February 28, 2020

Thank you to the Honourable Minister
for the Statement.
With the upgrade in the technology for the
radio and communications, I am just wondering . . . in
other jurisdictions there are body cams that are worn
by some of the police officers that are part of the
communications and technology that they have. Is the
Minister able to tell us whether this new system is g oing to allow for that kind of upgrade? Or is that part of
it? Or is that something that he would be looking for in
the future?

Thank you, Member.
Minister, would you like to respond?

Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker, the Bermuda P olice Service already have the ability to wear body
cams. And when they are deployed in operation al policing, the majority of the officers do already have
body cams attached to the kit that they now wear. I do
not know if the body cams will be connected to their radios. I can check to see if that will be a part. I do
know as a part of the kit that the y wear on a day -today basis, they do have body cameras attached to the
kit that they wear every day now, sir.

Thank you for that. The reason I bring
it up is because obviously the evidence part that goes
along with it, plus the ability to make sure that you are
protecting not only the officers but the public of Bermuda with a system that obviously is used on an ongoing basis and is able to connect with this communication, it would just be important to know whether, as we are moving towards these upgrades for our co mmunications, the new technology is being addressed
in all these areas.

Thank you.
Minister.
Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker, when we are tal king about the communications for the Bermuda Police
Service, I think that there is a constant need to morph and to grow and to make sure that the Bermuda P olice Service is having the accountability to make sure that they are keeping in line with the Police and Crim inal Evidence Act (or PACE).
In this Ministerial Statement we are specifically dealing with the handsets, the new digital radios that have come into force. It has specific capaci ty, and
the capacity is for ease of communications with reference to voice communications. And it is highlighting
some added features with resilience, with the ability to
send text messaging and highlighting the resiliency of
the new handheld device, the interoperability and the
ability for it to be used interagency. And that was the
highlight of this particular Ministerial Statement.
I do accept what my colleague is saying that
we do need to constantly morph and upgrade and to make sure that there are high levels of accountability
and to make sure the public is kept abreast with the
latest in technology. And that is something that we can continue to grow at the Bermuda Police Service to
ensure that new forms of technology that include body
cams can be put in the arsenal to make sure that the
police have high levels of accountability. And we
morph with the evidence process to make sure that
there are seamless forms of accountability, sir.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

3104 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Thank you, Minister.
Any furth er questions? No supplementary?
We will move on to the next Statement that
Members have a question on. And again, Minister
Caines, it is for you on your second Statement, and again from the MP for constituency 31.
MP Smith, you can put your question.
QUESTION 2: CYBE RSECURITY STRATEGY
UPDATE

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Caines, you spoke specifically in the c ybersecurity [update] to some of the private sectors that have dealt with the attacks that have happened. And we know some of these both locally and in the larger community.
I am wondering if you are able to tell us
whether there have been any specific attacks on the
local gover nment and our servers that we should be
aware of what protection is being put in place to deal
with the details, specifically for the go vernment.

Thank you.
Minister.
Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker, with reference to
cybersecurity, we have a system that is constantly under threat, whether it is ransomware or whether it is phishing. Our cybersecur ity system, whether it is pr ivate, whether it is our home, whether there are emails, email messages that are sent that have em-bedded information in it that are seeking advices, sy stems are constantly under threat, some more signif icant than others. And on every occasion, we have a cybersecurity system, and it is embedded in all of the
government system. And that is the purpose of it, to
protect us from any threat to the cybersecurity system.
I think that at all stages from the start of it, we
have the opportunity to go around. Every government user gets email. And they have to go through a test,
Mr. Speaker. And they are asked to give specific examples.
And in order for you to keep your credentials,
if you are a government user, you have to take a test to show that you understand the basic safety proc edures. We have partnerships with the private sector.
And constantly, we are looking for ways to make sure
that the government system is protected.
With reference to any specific attack, Mr.
Speaker, I do know that the cybersecurity manager
has indicated that there have been certain information that we have received, and we have always been able
to protect our system with the necessary precautions
that have been put in place.

So in this particular realm, we all u nderstand that the people who are out there to create these attacks are always moving very quickly. And there is always the need to make the system more
robust. Is there any indication that we are going to have to do upgrades with our particular system? And what will be the cost of that kind of upgrade?

Minister.
Hon. Wayne Caines: That was one of the bulwarks at
the heart of what was in the Statement. I think it was page 4 of the Statement, we said that we were going
to have an ITU assessment. The ITU will come in this
year. They will look at the system. They will tell us whether there are lacunas, or [where] the gaps ar e.
And then based upon that, they will give us some rec-ommendation.
We are using as a starting point to make sure
that we are [aligned with] the Budapest Convention. The Budapest Convention outlines the specific things that each government should do to pr otect its infr astructure. And we are making sure that we are con-gruent and keeping with all the guidelines set out in
the Budapest Convention. We are constantly working
towards that mark.
Mr. Speaker, we have a Government —the
Cabinet Cybersecurity Subcommittee. And we get updates from IDT on a regular basis department by department, ministry by ministry to make sure the
government’s national infrastructure is indeed protec ted. If we find out after the ITU assessment that there
are some gaps in our system, obviously we will make
sure that we are acting in accordance with the Buda-pest Convention and the best practices of the ITU
standards that have been established, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you
to the Minister for the Statement on the upcoming
CARIFTA Games. Obviously, I support sport in Ber-muda and the development of our young people.

B ermuda House of Assembly The Minister spoke specifically to some of the
upgrades that are going to have to be done or are
presently being done with the facility. Is the Minister able to give us a budget for what it is going to cost to actually host the CARIFTA Games in Bermuda? B ecause it is going to be, obviously, more than just the upgrades.

Minister.
Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: The budget itself falls under
the remit of the Bermuda National Athletics Associ ation. However, as I stated, we did sponsor and we
sponsored to the tune of . . . my Ministry sponsored,
to the tune of $300,000.
The Spe aker: Supplementary? No further.
That actually brings us to a close of the questions on the Statements.
I should have indicated before we started the
questions for the Statements about the written questions this morning.
Minister Caines, I believe you had the a nswers for the Deputy Speaker for your written questions. And they have been supplied?
Hon. Wayne Caines: Yes, Mr. Speaker.

Okay. Just to acknowledge it. I did not
want to go with its not being acknowledged.
Hon. Wayne Caines: Yes, sir.
QUESTIONS: BERMUDA POLICE SERVICE
PAID LEAVE APRIL 2018 TO JANUARY 2020
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr. Will the Honour able Minister please provide to this Honourable
House a complete list of the number of officers of
the Bermuda Police Service on sick leave during the period of April 1, 2018 to January 31, 2020; including the total number of days taken?
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr. Will the Honour able Minister please provide to this Honourable
House a complete list of the number of officers of the Bermuda Police Service on paid leave due to disciplinary suspension or court cases during the period of April 1, 2018 to January 31, 2020; i ncluding the total number of days taken?
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr. Will the Honour able Minister please advise this Honourable House of the total cost to the Government of Bermuda for the paid leave to officers of the Bermuda Police Service during the period of April 1, 2018 to January 31, 2020?

Would anyone wish to speak to the
congratulatory remarks this morning?
And I notice the Minister of Education.
Minister.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to send congratulations to the staff and students of Paget Primary
School. In fact, I would like to associate the entire House with those congratulations. Mr. Speaker, their third annual Black Bermudian Museum, history mus eum, was exceptional as usual. Every year I have been impressed with the displays that they put on. And
what they do is they pick a black Bermudian whom
they wish to highlight. And the classes are responsible for creating displays of these individuals whom they choose to highlight.
In addition to that, the class also have to nominate a museum tour guide from the class. And they
have to take visitors around the displays and actually
show them. One of those displays this year that always warms my heart is, Paget Primary has one of our ASD autism programmes at their school. And that class last year did a phenomenal display on our cur-rent Premier, Premier Burt. And this year they did an
equally phenomenal display on a nurse, Beverley
Howell.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to send congrats to the students and teachers of Purvis Primary, as well as Dalton E. Tucker Primary. The Purvis Pr imary just had their usual annual science display. [I was] once again impressed with the displays that were put forward by our students that show some of the wonderful things that our students are doing. At Dalton E. Tucker, they had their annual engineering display, the engineering fair. And I just want to send
congratulations to them.
I also will encourage colleagues, if they have
time, to visit our schools when they have these fairs and these displays because it not only gives you a chance to see what our students are doing within our walls, but it also gives you an opportunity to encourage the students. And they enjoy having adults come
by and visit and see their displays. And you can see the smiles on their faces as you talk to them and ask them how they came up with what they are doing.
Mr. Sp eaker, I would also like to send congrats once again to the alphabets, ABIC [Association of Bermuda International Companies], ABIR [Associ a3106 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly tion of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers] and BILTIR
[Bermuda International Long Term Insurers and Rei nsurers ] for their launch of IB Week, which also i ncludes having students from our schools visit the var ious IB companies throughout Bermuda. And it gives
our students an opportunity to see what happens wit hin those [companies] and make invaluable connections for potentia l, further on down the line, opportun ities for them.
Teachers are also invited as well, and it helps
our teachers to look at how they can improve our curriculum, our business curriculum in terms of including
the things that are done in the IB.
And, Mr. S peaker, just in the last bit I would
like to send a heartfelt thanks and condolences to the
family of Alma Hunt, son of the late Alma “Champ”
Hunt. And I will associate the House with that.

Would anyone else wish to speak?
We recognise the Leader of the Oppos ition.
Honourable Member, you have the floor.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to echo the sentiments of the E ducation Minister. I did have the opportunity to be up at
Paget Primary under the leadership of Principal Bec kles and their fine display of Black History Month and museum. Again, it has been several times that I have also had the opportunity to be up there. And it is always good to be able to see that they have a spiritual
element to the school as well, something that I would
say has been a foundation for us as a black people from the beginning of coming here on slave ships as a
way of being able to stick together and to hold toget her. It was very good to see that social studies is still a
strong part of our curriculum.

[Inaudible interjections and laughter ]

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: And that the committee
has done a fine job with displaying the many succes ses that Bermuda has as a black people, and also the
same people overseas. I would like to highlight som ething that came up while we were t here (and Shadow
Minister Cole was with myself as well) in that Herbie Bascome—all of you would know that he has been a chef for many years and known all around the Island
especially for his chowder.
And it was interesting because while we were
talking, people do not know this about Herbie, Mr.
Bascome (Uncle Bascome I call him). Although he was not from St. David’s, he actually grew up in St.
David’s. And my grandmother had taken him into our
home at the time. And he grew up with my family. And
of course, I came along well after. But Bermuda again,
including myself, should be proud to have the many people who were displayed there, [and Herbie] as a fine member of Bermuda, a black member who has
contributed his life to passing on the skill of chef. Also
well-known within the unions, looking for of course the
qualities amongst blacks in Bermuda. And so I want to
thank the school for putting on such a fine job.
I also want to echo the sentiments of [Mr.]
Hunt as well. When I was General Manager of Peo-ple’s Ph armacy, I used him many times as a carpenter. A fine, fine man. And it is sad to see that he has
passed on. And condolences to his family.

Mr. Speaker, on a sad note, I
would ask if a letter of condolences could be sent to
[the family of] one of my constituents, Diane Trott, of 2
Jones Village. Ms. Trott had suffered for a year or so
and succumbed recently. She will be missed certainly
by her husband and the rest of the family.
I would also ask that condolences be sent to
the family of the late Darnel Richardson, of 18 Smith’s Avenue, in the same area of Jones Village. Darnel
and I worked together in 1998 on the general election.
And she and I continued to work on several elections after that. Very good worker. She will be missed certainly by her husband Philip and son Philip Jr., and us,
Jones Village family, as I call them.
Also, Mr. Speaker, I would also like to give
condolences, ask for condolences to be sent to the
family of Edward Durham, who was a former player and coach of PHC. I do associate MP Dickinson, MP
Burgess (Cousin Burgess) and MP Swan with that. I mention Mr. Durham because I certainly remember a couple of things about him. He played in a position on
the soccer field that I aspired to play and at the level
that he played at as well. So we had certainly lots of chats about his football skills. And I remember when I
became President of the Bermuda Football Associ ation, he was one of the first to come and give me adBermuda House of Assembly vice on things that he felt would help to improve football.
If I could just switch gears a bit, Mr. Speaker,
and ask that a letter of congratulations go to one of
my younger constituents, Kaela Boyles. She is the
daughter of Lisa and Rene Boyles up in Rocklands.
She just recently achieved her MSc in Psychological
Well- being and Mental Health. She did quite well, with
high honours, and is actually getting some experience
in the UK right now with the hope of coming back and
working at Mid Atlantic Wellness Institute at some
time. And I would associate Minister Kim W ilson as
well with that.
And finally, Mr. Speaker, and if this has been
spoken about already, I apologise. But I have to give/ask for congratulations to be sent to my favourite
constituent and neighbour, Mr. Calvin “Bummy” S ymonds, who has recently had a schoolyard named after him and recently was given a Drum Major Award
at the annual Progressive Labour Party Founders
Day.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Tyrrell.
Would any other Member wish to speak?
We recognise the Hono urable Member, Mr.
Richards. Honourable Member, you have the floor.

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend condolences to the family of Curtis Landy. I actually met Mr.
Landy back in 1979 when I was a fr eshman at Howard
University. I found Curtis there. He was the Assistant
Soccer Coach to the then coach of Howard University
Soccer Programme, Mr. Lincoln Phillips. And Curtis
later went on to be Assistant Coach to Bermudian
Keith Tucker when he took over c oaching the Howard
University Soccer Team.
I actually lived for a few years in the same
rowhouse in Washington, DC, where Curtis Landy and
a few other Bermudians lived. He lived upstairs. And
he kind of looked out for us freshmen, taught us the ropes on how to navigate through the streets and the
neighbourhoods of Washington, DC, which at that
time were a bit rough. Curtis was a good friend. He was a mentor. And later when I moved, relocated
back to Bermuda, and when I ran for the House of
Parliament the f irst time, Curtis actually came to me
and said, Listen. I want to stand with you at the polling
station. And he did. He stood with me for most of the
day. And I appreciated his support.
It was encouraging to see how many [former]
Howard students and [form er] Howard soccer players
came to Bermuda from the US for Curtis’s funeral. It was bittersweet because some of those fellows I had not seen in over 30 years. But they loved Curtis, and
they showed their love and appreciation for him by
traveling to Bermuda for Curtis’s internment. So I just want to extend condolences to the family of Mr. Curtis
Landy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Former student, former student. Yes.
Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: And, given his sporting accomplishments, he is definitely most deserving of ha ving the courtyard named after him. And I would also
like to thank the Minis try of Public Works for assisting
in that.
I also must as a St. Georgian acknowledge
the victory for young Ms. Zindziswa Swan with the
elections that took place yesterday.

[Desk thumping]

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: I will say this: She sought the
help . . . I would like to associate the entire House with
that congratulatory remark. She sought the advice and
assistance of persons who have put themselves forward to run, whether that be in a general election or at
the corporation level. And she wanted the advi ce of
those other than her father, right, because she —

[Laughter]

And who is her father, for those who do
not know?
Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: And I would like to just point
out that her father is the Honourable Member, Mr. Kim
Swan.
And the fervour that she showed and the determination that she showed to try and secure this position was heart -warming and spoke to the fact that
she was most deserving of winning that seat. She did
the work. She put herself out there for a short period
of time. She did the hard work. Just having returned
from university, she did that work that was necessary
to secure the vote. And once again, congratulations to her.

3108 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Thank you, Member.
Does any other Member wish to contribute to
this?
We recognise the father himself, Mr. Swan.

—38 years later. And I
think she will . . . But she is born and bred blue- andblue through and through. I love her, and she loves St.
George’s. And as a residential candidate, that is the
most important quality that one must have. You must
have a love for St. George’s and St. George’s people.
I would like some condolences to be sent to
the family of Ms. Mayo Darrell, from Sunnyside Park,
a centenarian, but a strong family. She was born a
Doars, and her family has made tremendous contrib utions to golf and tourism.
I would also like condolences sent to the fam ily of . . . associate with Darnel Richardson, whom I
knew as “Dusty” growing up going to Warwick Sec
when I was in exile from Berkeley. And I will say this,
that back in her youthful days and throughout her life,
as we young byes would say, she was as fine as the
day is long. And I just want to say may she rest in
peace, as a school friend. I only looked at the picture
and realised that Dusty had pas sed. And from all her
Warwick Sec family, I express our deepest cond olences.
To the family of Ms. Jean Dorothy Bath, a
very lovely lady whom I have known all my golf life, growing up as a caddy and playing golf and so forth. A
very lovely lady who carried herself very well and
loved the game of golf.
And I would also like to be associated with the
condolences to the family of an iconic footballer, Ed
Durham, from the triple crown team of the PHC. From
1961 –1962 I went to school with his son. And we had
many arguments about football back then, up there in
Warwick. And yes, I only trained for PHC once or twice, but remained the Somerset Eagles boy before
going to St. George’s. And on the congrats, Bascome Football Club
will be playing internationally, led b y Andrew Ba scome, in the United States, an amateur football [team]. Bodes well for Bermuda. There is a partnership there with the Bermuda Tourism Authority that I think is very good and significant. And I wish them all
the best as Andrew continues his good work as an
iconic footballer in our community, both as an admi nistrator, a coach and formerly as one of our greatest
players.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I rise to send condolences to the
family of Michelle Woolridge Grimes. As you may r emember, Ms. Grimes from Loyal Hill, she was the a ttendant a t the airport, American Airlines. She was a
true ambassador for Bermuda. I have known her for a
long time, and she used to work at the bakery for
years and years ago. And whenever I saw her gree ting her guests at the airport, you could see that big
beautif ul smile on her face. So, condolences to her
family.
I would like to also send condolences to
neighbours of my parents, Arthur Douglas. He passed
after suffering for a while. My condolences to his wife
Noie [Minola], his children Deana, Arthur D., and the
other children.

It wasn’t yesterday, I can say
that.
And I associate myself with the comments
made in regard to Diane Trott and Jean Bath.
I would like to associate myself with the comments made in regard to the Mi nister of Education
with the Paget Primary Black History Month celebr ation, the event at Dalton E. Tucker and the IB week
hosted by ABIC and ABIR.
Mr. Speaker, Zindzy Swan, again congratul ations to her. I have known her since she was a child. And my heart is moved when I see these young people getting involved in such events. And that she is committed to developing Bermuda. I watched her i nterview on TV. And she made it clear that she was a


Bermuda House of Assembly member of St. George’s, she loves St. George’s and
she wanted to get more young people involved. And
that has been the challenge for us MPs, getting those
young people. And so I hope that she is a flagbearer
to get other young people her age involved. And I wish her all the very best. Thank you.

Thank you, Honourable Member.
Does any other Member wish to speak?
We recognise the Deputy Premier. Deputy,
you have the floor.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to be associated with the congra tulatory remarks that were given to Northland Primary
and Mr. Calvin “Bummy” Symonds for the official designation of the courtyard.
I would like to definitely be associated with the
good words to young Ms. Zindzy Swan for her success at the polls. I think we all —definitely it is great to
celebrate young people who step up to play a signif icant role in their community. And I hope she will be an example to others, that we will see other young Bermudians following in her footsteps to step up to roles
of responsibility in the community such as she has
done.
I would also like to be associated with the
condolences given on the passing of Mr. Ed Durham. I was shocked because I only heard this past Tuesday
of his passing. I can recall when I was a teenager with
one of my . . . often we had to get summer jobs. And I
was given the opportunity to work at J&H, the company he worked for for many years, to shred paper and
do odds and ends. And he was my boss. And he was
a great role model to follow and gave me great gui dance at the time as a young teenaged person. So I
was shocked to see [notice of] his death. He was a
kind and wonderful, warm person. So, tribute to him
and his family on his passing.
I would also like to pass out, unfortunately,
condolences to the family of Vincent Manuel “Sparks”
Lewis, the father of Shelley, Jason and Darrin Lewis.
Everybody may know Darrin as being quite an out-standing athlete for Bermuda. I knew Mr. Lewis from
when I was a very young boy, five years old. I went to
school with Darrin and his brother and sister, from age five. S o Mr. Lewis and his late wife were a part of my
growing- up and always treated me as if I was family.
A well -known family in the area of Devonshire. And
again, another passing that I was shocked to hear
because Darrin and I are really good friends. And I am
very close with all of his children, because we all were
in school together. So, tribute to that family and
thoughts are with them as well on this significant time.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Good morning, Mr.
Speaker.
I would like to . . . it has been a rough week, a
rough couple of weeks for Devonshire. I would like to
join in with the condolences for Michelle Woolridge
Grimes. She was Loyal Hill like extraordinai re. And
the Education Minister wants to join in on that and the
MP for the area, Mr. Dunkley.
Also, Mr. Alma Hunt was a master carpenter.
Not only was he a master carpenter, but he lived to
share his trade with others, which was most important.
As the De puty Leader said, Mr. Vincent “Sparks” Lewis, not just [a] United fan [but also] my constituent.
And then there was Mr. Jose Rego, not quite Devonshire, but kind of Devonshire. But he was a great,
great man, great miss as well. And then also, Mr.
Randy Wel ls of Chaingate Hill. I see others want to
associate themselves.
And, Mr. Speaker, before I take my seat I just
want to take a moment to thank the people and the
Government of Barbados. They hosted CARICOM last
week, the 31
st Intercessional. And they did not just
host it, but they showed us what hospitality should be
about. And I want to associate the Deputy Leader,
who represented the head of delegation down to Bar-bados. Also, I [bring] greetings from the Clerk and
staff of the House of Parliament [of Barbados] —

[Inaudible interjection]

And most importantly, they
had a museum attached to their parliament that gave
part of the history of Barbados —the labour movement,
the emancipation. It highlighted their national heroes.
So I am just saying, Mr. Speaker, you know, some of
us could learn a thing or two from some of our sister
islands as to how to more enhance our history.
So on that note, Mr. Speaker, I now yield for
the lady.

Thank you, Mr. Famous.
Madam.
3110 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Patricia J. Gordon- Pamplin: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that this Honourable
House send a note of condolences to the family of the
late Eleanor Mary Powell. Mrs. Powell was in fact an art teacher at one point at the Bermuda College. And
she loved art. She was the wife of the late Sandy
Powell. They were both my constituents. And now she
has gone on to her ultimate reward, and I would ask that condolences to be sent to her family.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to join in with
the congratulations to Zindzy Swan. In another iter ation of my political life, I actually enjoyed tremendous not just support, but admiration by Zindzy. And I would certainly hope that the example that I have set has
given her some impetus to decide that she wants to be able to offer herself in public life.
[Laughter]
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: And I know that
she will do an excellent job of that. So I just offer her my heartiest congratulations. She was here in the
House earlier this morning, and I would think that her
father will certainly convey my personal —

Thank you, Honourable Member.
Does any . . . want to do the Deputy first?
Yes. We will take the Deputy first, Premier. Thank you.
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Mr. Premier, for yielding to me.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated
with the remarks of condolences for Michelle Wool-ridge Grimes. Michelle was a personal friend and a
cousin of mine, a very jovial person, one who really
belonged in the hospitality industry. And she displayed that by working for one of the airlines. Michelle was the sister of former MP of this House, Trevor Wool-ridge; his sister, Pandora; and brother Marvin; and the daughter of Frisky and Cynthia Woolridge and a
member down at St. John AME Church.
Mr. Speaker, also I would like to send condolences to the family of Ms. Marguerite Talbot, mother of Clem Talbot. I would like to associate the whole House. She was the former wife of “Blackie” Talbot, one of the Talbot Brothers. And she resided for many
years down in Harris Bay, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to be associated with the remarks regarding Sir Calvin “Bummy”
Symonds. And I only wish that something of Somerset will be named after him. The many licks that he put on Somerset, bestowed upon Somerset, it is only fitting —

Thank you very much, Mr .
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated
with the remarks that were given with regard to congratulation remarks that were given to Paget Primary. I was able to attend yesterday, as I have attended on every year that I have been in this office, to witness the creativity of our students. And the staff are certai nly to be commended, especially my constituent, Ms. Cann, who was organising the particular event.
But what I would also like to do is to be ass ociated with the congratulations to our newest counci llor for the Corporation of St. George’s, Ms. Zindziswa Swan. I know that she has been lauded in this House
today. But as a young lady taking that step, she is a
role model for the youth of this country. And I am sure that her family are incredibly proud of her.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask also to be
associated with the remarks of condolences to the
family of Ms. Michelle Grimes. For those of us who
like to get on a plane, she was a welcome sight when we would leave the airport at the Amer ican Airlines
counter. It was always a friendly smile with a good joke and a pleasant demeanour and a pleasant att itude. I do know that she battled illness. She was a
courageous fighter. She was someone who let ever yone know the battle of which she went through, but let
[us] know that it was her fight and the Lord’s fight. And she of course will be incredibly missed by her family.
I would also like, Mr. Speaker, to give condolences if I can to the family and friends of my constit uent, Ms. Esther Eloise Bur gess, who was laid to rest
yesterday in her 90
th year on an overview of the hill of
Pembroke. She leaves to mourn her children, Larry Trott, Lynnette Pitt- Masters and Paula Brangman. And
what was interesting, Mr. Speaker, is that I actually canvassed her house two weeks ago. And her daug hBermuda House of Assembly ter, who was telling me a story about how she was
saying her mother was resting. And she came back
home and told her mom that I had canvassed her
house. And she did not want me to go in to see her
mother, and how her mother had some words for her
about that particular exchange. But I wish the family
the best.
The final thing that I would like to say, Mr.
Speaker, with permission of the Honourable Member concerned. I would like to ask that this entire House
send a letter of condolences to the family of the late Vera Commissiong, who passed away after illness
this morning. Of course, she is the mother of our Honourable Member, MP Rolfe Commissiong.
And Ms. Vera Commissiong would be noted
and lauded especially on this side of the House as a
pioneer, a member of the Progressive Group, som eone who was unafraid and unabashed to be who she was and to represent what she was when it was a
time that it was unpopular for people to do it. It was a
time in this country where others would say that you
would be a fool for standing up and saying that you
support the Progressive Labour Party. But she supported the party. She worked for the party. She was a
stalwart for the party from its inception. And whenever
there were any events that woul d take place, Ms. Vera
Commissiong could always be counted on to be there
for her support.
She was someone who will be incredibly
missed from this party. I certainly want to make sure
that her family knows that all of them are in our collective prayers. A nd the Progressive Labour Party will
make sure that a heroine of this country is lauded in
the way in which she should be lauded. And we will
celebrate her legacy for as long as we shall.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We recognise the Honourable Member
Scott from constituency 36.
Hon. Michael J. Scott: Mr. Speaker, I certainly rise to
be associated with the congratulations offered to my
colleague’s daughter Zindzy in moving into the muni cipal responsibilities of the Town of St. George’s.
I want to also rise and be associated with the
condolences also offered by my colleague, Mr. Kim
Swan, for the persons whom he named, starting with Jean Dorothy Bath. I did not know her as the golfing
devotee that she was, but I was very friendly with
Richard, her son. And as a young man, some st udents, we spent a lot of time and I spent a lot of time
in their home. So it was with sadness that I see that
Ms. Jean Bath has passed, and I want Richard and the whole family to know that my thoughts and pra yers are with them in this time of loss.
Certainly with the association of my condolences for another colleague and friend and peer, A lma Ernest Scott Hunt. And Alma Hunt comes from a
wonderful family. Elma “Champ” [sic] Hunt has left a
legacy and mark on our Island that we all know about. My last contact with Alma was discussing carpentry.
And he had me visit the interestingly arrayed and
equipped carpenter shop that he was teaching our
youngsters with in Southside. And as a consequence
of things he shared with me, we have been moving to
try and create a legacy usage of that facility.
Finally, I see, Mr. Speaker, and you will know
this gentleman, Mr. Arthur Douglas, a Somerset gen-tleman. Wi th your permission, I associate you with
Arthur’s passing.

We recognise you.
[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Yes, yes. Remember when
Stanley [Lowe] was the Speaker. Yes indeed.

[Laughter]
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Yes, Mr. Speaker, I would
also like to associate condolences to Ms. Mayo Dar-rell, who was the mother of Glenda Todd, whom I
think you know quite well, Mr. Speaker. For someone
who was over 100 years old, I think it is the most people I have ever seen to a funeral. But as you know,
the Darrells’ and Todds’ clans are huge, huge in Bermuda. And it certainly showed at her funeral.
3112 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, I also would like to associate the
condolences given to Miles Outerbridge, who passed
just this last week. Everyone knew him as an architect
who was certainly well known throughout Bermuda.
Alma “Champ” Hunt, I would certainly like to
join in the condolences for him. I had the pleasure of
his teaching me a li ttle bit about hospitality. I worked
with him at Disco 40 back in the day. And he certainly was one who encouraged me to work hard, taught me
a lot of things. I will not say some of the things he
taught me. But when I started working there as a bar
porter and I used to work back in the kitchen cleaning
and washing dishes over there, he told me, Listen. If
you want to make more money, you see how much
money these guys make as bartenders? You’ve got to
get with it. So I spent a lot of time with him. And he wi ll
be sorely missed.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I would certainly also like
to echo the sentiments of the Premier with regard to
Vera Commissiong, whom I called my mama from
time to time, as I do many people in the PLP. I have a
lot of mamas. And she was certainly one of them
whom I was proud to call mama every time we spoke.
She was a part of a generation, Mr. Speaker, that I
think where racism shadowed one from birth to the
grave. And she was determined to be part of a generation that would not be the legacy bequ eathed to their
children. She must also be— we must note that she
was an icon when it came to social and racial justice in this country, Mr. Speaker. I think everybody is well
aware of her involvement back in the day. And she
continued until she passed. And I think that she will be
sorely missed and someone whom I certainly enjoyed having conversations with on a regular basis.
And, Mr. Speaker, whilst I am on my feet, and
I think I have very little time left —

Yes.

MOTION

APPROVAL OF THE ESTIMATES OF REVENUE
AND EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR 2020/21
Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker, last Friday I
delivered the Budget Statement for fiscal 2020/21, a
budget that was designed to provide relief to those
who need it most, as well as get the economy moving.
The best way to get the economy moving is to i ncrease employment and also ensure that people have
more money in their pockets. The budget aimed at creating an environment for growth. It will increase the economic activity and strike the balance between fi scal prudence and social responsibility.
I am not going to go into all of the detail
around the specifics of the budget, because I think
over the course of the next coming weeks we will
have a whole bunch of time to talk about that.
In that spirit of being brief and moving to the
next phase of this process, I move that the Estimates
of Revenue and Expenditure for the Year 2020/21 be
approved.

Thank you.
Does any member wish to speak to that?
We now recognise the Shadow Finance . . .
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Just as a point of
interest, Mr. Speaker, I am just curious whether, given


Bermuda House of Assembly the hour, we should begin now or whether we can a djourn early for lunch and resume at the normal post -
lunch time.

Well, now it is 12:20, and we normally
break at 12:30.
Members, the Member has asked, Would we
mind if we have an extra 10 minutes added onto our
lunch break (essentially)? Would anyone have any
objections to that?
No objections to that. Then what we will do,
we will break for lunch at this point and we will resume at 2:00 pm. And the Shadow Minister for Finance will
begin the Budget Reply at that point.
Are we all in agreement? Enjoy your lunch.

[Gavel]

Proceedings suspended at 12:20 pm

Proceedings resumed at 2:02 pm

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

Members, and for those in the listening
audience, we are resuming where we left off. And at that time the Shadow Minister of Finance was about to
take the microphone to do the Reply of the B udget for
the Opposition. And, Madam, are you ready?
We will now have Ms. Pamplin -Gordon [sic]
present the Reply to the Budget speech.

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: And that is coming from Mrs. Gordon- Pamplin—

Gordon- Pamplin, yes.
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: —Mr. Speaker,
but thank you very much and good afternoon to you
and good afternoon to Honourable Members and to
our listening audience.

THE OPPOSITION’S REPLY TO THE
BUDGET STATEMENT 2020/21

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker,
“Crushed by the costs of housing and mortgages, challenged by food prices, and facing high electricity
bills, they wonder if we really understand what is happening in Bermuda.”
These are the remarks, Mr. Speaker, made by
the Premier at their del egate’s conference in October,
speaking of the perception by his supporters of his government — [Inaudible interjection]

The speeches are being distributed as
she speaks.

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: This Budget clearly reflects that Premier Burt’s Government does not understand what is happening in Bermuda, and they
have not made their priorities clear in how these i ssues can be addressed to provide assistance and comfort to our people.
Two and a half years into the Burt administr ation, we have seen multiple levels of taxation imposed
on our seniors, businesses and consumers generally. Our most vulnerable have been alienated by an age ncy that is mandated to care for them. The imposition
of the “bait and switch” sugar tax helped raise cost s
for consumers. In short, Mr. Speaker, we are still
crushed.
There are few things easier than spending
money but spending other people’s money requires
discipline. This becomes more evident when that
money is limited. The discipline of determining how to
equitably plan for the distribution of an entire budget
with competing demands is a skill. Developing that
skill requires good leadership. That, Mr. Speaker, is
where this chain stops with this Burt administration.
Good leadership requires humility. Humili ty
demands accountability.
The money at the core of the national budget
comes from and belongs to the people who have entrusted the responsibility of distribution to their elected
representatives through the appointed Executive. That trust is betrayed when the leadership fails to impl ement policies to grow the economy and fails to answer legitimate questions as to how some individuals have
been prioritised to benefit from the first fruits of the
people’s money. Now the remnants have been left to
the people and it is from this diminished resource this
2020/21 budget has been crafted. It is truly sad, Mr. Speaker, that all we can be grateful for is the news
that we do not have to pay more to license our veh icles.
Collectively, we are just about managing to
keep our heads above water. We are so far behind
that government is even considering an amnesty on overdue taxes, and the absence of growth is causing
a shrinkage of the middle class thereby putting undue
pressure on our citizens.
In responding to the of Budget 2020/21, we do
so against the backdrop of an economy that continues
to falter, a government with limited ideas on how to ensure prosperity for our citizens or how to address
our most pressing issues. They have failed to lay out
an economic growth and di versification strategy and
failed to address the biggest elephant in the room,
that of needing more people to contribute to our economy. From taxation to national debt, education to the
3114 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly economy, this Government continues to struggle to
address our most ser ious issues.
Mr. Speaker, in November 2017, the Premier
said: “One of the best ways to make Bermuda more
affordable to live in is, surprisingly, to get more Bermudians living and working in Bermuda. The more
people living and working in Bermuda, the more c ustomers you have but also more ability to spread fixed
expenses across a greater number of people.”
Notwithstanding this, there has been no
commitment from this government to addressing i mmigration inequities, or to taking steps to align the Government’s goals with its immigration policies, such
as GDP growth, being an attractive international bus iness domicile, and increasing population.
There has not been one new capital project
initiated by this Government and, whilst the gover nment continues to denigra te the airport project and
perpetuate falsehoods about the business model, the
airport and the St. Regis projects are effectively the
only projects that have kept Bermudians employed
since 2015.
Mr. Speaker, history is a great teacher and
resource. With that in mind, I will refer you back to the
2015/16 then Opposition’s Reply to the Budget, where
the Premier, who was the Shadow Minister of Finance
at the time, stated:
“There are no easy decisions going forward.
As the government in waiting, we know that we cannot
be all things to all people, and we are prepared to
make the tough choices that are necessary to build a
better future for Bermuda. The situation at hand r equires ideas and a vision for the future. What we r equire is a fundamental transformation of our economy;”
Yet here we are, two and a half years into
their term and Premier Burt will not make the tough choices, particularly in relation to immigration reform,
nor has he been able to achieve any fundamental
transformations, other than imposing tax burdens on those who can least afford it.
It was the former Shadow Minister of Finance
Burt, who remarked about former Minister Bob Ric hards, that “not even this Minister of Finance can change the laws of economics . . . .”
I dare say that this statement applies to the
current Minister of Finance as well. But will Premier
Burt and his Government have the grit to implement
the recommendations contained in the Future State
Report prepared by BermudaFirst, a group commi ssioned by the Premier, to draw up a soci o-economic
plan to meet the island’s future challenges?
BermudaFirst, along with the Fiscal Responsibility Panel have been embodied by the government
but there is no will by the Premier to embrace their
suggestions and recommendations. This failure is to the detriment of the people of Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, our jurisdiction faces global exi stential threats. Competitive jurisdictions are forging ahead. We no longer enjoy a unique position of envy.
As soon as we surmount one regulatory hurdle, a nother one is quickly placed before us. We applaud the
government, Mr. Speaker, and in particular, the Mini ster of Finance for ensuring that Bermuda delivered on
its commitment to implement all the necessary r eforms to comply with EU tax good governance princ iples ahead of the agreed deadline, addressing all of the EU’s concerns. In conjunction with the Gover nment, we offer our gratitude to those stakeholders who worked to facilitate the resumption of our rightful place on the white list.
However, Mr. Speaker, Bermuda’s s hort stint
on the blacklist has had a deleterious impact on the ability to attract new foreign direct investment, and we
did lose business.
Mr. Speaker, there are some stark revelations
that are evident in this budget. We can recall that the 2019/20 budget was delivered in this Honourable
House with great fanfare, harkening the first time in
many years that a surplus had been projected. The ensuing debate reminded the government that it was
premature to flaunt a surplus as the external indic ators and their own history did not support a disciplined
approach to expenditure either in the current term or
the past years between 2003 and 2012.
Mr. Speaker, it was also pointed out that the
surplus was projected against a decision to withhold contributions to the Si nking Fund which otherwise
would have shown a deficit position. That said, the
Opposition understands the philosophy behind not
contributing to the Sinking Fund if it can only be
achieved by borrowing. It does, however, underscore the importance of growing the economy to produce
real surpluses. The government has failed in this r egard.
Our domestic struggles have even made the
world stage, Mr. Speaker.
The February 2020 edition of The Economist
observed that: “Rising debt service and pension costs
will comp licate the efforts to achieve fiscal resilience
by the centre- left Progressive Labour Party gover nment led by the Premier, David Burt. Immigration and
tax reforms will be required to boost revenue in order
to counter the effect of the island’s shrinking wor kforce and an ageing population. A slowdown in the
US, the island’s main trading partner and source of
tourists, will result in the deceleration of economic
growth in 2020/21.”

Domestic Contraction

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker,
while we have taken the necessary steps to comply
with the international requirements, the business con-fidence report issued in 2019 noted that “business
confidence has dropped notably and now sits at the lowest level. Indeed, consumer confidence has also declined notably and now sits at the lowest level for


Bermuda House of Assembly the past five years.” (This is from the 2019 Bermuda
Business Confidence Index issued in April 2019).
Mr. Speaker, the Retail Sales Index (RSI),
which is produced by the Economic Division of the
Department of St atistics is a key economic indicator
that assesses, on a regular basis, the performance of
sales activity in the retail sector. According to the r ecently published RSI, October 2019 was the worst
October for retailers in at least six years, but it was
also a reflection that the monthly retail sales have
contracted for 19 out of the last 21 months.
Excuses offered that the retail sector GDP is
not that bad, or that retailers must reinvent themselves to compete with Amazon gives little comfort to
the employees who wait with bated breath in their stores hoping for patrons, all the while having the u nderlying fear for the security of their jobs. It is also i nexcusable that the release of numbers was repeatedly
delayed, an attempt to hide from the ugly truth.
In the budget statement in relation to the
GDP, the Finance Minister refers to pockets of growth
but admits that the 3.5 per cent increase in the first
two quarters of 2019 is “not broad- based, signalling
that there is more to be done to ensure that economic
prosperity reaches all segments of Bermuda’s soci ety.” It is evident that the government policies have not
benefitted all sectors, as we have seen the demise of some long- established businesses that were unable to
maintain profitable operations under the w eight of additional governmental burdens, and with it came the
loss of jobs of many Bermudian employees.
Mr. Speaker, it is also worthy of note that the
retail sector is a closed category for immigration purposes. That means that Bermudians make up the vas t
majority of all employment in this sector. Retail is the
largest employer outside of government, so any negative fallout from stagnant or negative growth directly
impacts Bermudian workers and their ability to feed
their families. Government has blamed l ocal retailers’
results on a failure to innovate and employ technology to remain competitive against online shopping. The
“lesson” offered to retailers is pure hypocrisy, Mr.
Speaker, as government has failed in leveraging technological solutions to deliver its own services
more efficiently to the taxpayer. Spending targets
have yet again been missed and the taxpayer is pa ying more money for less public services.
The solution to this, Mr. Speaker, we believe,
is: Implement the recommendations of the Fiscal R esponsibility Panel and the Future State report by Ber-mudaFirst in regard to Universal Health Care, Imm igration Reform and long- term payroll tax planning.

Civil Service E mployment Numbers

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: The government
has denied that t here has been an expansion of the
civil service under their watch. They allege that comments to the contrary are nothing but frivolous fals e-hood. The numbers that are the subject of this crit icism have been taken from the government’s own budget books refl ecting actual full -time equivalents
are as follows:
• 2014/15 5,181
• 2015/16 4,899
• 2016/17 4,707

Enter the PLP:
• 2017/18 4,764
• 2018/19 4,806
• 2019/20 4,942 (revised estimate)
• 2020/21 5,076 (estimated)

As the Finance Minister has indicated, facts
are important and the numbers speak for themselves.
The recent legislation allowing for the appointment of political advisors and consultants has
been utilised extensively and these numbers, although
a cost to the public purse both in terms of remuner ation and benefits , are not included in the FTE numbers.

Increase of the Debt Ceiling

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, we
expected to see that the issue of raising the debt cei ling to accommodate the Caroline Bay (formerly Morgan’s Point) debt buy -back would be placed squarely
at the feet of the former administration. This criticism
though cannot be looked at in isolation of the history
of this project. The record should reflect the facts concerning the decision to guarantee the project.
Morgan’s Point was acquired in a land swap
with the owners of Southlands as an accommodation
for their commitment to not undertake the unpopular
development of their previously owned South Shore
site. While Southlands is a pristine tract, the property
at Morgan’s Point (former US base lands) was a
brown field, with residual oil sludge from the US navy
operations. The Agreement, made by the former PLP administration well before the OBA was born, required
that the brown field clean up would be achieved to
(quote/unquote) “resident ial standards” at government
expense.
The leeching of oil, asbestos remediation and
sludge clean up were required to be completed before
any development would commence on that site.
Mr. Speaker, no government anticipates that
decisions made to stimulate the economy would result in loss to the public purse, which in this instance amounts to approximately $7 million in additional annual interest. However, the choice was either to guarantee the project and create some economic stimulus or be sued for specific performance on clean up with
no benefit to the taxpayer resulting from the contractual arrangements made by a previous PLP admi nistration in relation to the swap.
3116 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The disappointment, Mr. Speaker, lies in the
failure of this government to effectively manage the
fallout as the principals of Morgan’s Point held signif icant talks with this government shortly after the 2017
general election. Certainly, the preparation of the
2018/19 and the 2019/20 budgets ought to have a ddressed the contingent commitment from t he guarantee.
At this juncture, what is more important to the
taxpayer is a full explanation as to the intent of the
government, having now purchased the interests of
the Tranche B and Tranche C lenders and having paid
the contractors at Caroline Bay. What will happen to
the assets? What arrangements have been made with the owners of the property to repay the taxpayers for
this fiscal bail out? And when can the taxpayer expect
to see the benefit of the recouping of such payments? The Finance Minister has indicated in his statement
that discussions are ongoing. Fortunately, the Minister
stated that it is anticipated that there will be full reco very, so we await updates.
The solution, Mr. Speaker: The government
should ensure appropriate public updates while t hey
aggressively pursue satisfactory clawback for the commitment by the public purse.

Health Care

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, following recent criticism of the Bermuda Hospitals Board’s failure to produce audited financial statements
in nearly five years, and justifiable concern expressed
by the financial watchdog, the BHB somehow man-aged to publish unaudited management statements for the last three years. With salaries and benefits
costing the quango $194.3 million in 2019, it boggles
the mind why the Board would choose to spend more
taxpayer money to challenge the decision by the Public Access to Information (PATI) Commissioner that
the salaries for the executives be disclosed. The Mi nister responsible for Health can give direction that disclosures be made and in the interest of transparency,
it would be beneficial if people knew how their money
was being used.
In its new policy implemented in June 2019,
the government chose to provide the BHB with a block grant of $330 million and arriv ed at this level of financing without the benefit of audited financial statements. This irresponsible decision ignores the fact that money, whether from the consolidated fund or from prem ium generation, ultimately emanates from the public who has the right to know how their money is being
spent.
Last year, this government imposed a sugar
tax, supposedly to encourage healthier food choices
and to reduce health care costs. They stated that the
additional revenue collected from the sugar tax would be earmarked for expanded health promotion and di sease prevention activities. This budget reveals a tacit admission that the sugar tax was nothing more than a
cash grab from our community and has resulted in an
across the board increase in the costs of food. The
promi sed direct health initiatives have taken a back
seat to “other pressing priorities” and there has been
no ring- fencing of the revenues for the promised i ntent.
Tweaking the taxation of sugar products by
giving customs officers greater discretionary waivers
of tax appears to be an overly complicated, granular administrative exercise.
The solution to this, Mr. Speaker: We would
recommend that the government set the level of acceptability of sugar content based on international
health established norms, and tax the items that exceed that level.
Mr. Speaker, although the government has
undertaken the most significant reform in health care, this budget statement barely mentions the public di ssention or the appeals to share further information.
We in the Opposition agree that we must find viable solutions to reduce health care costs and protect the
underinsured. We believe in a UNIVERSAL health
care plan, not a unified, single- payer health care sy stem.
Against their constant refrain abhorring Two
Bermudas, they hav e instead decided to entrench this
egregious principle in the introduction of this new
health plan. The proposal is that the new approach to
health care would provide some basic services for a
yet-to-be-determined premium (initially reported to be
$514 monthly) to the majority of the population. Those
who wish to be covered for additional services such as major medical, vision and dental, will have the option to purchase supplemental cover.
Talk about sepa rate classes, entrenching Two
Bermudas! The gov ernment -offered HIP programme
currently demands a premium of $430, and F utureCare, $500. Many res idents currently have difficulty meeting that monthly burden. The government’s solution to those who may not be able to afford this
increased financial commi tment f or the new plan is to
“go to financial assi stance.” With the suggestion of
going to financial assi stance, the government has yet
to reveal the criteria for eligibility. Further, the budget
for financial assistance has in fact been decreased, so the question must be asked: Is the government yet
again making promises that its actions do not support?
The solution, Mr. Speaker: The Opposition
recommendation is that the government should work
through the intended programme for a more equitable
solution, listen t o the stakeholders and recognize that
those who provide health care services know better
than politicians what is needed to ensure optimum
patient care. It also does not serve Bermuda for the
Premier and his ministers to misrepresent the adv ocacy proponent s as being greedy and uncaring, or by


Bermuda House of Assembly advancing the conspiracy theory that those advocates
are driven by the insurance companies.
Mental Health issues continue to plague our
community, and the group homes promised by Premier Burt in 2019 have not yet mater ialised. Magistrates
are frustrated that they are required to incarcerate
people who would be better served with dedicated
treatment in a mental health facility. The community
engagement with the Salvation Army to assist at the
site of the Bishop Spencer s chool is a distinct possibi lity, but it cannot be done without dedicated funding.
[The solution:] As the Bishop Spencer facility
has been previously explored and determined to be
an appropriate site for an integrated step level pr ogramme, we recommend that the government make
funding available for the purposeful conversion of this
property.

Seniors

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, in
July 2019, Premier Burt said, and I quote: “As a soci ety, we should be judged by how we take care of our most vulnerable.” This is a philosophy with which we
agree, and have articulated many times publicly.
However, in August 2019, massive increases in six -
month land tax bills left some seniors who are reliant
on their rental income worried over how they will make
ends meet.
How can this government profess to be concerned about our seniors on the one hand, yet on the
other, totally disregard their financial plight?
Because we dare criticise the government, we
will be reminded that during our administration, we increased seniors’ pensions only one time as against
this government’s regular increases.
We will take that criticism, Mr. Speaker, but at
the same time, remind our seniors that indiscriminate expenditure by the government resulting in capital
cost overruns during their previous tenure in office
from 2003 through 2012 left very little money, such
that it was even necessary to borrow in order to meet
government payroll within a month of taking office. Imagine if the public treasury had the benefit of the
money t hat was poured into the cost overruns for
nearly all the capital projects undertaken between
2003 and 2012.

Pensions

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, we
await the actuarial report to outline the health of the
Contributory Pension Fund. There are far fewer
younger people paying into the fund to support the
burgeoning population of seniors. The issue of too few
people paying to support increased demands on the pension is the common theme throughout all of our
fiscal challenges. The Department of Social Insurance, which is
responsible for ensuring the calculations for the Contributory Pension disbursements to eligible recipients,
has not been proactive in ensuring that new enrolments for the benefits are processed based on the records of their department. If seniors do not take the
initiative to enrol at their 65
th birthday, they can find
themselves losing benefits to which they are entitled.
[The solution:] We recommend that the D epartment takes a responsible approach in ensuring that seniors are registered appropriately and in a tim ely manner so that no one is denied pensions to which
they are entitled. This includes a phone call followed
by notification sent to the last known address of an
enrolee to present themselves for registration. If there
is no contact, further outreach must be undertaken until registration is achieved.
We also anticipate the tabling of the regul ations supporting the legislation to enable retirees to
withdraw 25 per cent of the balance of their Occupational pension fund so that they have available the
funds to alleviate the financial pressures from some of
this government’s policies.

Payroll Tax: E mployees

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: The idea of decreasing the payroll tax at the lower earning level is beneficial to assist that demographic. A former F inance Minister in 2016 made the decision to introduce
progressive payroll tax to help alleviate hardship experienced in the lower earnings segment. This relief
has been enhanced in two subsequent iterations and does provi de additional available money for that band.
It does, however, push up to the next level where the costs will increase for those earning more than
$96,000.
Employees who have worked their way up to
the fringes of the middle class are being punished with
this equalisation and it is unfortunate. The jubilation at
hearing that there were no proposals for any new taxes was soon dampened. The Minister giveth, and the
Minister taketh away!
Further, this tax relief barely mitigates the
health care costs that gover nment shifted onto ear ners under $96,000 with the Standard Health Benefit reform. This payroll tax reduction should be viewed
not as a gift to low earners, but rather an apology for
the hardship they have experienced at the hands of the recent fiscal polic ies. Mr. Speaker, in the words of
Jim Rohn, an entrepreneur and motivational speaker: “We should help those who are doing poorly to do well and those who are doing well to do better.” That pri nciple clearly does not apply to the middle- income
earners who have been hit in this budget.
While this reduction to the tax yield is nearly
$4 million, different decisions would have been at the
disposal of the government if there had been growth
and more income.
3118 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Payroll Tax: E mployers

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pampli n: Further reform to
payroll tax could be accomplished if the government is
willing to consider the model being used by some of
our competitor jurisdictions. In our existing model,
employers are required to pay more payroll taxes as
their payroll increases , and it is almost a punishment
for success. These increased payroll tax burdens
could deter further employment and if these positions
are filled at the higher levels of remuneration, invari ably those jobs and the attaching benefits are not of-fered to Berm udians.
[The solution:] Under this alternative model,
the cost of work permits could be significantly i ncreased across the board and a tax -neutrali sing r eduction benefit for payroll tax could be offered for the
employer. The higher cost of permits would encou rage companies to hire and train Bermudians, and this
can be reflected in opportunities for Bermudians
abroad to consider returning home. This approach
could also fulfil the aim of reducing payroll tax burden on employers while incentivi sing them to hir e Bermudians; growing the economy; enhancing our talent
pool; encouraging the efficient processing of permits; creating a separate revenue centre for government
and creating a shift for companies to manage expat
employees as a separate cost centre rather t han their
entire employee base, and could discourage employers from unfairly selecting foreign workers over qual ified and or trainable Bermudians.

Overdue Tax Amnesty

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker,
there are some government policies which make
sense, and some that are ill -conceived. This budget
suggestion of considering forgiving taxes for deli nquent taxpayers who meet certain eligibility requir ements is a slap in the face for those taxpayers who
have been diligent, made sacrifices and foun d the
wherewithal to pay their bills when they became due.
Some who may not have had the money to pay their
bills entered into schemes of arrangement to ensure that they met their commitments. In some instances, if
a company required work permits, such per mits were
withheld until delinquent accounts were brought current.
To forgive those who just did not bother to pay
or enter into payment plans will establish a precedent
whereby otherwise responsible companies will hold on
to their money with the view to w aiting out their time to
get a write- off. We ask the government not to consider
this avenue in the interest of fairness.
The solution, Mr. Speaker: Continue to mai ntain traditional methods of debt collection and fund the
tax collection enforcement department.

Tourism and Transport

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, the
National Tourism Plan was debated in this Honour able House and received unanimous support.
Premier Burt said that they will get serious
about tourism and invest in this vital ind ustry. It a ppears that his definition of investing means dismantling the Bermuda Tourism Authority. With the announced departure of the CEO of the Bermuda Tourism Authority, another “independent” body has suf-fered the malady of Ministerial interference.
The essentially defunct Casino Gaming
Commission is on life support yet cost $2.51 million for operations during the 15 months ending June
2019. There will be no progress in filling the Executive
Director post, or any success at getting any bank to process gaming proceeds as a result of Ministerial
interference.
Buses continue to be regularly put out of
commission. The new bus schedule, scrapped only
six weeks after it was implemented in March of 2019,
has still not come to fruition. Seniors, children, the
physically challenged, tourists, workers and emplo yers continue to be inconvenienced by the ongoing
cancellation of bus runs. What does it take to impl ement an acceptable bus schedule?
The solution to this, Mr. Speaker is to work to
create a schedule that ad dresses the health and well -
being of the bus operators while creating corresponding efficiencies.

Education

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, r ecent industrial action by teachers have left our st udents vulnerable and underserved in their educ ational
experience. One would not anticipate that a labour
government would fail to rectify the challenges that would cause our teachers to withhold their labour.
The recently announced permanent closure of
the T. N. Tatem Middle School, following lacklust re
attendance by parents during the consultation pr ocess, underscores the diminished level of trust by the
electorate in the “consultations” undertaken by this
government. The belief is that if one’s opinion differs from what the government has decided to do, it is an
exercise in futility to offer suggestions. The closure does however, address Priority No. 4 of Plan 2022 which is to improve and to provide a more efficient
use of our schools’ infrastructure and instructional r esources. Some of our schools ma y have to be repurposed.
During the coming year, the Opposition will
provide its support to the people of Bermuda’s multi -
year 2018 –2022 strategic plan, known as Plan 2022.
This plan is currently steering public school education.
It should be noted that the strong foundation of Plan 2022 was started under the One Bermuda Alliance


Bermuda House of Assembly Government, and defines Bermuda’s vision and mi ssion for education. This plan has five priority areas
which focus on:
• increasing academic rigor and student e ngagement;
• ensuring car eer and college and workforce
readiness;
• enhancing the quality of teacher practice and
system leadership;
• improving infrastructure and instructional r esources; and
• ensuring system success
We are confident that Plan 2022, developed
by participants and stakeholders drawn from across
Bermuda’s entire community in a consultative process will identify the way forward for public school educ ation in Bermuda, and will help to better meet the needs of our children.
Plan 2022, with its adaptive and technical
strategi es aligned with international best practices, will
transform public school education in Bermuda and
ultimately lead to greater successes for our students.
The solution, Mr. Speaker: We recommend
the formation of a Cabinet subcommittee to include
the Premier, the Ministers of Education, Finance,
Health and Social Services , and Works and Engineering. The committee would provide immediate active
oversight and support to ensure that Bermuda’s educational agenda is given priority and is delivered.
One of the com mittee’s immediate priorities
would be to lay the foundation for the exploration and
development of an educational authority, which will
remove the politics from education and provide con-sistent professional and accountable leadership to our
public educati on system.
The committee would also explore and deve lop amongst other things, a Centre for Teaching Excel-lence, staffed with trainers and equipment to enhance
teaching skills, lesson content and classroom man-agement skills.
Teachers have for far too long b een required
to use their personal resources to fund basic supplies
within their classrooms.
The solution to this, Mr. Speaker: To support
and supplement the basic classroom requirements
and supplies, this cabinet subcommittee would a pprove an annual $1,000 budget for each schoolteac her, to alleviate the practice of teachers being required
to personally fund extras for their classes. It will also
find ways to reduce the cost to our Bermudian families such as the simplification of school uniforms.
In addition, the cabinet subcommittee would
source a dedicated public transportation allocation of
school buses which will get all of our students to and
from school safely, on time and on a regular and co nsistent basis.
We also offer a recommendation that the Mi nistry have a dedicated Assistant Director of Math education and a qualified supporting team to drive the delivery in conjunction with the Bermuda Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Legal Affairs

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, i ncluded in this ministry is the Department of Child and Family Services. As a society, our most treasured
possessions are our seniors and our children. This
department has recently been subjected to intense
public examination. The policies and practices it has employed have left many unanswered questions.
[The solution,] Mr. Speaker: We would recommend that there be sufficient funds to enable a thorough external enquiry into the operations, effectiveness, care and concern underlying the choices
made on behalf of our chi ldren for overseas care.

[Desk thumping]

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: We are fully su pportive of the government’s budget allocation commitment to look out for our vulnerable young people
who have aged out of the DCFS system through the
proposed resid ential and transitional living facilities.

National Security and Immigration
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker,
there have been constant calls for the government to make the tough decisions in respect of immigration
reform. The House was reconvened in September 2019 under the guise of tabling immigration reform
legislation. Since September there has been only a
short break for Christmas, yet we still do not have any
legislation in this regard. It is disingenuous to hear
that the delay in immigr ation reform legislation is the
responsibility of the Opposition members who sit on
the joint committee. The government has the numbers to advance any policy they may wish.
The drumbeat continues to reverberate as the
report from the Fiscal Responsibility Panel in their
2019 Annual Assessment states: “Given the fiscal position, and the limited progress of the Government in
acting on our previous recommendations, we are con-cerned that Bermuda will have little fiscal or macroeconomic policy space to address any crystallization of
these risks. Over the longer term, the key concern for
policy action remains domestic: the island’s shrinking
workforce and ageing population will put ever -
increasing pressure on both taxes and spending. The
issue is not whether actio n is needed, or even what
actions are needed —there is a high degree of consensus, as expressed in both our reports and those of other independent bodies and indeed within Gover nment —but when and how. Immigration reform, tax
reforms and tax increases, and c hanges to the structure of healthcare and pensions are all required.”
3120 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The challenge, Mr. Speaker, is whether they
have the courage to do so.
We do not appear to have a handle on the
number of Bermudians who are continuing to leave for
greener pastures in other countries. The Premier has
indicated that emigration is still the result of locals escaping gang violence. This theory does not appear to
be supported by the reports from the Minister of N ational Security who has updated this House on the
progress made in bringing this problem under control.
For planning purposes, it would be helpful if
there is a register of how Bermudians who are stud ying abroad are equipping themselves for employment
upon their return.
[The solution,] Mr. Speaker: We recommend
that government returns to the policy of obtaining st udent information at departure in order to ensure that
proper planning can be in place for future opportunities for our students, and implement a mechanism for
tracking Bermudians living abroad who have chose n
to give in to their disillusionment with living in Bermuda.

60/40 Relaxation

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, we
support the change for local company ownership from
60 per cent Bermudian to 40 per cent Bermudian as
this initiative could cr eate inward investment. Berm udians are resilient and innovative people. With the
right environment to encourage foreign investment in
local companies, our Bermudians will find the acceptable partners who will be able to meet the esta blished prerequisite of “fit and proper.”
It does not appear to be a workable solution to
require that the Boards of Directors of such blended
companies be 60 per cent Bermudian. It is possible
for the majority foreign investor to appoint Bermudian
directors as would be required by the proposed
change. We question what investor would invest most
of the capital of an entity and be satisfied with having
a restriction on how many of his preferred directors
could be appointed to the Board. While there are service agencies which could provide directors, such i ndividuals may not be the ones to advance the goals of
the investor. This approach does not make sound i nvestment sense and could serve to create an impediment for this possible area of growth by requiring unrealistic conditions.
[The solution:] We invite the government to r ethink this restriction.

Conclusion

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, the
budget report 2020/21 highlighted some difficult financial realities for Bermuda and her people.
When you compare what the public wants to
what the government actually does or has done, they just do not line up. In fact, the preferences and concerns of the average Bermudian appear to have a
near-zero, non- significant impact upon the PLP Government’s public policy.
The absence of economic growth has resulted
in the need to borrow to provide funding for capital
development. While borrowing for capital expenditure
is fiscally sound, it is better to generate funds from
day-to-day operations and not need to borrow, especially given our debt levels.
The minimal growth for our economy antic ipated to be between 1.0 and 2.0 per cent for 2019,
fewer international companies and partnerships in
total, a decrease in international company registr ations, new construction down, retail sales dow n and a
contracted money supply are the reality of this go vernment’s administration.
Success in stimulating the real estate sector is
predicated upon people having enough confidence when making major capital purchases. This may
prove to be a difficult proposition.
The reduced confidence results in limited i nward foreign investment. While there has been some level of success in FinTech companies incorporating
in Bermuda, the reality is that after nearly three years,
this sector has not evolved into the third pillar of the
economy which was predicted by the Premier. Given
the level of regulatory scrutiny that is required regar ding beneficial owners of companies, it appears that there was a failure in the vetting process in respect of
one particular company, resulting in an empty building
and unfulfilled promises to the people of Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, the common thread throughout
the identification of Bermuda’s challenges is the lack of sufficient people on Island to stimulate economic
growth. Lack of money has resulted in diminished service levels such as bus cancellations and reversion to
the unpopular once- per-week garbage collection.
The added foreign currency purchase tax from
last year’s budget which increases costs of all impor ted goods more than offsets any benefit from the dec ision to suspend the biannual increase in fees for go vernment services. People are struggling and have
fallen so far behind that there is no blood left in the
stone, Mr. Speaker. Particularly disturbing is the r ecent release by the A uditor General concerning the
delinquency in presenting for audit the accounts for
many government entities. This lack of accountability
is deeply rooted and needs to be rectified forthwith.
Mr. Speaker, the PLP’s “Bermuda for Berm udians” continues to leav e many Bermudians hungry
and beholden to the PLP Government for support. We NEED a budget that is focused on growing the economy in ways that generate jobs and economic security
for the residents of this Island. This government con-tinues to avoid making the hard decisions, and their
Budget shows no real plans to address the serious underlying economic problems in our economy.

B ermuda House of Assembly It is time for this government to devise a
budget with the needs of the country considered B EFORE the political needs of the Government.
The Finance Minister has stated that the
country is best served if the pettiness of politics is
avoided. We agree wholeheartedly; however, it does not mean, Mr. Speaker, that poor performances by the
government will be left unchallenged.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[
Desk thumping]

You have the floor.
DEBATE ON THE BUDGET STATEMEN T
AND REPLY TO THE BUDGET 2020/21
Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Good afternoon, Mr.
Speaker; good afternoon, colleagues; and good afternoon to the listening audience.
I am going to begin where the Honourable
Member who just took her seat began, with a quote from her document: “Good leadership requires humil ity.”
Mr. Speaker, when it came to Caroline Bay
and the mismanagement that caused the economic problems that we are seeing from there, we saw no humility, we saw no apology, we saw no lessons
learned. We heard everything but the dog ate my
homework! Good leadership requires humility.
Mr. Speaker, in four and a half years the OBA
doubled our debt. Have they apologised to the people
of this country?

No.
Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Humility . . . good leadership requires humility.
Mr. Speaker, they did little to nothing about
the cost of living, they did little to nothing about the
electricity prices. We inherited a school system from them that saw four Education Ministers in four years,
teachers called “mischievous” when they complained about mould in their schools. Did we hear an apology
from the OBA on that?

No.
Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Nope. Good leadership
requires humility.
Now, we also had . . . and they like to talk
about i mmigration, b ut they seem t o have forgotten,
immigration policies that l ed to our pe ople surrounding
this Chamber and blocki ng access t o prevent policies
which they be lieved wer e detrimental f or our p eople.
The peopl e had t o deal wit h brok en promises on term
limits. T hey ha d to deal with having to fight of f the
threat of guest workers’ childr en bei ng allowe d to
compet e with our c hildren for j obs and opportunities.
But di d the OBA every apologis e for that, Mr. Speaker?

No.
Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Good leadership requires
humility.
Mr. Speaker, good leadership also requires
understanding. Now, I am not a math genius, I would
never . . . if you see me occupying the seat of Ministry
of Finance you will know that things have gone terribly
badly. But I can say this, when it came to the civil ser-vice numbers, I went to somebody a little smarter than
myself and I asked them, I said, Look, what is the real
story? And he understood my limitations in this r egard—I am a writer not a counter. And he said to me, I
know the Budget Book can be hard to understand.
And I say to the Honourable Member who just
took her seat: I know the Budget Book can be hard to understand. I know first -hand that the Minister would
like to have it a little bit more easily understood for the
average person—not just for their better comprehension, but also so that it cannot be abused or twisted to create the wrong impressions.
So, the analysis that best reflects the payroll
is the actual number of staff —the actual number of
people that we are paying to work for government; the number of people we actually paid to work for gov-ernment. So, in 2020/21, the number that they cite, 5,076, represents all established posts funded and partially funded. It is the total number that a Ministry
would like to hire with no guarantee they will be hired.
It is a difference between what we do and what we
would like to do.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about imm igration because the Honourable Member, as she wrapped up, she talked about the continuing need to
. . . the loss of people now. And we recognise the
number of people on the Island is a challenge. But one of the things that keeps being interesting to me is that they never show their cards in terms of what they think immigra tion reform should look like. But when
they did, everybody rejected it and ran for the hills. But they never show their cards.
3122 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly So, we have asked repeatedly the question: If
any investor today can come to Bermuda, start a
company, stay in Bermuda, become a PRC, pass that
PRC on to their spouses and children, what is it that
the OBA is looking for that is not already there? We
do not know and you do not know because they will
not tell us. And you know why they will not tell us . . .
because—

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: No. Not because . . . oh,
no, you tried to tell us when you were Government and that is why you are sitting over there.

Yes.

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Yes. Oh, but the thing is
now they do not want to offer solutions. I see meagre solutions throughout this document, but now they are
saying you’re the government and they do not want to
offer solutions. They do not want to say what immigr ation would look like under them because we have
seen it. We have seen it and we have rejected it. And
the people have rejected it. And if they had the convi ction of their beliefs, they would have laid out their plan.
But they know . . . they know that Bermudians do not
want it.
So, Mr. Speaker, let us talk a little bit about
one of their favourite topics. I was surprised because
every Budget Reply and every chance they get, they
love to talk about the America’s Cup. And I have to
say there were benefits accrued from America’s Cup.
There was value to the America’s Cup. Event -driven
tourism has its place in our economy and in our tourism product. But the one thing that you have never
heard them say —and it goes back, again, to good
leadership requires humility —in all the boasting and
bragging about the America’s Cup only 16 per cent of
businesses where owners identified themselves as
black (based on the report produced after the Amer ica’s Cup) pursued a business opportunity. That is
something you do not hear them beating their chest
about. That is, I would suggest, that the America’s Cup is not the hill they would like to die on.
Mr. Speaker, I am going to talk a little bit
about health care, health care reform, because part of
what is interesting is that we had this quote from the Honourable Member where she said the governmen t
doesn’t understand what is happening when it comes
to these things. And I think, you know, it is . . . I understand the politics, but the main contributors for the
high cost of living in Bermuda are: energy, which we
saw the first reduction in decades af ter the hard
stance taken by this government this year; health
care, which we are trying to reform and which, for
some reason, everyone who seems to be doing fine with the status quo is fighting; housing; and food pri ces. Now, Mr. Speaker, let us talk a l ittle bit about
health care in that aspect because we talked a little bit about what we are doing in terms of power.
Mr. Speaker, what we are trying to fix is the
status quo where Bermudians have been forced to go without health insurance because they cannot afford
it. The situation that we are trying to fix is when unexpected medical conditions force people to go deep
into their pocket, have to go online, have to crowd
fund, have to do whatever they can to pay these expenses. Bermudians of all ages are ha ving to ration
their doctors’ visits or their drugs. These are the situations that we are fighting to correct. But despite this
and despite what we are trying to correct and despite
a situation that has existed for as long as I have lived,
health care pric es continue to rise and the profits of
insurance companies continue to rise.
This is what . . . this is the status quo that is
being defended. This is the reality that wants to be
maintained into perpetuity because a few people benefit from it while most of us do not.
We notice that the solutions offered by the
OBA were meagre when it came to health care r eform. And they are meagre because they are not i nterested in truly fixing the problem. You cannot keep
the status quo and expect things to improve, you cannot.
Mr. Speaker, this is a clear delineation between our party and their party and it is a clear delin eation on the issue of health care reform. You are either for driving down the health care costs for Berm udian families or you are against driving d own the cost
of health care for Bermudian families. There is no
middle ground on this issue. None. You either believe
that health care is a human right or you do not. You
either believe that out -of-pocket costs for Bermudians
for co- pays and prescription drugs are too high and
must come down or you do not. You either believe that Bermudians deserve better access to health care and better choice in health care or you do not.
Now, I understand that some of us do not
want to change the status quo, not becaus e we ben efit from it, but because we have been taught to think
you can’t get any better . We have been taught to think
that they are not going to let you have anything better,
so you better be satisfied with what you have got. You deserve better. And I can tell you this, those who say
you better be satisfied with what you’ve g ot are not
pulling the strings anymore on this one.
We need—when it comes to health care r eform (because this is going to be a major fight in this society) —and I say “fight” because we are dealing
with entities that want to keep things the way they are
because of the money involved. And when you try and
take money out of somebody’s pocket they are going to fight. But we need everyone who believes that the
status quo is not acceptable on health care. We need
every single Bermudian who is not happy with the way it is now and who believes that health care is a human


Bermuda House of Assembly right and that out -of-pocket costs for health care are
hurting our people, that Bermudians deserve more—
affordable health care, greater access to health care,
and better choice. I am calling on you to drown out the
voices of the people who want things to remain the same. I am calling on you to drown out the voices of
those who always fought progress, always fought to
keep their profits high, and always fought to keep the
status quo.
Mr. Speaker, one of the solutions offered by
the Opposition when it came to education was the formation of a Cabinet subcommittee. And it speaks,
again, to the sort of schizophrenic . . . it speaks to the
schizophrenic thinking of the Opposition because ev ery time we form a committee they tell us, Oh, it’s a nother committee. It’s another committee. It’s another
thing . . . dah, dah, dah. And then they also talk about
political interference by politicia ns. So, we have a nother committee (which they say they do not support,
but now they do) comprised of politicians which they
say they do not support, but now they do. It is difficult reading through this.
Mr. Speaker, there are things that this Oppos ition does not want the public to know. They do not
want you to know that employment is up under this
government. They do not want you to know that
75 per cent of Bermudians have gotten a tax cut in
this budget. They do not want you to know that scholarships hav e been increased by $100,000 and funding
for apprenticeships may increase by $25,000. They
have not acknowledged that we will be investing in our
country, providing an additional $1 million for the support of local improvements in the Town of St. George’s, and other communities; $3 million grants
over a couple of years for community club development; and one that is near and dear to my heart, Mr.
Speaker —I am going to take a moment on this one —
the creation of a Fishing Cooperative via a shoreside
facility a t Southside.
Now, Mr. Speaker, when I was the Minister of
Economic Development, I had a meeting with some
fishermen who wanted to help the industry grow and
strengthen. And I have been blessed to have just had the experience of coming from Turks and Caic os
where the then government, now Opposition, were looking at developing a fishing industry. And it just spoke to my heart in terms of we are surrounded by
water. We are, by our nature, involved in water for
hundreds of years —whether it was shipbuilding, w haling, you name it —why should we not have an industry
around this? And so, I am looking forward to seeing
this come to fruition. A lot of work has gone on this to bring this to reality and I am looking forward to see it
because this is something that I th ink we have not
seen in Bermuda.
And the cooperative concept is something that
this government believes in, but also, it is something
that I think will be the future for many of our busines ses in terms of being able to move as one, share your expenses and manage your issues. Because one of
the challenges I think we in particular in the black
community have is that we are not . . . we are reactive
lobbyers. We lobby on things we do not like. But when you start to see industries growing made of black business men who have an agenda, who know what
they want, and who are able to then push . . . because
one of the mantras, I think, we do believe (particularly when I was the Minister of Economic Development
and Tourism) is that there is some advice you should
take from the people who actually do the business.
And so having people in an organised manner, where
they are able to grow their business, lobby on behalf
of their business, and be able to see another industry
flourish is, to me, a beautiful thing.
We . . . the tax cuts. We have been slammed
and slammed and slammed as a tax and spend gov-ernment. As I mentioned: payroll tax cuts for 75 per
cent of Bermudians; employer payroll tax or emplo yer’s bands between $200,000 and $500,000; new
payroll tax cuts for minibus es, airport limousines and
limousines; and the payroll tax cut we put in place last
year for taxi drivers will continue.
Investing in our youth, Mr. Speaker. There is
no mention in the Opposition’s thing about the youth in terms of any solutions. And I al so note there were
no solutions for seniors, but that is another issue. But we have solutions and are investing in our youth. [We are] increasing funding for operational programmes
for children aged out of youth facilities to address that
gap that has been around for so long; increasing funding for enhanced student behaviour management services and educational therapists; and investment in
the College Promise initiative.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Oh, I am going to speak
on Redempti on Farm in a second, too, but [first] the
College Promise initiative. We have been told for
years by the decision makers that, You need to i mprove education . You need to get better degrees . You
need to be more marketable for the economy. And we
have put in place our College Promise initiative. Di gging out of the cuts of scholarships that occurred u nder our predecessors we have now seen a boost in
college enrolment numbers. And it is something that I
hope will continue going forward because we need
our peopl e prepared, armed and ready to compete in
the 21
st century workforce. And they are better pos itioned, with no excuses not to hire them and give
them an opportunity to succeed.
We have the Redemption Farm that the Honourable National Security Minister is pr oud of and
should be proud of, where we are giving an opportun ity to our young men to learn about a skill and a field
that they may never have been exposed to, an opportunity to have a second chance, to become entrepr eneurs and to become valuable contribut ors to our s o3124 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ciety. It is a beautiful thing. It is not the type of thing
that would have happened under this other lot.
We have done so many things, Mr. Speaker, it
is . . . I think we have to really, really, look at priorities
and we have to look at differences. You have an O pposition whose Reply had no solutions for seniors and
no solutions for youth. You had an OBA government that showed no humility so, therefore, could show no
good leadership. You have an agenda and a gover nment that is dealing with a m ess that was left for us to
clean up, that we are doing pretty well with, all things
considered.
The Honourable Member laughs. I do not
know if I would be laughing if I was responsible for
Caroline Bay. I would not be laughing if my fingerprints were all over that one.
But Mr. Speaker, I am not going to belabour
the point. I think it is important for every person to read both of our documents, compare both [of] our
visions, examine both [of] our values, and with that,
Mr. Speaker, I take my seat.

I recognise the Honourable Member
from constituency 36.
You have the floor.
Hon. Michael J. Scott: Mr. Speaker, thank you.
First of all, Mr. Speaker, may I say that as I
prepared the remarks for t he defence of this excellent
budget that I commend to this House and that was
commended to this House by the Minister of Finance,
the Honourable Curtis Dickinson, last week, I took the opportunity to both read and digest the material and
metrics contained in the National Economic Report of
Bermuda (a document that I certainly do commend to
the public to read) and I am sure that all Members of
the House have read it.

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael J. Scott: One of the headlines, Mr.
Speaker, of the National Economic Report —

[Gavel]

MP Scott h as the floor. We would like
to hear his voice. Thank you.
Hon. Michael J. Scott: So, all of the . . . both the
functioning of the economy and how it is faring is contained in these metrics set out in the National Ec onomic Report. They are reflected, in part, in the N ational Budget Statement by the Honourable Minister of Finance. And they tell us where we were in 2018
through to 2019 and the news has been one of stabi lity in the economy. The metrics on our GDP marginal
growth at 1.7 is there. Mr. Speaker, t he GDP did not
fall, nor was it negative.
And so, Mr. Speaker, throughout this period
since the PLP, this Progressive Labour Party, took government in 2017 there has been a continuation of
stability and managing the economy in conditions that
we found them in of having to operate deficit management of the economy.
Now, Mr. Speaker, it is also important that we
understand that the Economic Report gave way to the
National Budget Statement for 2020/21 by the newly
minted Minister, really, in his second year of presenting budgets. And, Mr. Speaker, this Budget Statement
is thoughtful, it is intuitive and every page, Mr. Speaker, contains substantive fiscal, financial, social policy
data on it that I commend to the public to read and I am sure that all Member s of the House have read.
Mr. Speaker, at the conclusion of last week’s
National Budget Statement, and I concur with the r esponses and reactions to it. And there have been wide
reactions to it. It was widely received as one of the
best budgets in a number of years. I heard someone
say in 30 years. Now, this was just . . . I am merely
reporting. It is for Members of this House to judge.
But I have read the budget in preparation for
my remarks today and I was enthralled by the content and thoughtfulness of how the Minister of Finance, Mr.
Curtis Dickinson, navigated the issues that have to be
dealt with in this economy. And it is a good economy. First of all, we maintained it as a stable economy and,
as was learned at the . . . it is a budget that all people
can relate to and this was noticeable at the Budget
Breakfast —that has become common now, or a national event coming after the budget.
Relating to this budget and its content pos itively was reflected at the breakfast. In particular, the
head of the Public Services Union, Mr. Ball, was pos itive and welcomed the budget. I took note of the observations of Willis Towers Watson’s Head of
Healthcare Broking, Kirsten Beasley’s observations and she was careful and happy to reflect on this budget as one which reflec ted collaboration and co nBermuda House of Assembly sultation and the need for the working partnership b etween the public sector and the private sector. And
she acknowledged that this is what Minister Dickinson
had achieved in the Budget Statement of 2020/21.
Mr. Speaker, Ms. Beasle y also said som ething else of interest and it goes to the heart of the question and the drum beating that we hear about the
numbers game in the context of immigration. And
what she said was that it is not a question of numbers,
in terms of dealing with the immigration policy. Rather,
it is a question of getting people to work. The Minister
of Finance has acknowledged across any number of
statements he has made either in town halls or in prebudget statements, things that get this economy or
any economy with activity in it —positive activity in it —
certainly is people at work.
But may I then return, Mr. Speaker, to these
metrics contained in what makes an economy function. So, we understand, of course, that it is labour, of
course, it is construction, it is inc ome, it is cruise vis itors (I mentioned construction activity) and all of these
metrics have been identified in the Economic Report
as being positive and on the increase.
One has to acknowledge that on the tourism
front, cruise tourists to the country, whi lst high, and as
the Minister of Tourism has acknowledged, the i mportant air arrival levels have been down 2018 to
2019. It should not be forgotten that we had record
numbers, under the PLP, the previous year, but that
was not reflected in this last fiscal financial period.
And then there is the great discussion going
on about retail. And I do want to focus a little on this aspect of the economy. Retail has been lack -lustre
over successive periods, and is an acknowledgement
by any observer of the economy here and the econ omies elsewhere. As I read the Budget Statement of
the Honourable Member and Minister of Finance, I
liked the way he began and set the tone in his intr oduction of his Budget Statement.
It has the title (if any sermon needed a title)
“Bermuda is no different.” And it was so powerful, the
use of the nine paragraphs of introduction, used by
Minister Dickinson in the budget, laying down the i ntroductory tone for his national statement. But what he
did recognise, which we all do, is that retail i n the
country is, of course, impacted now by a new way . . .
a new shopper, a younger shopper, a shopper with
different taste. And they shop online.
Now, I was at the table of the head of the r etail sector within our national fix, Ms. Paula Clarke,
and we talked. And I indicated to her that I would be
happy and that we should meet over lunch and co ntinue to discuss the question of retail. It may well do
. . . and I make the case in these brief remarks, that
what would help is to have a task group specifical ly
designed to sit and examine the roles of retail in our
country. It would reveal, I am sure, what the weaknesses are in it and what are its strengths. I note that the new shopper . . . and that retail
should be responding to the millennial young purchasing power, both in the world and in this country. The
cathedrals of shopping in Washington, or in the United
States, or even in the UK, or in Singapore, if you go into them, they are spaces that are very clean- lined,
they are open, they are welcoming places. And they
somewhat resemble what you might find online, an
uncluttered platform in which to make your mind up
about what to purchase.
So, I believe that much can be done to look at
just the simple physical interiors into which retail commodities are plac ed and made available to the
shopping public. And we have to acknowledge that
currently in all economies, the new purchasing power
are persons in professional jobs between the age of
25 and upwards to 40 and 50. My generation has be-come accustomed to the s torefronts and the old way
of doing business. But if retail is to have a spur or a
shot in the arm, we have to respond to the customers’
inclinations to both release their plastic into the hands
of retail operators in exchange for commodities.
But back to the general point of addressing
the woes of retail. I am just giving the thoughts that
have occurred to me, Mr. Speaker, just as a cons equence of thinking about this matter for the last 48
hours. But a task group that is set down and deliberately looks at the issues and comes up with recom-mendations would be a start as to how we deal with
the woes of retail in our country.
Certainty [this] is another important metric.
And I heard the spokesperson for Finance for the O pposition say that we had not created sufficient fiscal space. And I completely disagree with that. Minister
Dickinson’s budget, the thoughtfulness of his plan that
he sets out, has created fiscal space by the stimulus
products that he has put deliberately in the budget
with the payroll tax bands that he has introduced and
the other capital spending that he has deliberately fixed in the budget to spur the economy on, and his
stimulus of putting more money in the pocketbooks of
Bermudians by reducing payroll tax so that people will
have more money in their pocketbooks and pockets,
which is a stimulus that will cause a boon to both the economy and all aspects of it, whether it is the retail or whether it is spending on home improvements, et
cetera.
Mr. Speaker, it was of note in this economic
report . . . and I return to the retail issue again, the
woes of retail. It was of note that the metric of declared purchases overseas (at 48 per cent of declared
purchases overseas) was on clothing. And so it began
. . . it is a . . . it gives you a reading, Mr . Speaker, on
just where the customer is spending in retail overseas.
It reflects a gap, Mr. Speaker, in what is not available
in terms of clothing in our own country. That would
also be a part of the analyses that a task group for retail would have to consider and look at.
3126 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, I indicated that after reading this
budget from cover to cover —this national statement —
I indicate that it is a statement that is substantive on
every page. Maybe this is why commentators who —
after hearing the budget, indicated that this was one of
the best budgets that they have heard.
I have not said it, it is time I did, I say congratulations to the Minister of Finance for this National
Budget Statement. Crafted in the context where he
was hoping as he walked towards Febr uary [21st]
when the budget was read, that he would be able to
declare a surplus, but got knocked off course as a
consequence of actions by the former Minister and
administration in relation to Caroline Bay and for other
reasons.
But yet, through this complex set of factors, to
craft a proficient and skilful National Budget, we still achieve in this Budget Statement projections for
growth, a focus on growth, a focus on social respons ibilities to be addressed, Mr. Speaker, and it is a ski lfully crafted docum ent, as I said, [which] all of us can
relate to and, in particular, the people of the country can relate to because the Minister of Finance pr oduced a dynamic statement that ensures that by next
year there will be a GDP growth that is, again, positive
and not negative.
Mr. Speaker, here are some of the aspects of
the Progressive Labour Party’s fiscal policy that create the right platform for inward investment. I began to
reference it. Certainty important, and it was under this
administration that we establ ished, I believe it is the
2034 cut -off point for no taxes . . . no new, major taxes, to the international business sector.
Mr. Speaker, there is certainty also accomplished by what Ms. Beasley recognised and
acknowledged, which was the continuing consultation that this Government is committed to with international
business, because, after all, international business,
again, was the largest contributor to the GDP figures
for this country. Construction, of course, was next and
the reasons for that are known to all of us.
But certainty there is, under a progressive fi scal set of policies, both historic and current, the establishment of this cap for 2034. There is consultation,
there are established listening posts which are active
with ABIR and ABIC and all of the entities that drive
information back to the government and, in particular,
to the heart of government at the Ministry of Finance.
Not necessarily similar to ABIR and ABIC
have been these important reports —the Fiscal R esponsibility Task Group that was established and
completed its work and has fed in a consultative way
and fashion its recommendations back to the Go vernment. The BermudaFirst, which has been featuring
in the papers, led by Mr. Philip Butterfield, it, too, is a
mechanism of close consulta tion between the ec onomic chiefs within the Bermuda economy working
with the Bermuda Government to craft an economy and an economic setting which maintains certainty for
those who are operating in the economy.
So, the big question, Mr. Speaker, is how do
we really address the current situation that we have?
The GDP, whilst marginal, is there. The Minister of
Finance is looking for ways to encourage inward i nvestment into the country. This is the mandate that
has been put on the Progressive Labour Party. And,
you know, whilst the Opposition OBA may not say it
openly and may say it privately, they have an expect ation of the Progressive Labour Party to put in place
and meet many of the national demands and needs of
this country. We have a mandate to do it.
And may I say, Mr. Speaker, with progressive
policies, as has been reflected by Minister Dickinson’s National [Budget] Statement 2020/21 and historic
budgets, we have always risen to the occasion to do and take bold initiatives in the national discourse on
the social side and on the financial management of
the economy side.
But the question that keeps being asked is:
How do we address more inward investment? It is
clear that the Minister of Finance has set the environment for it. We have to now wait . . . and not only wait,
we have to do things which will actually stimulate it
into action. As was indicated by Ms. Beasley, yet
again, the issue is just not filling the country with
numbers of immigrants. The issue, the solution is about filling jobs with warm bodies that then earn i ncome and help drive the economy. I think that is an
important piece of advice that comes from the right
sector, and it is sound.
We are blessed. We are absolutely a blessed
nation. And as my pastor says at the end of every
service, you are blessed and we should share our
blessings. Now, for those who are contributing the
largest amounts of profit muscle to the economy, perhaps some of that blessing can be used to set up a
task group to look into the woes of retail and fund it, in
part, in partnership with the Government. This is a
way of sharing our blessings. We may find that there
are, in the rough, some wonderful diamonds as we . . .
if, indeed, we recraft and reshape retail.
I have gone into the stores up and down our
Front and Rei d Streets and I deliberately . . . it impinged on my consciousness just to make the comparisons, for example, of what I might have seen in
DC. And I am not talking about the malls. I really believe that there is a connection between the customer—the new customer —and what is the expectation of
that customer taking his or her card out and causing
money to be spent on their dime.
So, we are grateful for the blessing, also, Mr.
Speaker, that is going on in construction because that is holding down jobs in Cast le Harbour . . . not Castle
Harbour, Mr. Speaker, but in St. Catherine’s Fort Beach. We are grateful for the blessing of the prom-ised Fairmont Southampton Princess’ committed $180
million upgrade of those interiors. And before you


Bermuda House of Assembly know it, that kind of inv estment, Mr. Speaker, at the
Fairmont Southampton Princess is going to create
precisely the kind of new environment that I am
speak ing about which one sees in normal cityscapes
across the world and where the money (on clothing as
is indicated by this repor t) is spent by not only our nationals and citizens, but by the citizens of those cities.
So, the upgrade of some $24 million that the
Green family introduced at the Fairmont Hamilton
Princess is a perfect example of what upgrading the
environment and the i nterior does. It is a place that
serves thereafter as a magnet and that is a . . . apart
from the job creation at getting it to a state of upgraded conditions, it is a sustained economic space where
not only locals will go, but when visitors come they will
return to it.
In passing, I do not believe that this idea of
the beautiful space and interior will apply to an airport
space. Even though I have heard it suggested, I do
not buy it. An airport’s primary function is a place that
you turn up at to catch pl anes. It is not a place that
you go with the intention to purchase goods or services, even though there is a duty -free opportunity
there. You primarily . . . you walk by it often as you are
getting in touch with the gate of your aircraft.
The inward invest ment thus far and the examples of it on the hotel construction front is a bles sing that we are receiving. And as this Budget Stat ement and its policies —its thoughtful policies —begin to
be executed and the benefits, Mr. Speaker, of having
created an environment of certainty reaches the world
. . . I was particularly interested to note that Minister
Dickinson has projected a new project —the family —

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Michael J. Scott: Thank you, thank you. The
family wealth management product. On the day that
the budget was being presented, I was on Burnaby
Street talking with one of the senior economists in the
country and the head of LOM. And we actually were
talking about this. And I was able to say to them, Well,
the budget contains this kind of promise and plan for
fiscal . . . for increasing inward investment.
So, I see that my time is up, Mr. Speaker, I
will take my seat.

Thank you, Honourable Member.
Does any other Honourable Member wish to
speak?
We recognise the Leader of the Opposition.
Honourable Member, you have the floor.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I guess I am a bit confused. Our first speaker
from constituency 33 spoke out against the status quo
and then our current last speaker from constituency
36 mentioned that he supports this budget and the fine work that has been done. This budget is definitely
a status quo budget.
And I want to liken the speech by the Member
from constituency 33 (the first speech that we heard
after the Shadow Minister Pat Gordon- Pamplin) tal king about the economy and accusing the OBA of certain things, I would liken it unto . . . they drive the car
off the cliff and create debt and then when someone
comes after them to try and fix the debt, they complain
about how they are trying to keep the car from flying
off of the cliff. I get it. I understand what he is attempting to say. But it just certainly does not make any
sense.
Listen, I want to give congratulations to the
Finance Minister. He has a tough job. A tough job. And we know it is difficult with these trying times. We
certainly knew it was difficult between 2012 and 2017 of coming up with ways to stimulate the economy and
find a balance to the budget. And so I do not envy the
position that he is in. I chuckled a bi t when he made
the statement this week and he said that, you know,
he is not in the business of saving the retail sector. I saw that paramount to Bob [Richards] saying that
money does not grow on trees. And I know that both
of them do not have much hair, but, you know, they
essentially are finding the craft that they have chosen.
And so, I will congratulate him for an attempt here to mete out a balanced approach to the economy, the budget.
I would likewise also thank the Shadow Mini ster Pat Gordon- Pamplin for the fine job and the time
that she put in of meticulously going through, point by point, to ensure that we did not miss anything and to
follow thereafter every point which was made within
the budget to present a solution or a thought as to
how we think it might have been approached. I certainly am grateful for the time that she has put in in pointing out many factors that we believe would be an
approach to this year’s budget.
But let me say this. Budgets invariably show,
at the end of the day, allocati ons of numbers. Yet, the
measurement of the effectiveness of those numbers really and truly is reflected in how our people are doing. Our realities we cannot run away from. They are
tough. And in 2020, if we reflect on the position and where we are today, Bermuda’s reality continues to be
the concern over our debt. Bermuda’s reality conti nues to be the cost of living in Bermuda. Bermuda’s
reality continues to be that confidence is low, accountability is questioned, emigration seems to be
growing, the young are frustrated, businesses that
employ a majority of Bermudians are closing. And, as
we have seen, and I have talked about this many
times before . . . my major concern about the popul ation of Bermudians declining to where now we have
more deaths than birt hs. This is a major, major, problem.
And regardless of whether you look at the
SAGE report, BermudaFirst, you name it, the recom3128 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly mendations pretty much are consistent. And quite
frankly, the elephant in the room for us at the end of
the day is how do we st imulate the economy.
And so I am sure, you know, as we go
through today, there is going to be some bantering going back and forth. We have seen some of that a lready as we have had two speakers from our government speak to this economy and where we are.
But we cannot hide away from the realities that I just
laid out. And there are more. Every day, every one of us, all 36 of us, comes into contact with Bermudians
who are struggling, who are trying to find a way to
make it. And hence, this budget will also and has also
reflected on the fact that people are struggling. And
so, we are looking at where we can cut without hurting
the purse in a bad way or reflect or take away from
somewhere else.
We are having to rob Peter to pay Paul and so
we are shifting the c hairs and moving things around.
Yet, at the end of the day, unless we stimulate the
economy and grow the pie that we do have, we are
going to continue on with the status quo of budgets. That is just what is going to happen.
And I reflect back on the last speaker from
constituency 36 when he said that, you know, L isten,
we just need to get more Bermudians working. And I
agree with that. Part of that solution is getting more
investors here, which creates more opportunities for our people to get back to work.
And so, again, I appreciate the tone, Minister,
that you took with your budget. I really appreciate the tone. And in sitting down with our Shadow Minister, I
also asked that we would reflect that tone likewise.
And she was already leading the way as far as wanting to have an even tone and looking for solutions, not
with this bantering going back and forth, but at the end
of the day as she has said, the numbers are speaking
for themselves because our people are looking for
resolution. They are looking for solutions, they are
looking for hope, they are looking for ways to survive in our wonderful home we call Bermuda.
It is clear amongst these interest groups I
spoke about that Bermuda is not sustainable in its current form, and our budget actually reflects that. We
cannot, as this budget clearly states, say one thing,
however, yet do another. We just cannot. Government
cannot tell private sector to adjust, pull up its socks,
basically, innovate, yet, at the same time say, Well,
you need to yield to the demand of less human service. Well, if you look at government and you look at
the numbers, it continues to grow and stay bloated. So, if we are going to tell the private sector that it
needs to pull its socks up, innovate, and recognise
how technology is changing things, I am hoping that
as we go throughout 2020 that we are going to see
the same reflection within our government system, which reflects that it is taking on technology and find-ing creative ways to cut its costs. And they are government and they can
choose whatever means they decide to do that, but the cost of government to this Island is huge, and unless we address the issue without stimulating the
economy, we will continue to see what we are seeing today and that is budgets that are status quo.
Now, to me, Mr. Speaker (and I am taking up
a different tone here), the new frontier, quite frankly, for Bermuda is government reform , because the pr ivate sector has no other choice but to reform. Private
sector is competitive. Who is government competing
against? And so, the new frontier and what I am hearing on the street, and what I am hearing especially
from young people, is government has got to reform.
Now, that does not necessarily have to be a bad thing.
Or it does not certainly necessarily mean that people
are going to have to lose their jobs. But unless gov-ernment reforms we are going to continue on with the
status quo.
I wanted to clear up this thing because I hear
people talking about “wholesale” and “retail” and these
kinds of things. Retailers are more concerned about
cash flow, not necessarily whether they get a cutback on payroll taxes and these kinds of things. Their bi ggest concern is cash flow because they know that the
bank is looking at their cash flow. That is what they
are looking at. What is your cash flow like? So, you
know, we can go all around with all of these kinds of
talks about talking about retailers this way and that
way and they have got to innovate and all these kinds
of things. What they are really looking for is how to
maintain their cash flow. If Government cannot get
more people here, then maintaining cash flow is crit ical.
One solution to this dilemma, which is what I
am hearing from the wholesale and the retail market,
is the outlay of the money that they have to put out
when they are bringing in goods. It prevents them
from bringing in all the varieties that they want and the quantities that they want because they have to pay
that duty up front. If we can, somehow, find a way that
Government can reform —not losing the re venue that
it gets from these duties —but somehow delay the fact
that by the time the product is here it is already paid
for, that wholesaler and that retailer has still got to
move that product. Government has got its money and they are still trying to get theirs. And they are the
ones —next to government —who hire the highest
number of Bermudians on the Island. So, we must find
a way and it is impertinent [sic] upon us and impert inent [sic] upon government —
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Incumbent, sure. Incumbent upon government to reform . . . not give up the
financial dollars that it is receiving, but to reform how it
does things so that we can continue on with our


Bermuda House of Assembly wholesalers and retailers who hire —that closed cat egory, as the Shadow Minister said —Bermudians.
One of the things that I think we all are aware
of is our economy really is very much like a living organism with different parts and different roles that, when healthy, complement one another. But when a
crisis arises, whether s elf-inflicted or not, bold action
must be taken. Our economy will either show the
strengths of a Government or it will certainly boldly
display its weaknesses.
At present, Bermuda has some serious cha llenges ahead of it. And so, doubletalk and double standards are not the answer. Telling an industry,
which is a closed category, it is not up to, or the job of,
the Government to bail it out is not the answer. It is
not the answer. The answer really lies within looking
at the situation, listening to what is going on and seeking how reform can come about if we expect it also
from the private sector.
Then, Mr. Speaker, there are those who believe that this budget is somewhat of a sweetheart
one, containing a dash or two of sugar here and there.
There are those who believe that the budget and its
sweetness have done little to structure a better financial future. And so, like any product in Bermuda that
has a measure of sugar within it, it must be taxed. It
must be scrutinised for its financial benefit to Berm uda. Will it lead to more debt, more business, more
government, more efficiency, better health, more wealth? It all falls under that scrutiny.
Our Premier has reminded us that he has the
confidence of the people to get things done. Yet, this budget clearly lacks that sentiment. However, what it does show, though, Mr. Speaker, is his willingness to
pass the candy bags around while taxing Bermuda
and saying, We will use that money to educate you ,
but spends it, Lord knows where, somewhere else.
Mr. Speaker, hypocrisy in this manner is not the a nswer.
Mr. Speaker, one of the most widely di scussed subjects is health costs. And let me just add,
in listening to the budget, we were asked from the in itial Member from constituency 33, you know, what we
felt about heal th and how it should be proceeding forward, but spoke little on how they are proceeding for-ward with this new health plan or proposal that they have put together. I did not see anything in there.
So, a Premier has attacked health insurance
companies, doctors, and Patients First for collabora ting only to find out that this is not the case. They have
even accused the doctors of “Profits First.” Our newest Member to this House coined it, the Premier used it. I was not quite sure if the Health Minister used it, in
speaking to the whole issue of doctors and the likes
as “Profits First.” Yet, disappointingly, when they
speak of this “Profits First” they are the ones who coined the phrase because they are the exact ones
who, to another doctor who works in the indus try of
“Profits First,” who they gave over $1.2 million to. These contradictions are not good for the public. And when [Bermudians] look at these things they
are wondering, What gives here? So, on the one hand
we are willing to pay a “Profits First” doctor $1.2 mi llion because of business going out, but yet retailers
are going out of business and we cannot get gover nment reform to simply sit down and figure out what it
is that can work to help. It cannot be a double standard.
Today people have been left wi th more questions than answers concerning the path this Gover nment is willing to take or wishes to take—because we
are still trying to understand it —concerning health i nsurance.
What I did not see in this budget, Mr. Speaker, was the Premier leading by example and maybe
just cutting back . . . maybe cutting back possibly on
the number of Ministers that he has.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: No, not at all. We know it
will not solve all the problems. I said leading by example.
Page 30 speaks to cutting back on the number . . . sorry, page 30 speaks to the main drivers i ncreasing operating expenditure. And the very first bullet point is “Cabinet Departments,” $2.2 million more. And so, I agree with the implementation department,
committe e, whatever it is, that they are putting toget her. I see where maybe, if there is a necessity for it, but
I am curious as to what those proposals are, at the end of the day, that they are going to bring forward,
because softball proposals are not going to do it.
Bermudians are already far, way too far, under water,
Mr. Speaker.
And so, the idea of not increasing [the fees
for] licences for cars is . . . you know, it is a sweetener
there. But so many people are so far behind they cannot even license their car. And I am sure if I were to
ask for statistics on the smaller number of cars that
are being licensed annually, I am sure it is probably
hundreds less, maybe even thousands, I do not know.
Maybe the Minister can help us out. But people cannot already pay for licensing their cars, so this does not solve the issue because we are already so far behind. Which is wh y I go back to the premise that if we
are going to hear from Members o f our Government
talk about status quo, this is still a status quo budget.
We have heard recommendations from
SAGE; recommendations from BermudaFirst. We
have even heard People’s First come up with what
they feel is right and wrong about the new insurance
plan possibly coming forward. You name it. Many are
willing to help, Mr. Sp eaker . And according to Churc hill, during a recession he said, “Now that there is no money, it is now time to think.” It is now time to think. I would agree status quo is not going to work. It is lac k3130 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ing in consultation. So, it is important that consultati on
happen.
A classic example is bringing forward a 60/40
rule, reversing it —which both sides of this Honourable
House agree to. But it is important that the public
know that if any Member who wished to come forward, a Bermudian who could get financial backing, if
he were to come to the Government —especially the
PLP Government in supporting black entrepreneurship and the likes —if he comes with a proposal and
says, Well, listen. You know, I would like to reverse
this rule . They could do it. They could very well just go
ahead and say, Well, look. You have got this backing.
Go ahead and do it .
But had they really probably spent more time
consulting with the business sector to then go on to
say, Well, you know, you got to have 60 per cent on
your board that ar e Bermudian . And I understand the
premise behind that. We need more Bermudians. We
need more black Bermudians on the boards in Be rmuda.

Hear, hear!

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: But, to simply come out
and say your board has got to be 60 per cent Berm udian, quite frankly, has now defeated the whole purpose of reversing the 60/40 rule. So, I am just trying to
reason here with our Government as to the ways that
we move forward, understanding the challenges that
our Minister has.
Certainly, this budget was an attempt to not
stir any fears. For sure. And for some, it may be near
and close to an election. Certainly with all the fears that are out there, it was time for this Government to
figure out how they were going to calm those fears
because there are a lot of them out there. This budget
was an attempt to do so.
Yet, at the same time, the elephant in the
room really is stimulating this economy, and this has not been addressed at all in this budget. So, kicking
the can down the road is no soluti on, Mr. Speaker . We
have to address this elephant that is in the room. And
in my estimation and in conversations that I have been having, there are other small jurisdictions like
Bermuda who are stealing our lunch away from us.
And unless this Government takes on government
reform which is bold, then it cannot support the bus iness community that resides in Bermuda.
It is already calling for bold reform from Government . We have already heard from our leaders in
international business, including one of our esteemed
black leaders in international business calling out for
bold moves, that they have to happen in order for us
to continue to be one of those wonders of the world.
My fear, Mr. Speaker, is that those who can
least afford Bermuda, even after this budget, are no
better off. And when you play that scenario out, if they
cannot already pay their bills, then the stress —even though they do not have to pay more for the licensing
of their car —continues, because they still cannot pay
their bills. Along with th at comes stress. Pursuant
thereafter is depression.
And so we as a people are under the threat of
becoming less and less healthy because our economy
is faltering and we need to find a way to stimulate it. That is it. The end of the day. And so, we probabl y
tonight will have a whole lot of to- and-fro going, ru nning back and forth and a whole lot of things being
said.
I have attempted to strike a tone here to a ppeal to this Government that there are serious fears
out there and there is lack of hope in the f uture. And
unless this Government addresses these issues, r ather than passing the candy bag around, then we will continue to be more stressed out, less healthy and unable to fulfil our commitments to this Island, to our
family and to our friends. We must be swifter, or
struggles will worsen. Softball budgets can no longer
be accepted. The private sector is calling upon us to be bold with our movements, to be bold in our dec ision-making, and this Government must comply.
One of the other areas that has been a major
concern of mine (and I know my time is running out. I
have got a few more pages I want to go through here,
however) is this: We now are hearing a whole lot from the Attorney General’s Department, Ministry, about
marijuana and the potential of being able to grow it
locally and all these kinds of things. But I have heard
more about that than I have heard about the Depar tment of Child and Family Services (DCFS) and the
necessary changes that are needed to be made to safeguard our young people. We need reform in this
department. It is clear that the policies and the proc edures that are in place now are not sufficient. This is
not blaming anyone. They simply are not sufficient.
So, somehow and in some way, we need to address
this issue.
And I believe, Mr. Speaker —and I am going to
say this to this Government —unless they shuffle and
move members that are within that DCFS who are leading, unless they move them out into other areas, we will not see the progress that is desperately needed in this area. So, I am appealing to them to look at
the leadership. It is now time. Just like any other bus iness, any other g overnment , if things are not moving
like you would like them to, then you might need to
look at some changes that need to be made. I am not saying dis carding of anyone; but I am saying changes
are necessary.
It will be very hard to argue that changes are
not necessary in this area. It has been played out to
the public, unfortunately, with far too many issues that
are going on within this particular area.
There is one other thing that I did not bring up
and that is civil service employment numbers. It is disappointing to me to listen to the Premier misrepr esent these numbers and present to the public the fact


Bermuda House of Assembly that in his estimation they are reducing the numbers.
They speak for themselves. It is in their own Budget
Books, Mr. Speaker . This so -called sleight of hand
must stop. These misleading comments, misleading the public about the realities of where we are has to stop. The Premier has done this far too many times
and the public needs to know what these numbers
are.
Now, I would not argue with these numbers if I
felt that . . . and I was hearing from the members of
the public that efficiency and that speed to the issues
that Bermuda is having, that they are getting their si tuations resolved in a timely manner. Maybe there is
some argument to say, Well, you know, okay fine.
These numbers have increased so we see these
things happening. But that is not what we are hearing.
And so, if we are increasing the numbers then we
need to hear some justification as to the results of i ncreasing these numbers. That is not the case and has
not been in the case in the last couple of years.
So, we can get all upset . . . and I hear some
rumblings. But the fact is that t he Premier has been
misleading [when referring to] these numbers. And if
anything should bother them, it is that —that there was
misleading [done with] the numbers. The civil service
has grown. Grown! And so, again, Mr. Speaker, they
will have opportunity t o speak to these things, but I
have—

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

Thank you.
[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
In my l ast minute, that kind of sums it all up
right there. It just sums it all up right there. Pure confusion. The numbers are here, and whether the Prem-ier reads them wrong or not, these are their numbers.
And if he read them wrong, then he should apologise
just like we heard earlier, Did you apologise? and Did
you apologise? The tit and tat for fro.
What I am saying is these are the numbers.
They cannot argue the numbers. So, let us sit down
with the public and go over the numbers and let us have the debate ov er these numbers. I would love that
because they speak for themselves. What they need to do is just listen and face up to the fact that they
have increased the numbers of civil servants —and
that is it. Simple and plain as that.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

[Inaudible interjections]

I listened to the Reply to the
Budget delivered by the Honourable Patricia GordonPamplin, JP, M P, Shadow Minister of Finance. Her
statement included glaring omissions as to the state of
our economy. The solutions put forward were also
wanting.
I heard one of my colleague’s chirp that this is
the worst Reply to the Budget that they have ever
heard. I hope that when my colleague stands to his
feet, he has the conviction to put his name along with that statement.
But, Mr. Speaker, I rise today to try to esta blish the true economic outlook of the country. The
facts are our economy grew in 2017. It gr ew in 2018.
In 2019, for the first two quarters, the economy grew
on average by 3.5 per cent. The economy is projected
to grow between 1 and 2 per cent in 2019.

Hear, hear!

3132 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Jason Hayward: That is contrary to the rhetoric
that is spewed by some. It is contrary to the narrative
of doom and gloom spewed by some.
When we look at the numbers, we can see in
the last annual GDP that was reported. Electricity,
water and waste management were up. Construction
and crewing were up. Transport and storage were up.
Financial and insurance activities were up. Real estate activities were up. Human health and social work
were up and international business was up.
Mr. Speaker, international business, financial
intermediation, and real estate are three main industrial sections in the country. Combined they account
for roughly around 54.0 per cent of the economic activity in our country. Each one of those sectors were
up. IB is still the largest contributor to our economy. It
represents 25.1 per cent. Their numbers were up.
This week was IB week —international bus iness is everybody’s business. And in their promotions,
it was not doom and gloom. They were speaking
about how international business can expand on the
Island. They were talking to our students about em-ployment opportunities in the industry. There was no
lack of confidence in our economy spewed throughout
this week. I heard positivity coming from the international business sector.

[Inaudible interjection]

Mr. Speaker, the preliminary
data from the Department of Statistics showed that
jobs are up. Jobs increased by 441 jobs. The 34,303
jobs recorded in 2019, Mr. Speaker, is the greatest
number of jobs in the economy since 2012.
Let me repeat that. Jobs increased by 441.
The 34,303 jobs recorded in 2019 is the greatest
number of jobs in our economy since 2012, when the
Progressive Labour Party was last in Government .
There is a correlation between the OBA and declines in employment.
You see, the neo- liberal trickle -down economics simply did not work.

[Inaudible interjections]

Bermuda jobs were up, in not
just the public service, but construction jobs were up,
hotel and restaurants were up, transport and comm unications were up, real estate and renting were up,
business activities, education, health and social work and international business jobs were up. A glaring
omission left out of the Reply to the Budget.
This is what we are here for. To ensure more
Bermudians are employed.

More people have the ability to
earn income and work towards a better quality of life.
Mr. Speaker, the country works best when our
people are working, and we realise that. And that is
why we continue to try to facilitate job growth.
Not only are jobs up, Mr. Speaker, but employment i ncome is also up, which means that indivi duals have a greater amount of purchasing power to contribute to our economy and they can work towards
a better quality of life.
Mr. Speaker, not only is spending from our
residents up, but also tourism spending was up in 2019. And in 2019, Bermuda recorded the highest
level of visitors to our shores ever recorded.

[Inaudible interjections]

See, what they want to do is
paint the picture that is not reality. The reality is when
we look at the economic indicators; they support ec onomic growth and development. Bottom line. Tourism
spending was also up despite air arrivals being down, tourism spending was up. Tourists contributed over
$518 million to our economy in 2019.
Mr. Speaker, the numbers across the board
are trending in the right direction. The PLP are
demonstrating that we are reliable stewards of the
economy. But, Mr. Speaker, you do not have to take
my word for it. Mr. Speaker, Standard & Poor’s have
reaffirmed Bermuda’s A -plus rating with an outlook
that remains positive.
Mr. Speaker, they say the rating agency is
also projecting economic growth in 2019 and 2020. That is not the Bermuda Government . That is Stan dard & Poor’s projecting economic growth in 2019 and
2020.
Mr. Speaker, there are many who want the
Government to open the immigration flood gates.
There are continual cries that we need more people.
But here is the reality. Many companies want indivi duals wit h work permits, many who are on work permits
want to become PRCs, and many who have PRC cerBermuda House of Assembly tificates want status. There is an expectation that has
now been created that when people come to Bermuda
for gainful employment where there is a demand in
their ser vice, that they should remain in the country
forever. And the reality is, many companies also want
access to a greater number of expatriate employees.
Mr. Speaker, this Government has a mandate
to put Bermudians first. As the chairman of the N ational Tra ining Board, it is disheartening when I continuously hear that many qualified Bermudians are
constantly being overlooked for their expatriate cou nterparts.

[Inaudible interjections]

I am speaking to the other Member s,
too, because it ain’t just her voice I hear up here, so
you should ask everybody to be quiet. If you are going
to ask one, ask them all to be quiet, please.
And I am asking you all to be quiet and let just
the Member on his feet speak before I have to take a
stronger action.
Continue, Member .

Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker, in addition, the exploitation of
wages needs to disappear. Wage exploitation in Bermuda needs to disappear. Employees deserve a fair
day’s wage for a fair day’s work. Bermudians simply
cannot live off of exploitation wages.
Immigration is a very sensitive matter and
many Bermudians have a genuine fear of being further disadvantaged to immigration policy changes.
Changes to policy or legislation must be controlled and measured. Those who cry out for changes to our
policy must demonstrate that they have a commitment
to the progression of Bermudians in our economy.
Mr. Speaker, this budget reinforces the Go vernment ’s commitment to the people. For many years,
I have been an advocate of progressive taxation and it
is pleasing to see that the Government has further
expanded upon progressive taxation policies, provi ding tax breaks for those who make under $96,000. When you help people, Mr. Speaker, you are crit icised. And that is what we heard the Opposition do —
criticise us, by saying it is simply enough. But if we raise taxes by the exact same amount, they would
have something to say about it.
Mr. Speaker, I am a firm believer that those
who make more should pay more. And that is what
this Government is demonstrating —that we are looking out for the lowest remunerated workers in our s ociety. We must look at both economic growth and development together, Mr. Speaker .
The Government has a critical role to play in
ensuring that Bermudians are active participants in
our economy. This is why this Government continues
to ensure that our people have access to Bermuda
College. We continue to actively work towards the
implementation of a minimum wage. We are commi tted to lowering the cost of health care services. We
have increased scholarship funding for those who r equire assistance to attend both local and overseas
colleges and universities, and we continue to support
entrepreneurs through Bermuda Economic Develo pment Corporation (BEDC). Those activities, Mr.
Speaker, are deliberately designed to build capacity of
Bermudians so they can enjoy a decent and dignified
quality of life in their country.
Mr. Speaker, change is inevit able. Many are
resistant to change and are active guardians of the status quo. But for Bermuda to succeed, we must understand that business as usual is simply not good enough. For our economy to succeed, we must em-brace initiatives which allow our economy to diversify
and expand. We must embrace technology. We need
to support changes to business ownership. We must
accept that the economic empowerment of black Bermudians will benefit us all. We must continue to
promote cooperative businesses. We must look to
support alternative financial institutions that will allow
the Bermudian people to have additional options so
that they can access capital.
For far too long, there were too many indivi duals who controlled the economic levers in our country
that have don e things that disenfranchise a segment
of our society. What we are trying to do be is measured in our approach moving forward. I hear the O pposition’s concern that this is a status quo budget. But
let me say something, Mr. Speaker . They will not be
able to swallow radical change. It must be measured.
It must be sensible. And I applaud the Minister and his
team for the excellent work done.

[Desk thumping]

Mr. Speaker, I stand firmly with
the PLP Government on building a fairer and better
Bermuda. That is the overarching aim that we want to accomplish.
The Honourable Patricia Gordon- Pamplin had
the nerve to speak to our teachers who resort to i ndustrial action. Mr. Speaker, the OBA presided over
probably the worst period of industrial re lations history
in this country.
3134 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly An Hon. Member: Talk about it. Talk about it.
[Inaudible interjections]

It seems as though they are
satisfied when public service jobs are being cut, but
want to raise alarm bells when things are not working out so well in the private sector. What are public ser-vice employees, Mr. Speaker, chopped liver?
[
Inaudible interjections]
Mr
. Jason Hayward: Mr. Speaker, those are our
friends, our relatives, individuals who may have searched high and low for jobs in the private sector and not been given a fair opportunity. But it is all right
to tell those individuals, You are racking up cost s. Go
home . Why are we even debating about public service
numbers as if more Bermudians employed is not a
positive thing for the country? What do we want to see? Lower job numbers?
[
Inaudible interjections]

If people have a skill set and
they are utilising their skill set to provide a service to their country, it should be applauded. But that is not what we get. Mr. Speaker, prior to me assuming this pos ition I was head of a public service union. I was also a proud member of the People’s Campaign for Equality, Jobs and Justice. And we went high and low speaking with individuals of this community, of the pain, hurt and anguish they felt in 2014 during the reign of the One Bermuda Alliance.
Mr. Speaker, I have not changed my stripes. I
continuously advocate for the people of this country. But it seems that we now have some pop- up adv ocates that the people will not be fooled by.
Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Michael Dunkley
can get on the TV every evening, but the people of
this country know that he is not representing their best
interests. We will not be fooled by Scott Pearman, the Honourable Scott Pearman, acting as though he is a guardian of our children.

As a community —in particular, a
black community in Bermuda, because that is the
community I can speak from —we have always had an
uphill battle because we do not have the economic
power in this country.
I sympathise with some of my brothers and
sisters that are actually struggling because sometimes
they are struggling at no fault of their own. They are struggling because they were born into a system, an economic environment that never had their best interests at heart, that left them disenfranchised.
Yes, we are the Government . But, certainly,
we cannot be the scapegoat for the economic woes of
individuals as though they did not exist when we were not the Go vernment . There is no new group of oppressed under the PLP. It is the same group that was
struggling prior to us being in Government .
Mr. Speaker, again I just want to thank the
Minister of Finance and his team for this budget. The
economic numbers show that the economy is trending
in a positive direction. The Opposition needs to be
mature enough and acknowledge that fact.
[
Inaudible interj ections]

Good afternoon.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: —good afternoon to co lleagues and to the listening audience.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this economic debate. And as I start
my comments, let me say, Mr. Speaker, that I have no
intention of dealing with any personal attacks on m yself or any one of my colleagues, because when pe ople come at you personally, it must mean that you are
making sense and they are trying to belittle you by
persona l attacks. So, you stick to the wicket —

[Laughter and crosstalk]

Speak to me. Speak to me, speak to
me.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: —and you keep talking
about the challenges that we face and you keep tal king and working for the people of Berm uda.
Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member who
spoke just before me asked, What do we want to see?
He asked, What do the people want to see in regard
to the civil service? Well let me answer his question
for him, Mr. Speaker . What we want to see is what the
people want to see— a civil service that is efficient,
effective and able to be funded by the taxpayer. I think
everyone would support that.
Also, Mr. Speaker, he did not ask this question, but I will carry on. We want to see, and we be-lieve the people w ant to see, a private sector that has
confidence, provides opportunity and can have
growth. Meaning, that they will be able to pay their
taxes, be sustainable and to enjoy life, Mr. Speaker . If
you take a look at those two parts, the civil service and the private sector, sit back now and reflect where
we stand in Bermuda. And I will come back to that in a
bit more as I get further into my comments.
Honourable Member s on the other side have
taken the liberty of saying that this is the worst Reply to the Bud get they have seen in their time. Now, Mr.
Speaker —
[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Now, Mr. Speaker, it is
one thing not to support a Reply or the Budget itself.
But to classify it in such a way, I think shows that you have not taken the time to read it in its entirety —
because the last thing that I am going to do is stand
here today and say this is the worst Budget that I have
ever seen.

Because it is not.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Because that makes no
sense.
There have been . . . I have seen 20 budgets.
There have been countless more budgets in the hist ory of Bermuda. And for me to stand up here and to
say something that drastic is not right simply because
I have respect for the Finance Minister . I believe he
stands by his principles. But we also have disagreements with some of the proposals and some of the
policies in the programme. That is fine. Let us debate those. Let us take out the embellishment. Let us take
out the personal attacks and talk about what we believe is the best way to go forward because we all
would agree —and it you do not agree with the next
comment, stand up and make a point of order —but
we would all agree that Bermuda faces serious challenges today.
And those challenges, if left unaddressed, and
those challenges if continued to be addressed by personal attacks and who can one- up the other or, as the
Premier has said before, who can weaponise som ething, the country will country to falter. Do we want this country to falter? None of us do because we go
on the doorstep and we hear from the people we
serve.
Let me just digress for a minute here, Mr.
Speaker, because it is important. As this country
struggles, and as the people that we serve become
more disillusioned about the opportunity and hope that
they might have, they become more frustrated with
their politicians. Every single one of us, on the Go vernment side or the Opposition benches . . . because
all they hear is the back and forth and the personal attacks and they see a lack of solutions. That is the
crux of where we are. So to belittle the Reply from my
honourable colleague, who has served the people for
many years and she served it with conviction and
strength, shows that you are not really paying attention to the words and the meanings that come across
with those solutions. Say you disagree with them and
show why you disagree with them.
But the people want to hear what our sol utions are so they can decide what has merit and what should be kicked out the door quickly. You know, at
the very l east if we can do that, we can move forward.
There will be some real progress. There will be some
real opportunity for people. So, let us look at it in that
3136 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly vein where, yes, let us be critical. Let us be critical as
we all can. Talk about this economic debate tonight
and we can go back and forth about what we believe is right and wrong. But let us go with some facts that we have, voice our opinions and listen to what our colleagues say at the same time.
And I believe my honourable colleague pr esented a good Reply today with some common- sense
suggestions that I know that the Honourable Finance Minister will read and listen to—

It is all right. Speak this way.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: You got to push it back,
right.
Did I read it?
Come on, Did I read it?
The Honourable Member always likes to refer
to Hansard and when you refer back, it is not there.
So that shows how accurate he can be from time to
time.
[
Laughter]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Now, Mr. Speaker, the
Honourable Member, Mr. Hayward . . . and I apprec iated his presentation. Although we disagreed in some areas, there was some common ground that we can
find. That was his opinion on the outlook of the country. And you know what? I sat on Government benches. Sometimes it is very hard to face reality of what you face so you try to paint it in a slightly different pi cture. And the Honourable Member gave his view and
he has some background in economics —

Statistics.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Statistics —some bac kground, just like I do, just like many Member s in this
House do. [Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: But when you look at our
economy, Mr. Speaker, the vast driver of our economy
right now is international business. International bus iness, Mr. Speaker . And we are blessed to have international business as part of a driver, the main driver of
our economy. And we need to do everything we can
to help it to continue to allow it to grow and to enable them to have the confidence to bring more jobs into Bermuda.
So, this immigration thing that we need more
people in Bermuda . . . I agree with Honourable Member Hayward, that it is not just more people to Berm uda; it is more people contributing to our economy in Bermuda, people with expertise they can bring to our shores to help us create jobs, to help us create the commerce, to help us create the wealth that Bermudians can be involved in and spend in our economy and
do what they want. So, we need to have the conf idence in international business to allow it to grow. But
right now, if you reflect honestly and if you talk to i nternational businesspeople, they will tell you, Mr.
Speaker, they will tell you very clearly, We love Bermuda . It is a great place. But right now, it is too expensive, there is too much red tape and t here are better opportunities elsewhere .
We need to change that. And we can change
that together. We can change that, no doubt, because
if we change that, they can bring jobs to Bermuda
which will not only mean that the expertise in that in-dustry comes here, but Bermudians will be hired along at the same time. Not only directly in the industry, but outside in the fringes for goods and services that they will procure because they will spend the money here.
And as I am on it, Mr. Speaker, one of the
challenges that we face in the community now b ecause confidence is so low in Bermuda . . . and my
honourable colleague reflected on the confidence sur-vey that was put out, and I have talked about it in this Honourable Chamber on a couple of occasions. With
confidence being so low, many non- Bermudians who
work here are taking their money and sending it
somewhere else.
[
Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: A nd I he ar Honourable
Member s saying i t was b ecause they hear a lot of
rhetoric from our crows.
[Laughter]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: That is not true. It is because their confidence is they want to put it som ewhere where they believe it might be safe. But if they
had confidence in Bermuda, they would put it here.
They would spend it here because the y believe they
have a future.


Bermuda House of Assembly And the longer we do not deal with immigr ation, the longer we fail to deal with immigration, the
more international business takes senior positions out
of this Island to other jurisdictions. That means there
is a multiplier e ffect, not only in the money spent, but
in the jobs that come into Bermuda, the people that
are hired in Bermuda. And it is a steady trickle dow nwards. It is a serious challenge we face, and we need
to be real with each other about that.
So, while intern ational business drives our
economy and they tell you, Yeah, we are happier and
everything, but they are not creating jobs here . . . in
all their companies they have offices all over the
world, you ask them, Okay, how many offices do you
have and where ar e you creating jobs? Bermuda
would probably rank close to the bottom of the barrel
in that. And that tells you something. That tells you
something.

That is rhetoric.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: It is not rhetoric. It is truth.
And you know w hat? Truth hurts. Truth hurts.
So, Mr. Speaker, we need to make sure that
the principal sector of our economy, if we are going to
keep our head above water and for this country to see
better days, we need to make sure that they have o pportunity and growt h.
Now, let me move slightly away from that. I
have said this before.

[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I will get there, right now,
right now.
The Honourable Minister of National Security
says talk about Bermudians. I am getting there right
now.
So, while many Bermudian s are employed in
that sector, many more Bermudians are not. Many
more Bermudians do not earn the income in that sector, do not have the money to send in that sector. So,
when we talk about our economy prospering or doi ng
decently, I cannot say “well,” because it is not happening. If you look at the Bermudian economy, where the
vast number of Bermudian s work, we are struggling.
That is what we see, and we feel, and we hear. Bermudians are struggling.
So, when the Govern ment , to great applause from
their backbench, says that we had 441 new jobs last year, great, that is progress. But break the numbers
down, because anybody who will look at a figure can break the numbers down for you. Well, look at Go vernment ’s own Economi c Report on page 20. It shows
that there were 150 new jobs from 2018 to 2019 in public administration. So, take 150 off 441. You got 291 jobs. What about the airport? How many people
are working at the airport? A couple of hundred people work in the airpor t. You got 91 new jobs. St. Regis —70 working there, you got 21 new jobs. How
many working at BELCO? A hundred working there—so now, you have got net jobs. And, you know, the
Honourable Derrick Burgess, my cousin as he likes to
call everybody, says, so you are responsible. Yes, the OBA was responsible for the airport and St. Regis.
And so there—

The Honourable Member is
misleading the House.
He is making it seem as though the OBA
helped create jobs at the airport when they had no
Bermudian clause there. Actually, it was the PLP, under myself at the Airport Authority, that made sure that
65 per cent of all jobs done at the ai rport on the co nstruction were Bermudian. Prior to that, there was no
stipulation.

The Honourable Member is
misleading the House.
Prior to myself going down to the Airport A uthority they had no clause in place. We actually had to
do an optimisation agreement where we renegotiated
certain parts of the project agreement because their
team forgot to put certain necessary clauses and sti pulations into the agreement itself. One was th e percentage of jobs down there for Bermudians.

3138 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Thank you. I am sure when you rise to
your feet you will have more time to clarify that if need
be, but —

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: He can try to clarify, but,
but see, Mr. Speaker —

He will have his opportunity to clarify.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Put another minute more
on the clock because I watched it. It was 59 seconds,
Mr. Speaker .
But here we are. We are getting back to that
narrative. See, you know, the Government likes to talk
about code. Well, I can read some code from people,
too. What the Honourable Member just said there is
that, wait a second, yo u know, you missed some
things here but really, the code is OBA does not su pport Bermudians. What trash! That is total trash!

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Absolute trash, Mr.
Speaker , because the OBA is Bermudians —all Bermudians. We work in this community, we live in this
community, we have family and friends from one end
of the Island. We are reflective of this community. So,
for you to try and say, Well, the OBA did not care
about Bermudians —nonsense! Nonsense. And, I will
take it even personally because the Honourable
Member Mr. Hayward—

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: No, a personal story. The
Honourable Member Mr. Hayward talked about good
people in civil service. But let me, Mr. Speaker —
[Inaudible interjec tions]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I must be hitting a nerve
because they are all woken up over on that side. They are all awake now. But, Mr. Speaker, in my company I
have close to 100 staff. Only a couple are non -
Bermudian.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: You can figure out a couple for yourself, right. A couple is two, right?
But, Mr. Speaker, recently we hired somebody
from the civil service. And you know what? She is one
of our best employees.

And we trained her!

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: One of our best emplo yees.
And he said and we trained her ! The Honourable Member takes credit for everything. Sometimes
he should keep his mouth zipped.
The point being is that how can you be
against Bermudians when you work with them every
day, you see them every day. You talk to them every
day. So, as politicians, just stop the barriers because the OBA is not against Bermudians and the PLP is not
against Bermudians either. We just have different philosophies about certain things . And so, if you look at
those job numbers, they can be cut up very quickly.
But, Mr. Speaker, here is the crux of it. What
are going to be the job numbers next year when the
airport construction is finished? What are going to be
the jobs next year when S t. Regis opens up? Hopefully people will be hired there, a lot of people will be
hired there. Yes, Mr. Speaker, when BELCO, when
the project at BELCO finishes, what is going to happen there? Mr. Famous is probably going to have to
work double- time to have to cover that extra power
station, Mr. Speaker .

[Laughter]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, that is not a
point of order.

All right? Right.

[Inaudible interjections]


Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Now, Mr. Speaker, so the
fact of the matter is that a hole can easily be shot into
numbers, especially if they are not airtight.
Now, let me get to the budget and the ec onomic debate. I consider this to be a benign budget in regard to taxation. Very few taxes were raised, so it is
benign. But what I also consider it to be is an alarming
budget and here is why.
A lot of the challenges that we face today will
not be addressed by this budget. It will not help stim ulate the economy, and I believe that the Government
in their wisdom . . . and I am sure it will be explained
more through this debate. In their wisdom they see the economy much healthier than it actually is . That is
a real concern to me, Mr. Speaker . And why do I say
that? Because on page 3 at the very beginning, after
the introduction to the budget the Honourable Finance
Minister says there are real signs that the economy is
improving.
Well, last year we did not hear the Gover nment say that the economy was going down the drain.
We heard that the economy was all right. So, it is i mproving from a decent economy last year. And he talked about employment which is clouded in the explanation I just gave. It is cl ouded in immigration [sic]
from the Island and we still cannot get any numbers
on immigration [sic] and we need to do something
about that and the OBA addressed that in our Reply.
You need to know people coming and going
from your Island. Especially now because immigration
[sic] is perhaps at one of the highest levels that we
have seen in recent history . . . emigration. And we
need to track the people that are leaving the Island,
not only so we have a base of what is actually taking
place but also so we c an create opportunity and reach
out to those people and hopefully bring them back to
the Island with the opportunity that we create.
Emigration is real. It is a real challenge that
we face. The real signs of the economy improving by
the Minister referred to cruise ship visitors. Well, yes,
we have a great pier up there. It cost a lot more than it
should have and Bermuda is one of the predominant
cruise destinations in this part of the world so ever yone wants to cruise here. But if we are going to rely
on c ruise visitors for our tourism industry, then we
are—I think we are whistling Dixie. It is not going to
work that well.
It talks about visitor spending, but visitor
spending is showing signs of weakness. And you have to be real about that. It talks about construction
activity, yes. It goes to the projects that I just talked about. But what are the new projects on the horizon? And, yes, okay, Fairmount Southampton Princess.
But that is a renovation job and while that
renovation job takes place for $25, $4 0, $50 million,
the 400 or more [hotel] workers there are going to be laid off and construction workers are going to be hired.
So, if best, if best —
[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: —if best, it is going to be
trading numbers.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I have done some r esearch myself in staying in touch with what is going on
in the economy, not only talking to people within our
community but following up and reading on information. There is an investment house in Bermuda that
publishes report s on a regular basis. One just came
out 10 days ago, and it talks about a stagnant econ omy with challenges ahead. And here are some nu mbers that they put in it with their prognosis with what is
taking place.
The weak Bermuda economy, declining wor kforce and higher taxes —and this is key —are reducing
household spending; the difficult retail environment
impacted by the freight volume of 2019; container
moves on the Hamilton docks declined by 1.7 per cent
in 2019. Listen up to this: while construction projects
and tourism spending helped volumes to rise in the
first half of the year, the measures slumped by 4.9 per cent and 3.4 per cent in the third and fourth
quarters. Refrigerated containers which normally are
linked to population growth fell 12.4 per cent an d
3.4 per cent in the third and fourth quarters of 2019.
They say this is likely an indication that the Bermuda
population is continuing to decline since online sales
do not impact this category.
It goes on to say that the data for the final
quarter of 2019 is concerning as we enter 2020 given that construction activity will slow with the completion of the airport in April.
It goes on to talk about retail sales. Retail
sales data for September and October were released
together this week with negative trends continuing.
The trailing 12- month volume of retail sales declined
10 per cent through the end of October, the lowest
level in the 25- year history of the index.
Now, you can shoot holes in those numbers if
you want but that is somebody who is in the business
with the expertise telling us that we need to stop making excuses and pay attention to all the numbers that
we have at our fingertips.
Now, they also put out their GDP estimates. It
jives with government quite a bit. In 2017, [it was]
3.65—which w e know —[in] 2018, [it was] 0.1 per cent;
2019, an estimate of 2.0 per cent, but alarmingly [in]
2020, an estimate of - 1.0 per cent. So, this builds on
the lack of confidence in our community, and if you
look at retail sales and people, a lot of people have
tried to push retail sales as a backburner saying because of online purchasing and because of people
bringing stuff directly in themselves, they do not matter. But, Mr. Speaker, what I have said before and
what I will say here again today is that retail s ales are
seven different categories: food sales, liquor sales, motor vehicle sales, service stations, building mater ials, apparel stores and other store types.
3140 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly So, if you want to throw out all of that on retail
sales and say that this number should not be consi dered, well, then, you are the Government now. You
can change the numbers you collect to get something
that you feel is sufficient. But retail sales are a good
economic indicator of money flowing in our community
and that helps to show the health of our community.
So, I have already talked about retail sales —

Hon. Michael J. Scott: Mr. Speaker, if my friend
would—

Thank you.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: So, I have already talked
about another view on our economy, about some
numbers that show concern, about confidence, about
retail sales, about emigration. Just look at the number
of street people and homeless people that we have now, Mr. Speaker . That is another indication. Look at
the number of churches and organisations that give
away free meals on a regular basis. Look at the challenges we have with costs rising throughout Bermuda.
Look at the amount of vacant store space we have from one end of the Island to the other, and look at real estate sales in 2019 which was one of the worst
years in hist ory. Those are all facts.
So, we have a real challenge if the Gover nment sees, in their view, that there are real signs that
the economy is improving, and many other people see
it a different way. We need to make sure that we do not act like crabs in a barrel and just start crawling all
over each other to try to get out of the barrel, because
the malaise in our economy is real.

[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: The malaise in our economy is real. Cost of living increases have a direct i mpact on the ability of people to contribute to the Island,
to live good lives and to enjoy themselves. Cost of
living increases impact our seniors and what they are
trying to do. It is a real challenge in Bermuda, Mr.
Speaker .

—amongst the black
community. And I would ask him to respectfully wit hdraw that comment. You referred to “crabs in a bar-rel.” It gives strong overtones and I do not feel comfortable with it, and I am sure the Honourable Member
would not want to be associated with using that as his way of making a point. Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker —

The clock is controlled here. Let him
finish up, please.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, I will not
have time in my 2 minutes and 40 seconds l eft to talk
about health care, but my colleagues will.
But I do want to talk about government organisations that operate at an arm’s length and are being
threatened by the overreach of Government , such as
the Business Development Agency (BDA), such as
the Gaming Commission. We talked about the Gaming Commission in our follow -up in our Reply. It has
been really pushed off to the side and is wasting
money at the present time because they are not ma king any progress. Government needs to decide, are
they going to move forward in gaming and get some
solutions, or are they going to stop it and save the
money and use it in better places. We believe they
need to move forward.
We are concerned about the BDA and how it
is being pulled in closer to the government umbrella.
And, Mr. Speaker, a real concern with the Bermuda
Tourism Authority (BTA), especially with this year we face tough times with projections, is tough times with
our largest hotel closing and price cutting already being established in our community, and tough times with we -do-not-know what is going to happen with the
coronavirus —which could have a drastic impact on
people wanting to travel. And to hear on Wednesday afternoon, or Wednesday morning, that the head of
the BTA has quit, and Friday he is out the door, tells
me, Mr. Speaker, that something is not right.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Tells me, Mr. Speaker,
that there was a major impasse, and enough was
enough and the person has moved on.

Hon. Wayne Caines: Point of order, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker, this Member is misleading the
House. The Speaker: Why do you say it? [It] was up to opi nion. That is his opinion of it. I am sure when the Mini ster gets on his feet later he will clarify it.
Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker, I say this with the
greatest of respect, and please correct me if I am
wrong —

Go ahead.

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Wayne Caines: It is not a matter that is not subject for speculation.
Mr. Speaker, the CEO gave his reasons and
publi cly stated these reasons. He wanted to do som ething different and go into the private sector. If that
were not the case, he would not have made the
statement. He did not leave it open for conjecture. He
did not leave it open for somebody to surmise. He
gave a specific, detailed account of why he was leaving. That, Mr. Speaker, is speculation.

Twenty -five.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I will say that is balde rdash by the Honourable Minister , and here is why,
because the CEO is the CEO —
Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker , Mr. Speaker, with
the greatest of respect , that Member must retract that
I am speaking balderdash. I would not accept that, Mr.
Speaker .

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Wayne Caines: That is not acceptable, Mr.
Speaker .

Members, Member s. Take a seat a
minute. Take your seat, both of you.
The debate does not need to be getting on a
personal level now. I have sat most of my time this
morning pretty quiet, pretty quiet. We are almost to
the end, we have a minute that is left, it is going to be
your last minute that is left. But let us not take it into
any personal level, back and forth. Okay?

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker —

Let him finish. Let him start, let him
start.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: If the Honourable Member
was upset by my [comments], I retract them and I say
I totally disagree with the Honourable Member ’s
comments. And here is why: because I view Kevin
Dallas as a very professional and respected person.
And if he quit and gave two days’ notice, that is unacceptable. But I believe there is something behind that.
And this Government has shown their intention to take
over the BTA and it is not going to work properly. You
are going to dismantle something that is worki ng for
the people of Bermuda and it stinks of interference
when it is not necessary.
Thank you for the extra time.

Thank you for using up your minute.
Does any other Member wish to speak? I recognise the Honourable Minister Foggo. You have the
floor.
Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: Yes, good day, Mr. Speaker, I
am happy to stand on my feet and speak to the great
things that this Government is trying to do for the pe ople of Bermuda.
Let me say up front, this Government has had
a laser focus on putti ng Bermudians first and creating
a fairer and better Bermuda for all. And it is under that
umbrella, Mr. Speaker, with all of the issues that pertain throughout our society that our esteemed Finance
Minister, having to look at it from a systemic point of
view, has tried to provide a budget which will help to
create that fairer and better Bermuda for all.
One Member who took to her feet in her Reply
said that the Minister giveth but he taketh away. I
suppose I was taken aback by that particular comment bec ause when we have a situation where we
understand what is operating in the economy, when a
Minister of Finance would seek to try and create a
situation where 75 per cent of Bermudians are recei ving a tax cut which means, ultimately, that there is
more mone y in their pockets to contribute to our s o-ciety, this is a big deal, Mr. Speaker . It is a big deal,
and it speaks directly to trying to create a situation
that allows our Bermudian s to be able to, if you will,
live with some level of dignity to be able to better operate in this economy, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker, when we see through our efforts
that employment, to some level, is up, yes, we should
celebrate that —when we saw previously, under a di fferent regime that this was not the case at all. In fact,
what we saw was an infrastructure that was just eroding . . . almost to the point of no operation. We saw
the busses decimated, we saw trash trucks decimated, we saw Government buildings not being mai ntained and managed properly. And when we took over
this Government , we had to step in and try to rectify
that situation and bring it to a level where it is man-ageable while trying to make improvements. Thus far, Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we have done.
Mr. Speaker, in trying to ensure that our people can better play in this economy I can say that this
Government has put measures in place to ensure, for
instance in the area of workforce development, that
there will be increased opportunity for people to reprofessionalise through training, there will be i ncreased opportunities for apprenticeships to take
place because we need to ensure that our people are
equipped with the skill set needed to be able to oper-ate within this economy.
So, not only were increases made in terms of
money spent on education, but within my Minist ry we
made certain that at least an extra $100,000 was put
in place to ensure that the many people who walked
through our doors who are finding themselves di splaced in the workforce will be able to benefit through
whatever skills training t hat they desire to ensure that
they are marketable and when they go for a job will
have the requisite skill set to be able to secure that
position.
One of the reasons why that has been our
focus is because, not just on the low economic rungs but on the top economic rungs we have seen Berm udian after Bermudian who had the requisite skill set
and who had the requisite qualifications to be able to
secure certain jobs or employment within our economy overlooked. That is not acceptable. Any Gover nment should be operating first and foremost for the
benefit of the people they serve. So again, our focus
has been to ensure that our Bermudians go back to
work for those who find themselves being displaced.
And we understand the impact that artificial i ntelligence and technology has had in these areas in
the reduction of work. We know that work is out-sourced in certain arenas, and we have seen a much
larger number of white collar workers who do operate
in the higher and middle economic rungs finding themselves displaced, which is why our focus is to
ensure that we put policies and programmes in place which will allow these persons to be able to acquire


Bermuda House of Assembly the skill sets in order for them to continue to operate
within this economy.
This Government is investing in our peopl e.
That is what we are doing, not only by putting fairer
tax measures in place, not just for the employees but for the employers as well, but also by ensuring that
there are programmes in place to enhance the ability
of our people to be able to secure empl oyment.
Mr. Speaker, again when we have looked at a
crumbling infrastructure that would have the effect . . .
they say that those who come or go to countries look
at education; they look at the infrastructure, the
transport system, things like that. And t hose are attractive qualities for people when they are deciding to
try and secure employment overseas. We understand
that, and we are trying to make certain that on every
front we are doing what we need to do as a Gover nment to make certain that, not just our economy, but
our Island home and its infrastructure is at the standard that an affluent society such as Bermuda should
be at. Again, we are making certain that we are going
to repair our bridges, and we have seen some of that
work already begin. We are making certain that when
it comes to our schools that sufficient monies are in
the budget so that we will continually upgrade and
make certain that a maintenance programme is in
place which will counter against buildings falling to disrepair.
When it comes to transport, Mr. Speaker, we
are making certain that there are sufficient operable
busses on the roads, operable ferries, to give the re quisite lift needed to ensure that our people can go
back and forth to work, that our children can get to school, t hat in no way . . . our visitors can go and visit
whatever they wish to visit, so that in no way is this
impeded.
Mr. Speaker, I can tell you when it comes to
the workforce in particular and looking at how people
do operate . . . I am going back to the point of those
who operate now also on the lower economic rungs. We have begun the work. The commission has begun
the work of looking at coming up with a proper living
wage, because we are a country who believes in de-cent work for all.
Mr. Speaker, when our Member s from the
other side get up and suggest that perhaps we do not have the right focus, let me say that they are the ones
who, I guess if you will, are misinformed because we
recognise that if we do not do something to ensure
that our brothers and sis ters who do operate at those
lower rungs do not earn sufficient to be able to keep a roof over their heads, foods in their bellies, then, yes, we will have a situation where they are getting money
through other means. Mr. Speaker, in order to mitigate
against that, we are making certain that we will deliver
on this promise of a living wage that will see our pe ople being able to work with a little bit more dignity and
be able to work and sustain themselves better in an economy that does, I guess if you will, have a high
cost of living.
Mr. Speaker, the other thing that we are doing
to try and ensure a better and fairer Bermuda in my
Ministry is looking at pay equity. We want to make
sure that when persons who are equally qualified and
go forward with a job, that we do not have one person
(if the person is female) being offered this level of
compensation whilst perhaps a male counterpart is
being offered $20,000 or $30,000 more for the same
work. So, we are going to make sure that in our labour laws and in our Employment Act and through our pol icies and practises that people get treated equally for
the work that they do.
Mr. Speaker, I know that there is much anecdotal evidence out there, and there is even reported
evidence at places such as the Human Rights Commission where persons go for —and I will say Berm udian persons go for —jobs and they are being offered
something like $80,000. And you will see that same
. . . and they cannot take it because they are being
offered a pay that falls way below what that job is
worth. You will see that same job being advertised
overseas for twice as much. It is an unacceptable
practice, and policies will be put in place to remedy
that. So, we are going to see where information will be
provided where persons will have to ulti mately be offering people pay in a pay range that is commens urate with what that job requires. You will see when we
put the measures in place.
Mr. Speaker, when we have persons who, to
this day, are still being offered $10 an hour, $8 an
hour, taking hom e $50 in their pay cheque at the end
of a full week’s worth of work, a 40- hour work week,
35-hour work week, it is incumbent for us as a Go vernment to address that situation. Again, the policies
that we have spoken to in our Throne Speech and in
our platform, and the measures that we have undertaken speak to remedying that situation. We may not be able to do everything overnight, but it will get done.
Mr. Speaker, when you hear the Member who
just took his seat who sp eak about so many Bermudians having, I guess, left . . . now, I may not know all of
the answers, but for whatever reason we know that there is a declining birth rate. Mr. Speaker, we have
seen reports of persons having left Bermuda, families
having left Bermuda—

Why?
Hon. Lovi tta F. Foggo: And if that is to seek . . . and I
am getting to that. And if that is to seek a better life,
then that tells us as a Government that we should
be—and we are—focused on trying to remedy that.
And having spoken to some of the people, they talk
about the high cost of living; they talk about being
Bermudi an and not being able to get a job in their own
country. They speak about having all the requisite qualific ations and yet, sometimes people who they
3144 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly have gone to college with, but who happen to be foreign, apply for the same jobs as our Bermudians and
the foreign er being [hired] over that Bermudian. We
have heard evidence from human resource persons
from some of the most reputable institutions here in
Bermuda —

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: —and that is what I am tal king about. [They] can tell you first hand that, hands
down, our Bermudians apply for these jobs, have
done a stellar job in their interview have, sometimes
even more qualifications —oft times more qualific ations —and some of these same persons have made
the arguments and have fought for those Bermudians
to have those jobs, because through the interviewing
process and the like, they really are the ones who
have earned the right to have that job. But, for whatever reasons that prevail, they have been bypassed.
This cannot be right.
So, Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that in my Mi nistry we have reached out to the private sector to try to
look in concert with them at putting in programmes
and measures that would ensure that our Bermudians
are treated more fairly, put in measures that would
operate to diminish this divide that we see particularly
in IB, between the foreign working, our guest workers, and our Bermudians who operate in that space.
We cannot rely on a single approach. It cannot be just tax cuts for our Bermudians. We have to use a multi -pronged approach because this is a sy stem-wide problem and we have to operate in a way
that would serve to diminish all of those factors which —whether meaning to or not —keep the divide in
place.
So, Mr. Speaker, in looking at when we talk
about the economy and looking at what needs to happen to try and bring about a fairer and better Berm uda, I have to take my hat off to the Minister of Finance
because I think he has looked at it . He has looked at it
and tried to ensure that he addresses this in a bal-anced way because, I am sure he will stand up first ,
he is a man of honour . He is, I will say, somewhat of a
perfectionist and there is no way that his legacy will be that he, in any way, shape , or form , failed the people
of Bermuda. What he has put in place he believes —it
may not be i n one day , but he believes —will move
Bermuda in the right direction of ensuring that we
have an economy that allows our people to operate in.
Mr. Speak er, the same way that within the
division of labour and workforce we have put in pr ogrammes to try and ensure that we help our people in
every way possible to, I guess, reach their goals, we
likewise within the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation are ensuring that measures are being impl emented that: (1) We will have the broad measure of
helping families to ensure that their children are being
taken care of through the youth programmes . (2) When it comes to sports specifically , there are grants
and opportunities that we are providing our young
people to help them realise their goals with their spor ting efforts.
In speaking of sporting efforts, we recognise
in sports that to ensure that our athletes can reach
their highest potential that we provide them with
grounds where the facilities are at the level that they
need to be to enhance our athletes performances. I
can say that this budget is showing that monies are
being allocated. Capital monies are being allocated to
the National Sports Centre to ensure that as an entity
they will have the requisite condition and equipment to
maintain so that we do not see a situation again
where places such as that have fallen to such a level
of disrepair that it can no longer service our Bermudians. This is just another example of this Government
coming in behind a former Government that did little to
nothing to maintain or uplift the infrastructure.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: He says a pack of nonsense .
The facts speak for themselves. The facts s peak for
themselves, Mr. Speaker.
We came in and found a situation where, I
guess, much . . . I am going to use the word “decay, ”
had been taking place to the infrastructure. And very
little investment was put in place by the other Government. In fact, when it comes to the National Sport
Centre, they reduced the budget by $400,000 and
created an impossible situation for that entity to be
able to maintain itself. So, year after year, the facility was decaying.

No, no, no.
Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: Right. So, Mr. Speaker —

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: This Government ensured
that we put the requisite amount of money in place to
be able to adequately take care of that facility so that our young athletes can go there and train, compete
and the like, and be able to raise their standards in the
area of sports.
Mr. Speaker, we can talk about their treatment
of seniors versus our treatment of seniors , and we all
know that we made a promise to ensure that we would make certain that they would receive the equi valent, I think it is of the inflationary rate, in the monies
in—


Ber muda House of Assembly [Inaudible interjection]
Ho
n. Lovitta F. Foggo: —in their monies.

[It’s] 1.2.
Ho
n. Lovitta F. Foggo: Whatever it is, it is an increase, and they did not do that. In fact, they took
from seniors.
[Inaudible interjections]
Ho
n. Lovitta F. Foggo: They took from seniors. They
blamed us, Mr. Speaker —
Ho
n. Michael H. Dunkley: Point of order, Mr. Speaker. The Honourable Member —
Th
e Speaker: Point of order?
POINT OF ORDER
Ho
n. Michael H. Du nkley: The Honourable Member
has lost her way. No one has —
Ho
n. Lovitta F. Foggo: Mr. Speaker, he does not
speak for me!
Th
e Speaker: Wait, wait, wait, wait!
Ho
n. Lovitta F. Foggo: I have not lost my way! Thank
you.
Th
e Speaker: Minister, Minister. Wa it. Minister, you
need to be in your seat. I acknowledged the other
Member. Please sit down. Thank you.
Ho
n. Michael H. Dunkley: If you are going to make
it—
Th
e Speaker: One second. When I sit down, you can
get back up.
Now you can get back up.
Ho
n. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, sir.
Th
e Speaker: Thank you.
Ho
n. Michael H. Dunkley: My knees are getting old.
It is hard to get up and down.
Mr. Speaker, if you are going to make such an
absurd allegation you need to back it up by what was taken, Mr. Speaker. Th
e Speaker: Minister, he is still on his feet, you
know. Respect the process, please.
Now he sat down. Now you can have the floor
again. Thank you.
Ho
n. Lovitta F. Foggo: Mr. Speaker, year after year
seniors saw a decline in the monies that they r eceived. So, Mr. Speaker, that speaks to a regressive policy that they had in place that negatively impacted seniors.
Ho
n. Patricia J. Gordon- Pamplin: Point of order, Mr.
Speaker.

Thank you, Minister. Yes, Member,
what is your point of order?
POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]
Hon. P atricia J. G ordon- Pamplin: Thank y ou, Mr .
Speaker.
The Honourable Member is not taking into
consideration . . . she is misleading the House.
She is not taking into consideration how little
money they left in the coffers . And there is no two
ways to say it. You cannot expect in a four -year period
of time for this Government, for the former OBA Go vernment, to turn things around based on the signif icant negativity to the economy that their Government had produced.

Thank you. Minister, continue—
Ho
n. Lovitta F. Foggo: This from a Government that
increased the budget, doubled the budget . . . I mean,
doubled the debt in their four years. I think that she
is—
Ho
n. Michael H. Dunkley: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
Ho
n. Lovitta F. Foggo: —clearly not the person who
should be getting up and speaking if she is going to
disregard that.
Th
e Speaker: Thank you. What is your point of order,
Member?
POINT OF ORDER
Ho
n. Michael H. Dunkley: Point of order, Mr. Spea ker. While it is good to have a discussion on debt, the Honourable Minister was, I believe, a Minister of the
Government which lost the election in 2012—and left
a $332 million deficit for the Government and we had
to go to the bank and borrow for payroll!
Ho
n. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Exactly!
3146 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly An Hon. Member: That is incorrect.

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Those are the
facts.
[Inaudible interjections]

Minister?

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: That same Government is the
Government who found money for a rich man’s sport
called the America’s Cup , who—

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: —who found $350 million to
pay to a Canadian organisation, and yet they were in
so much debt and are leaving us with a bill that for
generations our children will have to pay.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: It is okay to give some people
money —
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Point of order , Mr.
Speaker . Point of order, Mr. Speaker .

Yes?

POINT OF ORDE R
[Misleading]

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: The Honourable
Member is just entirely misleading the House.
But if the Honourable Member if talking about
the 30- year payment back for people using their own
money to build a hotel when they left no money in the
budget . . . I am sorry, to build an airport . . . when
they left no money in the budget to build an airport,
and that the process in terms of the repayment is no
different than what obtains at the hospital where there
is 30 -year forward repayment of funds, the difference
being that the hospital has to find $2.5 million per
month in order to repay Paget Health for the building
of that hospital. In this instance with the airport, there
is no additional money that they have to find out of the
consolidated fund —

Yes?

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: I will repeat for the listening
public: the OBA Government doubled the debt in four
years. That says it all.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: This Government is laser f ocused on making certain that we create a fairer and
better Bermuda for all of our people to participate in.

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Point of order, Mr.
Speaker .
Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: And—

Just speak to me, Ministe r. Speak this
way.

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: And we are about creating a
fairer and better Bermuda, and we are making certain
in this next fiscal year our Bermudians will have more
money in their pocket to participate in this economy.
[Inaudible i nterjections]
Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and
that is just the beginning of much more to come.


Bermuda House of Assembly Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

And I would like to see things
from the perspective of the taxpayer. One of the
things that I have been noticing, and it is coming
through conversation as well as observation, is that
for the first time I am really noticing that the people
who I am wor king with . . . in my environment, I work
in town every day and they are starting to notice their
pay cheques. When the economy was going just fine, people were getting their money and they would get a
little pay increase every year, they did not really no tice
what taxes were coming out of their pay cheque. And
it was just, you know, life was a budget they set for
themselves.
But lately, Mr. Speaker, there have been so
many changes to the money that is coming out of the monthly pay cheque that people are starting to notice.
And it is . . . you know, at first, I thought well, you
know, it is what it is. Everybody pays taxes. But then
at the place where I work, where there are hundreds
of Bermudians . . . they started to have town halls to
explain the changes that were happening with the payslips that we were getting every month and to try
to give some explanation for those changes.
First it started out with the health premium.

And there was a long conversati on [in a] room of 120 maximum fully loaded, a
couple of sessions explaining to staff what this health
insurance premium would do. And at this point, it was
way before talking about any of the reforms that are
coming. This was around the changes to the Standard Health Benefit and the lump sum that was going to be
paid directly to Government from now on.
And people were leaving that room —parents
with two children, in many cases the spouse, which in
this situation the majority of people that I work with are
women, so the male partners are all on one payslip,
and so these folks are leaving the town hall realising that one day they were paying maybe $900 for their
families to have health insurance and now they are
paying something like $1,500. Now, I am not using
facts, but these are the kinds of increases that they
were facing when they were leaving the room.
And then, just a couple of days, weeks later,
sitting up in actually the same room waiting for our flu
shots, constituents who would not typically vote for me
were approaching me and asking me to please explain what these pension contributions are all about.
And so, at that point we had to then have a convers ation about changes. And then that led to the land tax
and the large amounts of money that people ar e paying every month . . . excuse me, twice a year for their
land taxes.
So, I am saying all of this, Mr. Speaker, to say
that people are noticing the amount of money that is
coming out of their pay cheques. And for any penny
that [they] think that they are getting that is more, they
realise and recognise that they are actually giving
back even more.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, taxes are a way
of life. We get that. And I guess globally we could even say, in all fairness, that the taxes in Bermuda are
not as high as maybe, you know, a majority of other
jurisdictions around the world that have a similar ec onomic environment. But what the taxpayer is starting
to notice is that they want value for the money that they are paying. And so, when the Government says
that they are going to provide certain services or certain opportunities for the taxpayer, we are starting to
notice.
And I believe that the taxpayer in Bermuda is
going to start to put their foot down and say, If you are
going to take my money, I want you to spend it wisely .
And many of the services that people are looking for
. . . and I sat up (again, this same room full to capacity
last June) and listened to the Premier say that he
would find housing for those who are living with men-tal illnesses, and he would do it soon, or he would
start it at the beginning of the next budget. And so,
here we are . . . and I believe that there are a number
of taxpayers that are going to be watching closely to
make sure that these kinds of promises actually take
place.
I could not help but notice, Mr. Speaker, that
in the Budget Book there was not an . . . and I am just
going by the Budget Statement. I have not studied the Budget Book itself just yet. But there was not any particular allocation for housing for those that are suffering from mental illness. There was allocation for infr astructure, which sounds really good, and there was money allocated for a couple of other things that were
more, a little bit more of the bricks and mortar, but we
were not seeing necess arily the services for the vulnerable and what is going to be invested in them so that they can also have an opportunity —

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker —
3148 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Ms. Susan E. Jackson: —to increase their standard
of living.

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: —point of order.

Let us take your point of order.

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker, I believe the
Member is unintentionally misleading the House.
I will refer her to page 30 of the Budget
Statement in which we refer to funding for community
mental health programmes as part of the money that
is being incrementally spent, the $5.7 million over the
$929.7 [million] that we allocated for last year for the total budget.

Right, so on page 12 there
are six points and in the first two points, first three
points, there is a specific allocation for the Town of St.
George’s , there is $2 million for community club d evelopment. There is $1.5 million for fishing. But there
is not any specific number for those in care.
There is not anything here for the promise for
mental health treatment other than making another
promise. So, if you are going to make a promise and,
okay, there is no funds allocated to it yet, but a promise is a promise and all I am saying, Mr. Speaker, is
that taxpayers want value for money. And if they have
asked for this mental treatment home, housing for people who are struggling, then the Government
should follow through. There has been a lot of talk about the retail
sector. And, certainly being in Hamilton as a consum-er as well as one who has an opportunity to kind of
see what the movement is like in the retail sector, I
see that there are absolute challenges. And I do not have a who le lot to add to the debate that has gone
on around the retail sector other than to say, or make
a suggestion to the Government , that part of, in my
opinion, the innovation of business in Bermuda is to
make sure that there are instruments or vehicles in
place—and I do not mean transportation, but vehicles
in place —tools which the retail sector can start to [use
to] make those innovations and change their business
models or find new business models.
One of the pieces that makes me feel conf ident (before I k ind of make this suggestion) is, I r emember on television I was watching some documentary, and it talked about how scared people were
when the horse and buggy was going to be replaced
by the automobile. And the government s of the day
were all up in arms. E verybody was afraid because
the employment of the people who made the carriages and the people who made the wheels that ran the
carriages and who took care of the horses and who
made the saddles and the bridles and all of the different components, all of t he different employment o pportunities of the horse and carriage industry were
under threat, because here comes the car.
But interestingly enough, Mr. Speaker, the car
replaced the horse and carriage and innovation and
opportunity in new directions were c reated and off the
economy went again with a new industry called the
automotive industry.
So, I am saying all of that to say that within
the retail sector I feel like there is some hope, and as a consumer, mentioning before, you know, honestly I
would lik e to see a revitalisation of our retail sector
and I see that there are a number of entrepreneurs
who are out there that are being very creative. They are creative about the way they deliver their products.
They are creative about the products that they ar e
selling. And I believe that because of that we have
some opportunity.
But what I challenge the Government to consider is to make sure that we are able to provide the Internet access, provide the energy sources for retail sectors to be able to keep their doors open and keep
the lights on, and also to have the sophistication of the Internet and other forms of access so that they can compete in a world that is becoming more global.
And, yes, I have to give, you know, all credit
to the Deputy Premier for introducing the communic ation cables. I believe that this in itself is an industry of
its own. But, of course, we as a Bermudian community
would love to be able to reap some of the benefits in
that by having expanded bandwidth, to be able to
broaden our hori zon, to be able to compete in what I
am going to label as this sort of electronic technology world.


Bermuda House of Assembly I ask that the Government continue to explore
ways in which the retail sector can survive based on
technology, access to technology, access to better
energ y. I am going to take this opportunity to speak to
energy, another tax.
I just got a bill for electricity [when] I was actually abroad. So, this was a month’s worth of electricity that was not even my natural amount if I were
actively in the house. Hot water heaters were turned
off. I listened to the Deputy Premier. I unplugged my
hot water heaters. I unplugged the television. All the things you are supposed to do that the Deputy Premier tells us to do on television I followed. But I came
back home and her e is this electricity bill.
Now, I was okay with the amount of money.
But, Mr. Speaker, one-third of that bill was surchar ges—and they put it in red, too, Mr. Speaker —
Government surcharges. Almost half again the
amount of the bill that I had! I had not noticed. This is
one of the ones . . . getting back to people who are
noticing their pay cheques, this is one of those situa-tions where all of a sudden, I am noticing, Oh my
goodness. Am I paying a third —30 per cent—more
every month in Government surcharges? So, these
are the kinds of things that are making it really difficult for the retail sector to continue without struggle—
[Inaudible interjections]

—the difficu lty in continuing
to live in this Island and having to be facing these
costs of living.
Government . . . I do not know, and I guess I
am half saying this for the Hansard, but when we were
debating the communication cables and we were tal king about the di fferent avenues and channels and
connections that we can make from country to cou ntry, it made me wonder whether there is even a poss ibility that Bermuda and the Bermudian Government
could not engage in trade opportunities with other
countries.
And I am t hinking mostly of our (as the Deputy
Speaker would say) cousins to the south and whether
we could have those conversations and begin to ma ybe import and export goods from the south, as an example, and be that kind of sort of trading post for
those that do not have the opportunity to fly so far
south, but can make that short hop over to Bermuda
on that, you know, New York or that New Jersey or
that Boston flight and have access to goods and services that we might not have in other . . . that they
might not be able to get any other way. That, I believe,
would be something that would require conversations
between governments. And I would just like to put that out there, Mr.
Speaker , as an option because it is very clear —and
we are all feeling it —that things ar e tough. And b ecause of that we all have to pitch in. And if we have
any ideas, I believe that we should put them all out of the table and make sure that the Government has as
many choices to try and improve the economic situation in Bermuda. I am . . .
it is too important for me to
be competitive about that , which leads me to events.
I know I have not gotten up . . . I do not think I
have ever really gotten up and spoken to the Amer ica’s Cup. And, to be honest with you, I was so new to
politics at that ti me that it was difficult for me to even
really get into the conversation or the debate. But one
of the observations I had about the America’s Cup
was that Bermuda does . . . in my observation, Be rmuda does very well with these short bursts of ec onomic stim ulation, where people come to this Island,
they bring all of their wealth to the Island, they have
fun on our shores; they absolutely love our environment, they enjoy being with the people, and then they
go. So, there is not this huge desire to have to dea l
with the immigration issues. There is not a huge strain
on the infrastructure and Bermuda seems to fare well.
Just to sort of balance it, so it is, you know,
not [just] using the example of the America’s Cup , but
I believe the PGA Championship has the s ame capacity. The [MS] Amlin [World] Triathlon has the same
kind of potential. And for Bermuda to consider these
kinds of economic stimulus may be a way in which we
can at least provide some sort of, you know, economic
pulse into the community without creating any long
term after effects for the local community.
But in order to do that, Mr. Speaker, we have
to get out there and we have to make application for
these kinds of opportunities. And we have to play in
the sandbox with people that, you know, the present
Government seems to not want to play in the sandbox
with. But I understand. As a black woman, I complet ely understand where the Government is coming from
when they speak to the real desire for social and ec onomic parity and being able to be involved. But we still
have to learn how to . . . and we still have to engage
with other people in order to keep our economic env ironment going.
I have not really seen that the Government
has engaged with anybody, other than the traditional
market that we have dealt with. So I believe we have
to keep playing in that arena. That is our bread and butter. And it makes me also feel kind of separate
from the international business. And, you know, for me, the international business community, it could, in my opinion, j ust . . . it could live on its own and be our
source of economic stimulation and inward inves tment. And it does not necessarily have to do a whole lot with what is developing in the local economy other
than they are our source of income and they keep our
economy going. But I do not believe, in my personal
opinion, there is any huge threat because what the
3150 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly international business is doing is so specialised and it
is so global that it stands on its own as an industry
and it, to me, is no different in a lot of ways than if we
had an oil rig (although it would be nice to have an oil
rig) out in the middle of the Atlantic that had the label
on it “Bermuda, Inc.”
But we do have to consider in our local community, what we are going to do to maintain and keep,
espec ially the employment, moving. And I really believe that we should focus our attention more on what the social and economic patterns and opportunities
are for our local community and not jeopardise the
relationships that we have with international business.
I believe that it is very important for our population to not necessarily feel threatened by the international
business because they are a source of income for us,
and I do not know that there is a huge crossover in what our local community is aspiring to achieve.
So with that I am going to draw to a close. I
would like the Government to continue to do their best
to tone down . . . you know, sometimes it gets . . . the
energy gets very angry, Mr. Speaker. And that anger,
that energy, transfers out into t he community. I understand the sense of urgency and I understand the level
of anger because we have not been involved in a lot
of the economic stimulus and the economic environment here in Bermuda.
But at the same time, it is very important for
us to be diplomatic about the way in which we enter into this situation, enter into this market, enter into this
economy with fairness, because the more angry we
are as a Government, then we are going to get that
same anger back and we will get that pushback. And
then everything becomes a challenge.
If we could find a way to settle in, feel conf ident . . . we are a strong Government. I have faith that
this Government will strengthen it and continue to move in the direction that it is in finding that fairness
and equ ity in our society. And not doing that, you
know ––I just do not want this Government to cut off its
nose to spite its face.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Member.
I now recognise the Deputy Premier. Deputy,
you have the flo or.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is
a pleasure to make my contribution to this economic
debate before we go into our full -fledged dissection,
examination of this budget. I wish to congratulate the Honourable Finance Minister for presenting, what I
believe, was a fair and sensible budget for the country.
I am perhaps, one of the few people who can
profess to know the Finance Minister outside of the
political realm and know that he is an extremely bright and no- nonsense individual. We just happened to
have gone to the same university, so I know he is well educated because that goes without saying. But I also
know that –

[Inaudible interjection]

[Laughter]

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Well, because he is the PLP
representative that just goes without saying as well.
Because he is the representative for the right party,
representing the right Government to do the right things for all the right people, and that is all the people
of Bermuda.
[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Huh?

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Well, you know . . . the Honourable Member who sits for constituency 23 is doing
her joke.

[Laughter and inaudible interjections ]

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Yes, oh, yes. And we will get
that on tape and we will put that out to the community.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Well, Mr. Speaker, I think it is
important to remind people, just because you say certain things over and over again, does not make it true.
So, saying that we did not put money into the budget
for care homes or homes for certain vulnerable persons, does not mean it is true, because it is true. We
have put funding into the budget.
And trying to say over and over again, despite
the Finance Minister identifying [it in the budget], does
not mean that your saying that it is not there makes it
true. In this case, the Finance Minister has made pr ovision, and this budget that has been presented by the
Progressive Labour Party Government, Mr. Speaker,
[has built into it] a lot of key provisions to do just that:
help children, help seniors, help families —

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Point of order, Mr.
Speaker.

Point of order. Yes.

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]


Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you.
I believe the Honourable Member is inadver tently misleading the House. What he is saying is that
the Minister has indicated that he has put things in the
budget and he has poi nted it out and we are ignoring
it. What the Minister has put in the budget, on page
30, as he mentioned, under Ministry of Health, “funding for community mental health programmes and increased grant funding; ”. And when you look at the
capital development in the budget, there is nothing
there for capital development for group fund homes. And it is that to which our Honourable Member was
speaking.

Deputy.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: I will continue, Mr. Speaker. I
am sure that the Honourable Member will be able to
go through here [and do a] very, you know, effective dissection when we get to the Committee of Supply,
and raise those eloquent points at that point. But we are now in the general debate, and I am sure that this
is where . . . this is [wh at] we are discussing, general
issues around the economic things of Bermuda.
So, Mr. Speaker, let me just get to the heart of
the matter, and that is the budget of this Progressive
Labour Party Government. And my view is this: This is a good budget. Not only that, but it follows on from
work [done] by this Government since 2017 to steer
the country with a very different economic priority than
what it inherited.
Now, let’s just say for argument’s sake, Mr.
Speaker, those whom we succeeded had their own
priorities; and they certainly were elected to fulfil
those. And if the public, back in 2017, had felt that
their priorities were the right ones, they would be on
this side of the House. The reality is that they are not
on this side of the House; they are o ver there. And so
the wise electorate has not chosen for them to set the
economic priorities of this country. And since 2017
[the electorate] have put it in our hands. And as has
been eloquently already articulated by so many of my
honourable colleagues on this side, there has been a
lot of good that has happened over these three years.
Now, no one ever thought, although one might
argue that this is what the Opposition has tried to i mply, that it all was going to improve very quickly. And I
do not, in any way believe or suggest that whatever
promises this Government made to people in July
2017, there would be quick solutions to the issues of
which were of concern— such as our fiscal health,
such as our social health, such as our ability for the
country to co nfront challenges that have accumulated
over time, like debt, for instance. Like underinves tment in infrastructure. Like social challenges around health and around other services which are sorely needed to be improved and increased in the comm unity. In no way did this PLP Government tell people we were going to solve it tomorrow, or solve it in a
short period of time.
There is one thing that I can assure you, Mr.
Speaker. [In] the platform that we set out and the pr iorities that we have set out since 2017, we have been very meticulous in laying them out. And the Premier is
a stickler for following those priorities and making sure
that we are fulfilling them. When we sit at the Cabinet
table, the Premier has got a binder right next to him
with the actual pl atform right there for himself to refer
to remind us —myself and the Finance Minister, and
other Ministers —as to what the priorities are. And
there were times over the last three years or so, two
and a half or two- and-a-bit, coming up to three, where
we wer e (I would say) distracted. And I do not say
“distracted” to be negative, but as is the case, Mr.
Speaker, many a plan by mice and men goes astray.
And so dealing with the issues that arose
around CFATF [Caribbean Financial Action Task
Force] , were not th ings that we planned. The Paradise
Papers were not things that we planned. Damage following hurricanes were not what we planned. The cr isis that emerged around Morgan’s Point/Caroline Bay
is not what we planned.
[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Okay. The issues to remediate infrastructures such as school mould, or other
spending issues around the negotiation of salaries,
around civil servants are not things that we planned.
And the energy and the effort that has gone to dealing with these issues . . . are not our plans, but they were
put in our lap and we are the Government and we have had to deal with them [while] at the same time
having clear priorities of which we were elected.
So this is a process. Governance is a pr ocess, not an event. Success comes from laying out
meticulous steps and plans and processes to get where you have to go. And this Government has done
that. And that is why, Mr. Speaker, we have an env ironment where employment is up, generally, in the
Bermuda community. That is why, despite the Finance
Minister’s extremely strict discipline process of dealing with issues and his 100 per cent commitment to steering the Government’s fiscal health and the country’s
fiscal health into a proper direction of progress and
improvement, he was able, along with the Gover nment and his colleagues, to find a way to give 75 per
cent of Bermudians a tax cut.
Can we name a previous Government that
was able to do that, within the environment that we
have, which is fiscally challenged, which i s econom ically challenged? We are in a global economic env ironment which is challenged, where the prospects of how revenue is going to be raised by many gover nments is uncertain. But the Finance Minister was able
to plan and lay out a budget which afforded 75 per
cent of workers, Bermudians, a tax cut.
3152 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly As a part of our ongoing strategy, Mr. Speaker, the Finance Minister was able to present a budget
which increases opportunities for our Bermudians. We
have provided hundreds of thousands of dollars that would afford our Bermudians educational opportunities at the Bermuda College. The Finance Minister
has found that money again.
The necessity to train and retrain our people
as the economy evolves, the Finance Minister has presented funding support for that effort, training and
developing of our people up from parts of this Government, Mr. Speaker. And in the same environment that we are challenged, money is tight, resources are
limited, revenue is very finite, the Finance Minister
was able to find something t hat is important to myself,
because of my own responsibilities, a million dollars that can be afforded the Town of St. George’s —

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Hon. Walter H. Roban: To invest in its infrastructure,
to improve aspects of the St. George’s infrastructure
which have actuall y been degrading. It has not seen
the investment.
St. George’s itself, as we know, is challenged
as a community to raise revenue for a variety of reasons. The change of the economics of Bermuda, ha ving lost hotel properties and other economic activity in
the east has challenged St. George’s. The disappearance of the businesses in the town has challenged St. George’s. So this Government is investing in local
communities. It has found money because these are
the priorities we set. These are the priorities that the
people of Bermuda gave us. And the Finance Mini ster’s goal, mindful of the limited revenue opportunities
we have, is to make sure Government is more eff icient, that we can deliver services in a quality way to
the country and keep a tap on the increase in Go vernment’s own inefficiencies in its own spending, [and
he] found money to still give to communities.
Our priorities are clear. But this Government
is also on another mission, other than to help ensure
that we invest in communities, to help that we invest in
our people, to help to renew infrastructure. These i nvestments are sorely needed. I once was the
Transport Minister. And I was challenged because I inherited a Ministry where its infrastructure had been underinvested. Buses were not procured o n a regular
timely basis. Persons were not employed to maintain that infrastructure properly. So we still have a situation
which the Government is seeking to address, in the
Transport Ministry, under the able leadership of the
Honourable Zane De Silva. That infrastructure needs
to be reinvested in, and this Government has, going back to 2017, found the money.
The Honourable Finance Minister has, along
with others that he works with, found a courageous way to find investment, not just coming out of the go vernment pot, but actually using the revenue opportun ities that we have within the tourism sector to use that money to put it back into infrastructure, [and] also negotiated agreements with our cruise and tourism par tners to invest in Bermuda and its infrast ructure.
That is how creative and innovative the F inance Minister is, despite the limited opportunities in
raising revenue. The pressure is on spending within the Government to keep services going, finding other
ways, innovative ways, to reinvest in communities, in
infrastructure, in training. These are the important
things this Government has focused on and continues to focus on. Looking at different economic models, Mr.
Speaker, cooperative models, a signature mission of
the Government, because guess what ? The 400- yearold Bermuda economic model has certainly been successful at one level, but it has lacked success in other
[levels] with ensuring that everybody has a fair shot of participation in the economic environment. The orthodox model that Bermuda has run under, which is still a
very crucial engine and structure, has not served ev eryone fairly.
There are sectors of the economy that need
different approaches, so having a cooperative model
that might work in different sectors might actually a llow greater participation and greater return for some
participants than just relying on the same old capital -
focused model, the individualist market -oriented model. We are looking at cooperative ventures, and mon-ey has been provided to look at that for the fishing industry, an industry which has great potential to be
an even greater provider of revenue if we can maxi mise the opportunities. And in my Ministry we are look-ing at doing work that is going to see us have a better understanding of our exclusive economic zone. And
not only can we maximise the fishing opportunities
within our 12- mile radius out to the banks, but further
out.
These are some of the things that the Government is looking at. And this is going to be about participation of Bermudians in these efforts . Not bringing in people to do it, other than to help perhaps d evelop, but actually the full stakeholders in these efforts are going to be Bermudians. That is what this Go vernment is doing. It is expanding opportunity, expand-ing access of participation.
Mr. Speaker, because our priority around the
social side is very much high on the list of the philos ophy of this Government, that is why we are providing the funding and the support for mental health, those


Bermuda House of Assembly within the avenue of that part of our community wh o
are not being served, or certainly are underserved, if
they are not being served. And, clearly, there are a dditional changes that need to be made to assist our
children. And we have kept our commitment to our seniors to ensure they have a regular increas e in their
pensions because of the pressures, the pressures
around the cost of living.
I saw nothing . . . and I will just segue slightly
because I do not believe I am here to talk about the
Opposition and what inadequacies they have present-ed to this Hous e today. I am going to talk about the
great possibilities our budget presents to this House
and to this country. But I will say, I saw nothing in this
about the cost of living in this presentation today, which as we, [I] and my colleagues go out into the
community walking and knocking on doors and talking
to those people, that is one of the issues that they are most concerned about, the cost of living.

Exactly.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: The cost of electricity which is
something we have been addressing. And I as the
Minister responsible for regulatory affairs, of which
electricity and telecommunications are a part of, which
are regulated independently, have given great atte ntion to this.
I am excited about what the possibilities are in
the en ergy sector. I am not interested actually in seeing an oil rig, as the Honourable Member who prece ded me talked about, off our shores. I do not think most people would, although that would be pretty in that it might signal that we are making money off of oil. I am
trying to make this Island as separate from oil and
dirty power as we can move, as quickly as we can.
So, I want to proliferate solar panels, renewable energy technology in this country so we do not have to
worry about oil. Oil can go the way of t he dodo bird,
and I love the dodo bird, but I am just saying.

[Laughter]

Hon. Walter H. Roban: I just hope the use of oil b ecomes extinct. Or actually say, you know, I want it
gone. I want us to move away. I want us to diversify. And part of the task o f this Government and our vision
is to diversify the economy. Yes, the pillars of international business and tourism have served us well over
the past century. But diversification of this economy is
important.
And I will just segue slightly into this bef ore
going back to the issue of energy. That is why this
Government under the leadership the Honourable D avid Burt is looking at other economic opportunities for
the country in the FinTech side, in other areas of f inancial services. Yes, we are looking at t he commercial space industry, which is something that is very dear to my Ministry’s activities, and expanding and getting companies in the growing commercial space
industry which right now is growing in the area of $300
billion and is expected, by 2040, to be a trillion dollar
industry, that we can leverage the success we have had in some other areas to bring more activity around space and satellite business here to Bermuda. And
we have had success at it. Yes, Bermuda has its own
slot and at some point in t he near future that slot will
be monetised, so it can earn money for the country.
And we will work with partners to do that. But there
are companies from all over the world coming to Ber-muda to register their filings for [using our orbital sa tellite slot ] here to Bermuda, and they are bringing
commercial activity to the Island.
What we are hoping, Mr. Speaker, is that we
can bring other things to the Island which will increase the training opportunities in science technology for our students, focusing on our training and development, in
the growing area of technology in science and using
our role in the space sector to advance that level of
education and expertise here in Bermuda.
There was a mention of the recent passing of
legislation in this House, and I know it has passed in
another place, around the submarine cables. [That is]
another growing area —telecommunications and the
need for broadband. The use of big data is pushing
global activity in a certain direction. Bermuda is set to
become the chief hub in the Atlantic for submarine
telecommunications activity. This will bring jobs here.
There are companies already here providing those
services. We want to expand and have more companies here. And there are people working, there are Bermudians working for those companies that are a lready here. We want to create more jobs in this highly technical area for Bermudians. That is the focus of
this Government.
And now I go back to energy. The cost of energy is serious. The cost of food is serious. And, yes,
[we are] very pleased with the decision of the RA to
see a rate cut with the basic tariff with the utility. And
people should begin to see the difference in their bill.
It started at the end of last year.
But there are some other things that people
need to think about. What are the little things I can do
to lower the cost of my [bill]? Bermudians use too much power, Mr. Speaker. Right? We use electricity
like we eat fish sandwiches during Cup Match. Or
perhaps more realistically, like we eat fish cakes on
Easter. W e just gobble them up! And we need to find
a way to lower our demand. That will help as well. But there are other things we can do. And this Gover nment has [done this] ––through programmes we have
already put in place, the LED installation programme,
the solar rebate programme, and other programmes –
–which is going to help our local population, both domestic and commercial, to find ways to lower power
[bills]. And we are going to make Bermuda greener and cleaner.
3154 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly I want not just BELCO to be producing power
in this country; I want thousands of people producing
power in this country because that is what will help
bring down the cost, moving away from fossil fuels. And this is the sort of path this Government is on, Mr.
Speaker.
And when I go back, I am going t o go back to
the issue of how we are helping the average citizens
to manage and deal with things. That is why we r ecently passed the Debt Collection Act legislation, to give people some fairness when they are challenged
with issues on their finances, and t hey are not treated
. . . like in a David and Goliath situation, or perhaps I
should say, people are coming down on them with a
hammer and they feel pressured and under stress
because of debt. We are levelling the playing field in
that.

Yes.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: These are some of the Government’s priorities, helping the average person.
Right? Yes, people should pay their debt, but they
should not be persecuted because of debt. They
should not be persecuted by the bank to pay their
mortgage or to satisfy their obligations. They should
be treated fairly and properly in these engagements.
And we are going to do more to deal with
foreclosure, to deal with mortgages, and bring fairness to the financial processes [that] the average person in
the country has to deal with. That is who this Gover nment is focused on—regular citizens, trying to live
their lives, just trying to eke out a living, where they
can satisfy their families’ daily needs, ensure the f uture of education for their children, [and] make sure
that their health care is affordable.
Another thing that people are telling us that
they are upset about is the co- pays that they have to
pay—the cost, and the fear of an illness for themselves or a member of their family, their mother, their
father. Many people in this House I am sure, and ot hers, are a part of that sandwich generation. They have
their children on one side and their elderly parents on
the other, and they are worried about the care of both, and the cost that this brings to their lives because it
deprives them of the opportunity, because they are paying a high electricity bill, they are paying a high
food bill, they are paying a high cost for other services
and they cannot save. They cannot see the future for
themselves.
So that is why the improvements to education
are important. That is why tackling the cost of electric ity and utilities, and even lowering and managing the
cost of telecommunications will be important, because
these are essential parts of how we live now. It is not
just about having your phone that you can dial a rotary dial and like call your momma. It is no longer [like] that. Now we need those services in our homes to just understand the world around us and to manage our
lives.
In some cases, people are working by using
these services. And they need to be affordable. Tel ecommunication services, electricity services, and ot her services are essential for daily living. Health services. It is essential that the Government works with those who are supportive of these efforts to address
these issues of costs that pervade and which make
Bermuda one of the places with the highest cost to
live on the planet.
And I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, our friends to
the south ––and I do not mind talking about the islands
to the south, with which this Island has a strong co nnection, and I applaud the efforts by the Minister for
Labour and Culture having a process upcoming this
year where we will be celebrating our Caribbean con-nections which have so much to do with our Bermudian identi fy, going back to the very beginning of settlement. We are celebrating a National Hero whose
life was shaped by her experience in Bermuda and in the Caribbean of which changed the whole British
Empire. They are experiencing the same issues that
we have wit h cost of living, cost of food, banking constraints because of de- risking, crime, [and] social
fragmentation.
Mr. Speaker, I actually understand that as we
kind of get very preoccupied with our own situation,
we are not alone. But what I am happy and confi dent
in is that this Government is focused on taking a wi der, somewhat global, and well -informed approach to
address the issues of this country. And we will address these issues, and Bermuda will move from strength to strength, step to step, for our famili es, for
our children, and our seniors, and we will improve the situation over time working together. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.

I would like to start off by thanking the
Minister and his team for providing this budget. In a
time when there is quite a bit of pressure in our Island,
it is important that we have a balanced hand, and the
tone set by the Honourable Minister, followed on by our Honourable Shadow Minister. I believe that it is
important when we are in the kind of times that we are
now that we are honest with where we are as a cou ntry. So, the task that the Honourable Minister of F inance had when we have a large debt, when we have a population that has more deaths than births, when we see shrinking in the economy, he had to be measBermuda House of Assembly ured with what he put forward. I think it is important
that we support the way he did that.

I attended his pre- budget talk. And it
was important that he spoke not just of all of the pos itive things, but of the potential pitfalls that we have as
a country , because I think it is important that we give
our population the knowledge of exactly what is hap-pening. I believe our population is tired of our normal politics. They are tired of us arguing with each other
about things that really do not matter to average ev eryday Bermudians. They do not want to [hear] our
bickering or hear about what we are doing here, if it is not actually going to help them to live a better life.

[Inaudible interjections]

They do not want us to waste our
time bickeri ng is what I am saying. They want us to
get together and try to come up with solutions for the
country.
The difficulty that the Minister had is that we
have one pie —a pie that has been baked over generations. The people that came before us, not just in th is
House, but in this country, built an infrastructure that
put us in this place. But we have reached the time that
things have become difficult. Bermuda has been
through difficult times before and figured its way out.
But we are not going to do that by punching each ot her, by attacking each other, by painting everybody
from one side to the other with the same brush. That is only going to make more people upset when they
are already living a stressful life in this country.
I am not attacking to say that you are going to
shred the civil servants. That is not my position. But I
am also saying that when the retail sector is having
closures, we need to understand that there are Bermudians who are working in those businesses who
are losing their jobs. So we cannot just speak of some
Bermuda, we have to look at all of it.
So when we attack just the business owner,
understand that some of those business owners do
not look like the person who you think you are attac king. And when those comments are made, and those
people are suffering, and I speak to . . . there are
people in our community right now that have received
notice that their hours are going to be cut back. They
are receiving notice that some of the benefits that they
had are not going to be the same. And a lot of things
are being done really not because the employer does
not want their employees, but it is the fact of [doing]
business in Bermuda has become difficult for them.
And because it has become difficult for them,
they have to make decisions. Not decisions because
they hate the people, but decisions because without it
the business goes out of business. And when that happens, all of those local employees, Bermudians,
are out of work.

[Inaudible interjection]

No, it is not really roc ket science. So
we need to figure out a way to support them and we cannot just quickly dismiss the fact that this sector is
not our sector, because we are all attached. Right?
We have to take care of all of it. And that is the difficult
challenge that the Minister has, because some of the
taxes that were put in place last year impacted these
industries that I am referring to.
For instance, the purchase of the overseas
funds, that tax specifically affected retail throughout the Island and increased the cost of living for the e ntire country. So when we talk about the increase in the
cost of living, understand that this tax has a direct i mpact on every citizen in the country.

[Inaudible interjections]
[Gavel]

The problem is we have to understand those connections. So now when we reach this
year and we decide that we are going to remove some
payroll tax and give a little bit of relief, understand that it is because of the pressure that has been built in
those couple of years prior to that. T hat is a balancing
act.
So that retail sector that is having to figure out
a way to deal with outside sources, the likes of an Amazon, I do not think that there is a possibility of
them actually competing with them. It is not possible.
The resources are just too big. And the plan of that
business is to take over globally. Okay? But the pro blem locally is this: That shop owner that is trying to
send the item to the locals, when you walk into that store and you buy that item that is on the shelf, understand that the person who sold that to you is a Bermudian. So that job is related to you making that purchase.
But when you make the purchase you have to
pay that person’s health insurance, social insurance, payroll tax, and that list goes on. Plus, the buildi ng
that you are in, he had to pay the [electricity] bill. He
had to pay for the telephone and Internet for that
business. He had to pay the rental for that business.
And then he had to pay all the taxes that are assoc iated with that. So, the problem that w e have is, that if
that business goes out of business, all of those fees go with it. So we are going to have to come up with
solutions on how we are going to deal with this parti cular industry.
So, one of the things that they are frustrated
with is that so me people are paying all their fees and
taxes and some are not. The Minister has brought
forward that, potentially, they will figure out a way to
3156 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly maybe forgive some of those who have not been pa ying their fair share. Well, maybe what you actually
have to do is start to give some incentive on the other
side to actually pay on time, because what you should be looking for is, how do we get people to do what we
are asking them to do? We can come up here and
make a bunch of legislation on how we want things to
be done, but unless people follow those rules, it is a
waste of time.
So in that retail sector, obviously, they are
paying all those fees and taxes upfront. I am going to
say that if you are paying payroll, then really there
should be a way for you to not have to pay the same
taxes as somebody that is just bringing the good in and dropping it in front of your door, because that is
the difficulty. All of that money is just going to Amazon
and the shipper. And the difficulty with all of us is we are going to walk in and we are going to see that item
and it is in grey but I want it in purple, or whatever it is,
and I want that difference. But understand that in order for that shop owner to put that item on the shelf in
all those different colours, they are going to have to pay all those taxes and bills upfront and hope that you
are going to want the colour that they put there.
Well, that is not sustainable for them. That is
the difficulty. So, we need to come together and figure out solutions on how we are going to help the retail
industry, all of the retail industry. Because if we don’t . . . and more and more of that group is out of work.
Where are we going to put them? So, we are either
going to hire them in the government sector, or they
are going to be pull ing from the same financial assi stance that we are trying to reduce at the moment. So, we . . . and I am going to continue to say that. I think
that it can only happen if all of us, together, are trying
to make these solutions, and figure out a way for the
country to come out of this.
It is difficult because sometimes you have to
listen to all of the chatter. There are some attacks that
are coming from one direction and you are hearing things in the background, but it is not actually coming
out in what the Minister is providing. So, you know,
the word “status quo” has been used a lot. But in
some cases the “status quo” means one thing and other times it seems to mean something else. So the
status quo . . . there has been the word “code” used a
lot recently. Right? So, status quo seems, to me, [to
be] a very specific part of the population that has had
a lot of advantage over generations, and because of
this that group needs to be removed from that pos ition. That is what I am taking from the information that is being provided. I might be incorrect, but that is what
it sounds like to me.
Now, the issue is this: If you do not have a r eplacement when you [make] the attack . . . that is
where the problem comes. So, an example: The attack on the middleman. Right? S o that has been a
conversation which has happened recently. So, an
explanation of that: The large chains in Bermuda get their products from the middlemen. This group that is
going to bring items into Bermuda and keep it, and
then the grocery stores are goi ng to purchase from
this group. But if you are big enough, you can bring your own stuff in.
So the idea is that if that group, and I believe
that somebody within this group has actually spoken
to the Government and told them that they can reduce
this cost by up to 15 per cent by getting rid of the mi ddlemen. So, I just need everybody to understand that when you do that, there is a large portion of Berm uda’s population that works for that middleman, a lot of
people who normally would not have an opportunity to
have a job. So, if I am that person, having a job, making money, being able to provide for my family, how
am I feeling about the attack on my employer?
What is that going to look like? Because [if]
you remove the middleman––okay, that is the sol ution––is the big chain grocery store going to actually
give you the 15 per cent? Or are they going to fold
that in and all you have done is replaced their competition? That is the problem.
So, if you are going to fix the system, what
you actually have to do is try to build up opportunity
for our people to compete. If you destroy without gi ving us the opportunity, then what we end up with is
nothing. And now, no choice. That is the problem with it. So you cannot just throw stuff out. We have to sit
down and come up with a way that we actually get to
this point. Because I agree that we need to be in a
situation where we pay our people better, where our
people have better opportunity, where they have advancement and opportunities to move up through companies. All of that is sound. The question is, How
do we pay for it?
And what I mean by “pay for it” is, if we do not
get money from outside of our country, in order to
grow the pie, then what happens right now is the Mi nister raises taxes (same pie), now he is having to
move the pieces around that pie because some
groups were hurting. The only way you actually solve
the problem is you have got to get money that is not
here, that is not in the pie today. If we do not do that, a year from now, the budget is not going to look like
this. He is going to have to pay those bills. They do not go away. And when that happens, that is going to be the problem.
So if we do not figure that part out, we cannot
sit here and just say, Oh, we are going to do all these
wonderful things. Listen, I want all the social pr ogrammes. I coach. The development of our youth is the most important thing for me, but I know right now we do not have the money to do that stuff.

[Inaudible interjections]

So, moving forward.
The problem that we have is that comments
are made on things like health care. So this is the i ssue. When statements are made that we do not really
care about the reduction, that is painting everybody with a brush. It does not make any sense. There is
nobody in this House right now that doesn’t care
about the people in Bermuda. That does not even
make sense. But you can use that. If that is what you
actually feel, that’s fine. But, remember, the people in
Bermuda are listening to us; and not just the people in
Bermuda, the people outside of Bermuda.
So when we make those comments, the div isive ones that have gone on ever since I have been in
this House . . . I spent a lot of time listening. Because
my father told me, You have two ears and one mouth.
So the objective for me was to figure out how all of
this works. I had to listen and pay attention to the details so that I coul d figure out how I could help my
country. The issue we have right now is, you cannot
say one thing over on this side over and over again,
and then do something completely different because
the people will know that this is what you are doing.
That is a pro blem.
So, health care, as an example. I agree;
Health care is out of whack. It is too expensive. Pr escription drugs are too expensive. You can start a job
when you are 20 years old and work for 40 years,
paying into your health insurance. And at the end of
that, you now cannot afford that level of health insurance, and now you have to go to a lower system with lower coverage. And during that 40 years, you did not
get sick. What our population is dealing with now is,
now when you get sick the coverage is not there.
It is not about the why, it is, Does this fix it?
See, the issue is, yes, we have the underinsured. Yes, we have the uninsured. But the uninsured today ca nnot afford HIP. So when you put in a new system that is going to cost more, how is that group going to pay
for it? Oh, yeah, they are not! So that did not change
anything.
So you actually have to sit down and have a
conversation on how we are going to deal with all those things. And how you do not do it, is by making everybody think that their doctor is evil, because we
actually want people to go to their doctor. We want
people to go and get their health checked.

[Desk thumping]

It is actually super important that we
do that because we have a very unhealthy population.
That is our real problem.
So when we have a sugar tax that has been
put in we are told that we are doing it for the health of our population, I am 100 per cent behind it. I did not
think it was the be- all and end -all, but the idea was that you were going to do that to reduce the cost of
healthy goods, increase the cost of unhealthy goods
and educate our population. And instead, that money
got swallowed up and put aside for something that is
more important than the health of the country. That is a weird thing if you have a really high level of diabetes
in this country and people are getting [amputations]
and more people are on dialysis, probably [more than]
anywhere on the planet. We have a sick population.
So the problem that we have in Bermuda is
that we have a recipe for disaster. We have a low birth rate. We have a shrinking working population because
some people are deciding to leave. We do not even
know what the number is, but it is happening on a
regular basis. And you know the part that is interes ting? It is not just people who are leaving here be-cause they got to get away from gangs. It is not just people who are at the bottom economic level. There
are people at all levels who are saying, I don’t think
that I can be part of the Bermuda that we have right
now.
So I agree that we need solutions for that. But
the truth is right now we do not have the money to do
those things. That is the problem that the Minister of
Finance has had. That is what makes this process so
difficult. We all know that there are lots and lots of
problems, but we do not really know how we are going to pay for them. I want to touch on a subject now that is del icate. Immigration. The reason that I am saying that it
is “delicate” is this: In the past, in this country, imm igration was used as a weapon. And in Bermuda, in
our history, over several generations, immigration was
used as a weapon.

[Inaudible interjections]

So, the issue is this. Because of it,
our people . . . the second the word “immigration”
comes up, the scar s get picked. That is what causes
it. The emotional level goes up immediately. So this is
the difficulty. You hear people talk about bringing
people into the country. Right? You talk about getting
that number up. But we cannot even get past it because [we hear], Wait a minute. There is no way. I
know what happened in the 1960s. I know what happened in the 1970s. I know what that was. My gran dfather talked about it. My father talked about it . . . my
mother . . . different people in my family have dealt
with that exact thing. We all got it.
Now, the question becomes: Are we going to
pretend that it did not happen? No. But is part of the solution to get us out of where we are right now co nnected to immigration?
The answer to that has to be yes. Because I
just said to you, we have got one pie . . . that money
that we have to get is not here. We need outside i nvestment. There is nobody on that financial team that does not agree that we need financial investment
3158 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly which is not on Island today. It has got to come f rom
somewhere. And the delicate balance is, we know
those scars are real. But we also know over on this
side that we are going to have to be making some decisions in order to fix our economy that are probably
going to be unpopular.
Those two things are going to cross. That is
only going to happen with both sides of this House
communicating openly and honestly across this country, about what that looks like. Because there is no
such . . . you are not opening the floodgates. We already have a restrictive imm igration policy. The floo dgates cannot open. We have checks and balances the
entire way. And you have a bipartisan committee that
has quietly in the background been working on sol utions on how we can get there. Yet, it has taken longer than most people would like, but that is because we are measured.

[Inaudible interjections]

I will.
Our count ry is too important. The future of this
country is too important. The young people in this
country are tired of politics as politics is right now.
They are tired of it; they do not want to hear it. They are done with us. And the ones that can are getting o n
a plane and leaving.

[Inaudible interjections]

We have people in Bermuda who are
sacrificing their hard- earned money to send their kids
away to school for that same child to then say to
them, I am not coming home. I am not coming back.
They are not going to be there to take care of their
parents when they are in their older years. They are
not going to be there because they do not want to pay into a system that they think is moving in a direction where the bottom is going to drop out. So we have to figure out a way to say to those
young people, No, we understand. We are going to
come up with a solution that, yes, is going to get outward investment, but we are going to make sure that
you are supported , that you are in this game with ev erybody. Because that has been the piece that did not
happen when immigration was being used as a weapon.
So, as you are progressing, you have to make
sure that you put in all of the policies, and you put in
all of the plans, and you put in all of the certi fications
and all the checks and balances so that you make
sure that when you say to somebody, If you want that
work permit, you better have a training programme.
And then you are going to follow up to make sure the
training programme happened. And then yo u are going to make sure that that person is actually moving
forward.
But the same way that we are going to have
to expect more from that outside investment to invest in Bermuda, we are going to have to expect more of our people, because retail is under a ttack.
If you go to a grocery store in England right
now, there is nobody in there. You walk through the
aisles by yourself, put all the products into the cart,
you walk up to the cash register —not cashier, you
check yourself through. And some people like that;
they do not have to deal with people from the begi nning to the end. But you know the problem with that?
Those were the workers. The people contact is disa ppearing.
That is okay for people up here, but what
about the people who were stocking the she lves? Oh,
let’s do that with a robot. All of those things are going
to lead to our demise because we are so small. The problem with us is, our people are going to have to
understand that people contact . . . you have to be
100 per cent in. You cannot take it for granted because people now have the opportunity to not deal
with you, [but can] press a button at home. So the
people contact, you have to make sure that everybody
in the country realises how important it is, because it
is not just us, it is our vis itors that are going to feel
that.
Bermuda was born on [by] being friendly people. We have been doing this for a really long time. But what has happened is, I believe this country has
gotten to a point now where some of us have given
up, because, yes, som e have been left behind. Some
now feel like they are not part of where we are moving. And that negativity and stress has led to an overall feeling that you can see when you walk into buil dings and when you walk into stores. And that is not
good enough.
But this isn’t doom and gloom.

[Inaudible interjection]

It is not doom and gloom; it is reality.


Bermuda House of Assembly And that is the thing that I started with because it is important that the Finance Minister was
measured when he was talking. This is not rai nbows
and it is not the end of the world. But you have to un-derstand that it is a serious time. And if we do not ac-tually start to pull our boots up and get to work and
figure out how we can all get along on this little rock,
then it is going to fail for not just some, but for all. And
the ones that can afford it will leave, and the ones that
right now we are pointing those fingers at, they a lready have their exit strategies. So, I hope that ever ybody else, the doom and gloom part, is ready for fis hing and farming.

Because that is what we really need
to be doing. The population is tired of just the noise.
We have to figure out how, as a community, together,
no matter whether you are from Front Street or
Back o’ Town, whether you have a big bank account
or no bank account at all, because in Bermuda, right
now, it is very difficult to even get a bank account.

[Inaudible interjections]

Go ahead, Derrick .

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, the visual was 45
seconds.
[Laughter]
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Acting Speaker,
first I want to congratulate the Finance Minister for this budget which I figure, in my opinion, is the best budget I am seeing in 30 years. And I know it was very di fficult for the Shadow Minister for Finance to reply to it. She did her best, and I give her full marks for that, for doing her best.

[Laughter]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Acting Speaker,
the rhetoric has to stop where some in this country are
scaring people away or scaring them from coming
here.

My apologies. Continue on.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes.
When you see on their Reply, they have got
“CLOSING DOWN.” This does not send a good message to anybody. [If] anybody sees this they say, Oh,
Bermuda is closing down.

3160 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly An Hon. Member: Face reality.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: This is the rhetoric that
we must stop. When it comes to international bus iness, retail business, this Government welcomes
them all. Mr. Acting Speaker, what we must do [is], we
must have open arms for the retail business and for
the international business.

Hear, hear!

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: But one must realise
that . . . I am a supporter of the local business because it has been said, and it has been said many
times, if you do not support it, local jobs are in jeopardy. But you have g ot to understand that when you
have people making under $48,000 a year, or even a
little more than that, they are looking for a deal so
their buck can go a little further. And you can’t always
find it in Bermuda. Even though I know there is one
store on Fr ont Street, some things you can get down
there that are much less than you can get it overseas,
with quality. I do not want to name that store because
they have not said they were going to give me a fee
for advertising for them.

[Laughter]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: So I cannot call their
name. But one must understand the history of . . .
when we talk about immigration, bringing in workers to
this country.
Mr. Acting Speaker, if you go back to 1842 . . .
and I know a lot of people do not like history . Right?
But, Mr. Acting Speaker, let me say this here, if you
want a resolution to going forward, you got to talk
about the messy stuff. It is almost like the wound. You
do not go to the hospital and sew up a wound without
cleaning it out. You have to clean the messy stuff out.
And I know some people do not like to talk about the messy stuff, but if you want to go forward, you must
address the messy stuff.
Because in the immigration policies, the hist ory of this country, every time foreigners have been
brought into this country, it was for two reasons: One,
to displace Bermudians and undercut the wages, the going rate in Bermuda . . . and if you go back to the
history of 1834 (I’m not going to give the history) it is the same thing.
The first Act that was passed in this country to
bring in foreign workers was in 1842. And the second
Act was in 1847. For two reasons: One, again, to undercut the local wage requirements; and, two, to shore
up voter power. And those people were not brought in
to vote for us. Look at the history. It will tell you why
they were brought here. That has always been the immigration policy.
So, yes, Bermudians get very emotional and
sensitive when you are talking about immigration. This is not an easy topic anywhere in the world. You will
get this here, Mr. Acting Speaker. So, we must under-stand the reason why the retail sector in this country is
competing against the Amazons and whoever else,
because I am told you can order from Amazon today and five days later the stuff is here.

Less than that.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Less than that, they
tell me.
Well, if you have got somebody making low
wages, I understand it, even though I am not a prop onent of it because we are putting local jobs at risk, but
we do underst and it.
Mr. Acting Speaker, when we are talking
about our budget . . . and there has been some talk
about us saying we are going to have a balanced
budget and they criticised us for not putting any money in the sinking fund. Mr. Acting Speaker, you know,
when they did the airport, they took over $50 million of
revenue out of our coffers. And if you put the expenses against that, you will come out with a net profit of
(most areas) anywhere from $15 [million] to almost
$20 million a year. So, we lost that.
In addition to that Mr. Acting Speaker, this
year we got $18.5 million that we got to give to the
airport for the Bermuda Fire [and Rescue Service],
and all those services down there. And we are paying
for their lights. Even though they got that nontraditional roof down there, it is not one solar panel on
that roof. That could have certainly made the bill much
less than it is going to be at the airport. Not one solar panel!

I wonder.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: I think most people
know.
Now, Mr. Acting Speaker, when it comes to
wasting money, because I see in the Reply about
overruns and this and that, the Government of the day
then spent $4.4 million to pay a law firm to w rite a
contract that you cannot get out of. Despite their r eport that they commissioned from Deloitte, another report they commissioned from. . . I think it is the firm


Bermuda House of Assembly in Canada, I think it was called Lehigh [sic] or . . . their
report.

LeighFisher.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: LeighFisher.
Mr. Acting Speaker, both of them said . . .
Deloitte said, Well, you should have a business plan
before you sign a contract. They did not have that.
[LeighFisher] said, You don’t enter into a 30- year
agreement without any variance. None whatsoever!
And Deloitte . . . I think it was Deloitte or LeighFisher
said, You did not use the . . . (I believe it is called)
Green Book. Nothing was done.
And then again, you get a letter of entrus tment from Gover nment House, when the Government
House should have been sending that Government to
the UK Government for funds. That is where they
should have gone first. But they gave them a letter of
entrustment despite that company, Aecon, coming
down here under false pretences, using another company’s letterhead, to be accepted into this country.
And nothing was said about it. They made a verbal
request to the Accountant General to waive som ething, and he did not figure it was to this extent, so he
waives it. And for all that acreage down there, he did
not know what he was waiving, and he said that when
he went before the Public Accounts Committee, Mr.
Acting Speaker.
But what makes it worse, the Auditor General,
who comes under Government House, did not say a
word. They were mute for five years. For five years
they went mute! Said nothing about that deal! And yet,
when we were in Government, if they thought we
bought a pack of chewing gum, there was a special
report.

[Laughter]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Many special reports!
Never did their work.
I mean, the performance of the Auditor was
terrible. In fact, some departments were not even
properly audited. In fact, one Government department
had cheques since 2010 (I believe it was) to the tune
of $300,000 never even entered! Found it six, seven
years later —seven, eight years later. And you call that
an audit!
In fact, there was a contract given to a local
company, a subsidiary of a local company, Argus, for
the insurance of all our buildings and vehicles, over $8
million a year. And in response to a parliamentary
question we asked . . . the question was asked, How
much was paid in premiums over a four -year period,
and what were the claims? Mr. Acting Speaker, just
over $37 million was paid in premiums. And just a bout
$2.5 million in claims. The auditor never picked it up
because they never audited [them]. Because, as I
said, I guess they look at certain companies and [say], Oh, we can’t audit [them]. But let’s audit this here.
Let’s audit Dr. Brown. Let’s audit any Ministry under
Zane De Silva. Definitely audit Derrick Burgess. That
is what they did.

Mm-hmm.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: And they did special
reports despite . . . one place they audited was BLDC.
Despite what was done there by the Chair and the
Deputy, even with a leading law firm’s report that ev erything was done in accordance with the by -laws of
the company, and the 1980, I think, 1980 or 1981
Companies Act. And when the auditors are done r eporting down there, [they] did not even mention it in
the report. You tell me that report was objective? That
was supposed to be objective and fair. It was onesided, Mr. Acting Speaker. That is what they did.
Mr. Acting Speaker, we had . . . you will see in
our Budget Book about Redemption Farm. Wonderful
programme, [which] comes under the National [Sec urity] Ministry of Wayne Caines. The programme is
head up by Pastor Leroy Bean. That is not the first
such programme, you know. There was a programme
started by CARTEL [ Challenging and Reclaiming the
True Essence of Life] , headed by Pastor Bean at
White’s Island, a property that was given to him by the
Sports Ministry (at that time).
Yes, the lease, as all leases are, was admini stered by the Ministry of Public Works. The Minister at
the time, under that other crowd, OBA, went up there
and spent all this time (I am sure) looking to see what
he could find to take on. And he went up and kicked
those children off of White’s Island. Kicked them right
off! [There were] 52 children.

What is your point of order?

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: We are not here to discuss
political corruption. I would be happy t o do a debate
3162 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly on political corruption that I found when I was in Go vernment. We are here to do the budget. He is mi sleading the House with falsehoods.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Acting Speaker —

Continue on.

Hon. Derrick V. Bur gess, Sr.: —the Redemption
Farm is included in the budget. So I am certainly on
good ground. I think I know the rules quite well. But
Trevor Moniz kicked them off that . . . for . . . what he
says, Oh, the lease was overlapping and it went over
21 years in the renewal.
Well, the Minister did not do that lease. And if
that Minister at the time was . . . Let me see, despite
the lease, let me see what they are doing over there.
Let me see what this programme is about. Never even
worried about it. The aim was to kick them off White’s
Island.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Mr. Acting Speaker, point of
order.

What is your point of order?

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: The Honourable Member is
misleading the House again.
I did a very thorough investigation of what had
been done and the end result was it was ruled on by a
court of law. And there was a very thorough investigation of what went on there. And I will not embarrass
the Member any further because we are meant to be
debat ing the budget.

Continue on, Member.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: I can tell you, that
Member could not embarrass me because I know
Derrick Burgess’s name is in the gutter with him so
you cannot take me any lower than that.

[Laughter]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes. That’s okay. That
is the way I was born. That is what they thought of me
when I was born. So you cannot take me any lower
than that. I can take anything you want to come at me.
I’ve done it.
But he never once talke d to Pastor Bean.
What type of programme you got over here? No!
Kicked them off! And Mr. Acting Speaker, Pastor Bean
reckons his loss to be anywhere from 15 per cent and
20 per cent of those children to the streets.

That is why we make investments
in our people.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: And those 52 children
over there did not cost them a dime. It was being f inanced by donations from not only black people, white
people also were helping to finance that there. Food
and everything was free to them. That’s what was
happening.
That’s what was happening and that is why I
give our Minister and the Government full marks f or
supporting the programme at Redemption Farm. We
have got to save our children. We are reviving what
Trevor Moniz stopped. [He] abolished them, he term inated them, he kicked them off of White’s Island. I
know he does not like to hear that, but it is the truth,
Mr. Acting Speaker.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Acting Speaker,
when we talk about that Minister, he wants to go
there. He is just saying, Why didn’t they turn off the
water to people in Dockyard?

Some Hon. Membe rs: Yes.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Same Minister.

What is the point of order?

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]


Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: The Honourable Member is
misleading the House once again, telling all sorts of
untruths about what was happening up there at Doc kyard.
I had to sort out a dreadful situation left by his
Government in 2012. And if you talk to the people up
there now, they are very happy about it. I just met the
lady last week and she was very happy that I sorted
out that mess up there for them. Thank you.

[Inaudible interjections and laughter ]

What is your point of order?

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Mr. Acting Speaker, he is mi sleading the House.
After the negligent job that was done by that
Government and we found out all those piles were full
of sand instead of concrete, we had to fix the whole
darn thing from the beginning. That is why it went over
budget, because of negligence and criminal corruption, political corruption on that side.

Where is the Auditor’s report for
that?

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: There is no Auditor’s
report! Never! There were no special reports in the
five years they were in Gover nment. The Auditor
General went mute! Never said a word! Not a word!
And that Auditor General comes under Government
House, comes under the Governor. Said nothing!

[Inaudible interjections]

3164 28 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Do not tell me . . .
what! Oh, no! A $24 million contract ended up costing
$30 million.

Order! I would like to hear the
Member.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: When we talk about
overruns . . . now, under the PLP Government, a hundred units of housing at Dockyard were contracted for
$36 million. Well, it finished under the OBA Gover nment, 20 units built for $25 million. Guess who was
the Minister? The Honourable Member T revor Moniz.

Where is the Auditor’s report?

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Acting Speaker,
Mr. Moniz is right to call for the Auditor’s report because there is none. That is why he calls for it. There
is no report.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: I would like to see one.

Hon. Der rick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes. No, you won’t
see one, because the Auditor went mute. I do not
think they operated in five years, even though they
had a budget every year. I do not think they were in
existence, Mr. Acting Speaker.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: I would like to see it.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: No, you will not see it
because there is no one there. [Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: You do not want about
. . . Don’t want to talk about him. I tell you . . . but I am
not . . . I am not going to be distracted by that fellow,
Mr. Acting Speaker.
Now, Mr. Acting Speaker, we got money in
there for the police department and it has been cut by
$4 million. I understand that the police are very annoyed at that, Mr. Acting Speaker. T he police commissioner is annoyed by that, Mr. Acting Speaker.
But, you know, what sort of annoys me is that
we had a man who was on trial and he made an all egation and they started a whole investigation that continues —over $6 million. We had another incid ent
where there was a case of drugs in a container. And
Government House, with their approval, stopped the
investigation.
One Member, Trevor Moniz, is saying it is
rubbish. But that is the truth. I have the tape to prove
it.

Yes! A video tape!

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: And Mr. Acting
Speaker, you know, it is kind of . . . it is d ifficult. I am a
forgiving person.

[Laughter]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: My heart is . . . in my
heart is Christian. And I know something about —

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Point of order. Mr. Acting
Speaker. The Honourable Member is misleading the
House with that statement.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: I know the Honourable
Member Mr. Dunkley is joking. He is a good boy. I do
not mean in that way, he is a good honourable person. In that regard . . . what he just said. I am not mi sleading the House, Mr. Acting Speaker.
My heart is forgiving. I believe I have a Chri stian heart. There are some things that the Lord is still
working on me.

[Laughter]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Because I am still finding it very difficult, Mr. Acting Speaker, to forgive Go vernment House for approving the use of chemical
weapons on senior citizens. I can never forget that
yet.


Bermuda House of Assembly [Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: It is difficult for me to
get rid of that, Mr. Acting Speaker. Very, very difficult.
You know . . . and I hear one Member over there
chirping, but it does not even matter. I should not even
respond to that, Mr. Acting Speaker. And I will not, Mr.
Acting Speaker, because I am a little disturbed [about]
the money that we allocate to Governm ent House.
There is not much work for the Governor to do up
there.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, we should cut it.
Why do we have a Deputy Governor? To do what?
Why do we have one?
I do not think it is necessary. I know th at it is a
. . . this promotion down here to Langton Hill . . . it is a
promotion for those in England to come down here
and cool out, because there is not much to have two
people up there with a staff. That is the type of money
that we need to be saving s o we can make life a little
better for many. Even though it is just over a million
dollars, but quite a bit of it is unnecessary. We should
not be spending that type of money on a Deputy Go vernor up there, Mr. Acting Speaker.
Mr. Acting Speaker, even with the police,
when it was a Joint Select Committee to look into this
atrocious act that the police did on December the 2nd
[2016] against the senior citizens, the police commi ssioner tried to stop policemen appearing before that
committee. That is not what s hould happen here.
They are not in charge. I understand there are certain
responsibilities that come under the Governor. I understand that, under the Constitution Order. I understand that. I understand how the Constitution Order
came through. We will never hear about the minority
report, [by] the three Members from the Progressive
Labour Party, out of the 18 who were selected to deal
with the Constitution Order. You did not hear about
that report that they submitted, Mr. Acting Speaker.
So, Mr. Acting Speak er, I have some problems with
that. I have some problems with that!

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, I do not want to
miss anything because I know Trevor will get back if I
miss it all.
Mr. Acting Speaker, tourism. I did n ot plan to
bring this up. But it came up in the Reply about the
head of the Tourism Department.

Authority.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Authority.
Mr. Acting Speaker, let me look at this here.
We have got 2,600 rooms in the country. And we are paying $400,000- plus-plus bonuses. We cannot even
[achieve] an annual occupancy of 75 per cent, and
these folks are getting bonuses. But, Mr. Acting
Speaker, when they report the numbers, they said we
had record numbers. Well, the BTA really do not have
anything to do with cruise ships, you know. Because
the cruise ships, they come and negotiate berthing
rights up there. Those cruise ship people, they get
their people and they sell a cruise to Bermuda. Not us!
Not the BDA!
And they say they had rec ord numbers. Yes,
we did have record numbers. I want to thank Dr.
Brown for putting that Heritage Wharf and Dockyard
[in], for making that thing the centre for cruise ships
because when our numbers . . . you know, Mr. Acting
Speaker, we had over 5,000 room s at one time. Now
we only got 2,600- and-a-little-bit. So we had to make
up for that income. And that was made up through the
people coming in on the cruise ships. If we did not
have that, Mr. Acting Speaker, where would we be?
We would be in some trouble.
And, yes, let me give Mr. Moniz his due. Yes,
there was some faulty work up there. And, yes, they
had to fix it, because when you win a Government,
you inherit whatever is there. And you have to fix it.

Less than three years.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Less than three years!
How can you complain about that, Mr. Acting Speaker?

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: How should you complain about that? When you invest $60 million, and it
pays itself off in three years . . . man, that is marvellous. Marvellous. And I hear somebody on the other
side talking about something. Whatever it is, I will not
repeat it because it is not parliamentary language.

It is parliamentary language.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, S r.: One should not be
using that language in this House.
So, Mr. Acting Speaker, let me finish how I
started. Again, I want to congratulate . . . and I think
this Finance Minister that we have now is probably
one of the finest Finance Ministers that we ha ve ever
had in the history of this country.

[Desk thumping]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Let me say this here.
One thing about this Minister, Curtis Dickinson, when
you try to go at him with heat, he gets colder. I mean,
he is professional. He is first class. And I am telling
you, I am so glad that Minister Dickinson is on my
team. I tell you. I want to thank his mother for bringing
him up right.

[Laughter]

Thank you, Honourable Member. Does any other Member care to speak?
The Chair recognises the Honourable and
Learned Member from Smith’s [West], Mr. Moniz.
Mr. Moniz, you have the floor.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you, Mr. Acting Speaker.
I guess there has been a lot of praise that has
been heaped on the new Finance Minister, but I guess
from our side—

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Well, I will just say that the
important thing about being a Finance Minister, one of
the important things is, can you hit your mark? So
when you make a prediction one year, do you hit it the
next year? And unfortunately, he is zero for one at the
moment. He has missed his mark.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Well, that is what happens.
And you knew it was coming.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Trevor G. Mo niz: You knew it was coming.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: You knew it coming, right up
front when you took the Government, you knew Car oline Bay was coming right at you. That is what ha ppens. You inherit it. Just like the Honourable Member
who spoke before me said. When you come—

[Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., Deputy Speaker, in the
Chair]

There is a point of order.

POINT O F ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Point of order. The Honourable Member is misleading the House.
He just said that the Finance Minister knew
Caroline Bay was coming. I can assure you that the
Finance Minister and nobody in the country knew t hat
we had a $200 million bill coming.

Continue, Honourable Member.



Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you. We will ignore that
and say that they knew problems were coming.
Now, Mr. Deputy Speaker, unfortunately,
there is a lot of problem s here which we have to face
in this country. And, you know, we do not want to get
distracted from it. We are in the position that we are
in—

[Inaudible interjections]

Let’s have one meeting Members, I am trying to listen to the Honourable Member.
He has got a contribution.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you. Mr. Deputy
Speaker, you know, humour aside, and any revisiting
of history, ancient or modern aside, we are in a tough
position. We can argue all day long why we are in this
tough position, but we are in a very tough position. My
honourable colleagues have pointed that out. Of
course, it is in the Budget Reply as well as the Honourable Member Mr. Dunkley and the Honourable
Member Ben Smith, I have heard who has spoken
very tellingly on this.
This Government is facing a lot of problems.
But the difficulty is that they do not seem to be solving
any of them. I know at various points the Premier has
said, Well, you know, we have had all these emergency matters. Obviously, you have had to deal with the
EU and blacklisting and all of these matters which you
have to be able to walk and chew gum. You know
when you are in Government you have emergencies
that come up and you have got to complete your pr ogramme while you are dealing with the emergencies.
And that is just the way life is.
But in our view, on this side, the new PLP
Government have had difficulties. They have not
cured problems, for example, in education with the
schools, with the problem with T. N. Tatem and that
being closed down and the people being sent here,
there and everywhere. They say they are going to
close the middle schools. It is leaving a lot of . . .
It is a very unsatisfactory situation with educ ation. And, again, we are having, you know, . . . anecdotal reports to me [say] that the schools are not as
full as they were. And we knew we were facing this.
It’s the old problem, we have got a shrinking popul ation, we have got an ageing population, we have fe wer children in the school. I mean, the Honourable
Members on that side can quote all the statistics they
want, but I deal with real life. You walk into a resta urant in the middle of the week at lunch hour and the
restaurant is empty. And you know there was a time
when it would have been chock -a-block and there
would have been a waiting line out the door. So we
have some serious problems. I speak to restaurant
owners and the number of meals they serve is way
down. There are a lot of problems. And the Honourable Member Ben Smith
pointed all of this out. And the people of Bermuda
know it. I do not need to stand up here to tell the people of Bermuda that we are in deep trouble. We are
lucky in the sense that insurance companies have
done very well. And that, I think, in my view, is buo ying our economy.
We have had the problem that there has been
amalgamation with the insurance companies, so as
they join up there are relatively fewer of the larger
ones, and they are rationalising their labour force. We
have seen a number of them lay off numbers of people. . . you know, “lar ge” for Bermuda, , 50 employees
plus. We have also seen it at the banks with the continuing move to automation. And we have not been
successful in bringing, really, any new banks into the
Island, although one bank is being taken over by
someone else.