February 26, 2020

Thank you, Senator Kathy Lynn Si mmons.
We will move on to the second i tem, and that
is the Public Holidays Amendment Act 2020.
Senator Anthony Richardson, it is your Bill.
You have the floor.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Good morning, Madam
President, fellow Senators and to the listening aud ience.



Bermuda Senate The President: And good morning to you.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I
move that the Public Holidays Amendment Act 2020
be now read for the second time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. Carry on, Senator Richardson—
Senator Anthony R ichardson. We have two in here.

[Laughter]

The President: Carry on.

BILL

SECOND READING

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS AMENDMENT ACT 2020
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Yes, Madam President.
Madam President, I am pleased to introduce
the Bill entitled the Public Holidays Amendment Act 2020.
Madam President, Cup Match is undisputed
as one of the most important and popular holidays in
the Bermudian calendar. Cup Match currently comprises two consecutive holidays —Emancipation Day
(as the first day of Cup Match) and Somers Day (as
the second day of Cup Match).
Madam President, this holiday has a rich hi story steeped in the efforts of Bermuda’s black lodges—the Friendly Societies —who helped build and lift
our community during the post -emancipation era. One
of the efforts was the introduction of a game of cricket
between the lodges, and this came to symbolise this
important moment in the Bermudian story. It is why
the Cup Match holiday has been formally paired with
Emancipation Day as a way of observing this essential p oint in our history.
Madam President, national days are an i mportant part of our cultural identity. What we celebrate
and how we celebrate speaks directly to who we are as a people. Bermuda’s Emancipation Day, as established by the 1833 Act for the Abolit ion of Slavery,
which came into effect in 1834, commemorates the
abolition of a system under which people of African
descent on this Island were for centuries not reco gnised as citizens, but rather as property —legally
bought and sold and forcibly worked for the benefit of others.
Madam President, our National Hero, Mary
Prince, is recognised on the world stage for the crucial
role she played in the abolition of slavery throughout
the British Empire by telling the painful story of her life as a slave. It is only fitting therefore that the second
day of Cup Match be renamed for her.
Madam President, the origins of Cup Match
lay squarely in an observance of emancipation. And by returning Cup Match to the observation of emanc ipation and the abolition movement that it was always
meant to be, we show both a respect and understanding for that pivotal moment in our history as Bermudians. Our complete history must be understood.
Madam President, you will also be aware of
another premiere event in Bermuda, notably Bermuda
Day. It features as part of Heritage Month—not only the marathon race, but the very popular parade, Bermuda Day, which was born out of the Pitt Commission
Report of 1978 and is widely considered the first day of summer (when we all go swimming). It first featured
the Bermuda Day Parade in 1979. The parade r emains a steadfast celebration featuring dance groups, bands, majorettes, decorated floats and gombey
troupes.
Madam President, Bermuda Day is also
known as the May 24
th Holiday, which can cause co nfusion, as at the moment the holiday is held on the
last Friday in May, which can result, as it did in 2019,
where the last Friday in May was the 31st of May, and
the 24th of May was the previous Friday.
The amendment I bring today to make Bermuda Day the last Friday before the last Monday in
May will ensure that, where the 24th of May falls on a
Friday, that day will be the public holiday. The next
one will actually occur in 2024. Thank you, Madam
President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardso n.
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator Robinson, you have the floor.

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. Good morning to my fellow Senators and to the
listening audience.
First of all, I would like to say that I am in support of this Bill. I do believe that Mary Prince repr esents a part of our heritage and history that we should honour and definitely keep in our minds.
I do want to make sure that I put forward
though that, with history and appreciating history, we
must a lso make sure to look forward to the future and
to make sure that it is an inclusive one. So what I want is for this Mary Prince change to not only be a chance for us to educate our future generations on the struggles and sacrifices that she made in order for us to
have a better life, but also to take it to educate those
who may not know and also to educate those who
may not be within that particular community.
And it is no surprise and [there is] no doubt in
anyone’s mind that we do have a racially divide d soc iety right now. And what I do not want to see is that,
going forward, there is any sort of political weaponis ation of that racial divide, as it has been in the past, not
by any particular government, but since the dawn of
time within politics in this country. So with those res-ervations, I want to make clear that I do support the
change. But I do want it to be one of inclusion so, go800 26 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate ing forward, every member of Bermuda can understand the full history of our country and that it be used
as a unifying fact or and not one of division.
With those comments, Madam President, I
finish. Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Michelle Simmons, you have the
floor. (Make sure your microphone is on.)
Sen: Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. (Sorry about that.)
We probably all agree, Madam President, that
Mary Prince deserves to be a Bermuda National Hero.
And it is most fitting that she is also celebrated as an
international icon.
Cup Match has been or has certainly become
over many, many years the holiday which was established to recognise the abolition of slavery. Now, Mary
Prince has been recognised because of her courage, her determination to overcome the conditions into
which she was born and lived for many years. And
because of her telling of her story to people who were
sympathetic, her life story was published and it resul ted in people recognising the inhumane treatment
which people like Mary Prince had been subjected to over many, many years. So she is credited with hel ping to bring about the abolition of slavery.
Cup Match, a holiday associated with the
emancipation from slavery —some researchers may
argue that there are no definitive sources which show this direct link between the c ricket game which is
played at Cup Match and which came out of the attempts for the lodges to get together and celebrate the
emancipation of slavery. We believe there is a direct
correlation, but some researchers will tell you that
they cannot prove it.
One of the interesting things about the debate
around this Bill has been the fact that, if you ask many
people what the two days of Cup Match are there for,
they cannot tell you. Yes, most people will say, Oh, it’s
a holiday to commemorate the emancipation of
slaves. But very few people will say to you, Oh, we
are also celebrating the founding of Bermuda by Sir George Somers. We do not do anything during the
Cup Match period to recognise the discovery of Bermuda in 1609 when the Sea Venture was shi pwrecked on our reefs. So in many ways, Somers Day
has been almost disregarded by a large portion of the
community. And I am not so sure that [this day] is the
best time for us to be celebrating the discovery of Bermuda.
I support this Bill because I think it brings a
clear focus on a most important change that ha ppened in Bermuda in 1834, and that is the emancipa-tion of slavery. I also believe that here in Bermuda we
need to come together and recognise that our history,
whether it is to commemorate [the abolition of] slavery or whether it is to commemorate the discovery of
Bermuda, should be celebrated by all of us no matter
where we come from, what we look like, which religion
we adhere to—all of us should celebrate our Berm udian history, celebrate our Bermudian- ness.
And so, Madam President, with those brief
remarks I will just say once again I totally support this
change in our legislation so that Mary Prince Day becomes incorporated as one of the days that we cel ebrate at Cup Match.
Thank you very much, Madam P resident.

The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Si mmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Senator Jones, you have the floor.
Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
This particular legislation afforded me the opportunity to do some further research on the life of
Mary Prince. And I am really encouraged that these
heroines are being highlighted and promoted in our
country. It is a critical part of our history. It should be
disseminated throughout our schools. And I will sa y
not only in the public schools, which we know it will
happen, but I believe it is stories like this that also
need to be taught to those within the private school sector as well, because it is all a part of our history.
Now, I quite agree that the coupl ing of the
two-day holiday, one being Emancipation Day and the
second day being the Somers Day, would have been a marriage made in hell because the two do not really
coincide with the other. And of course, we have heard
comments within the community about the fact that
the founder of Bermuda, Sir George Somers, being
that he was a slaveowner himself or participated in that dastardly industry, made for a very, shall we say,
uncomfortable joining of these two holidays at the hip.
But be that as it may, Madam President, I r eally had to look at this legislation. And I looked at the
fact that Sir George Somers was a very important h ero to this country. We know his story. And as I have
been in the Senate, I am sure that all of you know that
my day job is driving the minibus, taking tourists around the country. And one of the highlights of my
tour is to go into the quaint historical Town of St.
George’s.
And of course, along that route I would drive
by the statue of Sir George Somers. And I would have
a pre- script ed talk and tale of Sir George Somers. I
would talk about his accomplishments. I would talk
about the fact that he came across the Atlantic and a
hurricane blew him onto the shores of Bermuda. I
would talk about the fact of how his ingenuity enabled
him to keep people together (who, I am sure, were at
[their] wit’s end), and how in 10 months’ time he built
another ship, built two ships and went down to Jam estown. We all know the story. It is a great story! And


Bermuda Senate then, near the end of my illustration of this i ncredibly
decorative, adventurous man I would say, And Bermuda has afforded this founder of our country a day, a holiday. The second day of Cup Match, we celebrate
Somers Day!
I am going to have to remove that last sentence off from my script. And one wou ld think that at
first blush the founder of this country, the hero who
braved the hurricanes, who has his name etched in
the annals of the beginning of two early communities
in the New World, Jamestown and St. George’s, the Town of St. George’s that is nam ed after Sir George
Somers . . . at first blush, one would say to oneself,
Our hero, Sir George Somers, is being put in the dump- heap of history. And no longer is he going to
have a day that is going to be set aside to celebrate the founding of Bermuda!
Now, as much as I have said earlier, I agree
with raising the profile of Mary Prince. It saddens me
to think that no one thought to find an alternative
means or day to celebrate the founder of this country. Now, we all know and understand the racial undertones of slavery and how it still reverberates in our
country today. But I would like to think that the scars
and the injustices of the past, although an integral part
of our history, are not the single most important thing
that defines us. It saddens me at times that some people use our racial past, the racial discords and i njustice of the past, use it as a tool, weaponise it to get one race against the other.
And so when we look at the move that is being made by this Government to change the day to another name, to remove Sir George Somers off of
this day, I would pause and throw out a suggestion to
the Government, this caveat that, in our move to el evate Mary Prince to have a holiday in her name, that
we look to see what we could do for good old Sir
George Somers. If not for anything else, to continue to
celebrate this champion, this hero, this discoverer of Bermuda.
And we know that when he came here, there
were no blacks here. There were no whites here. There were no Portuguese here. There were no Filipinos here. The only persons, the only species that
were here . . . there were only three. There were pigs,
there were cahows and there were skinks. Now, for
those of you in the listening audience who are poss ibly under the age of 30 who may not know what
skinks are, we call them lizards today. That is all that
were in this country. And he, along with 150 other passengers, were shipwrecked on this Island. And
from those early beginnings, from those humble be-ginnings, we have a wonderful civilisation, a wonder ful
Island known as Bermuda.
You know, it makes me stop and think that if
one day [Sir George Somers] had brought a couple
more friends of his to Bermuda, we would have all
been speaking Spanish as our mother tongue. But as
fate would have it, this admiral from England, by the name of Sir George Somers, by providence came to
this Island and created an English colony.
So, Madam President, as much as I understand why and the impetus of changing the name of
this particular holiday from Somers Day to Mary Prince, I do support it, with reservation, with the hope
that this Government will look to elevate, re- elevate
Sir George Somers in an appropriate way where he does not lose his status as the founder of Bermuda.
Thank you, Madam President.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY T HE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITOR
The President: Thank you, Senator Jones.
Before I move on and ask if anyone else
wants to speak, I would just like to acknowledge the
presence of the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Christopher
Farrow, from the Ministry of Labour, Community A ffairs and Sports.

[Public Holidays Amendment Act 2020, second rea ding debate, continuing]

The President: Would any other Senator care to
speak on this Bill?
Senator Campbell, you have the floor.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I would suggest to my
Senate colleague who just finished speaking that
there are still remnants of the injustices of the past, which then make them injustices of the present. And
yes, we should continue to work to overcome and
eliminate those injustices.
I would also like to join Senator Robinson in
that I believe we should use this change in name to
educate our people (the change in name to Mary Prince Day) in that the focus should be on overcoming—determination through determ ination, perseverance no matter what your circumstances at birth, you
can overcome. That should be the positive message that we create around this change in the name and
the purpose for which we celebrate this holiday.
If I move on to Bermuda Day, I support this
move because what it does, in my opinion, is present
the Bermuda Tourism Authority with an opportunity to
market Bermuda around [what] I believe is the Mem orial Day holiday in the US and have [US tourists] come here for a four - or five -day weekend. So I wholehear tedly support that move as well.
And with those brief comments, Madam President, I will end. And thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
802 26 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate No? Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons, A ttorney
General, you have the floor back.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I would like first of all to commend my colleague, Minister Foggo, and her team for bringing this legislation today, this Bill today. And I would like to
think that this is the first of many steps that are necessary for us to acknowledge and appreciate our heri tage.
I listened with great interest, as usual, to the
comments of Senators. And I normally save my comments for the motion to adjourn, but I wi ll speak b ecause they touched a note with me in terms of the
uneasy and unhappy relationship we have with our
history.
Black people have this tendency to almost
deny that they are black. And we tend to almost run
down the rabbit hole whenever someone chal lenges
the collective narrative at any time that speaks to our
history or any form of black in Parliament. That is
something that we have to actually stop and get used
to.
My colleague, Senator Jones, talked about
the scars and injustices of the past; it cannot be the single thing that defines us. We actually are the sum total of our history, and not only our personal history
but the history of our race. And this is [not] something
that we turn away from; this is something that we
acknowledge, and we get f rom it the strength that actually helps us to be stronger as a people and as individuals.
So as Mary Prince lived through great adversity in her life, the lesson for me as a black woman
and for other black people is that, you know what? We
actually surviv e this stuff. So the acknowledgment of
our history is important because it actually strengt hens us as we work and live in a construct that is not
much different from what she actually endured.
So, Madam President, go back to our history.
In 1834 we were emancipated. We were emancipated
physically. Our emancipation continued because the very construct in which we work today, meaning the
Legislature, was used as a tool to enact various legi slative measures that made sure that our economic
interests were alw ays subjugated to those of our masters. And if persons are interested (and I will speak on
this on another occasion), we have all sorts of interesting history that has been written about in other
countries with regard to reparations that were paid to slave owners to make sure that they did not have an
economic disadvantage by losing their slaves through
emancipation. And that route that was generated
through reparations actually forms the basis of some
of the greatest industries that we have across the r egion.
So we must learn to embrace our collective
history, to learn from it, to be empowered by it and not look at it as something that we run away from. It is an
interesting and empowering dialogue that I absolutely
enjoy continuing to learn about. So to my colleague
who is just mortified that Somers is taking a backseat,
when you have a majority population that needs to be uplifted and will be uplifted by this Government and
future governments that are formed by the Progressive Labour Party, that is almost l aughable.
When I came back to Bermuda some time
ago, I decided to go to National Library. And I was told
that there was a museum there. And so I wandered into this museum, to be met by this little white English
man, and for the life of me I thought that I was in a
foreign jurisdiction because there was nothing in there
that spoke to our history.
And I also remember when the CPA [Commonwealth Parliamentary Association] group came here, and the Clerk to the Legislature and I had the
wonderful fortune of going on an island bus tour with
the group. And they were basically from the Caribb ean region. And so we happily went on the tour. And I
was alarmed to hear the narrative by the bus driver, which did not speak in any regard to [the] black presence in this co untry. And we were astounded, embarrassed and horrified that this was representative of
Bermuda.
So much so that when we got to the West End
and we were passing Woody’s, the bus occupants cheered because, as we all know, Woody’s is a watering hole and res taurant for black people who generally
hang out there and have a good time. And they were
so excited because in a country that has a majority black population, they were finally seeing some ev idence that we actually are on this Island in a mean-ingful way.
And so when we look at ourselves, we have to
look at ourselves realistically and not continue to expound the narrative of Kumbaya, because we have a
collective interest as black and white people to make
sure that we live harmoniously in this country. But as
black people, there is no good reason for us not to
know, embrace and celebrate our history. And as I
said, I will speak to this on further occasions. But to
my colleague, our history does in fact define us. And it
actually makes us stronger. And it is a reason why we sit in this Chamber, to make sure that the status quo
that underpinned those times does not continue.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Kathy Lynn Si mmons, Attorney General and Government Leader in
the Senate.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
No. Then, Senator Richardson . . . Well, b efore you do, I would just like to acknowledge . . .
(Have I acknowledged him already?) Sorry. I beg your pardon. I did.



Bermuda Senate Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam Preside nt, I do
not know if any questions were asked by any of the
Senators. But it was interesting to sit and listen to the
various commentaries . And to be honest, in these ci rcumstances, sometimes I feel challenged in terms of
additional explanation or informat ion. And I did take
note that there were two comments, or statements
almost, that talked about Bermuda’s racial reality b eing weaponised. And I take exception to that, to be
honest, because you cannot weaponise facts. And
what happens sometimes, if I speak a truth, you (generically —not you, Madam President, but you gener ically) may take offence to it. But that is not weaponi sing if I am telling the truth. And sometimes we tend to be afraid of what is the truth.
And what is most concerning to me, not just
today but as a general commentary, is that black
Bermudians take it upon themselves to defend some
of the racial realities that are present in Bermuda and
that were in the past. And we cannot get away from
that. And one quick example I give sometimes is, if
you transfer yourself back, let us say, maybe 40 years
or so. You happen to be (again, generically) a white
family and you are able to buy a house that is located
wherever you want in Bermuda. And a black family of
equal standing in terms of maybe a husba nd and a
wife and, you know, two children or whatever the case
may be, were denied that [same opportunity].
Then, later on, your family bought the house,
paid it off, and then they gave it to you or passed it on
to you when you got a little bit older, meaning that you
are able to then have your own family in a house that
is free of a mortgage. The black family I am referring to did not have that same opportunity. Therefore, the
family might have rented because they were denied
the chance either for a mortgage or just to get the
property. That means that the second generation has
to now go through the process of either buying a
house, paying a rent or whatever. And that has a si gnificant impact on that family, and we are now into second generation, and then it carries on, because as
you know now, prices are very expensive.
So we cannot get away from sometimes in
terms of what is actually true and what continues on based upon what happened in the past. And so that is
my challenge sometimes in terms of . . . like it is not
necessarily for here in this current forum. But given
the context and some of the comments that were
made earlier, I felt it appropriate to say so.
And there was the comment, and I know it
was not . . . well, there was the comment or . . . no, I
will just make this statement here, that sometimes we
describe slavery as being inhumane. And what I want
to say to that is that it is so far from human that the
“inhumane” and “ slavery ” do not belong, in my mind,
in the same paragraph, let alone in t he same sentence in terms of its severity. And it should never be taken from any of us in terms of trying to downplay the true impact of what has happened in Bermuda. B ecause it still does obtain.
And what is amazing is that there are still persons, groups, families, entities who can exercise po wer to disallow some persons to become part of Bermuda’s economic success. In a significant way that
will speak to finances. Generally speaking if you want
to start a business, it is not as easy as you may think
to get the necessary capital and those sorts of things.
And so again that is definitely, definitely real.
What I also want to do is say that the opportunity to be a Junior Minister is, in my mind, unique
because you get a chance to speak to the Minister
and the Permanent Secretary . . . and I do
acknowledge that Chris Farrow, who is here, and Mi nister Foggo, because we had a conversation about
this. I was asking for an explanation, and it was good for me to know that, clearly, we recognise the need to
change Sir George Somers [Day]. But even in that
context, it was that Bermuda’s history ––the reality is
that Sir George Somers played a part in the founding
of Bermuda. And so it is not a question of ignoring him, per se. But it was really more of an emphasis of
saying that to have him associated, or [to have] his
name associated with emancipation, that was what is
inappropriate. And so, therefore it had to be separa ted. Mary Prince comes in. And then there will be, I assume, a different opportunity to at least acknowledge or recognise that [Somers] did form part
of Bermuda’s history because we cannot ignore that.
It is what it is, as I said earlier.
And so that was again a very, very interesting
conversation. And I do again commend the Perm anent Secretary because he helped to put in context
what we were doing in terms of this legislation.
And so to refer to Sir George Somers as the
“good old” as it were, I think it does a disservice to the
reality of Bermuda’s history. What I will say in the context of the Bermuda Day in particular is that we very often get concerned when you have any event, and
you can just glance and say, Okay, fine. How is this
supported racially, black or white, whatever?
And as a proud past participant in the annual
Bermuda Day Race, I belie ve that this is probably the
single activity whereby we all come together. Because
if you run from whether it be Somerset or St.
George’s, and as you get to various points, you see
everybody there. And it is a significant encouragement
that people clap, sometimes call your name to go
through. And I think for me at least, that is probably the most unified celebration we have in the morning. In the afternoon it switches up because you do not
see the same balance when it comes to the actual
Bermuda Day Parade; that is for sure. And so again I
would say that the marathon aspect of that is unique.
And the last comment —no, two more co mments I will make, Madam President —is that I do certainly support the fact that this should be more than
just changing the name of a day, and instead empha804 26 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate sising education. In the sense of, what is this all
about? What does it mean to be legally allowed to
intermingle and intermix? But where are we now s ocially? Where are we academically? Where are we politically? All those things. T hat is what we really
need to understand. And what are we really doing as
a collective to better and to advance ourselves? B ecause that is going to be very, very important as o pposed to being a day where we simply spend a whole pile of money and dress up. It has got to be more than
that. And I would hope that all of us take the time to better explain, especially to our younger children,
what this is about so they have a better appreciation
for it and have a better understanding.
And I will also say this, M adam President, that
I had occasion to go to the BTA website about a
month or so ago, maybe two months ago now. And I
was actually surprised that what I want to call “ the official Bermuda tourism ads” do not reflect our popul ation. Now, I have made this co mment elsewhere, and I
continue to look for there to be a change even in our national advertising that better reflects our population,
so that I as a visitor should see a representation of our
population in our national ads. I think it is reprehens ible, to be honest, that this does not currently occur.
So, Madam President, with those comments I
will now move that the Bill entitled the Public Holidays Amendment Act 2020 be read a second time.

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

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 2 6

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I now
move that Standing Order 26 be suspended in respect of the Bill.

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

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS AMENDMENT ACT 2020

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I now
move that the Public Holidays Amendment Act 2020 be read for a third time.

The President: Is there an y objection to the third
reading?
No objection.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I now
move that the Bill do pass. The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent itled the Public Holidays Amendment Act 2020 do now
pass.
Is there any objecti on to that motion?
No objection. The Bill is passed.

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

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson and
all Senators who contributed.
Item number 3, the second reading of the
Submarine Communications Cables Act 2020.
Senator Richardson, you have the floor.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam President.
I now move that the Bill entitled the Subm arine Communications Cables Act 2020 be now read a
second tim e.

[Crosstalk]

The President: Yes. I beg your pardon, Senator
Richardson. Carry on.

BILL

SECOND READING

SUBMARINE COMMUNICATIONS
CABLES ACT 2020

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, today I introduce for the
seco nd reading the Bill entitled the Submarine Communications Cables Act 2020. This Bill seeks to pr ovide for the protection of submarine communications
cables and to establish a submarine communications
cable industry for Bermuda by way of a submarine
communi cations cable permit and licensing regime.
Madam President, Senators will remember
the Statement by the Minister of Home Affairs on Sep-tember 27
th in which he introduced this new and innovative legislation that will provide a strong regulatory
framework to introduce this potentially valuable sector
to the Island. This initiative is in keeping with the Government’s pledge for Bermuda to become a techn ological hub of the future, attracting those within the
submarine cable industry to use Bermuda as a transi t
location that would generate an additional revenue
stream for Bermuda’s economy and ensure existing
and new local cables are protected and secure.
Further, the legislation identifies specific tim elines to ensure efficient processing of applications by the Regulatory Authority. This provides certainty and
stability to the industry, further making Bermuda an
attractive location.


Bermuda Senate Madam President, I remind Honourable Members that the submarine cables are essential to the
world’s economies and are a vital component of a
country’s national infrastructure, linking one country to
one or several others. More than 99 per cent of the
world’s global communications are carried on subm arine cable networks, and those networks have i ncreased due to the exponential growth of data. The world is indeed changing, and many governments
have declared subsea cables strategic national assets
and critical infrastructure.
Madam President, landing and operating si gnificant systems in some jurisdictions has become
increasingly difficult and lacks a single owner, regul ator and point of reference. Countries which have
shorter and more certain time frames for the permi tting process are being sought and are becoming much more attractive. To this end, this Act provides
for a shorter permitting process, using the one- stopshopping approach and deadlines prescribed in legi slation. This will enable Bermuda to establish itself as a
landing hub for transatlantic submarine cables carr ying Internet and telecommunications.
There are three such hubs in the Pacific
Ocean—in Hawaii, Guam and Fiji. But there are none
in the Atlantic. If Bermuda succeeds in becoming the
Atlantic’s first, the benefits and opportunities could range from attracting submarine cable operator’s head
offices to the Island, to captive insurance for subm arine cable operators and creating an additional rev enue stream for the economy. In addition, companies with intellectual property rights would be better able to
demonstrate economic substance in Bermuda, while operator’s landing cables would be able to achieve
network diversity and divert some telecom traffic away
from certain jurisdictions, if required, for privacy or
data sovereignty reasons.
Madam President, there are more than 20
submarine cables that cross the Atlantic from the
Americas to Europe and Africa, and others that link
North and South America and the Caribbean. Three
cable systems land in Bermuda, namely, GlobeNet,
Challenger and Gemini. Many other transatlantic c ables transit around the Island, but do not land here.
Efforts are being made to attract them to Bermuda and to promote the Island as a technology cable corr idor.
Madam President, at this juncture I would like
to provide a brief outline of what this legislation is intended to accomplish. The Bill provides for the follo wing:
• Outline the purpose of the Act including promoting
investment in the submarine communications c ables sector and in communications reliant industries, thereby stimulating the economy and employment ; enhancing the protection of submarine
cables in Bermuda waters ; enhancing Bermuda’s
international submarine communications cables
connectivity ; laying the groundwork for further de-velopment of the submarine communications c ables sector and promot ing its orderly develo pment ; encouraging the development and maint enance of resilient and fault -tolerant submarine
communications cables infrastructures .
• Define the functions of the Minister and Regulat ory Authority .
• Identif y the protection zones and provides for regulations relating to the prohibiti ve and restrictive
activities within the zones , and the offences and
penalties if one engages in such activities within
the zones .
• Provide for the applications and conditions for
(1) permit s to install submarine cables , and
(2) licences to operate submarine cables .
• Define the parameters for compensation for damage to property or , where it is necessary , to acquire property .
• Provide the protection zone map and coordinates .
• List the prohibitive and restricted activities .
• Provide for consequential amendments to the
Marine Board Act 1962 , Public Lands Act 1984 and
the Regulatory Authority Act 2011 .
Madam President, this legislation clearly hig hlights that Bermuda has adopted the global best practice with a cable protection zone that protects cables
that land here, streamlines the licensing process, pr otects Bermuda’s natural marine environment and heritage , and provides certainty of process for those c ables looking to land within a 60- day approval [guid eline].
Madam President, the submarine cable pr otection zone is an important step in the marketing of
Bermuda in the submarine cable space. A submarine
cable protection zone represents industry best practice and demonstrates that we are working on policy and plannin g to support and promote the industry objectives. A protection zone affords protection and certainty; both are very important in the choice for locating and operating a system. In jurisdictions that do not
have a submarine cable protection zone, it is diff icult
to get permission to land a cable, because the carrier
must navigate a range of agencies to seek various
environmental and financial assessments.
It is important to note that the protection area
designated by the Bill already contains the three su bmarine cable systems mentioned earlier —they are
GlobeNet, Gemini and Challenger. The key for international business cables is certainty of process and ease of access. The proposed Act provides this.
Madam President, from this platform we will
be able to use this legislation to promote landing
submarine cables into Bermuda. Large technology
companies are currently building submarine cable
systems that go past but do not connect into Berm uda. We are hoping to highlight to these companies the opportunity to do a branching unit from those planned
systems into Bermuda, creating economic substance with significant infrastructure and thus supporting any
806 26 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate intellectual property company assets that are located
in Bermuda.
Madam President, the proposed submarine
cables protection zone has been designed to provide
sufficient space for Bermuda’s future needs, meeting
the standards of the submarine cable industry while
minimising disruption to marine users and considering
key environmental factors. The shape of the zone,
which bears resemblance to a manta ray, has been
developed as a result of a best practice desktop sur-vey carried out by the internationally recognised com-pany in this field, EGS Survey, who were commi ssioned by the Bermuda Business Development Agency.
EGS Survey specialises in providing global
specialist multidisciplinary marine survey support to
the gas, telecommunications, energy and renewables ,
and marine infrastructure market sectors. As part of the desktop survey, input was sought from major
stakeholder s of the marine environment, including the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources,
Marine and Ports, Energy, Planning, as well as the
Estates Section of the Ministry of Public Works.
Comment was also sought from the Marine R esources Board, Commerc ial Fisheries Council, Historic Wrecks Authority and Ports Authority, as well as
dive boat operators.
This comprehensive report looked at all of the
factors required to develop a submarine cable sector—most notably, Bermuda’s geology, existing and
potential landing sites, hazards and restrictions, and
cable engineering. It also addressed challenges that a
cable protection area would have on Bermuda’s ecol-ogy, benthic habitat, protected species, as well as the
commercial fishery and diving sectors. The result is a
single area that incorporates all the existing deepwater submarine cable routes and which is designed
to have as minimal an impact on the current and f uture uses of the area, while allowing sufficient scope
for the development of the submar ine cable sector , to
the best industry standards.
Madam President, protection of the submarine
cables is paramount, and it will be necessary to pr ohibit and restrict some uses within the cable protection
zone. While boats will still be able to transit freely, it
will be necessary to prohibit dredging, scuttling ves-sels, use of explosives, towing nets, ropes and other
equipment capable of contacting the seabed.
Restricted uses include certain anchoring and
fishing with a demersal dropline where the breaking
strength of the line used would damage a cable —that
being a breaking strain of 850 kilograms. Similarly,
research of the area is still permitted but must use a
tethered remote operated vessel (ROV) with a breaking strain less than 850 kilograms. Harvestin g of the
benthos must be by hand and/or by ROV.
As the majority of the use restrictions fall t owards the resource management, particularly fisheries, a practical enforcement strategy has been de-vised that utilises existing capacity and expertise to
best m anage activities in the cable protection zone.
Under the Fisheries Act 1972
, fisheries inspectors,
including fisheries wardens, marine police and the
newly formed [Bermuda] Coast Guard with assistance
from the Maritime Operations Centre, will provide the
enforcement oversight for the zone.
An educational strategy will be developed to
ensure that user groups such as the dive shops, boat-ers and fishermen are aware of both the physical area
and the new restrictions placed in the area for not only
the protection of the cables, but also for the safety of
those users.
Madam President, I must recognise the work
of the Bermuda Business Development Agency [BDA] in this area. The BDA has been focused on promoting
Bermuda as an Atlantic digital hub for interconnection
of cables . Marketing by the BDA has commenced targeting key technological infrastructure players who
build submarine cables and other supporting companies in the submarine cable industry.
Madam President, Ms. Fiona Beck and Mr.
Kyle James recently attended on behalf of the BDA the Pacific Telecommunications [Council] conference
which was held in Hawaii from the 19
th to the 22nd of
January 2020. This conference was attended by 7,000
industry leaders from around the world. Ms. Beck held
meetings with representatives from Google, Fac ebook, Amazon and Microsoft, promoting the potential
for Bermuda to become an Atlantic digital hub f or the
submarine cable industry. This Bill provided an oppor-tunity to signal the Government’s intentions to enter
the submarine cable industry and promote Bermuda
as the Atlantic digital port.
Madam President, this legislation is intended
to put Bermuda back on the submarine cable industry
map by promoting Bermuda as a jurisdiction of choice
for submarine cable companies to have their head
offices located here. Senators will be aware that com-panies like Southern Cross Cable Network and Australia –Japan Cabl e currently have their head offices
located in Bermuda. These companies have people
on the Island, employ Bermudians and use our head
office support services. We aim to attract similar submarine cable companies to the Island.
Madam President, you can easil y determine
from the brief that it is very detailed. And I want to especially commend those who are in the Senate
Chamber right now, Mr. Brian Eaton and Ms. Rozy
Azhar, because each of them took the time to go
through in some detail with me to make sure I understood the implications of this Bill. And as happens, we
went back and forth, I asked several questions. And
they were very, very efficient in providing responses.
And so with that, Madam President, I now
move —well, I will pause.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE P RESIDENT



Bermuda Senate SENATE VISITORS

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson, and I
am glad you mentioned both the Permanent Secretary and Ms. Rozy Azhar, as well as the Parliamentary Counsel, Brian Eaton.
Welcome to you both on behalf of the Senate.

[Submari ne Communications Cables Act 2020, second reading debate, continuing]
The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Senator Jarion Richardson, you have the
floor.
Sen. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. Good morning, Madam President and fellow
Senators, and the listening public.
I would like to congratulate the Government
for attempting to diversify and strengthen the econ omy with this bold piece of legislation. The points that I
raise and the questions that I raise are not in any way
intended to take away from that effort, given the signi ficance of it. But it is certainly to clarify and perhaps enhance upon their accomplishments.
We are well aware that the introduction of a
new regulatory framework is no small thing, espec ially
at this stage in the process when we are looking at the
primary legislation. It is incredibly difficult even at this
stage to conceive of and draft technically accurate
legislation. Having taken that step and having moved
so far as to begin to entert ain overseas entities with
this new framework, I would like to ask about the development of the regulatory framework in practice and
the implementation and the day -to-day aspects. Sen ator Richardson had spoken to streamlining the appl ications process, for example, but obviously there is more that goes into regulation than that. And we have
had some experience with implementing new regul atory regimes and recognising that it is during the i mplementation phase that the devil is in the details and we run across problems.
To that end, we have a Regulatory Authority
[RA] that is already tasked with overseeing key indus-tries in Bermuda, and those industries are not insigni ficant. Energy is a developing space, especially in r enewable energy sources. Our distribution network,
energy generation, and even the acquisition of signif icant players in industry are all very difficult items to deal with on the part of the Regulatory Authority.
Equally, we see in the telecommunications space the introduction of well -capitalise d overseas entities. And
we have even seen cases where the Authority has its
decisions and methodologies being questioned by
these regulated entities. So it is no small thing to take on something like this.
To that end, obviously, energy has its own
skill sets and expertise, and the RA is equipped for that. Telecommunications is the exact same way; we
are equipped for that. When we looked at submarine
cables, this is —I am not sure I am seeing the similar ities in technical capacities and skill sets. So to t hat
end, my question and the point that I am raising is, Are we prepared in Bermuda to undertake this activity
in a very day -to-day and practical manner? Not so
much the idea; the idea is good. And again we should
commend those who have worked in this spac e already. The question is, Moving past this stage, what does it look like on a day -to-day basis? Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jarion Richar dson.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Jardine, you have the floor.

Sen. James S. Jardine: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
First of all, I would like to thank Senator Ric hardson for a very interesting brief. Obviously when
you read pieces of legislation, sometimes it can get very complex and a bit dry. And it was interesting to
get more information, more (shall we say) meat on the
bone as to what government has been doing. And I
think I am certainly in favour of this legislation more
particularly because again it adds, hopefully, another (shall we say) string to the bow in terms of creating
jobs here in Bermuda.
And I was particularly interested to hear about
the fact that Government has met with representatives of such companies as Google and other large compa-nies, where I think there are some real possibilities for
Bermuda going forward, particularly in the area of our
economic substance legislation, which I think is sec-ond to none and which other countries are making
inroads in their own jurisdictions. So I was particularly
pleased to hear those meetings taking place, and I
would certainl y encourage more meetings of that sort
and follow -up. And hopefully, it will result in additional
work here in Bermuda.
So I am very supportive of this legislation,
Madam President. And I encourage Government to
look for more opportunities of this nature to involve
some of the larger corporations around the world to
set up head offices here and to have more substance
in Bermuda. Thank you very much, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jardine.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
No? Then Senator Richardson, Anthony
Richardson.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam President.
I want to, I guess, take this opportunity to
congratulate the new Senator Richardson. We note
that we have the similar last name. I am not sure i f
808 26 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate there is any familial relationship. So that is no big
deal. The old school says I will find out who his daddy
was, or his granny, or somebody and figure out how
we are related. But that will be after the fact.

[Laughter]

Sen. Anthony Richardson: I won ’t go any further . . .
but anyway.
The general comments in terms of, is the
Regulatory Authority efficient and have the technical
expertise and all those things, I think that, as he said,
the devil is in the details. And sometimes we get di stracted, to be honest, about detail. I think the bigger
point, to be honest, is that again in discussions and having my own debriefing, it was to understand that
this is actually the equivalent of —we are used to the
term “ international business, ” in that I can have a
business, insurance company, for example, that I actually operate it from Bermuda, but I do not participate
in the local insurance industry in terms of providing insurance to local residents.
And so, I coined the term when we were doing
this that this legi slation actually represents an “ international business component for telecommunic ations .” So these potential firms will not participate in
the local telecoms industry except if they get a sep arate licence. But instead, it impacts what they are doing intern ationally. And [it is] very interesting to understand that data do attract legislation, depending upon
where it lands.
And so if, for example, right now I have a c able that lands in the US, I will be subject to US regul ation. And the opportunity for this is that I can reroute
some of my data to Bermuda, for example, and Bermuda has, I think we understand and accept, an excellent reputation for a user -informed regulatory env ironment in that there is normally lots of consultation
with industry before things take place. And this is an
example of that. And so in terms of detailed expertise,
the Regulatory Authority would be charged with getting that, if necessary.
And to add specific comment, the Regulatory
Authority has been an integral part of this whole pr ocess, and they do have some expertise. And as I said
earlier, the idea would be to engage consultants if a higher level of expertise is required than currently exists. And as we all . . . well, many of us know that is
the standard practice, so I am excited, to be honest, to
understand it and to have a better appreciation for
how this will impact Bermuda.
And Senator Jardine commented in terms of
the economic substance impact. And I think as we go
forward, we all need to appreciate that the beauty, if
you w ill, or the advantage of economic substance is.
[for example], Anthony in the past might have had a
company which just had a lawyer representing it, and
that was it. And now [he is] required to demonstrate
physical presence for what [he is] doing. And this is again one of those opportunities, because if an international carrier decides to have a cable land in Bermuda, they will then hopefully have a head office here
that employ specialist persons.
And then from that, of course, they have the
knock -on effec t in terms of if someone is in Bermuda,
they will need to live somewhere. They have to eat.
They have to do all kind of things. And that is when
we start to have the impact. And so, this does meet
the Government’s objective in terms of providing a
potential alternative revenue stream for the country and by doing so improve the economic activity in
Bermuda.
And so with those comments, Madam Pres ident, I think I have covered everything. Yes. I now move that the Bill entitled the Submarine Communic ations Cabl es Act 2020 be now read a second time.

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

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 2 6

Sen. Anthony Richardson: I now move, Madam
President, that Standing Order 26 be waived for this
Bill.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

SUBMARINE COMMUNICATIONS
CABLES ACT 20 20

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I now
move that the Submarine Communications Cables Act
2020 be now read a third time.

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

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam President.
I now move that the Bill do pass.

The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent itled the Submarine Communications Cables Act 2020
do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. The Bill is passed.



Bermuda Senate [Motion carried: The S ubmarine Communications C ables Act 2020 was read a third time and passed.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Anthony Ric hardson.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam President.
The President: We now move on to the fourth item
on our agenda, and that is the consideration of the
draft Order entitled the Contributory Pensions
(Amendment of Benefits) Order 2020.
Senator Campbell, it is your Bill. You have the
floor.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 71

Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I move that Standing Order
71(2) be suspended so that Senate may now proceed
with consideration of the draft Order entitled the Contributory Pensions (Amendment of Benefits) Order
2020.

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

[Motion carried: Standing Order 71(2) was suspend-ed.]
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I move that
the Senate do now take under consideration the draft
Order entitled the Contributory Pensions (Amendment
of Benefits) Order 2020.

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

ORDER

CONTRIBUTORY PENSIONS (AMENDMENT
OF BENEFITS) ORDER 2020
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I am
pleased to present the
Contributory Pensions
(Amendment of Benefits) Order 2020 for the consi deration of the Senate. Madam President, you will r ecall that in the Government’s 2017 election platform, it
was declared that this Government would put our seniors first and institute annual cost of living increases
for social insurance pensions that will be linked to the
rate of inflation to help lessen the hardships that too
many of our seni ors now endure.
Madam President, social insurance benefits
paid from the contributory pension fund [CPF] provide
a first tier, or basic, pension, which should be suppl emented by a second tier, or occupational, pension. These benefits provide an important base retirement
income. And currently, the maximum pension paid
under the contributory pension fund is around 28 per
cent of the median annual gross earnings for Berm udians, as indicated in the Bermuda Job Market E mployment Brief produced by the Department of Stati stics.
Madam President, the purpose of the Order is
to increase pensions and other benefits under the Contributory Pensions Act 1970 by 1.2 per cent,
backdated to August 2019, when increases are typically made to the benefits. The 1.2 per cent increase
in benefits would represent an additional cost of $2.1
million per year to the fund, with the retroactive pay
costing $1,224,471. The contributory pension fund in
principle relies on current contributors, or workers,
paying for current pensioners. A nd for the most part, it
is a pay -as-you-go financed plan. However, the policy
of increasing contribution rates by 2.5 per cent above
the rate of pension increases has allowed a significant level of funds to build up. And thus the plan is partially funded, which provides further security of benefits.
Under section 37 of the Contributory Pensions
Act 1970, the Minister of Finance has the power to
make an order to revise the rates of contributions and
benefits of the contributory pension fund. Madam
President, there are seven types of benefits payable
under the Contributory Pension Act 1970. All of the pensions and allowances will be increased by 1.2 per
cent. These pensions and allowances are (1) contributory old age pension; (2) contributory old age gratuit y;
(3) contributory widows’/widowers’ allowance;
(4) contributory widows’ or widowers’ gratuity;
(5) contributory disability benefit; (6) non- contributory
old age pension; and finally, (7) the non-contributory
disability benefit.
Madam President, the basi c contributory pension is $1,064.37 per month. The maximum contributory pension currently payable, which includes additional increments, is approximately $1,545.63 per month. Altogether, some 13,540 persons currently
receive benefits under the Act. The pro posed 1.2 per
cent increase will raise the basic contributory pension
to $1,077.14 per month and the maximum benefit to about $1,564.18 per month.
Madam President, the 1.2 per cent increase
marks the 13
th pension increase that the Progressive
Labour Party Government has put through in its time
in the government. Those increases range from a high
of 9 per cent in 2004 to the 1.2 per cent we are currently looking to implement.
In every case, the benefit increase has either
exceeded the prevailing rate of inflation or has been in
line with the underlying trend rate, thereby placing
seniors’ pensions under the Consumer Price Index
[CPI] in good stead. Senators are advised that, based
on the CPI, the cost of living increased by 1.2 per cent
from July of 2018 to July of 2019 when the last i n810 26 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate crease was granted; therefore, the proposed benefit
increase fully covers the prevailing rate of inflation.
Madam President, the 2019 increase in benefits would normally be accompanied by a correspon ding increase in contribut ions by an actuarially recommended rate of 3.7 per cent. However, Senators will
recall that in the 2018 Throne Speech, Government announced that Bermuda’s social insurance system
will be changed from a fixed- rate contribution to one
based on a percentage of income. Therefore, contr ibution increases will be delayed until the actuary completes the modelling to effect this policy objective
and the appropriate consultation takes place.
Senators are advised that the actuary has
completed the 2017 actuary report for the contributory
pension fund. This report will form the basis for all modelling to effect any design changes to the contri butory pension fund. Madam President, it is also noted that contributions for a last increase in August 2018 by
4.2 per cent. Madam President, as at December 31,
2019, the fund had net assets of over $1.95 billion,
representing approximately 11.4 times the annual va lue of benefits paid in the 2018/19 fiscal year. This is a relatively high level of funding, and when compared to
14 other regional social security schemes in a 2013
study, Bermuda’s ratio is better than nine of these
countries, which have an average of 7.5 years. By comparison, the ratio for the Canada pension plan in
2018 was 8.1 times.
The effect, Madam President, is that if the
contributory pension fund received no further contribu-tions, it could still continue to pay our pensions at the
prevailing rate for almost 12 years. However, the real ity is that contributions will continue through time and
will be increased fr om time to time. In addition, the
prudent investment of the pension fund assets is also
an important factor in the fund’s financial position. In
this regard, Government’s investment strategy for
pension fund assets is achieving good results. As
aforementioned, as at December 31, 2019, the contributory pension fund stood at $1.9 billion. For the
trailing year, the fund posted returns of 15.7 per cent,
and over the longer term five- and ten- year periods,
the fund posted returns of 6.3 per cent and 7.8 per
cent, respectively.
Madam President, as evidenced by the 2014
actuarial report tabled in another place in June of 2016, the viability of the fund in the short -to-medium
term is good. However, recognising the long- term
challenges of the fund, the Ministry wil l continue to
closely monitor the performance of the fund. It should
also be noted that the funding policy for the fund is not based on full actuarial funding, but based on sustai nable funding. That is, contributions plus investment
income should cover ben efits and administration expenses on an annual basis while the fund builds up
sufficient reserves to cover several years of benefits
and expenses to withstand future adverse circumstances. Madam President, despite the encouraging
short -to-medium term outl ook on the fund, what is
clearly evident from the latest actuarial review is that
Bermuda, like most of the developed world, is faced
with the challenges associated with the growth of an ageing population. During the next 50 years, the number of people over pension age, which is 65, are expected to increase from 11,080 to 16,186, an increase
of 5,106, or 46 per cent. This increase in our seniors
will obviously place a greater strain on the country’s pension system. And it is essential that government contin ues to closely monitor the performance of the
fund and our overall pension arrangements to ensure
pensions are set at an appropriate level.
As mentioned earlier, the next actuary report
for the contributory pension fund was due for the per iod August 1, 2017, and has been completed. This
report will be tabled during the budget session.
Madam President, the contributory pension
fund was established in 1970 and thus has a rather
simplistic design. Since the contributory pension fund
was established, there have not been any meaningful reforms to the plan even after the mandatory National
Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Act was
introduced. Accordingly, the Ministry is of the view that
any reform of the contributory pension fund should
take a holistic vie w of pensions for the various categories of workers to reduce coverage gaps and any ot her anomalies. The contributory pension fund, as the first pillar of retirement income, reformed contributory
pension fund benefits, together with other pensions,
could provide for progressive benefits and a contrib ution formula at levels that can lead to the sustainability
of the contributory pension fund in the long term.
Accordingly, Madam President, the Ministry
plans to engage the government’s actuary of record to
conduct a comprehensive review of all pensions in
Bermuda. It is anticipated that this engagement will be
completed by the end of 2020 at the latest and will be shared here in the Senate.
Madam President, in closing I wish to assure
[Senators] , and more importantly current and future
pensioners, that the Government is sensitive to the
challenges facing pension plans of this nature and will
endeavour to take the appropriate steps to enhance the benefits paid from the scheme, as well as ensure
the fund has the ongoing ability to pay for such benefits.
And with that, I will pause to allow my Senate
colleagues to comment. Thank you, Madam Pres ident.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITOR

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.


Bermuda Senate And before I open the floor, I would just like to
acknowledge in the Chamber the presence of the F inancial Secretary, Mr. Anthony Manders.
Welcome to you, sir.

[The Contributory Pensions (Amendment of Benefits)
Order 2020, second reading debate, continuing]

The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
this Order?
Senator Jones, you have the floor.
Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
First and foremost, I would like to commend
the Government on their pledge and the follow -
through of that pledge to increase s eniors’ pension
according to the rate of inflation. I think that is admir able, and I believe it is something that the seniors truly
do appreciate.
Now, we know the plight of our seniors and
the community as a whole. We have all heard the horrifying storie s of seniors who have to make a decision
between whether they are going to have a meal or whether they are going to have their medicine, and
things of that nature. We have seen the impact of the
land tax increase this year. We have not seen this
new health care plan that can make a demonstrable
drop in prices and the cost of health care. We have
seen food prices; they have not stabilised, but they
are trending up. And the sugar tax surely has not
helped the situation either.
Having said all of those things , it causes me
to ask the question, and I would appreciate a compr ehensive answer, and that is, we see that this legisl ation will be retroactive to August the 31
st of last year.
My question would be, Why the delay? Is that com-mon practice? Is that somethin g that has been done in
the past? I believe the public and especially seniors
[who are] listening would like to have an idea of why the delay.
Other than that, Madam President, we are
definitely pleased with the increases and the changes that this legisl ation represents.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jones.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this [Order]?
No? Then, Senator Campbell , no questions,
other than [from] Senator Jones.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
The information that I have been provided
with around the reasons for the delay, Madam Pres ident, is due to the fact that we were waiting for the
final determination on the rate of inflation. And, you
know, as was stated in the brief, our pledge was to
provide annual increases at a minimum based on the rate of inflation. And I believe that is the only question
that was raised, Madam President.
So with that, Madam President, I move that
the said draft Order be approved and that the follo wing message be sent to His Excellency the Governor:
“May it please Your Excellency:
“The Senate, having had under consideration
a draft Order entitled the Contributory Pensions
(Amendment of Benefits) Order 2020 proposed to
made by the Minister of Finance under the provisions
of section 37 of the Contributory Pensions Act 1970, has the honour to inform Your Excellency that the
Senate has approved the said draft Order.”

The President: Is there any objection to the message
being sent?
No objection. A suitable message will be sent
to the Governor.

[Motion carried: The Contributory Pensions (Amendment of Benefits) Order 2020 was approved.]

Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.

MOTIONS

The President: There are none.

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR
OBITUARY SPEECHES
The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
this?
Senator Jones, you have the floor.
Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
In light of the fact that this is Black History
Month, I would like to take note of two of the people
who are going to be celebrated for Black History
Month. The one being Gil Tucker, who is considered
a leader in the Bermuda business community and who
enjoyed a distinguished career at Ernst and Young for 40 years, where he began as an accounting student
and made his way up to Ernst and Young Bermuda
Chairman before stepping down in 2015. The company recognised his achievements by creating an annual
four-year university scholarship in his honour. Earlier
in life he made waves too, being one of the first black
students to attend Saltus during integration. He now
serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the
school. Mr. Tucker is active in the community and is
on a number of local committees and organisations,
acting as the Director of HSBC Bermuda, as a me mber of the Government’s Fiscal Responsibility Panel,
and as an executive member of BermudaFirst.
And the second recipient is Ruth Thomas,
who began h er career as a teacher and blazed an
812 26 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate impressive trail through her career in education, hel ping to create the Island’s first government preschools,
before being made the education officer responsible
for early childhood education in 1972. From there, she
became the first cultural affairs officer, embracing her love of the arts. She has committed herself to preser ving Bermuda’s history and traditions and is widely
recognised as the Island’s expert in all things cultural.
I would like for this Chamber to extend congratulations to these worthy recipients of that recognition.
And as it relates to obituaries, I would like the
Chambers to send condolences to the family of the
late Mr. Gabriel Rodriguez. I am sure that my fellow
Warwick Academy alumni in this Cham ber, Senator
Kathy Lynn Simmons and Senator Anthony Richar dson, would join me in requesting that these condo-lences be sent. Mr. Rodriguez arrived in Bermuda in
1960 to teach maths and physics at Warwick Academy, where he remained for the next 41 years, ris ing to
be Acting Headmaster in the wake of Joseph “Zacky”
Marshall. He was also co- founder, president and captain of Teachers Rugby Football Club. A Warwick Academy teaching legend who has died at age 83, he
took up the profession only after he missed out on a
career in the British Secret Service.
He met a Scottish art teacher, Jean Rose, at
the school. The couple married in 1961 and had two children, Caroline and Fiona. He earned the nickname
“The Hawk” as a player, an avian theme extended
from his nickname, “The Eagle” as a basketball player
at Cardiff University. Mr. Rodriguez acted in several
Gilbert and Sullivan productions, and he was a keen carpenter who crafted cedar furniture and rocking
horses. He will be sadly missed. Thank you, Madam
President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jones.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Simmons.
Senator Ianthia Simmons -Wade, you have the
floor.
Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: I would like to extend
congratulations to Paget Primary for their third annual
Black History Museum. It is going to take place tomor-row. And they are highlighting Bermudians who have
made a contribution to our Island home. This year
they will be celebrating Sharon Wilson, Maxanne
Caines, Roosevelt Brown [ Dr. Pauulu Kamarakafego],
Beverly Howell, Shirley Pearman, Frederick “Penny”
Bean, Debbie Jones Hunter, Eugene O’Conner, Gina Swainson, Herbie Bascome and my late husband, L.
Frederick Wade. Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator Ianthia Simmons -
Wade.
Would any other Senator care to speak? Madam Attorney General, Kathy Lynn Si mmons, you have the floor.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I would like to acknowledge and celebrate and
congratulate our own homegrown Shiona Turini on
her absolutely as tounding accomplishments in the
world of fashion. She is truly our ambassador. And as
of late, she has been the costume designer for the
movie Queen and Slim. And she is also celebrating
Black History Month by collaborating with Barbie —and
we all remember Barbie dolls —to present their new
dolls, who have been inspired by the same Queen
and Slim movie and represent some of the characters.
So we now have these black Barbie dolls with Afros.
And it is quite inclusive and diverse because they have [ alopecia], o r whatever that hair condition or
balding condition is called.
Yes, no really. These are real, live represent atives of a demographic, and it was quite mind -
boggling to me. Number one, her accomplishments are global. And she is an international celebrity s tylist.
And it is just a tremendous accomplishment for her
and representative of the Island, the excellence that
we actually breed over time. So, congratulations to
her as she continued to be a sterling ambassador and acknowledging Black History Month in t he most
unique way through Mattel and our Barbie dolls. So
congratulations to her.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Kathy Lynn Si mmons, Attorney General.
Senator Campbell, you have the floor.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
I would like to draw attention, Madam Pres ident, to the annual Seniors’ Tea that took place on, I
believe, February 13
th. And it was quite well attended.
And during that [event], the Minister recognised var ious seniors’ clubs in Bermuda and thanked them for
providing an environment for our seniors to socialise as community, which adds to the enrichment of their lives. And those honoured, if I might read the names?
It is quite extensive.

The President: You can read them, certainly.

Sen. Vance Campbell: They are as follows:
• Esther Bean— Special People’s Club;
• Marva Bridgewater —the Joy Club;
• Myra Bristol —the 50 Plus Social Club;
• Beryl Broadley and Betty D. Reid— St.
George’s Seasons Seniors;
• Betty Brown —RAA Seniors Club St.
George’s;
• George Burt —Department of Community and
Cultural Affairs;


Bermuda Senate • Garline Butterfield —First Church of God, A ngle Street;
• Hattie Ann Gilbert —Young at Heart;
• Pamela Greyson—Devonshire Seniors Circle
Club;
• Vera Johnston —Sunshine Seniors Club;
• Sherlyn Jones —Blessed Seniors Fellowship;
• Cheryl King— Each One Teach One;
• Sylvia Lightbourne—Golden Hour;
• Helen Mateen— Special People’s Club;
• Myrtle Perinchief —Young at Heart;
• Betty Richardson—Mt. Zion Senior’s Circle;
• Joan Robinson— Sunshine Seniors Club;
• Mary Smith—Smiling Glee;
• Marle ne Smith—BPSU [Bermuda Public Service Union];
• Donna Thomas —Fifty Plus Social Club;
• Esme Williams —BIU Seniors;
• Melba Wilson—Happy Seniors;
• Wilma Yearwood—First Church of God, Angle
Street;
And I personally would like to thank them for
all that they do for s eniors. Thank you, Madam Pres ident.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Robinson, you have the floor.
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I would like to congratulate Bermemes for f acilitating the youth meeting that the Premier had scheduled with them on Twitter. I would like to also
congratulate the Premier for making himself available
to young people. I know a lot of us were disappointed because the RSVPs got burnt up so quickly we could
not get in. So I do hope that this is the standard going
forward for all leadership, that they make themselves
available to the public for questionings directly and
that we can see many more youth meetings like that
in the future and many more venues for all ages, and
hopefully a bigger venue so that more of us can get in.
And I was especially happy that Bermemes facilitated
overseas questions for our Bermudians who are in the
UK and anywhere else. So with those [comments], I would like to just say I look forward to the next ones,
and hopefully I can get a seat.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
No?
Oh, Senator Anthony Richardson, you have
the floor.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam President. I will be brief. For congratulations, I had the honour of attending a church service on last week Sunday at St.
Philip AME Church down at Harrington Sound. And I
went on the occasion of their recognising Black Hist ory Month and celebrating Dennis Wainwright. I think
we all know Mr. Wainwright as being a very decorated
cricketer, played wicket keeper and opening bat for St.
George’s for a 20- year period. What I do not think
many of us may know (because I did not know this) is
that he was also a well -recognised goalkeeper, and
on the basis of that went overseas and represented
Bermuda on many occasions.
But more than that, he spoke briefly. And I
was very appreciative of the fact that he has dedicat-ed his time, Tuesday s and Thursdays at 12:30, to do
what? To go to Francis Patton Primary and read to the P3s. And what he has done to create a standard of excellence is he makes sure that when they come in,
they must announce their name with energy. It cannot
be just, you know, like something quiet and whispery.
They have got to say it with some force.
And in doing so, he recalled that one of his
students who had been there for so long has now graduated from Bermuda College. And he said it publicly that based upon this student’s excellence . . .
when the person first started, they were not a high
achiever. But he told them, If you carry on from prim ary school to high school, he would cover the first year
of his Bermuda College experience. And the person
did go through and graduated from Bermuda College
on that basis.
He was also accompanied by Mr. Cal “Bummy” Symonds, whom we all know, whom he talked
about as being his very good friend. And I will comment on that later.
And last night I had again the opportunity to
go to a c elebration, an 80
th birthday celebration for a
former Parliamentarian, Mr. Arthur Hodgson. And the
joke, I would say, from Mr . Dean Furbert, who is his
senior by three years, I think it is, was that it could not
be a surprise birthday party because he want ed to
ensure that Mr. Hodgson had many more to celebrate.

[Laughter]

Sen. Anthony Richardson: So they had to tell him
ahead of time.
On the obituaries side, I defer from last year
because— or the last session because Senator Si mmons -Wade was going to give her maiden speech.
But I also want to give a recognition to Mr. James Tal-bot, who was buried. And, again, in attending his service, we were reminded of how pivotal he was or is,
has been in the broadcast industry in terms of being
able to do a huge amount with very little. He did not
always have what he needed to get done, based upon where he was working. And I was, again, pleasantly
surprised because those persons at CITV in particular
814 26 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate gave significant commendation to them. And also, Dr.
Dennis Selassie gave a tribute, Al Seymour.
And Rick Richardson, we all know from ZBM
and beyond, had significant words of commendation
because he recognised how Mr. Talbot was able to always deliver and always remain very, very calm.
And we are now pleased to know that Mr. Talbot’s son
will carry on his legacy. Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
No. Then I would just like to comment on the
fact that the Leopards Club is celebrating, has cel ebrated the 71
st year of operation. And they happen to
have attended the Devonshire Church, the church
which I attend. And I think we all know what the Leopards Club has done over the years and continues to do. So I just want on behalf of the Senate to exten d
congratulations to them for the work that they do.
And with that, we will move on to adjour nment.
Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons, Attorney Ge neral and Government Leader in the Senate.

ADJOURNMENT

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I move that the Senate do now adjourn until
Wednesday, March 4th.
The President: Wednesday, March the 4
th. Thank
you.
Would any Senator . . . oh, I beg your —

[Crosstalk]

The President: Oh, he has indicated that the House
. . . I do not know if we have confirmation that the
House will be meeting on the 4th.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Yes. I would
like to leave that for now. I will leave the 4th until fu rther notice.

The President: I am sorry?

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: I will leave the
4th as our adjournment date.

The President: We will leave it for now and change it
if it is necessary.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Yes.
The President: All right. So we will make note that it
is possibly Wednesday, March the 4
th.
Would any Senator care to speak on the m otion to adjourn? Senator Jones, you have the floor.

DEPARTURE OF SENATOR NICHOLAS KEMPE ,
FORMER OPPOSITION SENATE LEADER

Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
First and foremost, I would like to extend a
hearty t hank you to the former Senator, the former
Leader of the Opposition within Senate, Senator Nick
Kempe, who has led the charge for the One Bermuda
Alliance for the last year. He was earlier in the Public Gallery. His insight and perspective, especially as i t
relates to the economy of this country, have been well
documented. He brought lively debates to these
Chambers, and his valuable contribution will be greatly missed. We wish him well in all of his future endeavours.

WELCOME TO SENATOR JARION RICHARDSON

Sen. Marcus Jones: As a result of Senator Kempe
leaving the Senate, we now offer a warm welcome to
Senator Jarion Richardson, who will be a valuable
addition to the Opposition benches. Get ready, Bermuda! Here is a young man with vision, passion and a
love for his country. His background in law enforc ement and as an active participant in the regulatory and
compliance fraternities makes him a formidable guar dian of Bermuda interests within the international bus iness sector.

NEW OPPOSITION SENATE LEADER

Sen. Marcus Jones: And finally, as the recently appointed Leader of the Senate, let me say thank you to
the Opposition Leader, Mr. Craig Cannonier, for showing his faith in me.
My purpose is to uphold the overriding princ iple of the One Bermuda Alliance, which is putting
Bermuda first. Its value system rejects the idea that
Bermudians want to be divided on the basis of their
race or class, but a system that strives to achieve equity for everyone. I will look to conduct our deliber ations in the spirit of collaboration, fairness and court esy. Personal attacks and one- upmanship will not be
the order of the day, but rather a willingness to reach across the political aisle to seek mutual agreements
for the betterment of our Island home.
I am deeply concerned a bout the direction
that this present Government is taking us. And
through the Budget Debate and later in the year, you
will hear our constructive criticism and alternative ide-as to get to the goal that all Members of the Legisl ature desire for its resident s, which is a Bermuda where
its citizens can realise their dreams and experience a high quality of life. I believe in Bermuda, its potential
and its redeeming quality, which is the true worth of its
people.
Thank you, Madam President.


Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senator Jones.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Anthony Richardson, you have the
floor.

SINGLE- PARENT HOUSEHOLDS

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I
would like to share with you and the general publ ic an
“experiment” that I undertook, and I say that in quotes.
And the reason why I am doing this, I want to signif icantly commend parents in Bermuda and especially
single parents. And in the Bermudian context, which
may be true for most of the world, very often singleparent households are led by females. And so I want
to commend them. And the reason is this: Several
months ago now, maybe two or three months, I guess,
my wife had some extra work to do, mostly in the
evening time. And we had a discussion in terms of,
Who’s going to do all the other stuff? Mostly preparing
meals and that kind of thing. And I said, You know
what? I am going to do it, because there is no reason
why I shouldn’t do it and cannot do it. And so what
has happened . . . well, no one in the public can tell
her this. How about that? Keep it secret.

[Laughter]
Sen. Anthony Richardson: So what happened is for
the majority of that time, for two –three months, right,
when I go home now I am the person responsible for
making sure dinner is cooked and dishes are clean
and all that kind of stuff, right? And clearly, as my wife
said to me, Anthony, what’s the big deal? We do it all
the time— i.e., multitasking. But the reason why I want
to mention it today is because very often single- parent
households are blamed for society’s ills. And I think it
is unfair because as a single parent, the parent has to
always be on their “best behaviour” (quote/unquote).
Assumin g they have a job, they have to go to work
and meet the demands of that job. And if after work
they have to stay beyond the traditional five o’clock, they have to still get that work done. And we know
now that in many cases that would be day care or
even s chools. You have to pick up the child by 5:30 or
you have this ridiculous penalty of every minute you
must pay five dollars or something ridiculous like that.
And so the single parent has to then go home,
get the child. And the child may have another kind of
day. But you have to be on your (quote/unquote) “best
behaviour” anyway to maintain that child’s demean-our. And then, of course, you have got to get hom ework done. You have got to do the dishes and the
whole nine yards. And then only after all that is done
you have free time for yourself.
And so what happens when you are sick? You
cannot be sick because in the morning, especially if it
is just you, you have to still get up and get the child ready for school and all that comes with that. You
cannot sometimes even have time away for just a
moment, because your child is there always, or chi ldren are there, demanding, demanding, demanding.
And so I do not say it as like an Aha! moment,
because obviously I am aware of these things. But to
have committed mys elf to doing it (now you cannot tell
her this) solely for the past like three months or so,
right, it has been . . . I guess it has brought to the fore
for me that I am doing it as a conscious decision. And many others, as single parents for sure, do not h ave
an option.
And I just wanted to make sure that I commend all single parents, again in this case mostly f emales. Because they have a heavy burden. And they
do carry it very well. And what does not happen in
Bermuda for sure is that we do not recognise that there are many, many, many, many, many, many,
many children, right, who have come up in a
(quote/unquote) “single- parent household” and have
been able to prosper in many ways. And I think Senator Campbell referred to a little earlier that sometimes it is a matter of us not looking at our circumstances as
a reason why we cannot get ahead, but to cause us to
be even more determined to succeed in spite of these
obstacles, because in many cases it is the obstacles
that actually make you stronger as opposed to having
an excuse as to why I can’t, why I can’t, why I can’t.
And so I will say again, and I recognise, looking directly at you, Madam President, I know there are
other female Senators in the room. I can only imagine
what they are saying to themselves. But I just wanted to again commend single parents and give them a
word of encouragement today that, you know what?
You are doing a very, very good job, a very, very good
job. And Bermuda should commend everybody in that
circumstance.
Thank you, Madam P resident.

The President: Thank you, Senator Anthony Ric hardson.
Ianthia Simmons -Wade, I believe you have a
response to him.

SINGLE- PARENT HOUSEHOLDS

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: I am actually speec hless.
On behalf of myself and every single parent in
Bermuda, I am glad you had the opportunity to understand what it is like to be the only one, the only voice and the only person there for your children. I know
many single parents are, I guess, pleased to know
that they can produce good children. They can have
children who make a difference. They can have chi ldren who are responsible and who succeed. And I think too often, men (general statement) do not realise the extent of what a mother has to do even if she is
not a single parent.
816 26 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate And I know my son will not be happy with this,
but he is home. He had a minor surgery. He has no
pain tolerance. He cannot do anything. He cannot do
anything at all. He cannot even get a glass of water.
[Laughter]

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: So I am imagining
what it must be like, what it is going to be like for him
when the time comes when he has to take responsibi lity of a family.
As a single parent, you cannot be sick. As a
single parent, you cannot not do the homework. You
have to be there. You have to be the champion. And
you also have to demonstrate that you can succeed and set a great example.
So, Senator Richardson, thank you for that.
And as I said, thank you for every single parent,
mother and father, for giving us that recognition.
Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator Ianthia Simmons -
Wade.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Jeremy [sic] Simmons . . . Gerard
[sic] Richardson. Let me get it . . . Jarion! We will get it
right.

MAIDEN SPEECH
Sen. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. And thank you to my fellow Senators and to the
listening public.
That is a very hard thing to follow up in a
maiden speech that, obviously, has nothing to do with
the incredible work that our single- parent households
put in. So I just want to echo that. And I am very mindful that this speech does not follow that.
But I would like to introduce myself to the wi der Bermuda at large. I would like to start by expres sing my thanks to Nick Kempe and Craig Cannonier for
having faith in me to undertake this role, to Marcus
Jones, and to everyone in the One Bermuda Alliance
and to my fellow Senators. As I acclimatise to the tr aditions and standards of the Senate, I beg your indul-gence and that of my fellow Senators.
Madam President, Bermuda sits in the eye of
change. The only surety we have is given that Berm uda of the past does not look anything like the Berm uda of today, or relatively little I should say, we can be
assured that the Bermuda of tomorrow will look radically different as well.
To move into the future, the question is not
whether to improve health care. It is not whether to
reform immigration, improve education or diversify the
economy. The question is how to do those things. B ecause that is what will shape the face of Bermuda’s
society and economy for t omorrow. And we have to
do these things in the midst of rising and unpaid debt; political discord; stubborn, violent crime; and racial
tension.
Insofar as where we have been, we are def initely through the looking glass now. We are on the
side of strange t hings. Everything from our methods of
taxation to the role of government is under consider ation. And to make a finer point, I would like to draw
your attention to the reactions I have encountered
since being announced as a Senator. These reactions
come from people I respect, admire and some of
whom I love. I hope no one takes any offence, but in a Bermuda that is beyond the looking glass, I think we
need a lot more transparency about our hard- held b eliefs.
The two reactions I would like to talk about
are that You’ve joined the wrong side, and You should
go sort that party out. Before I address those directly, I
would like to speak about a few incidents that radically shaped the way I see the world. I am mindful that they
are only a few, and I doubt that the y are the most si gnificant in my life. But they are just what came to mind
when I thought about this introduction.
The first one starts far from home. And the
key feature of this story is that the noise of the wea pons fire is the clearest memory I have of a few weeks I
spent with the British Army in the Moroccan Desert.
This was not The Arabian Nights. There were no r omance, no magic carpet rides, no epic love songs and
no genies. It was an incredibly cruel place, actually. It
was remarkably little sand. Y ou would think there
would be more sand. And to be fair, when I emptied
my boot at the end of a march, it all seemed to be in there. It was a cruel place because of the rocks. Even
the farm fields were rock -hard. The soil was baked in
the extreme heat, and rocks formed everywhere,
about the size of a fist. So when I walked, my ankle
rolled all the time. And having about 80 pounds of gear on the back did not help.
And anything that was green in the middle of
this desert was not good. If it was green, it had thorns
on it. So there was no hiding in whatever greenery
there was. And when it was not rocky, there were
these massive, huge boulders. It looked as if God was
shaping the landscape by balling up soil, and then
halfway gave up and just sort of dropped these boul-ders everywhere. They had no rhyme or reason for
where they were.
Shade was laughably absent. The heat was
so bad that in the afternoons we would crawl into a wadi, or a dry riverbed, and draw up the hessian fabric
over the position, which is like a canvas, and hide
from the sun. Woe to the man who wound up near the
edge of the fabric, like happened to me once or twice.
My hand slipped out once, and I left it out there in the
sun. I will never forget it because I could feel my hand
starting to burn within seconds.
And I was fascinated that people lived in an
environment as hostile as this. And more than once, I questioned what on earth I was doing in it.


Bermuda Senate But for all that experience, it was actually the
noise that I remember most clearly. It is nor mally quiet
when you are manoeuvring around, when you are
marching around. With all that gear, you are trying to
preserve the element of surprise. And then there is
this shout from the silence, Contact! And then what
follows sounds like the loudest music y ou have ever
heard, but it is way less entertaining. It is the thump of
the heavy weapons firing. You can feel it in your
chest.
And you can hear the words of command.
Just barely, but you can hear them: Contact left! Two
hundred metres! Follow my tracer! You bring up your
weapon into your line of sight. You shift your weight,
and you squeeze the trigger. Weapon fires, pushes back against you. You lean into it. You squeeze. Wit hin minutes, most of your hearing is shot from the noise. The sweat pours down your forehead. The
helmet is designed . . . I do not know who designed it,
but you cannot wipe your forehead. So it gets in your
eyes. And you cannot see anything within minutes.
And you are running. And y ou are standing.
And you are jumping. And you are shouting. And all the while the noise of those weapons drowns out ev erything. So you squeeze. You breathe. You run. R epeat. Squeeze, breathe, run. It is like chaos.
And in the dark, in these live- fire trai ning
packages, it starts getting very confusing. Charlie fire
team moves off to the right, and anyone who has
been in the regiment knows that we work in eight -man
sections. And there are two four -man teams in the
section, Charlie and Delta. And Charlie, a four -man
team, moved off to the right. And Delta was tasked with putting down suppressive fire, which means i ncreasing your rate of fire—shooting more, effectively.
And what it really means is that you are about
to feel as lonely as humanly possible. Because even though there may be 100 –200 other people running
around in the darkness, the only thing you see is muzzle flashes. You do not actually see anybody else.
And you cannot hear anything. But you squeeze, you
breathe, and you run. That is just what you keep doing. You never give up.
I got up to a position this one time, and there
was a pop- up target where I was supposed to be fi ring. It was a live- fire range, and these are actually
quite dangerous. I could barely make out the target; it was little more than a silhouette. And squeeze,
squeeze, squeeze. The weapon started overheating,
so I flipped off the cover. I tried to pace my shots. But
it is a desert; weapons overheat. And so my fingerprints started melting off. And you just get used to this. And the rest of the Delta fire team had been pulled off.
So I took squeeze, squeeze, squeeze even more than
I normally would.
It dawned on me at one point that the silhouette had become the entirety of what I could see. It had literally taken up the whole horiz on, and it was
quite far away. In fact, I could not hear anything an y-more either, which was quite stunning. I was just describing how loud it is. I am in this kind of a zone. And
it came to me, and the training kicked in, that the Bri tish call it “ red zone” or “red mist, ” something to that
effect. And what it means is that I have lost situational awareness. I am no longer cognisant of the wider pi cture that is happening around me. I am not just f ocused; I am ignoring my surroundings.
So I released the tens ion on the trigger just
enough to clear my eyes, which means you look away from the site. And I reoriented. I put my eyes back down, what is called the SUSAT , the sort of targeting
mechanism. And it takes less than a second to do it.
But I did it. And just as I looked back, I saw the figure
of a man who I knew —we had played football together
during this trip —cross right in front of my sites. If I had
not cleared my eyes, if I had not taken the moment to
recognise that I had lost situational awareness, his l ife
would be radically different and my life would be rad ically different.
I am a bit of a reading nerd, so I will beg your
indulgence with a quote that comes to mind, because when I returned home, things looked very different.
T. S. Eliot wrote, “We shal l not cease from explor ation, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive
where we started and know the place for the first
time.” When I got off the plane, I felt I was familiar with the costs that had been paid by others to get to have a Bermuda t hat we have. By no stretch of the imagination have I done anything like what our forefathers
have done. But I just got to see the tip of the iceberg.
Back home I had a couple of moments like
that as well. I was very fortunate to be a trainee r eporter for the Royal Gazette. And I remember writing a
story [about how] I felt a magistrate was being unfair
to a Junior Crown Counsel. I had lost situational perspective. And the ethical standards that were imposed
upon me were such that we do not take sides. But in
writing that story, I had in error cast the Junior Crown
Counsel in the wrong. I had lost situational awar eness. Another time I left a name in a certain story, and
Bill Zuill had to go to court and answer for that. Again,
I lost focus.
A story that goes back to the Regiment. On
9/11. I was a reporter. And I got assigned to the ai rport. And I went down to the airport, and I remember
seeing the planes coming out of the sky like gnats.
They were everywhere. And I was embodied by the
end of that day. And then subsequently standing in
front of a cruise ship—this is when they docked in
Hamilton. And I cannot say that we were particularly intimidating because the tourists insisted on taking
pictures with us.

[Laughter]
Sen. Jarion Richardson: But I remember that. I r emember that very clearly. I remember chasing people
through backyards in Bermuda. And anyone who ever
818 26 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate does that, by the way, you should know that clothing
lines are invisible in the dark. The dogs do not chase
the first person who runs through the yard; they chase
the second. These are the key lessons I have learned
from my time.
Thank you for bearing with me while I d escribed some of the circumstances that have shaped
my opinions. I wanted whoever is reading this or li stening to it to know that I am authentically and gen uinely speaking from experiences that are not political
in nature. So the first reaction someone had to me becoming appointed to the Senate by the One Bermuda Alliance was that I had joined the wrong side.
And I think this kind of attitude exacerbates our pro blems in Bermuda. I joined the Senate. I get that we
have an adversarial system of government and there
must be a degree of “us” and “them.” Where I think
the system goes from having a nature of contention to
inciting civil dis course is going so far as to make our
politics a set of absolutes. That is, in order for my side
to be right, your side must, by definition, be wrong.
This appointment, insofar as I will undertake
my duties, is no different than that of being appointed a constable or a corporal. There is a thing to be done,
and it is hard. And it will be muddy and dirty. And it is
not likely that I will make a lot of friends. But it is going
to get done because it has to.
We seem to have reached a point in the story
of Be rmuda when the abstract definition of what it is to
be Bermudian is no longer sufficient. We need som ething a little harder, a little bit firmer. Our history of
racial segregation and oppression and its resolution is
not the property of any one of our poli tical parties.
Economic disparity cannot be the siren call to descend into the kind of society where our differences
supersede our similarities. Much like the US and UK,
in Bermuda we use coded phrases to avoid bringing
transparency to our most dangerous t houghts.
If we fester ill will for political gain, self -
righteously proclaim our ownership of all answers to
all problems, we risk adopting a culture of Dear Leader, more familiar with North Korea than of our sister
democracies. We cannot have political l eaders who
are incapable of flaw or faults. That backslide has to
stop. Our debt, our health care and our immigration
problems do not care if we attribute their causes, ac-curately or inaccurately, to be the fault of a person or
group of people. These behav iours have infected our
discourse and, by extension, every major issue with
which Bermuda contends.
Veiled threats and coy digs are not evidence
of a brilliant and insightful mind. They are evidence at best of a spiteful and vindictive motive. And that wi ll
be our undoing. Nothing good can grow from that kind
of soil.
The second reaction I had (and I can assure
you I am wrapping up now) was, You should go sort that party out. First, thank you to everyone who would
pay such a compliment. I am incredibly humbled that they would think that is a thing I could do. I can only
promise that I will work as hard as I can to retain your
confidence. But it is not helpful to chastise the One
Bermuda Alliance. The OBA is appropriately named
because it is an alliance of very different people with
very different ideas, but united in the belief that our
similarities are more important than our differences.
And we all saw it form. Its birth was a public
spectacle in no short way because of the deaths that were necessary for it to come about. Its first steps
were watched, its first bold strides, its stumbles. It argued with itself coming into its own. Who cannot ide ntify with that? Who came into the world a self -assured
adult capable of withstanding the pressures of job, family, church and community? I admire them, that
they would rather try and fail than be what is called the “cold and timid souls. ”
President Roosevelt said it best: “ It is not the
critic who counts; not the man who points out how the
strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds
could have done them better. The credit belongs to
the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again,
because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who
knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who
spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while
daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with
those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. ”
The Alliance stands very much counter juxt aposed to the Progressive Labour Party which has a
very deep an d rich heritage. It has had our entire constitutional history to coalesce their views, consolidate their constituencies and prepare for governance. They
have a story, a narrative and a mission.
The Alliance black members have been sti gmatised, and its whi te members are regarded as e ither puppet masters or aged- out politicians of a b ygone era. And yet they have made the hard play, the
sacrifice play. They went after the infrastructure pr ojects, the grand tourism events and the budget constraints that made t hem lose an election. They made
the sacrifice play. When it was time to work with few
tools and every sceptic on the Island shining a light on
them, they stepped up. They did not do it perfectly,
but they did it.
They remind me of that Moroccan desert, or
maybe as a police officer after Hurricane Fabian. Things looked very hard at that time. What we as a
country will be called to do for each other and for the
country as a whole in the next few years will be not hing short of a tremendous exertion and a radical change of thought. No matter the challenge, I do be-lieve that we will emerge in a better place if we have
faith in each other and in the Bermuda to come.


Bermuda Senate Now, “Faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen.” Have faith that
through our efforts, your efforts, my efforts, his efforts,
her efforts, however so formed, that Bermuda will be
made different. Our collective conscience c an bear an
honest imperfection that is striving greatly. It does not
need to be babied with deceptive perfection trapped in
its own legend.
So let me reiterate that Bermuda sits in the
eye of real, substantial and dangerous change, and
the only surety we have is that it will look different t omorrow. The question is how we do these things. And
that will shape our society and our economy for tomorrow.
Madam President, thank you for this opportunity to introduce myself to a country that I have
served in the past and that I will serve now. May God
bless us, this Senate, and show us what we need to do.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jarion Richar dson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons, Attorney Ge neral, and Government Leader in the Senate, you have
the floor.

CONGRATULATIONS TO SENATOR JONES AND
WELCOME TO SENATOR RICHARDSON
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
On behalf of the Progressive Labour Party
Senators, I would like to welcome the new Senator
officially to our midst, and congratulate Senator Jones,
whom I characterise as our “ resident preacher, ” for his
promotion to the Opposition Senate Leader.
I was very encouraged to hear the adjectives
that he used today, co llaboration and fairness, and the
very inspiring [maiden] speech of the new Senator, which bode well for the future of our deliberations and
our activity together.
One phrase, and I did not intend to speak, but
one phrase that Senator Richardson used real ly res onated with me, and it was “ situational awareness. ”
And underlying that is a call to all of us not to lose
sight and not to lose focus. And I would like to contribute to that train of thought.
Just the background of the Progressive L abour Party Senate team, the initial Senate team. One
of the things that people may not know is that our cur-rent Leader, the Honourable E. David Burt [and I always . . . I have to get used to putting this “E” thing in],
actually required his Senators to run for public off ice.
And the whole concept of situational awareness and
focus was bred from that experience. Because you
cannot serve in a capacity of a Member of Parliament
unless you have the awareness of the people for whom you actually are called to serve. And the who le
experience was so eye- opening to me as a Member of
the Progressive Labour Party and as a Bermudian,
because you actually see first -hand the condition of
our people. And it informs —it informs everything you
do in this particular space.
And so, to Senators who have not had that
experience, and I think that Senator Robinson would
have recently had it when he went out canvassing,
when you come into this Chamber, you bring all of
that with you. And to a certain extent you leave behind as best you can what we characterise as the political
divide and the conflict and the personal attacks and all
of the things t hat you have talked about today, because at the end of the day, Madam President, as you
well know, we are called to service.
And so I am very inspired by what I have
heard today. And I will take it upon myself, as the Government Leader, to remind Senators of these
words. I have written them down, and I have written
the date down, so that we actually remain on course
so that we can properly serve our cons tituency, which
is, the people of Bermuda.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Madam Attorney General.
And I would like to, I guess, on behalf of ev eryone, welcome Senator Jones —Richardson, Jarion
Richardson. (I will get it right.)
And with that, thank you all for your contrib utions today, and enjoy the rest of the day. The Senate
is adjourned until the 4
th of March, unless we hear
otherwise.
Thank you all.

[At 12:45 pm, the Senate stood adjourned until 10:00 am, Wednesday, 4 March 2020.]

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