July 24, 2019

2018/19 SESSION
of the
BERMUDA SENATE
OFFICIAL HANSARD REPORT
24 July 2019
Sitting number 19 of the 2018/19 Session
(pages 589–608)
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.

Official Hansard Report 24 July 2019 589

Bermuda Senate BERMUDA SENATE

OFFICIAL HANSARD REPORT
24 JULY 2019
10:02 AM
Sitting Number 19 of the 201 8/19 Session



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

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

PRAYER S

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

CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
[Minutes of 17 July 2019]

The President: The Minutes of the 17th of July 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 meeting of Wednesday, the
17
th of July 2019, be taken as read.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Sen. James S. Jardine: Madam President.
The President: Senator Jardine, carry on.

Sen. James. S. Jardine: Madam President, I move
that the Minutes of Wednesday, the 17
th of July 2019,
be confirmed as the correct record of that meeting.

The President : Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. The Minutes of the 17th of July
2019 are confirmed.
Thank you, Senator Jardine.

[Minutes of 17 July 2019 confirmed]

MESSAGES

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

The President: Thank you, Clerk. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
The P resident: There are none.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The President: There are none.

NOTICES OF MOTION

The President: Senator Campbell, you have the floor.

MERCHANT SHIPPING (FEES)
AMENDMENT REGULATIONS 2019

Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I hereby present for the
consideration of Senate the draft Regulations entitled
the Merchant Shipping (Fees) Amendment Regul a-
tions 2019, proposed to be made by the Minister r e-
sponsible for maritime administration under the prov i-
sions of section 250 of the Merchant Shipping Act
2002.
And I give notice that at the next day of meet-
ing, I will move that the said draft regulations be a p-
proved.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.

PETITIONS

The President: There are none.

STATEMENTS

The President: There are none.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS
The President: There are none.

FIRST READING OF PUBLIC BILLS

PUBLIC SERVICE SUPERANNUATION
AMENDMENT ACT 2019

590 24 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate FUND ADMINISTRATION PROVIDER
BUSINESS ACT 20 19

EMPLOYMENT (WAGE COMMISSION) ACT 2019

DENTAL PRACTITIONERS
AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2019

The President: The following public Bills have been
received from the Honourable House of Assembly and
are here read for the first time. Their titles are, respec-tively, the Public Service Superannuation Amendment
Act 2019; the Fund Administration Provider Business
Act 2019; the Employment (Wage Commission) Act
2019; and the Dental Practitioners Amendment (No. 2) Act 2019.

FIRST READING OF PRIVATE BILLS

The Presiden t: There are none.

QUESTION PERIOD

The President: There are none.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

The President: The first Order of the Day is the sec-
ond reading of the Medical Practitioners Amendment
Act 2019.
Senator Richardson, I think this is your Bill.
You wil l be presenting.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Good morning, Madam
President.
The President: Good morning.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Fellow Senators and
those in the listening audience.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
Medical Practitioners Amendment Act 2019 be now
read a second time.

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

BILL

SECOND READING

MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS
AMENDMENT ACT 2019
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I am
in the Senate today to present the Bill entitled the Medical Practitioners Amendment Act 2019
. Madam President, the Ministry of Health (the
Ministry ) is responsib le for the legislation that provides
the framework for the regulation of health care profes-
sionals. The Medical Practitioners Act 1950 [ the Act ]
is the legislation that establishes the Bermuda Medical
Council and the Medical Practitioners Professional
Cond uct Committee, a nd guides the regulations of
doctors.
The council is the regulatory authority charged
with ensuring high standards of professional compe-
tence and conduct for the medical profession. The committee is responsible for receiving and investiga t-
ing complaints against any doctor registered with the
council in order to determine whether a complaint
should be referred to the council for possible discipl i-
nary action.
Madam President, currently, the Act allows
seven members on the council, with one a lternate
each. It also provides for the committee to be com-
prise d of three members and three alternates. This
number of alternates has proved unworkable due to the intensity of the work involved in investigating com-
plaints and conducting disciplinary heari ngs.
Madam President, both the council and the
committee comprise members with full -time commi t-
ments within their respective professions, and secur-
ing their engagement for complaints is unreasonably onerous and unworkable. On average, the committee
receiv es about 10 complaints per year. Most com-
plaints are dismissed, while only a few have been
mediated due to a misunderstanding. Each complaint
is investigated in order to determine whether an all e-
gation sets out grounds for disciplinary action. The
investig ation of a complaint can be a lengthy process
and can require intensive consultation, coordination
and research.
It is also important to note that, during an i n-
vestigation, committee members are coordinating and balancing their personal and professional s chedules in
order to ensure a thorough investigation.
Madam President, in our small community,
persons are often conflicted. And establishing a com-mittee that can meet the particulars of a complaint is challenging with the current membership structure.
The changes proposed today are small, but neces-
sary, to improve the timeliness and efficiency of co m-
plaint -handling for both the person making the com-
plaint and the registered doctor who is the subject of
the complaint.
Madam President, the Bill entitled the Medical
Practitioners Amendment Act 2019 proposes to i m-
prove the administrative handling of complaints made against doctors by increasing the number of alternate
members available for both the council and the com-
mittee. Additionally , the Bill proposes a provision for
an ancillary committee to be constituted when the
committee is unable to deal with all of the complaints
before it. It is important to note that the reason for constituting an ancillary committee can be due to the
Official Hansard Report 24 July 2019 591

Bermuda Senate volume of complaints received, time constraints and
conflicts of interest.
The proposed amendments for ancillary
committees regularise what has been in practice over
the past few years and makes provision for decisions
of such committees to be the decisions of the commi t-
tee. Overall , Madam President, the Bill entitled the
Medical Practitioners Amendment Act 2019 will i m-
prove complaint -handling so that the council and the
committee can continue to uphold high standards of professional competence and the conduct essential for the safeguarding the public.
Thank you, Madam President.

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

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam Pres i-
dent. Good morning, colleagues and listening audi-
ence.

The President: Good morning.

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: We on this side of the table
definitely support all amendments that are based on
efficiency and making things much more streamlined.
For me, I believe a framework of regulations was ne c-
essary for this particular thing because I have heard in
my own research how conflicts of interest and how
complaints are not necessarily processed in a timely
manner, and this has been causing angst for many in
the community. So, it is good to see that this is being
addressed and that the complaints are being handled
properly. And that has become of paramount i m-
portance to uphold the complaint -handling process
and also the standards of how they are handled.
And also, for me, as somebody who, you
know, had grandparents who were within this system,
it is very personal to me to see that this particular thing is being taken very seriously, as we all know that
we take the care of our loved ones very seriously. And
regarding health, especially, complaint s should be
efficiently handled.
So, we support this Bill 100 per cent. Thank
you so much, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
No? Then, Senator Richardson.

Sen. Anthony Rich ardson: Madam President, thank
you.
I move that Standing Order 26 be suspended
in respect of this Bill.

[Inaudible interjection]
The President: Do the second reading first.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Oh, sorry, Madam Pres i-
dent.
I move that the Bill ent itled the Medical Pract i-
tioners Amendment Act 2019 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 26

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

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

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS
AMENDMENT ACT 20 19
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
I now move that the Bill entitled the Medical
Practitioners Amendment Act 2019 be now read a third time.
The President: Is there any objection to the third
reading?
No objection.
Carry on.
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 Medical Practitioners Amendment Act 2019
do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. The Bill has passed.

[Motion carried: The Medical Practitioners Amen d-
ment Act 2019 was given a third reading and passed.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
I do believe that the next Bill is also yours, the
Health Insurance Amendment (No. 2) A ct.

592 24 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.

The President: You can carry on.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I
move that the Bill entitled the Health Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Act 2019 be now read a second
time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Carry on, Senator.
[Noise from electronic device]

[Crosstalk]

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Technology, Madam
President.
The President: Sorry.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Rules.
[Laughter]

The Presid ent: I broke the rules. I thought I turned it
off. I am sorry.
Sorry. Carry on.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Levity is always good,
Madam President.
[Laughter]

The President: Indeed. This is a first for me.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Okay. So, sorry, Madam
President.

The President: I beg your pardon.

BILL

SECOND READING

HEALTH INSURANCE
AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2019

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President , I am
in the Senate today to present the Bill entitled the Health Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Act 2019
.
Madam President , the Ministry of Health is
responsible for providing the health insurance plans,
HIP and FutureCare, to ensure that there are afforda-
ble and ac cessible options for health insurance for the
people of Bermuda. The Health Insurance Act 1970 is the Act that
establishes these plans , and the benefits that they are
legislated to provide are the standard health benefits
and any additional benefits speci fied in an additional
Benefits Order made by the Minister under section 13(2)(b) or 13B(2)(b) in respect of HIP and F u-
tureCare, respectively. An additional benefit, for ex-
ample, currently provided is the personal home care
benefit, which allows persons to be compensated
whilst caring for elderly and the disabled in their
homes. This is an additional benefit that HIP and F u-
tureCare provide its clients to help them stay in their
homes longer and get the care they need when they
need it.
Therefore, Madam Pres ident , the Ministry of
Health has to ensure that the additional benefits are
available for those persons who need them the most.
To do that , the Health Insurance Amendment (No. 2)
Act 2019 allows the Minister, in an Additional Benefits
Order, to make an additional benefit subject to certain
criteria, such as means test criteria. The Health Insur-
ance Committee c ould also be authorised by the O r-
der to determine what the criteria will be for these
benefits.
In the case of the personal home care benefit,
it is being added to the Additional Benefits Order for
HIP and FutureCare by this Act. And the m eans tes t-
ing will only apply to those policyholders who apply for
HIP and FutureCare after the commencement of this
Act. Madam President, I will just repeat that so that
those in the listening audience understand that this is
not for those who are currently enrolled. It is for those
who will enrol in the future. And it says that the means
testing will only apply to those policyholders who ap-ply for HIP and FutureCare after the commencement
of this Act.
Madam President , currently , there are 341
participants who are using the personal home care
benefit, which costs approximately $6 million per year.
And we want to ensure the viability and sustainability of these plans. To do so, it is ensure d that the popul a-
tion that needs them the most have access to them .
We cannot do that without establishing some criteria
and ensuring that there is a process for persons to
show that they are eligible. The A mendment Act today
allows t he Health Insurance Committee the ability to
do just that.
Madam President , it would be best if persons
could receive the health care that they need on Island
to remain with their family and friends. However, we know that there are times when travelling o verseas is
warranted, and the Ministry wants to ensure that HIP
and FutureCare patients have access to quality care.
Providers within the Health Insurance Department
approved preferred networks provide a proven high
quality of care. And HIP and FutureCare policyholders
also experience lower co- pay rates when using pr o-
viders inside the Health Insurance Department’s pr e-
Official Hansard Report 24 July 2019 593

Bermuda Senate ferred network. As you know, this is a standard pr o-
cess of all insurance providers.
As such, the Amendment Act reduces the
amount reimbursed for HIP and FutureCare for ser-
vices provided by overseas providers outside of the
Health Insurance Department’s preferred network to
encourage in- network usage. Again, that is standard
for insurance companies. Reimbursement for provi d-
ers inside the Health Insurance Department’s ap-
proved network will remain the same.
Providers are selected to be on the preferred
network based on quality clinical outcomes and rea-
sonably negotiated rates. The Health Insurance D e-
partment has a process by which overseas providers
are researched, based on clinical outcomes first, and once proven to have a good clinical outcome, a nego-
tiating process begins.
Madam President , it is important for us to r e-
member that HIP and FutureCare plans are heavily
subsidised by the government to maintain reasonable
premiums , and therefore, while we are ensuring that
the overseas providers in the preferred network have
proven quality clinical outcomes, we must also man-
age cost containment for the plans. Again, there is no
reduction in the amount reimbursed from HIP and F u-
tureCare for services by overseas providers within the
preferred provider network.
Madam President , the Health Insurance
Amendment (No. 2) Act 2019 will also align the legi s-
lated dental benefits, which are currently offered to
HIP clients, and increase the coverage slightly for
dental implants for FutureCare patients.
Overall, Madam President , the Bill entitled the
Health Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Act will allow
the Ministry to continue to provide all persons in Ber-
muda access to health insurance by ensuring that the
plans we provide are affordable, are focused on qual i-
ty and ensur e access to benefits.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Sena tor Robinson, you have the floor.
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam Pres i-
dent.
So, regarding health care, most of the pres s-
ing things that we hear about are whether or not the
costs will increase. And being as though this is som e-
thing that is subsid ised by the government , and we
have an ageing population currently, it begs the ques-
tion of how will this be maintained without increase? So, I just wanted to kind of get a gist on how the Go v-
ernment intends to maintain the costs for the current
co-pays wi th this ageing population.
And my other question, as far as means tes t-
ing goes, is this something that we should be expec t-
ing to see across other government systems, as far as
being a new practice ? Or is this simply going to be isolated to the new folks w ho are signing up with HIP
and FutureCare now?
I am also a little foggy on the definition of
“companions ” in the legislation. Like, how are we de-
fining companions? Are they people who are family
members? Are they folks who are qualified in just
stay-at-home caregiving? I just wanted to have a bit
more clarification on that.
So, regarding this a mendment, I am suppor t-
ive of the intent of the a mendment. But I do feel as
though there are things that are not quite being out-
lined as far as the sustainability, g oing forward. Thank
you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator . . .
Senator Jardine, you have the floor.

Sen. James S. Jardine: Thank you, Madam Pres i-
dent, and good morning.

The President: Good morning to you, Senator
Jardine.

Sen. James S. Jardine: I have had, obviously, a
good look through this Bill. I think there are two small
errors on page 2. In clause 4(2), it says, “Subsection
(1)(a) shall be deemed to have come into operation on 1 July 2018 . . .” I think that i s 2019 unless I have an
old copy of the Bill.

[Inaudible interjection]

Sen. James S. Jardine: Bottom of page 2, you will
see in clause 4(2), it says, “Subsection (1)(a) shall be
deemed to have come into operation on 1 July 2018
. . .” I think that should be 2019.
And then, further on, it says, “immediately
after the coming into operation of the Health Insur-
ance Amendment (No. 2) Act” 2019, not 2018.

An Hon. Senator: Fine.

Sen. James S. Jardine: It should be 2019, unless
there is a . . .
[Crosstal k]

Sen. James S. Jardine: I mean, I do not think there is
any need to spend a lot of time on this. If it is correct
for a particular reason, then that is fine.

[Crosstalk ]
Sen. James S. Jardine: Just carrying on, with r e-
spect to the Bill itself, on cl ause 4, it says, Amends
Health Insurance (Health Insurance Plan) (Additional
Benefits) Order 1988 with respect to dental benefits. I
am pleased to see that because it has taken away not
594 24 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate only the limit on the amount that is paid for each
treatment, but it h as also removed the annual aggr e-
gate limit. So, there are two parts to that. One is the
cost to actually carry that, and the other is the aggr e-
gate. So, that is a very worthwhile change for those
requiring dental treatment. I was pleased to see that.
The means testing, I do not have a problem
with that at all. On the Efficiency Committee, we did talk to persons who handle a lot of the claims , or a lot
of the expenses that are covered under this. And cer-tainly, there was a concern that certain individuals have property which could generate income, and yet
they were receiving this benefit under FutureCare. So,
I was pleased to see the means testing. Obviously, it
will be important to see what criteria are generated to
determine whether or not they meet the test. But I
think that that is extremely important.
So, I think with those few comments, Madam
President, I was very pleased to see some of the
changes. Cost containment is important, and I under-
stand that. But also is providing reasonable benefit s. I
think one of the problems is that, as we all get older,
speaking for myself, that is just the time where you need additional health benefits. And it is the time
when everybody is trying to cut back on expenses.
And in fact, you find that you are not covered for it, or
maybe you are only covered for part of the cost. So, I
think it is important with respect to FutureCare and
HIP that there is that additional benefit there for dental
treatment, should it be required.
So, with those few comments, Madam Pres i-
dent, I support this Bill.

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

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Yes. Thank you, Madam
President.
I guess I just have a couple of questions as to
where the Government sees this going, because the
concepts are set out in the Bill, but they are not de-fined. And it comes down to the means testing. Are
the actual recipients of FutureCare going to be means tested? Or are their children going to be included, as well? I rem ember some talk last year in a legislative
session where children and parents were going to
somehow be merged together in the consideration of
who is responsible for funding things that are subs i-
dised by government otherwise.
Also, obviously, with demographics the way
they are, a shrinking working- age population, a decli n-
ing birth rate and a baby boomer generation that is
more and more shifting into retirement, means testing
as a way to restrict Government’s responsibility for subsidy is all good and well. But I do not understand
why it would just be to the new clients. I would think what is good for the goose is good for the gander. And if someone does not need to be subsidised by go v-
ernment, then they should not be. And just because they got in before the means testing was introduced, if
they do not need government subsidy because they have their own savings and wealth, then I do not see why they would be excluded from that means testing.
But I would like to hear what the Gover n-
ment’s thinking was around that.
I am also curious as to whether the means
testing will be an all -or-nothing approach, i.e., you
qualify or you do not qualify. Some of these things are
subsidised, I believe, up to about $1,000 a month per
recipient. So, would that be a sliding scal e of subsidy
and means testing? Obviously, the more complex the
system, the more administrative effort that is going to
need to be put into this. And do we have the people
and the resources allocated to do this financial audi t-
ing?
Are we doing a liquid savings or investment
approach to determine the means? Are cashless as-
sets going to be included? Are beneficiaries of trust —
are, again, the children who have the money because
assets are passed on? What is the . . . You know,
there are a number of complexiti es around this means
testing. I just want to know what Government’s direc-
tion is on that.
And again, when we are talking about sus-
tainability, it is all good and well to restrict people’s access to services based on their means to provide it
themselves. B ut it feels like this is kind of yet another
piecemeal bit to addressing the health care. But we
have yet to see anything that is really addressing the cost of the inputs to the system. And I would want to
know when Government plans on tackling those cha l-
lenges with overuse and this kind of stuff, and where
services are out of line with global standards, based
on a cost -of-living adjustment.
So, I guess those are my main questions. It is,
you know, ensuring that taxpayer money is being
used efficiently and that those who do need it get their
coverage, great. But I just wanted to get some more
meat on the bones around those questions.

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

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRE SIDENT

SENATE VISITORS

The President: Then, before I hand over to Senator
Richardson to respond to some of the questions, I
would just like to acknowledge in the Chamber the
presence of the Acting Permanent Secretary for Health, Ms. Shivon Washington, as well as the Par-
liamentary Counsel, Mr. Brian Eaton.
Welcome to both of you.
Official Hansard Report 24 July 2019 595

Bermuda Senate [Health Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Act 2019, sec-
ond reading debate, continuing]

The President: Senator Richardson, it is over to you
to respond to the questions you have.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
Madam President, there was a question from
Senator Robinson generally in terms of how the costs
will actually work, how the Government overall will
minimise the costs as much as possible. The essence
of what is being done here, in terms of there are obv i-
ously persons . . . there are going to be more persons
who are going to be making the application for the
benefit. And in order to ensure that the future escal a-
tion of costs are minimised as much as possible, there
will be a process put in place to only allow those who
“need it” to benefit; thus, the proposed means testing.
And as I said as I was going through the brief,
there is a standard process whereby the insurers do
develop a network. And if you get ass istance within
the network, the cost to you and the insurer is less than if you are outside the network. And so, in that
sense, what is being proposed is standard practice for
the insurance industry.
And then, I want to, Madam President, a d-
dress all the q uestions that relate to the means testing
by emphasising the fact that the details of the means
testing have not yet been finalised. And the process to
finalise the means testing is being undertaken by the
Health Insurance Committee, which is being devel-
oped in conjunction with the other government de-partments, including the Department of Financial A s-
sistance. And so, even to address some of the de-
tailed questions from Senator Kempe, the collabor a-
tion between all those departments should result in an appropriate process for the means testing, even to the
extent whereby . . . there was a question about, does
the recipient or do the children get means tested?
That will all be factored into the process.
And there was one other question.

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Just a point of information.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Sure.

POINT OF INFORMATION
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Obviously, means testing is
already a part of the Financial Assistance programme
and benefits. Does the Government believe there is going to be something radically different? Or would
the FutureCare means testing seek to mimic what is
already in place with Financial Assistance?

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, to try
to answer that would require speculation. And I would
rather defer, as I said, to the process that I have been made aware of, which is that [which] is going to be
developed by the Health Insurance Committee. And
then let us comment if appropriate once that decision
has been made. That would be the best thing to do.

The President: I see.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: I believe I have an-
swered all the questions, Madam President.

The President: Except Senator Jardine’s question.

Sen. James S. Jardine: The one question, Madam
President, was the dates in clause 4(2).
Sen. Anthony Richardso n: Yes. Thank you. Thank
you.
The dates, Madam President, are in fact cor-
rect. And what is happening is the amendment that we
are proposing today is actually intended to amend or
have impact on the Health Insurance Amendment
(No. 2) Act 2018. And so, that is why the date that is
in the 2019 Act is relevant. So, it would be effective
that day.

Sen. James S. Jardine: So, just for a point of clarif i-
cation, there was another Act that was passed last
year called the Health Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Act 2018?

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, that is
correct.

The President: Yes.

Sen. James S. Jardine: Thank you very much.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jardine.
Senator Richardson, carry on.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
I now move that the Bill entitled the Health
Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Act 2019 be now read
a second time.

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

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
I move that Standing Order 26 be suspended
in respect of this Bill.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

596 24 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate [Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

HEALTH INSURANCE
AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2019

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I
move that the Bill entitled Health Insurance Amend-
ment (No. 2) Act 2019 be now read a third time.

The President: Is there any objection to the third
reading?
No objection.
Carry on.
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 Health Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Act
2019 do now pass.
Is there any objection to that moti on?
No objection.
The Bill is passed.

[Motion carried: The Health Insurance Amendment
(No. 2) Act 2019 was given a third reading and
passed.]
The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.

The Presi dent: We have the third item on the Orders
of the Day, which is the second reading of the Public
Access to Information Amendment Act 2019.
I think that is your Bill as well this morning.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Yes, Madam President.
The President: You have the floor.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President , I
move that the Bill entitled the Public Access to Infor-
mation Amendment Act 2019 be now read a second time.

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


BILL

SECOND READING

PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION
AMENDMENT ACT 2019

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
Madam President, the Government wishes
the Senate to give consideration to the Bill entitled the
Public Access to Information Amendment Act 2019 .
The purpose of the amendment is to amend
section 4 of the Public Access to Information Act 2010 to exempt the records obtained or cr eated by the F i-
nancial Policy Council in the course of carrying out its
functions from the provisions of the Public Access to
Information (PATI) Act.
For the record, Senators are advised that the
following records are currently exempt from PATI:
records r elating to the exercise of judicial or quasi -
judicial functions by any court, tribunal or other body or person, or records obtained or created by any of
the following public authorities in the course of carr y-
ing out their functions —the Office of the Auditor Ge n-
eral; the Human Rights Commission; the Office of the
Information Commissioner [which is PATI]; the Office of the Ombudsman; and the Department of Public
Prosecutions.
Senators are advised that the Financial Policy
Council [the FPC or the Council] was established by
the Ministry of Finance and the Bermuda Monetary
Authority [BMA] to provide a framework for financial stability policy in Bermuda, with the objective of ident i-
fying, monitoring and responding to emerging vulner-
abilities and risks in the Ber mudian financial sector
and in the Bermudian economy as a whole.
The Council was established under a mem o-
randum of understanding between the Ministry of F i-
nance and the BMA, and signed by the Minister of
Finance and the CEO of the Authority. The Financial
Policy Council met for the first time in December
2015. There is no legislation governing the Council.
Madam President , the role of the Council is to
ensure the overall coherence of financial policy in Bermuda and to provide a channel through which, as
necessary, financial policy issues can be exposed to
and assessed by Cabinet. The Council is responsible
for ensuring that agreed actions are carried through effectively and in a timely manner.
The Council is chaired by the Minister of F i-
nance. Its members are the Minister of Finance, the
Chief Executive [Officer] of the Bermuda Monetary Authority, and such other persons as the parties m u-
tually agree. The Council is supported by an analyst and a research undertaken at the Ministry of Finance
and the BMA.
The Council meets three times a year in Ber-
muda with a mandate to advise the Ministry and the
Official Hansard Report 24 July 2019 597

Bermuda Senate BMA on matters relating to the maintenance of finan-
cial stability in Bermuda.
Senators are advised that the Financial Policy
Council qualifies as a public authorit y under par a-
graph 14 of the Schedule to the Public Access to I n-
formation Act 2010 if it is controlled by the Gover n-
ment. The Financial Policy Council is chaired or con-trolled by the Minister of Finance. Accordingly, as
Chair of the FPC, or the Council, the Minister is head
of the Authority and must ensure that an information statement is prepared in accordance with section 5 of the Act.
The head, who is the Minister, must also en-
sure that the Financial Policy Council complies with the provisions of the Act. All records produced and
held by the Council, which include emails, minutes
and other records, are subject to disclosure under
PATI, unless they fall within the category of records
which are exempt under Part 4 of the Act.
In summary, there is no blanket exemption
that applies to the records of the Council. Requested
records must be analysed by the Council information
officer and decisions made in accordance with the
provisions of the Act.
Madam President , the records of the Council
contain very sensitiv e technical matters which could
have adverse effects on Bermuda and be subject to misinterpretation or rumour if released under PATI.
The Council, the BMA and the Ministry of F i-
nance have major concerns with regard to the poss i-
bility of Council records being disclosed under PATI.
Examples of adverse effects include, but are not li m-
ited to, the undermining of the Bermuda dollar pegged
to the US dollar, or a sharp and sudden withdrawal of
deposits from Bermuda banks (i.e., a run on a Berm u-
da bank in the even t of adverse circumstances).
Madam President , the Government recogni s-
es that some of the exemptions in Part 4 of the PATI Act, which are “Exempt Records,” for example, sec-
tions 29 and 30, which relate to deliberations and op-
erations of public authorities, and the financial and
economic interests of Bermuda may already apply to
exempt some or all deliberation of the Financial Policy Council. However, those exemptions are not absolute,
as records are not exempt if disclosure is (in quotes)
“in the public int erest” (end quote), which is defined in
section 21 as follows, as applied by the Commission:
“Public interest test
“21 For the purposes of this Part, the test of
whether disclosure by a public authority of a record or
the existence of a record is in the public interest is
whether the public interest would, on balance, be bet-ter served by disclosure than by non- disclosure.”
Madam President , to address this problem, it
is proposed to amend the PATI Act to provide a PATI exemption to the Financial Policy Council.
Senators are advised that an exemption was
provided to the Tax Reform Commission. The Tax Reform Commission Act [2017] contains a blanket exemption in section 16(2), which is as follows: “The
provisions of the Public Access to Information Act
2010 do not apply to the Commission.”
The Ministry of Finance, BMA and the Finan-
cial Policy Council are looking for a specific exemption to avoid any debate on what is in the “public interest.”
Therefore, it is proposed to insert an exemption in the
Act itself be cause the Council is not a statutory body
whose Act could be amended, like the Tax Reform
Commission provision; it is an advisory body falling
within section 61(4) of the Constitution.
Madam President , the BMA and Ministry of
Finance have conducted some research on this mat-
ter, and consulted with the Commissioner and provi d-
ed rationale for seeking this exemption.
The Commissioner, Madam President, has
expressed her position on this matter recently in a
press release dated July 5
th, 2019, which the Go v-
ernment respects. Notwithstanding the Commission-
er’s position, the Government is of the view that it is
prudent to make this exemption for the reasons pr o-
vided above. Accordingly, it is proposed to amend the
PATI Act to provide a PATI exemption to the Council.
Madam President , it must be noted that the
Council publishes a communique following each of their meetings, which includes key issues discussed
at the meeting. I can also confirm that, in order to pr o-
vide additional publicity, the Council will consider ap-
propriate additional transparency arrangements,
which will be discussed during upcoming Council
meetings.
Madam President , it should be noted for the
record that the former chair of the Council, which was,
of course, the former Minister of Finance, also su p-
ports this amendment.
In closing, the Government reiterates its full
support for the Office of the Information Commissioner and the Public Access to Information Act 2010. Ber-
muda has a long- standing dedication to international
tax cooperation, transparency and enforcement
standards. The sole purpose of this amendment is to
protect the financial stability of the country, and to
suggest otherwise is without merit.
With those introductory remarks, Madam
President, I will now conclude.

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.
I can understand the desire to, I guess, make
the exemptions more watertight for fear of frank di s-
cussions causing economic panic or turmoil, certainly
in these telling times. I guess my concern is, right
now, the economy is on everyone’s mind. But in the
future when it is something else, what would stop the
same justifications being used to avoid the public in-
598 24 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate terest clauses for disclosure in PATI being eroded
there?
I find it curious that in the Senator’s stat e-
ment, he said the Government offers its full support to
the Information Commissioner, when we have heard repeated complaints about PATI and the requests for
information forthcoming under the Act in another
place. So, if the Government is offering their full sup-
port to the Information Commissioner, to the PATI Act,
to the principle of transparency, then it is somewhat
misleading when we hear the ty pe of rhetoric against
PATI requests and the supposed nuisance this is
causing in debates in another place.
So, we understand the need to allow frank
and wholesome advice to the Government on financial
matters without fear of this Council being misinter-
preted in the public sphere. However, we do note that
there is that balance. And the public interest discl o-
sure should always be kept in the forefront, as well,
because the public does have a right to know. Thank
you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Kempe.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
No?
Then, Senator Richardson, it is over to you. I
am not sure you had a question.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
I just wanted to reiterate that the Government
does support the Office of the Information Commi s-
sioner, notwithstanding, you know, that sometimes
there are differences of opinion. And in my brief, I
talked about the fact that Government did consult with the Information Commissioner and did receive the
officer’s com ments and addressed them, as appropr i-
ate. But as we all know, sometimes matters are di s-
cussed in order to have free and frank discussion. The
challenge of having information disclosed does som e-
times cause a challenge. And so, as I have said al-
ready in the brief, the intention of Government is to ensure that there is a blanket exemption for the F i-
nancial Policy Council. And then, those who are i n-
volved in the meetings and the research can operate more freely to assist the country.
And so, with those comment s, Madam Pres i-
dent, I move that the Bill entitled the Public Access to Information Amendment Act 2019 be read a second
time.

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

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

BILL

THIR D READING

PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION
AMENDMENT ACT 2019
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pres-
ident.
I move that the Bill entitled the Public Access
to Information Amendment Act 2019 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 Public Access to Information Amendment Act
2019 do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Bill is passed.

[Motion carried: The Public Access to Information
Amendment Act 2019 was given a third reading and
passed.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you.

The President: Item number 4 is the second reading
of the Superyachts and Other Vessels (Miscellan e-
ous) Act 2019. And I believe this is Senator Caesar’s
Bill?

Sen. Crystal Caesar: Yes, Madam President.

The President: Yes. Senator Caesar, you have the
floor.
Sen. Crystal Caesar: Madam President, I move that
the Bill entitled the Superyachts and Other Vessels
(Miscellaneous) Act 2019 be now read a second time.
Official Hansard Report 24 July 2019 599

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

BILL

SECOND READING

SUPERYACHTS AND OTHER VESSELS
(MISCELLANEOUS) ACT 2019

Sen. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, the purpose of the Bill be-
fore the Senate today is to make amendments to a
series of Acts in order to create a tourism product that makes Bermuda more attractive as a destination for
yachting, and for superyachts in particular. This Bill is
intended to move superyachts from vessels that at-
tend a single event for a limited time to vessels that
stay in our waters and in that way create a charter
industry. This Bill will also streamline processes for
permissions to conduct business. Government antic i-
pates Bermudians will benefit through jobs associated
with businesses that support the charters and from
fees that will go into the Consolidated Fund.
Madam President, the legislative framework
sets in motion a series of measures to assist the de-velopment of a superyacht industry for Bermuda. In
particular, Madam President, this framework outlines
the required legislative and policy changes to our ex-
isting regulatory framework and puts in place the per-
missions, licensing concessions and release neces-
sary to allow both local and international participants
to operate with the same set of rules. It also seeks to address a number of operational challenges that have
historically impacted the local tour boat industry.
Some of the legislative proposals will directly and pos-
itively impact this industry to facilitate its commercial
sustainability.
Madam President, this initiative is one that
has been considered for a number of years and has
been thoroughly researched, since the AC (or Amer i-
ca’s Cup) 35 event held in 2017, with the aim of allo w-
ing the people of Bermuda to take advantage of any benefits of the industry and all that it has to offer. In the process, it was determined that a restructured leg-
islative framework would be needed to establish and
support a sustainable sup eryacht industry in destina-
tion Bermuda, while also protecting, stimulating and
enhancing the business of local vendors.
First, Madam President, amendments will be
made to include a definition of “superyacht” and ex-
empt them from compulsory pilotage with provisional
conditions. This objective is to allow the superyachts
to be operated with their crew as they do international-ly and to operate in alignment with industry best prac-
tice.
Madam President, the second set of amend-
ments relates to the addition of charges for new trans-it, cruising and charter permits, and to repeal the pas-
senger departure tax. Further, an exemption is r e-
quired for the period of time a vessel may be in port to
facilitate the purchase of needed goods and services.
Madam President, vi siting yachts will be elig i-
ble for transit and cruising permits. In addition to trans it and cruising permits, the superyachts will also
be permitted to charter and provide a range of charter-
ing services, all of which will be charged to their char-
ter guests and managed by a local agent.
For edification, I will outline what the differ-
ences in those particular types of permits are. A trans-it permit is a pleasure class, or superyacht, which has
been granted a transit permit and shall not remain in
Bermuda in ex cess of five days or provide chartering
services. A cruising permit allows a visiting vessel to remain in the waters of Bermuda for more than five days and no more than six months. The cruising per-
mit holder is not permitted to charter. And finally, a
charter permit shall be valid for a period not to exceed
six months. A charter permit is issued to a superyacht
under this section and shall apply to any smaller ves-sel on board that superyacht if the proposed usage of
the smaller vessel has been disclosed in the applic a-
tion for the charter permit for the superyacht. In order
to protect the local tour boat operators, a charter per-
mit must be issued for a maximum of 12 passengers
and for a minimum of 24 hours.
There are, however, some exemptions for
pleasure cr afts and superyachts in respect of the fol-
lowing:
• arriving in Bermuda solely by reason of di s-
tress or emergency;
• traveling on behalf of or at the expense of the Government of Bermuda or the Government of the United Kingdom or any foreign gover n-
ment;
• for the time being, used solely for scientific r e-
search or nautical exploration;
• a sail training pleasure craft or superyacht;
• participating either as a competitor or super -
vessel in a sailing race or event approved by
the Minister;
• arriving solely for the purpose of obtaining
fuel, water or ship stores; or
• arriving solely by reason of assisting in the
salvage of another vessel.
Madam President, the third set of amend-
ments pertains to the provision of new fees for
superyachts and yachts that will transit or crui se [and]
for superyachts that will charter. The new permit fees
will replace the passenger departure tax for pleasure
craft. While it may seem that there will be a loss of
revenue for the government by eliminating the depar-ture tax, in actual fact the benefit of a 6 per cent
charge on the charter’s gross fee, as well as permit fees based on the size of the vessel, significantly of f-
set the departure tax.
600 24 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Currently, the passenger departure tax that is
applied to all boating visitors, in particular, yacht arr i-
vals, is the same, $35 per person, whether they arrive
on a 50- foot yacht or a 150- foot superyacht. The
amendments will make it fairer to the smaller yachts,
but at the same time generate more revenue for the
government by charging a fee based on the size of
that vessel. To illustrate this, Madam President, the
passenger departure tax for all yachts over 24 metres
visiting in April, May and June of 2018 totalled
$21,105. Potential cruising permit fees for those same yachts over the same period would have been
$25,194. So, the difference would be $4,089, and that
is in favour of the new cruising permit fee. However,
once charters commence, the government can expect to see a significant increase in that revenue.
Madam President, the fourth set of amend-
ments pertains to the Customs Procedure Codes, or
CPCs, in the Customs Tariff Act. The proposed
changes to the CPCs reallocate and recode the items
necessary to operate commercial boats by reducing the duty rate on parts, equipment, furnishings, et
cetera, and ext ending the fuel rebate from the current
period of the 1
st of May to the 31st of October to year -
round for commercial boat operators.
Madam President, the proposed amendments
to the code will also remove the import duty requir e-
ment for superyachts owned by Bermuda residents
when it is imported to Bermuda for six months or less, and remove the duty requirement for equipment, fur-
nishings, fittings, fixtures and parts to equip, furnish,
refit, repair, maintain or provision for visiting superyachts, with attache d importation restrictions.
Madam President, the objective of the chan g-
es to the Customs Tariff current duty rates is to pos i-
tion Bermuda so that it simplifies the cost of doing
business in this industry and, by extension, stimulates
the local economy. The changes will enable Bermuda
residents to bring their superyachts into our waters to
operate in the same way that we are welcoming non-
resident owners to come and enjoy the Bermuda
superyacht product.
The current duty requirement for Bermudian
superyachts has the unintended consequence of pr e-
venting expenditure in the local economy. By remov-
ing the duty barrier and encouraging the yachts to ar-
rive, there are several economic benefits for small
businesses that provide goods and services to this
industry. Additionally, these amendments demonstrate
that this Government has listened to the smaller Ber-
muda- based tour boat operators. As mentioned, this
Government is making adjustments, in particular, duty
rates, that will directly benefit this category of small
business to assist owners in being competitive in a
struggling industry.
Madam President, the fifth and final set of
amendments relates to Customs supervision fees.
Yachts are already exempt, so we are including
“superyachts” in the exemption to simplify a nd stream-line transactions. Again, it is anticipated that the 6 per
cent fee on gross charter fees will compensate for this
exemption.
Introducing this initiative represents the Go v-
ernment’s commitment to diversifying Bermuda’s economy. Also, it provides the Bermuda Tourism A u-
thority and the Bermuda Business Development
Agency with a new product to take to the marketplace
for ultra- high net -worth individuals [ UHNWI ].
Madam President, potential employment op-
portunities for Bermudians will also be created. Co n-
sultations revealed that the captains of the
superyachts often ask their guests or agents for assi s-
tance in finding a crew for a variety of duties while they are in Bermuda waters.
In 2018, a total of 957 yachts arrived in Ber-
muda. Of this number, 68 were of the superyacht size;
that is, more than 24 metres in length. This legislative initiative seeks to grow those numbers and encourage
those yachts to stay for longer periods.
Madam President, the Government consulted
widely with all major stakeholders, internally and ex-
ternally of the government, on this very important init i-
ative. Stakeholders included relevant government
agencies, marine and yacht clubs, dock managers,
private sector service providers, local tour boat oper a-
tors and environmental agencies. And we would like
to take this opportunity to thank them for adding to the
value of this work.
Madam President, I therefore conclude my
remarks.

The President: Thank you, Senator Caesar.
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator Jones, yo u have the floor.

Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
Good morning to you.

The President: Good morning to you.

Sen. Marcus Jones: And good morning to my col-
leagues around the table. And good morning to the
wider audience who are listening.
I will say right off the bat that I am very happy
about this particular legislation that the Government
has put forward. I think it is definitely timely. One of
the major reasons why I am pleased with it is because
the yachting industry is not new to Bermuda. This le g-
islation, as I read it and interpret it, will simply expand
and enhance the existing industry with the changes
and the amendments that have been made.
Having been exposed to some of our neigh-
bours to the south of us who have a booming yachting industry in their jurisdictions, we have observed that
this industry, of course, develops supporting bus i-
nesses, which is very important. So, we are looking at
job creation and opportunities for the next generation
to get involved in the shipping business. We know that
Official Hansard Report 24 July 2019 601

Bermuda Senate Bermuda has a time- honoured tradition of shipbuil d-
ing, merchant marines and all the rest of it. So, I think
this is very important.
As I looked at this particular legislation, I took
the time to actually look to see how many superyachts are actually in existence around the world. And a p-
proximately, there are 10,000 superyachts that are in
operation around the world, and approximately about
150 are built every year. That is a large net of bus i-
ness that Bermuda can definitely be able to try and capture.
As a side note, the largest, the biggest
superyacht in the world right now is a ship named Az-
zam, which is 590 feet long, 180 metres. That is pretty
large. And the second- sized superyacht is a yacht that
Bermudians are very much familiar with, w hich is the
superyacht [Eclipse ], owned by Roman Abramovich,
the owner of the Chelsea Football Team, who has
visited Bermuda on many occasions. His particular
superyacht is actually 533 feet long. So, we surely get
it that this is a lucrative business that we are looking
at. My concern would be that we, as a jurisdiction,
need to ensure that the supplementary amenities and services are going to be in keeping, Madam Pres i-
dent, with this new . . . well, this enhanced tourism
product that we are trying to prom ote.
One of the questions that I had that sort of
caused me to pause was that part of the amendments
to this legislation was to change the name of the Mi n-
ister who is going to be responsible for this particular
enterprise, being the Minister of Transport, and
chang ing it from the Minister of Tourism to the Mini s-
ter of Transport. Now, I know that as it exists today,
that Minister is responsible for both transportation and
tourism. But we know in our past that those two mini s-
tries have been split at some poi nt. I would hate to
think that, in the event that these ministries are in fact
separated . . . I would have preferred that this very
important fledgling, with high potential to the country, still be under the watchful eye of the tourism depar t-
ment, [Touris m] Minister. But if I could have some un-
derstanding of the reasoning behind that, I would a p-
preciate that.
Then, of course, it raises the question about
marinas. We have heard that . . . we know that St.
George’s is very keen on getting their marina done,
which I think this may, in fact, create a little bit more
urgency and energy around the idea of actually get-
ting the marina in St. George’s. I will say that I do
have my favourite, which would be to consider Cross
Island up there in Dockyard. I believe that that area is
a prime spot to have a world- class luxury five -star m a-
rina. But I do not want to upstage my friends in St.
George’s. So, I can appreciate the fact that they were
first in line.
But we do support this legislation. We see this
as an opportunity for Bermuda’s tourism product to be enhanced. We also took note of the intent to level the
playing field between locals and those internationally coming on their yachts. Now, I do not know how many
of us around this room or in Bermuda actually have
superyachts that are tucked away in their docks and
their private homes. But I see the intent there to make
it amenable to anyone.
So, with those words, Madam President, I
thank you for the time.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jones.
Would any other Sen ator care to speak?
Senator Jardine, you have the floor.

Sen. James S. Jardine: Thank you, Madam Pres i-
dent.
I certainly support this Bill. And I was pleased
to hear the Senator talk about the amount of consult a-
tion that went on, because I think it was extremely
important that that take place so that the local service
providers, tourist providers had an opportunity to give
their input before this was put together. So, I was ex-
tremely pleased to hear about the degree of consult a-
tion.
Madam President, a couple of years ago, as
we all know, the Caribbean area was devastated by
hurricane damage. And I understand that the
superyachts and cruising yachts that went through
there were looking for alternative sites while the area rebuilds. And there was some subst antial damage to
areas that, typically, these yachts went to. And so, this
provides us an opportunity to perhaps pick up some of
that business while that area looks to rebuild and be
competitive with that area, going forward in the future. So, I was please d to see this initiative take place.
The one question I had was on the fees. I no-
tice that, for example, for the visiting yachts, the trans-
it permit and the cruising permit, it is so much per m e-
tre. And I guess the one question I had is, Is that a one-off fee? Or is that a weekly fee? I mean, I know
the transit permit is only granted for five days. I was
just curious to know whether that was just a one- off
fee, five dollars times the length of the vessel —that is
it, one fee. And I notice that for the chart er permit, ob-
viously, in addition to that fee, there is the 6 per cent
of gross charter income, which again is good for Ber-muda. So, that was the only question I had with r e-
spect to the fees that are charged.
But I do support this Bill, and thank you very
much for the time, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jardine.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Senator Kempe, you have the floor.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Thank you, Madam Pres i-
dent.
So, this is certainly something that the OBA
has been clamouring for since the election. It was well
in train at the time of the election, and it seemed that
602 24 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate the PLP was intent in throwing out the baby with the
bathwater in order to not continue any momentum or
impetus of any single initiat ive that could possibly cast
the OBA’s economic stimulus programmes in good light. The BTA [Bermuda Tourism Authority] had done presentations in the lead -up and shortly after the
America’s Cup, where they had been going through all
the research and pre- planning they had done for
superyacht legislation. And I know they had really
started their work when the America’s Cup was bid
on. Legacy economic impact was a key feature.
And on the presentation that is still on the
BTA’s website, it speaks about a timeli ne for future
events. And June 2017 was the stakeholder consult a-
tion. October 2017, Cabinet was slated to green- light
a policy paper. [In] 2019, we were anticipating two
superyacht events and potentially a J class event r e-
turn, as well as a new superyacht regatta was being contemplated.
Now, we have voiced our concerns about es-
sentially walking away from building on the America’s
Cup legacy for the last two years. The fact that the
Government has finally decided that (for using another
metaphor) cutting of f their nose to spite their face was
not a good idea, we are seeing that this has been r e-
turned. I think it really shows how, I guess, desperate the Government must be with the economic indic a-
tors, with the business confidence, with shareholder
confidence, that they are going back to ideas they
walked away from with a certain level of contempt
some two years ago.
So, the OBA certainly supports this being t a-
bled. It is something that we have been clamouring for
for the last two years. And it is unfortunate we could
not have had this delivered and the economic momen-
tum built on some time ago.

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

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam Pr es-
ident.
On this topic, I want to say good morning to
Mr. Bean and the fellow taxi drivers, who I know are in
the listening audience, because this is an initiative that will have an impact, a positive impact, on Bermuda. I
just made a quick list. For exam ple, in terms of those
who will be impacted would be restaurants, water
sports, local residents, again, who drive taxis, ac-
commodations generally, [such as] Airbnb, and raise
our overall profile.
And what people may not appreciate is that a
lot of times, whether it be superyachts or large yachts
come to Bermuda, the owner does not come on the actual yacht. And so, the yacht will come down with its crew and what have you. The owner will come later on
a flight, sometimes commercial, sometimes private.
And what also happens very often is that they have their guests who come down, sometimes without
them. And so, in terms of the impact on the economy,
this is almost . . . well, I will not say unimaginable. It is
a very exciting opportunity, for sure.
And my com ments are for us to really prepare
ourselves for almost what we do not know, but get
ready, get ready, get ready. And I also smile because
right now what might be recently finished, there is a
fishing tournament that takes place every year in
Bermuda. And for that, many fishing boats come to
the Island. And we see the same impact in terms of, once they are here, the owners will fly in, again som e-
times on private jets, sometimes on commercial. But
then, they do have a relatively large spend on the
economy
And just, I think last week, actually, I was g o-
ing home down North Shore there, and I stopped. It was close to five. And it was pretty to see all of the
fishing boats. It was close to five. They were racing in
for weigh- in. And I am saying that to say that som e-
times, we get caught up in, you know, I guess in neg a-
tivity, almost. But this is a very good opportunity for
Bermuda. And again, I hope that all of us, old, young
and in- between, do prepare ourselves for this. B e-
cause even for the one- man band, sometim es they
can have a special offering that will appeal to some of these guests. And it may be a special artefact that
they are selling. For example, I know in St. George’s there are the walking tours that are very, very popular.
And I will say, based on my own experience,
before the America’s Cup and all the rest of it, I was on the Corporation of St. George’s. And even before my time, one of the strong emphases was trying to
develop the criteria for a marina in St. George’s. It has
not yet come to fruition, but as I put on my hat as the
Junior Minister for Home Affairs, that is one of the
things that the Government will continue to look to do,
which is to bring to fruition a marina in St. George’s.
And in doing so, Bermuda will take advantage of the transit yachts that do pass by, especially during the
summertime.
But even for St. George’s as a community,
once there are several yachts in, to have the crew just
in St. George’s, you see them sitting around som e-
times, doing different things. You interact with t hem. I
know there is a laundromat down there that benefits [them]. So, all of these things are definitely a good
sign, a good opportunity, for everybody to start getting
themselves ready to participate. I mean, it is virtually
limitless in terms of how you can benefit from doing
these things.
And the other comment I will make is for c a-
tering. There is a huge amount of food that is required
once these boats are here. And they want to get it
from all kinds of places. And sometimes, not the so-
called name- brand caterers; it is the local persons
who may do fish a certain way or do conk or whatever
the case may be. And so, again I will say for all of us
to be excited, to get ready, get ready, get ready. This
Official Hansard Report 24 July 2019 603

Bermuda Senate is a wonderful opportunity. Thank you, Madam Pres i-
dent.

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
[Inaudible interjections and laughter ]

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

Sen. Vance Campbell: I just have some brief co m-
ments, Madam President .
Madam President, superyachts have been
coming to Bermuda for quite some time. They did not
start to come to Bermuda two years ago. But, you
know, I think it is a great opportunity, as has been
said. The Progressive Labour Party Government has
always sai d that it intended to try to diversify the
economy here in Bermuda. So, it is nothing new or surprising with opposition having been taken that we would move in this direction. Our timetable might not
meet the needs of others. But it is better to arrive her e
now than never to arrive here with this piece of legi s-
lation.
As Senator Richardson said, we must pr e-
pare, take advantage. These opportunities come, but
you cannot take advantage of them if you sit on the
bench in the park. You must get up, you must get ac-
tive, you must prepare.
I like to look at it from the perspective that if I
personally was to receive $1,000, I would prefer to
receive one dollar from 1,000 people. That way, if one person changes their mind, I still have $999, as op-
posed to receiving $1,000 from one individual. So,
again, just going to the diversification, Madam Pres i-
dent, that Bermuda is better receiving little pockets of
revenue from multiple sources than relying heavily on
just two. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
No other Senator wants to speak?
Therefore, Senator Caesar, it is over to you
for your final comments.
Sen. Crystal Caesar: Yes. Thank you, Madam Pres i-
dent. I am glad to hear that there is some excitement around this particular B ill and potential business op-
portunities for Bermudians.
There were a couple of, just two questions,
from what I could surmise from my colleagues. And if I
could, Madam President, just to answer, the fees that have been mentioned are actually an annual fee. So,
it is not a one- time fee. It is actually going to be an
annual fee.
Further to that, to answer the question with
regard to why the Minister changed from the Minister
of Tourism to the Minister of Transport, and that is
because the Minister who has oversight of marine ac-tivities falls under the Minister of Transport. So, it
makes sense that this particular legislation would fall
under that particular Minister’s purview. So, it all sort
of lines up. It just makes sense for that. And, obvious-
ly, collea gues would, I guess, confer with one another
to do what is best for the superyacht and yacht indus-
try in any case if for any reason those ministries were,
in the future, to be split. But, as we know, today they
are not.
So, with that, Madam President, I w ould like to
move that the Bill entitled Superyachts and Other Vessels (Miscellaneous) Act 2019 be now read a sec-
ond time.

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

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26
Sen. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I move that Standing Order
26 be suspended in respect of this Bill.

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

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

SUPERYACHTS AND OTHER VESSELS
(MISCELLANEOUS) ACT 2019
Sen. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
Superyachts and Other Vessels (Miscellaneous) Act 2019 be now read a th ird time.

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

Sen. Crystal Caesar: Madam President, I move that
the Bill do now pass.

The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent i-
tled the Superyachts and Other Vessels (Misce llane-
ous) Act 2019 do now pass.
Is there any objection?
No objection.
The Bill has passed.

[Motion carried: The Superyachts and Other Vessels (Miscellaneous) Act 2019 was given third reading and
passed.]
604 24 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senator Caesar, and al l
Senators. That concludes our orders of the day.

MOTIONS

The President: There are none.

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR
OBITUARY SPEECHES

The President: Would any Senator care to speak?
Oh, Senator Simmons.
Senator Michelle Simmons, you have the
floor.

Sen Michelle Simmons: Good morning, Madam
President and colleagues and the listening audience.

The President: Good morning.
Sen Michelle Simmons: My comments are going to
begin with a statement. I believe that there are more than 400 young people who recentl y graduated from
high school in Bermuda, both public and private
schools. Some of those students are still uncertain
about future plans. And I just want to encourage those
who may not have definite plans right now for pr o-
gressing on their educational journey to consider the
fact that, nowadays, tertiary education is so critical to
their future success.
And tertiary education takes on many different
appearances. It could be in the technical area. It could be in academia. It could be, perhaps, some form of
apprenticeship. It could be a mentoring programme.
Whatever it looks like, it is important for our young
people not to stop at the end of high school. A very
good option right here in Bermuda is our community
college —i.e., Bermuda College.
And Bermuda Coll ege has just announced
some exciting news. And so, I am congratulating the
President, Dr. Duranda Greene, and the Vice Pres i-
dent, Dr. Phyllis Curtis -Tweed, who have recently
achieved something that I am sure they have been
working on for a while. Even though Bermuda College
has had, or I should say, Bermuda has had a 150-
year relationship with Mount Allison University in Can-
ada, it is only now (i.e., starting in September of 2019)
that students who are enrolled in and complete the Associate of Science Degree, or associate degree, at
Bermuda College will be able to transfer those credits
into a Bachelor of Science Degree programme at
Mount Allison.
And so, in four years, students will have stud-
ied for two years at Bermuda College, obtaining an
Associate Degr ee in Science, and then they will enter
the third year of university at Mount Allison, where they will only have to take two years to complete their
Bachelor of Science Degree. And the science degree programmes that they will be able to enrol in are ps y-
chology, biology, math, environmental science, or
chemistry. I think that is exciting news.
But it also led me to want to use this oppor-
tunity today to encourage students to look at Bermuda College if they have no plans right now for continuing
their education, because Bermuda College has many
pathways for students to achieve their career success.
For example, they have more than 30—they call them
agreements or partnerships with overseas institutions
in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. It is f ar too many for me to read out the list to you t o-
day. But if you go to the Bermuda College website,
you can see the full list of . . . they used to call them
“articulation agreements. ”
The financial savings to families for students
who do take this two- plus-two pathway are huge. For
example, I looked up Bermuda College fees on their
website. And for 2018 (I could not find 2019), if you
take 18 credits, which seem to be the maximum in any
given year, your tuition fee will be $2,790. Compare
that with . . . Gosh! I do not know what the cheapest
university overseas is charging. But I can start at
$30,000, go up all the way to $70,000. Wow! Look at
that. What a huge difference, $2,790 versus (I will go
in the middle of the range) about $50,000 per annum.
There i s still time for students to register for
the current academic year, which starts in August, late August. So, if anyone out there is listening and you
are interested, that option is definitely available to you.
Go to the Bermuda College website, www.college.bm
,
and see the opportunities that are available.
Once again, I would like to congratulate Ber-
muda College on this milestone, really, and to e n-
courage them to continue to seek more partnerships
and articulation agreements with institutions overseas.
The whole community benefits when our young peo-
ple continue this journey so that their success be-
comes our success. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Si m-
mons.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
congratulatory and obituaries? Senator Richardson, you have the floor.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I am
going to smile because Senator Simmons always
tempts me to comment. I was not going to say an y-
thing during this motion.

[Laughter]

Sen. Anthony Richardson: I just want to underscore,
though, that the idea of going to Bermuda College is
not second- best or anything second. It is first -rate. It
was a while that I went there, but, having said that, the
idea of going to Bermuda College is a tremendous
benefit. And to those in the listening audience, the
Official Hansard Report 24 July 2019 605

Bermuda Senate parents in particular, I want to encourage you to en-
courage your young people to not consider Bermuda
College in any way to be second to anything because
many persons do attend for two years, get full infor-
mation, learn what they have got to learn, and certai n-
ly when you transfer to the Canadian college and the
US also, you go straight into your third year.
As children, what happens is it allows you to
transition between high school, whereby someone
checks on your homework and what have you, into
Bermuda College, whereby you can do it if you want. But it is up to you. It is a level of maturation that takes
place while at Bermuda College. And certainly, even
me now as a par ent, there is a huge financial benefit
in having your child go there before they go overseas.
And I know that, from some young people I have
talked to, they think of it as being a negative, Oh, well,
I have got to go to Bermuda College. No, no, no. It is
a positive. It definitely allows persons to settle them-
selves down, sometimes to be more fine- tuned into
what they want to pursue when they go overseas. And
as Senator Simmons has said, it definitely saves ev e-
rybody a lot of money.
And as I was driving thi s morning, Senator
Simmons, I also heard the announcement in terms of
Bermuda College and Mount Allison. Like, it is tr e-
mendous! And sometimes, I think we do not fully ap-
preciate what Dr. Greene and others do at the college
to make these things happen, bec ause it is a lot of
work, as you can imagine.
And so, again, I want to add my comments to
those of Senator Simmons and to all those in the li s-
tening audience, in terms of continuing education.
Bermuda College is first -rate. And it does not just ap-
ply, by the way, to those who are graduating from high
school. You can be any age you choose and go to
Bermuda College and transition, change your skills,
upgrade your skills, whatever the case may be. B e-
cause I will maintain that there are options in Bermuda to those who are prepared to avail themselves of what
is necessary to change or upgrade their skill set.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
congratulatory and/or obituary speeches?
If not, I will just make a comment mysel f, in
terms of I would like to congratulate Ryan Robinson
Perinchief for the Future Leaders Programme, which
is in its third year. I think Senator Kempe and I had the
opportunity to attend Berkeley school last week, for
the induction and the closing ceremony, which was held in their upper atrium. And there were 23 st u-
dents. And it was not the first time I have been to the
closing ceremony. But it always amazes me how
many students —and it is increasing each time—but
also the amount of work that Ryan Robinson Per-
inchief puts into the programme. And it was just a joy to see them and to hear
that when they first entered the programme, they did
not know what they were in for. And at the end of it,
they were confident. They were able to talk about
what they went through in the three- week period. And
I just think it is really a wonderful programme that he
has put through. And it is going to get international
recognition. His name has been put forward for an
international award, actually. So, we will see what
happens.
But I just wanted to send congratulations to
him and to all of the students, the 23 students. And
they did come from quite a number of schools here,
Berkeley, BHS [Bermuda High School], CedarBridge,
Bermuda I nstitute, Somersfield Academy, Warwick
Academy, T. N. Tatem Middle School and Dellwood. I
mean, it was just amazing to see that our young pe o-
ple are responding to this programme, and they are
benefiting from it.
So, with that said, now we will move on to a d-
journment , Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons, Attor ney
General and Government Leader.

ADJOURNMENT

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I move that the Senate do now adjourn until
Monday, July 29th.

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

2019 BERMUDA BUSINESS CONFIDENCE
INDEX REPORT

Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you for the opportunity. Just for a few
moments, I would like to have an oppor tunity to bring
to the attention of this Chamber a report that was
made public a few months ago, the 2019 Bermuda
Business Confidence Index. I realise that we are about to adjourn for the summer session. But I surely
would like to leave, before we do adjourn for the
summer session, my encouragement and observ a-
tions in regard to this report.
Now, for the listening audience, those who
may not know the genesis of this particular report, it was originally launched in 2014. It is a report that is
sponsored by t he local bank, HSBC. And this partic u-
lar summary report is a survey of business owners,
executives, both within the local and international
companies.
We know that our guest executives who are
working here in permits, they tend to be very polite and do no t want to rock the boat and make too many
public statements that could be misinterpreted as be-
ing, let us say, unfriendly. But this particular survey
606 24 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate that is conducted allows friends within, not only the
local business, but within the international busines s
companies to express their opinions and whether they
are confident and happy about what is happening
within the business of our environment, what changes can be made, what improvements can be made.
We know that this particular survey helps give
the Government an indication of what current bus i-
ness conditions are like, whether the businesses feel
good about purchasing and hiring more people in their
businesses. We found that over the last two years, this Bermuda business confidence index has been
trending down. Now, the benchmark index grading
started at 100 back in 2014, and now we see that here
in 2019, that business confidence index is now down
to its lowest, at 63. Now, that is down 24 points from
last year, and 38 cumulative points from 2017.
So, hav ing this information, we definitely need
to make a clarion call to this present Government to
ensure that its policies are in sync and lined up, that
this Government is listening and responsive, Madam President, to the concerns of the business community.
Three things that they indicated in this survey that had
their concern were taxes increasing, the general cost
of business increasing, and, of course, they are con-
cerned about Government and its policies in general.
And I believe that it will be good for t he Gov-
ernment to take on some of the concerns, Madam President, that these businesses have actually voiced.
Some of the improvements that they suggested could
be made were the immigration policy . . . I was very
much encouraged by statements made by the Mi nister
responsible for National Security. Earlier in the year,
he did make the statement that something will be
coming out this summer. And I am encouraging him
and looking with great expectation, knowing that be-
hind the scenes his group is working on this immigr a-
tion reform. So, I would encourage him to definitely
make the necessary moves to cause that to be a real i-
ty.
But in listening to the business community, as
we know, the cost of business is so difficult and so
hard for business both locally and int ernationally. And
I would suggest that , if the Government wants to be a
listening Government and be a responsive Gover n-
ment, their policies be in sync. If the objective is to lower costs, then raising taxes does not help the situa-
tion at all. Having amendm ents, for example, we saw
here recently with health insurance amendments that
looked to disperse costs for health insurance from the
private sector back to the hospital, under the Gover n-
ment’s watchful eye, ha d some unintended cons e-
quences. We find that, t hrough our community, some
companies have had to . . . Some health insurance
companies have had to increase their premiums to
compensate for these changes that are being made.
So, what I am saying is that not all is well out
there in the business communit y. With the trending
down of business confidence, we also learned that the consumer confidence index is at its lowest that it has
been in five years. Having also experienced 13 con-
secutive months of declining volume sales within the
retail industry, it mak es us on this side want to sound
the alarm. Even though we are recessing for the
summer and there is going to be a little lull, and Mem-
bers of Parliament and Senators, everyone is going
on their vacation and doing what they need to do, we
do not need to lose sight of what we need to do to
ensure that we create a business environment that is
conducive to lowering costs, to meeting the busines s-
es halfway to ensure that we can invite and encour-
age as much business to come to Bermuda, because
policies are in sy nc with bringing prices down.
And we know that the minimum wage initiative
that is being championed, we need to ensure that ev e-
rything is in sync in ensuring that the cost of doing
business in Bermuda comes down.
Thank you, Madam President.

The Presiden t: Thank you, Senator Jones.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Robinson, you have the floor.

ADDRESSING THE HIGH COST OF LIVING

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam Pres i-
dent.
This particular topic has weighed on me, and I
felt the need to bring it to this Chamber. Every day, now that my profile has risen, I guess, a bit and my face has been out there and all that, people have
been coming up to me more and more and expres s-
ing, Oh, yeah! You’re the young Senator. What are
you going to do about cost of living? What’s the Gov-
ernment doing about this and that? And it prompted
me to do a little bit of like canvassing, so to speak, as
far as going around and just speaking to people at my workplace and speaking to those of my family me m-
bers about how they feel about the cost of living and
whether or not it is being aggressively addressed.
They have seen things pop up.
I am just concerned that the cost of living may
become like the elephant in the room, where we all know it is a big thing that we need to address, but yet
have not exactly looked at it as keenly as we should.
A member of my family, who I hold very dearly, let me
know that they intend to emigrate to Barbados be-
cause they feel as though the cost of living ther e is a
bit more suitable for them.
And as there is no empirical evidence to sup-
port why, what the main reason is that people are
leaving Bermuda, I will not state that it is a fact. But I
will say that in my opinion it is because of cost of li v-
ing. That i s the main reason.
And the reason why I was concerned about
whether or not this particular Government is as f o-
cused on cost of living as it should be is due to com-
Official Hansard Report 24 July 2019 607

Bermuda Senate ments made in another place by the Premier, stating
that he believes that gang violence and education are
the main reasons why Bermudians are leaving. The
response on social media, the response of people
reaching out to me and my personal response is that he sounds extremely out of touch with what Bermudi-
ans are grappling with every day —that folk s are
weighing the options of whether or not they are going
to get groceries or handle their health care costs. And
I do understand that things have been said, and plat i-
tudes have been made. But this is a dire situation, and
in my opinion, it is the main situation for Bermudi-
ans—lowering costs so that they can thrive and sur-
vive in their country, Madam President.
So, I simply bring this to the Chamber to urge
that our country’s leader focus on that issue vehe-mently. Gang violence and education opportunities
are important. And they are things that should be ad-
dressed. In my humble opinion, I feel as though the
main beast that Bermudians fight every day is cost of
living. And it should be at the tippity -tippity -top of our
agenda as legislators, and not dismis sed like it was in
another place during the Premier’s Question Period.
Thank you, Madam President.

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

ADDR ESSING THE HIGH COST OF LIVING

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I will
do my best to be very, very brief. And really, in terms of the current Government’s focus on the cost of li v-
ing, Senators will be aware that I am the Chair of the
Cost of Livi ng Commission. And it is, I want to say,
Madam President, a complete misstatement if an y-
body believes that the current Government is not f o-
cused on looking at the cost of living. In my role, the
Premier speaks to me directly. And there is absolutely
no question that he is keenly focused on the cost of
living and what we are going to be doing about that.
And for the general information of members
listening and also around the table here, there are many factors that go into the cost of living in Bermuda. And, yes, what we individually experience almost i m-
mediately is the cost of food prices. And we are doing
some work to research that , as a general comment.
But some of the underlying structural challenges in Bermuda in terms of cost are (and I think I have sa id
this before in the Chamber), for example, the cost of
rent, whether it be a mortgage or literally paying rent,
which is underscored by the prices of accommoda-
tion—i.e., buying a house or an apartment or a condo,
thereabouts, which is also then underpinned by the
cost of loans, some of them have mortgages, rates,
lending and all the rest of it. So, it is that. From a business perspective, there is the cost
of electricity, which has to be addressed. And the Mi n-
ister actually spoke on that publicly on the news again today, and I guess yesterday also. So, with that, and
then what really factors into the overall cost of Berm u-
da would be even issues around employment and
wages. We know that the Government, or the House
of Assembly, really, talked about the livi ng wage, ef-
fectively, and a commission being set up for that. So,
that will be part of the way by which we start to a d-
dress some of the structural challenges that Bermuda
currently has.
But to be honest, on a positive note, the work
that I am doing and is being done assisted by others
is that, yes, there is work to be done in terms of the
cost of living in Bermuda. And some of it is for us to
start to make decisions that will impact ourselves per-sonally, and to still focus on the idea of, as best we
can, ma king healthy choices so that we can positively
impact our families, especially our young people.
And there has been some conversation in the
community even in terms of, say, right now. In the
heat of summer, we need to ensure that we make
sure that we are hydrated and do so with water as
opposed to some of the drinks and stuff to be used,
because these are some of the things that can impact
ourselves in a more immediate way. And do some things for natural exercise as opposed to some of the things that we do. And just walking sometimes, you
know, parking your car further away than normal,
these are things that we can do.
But I can assure, and I will summarise by sa y-
ing that there is absolutely no truth to the fact that the
Premier and the current Government are not focused
on the overall cost of living in Bermuda.
Thank you, Madam President.

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

DEPARTMENT OF CHILD A ND FAMILY SERVICES
INVESTIGATION
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Thank you, Madam Pres i-
dent.
Seeing as questions I have asked in the last
few motions to adjourn remain unanswered, I am go-
ing to change tack and ask two different questions of
the Attorney General this week. And the first one is, Were the allegations of child abuse in the Department
of [Child and] Family Services reported to Bermuda
Police Service? And two, Were the victims interviewed
as a part of either investigation? And if so, which one?
Thank you.

The President: This is the motion to adjourn, and you
have raised a question. And I suppose my question to
608 24 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate you is, in terms of raising that question on the normal
. . . putting the questions directly to the Attorney Ge n-
eral during Question Period. That is just my question
to you.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: They were questions on a
Statement.
The President: Okay.
Anybody else want to speak or comment on
the question?
Madam Attorney General . . .?
Or motion to adjourn?
If no one else wants to speak on the m otion to
adjourn, the Senate is adjourned until Monday, July
the 29
th. And that will be the last meeting that we will
have prior to our recess and Cup Match period.
Thank you all.

[At 11:44 am, the Senate stood adjourned until
10:00 am, Monday, 29 July 2019.]