November 13, 2020

Second question. Go ahead.

QUESTION 2: HALF -YEAR B UDGET
PERFORMANCE AND REVISED BUDGET FOR THE
FINANCIAL YEAR 2020/21

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, in delivering
the Statement, the Honourable Finance Minister mentioned that the four largest unions have agreed to participate, and there were signif icant savings on the
backs of the workers. Can the Honourable Minister
please update this Honourable House on the current
state of affairs with the other unions in their negoti ations? And will there be any participation on their behalf?

Thank you.
Minister.

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Thank you for the question.
The unions that participated in the savings
were the BIU [Bermuda Industrial Union], the BPSU
[Bermuda Public Service Union], the BUT [Bermuda
Union of Teachers] and I believe the Pri son Officers
Association. The other two unions, the Fire Service and the Prison Officers, have not participated, and we
continue to work on garnering their participation in the
[INAUDIBLE ].

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Supplementary, Mr.
Speaker?

Minister, we lost you there.
Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: I was saying that I do not
believe it is appropriate at this point to share publicly
what the sticking points are, as we are still actively
engaged in discussions with those unions. What I do
not want to do is inflame situations by putting out what they are at this point.

The Minister is just buffering out.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Okay. Supplementary to
the Minister then. I can appreciate that response. Let
us rephrase another question this way —

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: I have nothing more on
that point unless you have a further question.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Okay, supplementary,
Minister. Minister, are you able to give a timeline of
when you think there might be some conclusion to
these negotiations?

Yes, I can hear you.

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Okay.
Honourable Member, Mr. Speaker, I would not
feel comfortable giving a timeline. I will let you know
that we started these conversations many, many
months ago. And we would have hoped that they
would have been conclud ed at this point, but they
have not. And we will continue to work on resolving the issue.

Okay. Thank you.
Do you have another question? You used
your two supplementaries on the second question. Do
you have a third question.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: No, Mr. Speaker. Thank
you.
18 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Thank you.
Minister, you have another Member who
would like to put a question to you. And, Minister, [the]
second Member asking a question is the Member
from constituency 23.
MP Richardson, would you lik e to put your
question?

QUESTION 1: HALF -YEAR BUDGET
PERFORMANCE AND REVISED BUDGET FOR THE
FINANCIAL YEAR 2020/21

Yes, thank, Mr. Speaker. I
do.
Does the plan include revenue- increasing
measures? And if so, what amounts are estimated
within this plan?

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker, there were
no revenue items included in the revised plan. It is my
view, given the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, that the idea of raising taxes or fees during this
time would have a negative impact on the economy, one that would worsen where we are as opposed to
improve it.

Thank you.
Ministers, the next Statement that has questions is [the one presented by] the Attorney General.
Attorney General, y our Statement this mor ning [was] in reference to the survey on pregnant women. You have two Members who would like to put questions to you. The first is from the MP from constituency 20.
MP Jackson, would you like to put your question?

My question refers to the
National Drug Control Report 2020, which was mentioned on page 4 of your Statement. Just to preface that, it has not gone live yet, so I have not had a
chance to peruse it.
But I was just wondering what kind of educ ation or awareness campaigns will be initiated w ith
some urgency to raise awareness and educate our
young people, especially our young childbearing
women, on the dangers of drug and alcohol and t obacco use during pregnancy. Whether you are going
to be using social media, posters, the press, what initiatives are being put in place?

Yes, we can.

Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you.
Thank you for the question, Member.
The Department of National Drug Co ntrol is
responsible for educating the public with regard to
drug use, et cetera. They always have a very rigorous
campaign which includes social media, et cetera.
As I mentioned in the Statement earlier, the
purpose of the survey is to inform policy, which also
includes informing what level of education we need to
provide. So as we peruse the results of the survey, we
will tweak and adjust the public narrative and the education campaign accordingly. So you can expect to


Bermuda House of Assembly see something more rigorous in the near future as we
adjust it to take into consideration the results of all of
the surveys.

Okay.
[Attorney General], the next Member who has
a question for you is the Member from constituency
10.
Honourable Member, would you like to put
your question?

QUESTION 1: RELEASE OF THE 2020 SURVEY ON
PREGNANT WOMEN
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, following on the vein from my
honourable colleague, the Member from constituency
20, who talked about public relations, the Attorney General in her reply to that question did briefly mention policy. So out of this report, what policy changes
have been discussed at this tim e by the department?

Minister.
Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you. Thank you,
Member, for the question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I cannot say at this time what the policy is d efinitively in terms of the changes. What we do is we
collate and we meet and discuss the policy response
and what needs to change. Obviously, there are other areas of drug use that will be impacted by this. And quite frankly, the results from this survey will also i mpact the policy determination with regard to what ev eryone would know is upcoming, which is the regulated
cannabis regime.
So I am not at liberty at this particular moment
to expand on the policy considerations, but you can be assured, Member, that when that time comes I will
bring any adjusted policy statem ent to this House with
regard to ensuring that everyone is kept abreast of the
developments in policy. And I would do so through the mechanism of a Ministerial Statement.

Minister.

Hon. Jason Hayward: Thank you.
The Cleaning Technician Training Programme
is one where some of these programmes were in d emand, so they are not newly designed programmes.
But Bermuda College would have programmes that
they do not run on a regular basis or a normalised
basis. And upon request, you can get these pr ogrammes. Some of these programmes are not newly developed. They are programmes that have already existed that they are now supporting and trying to
populate and bring to the forefront.
But I will run through the programmes. Certainly, the Cleaning Technician Training Programme is
a new initiative. The Administrative Assistant Training
is a programme that has already been running, had proven success and we are going to rerun. The Hort iculture Training Programme is a programme that was
running. Historically, we have not had a high volume
of persons attend that programme. And so some of
these programmes run on demand; and that is why
we have not been able to populate the current class,
and we are looking to run another cohort.
20 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The current Learn- to-Earn Restaurant Trai ning Programme is a programme that was organised
with the hospitality industry. We did have a cohort run
through the programme, and now we have a second
cohort that was interrupted because of the pandemic.
And as a result, we want to have those individuals
complete that programme, but also look to run new
cohorts in the programme.
When we look at the Food & Beverage Waiter
Server Training Programme, that is a programme that
was at the Bermuda College that was not running on a normalised basis. But based on the demand in that
particular sector, we have decided to ensure that we
rerun that course.
The Computer Literacy Training Programme
and the Digital Literacy for Administrative Professionals, these are also programmes that can be obtained
at Bermuda College. And then the Graduate Trainee
Programme is actually a new programme. And so, this
is a new initiative where we are trying to provide un iversity graduates or college graduates with on the job
training to obtain this level of sponsorship.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister.
Hon. Jason Hayward: So, all of the courses are running through the Bermuda College, for example, the Learn- to-Earn Programme is still working, run through
the hospitality industry. And that would be possibly
funded by the Department of Workforce Development.
The majority of the other courses are run by
the Bermuda College and sponsored by the Depar tment of Workforce Development. The Department of
Workforce Development does not administer courses
themselves. So they do not actually do the training.
What they do is they conduit between prospective students and the training providers.

Okay.
Minister, the next MP who has a question for
you is the Member from constituency 10.
Honourable Member, would you like to put
your q uestion?

QUESTION 1: GENERAL ELECTION 2020
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the Honourable Minister: What election
had the lowest voter turnout in modern- day history?
And I would say since the beginning of accurate rec-ords being kept by the Parliamentary Registrar.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am not sure. But the Pr ogressive Labour Party had a large turnout. Maybe the
OBA had a low turnout.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, that is not
the question I asked. But I would appreciate it if the
Honourable Minister could endeavour to get the facts.

Wait, wait, before you go on.
So, Minister, based on the clarity in the question, is th ere a response, or are you okay with your
first response?
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I can try to get that information for the Honourable Member. We could also
look at the percentage turnout based on the total vot-ers who were actually enrolled. But as I said, again —

Second question, yes.

QUESTION 2: GENERAL ELECTION 2020

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: To the Honourable Mini ster: How much was spent in 2017 and in 2020 on ad-vertising for the General Election?

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Well, I am glad you asked
that, Honourable Member. Advertising for television,
$119,000 to $120,000 in 2017; in 2020 it was
$94,000. Advertising by radio in 2017 was $28,000; in
2020 it was $8,000. Advertising and marketing in ge neral was $11,000 in 2017 and zero in 2020. Adverti sing by newspaper, $5,000 in 2017 and $6,000 in 2020. Advertising in placement s and publications,
$6,000 in 2017 and $775,000 in 2020. Advertising in
placement in radio was $14,000 in 2017 and $4,000 in
2020.

Supplementary?

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Supplementary, yes. The
Minister has shown that the costs were due to advertising bein g down.
Mr. Speaker, supplementary question then:
Because advertising costs were down, were ads used
in the 2020 election that were previously used in
2017?

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Well, advertising is . . . I am
not sure. I am not sure what the Member i s getting at
there as far as —

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: If I can help the Honour able Minister out.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: In 2017, advertisements
that were used on radio or TV, were they reused
again in 2020?

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Maybe the same type, but
different dates.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Of course, they would be
different dates. But what I am getting at . . was the
advertisement used again from 2017 to 2020? B ecause that would reduce the cost even further if you were just recirculating ads and did not have to make
new ads.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Mr. Speaker, all I will say is
that if a new ad was done by, let us say [by] a photographer, or whatever, or by radio, they would have to
mention . . . they would have to do a new ad because
the dates would be changed.

Well, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Put it in
a supplementary question form, and we can go back to him.

SUPPL EMENTARY

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Okay, Mr. Speaker.
Can the Honourable Minister check that there
were no repeats of radio or TV ads that were used previously in 2017?

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I can check with that. But as
far as I know . . . I do not know. I will check with the
Parliamentary Registry in person.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you.
My last question, Mr. Speaker.

Continue. Your second question.

QUESTION 2: GENERAL ELECTION 2020

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Honourable Minister has shown signif icant savings in advertising between the 2017 and 2020 election. Can the Honourable Minister please provide the labour cost? And I use that word genera lly, Mr. Speaker, because on page 4 of the Statement he talks about the number of individuals who were
involved in the General Election.
And we thank the Parliamentary Registry and
all of the staff for the work they did.
Can the Honourable Minister please provide
the actual wage and salary costs for the 2017 and t he
2020 elections?

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you for that question,
Mr. Speaker and Honourable Member.
I can say for public servants, the total of sal aries for 2017 was roughly about $105,000. In 2020,
the public service, the actual cost was $31,000.

Thank you.
Supplementary?

SUPPLEMENTARIES

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: A supplementary.
Where did the savings occur, or how did the
savings occur?

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am not sure. I am just sa ying that you asked me [about] the costs. I am not sure
where the savings were. I guess the actual Parliamentary [people are] more efficient, and I will be happy to
discuss it with you.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I could appreciate some
feedback on that because these are official —

Yes. Thank you very much,
Mr. Speaker.
I am just curious. He mentioned in his Stat ement that t here were approximately maybe 40 different projects, I believe. And I was just curious as to whether or not they had done any analysis on the
number of jobs they anticipate over the next year with
these particular projects that he is looking to impl ement.

No problem. Go ahead.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, I know we
have been away from the House for some time. But I would jus t like to take this moment to ask that the
House extend condolences to just two families who
have lost loved ones recently. The first would be to the family of Willoughby Richardson, especially to his
lovely wife Janet, who live up on Bridle Hill. Mr. Ric hardson passed away recently after a brief illness. And
I can recall the second- last time I saw him was on Election Day when he rode his little motorised wheelchair down from Bridle Hill down to the polling station.
Right up to the end, even when he was ill and under
the weather, he made sure that he could get around.
And to his family and especially his lovely wife Janet,
our deepest condolences on the passing of Willoughby.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like this Honourable House to send condolences to the family of Peter
Truran. Many Members of Parliament will probably
know Mr. Truran because Mr. Truran worked for many years before his retirement for the Department of A griculture and Fisheries, and specifically down at the
Camden property, and was one of the main figures
even after his retirement, Mr. Speaker, for his work
with the Ag Show. He was one of the lynchpins, one
of the stalwarts in making sure that the show ran well, especially the ring events. Peter died after a bout of
illness. I was blessed t o know Mr. Truran for many
years. He was a great husband. He was a hard, ded icated worker. He was a man of character and integr ity, in my view, Mr. Speaker. And he is missed dearly
by his lovely wife Betsy, and their children and their
grandchildren. May h e rest in peace.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to send condolences
to Mr. Calvin Burdell [PHONETIC ] and family , who
recently lost his wife in St. David’s. She will be
missed. She was in hospital for quite some time, but
nonetheless it is a major loss to the family and many
of the families who reside in St. David’s.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to send out
condolences to [the family of] young Mr. Clevonte Lodge- Bean, whom I knew personally, a great, a
great, a stellar athlete, definit ely gone too soon. And I
wish his family all the best and the sporting community, many of his young friends. He was chosen to lead
CARIFTA at the up and coming CARIFTA Games this
year. He performed down in Cayman Islands. He acquitted himself extremely wel l and served as a great
ambassador for Bermuda. And so Bermuda mourns
the loss of this young man.
And on that note, Mr. Speaker, I thank you.

Thank you, Member.
Does any other Member wish to speak?

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Speaker.
24 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Yes. Yes. Is that Minister Furbert?
Okay. Minister Furbert.

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Speaker, I would like to give
[condolences] to a couple of constituents of mine, to
[the family of] Ms. Dora Jean Hollis of Harlem Heights.
I just would like to send condolences to the family of
Ms. Dora Jean Hollis, as well as Mr. Kenneth “Kenny”
Trott, also of Harlem Heights. And then also to Ms.
Esther Rose Muat and Lynette Isabell Rice of Easter
Lily Nursing Home. Wanting to send condolences to the family of all of these lovely persons in Hamilton
Parish.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister Ming, you have the micr ophone. And your camera is on, so w e see you.
Hon. Renee Ming: Hi and good morning, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to extend condolences to the fam ily of Ann Pindar. I was one of those persons who attended the 2012 Farmers Day for the Progressive Labour Party. And it was very interesting to hear about
the role that she and other women played in the advancing of the politics for the Progressive Labour Party. And I would just like for her friends and family to
know that she was a trailblazer. And as women, we hold her up, and we are grateful for what she did for
the party.
And I would also like to acknowledge two
young women, Mr. Speaker, Bermudians, Tess Spen-cer and Miss [Shannon] Davis. They were the valedi ctorians last week Sunday at Mount Saint Vincent Uni-versity. They are both Bermudians, an d I was very
proud when I read from their mom, especially Tess’s
mom, on her achievements.
Then, Mr. Speaker, my last congratulations is
to [Senator] Kamala Harris, who has been selected as
the Vice President -elect in the United States. This is a
proud m oment for women, and Black women in particular, Mr. Speaker. We again as women, have made
great steps in [many things], but we still have much,
much work to do. But seeing Ms. Harris elected was a
very proud moment. And I know that women around
the world c elebrated her achievement, because her
achievement is our achievement. And so, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of women in our Bermuda, I am pretty
sure I am saying congratulations to her as well.

Thank you, Minister.
Does any other Member wish to speak?
Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Yes, Mr. Speaker. The Speaker: Attorney General, you have your three
minutes.

Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to send condolences to the family
of Daunte Woods, who recently passed away. His
mother and his family are in my constituency. And I
wish thoughts to continue to support them, and hold
them up in prayer as they go through this very difficult
time. It is never easy to lose a child. And there are no words that can adequately express or to give solace in
that situation. But I ask for us all to extend our support
and prayers to that family as they battle with the r epercussions of that particular loss, and to his two
young children.

Yes.
Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: And, Mr. Speaker, on a
more positive note, I would like to send congratul ations to Kamau Leverock and Regino Smith, who are
the First Division and Premier Division most valuable
players for the cricket season f or 2020. I know Kamau
very well. “ Bunky” is his name. He is a good friend of
the family. And I continue to be impressed with his strides in cricket and sports generally. Lovely, productive, excellent young men whom we wish the very best
as they continue in their sporting careers.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I would like condolences sent to the family of Mr. Vernall Adderley.
Mr. Adderley was a well -known former employee of
American International Co., Ltd., and also an avid Hamilton Club fan. I have known him since I was a young man. He was also one of my constituents. And
I would like condolences sent to his family.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. I apologise for that.
First, I would like to be associated with the
condolences to Mr. Vernall Adderley, Jr., a close
friend of our family. I would like to keep him in prayer.
I really want to ask for congratulations to be
sent to a neighbour and constituent of mine, Mr. Cal-vin “Bummy” Symonds. There was a recent sports
book put out in the UK of Black footballers. And in that
book was Mr. Calvin “Bummy” Symonds. It explains
what he went through as a Black footballer in the UK.
And I should also mention that Mr. Clyde Best is mentioned in there as well. So I would also like congratul ations to be sent to both of them.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.
I just would like to send condolences and recognise the wonderful and full life of Elizabeth Britton.
She was a long- living resident at Mayflower Court on
Woodbourne Avenue. And she was certainly very
much a focal point of the neighbourhood, as she
would in her later years stay by her door -side and
greet folks as they passed by, enterin g into the rather
large apartment building. And she always had a very
affable and lovely demeanour. She always wanted to,
and did, ride with us to vote and to go out on occ asional drives. She was a lovely spirit, and I certainly
am not aware of many family members who remain for
her. But I certainly would like her to be recognised as certainly a member of the Mayflower Court family. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like for condolences to
be sent to the family of Mr. Mitchell Burch from Ferry
Reach. And also, Mr. Richard Allen, who resided in
Suffering Lane in St. George’s. Both of these gentl emen died within a short period of each other and
brought great sadness to me, Mr. Speaker, because
they were not only constituents, but they were per-sons I considered friends. Mr. Allen, I must say, was a
Labourite who took great pride in understanding and
appreciating Bermuda’s history. And he passed away
only a few days before he was able to go to vote in the [AUDIO SKIP FROM 02:19:07 TO 02:19:13] on
his passing. We got to see him quite often, Mr.
Speaker, on a weekly basis. And it brought great sadness, his passing. Condolences to his family.
My good friend Mitchell suffered. And he was
a great man, a very enviable dresser and a person
who was held in high esteem by many of us, partic ularly his friends. And all I could say is, may they both
rest in peace, Mr. Speaker.

The Speake r: Thank you, Honourable Member.
Is there any other Honourable Member who
wishes to speak? I know the Premier was here, but
does any other Member wish to speak before the
Premier? No other Member but the Premier?

Yes, my apologies.
I would like to also extend and add my condolences to Mitchell Burch’s family, I have been very,
very close to the family as well. He was a school
friend of mine as well. And back in the 1980s and early 1990s he certainly was a trendsetter when it came
to fashion and a big model back in those days in Bermuda. Having known that he had been struggling for
well over a year now before he passed, it was sad to
see that he actually had succumbed to the illness and
has now passed. A very, very quiet, humble guy even
though he was a model. But it is sad to see that he
has passed, and my condolences go out to the family.
Also, I have a constituent of mine who passed
just after the—literally just after the election, [Susanne Barbara Bean], the wife of Ronald Bean, a constituent
of mi ne in Paget. And I did get the opportunity to see
her, but she was a bit frail as she walked past. And it
is sad to say that she has now passed, and so my condolences go out to the family, Ronald Bean.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to send
condolences to the family of Dr. Ronald Lightbourne.
Dr. Ronald Lightbourne was a physician, an internist. He was Director of Medicine at the King Edward VII
Memorial Hospital for a number of years. He also had
a doctor’s surgery in the City of Hamilt on for a number
of years. His courage and dedication to the medical
field in Bermuda is that of legend. He had a number of
people who listened to the words of Dr. Stanley
James, who talked about when he returned to Berm uda, the pivotal role that Dr. Lightb ourne played in his
life. This was played at his funeral. So many people from all over this world, indeed in great practice in the
early 1960s in California.
I think he played a most significant role in my
life and the role of the Seventh- day Adventist Ch urch
as the Director of our Pathfinders. As you know, the
Pathfinders is our core youth programme. He was one
of our constants, and he taught us about the stars. I remember his teaching us about the constellations,
him laying out to bring him a telescope and showing
us the stars —the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, Orion—
and talking to us about the significance of these things. I was so enthralled by the fact that the man was a medical doctor, but every weekend he would
clear his schedule and find the opportu nity to make
sure that he invested in us.
Mr. Speaker, the first sailboat I went on, Dr.
Lightbourne took us on his sailboat. And he took us
out and showed us how to tack, how to sail. And this was a man who was a doctor, but he was somebody
in our community. He had a swimming pool. In our
generation there was nobody in our community who
had a swimming pool. And I remember all of our
friends going to Dr. Lightbourne’s house and learning
how to swim, and swimming, swimming and having our barbeque.
And so i n my life and the life of my community, Mr. Speaker, he did something— he got roller
skates. And he bought about 50 pairs of roller skates, and he left them at the Youth Centre. And every Sun-day back in the day when roller skating was more si gnificant, we w ould all go to our Youth Centre. Our parents could not afford roller skates for everyone to have an individual pair.
And Dr. Lightbourne counted it not robbery to
make sure, number one, that he was an ambassador for medicine, making sure a lot of our parents who
could not afford medical treatment, he, until he was
not able to do so because of physical matters, was a
person whom people went into his surgery and they were given the opportunity to get medical treatment.
He ran the indigent clinic at the hospi tal for a number
of years. He ran a programme to stop smoking, ces-sation plan, that a number of people stopped smoking
as a result of his stewardship.
So we pay honour and homage to his work in
our community, and offer condolences to him and his
family, M r. Speaker. And my three minutes must be
close to being up, Mr. Speaker.

Your time has gone now.
Would any other Member wish to speak? Any
other Member?

[Pause]


Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Any other Member?
Premier, I guess it is your three minutes.

Hon. E. David Burt: All right. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, good afternoon to you.
I would certainly like to associate myself with
the comments that were made by the Minister of N ational Security with the condolences extended to the
family of the late A nn Pindar. I would also like to associate myself with the condolences to the family and friends, and certainly Bermuda’s athletic community, for the tragic and untimely loss of young Mr. Clevonte
Lodge- Bean.
Mr. Speaker, before I get to some of my par ochial matters, I would certainly like to ask that a letter
of condolences be sent to the family of one of our late centenarians, Ms. Agnes Virginia DeGraff, or “Mama
Gin,” from North Village, Pembroke, who passed away
earlier in the year. And also her son- in-law, who was
my godfather, and the family of my godfather, Mr. H ubert Rogers, nicknamed “Jinx,” who also passed away
during the summer. Both of them certainly were fi xtures in the North Village community, and certainly their families are certainly mourning them and missing
them, as they lost both of them a day apart.
I would also like to ask the House, Mr. Speaker, if they could send a letter of condolences to the family of the late Allan Cuthbert Frith, who passed
away at the age of 89. Mr. Frith was firs tly an avid
family man. He was married to Ms. Wilma Frith for, I
want to say, 62 years. And I got to see them on one of
their anniversaries. They are constituents of mine. I
was honoured to be asked to speak at their funeral. So I would just like to ask the House to send a letter of
condolences.
Additionally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask
that the House send a letter of condolences to the late
Lorna Joeann Smith. And I would certainly associate
the Member from constituency 26, who I knew attended that s ervice. Ms. Smith was a constituent of mine,
as well, a long- time educator and loving mother to
Abeni Lee and also popular DJ, Mr. Bakari Smith, known as DJ iBreeze. And certainly to her husband, Chester.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend
condo lences to the family of Mr. LuVince Olvin Bernard Cann, Sr., who passed away earlier this year, as
well, also a resident of Pembroke West Central, my
constituency, and also father to the Cup Match star
from the East End, I would say, Mr. Lionel Cann.
And also, Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask if
the House of Assembly could send condolences to the family of Mr. Noel Alexander Stevens, who was also in
his 94
th year of life.
[Timer chimes]

Premier, would you have that? Would
you like to introduce it for her?

FIRST READING

RESIDENTIAL CARE HOMES AND NURSING
HOMES (TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS) ACT 2020

Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, I am happy to i ntroduce the Bill for the Minister of Health.
Mr. Speaker, I move that the Residential Care
Homes and Nursing Homes (Transfer of Functions) Act 2020 be read for the first time and set down for
the next day of meeting.

The Speake r: Thank you.
28 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Are there any objections? Well, there are no
objections anyway. Thank you.
There are no other Bills.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

The Order of the Day is the Reply to
the Throne Speech as the main matter for us today. I
had been anticipating that we would have had a longer congratulations period that may have taken us right up closer to one o’clock. In light of the fact it has now
gone 12:30 and we were going to go to lunch at one
o’clock to two, and our normal, if we were sitting in
House, it would have been at 12:30. And I am going to
ask your indulgence that we—

The Clerk: The Premier needs to move his motion
regarding the acceptance of the Throne Speech.

Well, yes, before we actually go into it.
What I was going to suggest, though, is that
maybe we take the lunch now so that when the Reply
comes, we can go straight to the Reply without having
to break in the presentation of the Reply.
Can I get a consensus from the House to just
take a break now? And we will take it no w, and come
back and do the Reply.

Mr. Somner, do you have a copy of it?

The Deputy Clerk: I do not have a copy of it, Mr.
Speaker. But I believe the Premier would be correct to
simply move that the House do now take under consideration the Throne Speech with which His Excellency was pleased to open the present session of Parliament.
If the Premier could just move that motion and
then present his remarks, before turning over to the
Opposit ion Leader to present his Opposition Reply.

MOTION

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

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now
take under consideration the T hrone Speech which
His Excellency the Governor was pleased to open this


Bermuda House of Assembly present session of Parliament last week Friday in the
wonderful town of St. George’s.

Opposition Leader, Honourable Cole
Simons, you have the floor to pres ent your first Reply
to the Throne Speech as Opposition Leader. Congra tulations, sir, on your appointment, and you have the
floor.

REPLY TO THE 2020 THRONE SPEECH

PREPARING BERMUDA FOR A NEW DAWN

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
May I be gin my comments by congratulating
the people of Bermuda—

Before you start, let me just make one
comment.
Members, the Reply to the Throne Speech will
be on the SharePoint for you to follow along on. Mr.
Lamb is putting that up now for your edification.
Okay?
Opposition Leader.

A life with, and a life after, COVID -19

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : Mr. Speaker, may I begin
my comments by congratulating the people of Berm uda and Bermuda’s Parliament on its 400th anniversary.
We in the One Bermuda Alliance, feel priv ileged and honoured that we are able to participate,
and be a substantive part of the celebration of Berm uda’s rich democratic and parliamentary history. Mr.
Speaker, as you know, Bermuda’s Parliament is
amongst the world’s oldest and continuously functio ning legislatures in the Western Hemisphere.
Our Parliament first met in 1620, in St. Peter’s
Church, in St. George’s, which is probably the oldest continuously operating Anglican Church in the Wes tern Hemisphere. Today, we are preparing to re- enter
our recently refurbished Parliament which has been
the home of Bermuda’s legislature since 1819. Mr. Speaker a lot has changed since then.
Our Parliament saw the elimination of slavery. It has continuously chipped away at institutional racism,
even though we still have a way to go.
Our Parliament also addressed the adult suffrage movement. It introduced laws which enfran-chised the coloured people of Bermuda, as they were
known then. It removed the plus vote. It went on to
amend our Parliament Ac t which changed our parli amentary constituencies from dual seats to single seat
constituencies. It also, over time, both increased and reduced the size of Parliament. It also brought an end
to capital punishment and addressed human rights
matters.
We have had many constitutional reforms
since then, and our Parliament continues to evolve to
meet the needs of the Bermuda we have today.
Mr. Speaker, let us not forget that we are
building on the shoulders of our forebears who have
left us a lasting legacy.
What will our legacy be, Mr. Speaker? I note
in this year’s Throne Speech that the current Gover nment is examining constitutional reform which has yet
to be defined.
In addition, they indicated their renewed call
for a code of conduct for parliamentarians. Thi s is e specially welcome, given that some our Members’ be-haviour has been questionable.
The Premier indicated that this code of conduct would set out a standard of conduct that reflects
the awesome nature of the trust placed in those who
represent the peopl e. The Throne Speech went on to
state that this initiative would be a fitting prologue for
the next 400 years.
Mr. Speaker, in light of the above, we in the
Opposition would like to take the Government’s initi atives a bit further. We would like the Governm ent and
this Parliament to take further action to ensure that
Bermuda’s Legislature meets the standards pr escribed in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Associ ation’s [Recommended] Benchmarks for Democratic
Legislatures.
Mr. Speaker, you may recall that after much
deliberation, a parliamentary Joint Select Committee on Parliamentary Governance and Reform presented
its final report to Parliament on March 23, 2014, [sic]
and it was unanimously approved by the Government at that time. Mr. Speaker, that report recommended
that the Parliament establish an independent body
known as the Management Commission, which would
be responsible for the administration of the Legisl ature.
This initiative will truly support fundamental
principles of democracy, with the true separ ation of
powers between the Executive, the Judiciary and the
Legislature. Indeed, this independent parliamentary commission would also give our Parliament more i ndependence, allowing it to operate more efficiently,
30 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly and there would be less influence and int erference by
the Executive branch of Government.
Mr. Speaker, you may also recall that the
Joint Select Committee on Parliamentary Reform also
crafted draft legislation which summarised details on the Commission’s mandate, its functionality, and its
struct ure. It was submitted to your Chambers for r eview and approval so that it could be presented as a
Private Member s’ Bill. Yet six years later the legisl ation has yet to see the light of day, even though the legislation was sanctioned by Parliament in 2014.
Mr. Speaker, we in the Opposition take the
view that it is time to resurrect this legislation, which,
by the way, also includes a code of conduct for parliamentarians. Let us make this parliamentary Ma nagement Commission a reality in this session. It could
be our gift for our 400- year celebrations, and our legacy for generations to come.
Mr. Speaker, let me also continue with the
start of this speech by congratulating our executive
team at Bermuda’s department of health, Bermuda’s chief medical officer and team, our health care wor kers, our armed forces, our supermarket staff, and medical support staff, our hospital staff, and others
whom I may have missed, who placed themselves at
risk by providing yeomen service to our community in
managing and mitigating the risks associated in the battle against COVID -19.
In addition, may I also take this opportunity to
commend and congratulate the people of Bermuda for
their diligence and discipline, in the continued mitigation and management of Bermuda’s COVID -19 pandemic and its associated risks. They have demonstrated that by working together we can build a new Bermuda with opportunity for all. We can build a better
Bermuda where there is social equity, economic equity and cultural equity.
Having said that, though, to achieve this v ision Bermuda must pass through unprecedented
times. We will once again be required to navigate a
dark tunnel before we see the flickering light of hope.
We are going to be tested as never before. We are
going to need more discipline by our c ommunity, and
more innovative ideas from the Government to help
pull the economy back from the brink.
Mr, Speaker, we are in a deep recession, and
there is no getting away from that. The signs of an
economic demise were present before COVID -19
reached our shores. Our Gross Domestic Product was
falling. Jobs were being lost and, as a consequence,
Bermudians were electing to leave the Island in the
hope of a better future in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. These underlying issues
are still p resent today. Nothing has changed.
COVID -19 has exacerbated the further demise of our economy. While the One Bermuda All iance acknowledges that the Government managed
the response to the pandemic well, we now ask: does this Government have solutions to giv e hope to the
people that they can revitalise the economy?
Honestly, the next few years will be the
toughest Bermuda has faced, and the people are worried. COVID -19 has reset the dial in the world order. It
has reset the dial for Bermuda. It has brought pain,
death of loved ones and devastation. The social and
economic norms are facing a new paradigm, and life
as we know it, will not be the same.
As President Nelson Mandela said on May 10,
1994, during his inauguration in Pretoria, South Africa, “Out of the experience of an extraordinary human di saster that lasted too long, must be born a new society
of which all humanity will be proud.” He went on to
say, “The time for the healing of the wounds will
come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide
us has c ome. The time to build is upon us.”
With a majority of 24, the Progressive Labour
Party has the opportunity to do good things for Bermuda. But no one questions their ability to develop
these opportunities, as these opportunities were
clouded when the Gover nment came out of the star ting blocks in October.
Look at the controversy surrounding the Se nate appointments. Look at the alleged financial impr oprieties that surround one of its members of Parli ament, and the recent challenges faced between the PTA and t he administration of one of our schools.
With this type of start Mr. Speaker, Bermuda
has begun to question the Government’s ability to
push through necessary, but unpopular, policies, and
make the tough decisions that will benefit all of the people of Ber muda. In light of this, one questions
whether the Progressive Labour Party possesses the necessary strength of character to turn the economy
around. One might also question whether the PLP
Government has the ideas and business sense to fix the economic mal aise in which we find ourselves.

The recent October 1
st elections

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : As for our recent elections,
we acknowledge that the people have spoken and they have placed their faith in the Progressive Labour
Party Government. And we respect that. It was a bitter
pill to have to swallow, but the low voter turnout has
sent a crystal -clear message that many people feel
that all is not well in Bermuda.
The people have expressed their concerns to
us about the Island’s economic future, job security ,
the debt burden, increasing unemployment, hom elessness, the availability of healthcare, how the Island
delivers education and the continued escalation of
violence.
People are also worried about the power
vested in a 30 to 6 majority held by the PLP. Even
people who voted for the PLP are expressing this concern. People are nervous about a Government
where there is such a concentration of power. People


Bermuda House of Assembly want checks and balances. They want accountability,
transparency, and integrity.
This Government must now deliver for the
people. It must unite Bermuda behind a common
cause—a promise of future prosperity for all. We will assist wherever possible, but we will not relinquish our
role as an Opposition party which is to hold the Go vernment to account. We will insist upon transparency,
integrity and accountability.

Reliance on the One Bermuda Alliance capital
projects helps boost the current economy

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : Mr. Speaker, over the last
three years, we have seen a reliance on One Berm uda Alliance pr ojects to boost GDP and create jobs.
We have seen no meaningful action from the PLP.
Promises have been made and promises have been
broken. We’ve seen scandals, political interference,
and a succession of ministers responsible for key ar eas, such as immigr ation, with no discernible progress.
In its election platform, the PLP pledged to
“Target a return to a balanced budget in three (3) fi scal years when tourism has fully recovered following the Pandemic.” They have made repeated promises
to balance the budget pre- pandemic and have failed.
Why should we believe them this time?
Indeed, Mr. Speaker, with the ongoing effects
of COVID, and with no discernible plan to resurrect
our economy, it seems that we are destined to further
increase our national debt which in turn will cripple our
ability to put money where it is most needed— into
social support networks, into stopping the violence
and into improving the health care and the well -being
of all Bermudians.
Mr. Speaker, the One Bermuda Alliance
stands by its economic policies. It suits the naysayers to play down our achievements, but our efforts were
nothing short of an economic miracle. World- class
events, new hotels and a new airport created wealth and jobs for Bermudians. We attracted one billion do llars of inw ard investment to Bermuda, Mr. Speaker.
Those were some of the things that made it to the
headlines. But we did so much more.
Mr. Speaker, we created the independent
Bermuda Tourism Authority and under its leadership, Bermuda has seen record tourism arrivals. Now that it
has been politicised, will we see the same level of
success?
Mr. Speaker, r ecognising the need to bring
more tourists to Bermuda during the shoulder season,
we worked with the BTA to bring events such as the World Triathlon Series to the Is land. We negotiated a
deal to bring 12 cruise ships to the Olde Towne of St.
George’s from 2017 to 2022. Under the deal with
Norwegian Cruise Lines, NCL agreed to bring two new catamaran ferries to the Island for a run from
Dockyard to the East End, along with a yearly inves t-ment of $150,000 by NCL to sponsor tourism enhancement projects.
We also created the Bermuda Business D evelopment Agency to help bring new businesses to
Bermuda. And long before the PLP, we were explor-ing the opportunities of outer spac e when we started
the discussions with NASA over a more permanent
facility located on Cooper’s Island. We granted a 15 -
year exclusive contract to develop Bermuda’s satellite
slots.
It was the OBA, aware of the need for sustainability and to reduce our reli ance on fossil fuels,
who started the process of getting a solar photovoltaic
project on the “Finger” at the L. F. Wade International
Airport. The small electric rental cars we see on Bermuda’s roads today were a result of legislation the
OBA passed allowi ng rental minicars in Bermuda for
the first time. We now have at least four car rental
businesses providing safer transport for visitors and
jobs for Bermudians.
Contrast that to the actions of the PLP. Memoranda of Understandings (MOUs) that promised mi llions of dollars in investments and hundreds of jobs,
broken promises on the living wage and reducing the cost of living. We all know, Mr. Speaker, what the
sugar tax did to the cost of living.
Mr. Speaker, under the PLP we have seen the
lowest ever busines s confidence levels, we have seen
new and increased taxes that have hit small Bermudian businesses, and we’ve seen the implosion of retail
and the loss of hundreds of jobs in a sector described
by one Minister as insignificant.
We’ve seen the debt rise by one billion dollars
in 12 months. Mr. Speaker, more jobs created within Government, no progress on gaming, blacklisting, an
untendered deal for an arbitration centre for which no
financial details have been given, a friends -and-family
benefit plan, two finance ministers, three tourism mi nisters, three gaming ministers, three immigration mi nisters . . . Mr. Speaker, I could go on.
Bermuda’s economy was broken before
COVID. It is now on its knees. Mr. Speaker, as far as
the economy is concerned, we have no st ats for the
second quarter and third quarter of 2020. But these numbers will likely be disastrous! I’m guessing they will be down over 25 per cent in comparison to the
prior year.
However, all is not lost. Our international
business sector has continued t o tick over pretty well
in spite of COVID -19 and the debacle in travel. It has
been said that from chaos comes opportunity, and all
this chaos is masking a major turn in the global property and casualty insurance underwriting market.
Mr. Speaker, for the f irst time in about 15
years underwriting rates are hardening and rising. There is a major tailwind for our ABIR members. It
was a similar super hard market that resulted in many international insurance and reinsurance company g iants flocking to Bermuda in the first place. However,
32 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly things have changed in the interim. We ought not to
expect the level of local expansion and spending that
took place in 2003.
New capital is coming into our market. Many
of Bermuda’s major carriers have already raised bi llions in new capital. There are new companies being
formed and we will see the multiplier effect. But this
new landscape will not be similar to previous landscapes.
Companies are now outsourcing many of their
functions outside Bermuda. IT servers are located overseas, employees are working remotely from Canada, the UK, the USA and Europe. Administrative jobs
are being outsourced to more competitive jurisdi ctions, and business analytic models are being purchased off the shelves, thereby robbing our people of
job opportunities and employment.
In light of the above, Mr. Speaker, our job as
parliamentarians is to encourage such companies to
fill those positions locally. This can be accomplished
by making the immigration process more accommoda-tive, as well as by removing some of the bureaucratic
red tape that stymies a more productive business e nvironment.
We must encourage Government to get out of
the way and convert this tailwind felt by Bermuda’s international insurance and reinsurance sector into more spending on islan d. It is the only tailwind that we
have at this time.
Mr. Speaker, a lot is also being said about
tangible opportunities in the digital commerce arena
here in Bermuda. And the One Bermuda Alliance
supports this discussion. With Bermuda’s legislative, regul atory and telecommunications frameworks and
digital communications infrastructure, we stand ready
to capitalise on this emerging and growing industry.
We expect the provision of robust training and inter nship programmes, and the creation of new jobs for
Bermudians.
In addition, from a taxation perspective, the
digital sector will also enjoy the traditional tax
schemes currently in place here in Bermuda, such as
company taxes, payroll taxes and land taxes. The Government should consider further examination of a
negotiated value added tax for the privilege of booking
their local and global Internet business earnings from Bermuda. This approach is not new, and the industry
is familiar with it.
According to the OECD, in the absence of a
new international rule bo ok, a number of member
governments are planning their own digital service
taxes. They are taking this action because of growing public pressure on large multinationals like Google,
Facebook, and Amazon, to pay their share under i nternational tax rules after COVID -19 strained national
budgets.


Families

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : Mr. Speaker, as said before, the impact of the COVID -19 pandemic has pr ofoundly impacted the family structure worldwide.
Families in Bermuda have had to endure the sorrows
of lost l oved ones, the educating of children in the
most unconventional ways, and many are living under greater threat of unemployment, domestic violence
and mental instability.
The Opposition welcomes legislation to pr otect and support seniors, children and other vulner able persons who are unable to make decisions by
themselves. This initiative was first raised under the
OBA Government’s Senior Advisory Council. The establishment of the Office of the Public Guardian pr ovides the necessary guardianship of the hard work
and worth of our seniors. May it also serve to protect children and other vulnerable persons in circumstances where individuals are unable to make decisions for
themselves.
Mr. Speaker, the Opposition believes support
of our vulnerable should go one s tep further. There
needs to be a combination of qualified legal services,
direct support, community interaction, training and
partnerships with the ultimate aim of providing pract ical and emotional support to advance the well -being
of our community.
Servic es such as the Office of the Public
Guardian should be embedded in a broader community resource centre to support issues of stress management, domestic violence and ageing at home. Costs and resources could be controlled by working in
partnership with the third sector including charities,
churches and social entrepreneurs.
The Opposition would further enhance the
work on reforming seniors’ care and would urgently
review the structure, funding and regulations of the
sector. This will ensure sustainability and quality going forward. The review should address workforce issues,
care, including support for the contributions of unpaid
caregivers.
Mr. Speaker, the Throne Speech committed to
the investment in the success of young people who
“age out” of government c are. The Throne Speech
announced the establishment of Independent Living
Coordinators, but the Government has not been
transparent about past allegations of mal -
administration and child abuse reported to [the D epartment of] Child and Family Services.
Child ren in our care deserve to have such r eports of child abuse allegations shared with the Bermuda Police Service for in- depth and independent
investigations. The Opposition believes a full and
transparent review of Child and Family Services is
required to ensure that qualified, independent and
properly resourced services are allocated before init iating additional services.



Bermuda House of Assembly The establishment of
Independent Living Coordinators

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : Young people in the government system “age out” [when] 18 y ears old and
many are released without the tools needed to be self -
sustaining in the “real world.” Certainly, more must be done to bridge the gap between young people ageing
out of government care and their becoming self -
sufficient, productive citizens.
While the establishment of Independent Living
Coordinators (ILC) is a good start, it falls short of filling
the void. Assistance with affordable housing options
has little value for persons without jobs and the means
to pay, and career advice does not necess arily result
in jobs. Establishing Independent Living Coordinators
seemingly puts the cart before the horse. Consider ation should be given to allowing young people to r emain in the government system beyond 18 years old,
and the establishment of independent living or trans itional living facilities with financial assistance to help
young people to get on their feet.
Provided certain criteria are met, young pe ople could live in supportive facilities giving them safety
nets to practice independent living in a r eal world env ironment with support of Independent Living Coordin ators and others helping them develop basic life skills
needed for successfully transitioning to full indepen dence.

National Seniors Strategy

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : Seniors are one of Berm uda’s national treasures. Shifting demographics due to
people living longer, health concerns and the cha llenges stemming from COVID -19 further highlight the
need for a National Seniors Strategy to help seniors
navigate through the ageing process.
An effecti ve strategy must take into account
the early stages of ageing, helping our seniors to r etain their independence and retain or improve their
health. Seniors have significantly contributed to the
community, and yet still find themselves having to make the di fficult choice between food and medicine.
We must do more to honour their societal contribu-tions by improving their income insecurity though r educing financially burdensome necessities such as car
relicensing fees and land tax fees which drain the r esources of those on fixed incomes.
In addition, all seniors diagnosed with debil itating diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s should
have access to dedicated caregiver support.
The third sector has experienced increased
demand for support for seniors with Alzheimer’s and
dementia. There must be increased support for family
members and caregivers who either dedicate them-selves to look after loved ones afflicted with these di seases, while balancing work and family responsibil i-ties, or are fortunate to be able to afford to engage
external caregiving support.
Family and non- family caregivers are som etimes overlooked as needing support, but the mental
and physical toll of taking care of loved ones places a heavy burden on them and places them at risk for developing ph ysical and mental health problems themselves.

The physical development of our youth through
sport is often the key to freedom

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : Mr. Speaker, inactivity,
obesity, unemployment, and conflict are global challenges. Education in the 21
st century increasingly recognises the role of values and social skills in tackling global challenges, such as these.
In this time of the unknown and with anxiety
over health and finances, it would be easy to forget
the importance of sports. Absent from the Throne
Speech was any mention of sport, but it is such a crit ical part of a strong society. The teamwork, work ethic,
discipline, focus and pure joy that comes from partic ipating in youth sports has such a positive impact, but
it is often ignored.
Coaches are mentors, counsellors and in
some ways parents to our young people and play an
important role in helping to guide their future. Organised sports and the health and fitness of our young
people needs to be a priority. When we have a
healthcare crisis wit h high insurance cost and high
medical usage because of an unhealthy population we
need to urgently change the path for the next gener ation.
Bermuda needs a national plan that advances
the mandate of healthy living, healthy eating and exercise, team spirit , work ethic and national pride.
There needs to be real support for our athletes who
have been identified with the necessary talent to pr ogress to their highest capability.
Creating opportunity for our young people to
be student athletes needs to be a focus. If we aim for the Olympics, but succeed with university scholar-ships or university attendance through sport, we have
succeeded. Having a resource to guide young people
to gain all the necessary support for strength and conditioning, mental health, nutri tion, and sport scho larships is necessary.
We have a World Champion in Triathlon, a
sport that has also given opportunities for the economy through sports tourism. We should be pushing for
Sail GP and doing all we can to seize on the relation-ships built fr om the America’s Cup which will help l ocal sailing and the economy. In every sport there is
opportunity for the growth of our youth and the potential of sports tourism.
There should be a connection created between local sports and tourism opportunities. Support, training and certifications for all of our coaches as we
34 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly expect them to guide our youth is important, but we
need to make sure that they have the tools and are
the people that should be guiding our children.
SCARS training should be mandatory for al l programmes and people in contact with youth.

Legal Affairs

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : Mr. Speaker, the court sy stem in Bermuda was struggling to cope before the
COVID pandemic. Things are now dire. Jury trials have been suspended for many months. There is a
backlog of cases, and the morale of those working to
maintain our necessary court system is strained.
Greater funding is needed to sustain the system.
The quick and obvious fix to this urgent problem is to adopt the OBA’s proposal to charge graduat-ed court fees in civil claims based upon the amount in
dispute. That way commercial entities in Bermuda,
and often overseas, which bring large value claims in
our courts pay their fair share for the use of our court’s precious time. And they help to sustain the rest of the
struggling court system. This approach is used suc-cessfully in other common law jurisdictions, including
the UK. Bermuda can only benefit from adopting the
OBA’s recommendation.
Mr. Speaker, it is paramount that Bermuda
continues to defend its long-standing reputation as an
international financial centre of the highest integrity.
Our anti -fraud laws need updating. This is an area
that has been neglected by the current Government.
The OBA will introduce an Opposition Bill to address
this shortcoming to ensure that Bermuda’s reputation for integrity remains intact and that our anti -fraud laws
reflect the latest in global best practice.

Domestic Abuse

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : The One Bermuda Alliance
believes that women, children and our vulnerabl e
population need the protection of stronger laws for
domestic violence and abuse. There needs to be a
monitoring system put into place allowing the police to further investigate charges of alleged abuse— even if
they are unreported by the victims —and ensur e that
data about violence from medical care is being inve stigated fully for the protection of our citizens.
Mr. Speaker, many of us know about people
who are in abusive relationships and that not enough is being done to help them until it is too late. We need
to ensure that our legislation allows for investigations
to take place when the warning signs are being pr esented, and not wait for someone to suffer serious
injuries or peril as a result of preventable abuse.
The One Bermuda Alliance recommends that
all registered healthcare and education professionals
in Bermuda undergo training to recognise and report
cases of abuse as part of their registration process, and that the police will actively collect evidence and
send cases for prosecution whenever possi ble.
Mr. Speaker, more protection needs to be
given for victims of abuse, to ensure that there is a
safe way for them to report abuse and have it invest igated. In addition, there must be a place for victims to
go, a place for support, and a place which is also a
safe shelter for victims and dependents from abuse.

Base Rates
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : Mr. Speaker, the Gover nment’s Speech from the Throne indicated that the Legislature will be invited to consider Bills to reform
banking laws and regulations, and to establish a Bermuda base interest rate. It went on to say that the r eform of banking laws will increase competition in this
sector, introduce new classes of banks to boost the
economy, and harmonise the Bermuda base rate,
while at the same time working with the banks to r educe the interest rates charged on mortgages.
Mr. Speaker, before the Government embarks
on this journey, may I strongly suggest this Gover nment build consensus with the Bermuda Banking A ssociation, and that it also secures the blessi ngs and
support of all its members. I am saying this because
of the unintended consequences.
Mr. Speaker, the reality is that we have two
large international banks on this Island, which likely provide approximately 75 per cent of Bermuda’s loans
and mortgages. If they are not on board with Gover nment’s proposals, and if the prescribed base rate i mpacts their earnings and return on assets, then these
same banks will stealthily exercise their option, and
will quietly and drastically reduce their mortgage and
loan portfolio footprint here in Bermuda. They will r edeploy their assets, and the availability of loans and mortgages to their branches or subsidiaries in other
jurisdictions.
In simple terms, if we do not get this right, the
availability of mortgages and loans to Bermudians will
decrease exponentially, and the banks’ assets will be used to support the rapid growth of their mortgage
and loan footprints in other jurisdictions, such as,
Cayman, the Bahamas, BVI, Jersey and Guernsey, the US and the UK. Again, I say, be aware of the uni ntended consequences as this move may come back to
bite you.

Immigration
Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : Mr. Speaker, immigration
reform has been a thorny, and very emotional, issue for successive governments of Bermuda and her people. It has been a political football, and with the aid of
successive PLP Governments, this issue has also stoked civil unrest.
For years, the One Bermuda Alliance tried to
revise the current Immigration Act, but we could not


Bermuda House of Assembly do so because of the civil unrest in our community.
But today the Progressive Labour Party is finally se eing the light. We are seeing the promotion of a number of reforms that the One Bermuda Alliance recommended, especially with mixed status families, as well as the idea of commercial imm igration, which was initially presented by former Immigration Minister, the
Hon. Michael Fahy, JP MP.
Quite frankly, we also know that a full review
of the Immigration [and Protection] Act 1956 is a must.
This act is draconian, dated and over 60 years old. Its
original purposes and features are no longer relevant
to the Bermuda we enjoy today. It just does not support our 21
st century economy, with all its nuances
and challenges.
In light of the above, our current government
must grab the proverbial mettle, and embark upon an
immigration review which will create a pathway to residency and citizenship, while at the same time protec ting the interest of Bermudians and protecting Berm udian jobs.

We will always, as Bermudians,
put our fellow Bermudians first

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : Let’s be real. Our economy,
social wellness and security are entwined with, and
nearly entirely dependent on, immigration, more so
than nearly any other jurisdiction. We are a service
economy with no physical exports and only two pil lar
industries, one of which produces the overwhelming majority of our foreign exchange, employment and tax
revenues. It is time; this review must start now.

Pension Funds for Investment

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : Mr. Speaker, once again,
the Government has shown its disregard for the future
security of its citizens. A pension fund is meant to be a
reserve established and available for Bermudians u pon their retirement, intended to allow them to live a
certain quality of life, reaping the benefits of their long
working career.
During the COVID -19 pandemic the Legisl ature, in response to the many residents who could not earn a living, decided to allow persons to withdraw
from their private pensions to a maximum of $12,000.
This Government’s attempt to convert t his hardship
relief vehicle to one that is more of an investment tool
is not only short -sighted but borders on being rec kless.

Additional Capital Development Spending

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : The Throne Speech ind icates that, under normal circumstances, governments
the world over increase their capital expenditure to
stimulate the economy, create work projects which
can get its citizens back to work, after natural disas-ters or dramatic economic downturns. But these are
not normal times with the government’ s debt ceiling at
$3.5 billion and no surplus budget possibilities in the
near future.
The OBA Government created an enviro nment that incentivised foreign investment (the St.
Regis and Azure hotels), engineered innovative pu blic–private schemes (the airpor t), and promoted international events, i.e., the America’s Cup, which alone
brought $350 million to our economy which stimulated
jobs and commerce representing a sizeable return on
the public purse spending.
This present Government has not demonstrated that type of ingenuity and prowess. Is capital development spending needed now to upgrade our
infrastructure and stimulate a stagnant economy?
Yes. Does this Government have the ability to make
this happen while adequately servicing its debt, and at
the same time not going into further debt and mai ntaining its present service levels while trimming the fat of government spending? Past performance by this administration and the content of this Throne Speech
does not convince us that it can.

Update Taxation Syst em

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : The Throne Speech pr oposes that the Tax Reform Commission of 2018 update its recommendations “in light of the new economic realities created by the Pandemic.” Our question to
this Government is, Have they read the [2018] report?
And what have they done thus far to implement those
recommendations?
We submit that there are recommendations
found in that report that are fair, equitable, do not put undue burden on the lower paid workers of this country, and do a lot to effectively broaden the tax base
without stifling the economy. But just like the SAGE
report, the Fiscal Responsibility Panel’s report, and
other similar reports, this administration has not put into practice recommendations made by these commissions.

Bermuda’s National Debt

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : Mr. Speaker, I would be
remiss if I did not acknowledge the comments recently made by Bermuda’s Auditor General about Bermuda’s
national debt. She underscored her concern by stating
that, as in her previous annual reports, th e Gover nment continues to make decisions without knowing
the combined financial position of all the organisations
that make up the government reporting entity. She
further added that there are no effective, comprehensive long -term plans for reducing the an nual and accumulated deficits or the associated debt, the unfund-ed liabilities of its major pension plans or the size of
taxpayer indebtedness, all of which continue to grow
unsustainably.
36 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly This continued behaviour must stop, and fi scal prudence should and must be addressed if we are
going to bring our national debt in check.

Health Care

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : The One Bermuda Alliance
believes that all Bermudians should have access to
affordable, high quality health care. Through true and
transparent cons ultation, the OBA recommends that
Government work with all sectors involved in the delivery and financing of health care in Bermuda to r educe the cost of health care, tackle chronic illness,
and ensure equal access to care.
Every Bermudian has the right to health i nsurance coverage that is evidence- based and managed by independent professionals and not by the
Government. The legislation surrounding health care
is fragmented and we recommend that the laws are
brought up to date and unified to reduce the conf usion
surrounding our health care regulations.
The One Bermuda Alliance recommends that
health insurance should cover young people under
their parents’ policies until at least the age of 25, r egardless of whether they are in school or not, to e nsure that our young people have coverage if they are not able to find a job.
The supplemental benefit for mental health
needs to be regulated and protected to ensure that insureds are being covered at the same level as medical benefits.
Employees need more access to information
about their healthcare policies, in order to have clear
transparency as to the specifics of their coverage.
We also recommend that the PLP Gover nment implement a “Unique Patient Identifier” (UPI) for
everyone in Bermuda. This will ensure that everyone
has coverage, reduce duplication of services, and
drive down the cost of health care for all. It will assist
in services being streamlined and produce a true
number of those who are uninsured or underinsured,
to assist in developing solutions to re duce this sub- set
of the population.
But Mr. Speaker, we must do more to tackle
the root causes of poor health. So the One Bermuda
Alliance recommends a National Physical Fitness Programme to encourage well -being, sound health,
exercise, and good personal diet, from primary school
throughout life. We would also recommend the intr oduction of a programme that specifically targets noncommunicable diseases, underpinned with food cost
reductions for healthy living.
We would also introduce mandatory training
for teachers and community workers to detect child
abuse, and ensure that all allegations of child abuse are reported to the Department of Child and Family Services and are equally shared with the Bermuda
Police Service, and amend the Criminal Code to outlaw cyberbullying. Education

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : The independence of the
Bermuda Tourism Authority played a key part in the
revival of tourism in Bermuda. It is a shame that this Authority has now had its independence undermined.
The One Bermuda Alliance has long stated
that the way forward for education is to have it over-seen by an independent education authority, so we
are delighted that the PLP finally sees the light and
the value that an education authority brings to the de-livery of education in Bermuda and student performance and outcomes. An education authority is not
the cure, Mr. Speaker, but it is the first and necessary
step towards establishing a system that provides the
foundation for our young people to succeed.
It is also crucial that both teachers and st udents receive the support they need, Mr. Speaker, so the One Bermuda Alliance urges the Government to
supplement schools with teams of foundational counsellors, to support our children and instil the skills
needed for life, from early developm ental learning to
guidance in later years, when our children transition
from education to working life.
We also recommend the establishment of a
continuing professional development centre for our teachers, to enhance teaching skills and maintain high
standards with continuous training and support.

National Security and Policing

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : COVID -19 has caused a
great many people a great deal of stress and anxiety
and will continue to do so until our economy improves.
Tragically, the COVID -induced stresses are being exacerbated by a rise in violent crime and continuing
deaths and injuries on our roads.
Mr. Speaker, one of the fundamental respo nsibilities of any government is the security of its cit izens and ensuring a safe environment in which all can thrive. This begins by valuing all of our uniformed personnel by providing the best possible conditions of
service and physical environment. But it also requires
vigorously confronting the causes of crime as well as
being tough with the perpetrators of the crime itself.
Mr. Speaker, this Government has disr espected our uniformed services. They have slashed
the police budget. They have not provided our fir efighters with the necessary equipment and they have
allowed conditions at the prisons to fester. They also
failed to provide some frontline workers with the necessary PPE during lockdown.
We believe in law and order and value our
uniformed services. Their performance during the COVID -19 crisis underscored their commitment and
diligence and we all owe them our gratitude for their
service. They worked above and beyond anything we could have asked.


Bermuda House of Assembly Therefore, Mr. Speaker, the One Bermuda A lliance recommends that the PLP Government :
• Fully invest in our uniformed services by e nsuring they do not lack for basic needs , such
as clothing and equipping them with modern
technologies , to better ensure safety and
crime prevention, including body cameras for
police officers, updated fire equipment and
emergency ambulances.
• Address the serious facilities deficiencies at
our prisons to ensure our prison officers work
in a safe and healthy environment.
• Ensure our Uniformed Services are fully
staffed, so that services are routinely provi ded, with reduced reliance on overtime pay and
the promotion of well -being for those who give
service to our Island.
• Provide clerical support to our Uniformed Services so that they are free to concentrate on
their important core tasks and not be bogged
down by non- critical duties.
• Provide on- call mental health and social
workers to support the police in responding to
non-criminal calls to provide de- escalation or
crisis assistance.
• Expand the network of CCTV cameras to i mprove civility of road usage.
The OBA believes that strong preventative
and rehabilitation programmes are important in mai ntaining safe communities, to provide ongoing support to victims’ families, to support and guide at -risk youth
and to give offenders a second chance.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, the OBA recommends implementing a Restorative Justice Pr ogramme through a Departm ent of Restorative Justice.
This will help to increase support for victims of crime and strengthen support for victims of domestic and
sexual abuse.
We also recommend instituting a Second
Chance programme involving mentorship and work
programmes, expunge c ertain offences from the records of young offenders following successful compl etion of community orders, and establish a programme
of anger management and conflict resolution classes
in schools and for adults in a community setting.
Tacit support also shou ld be given to the formation of a Police Authority.
After all, we all should support the police with
greater community involvement.
We also should support BPS by building more
confidence and trust in the organisation; we commend
the BPS for its stance in a ddressing standards of pr ofessional behaviour.
Having said that, though, it is disappointing
that the Government did not mention the Police Complaints Authority in the Throne Speech. This body is
important for public trust and public engagement. Its
work s hould be supported and highlighted. Mr. Speaker, gangs, guns and violence too often mar the peace and tranquillity of our Island. During
the opening of Parliament in St. Peter’s Church the
depth of gang tentacles was again illustrated during
Premier’s Ques tion Period when one of our local st udents asked what the Government was doing about
gangs in school.
The Premier’s answer was deficient and
vague. His first comment was that the GREAT pr ogramme had recommenced! Mr. Speaker, the GREAT
programme was an OBA initiative, and the answer showed this Government has to date failed to stem
the growth of the gang culture in spite of highly paid
consultants and a lot of talk.
Mr. Speaker, community policing is critical to
the BPS. We should support the Commissioner of Police and the entire Bermuda Police Service in their
efforts to enhance community engagement and i nvolvement.
While the Government talks about a National
Digital Bank, reform of banking laws and regulations, and being nimble and free to seize economic opport unities, we must not forget that more work needs to be
done to deal with corruption, organised crime and
money laundering. We must support the Bermuda
Police Service and other investigative arms for their
work.
Too often the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Services, Corrections, and the Royal Bermuda Regiment
are the forgotten children of National Security. This
must end. We look forward to the Government sitting
at the table with them and addressing their outstand-ing concerns.
Mr. Speaker, for non- violent crim es, we recommend the introduction of Magistrates’ Court -guided
community orders for certain non- violent offences for
qualified offenders. This could be overseen by r evamped parish councils with social worker assistance.
We also recommend the implementation of
civics programmes in schools that stress respect, recognise bullying and abuse, buttressed by anger management and conflict resolution teaching and
strengthening counselling, particularly mental health
counselling, for and between offenders following a
violent incident.
Mr. Speaker, those sitting in this House today
have the power and responsibility to help those
younger than us, who are Bermuda’s future.
The One Bermuda Alliance firmly believes
that leadership is about the next generation and developin g an environment in which our young people
can comfortably live and work in the areas they are
attracted to —areas that will increasingly be the top
earning sectors in the world.
Mr. Speaker, the One Bermuda Alliance recommends a number of initiatives for y oung people.
They include establishing an annual tech fair that exposes our youth to the cutting edge in robotics, coding, animation, and such future forward skills.
38 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly We encourage the Government to develop
more festivals so that our artists and entertainers can
have year -long opportunities to work, expand film and
TV incentive programmes to attract Bermuda- based
production and create visibility for Bermuda and c areer opportunities for Bermudians and promote a public–private partnership to expand the availabi lity of
scholarships for the arts.
To help young people get onto the first rung of
the career ladder, we will, Mr. Speaker, encourage
further payroll and other tax breaks for the hiring of Bermudians in trainee positions.
And to help young people to buy a piece of
the rock, we recommend helping first -time Bermudian
home buyers with tax friendly lease- to-buy opportun ities and waiving stamp duty on mortgages.

The Environment

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : The recent hurricane season has been one of the busiest on record, indeed the
National Hurricane Centre ran out of names. We have
seen wildfires raging in different parts of the world and
we read reports of the ice caps melting at record
rates.
We cannot ignore the effects of climate
change and as a small island w e are vulnerable. Cl imate change and other impacts must be factored into
every possible aspect of our planning, as a matter of
policy.
Mr. Speaker, our environment is one of our
greatest resources and needs to be protected for our future generations. Susta inable development must
become more than a catchphrase —it must underpin
the treatment of our natural environment and the OBA
is committed to that aim.
But as we commit to sustainability, we must
also position Bermuda to benefit from the immense
potential of the green and blue economies.
Mr. Speaker, the One Bermuda Alliance recommends and encourages policies which will support
green investment that is financially viable and conducive to economic growth and will create new markets by stimulating demand for green technologies, goods,
and services, thereby creating new job opportunities.
We must position Bermuda as a world green
centre, working with the Bermuda Institute of Ocean
Sciences (BIOS), promoting it as a global leader for
marine studies and as a leader in the green and cl imate change movements, with a think tank and annu-al conferences.
COVID -19 showed us the importance of food
security and the OBA recommends working closely
with farmers to maximise their ability to utilise existing
zoned agricultural l and and consider tax incentives,
payroll tax exemptions and planning changes to
stimulate the local food production market.

The One Bermuda Alliance

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons : Mr. Speaker, a lot has been
said about the One Bermuda Alliance’s future.
Please let me make it very clear. The One
Bermuda Alliance is alive and well. Our roots will be
nourished on the principles of Opportunity, Respons ibility, Integrity, Transparency, Fairness, Inclusiveness
and Service. These roots will secure our foundation
and f uture, within our community.
The One Bermuda Alliance has a core team
of approximately 40 ladies and gentlemen. This team includes all of those candidates who ran in last
month’s elections. They are still in the room and have
recommitted themselves to serv ice as a part of the
One Bermuda Alliance team.
They continue to be engaged and are commi tted to playing their role in crafting and shaping Bermuda’s future.
They continue their journey on the pathway of
service to, and for, the people of Bermuda.
There ar e also the branch members across
the Island, who worked with us leading up to the elec-tion, and on last month’s polling day. These field
members are as dedicated as ever and form an int egral part of our team. They form an important part of
the eyes and ear s of our communities. They are eager
and delighted to provide service to the people of Bermuda.
It is this energy and commitment which
demonstrates that the One Bermuda Alliance’s vitality is there in droves, Mr. Speaker.
The One Bermuda Alliance stands ready to
grow deeper roots that will secure our foundation and future within our community.
As for my personal pledge, Mr. Speaker, I,
along with all of the members of the One Bermuda
Alliance team, will listen and learn from the people of
Bermuda.
We have a commitment to service, and we will
help guide Bermuda forward through this COVID -19
era, with integrity, fairness, transparency, accountabi lity and respect.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Minister Hayward, are you the first
speaker for the Government?
Hon. Jason Hayward: I am.



Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: The first speaker will have 60 minutes;
every other Member will have 30 minutes.
Minister Hayward, you have the floor. It is now
3:11 pm.

DEBATE ON THE 2020 T HRONE SPEECH
AND REPLY

Hon. Jason Hayward: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Good afternoon, colleagues.
Mr. Speaker, thank you for allowing me to
have an intervention in today’s formal debate on the Speech from the Throne.
Mr. Speaker, I thank [the Honourable] Cole
Simons for his delivery and presentation. I also co ngratulate him on ascending to the Leader of his party
and becoming Opposition Leader.
What the Honourable Member presented t oday, Mr. Speaker, was an oral presentation of his par-ty’s failed politica l platform.
Mr. Speaker, in the Canadian Provincial Legislatures Opposition Members hold the title of “critic.”
That is their formal title. For that is what the country
expects from members of the Opposition, for them to
be constructively critical. And I think that it is a strong
democracy when we have an Opposition that is both
constructive and focused. It keeps the Government on
its toes.
In contrast, Mr. Speaker, the PLP Gover nment was elected to lead, and that is what we aim to
do. The people of this country clearly endorsed the
leadership of the PLP Government. They endorsed
our policies. And that was adequately demonstrated
on October 1
st in the last general election, when the
Progressive Labour Party was able to garner 30
seats.
The initiatives that presented themselves in
the Speech from the Throne were actually party platform initiatives, a platform that was put to the people
of this country before they made a decision [INAUD IBLE].
As a result, Mr. Speaker, the electorate has
given this government our orders. And that is to ex ecute from the initiatives that we presented to them
leading up to the general election.
Mr. Speaker, no one can deny that the items
in the Throne Speech will move Bermuda and her people forward.
We have to recognise, Mr. Speaker, the times
that we are in. The health care crisis posed by the coronavirus pandemic has [triggered] a wide econom-ic crisis. The economic crisis has led to a job crisis.
With our current economy in recession, a lack of st ability in our labour force, leadership—strong leadership—is absolutely required.
Mr. Speaker, Bermudians are a resilient people and I have no doubt that collectively we will ride
out this storm into better days, just like we have faced
other challenges in the past. Mr. Speaker, some say that the only thing that
is certain in these times is uncertainty. However, Mr.
Speaker, I do not support that notion. I am certain that we need to improve our economy. I am certain that we
need to get Bermudians back to work. I am certain
that we need to restore hope to those who have lost it.
And I am certain that the PLP Government can do it.
Mr. Speaker, the Progressive Labour Party
Government will rebuild Bermuda with Bermudians at
heart. I have no doubt that the Bermudian people will
bear witness to improved economic and social well -
being after the Government successfully implements
its initiatives that are in the Throne Speech.
In the Speech from the Throne, Mr. Speaker,
the Government proposed to carry out constitutional reform, immigration an d financial assistance r eforms —reforms which are fundamentally required for
us to move forward as a country.
The implementation of unemployment insurance and various other initiatives, Mr. Speaker, are designed to safeguard and protect our most vulner able—our children, our youth, our seniors and our di sabled.
Mr. Speaker, when I stood before the workers
of this Island a few months ago on Labour Day, I stat-ed that this Government is here for the people of
Bermuda. The country can rest assured that this Government is working to advance their interests.
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Labour has a
mission to improve and support economic growth
through the expansion of jobs in our economy. The
Ministry of Labour will be critical to the social and
economic recover y of our country moving forward.
Mr. Speaker, it is clear that for too long we
have allowed our immigration policy to divide our country rather than utilising immigration as a tool to
support economic growth and development.
Mr. Speaker, the one- year wor k from Berm uda residential certificate is an excellent example of
how we can better utilise immigration policy for the betterment of Bermuda. A policy that is able to bring a
greater number of residents on- Island, a policy that
was different from previous policies, a policy that su pports greater levels of economic activity on the Island
and economic growth.
Mr. Speaker, as indicated in the Throne
Speech, the Ministry will revise the long- term residential certificate policy, introducing what we are coining
an “economic investment certificate.”
Mr. Speaker, it is important for the public to
note that this certificate is different from a permanent resident certificate, what we refer to as PRCs. This is
a certificate that is granted under the Bermuda Imm igratio n and Protection Act and allows for the Minister
to give unlimited residency to individuals.
Mr. Speaker, it also should be noted that prior
to 2012, when the OBA became the government, the
residential certificate was issued to individuals who
had been globally retired with the requirement that
40 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly they purchase property to reside in Bermuda. Under
the OBA Government the policy was revised to r emove the requirement for one to purchase a house
and it [was] replaced with the requirement that one
just must have substantial means, with no requir ement to invest in Bermuda. That policy, Mr. Speaker,
is a bad policy. That policy, Mr. Speaker, is a policy
we seek to change.
We now see individuals that work in Bermuda
apply ing for residential certificates being denied by the
Minister because the policy was never intended for
those individuals on work permits. The Minister also
denies the certificates based off of what the Minister
deems to be “substantial means.” And we find that
with the help of crafty lawyers these indi viduals end
up winning judgments in court which allow work permit
holders to obtain residential certificates and remove
themselves from immigration control. Mr. Speaker,
that cannot be allowed in our country.
Mr. Speaker, the intention of the policy moving forward would be to require one to invest in Bermuda in order for that person to maintain unlimited residency. Because once a work permit holder is then
removed from immigration control the next step is for
that individual to be naturalised, and then tha t person
is deemed to belong, and is viewed under the Const itution as equal to one that possesses Bermuda status
in many aspects.
Mr. Speaker, the current policy is broken. We
aim to fix the policy. We want to increase economic investment in Bermuda. We al so want to attract more
people to come and reside in Bermuda—those people
who want to contribute to the well -being of Bermuda
and her people.
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Labour will also
work to revise the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act to protec t long- term residents and provide
them with greater certainty in regard to residency.
Mr. Speaker, the mixed status families
amendment was just the beginning of reform. In this
session we will invite the Legislature to consider rev isions to the Bermuda Im migration and Protection Act
that will advance comprehensive immigration reform,
providing a framework for permanent residency in
Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, the Bipartisan Immigration R eform Working Group is chaired by MP Crystal Caesar,
and that particular body will be responsible for provi ding strategic recommendations to the Minister as to
how we proceed will long- term residency. I think that it
is important because [for] so long immigration policies have been used to divide this country. But now we need to come up with a win– win format which actually
supports the people of this country, one that enables
us to sustainably build our residential population, grow
our economic pride, and ensure that all of Bermuda then enjoys a prosperous future.
Mr. Speaker, if there is one thing that we can
all collectively agree on, it is that the cost of living in Bermuda is way too high. The cost of living continues
to diminish the purchasing power of Bermudian wor kers. The cost of rent, food and other basic necessities
continue to increase while the wages of many have
not increased and remain stagnant.
Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Labour, it
pains me to note that there are Bermudians who I
would consider to be in low -wage poverty. At times
many in this country are recei ving “debt cheques.”
Mr. Speaker, you might ask, what is a debt
cheque? This means that after one’s statutory deductions, this individual actually owes their employer
money. This is something that needs to be fixed and
that is why, Mr. Speaker, the Legisl ature will take under its consideration the final aspects of wage reform
that will seek the implementation of a new statutory
minimum wage and a national living wage. We need to ensure that we increase the standard of living of
many who are under -compensat ed in Bermuda. We
also want to work actively to decrease the depende ncy of individuals requiring financial assistance. We
also want to increase the number of Bermudians working in traditional low -wage roles. If we make the
wage more attractive, we can expand the number of
occupations that are attractive to Bermudians.
Mr. Speaker, we will also seek to reform the
Financial Assistance Act [2001] and its accompanying
Regulations [2004]. Financial assistance provides a social safety net for many families in th is country, Mr.
Speaker.
In order for one to get on financial assistance
[FA], it ultimately means that there are households that are assessed and then it is determined that the
members of that household, their income does not
exceed their expense requirements. The majority of
individuals on financial assistance are seniors; we
have a large portion of disabled, but we will work hard to move low -income earners and able- bodied recipients off of FA.
We also want to work to ensure that we pr ovide employment opportunities to our able- bodied,
disabled population on FA.
Our overall reform strategy is to increase the
sustainability of the financial assistance system. We
want to strengthen the educational, training and em-ployment services; encourage individuals and families
to be financially independent; and focus greater emphasis on our disabled.
The most significant portion is providing pat hways to employment for recipients of financial assi stance. We want to see those individuals build on their
assets. We want to see them as independent, productive members of our society. We want to move from a
system where we are focused on administration of
payments into a space where we are empowering i ndividuals.
Mr. Speaker, these reforms will not only
change the trajectory of individual lives, but also break


Bermuda House of Assembly cycles —generational cycles —of dependency and r educe the amount of future FA recipients.
Mr. Speaker, in the Speech from the Throne
the Government pledged to implement an unemplo yment insurance fund. Over the years subsequent a dministrations have hesitated to introduce unemplo yment insurance to Bermuda. However , we can no
longer continue to take that stance. We must have a
progressive approach of introducing this crucial social
safety net.
Mr. Speaker, I heard man sa y online that the
best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and that best time is now. And we aim to plant that tree of unemployment insurance so that future people who find
themselves displaced from the workforce know they have a social safety net that they can fall on.
Mr. Speaker, the Government must be commended for the way in which it implemented the u nemployment benefit. The Government was forced to
protect the country and place people into “shelter in
place.” We were forced to close the airport, w hich
[caused] a huge economic disruption and, at its peak,
displaced over 10,000 workers from the workforce.
Mr. Speaker, the Government quickly provided a be nefit to individuals for 18 weeks.
Mr. Speaker, we did not discriminate on who
could receive that benefit either. Whether a Bermudian, non- Bermudian, a PRC holder, a work permit
holder, it was our responsibility to provide assistance to people in their time of need and help employers
subsidise their wages. And we did it without hesit ation. That generosity and the commitment to the people cost the government approximately $58 million. Fifty-eight million dollars was used to support indivi duals and their families at a time when they needed
those funds more than ever. The Government conti nues to support f amilies in their time of need, even r ecipients that do not qualify for FA. The Government
has implemented the supplemental unemployment
benefit to support individuals and the cost of those
programmes continually increases.
But, Mr. Speaker, on their own t hose pr ogrammes are not sustainable. As a result, our unemployment insurance scheme is the most sustainable
way forward for the people of Bermuda. The Gover nment will work with a wide range of stakeholders, we
will consider the main issues regarding the un employment insurance plan: the eligibility requirements;
the contributions; the benefits; the duration; funding
mechanisms; and which department will ultimately
administer the programme (to name a few). We will
ensure that we have a strategy in place which supports the necessary social protection for the people of
this country when they need assistance when meeting
their basic needs.
Mr. Speaker, the Speech from the Throne had
practical solutions on the way forward, but also pr ogressive initiatives. Mr. Speaker, the National Digital Bank idea is
progressive. It will allow Bermuda to diversify and expand its banking options, but it will also allow Berm uda to utilise another vehicle so that it can carry out some of the progressive items on its agenda. Whether it be gaming, whether it be cannabis, some of those
items require alternative banking options for them to
proceed. I applaud my colleagues for taking the bold
step forward in introducing this particular initiative.
Mr. Speaker, the cost of living in Bermuda is
way too high, as I previously stated. And one major contributor to that cost is the cost of health care in
Bermuda. I am sure the Minister of Health will speak
more comprehensively on the National Health Plan
that the Government aims to roll out, but at this Government’s core is the support for universal health care coverage, a notion that everybody should have ac-cessible and affordable health care. In this pandemic
we have seen persons who have been displaced from
the workforce also being displaced from having access to health care options, at a time when the country is managing a health care crisis. Mr. Speaker, our people deserve better and this Government is commi tted to delivering better.
Mr. Speaker, many of our young people aspire to own a h ome in Bermuda, something that is extremely difficult. And so, I am pleased that the Gov-ernment focuses and has placed a priority on assis ting our young people to get that piece of the rock. I
believe the option for individuals to utilise their pe nsion to support their down payment is practical, it
makes sense, and it is something that is required to
give our young people hope. Our young people are
the future. As much as possible, we aim to involve our
young people in decision- making processes, but in
this time where we have both economic decline and a
job crisis, our young people need hope. They need to
see that their Government is looking out for their best
interests. And that is what we aim to do.
Mr. Speaker, looking at constitutional reform,
it is abs olutely required. The Minister responsible for
constitutional reform, the Attorney General, will roll out a comprehensive strategy on how that exercise will
take place. But, Mr. Speaker, our construct is old. The
way in which we currently operate as a country is da ted. In order for us to be flexible, nimble, and have the
ability to respond to this rapidly changing world, we
need to look at areas of our Constitution and determine whether those areas are causing barriers to pr ogress.
Mr. Speaker, the Speech from the Throne was
deliberately not long. It was not long because the
Government wants to ensure that it executes on all of
the objectives that it set out in this legislative agenda.
We have no time for broken promises. We have no
time for political gran dstanding. There is no doubt that
we will be approaching the toughest two years of our
modern history. I thank the Premier and his team for
the absolutely superb job that they have done in man42 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly aging the health care crisis, but we are not out of the
water yet. And so, coupled with the health care crisis,
we now have economic challenges. It is our collective
responsibility to lead the people of Bermuda through
these times. Political bickering gets us nowhere.
The people of this country made it clear who
they w ant as their Government, they made it clear
who they want as their “critics,” and Mr. Speaker, the Progressive Labour Party will govern with the Berm uda people at its heart.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Okay.
Minister Wilson, you have the floor, you have
your 30 minutes.
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the PLP Government’s 2020
Throne Speech theme was “Rebuilding Bermuda with Bermudians at Heart” and I submit to you, Mr. Speaker, that at the heart of every Bermudian and resident
is family, safety , happiness, and, of course, good
health. And it is on this last point that I would like to
spend a few moments speaking about this Gover nment’s commitment to taking steps to reform our
health system, led by the introduction of the Bermuda
Health Plan.
Mr. Speaker, this Plan, in particular, wants to
make sure that the core health insurance plan i ncludes benefits for all of Bermuda and its residents to
help keep us healthy and give people the protection
that they really need at the time that they need it most.
I want to start by clarifying that the Gover nment’s aim in this whole process, Mr. Speaker, is to ensure that as we proceed with health care reform we want to make sure that Bermuda can be healthier.
And this can best be achieved, Mr. Speaker, by
provi ding sufficient prevention, greater access to
health care for all, as well as providing a decent core of benefits which will allow for people to stay healthy
and to remain healthy, Mr. Speaker.
We know that we have, unfortunately, some
dire statistics in Bermuda with respect to an ageing
population, multiple chronic diseases —obesity, et
cetera— which plague our nation and we need to
make sure that we can provide proper mechanisms
within a health insurance plan that allows for prevention, access, as well as a core that helps keep us healthy. And it does not matter what current state of
health you are in, Mr. Speaker, whether you are old or
young, male or female, we can all be healthier. And
that is this Government’s mission.
We recognise it is a very ambitious goal, Mr.
Speaker, and there is no single act that is going to be able to fix everything; there is no magic wand, no s uper pills or tonics that are going to cure all of our ails.
But like the best of things in life, it is going to take
hard work, Mr. Sp eaker, collaboration and many di fferent efforts to get Bermuda healthier.
And we have listened to the public, Mr.
Speaker, we know that among the things that we
need —again, there is more prevention— we are hearing the public speak about wanting to have access to
more prevention, access to health care, and a decent
basic plan that will help to keep them healthy. So, Mr. Speaker, among the things that we are doing to help
achieve this is to take steps to introduce the Bermuda
Health Plan that was mentioned on page 2, Mr.
Speaker, of the Throne Speech.
And let me give you some key takeaways, Mr.
Speaker, that I think require more emphasis. Gover nment wants to make sure that everyone can be
healt hier. That is a given. The country needs more
prevention and access to health care for all. That, too,
is a given. We want to make sure that the basic health
insurance plan includes prevention as well as more primary care. Again, that is a given. And we want to
make sure that this basic new essential plan is affor dable and available to all.
Mr. Speaker, in order to achieve these, Bermuda has to change the way that we pay for our health care. So, you will recall that one of the first
steps which this Government took towards the impl ementation of our health care reforms was to go about
determining what the best way was that we could pay
for it. So, we decided, after much consultation with
stakeholders, members of the public, the medical community, business leaders, employer groups,
health advocacy groups, just to name a few ( it was a
very detailed consultation period), we have decided,
following that consultation period (which we announced previously) that we will proceed with the si ngle-payer system, Mr. Speaker.
And more importantly, this new essential benefits packet has to be designed—again, I keep emphasising this, but it is critically important —to make
people healthier, to bring real cost savings to individ uals by trying to start to place caps on co- pays, Mr.
Speaker. We have all heard how some persons are
foregoing going to their doctor visits because they
cannot afford the co- pays. And what this Government
will work to do as we introduce the Bermuda Health Plan is to put caps on certain co- pays and other types
of procedures to ensure that, whilst at the same time, which is critically important, we want to make sure that
we can ensure that health care businesses can r emain financially stable.


Bermuda House of Assembly Since becoming the Minister of Health, Mr.
Speaker, in all of the discussions that I have had with
stakeholders and members of the public, I have not
come across any single person who does not agree
that health care is a fundamental human right, and that access to health care . . . and nobody disagrees
that it is unaffordable at this time in Bermuda. And we
must take steps to address t hat. But as we know, this
is a very lofty goal, Mr. Speaker, and it is simply not
necessarily within our reach now. But, as I have said,
the Government has taken steps to start addressing that, first and foremost, through the agreement with
respect to the issuance of a single- payer system. And
we know right now, Mr. Speaker, that access to health
care is not affordable to everyone in Bermuda. We know that. And the Government is committed to r eforming our health care so that we can make it more affordable, expand access to everyone, as well as
improve health outcomes.
And, as I have said before, Mr. Speaker, this
is a journey and there is no single step [that is] going
to get us everywhere at once, but changing the way
that we pay for it, through the single- payer system, is
certainly a fundamental change in the right direction.
As a country, Mr. Speaker, I know that we all
believe that everyone should have access to better
health care as well as things like primary care, pr eventative care, and essential medici nes. And, ther efore, it is very clear that this basic health insurance plan needs to include more than what is currently offered under SHB [Standard Health Benefit]. Our current health plan system is too expensive, Mr. Speaker,
and families are struggling to pay their health care premiums. And we have been elected to change that,
Mr. Speaker.
Today is the beginning of the next step of our
journey as a Government, Mr. Speaker, towards a
new health care system which will help Bermuda b ecome healthier, reduce the cost of health care, ther eby making it more affordable and accessible to all
persons, Mr. Speaker. And access to quality and affordable health care is a universal human right, it is a
very important right, and I believe that as a society we will be mea sured by the way that we treat our weakest
members, Mr. Speaker.
Inequitable access to health care should not
exist in a wealthy society such as ours in Bermuda.
And, sadly, inequitable access is what we have. It is
exactly what we have— which is why we wer e elected
to take steps to address that, Mr. Speaker. And that inequity is going to impact all of us negatively because, rest assured, we will all pay for it daily, Mr. Speaker. We pay for care that comes too late when it
is far too expensive for somebody to have it. We pay
for society costs when a family member loses a loved
one because they are the main bread winner and they succumb to an illness because they have lack of i nsurance. We pay for years of productive lives lost due to unmanageable chronic dis eases leading to amput a-tions, permanent disabilities, and so forth, and costly
technologies like dialysis, Mr. Speaker. We pay in u nnecessary pain and suffering for children who lose
their loved ones and their parents.
The cost of health care, Mr. Speaker, is cau sing real hardships to families. Mr. Speaker, we have all heard the stories as we have canvassed up and
down this Island. The story of the family who has been
driven into debt because their insurance coverage ran
out or because they were uninsured t o begin with, like
the Honourable Member that spoke just before me.
We have seen an increase in persons that are going
to be faced with challenges with respect to access to
health care because of their unemployment status.
We have heard of unemployed Bermudians, Mr.
Speaker, that are unable to afford health insurance
and have been forced to hope and pray that they do not get sick before they get the next job that will be
able to insure them. Or the story of the senior who has
had to decide whether to pay for medication or do
they pay for this week’s groceries. All of these are st ories that we have all heard, Mr. Speaker. The story of
a young mother who chose to forego her own health
check -up so that she could ensure that she had suff icient money to pay for her children’s needs with r espect to health.
All of these stories we have heard—
neighbours who are going to GoFundMe pages so
that they can pay for critical treatment. There was
something in today’s newspaper, Mr. Speaker, of an
individual, albeit they were living overseas . . . but it is
not uncommon for us to hear of stories in Bermuda
where families are forced to start GoFundMe pages or
hold bake sales and the like to pay for overseas
treatment and medical care because it is just too cos tly.
And we, as a Government, have been elected
to address that, Mr. Speaker. Our health care system, currently, is far too expensive and families are stru ggling to pay their health care premiums.
Mr. Speaker, the structure of Bermuda’s
health care system is not capable of taking care of its
people anymore —not in this way. We have to change
it. And to be clear, we do have some exemplary strengths. But, as I have said, we have got some m ajor challenges. We are the third most expensive sy stem in the world; however, we ranked 13
th in life expectancy. Those numbers do not seem to add up. Three in four of our adults are either obese or over-weight, Mr. Speaker. One in ten adults have diabetes.
For every dollar we spend, 10 cents of that is spent on
two preventable conditions. We have to do things di fferently.
So, what is this Government going to do, Mr.
Speaker? We will introduce the Bermuda Health Plan through an integrated care model. The Bermuda
Health Plan, again, wants to make sure that [they i nclude] the core benefits that people need with respect to prevention, primary care, and the like, to help keep
44 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly you healthy and to make you stronger and give you
the protection that you need at the time that you need
it.
In addition to this, we have also heard concerns from members of the community who find that it
is too difficult to pay for their medication, or persons
who are unable to see their doctors because of, again,
that exorbitant co- pay. And this Government is going
to take steps to address these very real and valid
concerns that we hear regularly from members of our
community.
Mr. Speaker, as was mentioned in the Throne
Speech, in order to be successful, we appreciate that
we cannot do this work alone and we cannot function
in decision- making silos. This is why we value building
our community partnerships with organisations such
as the Bermuda Medical Doctors Association, the i nsurers, as well as BermudaFirst.
And BermudaFirst, Mr. Speaker . . . one of the
first immediate steps that we have taken is that we
have been meeting with BermudaFirst and we are
organising subcommittees so that we can continue the
work with BermudaFirst and the dialogue, because we
recognise that they, too, are fundamentally interested
in ensuring that we, as a country, address our health
care unsustainabi lity, make sure that we have pr ogrammes in place and benefit packages in place that
will make people healthier and keep them healthier.
So, we are in sync together, Mr. Speaker. And as the
Throne Speech indicated, we will be working in conjunction with Ber mudaFirst.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to add, really
quickly, that one of the comments that we have heard
a lot about is the high cost of medication. And, as has
been indicated in the Throne Speech, this Gover nment will ensure that we will take steps t o develop a
national formulary, Mr. Speaker. We will require
pharmacies to provide us with the costing of the most
highly used medications in Bermuda so that we can fix
the price of those medications so that, at the end of
the day, the consumer will be abl e to receive a benefit
with respect to reduced cost because they will know
what the cost is, and the national formulary will set a maximum for these most highly prescribed medic ations. That will assist the consumer as well as those persons who are on fixed incomes to also be able to
get relief, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, it has been many months since
COVID -19 first gripped this world. And during these
times a few things have become abundantly clear,
that is, that human connection is inherent to our being,
and that family and health are what matter the most. And universal health coverage is certainly something
that is a desire of this Government that we would like
to see implemented.
Mr. Speaker, the economic shock from the
coronavirus and the rapid rise of unemployed citizens has necessitated that we expand the safety net of our
health services for those who have been left underi n-sured or uninsured, as the Honourable Minister just
spoke about a few moments ago. And as I have said
before, Mr. Speaker, an integr ated system, which will
be supported by the necessary funding reforms that
we have already discussed(which is the single- payer
system), will allow Bermudians to receive the treatment when they need it and in the right place, making
it more efficient and coordinated, by the use of our
available resources.
To be clear, Mr. Speaker, the development
and the implementation of this universal coverage is a multi- year responsibility. I wish I could just flip a switch
and we could have it overnight. But the reality is that
we cannot. And we expect to see many benefits to undertake these reforms in the coming years, including a shift in the care model, which will be based on,
again, proactive, preventative, out -of-hospital services
rather than a reactive, high hospit al care. More pr evention is what is needed, Mr. Speaker.
I am so excited for the prospects of health r eforms and to be a part of this Government, whose de-sire is to take steps to make Bermudians and her res-idents healthier, Mr. Speaker, thereby, driving better
health outcomes, create a system that allows for un iversal health coverage, whilst at the same time, taking
steps to improve and control Bermuda’s health care
spend.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to star t by just reiterating the One
Bermuda Alliance’s theme for our Reply to the Throne Speech, which was, “Resetting the Dial.”
And before I really get into any detail, I certainly would like to speak to the fact that there is certainly an elephant in the room in this case. For me, I
just feel as though immigration, the education structure, our health system, the uniformed services, are
oftentimes based on a structure that has aged out of
the world in which we live today. And I believe that it is
time for us as a Government to have that conversation
and begin to pivot away from this feeling that we are
constantly putting band- aids on a system and a structure that no longer applies or works for Bermuda. And
I think as soon as we are able, as a community, to
start to realise and pivot to a new way of thinking, then
we certainly are on our way to actually progressing some of the policies and other initiatives that the Go vernment has proposed.


Bermuda House of Assembly When I mention, you know, sort of resetting
the dial , I think about what the previous Honourable
Member was saying about the immigration reform.
You know, so many of the structures within the imm igration system have long since served their purpose
for us here in Bermuda and trying to make something
work in 2020 which may have been created in 1956,
or before, is just no longer serving us. And until we
start to completely rebuild what our immigration
framework is going to look like and what the real
needs are for Bermuda today, versus just trying to reshuffle what may be 50 or 100 years old, it is just
simply not going to get us the results that we want.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to move to more of
the meat of what it is that I would like to say in the Reply to the Throne Speech.
COVID has been absolutely a game changer
for the w orld. And before I say anything else, I believe
it is so important that at every chance we get we thank
the people of the uniformed services, the essential
workers —all of the people who have just tirelessly
worked so hard to support and protect our community—and those that have risked themselves to go out
into our community, facing the potential of exposure to
such a serious disease.
And, with that, I was a little taken aback by
seeing that within the Throne Speech there was very
little by way of acknowled gement and recognition of
all of the hard work of so many people in this commu-nity who have tirelessly worked to support and to pr otect us. And not only feeling as though we ought to
take every opportunity to acknowledge the hard work
of so many people is that there is no mention or fee ling of any real recognition—formal recognition—for
the work of so many people. And I would like to see
that the uniformed services, that the essential workers
in the hospitals, in the stores, that Government could
sit down a nd come up with some form of formal
recognition for the people who have worked so hard.
In particular, I just recently had a situation(and
this actually applies more directly to the direct COVID
team) where there was an elderly constituent who was
overseas for serious and urgent medical treatment
and was returning to Bermuda, and there were a
number of administrative forms that had to be completed, the testing that had to take place before this individual could get on the airplane to return to Bermuda. And, of course, in all of that, and having the
stress and the discomfort of not being well, of course,
there were some things that were missed. And I have
to say that very early on a weekend morning it was
possible to reach out to the COVID Help Desk with the help and direction of Carika Weldon, who was accessible at a very early time, and she was able to connect
me to the COVID Helpline. I believe that team is led
by Dean Parris. And I wish him all the acknowledge-ment and praise for himself and his team, because not
only were they there, they were spot on. But they
were able to do what was required by law to make sure that the paperwork was in place for an elderly
person to return home to Bermuda. And within an
hour, using the marvels of digital technology, the y
were able to get this person back to Bermuda safely.
When I reflect back on it and just the level of
appreciation that I have for the assistance that the
COVID support team gave, you know, it was just another day in the office for them. And to see young
people who were energised, who were engaged, who
were taking responsibility, who were accountable— not
only to the individual who was trying to get back to
Bermuda, but accountable to the laws that are in
place and making sure that what was required by law
was actually completed and submitted— was just . . . it
was just exemplary.
It is that kind of service, it is that kind of support . . . and I know it is all across this Island, whether
it is the police services, the hospitals, the fire services,
you name i t, in the supermarkets. Everywhere where
essential workers are doing their most right now, is the kind of service that we are getting. And that is the
kind of reason why I believe it is so important for the Government to consider some form of formal recognition, not just in the time of COVID, but it should be
something that is a fundamental part of our appreci ation for the work of so many people who work so hard
to keep us safe on this Island.
Mr. Speaker, we have just come out of an
election. There were 36 of us out canvassing, knoc king on doors, and listening to all of the issues, con-cerns, the support of the constituents on this Island—
the voters. I am surprised that the Throne Speech did not contain any real reflection of what was being
shared on the doorsteps. And I am saying that in light
of some of the conversations that I certainly listened
to.
I am surprised that . . . and I will listen in earnest because it is early in the debate, but there may
be Members who are able to step up and give some direct ion from the Government. But, we have young
mothers who are struggling. They are having a difficult
time finding housing. They are having a difficult time
with finding the resources and the finances in order to
make sure that the children and the family ha ve food
to eat. We have folks who are either part -time e mployed or who are self -employed that did not qualify
for the financial assistance that was . . . and I do not
want to say “financial assistance” in the formal means
of financial assistance, but did n ot get that financial
support during the COVID lockdown in particular be-cause they fell between the cracks.
Government missed a lot of people who did
not have the number of hours of work or were self -
employed and so, therefore, they did not . . . they
could not sort of nominate themselves for any financial support during the time when we were going
through the more restricted lockdown.
There is a good chance that we may find ourselves in a similar situation again in the future. Cer46 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly tainly, we see the rising incidents and the urgency in
the United States. The UK is back down in a national
lockdown. Europe is still struggling. So we cannot let
our guard down. But at the same time, while we are
having this little bit of space to breathe, so that the Minister th at is responsible for Workforce Development is able to consider the fact that there are a number of people who have been financially struggling
through this who were not picked up through some of
the financial support systems that were put in place
during the first lockdown.
And there are people on the doorstep who are
sharing information about being at home. They are at
home, they unable to go out, and many are living with
or caring for their elderly parents or elderly family members and are now working as full-time caregivers
without any real support. And although I am fully aware that there are insurance schemes that include
payment for a caregiver, I believe that it is this kind of
essential worker that needs to be recognised and that
the Government shou ld consider what kind of financial
support could be in place for people who are caregi ving at home because of circumstances that either are caused by the lockdown in COVID, or the unemplo yment situation, or by necessity that their family members are in nee d of their care and, therefore, they
have to relinquish their employment in order to stay at
home to be with their family.
So, there are a number of initiatives and di fferent circumstances where the Government has not
necessarily picked up on some of the s ituations where
people are falling through the cracks. And I certainly
would like the Government to consider [those situa-tions] until we are in a safer space and able to more
freely seek employment, find support for caregiving,
and have our families back i nto routines out in the
community and the reliance and vulnerability is
somewhat alleviated.
Mr. Speaker, speaking of our ageing popul ation and the need for support, a few months ago, I had
an interesting conversation with the Member from
constituency 25. The two of us had a conversation
about the seniors and ageing at home. And the Member was able to tell me that she is actively involved in
the committee, the organisation, the group of people
who have come together to consider how we may best implement the ageing at home. And now this is
something that started, certainly the first time I was
introduced to it was through the Senior Advisory
Council, which was introduced during the One Bermuda Alliance’s administration. And Marian Sherratt,
at the time, and D r. John Cann were both chairs. It
has been moved, and once the Progressive Labour
Party came into Government, the Honourable Deputy
Speaker Derrick Burgess took over chairmanship and
now it has moved to the Honourable Member of con-stituency 25.
While I was listening, I was hearing some of
the same recommendations that were still on the t a-ble. And I am not saying this to share or pass any cri ticism, but what I would like to do is to share a sense of urgency that we have to start to mobilise some of
these ini tiatives in order to actually make a difference.
Because sitting around and talking is not going to
help. And the Member certainly shared with me [her
concern] —which is another concern of mine—of the
limited resources that we have on the Island. There
are but so many of us to participate. Keeping in mind
that in some cases it is important to make sure that qualifications are in place, I would like to suggest that we look at ways in which we may be able to engage
the community to get involved in more of the recommendations and tasks that have been successfully
accepted. Recommendations have been put on the
table, Members from all sides of the House have
agreed and think that these are good initiatives, but they just need to be actioned. And I would have hoped
that within the Throne Speech, because these are so
well established, that the Throne Speech may have
had more detail on an action plan of how we can support ageing at home and be able to initiate some of the recommendations that have been certainly doc umented and spoken about and thought about and
agreed upon for so long.
Now, the Office of the Public Guardian is one
of those kinds of recommendations that have come out. And, certainly, the protection of the vulnerable, our seniors, the youth in Bermuda, w ho are unable to
have the support services in order to protect their assets and to protect their care. An Office of the Public
Guardian would certainly be a good initiative.
My fear, Mr. Speaker, is that, again, as . . .
and I want to say as simple, as str aightforward as legislation to initiate or introduce an Office of the Public
Guardian is great, we do also have to consider the
complexity behind that, especially when it comes to legislation, that there are other pieces of legislation
that need to be cons idered before we could really
thoroughly have a robust Office of the Public Guardian. And that is going to take time as well —time that is
taken away from the actual support that we can pr ovide our citizens now or in the very near future. So, with a sense of urgency I certainly hope that we are
able to engage in such legislation and be able to set up shop for an Office of Public Guardian with as much
haste as possible so that we can make sure that we
are protecting those that are living in vulnerable situations.
In many cases, Mr. Speaker, that vulnerability
can be affected by our health, whether that is em otional, whether that is psychological, or whether that is
physical wellbeing. And we are really at the threshold
of a challenging time. And as the Minister of Health
has very eloquently and articulately presented her
case for a National Health Plan, we are all listening
very carefully to understand what this process is going to look like and to understand what will be involved.
But at the same time my fear is that we have people


Bermuda House of Assembly who are suffering now, and we have a health system,
we have a hospital that has just recently announced
publicly that they are in stress, that the viability of the
hospital is somewhat at risk and we must . . . we must
act now before things get completely out of control.
It is a worldwide message that many people
have in one way or the other delayed or have had to
delay treatment for chronic illnesses because COVID
has taken priority. And we just have to make absolut ely sure that we are continuing to care for those who are not feeling well on this Island, that we provide them with the quality care that they need, and that the
hospital is protected, that we make sure that the hospital is able to maintain its status as the institution
which has to by law provide health services to ever yone on this Island. And in order to do that we must
make sure that we are supporting and that we are gi ving an opportunity for the services at the hospital to be able to financially maintain their expenses and that the
sharing of medical services Island- wide does not in
any way undermine the viability of our hospital.
Many people in Bermuda are still, you know,
really living with some very serious diseases. And
they are going to have to go to the hospital for trea tment. The hospital has the equipment, they have the
services there, and we have to make sure that the
quality of the service and the quality of their equi pment remains at a very high standard in order to serve
those who need it.
Mr. Speaker, I have done an awful lot of reading to keep up with the education system and Plan 2022 and all that the Ministry of Education, the D epartment of Education, and the Minister, the Commi ssioner, are all doing to restructure our school system. And, again, going back to the preface of my speaking
today, our education system, in my humble opinion,
has been developed and we are living in a structure
that I believe has out -seen its purpose. And I do not
want to see the Government ending up, basically, continuing to build on something that fundamentally is
no longer serving our education system.
While we go through the education reform, I
am hopeful that the Government is able to root and deeply absorb and internalise the need for us to have
an expectation of our teachers and our children that is
one in which we will absolutely want to see the best of their academic achievement. And I have no doubt that
this is what the ultimate goal is. But, again, there are
so many plans that are in place. And, yes, I have
heard the Minist er time and time again say, you know,
we are not going to measure once or twice or three times before we cut. And I certainly do appreciate that. But at the same time there is a community out
there that is ready and we must make sure that we
align our plan ning and our thought processes with the
action and the desires of those who we are suppor ting.
Mr. Speaker, 2020 has been the year of all
years. I was just speaking to a friend just this after-noon, and there just has not been a moment that has
been something that we are familiar with. It seems as
though at every turn of this year something new and
different has shown its face. And so, we do not know
what tomorrow will bring, Mr. Speaker, and we know that we cannot keep doing what we have always done
and ex pect things to change. It is time, Mr. Speaker,
for us to stop the same old, same old, and we need to
sharpen our pencils, we need to roll up our sleeves,
and we need to get to work.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

You have 30 minutes, correct.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Great.
Well, Mr. Speaker, I am happy to once again
have an opportunity to participate in this Reply to the
Throne S peech debate. It is not my first; it will not be
my last. But it is one that I participate in with great pride and joy and happiness to have been part of a
PLP Government and a Member of the PLP Gover nment and a fabulous team of 29 other outstanding individuals who were given such an overwhelming
mandate by the people of Bermuda, the strongest mandate of any Government that has preceded it in
modern memory —certainly, through most of what
would be the period [during] which we have had democratic Governments since 1968. One of the most
outstanding victories of any previous Government, and a victory built on not only success at the polls, Mr. Speaker, but a success in carrying out duties.
As an elected Government elected in 2017
the Progressive Labour Party obviously had a prior outstanding victory, but we built on the success of the
work done over the last three years, Mr. Speaker, in
which we inherited a situation where it was very clear that the public who elected us in 2017 had little conf idence in our pred ecessors. They had experienced a
situation where they were forced to circle the House to stop certain measures and Bills that were proposed by
the former administration. More than once they felt a
need to. And in one of those instances, they faced
being pepper -sprayed by members of the Bermuda
Police Service in their protest of an initiative by the
48 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly former Government. We had rarely seen such situations, Mr. Speaker, in Bermuda’s history like that. We
saw civil servants [who] felt that they were being
treated unjustly and not respected.
So, in 2017 we came into a country that was
looking for something different. And the Progressive Labour Party did, under the leadership of David Burt,
bring a different Government seeking to build a fairer
and better Bermuda. And that process began in July
of 2017. For three years that was the work of the PLP
and the team of 25 who were elected. At first it was 24, then there were 25.
Now, it was not an easy three years: Jobs had
been depleted; the debt had been doubled. [There
were] challenges around law and order and gang vi olence and social issues. Health care costs were rising
and we needed to put the brakes on its continued ri sing. We had a country plagued with diabetes and heart disease and other preventable ailments alo ng
with other issues. But this Government did not shy
away from the challenge.
Then, certainly between 2017 and 2019, the
Government put forth proposals to address these i ssues, to bring diversity to the economy, to attract i nvestments, to create new job opportunities, to see that
tourism progressed in its rebuilding, and the relationship that we needed in the international sphere to con-tinue Bermuda’s prosperity were continuously worked
on. That Bermuda’s reputation as a proper, well -run,
transparent, off shore centre was secured— whether it
be the Paradise Papers, whether it be AML/ATF r egimes, the OECD, IMF, European Union —we faced it
all to ensure that Bermuda would be on a proper footing.
But nothing prepared us, in all that work, for
COVID. But just lik e the other challenges, Mr. Speaker, we took on the global crisis that COVID presented to Bermuda. And from early 2020 to this present day,
this Government, this Progressive Labour Party Go vernment, has faced the challenge, worked tirelessly to keep people safe, to arrest the public health challenge
that COVID [presented]. And at the same time ensuring that we took the steps to get the economy on track once aspects of the COVID crisis were under management.
COVID is still with us, Mr. Speaker. But it is
under management. It is under PLP management.
And we welcomed the cooperation [of] the Opposition
through this particular situation, and it was important
for the country to stand united. But it has been PLP
management along with our public health experts,
along with the relationships we have with the United
Kingdom, with CARICOM partners, that ensured that
we could arrest the crisis. The Finance Minister has
himself taken great steps to manage the economic,
financial and fiscal strength of the Government to e nsure that the resources, not only to manage the pa ndemic, but to guide the economic challenges that we face are in place. And our standing in the markets r e-mains high because of the leadership in finance by
the Honourable Curtis Dickinson (having succeede d
David Burt to that post).
We have been well served by the leadership
of Kim Wilson as the Minister of Health with the public
health team. And I think Bermudians and residents to
this day, Mr. Speaker, do not doubt the importance
that good public health l eadership can have in a
community. Yes, our private sector partners in the
health care sector are important and integral to us
providing care in this country. But it has been the pu blic health leadership that has gotten us through the
crisis. And it is the public health leadership that is going to ensure that we have health care reform, Mr.
Speaker.
It is that same public health leadership that
has made it clear that we are going in a particular d irection. We have a vision for health care to ensure
that it is affordable, that it is widely available, and it
can also act in a preventative way to ensure a health ier community. So, we need to ensure that the affor dability of health care for every resident comes down,
but we also need to ensure that its cost as an expense of the wider community comes down and the
hundreds of millions of dollars that are put into health
care are allocated to where it needs to go. The plan is
being led by the Honourable Kim Wilson, [and] she
campaigned very hard and very consistently in the
community prior to even the COVID crisis, to shape
the message of what a new road for health care r eform would provide the community, and we will continue on that road.
And this Throne Speech delivered in St.
George’s last week, entitled “Rebuildin g Bermuda with
Bermudians at Heart”, delivered Friday, 6 November
2020, re- established that commitment to that whole
vision to change our health system.
It is the same with education. The Minister of
Education, Diallo Rabain, who has been our Educ ation Min ister now since 2017, is unfailing in his commitment to reforming education, to creating a new sy stem that will be responsive to the needs of our st udents for the future— a future that is filled with tec hnology, a future that is filled with science, a futur e that
requires a certain type of education that will not only
allow our students locally to excel in all the variety of
fields of opportunity that exist and that may exist in
[Bermuda’s] future, but also globally. And I have abs olute confidence that the Minister of Education will do
that.
In the area of National Security, we had
Wayne Caines, and he has been succeeded by Ms. Renee Ming. National Security remains a very i mportant area for this Government. But one thing I do
believe is that we have taken a different approach
than in the past. We are not only strong on the issues
that we know are important to ensuring law and order in the country, but we as a PLP Government have
always had a very strong belief in the redemptive part


Bermuda House of Assembly that can be a part of justi ce. So, even those who may
find themselves afoul of the law, Mr. Speaker, can find
a path to reform. That is why I believe that pr ogrammes such as Redemption Farm and all of the initiatives led and guided by Minister Renee Ming with the assistance of Pastor Leroy Bean and others on his
team to address the issue of antisocial behaviour and
gang violence and the unfortunate impact that has
had on our country will see the results that we require,
Mr. Speaker.
This Government has not shied away from the
tough i ssues, Mr. Speaker, since 2017. We were
elected again with an even stronger mandate on O ctober 1
st because, clearly, this country believes we are
the right team —all 30 plus 5, and all that is the Pr ogressive Labour Party —to lead this country forward
during this time, a time that is, perhaps, not different
than how it was during the Second World War period. Or maybe this even pales in comparison to that; I
would not know. I was born in the 1960s. But I am
sure that those who were around or who have
memory of that time might be able to reflect on what
the country faced then and what we face now.
But we face no different crises than any other
part of the globe right now as the pandemic continues to grip how we shape our economy, how we deal with
our social iss ues, how we have to deal with the by -
product that the pandemic has brought —
unemployment, [stresses] on our social system and the pressure it has put on many families and our chi ldren not being able to have a stable educational expe-rience, and parents who have to manage that situation
for their families, and parents who may find themselves in economic challenge.
This is a Government that has been elected to
face that challenge, Mr. Speaker. And I believe the
Throne Speech has laid out many, many clear initi atives that will show that this Government . . . as has
been said already, this was not a long Throne Speech
like some of the others in the past. That was because
we are focused on delivery. We are focused on the
this term —which is five years, God willing —to lay out,
year by year, and deal with the issues systematically
and delivering them on a steady basis. Obviously,
jobs, the economy, and growth are high on the Gov-ernment’s agenda.
I can say that just within my own Ministry, Mr.
Speaker, . . . and I have mentioned already the commitment of health, the commitment of education, the work of finance. Those three individuals are the best
that Bermuda has to offer right now. And they do not
have to . . . it is not just me saying it. Thousands of
Bermudians voted that way on October 1
st, Mr.
Speaker, which is why we were able to bring a Throne Speech. They decided that Kim Wilson was the best for health. They decided that Diallo Rabain was the
best for education. They decided that the other mini sters and the leadership of David Burt was worth them reinvesting in. They decided that in other areas of Government the PLP was the right team —whether it
be Renee Ming, whether it be Wayne Caines, whether
it be Lovitta Foggo, whether it be Dr. Ernest Peets, whether it be Da vid Burch, and maybe Walter Roban
as well. I will let my constituents and the rest of the country decide whether I am doing a good job. I am
sure they will let us all know at some point whether I
am still up for the job that I have been bestowed, but
the c ountry decided that this was the team with its 30plus members to take this country forward.
That is why, as we look through the Throne
Speech, Mr. Speaker, as I just referred to some of the
initiatives that are laid out in the Throne Speech which
come out of our platform, our Throne Speech is not a
manifestation of things that the public is not already
aware that we are committed to, Mr. Speaker. The Office of the Public Guardian to provide (if you will just
allow me, Mr. Speaker,) independent services and
support for seniors, children and the vulnerable. It is
the public that has decided that [this] would be in the
Throne Speech, Mr. Speaker.
The public has also decided that the PLP is
the right team to bring new prosperity and new life to the Town of St. George’s with the continued develo pment of the St. Regis and the investment that the d evelopers have put in the St. George’s Club and the
development of the Marina in the channel and the additional infrastructure improvements that are being led
by Public Works under Colonel David Burch, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that the public has
put its confidence in us to ensure that we are the team that will bring revitalisation to tourism. Tourism r emains a crucial, crucial, component of Bermuda’s
economic future. And I once again applaud the Honourable Member who started off the PLP’s debate t oday, the Honourable Minister Jason Hayward. He spoke about the initiatives under his Ministry of Labour, the success that we have had with the one- year
work vi sa programme is a sign of the work of him and
others who have put together a programme that is
attracting attention globally to Bermuda. And we have
already had outstanding responses to the presence of
that programme as a way to bring an innovative fea-ture to our immigration policy.
And the Honourable Minister spoke about
commitment to comprehensive immigration reform. I
would hope that the Opposition remembers —and this
will be one of the few times I speak about them t oday—that this was a bipartisan process that was inst ituted by the PLP. We took a different approach in
2017 and included the Opposition in the convers ation—at the front of the conversation, not at the end of
the conversation, not in the middle. They were a part of the conversation, firstly, under the late and Honourable former Minister Walton Brown, and has continued successfully through all of the other Ministers since
and now it is with Jason Hayward.
50 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly It was a bipartisan approach. So, whatever
steps we have made over the last three years in immigration, they must themselves remember and take
ownership as well because we committed to a bipart isan approach to remove, as the Honourable Jason
Hayward said, the character of immigration as a tool
to forward political gain, rather than to enhance th e
prosperity of the country and our workforce. We want
to move away from that. And, yes, it may ultimately
mean a brand new Act, Mr. Speaker, outside of the
1956 Act. But the Honourable Member Jason Ha yward has re- established the commitment to that and
he made that very clear in his submission this afternoon, Mr. Speaker.
We have talked about the banking industry
because there are aspects of Bermuda that are in s erious need of reform. My own Ministry in Home Affairs is looking forward to taking on the oppor tunity to have
a greater role with supervision of the conduct around
loans and mortgages by financial lenders. We know
the history in that, Mr. Speaker. We are right now ha ving a Land Commission which is handling issues that
relate to how land and how peop le’s treatment around
land has been an unfortunate experience for many in
Bermuda over many, many decades —generations, in
fact. So, this Government is committed to a much fai rer regime around loans and mortgages and [the] be tter conduct of our financial institutions and those who
are lenders around loans and mortgages. Advancing
consumer protection has been done in debt collection.
We want to put the same sort of additional oversight
around loans and mortgages, giving those who often
find themselves in dist ressful situations a fairer pla ying field to deal with, Mr. Speaker.
So, this Government is about fairness. We
continue to be about fairness. But we are developing
and rebuilding Bermuda because Bermuda does need
to have aspects of its economy rebuilt. It needs greater diversification. It needs a society that socially is more cohesive, a society that is more caring for itself,
and that has not let modernisation destroy some of
the basic foundations that have kept the Bermuda that
we all grew up in, a strong and stable society.
So, “Rebuilding Bermuda with Bermudians at
Heart” is real, Mr. Speaker. It is not just a tag line. B ecause that is what is required. And on October 1
st the
people in this country decided that this was the right
direction for this country and not the direction being
proposed by others, whether they be a political party,
whether they be a political movement, or whether they
be a single- minded political actor. The people decided
that the Progressive Labour Party was the right team —all 30 -plus of us —to face the challenge that
they knew was coming. So, that is why there is r eforming in banking under the proposed Banking D eposits and Companies Amendment Act ; that is why
there is the Family Office Act, another interesting fea-ture that we are l ooking to look for ways to find bus iness, so a Family Office Act will be put in place; the amendments to the Education Act, which will move us
further in reform.
Clearly, we are looking at changing things
around the issue as it relates to cannabis. So ther e is
a Cannabis (Licensing and Regulation) Act, which has
been a part of wide popular discussion in the comm unity, and we are continuing with that process. For
those who may think it is going slow . . . well, nothing,
in my view, Mr. Speaker, actually gets done right if
you do it too quickly. So, we must steadily reform
these areas.
The Digital Asset Business Amendment Act,
is advancing, with, once again, the changes we have made in the digital area with digital assets and crypt ocurrencies and other FinTech companies in the area
of FinTech.
My own Ministry, when it comes to technol ogy, Mr. Speaker, is looking to push the country forward with ensuring that we are the chief hub for tel ecommunications, cable, subsea cables in the Atlantic,
attracting business here. And this can support, Mr. Speaker, other types of developments in the techno logy area as the Government has outlined it is purs uing. So, doing diverse things, whether it be bringing a
digital bank concept to the Island, continuing to a dvance FinTech, and inviting companies that are laying
trans -Atlantic submarine cables, which is the chief
way of communicating across the globe through subsea cables, we are going to make sure that Bermuda
is the major hub for that in the Atlantic. That is the v ision that this Government has, Mr. Speaker.
We will continue with our work to reform m unicipalities. I, of course, have personal experience with that, as does this Government. But we have a
vision for St. George’s, in particular, and for Hamilton,
and for a differ ent type of governance than what is
now, which we believe will enhance the prosperity and
the overall complexion and activity and vibrancy of not
only the Corporation of Hamilton, but also the unique place that St. George’s is with its unique heritage.
We will continue to support and advance the
World Heritage Site with a new Heritage Management Plan. This is coming, Mr. Speaker. There are so many things. There is a vision for Hamilton to be much . . . a
living city, Mr. Speaker, and you are going to see more about that coming from the Bermuda Economic
Development Corporation under the leadership of
Minister Wayne Furbert out of the Cabinet Office, Mr.
Speaker.
So, we are looking to enhance, Mr. Speaker,
many aspects of Bermudian society, to reform aspects
of society that have had entrenched regressive prac-tices. And the experience that we had with the airport
should have shown everyone that doing things the
same old way will not work for Bermudians any longer. So, whatever we do in all these areas, whether it
be of our financial services industry, whether it be when it comes to the creation of businesses, Mr. Speaker, whether it comes to education, whether it


Bermuda House of Assembly comes to health, whether it comes to culture, even,
with the establishment of the Mary Prince Park i n
Devonshire, these are different approaches to society
that this Government has been prepared to take—
establishing that park to ensure that from a policy standpoint we support cultural development and arti stic development in this country. Because arts, sc iences, math, engineering . . . all these areas are areas
that need attention that we need to push our children
into and our young people, and those who are not so
young into, knowing that they have opportunities in this country to develop and if not take on these new
areas of opportunity, but also see new careers with
the new economy that the —

No problem.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: The new opportuniti es that
we are developing. This Throne Speech is the start of
that process with this new Government that has been
given a 30 to 6 mandate. It is very clear where the
public has put [their] confidence, Mr. Speaker. And we
will not shy from the tough questions. We will not shy from the toughest issues. We will not shy from the
tough challenges because we have a vision for ensuring that this will be a Bermuda that is rebuilt with Bermudians at heart, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you very much.

Go right ahead, Minister.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker,
and I thank you colleagues for your contributions thus far.
Mr. Speaker, once again we find ourselves
here listening to the Opposition’s Reply to the Government’s Throne Speech that was given last week.
But Mr. Speaker, in reality, is this what the people of Bermuda really want to hear at this particular m oment?
Bermuda is still rec overing and is still in the
midst of a worldwide pandemic of COVID -19. Since
March of this year we have seen unprecedented things happen to our Island as a result of this pandemic, Mr. Speaker. Despite this, all of us have come
together and carried each ot her through this pandemic. And this is the type of action we need between us, and less divisive and unhelpful comments, Mr.
Speaker.
It is always easy to point fingers and say what
they did and then look at what we are doing, but Mr.
Speaker, how has that helped our people? As I was
listening to the Throne Speech Reply I could not help
but listen to, you know, a lot of statements about, you
know, look what we did, look what we did. Mr. Speaker, we have now won two elections since the last
Government. It is time for them to move on and act ually realise that, despite [whatever things] they did, the
people of Bermuda have spoken. It is time to move
on.
Mr. Speaker, it is time to put things in place to
level the playing field for those who have been histor ically denied in our country. The time is now to be
bold. The time is now to serve notice to all of those
who have rested on their generational comforts, earned on the backs of those who have been denied. It is time to change that system. And this party has
been put in place at this time to do just exactly that,
Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Government’s Throne
Speech “Rebuilding Bermuda with Bermudians at
Heart” symbolises the need to rebuild our country,
rebuild this Island and remove those historical barriers
that have held back certain segments for far too long.
The people of Bermuda have given the PLP a 30 to 6
mandate in this Chamber and they are looking for us
to rebuild Bermuda, to create a fairer Bermuda for Bermudians. And this is a path that no one on this
side of the aisle plans to shy away from. We will ex ecute [this plan].
Mr. Speaker today, you would have heard
from my colleagues on the plans that our Government
has for this upcoming legislative session. You would see that the plans to transform our Island are solid
and progressive. Some may not agree with them, but
most will know that these are the [plans] that need to
be [executed], that are critical for our advancement of
this country in the direction that it needs to go. Some
may not agree wit h them, but most would know that
these are the directions that need to be made that are critical for our advancement of this country in the direction that it needs to go.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to shift my attention
now to talk about education and the sort of decisions
that are critical in education to get us to the necessary reform that is needed. Mr. Speaker, this Government
has promised to reform education and will complete
52 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly that task. We will table a Bill this session to remove
middle schools and ins titute primary and high schools
and end the nightmare that we have been going
through since the early 1990s. However, Mr. Speaker,
this is a mammoth task. It is an incredibly complicated
task, to reform education to a system that our st udents and our count ry deserve. It will not happen
overnight. So I ask you to bear with us as we move this along, but we will not take too much longer.
Mr. Speaker, very seldom will you hear flo wery words or statements made just to excite people come out of my mouth when it comes to talking about
education reform. I plan to stay as the Minister to ensure that every step we take is supported by the data
that it needs to be supported with in order to improve our students’ experiences. That is what we are here to
do, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker, I listened to the Member for
constituency 20, Ms. Jackson, who spoke of doing this
differently in ensuring that people are listened to. I
could not agree with her anymore. Let us stop trying to use education as a political football. Let us stop
hearing statements from the other side that say Take
the politics out of education, while making a political
statement.
Mr. Speaker, the days of using education as a
tool for political strikes and persons being willing to collaborate for a better s ystem are over. They are
dead! This is why our education reform system design teams involve Bermudians from all walks of life, Mr.
Speaker. Fifty -four Bermudians have volunteered to
assist us in collecting, collating, and examining the
data collected by an y Bermudian out there who wis hes to express their opinion on education. When we
say it is a system designed by Bermudians for Bermuda, this is what we mean. And we mean what we
say, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, it will be a tough year; we
will have some very sensitive and complicated co nversations around the infrastructure changes that are
necessary to move our system forward. Mr. Speaker, I
do not have to speak specifically about this for people
to know exactly what we are hinting at. Mr. Speaker, the yo ungest primary school in our system is almost
60 years old— 60 years old —that is older than probably half the people who sit in these Chambers. In the year 2000, [which is] 20 years ago, our student population was 6,554. In 2019, it stands at 4,490- some.
[That is] 1,064 fewer students. However, it is still operating in the same structural system we had all those
years ago and expecting different results. Mr. Speaker, the time is now and the time will happen very shortly to have honest conversations of what needs to
be done within our system to move it forward. These
conversations will start in earnest this month, Mr.
Speaker, and I urge the public to have an open mind and understand that we must make the decisions
necessary to ensure our students’ futures are bright.
We have to put things in place to ensure that we have a 21
st century system, a system capable of arming our
students with the necessary tools that they need to
compete in 21st century Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, I have spoken to and I have
demonstrated what I mean about collaboration and
what I mean about all of us needing to pitch in and
help by inviting the OBA to view our education reforms
earlier this year and give their comments. I will conti nue to reach across the aisle and ask for comments on
education reform. We will continue to reach out to the
public and ask for their opinions on education reform. This reform that we are undergoing is too critical for
us to go at it alone. It is too critical to get wrong. And it
is too critical to use it as a m eans to score points to
win favour.
Mr. Speaker, as stated in our Throne Speech,
our young people must feel the investment of our
homeland in their successes. These are exciting times
for our country, Mr. Speaker, as we look to reform education, as we look to provide our students with mult iple pathways to achieve their dreams and ensure that
they are successful in their own country. [These are]
exciting times as we look at our teachers and look to
give them the professional development that is necessary for them to be more successful than what they
already are in our reformed education system. We
need to rebuild, and we need to renovate our schools to provide a 21
st century learning environment with the
tools necessary for our students to be able to compete
in 21st century Bermuda. We will provide an Authority
to lead all aspects of performance management in
public education, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, Mr. Speaker, these are exciting times,
and the Progressive Labour Party is positioned to make sure these ideas not only become ideas that sit
on the shelf, but ideas that become a reality. Mr.
Speaker, we have to do this. We have to come t ogether. We have to ensure that we set our children up
to take our places, and take their rightful places in
their own society and their country that they grow up in.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did not want to
speak very long, I just wanted to make sure I hit those points about education and the importance of us com-ing together and doing what we need to do.
This party is well -positioned, and this party
has the wherewithal, unlike what was said in the
Throne Speech [Reply], to make those things happen,
Mr. Speaker. And they will happen, and yes, we will
see change in our education system and we will start to see some of those things come i nto fruition this
year alone. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
And thank you to my colleagues for their contributions
to the debate so far. It has actually been quite i nformative, and I always appreciate participating in an
exchange like this.
Mr. Speaker, as it relates to the Reply to the
Throne Speech or the Throne Speech, one of the reasons why I had some concerns around it was really about the uncertainty that it introduces into our current
situation. Mr. Speaker, we are 60,000 people, give or
take, and we have an economy something in the
range of $6.5 billion. This is unlike any other group of
people in the world, but we are figuratively poised on
a precipice. I do not see us as being particularly overwhelmingly stable, especially given our current global
crises—economic and health crises.
To manage our affairs requires a precise ba lance of our socioeconomic circumstances, with those
having to be balanced against popular demands. This
includes a lot of features that other countries are contending with, but given our small size, it makes us particularly, I would say, vulnerable to this. Unresolved
racial relations, government policies surrounding
same -sex marriage are still shifting sands. Our educ ation system has been undergoing various forms of
amendment and reformation for some time now. And
the previous Honourable Minister did speak to some
extent about his plans in that space.
And we have a high consumer demand which
means that we ship in a lot of expensive goods. A lot
of people anticipate flying ov erseas on a regular basis. So we have a lot of various competing interests,
Mr. Speaker. If you add that we have $3 billion in debt
and no way to get out of it, all of a sudden what goes
from being a relatively . . . what is the best way of sa ying it? It g oes from being a situation requiring careful
management to being a situation that becomes diff icult to manage in the extreme.
My concern, again, is that the Throne Speech
introduces too many uncertainties. And, specifically, the three that attracted my attention were the constit utional reform, amendments to our banking system, and—

[Crosstalk; Feedback]

Thank you, very much, Mr.
Speaker.
Immigration, it goes without saying, is the crux
of our economy. Intertwined with it is every economic
benefit. Every part of our society is related to just how
well we control it. At the end of the day, our exports, our services . . . we are a service economy. And to
that end we need certain skills to export those ser-vices. Those skills are not always present in our market and so we have to import those skills.
I am very, very mindful that (it goes without
saying) we have to protect Bermudians and Bermudi-an jobs. But when we say that, what I wonder is, are
we actually acknowledging the nuances to our ci rcumstances? Not all jobs are the same. And not all
employers are the same. And I am wondering if we
use too broad a brush. Do we end up sweeping away the good with the bad? So to that end immigration is
obviously a key issue and anything we do in that
space has to be done with a kind of deliberateness,
conscientiousness and discernment that is as signif icant as immigration is to us and to our welfare.
We have had bipartisan working groups. We
have had many ideas now come to the forefront. At
one point we understood a former Cabinet Minister
was actually going to bring some legislation before the
House, and we had to pivot away from that for . . . for
reasons I do not want t o go into right now. So we have
been working on this immigration issue for some time. So when it comes up, it comes up not as an issue that
has not been discussed before. It comes up as an
issue that keeps coming up. We sort of almost have to
keep going ov er the same thing over and over again.
And one wonders, when it comes up, when are we going to get off this cycle of debate and discussion
and revision and when are we going to put something
before the House?
Equally a point of uncertainty that the Throne
Speech contained was in relation to the banking laws.
We have a small number of banks and either no other
banks have ever wanted to come into our financial
services industry, or there is some form of a mechanism that has perhaps persuaded them not to, for who
knows why. But the lack of diversification in our banking services has none the less resulted in a lot of con-centration risk and a lot of the innovation that has
been attempted in Bermuda has often been stymied at
the point at which it goes to a very s mall group of
banks.
To that end, though, that has worked out to
our benefit in a number of areas, including a number
of international inspections where we were able to use
our relatively small size and our relatively well constrained and confined banking industry to demonstrate
that we were not at risk, like similar or sister jurisdi ctions. So when we talk about banking reforms, it says, Okay, well, what exactly are you going to reform? Especially when we approach the digital asset space,
which is as inno vative as it gets, and yet we have not
demonstrated a particularly high success rate of nav igating the intricacies of innovation whilst conserving our risk profile and maintaining the interest of Berm uda.
Further uncertainties were introduced with the
constitutional reform. And it goes without saying that
54 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly our Constitution Order is dated, and there is a benefit
to be had by introducing new structures. But much like
a six -storey building, when we go working in the foundation of that building, we have to be c areful of the
unintended consequences. And there is a lot of surety that is placed right now in Bermuda as a successful
international financial services market based on our
constitutional relationships. Indeed, our relationship
with G20 countries does make it so that we do run into
issues that are simply beyond our local economic r esources or our local abilities, that we have a point of reference, a place to go to get that assistance. So
when someone talks about constitutional reform, it
opens the question of, Okay, well, what kind? b ecause there are certain assurances that are in place
that make us what we are, and we do not want to lose
the benefits of our constitutional relationships. So that
is another one that brings uncertainty.
And as it stands right now, Mr. Speaker, we
do have . . . we have . . . we are not sure how we are
going to navigate the entirety of the global economic crises and health crises. We see news from the Uni ted Kingdom. It has just wound up back in lockdown, and in the United States they are very much still trying
to figure out what’s next, or perhaps their political
mechanisms have not allowed them to put in place
best practice. But all over the world they are having a hard time with this, and we are going to have to nav igate our economic downturn whilst the world is nav igating its own economic downturn and its health situ ation.
We seem to have done quite well in the health
situation. And, of course, the One Bermuda Alliance has been complimentary to the Government for its
actions in listening to Chief Medical Officer,
CARICOM, and (I think it is called) UK Public Health.
So we are doing quite well in that space, but it is not
over, Mr. Speaker.
So, I wanted to just speak to those points. I
did not want to talk a long time, but I w anted to speak
to the points of uncertainty which I saw in the Throne
Speech. And the way that the One Bermuda Alliance
is proposing to navigate that uncertainty is by having ideas that are particularly pragmatic and practical and
not so aspirational that they may activate unintended
consequences again in this time of vulnerability for us.
I like to think, and this may be a bit controversial . . . but the line between the Progressive Labour
Party and One Bermuda Alliance runs through the
heart of every Ber mudian. There is no Bermudian who
does not believe in worker’s rights. There is not a Bermudian who does not believe in integrity and pri nciple and accountability. No one thinks that we should
allow corruption, however small. No one thinks that
people should not file audited financial statements.
But we do run across a bit of a problem. Automatic distrust and disdain serves only to separate us into
the groups that minority rule already tried to put us in.
So I am often shocked when I engage with colleagues and we start off in an almost adversarial manner because I . . . I am just thinking, Well, if we are already
at each other, then how much success could we possibly have if there is just no trust there? At least be
open- minded for the pre- engagement.
And I thank the Honourable Minister for Labour for pointing out the role of the Opposition and our
ability to . . . or rather, our responsibility to scrutinise
the Throne Speech.
So with those few words, Mr. Speaker, I would
just like to thank you for this tim e. I would like to wrap
up by saying that the Throne Speech has many el ements to it, and the Government has made the point of the electoral victory giving them an almost unquestionable mandate as they have stipulated, or as they
have said. Nonetheless, there is space there that
needs to be clarified and reassured and in that way Bermuda and Bermudians will be assured that moving
forward we are going from a position of . . . we are
going from one strength to another strength, versus from one strength into a position of more vulnerability.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes. Good evening, Mr.
Speaker, and good evening Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, thank you for allowing me the
opportunity to give a few words tonight on this Throne
Speech debate.
This session is one of historical significance
as we are in our 400
th year of our Parliament, Mr.
Speaker, of this Legislature. I tried to refrain from using the word “celebrating” 400 years, because when I
reflect on where we came from and where we are, I
have come to the conclusion that we i n Bermuda have
started with an assembly of white men summoned to
meet the then governor. Blacks at that time were i mported around 1616 as indentured servants and l aBermuda House of Assembly bourers. But 400 years later, Mr. Speaker, one can
argue that not much has changed as we sti ll have
Two Bermudas on so many levels.
Mr. Speaker, my words today may be a little
different from others, but I feel that I had to preamble
my words with a little historical context.
In the mid- 1800s, Mr. Speaker, slave owners
were compensated when slavery was abolished. But the former slave was never —and has never —
received reparation for his or her forced labour, for his participation in the development of this Island, and neither has Bermuda.
Let’s move forward, Mr. Speaker, to the
1920s. There was a land grab in Tucker’s Town that
saw the descendants of former slaves displaced in the interest, as we now know, of tourism. And 100 years
after that, in 2020, Mr. Speaker, on our 400
th anniversary we see on the very first page of our Throne Speech by thi s PLP Government, that this Gover nment has ordered a Commission of Inquiry so that we
could investigate these land grabs. My question is: Are we going to settle with simple acknowledgement,
or will some form of reparation be offered to the descendants of t hose who were robbed of their birt hright? Some may wonder where I am going, but I think
if we are going to have a Commission of Inquiry,
something substantial should come out of it.
Mr. Speaker, this Government, which is being
ably led by our Premier, the Honourable E. David Burt, is committed to righting some wrongs of the
past, and eradicating systemic inequalities that have
pervaded our society on so many levels. Mr. Speaker,
this Government, the PLP Government, my Gover nment, intends to take steps so that our great, great
grandchildren . . . I am not going to sit in this Honourable Chamber 100 years from today still discussing
systemic inequities, and also whether or not we
should be independent. Another hot topic, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we can disc uss this touchy subject
on another day.
I know that it is not easy, Mr. Speaker, satisf ying the Two Bermudas. But we must address and confront our demons so we can eventually become One Bermuda. Mr. Speaker, this Government, led by our
Labour Minister, the Honourable Jason Hayward, who
spoke a little earlier (an excellent presentation, by the way) . . . he has a few things on his plate to assist in
addressing some of the inequities that I have spoken about.
Mr. Speaker, a living wage will go a long way
in helping to support families and single people alike,
who are struggling daily to make ends meet in 2020 Bermuda, and beyond. Increasing these low wage
rates will allow these struggling workers to cover their
basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing. This
Government, our Government, my Government, is committed to addressing Bermuda’s high cost of living
and decades of low wages. This situation, Mr. Speaker, and the coronavirus has laid bare some stark real i-ties and the dire need for the establishment of a decent wage rate.
Mr. Speaker, just by way of a little issue, I
work and I volunteer three days a week up at the Eliza DoLittle Society. This is a food bank. For those who do not know, it feeds the hungry, it feeds the hom eless, it feeds the unempl oyed, it feeds the underemployed, it feeds local and foreigner, black and white. I have been there for nine months and I have seen the
struggle of many of our people through a different
lens. Many times in this Honourable House we talk about the numbers and the stats, but up at Eliza I
learn names and faces. I am able to wear a different
hat, Mr. Speaker.
And the face of those in need is ever -
changing. The Black , the white, the single, the married, some are employed, some are underemployed
and, like I said earlier, some local and some foreign.
But this PLP Government was elected to lead. And it
is evident by our motto, A Strong Leadership for Us.
And despite this pandemic we strive to address the
needs of all our people.
It is not going to be an easy task when we are
trying to feed everybody on what is, essentially, a half
a loaf. I take my hat off to our Finance Minister, to our
Premier, to our Labour Minister, to all the Ministers of
our Government who are on the front line, [and the]
backbenchers who are supporting, Mr. Speaker. This
is a . . . trying time right now for a lot of us. And it must
have been a Freudian slip just now because I was
about to say, crying time. Yes, some of us are crying.
But now is the time for strong leadership, and this
Governm ent can do just that.
Mr. Speaker, we have also committed in our
Throne Speech to take financial assistance and r eform it. And that is also led by our Labour Minister, the
Honourable Jason Hayward. [INAUDIBLE ]. I admire
him because at a time like this when we are in crises, we need a calm head for our leadership, and we need
someone who is able to talk to different sectors of our
society.
Mr. Speaker, before I even start with how this
Government intends to reform financial assistance to
make it easier f or the everyday Bermudian being able
to get assistance as needed, we need to stop and
acknowledge those who are working up at Financial
Assistance, being led by the Director, Ms. Pandora
Glasford. A lot of times when we talk about the wor kers, we talk about how those negative aspects, but
those workers, being led by the director, who are on
the front line, Mr. Speaker. We make the laws; they have to implement them. They have to deal with our
people that are in need. No matter how that client
comes into the office, or comes through that door to
seek assistance, be they pleasant or not so pleasant,
these workers have to show up every day and do their
best to assist. So, Mr. Speaker, let us all commend
and applaud their efforts. We also have to ensure that
56 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly these workers have adequate conditions and security,
Mr. Speaker.
You cannot take the situation we are facing in
this country lightly. Things are getting dire. People’s
patience and reasoning ability are dwindling. So when
I speak of security, I speak of it based on my exper ience up at Eliza DoLittle, as I talked about earlier. I see clients come there nice, and I see them come
there not so nice. Most times all they are is just frustrated and they want somebody to listen to them. So
those at Financial Assistanc e need proper facilities in
order for them to address the needs of our people.
Mr. Speaker, I remember a time a couple of
years ago when the former One Bermuda Alliance Government put a five- year cap on persons who were
eligible for financial assistance. I did not agree with it
then. I was one of the few who spoke against it. But actually many on the current Government’s side did
not agree with it. I thought then that it was a real ind ication that the One Bermuda Alliance was out of
touch and, as time prov ed, their days were numbered.
So, Mr. Speaker, as part of our financial assistance
reform, we need to address through legislation or r epeal that five- year cap, because if I am not mistaken, I
believe this ends early next year. So what did the OBA expect wo uld happen to those who have been
on financial assistance for five years and they are still
unemployed or underemployed? I thought it short -
sighted then, and I still do.
So, Mr. Speaker, I advocate that this Go vernment is committed to moving our able- bodied and
our able- disabled financial assistance recipients into
employment opportunities as soon as is practical. In order to put many of our unemployed and underemployed . . . the Minister of Labour has closed some
worker categories and has introduced a wide range in
training and work shadow programmes. And I know
the Minister has undergone some scrutiny and probably some criticism in the job categories that are
closed. Some feel, I am sure, that he did not go far
enough. Some may feel that he went too far. I applaud
the Minister for having the guts and the courage to
make a stand and make a start because we need to do what we must in order to come up out of this crisis.
So this is another sterling example of strong
leadership because we are in the midst of this health
care crisis and this Government is determined, Mr.
Speaker, to get Bermudians back to work.
This financial assistance reform strategy will
be comprehensive and will result in an easier and less
stressful pathway for our current and future financial
assistance recipients. A lot of our people shy away . . .
I should say a better word, stay away , from the assi stance, or from the help because they feel that the pr ocess is a little tedious and long. This Government has recognised that, and we, again, led by the Minister of Labour, are going to undertake financial assistance
reform so no one gets left out, everyone gets assisted and we can do our best to get those able- bodied and
those able- disabled people back to work.
Mr. Speaker, this Government, is constantly
showing that we look to address the needs of all our
people, including the least among us. This Gover nment is committed to bringing our labour community
into the 21
st century. Over the years, Mr. Speaker,
many different administrations, the P LP, OBA, UBP,
talked about unemployment insurance. But this Gov-ernment has taken the bold and decisive step to i mplement this crucial, social safety net. We can no
longer exist, Mr. Speaker, in this country without it. It
is long overdue, and we are taking the bold step to
look at it and implement it. More than ever, while in
the midst of this health crisis with the real possibility of
further business disruption, we need this unemplo yment insurance. And this Government is going to a nswer the call.
I close , Mr. Speaker, with something that is
near and dear to my heart, because in the Throne
Speech there was a section that talked about addressing the need, the situation of those in residential
care when they age out of the system. This is near
and dear to my heart because my history is in residential care, and I worked there for a number of years. It
was all [INAUDIBLE ] issue when those youngsters,
male and female, reached 18 and aged out of the sy stem because of the legislation. They were left on their own; they had nowhere to go. But I applaud the Attorney General, the Honourable Kathy Lightbourne Si mmons [who has] undertaken to implement a pr ogramme so that we could address those young people
as they come out so that hopefully we can help some of them, most of them, to stay away from the streets
and indirectly stay away from a life of crime. When they come out of residential care, Mr. Speaker, all
they are looking for is somewhere to belong. And the
first person, or people, or organisation that reaches
out to them, good or bad, right or wrong, and shows
them some attention, that is where they go. This Government, again, is committed to addressing that issue.
So, Mr. Speaker, as we assist these young
men and women in transition back into society, this
will ta ke a lot of fear out of the feeling that these
young people have when they are reaching or nearing the age of 18. I experienced it personally as a worker. I saw the angst on their faces when they were nearing
18 and they knew that once they were 18, they w ere
out. Most of them did not have a family to go back to.
So indirectly or directly, deliberately or not, some of
them ended up in some untoward situation.
So this initiative by our Attorney General will
go a long way in steering a lot of them or keeping a lot
of them on the right track. As I close, Mr. Speaker, I
must say that our Government has been bold in lea dership. But I implore that we all must come together regardless of the side of the fence we are on, those
who are for us or against us. But havi ng a 30 to 6
mandate has given us the mandate to make a better


Bermuda House of Assembly country for all Bermudians, Mr. Speaker. And in my
humble opinion we cannot allow any future gener ations to have to carry the burden, Mr. Speaker, of tr ying to make Bermuda a better place for all. Now is the
time to address those inequities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, Throne
Speeches are designed to set out the parliamentary
agenda for the year. Thankfully, in my case that does
not define what work one has to do, because we only
have a minimum amount of legislation that we will carry forward this year. But we have a vast responsibility
in terms of public works and the areas that we cover
in the country.
Let me deal with the legislation first. As a
Some rset boy, I have a fair amount of legislation that
is relating to St. George’s. The leasehold interest in
the St. George’s Club to the developers of the St. Regis; the marina that has been talked about for St.
George’s for some time, we have had that responsibi lity for a few months now and I am pleased to say that
we are very close to going to Cabinet. The Corpor ation of St. George’s has done quite a bit of work along
with the Ministry and WEDCO and approved a pr oposal in principle this week. And so I think before we
rise for Christmas, that Bill should be before Parli ament. The St. George’s Club developer’s leasehold is
currently before Parliament so we expect to get
through that this morning as well.
That covers like . . . well, the one other piece
of legi slation, the formal renaming of Mary Prince Park
on Devonshire Bay [Park]. That is on the Order Paper.
I know we carried this out as well. As I mentioned this morning about capital pr ojects, in this climate where things are never going to
be the same, and we are facing some tough times,
this Government is committed to providing opportuni-ties for employment for folks in this country that would not have been included in the budget at the beginning
of the year, pre COVID. As I mentioned this morning,
we have a technical committee that has been looking
at various things, particularly in this Ministry, that were
not able to be included in the budget for this year because there was not funding. We have come up with a total of 43. At the moment that is slightly jus t over $11
million. I was asked this morning, How many jobs
would that entail? At present, 263. And we expect for
that number to increase.
The plan is to employ small contractors in doing some of the work that would have been done by Public Works or be put out to tender in order to be
able to employ folks as opposed to just handing out
unemployment insurance. Mr. Speaker, that is just the
beginning. We are still looking at projects that we can
advance in this period to generate some economic activity in th e country.
Mr. Speaker, I view what we are going
through now and what we are experiencing as serious business. So much so that we must be preaching to
our folks that things are not like they used to be, and they are not going to be that way ever again. We do
not know what will come out of the end of this pa ndemic, but we do know what it has done to economies
around the world. We have to put our shoulder to the
wheel. We have to be serious about what it is that we are doing. We have to be honest with the pe ople of
this country in terms the challenges that we face and we have to help one another.
The election of 30 Members of Parliament, in
my opinion, is a blessing and a curse because it
means that you have to try and find things for people
to do. But we ar e in a climate and a period where
there is plenty to do. And I think that as we move forward it will be apparent that the 29 Members of Parliament from the PLP are all going to be engaged in
making sure that we come out on the other side of this
together a nd as unscathed as we can be.
Mr. Speaker, this Government is determined
to do all it can to stimulate this economy and to bring us through this experience whole. And it will do all that
it can to ensure that everybody in this country comes
out the other side with the least amount of scars as is
possible. It is not going to be easy. Mr. Speaker, we
have to be honest about what we face and when we face it, and continue to report to the people of this
country what it is that we face. We are committed to
doing that. And I think that if we put our shoulders to
the wheel and do so, we will come out the other side
far better than we have.
I will close on this point, Mr. Speaker. I was a
little disappointed in the Reply to the Throne Speech that seemed to critici se everything this Government
58 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly has done. We cannot work together if the starting, the
middle and the ending point are nothing but criticism.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day. And so the
suggestion that, you know, we have missed the mark
on just abou t everything that we have tried to do does
not sit very well, I think, with many of us. And in my
case, it just tunes me right out. It means I press on
and do what it is we have to do without regard for
those who are going to criticise.
We can get through this. We have to work t ogether and we must make an effort to do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to begin by
thanking all of my colleagues who spoke in advance
and took the lead ahead of me. I want to particularly single out my comrade, Michael Weeks. And the reason why, Mr. Speaker, is that there are points in this
Throne Speech that really harken me back to 2014,
when he and I worked on a little concept called “Two
Bermudas.”
Mr. Speaker, we were talking about the different things that we saw in the community, the things
that we felt needed changing. We collaborated on this
concept of Two Bermudas, which many will find out
eventually that it ended up being one of the campaign slogans for our 2017 general election. Now, for us,
when we were coming up with this concept it was not
about creating a slogan. It was not about creating a ploy to win Government. It was about ar ticulating the
things that we were seeing in the community that
needed changing.
When we went out and talked to the comm unity, and we talked to our people, there were a lot of
people who said, You had 14 years, and my life never
changed. And in Opposition you have to humble yourself and you have to listen to what the people are sa ying. And that was something that really struck me and stuck with us as we talked about what we wanted to see change, the changes we wanted to see in the
country. And what we saw in the country was who you
knew mattered a whole lot more than what you knew.
It was a country where the colour of your skin affected
your hiring prospects, your wage. Your gender affec ted the wage. We had wage inequality. We had job
inequality. We had a Bermuda that had been struggling with the cost of living, an issue that we had been
having going back since the days when my father sat
in this Parliament and probably long before that.
So, flash forward to the Throne Speech and
the issues that really str uck me and really I feel exci ted about are the issues that will help to bring about
what we have long believed and have long fought for,
the breaking down of the Two Bermudas.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by talking
about the national policy on youth, which I think is,
beyond getting our people employed, the greatest single priority that this Government must focus on.
And I say that because, if I declare my interest, Mr.
Speaker, I have one of the youngest constituencies on
the Island. The average age is about 44, 45. We have
a lot of young people, a lot of parents, a lot of working
people, very few seniors. For that reason, there is an
issue that is important because when you see young
people who have grown up and have seen their parents struggle, reg ardless of their educational attai nment, when you have seen them struggle, regardless of how hard they worked, a lot of them give up hope that Bermuda is the place for them. So I have seen
people who voted for me on one day get on a plane
two days later be cause even though they had conf idence in the Progressive Labour Party, even though
they had confidence in me as an MP, they felt that
their life could be better somewhere else. And that is
something that we experienced.
I spoke on this back in my previous time in
this Parliament back in 2005. So we go back to
speeches from earlier generations of people talking
about Bermudians not feeling like they could advance in their own country. With our youth in particular, there
is a global phenomenon of people, young people,
people under 40, losing faith in the institutions that we
have grown up with and that have been a stabilising
force in our community. Whether it is the church,
whether it is politics, whether it is capitalism, the old “guards” (quote/unquote) ar e starting to be questioned
and they are starting to be questioned and they are
starting to lose favour.
And in Bermuda what we are seeing (and we
were very fortunate that the Progressive Labour Party
did not witness this [to a] great extent in this elect ion)
is our younger people choosing not to vote. The numbers are clear. No constituency . . . I was impacted by
a boundary change. But for the most part my people
came out. But I did find that there are more people
who are falling sway to the belief that Y ou guys are all
the same and nothing ever changes.
Now, at the conclusion of this five- year term, if
we go the full five years, we would have had power for


Bermuda House of Assembly almost a quarter of a century, except for the brief i nterruption by the One Bermuda Alliance. And in 2017
we were given a weapon to use in the form of 24
seats. And I think we should note that we won a bye -
election and took a seat from the Opposition in a midterm bye -election, which never happens. I do not think
it has ever happened in Bermuda without a boundary
change. And so the people wanted us to have a m ajority. And they wanted us to use it. Now they have
given us 30 seats. They want us to use it. They want
us to act. They want to see transformative change.
And when it comes to our youth, that transformative change is critical. We have to be able to get
our young people back involved in our economy, back
involved in our economic mainstream, and we have to find paths, not just for the ones who did everything
right, went to school, studied, got their education, but
also for the ones who made mistakes. We have to find
a way for people who want to come back into society,
whether it is from academic failure, whether it is from
social failure, whether it is from criminal failure, a path back into our societ y. And that is what our youth are
looking for, because many of them now are being raised by their phones or their iPads.
We have to recognise that society is changing
a lot of the family structures, as well as the faith in these institutional structures, are crumbling. And more and more, the Government is going to be required to
fill some of the gaps that the family in the community
are failing to step up and do. And we should not have
to, but the reality is that when a child is not being fed,
if the gover nment does not feed them, and they ca nnot get reliable support from the private sector, the
government will have to step up. And as the economy
worsens and as we have more challenges ahead of
us, we will be called upon to step up more and more.
And it will not always be pretty as we see in the case
of the Fairmont Southampton pay out to the workers,
but it is critical that we have the courage and the will
to step up and fill the gaps when society, the private
sector, the community, fails with our people.
Now, when we look the national policy on
youth, I think that it would be foolhardy to develop a
national policy on youth that does not also include the
structures and the people around our youth. It would
be foolish to focus on youth without recognising that
many of our single mothers need reliable, affordable
child care so that they can work (many of them work
shifts), or so that they can take classes to better
themselves. Many of our young women are not
blessed with the support networks that our parents
and our grandparents had. And this is something that
we need to tackle and address, because I have seen
good workers, fantastic workers, who could not make
work because their child was sick.
And you have employers, even though it is i llegal, you have landlor ds, even though it is illegal,
saying to themselves, I am not hiring any single mot hers. I am not renting to any single mothers. And while there are some who are responsible, there are many
who simple are victims of circumstance. And while we
can question why you had children you cannot take
care of and all of that, the children are here. And if the lack of affordable, reliable child care is one of the things that have hampered so many of them [INA UDIBLE] themselves .
With the national youth policy we also have to
look at a living wage so that our mothers, and our f athers, and our families, can actually provide for their families. And you work 40 hours a week and you can-not keep a roof over your head, you cannot keep your
lights on even if you have good budget management
because you just are not making enough, then that
creates stress in the household. It creates dysfunction
in the household and creates all the recipes for youth
dysfunction. And I think that part of our tackling the youth is to be able to tac kle, as they said in the Labour Party, Tackle not just the dysfunction, but the
roots.
It is critical that we get to that. But also, when
I spoke about having a pathway back into the ec onomic mainstream . . . we had a very good idea in our
platform of 2017, Job Corp. It was something which created a residential product to be able to get our
young people the skills they need to become emplo yable and get them back into the workforce. I think we need to go back and look at that because I think a lot of our yo ung people require that attention, that dev otion that will get them back into the mainstream and
be productive member s of our society. That type of
investment and encouragement is critical.
Beyond that, as well as looking at the structures and looking at w ays at getting people back into
the mainstream, I would encourage the Minister r esponsible to examine reintroducing the National Youth
Council. Now, Mr. Speaker, my first exposure to ser ving on a government board was you appointing me to
the National Youth Council back in 1998. It was a
powerful tool at that time within the Ministry of Youth
and Sport to be able to provide an ear for the Government to the youth of this country in a structured
manner. This is a valuable tool, whether it is impl emented by the Minister or the Premier or anybody in
Government to allow young people to have a struc-tured means to speak to the public.
I would also encourage all Members —PLP,
OBA—to engage with our young people on social m edia, because they have a lot to offer and they have a
lot of ideas , and they are far more engaged and i nvolved than we actually give them credit for. And I think that finding ways to engage with them more fr equently on their terms —not through speeches, not
through town hall meetings, not through rel ics of the
past but through their mediums where they are comfortable— will help to bridge the gap and be able to
[instil] greater confidence in what we are trying to do.
Now, the Minister responsible for immigration
spoke briefly about immigration reform. This is a crit i60 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly cal matter. This is one of the things that first got me
involved in politics. When we talk about the Two Bermudas we talk about seeing things like trained, qual ified, capable Bermudians being forced to train an ex-patriate to be their boss, tr ain to be their manager,
being more qualified and more capable but required
once again to have to hold themselves back or be
held back because that is just the way it is.
The closing of the job categories I think is a
good thing, but as we look at these things we also . . .
some of these things need to be shut down perm anently. And I am going to pick on journalists, not be-cause I have a particular disdain for any media orga nisation, but because I am a former journalist. There
are plenty of qualified, capabl e unemployed journalists
in this country right now. Meanwhile, one media house which has lost a human rights case for the treatment
of employees continues to get work permits. This is
unacceptable and this is something that I hope will be
addressed once and for all.
But the real answer though that we avoided in
talking about immigration reform is tougher penalties.
The current penalties are not tough enough. They are
not a deterrent. They are not anything that is going to
make a business hesitate over the economic advantages of breaking the law. That must change. That
must change! That must change!
We have also touched on not just tougher
penalties, but we spoke about English language r equirements and being able to help preserve our culture and preserve the service levels in our country by
ensuring that the people we bring in can speak English, be understood, and understand what is being said to them. Countries that we like to look at, like
Australia, do this. There is no reason why 21
st century
Bermuda canno t.
We touched on constitutional reform in the
Throne Speech, Mr. Speaker . And that is something
that is very, very, very dear and near to my heart. You
and I have spoken about this , and I have spoken
about this and I have spoken about this with many of
my colleagues about some of the things that I have
seen that we need to seriously examine. And while I
will not go into much detail on that here, I do believe
that the time has long pas sed for the Senate , as it e xists in its current structure, to be gone. And I say
that—and this is with no disrespect to the Members
selected . It is with no disrespect to the institution.
There are people who sit in the other place who are
appointed by a man from another place with no accountability, no capacity for them to be held accountable or answerable to the people of Bermuda. In 21st
century Bermuda, that cannot be right.
It cannot be right that somebody sent from
overseas, who is not elected, not selected by us, not
accountable to us, can pick people who, by extension,
are not elected by us and not accountable to us. It is
unacceptable. And I hope that this is one of the things
that we will be examining, because I do believe that there is a role for independence. But that role should
be like everyone else’s, elected at the poles, earning
the support of the people and doing what you need to do to become held accountable by the people.
Mr. Speaker, I am going to go back to the issue of youth again before I conclude. The issue of our youth and dealing with our youth is critic al. It is critical.
As I have said to the Premier, so I am not speaking
out of school, I have said to the Honourable Premier and I have said to other colleagues that the emphasis
we placed on seniors during our first 14 years and
over the last term, must be equally as robust and a ggressive for our young people in this term. It is critical.
We have been given a majority, a super m ajority, for a reason. The people want us to act. The
people want us to be decisive. The people want us to
be bold. And part of being bold is looking at changing a mind- set that we have as a community. We have a
mind -set that says, more red carpet, less red tape, for
the billionaires, the millionaires, the businessman, but when it comes to the poor working class, we say to
them, We are not going to spoon- feed you. This must
change. This mind- set must change. We need more
red carpet and less red tape for the poor and working class of Bermuda. We need more red carpet and less
red tape for the small business entrepreneurs.
Mr. Speaker, I am going to share a story with
you. There was a business that was set up recently in my constituency that has been waiting for a response
from a government department since May. No w
COVID is one justification; that is fine. But they were
not being allow ed to open because somebody deci ded in 1975 that you needed to have a certain [number]
of parking spaces for this type of venue. And because the property is not big enough, a business which is
ready to operate, ready to go, ready to rock and roll, is
now t ied up , and every day is being spent losing money and losing opportunity to grow. We have to get rid
of the red tape that affects the poor, the working class, and the small entrepreneurs —the people who cannot
afford to be able to be held back like this. And we
must begin to change and balance this perspective.
And I will say this: We would ask people on f inancial assistance to have a term limit, and you cannot be on there forever. But the tax concessions that
we are giving to businesses that never change th eir
business model, have never adapted to the times, are
expected to go on into perpetuity. We are expected to
bail out the workers of a company that could not pay their staff at this time. And yet we would be crazy in
the eyes of many people if we were to bail out all the
single mothers who are owed back child support into
the hundreds of thousands if not millions across our
community.
A balanced approach is required. We must
stop thinking of the elite and privileged as special little
people to be handled with care, and the poor and the
working class as nuisances to be avoided. That is
what 30 to 6 means; it means that we reach back and


Bermuda House of Assembly we elevate the condition of our people and that when
we finish this five year [term] , we are given another
five years bec ause things actually changed for the
better for the average Bermudian. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.

You have 30 minutes. Yes.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I
thank you for the opportunity to speak on this Throne
Speech tonight . I want to start out, Mr. Speaker, by
congratulating the Opposition Leader, the Honourable
Cole Simons for his Reply to the Throne Speech. U nlike Colonel Burch, who spoke earlier, I thought it was
a comprehensive and productive document. And I thought it offered a fine level of critique, a fine level of
suggestion, and a fine level of support . And that is
what you ask for from the Opposition. It was a very
comprehensive document. I applaud the Honourable
Opposition Leader for his input today.
Now, Mr. Speaker, the Throne Speech is a
document which sets out the template for deliber ations for the Parliament in the coming year. And r eflecting back on the past couple of months, I want to start out by giving some credit to the Government. I
think the Government has done a commendable job
dealing with COVID -19. Only two negatives in that
regard, Mr. Speaker, one being the initial poor handling of the vulnerable in our rest homes , unfortunat ely we saw some people pass away. And the other
negative was the early claims by the Premier that
there was aggressive testing taking place when that
was actually not the case.
All through the pandemic, Mr. Speaker, the
Opposition worked closely with Gover nment for the
greater good of our people, for the greater good of our
Island home, whether you were Black or white, rich or
poor, Bermudians or non -Bermudians. We worked
together and we got the job done. But the job is not finished yet, Mr. Speaker. And so, frankly, I was sur-prised last Friday in listening to the Throne Speech, I
was surprised and disappointed that COVID was not
more of a feature in that Throne Speech, because the virus, Mr. Speaker, still has its grips on the wor ld with
cases rising in man y countries throughout the world. It
is still easily transmitted in many places that are not
taking adequate precautions, Mr. Speaker. And the
vaccine, while there has been some good news r ecently, is still not available yet. And clearly, Mr.
Speaker, this Parliament will have more deliberation
and more discussion on the pandemic that has challenged all of us, whether physically, emotionally or
economically.
Mr. Speaker, I have mentioned COVID, and I
thought it should have had a more prominent place in
the Throne Speech because that is what shakes Bermuda at the present time. And that is why generally,
Mr. Speaker, I thought this Throne Speech was one of
the weakest that I can recall in my time in these
Chambers. And why do I make that statement, Mr. Speak er? Let’s reflect. Let’s reflect on where we stand
in the midst of a pandemic with lives changed all
across the world, with illness and with death being
known just about to every family because of COVID.
We all know somebody who has been ill . And many
families in Bermuda know somebody who has unfortunately passed away. Let’s reflect, Mr. Speaker , on
economies that have crashed and people who are unable to work because of restrictions on businesses
and industry.
Tourism and hospitality come to mind. Thousands of jobs here and millions of jobs around the
world have been put out of business, Mr. Speaker.
Let’s reflect. Let’s reflect on the people out of work
because businesses have crashed and they have closed down temporarily or for good, Mr. Speaker.
Let’s continue to reflect. Let’s reflect on bus inesses that are open, Mr. Speaker, but with reduced
demand and employees are working fewer hours and
being compensated less. Let’s reflect, Mr. Speaker,
on the strain on our health care system , the strain on
our health care workers, the emergency professionals
and all of those frontline workers. This reflection, Mr.
Speaker, is a sombre and a hard dose of reality. And
the full impact of COVID is not even known at this
time. It is this reflection, Mr. Speaker, that brings me
to my view that this is one of the weakest Throne
Speeches that I can remember.
COVID will not magically disappear soon. So
in this regard I thought the Throne Speech would lay
out a plan for the next steps in dealing with COVID. I
thought this T hrone Speech would lay out a vision and
a plan for rebuilding the economy. And I am not hear-ing that. I am hearing platitudes. I thought this Throne Speech would be a vision and a plan for rebuilding
tourism. I am not hearing that, Mr. Speaker. The
Premier is now the Minister of Tourism, but yet tourism almost draws a blank in this Throne Speech with
only two mentions: A leasehold of the St. George’s
Club and a Bill to build a marina in St. George’s. Both of these have been talked about for some time and
they are not new.
62 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly So what is the vision for tourism, Mr. Speaker? The autonomy of the BTA has been neutered.
MPs have been appointed to the Board. What is the
direction of tourism? What is the Government’s plan?
Where is the hope? And where is the confidenc e of all
of those hospitality workers, taxi ambassadors, minibus operators who strive to earn a living out of that
industry? We have seen tourism obviously go bac kward with COVID and now we need to move it for-ward.
So, Mr. Speaker, in tough times like this it is
imperative that a Throne Speech provide hope and confidence for the people we serve. I do not think in
this regard it has taken place. Mr. Speaker, the
Throne Speech fails to mention the mainstay of our economy, international business [IB]. It fai ls to me ntion the growing debt burden and how we plan to pay it down. Mr. Speaker, IB is our lifeline. And I believe it
has worked well for us in the past and it has worked
for us through this pandemic. Working from home
does not seem to have impeded the i nternational
business people amongst us , and it has been good for
the jurisdiction. It set us apart from areas like New York and London.
But, Mr. Speaker, why was IB neglected in
this important Throne Speech when IB has so much to offer Bermuda? The oppor tunities through COVID are
minimal at best. IB provides us with opportunity because we have shown we can do what we have to do
through a difficult period of time. And there is industry
in Bermuda that have offices all over the world we can
attract here if we do it right. So why aren’t we talking
to IB to grow the business here? Why aren’t we tal king to IB to create more opportunity and jobs for Ber-mudians?
Now, Mr. Speaker, I have heard a lot talk this
afternoon from the PLP about the convincing election
mandate they received, and it’s true. At 30 to 6, it is
overwhelming in many people’s minds. Not ours in the
Opposition, we have a job to do and we will do it. But
that is against the backdrop, Mr. Speaker, that only
55 per cent of the electorate turned out. There are
countless people who stayed home for a number of
reasons. Perhaps they were disillusioned or upset.
But, Mr. Speaker, that does not bode well for a vibrant
democracy such as Bermuda. And we need to take a look at why that was the case. Not focus so much on
the 30 to 6 because it is there, it happened, we cannot
change that.
The PLP did win big time. But I suggest, Mr.
Speaker, that the confidence in our political system is
waning and it is up to us as the elected represent atives to bring that c onfidence back. And one way, Mr.
Speaker, we can bring that confidence back is by
provid ing hope in the Throne Speech which lays out
the blueprint for us going forward. But failing to talk about how we are going to rebuild the economy is not
going to help. Talking about increased taxation or a digital bank is not setting the fancy of people who
need hope.
Mr. Speaker, the dreams of a balanced PLP
budget are gone, and borrowing has ramped up and is
increasing daily, especially with the recent notice by
the Government that they will pay $11 million for a
redundancy at the Fairmont Southampton, to bail out
the workers. Mr. Speaker, that money, if paid by the taxpayer , must be returned to the Government coffers
by the owner. Just like the $800,000 that was give n to
the disappeared music promotor that the Government said they had launched a complaint about with the
police to track down. We cannot fritter away borrowed
money, especially to people who said they have a
commitment to Bermuda and said that they were going to renovate a hotel, Mr. Speaker. Yes, the worker
must get what is due, but there are many questions
around this agreement that need to be fleshed out.
Why are the hotel owners all of a sudden, after promising to pay redundancy, unable to meet that
commitment, Mr. Speaker? That is a worrying sign for
the largest property in Bermuda and a bad time for
tourism in Bermuda. How and when will it be paid
back? What arrangements will be made? Just as i mportant, Mr. Speaker, when will the renovations start?
Do they have access to capital to start the renov ations? And, Mr. Speaker, changing tune slightly, will the Government be forced to pay redundancy for ot her properties in Bermuda?
These are all important questions and I would
have thought and hoped that th e Minister would a nswer these questions. After all, the taxpayers are now on the hook.
Mr. Speaker, we have seen our debt go to
$3.5 million , and rightly so in many cases because we
have to borrow money to pay for COVID expenses.
And I think that debt will continue to grow. There will
be more of a burden on fewer people in Bermuda with our shrinking economy. And this does not bode well for us, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, we have heard enough talk t onight about Two Bermudas. And, with all due respect,
I am going to talk about Two Bermudas for a few m oments, Mr. Speaker. We do have Two Bermudas in Bermuda and I want to focus on Two Bermudas of a different type which I have talked about in the Honourable House before. And that is the Two Bermudas
of internationa l business, which are our friends, Mr.
Speaker, let me make that clear. And the rest of Bermuda.
And why do I say that? Because in international business we all know that wages tend to be higher, benefits tend to be higher and those individuals can sustai n themselves better through this pa ndemic than the rest of Bermuda can. But, Mr. Speaker, what about the rest of Bermuda? The rest of Bermuda, all of those hard- earned workers in hospitality,
transport, the service industry, retail (and the list goes
on), play an important part of the engine that drives


Bermuda House of Assembly the Bermudian economy. Many of these sectors,
many of the cylinders in that eight -cylinder engine are
sputtering, Mr. Speaker. So where is the support?
Where is the vision, where is the plan for this part of
this part of the engine? Where is the support for the
vision for the workers in that industry?
Where is the economic plan to get them back
to work, to bring some vitality back to hospitality, to get the hospitality industry, the restaurants, going
again, to provide tourism with an opportunity to get
these hotels going? Mr. Speaker, in tourism we have
not seen any investments under the PLP in the last
three or four years. The investments are only coming
to fruition from the OBA work, Mr. Speaker. Where is
the support? Where is the vision for the second part of the Bermuda in this case, Mr. Speaker?
But what do we witness? What I would call
fake stimulus, like using pension money to circulate [in
the] economy. Yes, it is needed for a lot of people, but
the short -term gain is long- term pain. The sale of A scendant to a Canadian company will have money ci rculating in the economy. Again, short -term gain is
long-term pain. But for the vast majority of the local
businesses and thousands of workers employed in
these industries, there is a bleak future, Mr. Speaker.
And this Government is not speaking enough to that
and what they are going to do for them.
Now, Mr. Speaker, the PLP has talked about
tax reform —tax reform which can tax people more or
tax people at higher levels. In my humble view, Mr.
Speaker, this does not help the economy at this time.
It might put some more tax revenue in the gover nment ’s coffers, but if anything, it will stagnate the
economy even more.
The PLP also talk about immigration. We
have he ard a lot of talk about that tonight, Mr. Speaker. And we have had three years of a track record u nder this administration and we have seen little mov ement to date. In fact, some of the policies rolled out in
this Throne Speech remind me of policies that a former Minister in another place ( in the Senate) talked
about a lot, Mr. Speaker. But this Government triumphantly talks about that. And then there is the talk about the Bermuda Trust Fund, Mr. Speaker. I am
very curious to see how that would work.
The P LP talk about a N ational Senior Strategy. Interestingly enough, Mr. Speaker, years ago the
PLP set up an office for seniors , which seems to have
disappeared. The PLP talk s about a code of conduct
for MPs when way too often, Mr. Speaker, the behaviour of us inside and outside the House is lacking. And
I will not name any incidences, but they are numerous.
So all of this talk has sounded good, Mr.
Speaker. Some of the PLP Cabinet Ministers are very strong when they speak , and they are very convincing
when they speak . But Mr. Speaker, when the rubber
meets the road, words do not equate to performance. Mr. Speaker, like many Bermudians, I sat and listened to the COVID updates on TV throughout the pandemic. The Premier one night said on national TV that
people w ould never go hungry under his watch. And
yet, Mr. Speaker, the reality is that we have more homeless and more and larger community feeding programmes than I can recall in my lifetime.
And, Mr. Speaker, you do not have to take my
word for it, just look ar ound. Just look around in our
community and you can see them every night of the
week those feeding programmes and you can see
people sleeping out without shelter. And this is from a Government that said they were going to build a she lter for the homeless. Recently [a] former Minister
stood up in the House last year and spoke about it .
But then he was dismissed, Mr. Speaker. And the
shelter has disappeared. People are going hungry,
Mr. Premier.
So, fancy language, old promises, broad
commitments have failed us under the PLP. Under the
PLP we have seen Two Bermudas . And the second
Bermuda is now people of all races, and it has occurred under the watch of the PLP.
Mr. Speaker, turning to national security, we
have sadly recently witnessed shocking shootings and
stabbings that have rocked our Island.

Yes, Mr. Speaker. I believe the Honourable Member is misleading the House
when he refers to the . . . being in difficulty under the
PLP. He fails to make mention that a global pandemic
is the cause of the struggles that we all face. And by omitting that it gives the impression that it is because
of things that the PLP did, [these things] are causing
the whole country and the world to be facing these
challenges, Mr. Speaker. That is my point.

Okay. We note your point of order.
Member.

64 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Honourable Member should listen closely
to what I said. During the pandemic, the Premier said
no one would go hungry under his watch. Those are
my words, Mr. Speaker. I have talked about the pandemic and I sat quietly and listened toda y to everyone
speak, and I have not interrupted with any point of
orders. But, Mr. Speaker, that was a pretty weak one
in itself. And I will continue on.
Turning to national security.

Well, Members are entitled to make
their point or order w hether we think it’s weak or
strong. They are entitled. But continue on.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: For sure, Mr. Speaker.
But there has been no mention, if any, of national security in the Throne Speech in dealing with
violent crime. So you have to ask wh y, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, our road behaviour is too often
appalling with high speed seeming to be the norm and
bad habits abound at every corner. During my conti nual canvassing, Mr. Speaker, road safety was in fact one of the most prevalent issues, but rarely a mention
in the Throne Speech. It is simply out of hand now,
Mr. Speaker. More people die yearly on our roads
than are murdered, or today have passed from COVID.

Thank you.
Go ahead, Member. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes, Mr. Speaker, in the
last two years that point is noted. But on average, it is
still way above that, Mr. Speaker. But it still highlights
that we have a major problem. So what is the plan,
Mr. Speaker? There are many measures we can take and I am waiting for the Government to roll them out.
Mr. Speaker, there was a mention in the
Throne Speech of a national crime prevention plan. I think it featured prevention, rehabilitation and reint egration. And I find this interesting, to say the least, Mr. Speaker. And I say that because as a former Minister of National Security for a number of years I attended
on a yearly basis a meeting that the BPS [Bermuda
Police Service] put forward to provide input into their
plan for the coming y ear. It laid out policies, plans,
and strategies going forward and gave me as a Gov-ernment Minister, and any colleagues who wanted to attend, the same opportunity to have input into this
yearly plan. So, a national crime prevention plan, to
me, is fluff, M r. Speaker, because that would obviously have to be involved in the full plan that BPS puts
out every year.
Mr. Speaker, I will now turn to another area
that is very important to us here in Bermuda, and that
is the area of health care. The PLP have commi tted to
affordable universal health care. And I remember the
debate we had, I believe it was in May of 2019, Mr.
Speaker, when there was a Bill that was presented to cap the funding for the hospital at $330 million to
achieve (it was said at the time) bett er efficiencies and
better health care outcomes. Well, we in the OBA took
exception to it because we believed it lacked consult ation, and we remarked that the quality of health care
would not be achieved through this legislation.
Now, Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the Royal
Gazette, we heard that the hospital would have to cut
costs to stay viable. That is indeed an alarming stat ement. Now, Mr. Speaker, with cutting of costs, one
would hope that it does not mean that the quality of care is also cut. The articl e further went on to say, Mr.
Speaker, that non- union staff at the hospital were
asked to take a 5 per cent pay cut. Yes, Mr. Speaker,
I said non- union, which in itself is discrimination. But
the alarming point for me, Mr. Speaker, is that in the middle of this pandemic there is a news story that the
hospital must cut costs to stay viable, while the wor kers in the facility and health care workers all across
the Island have worked tirelessly to keep us safe and
well during the pandemic.
If that is not a slap in the face and a kick on
the other side, Mr. Speaker, I do not know what is. So while the Government talks about universal affordable
health care with no illustration on how costs will be
cut, we learn that the hospital must cut costs to stay
viable.
It is our only hospital, Mr. Speaker, and not a
word from the Government to ease any concern. So I look forward to the Honourable Minister’s details as
we move this plan forward because so far there has


Bermuda House of Assembly been a lot of talk and increased taxes. I refer back to
the sugar tax, Mr. Speaker. The sugar tax raised the
cost of food stuffs and the cost of living for Bermuda,
and how has the money been spent? What have been
the outcomes?
Mr. Speaker, while the national health care
plan is a much bigger thing in itself, we have seen the
same thing —a lack of consultation by the Gover nment. In spite of what the Minister says, it is my opi nion that there has been a lack of consultation. Mr. Speaker, I think we should reflect that almost 13,000 people have signed the Patients First petition, which
in itself dispels the consultation plan. So, Mr. Speaker,
as we get more into I would say the “meat” of the debate on health care . . . because, yes, we all admit
that health care is way too expensive in Bermuda. We
all admit that health care is taking too much of our
income on a daily basis. We all admit that with a senior population that is growing and a population that is
being reduced in our community the burden on health
care is falling on less and less people. So we have to do something, Mr. Speaker. But Government’s plans
have not bred any confidence in the ability to come out and show us reduced costs, Mr. Speaker.
So, as the Minister provides more detail, we in
the loyal Opposition, Mr. Speaker, look forward to ac-curate actuarial studies which are made public with modelling and finance plans laid out. This is important
to show us how it will work. True costs must be known
because the burden is going to fall on a smaller [number] of people and an ageing population. And if we do
not get it right, we will continue to slide down the sli ppery slope of increasing costs and health care that is
under siege by the Government, Mr. Speaker.
Now, Mr. Speaker, in the five or six minutes I
have left I would just like to mention two more things. I
was approached by a young Black man after the
Throne Speech last week. Obviously, Members of
Parliament have been approached on a regular basis
to talk about issues. The crux of the conversation from
the young man was , When can we as a people stop
being divisive about everything we talk about ?
I had to think about that for a while, Mr.
Speaker, and I listened to him. I asked a lot of questions. I think this is a sentiment that many people are
feeling in Bermuda. As politicians, yes, it is fine for us
to be critical of each other, but we have to draw a line
about our criticism. We have to stop it from being div isive. We have to stop it from separating people. We
have to stop it from separating Black s and whites, rich
and poor. The only time we can afford to have division in this country is a couple of weeks before Cup Match. Because we know we always heal after that, Mr.
Speaker. But the words of this young man who went
out of his way to stop me, as a Black man in this
community, he was feeling the divi sion in the comm unity. Quite often from people who do not look like me, Mr. Speaker. They look like him. I raise this because it does not mean that we
put aside the issues that need to be paid attention to,
such as social justice and equality, and healing some
of the wrongs of the past. It means, though, that as we do that, Mr. Speaker, we need to still come together as one people in more than just talk. Because as we
are in the middle of a pandemic, we will never recover
if we take one step forward and tw o steps back because of division, Mr. Speaker.
This Government has an overwhelming majority. They can do as they please in any area. But they
can be assured that this loyal Opposition will be there
to support them, and will also stand up and offer cr itique because we will not be silenced. We speak for
people in this country. And more and more people will talk to us because the majority scares people. B ecause what happens when you have an alarming m ajority? You stop listening to people. That cannot ha ppen f or this Government if we are to be successful.
Now, finally, Mr. Speaker, as my time runs
down, I want to reflect on a quote from Ralf Dahrendorf in the Throne Speech. I think it was on page 7. It says, “equality provides the floor of the mansion in
which liberty flourishe s . . . the new liberty will not be
won unless every citizen is given access to the varied
universe of life chances in a complex society . . . the
new liberty means that equality is there for people to be different, and not for the differ ences of people to be
levelled and abolished . . . .”
Mr. Speaker, I ask the question to the Go vernment: How does this quote apply to the LGBT community when the Government continues to take
legal action against it? Does this Government say, Do
as I say and not as I do? Thank you for your time.

Yes. You have your 30 minutes.

Hon. Tinee Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I just want to start by saying that when I listen
to criticisms, or I get criticisms, I do not look at them
as something that is bad. It is always something in
which we can look to improve upon. And so, crit icisms, yes, if there are any, then we look at ways to
improve upon them. Because if people do not speak
up about them, how will we ever know? So this Go vernment during the Throne Speech has come up with
66 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly many, many, many ideas and solutions that we are
going to put forward for our people.
On October 1, of 2020, people went to the
polls and they voted the PLP back into Government.
And it was based on a platform that we presented, Mr. Speaker. And initiatives came out of our platform, and
our Throne Speech indicates what we will do within
the year. And so it is a version of what we will do for
our people within the next year.
As being an occupational therapist is my pr ofession, Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we have to look at is something called “SMART” goals. And if
anyone is unfamiliar with what the acronym stands for,
the “S” stands for “specific,” the “M” stands for “measurable,” the “A” stands for “attainable,” the “R” stands for “realistic,” and the “T” stands for “timely.” And so
we as a Government have taken our Throne Speech
to reflect SMART goals. And these are things that we
know that we can get accomplished for our people
within the next year.
Set before us is a ver y lengthy platform that
we want our people to continue to follow through and
hold us accountable for. With that said, Mr. Speaker, I
just want to also highlight COVID and what we have
done as a Government for COVID -19. It has been a
long, long road for the past 10 months in regard to
COVID. And actually, I mean, we wanted to continue
to give our people our plan of what we plan to do for
our country. COVID has been on our minds for many,
many months. And actually, people could still follow
what we are doing to address this pandemic.
Every Thursday evening we have a press
conference. And there is even a website, Mr. Speaker,
and anyone can go [there] to follow what we are doing
in regard to COVID. So I do not want our people to not
realise that the information is not out there, because it
is. Every Thursday we give an update, and we make a
commitment to our people [and tell] what we are doing
as a Government to address COVID -19. So I do not
want people to feel as though having not spoken to this at great lengt hs throughout our Throne Speech
would be a problem. But that website, Mr. Speaker, is
www.gov.bm/coronavirus
and any information that the
public may need in regard to the coronavirus is on that website.
We also make a commitment to our people to
give statements in regard to what we are doing with
COVID every Thursday evening. I am just going to
reiterate that, because I do not want people to lose
sight of what it is that this Government is constantly
doing to keep the public abreast of COVID -19.
In this time, as we are going through this pandemic, Mr. Speaker, occupations and jobs are very
important to people. We know we have tough times,
and there are going to be tough times ahead of us,
particularly with people possibly losing their jobs. And
this Government is aware of that. We are definitely
aware of that. And we have done some things to
make sure that our people are not gravely affected. We have offered the unemployment benefit. We addressed that really quick ly for our people. We now
have the transfer of that over to financial assistance
where they still either qualify for financial assistance
or they can qualify for the unemployment benefit. Mr. Speaker, when we look at other jurisdictions across
the globe . . . I mean, we could have simply done
nothing. And Bermuda was actually a lead in all of
this, in what we did and offered for our people as far
as COVID relief. Occupation is very important. It gives meaning to life. It gives meaning to our life. And so for people to lose their jobs, it is not an easy thing to go
through.
This Government has also committed to creating economic stimulus. That is on our agenda. We get that, and we realise that and we want that for our
country. We should all want that for our country. Ha ving to deal with COVID at this time makes this very
difficult, very difficult. But we will continue to lay down
legislation and we will continue to lay down policies
and programmes with the hope of stimulating our
economy to bring jobs to our people.
I just want to touch a little bit on the National
Senior Strategy, because there have been many r eports over the years addressing our seniors. I just have to go into this because the Ageing and Disability
Office has not disappeared. They can be fou nd at the
Continental Building, 25 Church St., Hamilton. The
number, if anyone is interested in calling them, is 2927882. They work very hard there, very hard, protecting
our seniors.
But with this National Senior Strategy, Mr.
Speaker, we have had many reports done over the
years. We have had the National Health Plan Long -
Term Care Task Force Report, the Long Term Care
Action Plan, the Financing report on the cost to pr ovide government -based long- term care. We have had
the draft of the Long- Term Care Str ategy, the Ageing
Well Policy, and an organisational review of long- term
care. So seniors have been in our forefront in regard
to long- term care.
Long- term care is not the only sort of issue or
problem that our seniors have to address. There are many other issues which affect our seniors. It is being
able to stay employed beyond the age of 65 because they still have bills to pay. We have to help our seniors
figure out ways to maintain finances in their pocket
because people are living much longer than they have
ever lived due to modern medicine or people just taking better care of themselves. Seniors are living longer. So we have to take that into account as well.
This Government has also made a commi tment to ageing in place through Age Concern. And
throug h the Bermuda Housing Corporation, we have
allowed for loans to be available to people to make
modifications to their homes. That is what this Go vernment has done. And we do not want people to
think any longer that we are not going to age. B ecause we all age. So we want people to get proactive


Bermuda House of Assembly with the things that they may need, and that pr ogramme has been put in place for our people.
But with the National Senior Strategy, you
know, we still have a ways to go to address concerns
and policies and an environment that will be conduc-tive to a senior. Earlier I mentioned in my Ministerial
Statement that our seniors, the senior population is
growing. So we cannot be in denial in regard to the
services and programmes and benefits that our seniors will need. And so we hope to address this . . . no,
I am going to take that hope back. We will address
this with the National Senior Strategy.
The other area that I am quite excited about,
an initiative in our Throne Speech which was started
and initiated under the former Minister of this portfolio,
the Honourable Kathy Lynn Simmons, is the Trans itional Living, or the Independent Living Coordinators, which will come under the Department of Child and
Family Services [DCFS]. We realise there is a shortfall
in being able to provide services for children who age
out of DCFS after the age of 18. We do not want to
any longer say, Okay, you are 18. Goodbye; there are
no longer any services that DCFS can offer you. So
we are addressing this. We will be addressing trans itional livin g and setting up transitional living for persons over the age of 18 to help them with jobs, suit able accommodation, career development, and also
helping with finances or funding, resources such as
FA [Financial Assistance].
This is something that has been long awaited.
So we will be bringing this forth as a Government to address this very valid concern. We do not want to
see our homeless population increase. And people might note that our homeless population may be even
younger people, so we are trying to nip this in the bud
as soon as possible. So we are going to be addres sing this very important and much- needed concern for
our community.
I also just want to mention that in our Throne
Speech we mention that we will be addressing the Child Care Placement Bo ard. In many jurisdictions
about our globe there are children commissions, so
we want to get rid of the outdated child placement, Child Care Placement Board, and replace it with a
Children’s Commission which will be looking out for
the wellbeing and the interests of children and helping children to recognise their rights in our community.
And so we are just bringing this up to standard and
helping to look out for the wellbeing of our children. So
we are quite excited about this.
Mr. Speaker, there are some things that we as
people need to survive. We need accommodation. We need shelter. We need access to food and water. We
need access to health care. We need access to clot hing and proper sanitation and education, Mr. Speaker.
We need access to all of these things to help us with
our wellness and to help with, you know, to overall
help with our wellness. So as a Government we will
continue to address these areas. If people find that they are in need, there are many support services that
this Government suppor ts either by way of grants or
by way of actual departments or agencies within Go vernment where we do lend a helping hand to assist
people who are in need.
I just want to end with this, Mr. Speaker.
Something that came about throughout COVID was
the awesom e work of the third sector. The third sector
has been helping many, many people in need
throughout our community. I just want to highlight
them and give special thanks to them for all the work that they have done. And also there are many people
throughout our community —many, many food pr ogrammes, many feeding programmes, many pr ogrammes that are stepping up and helping people to pay bills. There are many organisations that are hel ping people in our community, and I do not want to not
include them in this as well.
I think when the Premier says that no person
in our Island should go hungry, that is the truth! They
should not go hungry. Too many families . . . you
know, we have families, you know, too many friends,
cousins . . . there are many organisations that are out
there, including Government, that can help our pe ople.
So this Throne Speech, Mr. Speaker, is one
that, again, I believe, incites hope in our people. And again I am going to back to that acronym SMART. It gives a specific, measurable, attainable , realistic and
timely measure of what we plan on doing for our people within this year, 2020/21. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you. I appreciate
the opportunity to make a contribution this afternoon (this e vening, now) on the Throne Speech.
October 1
st was certainly a day that surpassed
all others since 1968. There is a great responsibility
which comes with that awesome victory that day for the Progressive Labour Party. I want to congratulate
all those who actually participated in that democratic
process, especially our new colleagues to the House
of Assembly during this session of the House.
Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to put
things into context, and that is all I want to . . . all the
contribution that I want to make today, really, is to put
a few things into context. And that is the debt featured
in the Reply by the Opposition today.
It is certainly something I believe we all are
concerned about. Our Finance Minister, I am sure, amongst us all, is concerned about that and has craf ted a course to address it. Neither he, nor anyone in
his position around the world, would have, could have
predicted this pandemic. This pandemic in 2019
caused by the 2019 coronavirus that has come for-ward now for us has turned the world upside down
and made economic forecasting . . . has thrown all
previous economic forecasts out the window.
You know, Mr. Speaker, the Progressive L abour Party in 2019/2020 had something similar to the
Progressive Labour Party in 2007/ 2008 —a global r ecession fell on the doorsteps of Bermuda. And I know
that many political leaders (the opposite of the Pr ogressive Labour Party, at that time) were able to convince many people out there in society that it was the PLP’s fault that the econom y was reeling.
But you know, I have faith in God. And I want
to say that I am certainly glad we are in position to deal with the needs of the people during this current
pandemic when this country is facing those most diff icult times that require a decision to be made in favour
of the people and their needs. And a previous speaker
was critical that they did not read a lot about what has
taken place with COVID, and the like. But much has been done. Not just been done —much is being done
and much will continue to be done in the best interests
of serving people in this country.
And, yes, there are many whose lives have
been turned upside down by the presence of a pan-demic throughout the world. And the presence of those outside of our jurisdiction who have not handled this pandemic very well has had an impact on us as
well, Mr. Speaker. So from that standpoint alone I tip
my hat to Premier Burt and his Cabinet for the work
that was done in behalf of all people in this country.
I believe that when we went to the polls it was
reflected as such. I listened to the Opposition Leader
and his presentation. I watched . . . I think that if I
could just take my years of being around to make a suggestion about something that I did some 22 years
ago when I first came in Opposition . . . I went back
and I studied the only Opposition Bermuda ever had
for 30 years, the Progressive Labour Party. I read the
speeches and I came to appreciate the policies and
the struggle that was required of persons who came
before us. And I put hand over heart and say that this
Progressive Labour Party Government is looking out
for all people.
And I am mindful of those who cry wolf, who
have benefited from divisiveness throughout Berm uda’s history. The divisiveness that this country has to
contend with is not born of the PLP, was not created
by the PLP. It is a product of the past which many ,
who want us to sing Kumbaya, conveniently want the
world to forget existed. And it goes back many cent uries.
Honourable Member Weeks made reference
to the “l and grab” that took place as an act of Parli ament 100 years ago that is being dealt with today,
which deals with areas of this country, Tucker’s Town
and other areas, of which people would surely forget
existed, took place, and for that it is incumbent upon
us to look to alleviate any possibility of discourse by
encouraging more truthful and honest dialogue about how Bermuda got to where it is. That is the way for-ward, in all honesty, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to talk ever so briefly
about a subject that I have been involved in all of my life, and that is tourism. I have had the benefit of having grown up with some giants in tourism, both in
management and as workers, all the giants of tourism. And I am proud and pleased, and I thank the Premier
for giving me an opportunity to serve my country in an area that I am passionate about and have spoken in
this Legislature and the other place about since 1998.
I think it is important for us to appreciate something
when we are quick to dismiss someone who might be
in politics and tourism to appreciate that the record
numbers that Bermuda enjoyed in 2019 in tourism
were the genesis of a political leader —Dr. Brown.
Dr. Brown would have, with much criticism,
shepherded through the cruise ship piers in Dockyard.
And in 2019 Bermuda had 536,000 cruise visitors.
The policy through the Ministry of Transport allowed
more ships to come into port longer throughout the
year so the season got longer. And in 2008 when the
critics were running rampant, I raised my hand. Yes,
you know, politics being what it is and Opposition,
people need to weed through the, you know . . .
sometimes opposition. What they do is just criticise.


Bermuda House of Assembly But in 2008, Bermuda had 264,000 cruise vis itors, and in 2019 Bermuda had 536,000 cruise vis itors. And so while persons are quick to denigrate m yself and my involvement in tourism having represented this country in tourism both as an events manager and as a voice and face on television internationally
and the like simply because of my political affil iation,
and others, and my colleague, and negate his years of
experience as a very accomplished CEO, a political
decision and vision allows Bermuda now to enjoy
twice as many cruise visitors than it did before.
And in 2012 when the One Bermuda Alliance
took Government, prior to that the highest year of air
arrivals was in 2008 at that particular time (there was
more prior) to 286,000. And last year, in 2019, it went down to 269,000. So, you saw a decrease and you
saw basically the same levels that you saw w hen the
PLP were Government back in 2008. So, when people are heralding this new format that they created and
trying to convince people and denigrate persons like
myself, that they do not actually always tell people the true story. The true story is that t he record numbers
came because of cruise visitors, which was a dec ision, a political decision [which] came from the Government of that particular period, the Tourism Minister
and Premier of that particular period, to benefit Bermuda today. That is the trut h, Ruth! Those are the
numbers for those who like to look at numbers.
I implore persons to be discerning when people speak in ways which serves their particular interests, and this is an example of where people are tr ying to portray things that serve their interests. B ecause truth be told, when you go back to the era of
yesterday, when you look at Bermuda tourism, the
people in power had no trouble deciding or determi ning where their political allegiance was. It was a given!
So, as the house that Jack built is down to six,
I think it is incumbent upon them to do a little bit of self-reflection and practice what they preach in regard
to trying to work together to help us get through this crisis that Bermuda faces, which is not of any government’s making. It i s a pause that has been put on
the world, and it can only come from one place.
Mr. Speaker, there are many Bermudians who
are without work, and I am sure there are many Bermudians overseas who are finding it very difficult at
this time. I just want to say to them that, Come home if
you feel out of place where you are. Come back home
and help us work through this together. That is my cry
to those Bermudians out there, those talented Berm udians.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, I just want to share
that areas of yout h sports development and culture
development are areas that have always been near
and dear to my heart. And working with our Gover nment we will do our best for and on behalf of the pe ople of this country. All people. And if there is anyone out there in thi s country hearing my voice who is suffering, struggling in silence, pick up the phone. Call your Member of Parliament if you need to, or call
someone whom you know in leadership who can be
your ear to help you get some help. Do not do it in
silence. You ar e not alone. There are many people
out there. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is my contr ibution this evening.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in prior years, I have tried to a pproach the Throne Speech [Debate] in the spirit of
bipartisanship. I have tried to identify good ideas for
commendation and identify what I believe to be bad ideas and offer what I hope to be constructive crit icism. And I would like to try to do that again today.
But I must confess it is a bit harder to do that
than it has been in years past. And that is not owing to any political differenc es, but there is just very little
meat on the bone of this year’s Throne Speech to seize and look at and talk about with any certainty. It
is short, it is a mere 10 and a half pages. It is in large
font and it is still only 10 and a half pages. But what is
more troubling is the content. It is extremely vague.
And trying to identify what is actually going to happen, what policies are going to be put forward, what legisl ation is going to flow from this other than the Bills listed
on the last page . . . it is like trying to nail jellyfish to a
tree, which as we know is amorphous. It is wobbly,
there is really not much to grab onto here in this
Throne Speech.
There are also many things that are not said
in the Speech. There is not a word on the environment, for example. There is virtually nothing on the
issue of gangs, which is really such a major issue we
face here, and which the new Minister in that area has
been focusing on. There is not much about COVID -
19, which one would have thought was pretty much
the num ber one thing facing Bermuda and Bermudians and, indeed, the world at the moment. And what
is really frustrating from our perspective, or from the
perspective of those who wish to know where this
Government is headed, is that there is nothing really about how we will fix our flat lining economy. Okay,
70 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly there is mention of a digital bank, but where is the d etail?
Mr. Speaker, without being partisan, I would
say it is notable that many of the [Members] who have
spoken from the other side of the aisle tonight have had very little to say about the Throne Speech. In fact,
they have said more about the Throne Speech Reply
from our new Opposition Leader. So, respectfully, it is
all a bit hollow. Even on the good ideas, you kind of
want to stand up and say, Well, oka y, maybe . But
how? Anyway, with that brief introduction, let me turn
back to my effort at bipartisanship, and let me start
with some good notions that I believe we can support.
First of all, there is a recognition, and a clear
recognition, for which we are grateful, that Bermuda
needs to grow its resident population to survive. And that is in the Throne Speech at page five in the second paragraph. The Government says it will bring
about, quote, “reforming policies to increase the res idential population to s upport economic growth.” And
that is a statement that you can see in a Throne
Speech given by the OBA, and, indeed, it is a stat ement you can see emanating from international bus iness or some of the regulatory bodies, because it is a
recognition that if we continue to shrink and dwindle,
we will sink beneath the waves.
Mr. Speaker, the Opposition is not here just to
oppose. The Opposition will support any sensible
plans for economic growth because we recognise that
it is through economic growth that Bermuda can seek
to achieve recovery, as we did with the Government’s
economic nomad scheme. We supported that which,
as a quick aside, really is not that new, because an-nual residency has always been something permiss ible on our statute books. But it was promoted by the
Government, by Barbados as well, and it was som ething that we, the Opposition, supported. Ben Smith put out a public statement supporting the Government
on this position.
The issue on immigration is this: For too long
there have been those in Ber muda who seek to make
people who come to do business here and spend
money on our Island out to be the problem rather than the solution. International business does not take
away jobs from Bermudians. Intentional business creates jobs for Bermudians. And it is time to be honest
about this. And I am delighted to see the recognition
by this Government in the Throne Speech. And I
commend the PLP for finally recognising that we must
grow our resident population if this Island is to survive.
As we learned from a report tabled earlier t oday in the House by Minister Furbert, we have both an ageing and a shrinking population. We need more
people; it is as simple as that. And for those (and
there are some) who will continue to deny the benefit
that foreign wealth generators bring to our shores, at least recognise this: An increase in permanent res idents does not have to mean an increase in those who have Bermudian status. These are different concepts, and must be viewed differently.
I can understand, and do understand, why
there is an issue over the granting or otherwise of
Bermudian status. I understand the history. I under-stand the problems. But that is quite different than
permanent residency. And that is the key —one of the
keys—to economic recovery. And so I very m uch
support the Government’s promise to grow our res ident population, and the Opposition supports it as
well. And to the extent you wish to hear from us, and I am sure you don’t because we are a small Opposition
now, but I would say this: Be bold! Set out your vision
on how many more people we need on our Island to
spur economic growth.
As to the requirement for residents to invest,
that could be a good idea, it could be a bad idea. It needs to be done right. And I just offer this word of
caution. You do not want the requirement to invest to
be a barrier to entry. There are people here trying to
redevelop hotels. Would they have arrived and sought
to do so if we demanded cash up front? Or would they have gone elsewhere? And so, I am not saying that
the requi rement to invest is a good idea or a bad idea
necessarily. Just be aware that when you ask for the
money, it does make a difference, because if you ask
for it up front, and it is too big, they might just go
elsewhere. And we cannot afford to lose these people, because they will go elsewhere.
The second point in the Throne Speech, again
slightly amorphous, but I do wish to commend the Government upon it and that is the Education Author ity. I am sure, like many in the House when they go
canvassing, the number one thing that I heard during
the 2018 bye- election on the doorstep was about the
problems we have with education. And I have no i ntention on . . . and I heard the Minister of Education
speak earlier today about how we cannot politicise
this issue, and I have no intention of doing so. I would like to commend him for this step to create an Educ ation Authority. It has been something that the OBA
has long advocated. We would like to take the politics
out of education, just as the OBA sought, very successfully in my opinion, to take the politics out of tourism through the creation of the BTA.
This is a good thing. It is a good thing for a
very simple reason, and that is that we politicians.
Hardworking though may we be, we do not know ev erything about everything. And it is better when we sit down and we recognise what we do not know and
allow independent professionals and experts in parti cular sectors to lead and guide. And so we very much
commend the Minister for adopting this, something
that the OBA has been s upportive of for a long time.
And I look forward to seeing the details of it. And I
note also that it is something that was proposed by
BermudaFirst as well, and supported.
And thirdly, something that I would like to
commend in the Throne Speech is the espousal of


Bermuda House of Assembly rights for the disabled. The PLP has said that they
want to extend the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities, and I very much commend
that step from a personal perspective. I spent many
years as a lawyer focusing on disability discrimination. It is paramount that people should not be discriminated against because of a physical characteristic. But I
would make two observations: First, Bermuda already
has laws to prohibit discrimination against those with
disabilities, and that is already enshrined in section 6
of our Human Rights Act. So, it will be interesting to
see what development this really ushers in.
Secondly, if this Government is truly commi tted to protecting human rights, then why is the Gov-ernment persisting in its appea l against the ruling from
Bermuda’s highest court on same- sex marriage? Our
Court of Appeal has spoken and there is no need, par-ticularly for this Government that promotes a desire
for independent Bermuda, to go off to the UK to be
told what our laws shoul d or should not be. The Court
of Appeal in Bermuda has spoken and that should be
enough, our highest court in the land.
Again, something else I would like to commend in the Throne Speech, and that is the focus upon children. We applaud this Government for focusing
on the care of our most vulnerable, our children. The
jagged national scar of the allegations of abuse and neglect made against the Department of Child and
Family Services has not healed. It has not healed
simply because the election was a thumping result for
the PLP. It is still an issue that is very powerful to
Bermudians and, respectfully, the Government missed
an opportunity to direct a full and proper independent investigation into the allegations made against Child
and Family Services.
Now th e Government, in this Throne Speech,
is announcing that the Child Care Placement Board
will be replaced by a Children’s Commission. We will
wait and see the scope and mandate of this new
Commission. But I very much hope the change in this
area will be meaningful, and the scar about Child and
Family Services will not heal until the truth is known.
And so, we remain hopeful that the Government will allow for a full and proper investigation.
Mr. Speaker, all of us in this House can agree
that the death of any Bermudian child is one death too
many. And we invite the Government to join us in our
effort to let the light of day shine upon the past mi sdeeds and identify a way forward to heal our national
scar at Child and Family Services. Nonetheless, we
commend the Government for its focus on this issue
that is so vital to our community.
Likewise, we are pleased to see the proposal
to establish an Office of the Public Guardian. This is an important safeguard for our most vulnerable cit izens.
Turning to another matter upon which I would
commend the Government, I am delighted to see, and
we are delighted to see, at page nine of the Throne Speech a reference to a parliamentary code of conduct. With recent issues of both ministerial resignations and resignations by certain Members of Parli ament, this is something about which I hope all will agree. There is a quote that was set out in the Throne Speech in relation to the introduction of the code of
conduct, and it said this: (With your leave, Mr. Speaker, I will read from the Throne Speech.) “The ethos of
that Code would do well to echo the sentiments of
Rumi, the 13th- century Persian poet and scholar who
observed: ‘Raise your words not voice. It is rain that
grows flowers, not thunder. ’”
Mr. Speaker, whilst I support a code of conduct, let me respectfully disagree with that quote.
Maybe in 13
th century Persia words were what mattered. But in today’s Bermuda, what is required is ac-tion. When harassment occurs it cannot be swept un-der the rug, and must not be swept under the rug. A ction is needed. And so, likewise, at page eight of the
Throne Speech there is a statement of intent by the
current Government. They identify “ a clear need to . . .
strengthen the ability of employers to meet their stat utory obligations in the event of redundancy of emplo yees.” Well, don’t talk about it. This Government had a
chance to do that very recently and they will be judged
by that inaction. Nonetheless, to make clear, the O pposition welcomes a code of conduct and, as our O pposition Leader has already noted in his Reply to the
Throne Speech, we hope this would be to the high
standard prescribed by the Commonwealth Parli amentary Association.
Mr. Speaker, turning now to the areas in the
Throne Speech where I would politely offer some con-structive criticism. There is much that could be said
and the Throne Speech announces a number of plans. It is not clear to me why 20 years into a PLP
Government we are still only at the planning stage,
but there are plans for seniors, the so- called National
Seniors Strategy; there are plans for heritage and culture, the so- called National Cultural Heritage Policy.
There are plans for our youth, the so- called National
Youth Policy.
Mr. Speaker, the cartoonist Allen Saunders is
credited with saying: “Life is what hap pens to us while
we are making other plans.” Well, the life that is happening now to us —all of us —here in Bermuda is
COVID -19 and the economic freefall that has caused
and exacerbated. So, what the Opposition would have liked to have seen from the PLP Government in this Throne Speech is a plan, some sort of plan, any plan
to revive Bermuda’s flatlining economy. But regrett ably, the ten and a half page Throne Speech has no
such plan.
Mr. Speaker, let me focus on three of the
PLP’s overarching flagship statements from the Throne Speech. Firstly, is the proposal for health care
reform. That is at page two of the Throne Speech, and
it is very vague. I have read the sentence there in the third paragraph a few times, and it is hard to know
72 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly precisely what this Gov erning is saying. It seems from
public statements lately, including something said by
the Minister of Health earlier today, that the Gover nment may be backing away from the previous unified single- payor system. If so, the Opposition very much
hopes that is the case. And I say that because people
do not want the Government interfering in their health
care. It could be a disaster for our economy which is
already in trouble, and the Opposition says yes to un iversal health care. We agree. But the Opposition say s
no to the clunking fist of Government getting involved in decision- making. So, we need to see what the PLP
means when they say that they will introduce a Bermuda Health Plan in collaboration with BermudaFirst,
which is what is said in the Throne Speech, and we need to hear what BermudaFirst has to say about this
collaboration. If one reviews BermudaFirst Health
Care Working Group recommendations as I have
done (it is the one dated the 25
th of January 2019), it
does not appear to endorse a unified plan.
So, I ask this question: What precisely will the
PLP’s new Bermuda Health Plan look like? The BermudaFirst recommendations are focused on preve ntion, and we can all get behind that. But Bermudians
do not want their Government controlling their health
care choices. Leave that to the medical and insurance
professionals, not the Government. And above all, let people decide their health care choices for themselves.
Moving to another topic of concern, albeit
something that was very vague as well, is the refer-ence to new taxes. It is not quite clear, Mr. Speaker,
what is meant at page six of the Throne Speech
where it is suggested that there will be consideration
of a tax on (quote/unquote) “capital incomes.” Does
the PLP Government want to see a tax increase on
capital gains? Or a tax creation, indeed, on capital
gains? Does the PLP want to see a tax increase or tax
creation on other capital incomes? Are they saying that rents earned by many Bermudians from a studio
apartment would be a capital income that would be
taxed? We just don’t know. And again, how do we
reconcile this statement in the Throne Speech with the answer that was given earlier today to a question
posed to the Minister of Finance where he seemed to
suggest that he would not be contemplating increase d
taxes. So it is all very vague and amorphous, like a
jellyfish.
If the proposal is to increase taxes, then let
me respectfully repeat something I have said before. I
will say it again: Increasing taxes in a declining eco nomy is a very bad idea. And I bel ieve that is som ething similar that was said by the Minister of Finance
today and I agree with him. Winston Churchill said it
best and very memorably. He said this (quote), “I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity
is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift
himself up by the handle.” It does not work very well. So if tax increases or new tax creations are contem-plated seriously, bear in mind the economic climate
that we are in and be sensitive, because it could make
things much, much worse.
Third is the proposal on municipalities. Much
has been said on this vexed topic already. And the
voice of the people—a voice against the Gover nment’s takeover of the municipalities of Hamilton and
St. George’s —was expressed by the Senat e. The
Senate asked the Government to think again. And so
before we know where we are going, has the Government thought again? Or is this Government simply
proceeding on a Government -knows -best approach?
We need to see what this new Municipalities Amend-ment Act looks like. But let us hope it is not just more
of the same, because that was rejected and rebuffed
before.
Turning then to another suggestion, which is
the concept of price fixing for medicine. Mr. Speaker, just going back to basic principles, soci alist interfe rence in the economy is generally a bad idea. And it has not worked, repeatedly throughout history. Governments do not know best about how people should live their lives; people know best about how they
should live their lives. What we have seen historically
is that when governments intervene to fix prices, what
tends to happen is a decrease in the options of the
goods available. And if that is medicine—and it is
medicine that the Government is looking at —[that]
could not be imported at the Gov ernment’s mandated
price, then what happens? Well, it is not important. So
the shelves do not have it.
The road to hell, as they say, is paved with
good intentions. It is a good intention to try to make
medicine more affordable. But price fixing reduces personal choice, and ultimately it impedes on an individual’s freedom to choose. And we really do not want
to see empty shelves in our pharmacies. So I would
encourage the Government to think very carefully
about this before pursuing a socialist big- state agenda
of Government -knows -best policies and price- fixing.
Mr. Speaker, there is also something else of
concern, which is the suggestion of a raise on pen-sions. We have already visited pensions in the last 12
months. The purpose of pensions, as we all know , is
to set aside money for a rainy day. And there is no
doubt that with COVID -19 it was raining, and raining
hard. And in that context it was understandable that
one might want to dip in one’s pensions to try to have
something when one needs it the most. That is what
rainy -day money is for. And the Opposition cautiously
supported those previous Bills from the Government.
This is different. This is really saying, We want
to give something to people, but we have no money to
give. So let us dip into their ow n pension money and
make it look like we are doing something. And, r espectfully, that is a dangerous policy. And people
might not know [this], but if they deplete their pension it will not be there at the end of the day. So I think we
really must tread ver y carefully here, respectfully. B eBermuda House of Assembly cause the purpose of a pension is to make sure that
there is money there for the rainy day. And yes, it was
raining with COVID -19. But this new proposal . . . and
we will wait to see the details of the proposal, but it does sound like it might be a bridge too far.
I would also make the point that people who
are often making a down payment on a home for the
first time are not lucky to have much in their pension if
they are people who are buying a first home at a
younger age. And that is not everybody; I recognise
that.
So in conclusion, Mr. Speaker, we the Opposition will watch with interest to see what the details of
these proposals prove to be. But the reality is that an economic recovery plan is desperately needed. And i t
had better be a good plan because, as the Opposition
Leader noted in his Reply to the Throne Speech, the
dial has been reset. We are looking at a new reality.
And the next few years are going to be a very, very
bumpy ride.
Mr. Speaker, I will close with this point: Earlier
in the debate, MP Jamahl Simmons, said this. He
said, “ And in Opposition you have to humble yourself
and you have to listen to what the people are saying.”
That is true; I agree. In Opposition, you have to hum-ble yourself and you have t o listen to what people are
saying. But I would go further, and I would suggest
that that is not bad advice for a Government either.
Humble yourself and listen to what people are saying.
Because a Government -knows -best attitude can get
us in deeper trouble than we are already in.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

All right. Close it out, Mr. Premier. You
have 30 minutes.
Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, I can assure you
and promise you that 30 minutes I will not take this
evening.
I hope that all Members who participated, I
hope that all members of the public who were listening were able to hear the difference. And what I said, Mr.
Speaker, after the Progressive Labour Party’s victory
in 2017 at the polls when we were in the House of
Assembly, I said that the Opposition are the past and
the Progressive Labour Party is the future. And from
listening to the debate today, it is clear that that d ynamic has not changed. Because the one thing that
this time of economic crisis has taught us i s that we
need to think differently, think big, with emphasis on
the future. And it will not be possible to design the f uture, Mr. Speaker, if you are wedded to the past, be-cause it is a completely different reality.
COVID -19 has changed a lot. In my view , Mr.
Speaker, COVID -19 has changed everything. And so I
just want to touch on a few comments which I have
heard throughout the afternoon, some from both
sides. But what we have seen, of course, from the Opposition is criticism of certain issues —criticism, Mr.
Speaker, without offering an alternative.
When you hear someone like the Honourable
Member who just took his seat, who just finished
speaking, talk about the fact that we should not let people use their own personal savings to invest in a different t ype of assets than the one of which they are
currently investing, but yet he then wants to tell us that
the people know best of what they need to do with
their own money and the Government should not be telling them what to do . . . you have to make up your
mind.
And if in the United States persons can access their personal pensions in order to buy a first
property, if an example to the world, like many say
that Bermuda should be, like Singapore, if persons
can do that to get on the housing ladder, then wh y is it
not okay for Bermudians whom we represent in this
House?
See, the thing is it is very easy to talk about
an economic recovery when . . . but if you can find a
way to allot value and create construction jobs in
Bermuda, that is a good thing. What i s the solution
that the One Bermuda Alliance offers for that? None,
Mr. Speaker. The Opposition Leader actually in his
Throne Speech Reply hearkened back to the airport
project as innovative and ingenuity in a public/private
partnership! I have 21 million reasons, Mr. Speaker,
why that was not ingenuity. I have 21 million reasons right now why that was not wise! The Government is
paying right now for the bad decisions of the former
Government.
We hear people talking about debt. Did we
forget the fact the Minister of Finance had to come up
with $200 million for a Morgan’s Point project that this party did not support? That we are paying money for
an airport project that this party did not support? So,
74 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly yes, you play with the hand which you are dealt, Mr.
Spea ker. But understand you cannot rewrite history.
We are at this place in time, Mr. Speaker, due to extraordinary circumstances.
Now, one of the things that I took in the approach to this Throne Speech was that I was not go-ing to try to be all things to al l people. And the Go vernment needs to get back to, I would say, Mr.
Speaker . . . I do not want to say Throne Speeches of
old, because you were very kind and I think you
showed me out of your archives some old copies of
Throne Speeches, Mr. Speaker. And I am just looking
at this Throne Speech from 1989, and it is literally four
pages long. And so our Throne Speech, Mr. Speaker,
was 3,500 words. The Opposition decided to take a different approach. And the Opposition decided to
take an approach where they wer e speaking about all
types of everything, from every single topic under the sun.
Mr. Speaker, we went to our election manifesto, and we said, What are the priority things that we
want to accomplish legislatively during this year? And
that is what we laid out, a legislative agenda for this
year. A Throne Speech, Mr. Speaker, is not a place
for you to write chapter and verse on pages of an
economic recovery plan. A Throne Speech is not a
place to write chapter and verse on the management of a pandemic. Peopl e have seen how we know how
to manage a pandemic. People have seen how we have worked in that way. That is not what the people
want to hear inside of speeches.
What they really want to know is what laws
are you going to change and how are you going to
use your 30 to 6 majority to better the lives of the cit izens of whom we face? So when I hear Members opposite talking about, We should not do anything about
prescription drug prices, I then say, That’s why you have six seats. And I do not say that in a braggad ocious fashion, Mr. Speaker. I say it from the fact that you have to understand the people of whom we serve.
If it is good enough for other countries, if it
works well in other places, why can it not work well here, Mr. Speaker? I have faith that as thi s Gover nment has shown working with the public sector, the
Government and the private sector, we can devise
solutions to fix the challenges of which we have. So yes, the Minister of Health has said that we are going
to introduce a national drug formulary. And yes, the
Minister of Health has said that we are going to fix the
price of the most popular prescription drugs, like they
do in other countries. And yes, Mr. Speaker, it is going
to bring relief. It is good and sound policy. Gover nments must govern for the people. And that is som ething that is going to benefit a wide variety of persons.
We hear the conversation about health care
reform and what is going to be done about health care reform. Mr. Speaker, old habits die hard, and I can
understand how som e Members may want to argue to
protect entrenched interests. We hear stories about unintended consequences. Well, the intended cons equences are not working for the people here, as well.
There are a lot of citizens in this country where the
status quo is not working for them. And so from that
perspective, Mr. Speaker, we are not going to be afraid of making the changes which are necessary.
I have heard a lot of talk about immigration,
Mr. Speaker. And I have heard a lot of the rewriting of history on immigr ation. Here are the facts. We have
been able to advance immigration reform, and we have been able to advance lots of areas of reform be-cause we go at it from a bipartisan consultative fas hion, Mr. Speaker. That is a marked difference to the
former Government. So when the Opposition Leader
says that we were not able to advance immigration
reform due to civil unrest, he is right. But we would not
have had the civil unrest if you would have ap-proached it in the way of which at that time we argued
in this very same House, Mr. Speaker. To strike a bipartisan committee, to work through the issues and come back to the House with something with which all
persons can agree on, that is the process of which we followed, Mr. Speaker, and that is the reason why we
can la y out where we are going.
It is not a question of, Oh, you have come
around to my ideas. No! This is how to solve the problem, how to get people on board. What is it that works
best for the country, taking into account all of the var ious aspects? And then go ahead and advance. That
is the approach of which we have taken, Mr. Speaker.
That is not the approach of which the other side has
taken. And the fact is that the people trust us with this issue because they know that we are going to take a
balanced approach. So, yes, Mr. Speaker, the Throne
Speech lays out the fact that there will be immigration
reform in this session, further immigration reform in
this session. And that is a good thing.
When we talk about a consultative process,
we talk about the matt er of education reform, Mr.
Speaker. And you heard the Minister of Education
earlier state, No, we are going to do it differently. And
we have invited the other side in. We have shown
what the plans are. And we are not going to attempt to
engage in a situation of using education as a political
football, Mr. Speaker. And so that different approach
is what the people of this country voted for.
And let us not forget, Mr. Speaker. The election which we won was one of the nastiest elections where the other side did everything possible they
could do to demonise the leadership of the Progres-sive Labour Party. Tried and true, everything under the sun, Mr. Speaker. And it did not work. And so the
people of this country have told us to take a different
approach and t old us to be serious [about] the work
ahead.
And they have also told us, Mr. Speaker, that
they want to give us a majority to enable us to make
more substantive change in this country. And the substantive change, Mr. Speaker, will come because on


Bermuda House of Assembly issues o f creating an ownership society, on issues of
allowing persons to have more ownership in the country of which they live, the country which they call their
home, those are values that this Progressive Labour
Party espouses. And that is why you see it with t he
announcements from the Throne Speech of the pr ojects of which are advancing and how we are going to
make sure we give Bermudians ownership opportunities inside of those profits, the way that we are giving
more and different types of persons opportunities
throughout this country, Mr. Speaker, and the way in which we are being embracive of new industries and
technology and being flexible inside of a pandemic.
So I am, without question, hopeful for the future. I am,
without question, knowing that the agenda we have
laid out which says rebuilding Bermuda with Bermud ians at heart is the right one.
And I will end this debate by saying, Mr.
Speaker, during this session of Parliament I hope that
we can engage in real substantive debates. And the
olive branch of which I will extend is that I am happy —
happy to receive constructive criticism from the Opposition. But I want the Opposition to know and to u nderstand we were elected on our manifesto, and we
will deliver on that manifesto. In the exact same way
that this Throne Speech is copied out of our manifesto
and lays out the commitments we will tackle in the first
year, our ideas won, and those ideas, Mr. Speaker,
will become law.
So with that, Mr. Speaker, I move that this
Honourable House send a message to the Governor that says, “We the Members of the House” —

The Premier moved a motion this
morning. And as the last speaker, he has just closed
out the debate, and now his debate is closed.
Mr. Premier, will the appropriate message be
sent to the Governor? You can read the message.

MESSAGE TO HIS EXCELLENCY
THE GOVERNOR
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I move that the following message be sent to the Governor:
“May it please Your Excellency:
“We the Members of the House of Assembly
in Bermuda thank Your Excellency for the gracious speech with which Your Excellency was pleased to
open the present Session of Parliament.”

That brings the debate o n the Throne
Speech to a close for this 2020 Throne Speech D ebate and Reply.
All other Orders that are on the Order Paper
are being carried over.
Premier.

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do
believe the Minister of Health wants to—

The Spe aker: I understand. All other matters on the
Order Paper are being carried over, correct?

Hon. E. David Burt: Yes. Oh, sorry. Yes, Mr. Speaker.

Yes. Thank you.
Minister of Health, I think you have a matter
for which you would like to seek t he indulgence of the
House, and I ask that you move the appropriate m otion now for the indulgence and suspension.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I move that Standing Order
23(3) be suspended to enable the House to now pr oceed wi th the consideration —

Ah, ah! First off, you should have done
the consideration . . . Yes, yes. Do 23 and then 14 for
the tabling. Yes. Yes. Go ahead.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: I move that Standing Order
23[(3)] be suspended to enable the House to now
proceed with the consideration of the draft Order ent itled the Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency (No. 3)
Extension—

Okay. Actually, Minister, I was correct.
[Standing Order] 14 should be first because you have
got to seek the suspension of the House. So read the
first motion that was given to you, and then we will deal with . . . [Standing Order] 14 asks us to suspend
so you can table it, and then [Standing Order] 23 will
actually allow us to be able to deal with it. So the
House has to seek suspension first so you can table
it. So you should —

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Well, I am reading what I was
presented.
76 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly So I move that Standing Order 14 —

Let me help us out here. The motion
that you are going to read is as follows: “I move that
Standing Order 14 be suspended to enable me to
present a communication to the House regarding the
draft Order entitled the Public Health (COVID -19)
Emergency (No. 3) Extension Order 2020.”
And it reads (now you are asking me a second time after there have been no objections), “I here
present for the considerati on of the House the draft
Order entitled the Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency (No. 3) Extension Order 2020, as proposed to
be made by the Minister responsible for Health under
the provision of section 107A of the Public Health Act
1949.”
Are there any objections to that?
No objections.

[Motion carried: Standing Order 14 suspended.]

Minister, you could read the other m otion that you have that now allows us to deal with it.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I was not present ed with that, but I thank you. I appr eciate the rush to get this on the Order Paper, so I thank you and your team for assisting.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 23(3)
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Mr. Speaker, I move that Standing Order 23(3) be suspended to enable t he House to
now proceed with the consideration of the draft Order
entitled Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency (No. 3)
Extension Order 2020.

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

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

ORDER

PUBLIC HEALTH (COVID- 19)
EMERGENCY (NO. 3) EXTENSION ORDER 2020
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Mr. Speaker, I move that the
House do now take under consideration the draft O rder entitled
Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency
(No. 3) Extension Order 2020 , as proposed to be
made by the Minister responsible for Health under the
provisions of section 107A of the Public Health Act
1949.

No objections.
Now you can debate the matter or discuss the
matter.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to again thank the
Opposition and Members for allowing the indulgence of the Government to proceed with this Order , the
Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency (No. 3) Extension Order 2020.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to first take this opportunity to remind the public of their civic responsibil ities to take steps to protect themselves, their loved
ones and their neighbours . We live in a very small
Island, and the potential spread of COVID -19 can
reach medically vulnerable members of our communi-ty very quickly.
One way to slow the spread of virus is by
wearing a mask to cover your nose and mouth, as well as physical distanc ing. The more space between
you and others, the harder it is for the virus to spread.
Other important tips, Mr. Speaker, for members of the
public include frequently washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If soap and
running water are unavailable, use an alcohol -based
hand rub with at least 60 per cent alcohol. And always
wash hands that are visibly soiled. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.
Practice good respiratory etiquette, including covering
coughs and sneezes. Avoid close contact with people
who are sick. Stay home if you are sick. And if you
want to find out more information, you can also look at
the guidance that is available on the government
website.
Mr. Speaker, sometimes I feel like a broken
record, always repeating myself. However, in circumstances such as the seriousness of this pandemic, repetition is necessary.

[Background noise]



Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Mr. Premier, I think you still . . .
you need to mute.
Mr. Speaker, thank you.
As the Mini ster of Health, Mr. Speaker, I have
consulted the Chief Medical Officer and determined
that a communicable disease, namely COVID -19, of
the first category continues to pose a severe threat to
public health here in Bermuda. This Order, Mr.
Speaker, will ext end the Public Health (COVID -19)
Emergency (No. 3) Order 2020, made under the Pub-lic Health Act 1949, to permit the Governor to continue the Public Health (COVID -19 Emergency Powers)
Regulations 2020, which imposed extraordinary
measures necessary in the i nterest of public health to
prevent, control and suppress COVID -19.
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members would be
aware that the Public Health (COVID -19) Emergency
(No. 3) Order 2020 was made under the negative resolution procedure effective the 27
th of October 2020
for 30 days, expiring on the 26th of November 2020.
However, the COVID -19 pandemic continues to rage
on globally, and a public health emergency continues to exist here in Bermuda. Therefore, in accordance
with section 107A(3) of the Public Health A ct 1949, I
bring this Extension Order to this Honourable House
to prolong the state of public health emergency for a
further 60 days, ending on the 25
th of January 2021.
Again, I thank Honourable Members and the
Opposition for allowing me to proceed today in these
extenuating circumstances and under a suspension of
the rules. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Member Dunkley, yes?

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes, thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
On behalf of my colleagues, yes, we have
agreed to waiving the [Standing Orders] to have this
Extension Order debated tonight. The Minister su pplied us with the Order just a few minutes ago. And I
guess there were two reasons why we would agree to
waiving the [Standing Orders] to move forward on it.
One is because it is a pretty simple piece of legisl ation. But two, and most importantly, it is that, as the
Minister said, COVID -19 continues to be a severe
threat to our community. And the current Extension
Order expires before the House resumes at the next sitting on November 27
th. So we have to do it tonight
or come back before that time to do it in advance of
the expiration.
Obviously, Mr. Speaker, as the Minister had
said and as we have talked about all day long, and as people of Bermuda know, the need for quick action
could still be necessary in regard to how we handle COVID -19, any implications since that time. The Mi nister should not think twice about being a broken record because we could all use some reminding from
time to time on the important tips on how we should
live our lives and certainly, Mr. Speaker, how we should act through this pandemic period.
We do not know when it is going to end, but to
date we have done a reasonably effective job of deal-ing with it. But we are not out of the woods yet. We
certainly face a difficult winter period. When you look
at all of the countries around us and all of the coun-tries that have air service to the Island, they seem to
be facing an upsurge. While we struggle with this
pandemic and it has had severe implications on our
community, one thing is very clear now, which is, that in this case our isolation helps us. And that allows us
to stay relatively safe and to patrol this thing and
[make] the regulations that we need to be effective to keep our people safe. And after getting off to a rocky
start, like most communities have throughout the
world, we seem to have been managing it quite well.
So, Mr. Speaker, these extraordinary
measures under the current Order are still necessary for the Government to have flexibility to do what they
have to do. And although it is an imposition on the
way people normally like to live their lives, I think people have come to accept that.
Mr. Speaker, just one question I would have in
looking at this Order quickly. It is very similar to all of the other Orders. The last Order was coming into effect on October 27
th and expires on November 26th,
which was for 30 days. So the question to the Honourable Minister: What is the reasoning for now having a 60- day extension until the 25th of January when
the previous extension was 30 days?
I thank you, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity,
and I look forward to the Minister’s reply.

Premier, yes.

Hon. E. D avid Burt: Right quick, if I may. I would of
course be supporting this Order for the public health emergency extension, Mr. Speaker, and certainly I am
grateful for the Opposition to agree to take this up. As
the Minister explained, the previous Order woul d have
expired on the 26
th, and of course that will be a day
before we had met. We did not want there to be any
78 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly lapse in the emergency matters and measures of
which we have.
Just as Honourable Members have stated, it
is an incredibly critical period of ti me for us, [because
we are] dealing with a pandemic. We are near . . . I do
not want to give too much hope, but we are getting to,
as they say, the end of the beginning with news of
possible effective mRNA vaccines, which are marvels
of science, which we s hould have on- Island by January if all goes well.
So, Mr. Speaker, we still have this period in
time when we are seeing incredible spikes and records being set with numbers of cases and hospitalis ations across the world, especially in Europe and esp ecially in the United States, and the challenges of
which that is posing. We are seeing infections certai nly rise here. The persons at our borders are working
very, very hard to make sure they protect, to enforce,
to monitor and to detect. But the truth is, Mr. Speaker,
that we are not out of the woods and we will not be
out of the woods for some time.
So while the House will commend this Order
so that the public health emergency can be extended, but what I want to make sure to do tonight. Mr.
Speaker, is to tak e the opportunity to remind persons
that they have to be safe. They must continue to
maintain their vigilance. The pandemic is far from
over. And what we have done with our collective sacr ifice can be undone by just a few small groups of per-sons acting in a way that can allow us to have an ou tbreak here. We are stepping up our surveillance. The
team at the Ministry of Health have done yeoman’s
work, yeoman’s service. Our testing teams, all of the persons who have been supporting this health effort
have done an amazing job.
And it is my hope, Mr. Speaker, that this may
not be the last extension we ask for, but, hopefully, we
will come to a point in time in the very near future
where we will no longer need to be under a public
health emergency and have the restrictions of which
are necessary to keep in place to make sure that our
health care system does not get overwhelmed.
On Tuesday, Mr. Speaker, I said that it is unlikely that we will be able to prevent further flareups
and outbreaks of the virus. I am bei ng realistic. We
are going to try our best, but there is a possibility that
we may not be able to do so. But the responsibility of
all of us is to make sure that we do not get to a place
where the health care system is overwhelmed. We
have excess capacity in our health care system. Our
hospital is very well prepared in the case of an outbreak. We have, as I said, incredible testing capacity and more and more things that are coming on- Island
to enable to assist.
But before we get to that point, Mr. Speaker , it
is imperative that all of us in this Chamber remind all of our constituents, all of our families, all of those persons who are listening that it is not the time to let up. If
we let up, instead of Bermuda being the example of the place which was able to do a great job, we can be
the example which other counties have been of a
place that really did a good job, let their guard down a
little bit and now they have a problem. I know that
everyone in here wants to be the first. Everyone in here wants us to m ake sure that we maintain the record of which we worked so hard to build. And so it is
important that all of us as leaders of this country r emind our citizens that if we do not want to go back to
places of lockdown, to challenges where we had cri ppling of the economy, we must continue to maintain
the protections of which we have done so well this far.
So, Mr. Speaker, I commend certainly the
Minister of Health and her team for the work for which
they have done. And clearly the Government supports
this Order and hopes that the House will agree to extend the public health emergency.

Thank you, Mr. Premier.
Does any other Member wish to speak?
No other Member.
Minister.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Let me just start actually b y apologising to the
Clerk and to your team. That first motion was sent to
me, but regrettably it got mixed into my email. So I did
not see it. So I do apologise, and I thank you for your assistance.

No problem.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Mr. Speak er, the one question
that was raised by the Honourable MP, Mr. Dunkley,
with respect to the 60 days. Principally because the
legislation, when we did it on the 27
th of October, it
was by negative resolution. And the thought process
behind that was because we were not in Parliament,
that we would just do it for 30 days, knowing that we would be returning to Parliament in November. And if the circumstances of such globally required or necessitated for an extension of the Order, then we would
seek the extensio n by affirmative resolution because
we needed to bring it back to Parliament.
Unfortunately, the circumstances that we find
ourselves in with respect to requesting the 60- day O rder are such that we are clearly, obviously all aware,
acutely aware of the fact that most of our global par tners are encountering a second wave. And with r espect to that, we have to be conscious about the effects, perhaps adverse effects that would have on Bermuda. So the thought process was to do this via
affirmative resolution, s etting 60 days. And as the
Honourable Premier said, hopefully we may not need
to extend it again. But we obviously have to see. Time
will tell.
I also want to thank again the Honourable
Members of the Honourable Opposition for agreeing


Bermuda House of Assembly to permit this to g o short and supporting this very crit ical Order.
And with that, Mr. Speaker, I would like to
move that the said Order be approved and that a sui table message be sent to His Excellency the Governor.

That matter has been brought to a
close.
Mr. Premier, if all other matters have been
carried, would you like to do the honours at this time?

ADJOURNMENT

Hon. E. David Burt: Absolutely. Thank you very
much, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I move that this Honourable
House do now adjourn until Friday, November the
27th, at 10:00 am. And I am informed, Mr. Speaker,
that some of my Members wish to speak.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
There is a saying that diversity is the spice of
life. Now I will declare with no shame, Mr. Speaker, that I am not a chef, I am not a cook. But I do know
that spices and seasonings are key to making food
taste good. I have watched my mother and now my
wife when they cook. They put a little bit of this, they
put a little bit of that and then they put a little splash of
this, a little . . . Voila! A delicious meal is created that
everyone can enjoy.
Why do I refer to this , Mr. Speaker? It is that
Bermuda is that dish, albeit a small dish in the middle
of the ocean. And as small as we are, we are divers ified and value who makes up Bermuda. There are White, Black and mixed- races peoples, Portuguese,
West Indian, South Asian and other ethnicities that
reside in Bermuda.
And this is key, Mr. Speaker. I have been in
two election cycles, and in each one of them there
have been cries for us to all work together for the good of Bermuda. This past election I heard it loudest
when c anvassing in my constituency. There were
constituents who are tired of the back and forth and tit
for tat and only want to see us as politicians get down
to business and work together. And, Mr. Speaker, I
wholeheartedly agree with that. To a big extent, we must talk about inclusivity, including all Bermudians in
driving and shaping Bermuda’s future.
Just as with the food which I watch being
made, whether it was basil, whether it was parsley,
oregano or any other seasoning a cook may use, they
are each diff erent in their tastes and textures. But t ogether, they all serve the same purpose, which is to
spice our food and make it taste better. Bermuda has
people with varied backgrounds, cultures and ideas.
And while individually there may not be an answer,
toget her we can all put those ideas together to find
solutions to the problems that Bermuda faces. Problems such as diversifying our economy, immigration or
paying down our debt.
On diversifying the economy, Mr. Speaker, it
is like a dish. We have two staples of our economy —
IB and tourism, which have been devastatingly affec ted by COVID -19. But by adding another ingredient
into our economy, renewable energies, whether green or blue, it is a no- brainer for Bermuda. We are surrounded by water and are blessed wit h hours of sunlight daily.
With these two natural resources we can do
much to not only diversify the economy, but also to go
about reducing our carbon footprint. There are blue
energies. We can start small. An algae farm is an option, growing algae in the ocean, which can suck more
carbon out of the atmosphere at rates that trees do.
We already have solar power, but that can be expanded to get better results for the Island, reducing
80 13 November 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly our reliance on fossil fuels and even help reduce a
consumer’s electricity bill.
Mr. Speaker, I will also take off my hat as an
MP and put on my other hat as the Road Safety
Chairman. Everyone in Bermuda is connected by one link—we all travel on this Island. Whether we are now
in private transportation, public transportation, w hether we are being towed around or we are driving or riding ourselves around, we all have to travel, Mr.
Speaker. And because of that, we all have to do our
part, Mr. Speaker, to make a difference. We heard comments earlier from different Members about the
increase of traffic accidents. Mr. Speaker, we all have
to be accountable and be responsible with our actions
when we get in or on a bike or car and how we be-have on the roads. We all must do our part, together
be a part of the solution to solving this problem.
So, Mr. Speaker, I will not be long, and this is
my closing. As I started with, diversity is the key to life.
But, and I quote Tulsi Gabbard: “It’s when we care for
each other —choosing inclusion and love over division
and hatred—that this country is at its greatest.”
With that, Mr. Speaker, again I just want to
remind the people as they go into this weekend to be
safe on our roads, but also remember that together
we must work together to make a bigger difference
and better difference for Bermuda. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Member from
constituency 28, DL3, eh? Thank you.
Does any other Member wish to speak? Any
other Member wish to speak? No other Member?
The House stands adjourned. Good evening,
everyone. We wil l see you next two Fridays from now,
the 27
th of November.

[Gavel]
[At 8:12 pm, the House stood adjourned until
10:00 am, Friday, 27 November 2020.]