February 12, 2020

2018/2020 SESSION
of the
BERMUDA SENATE
OFFICIAL HANSARD REPORT
12 February 2020
Sitting 28 of the 2018/2020 Session
(pages 771–790)
Sen. The Hon. Joan E. Dillas -Wright, MBE, JP
President
Disclaimer: The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for
informational purposes only. The printed version remains the official
record.














(Hansard note: The 2018/2020 Session
of the Bermuda Se nate is a co ntinuation
of the 2018/19 Session.)

Official Hansard Report 12 February 2020 771

Bermuda Senate BERMUDA SENATE

OFFICIAL HANSARD REPORT
12 FEBRUARY 2020
10:03 AM
Sitting Number 28 of the 2018/ 2020 Session



[Sen. the Hon. Joan E. Dillas -Wright , President , pre-
siding ]

The President: Good morning, Senators.
The Senate is in session; shall we pray?

PRAYERS
[Prayers read by Sen. the Hon. Joan E. Dillas -Wright ,
President ]

CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
[4, 16 and 18 December 2019]

The President: The Minutes of the 4th, the 16th and
the 18th of December 2019.

Sen. James S. Jardine: Madam President.

The President: Senator Jardine, you have the floor.
Sen. James S. Jardine: Madam President, I move
that the Minutes of the meetings of Wednesday, the
4
th of December 2019; Monday, the 16th of December
2019; and Wednesday, the 18th of December 2019 be
taken as read.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Senator Jardine.
Sen. James. S. Jardine: Madam President, I move
that t he Minutes of Wednesday, the 4
th of December
2019; Monday, the 16th of December 2019; and
Wednesday, the 18th of December 2019 be confirmed
as the correct records of those meetings .
The President : Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Minutes of those three meetings are co n-
firmed.
[Minutes of 4, 16 and 18 December 2019 confirmed]

The President: Thank you, Senator Jardine.


MESSAGES

The Clerk: There are no messages, Madam Pres i-
dent.
The President: Thank you.

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES

The President: There are none.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

APOLOGY

The President: I just want to let Senators know that
Senator Caesar did indicate that she would be
abroad. So she is not with us this morning.
And we have two announcements. Senator
Campbell, do you want to do those announcements?

Sen. Vance Campbell: Good morning, Madam Pres i-
dent.

The President: You have the floor.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE BERMUDA DEPOSIT
INSURANCE CORPORATION FOR THE YEAR
ENDED 31ST OF MARCH 2019

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President , I hereby
present for the information of Senate the Annual R e-
port of the Bermuda Deposit Insurance Corporation
for the year ended 31st of March 2019. And Senators
can access that via e- copies.

The President: Thank you.

BERMUDA FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY PANE L
2019 ANNUAL ASSESSMENT

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I also
hereby present for the information of Senate the A n-
nual Report of the Fiscal Responsibility Panel entitled
Bermuda Fiscal Responsibility Panel 2019 Annual
Assessment. And again, this can be accessed via e-
copies by the Senators.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.

772 12 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.

NOTICES OF MOTION

The President: There are none.

PETITION
The President: And t here is a petition with trustees of
the Willowbank Foundation.
And, Senator Campbell, I believe you are pr e-
senting that.

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

WILLOWBANK FOUNDATION
(AMENDMENT) ACT 2019

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I hereby
present the following petition: the Petition of the trus-
tees of the Willowbank Foundation, a company incor-
porated in Bermuda on the 26
th of July 1961 pursuant
to the Willowbank Foundation Act 1961, requesting
the enactment of new provisions to modernise certain
aspects of the company structure and decision-making procedures , as more particularly set out in the
Private Bill entitled the Willowbank Foundation
(Amendment ) Act 2019, which accompanies the pet i-
tion.
Madam President, I move that the said pet i-
tion be referred to the Parliamentary Joint Select
Committee on Private Bills for consideration and r e-
port.

The President: Is there a ny objection to that motion?
No objection.
Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.

The President: That petition will be presented.

STATEMENTS

The President: There are none.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

The President: There are none.

FIRST READING OF PUBLIC BILLS

MORTGAGE REGISTRATION
AMENDMENT ACT 2020
STATISTICS AMENDMENT ACT 2020

MOTOR CAR AND ROAD TRAFFIC
(MISCELLANEOUS) AMENDMENT ACT 2020

The President: The following Public Bills have been
received from the Honourable House of Assembly and are now read for the first time. Their titles are, respec-
tively,
1. Mortgage Registration Amendment Act 2020;
2. Statistics Amendment Act 2020; and
3. Motor Car and Road Traffic (Miscellaneous)
Amendment Act 2020.
And, Senators, as you have been advised, these three will be taken up on the Orders of the Day.

FIRST READING S OF PRIVATE BILLS

The President: There are none.

QUESTION PERIOD

The President: There are none.

ORDERS OF THE DAY
The President: The first one being the second read-
ing of the Mortgage Registration Amendment Act
2020.
Senator.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 2 5

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
Madam President, I move that the provisions
of Standing Order 25 be granted so that Senate may
now proceed with the second reading of the following public Bills , namely, the Mortgage Registration
Amendment Act 2020, the Statistics Amendment Act
2020 and the Motor Car and Road Traffic (Miscell a-
neous) Amendment Act 2020.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Thank you, Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons.
The President: Senator.

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Yes, Madam President.
Whilst we have no issue with these being
passed through to third reading on Standing Order 25,
we would like to raise the point we have raised on
numerous occasions , that these fit none of the crit e-
ria—emergency, et cetera, time- sensitive, et cetera —
and there has yet again been no consideration of the
Opposition in this process.

Official Hansard Report 12 February 2020 773

Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senator Kempe.
Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons, you have a
comment?

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: And thank
you, Madam President.
If you will recall, I was canvassed as to
whether this was appropriate, and I agreed to proceed
with second and third readings today. I was not i n-
formed that there was any objection from any S ena-
tors in Chambers.

The President: Well, certainly I did indicate to the
Clerk that I was approached by a few of the Senators
who had asked that, since these Bills are noncontr o-
versial that, rather than meet just for 20 minutes or
half an hour, that the Bills be taken up today. And I did
approach the Attorney General , that is, Kathy Lynn
Simmons, through the Clerk here to ask if there was
any objection.
And I did not receive any objections from an y-
one. So I agreed to allow these three Bills to be pr e-
sented t oday.

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Again, Madam President, as
has happened on numerous other occasions, there
has been no outreach to the Opposition requesting our buy -in to this process, yet again.
However, we understand the logistics of this
and also underst and the sensibility of not meeting
again. It is just that the due courtesy and consider a-
tion one would expect in this Chamber were not con-sidered.

The President: I want to thank you for your comment.
I will meet with you after the meeting, after Senate
today .
So the first I would like . . .
The Clerk: Senator Richardson.

The President: Senator Richardson, you are going to
do the first reading. So you have the floor.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Good morning, Madam
President, fellow Senators and those in the listening
audience.

The President: Good morning.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I
move that the Bill entitled the Mortgage Registration
Amendment Act 2020 be now read a second time.

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

SECOND READING

MORTGAGE REGISTRATION
AMENDMENT ACT 2020

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, today
I introduce for the second reading the Bill entitled
Mortgage Registration Amendment Act 2020.
The Bill seeks to amend the Mortgage Regi s-
tration Act 1786 , the Land Title Registrar (Recording
of Documents) Act 2017 and the Registrar -General
(Recording of Documents) Act 1955 to clarify that only
the function of recording and registering mortgages
and other conditional conveyances of land under the
Mortgage Registration Act 1786 was transferred from
the Registrar General to the Land Title Registrar by
the Land Title Registrar (Recording of Documents) Act 2017, and that the function of recording and regi ster-
ing mortgages and other conditional conveyances of
property (other than land) under the Mortgage Regi s-
tration Act 1786 remains with the Registrar General.
Madam President, section 3 of the Registrar -
General (Recording of Documents) Act 1955 (the
1955 Act) states that it is the duty of the Registrar
General to cause to be recorded and registered any deed, power of attor ney or other document which may
be deposited in the Office of the Registrar General for
recording and registration and which the Registr ar
General is authori sed or required to record and regi s-
ter.
Additionally, section 1 of the Mortgage Regi s-
tration Act 1786 (the 1786 Act) required the Registrar
General to register mortgages or other conditional
conveyances of any propert ies situate in Bermuda,
when deposited for registration by any persons hold-
ing them.
Madam President, Honourable Members will
remember that sections 6 and 11(g) of the Land Title
Registrar (Recording of Documents) Act 2017 (the
2017 Act) transferred the functions of the R egistrar
General, under the 1955 Act, as they related to the
registration of mortgages of property to the Land Title Registrar.
However, Madam President, notwithstanding
the amendments made to the 1786 Act, it was never
the Legislature’s intention to stri p the Registrar Ge n-
eral of his functions as they relate to personalty; that
is, movable property, chattel mortgages. And this is further evidenced by the reintroduction by section
20(6) of the Land Title Registration Amendment Act,
2017 Act, of “the form o f documents” relating to mor t-
gages which is to be used by the Registrar General
under the Recording of Documents Regulations 1965.
Madam President, the Bill amends section
6(1)(b) of the 2017 Act to make it plain that the Regi s-
trar General’s functions wit h respect to personalty
were not repealed and continue to exist.
774 12 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate In closing, Madam President, the Mortgage
Registration Amendment Act 2020 seeks to properly
clarify ensuring that only mortgages dealing with
“land” should be transferred to the Land Title Registry
Office.
Madam President, I now move . . . sorry.

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

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Thank you, Madam Pres i-
dent. Thank you, Senator Richardson.
I can understand the efficiencies of centrali s-
ing these sorts of registries. I have a couple of ques-
tions, however, seeing as Land Title Registry is som e-
thing that has been brought up in the past over the past couple of years. In fact, I think it was back in
June 2018 there were talks about the Land Title Reg-
istry being moved onto a blockchain platform. I am not
sure if the mortgage platforms are being looked at to
follow the same steps, and I would appreciate some
clarity from Senator Richardson.
The Land Title Registry was meant to move
ahead with a company named Bitfury and another named Trimble. I am not sure what the state of that
transition or implementation is. It has been over a year
and a half at this point. So I am assuming there is
some sort of status update that could be provided, and I would certainly appreciate that information from
the Government Senator.
I am also curious what sort of costs have a l-
ready been outlaid to Bitfury and/or Trimble and what
additional costs are expected if we are moving also
the mortgage registry onto a blockchain platform. I am
also curious what sort of efficiencies either in man
hours t hrough process time and/or overall staffing
needs these purported more efficient systems will
provide to the taxpayer. I look forward to the Senator’s
answers.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Kempe.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
No. Then, Senator Richardson, you have a
couple of questions [to answer] .

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident, for the questions by my fellow Senator.
In the context of what we are doing today,
those are more administrative questions. And the land
registry function actually falls under Public Works . I
think it would be more appropriate to pose questions
in that context so that we can give an efficient answer.

The President: Senator Kempe, you have another
question?
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: I am not entirely sure I under-
stood the Senator’s response. Is he suggesting that
the Government spokesperson or Junior Minister for
Public Works needs to answer that question?

The President: Senator Richardson.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Sure, Madam President.
Rather than go back and forth, I will take those com-
ments under advisement and then provide the appr o-
priate information.

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Thank you. That answer
makes a bit more sense to me.
The President: Senator Richardson, you will do your
second reading.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
I now move that the Bill entitled the Mortgage
Registration Amendment 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: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
I now move that Standing Order 26 be sus-
pended in respect of this Bill.

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

BILL

THIRD READING

MORTGAGE REGISTRATION
AMENDMENT ACT 2020

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
I move that the Bill entitled the Mortgage Re g-
istration Amendment Act 2020 be now read a third
time.

The President: Is there any objection to the third
reading?
No objection.
Carry on, Senator.
Official Hansard Report 12 February 2020 775

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

The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent i-
tled the Mortgage Registration Amendment Act 2020
do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The motion is passed.

[Motion carried: The Mortgage Registration Amend-
ment Act 2020 was read a third time and passed.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
The President: We will now move on to the second
item, and that is the Statistics Amendment Act 2020. I
believe Senator Simmons -Wade will be presenting on
this Bill.
Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Good morning, Mad-
am President, Senators and the general public.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
the Statistics Amendment Act 2020 be now read for
the second t ime.

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

BILL

SECOND READING

STATISTICS AMENDMENT ACT 2020
Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Madam President, this
Bill amends certain sections of the Statistic s Act 2002
relating to information and data collected on behalf of
the Government by the Department of Statistics.
These amendments will allow for the Minister respo n-
sible for the Department of Statistics to receive infor-mation that is in the public domain.
Madam President, as a part of the 2018/19
Speech from the Throne, this Government’s over-
reaching theme was one devoted to reduc ing the cost
of living for Bermudians. To that end, for this important
task to be properly undertaken and ultimately
achieved, Government Ministers must have access to
pertinent public information.
Madam President, the Statistics Act 2002 a l-
lows the Department of Statistics to collect data in
accordance with the direction given by the Minister
responsible for the department. How ever, the Stati s-
tics Act does not allow the Minister to disclose infor-
mation obtained that identifie s any individual person, business or organisation to any person, which pr e-
vents divulging this information to Cabinet. This r e-
striction impedes the decision- making process per-
taining to policies that are designed to control or r e-
duce the cost of living in Bermuda, or any other such policies as the Government may deem to be in the
best interest of the country .
Madam President, the Director of the Depar t-
ment of Statistics may authorise the disclosure of cer-
tain information collected by the Department of Stati s-
tics. Currently, the director would need prior written
consent to release any public information gathered
from private companies to anyone requesting the da-
ta, including the Minister.
Madam President, presently there is some
uncertainty around whether or not the d irector can
divulge information and data to the Minister that is
gathered from public sources. Further, as stated pr e-
viously, the Minister is restricted as to whom he may
share it with. In order to implement policies, the Mini s-
ter responsible for the Department of Statistics should be able to share with Cabinet colleagues information
in the public domain that was collected by the depar t-
ment —for example, prices of foodstuffs and the
names of those various grocery stores —without the
written permission from the private compan y or the
director. Madam President, the se changes to the Act
will allow the Minister to share information that is al-ready in the public domain with Cabinet colleagues
should the Minister deem it appropriate or necessary
to do so.
Thus, the amendments to the Statistics Act
2002 are intended to stipulate that information and
data collected by the De partment of Statistics from
businesses that are in the public domain should not be subject to the restrictions on disclosure currently
set out in the Act . Thank you, Madam President.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITOR

The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons -Wade.
I would just like, before I open the floor, to
acknowledge the Director, Ms. Williams, who is here with us this morning in the Chambers.
Welcome to you.

[Statistics Amendment Act 2020, second reading d e-
bate, continuing]
The Presi dent: Would any Senator care to speak on
this Bill?

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Madam President, thank you.
And I know I was not here at the last sitting, so I would
also like to welcome Senator Simmons -Wade.
I guess I have a couple of questions around
the purpose of this Bill. I recognise that there are
776 12 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate some legal concerns or considerations about whether
information collected by the [Department of Statistics]
can be divulged to Cabinet. And if all that is being col-
lected is sticker prices that anyone can see by walking
into a grocery store, I really see no issue from that
front, especially if this is information already being
collected by the Department of Statistics under the
basket of goods for a CPI or, for lack of a better word,
inflation statistics that are published monthly.
I guess a couple of my concerns and/or ques-
tions that I had hoped to get some clarity on from the
Government Senator are, Is the basket of goods look-
ing to be expanded to include more items? If so,
where is the funding going to come fr om to collect this
greater band of information of items? If it is by Gov-
ernment, will the funds be reflected through staffing or
through some other thing in the budget coming up? Or
is it a cost that is being looked at to be pass ed down
to the businesses themselves?
I fail to understand how disclosing . . . again,
not that I think it is particularly pertinent, but I fail to
understand how disclosing which s upermarts sell
bread at which price is going to assist Cabinet in r e-
ducing t he cost of business. I could understand if it
was something being shared as a comparison tool to
the general public so that shoppers can make more
informed [decisions] . But I struggle to see how sharing
it only to Cabinet is something that is going to assi st in
decision -making, other than there is some sort of un-
derlying agenda to target certain supermarkets or
something along those lines.
So I would just like some more information
about why we are debating this Bill when it is som e-
thing that people can just go to a supermarket and
compare.

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

Sen. James S. Jardine: Thank you, Madam Pres i-
dent.
Madam President, in theory I have no problem
with this piece of legislation at all. I guess I had some
of the same questions that Senator Kempe had with
the long- term purpose of it , and who will be preparing
the statistics. I understand that, for instance, Gover n-
ment may see this as a way to help the general public by somebody within the Department of Statistics pr e-
paring a list of a basket of goods at a variety of places around the Island so that certain persons in the ge n-
eral public might be able to say, You know, well, such-
and-such is cheaper here than it is there. So I can
see, I think, that what Government is trying to do is to
help the general public, I assume, by publishing prices
of a basket of goods at various places throughout the
Island. I assume. So again, I share some of the questions that
Senator Kempe had. And I think when one sees a
piece of legislation that seeks to gather statistics and
information and present them to the general public,
and certainly I have read all the comments that ap-
peare d on Bernews and the Royal Gazette, there is a
concern about, you know, what information is this? I take comfort from the definition that appears in this
amending Act, which says, “‘information in the public
domain’ includes information that can be found at
companies, businesses and institutions” (and this is key) “the public has open access to and that is acces-
sible to the public as a whole . . .”
In other words, this is information that is not
secret. This is information that companies, gover n-
ments and s o on have published and made available
to the public at large. So I do not think this is seeking
to publish private information. And I take comfort from
that because that is a concern that was expressed by
some individuals in another place.
So with those few words, I will conclude.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Jardine.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
No? Senator Richardson, you have the floor.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you again, Madam
President.
I guess I want to say that when I was prepar-
ing for today, I too read through the Bill several times
to be very clear as to what it was going to do. And as
Senator Jardine just commented, it is really for the
Department of Statistics to be able to shar e infor-
mation with the Minister at this point in time. There is
not a clear process by which the department collects
information. For example, they may go through, let us
say, get the cost of cream at five different supermar-
kets. They cannot easily transfer that to the Minister
responsible so then they can have that same infor-
mation.
So it is not a question of anything that is pr i-
vate that is going to be shared. It is really going to be
that . . . I went today, for example, and I got the price
of cream . literally at, say, ( I do not know ) Market Place,
Lindo’s or whatever. And then that is what the Minister
would like to see. And clearly, it is possible for him to
go get it himself , but that is not efficient. And so the
question now would be just a matter of what is proper-ly gathered at the Statistics D epartment can be given
to the Minister responsible.
And by way of a quick example, I actually
went last week, because I wanted a bottle of juice, a small bottle of juice, right? And I walked into the store
to get it. And I looked in the appropriate aisle. And a
bottle of juice, which was 11.5 ounces, cost five do l-
lars. And I said, This is crazy. And I actually posted it
on Facebook because I wanted to show that surprise.
Official Hansard Report 12 February 2020 777

Bermuda Senate And what happens with that is that others can . . . as I
think Senator Jardine or Senator Kempe just said, it
then provides information for others to decide what
they can do. And so if there is a different price at a
different store, then persons can easily make that de-cision.
And so I think this now goes to the extent
whereby the Government (it will be the Minister initial-ly, and then the whole Cabinet) will have access to
data that are already collected. And it is not in terms
of private stuff that is not already there. So it is literal-
ly—to say it one more time —that if you can go there,
collect the prices from the shelves and then that i n-
formation can be shared by the [Department of Stati s-
tics] with the appropriate Minister, who then, if they
choose to do so, do es whatever analysis and then
takes it to Cabinet for whatever they are going to do
after that.
Those are my comments. Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
Senator Kempe, you have comments?
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Yes.
I have a follow -up point of clarification. I am
not sure, really , to whom to direct it because Senator
Richardson—
The President: Your point of clarification.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: —seemed to contradict the
opening statement. I am happy to direct to the rel e-
vant Government Senator.

The President: Senator Simmons, will you accept the
clarification?

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: You are saying he
contradicted which part of the opening statement?
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: I am taking that as accepted.
Thank you.
Yes. I believe in your statement, and please
correct me if I am wrong, that you said that the pur-
pose of this amendment is simply to share information
with Cabinet only. But in Senator Richardson’s [com-
ment] , he was pointing out how sharing information
publicly with the general public has some value.
So I am trying to understand whether this is
for sharing with the general public, which could be
useful, or if it is simply to share with Cabinet Ministers,
where I am questioning the value.
The President: Senator Simmons -Wade.

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: The decision is to
share the information with other Cabinet Ministers in order . . . this Bill is intended to allow information to be
shared with the Minister who can also share it with
Cabinet. This information can also be made [available]
to the general public.

The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons.

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Also, there is no inte n-
tion at this time to increase the . . . expand the bask et
that is currently in place. The goods are usually ex-
panded after our household expenditure survey is conducted.

The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons.

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Sorry. I have one further point
of clarification based on the response.

The President: Senator Simmons, will you accept a
point of clarification?

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Yes.
The President: Senator Kempe, you have the floor.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Yes. Thank you, Madam
President.
So, Senator Simmons -Wade mentioned that
the information may be made public. I would like to
know, through what mechanism? Is it simply going to be added to the published CPI report? Or is it going to
be added through some sort of new online portal,
et cetera?
And I just want to know if [it will be] some new
mechanism for reporting, if there is any estimated cost
attached to that to Government?

The President: Thank you, Senator Kempe.
Senator Simmons -Wade.

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: A decision as to how it
is going to be done has not been determined at this
time. But we do not anticipate there will be any addi-tional cost.

The President: Would any other Senator care to
speak on the Bill?
No.
Then, Senator Simmons, you will do the sec-
ond reading.
Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Madam President, I
move that the Standing Order 26 be suspended in
respect to this Bill.

The Clerk: Do the second reading.

778 12 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Do the second reading first. Say this
again.

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Okay. Madam Pres i-
dent, I move that the Bill entitled the Statistics
Amendment Act 2020 be now read for the second
time.

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

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Madam President, I
move that the Standing Order 26 be suspended in
respect of this Bill.

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

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

STATISTICS AMENDMENT ACT 2020
Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Madam President, I
move that the Statistics Amendment Act 2020, a Bill
entitled the Statistics Amendment Act 2020, be now
read for a third time.

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

Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Madam President, I
move that the Bill do now pass.

The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent i-
tled the Statistics Amendment Act 2020 do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. The Bill is passed.
[Motion carried: The Statistics Amendment Act 2020
was read a third time and passed.]
The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons -Wade.
We move on to the third item, and that is the
second reading of the Motor Car and Road Traffic (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2020.
Senator Richardson, you are presenting that
Bill. You have the floor.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Good morning, Madam
President, again. The President: Good morning again.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Before I start, I just
wanted to make a quick comment in that I am going
to, for the first time for me, do what the Legislature is
trying to do, which is to be paperless. So my brief t o-
day is actually on the iPad.

The President: Good for you!
Sen. Anthony Richardson: So trust me, and give me
patience if there are any small delays.
So on that note, Madam President, I move
that the Bill entitled the Motor Car and Road Traffic
(Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2020 be now read a
second time.

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

BILL

SECOND READING

MOTOR CAR AND ROAD TRAFFIC
(MISCELLANEOUS) AMENDMENT ACT 2020
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, the
purpose of this Bill is to amend the Road Traffic Act
1947, the Motor Car Act 1951, the Traffic Offences
Procedure Act 1974, the Motor Car (Examination, L i-
censing and Registration) Regulations 1952, the Aux-iliary Bicycles (Construction, Equipment and Use)
Regulations 1955 and the Auxiliary Bicycles (Exam i-
nation, Licensing and Registration) Regulations 1955
(the Acts and Regulations) by making changes to up-
date the antiquated legislation and to address both current needs and future trends.
Madam President, the Bill before the Senate
is the Motor Car and Road Traffic (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill 2020, which is the first of a series of
changes to the Acts and Regulations that govern the
operation of motor vehicles on Bermuda’s roads with the intent of making legislation consistent with current
trends and practices. These amendments will adjust
the principal Acts and accompanying Regulations to
assist the Transport Control Department (TCD) and the Bermuda Police Service (BPS) to deal fairly and
effectively with modern technology and modern be-haviours, and to eliminate any anomalies resulting
from the outdated and irrelevant legislation currently
on the books.
Madam President, in the past when there
were far fewer vehicles in Bermuda, the legislation
permitted people to use vehicles on our roads in a
manner which today is simply unsafe and inappropr i-
ate. Therefore, Madam President, most of the
amendments contained in this document are simple,
Official Hansard Report 12 February 2020 779

Bermuda Senate proactive fixes to issues that have begun to negatively
affect the efforts of the Road Safety Council.
As an example, Madam President, section 23
of the Road Traffic Act 1947 contains provisions which
allow for the towing of vehicles. In this Act, a motorc y-
cle is included in the definition of a vehicle. Therefore,
as currently written, a motorcycle or an auxiliary cycle
can tow another motorcycle or another auxiliary cycle
attached by a tow rope, which is clearly ridiculous.
Clearly, this is an inherently unsafe practice for both
the motorcycle riders and the traveling public. And in this instance, this is why legislation must be changed
to make it clear that motorcycles or auxiliary cycles
cannot legally tow each other on any public highway
or estate road.
Madam President, section 25 of the said Act
provides for lighting on vehicles, primarily white sho w-
ing to the front and red to the rear. In most instances
. . . (One minute, Madam President, if you will pardon
me.)

[Pause]
Sen. Anthony Richardson: In those instances, Ma d-
am, for the front of a vehicle the Act permits one white
light on motorcycles and two on mot or cars and car-
riages. And similarly for the rear of a vehicle, it is one
red light for a motorcycle and two for cars and car-
riages. However, for safety reasons, the designers
and manufacturers of modern vehicles have increased
the number of lights on many types of vehicles.
Another issue which these amendments will
address is the current trend of many vehicle owners to
install aftermarket coloured lights on their vehicles to
enhance their aesthetic appeal during the hours of
darkness. Not only is this practice an additional di s-
traction for other road users, it also causes confusion
because vehicles decorated in this manner are mi s-
taken for emergency vehicles.
Madam President, section 26 of the Road
Traffic Act 1947 makes provisions for the maximum
loads t hat can be carried on motorcycles and cars.
Some of these provisions are very outdated and are
applicable to bygone times when there was far less
traffic on Bermuda’s roads, particularly in the case of
commercial vehicles. Madam President, from a road safety perspective, amendments are also required
regarding trucks or animal -drawn vehicles that carry
loads or items which are longer than the vehicle itself.
Current legislation allows loads to be carried which
project in front of a vehicle and up to a maximu m of 10
feet to the rear of the vehicle. It is recommended that
loads should not project more than six feet in front or
the rear of an animal -drawn vehicle, truck or trailer.
Similarly, Madam President, motorcycles are
currently allowed to carry loads that do not project
more than four feet in front of or behind the vehicle.
The recommendation is that items being carried on a motorcycle or an auxiliary cycle should not project
more than two feet in front of or behind the vehicle.
Madam President, current legislation allows a
load to be carried between two motorcycles, which
does not exceed 20 feet in length, where no part of the load projects in front of the leading motorcycle or
behind the rear motorcycle. This means that it is still
legal for a 15- foot-long ladder to be carried between
two motorcycles. Madam President, no doubt this pr o-
vision was included in the legislation in the days when
professional painters had to carry their ladders and staff brushes for roof painting on their motorcycles.
However, Madam President, as this practice is ex-
tremely dangerous, it is now recommended that no
items be carried between two- wheeled vehicles at all.
Madam President, section 10 of the Motor Car
Act 1951 makes provision for certain vehicles outside of the legal s pecifications to be used to transport
guests, members or players about the premises of a
hotel, club, cottage colony or golf course, or to
transport any articles or equipment used in the oper a-
tion on such premises. If in operation some of these
vehicles ne ed to cross either a public highway or an
estate road, this may be specified in the applicable
permission.
Madam President, WEDCO uses golf carts to
service and maintain the Royal Navy Dockyard. And
these vehicles only operate within the confines of the Dockyard. In this instance, the amendments before
the Senate aim to extend the provisions of this section
to WEDCO, to allow for the use of these vehicles and
provide for the relevant specifications.
Madam President, section 20 of the said Act
provides an allowance for medical practitioners and
veterinary practitioners to register a second private
car for use in their professional capacity, because
they are deemed to be excepted persons. The prov i-
sion is very clear that, in addition to any private motor
car which they are authorised to own and have at their
disposal, they can register and license a private motor
car for use in their professional capacity.
Previously, Chambers advised that the law is
not clear on the order of registering the vehicles. As a result of this advice, a medical doctor was granted
permission to register a second doctor’s private motor
car before first registering a regular private motor car.
Madam President, while it seems obvious that the
second private motor car for professional use could
only be registered after a first motor car had been reg-
istered, an amendment included in this Bill will elim i-
nate the possibility of any future ambiguity on this
point.
Madam President, section 68 of the Motor Car
Act 1951 makes provision for the disposal of motor
vehicles, which includes reference to “abandoned v e-
hicles.” Madam President, the Minister is currently allowed to collect the sum of $250 from the vehicle’s registered owner or person in possession of the vehi-
cle to offset the cost of di sposal. It is recommended
780 12 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate that this fee be increased to $1,500, which is a more
realistic charge for the costs incurred in disposing of a
vehicle, which includes work to drain the fluids and
fuel, the removal of batteries and air -conditioning gas,
and the actual lifting or towing of the vehicle for di s-
posal at an approved site.
Madam President, the statutory specifications
for rental minicars in the Motor Car Act 1951 are al-
ready restrictive. Although most minicar livery compa-
nies have managed to find vehi cles within the statut o-
ry specifications, one company was forced to modify
its units by decreasing the size of the rear bumper,
which ultimately rendered the vehicles less safe. I n-
cluded in these amendments are provisions to i n-
crease the size and power out put of minicars, albeit
by small increments in both categories. The amend-ments will continue to ensure that rental minicars r e-
main smaller than an A -class private motor car, even
after the introduction of any increases in size.
Madam President, section 5 of the Traffic O f-
fences Penalties Act 1974 makes provision for the
summons portion of a moving violation ticket to be
delivered in person to the person charged with the
offence. For offences detected by the electronic vehi-
cle registration system, the Traff ic Office of the
Transport Control Department (TCD) would like to
have the option of serving the summons for use of an unlicensed vehicle both in person or by sending the
summons to the owner of the offending vehicle by reg-
istered mail at his or her last k nown address. Madam
President, it is recommended that amendments be
made so that the summons relating to the use of an
unlicensed vehicle offence detected by the electronic vehicle registration system can be served by both
methods.
Madam President, in the Motor Car (Examina-
tion, Licensing and Registration) Regulations 1952,
the inspection period for all vehicles commences 90
days before the vehicle’s licence expires. Over the
years the expiration dates of certain vehicle categ o-
ries have been moved to assis t both the public and
the staff at TCD. For example, the expiration date for taxis was moved from the 31
st of January to the 30th of
September to accommodate a request from the indus-try. However, the current legislation still states the first
day of Septem ber to the 30
th day of November in each
year. Current practice is no longer in alignment with
the current legislation. This Bill contains amendments
necessary to synchronise practice with legislation.
Madam President, in the past, the Motor Car
(Examination, Licensing and Registration) Regulations 1952 set the expiration date for the licensing of all pr i-
vate motor cars at the 30
th of April each year. Several
years ago, the expiration date was changed to coi n-
cide with the registered owner’s day and month of birth. Again, the amendments will address this anom a-
ly so that licence expiration dates for the private motor
cars, motorcycles, motor taxis, minibuses, et cetera, accurately reflect the actual expiry dates that are in
use today.
Madam President, this Bill also addresses
provisions for the loss, destruction, defacement, illegi-
bility or alteration of documents in the Motor Car (E x-
amination, Licensing and Registration) Regulations
1952. Currently, if a licence has been accidentally de-
faced or beco mes illegible or the colours have faded,
legislation states that the licence can be replaced for a
fee of just $0.60. The fee must be raised to cover the
true cost of producing a duplicate document.
Madam President, in July of 1975, motor car
licence plat es were changed from being a black bac k-
ground with white letters and numbers to a white background with black letters and numbers. This was achieved via a negative resolution and published in
the official Gazette . Notwithstanding, the schedule in
the current Act still reads that all licence plates should
be black with white markings. For clarity, this provision
should be amended along with all other instances where the specification black background with white
markings occurs.
Also, Madam President, included in these
amendments are changes required to update legisl a-
tion relating to motor car licence plates, which will al-
low personalised licence plates to contain seven
characters rather than six. Madam President, the Aux-iliary Bicycles (Construction, Equipment and Use)
Regulations 1955 address features required for auxi l-
iary bicycles. For instance, headlights are to help you
to see better during the hours of darkness. However,
and more importantly, headlights on motorcycles and
auxiliary bicycles are used so that you can be seen during the hours of darkness. A defective headlight on
many older bikes means there is no white light sho w-
ing to the front, which is extremely dangerous.
There is a need to amend the legislation to
better reflect modern designs, meani ng to state at
least one light instead of one light to the front. This will
allow many modern machines with two headlights to become legal.
Madam President, the Auxiliary Bicycles (E x-
amination, Licensing and Registration) Regulations
1955 are also out of date. These provisions state that
auxiliary bicycle licence plates should be white with black characters. Many years ago, these plates were changed to blue with white characters. Similarly, the
legislated description for livery auxiliary bicycle licence
plates is a red background with white letters. In fact,
the reverse design is in place. Madam President, the same regulations state that the rear mud guard on
auxiliary bicycles must have a five- inch white reflec-
tive material either painted on or affixed to it. Licence
plates are now made with reflective paint, so this r e-
quirement is redundant.
So you can see, Madam President, we are
making administrative changes to make things much
more practical. And so with those comments, Madam
Official Hansard Report 12 February 2020 781

Bermuda Senate President, I invite any ot her Senators to comment.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you. Thank you, Senator Ric h-
ardson.
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator Jones, you have the floor.
Sen. Marcus Jones: Good morning, Madam Pres i-
dent.
The President: Good morning to you.

Sen. Marcus Jones: Good morning, fellow Senators.
And good morning to the greater listening audience.
First of all, thank you to the Senator for giving
us the [brief] in regard to the Motor Car and Road
Traffic (Miscellaneous) Amendment Act 2020 . We on
this side of the Chamber surely agree with and sup-
port this legislation. We recognise that there were up-
dates required in the legislation to better operate these vehicles and for TCD and the police, as well, to
be able to manage these vehicles. The increase in
fees makes sense. The safety measures also make
sense.
I will say anything that is going to decrease
the number of abandoned vehicles on our roads . . . I
do not know if my fellow Senators have noticed a
large number of abandoned motorbikes and cars that
are left on the side of the road. I guess I would ques-
tion who is responsible to pick up these abandoned
vehicles? And if the price for disposing of these veh i-
cles has increased from $250 to $1,500, surely, if the
owners of these abandoned vehicles have removed
the licence plates and the owners of these vehicles
are not immediately identifiable, then one would ques-
tion, Well, who has to pay the increased price of
$1,500?
I know that this actual fee price will incentivise
the necessary authorit ies that get rid of these vehicles
to do it. So I am just saying that is a curious question
that I would have.
Also, in light of drafting current legislation that
matches current practice, we now have seen the i n-
crease of these electric auxiliary bikes. T hese bikes
can accelerate at a fairly high speed. And there does
not appear to be much legislation or even policies in
place through TCD to make sure that the safety
measures are in place —i.e., are the owners of these
electric auxiliary cycles required to wear helmets? Is
there an age restriction for these electric auxiliary c y-
cles? So I think that is something else that the Go v-
ernment needs to look into to ensure that the legisl a-
tion in regard to electric auxiliary cycles stays in line.
Another thing that was raised in Senator
Richardson’s comments was about the lights, the
white lights in the front and the red lights in the back.
We all know that the newer bikes . . . at least for the
last five or six years, the lights of these motorbikes are on all the t ime once the motorbike is engaged. And we
know the older bikes tend not to have the lights on.
We all realise that this is a safety feature. And I wo n-
der if that is something that the Government is con-sidering—making it mandatory that all bikes that are on Bermuda roads have to have their lights on and
operable all the time? That is just a question that I
would raise, as well.
With those observations and comments,
Madam President, I thank you for your time.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITOR

The President: Thank you, Senator Jones.
And before I ask anyone else to comment, I
would just like to acknowledge the presence of MP
Jason Hayward in the Gallery. Welcome to you, sir.
[Motor Car and Road Traffic (Miscellaneous) Amen d-
ment Act 2020 , second reading debate, continuing]
The President: Would any other Senator care to
speak on this Bill?
No. Then, Senator Richardson, you have a
couple of questions [to answer].

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident. I am not sure if we have got questions or com-
ments, commentary.

The President: Well, comments. But there was a
question about the lights, whether they could be man-
datory during the day.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Okay. Well, Madam
President, based upon the comments and questions
that have been posed, Who covers the cost of di s-
posed vehicles when there are no licence plates? A d-
ditional regulation around electric auxiliary bikes and for new bikes, can it be made mandatory that lights on
motorbikes are always on? Those are not part of what has been addressed today. And I will have to take
those comments under advisement to provide infor-
mation to the Senate, especially in the absence of the substantive Junior Minister.
Having said that, Madam President, that con-
cludes my comments. Do I go to the second . . .

The President: Do the second reading. Sure.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I
move that the Bill entitled the Motor Car and Road
Traffic (Miscellaneous ) Amendment Act 2020 be now
read a second time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
782 12 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

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

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

BILL

THIRD READING

MOTOR CAR AND ROAD TRAFFIC
(MISCELLANEOUS) AMENDMENT ACT 2020
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I
move that the Bill entitled the Motor Car and Road
Traffic (Miscellaneous) Amendment 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 Pres-
ident.
I move that the Bill do now pass.

The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent i-
tled the Motor Car and Road Traffic (Miscellaneous)
Amendment Act 2020 do now pass.
Is there any objection to the passage of the
Bill?
No objection. The Bill is passed.

[Motion carried: The Motor Car and Road Traffic (Mi s-
cellaneous) Amendment Act 2020 was read a third time and passed.]

The President : Thank you, Senator Richardson and
Senators who commented.

MOTIONS

The President: There are none.

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR
OBITUARY SPEECHES
The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
this item?

[Crosstalk]
The President: Well, it seems that no one wants to
speak on congratulatory and/or obituary speeches. So
we will move on.

ADJOURNMENT

The President: Senator Kathy Lynn -Simmons, Atto r-
ney General and Government Leader in the Senate,
you have the floor.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I move that the Senate do now adjourn until
February the 19th.

The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
the motion to adjourn?
Yes, Senator Jones, you have the floor.

HEALTH CARE REFORM

Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
All of Bermuda this past Friday was able to
witness the gathering of hundreds, some would say
possibly over a thousand people, who gathered at the
Queen Elizabeth II Park. We were made to under-stand that the purpose was to protest a proposal
made by the Government for health care reform. It is
something that has been talked about and has the
entire community c oncerned. And I believe that every
opportunity that we on this side of the Chamber can
say and do to add some weight and add to the di s-
course of this particular proposal by the Government, I think is helpful.
I believe forms have been made available for
the public to be educated on what the Government is
proposing. One thing that I had to highlight was the fact that so many people gathered together of all di f-
ferent groups and demographic groups and classes of people, rich, poor, black, white. The diversity of the
persons who showed up on a Friday at lunchtime is
very important for us as legislators to note.
We know through Bermuda’s history that pr o-
test, democratic opportunities to protest Government
when policies are being proposed, is commonplace in
our society today. And in fact, it is welcomed. What
we do not like to see is groups gathering that are apt
to break the law. And what I was quite pleased to see
on Friday was that the group, by and large, although
you could tell that they were very much riled up by the
proposal by the Government, by and large it was a
peaceful, quiet protest.
Now, some things came out of that particular
protest by some of the speakers who made their voi c-
es heard. There were certain things that they ex-
pressed that had me alarm ed. One communicated
that they felt bullied. These are different service pr o-
viders. The fact that although the opportunity was gi v-
en for consultation, it appeared that decisions had
Official Hansard Report 12 February 2020 783

Bermuda Senate already been made. I believe it would be far better,
rather than the Gover nment pretending that consult a-
tion is going to be valued, that consultation will be s e-
riously considered, I believe the public would be able to swallow it better if the Government just says, We
are going to do what we are going to do based on what we think is best for the country, and your input is
really not going to be considered, because that, in all
practicality, is what is going on when it comes to
health reform in this country.
We are concerned. And they, this group were
called the Patients First. No w, there was a member in
another place that coined, and I think quite irrespec-
tively, [sic] called the group “ Profits First. ” Well, in this
small community where such a high- ticket item that
hits everyone’s budget at such a high rate, and for
those in our community who do not actually have
health insurance or are underinsured, I think that we as leaders, as Parliamentarians, need to be a little bit
more sensitive, a little bit more caring and compas-
sionate. And rather than set up the dialogue to be combativ e and hostile, we need to see and exper i-
ence and be leaders in bringing about dialogue that brings us together.
Now, what concerns me is that dialogue and
debate that has already been determined is not mean-ingful. It is just blowing in the wind. And I bel ieve that
this Government has proven in its two and a half
years of being in power that listening to the people is
not their priority. In fact, I was curious. In today’s daily,
you saw an article there talking about the PLP will be
launching, and I quote, “PLP Listens.” The party has
launched a PLP Listens, where the public can suggest
policy ideas that can be carried out in the second half
of its five -year term in Government.
Well, in my view, that c annot be further from
the truth, because we look at the Corporations of
Hamilton and St. George’s. There is a litany of things [about which] this Government has not listened to
people. And we hear it on the street on a daily basis.
People are hurting. People’s purses, people’s r e-
sources are being strained. And this Government is
intent on not only increasing taxes that are hitting those on the lower end of the economic ladder, but
there is no slowing down of the enlarging of gover n-
ment itself.
Now, we heard the Minister of Finance in his
pre-budget town hall meeting last week talk about the
fact that he does not want to remove civil servants
from their jobs because that is taking money, that is
taking food out of the mouths of people who are in this
country. And I would agree. But there still does not seem to be a plan to slow down the enlargement of
the civil service, because let us face it. It is the private
sector that carries government, that carries the public
sector. And so, as a Government, I truly advise them and encourage them to look not to its citizens to un-
derwrite its most ambitious and overblown civil service and public services, but it needs to look at slowing it
down.
Now, we recognise that the prices of health
care in this country are high. We also recognise that
there are a number of underinsure d and uninsured
people in this country. But the proposals that the Gov-
ernment has put forward to this country do not ad-
dress those major needs. And we understand their
new system is going to be unsustainable. Now, we
see how the ageing population is increasing. By the
year 2026, there are going to be 20 per cent of our
population over 65. We also have seen the mass ex o-
dus of young and older people leaving this country. I
would never have thought that in my time Bermuda
would be a place where its citizens would not want to
stay for any length of time. But people are leaving our
shores by the boatloads.
And as the country and its citizens are being
overburdened with extra taxes, the strain is great. So
as I watched (I was not able to be there for this parti c-
ular protest, but l watched) and listened and read the
comments on the blogs. People in this country are
alarmed. And to flippantly use the words “ Profits First ”
really mischaracterises those service providers who
are looking out for their patients. Because they are
literally just reiterating what their patients are saying.
So rather than hype up the rhetoric that pits one group
against another, I believe this Government needs to take a step back, take a look at what is really pres s-
ing—which is the high cost of health care, the under -
and uninsured—find solutions for that, and then, once those issues have been solved, you can start talking about universal health care.
And with those words, I thank you, Madam
President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jones.
Senator Jardine, you have the floor.

REQUEST FOR COMBINED AUDITED FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS

Sen. James S. Jardine: Thank you, Madam Pres i-
dent.
Madam President, I wanted to raise a matter
that I intended to raise in December at our last meet-
ing. But it had been a particularly long day, and there
did not seem to be any wish for anybody to stay any
longer. So I deferred it until our first session here in
February.
And the matter is the subject of the prepar a-
tion of combined financial statements, which would include not only the Consolidated Fund financial
statements, but also the financial statements of all of
the other government -related operations, such as
WEDCO and BHB [Bermuda Hospitals Board].
Now, I know this is, sure, a very boring sub-
ject to many people. But it is something that I have
raised the nine years that I have been in the Senate at
784 12 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate every single budget meeting, because I believe it is
important that we have a combined picture of all the
government activities, which include all the quangos,
so that we can see where all our revenue is, where
our expenditures are and what contingent liabilities and other liabilities exist, not just in the Consolidated
Fund, but also in each of the quangos.
And, Madam President, if you will just let me
read from an article in Bernews on December the 13
th,
which I was very gratified to read . . . in fact, I had
read this comment from the Auditor General. And if
you would just let me read from that?

The President: Certainly, Senator Jardine. Carry on.

Sen. James S. Jardine: And this is a direct quote
from the Auditor General’s report. And this comment
was made by our own Minister of Finance. So, [he
stated that] the Auditor General said the following:
“1Usefulness of the Financial Statements —The Aud i-
tor General explains that the usefulness of the finan-
cial statements is limited because they are not ‘Sum-
mary Financial Statements ’” (or what I would call
combined financial statements). “ That is they do not
represent the combined financial position and activ i-
ties of all Government entities, only the Consolidated
Fund.”
So she herself has recognised this is a signif i-
cant weakness in our financial reporting, and I was
very pleased to see [her say that].
I was also pleased to see that our Minister of
Finance also recognises the importance of that. And his response to her comment is as follows. And if I could just read again from his comments?

The President: You may.
Sen. James S. Jardine: And he said the following:
“
2Mr. Speaker, with regard to the [preparation] of
Summary Financial Statements for the Bermuda Gov-
ernment, the Ministry agrees there are benefits to i s-
suing consolidated financial statements . However ,
Honourable Members are advised that there are other
associated issues that need to firs t be addressed be-
fore proper consolidation can take place. A nd the Mi n-
istry notes that it would be prudent to have all of the audits ” (I will repeat that again.) “all of the audits of
public authorities current to ensure the Summary F i-
nancial Statements ar e not misrepresented to users. ”
Now, Madam President, I wholeheartedly en-
dorse and agree with the comments by the Finance Minister. And can I just say that probably the biggest defender is our largest quango, and that is the Ber-
muda Hospitals Board. We have not had audited ac-
counts prepared and issued since the March 31
st,

1 Official Hansard Report 13 December 2019, page
2760
2 Ibid., page 2761 2014, year end. We are five years behind in the iss u-
ance of audited accounts for the Bermuda Hospitals
Board, our largest quango. This is just totally unac-ceptable.
Now, I understand th at the audits of those five
years are in the process of being finalised. But I would certainly urge the Government to push for those au-
dited accounts to be issued as soon as possible and
for the Hospitals Board to be put on notice that they
must complete audited accounts within the time frames allocated to them so the combined financial
statements can be prepared. This is our largest quan-
go.
I would also say, Madam President, it is i m-
portant to have those accounts up to date at this time
because the hospit al represents 42 per cent of the
cost of our health care on this Island. And if we are going to be talking about reducing the cost of health
care on the Island, we should be looking at the oper a-
tions of our hospitals that represent 42 per cent of our
cost of our health care on this Island! So I must urge
the Government to push for the release of these ac-
counts, the completion of these audits as soon as
possible, and also for the preparation of combined
financial statements as soon as possible.
Now, it may not be appropriate or possible to
have them for the year ended March 31
st, 2019. But I
would have expected that the majority of the quangos,
and indeed the Consolidated Fund, which has been
completed at March 31st, 2018, could prepare com-
bined financial st atements so we can begin to see our
combined or consolidated picture throughout Berm u-
da.
So, Madam President, that was a matter that I
wished to bring in December. I think it is extremely important, and I will continue to raise this as long as I
am in the Senate because I think it is extremely i m-
portant that we know precisely what our combined
financial picture is.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jardine.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
motion to adjourn?
Senator R ichardson, you have the floor.

GOVERNMENT’S PRE- BUDGET REPORT

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident. I will be very brief because I am mindful that my
fellow Senator is going to give us her comments, her maiden speech actually. So I will be very brief.
And I only want to say in response to earlier
comments about Government not listening or under-standing proper consultation, because the comments
in and of themselves were a contradiction. Because one of the earlier speakers said that he was also pr e-
sent at the Government’s pre- budget report that was
held last week Thursday. And that is an example—a
Official Hansard Report 12 February 2020 785
B ermuda Senate clear example—to everyone how the Government
does prepare an initial budget and then give com-
ment, general comment out to the public, and listened to feedback. And we know in prior years, based on some of the feedback, the decisions that were intend-ed to be made, and made in a preliminary fashion, were subsequently changed before the budget was
finalised.
And so, I want to just encourage the public to
be more mindful of what we say, for themselves to
check the actual facts. And I will not comment on any detail in terms of the proposed health care reform be-cause I said I want to make sure that we pay our full
attention —or at least, I pay my full attention—to my
fellow Senator as she gives her maiden speech.
So, thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
Senator Simmons -Wade, you have the floor.
MAIDEN SPEECH
Sen. Ianthia Simmons -Wade: Thank you, Madam
President.
Good morning, Madam President, Senators
and members of the public. Our stories begin well b e-
fore we arrive on this earth. If we are lucky, our stories
will extend beyond us. I am the product of my parents, my family, my friends, my experiences, my education and my country. The early years of my life I lived in
Somerset, a close- knit community, surrounded by
family, friends and car ing neighbours —God’s country.
I will always be a Somerset girl. There are so many
great mem ories of my childhood, having a stay -at-
home mom, swimming at Cavello Bay, Saint James Church, bike- riding, summer with those summer day -
camps and a com munity that looked out for ever y-
one’s children. Oh, most of all, winning Cup Match in Somerset.
I come from a very rich family legacy, who for
generations strongly believed in community service.
My fraternal great -grandparents were Katura Con-
stance Morrissey and Warrington Howard [Lloyd]
Simmons, JP, MBA. My grandfather had a long, di s-
tinguished career in cricket, a long life of service in the
community and was a leading black businessman. He also spent a lifetime promoting sports for young peo-
ple. A cricket field in Somerset was named after him in
his honour. My grandfather also created the secret recipe for the famous Simmons sherbet. It is now up to the next generation to bring it back on the market.
In 1883, William Henry Thomas Joell, my
great -great grandfather, was the first black elected
parliamentarian and was also a founder of Berkeley Institute in 1897. My other great -great grandparents,
Samuel Parker and Eugenius Jackson, were also founders of the Berkeley Institute, my a lma mater. My
grandfather, W. E. R. Joell, continued his grandf a-
ther’s legacy, fighting against inequalities in Bermuda. And he also fought to give black Bermudians access
to government tennis courts. The Bermuda Gover n-
ment honoured him by renaming the tennis stadium
the W. E. R. Joell Stadium.
Grace Eileen and the late Allan Simmons are
my loving parents. My dad was affectionately known
as Mr. Tennis by many in the sport, as well as by the
local press. He was Bermuda’s number -one seed for
decades and capt ured over 375 titles in his long, di s-
tinguished career. Until his death in 2017, he conti n-
ued to be a great proponent of the development of
tennis, especially for young players. Professionally, he worked in the insurance company for most of his life.
But h is true passion was tennis. From my dad I
learned how important it was to follow my passion. He
taught his children by example the value of hard work, good judgment, work ethics, courage and integrity.
My mom instilled in me the importance of fa m-
ily, unconditional love, education and giving back to
one’s community.
On March 1989, I married my soulmate, my
friend and the love of my life, L. Frederick Wade, O p-
position Leader and Progressive Labour Party Leader.
My level of social consciousness grew signific antly as
a result of our relationship. My husband encouraged me, supported me in my career, and constantly r e-
minded me that the world was my oyster.
Politics and the PLP became an integral part
of my life. Our wedding date was actually planned
around the budget. My late husband fought for all
Bermudians and the vision of the PLP. Freddie and I
were blessed with three miracle babies, Kamela, Ceo-
la and Frederick, on July 8th, 1991. Born at only
26 weeks and weighing six pounds, three ounces in
total, they remained at the hospital for 75 days.
People would often tell me that God gives y ou no
more than you can handle. Should you question God?
I often did. Our family was complete. There was a lot of
coordination, expenses and so many wonderful me m-
ories. Shortly after my triplets’ fifth birthday, on A u-
gust 13th, 1996, my husband, at age 57, passed away
in our driveway as we were leaving for the 42nd Com-
monwealth Parliamentary Conference in Malaysia. He
would have been 80 years old today.
Politics came with great financial and personal
sacrifices for our family. But neither of us ever regret-ted these sacrifices for the PLP and the people of
Bermuda. In his honour, the Bermuda Government
renamed our only airport the L. F. Wade International Airport.
As a single parent for 23 years, I understand
the struggles of being the sole breadwinner and rais-ing and educating children in our world today. It has
been a long road. But with the support of my family,
my friends and the community, my children are now well-rounded adults. I am so proud that Kamela, Ceo-
la and Frederick have grown into responsible citizens with a sense of purpose and a desire to give back to their community.
786 12 February 2020 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda Senate I have spent over 40 years in long- term care
and the health care industry in government, chari table
and private sectors. Throughout my professional c a-
reer, I have had the opportunity to meet so many pe o-
ple who made positive impacts on my life and whose
lives I have, hopefully, influenced as well. For over 20 years, as the Administrator of Summerhaven, I had
the privilege of supporting and encouraging the young
disabled residents to be independent and to become their own advocate, many of whom I still consider my friends.
As the Administrator of Matilda Smith Williams
Seniors Residence, I worked tirelessly to ensure that
residents’ end- of-life journeys were filled with many
wonderful memories and experiences in a safe,
peaceful environment with qualified and committed staff.
Along with my siblings, Marcia, Brent and
Paul, we manage the care at home of our mother, and
my father prior to his death almost three years ago. I know first -hand the challenges that many baby boom-
ers are now facing with organising the financing and care of their ageing family members. I also know the challenges and stress of having parents or other loved
ones with dementia. Both of my parents were diag-
nosed with dementia. At this point in our lives we as children suddenly are faced with our own ageing, our own mortality and our finances, and wondering whether dementia is hereditary, no matter what r e-
search may say.
Based on my experience as a nursing home
administrator, caring for my parents and speaking with many seniors and their families, I now have a greater perspective of the challenges of our seniors. Berm u-
da, like most countries, is experiencing an ageing population, as well as a declining birth rate. The i m-
provement of health care has resulted in a longer life expectancy, which brings challenges. Many of our seniors have significant concerns as to whether their savings a nd pensions will sustain them with the ever -
increasing cost of living and the possibility of requiring
long-term care. There are also concerns with their
health coverage and support that may be required as
a result of their declining health, which includes disa-
bilities and chronic diseases.
As the newly appointed Senator , and new
Chair of the Ageing Well Committee, I am very com-
mitted to improving the lives of Bermuda’s seniors.
The committee’s vision is for Bermuda to be a society for all ages that celebrates and prepares responsibly
for the ageing process through their life course. We aspire towards a lifespan of optimal health, fulfilment, wellbeing, independence, interdependence, care, par-
ticipating and dignity. We envision a Bermuda that
recogni ses, embraces and supports the ageing adults
in all aspects —economic, social , cultural, community
and family life. Our purpose is threefold: 1)to provide a shared vision for Bermuda’s f u-
ture that meets the needs of individuals andan ageing population;
2)to create a framework of strategic planning to
achieve the goals founded on internationallyand locally accepted principles;
3)to encourage and support collaboration, coor-
dination and action across all sectors of gov-
ernment and the community to address theopport unities and challenges of ageing.
Everyone in Bermuda has a role to play and a
r
esponsibility to work towards the vision and goals of
the Ageing Well Committee, including individuals and
families, government, the private sector and the third
sector.
I thank Premier Burt for recommending me,
and the Governor for confirming me as a Government
Senator. I remain deeply humbled and promise to work to create a better and stronger future for you and
your families. I thank the past and present PLP lea d-
ers, my fellow parliamentarians, Senators, members
of the executives of the PLP for your continued com-mitment in making Bermuda for all Bermuda.
I acknowledge the Honourable Derrick Bur-
gess, the past Ageing Well Committee Chair, who has been and continues to be a champion for our seniors.
I acknowledge my former colleagues and the
rest homes and nursing homes, and also persons in health care, for their expertise and devotion. I would also like to acknowledge Ageing and Disability Ser-
vices, Age Concern, Action Against Alzheimer’s, Win-
dReach and other organisations that continue to work
tirelessly, providing services for our ageing population.
I will forever be grateful to my parents for i n-
stilling strong values, providing me with a solid educ a-
tion and so much love and support. I am not sure how
I would have survived without them with five- year-old
triplets.
To the community that continue to show love
and support to my family, after my husband’s death, thank you. It was heart -warming that so many people
spoke to my children about their dad and what he did for Bermuda, keeping his memory alive. It takes a vil-lage.
In closing, I say to the people of Bermuda and
to my party, the Progressive Labour Party, I promise to listen. I promise to care. I promise to work tirelessly .
I promise to leave no stone unturned. And finally, I promise to speak with enthusiasm and courage on behalf of the ageing population. This is my pledge to you.
The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons -Wade.
Would any other Senator care to speak? Sena tor Robinson, you have the floor.
Official Hansard Report 12 February 2020 787

Bermuda Senate AGEING POPULATION/DECLINING BIRTH RATE

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam Pres i-
dent.
First of all, I would like to thank my colleague
for those comments and giving us a bit of insight into
her and for the work that she has done in health care
and for our seniors.
I would like to highlight, on the flip side of an
ageing population, my peers and the strain that is g o-
ing to be placed on us as this ageing population con-
tinues. It has always been something that we have
known to be the case. And as this balloon keeps
growing, my generation looks as to what is going to be
left for us, and how we are to pick up the bills that are
going to be left behind.
So with the budget period approaching, I look
forward to seeing how th e Government is going to
prioritise retaining young people and incentivising their
return to this country. Taking on such a large reform
such as our health care system without securing the problem of a taxpayer base of tomorrow to sustain it
and to make sure that it is viable is putting the horse
before the cart, in my opinion, or the cart before the
horse.
There are countries, such as Estonia, Japan
and China, who are also experiencing ageing popul a-
tions, as is most of the globe. And with each of those
countries, they are incentivising childbirth. They are
providing subsidies to encourage children to be born. I
would like to put forward to the Government to con-
sider incentivising childbirth so that we can combat
that ageing population and at least show com mitment
to the future generations.
I am wondering when we will declare this a
national priority or a national emergency. An ageing
population diminishes the consumers for businesses.
And it diminishes the taxpayer base for the gover n-
ment. We have a stalle d immigration legislation and
now an unsustainable birth rate. For the first time in
80 years, deaths have outnumbered births. How will
this reflect in the budget coming up? Are we ready
now to discuss the necessary moves to combat this and to make sure that our young people see a future
for themselves in their own country?
I do not want to take too much more time. But
this is obviously something that is very personal to
me, as I am preparing to start a family, and I am look-
ing at my options here in my country. So I would like
to, in this budget, see something that gives myself and
my peers some hope to stick around and pick up the
tab.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Kempe, you have the floor.
BERMUDA’S ECONOMY

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Thank you, Madam Pres i-
dent.
I would also like to speak to, I guess, the
broader macroeconomic issues around a declining
workforce, a declining birth rate, a st agnant immigr a-
tion policy and what needs to be done to right -size the
economy. I believe I have been quite consistent and succinct in my message over the last year and a half.
However, the Minister of Finance responded with,
Well, what are your solutions? And the solutions r e-
main the same. They remain what I have been saying the whole time.
I am not sure if the Minister is looking for me
to be suggesting or picking winners and losers in the
economy; I do not believe that is the role of a Finance Minister. I am not going to be showing up every week
with a different gimmick to throw at the wall and see if
it sticks —blue economy, green economy, deep sea
mining, et cetera, et cetera, as the previous, or rather
the now -Government Leader did when he was in O p-
position. The OBA in Government did try to assist with
some economic stimulus projects such as hotel de-
velopments, new builds, big sporting events. But I do
not believe it is a Finance Minister’s place to be pic k-
ing winners or losers of certain sectors over ot her.
By creating an environment where the private
sector can survive, the private sector will create. It will
create employment. It will employ. And it will be
poised to succeed. What we have right now is a go v-
ernment structure that is not adapted to the size of our
population. So Government is in the difficult situation
of either having to reduce the size of government or
increase the size of the population. Now, we have
been hearing the fable about this reserve of Bermudi-
ans poised to come back home. To fill what jobs, to
create what businesses I am not sure, because all the
economic indicators show that this is not what is ha p-
pening in our economy.
I would like to quote, especially seeing it was
in the announcements of today’s Order Paper, from the 2019 annual assessment of the Bermuda Fiscal
Responsibility Panel. Under “ Fiscal strategy and tax
reform ,” they say and I quote, “Meeting these fiscal
targets will require significant revenue increases, gi v-
en likely upward pressure on spending. ”
I know this i s where the Government seems to
be relying exclusively on raising taxes. But, and they
go on. “In the absence of a larger labour force it will
be difficult for Bermuda to grow its way out of these
problems. ” And I repeat: “ In the absence of a larger
labour force it will be difficult for Bermuda to grow its
way out of these problems. ”
Now, if Government continues to stick its
head in the sand on immigration, something that ev e-
ryone knows needs to be reformed and, quite frankly, needs to be open . . . we hav e heard the dismissive
counterargument about floodgates and all this other
788 12 February 2020 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate nonsense. What we need is a number, a strategy,
whatever target we are looking for to increase our res-
idential population, make it more attractive for compa-
nies to employ and to set up their operations or grow
their operations in Bermuda. Instead of, under the
continual pressure of political rhetoric against bus i-
nesses, treating them as the enemy, increased tax a-
tion, taxation on profit of Bermuda- owned businesses,
et cetera, et ceter a, we are seeing more and more
companies simply outsource functions and operations overseas where it is more business -friendly and/or
cheaper. And we are just exacerbating our home-
grown problem here.
On “Reforming immigration policy,” the report
also say s, “Immigration is a charged political issue for
any government, given Bermuda’s difficult history; but
this cannot be an excuse for inaction. ” This cannot be
an excuse for inaction.
The Government has an overwhelming polit i-
cal majority in the House, and they seem to be in a
position where they are refusing to use any of that political capital to make the difficult decisions for the
betterment of Bermuda. Not decisions to maintain po-
litical power or to, you know, lock themselves in for a
potential re- elect ion, but that political capital needs to
be used for the [betterment] of Bermuda. Difficult de-
cisions need to be made.
And one of the problems that the Government
is finding right now is, during their time in Opposition, they took a very Republican approach to the role as
the loyal Opposition similar to when President Obama
was in power. If the Government says yes, they will
say no; if the Government says right, they will say left.
And unfortunately, especially on immigration, the
rhetoric in Opposition was so aggressively against the
Government of the time (the OBA) doing anything that
they have effectively poisoned the well on this topic.
And now they are in the position where they are
forced to convince people to drink the water.
And they are going to r eally struggle, without
some humble pie, without some acknowledgement of
excessive rhetoric in Opposition, to turn this convers a-
tion around, to turn this national conversation around
to make it so that supporters on both sides can come
to the table and hav e a meaningful conversation about
the future of Bermuda and where we want to be.
If we look at again, and I have touched on this
previously, the private sector, the Government should not be the one employer in Bermuda. We do not live
in a one- party state. You know, this is a country that
has found great prosperity on a thriving private sector. Be it shopkeepers through to international business, Bermuda has always had a very vibrant private sector.
And the continual shifting of costs from Gov-
ernment onto the private sector at the same time as increasing taxes, the attacks on small and medium Bermudian businesses with a payroll tax that listed
companies and international businesses do not have
to pay, the rhetoric against large employers on the Island being treated as the enemy or whatever else —
these are all things that are, I guess, both tangible and intangible and create an environment where, rightly
reflected in the surveys, both business confidence and
on the flip side with our declining workforce and d e-
clining residential population and due to taxation, de-
clining disposable income, we are seeing declines in
retail sales. We are seeing an anaemic GDP growth.
We are seeing super -low inflation that shows that
even businesses are unable to pass on these i n-
creased fees through moderate increases in pricing.
Obviously, health care has gone up. That is about the
only one that seems to be exceeding 1 per cent of
inflation, on average.
And when we go into the taxes and shifts of
Government spending, health care r eforms being
touted as this great fix to the under - and unemployed.
However, the fixes that are in that plan are the same that we have now. If you cannot afford it or you do not
have a job, you have to go to Financial Assistance. So
whilst that is being sp un as the reason for doing all
these reforms, I challenge the notion that it is actually
going to address the two problems that both parties
agree exist and need to be corrected.
What it looks like is simply another balance-
cleaning exercise for Government. Just like they did back in April with the Standard Health Benefit reform,
where Government shifted some $20 million of its ex-pense directly onto the working class and employers,
and that $20 million of expense was subsidies for F u-
tureCare that had already been paid for by taxpayers.
So the taxpayer is having to pay to fund that subsidy,
and now Government is saying, You know what?
We’re going to make you pay for that subsidy again,
but this time directly.
Did anyone get taxes back? Have we seen a
$20 mi llion lowering of the overall tax burden now that
subsidies for FutureCare are being borne directly by the working class? No, Madam President. The Gov-ernment is attempting to have its cake and eat it, too.
And when you add the increased taxes and
fees and levies and all the nickel -and-diming that we
have seen across the board in the budget and the raft
of little amendments to legislation that have been put
forth, to then have the gall to say that this health r e-
form is about helping people when it is simpl y a cash-
grab . . . it is a cleaning of the balance sheet. And this
new plan looks like it is going to be an extension of the so- called reform that we did to the Standard
Health Benefit. It is going to be a transfer of Gover n-
ment expenditure directly onto the working- class and
private employers.
And, Madam President, if Government thinks
that the camel’s back is not going to break at some point, they are sorely mistaken. Bermuda needs to get
some growth. We need to not let entrenched partisan
positions bas ed purely on the maintenance of power
instead of the betterment of Bermuda take prec e-
dence in our policymaking, in our macroeconomic pol-
Official Hansard Report 12 February 2020 789

Bermuda Senate icies, in our political rhetoric from leaders of our coun-
try. Madam President, thank you for your time.
The President: Thank you, Senator Kempe.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
No. Then, Senators, the Senate stands a d-
journed until February the 19
th, next week Wednes-
day. Thank you.
[At 11:38 am, the Senate stood adjourned until
10:00 am, Wednesday, 19 February 2020.]

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