,
your chances of having an accident increase.
And, Mr. Speaker, there are some areas, what
we call “safety sensitive” areas, where there is drug testing. Do we want a crane operator, or a heavy
equipment operator to be under the influence of weed,
or alcohol for that matter? And with our [narrow] roads
that we have . . . I must say, we have some of the
best bus operators, heavy equipment operators, crane operators in the world. But we do not need one more
negative (as I would call it) to add to this habit that can
put us at risk, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I am r eally concerned.
Mr. Speaker, I looked at this scenario. If you
have an 18- year-old, and they were in s chool and they
had weed—marijuana, or whatever you want to call
it—and they were caught with it, what do you do? U nder this law they are not supposed to have it, but you
know I question that too because at 18 that person
could be drafted into the army, the y can get married,
and they can buy a home. But they cannot purchase marijuana out of the shops that this Bill would enable them to do. That, to me, would create another issue. I
guess if that person might even take us to the Human


Bermuda House of Assembly Rights. What right do you have for me not to have . . .
I mean, I am 18 years old. I can join the army. What
right do you have? So those types of things, I don’t
know if we will be challenged with, Mr. Speaker.
And then again, from what I have read, the
marijuana today is four ti mes more potent than the
weed that they had in the 1960s and 1970s. I have got
some problems there, Mr. Speaker.
But my main problem is Government House.
The chief occupant of Government House will say that
I am not going to sign this Bill. That is not what they should be doing. We were elected by the majority.
Even though I am not in full agreement with this Bill, I
am certainly not going to support any Governor not
signing the Bill.
Just like the chief occupant of Langton Hill,
the largest house on Langt on Hill, did not sign the
land grab Bill. Why? Now I find out just following the
inquiry that has gone on . . . because as I understand,
many people . . . not many, those people who benefi ted from taking people’s land, love him, they love the
chief occupan t. So they will not sign the Bill. But all of
this has come out in the wash in this inquiry.
And for the chief occupant . . . and this chief
occupant . . . it took 186 years to get a person of colour on Langton Hill. Some people were happy about it. Some people were excited. I’m not. I wasn’t excited
because, regardless of the complexion of the person
in that position, they come with the agenda of the
FCO [ Foreign and Commonwealth Office]. So, nothing
is going to change. So it did not excite me then and it
does not excite me now. I guess you see now what we know. They come with the agenda of the FCO.
And what is the FCO doing? They are going
through these overseas territories, particularly the
Black ones, and investigating anybody, anything they
can get. A ll they got to hear is a rumour and they will
do an investigation. They do not investigate people
who look like them. They only investigate people who
look like us. And they got to stop this nonsense. You
know, investigating Black overseas territories, Bla ck
leaders because they put us all together. And as in
1852, Samuel Brownlow Gray said, Blacks are pr omiscuous, thievish and untruthful. And some people
still have that belief about us.
So, I would urge the chief occupant of the
largest house on Langton Hi ll to have a conversation
with the FCO, because they are not here to stop the
Government from governing. We were not elected by
anyone in Britain. We were elected by the majority of
people in this country based on the platform. This Bill
that we have today was in our platform. Whether I
agree with it or not, it was in our platform. So it is not
for any occupant of that house, that largest house on
Langton Hill, to stop us in our endeavour to satisfy the
people of this country.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I do not have much to add. It has been a fulsome debate already. But I do want to speak on behalf of two populations. One, the children, and the
other being thos e who are interested in having social
. . . people who would like to consume cannabis s ocially.
So, from the young persons’ perspective, my
concern is the exposure to cannabis more broadly. And I feel the same way about exposure to alcohol and exposure to tobacco. So it makes no difference to
me who, what, when or what as far as the people and
the historical background to any of these things. But
the idea that there will be commercialised locations
where cannabis will be openly put up for sale is for me . . . [for me it is] an issue. I believe that it is going to
expose our children, to a certain extent. It will demyst ify cannabis and there may not be the barriers or the
security put in place as far as education and awar eness is concerned so that the childr en take the
knowledge of the hazards around the consumption of
cannabis seriously enough.
Mr. Speaker, our children are being put in a
position where if they decide that they want to partic ipate in the consumption of cannabis then they are
going to be doing it illegally up to the age of 21. So, if
we go back to the very first conversations that we had around whether we should decriminalise or legalise
cannabis, the point was, l et’s [make it so] the children
[will not get] charged and [thus] not having themselves
put on the stop list. So, if everything that is being di scussed in this piece of legislation today is for those
over the age of 21, then we still face the same crim inal risk for our under -21s that we have always had.
So I do not feel as though we have really found the
solution —

The Member, even the previous
Member, MP Pearman, he actually said that as of now
442 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly it is decriminalised up to 7 grams . So the young people, if they do get caught, it is not a criminal rec ord. It
is decriminalised, so we will not be putting them on
the stop list. That is how it is as now and will still stay
the same. So, the MP is misleading the House, Mr.
Speaker.

Yes, good point. So it is that
they cannot go into any of the establishments that are
being proposed in the Bill. Thank you very much for
that clarification.
So, I just want to make sure that children u nder the age of 21 are not penalised for any kind of
consumption. So I am going to accept the fact that 7
grams is allowed, and that is fine.
But the other piece is the medical repercussions that could occur from children who are consuming cannabis. So, yes, we have got the decriminalis ation already, but we still have to face the risk that chi ldren are exposed to some various forms of injury through psychosis and other [effects] through the con-sumption of cannabis. So, keeping our eye on that, I
am feeling as though we may be putting a gap in there
without having the support. I do know that the Attorney General did discuss the education piece around
children and cannabis use, but I just want to make
sure that we are always mindful that young children are going to now be exposed to cannabis more openly
and the effec t that that is going to have on them and
making sure that they receive the education and the
support that they need in order to manage as responsibly as they can their consumption of, or better yet,
their abstinence of cannabis until they reach the age
of which it will be legally and commercially available to
them.
Now, one of the other concerns that I have is
the self -medication, which someone has already
raised today. There was a time when I had a conversation with a psychologist here in Bermuda who was
doing some research around young men and women who have had bike accidents. And one of the big i ssues that this psychologist raised was the fact that so
many of our young people who have bike accidents
have undiagnosed head injuries and sometimes are in
pain and do not understand what that pain is, and so
they self -medicate. And usually, according to the i nformal research that was done, they were consuming
marijuana as a way to alleviate some of the repercussions from injuries from bike accidents. And this is not
medicinal.
So, I guess, maybe, if we were to educate our
young people that if there are medicinal cures . . . not
cures, but medicinal ways to alleviate some of the pain and discomfort from, let’s say, an accident or an
illness, that our young people are educated in the
availability through medicinal rather than going
through the illegal channels and consuming more potent cannabis through the b lack market.
I also am just curious about the licensing of
these establishments. It seems to me that the co mmercialisation of it is going to really only be available to the few who have the financial resources to set up
these establishments. And certainly the people who I
have listened to who are interested and do maybe, potentially, experiment with growing c annabis, that the
main aim or goal that they have is that they just really
want to be able to grow the plants, whether it is because they just enjoy the challenge of growing cannabis (because I understand it is not an easy thing to
do), and then they enjoy the fruits of their harvest. So
there is not really an appetite to go into a store and
buy commercial marijuana, they would just prefer it to
be a natural product of a hobby, their gardening experience, and there is not really a desire to get involved
in licensing and having a commercial establishment
and the like.
So I just am curious whether, one, there will
be . . . and this is a question for the Attorney General.
Have we measured the demand that people are going
to want to get licences? And then the other question,
Is there enough of a market for anybody to make enough of a profit to cover all of the expenses which,
you know, there are just pages and pages of security
and the way that the establishment has to be set up
and the way that the businesses c onduct themselves,
and much of the legislation seems to be around all
kinds of expenses that a licence holder has to buy into
in order to have an establishment. I am just curious
what that return on investment is really going to look
like and whether it is maybe a high barrier for people
to even enter into this market.
There are a number of our, sort of, third sector
non-profit leaders who have concerns about the
commercialisation of cannabis and whether the Go vernment in their consultations and the like i s speaking
to some of these organisations so that structured and organised education programmes can be created not
only for the youth but also the vulnerable in our com-munity who are consuming marijuana and some other
forms of drugs, and how we may be able to support
those vulnerable given the fact that there are going to,
potentially, be an increasing number of outlets for
people to get their hands on marijuana.
I mean, just as an example, and I do not know
how this would work, but if somebody has been di agnosed with a psychosis caused by cannabis —and we
do know that it exists and it is real —that they would
not be able to walk into one of these dispensaries and purchase more and smoke more and then have an
episode while they are in the establishment and what that looks like, and whether we are prepared to deal
with those kinds of risks.


Bermuda House of Assembly And then, you know, one of my final pieces
really is the financing of it. I will have to disclose that I
do work for a financial institution and that just generally, one would think that it would be quite difficult for us
here in Bermuda to be able to bank the cash from these establishments. And what [is] Government going to be able to put in place in order for these establishments to be able to invest their funds?
I mean, otherwise we are going to become
cash heavy, and I do not even know whether people
are really going to be interested in purchasing canna-bis without having the luxury of using credit cards and
debit cards and cashless transactions, and what that
is going to look like. If it does become a cash industry,
then what effect, maybe negative effect, is that going
to have on our community? Because with cash you
are going to raise the criminal element, and you know,
it will be interesting to hear from the Minister of N ational Security around how we are going to consider
managing this, if we do have the potential for acts of
violence, or if we have situations where it could be-come a cash- heavy industry and robberies increase,
and how the police community is going to manage that.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I am done. Thank you
very much.

You have your 30 minutes.

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I am speaking today, Mr. Speaker, because
as the Minister for Social Development I would want to
make something very clea r. When we look at people
and we study people, we want to be very aware of
their social well- being, and making sure . . . let me put
on my camera, Mr. Speaker. You did not say an ything. Sorry.
I wanted to make sure that we are considering
persons’ overall well-being. It may be their emotional,
their physical, their spiritual, their economic well -
being. And so, we always do not have this in a ba lance. There is always some give and take. But we
want to be able to put people in a position where they
have the opportunity to do better. And as a Gover nment I believe that we are making strides to assist
people in Bermuda to do better.
I bring this up because we make unhealthy
choices all the time. And those unhealthy choices can be by the way of the food that we eat, by the way of
our shopping habits, by the way of how we interact
and our relations with people. So there are many, you
know, sort of things that encompass unhealthy behaviours and our social well -being. And for many years
we have looked at the use of cannabis as being an
unhealthy behaviour. Some people think that way because we relate cannabis use or even substance use
to health problems, even mental health problems. And
we look at those things as being bad.
But we want to be in a community where we
are supporting. And if you talk to any sort of profes-sional in the helping field, they will tell you that persons who find themselves using any substance will
constantly need a support structure. So this is very
important, Mr. Speaker, that for social dev elopment,
we are always making ourselves prepared as a country providing for a support structure.
Mr. Speaker, life is hard and every morning I
wake up and I say, What is this day going to bring me? What will the challenges be? Challenges come
around us every day in all shapes and sizes. And I
can speak from personal experience of having persons in my life who have used substances , and gro wing up as a child being around family members and
friends who have used cannabis. These were not bad
people, Mr. Speaker. You know, being around it, being young, I often thought about Why are they doing
it? Maybe I should try it because it looks like they like
it what they are doing. Mr. Speaker, I want to be very
clear. I have never ever used cannabis. But I know with t his cannabis regime structure that it will encourage us to talk more about it.
We will continue to talk about the advantages
and the disadvantages and we will not act as though
this use of cannabis in Bermuda does not exist and
yet we know that it does. B ecause if you drive up and
down this Island, Mr. Speaker, and you look around
Bermuda, it is pristine and very clean as though we have no social issues —the Bermuda we have been
hiding too long.
So the message here is not just Don’t do
drugs, but it is Le t’s talk about drugs and let’s talk
about how too much of it or too much of anything is not good for us. But also, let’s talk about the coping
strategies. Let’s talk about other alternatives and let’s
talk about if you need help, we are here to help each
other. If you mess up, we are here to help. So using
cannabis, using any other substance, does not make
you a bad person; it may make your behaviours inappropriate when you use it. And I will continue to teach my children this, how if you use substances, your life
could be impacted with abuse.
Mr. Speaker, this Bill is not about legalisation.
It is about providing a regulatory and licensing regime. It is about liberalisation, which is the removal or loosening of restrictions. I want to draw a reference to the
Bermuda Drug Information Network [BerDIN] of 2020.
And actually it shows in this resource that cannabis
444 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly and alcohol are the most commonly used substances
in Bermuda. It also demonstrates that the average
age of initiation for the use of cannabis is act ually 13.8
years. And the initiation age for the use of alcohol is
actually 16 years of age. And this is before a regul ation framework. It is an interesting stat, Mr. Speaker,
alcohol is regulated and cannabis is not. So this will
be something for us to watch and observe, whether
under regulation the initiation use of cannabis by age
will hopefully increase because we want it to. We want
people . . . well, we do not want people to use any sort
of drug, but you know, the whole thing is that they are
using ca nnabis at an appropriate age.
Nevertheless, Mr. Speaker, we have provided
for proper public protections with this Act. There are
protections for young persons included in this Act.
There are provisions for proper advertising and marketing of cannabis pro ducts. There is actually specific
education and treatment programmes for persons under the age of 18 that we can now regulate with po wers given to the Minister to provide specific education
and treatment programmes if we find that our young
persons are in court due to cannabis offences. And as
my colleagues have already stated, this Bill considers
the impact upon children and young persons by setting an age restriction of 21. Actually we had many
discussions about this age of 21. But I do feel that we have come to the right place in regard to making
those restrictions to the age of 21.
So we will continue to talk about it. We will
continue to talk about the advantages and the disadvantages. We do not want people to engage in ca nnabis use at a young age. And this Government is
very, very aware of that, because we do not want persons having a criminal record under the age of 21.
This Government also has an appreciation for
the negative impacts upon young persons, so we are
putting up a monitoring regime so t hat cannabis pro ducts cannot be sold within the proximity of a school or
a day care centre or a church or a young centre. What
we cannot control, Mr. Speaker, is what happens in
people’s homes. So this is just not a Government i ssue, it is also a community issue. And we have to be
speaking up about what is going on in our own personal homes, speaking up about it to our family members when it has disadvantages associated with it.
So we know about the health outcomes, Mr.
Speaker. We know the good and the b ad. We know
about the short -term and the long- term effects, and
what we should do so that it gets better. But there are
also economic advantages which my colleagues have
highlighted.
This Bill, Mr. Speaker, will also protect the
public. The aim is to protect the public from dangerous
strains. Because right now people do not always know
what is in the cannabis that they purchase. They do not know what is in it. And, Mr. Speaker, we have
made sure that with this Act there is a regulatory
framework to include — [Crosstalk; Feedback]

Hon. Tinee Furbert: We have made sure that there is
a regulatory framework to include public protections
from the impact on young persons.
This Bill, Mr. Speaker, also will assist disadvantaged groups to achieve or to attempt t o achieve
equal opportunity, or to increase employment of cer-tain groups, particularly with the section 6A of the
Human Rights Act as there is a provision included in
this Bill. So when we talk about monopolies or we talk about only certain people having opportunities, Mr.
Speaker, our community can hold us to account as a
Government because we have carved out a provision
to assist all with getting ahead with this Bill, and this is
the economic empowerment that we will provide.
Mr. Speaker, voters voted us in in October
2020 because they wanted us to see this Bill through. So, here you go Bermuda! While I am out on the
doorstep, Mr. Speaker, constituents who were over the age of 21 said to me, the MP , When is this Bill
going through? And while it is not perfect, Mr. Speaker, we recognise that. But again, here is a step. It is a
step for a check and a balance. This Bill, again, Mr.
Speaker, is not about legalisation. It is about providing
a regulatory and licensing regime and it is about liberalisation where we will not continue to say to the people of our country Shame, shame on you.
Mr. Speaker, I believe that this Bill that we are
bringing forth today has a consideration for a person’s
well-being, again, both recognising [the] disa dvantages and advantages, and also providing for a
regulatory structure around the use of cannabis in
Bermuda. And we will continue to watch and see how
this Bill will progress. As we know with any other Bill, if
things need to be changed we can bring it back and
we can make amendments. And so we will keep our finger on the pulse as it relates to that.
So I am comfortable to say, Mr. Speaker, that
I support this Bill as it is written today, as we are r eceiving it today. And I am also confident that this Go vernment, Mr. Speaker, will make any necessary
changes that it needs to, should there be any sort of
negative or adverse effects as it relates to this Bill.
And I am actually looking forward, Mr. Speaker, to monies going toward the assistance of treatment pr ogrammes. I am actual ly looking forward to that.
So, without further ado . . . and I do not have
to spend too much time on this, Mr. Speaker, I just
want to say to Bermuda that this is a Government that
has made a promise to put such a Bill through and here it is today. Soci al issues will always be around
us. They will always be around us. And I just want our
public, our community, our people to recognise that
we must continue to provide support to help to i mprove everyone’s well -being. And that is the message
that we will ha ve to continue, that we will be a Go vernment committed to providing support. Thank you,

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I
would like to make representation with regard to the
presentation by the Attorney General today. And I
would like to start off by saying that I think it is i mportant, notwiths tanding how comprehensive a
presentation she provided, that the diversity which exists, that you have listened to this afternoon from us
within the Progressive Labour Party, the divergent views that take place with any issues, that first and
foremost she i s a mother. And I heard the lead cou nterpoint come from someone who is Learned like she
and sits in these Honourable Chambers who was certainly advancing the position of “no.”
I just think it is important to put a few things in
context when we talk about t his cannabis legislation
before us today. And the historical context is important
as well, because we are talking about cannabis being
a plant. We also must take into consideration the poli tical and historical damage that has been done mainly
to, as the Un ited States likes to call it, “the Black and
Brown communities,” when they are talking about those of us from African descent and those of our
cousins from the Latino community, specifically from
Mexico as it related to the United States of how, cer-tainly within the period of the FBI, Hoover, and the
Nixon Administration, you have seen . . . and Berm uda has followed suit for 50- or-more [years] paralleling
the United States in many policies.
And you have seen policies take place that we
have piggybacked on that have been harmful to those
of African descent and the Latino communities, parti cularly harmful and very much in stigmatising our communities adversely and having long- lasting i mpacts, negative impacts, to the present day. And so
when we look at that, we have been consistent in our
presentations, our platform, even long before I was
here, Mr. Speaker, to be able to say that this is an area that has to be addressed.
But when we look at what takes place within
our community, I share that I was once the m arketing
manager of a major liquor company in this country
and I could look at monthly sales reports and I could
tell you when the supply of marijuana was non -
existent because Supertea sales would spike. And
certainly there was a brand that I used to market, re present, and a beer brand that has the connotation of being of one that breeds abuse, abusive behaviour, —

[Crosstalk; Feedback]

Okay. And I believe mine
might have been on during an earlier speaker and I
apologise as well.
But, yes, when you have that type of thing
happening, Mr. Speaker, we do not look sufficiently enough at the harmful effects of other products that
are within our community that are completely legal. And I make the point that cannabis is a plant and al-cohol is derived from chemical making. A nd they have
very harmful effects. Tobacco and cigarettes, likewise.
The negative health impacts of them are tremendous.
And whilst there are some regulations around smo king as it relates to the places that you can and cannot
[smoke] these days . . . even second- hand smoke in
that regard has proven to be very, very harmful. So when I look at the presentation by the A ttorney General, and I take into consideration, notwit hstanding that others I am sure are clear and [INAUD IBLE] I certainly know that she is one that will look at
each line item when we go into Committee and look at this Bill and be able to speak to those points which
she articulated in a very comprehensive presentation.
But I was struck by the fact that in our jurisdi ction with this Bill, and in the BVI [ British Virgin I slands ], there has been some resistance from the representatives of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
[FCO] in these Islands. And I just want to remind the
public that the United Kingdom is noted as the largest
exporter of cannabis in the world, and may have a
conflict as overseas territories look at legislation for
varying reasons. We have seen conflicts as it relates to our position when it comes to finance and we may
be having a serious conflict as we look at what takes
place in their marketplace and how they export the
very product that they would be quick not to sign off
on if this Government or another overseas territory is
looking to move in that direction. So we certainly need to beware of what we are confronted with.
446 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly I heard the Honourable Member allude that
we may be looking to pick a fight. I think MP Dunkley
alluded to that. Those might not be his exact words.
But I say this, as Britain has moved away from Europe
by way of its electorate, it is looking at our territor y in
ways in which is more colonialistic in the mind- set
than ever before. And as we look to carve our way
forward in this world, I make no bones about it. In
1995 I stood at the polls and supported independence. So I am not speaking of anything that I hav e not
espoused long before today.
But I certainly am seeing a mother country
that is looking to strengthen its grip on these overseas
territories, and this is but just one example. I do a lot
of research of history these days. I am looking at a lot of 1920 and 1930 and 1940 articles as I research my
elders and ancestors, and I can tell you there were a
lot of things that were done in this country in the best
interest of the white community, both here and in the
United Kingdom (and other places) specificall y, and
endorsed by the hierarchy from overseas, notwit hstanding some elements of compassion that were
shown by some along the way. I have uncovered that,
and I glory in their spirit. And I will elevate those who
have. But by and large, in more cases than not, history has proven that there are many things that we are
saddled with today that are born in some very poor, bad decisions that were made in the worst interests of
the majority population in this country, in the Black
community in this country. And as a consequence,
delving and dealing with it is not a simple exercise.
So with that, I just want to say, Mr. Speaker,
that it struck me, when I looked at some of the farms
that exist, particularly in England, and note that the
world looks at Britain as bei ng a major exporter of
cannabis, that they will look at these territories, and
they are looking at these territories a lot differently
today than they were before Brexit came on the sc ene.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to start off like
others have done, by congratulating the Attorney
General. I think in the climate that we are in here in
Bermuda I have to praise her courageous stand, because I could imagine the pushback that she has got-ten. But she stayed the course and here we are, Mr.
Speaker. So it would be remiss if I did not start there. I
take my hat off to the Attorney General.
Having said that, Mr. Speaker, I looked long
and hard at this piece of legislation. And, like my ho nourable colleague from constituency 33, I think I could
start off my comments by saying that I did not want
the perfect to negate the good. So rather than look at it thro ugh those lenses, I said, Okay, this is a great
start. And you know, Mr. Speaker, when we as a party
have promised our constituents that we will address
this issue —

[Audio skip]

Okay. Thank you.
So I was saying that what happens is that not
only on the doorstep but at a lot of functions, people
are challenging me and saying, Well, when is the PLP
going to come good on their promise? So I am actually excited about the good—


Bermuda House of Assembly [Audio skip]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. S peaker, MP
Weeks is breaking up somewhere.

All right.
I will start again by saying that we have deli vered on our long- overdue promise. So this is going to
allow us, a segment of our society, mainly Black men,
Mr. Speaker, not to be criminalised by association
with cannabis.
But I must put things in a historical context,
Mr. Speaker. I have done my research. I remember coming across in the 1920s, because we have to ask
ourselves, When and why did cannabis become illegal
in the first place? And in the 1920s, right around pr ohibition or the repeal of prohibition, people of colour,
Blacks and Latino (mainly Mexican) —

[No audio]

Pardon? Can you hear me?
Yes. Okay.
When the powers that be, Mr. Speaker, made
marijuana illegal, it was not because of medi cinal purposes, it was strictly to try to control that market.
When we fast -forward 40, 50 years from the 1920s,
into the 1970s when we finally had a Bill, the Misuse
of Drugs Act in 1972, which mirrors that of England
and Nixon in America, again, it was r eally aimed at
controlling that lucrative industry. Not because of m edicinal purposes, it was always a financial purpose, a financial endeavour by the powers that be. So, I do
not want us to get caught up in the minutia that I have
heard some of the others say. And if I could use the
words of one of our senior MPs, Mr. Speaker —
[No audio]

Okay. Great.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to
weigh in on this substantive and in many ways subjective [matter], but it i s something that I believe that ev eryone is taking as a conscience position vote on this
particular Bill.
I think what I would like to do, Mr. Speaker,
really is, and I appreciate the last speaker just prior, I
believe the Honourable Swan from constituenc y 2 and
Honourable Minister Weeks, in their deliberations.
They began to talk about the history of —

[Audio skip]

—of cannabis, and try to put
a framework out somewhere of where we are today, to be informative. And I think that t his is a great opportunity for us to be informative on such an interesting
subject.
I must say that there is still a whole lot to be
learned, to be gained from the use of cannabis in so many different ways. And I think we need to be co ncentrating on how w e can educate our people as to
where we can go in the future with cannabis. Certai nly, we cannot rewrite history, but we can make life better going forward.
And so, informatively, Mr. Speaker, in modern
times we have kind of just started in the early stages
of understanding the many benefits of cannabis and
which ailments it can treat. And the reason I say that
is because of how Minister Weeks was getting to the fact that the pharmaceutical world really imposed itself
and discouraged the discovery of the m any benefits
that cannabis does provide. I wanted to let the public know that there are
more than probably about 500 different strains of cannabis. And with that we are not entirely sure of all of
the benefits that cannabis can provide. But we certai nly know that there are hundreds of different strains,
and about 100- or-so different cannabinoids that exist
within these different hundreds of strains.
Surprisingly enough, we are still just getting to
discover many of the benefits, and probably some of the largest labs of research are in Israel where many
of the studies are taking place. But I do believe the
reason that cannabis has become a major subject,
quite frankly, is because of the discovery and the di scussions around the benefits of marijuana. And we will
get to some of the challenges as far as social justice is concerned and how we got to this point. But cann abis has been around, Mr. Speaker, for thousands of
years and used by the Egyptians, by the Chinese, you name it. In fact, between the years . . . and this is
where I will carry on from what Minister Weeks was saying.
Between the years of 1850 and 1937 cannabis was being used as a major, major medicinal medi-cine in the United States for over 100 different illnes ses, between the period of 1850 to 1937. Unfortunat ely, after 1937 is where we begin to see the fall -off of
the use of cannabis [when] synthetic drugs [were] being brought into the arena, quite frankly, to enable the
fat cats to become even greater. And now we are in a
position where we are beginning to discover the great
benefits of cannabis.
[One] of the benefits is reducing anxiety [and
another] is communication. It encourages communic ation amongst us as a people. One of the other benefits
of cannabis is that we become less violent. And so we
know that there are many things that are going on and
we know that there are many doctors locally who are encouraging, and I would say that the real focus that
we should be having, really, is around the medicinal
purposes and usage of cannabis.
Now, invariably, this Bill is trying to set up a
framework, quite frankly, as we go forward. And as
the Honourable Member Jamahl Simmons said, We
cannot allow perfection to be the enemy of progress. It
is a catchy phrase, and I do like it. I like what it is attempting to say. But we must endeavour as we move
forward, to do as much as we can to get things as
close to perfection as possible. And so I agree that
this Bill is moving in the right direction. But the potential claims and the mechanics of the Bill do allow for
questioning. Thankfully, Mr. Speaker, we have this forum where we are able to ask questions , and also at
the same time we have done our homework and can
be informative.
So cannabis is not going anywhere , certainly
not now with all of the benefits that we are discovering. The question is: How do we manage it going for-ward? And that is what I believe to be the emphasis of
where this Bill stands today. It is attempting to answer


Bermuda House of Assembly the question of . . . we know it is not going anywhere.
The subject matt er is being discussed at dinner t ables, quite frankly . And those who probably in the past
would not have even considered using cannabis are
now considering using it. And some, quite frankly, with
the new discover y of its purposes, are using it , whether it be in [IN AUDIBLE] or whether it, quite frankly, be
in smoking it or using CBD oil.
You know, this has been a major subject in
our household. Certainly, to declare my interest, my wife being a pharmacist and also having the oppor-tunity to be the chief phar macist for government as
some point in time where marijuana, CBD oil and the
likes were being allowed to be brought in for medicinal
purposes. It has been an ongoing study for us.
And so this is a natural herb, as you have already heard others speak to thi s fact. The question is,
How will we, moving forward, manage this great p otential for medicinal purposes and maybe even pote ntial economically to improve the lives of our families
economically ?
One of the challenges that I do have, and we
will talk about t hat, is the Bermuda market and whet her or not it is economically feasible. And we have the
numbers in order for it to make sense to make money ,
although I believe that there is a global opportunity, whether it is positioned in Bermuda, for offices or labs
and the like. But the local market in and of itself draws
questions as to whether or not we are moving in the
right direction in claiming that it will be an opportunity
entrepreneurship- wise and lucrative- wise for Berm udians . And that is probably where I w ill have some
questions that I would like to ask.
But I would like to say from this however is
that I would like to encourage, especially our doctors,
to consider looking at this Bill and getting involved in
research labs and the like so that we can be one of
those centres that really centres around or really
moves around being educational about the many uses
of cannabis.
And as I was listening to one of the [IN AUD IBLE] a couple of years ago, it was interesting [INA UDIBLE] one of the labs in Israel, one of the doctors
called his friend and said, Look, you know, I heard that you were using cannabis as a means of being
able to reduce anxiety and pain. (In one of his patients.)
And the doctor replied back and said, Yes,
she said it was working out really, real ly well.
And as the doctor probed further [INAUDIBLE ]
said, Well, exactly how is it that it is benefiting you?
And she said, Well, the pain hasn’t gone
away, but my grandson comes and meets me on a
regular basis because I have marijuana in the house.
So that really led to more research that nee ded to be done, because some strains will have benefits that others won’t. And really, what I am getting to,
is that there is still a large part of this plant we call
cannabis that still needs to be understood and st ill needs to be applied to the many opportunities that we
might have in the medical field. And I personally believe that that is where the focus for us really should
be.
You know, I heard several times from the
substantive Minister (and I thank her for her introduction of the Bill today) and from other Members when
they mentioned that there is a broad range of people
who will, quite frankly, benefit economically from this
particular Bill. And I am beginning to break down exactly . . . Okay, well then , if you are telling us that the
industry is about $6 million. There is a $6 million market. We are setting up a regulatory body, we are setting up a board to regulate this thing and the likes.

[No audio]

—frankly is requiring [INA UDIBLE] an extent [INAUDIBLE] of manpower and the
likes to regulate where [INAUDIBLE] cannabis and the
sale of cannabis and the like. And so as we go
through the Bill wh en we start breaking it down and
we [INAUDIBLE] legalisation of cannabis. [INAUD IBLE]
I think that we need to continue to reiterate
the fact that it has been decriminalised. I am surprised that even today that [ INAUDIBLE ] in Bermuda for a
certain amount. A nd so I think that we still need to go
a long way in educating the public on all of the as-pects of cannabis. Again, I do not believe that a $6
million market at this point in time is going to be lucr ative to anyone in the near future. And when I say the “near future” not within this year [INAUDIBLE] and still
have not [INAUDIBLE] the issues of the banks being
able to take the proceeds —

[No audio]

—of Bermuda who are see king out the opportunity to get involved in this. Now, I
do not have any challenge with that at all, you know,
[INAUDIBLE] fill the requirement of being able to get
involved in the industry. But make no mistake, low
income and middle income are going to have to go and find where they can get the money to invest —

[No audio]

—enterprises that we are
talking about. And the question then becomes, okay,
[INAUDIBLE] benefiting from the sale of marijuana
illegally do not have this issue. And the Bill does not address some of the issues that we have of stamping
out the illegalities that are going on with marijuana
right now —some.
And if you import marijuana, just like right now
if you go to the supermarket, Mr. Speaker, you can get a local tomato and then you go to the other side of
the Island and you get an imported tomato, the cost of
that imported tomato is less than the locally grown
tomato. Why is that? Because our cost of living is
high. And so I am not sure, and I have not heard emphatically how the cost of [I NAUDIBLE ] running a
business in Bermuda is going to be lucrative when it
comes to growing marijuana in Bermuda, cannabis in
Bermuda, as opposed to importing. And with such a
small industry my concern is that it will be a single one
or two people who will capitalise in on this market because they will be able to afford to low cut.
So that young fellow who wants to grow it, to
commercialise it, he is already at a disadvantage. And
these are the very young men and women who we are talking about who are already disadvantaged. So what
we need to hear from our Government is how they are going to allow and make it possible for the very ones
they are saying that they want to champion, how they
are going to make it possible to be affordable to get
involved in this industry. We have not heard that as of
yet. And so those questions will continue to have to be
answered and maybe in the future as we go forward, it
will be very, very interesting to see how this proceeds.
But with the economy the way that it is right now, I do
not see where anyone is going to be able to successfully set up shop that is not from already existing law.
And that is where we need to hear more from our
Government in dispelling this issue.
Now, when I said that I heard from the Government that this wa s going to be a broad range of
people who will benefit from this Bill , . . . I also me ntioned earlier that smoking cannabis also improves communication. So I would probably say that maybe
we all need to have a little smoke to be able to communicate a little better as to what are going to be the
benefits or not the benefits and be real about exactly
what is going on here.
Yes, we have a Bill in front of us. And it is a
Bill that I have already stated is a progressive one. It
is moving us in the right direction . But we cannot allow
our people to be misled into believing that once we
pass this Bill , six months from now we will be able to
set up shop and be able to have something that is a
viable business entity in Bermuda. This is misleading ,
because the cost of growing marijuana, cannabis, in
Bermuda is going to be high. On top of it, you have all the other restrictions that you have to fulfil. And so the
fellow who is selling it underground who is already
importing it and does not have to pay taxes on it will continue to thrive. And I have a problem with that. And
I will explain why I have a problem with that.
I have mentioned it before, and it was mentioned earlier that some of our young Bermudians, particularly Blacks, have unfortunately had bike acc idents that have led to head injuries that , unfortunately
for many of our young men, in order to relieve the pain
they have turned to self -medicat ion [with] the use of
cannabis. It makes sense; it is logical that they would
do that. But [at 16] I personally experienced that with
my father who was in a coma for two months after
having a bike accident. He came out and the early use
of marijuana [ INAUDIBLE ], eventually schizophrenia
set in [IN AUDIBLE ].
Now, I am not complaining about it. I have no
qualms about the fact of what took place. He was a
beautiful man. And unfortunately in the society that he
grew up in, more so than what I grew up in, he was
marginalised as a Black man [INAUDIBLE ] friends
and others were incarcerated [INAUDIBLE] because
of the sentence for marijuana. And so the system
marginalised Black men and what we need to do is
ensure that we fix the system. And that is why I say
this Bill is progressive and moves in certain directions
that are helping to alleviate that, that is helping to allow that to happen, but we still have not heard how
proceeds of this industry are going to help those affected and marginalised because of it.
And one of the other things that kind of gets
under my skin as well, Mr. Speaker, is , you know, we
. . . and I am trying to u nderstand a little more about
what the Bill is presenting here and it appears (and I
can be corrected if I am wrong) that we will be co ncentrating more on Black entrepreneurship as opposed to white entrepreneurship when it comes to
cannabis and the like. And maybe this Government
can clarify that for me, but if that is the case and they
feel that this industry should be predominantly run by Blacks, then say so. Just go ahead and say so, so
that the people are aware of exactly what the Go vernment is attempti ng to do.


Bermuda House of Assembly The verdict is still out , though, as to the pr oceeds and how that money is going to go toward hel ping affected communities. And the reason that I bring
that up is because the past of the sugar tax . We still
have not seen the facts of the tax on sugar coming to
fruition where we have [fewer] diabetics and less purchas ing of sugar and the likes , and more education as
to the ills of sugar. But we are talking about cannabis
right now . So the real challenge will always be in the
education of it. But t he education of it is all around
medical labs in educating people on the great uses of it.
I am concerned because I have not heard
quite yet , and maybe someone will come up with it
and say. I am concerned that Blacks [ INAUDIBLE ]
cannabis [INAUDIBLE] Black s selling to Blacks. And
sometimes we need to face up to these facts. [INA UDIBLE] and what it is doing. I am concerned about the
Black community and what we are doing to each ot her. And many of us in the House of Assembly are aware of those who profit off of selling marijuana and
other drugs to our own race, and profited off of it.
Some have several houses because of it. Some have
lavish and huge houses because of it. I am not complaining about that, but when we start talking about
social injustice then we, as a race, need to be keenly
aware of what we are doing to each other.
I saw who was selling the marijuana, cannabis, to my father . And I also know who was supplying
it to him to sell. And so what we as a community need
to do, is we need to talk about the injustices, fix the
system which I believe is the direction the Bill is a ttempting to go in. But we also need to fess up to the
fact that we have been doing each other wrong. And we start pointing fingers and the likes and talking
about the UBP and the O BA and the like. Well, I can
think of a commissioner who was locking up Blacks
and when gang activity came to flourish, was a member of the PLP.
So we do not need to be throwing stones at
each other, we need to sit down, have a smoke ma ybe, and communicat e a little better about what we
should be doing going forward. And in my estimation, entrepreneurship in this industry is not where it is at
right now, it is in the research. And that research can
provide jobs and opportunities for Bermudians to get involved in an area that so much needs more educ ation to the world. We are in the industry of internatio nal business . Let’s now do like the [the people from
Israel] and have major labs [ built] in Bermuda so that
we can educate the world on the many uses and [the
yet] to be discovered uses for medicinal marijuana.
So I appreciate all of the going back and forth
that we have had concerning this particular way as we
move forward. But I want the Government to be very,
very clear about what the social justices [are] that we
are putting in place that is going to make it right for many of the communities that were affected by it. We
have seen it! We have seen families destroyed by it. So exactly what are the avenues that the Government
is going to use in order for this to happen?
I dare say it will not be happening any time
soon, because I do not believe that there is a lucrative
industry as of yet to get involved in. What I do believe
is that we do have a framework that is now moving in
the direction for being able to make that possible. But
we dare not mislead our people into thinking that this
is going to be a great opportunity , and that the Governor will have the opportunity to pass it and we will move in the direction of making this another pillar. It will not be a pillar of this economy at $6 million of an
industry. It is not t here yet.
And the greater part of that is that we as a
people need to understand that if there is going to be
anything lucrative in the technological world that we
live in today, it is being able to produce something
here in Bermuda and market it to the world. We do not have the physical numbers in Bermuda to substantiate
many of the entrepreneur opportunities in just selling
to Bermudians. It does not exist. Ask the taxi drivers.
Ask the ent repreneurs who are out there in the retail
business now. We need more numbers here and we
need to start thinking globally in the opportunities that
we have going forward.
The one thing I want to be clear about also,
Mr. Speaker, is that this Bill is not going to help an yone that is on the stop list. But thank goodness we do
have opportunity , and the Government has put in
place where we will expunge many of these records .
And I believe that this is the right thing to do. But it is
not going to get anyone off that list. And so we cannot rewrite history, but what we can do is ensure that
Bermuda becomes a lucrative place and we need to
think big when it comes to this industry , and we need
not think just locally because it is not happening. The
importation of marijuana will continue to compete with
the local growers. Anyone getting into the field of local
growing will be at a disadvantage from the very be-ginning.
So with that in mind, Mr. Speaker, I think there
is one other thing I wanted to say. Hang on, I just want to get my notes here—

Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I hope that the substantive Minister, will be
even a bit clearer on how this Bill is transformed, and
she mentioned the fact that of How does this Bill help
the fact that Black lives matter. I want to hear more
about that. And I do not think enough is being said
about how we are going to steer this into ensuring that
the affected communities by this industry will be
helped out. This is where the Minister needs to be
very clear in what she is attempting to do. Especially if
she says that cannabis is kind of like a cultural thing
452 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly for Bermudians. I am not sure if that is an emphatic
statement or whether or not that is, quite frankly, true
or false, but it is being said. I do know that we need to
move in the direction of legalising cannabis. That is
where the answer really lies in solving the many chal-lenges that we do have. But as for now —

Thank you, Honourable Member.
Does any other Honourable Member wish to
make a contribution at this time?

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Yes, Mr. Speaker.
The S peaker: Yes, honourable Member. Honourable
Member De Silva. You have your 30 minutes.
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Good evening. Thank you,
Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to start off by thanking the Attorney General for bringing this Bill today. A
lot of people have congratulated her , but I would like
to leave congratulations out and just thank her , because, Mr. Speaker, I just happened to have been in
the room for the last several years , in both rooms, and
I know how much work that this has involv ed and I
know how much work she has done. I know the fights she has fought. It has been a tough road. So I would
like to thank her for finally getting it to this place, and I
look forward to getting it over the line before the day is
done.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to emphasise the
fact that one of the things that I liked about the Attorney General’s speech today was when she talked
about education and that there would be a robust education process. A robust education process, Mr.
Speaker. And I think that is important , and I think that
if we do that, as we do anything else that has signif icant national importance, I think if we do that I think
we will be on the right road.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I would like to also mention the fact that there have been a lot of questions from the Opposition today. But I would like to remind
them that in successive platforms , and in successive
Throne Speeches over the past several years, Mr.
Speaker, we have highlighted and consistently highlighted that we are looking to transform how we do
things in this country.
And one of the things that the Progressive
Labour Party continue d to highlight and push as a
Government of this country, Mr. Speaker, is how we want to support entrepreneurship and support new business owners in this country , in particular Black
business owners in this country, Mr. Speaker. Now, I would like to read if I can, Mr. Speaker,
just a small section out of our 2020 platform.

You can go ahead, Member.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Speak er.
And it is titled, “Boosting Entrepreneurship in
Small and Medium Sized Businesses.”
“The PLP Government has boosted support
for entrepreneurs by reducing red tape, eliminating
taxes for new startups, and providing $12 million of support for small an d medium sized businesses to
assist in surviving the financial challenges caused by
the Pandemic.”
Now, Mr. Speaker, let me repeat —$12 million
of support for small and medium -sized businesses!
That is very important and we will come back to that in
a moment. But this legislation, Mr. Speaker, is about,
again, our consistent platforms, our consistent Throne
Speech initiatives [and] about creating opportunities.
And when we say “creating opportunities” it is
our hope that it will do just that. Because you wi ll
know, Mr. Speaker, that over the past 18 months or
so, and in particular since last March, the OBA Members almost consistently . . . every couple of months
they come out . And we have heard from the former
leader of the OBA, and former Premier, Mr. Cannonier, we have heard from the Opposition Leader, the Honourable Cole Simons, and many of his other
colleagues and they say time and time again, What is
the Progressive Labour Party’s recovery plan? You
know, what have we done? What are we doing?
We are all familiar with the unemployment
benefit s that we have paid and continue to pay to assist our people who have fallen on hard time during
this pandemic. And, Mr. Speaker, this legislation, my
hope is that we can push it quickly so that we can create some fur ther opportunities for our people.
Now, the Honourable Member who just took
his seat, Mr. Cannonier, said he thinks there would only be one or two people who would be able to take
advantage of this legislation and create business. And he said, and I quote, How are the PLP going to make
sure other people will get opportunities? Well, I just
read you a quote out of our platform, Mr. Speaker.
And I would like to think that with the current Progressive Labour Party Cabinet and caucus that we will see
that our p eople get the opportunity to go into this
business if there is going to be any business to be
created.
To hear the Member who just took his seat
. . . all that seemed to spout from his lips was negativ ity. And that is disappointing. It is very disappointi ng.
And then for him to say that we are going to mislead
our people into thinking that there is some kind of
business that might be there for them and for him to
say that, no, it is only going to be one or two wealthy people who are going to get this oppor tunity . . . let me
say this to the people of the country who may be li sBermuda House of Assembly tening. Our plan is to give our people hope. It is not
our intention to mislead our people with this legisl ation. It is our intention to give people hope, Mr.
Speaker. Hope.
And then the Honourable Member Cannonier
went on to say that this is not going to be successful because we do not have the numbers. Ask the taxi
drivers, he said. Well, Mr. Speaker, ask anyone who
has ever been in business, ever started a business if
they did not dream of being successful.
And I can speak first -hand, Mr. Speaker. I
have heard many people say, I will never make it. I
will never make it! Well, I am not about to tell the pe ople of this country that this particular legislation and the creators of bus inesses that they are never going
to make it. I would never say that. I say to our people
that, Look. This is going to give you hope. And don’t
let anybody ever tell you that you are not going to be
successful.

The Honourable Member is
misleading the House.
I never said that there was go ing to be one or
two people w ho would benefit from it. I asked that they
explain how those who were margi nalised by cann abis and the ills of it were going to be able to make it,
and the fact that banks are not going to loan money or
receive the proceeds of the sale of cannabis. Explai n
to us how it is going to happen. That is what I asked
for. Explain it. And he has not explained anything.

Thank you. Thank you, Member. You
were not rising on a point of order, so we do not need
the support of echoes in the back.
Continue on, Member. Just be mindful that the
Member has attempted to clarify what was stated. But,
go ahead.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Mr. Speaker, I will read
again what the Honourable Member said. And he said that he thinks there will only be one or t wo—one or
two—people who will start this business and he went
on to say —and I am going to quote him again, How
are the PLP going to make sure other people will get
opportunities. I can only see those people already
wealthy owning a cannabis business. His w ords, Mr.
Speaker. Hansard will show that.
So my answer to that is . . . he said he has not
heard any answer to that. I answered it, Mr. Speaker.
The PLP Government has boosted support for entr epreneurs by providing $12 million of support for small
and m edium[ -sized] businesses. And I would think
that part of this $12 million will be available for any
entrepreneurs or new people willing to start any bus iness, like anyone else is. Our record shows that we have consistently given more money toward entrepr eneurs and small business owners in this country. This
is just another, Mr. Speaker.
And he went on to say that locals will be at a
disadvantage. And Mr. Speaker, let me say this . . .
and he said it is not a big enough business. Well, Mr. Speaker, I do not know what the actual statistics are,
but there are millions and millions of dollars being
spent on drugs in this country every year. Everyone
knows that.

We are only talking about
cannabis.
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Everyone k nows that there
are millions and millions of dollars on cannabis too!
And let me say this, there are a lot of people
who take vacations to Colorado now and we know
why. There are more people taking vacations to Cal ifornia; we know why. And if we do this right, I think
that our tourists, the tourists that love to travel and
smoke, will look at Bermuda as one of the places they
wish to go to.
Now, Mr. Speaker, let me say this. Because I
had some challenges, like my cousin, Cousin Derrick.
454 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly I had some chall enges with this too. And let me say
this, Mr. Speaker. I am against any kind of smoke that
one inhales, any kind of smoke that one inhales. And
you will remember, Mr. Speaker, I was the Minister
who brought the legislation that decriminalised 7 grams or less. I was the one who brought that legisl ation about. And that legislation was brought to help
our young Black men, in particular. There are some
white men and some white ladies and some Black
ladies too, but we know why we did that. And I am not
going to repeat what many Members have said today
what that has done to . . . and still affects a lot of our
people today.
But, Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member
Dunkley, when he spoke, ridiculed one of my co lleagues or several of my colleagues, he sort of saying
they do not know what they are talking about when we said, and I think the Attorney General mentioned it as
well, that smoking cannabis is part of our culture. And
they smirked at the idea that some of us have said
that this is part of our culture. Well, I do not know
where they are living, Mr. Speaker. I do not know if
they have had a chance to talk to some of their rel atives, friends, family members and colleagues. There
are a lot of people who smoke weed in this country,
Mr. Speaker, a lot. And I would s ay that it is part of our
culture. I mean, the Honourable Member Dunkley
went on to say that drinking is part of our culture. And
I would say that this is correct too. But if you do not
think smoking weed is part of our culture then you
need to get your he ad out of the sand, because there
are a lot of people who smoke weed in this country.
And then the Honourable Member Dunkley
went on to say something that I do not know if ever ybody caught it. He said that he thinks that this legisl ation is being brought, and he talked about not getting
the assent of the Governor. He said he thinks it is being brought for one specific reason, and that is anot her agenda. And I think everybody, the ones who caught it, knew what he was saying. But I will tell you
what, during my time, and I think the only time that I
can recall the Governor not giving assent to legislation
that we passed in this country, as a Progressive La-bour Party when we were in Opposition, if you recall,
because I remember marching up to Government
House that day, Mr. Speaker. But if this Governor or
any other Governor does not give assent to legislation
that we pass, and that has to happen in order for us to
be able to control our country, then so be it. It is long
overdue anyway.
And let me go back to C ousin Derrick, because that is important. And I think Minister Tinee Furbert has said this in the past. She may have mentioned it tonight. When it comes to our children and
those who are vulnerable, I have five grandchildren,
Mr. Speaker. Five. And I worry too. I worry about them
smoking weed. I worry about them smoking cigarettes. And some of us, Mr. Speaker . . . I don’t want
to show too much of our age. I did not experience this, but I certainly heard it from my parents and I am sure
you did, if you did not experience it, that people used
to smoke cedar bark. So, Mr. Speaker, I do worry too.
I do worry too! But what gives me a little bit of comfort
is when the Attorney General said she was going to have robust education with regard to cannabis use in
the country.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I just cannot take my seat
and finish without reflecting back on the Honourable Member Dunkley’s comment, because we talk about
this legislation creating jobs, creating businesses for our people and what we are trying to do. And the
Honourable Member Dunkley in his words, and I
quote, He brought this country back from the brink .
The OBA brought this country back from the brink.
And he made light of the fact that we call the Amer ica’s Cup a boat race. And let me re- emphasise one
more time, Mr. Speaker, because if they bring it up I
think it is important that if they are going to bring up
history we have to bring up history too. And let me
state again, and I have been steadfast with this comment for years now, Mr. Speaker. We were not against the America’s Cup. The Progressive Labour
Party was against spending $100 million of the taxpayer’s dollar for a boat race.
And was it good for Bermuda? Sure. Sure it
was good for Bermuda. Will it have some legacy?
Sure it will. No doubt. No question. But the fact of the matter is we spent $100 million on it. And just a couple of weeks before you had the then Finance Minister
Bob Richards telling our seniors Money don’t grow on
trees, telling our people to take furlough days, saying
we cannot giv e you an increase in wage. That is what
we had a problem with, Mr. Speaker. And we will always have a problem with that.
And then he mentioned, Oh, we are bringing
SailGP to the Island. We are doing an America’s Cup of our own. But if my memory serves me correct, Mr.
Speaker, it is only going to cost the Government $250,000 to hold this race. And then he talked about
some of the members who are on the Bermuda Tourism Authority [BTA] Board, being PLP. Well, yes, I
think you might find that we have more incl usiveness
with regard to how business is handed out and who actually gets a piece of that pie. We will see.
And Mr. Speaker, when the Honourable
Member Dunkley said the OBA brought Bermuda
back from the brink, we cannot forget the airport. You
know, somet imes we forget that that airport generated
$12 [million] to $14 million per year in surplus. So we lost $12 [million] to $14 million a year. And of course
we have gotten an electricity bill that is through the
roof now and forever more.
We have $20 million so far that the taxpayers
of this country have had to pay because of the agreement that should not have been an agreement
at all. Twenty million dollars we have paid! And if things do not improve soon . . . we just heard this
week that the Miami flight has been cancelled. [There


Bermuda House of Assembly are] 16 passengers coming on that flight so they have
had to change it around. What do you think is next,
Mr. Speaker? Maybe it is another $10, $15, $20, $30
million for the taxpayers of this country to have to pay
because we gave away that airport.
I tell you, it has got to be the best deal of the
century for the Canadians. And, Mr. Speaker, let us
not forget when the Honourable Member Dunkley
says he brought Bermuda back from the brink they
doubled our debt in five years. Let me repeat —

Point of order. The Honourable
Member is misleading the House. He has been told
about this before. He even admitted onc e that he was
wrong, which is surprising. It did not double, the debt
did not double. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Oh, no! Oh, no, Mr.
Speaker. You have never heard me say I am wrong
on that one. They doubled the debt. It went from $1.2 to $2.4.

No.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: And I can tell you now that
they doubled the debt in those five years, Mr . Spea ker, doubled it!
And let’s not forget a couple of things. Maybe
the Honourable Member could tell us a little bit about
this, Mr. Speaker. Maybe he could tell us about the
$200 million and counting that we have spent on Mor-gan’s Point —another great financial success story by
the OBA. [It was] $200 million and counting.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Point of order. We will take your point
of order.

POINT OF ORDER

Hon. Michael H. Dun kley: If he wants to go talking
about money, perhaps he could tell us where the
$800,000 went to Savvy Entertainment. Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Mr. Speaker, that is not a
point of order.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: We could tal k about that
too, Mr. Speaker. But I will tell you what —

Try to keep your comments relevant to
today’s debate.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Yes, that’s right.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Let’s do that, Mr. Speaker.
Let’s do that. But you see it is relevant to today’s debate, Mr. Speaker, because if the OBA did not screw
this country up so much financially during that four
years maybe we would have had a lot more money to
do things like create more businesses —

Hon. M ichael H. Dunkley: Point of order.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: —like this legislation that
we have right here today.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Point of order, Mr. Speaker. That language that he is using —

Member. I have asked that we not go
down that road. So just come to the point. I am sure
you find another word you could use.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Well, I will not use that word. I will say how
they twisted and turned this country upsi de down.
How about that, Mr. Speaker?

It is acceptable.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you.

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Mr. Speaker, I think it is
important to remind the people of this country that pr ior to the pandemic we had reduced the deficit —now
hear me—we reduced the deficit by 90 per cent prior
to the pandemic. Ninety per cent! That is huge! And
that is why the rating agencies in the world kept Bermuda on a very good level with regard to our ratings,
Mr. S peaker, because we have a captain that is on
the ship that is running it —

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, point of clar ification.

Point of clarification.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: If the Honourable Member
can ac tually give the exact numbers of reducing the
deficit I would be most obliged.
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Well, Mr. Speaker, when I
went to school, 90 per cent was an easy number to
figure out. If you had a deficit of $100 and you take
90 per cent off, I think it is about $90. So the Honourable Member is very aware of what the deficit was and
I am sure he can take 10 per cent off that deficit to get
90.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, I am asking
for exact numbers. If he makes that allegation, he
should be able to support the numbers. I do not think
he can.

What I will ask the Member to do, because he probably will not have them right in front of
him, is that he will have the courtesy of just providing
Members the numbers at a later date. I am sure he probably doesn’t have the exact numbers, because
you are asking for exact numbers. I am sure he does
not have the exact numbers in his head right now. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, that is acceptable to me. And if somebody makes an allegation
they should be able to support it with numbers.

Continue on, Member.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: I am sure the Finance Mi nister can give you the actual number, but I have a
document here in my hand, Mr. Speaker. It is our 2020 platform. And I will read it for the Honourable
Member, Mr. Dunkley. “ The Progressive Labour Party
has ably managed the country’s finances since the
last General Election. The PLP reduced the deficit by
90% before the Pandemic . . . .” Ninety per cent!
Now, I am sure that the Finance Minister and
the Premier are not going to put that number in our
platform if it is wrong. I do not recall Mr. Dunkley ever
coming out publicly and questioning our platform. I
know he read it. But if he wants actual numbers, Mr.
Speaker, I will get those for him too.
Now, since the Honourable Member wants
numbers, let me give him some other numbers, Mr.
Speaker.

Continue on.
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Morgan’s Point is 182 acres. We have got 37
acres, Mr. Speaker. The taxpayers of this country paid
$200 million and counting to get 37 acres back. But
you know what? Mr. Speaker, 145 acres still belong to
the developers. I am not so sure if Mr. Taxpayer of
Bermuda realises that when we paid out that $200
million it was not for all of Morgan’s Point. It was only
for that 37 acres. Anoth er great deal by the fantastic
OBA Government!

The Honourable Member is mi sleading the House. The decision to pay that money for
the lesser amount of land was the decision of the PLP
Government.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Ha! Wow! Can you believe
that, Mr. Speaker? I cannot believe that that Honour aBermuda House of Assembly ble Member just made that [comment.] It was a dec ision by the PLP Government?
Really?
Okay. What about traces , Mr. Speaker? Don’t
pay it. Okay, let’s not pay it. Then we have a Gover nment that reneged on a Sovereign Guarantee. What
does that Honourable Member think that would do to
our ratings, Mr. Speaker?
Really? We did not have to pay it? I guess . . .
I guess, I will tell you what. Maybe we did not have to
pay the airport $20 million —

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: —for the minimum revenue
guarantee either.

I am sure you are skilful enough to do
that, Honourable Member.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Yes, Mr. Speaker. Thank
you.
Well, Mr. Speaker, you see I did not hear the
Honourable Member Cole Simons talk or do a point of
order on Mr. Dunkley when he spoke about bringing
the Island back from the brink and talking about America’s Cup and this and that, and the hotels they did. I
did not hear him say anything about that. So I am just
rebutting. That is all, Mr. Speaker. But I will move—

Member, be mindful that your time is
getting short. You started at 6:24; it is about 6:53 now. So you are very close to that time running out on you.
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Okay. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
I will wrap up now, Mr. Speaker. You know it
is interesting when the Opposition wants to try to pour negativity on initiatives that this Government brings to
the House, but we will press on. A nd I would like to
thank the people of the country for the vote of conf idence that they gave the Progressive Labour Party in that last election because that says everything.

Good day, Mr. Speaker,
and good day to the listening public of Bermuda.
I think of all the Bills that we passed, or are
about to pass, this is one of the Bills that has the most
attention of the people of Bermuda. Let me start by
thanking the Attorney General and her team and all of
those who have worked from behind the scenes, b ecause it was not just her. There have been countless
persons who are not even elected who have worked
on this legislation. I will get to that point in a minute,
because the OBA would love to portray that this is
simply just PLP legislation. But many people who are not even elected, people who are not even gover nment officers have contributed to this legislation.
I also want to take my hat off to a certain
Honourable Member from consti tuency 28 who gave a
sterling presentation. I believe he has researched this topic his entire life and has waited for this very m oment, for his 30 minutes. And he educated all of us.
Mr. Speaker, let me get to the Bill. There has
never been a Bill, to my knowledge, that has pleased
everyone. In 1834 when the rules changed somewhat, were modified to “emancipate” (I say that with quot ations for the listening public.), the Negroes around us,
the British Empire, many people were upset. A few
years ago when it came to change the name of the
458 19 February 2021 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly second day of Cup Match from George Somers, many
people were upset. There is never a Bill that everyone
is going to be happy about.
Mr. Speaker, as elected officials we have to
know the pulse of the community whether it is something in MarketPlace, seeing them at the gas station,
going to funerals, or setting out a WhatsApp blast to
get a feel for what people say. So this week I took it
upon myself to ask my constituents and others what
their take was on the future of cannabis in this Island.
And many replied. Many who normally do not reply, replied. Some were totally against this because of
long-held religious feelings, which is ironic because
some of them go to churches where they drink wine in
church. So I just find that h umorous. Some were mental healthcare workers and, you know, they spoke of
young people who get psychosis from excess use of
cannabis. So everyone has their concerns. Some
people were totally for this Bill. Others said, Hey, this
Bill doesn’t go far enough. You all are stalling. You
have got your foot on the brakes.
No matter which way it was presented only
10 per cent of the people were totally happy with this
Bill, as with all other Bills. So no matter what we pr esent, there are going to be people who say we are
bringing the Devil into Bermuda. And then there are
the other people who are saying we are still too co nservative. But here is the thing, Mr. Speaker, as I
spoke about earlier. The Attorney General and her
team, had massive public consultation from people
who are not even PLP supporters, people who are
non-political. Social Justice Bermuda gave recommendations, rightful recommendations, because they
drew a map showing that, if according to initial pr oposals, there will be only one place in this Isla nd you
could grow marijuana, and on a personal level. So,
yes, we listened to others.
You see, Mr. Speaker, I applaud the Attorney
General. But I have to point out that she made one
error, one error. In her brief she wrote that she expected to get bipartis an support from the OBA. That
was a critical error that some of us always make thin king, Hey, maybe just this time the OBA is going to actually be on board with something that is positive for
this country. But lo and behold, starting off with their
Whip, t he MP from constituency 23, put something in
the paper. The OBA will not support the Bill. And then
the MP from constituency [22], must be a Paget thing,
read off a verbatim dissertation. This Bill is not for you!
If you are this . . . this Bill is not for you. I see like ev ery angle you could portray to people that this Bill is not for them. But as the Member from constituency 28
said, Well, what are you proposing for people? Where
is your counter -offer? Nothing. They are offering zero
to the people of Ber muda besides the status quo.
You see, Mr. Speaker, the OBA has one modus operandi . It is the only way they could ever win
public support. It is divide and conquer. They know
that this Bill is important to the Black community for multiple reasons. So, what do they do? What do their
consultants tell them to do? Put together a thing that MP Scott Pearman is going to read and tell people
that this Bill is not for you. This Bill is not for you!
There is a reason he repeated those words over and
over and over. It is to put in people’s minds that what
is being presented is not for them. And he knew —or
they thought, let me put it that way —that if they got
that messaging through, that they would convince the
voting public of Bermuda that what the PLP is brin ging, a document, legislation that was put together, not
just by the PLP, but by all these elements of the public, and he is going to say, I t is not for you. It is not for
you. Divide and conquer. That is their only modus operandi.
Mr. Speaker, it failed in 2017. It failed even
more in 2020 and it is going to fail right here, today, in
2021. You see, Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member
Scott Pearman creates the bogeyman that everyone
else, this whole narrative from the OBA, Oh, this is
corporate cannabis. Then the H onourable Member
from constituency 12 says, Oh, this is only going to serve one particular set of people —over and over and
over. It is almost like they are trying to reinvent history
here.
You see, Mr. Speaker, if you look at the details of the Bill, we have put in place provisions for
Bermudians who wish to grow their own cannabis at home. We have put in place so that if they grow it at
home that means they do not have to buy it from an ybody. They do not have to go to corporate cannabis.
We have put in pl ace provisions for people who want
to import edibles. We have put in place provisions for
people who want to have retail outlets in licensed ar eas. We have put in place protection for churches. We have put in place protection for schools. We have put
in place protection for those who are under 21.
Now, if people choose to break the law, like
they break the law with all other things, then you cannot blame the Government for people who want to
break the law. But the law has been put in place. We
have put in place provisions for those who want to
cultivate on a commercial scale. If I wanted to own a
house, I have to have a certain amount of money.
That is just how any business goes. You have to have certain amounts of money. There is no business that
somebody says, You can start from zero and have
something. You work your way up to what you want.
But you have got to have the legislation in place first
and this is what we are doing. If someone wants to get
into commercial cultivation, then they save their money towards owning their own business. This is called
free market economy. The OBA is the champion of
free market. But not today; they want be the champion
of some sort of OBA socialism.
Mr. Speaker, let me close out with the OBA
with this. No, this is not cor porate cannabis, because
if it was corporate cannabis the last people that would
be complaining would be MP Scott Pearman. He


Bermuda House of Assembly would be too busy incorporating businesses that are
going to make money off of it. No.
Let me move on.
Mr. Speaker, we have bigger fish to fry than
the OBA. I do not need to go back into all the medic inal and all the social things. Everyone else has co vered that. I am going to touch on something that the Deputy Speaker and others have brought about. Mr.
Speaker, today this Bill will pass in the Lower House.
That much I am guaranteed. Even though we have Members in our caucus who may not support it, which is fine, because the Premier has said that this is a
conscience vote. Some people within themselves
cannot support the Bill. And that is the beauty of the
PLP. We are a broad church. We are not just one set
of people that, You had better do this or you are going
to get kicked out. No! You are free to vote your conscience. You are free to speak your conscience. That
is what this party is booked on. In a few weeks it is
going to pass in the Senate. That much I am sure
about.
But then where is the problem going to be, Mr.
Speaker? It takes three steps for a law to pass —the
Lower House, the Upper House and then that big
house on Langton Hi ll. And that is where the problem
is going to start, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, may I quote something from the
Royal Gazette today?