July 8, 2020

Thank you,
Madam President.
With regard to whether ethnicity was categorised within the report, I cannot recall those data being captured. But it is quite an extensive report, and I i nvite the Senator to have a thorough read in due
course. I certainly will have a look myself, but I have
not read it in that detail, and it is not represented here in the information that I brought today.
1030 8 July 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate With regard to the public/private sentiment,
the report covers all of the schools —public, private
and home schooling.
Can you ask your last question again with
regard to cannabis , Senator?

Sen. Marcus Jones: Yes, Madam Attorney General.
My question is, Was a similar survey conducted for
the wider community over and above just private and
public school students?
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: The National
Drug Control Department conducts various surveys.
And you will recall I came with a . . . survey. An d
there is a whole lot of information that pertains to the
wider population that is captured by that department.
So what I will do for the benefit of Senator Jones,
Madam President, is forward the reports which would
allow him to look at the information pertaining to the
wider public. I think that would be an interesting and
informative exercise for the Senator to undertake.
Just generally, Madam President, with regard
to the reference to cannabis, Senators need to appr eciate that it is reports of this nat ure that actually inform
parts of the Government with regard to all of the pr oposals pertaining to cannabis and otherwise. And so it is very valuable information for the purposes of our involvement of that particular initiative. And we will
certainly look forward to reviewing this very closely to
ensure that our policy aligns with the efforts that are
being undertaken by the National Drug Control D epartment.
What is interesting, Madam President (and I
will close on this), is that it allows us to particularise
and identify the prevention measures and education
measures that need to be taken to ensure that our
population, including not just the children, [but also]
the parents are kept informed to be able to give gui dance to their children and with respect t o their own
activity around substances that may be prohibited by
law. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Madam Attorney General.
Senator, do you have any additional questions?
Sen. Marcus Jones: That is fine. Thank you very
much, Mad am Attorney General.
[Inaudible interjection]
The President: Thank you. Would any other Senator
care to ask questions on this Statement?

Sen. Jarion Richardson: I would, Madam President.

The President: Senator Jarion Richardson, you have
the floor.
QUESTION 1: NATIONAL SCHOOL SURVEY ON
DRUG CONSUMPTION AND HEALTH

Sen. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident, and good morning to yourself, fellow Senators
and the listening public.
With respect to the matter raised by Madam
Attorney General in her Statement, would the Ho nourable Minister please inform us what, if any, chan ges to our national drug policy the master plan or the
action plan have been determined to undertake so far? That is, have they made any decisions about
what to do about, with t hat information, especially as it
relates to our master plan or action plan? Thank you.

The President: Thank you.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President. Thank you for the question, Sena-tor Richardson.
Colleagues need to be informed, Madam
President, that all of the information that is collated
informs our national drug plan. However, the National
Drug Control and the national drug plan are always
updated to reflect the current use and policies surrounding drug use and any ot her activities in the country.
So what we probably will see is a somewhat
changed mandate from our National Drug Control to
reflect where we actually are today. You will find that,
year over year, the various departments responsible
for activities around this subject have a fairly, in my humble opinion, stagnant mandate that needs to be
continuously updated. The staff in the National Drug
Control are very much experienced and proactive in
terms of getting any information to inform their mandate. And I expect the public will see some changes in that regard to better reflect who we are in 2020 and
going forward.
I hope that was helpful.

The President: Thank you, Madam Attorney General.
Senator Jarion Richardson, do you have any
additional questions?

QUEST ION 2: NATIONAL SCHOOL SURVEY ON
DRUG CONSUMPTION AND HEALTH

Sen. Jarion Richardson: Yes, Madam President.
I believe the national plan, or the master plan
(it goes by various names, but action plan) is no long-er up to date, in the beginning of the 2019 or 2020
plan. Would Madam Attorney General just be able to
clarify if and when that would be updated, given that it
is a topic of the moment? Thank you.

The President: Surely. Madam Attorney General.



Bermuda Senate Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
That plan will be updated as the need arises
to reflect, as I said, some of these policies pertaining
to [INAUDIBLE ]. And when that report is in fact updated and finalised, it will be shared with the general pu blic, as per the norm.

The President : Senator Jarion Richardson, that was
your second question.
Do you have a third question?

QUESTION 3: NATIONAL SCHOOL SURVEY ON
DRUG CONSUMPTION AND HEALTH

Sen. Jarion Richardson: Yes, Madam President.
When that report is updated, and again based
on the information we have received from this very thorough and detailed survey of our secondary school
students , will it be circulated to us in the Senate? And
do we have any anticipated arrival times for that?

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you for
the question.
It is a national plan, so it is distributed to the
public at large, and Senators as a part of the public,
and it is always brought to this Chamber. There is no particular date that I can pinpoint at this time. And it is
actual ly quite an extensive exercise. So when I get
that information, I will be happy to share it.

The President: Thank you, Madam Attorney General.
Would any other Senator care to ask questions on this Statement?

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: I would, Madam President.
The President: Senator Dwayne Robinson, you have
the floor.

QUESTION 1: NATIONAL SCHOOL SURVEY ON
DRUG CONSUMPTION AND HEALTH

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Yes. Thank you.
So I just wanted to know whether or not there
were going to be any follow -up surveys taken regar ding mental health, as I know, and many of us know
there is a correlation between mental health, as far as
anxiety, depression or something that somebody is
dealing with mentally [which] is tied to substance
abuse. So I was just wondering if there were going to
be any plans to get that data correlated so we know what state, or if that has any correlation in our community and whether we can get methods to prevent
that. Because I know we have passed mental health
regulations or amendments in this S enate Chamber.
So I just want to know if that was going to be on the
docket at any time.
The President: Madam Attorney General.

[Pause]
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: I am sorry. I
did not have my microphone on.
The matters pertaining to mental health fall
under the Ministry of Health. However, where there is
any alignment with drug abuse, there is interesting
information that we tend to collate across the board.
At this particular time, I do not have a carveout of that information out of our report s and health reports. But it
will be an interesting exercise that actually is being
undertaken as we collate the policy with regard to the
cannabis issue in particular. And so I would defer that
question to the Ministry of Health in terms of their particular efforts in that regard, because I am sure they
keep statistics that would be quite informative with
these various factors that impact mental health in the
country.
So that is an ongoing exercise. And as we
update these facts and information pertaining to drug
use, as a part of that we will see the components in
there that make mention of the mental health factors. I
will invite Senator Simmons -Wade, who is the
spokesperson for Health, to speak in terms of any updates in that regard that she may know ab out in terms
of specific reports and research that may be undertaken in Health at this time with regard to the subject
matter.

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Thank you, Attorney
General.
At this time, I am not familiar with any ongoing
reports that are done on mental health. But I know
that it is an ongoing process. But anything specifically
at this time I cannot comment on anything. But I will
undertake to get that information and get back to you.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thanks for
that, Senator S immons -Wade.
And what I can do to assist Senator [Si mmons -]Wade, is, of course, the Ministry of Legal A ffairs, we have various departments whose operations
are impacted by a client base that has mental health issues. So within, I would say, Child and Fami ly Se rvices, within Court Services, within even the prosec ution arena we see these factors being exhibited. And so, as we collate the information, I will be happy to
report in on that in due course. But it is a factor that
impacts various areas of operatio ns of the gover nment. But Health is actually the lead Ministry on colla ting very specific information in that regard.

The President: Thank you, Madam Attorney General.
Senator Robinson, do you have a supplementary question?
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: No, Madam President.
1032 8 July 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Thank you, Madam Attorney General.

The President: Thank you.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: You are welcome.

The President: Would any other Senator care to
speak or to ask questions on this Statement?
No? Then moving on . . . that is the end of this
session of questions.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

The President: The first Order of the Day is the Cri minal Code Amendment Act 2020. And that, I believe, is
Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, I am pleased to lead the
debate today on the Bill entitled the Criminal Code
Amendment Act 2020, which was tabled in the Senate
on the 24th of June 2020. Madam President, an offence of luring currently . . . (Let me pause one second, Madam President, if you will excuse me.)

[Pause]

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: I am sorry,
Madam President, if you will bear with me for one m inute. I appreciate it.

The President: Yes. Certainly we will give you some
time to get ready.
[Paus e]

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President. My apologies.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
the Criminal Code Amendment Act 2020 be now read
a second time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. Carry on, Madam Attorney
General.

BILL

SECOND READING

CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENT ACT 2020
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
Madam President, I am pleased to lead the
debate today on the Bill entitled the
Criminal Code Amendment Act 2020 , which was tabled in the Senate
on the 24th of June 2020.
Madam President, an offence of luring currently exists under section 182E of the C riminal Code
Act 1907. However, this offence is not specific to a
position of trust and provides protection to a child up
to the age of 16 years old only. Currently, luring targets online or electronic predatory conduct designed
to facilitate later sexual activity with a child who is under the age of 16 years old. But there are no protec-tions in place if communication by the predator is in writing or otherwise.
Madam President, the purpose of this Bill is to
introduce new and revised provisions under the C riminal Code which are long overdue. The amendments
to the Code are a response to the need for increased
public safety for our vulnerable population—our youth. For far too long, persons under the age of 18 have not
been protected from teachers, other authority figures,
family members and friends of the family who preyed
upon them with persistent attempts to engage in inap-propriate sexual or romantic relationships.
Madam President, the objectives of the Crim inal Code Amendment Bill 2020 are to amend the
Code for the following purposes:
1. to provide further protections to young persons under 18 years old by averting luring of
young persons who are groomed by an adult,
including a family member, in positions of trust
or authority;
2. to deter persons from engaging in luring offences while in a position of trust or authority;
3. to further strengthen Bermuda’s child saf eguarding regime; and
4. to modernise and enhance Bermuda’s legisl ation to align with international best practices
and standards of the Lanzarote Conventio n
on the Protection of Children Against Sexual
Exploitation and Sexual Abuse.
Although 16- and 17- year-olds have the ability
to consent to some sexual acts, the overwhelming public sentiment and advocacy support that sexual
relations between adults in pos itions of trust and
young persons between 16 and 17 years of age are
improper and must not be tolerated. And considering
that luring behaviours by a person in a position of trust can take place before a young person reaches the
age of consent and persist w ell beyond 16 years of
age, we can see that 16- and 17- year-olds are left
exposed to exploitation without legal redress. In such
scenarios, perpetrators in a position of trust can escape prosecution for luring altogether.
Madam President, clause 2 of the Bill amends
section 182E(1) of the Criminal Code by extending the
current luring offence to include “whether orally or in
writing, by means of communications medium or any
other manner.” This amendment addresses the exis ting legislative gap which does not include written and
other forms of communication with a child for the purBermuda Senate poses of committing a sexual offence of luring. The
amendment ensures statutory protections exist to
safeguard our children from perpetrators who use va rious forms of communication for the purposes of committing a sexual offence.
Madam President, existing legislation has
failed to protect 16- and 17- year-olds who have been
lured by a person in a position of trust, as previously mentioned. Real -life victims, child safeguarding adv ocates and child protection entities have each called for urgent changes to the criminal law to increase the age for luring offences to include young persons between
16 and 17 years of age. Currently, the offence is prior
to the age of 16, as previously stated. Clause 3 of the
Bill rectifies this issue by inserting a new section
[182EA] after section 182E of the Criminal Code,
which introduces the offence of luring a young person
by a person in a position of trust. The objective of this
amendment is to close the gap, as currently mentioned, so young persons under the age of 18 are gi ven the same legal protection as children under the
age of 16. This means that the new offence . . .

[Inaudible interjection]
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: I am sorry,
Madam President. I thought you were speaking.
This means that the new offence would cover
all young persons under the age of 18.
Madam President, [proposed] section 182EA
is intended to cover situations where an adult who is
in a position of trust, through any form of communic ation, gains a young person’s trust for the purpose of
committing a sexual offence against that young person. The intended offence does not need to take
place. The evidence of an adult’s intention to commit
an offence ag ainst a young person may be drawn
from their communications with the young person or
may be drawn from other circumstances.
Madam President, the penalty prescribed in
law for this offence is provided under clause 3 of the
Bill and will be on summary convi ction imprisonment
for five years, and for conviction on indictment impri sonment for 15 years. These penalties correspond to
the seriousness of the offence and are sufficiently di ssuasive as a deterrent. Clause 3 of the Bill establishes
a no- defence provis ion under [proposed] section
182EA of the Criminal Code. This averts the accused
from using the defence that they believed that the
person was 18 years of age or older unless the accused took all reasonable steps to ascertain the age
of the person.
Madam President, section 329D of the Crim inal Code is amended by clause 4 of the Bill by
amend ing the current listing of sexual offences to add
the new offence under [proposed] section 182EA, “luring of a young person by a person in a position of trust
. . . .” Madam President, clause 5 of the Bill allows
for consequential amendments to the Police and
Criminal Evidence Act 2006 by inserting section
182EA, the offence “luring [of a young person] by per-son in a position of trust,” to the list of serious arrest able offences. This amendment gives the police the
authority to arrest the accused at the time the offence
of luring of a young person by a person in a position of
trust is reported.
Madam President, the effects of clause 6 of
the Bill are that certain releva nt factors may be considered at trial for a person being prosecuted for an
offence under the new provision. Factors that might
be taken into consideration include ages of the parties, whether there was consent and the relationship
between the parties such as whether an accused is a
person in a position of trust with respect to the young
person.
This Bill also confirms that the evidentiary
presumption about intent with respect to an offence
where an accused is a person in a position of trust
has not been af fected by the creation of the new section 182EA offence.
Madam President, the proposed legislative
amendments also enhance Bermuda’s child protection regime for the progressive realisation of the intern ational standards of the Lanzarote Convention on the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse. Article 18 of the Lanzarote Convention
requires countries to criminalise international conduct
involving a person “engaging in sexual activities with a
child where . . . abuse is made of a recognised pos ition of trust, authority or influence over the child, i ncluding with the family; . . . .” The amendment pr oposed in the Bill is drafted to also include relationships
of dependency and is designed to capture familial r elationships.
In clos ing, Madam President, the Government
is committed to introducing these legislative measures
to protect our youth while ensuring that persons who
commit luring offences are held accountable for their
actions through the legal process.
I would like to close , Madam President, by
thanking Christine [DaCosta], who shared her personal story which informed policy development in this ar-ea. I would also like to thank the Deputy Chief Parli amentary Counsel, Lorraine Welch, for her excellent
work in drafting the Bill ; and Ms. Kleita Pitcher, policy
analyst within the Ministry of Legal Affairs, who has
been pivotal in putting together the research around
this subject matter.
I also would like to thank our consultative engagers, i.e., the director of public prosecutions and in
particular the deputy director of public prosecutions for
their assistance on the legal issues underlying this
initiative.
Thank you, Madam President.

1034 8 July 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senator Kathy Lynn S immons, Attorney General.
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: I would, Madam President.
The President: Senator Dwayne Robinson, you have
the floor.
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you.
We as the Opposition commend Madam A ttorney General and her team for bringing this legisl ation forward. We believe it is extremely necessary and needed to protect our minors.
I have a few questions, and they are mostly
just for my personal knowledge on this particular legi slation. It says, y ou know, the intended act does not
have to occur for an offence on summary conviction. I
just wanted to know what specifically is entailed in
intention regarding this particular legislation. And also,
if a person is guilty of luring, but the intention of l uring
and has not gotten to the point of committing the offence, but they get a summary conviction, do they also get placed on the sex offenders registry? And are
they subject to the same rehabilitative sanctions as
those others who have committed the sexual offence
on that particular list?
And are there also going to be proactive
measures regarding interceding in these particular issues of luring? Because usually, the victims or . . . I
would not say usually, because I do not have necessarily first -hand k nowledge. But what I will say is, on
some basis victims do not always come forward. So I just want to know for my own personal knowledge, are
there any methods of interceding in these particular
situations, or [are there] any ways of investigating
these particular situations being implemented or are
implemented currently to go with this particular legisl ation?
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.

Madam President.
[Pause]

The President: Would any other Senator care to—

Sen. James S. Jardine: Madam President.
The President: Senator Jardine, you have the floor.

Sen. James S. Jardine: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. Good morning.
The President: Good morning.
Sen. James S. Jardine: Madam President, I certainly
would commend the Government for bringing forward
this piece of legislation. I think it is a gap that needs to
be closed, and I fully support this legislation.
I guess one of the questions I had was, Is the
Government in some way going to educate the general public on this significant change to the law so that
they are completely aware of the significant change? I
think it is important that this be done so there is no
question that people are not aware of the change.
The only other com ment I have, Madam President, is just such a couple of small things. On page 2 in clause 4 and clause 5, it says in clause 4, “(xva)
luring of a young person by person . . . .” I think that
should be “luring of a young person by a person in a
position of t rust . . . .” And similarly in clause 5, “27A.
Section 182EA (luring by person . . . .” I think that “by
a person in a position of trust.” It is just a small point. I am sure it can be changed without any issue.
Thank you very much, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jardine.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Sen. Michelle Simmons: Yes, I would, Madam President.
The President: Senator Michelle Simmons, you have
the floor.
Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you.
First of all, I would like to commend the Go vernment and the Attorney General in particular and all
those who have assisted in bringing forth this
amendment to the Criminal Code. It is unfortunate that
as a society we have to deal with the fact that some of our chi ldren have been victims and continue to be vi ctims of sexual abuse. However, this amendment will
certainly give greater attention to this crime, because
that is what it is, which has permanently altered the
lives of so many young people in this community.
I just want to say that I totally support this Bill.
I think that it is important to share the information as
widely as we can. But then again I think that people just need to do the right thing by our children and not
subject them to sexual abuse, which we know and
they know is wrong.
So with those few words, I will just say thank
you to the Attorney General and her team again. And I
pray that this will serve as a deterrent, to some degree, to those who would want to abuse our young
people. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Si mmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?



Bermuda Senate Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Yes.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Yes, Madam President. My
comments will be brief, but my comments will revolve
around the importance of this piece of legislation when it comes to our sporting clubs . There are thousands of kids who participate in various sports through
our sporting clubs. And this will provide some muchneeded clarity to that area and assist those r espons ible for caring for our kids when they are involved in these programmes. And so I applaud this legislation and look forward to its being implemented.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Would any other Senator c are to speak on the
Bill?

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Yes, Madam Pres ident.
The President: Senator Caesar, is it?
[Inaudible interjections and laughter ]

The President: Sorry. You have your microphone on.
Yes. Senator Simmons -Wade, you have the floor. (I
do apologise.)
Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Yes. I do applaud
bringing this legislation forward. Unfortunately, this is
a reality of what occurs in Bermuda. And the gap that
was there provided the opportunity for those predators to take advantage of the situation based on the age.
And I think it is so important to protect our children
from the grooming that takes place. We do have individuals in this country who need counselling, guidance
. . . I do not even want to put it to be incarcerated. But
there ar e people who have significant issues in this
country.
But at the same time, we have to protect
those individuals. And by putting this legislation in place, that [closing of the] gap from 16 to 18 years old protects our individuals. And I think it is very important. So I applaud this.
And I also would like to say for those individuals who take that opportunity to speak up, it is very
difficult in a community this small to speak up and
acknowledge what has happened to you. But to do
that in order to protect the people who follow you, I
applaud those individuals who do speak up about these situations and the abuse that they have suf-fered. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons -Wade.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
No? Then—
Sen. Crystal Caesar: Madam President.

The President: Senator Caesar, you have the floor.
Sen. Crystal Caesar: Yes. Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Obviously, I feel that this is an important p iece
of legislation, and I definitely wanted to express my
support for it. In addition to the fact, Madam President,
that this piece of legislation will put in place certain
protections for our young people, and I applaud the Attorney General’s Chambers for putting this piece of
legislation in front of us to close (for a lack of a better
term) a loophole that predators may have seen in the
past. As we know, young people, although they may
feel mature at a particular age, Madam President, definitely need our protection. They need stopgap
measures such that they are protected from lifelong
consequences.
And as such, Madam President, I feel that this
is definitely long overdue. We know and have heard
stories from many years past of people who have been exposed, and in particular those who are a bit
older and have not had the protections that they need.
And this will definitely give us as a community the
teeth that are required to bring those to justice as opposed to having those people slip through the cracks.
In addition, Madam President, I would like to
just mention that I believe that there are community -
based programmes, and in particular SCARS [Saving
Children And Revealing Secrets], who I believe is very
much a support in these types of areas and has brought this particular issue of exploitation of our
young people to the fore. And this legislation will assist in helping people to feel more comfortable in coming forward, bringing those to justice who need to be
brought to justice and ensuring that we conti nue to
protect our young people.
So with that, Madam President, I conclude my
remarks.

The President: Thank you, Senator Caesar.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
No? Then, Madam Attorney General, you
have a few comments and questions you can respond
to.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I appreciate the positive feedback from Senators. And it mirrors that which I have received from the
community at large, who were also concerned that our
young people need to be protected with regard to this
type of activity. With regard to Senator Robinson’s
questions, there were quite a few, well, at least three.
With regard to the investigation of these offences, that is a matter for BPS [Bermuda Police Service], and the
usual protocols would apply in each instance. In r e1036 8 July 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate gard to whether they are sex offenders, if the grooming results in a sexual offence taking place, then of
course on conviction they will be added to the sex offenders list.
With regard to the issue of intention, under
clause 3 . . . and I will just recap. That section is i ntended to cover situations where an adult who is in a
position of trust communicates to the person, a young
person, for the purposes of committing a sexual offence against that young person. The intended sexual
offence, as I said earlier, does not have to take place. And evidence of the intention of that person who is in
a position of trust will be actually gleaned or drawn
from the communications between the young person
and the (my wor ds) “perpetrators .”
With regard to Senator Jardine’s question
about the education component, the Government i ntends to do an education campaign using all forms of
media in order to increase public knowledge, partic ularly with regard to the young persons’ information on
the subject matter, and because they absolutely need
to be aware of the protections that do in fact exist.
And notwithstanding our efforts to ensure that
the Bill is properly edited, so often we would have a
typo or two, and that is unfortunate. However, under
the Attorney General’s power in the Computerization
and Revision of Laws Act [1989], I am able to correct those before the Bill goes into the database.
I am trying to recall if there are any other
questions that I need to address. But suffice it to say,
colleagues, I certainly do appreciate your support of
this Bill. And with that, Madam President, I move that
the Bill be now read a second time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. Carry on, Madam Attor ney
General.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President, I move that the Bill be now read a
third time.

The President: Is there any objection to the third
reading?
No objection.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President. I move that the Bill do now pass.
The President: Sorry. You need to move Standing
Order 26.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Yes. Thank
you, Madam President.
I move that Standing Order 26 be suspended
with respect to this Bill.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: I move that the
Bill do now pass.
The President: You have to do the third reading.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Oh, thank you.

[Inaudible interjections and laughter ]

BILL

THIRD READING

CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENT ACT 2020

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: I move that the
Bill be now read a third time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I move that the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent itled the Criminal Code Amendment Act 2020 do now
pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. The Bill is passed.

[Motion carried: The Criminal Code Amendment Act
2020 was read a third time and passed.]

The President: Thank you, Madam Attorney General.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy L ynn Simmons: Thank you,

We now move on to the second item
on our agenda, and that is consideration of the draft
Regulations entitled the Casino Gaming (Casino
Fees) Amendment Regulations. And, again, I think it is in the name of Senator Simmons -Wade.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 71(2)

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Madam President, I
move that Standing Order 71(2) be suspended so that
the Senate may now proceed with consideration of the Casino Gaming (Casino Fees) Amendment Regul ations 2020.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?


Bermuda Senate No objection. Carry on, Senator Simmons -
Wade.

[Motion carried: Standing Order 71(2) suspended.]
Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Madam President, I
move that the Senate do now take under consider ation the draft Regulations entitled the Casino Gaming
(Casino Fees) Amendment Regulations 2020.

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

REGULATIONS

CASINO GAMING (CASINO FEES)
AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2020

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Madam President, I
am pleased to invite the Senate to take under consi deration the Casino Gaming (Casino Fees) Amendment Regulations 2020 . These regulations provide the
Minister responsible for gaming the authority to waive or defer the fees prescribed under the Regulations.
Madam President, since the Gr een Paper on
Gaming for Bermuda 2009, we as legislators and the
wider community have wrestled with what gaming
could represent for Bermuda. In the intervening decade, Madam President, to say that the economic and
tourism landscape of Bermuda and the world has
changed would be an understatement. Whatever gaming may have been, it does not on its own repr esent the sea change required to boost tourism or this
economy. It is, however, one of those things that must
be pursued, developed, properly regulated and managed as a part of any recovery we hope to advance.
Madam President, the original regulations
were made in [March] 2017 and created a regime of fixed fees , which in certain cases were to be rei mbursed to the applicant. Senators will recall that the
regulations called for a casino licence application fee
of $600,000, a provisional licence fee of $1.4 million
and a casino licence issue fee of $1 million. Madam
President, that is $3 million payable before the first dice are rolled or the first card is dealt.
Madam President, the rationale for the impos ition of such onerous financial requirements is likely to have been threefold: firstly, to ensure that fly -by-night
operations were discouraged from entering the industry to the prejudice of Bermuda’s need to maintain high levels of industry in the anti -money laundering
and anti -terrorist financing arena. Secondly, the fees
are paid into the commission and are meant to sup-port the various regulatory functions and operations. Thirdly, Madam President, these fees also provide the
financial support for training for Bermudians entering
the gaming industry and critical support to the Problem Gaming Council. What these regulations did not have was an
ability of either the commission or the Minister r esponsible for gaming to cons ider economic changes
which would impact the ability of an investor or pr ospective casino operator to meet the strict fee r equirements. The Amendment Regulations before the
Senate now include that ability.
Madam President , Senators will note that the
regulations propose that the Minister responsible for gaming may on application in writing by the commi ssion waive or defer payment of a fee under the regul ations in whole or in part for a specified period with r espect to a specific person or class of person i n exceptional circumstances. Madam President, the new
Regulation 12(7) defines “exceptional circumstances,”
and it will not surprise Senators to note that these i nclude where a state of emergency has been declared,
or a public health emergency has been dec lared, or in
the event of hurricane or an event which significantly
and negatively impacts a sector of the economy or the
community in Bermuda.
Madam President, in this pandemic recovery
period, Bermuda will distinguish itself in a crowded marketplace cla mbering for investment by demonstrating flexibility and speed. We must anticipate the
needs of investors and do what we can to keep exis ting investors at the table. We must also inspire conf idence in those who are looking to invest in Bermuda.
Adding this authority to waive or defer the
payment of fees takes account of the very real ec onomic reality that has befallen the world as a result of
COVID -19. This is the kind of clear signal that we are
determined to send, that we are open and accessible,
reasonable and determined to fulfil our mandate to the
people of Bermuda using our best efforts.
Madam President, the additional amendment
proposed to be made by these regulations will retain the allocation of funds to the two critical areas that this
industry must also support. Rather than ascribe fixed amounts to these areas, Senators will note that 10 per
cent and 15 per cent of the provisional licence fee,
respectively, have been proposed to fund the training
of Bermudians in the industry and the Problem Ga ming Council. This is proportionate with the fixed sums
previously set under the 2017 Regulations.
Madam President, this is not a debate on
gaming. This is not a debate on the Bermuda Casino
Gaming Commission. This is not a debate on the merits of the integr ated resort model or any of the issues
which have been canvassed extensively in previous
debates in the Senate. This, Madam President, is a
debate about the change required to ensure gaming can move forward in Bermuda for the benefit of Bermuda and Bermudi ans. This is Government’s changing Bermuda’s reputation as intractable, slow to
change and tone- deaf to market forces. And we will
continue to act decisively.
Madam President, as I commend these Regulations for the consideration of the Senate, I would
1038 8 July 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate invite Senators to recall the already -challenging tourism environment during which gaming was advanced
by the previous Government. That environment has
significantly worsened as a result of the global pa ndemic. Any true developers’ continued investment and
revised business model should be supported, and with
the change we make today we acquire the ability to do
that.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons -Wade.
Would any Senator care to speak on these
Regulations?
I will repeat. Would any Senator care to speak
on these Regulations?

Sen. Jarion Richardson: Yes, Madam President.
Senator Jarion Richardson.

The President: Senator Jarion Richardson, you have
the floor.

Sen. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
We in the Opposition are mindful that the . . .
(I apologise. I am not feeling terribly well, so my voice
is a bit crackly.) We are mindful of the exceptional ci rcumstances that have taken place in Bermuda that
have resulted in the change of not just the p lans as
they relate to casino gaming, but plans all over the
Island, including matters which we have already di scussed today.
To that end, we do see that the changes in
these fees will create an additional, or rather create an
economic benefit for applications on a going- forward
basis. But the change does enable the entire amount
of money to be committed to Bermudians in gaming
as an employment benefit and treatment of addiction
can be waived altogether. So in other words, the
funds that would be sent to t hose items, the social
consequences of gaming in Bermuda, the things we
are doing to mitigate that can be waived due to ec onomic benefit.
So to that end, I would ask, What are the co nsiderations, or I should say, what is the Government
going to do where t hat economic benefit will be given?
And is this in a case of waiving, not in reducing fees?
We do not have any funds then to commit to those
social projects of mitigating risks of gaming in Berm uda.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jarion Ric hardson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
these Regulations?
Hearing none, then I hand over to Senator
Simmons -Wade for the question that has been posed.
Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Madam President, can
I just have a minute?

The President: Oh, absolutely, yes.

[Crosstalk]

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Thank you.

[Pause]

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Madam President.

The President: Yes, Senator Simmons -Wade. You
have the floor.

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: In response to the
question, the wording of the legislation, as you know,
says waived or deferred. As you know, the commi ssion has to be consulted prior to a decision being
made. As the commission basically is self -funded, it
would be, I would say, a deci sion by the commission
to ensure that any fees that are waived would ensure that they are still able to maintain the cost of their operation. Also, it is important to know that there are
checks and balances in place in regard to any commitment that the com mission has so that fees will not
in a sense be waived completely if they are not able to
fund the operation of the commission.

The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons -Wade.
Being no further questions, you can now
move your Regulations, the draft Regulations.

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Madam President, I
move that the said draft Regulations be approved and
that the following message be sent to His Excellency
the Governor:
May it please Your Excellency:
The Senate having had under consideration
the draf t Regulations entitled the Casino Gaming (C asino Fees) Amendment Regulations 2020, proposed
to be made by the Minister responsible for gaming
under the provision of section 196 of the Casino Gaming Act 2014, has the honour to inform Your Excellen-cy that th e Senate has approved the said draft Regulations. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No. Then a suitable message will be sent.
[Motion carried: The Casino Gaming (Casino Fees)
Amendment Regulat ions were approved.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons -Wade.
We will now move on to third item on our O rders of the Day, and that is the Companies (Ratific aBermuda Senate tion of Deferred Returns, Fees and Taxes) Amendment Act 2020.
And I believe that is in th e name of Senator
Campbell. You have the floor.

STANDING ORDER 25
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I would like to move that
the provisions of Standing Order 25 be granted so that
the Senate may now proceed with the seco nd readings of the Bills entitled the Companies (Ratification of
Deferred Returns, Fees and Taxes) Amendment Act
2020 and the Public Treasury (Administration and
Payments) Amendment Act 2020.

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

[Motion carried: Leave granted for the Companies
(Ratification of Deferred Returns, Fees and Taxes)
Amendment Act 2020 , and the Public Treasury (A dministration and Payments) Amendment Act 2020 , to
be read a second time on the same day as their first
readings .]

BILL

SECOND READING

COMPANIES (RATIFICATION OF DEFERRED
RETURNS, FEES AND TAXES)
AMENDMENT ACT 2020

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, the Bill
now before the Senate is the Companies (Ratification
of Deferred Returns, Fees and Taxes) Amendment
Act 2020 .
Senators will recall that following the severe
threat to public health by the communicable disease
COVID -19, the government offices were closed on the
19th of March, following which the Governor made a
proclamation of a state of emergency in Bermuda on
the 2nd of April 2020.
Madam President, this Bill seeks to ratify the
deferred requirements for returns, fees and taxes under the Companies Act 1981 that should have been
made by the 31st of March 2020. And it also seeks to
establish the legal authority for instituting temporary
measures by the Government to defer compliance
with certain statutory requirements that must be sati sfied by local and permit companies on or before the
31st of March every year.
Madam President, following the closure of
government offices, it emerged that not all local companies had the means to facilitate their filing and the payment of t heir fees electronically. Therefore, they
would have found themselves in breach of the Com-panies Act 1981. In order to accommodate those companies who could not make their submissions and
payments electronically, the Government instituted
temporary measures to assist such companies by extending the 31
st of March 2020 deadline for three
months to the 30th of June 2020.
Madam President, the Government extended
the deadline by way of a formal notice with the inte ntion to seek ratification of the legislation to defer co mpliance with the requirements of the Companies Act 1981 to the 30
th of June 2020.
Madam President and Senators, this Bill rat ifies the deferral of compliance with certain provisions of the Companies Act 1981 by the Minister of Finance,
while also providing power for the Minister responsible
for companies to defer to a later date filings required
under section 121, which is titled “Companies to make
declarations and pay annual tax,” and section 135,
entitled “Annual Fees,” of the Companies Act 1 981.
Madam President, I would like to just look at
the clauses of the Bill before us. Clause 2, Ratification
of deferred returns, fees and taxes under sections 121
and 135 of Companies Act 1981, states, “The deter-mination by the Minister of Finance to def er to 30
June 2020 compliance required to have been made
by 31 March 2020 with —
“(a) section 121 of the Companies Act 1981,
by local companies; and
“(b) section 135 of the Companies Act 1981,
by permit companies, is hereby ratified.”
And clause 3, amends section 287A of the
Companies Act 1981, which is entitled “Regulations,”
[states,] “The Companies Act 1981 is amended in section 287A by inserting after subsection (2) the follo wing new subsection —” (And that states, Madam President,) “‘(2A) Where compl iance with any provision of
this Act relating to the filing of returns is required by a
specified date, the Minister may by notice published in
the Gazette , subject to such conditions as he may
determine, defer such compliance by any person or
class of per sons to a later date in the case where
there is an occurrence in Bermuda of any of the exceptional circumstances provided in section 22(7) of
the Public Treasury (Administration and Payments)
Act 1969.’”
So, Madam President, with those brief co mments, I w elcome the comments of my fellow Senators. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Sen. Marcus Jones: Yes, I would, Madam President.

The President: Senator Marcus Jones, you have the
floor.

Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
And thank you to the Junior Minister of Finance for
laying out this Bill for the Senate team.
1040 8 July 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Giving the Minister of Finance the authority to
defer to a later date to satisfy compliance of submi ssion of documentation or payment of fees as it relates
to the Companies Act 1981 due to the proclamation of
a state of emergency, in this case COVID -19, makes
abundant sense. We support this Bill without any reservation.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Marcus Jones.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?

Sen. Jarion Richardson: Yes, Madam President.
Senator Jarion Richardson.

The President: Senator Jarion Richardson, you have
the floor.

Sen. Jarion Richar dson: Thank you.
And I obviously echo Senator Jones’s comments and thank the Junior Minister.
I would raise . . . and he might not have this
information readily available to him , but if it could be, I
beg your indulgence. The digitising of the annual r eturn pr ocess under the Companies Act has been d elayed several times. And the Registrar of Companies
has worked diligently, especially in relation to ec onomic substance regulations and other matters, to
move us forward in this space. So it is good to hear
that we are very mindful of the emergency circumstances, as well as just progressing altogether in
Bermuda.
That being said, I understand that there are
still some physical aspects of filings that are required
under the Companies Act. And I was wondering if the
Junior Minister would be able to speak, if at all, to that
modernisation, given that we are now recognising that
these deferred fees are part of this exercise.
So I suppose the specific question is, Will the
deferred fees process be included in the overall modernisation of our annual filings under the Companies
Act? Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jarion Richar dson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
No? Then, Senator Campbell, it is over to you.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, in response to Senator
Jarion Richardson’s question, the simple answer is, yes, it will be included. The end requirements will be
included in the modernising of the process, of our pr ocesses. The COVID -19 has not onl y for government,
but for many companies, forced them to directly look at certain processes and modernise them. And so, with that, Madam President, I would
like to move that the Bill entitled the Companies (Rat ification of Deferred Returns, Fees and Taxes )
Amendment Act 2020 be now read a second time.

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

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I move that
Standing Order 26 be suspended in respect of this
Bill.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

COMPANIES (RATIFICATION OF DEFERRED
RETURNS, FEES AND TAXES)
AMENDMENT ACT 2020
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I move that
the Bill entitled the Companies (Ratification of D eferred Returns, Fees and Taxes) Amendment Act
2020 be now read a third time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I move that
the Bill do now pass.

The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent itled the Companies (Ratification of Deferred Returns, Fees and Taxes) Amendment Act 2020 do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. The Bill is passed.
[Motion carried: The Companies (Ratification of D eferred Returns, Fees and Taxes) Amendment Act 2020 was read a third time and passed.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.

The President: And you can now move on to your
second Bill.

Sen. Vance Campbell: That is correct, Madam Pres ident.
The President: You have the floor.


Bermuda Senate Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I move that
the Bill entitled the Public Treas ury (Administration
and Payments) Amendment Act 2020 be now read a
second time.

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

BILL

SECOND READING

PUBLIC TREASURY (ADMINISTRATION AND
PAYMENTS) AMENDMENT ACT 2020
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, the Government wishes the Senate to now give consideration to the Bill entitled the
Public Treasury (Administration
and Payments) Amendment Act 2020 .
The purpose of this Bill is to provide power for
the Minister of Finance, in exceptional circumstances,
to write off or defer payment of public money and to
expand the regulation- making provisions.
Madam President, Senators will be aw are that
the Public Treasury (Administration and Payments)
Act 1969 (the Act) provides for the financial control
and management of government finances, the establishment of the Accountant General’s department, the
payment of monies withdrawn from the Consolidated
Fund and related matters.
Madam President, Senators are also aware
that Bermuda is experiencing the economic impact of
COVID -19, with almost a third of the workforce having
been laid off during the Island’s mandatory stay -athome period and the cessation of regular flights and
cruise ships to the Island. Government has already
taken various actions to assist employers and employees during these unprecedented times.
The Ministry has already instituted several
temporary emergency measures to assist businesses
that have a pressing need for financial relief. Some of
these measures were as follows: tax filing deadlines were extended; current penalties and fees that would normally apply for that period were waived; upon r equest, fees included in the Government Fees Regul ations 1976 could be deferred or waived.
Section 22 of the Act provides authority for the
Minister to approve the write- off of public money, and
the Emergency Powers Act 1963 may also provide for writing off certain fees. In addition, the Government
Fees Act 1965 empowers the Minister of Finance to
waive any particular Government fee in exceptional
circumstances.
Madam President, to provide greater certainty
and authority, it is proposed to amend section 22 of
the Act to provide for the following: to grant the Mini ster of Finance power, in exceptional circumstances, to
waive or defer payment of public money; to create a
process to be followed where public authorities’ r e-quest for a waiver of a fee, tax or penalty payable under the Government Fees Regulations 1976 or under
a particular enactment; and to ensure that the process
is transparent.
Madam President, to assist employees who
have been laid off, terminated or made redundant as a result of COVID -19, the Government quickly intr oduced an unemployment benefit. The unemployment
benefit came into effect on the 24
th of March 2020,
and the application period ended on the 30th of June
2020. It provides a weekly benefit (of the lesser amount of 60 per cent of an individual’s remuneration
or $500) to eligible persons, including work permit
holders, for up to 12 weeks, which has recently been extended to 16 weeks, Madam President.
Madam President, Senators are advised that
authority for the appeals provision that is included in the Public Treasury ( Administration and Payments)
(Temporary Unemployment Benefit) Regulations 2020
will also be made clear. Madam President, the pr oposed Bill seeks to address this issue and makes
technical amendments to widen the regulation- making
power set forth in the Act to include provisions for appeals. These technical amendments are required pursuant to the making of the Public Treasury (Admi nistration and Payments) (Temporary Unemployment
Benefit) Regulations 2020, which set forth the new regime for the aforementioned unemployment benefit
and had to be drafted as a matter of urgency due to COVID -19 and its economic impact.
Madam President, this part of the Bill will be
deemed to come into effect on the 24
th March 2020,
the day when the Unemployment Benefit Regulations came into effect. This provision also seeks to provide
greater flexibility in the Act, moving forward, to allow inclusion of provisions with respect to savings and
transitional matters in regulations.
Madam President, if we take a look at some of
the claus es in the Bill before us, clause 2 amends the
principal Act in section 1, which provides for the definition of the term “public money,” which is to include
‘“(a) taxes collected under the Taxes Management Act
1976 and other Taxes Acts . . . ; (b) fees paya ble for
the performance of a function by a public authority
under any enactment establishing the public authority
. . . ; and (c) penalties payable under any enactment
for the failure to submit returns or pay taxes or fees by
a date specified in the enactm ent.”’
Clause 3 repeals and replaces section 22 of
the principal Act as follows:
The new section empowers the Minister of
finance, on application by a public authority, to waive
or defer payment of public money after consulting the
Minister responsible for the enactment under which
the public money is prescribed and notifying the A ccountant General in writing, and only if “satisfied that
there are exceptional circumstances justifying the
waiver or deferment of payment in that particular case . . . .”
1042 8 July 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Madam President, the term “exceptional ci rcumstanc es is defined to include —
“(a) a Proclamation of a State of Emergency
under section 14 of the Bermuda Constitution
Order 1968;
“(b) a declaration of a public health emergency by the Minister of Health under s ection
107A of the Public Health Act 1949;
“(c) hurricanes and other major adverse nat ural or weather -related events significantly i mpacting Bermuda negatively, whether directly or indirectly;
“(d) an event or occurrence significantly i mpacting a sector of the economy or community
in Bermuda negatively, whether directly or i ndirectly, that could not reasonably have been foreseen; . . .
“(f) a situation where a person has been s elected to participate on behalf of Bermuda, or
is required to represent Bermuda, at an international event;
“(g) such other event or circumstance that the
Minister may deem, by notice published in the
Gazette, to be an exceptional circumstance
with respect to a particular case, after consul ting the Minister and public officers connect ed
with the case .”
Madam President, the Minister is required
when tabling the Financial Statements of the Consol idated Fund at the end of the financial year to lay b efore each House of the Legislature a report of public
money waivers and deferments granted during that
year.
Clause 4, Madam President, amends the
principal Act in section 33 with respect to the scope of
the regulation- making power conferred by that section
further to the Public Treasury (Administration and Payments) (Temporary Unemployment B enefit) Reg ulations 2020, which were made due to COVID -19.
And, Madam President, clause 6 provides for
the commencement.
So with those introductory remarks, Madam
President, I now read for the second time the Bill ent itled the Public Treasury (Administration and Pa yments) Amendment Act 2020.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Is there any objection to the—
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
this Bill?

Sen. Marcus Jones: Yes, Madam President.

The President: Senator Marcus Jones, you have the
floor.
Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
Exceptional circumstances such as state of
emergency, natural disaster or an unforeseen event
that negatively impacts Bermuda’s economy warrant
the Minister being given the power to be able to defer payments of public money. I take special note in the
point that any persons benefiting from this waiver or
deferment who does not comply with the conditions,
these allowances can be reversed. I applaud that particular clause being put in there. I think this is i mportant.
In reference to clause 3, [new] section 22(5), I
do have a question. Can the Junior Minister confirm
that once the financial year in question wherein a d eferment has been granted has come to an end, can
the person or company reapply for their time to be
extended for that deferment beyond that financial year? And if so, should there not be a sunset clause
to restrict the potential misuse of the Minister’s deferment of payment powers? That would be my first
question.
And secondly, also at the end of this financial
year, March 31
st, 2021, one would expect that there
would have been a substantial number of persons and companies of a variety of industries requesting wai vers and deferments due to these exceptional circumstances. Can the Junior Minister confirm to this Chamber that we may expect an interim report prior to
the end of the financial year from the Minister of F inance detailing the dollar amounts of waivers and deferments by business sector, as opposed to individual
persons and companies, as that amount we would
expect would be fairly substantial?
And with those comments and two questions,
I thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Marcus Jones.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?

Sen. Jarion Richardson: Yes, Madam President,
Senator Jarion Richardson.
The President: Yes, Senator Jarion Richardson. You
have the floor.
Sen. Jarion Richardson: Thank you.
I am curious about the lay ing of the financial
statements of the Consolidated Fund at the end of the
financial year and that we would lay a report of the
public money waived or deferred. It strikes me as being quite late in the day to make that filing. And were this power to be mis used, it strikes me that an annual
filing would be quite late in the day to catch it. I am
very mindful, just by virtue of the size of Bermuda and
our economy, that our public authorities typically are
staffed by those connected with the people, such as
Ministers, in decision -making positions in Bermuda.
So I am mindful that . . . and add to that that we do not


Bermuda Senate have all of our public authorities having their audited
financial statements in line and being tabled in a tim ely fashion as required by statute as it is today. So I am
somewhat concerned that where we would have the
ability or enshrine the ability in statute, to then waive those fees from the public authorities, that this could
be abused.
So to that end, I would ask the Junior Minister
to allay thos e concerns. How is this going to avoid
being abused, given that we do have such close connections between decision- makers and those a ppointed at the very high levels of our public author ities? And is the annual laying of that waiver, how has
the Government found that acceptable instead of
something a little bit more perhaps transparent such
as a gazetting of those waivers?
Thank you very much.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jarion Richar dson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill? No? Then , hearing none, Senator Campbell
it is over to you.

[Inaudible interjection]

Sen. Vance Campbell: Sorry, Madam President. I left
it on mute, my microphone.
We are waiting for some responses from the
technical people in regard to the questions that were
posed. They were very extensive questions. So I am
just waiting for responses from them, Madam Pres ident, if you could bear with me.

The President: Certainly, Senator Campbell. We can
give you a few minutes.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
[Pause]

Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you for that time, Madam President.

The President: You are welcome, Senator Campbell.
Carry on.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, given that
there may be adjustments that may take place
throughout the course of the year, particularly at the
end of a financial year, it makes sense that there is
one review at the end of the fiscal year. This is also consistent with the annual review that we already
have in place of the Consolidated Fund and the ins
and outs of that fund.
When it comes to the deferments, it will d epend on the individual circumstances of each applic ation. There cannot be an expectation that every appl ication will be cooking hot. There will be different ci r-cumstances for different cases and dif ferent applic ations. So that will determine the deferment, as well as
the extent of that deferment. So it makes sense when
you consider that there will be potential for adjustment
and that we already have a process in place to review the Consolidated Fund anyway, that we align this pr ocess with that which is already in existence, Madam
President. And that is where the accountability comes
in, Madam President.
So as I stated in my brief, there will be the
requirement to advise of the deferments throughout that year. And the various bodies of the Legislature,
the Members will have the opportunity to question the
Minister on these deferments. So I think the checks
and balances are there. And, you know, there is no
more risk in this area than exists in any other area
where the Minister has discretion, Madam President.
That has, hopefully, answered all of the questions that were posed, Madam President. If not, I can
accept clarification on whether that is the case, Madam President.

The President: Senators Jones and Jarion Richar dson, do you have any further questions?
Sen. Marcus Jones: Yes, Madam President. Just for
clarity’s sake, if the Junior Minister could just . . . I
guess it is really a yes -or-no answer. And that is to the
question of whether there will be a sunset clause or
whether that has been considered. Is the answer therefore no? And it will be entirely at the discretion of
the Minister to allow adjustments and deferments that can go on for years ad infinitum? Am I to understand
that?

Sen. Vance C ampbell: One moment, Madam Pres ident.
The President: Certainly, Senator Campbell.

[Pause]

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, it is the
belief that because of the checks and balances that
exist at this time, no sunset clause is required.

Sen. Marcus Jones: Madam President.

[Crosstalk]
Sen. Marcus Jones: I am sorry. And to my second
question, I did ask if there was going to be . . . especially since these are exceptional circumstances. This pandemic, I would say in recent memory has not
struck the economy and businesses so harshly as it
has done over the last few months, which will lead me
to believe that there will be large numbers of compa-nies that will be requesting this deferment. And this
being an exceptional case, my question was, Would
1044 8 July 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate the Go vernment in fact consider giving this House a
report? And again, not along the lines of individual
companies, but, you know, for example, the hotel sector. No airports opened. There are no guests in the
hotel. They are not going to have any revenue. [They have] no business. It makes sense for them to ask for
deferment for even several quarters, which would be a
significant amount of money.
And I believe for the interests of us as Legisl ators, who are looking to make sure that there is a
good accountability of the revenues that are coming
in, the Government has to find means of operating.
Whether we can get an interim report to see what the
status is of deferred or waived payments even before
the end of the year, because I think that information is important , even prior to the end of the financial year of
March 2021.

The President: Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: If that is acceptable to Senators—
[Crosstalk]
Sen. Vance Campbell: Sorry, Madam President. I will
commit to pass the request made by Senator Jones
on to the Minister and report back in that regard.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you.
The President: Senator Campbell, you can now
move your Bill.

Sen. Vance Campbell: With that, Madam President, I
move that the Bill entitled the Public Treasury (Admi nistration and Payments) Amendment Act 2020 be now
read a second time.

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

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I move that
Standing Order 26 be suspended in respect of this
Bill.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]


BILL

THIRD READING

PUBLIC TREASURY (ADMINISTRATION AND
PAYMENTS) AMENDMENT ACT 2020

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I move that
the Bill entitled the Public Treasury (Administration
and Payments) Amendment Act 2020 be now read a
third time.

The President: Is there any objection to the third
reading?
No objection. Carry on.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I move that
the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent itled the Public Treasury (Administration and Pa yments) Amendment Act 2020 do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Bill is passed.
[Motion carried: The Public Treasury (Administration
and Payments) Amendment Act 2020 was read a third
time and passed.]
The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.

The President: And now, Senators, we are going to
move on to our final Bill. And that is the second reading of the Employment Amendment Act 2020. I think
that is in the name of Senator Caesar.
You have the floor.

Sen. Crystal Caesar: Yes. Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
the Employment Amendment Act 2020 be now read a
second time.

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

Sen. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, the Bill before the Senate
is the Bill entitled th e Employment Amendment Act
2020 .
[Inaudible interjection]
The President: Sorry, Senator Caesar.
My error. It is Standing O rder 25, not . . . Can
you move 25?


Bermuda Senate STANDING ORDER 25

Sen. Crystal Caesar: Okay, yes. Sorry. I thought I
had to but I wasn’t sure. Thank you for that.
Madam President, I move that the provisions
of Standing Order 25 be granted so that the Senate
may now proceed with the second reading of the Bill
entitled the Employment Amendment Act 2020.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. Carry on, Senator Caesar.

[Motion carried: Leave granted for the Employment
Amendment Act 2020 to be read a second time on the
same day as its first reading.]

Sen. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam President.
I now move that the Bill entitled the Emplo yment Amendment Act 2020 be read for a second time.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. Carry on, Senator Caesar.

BILL

SECOND READING

EMPLOYMENT AMENDMENT ACT 2020

Sen. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam President.
The purpose of the Employment Amendment
Act 2020 is to amend section 32 of the Act to exclude
the period of the state of emergency in Bermuda from
the 1st of April 2020 to the 30th of June 2020 for the
calculation of the four -month lay -off period, beyond
which under the Act an employee who has been laid
off must either be recalled or is deemed to be term inated and entitled to his severance pay.
Madam President, by way of background, the
World Health Organization (or WHO) responded to an
outbreak of respiratory di sease caused by a novel
coronavirus, which has the names coronavirus di sease 2019 or abbreviated as COVID -19. The COVID -
19 outbreak is an unprecedented and severe threat to
the public health of Bermuda. Accordingly, His Excel-lency the Governor issued a proclamation of emergency under section 14 of the Bermuda Constitution
Order 1968.
Madam President, subsequent actions of this
Government were swift and aimed to reduce the spread of this disease. Actions included the impl ementation of a curfew; a series of emergency regul ations, starting first with the shelter -in-place regul ations; and continuing precautions regulations as r estrictions were gradually lifted. These actions had the
effect of closing businesses in this country, ranging
from a complete closure t o limited operations, depend ing upon the sector. The economic implications
of these actions are very significant and will be felt for some time. Over 9,800 employees were laid off and
subsequently applied for the unemployment benefit
related to COVID -19. T he Government acted quickly
to put these provisions in place to provide a safety net for employees who otherwise would have no means of
income.
Madam President, the separate public treasury administration payments, or temporary unem-ployment benefit, has b een passed by the Senate and
extends the unemployment benefit programme for another four weeks to support our people and provide them with an added layer of security as businesses
continue to reopen and our economy begins to move
again.
Following engagement with industry associ ations and union representatives, this Bill will amend
section 32 of the Act with respect to lay -off due to the
impact of the COVID -19 pandemic resulting in the
state of emergency. The amendment will exclude the
period from the 1
st of April to the 30th of June 2020
from the calculation of the period of four months after
which a lay -off is deemed to be a termination for r edundancy and the former employee is entitled to his severance payment. The statutory severance allo wance under sect ion 23 of the Act ranges from two
weeks’ pay where an employee has completed one full year of service to a maximum of 20 weeks’ pay, depending on the length of service. The period from
April 1
st to June 30th will not be counted toward the
four months of which lay -off is deemed to be termination if the employee was laid off before or during the state of emergency.
The purpose of these changes is to protect
both employees and employers in these unprecedent-ed times. In the face of this global pandemic, emplo yees should not lose their benefit entitlement or redu ndancy pay under the Act, and this must be protected. The Government moved to protect employees by first
introducing an unemployment benefit under a very short time frame and due to this unprecedented pa ndemic to assist people. Secondly, the Government,
with cooperation from the public, moved quickly to
contain the spread of the virus, increased testing and is now moving rapidly to open the economy.
It is said that the best social policy is a job,
and this Government is acting quickly to enable bus inesses to safely and prudently get people back to
work.
Finally, this amendment to the Employment
Act must be seen within the context of these previous
steps to simultaneously protect the public and reopen
the economy. This Government is allowing for the ex-ception period that allows the state of emergency to
be excluded from the calculation of the lay -off period
to assist employers in retaining their business as a
going concern.
Forcing companies into bankr uptcy, which is
the alternative for many businesses without this amendment, would be a net destroyer of jobs. Remov1046 8 July 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate ing jobs from the economy cannot be the cons equence of a government that is attempting to improve
conditions for workers. Over the long term, this
amendment protects workers because it provides em-ployers with time to re- employ workers and reduces
the loss of jobs to the economy. On the other hand,
employers with little or no cash and significantly lower
revenues due to the pandemic should not be forced
into bankruptcy by paying these benefits now. A compromise must be reached.
This move represents a balanced approach to
provide both groups an opportunity to adapt to the new normal. It should be noted that the concerns of
the Bermuda Hotel Assoc iation, the Bermuda E mployers’ Council, union representatives and others
have been fully considered in arriving at this policy
decision. Moving forward, Government will continue to
work with industry partners to find solutions to many of
the problems they are experiencing. In particular, the
Ministry of Labour is meeting with the hotel industry to
address some of their particular concerns this Friday at the First National Tripartite meeting. And we will
navigate these difficult times together.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Caesar.
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
No?

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26
Sen. Crystal Caesar: Okay. All right.
With that, Madam President, I move that
[Standing Order] 26 be suspende d in respect of this
Bill.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

EMPLOYMENT AMENDMENT ACT 2020
Sen. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam President.
I move that the Bill entitled the Employment
Amendment Act 2020 be now read a third time.
The President: Is there any objection to the third
reading?
No objection.
Sen. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam President.
I move that the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent itled the Employment Amendment Act 2020 do now
pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. The Bill is passed.

[Motion carried: The Employment Amendment Act 2020 was read a third time and pas sed.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Caesar.
That concludes our Bills that we were supposed to do today.

MOTIONS

The President: There are none.

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR
OBITUARY SPEECHES
The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
either of these issues?
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Yes. I would
like to speak, Madam President.
The President: Yes. Madam Attorney General, you
have the floor.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I would like to highlight today a young lady
who is very, very, very special. Her name is Kenni
Thompson, and she is a young lady who is playing
football, professional ladies football, in Spain. Kenni
spent four years in Spain, and left here when she was
quite young. And she was scouted by Barcelona, the
FC Barcelona. And she spent time there, and she
moved on from there to UE Cornell á and Sant Gabriel
and actually played also with a boys team, and then
went on to join [Chelsea FC Women] in 2016, which is
a feat in itself.
Kenni has played for Espanyol and has in r ecent days, very recently been recruited by —and these
names always defeat me—Deportivo, in another part
of Spain.
And what I want to highlight with Kenni are
two things. Number one, her impeccabl e football pe digree. She is the daughter of Kenny Thompson, who is
currently the North Village Director of Football and a
former national player and coach. And he along with
his wife, Kim, who is in fact my sister, has bred and
developed this absolutely wonderful young lady.
And I single her out today not because of the
family connection, but because of the resilience and discipline this young lady has shown in pursuing her
passion. And she is such a role model to young ladies
in this space that it is incr edible. Kenni is now, as a


Bermuda Senate result of COVID, alone in Spain. And as we speak,
she has just moved from Cornell á up to another part,
a remote part of Spain, where she is, you know, settling and apartment hunting on her own. I just find it
absolutely incredibl e.
And so I would like to highlight her commi tment to her passion. I mean, we all can be passionate, but translating that passion into something pr oductive and the personal attributes that are required to
get our young people there require really a sense of
discipline, which she [emanates]. And so I want to congratulate her for her fortitude in sticking to the
wicket and pursuing her passion without any wavering
whatsoever. And I wish her all the best on behalf of us
all, as I do the other young people, particularly the young men who are in various spots while pursuing
their individual dreams. So kudos to Kenni, and I wish
her well as she continues her passion.
I would also like to belatedly congratulate
North Village on their success in winning the lead, and also Devonshire Colts in their success as well. And I highlight them, not again because of the family connections, and Kenny Thompson was the coach of
North Village, but to see the brand of excellence that
he brings and imparts wherever he goes. And I have
had the benefit of having my children be under his
guidance. I have two sons , Ian and Shane, who
played football, who have played football. And they
played with Kenny since they were three and six years
old—three and five years old, respectively. And his
brand of discipline in the football space has led to the
success of many young people for what he has done.
And he is unwavering, again, in his dedication and demand of excellence.
He has this thing about kids not being medi ocre. And it played itself out with his own personal journey in the sporting world, also by what you see em ulated in his daughter Kenni. And I say all of that to say
he has come back to North Village where he began,
and has brought them through to champion status.
And it is actually a feat to see. And I have watched his
brand of excellence transform those players, some of
whom he has had from youngsters and all of whom he would know to a powerhouse in Bermuda football to
be reckoned with.
And I highlight Devonshire Colts because the ir
coach, Jeremy Salaam, is also a coach who is pivotal
in terms of leadership with our young people. And I
applaud Jeremy for the success with Devonshire Colts
again bringing a brand of leadership and discipline
which is well deserved and needed in Bermuda today.
So to those young men and to all their players
who have achieved excellence during this former period, I wish you well and I congratulate you on your
wonderful achievements.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Madam Attorney G eneral. Would any other Senator care to speak on
congratulatory or obituary speeches?
[Crosstalk]

[Inaudible interjections and laughter ]

The President: Sorry. Who was the first one? I heard
two voices. Senator Simmons -Wade, you have the
floor.

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Thank you, Madam
President.
I would like to extend birthday wishes to
Kamela, Ceola and Frederick Wade, who of course
you know are my children. They turned 29 years t oday. And I would say against odds, all odds, they were
born premat urely at 26 weeks, weighing six pounds
three ounces in total. So at this time they have deve loped into healthy adults who are productive, and I
would say citizens of the world. But I also take this
opportunity to say to those single parents out there that the children do grow up. And if you put the time
and the energy in your children, you can manage as a
single parent, as being a single parent for 24years.
Challenging? Yes. But it is possible.
I also take this opportunity . . . Well, I will say
my childre n are probably quite embarrassed. And I
hope they are not listening to this on the radio.

[Laughter]

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: But I also take the opportunity to extend congratulations to Katrina Hassell and Trae Trott . They both have been awarded $5,000
scholarships from the Leonard Teye- Botchway
awards. Ms. Hassell, who is from Southampton, is
studying; she is in her second year at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences doing her doctorate in optometry and her master’s in public
health. Mr. Trott is studying for a Bachelor of Science
degree in optometry at Bradford University in Britain.
As always, I guess I am just overwhelmed
when I hear the young people who do so well successfully in their academ ic studies and who are committed to coming back to Bermuda and to repay the
debt and support that they received from Bermuda. So
I applaud these two young people. And I encourage
other individuals to (1) apply for scholarships because
it is expensive, and (2) to know that these young pe ople are committed to play a role and to pay back to their country and to support their people.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons -Wade.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Sen. Dwayn e Robinson: I would, Madam President.

1048 8 July 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Senator Robinson, you have the floor.

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you. I would like to
congratulate the two private soldiers, Private Williams
and Private Wilkes, who have successfully begun the road t o recovery. Private Williams came out of a six -
hour operation, and he will need several more in order
to walk. But I want to send congratulations to him for
pulling through that difficult operation. And also to Pr ivate Wilkes, who is currently home recuper ating at his
house.
I have spent some time in the Regiment, and I
was privileged to lace my boots alongside Private Wi lliams. He actually was in one of my sections for a bit when I was just a fresh corporal. And he always was a very fun- loving, and is sti ll coming out of it very fun
and energetic. And I just want to shine a light on how great the [Bermuda] Regiment Association has been
in keeping us informed on the developments of him
and his health, and the developments of Private
Wilkes as well.
And I w ant to do a general congratulations to
the Royal Bermuda Regiment, who in my time there, you know, instilled a lot of great qualifies in me, and
stepped up in the unknown during this COVID -19
pandemic and performed admirably. And even with
two of their own being critically injured, they still
showed up and continued to do their duties on behalf
of Bermuda. So I would like to congratulate the two
privates and the Royal Bermuda Regiment as a
whole. Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson. I am
sure we will join you in that.
Would any other Senator care to speak?

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Yes. I would, Madam President.

The President: Senator Michelle Simmons, you have
the floor.
Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you.
I am going to ask that the Senate send cond olences to the family of the late, great Earl Cameron.
His full name was, in fact, Earlston Jerusalem Camer-on, one of the greatest Bermuda- born actors of our
time. Mr. Cameron began life as a merchant seaman
and eventually became a hotel dishwasher and ice
cream salesman, and through his phenomenal career
has been heralded as the best Black British actor of
his generation. Even though Mr. Cameron spent most of his life as a professional actor in the United Kingdom, his love for his homeland, the place of his birth,
never ever dimmed.
As we have heard over the past week since
he passed, he was probably the first Black actor to
star in a major British film. That was the film called
Pool of London, which hit the screens in 1951. Unfo r-tunately, because of racist attitudes, that film was never shown in Bermuda at that time. I think there
may have been screenings of late, but what a pity,
what a loss for us. After that he earned numerous
parts in films and on television.
In fact, Mr. Cameron made 90 films in his c areer. In fact, his career spanned 62 years, from 1951
to 2013. That means that at the age of 96, he was still
sought after and respected as an actor. I think that is
phenomenal. He performed beside such notable actors as Sean Connery, Sidney Poitier, Nicole Kidman,
Sean Penn, Helen Mirren, Leonardo DiCaprio and
more.
But before I finish, Madam President, I just
want to point out that a very important aspect of Earl Cameron’s life was his faith. We have all learnt that he
was a Bah á’í, and that is one of the reasons why he
moved to the Solomon Islands many years ago because he intended [to] and he did establish a Bahá’í
centre there. Unfortunately, that is also the place where his first wife, Audrey, died. When he moved
back to the United Kingdom, he resumed his acting career and married again. His widow is Barbara Cameron.
Some notable honours: Earl Cameron was
made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2009. The City Hall Theatre here in Bermuda was
named after him in December 2012. It is now the Earl Cameron Theatre. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Warwick in 2013. He was
the fi rst inductee into the Screen Nation Hall of Fame
in 2016. And the Bermuda Arts Council has created
the Earl Cameron Award, which I believe was pr esented for the first time last year in 2019.
He was the youngest of six children. And he
himself had six children. And now he has numerous
grandchildren scattered all over the world.
In closing, Madam President, I will just share
a couple of quotes. The first is from his children, who said, “He refused to take roles that demeaned or st ereotyped the character of people of colour.” And another quote from a British actor by the name of Pater-son Joseph: “His generation’s pioneering shoulders
are what my generation of actors stand on.”
Earl Cameron was truly a man of great stature, a brilliant actor, a kindly man and a true legend of
the past century. And I think his life shows his commitment to fulfilling a dream that he had—not just
through any old action, but he persisted in spite of the
fact that he had to work hard to get many of those
roles that he secured i n the end. So, passion, persi stence and greatness —they come through hard work.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Si mmons. I am sure the entire Senate body joins you and
thanks you for your tribute to Earl Cameron.
Would any other Senator care to speak?



Bermuda Senate Sen. Anthony Richardson: Yes, Madam President,
Senator Richardson.

The President: Senator Richardson, you have the
floor.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Yes. Good afternoon
again, Madam President and to my fellow Senators.
I want to actually take the time to give what I
want to call introductory congratulatory comments for
the COVID testing team. Members of the Senate and Bermuda for sure will know that the Government i mposed a new testing protocol. And according to the
Premier, it is the strictest testing protocol in the world,
which requires optimally that if you are coming to
Bermuda as a visitor or as a returning guest that you
be tested before you come, within 72 hours ideally,
tested once you get to Bermuda at the air port sites,
and then tested on days three, seven and fourteen.
In my private capacity, I have been more than
pleased to observe how this protocol has been put into place. And at the risk of causing offence, I want to
highlight or certainly mention the leaders, those I
deem to be the leaders of the whole process, who
would be Dr. Heather Armstrong, a recent resident of
Bermuda, actually new in her post, but actually a
pleasant person to deal with and talk to and to ob-serve as she went about getting the team in place to
start to conduct the testing.
For Dr. Carika Weldon, whom we all have
heard about for sure, but I had the distinct joy to go
and see her in her lab as she—not while she was pr ocessing, but to understand what she does. And I am
going to commend her and her team again for what
they do, because we all get excited when they pr ocess “X” number and these are the results, not reali sing that there is a significant and systemic process by
which they reconcile the results before they test —the
sample siz e before they test and then go through a
significant process to then give the results to the var ious persons who have been tested.
I also want to . . . and what has been interes ting, by the way, I spoke to Dr. Carika and her team. And they actually refused to let me know who they are
individually because they believe (and they said this)
that they are behind the scenes. They are doing what needs to get done. And in some cases, many cases
actually, they are working very late into the evening to
ensure or to assure that we get the results.
Another person whom I want to specifically
commend is Dr. Emily Osse yran. My exposure to Dr.
Osse yran—you know, we think that we know people,
but it is not until we actually work closely with them do
we observe how they ar e in their own discipline. She
is definitely a perfectionist. And I had the opportunity
again to observe her doing some of the nasal tests. And I had many people say on a random basis that
she is one of gentlest persons to conduct the test that
they have had. And some of these people are from overseas and still commending her for how gentle she
is.
And an individual person whom I want to mention also —and I keep emphasising that there are
many. And I trust that at some point they will allow me
to know who t hey are so I can do this in a more formal
way—is Nurse Whitney Matthew, another gentle person who is onsite doing the testing. And I knew her up until yesterday as Nurse Whitney, and took the
chance to ask her, you know, a bit of her brief bac kground to fi nd out that she is Nurse Whitney Matthew.
And I worked with her mother for a long time at the Accountant General’s Department many, many years
ago when obviously she was a youngster. But now to
see her to really grow into her own and to be confident
in what she does as one of the persons who is onsite
to continue the testing as necessary.
I do not want to exclude any others. Certainly
there is the public health team who have been doing
the health screening for a long period of time. But I
mention the four that I just talked about in particular
because the actual testing now occurs upon entry. And I have seen for myself in so many cases where
people are actually pleasantly surprised at how gentle
the testing can occur.
I do of course commend everyone who av ails
themselves of the testing because it does, of course,
give Bermuda a better understanding of the prev alence or lack thereof in Bermuda. And I will also say
that we had the opportunity to test some international
persons. And they also commend Bermuda generally
because, in many instances in the US, and we have seen the news reports also, (1) you cannot easily get
a test; and (2) in many cases when you get the test,
the time to get the results back is between five and
sometimes ten days, when the Bermuda experience is
that the results come sometime within six hours, but generally almost guaranteed that you will get them
overnight, and certainly within twenty -four hours.
And so I will at some other point in time, Madam President, give a more formal commendation. But
I did not want this opportunity to pass without my sa ying a few words and recognising the entire team that
undergirds the success —and I say success of our
COVID -19 experience, which is based upon so much
work. And it is interesting also to note that of those
whom I mentioned, they are all female, an interesting
observance. Certainly, no discredit to us as males, but
the truth is that the majority of testers, or those from
the testing sites, have in fact been female.
And so I do commend them all. I am sure that
you, Madam President, have played some role in terms of the infrastructure, based on your own bac kground, and again I commend everybody for this tr emendous experience that we are going through at the moment.
Thank you, Madam President.

1050 8 July 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senator Anthony Ric hardson. And I am sure the entire Senate body will join
you in your comments of recommendation and just
highlighting the work of this team, because they are
the ones who are working, along with others, to keep us safe. So thank you for your remarks.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
[congratulatory] and/or obituary [section]?

Sen. Vance Campbell: Yes, Madam President.
The President: Senator Campbell, you have the floor.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I bring
these congratulatory . . . I am getting tongue- tied. It
must be lunchtime.

[Laughter]

Sen. Vance Campbell: I bring my remarks on behalf
of the entire Senate team. First of all, we would like to
congratulate Taiyana Allen. She received the Berm uda International Long Term Insurers and Reinsurers [BILTIR] Award of $30,000 of scholarship. She is a
former CedarBridge Academy student. She is 21, of
Southampton Parish. And she will use the money to
attend Georgia State University in the J. Mack Robi nson College of Business Dual Analytics Program. She
will receive a Master of Science in Data Analytics and
a Master of Actuarial Science.
And according to the BILTIR educational
award, the Association of Bermuda International Companies [ABIC ], this is part of their awards pr ogramme and was started back in 1977 and to date
have helped some 600 Bermudian students pursue
full- and part -time studies overseas in overseas co lleges and universities. So, congratulations to Taiyana
Allen.
(And I will endeavour to forward the spelling of
the names to the Clerk, because there is no consistency in how certain things are spelled amongst our
names today.)
Secondly, we would like to congratulate M ychel Jones. And she is the Duperreault Fellowship
recipient of a $64,000 four -year (over four years) for a
Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology Addictions.
And this is offered online by Walden University. She is
currently employed at the Salvation Army Harbour
Lights programme, where she provides direct addi ction services. And according to the Duperreault Fellowship Chair, Katherine Watson, they are delighted
to announce that she is the 2020 Fellow. And during her interview, the committee members were i mpressed by her broad understanding of the complexity
of addiction and the importance of understanding
trauma, family dynamics, modes of therapy and wor king within the cultural and societal norms in our small
community. Lastly on my congratulatory remarks, or our
remarks, I would like to congratulate on behalf of our
Senate team Berkeley Institute student Precious Hayward, who has been awarded $3,500 and a travel
expense bursary. The spokesperson on behalf of Digicel Bermuda indicated that she was the winner
and that she “exhibits outstanding qualities both personally and scholastically, and comes as a highly recommended recipient from her peers and teachers
alike.” The bursary eligibility was not contingent on
academics solely, rather a well -rounded individual
who showcases leadership, tenacity and drive. So,
congratulations to Precious Hayward.
Lastly, Madam President, I have two thank
yous. One to the Chubb Foundation, who created the Chubb Charitable Foundation (to be accurate) that
created the Community Service Values Summer Pr ogramme. And, Madam President, th is is an initiative
which will fund a weekly salary for 35 students in r eturn for 20 hours a week of community service at a
designated non- profit organisation. A Chubb spokesperson said that the foundation announced “the creation of a new summer volunteer initiative called Community Service Values Summer Program designed to
support Bermudian college students and several local
non-profit organizations that have been impacted during the current pandemic.
“The Chubb Charitable Foundation —Bermuda
partnered wit h the Ministry of Education, the Bermuda
College, Knowledge Quest and the Bermuda Bus iness Development Agency to identify up to 35 Ber-mudians entering their college sophomore, junior, or senior years and in need of summer employment to
continue their studi es in the fall.”
Madam President, this not only helps the
charities, but I am not sure if you can recall back as
far as your college days, but I certainly needed a summer job to assist with the paying of my college
tuition. So thanks again to Chubb Charit able Foundation Bermuda for their generosity.
And lastly, Madam President a thank you to
RUBiS, who has gifted P.A.L.S. with a brand- new van,
a Renault Kangoo, which will assist them in getting
around and meeting with the various people who use
their serv ices. So, thank you to RUBiS.
And thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.

Would any other Senator care to speak on the
congratulatory and/or obituary section?
No? Then I would just like to ask Senators to
send condolences to the family of Mrs. Phillipa Alexandria Bassett, who was the wife of Gladstone “Tab”
Bassett, who passed away recently. And we would
like to have condolences sent to her sons, Richard and Philip. Mrs. Bassett was a Jamaican. And unfortunately, because of COVID -19, the family from J amaica were not able to come here for her funeral. But
they did send a tape. And I think this was appreciated


Bermuda Senate by not only her sons, but all those who attended the
funeral. So I just want to let the sons know that we
send condolences to them.
And finally, we move on to item number 16 on
the Orders of the Day.

ADJOURNMENT

The President: Madam Attorney General.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President. I move that the Senate do now adjourn to Wednesday, Jul y 15th.

The President: Thank you, Madam Attorney General.
Would any Senator care to speak on the m otion to adjourn?

Sen. Vance Campbell: Yes, Madam President.

The President: Senator Campbell, you have the floor.

POSITIVE CHANGES FOR BERMUDA
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I am going
to continue to talk about self -empowerment and taking
responsibility for your life.
Many, many, many years ago, I was told a
story of a pastor who, every time he appeared before his congregation, preached the same sermon. And
after several occasions in doing this he was approached by a member of the congregation and asked
why he kept preaching the same sermon. And his r esponse was that when the congregation started living up to the principles he was outlining in his sermon, he
would move on to a new one.
So I am going to dwell on self -empowerment
and taking responsibility for a little while longer. But I am encouraged that I do not have to dwell too long,
because we have already seen evidence that our young peopl e are taking up the . . . they are self -
empowered, and they are taking responsibility for their
lives. And we have heard of Taiyana Allen and Mychel
Jones, Precious Hayward, Trae Scott and Katrina Hassell earlier, Madam President.
So I will begin. This will be somewhat focused
with an emphasis on education. Madam President, I
want to read a poem, “Transition [13]” to our team. I
do not know who the author is, but I think it is appr opriate to open with this. And it goes [as follows]:
We knew not
We studied
We learned all there was to know
We taught others

Then we forgot what we learned
And then forgot that we had forgotten

Now we are taught (By those who were once taught by us )
Knowledge
That we already had

So . . .
We study
We learn all there is to know
We teach others

Will we forget . . . AGAIN
Madam President, with your indulgence I
would like to read some words of Anthony Browder,
an author whom I spoke about before.

The President: Certainly you may. Carry on.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you. Thank you, Madam President.
And he said in his book, From the Browder
File, that “everything that we think and know is a result
of the information which comes into our consciousness and is stored in our mental computer. This i nformation forms the perspective through which we
view reality. It also determines how we function within
society and how others respond to us.” He goes on to
say that, “the mind, like any other computer, is only
capable of responding to the information whic h is in its
memory. And if the information is not there, you cannot draw upon it. If the information is incorrect, then
your responses will also be incorrect. The equation is
simple: If limits are placed on your thinking, then limits
are automatically plac ed on your ability to view reality
and act intelligently.”
Madam President, Dick Gregory said it best
when he stated, Information is power. “ Education is
not power and m oney is not power. Information is
power. ” Madam President, the lack of specific information denies us the opportunity to make intelligent
decisions about our life. And, Madam President, it is
only through the acquisition of information that a
group of people can develop the ability to control their
destinies.
Madam President, who is responsible for e nsuring that this information is received or obtained? Is it the Minister of Education or the Department of Education? Is it the teachers in the school system? Is it
the parents? Or does that fall on the individuals themselves?
Madam President, in the early stages of one’s
life, I believe it is the responsibility of the Minister and
the Ministry, of the teachers and the parents. And as
one grows from a child into a teenager, a young adult
and then a mature adult, the burden of learning, the
burden of information- gathering (some refer to that as
education) increasingly shifts upon the individuals themselves.
1052 8 July 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Madam President, as I said when I began, we
are talking about self -empowerment and taking r esponsibility for your own information, for your own life.
Madam President, the process of learning and
gathering and storing of information should be a lif elong experience. It does not end after primary school
or elementary school. It does not end after middle
school, high school. It does not end after university, or
should not. Madam President, I believe all of the Se nators have heard the phrase or a similar phrase at
some point in time that talks about, The more I learn,
the more I realise I did not know. So learning and
gathering of information shoul d never end.
Madam President, discoveries have changed
or caused some information to be corrected that we
believed to be true. Just an easy example of that is we
once thought the world was flat. We thought the sun
revolved around the earth. And both of those have
been disproven. Modern technology has made it much
easier to access information. It is also our responsibi lity as individuals to continuously update and/or correct
the information we have.
Madam President, earlier today we heard
from Senator Anthony Richardson about changes in
the social studies curriculum in public schools. This
will bring new information to many, and it will cause
some to adjust or correct information they already have. Madam President, not that long ago, actually,
there was no Black History Month. Now we have
Black History Month. Perhaps we will have a Bermuda
History Month at some point in time.
Madam President, children are born into this
world with an inquisitive nature. They want to know it
all. Many of us who have kids can recall instances
where we were bombarded with questions. And we
gave an answer that was followed by another question. We answered that as best we could, and that
was followed by another question. They are bright, our
kids, and observant and full of these questions. So
parents and those responsible for educating our chi ldren must nurture this natural desire for information,
Madam President until, as I said, our kids can take
over that process themselves.
Madam President, in his novel 1984, George
Orwell wr ote, “Whoever controls the past controls the
future. Whoever controls the present controls the past.” So if we believe this statement, Madam Pres ident, the present is the most powerful moment in time.
And we must seize it, and our kids must seize it with
both hands, empower ourselves and take responsibi lity for our lives. No excuses, Madam President. There will be obstacles, but we must grasp the present with both hands, empower ourselves and take responsibi lity for our lives.
As I mentioned, Taiyana Allen, Mychel Jones,
Precious Hayward, Trae Trott and Katrina Hassell have done so.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Hearing none, then, Senators, thank you for
all of your participation this morning.
The Senate stands adjourned until July the
22
nd.
Stay well. Stay safe. Thank you.

[At 1:07 pm, the Senate stood adjourned until
10:00 am, Wednesday, 22 July 2020.]