July 17, 2019

Senator Madam Attorney General, to
introduce the Bill. Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Madam Pres ident, under the provisions of Standing Order 23, I
[seek the] leave of the Senate to intro duce the Bill e ntitled the Child Safeguarding (Miscellaneous Amend-ments) Act 2019.

FIRST READING

CHILD SAFEGUARDING (MISCELLANEOUS
AMENDMENTS) ACT 2019

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Further, Madam President, I hereby introduce and read for the first
time, by its title, a Bill entitled the Child Safeguarding
(Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2019.
Madam President, as previously advised, at a
later point in the meeting I will ask that the provisions of Standing Order 25 be granted so that the Senate
may proceed to the second reading of the said Bill,
under Orders of the Day.
The President: Thank you, Senator Kathy Lynn Si mmons, Attorney General and Government Leader in
the Senate.

FIRST READING OF PUBLIC BILLS

MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS
AMENDMENT ACT 2019

HEALTH INSURANCE
AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2019

PUBLIC ACCESS TO INFORMATION
AMENDMENT ACT 2019

SUPERYACHTS AND OTHER VESSELS
(MISCELLANEOUS) ACT 2019

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, respectively, the Medical Practitioners Amendment Act 2019;
the Health Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Act 2019;
the Public Access to Information Amendment Act
2019; and the Superyachts and Other Vessels (Mi scellaneous) Act 2019.

FIRST READING OF PRIVATE BILLS

The President: There are none.

QUESTION PERIOD
The President: Senators, we will now undertake
questions on the first Statement which was given by
Senator Hayward, and that is the National Training


Bermuda Senate Board Annual Report. Would any Senator care to
speak on the Statement?
No?
Then . . . oh, I beg your pardon. Senator
Michelle Simmons, you have the floor.

QUESTION 1: NATIONAL TRAINING BOARD
ANNUAL REPORT 2017/18 AND 2018/19

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. [I have] just a couple of questions for Senator Hayward, if I may, Madam President.

The President: Mm-hmm. You certainly may.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: On page 2 of the report, at
the top—
Sen. Jason Hayward: Of the report or of the Stat ement?

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Oh, I am sorry. In the N ational Training Board Annual Report 2017– 2019, in
the Statement you read to the Senate—
Sen. Jason Hayward: Yes.
Sen. Michelle Simmons: —or that Senator Hayward
read to the Senate. In item d., it was noted that “ six
interns were sponsored to gain work experience in Canada as part of the airport redevelopment project in
April 2017. ”
I was just wondering, of those six interns, how
many have successfully completed the work exper ience, and how many have successfully found full -time
employment? I believe we have heard some news
with regard to a couple of the interns. But I wondered
how many of the group of six have been successful?
And on page 3 of the same report, Madam
President, at the bottom of the page, the last par agraph, the Statement was referring to the PLAR trai ning. And it was noted “ that the department has made
significant progress in certifying individuals in the four
designated occupations . . . .” The occupations mentioned were welding, automotive technology, electrical and landscape gardening.
My question is, How many more occupations
in the technical area will be added to this group so
that people employed or offering services in those
areas can be certified? It is a way of givi ng the community an increased degree of assurance that the people whom they are employing to take on these tasks are able to do the work.
So, those are the two questions I had. Thank
you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Simmons.
Would any other Senator care to ask any
questions? No. Then, Senator Hayward, do you want to
answer the questions that have been posed?

Sen. Jason Hayward: Madam President, I will endeavour to get the answers to both questions back to
Senator Simmons.

The President: Thank you, Senator Hayward.
There are no other questions on that Stat ement.
And we will look at the second Statement,
which is the Bermuda Sport Anti -Doping Authority F inancial Statements.
Would any Senator care to ask any questions
on this Statement?
No? Then, we will move on.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

The President: The Order of the Day is the consideration of the second reading of the Child Safeguarding
(Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2019. Senators,
before I hand over to the Attorney General, I have a
comment, myself, to make.
Good morning to you all again. I think it is i ncumbent on me to make a few comments on the pr ocess of this Bill we are about to debate this morning.
We will undertake all three readings of the Bill
today. This course of action is an unusual one, as the
Senate would normally undertake the first reading dur-ing one sitting, and the second and third readings the
following week. However, the Attorney General, Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons, the Government Leader in the Senate, di d advise the Senate two weeks ago that
she proposed to do all three readings on the same
day. Senate [Standing Order] 25 allows such a pr ocess to be undertaken. And while this is not a regular
occurrence, this has occurred before under other
Governments during my tenure.
Madam Attorney General also gave an undertaking that she would ensure that all Senators receive
a full briefing on the particulars of the Bill, with input
from the technical officers in Chambers, and questions and answers could be put to t he technical offi cers. This was initially expected to be done last week;
however, there were delays with the drafting work on the Bill in Chambers. Notice was sent out last week
Friday re the briefing session, which was held on
Monday over a two- hour period. There was a compr ehensive briefing, and Senators asked many questions.
And you were told at that time that you could ask follow-up questions after that time, and including yesterday, Tuesday.
It was my understanding at the end of the
meeting, following the briefing, that Senators were in
agreement that the debate of the Bill could take place
today and that all three readings would occur so that
the Bill could then be sent to the House of Assembly
576 17 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate for consideration and possible passage before the
summer recess.
On Monday, Senators were advised during
the briefing that the Council of Europe Convention on
the Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse, known as the Lanzarote Convention, has been published by the Foreign and Commonw ealth Office. And while the convention has not
yet been ratified by the UK, it is expected to be done
soon.
Senators, this is an important Bill for our I sland, and, more particularly, for our children. I ther efore now hand over to the Senator Kathy Lynn S immons, Attorney General and Government Leader in
the Senate, who will now present the Bill.
Senator Simmons, over to you.

STANDING ORDER 25

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
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 Bill entitled the Child Saf eguarding (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2019.

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

[Motion car ried: Leave granted for the Child Saf eguarding (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2019 to be
read a second time on the same day as its first reading.]

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Madam Pres ident, I move that the Bill be now read a second time.

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

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITORS

The President: And, Senator, sorry . Can I just
acknowledge for all Senators here present that the
Deputy Chief Parliamentary Counsel , Lorraine Welch,
is with us?
Welcome to you.

[Child Safeguarding (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act
2019 , second reading debate , continuing]

The President: Carry on, Senator Simmons. BILL

SECOND READING

CHILD SAFEGUARDING (MISCELLANEOUS
AMENDMENTS) ACT 2019

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
Madam President, as stated in the 2006 UN
Global Study on Violence Against Children, “ No vi olence against children is justifiable; all violence against children is preventable.” Madam President, as
a Government and as a community, we are all concerned about the safeguarding of our children. This
Government is committed to doing everything t hat we
can to prevent the maltreatment of our children and to
protect their right to grow and thrive in a safe env ironment. Madam President, I am therefore pleased to
introduce the
Child Safeguarding (Miscellaneous
Amendments) Act 2019 . This important Bill will help to
usher in much- needed reform to our child safeguar ding regime.
The Bill amends the Criminal Code Act 1907,
the Children Act 1998, the Young Offenders Act 1950,
the Evidence Act 1905, the Education Act 1996 and
the Proceeds of Crime Act 1997 to enhance prov isions and measures for the protection of children and other persons from sexual exploitation and sexual
abuse. In particular, the Bill aims to:
• prevent and combat sexual exploitation and
sexual abuse of children;
• protect the rights of child victims of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse; and
• promote national and international cooper ation against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children.
Madam President, this Bill will bring Bermuda
into compliance with the internationally recognised
standard set by the Lanzarote Convention. The
Lanzarote Convention is the moniker ascribed to the
2007 Council of Europe Convention on Protection of Children A gainst Sexual Exploitation and Sexual
Abuse. Its overarching purpose is to protect children
against sexual abuse and to establish the various
forms of sexual abuse of children as criminal offences.
It should be noted, Madam President, that the
Lanzarote C onvention is considered the universal gold
standard for child safeguarding, and Bermuda can
take pride that, while preparing for this extension, it
was ascertained that Bermuda’s current legislation
was predominantly compliant. The improvements we
are seek ing today with this Bill will further strengthen
our child safeguarding regime and modernise our a pproach to sexual offences in general.
One of the primary requirements for compl iance at the Lanzarote Convention, Madam President,
is for the designation of “child” to be universally defined as a person under the age of 18 years. Accor dBermuda Senate ingly, the Bill seeks to amend the definition of “child”
to reflect this new interpretation. We also took this
opportunity to bring the language from older legisl ation, such as classifications of sexual offences, into
the modern era by repealing and replacing the use of what would now be considered offensive or inaccurate
terminology or language, ensuring this new legislation
will be in line with current sensibilities.
For inst ance, Madam President, the archaic
language in current sexual offences to “unnatural” and
“against the order of nature” will be repealed, and the offence will now be named for what it is meant to cri minalise —non- consensual anal intercourse. However, it
should be noted that no change has been made to the penalty or the age of consent as it relates to this par-ticular offence.
In addition, Madam President, with the prev ious offence of “intercourse with a defective,” we have
modernised the terminology to refer to “severe mental
impairment” and have defined this to mean a person
suffering from a state of arrested or incomplete deve lopment of the mind. These updates of the language
will not only modernise this legislation, but will also
give the Government further latitude in prosecuting
these types of criminal offences.
Madam President, there are many factors that
a court needs to consider when faced with sentencing
an offender for sexual crimes against children. This
Bill will compel the court to consider the f ollowing factors as aggravating, which will therefore warrant more
severe penalties: The offence seriously damaged the
physical and mental health of the victim. The offence
was preceded or accompanied by acts of torture or serious violence. The offence was committed against
a particularly vulnerable victim. The offence was
committed by a member of the family, a person c ohabitating with the child, or a person having abused
his or her authority. The offence was committed by
several people acting together. The offence was
committed within the framework of unlawful gang ac-tivity. And the perpetrator has previously been convicted of offences of the same nature.
Madam President, an important component of
this Bill is that it addresses the circumstances of child
sex abuse that could not be prosecuted due to juri sdictional issues. These usually entail evidence impl icating local suspects having molested local children
while overseas. Given the frequency of travel of our
population to foreign jurisdictions, this issue is of particular concern. The Bill will amend the Criminal Code to allow prosecution in these particular circumstances.
Madam President, one of the barriers to the
prosecution of sexual offences is that they often go
unreported because the child victim does not feel that
they can report it or has been coerced into not repor ting it. Child victims find that decades later, when they
are adults, the statute of limitations for the particular
offence has run out. I am pleased to inform Senators, Madam President , that the Bill removes the only statute of limitations that remained for any sexual offence.
Additionally, Madam President, the Bill
amends the Criminal Code to create the specific offences of prostituting children, recruiting a child into participating in pornographic performances or causing
a child to participate in such performances; coercing a
child into participating in pornographic performances
or profiting from, or otherwise exploiting, a child for
such purposes and knowingly attending pornographic
performances involving the participation of children.
Madam President, the proposed amendments
extend beyond natural persons to bodies corporate. In
particular, upon sentencing a body corporate for the
offence of making or distributing child- abusing mater ial or child pornography, the Bill makes provisions for the court, in addition to imposing a fine, to recommend the following with respect to the body corporate:
namely, exclusion from entitlement to public benefits
or aid, or judicial winding up order.
In addition, Madam President, provision is
made for any money forfeited from persons convicted
of child pornography offences to be paid into the Consolidated Assets Fund. The Bill proposes that the forfeited money be used for education and training of
officials in the effective implementation of the new
special measures provisions in relation to child wi tnesses in criminal cases relating to sexual exploitation of children and related measures, and for prevention
and assistance programmes.
Madam President, the Bill introduces a new
requirement that the DNA profile of a person who is
registered as a sex offender be kept on the register. It
also makes the penalty for the following offences
against children 50 per cent higher than the penalty
where the offence is committed against an adult:
• procuring unlawful carnal connections with a
person by threat or fraud, or by administering drugs;
• obtaining prostitution from a child;
• exercising control over a child or other person
with a view to prostitution; and
• intruding upon the privacy of women or girls .
Further, the Bill increases the penalty for i ncest, as suggested by the Court of Appeals in the Shannon Lawrence case.
Madam President, with reference to gender
neutrality with regard to offences against childr en, it is
important to note that there are currently many crim inal offences prescribed in law that can only be com-mitted against a female child. That is to say, if the
same acts were committed against a male child, they
would not be prosecutable. This is a long- standing
omission in our laws attributable to social values and
perceptions that pertained at the time these laws were
enacted, which are not in alignment with current real ities and sensibilities. The Bill ensures equal protection
under the law for all children and increased penalties
for the offenders.
578 17 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Madam President, in keeping with the Throne
Speech initiative to better assist children before the
courts, child safeguarding has been a priority for the
Ministry of Legal Affairs. Those familiar with cases
involving the sexual abuse of children are aware of the complications faced by our current investigative
and court procedures. Unfortunately, these proc edures may have a detrimental effect on the children,
who are required to endure those processes t hrough
no fault of their own. As such, the Bill requires the courts to treat all criminal proceedings for sexual of-fences relating to a child as a priority, for case management purposes. The Bill advocates for investigations for sexual offences, and any subsequent pros ecution, to be progressed and concluded with as little
delay as possible.
Madam President, it is important to note that,
in order for the child safeguarding regime to be effective, it must also provide for amendments to the Chi ldren Act 1998 s o as to ensure that awareness of the
protection and rights of children is a priority, particularly among persons who have regular contact with chi ldren in the education, health, social protection, judicial and law -enforcement sectors, and in areas relating to
sport, culture and leisure activities.
To achieve this objective, Madam President,
the Bill gives the Minister additional responsibility for promoting and supporting the coordination of all Government departments responsible for managing, pr otecting, preserving and reducing the serious personal
injury offences committed against children. To that end, the Bill empowers the Minister to establish the
National Child Safeguarding Committee to make pol icy recommendations to the Minister regarding the
safeguarding and welfare of our children. The purpose
of the Committee also includes:
• the development of a national plan of action ,
to include making recommendations on effective mechanisms to enable the authorities in
Bermuda to coordinate with each other concerning the development of policies and activ ities with respect to combating sexual exploit ation and abuse of children;
• coordinating activities to identify, assess and
better understand Bermuda’s risks in relation
to sexual abuse of children, and taking the necessary steps to ensure that such risk assessments are kept up to date; and finally,
• educating the public on, and increasing the public awareness of, the need to safeguard
and promote the welfare of children.
Provision is also made for the Director of
Child and Family Services to arrange for the delivery
of physical and psychosocial assistance to a child who
may be a victim of a sexual offence, as well as to a
child who may have committed a serious personal
injury offence. This includes those who are below the
age of criminal responsibility (eight years old), with the
aim of addressing any sexual behavioural problems. As such, Madam President, this Bill ensures that trai ning is provided on children’s rights and sexual explo itation and sexual abuse of chi ldren for the benefit of
all persons involved in court proceedings, including
judges, lawyers and law -enforcement officers.
Madam President, child victims are particularly vulnerable, especially with regard to reporting their
victimisation after the fact. Their innocence often
blinds them to the harm caused to them. The infl uence and control of adult perpetrators is often dec isive. And the fear factor is predictably likely to be more enhanced than for adult victims. This warrants
exceptional legal measures to ensure the protection
our children deserve. This Bill specifically states that
investigations or prosecution of offences, where the
victim is a child, shall not be dependent upon the r eport or accusation made by the child victim, and that
the proceedings may continue even if the victim has
withdrawn his or her statements.
Madam President, the Bill also amends the
Education Act 1996 to require every aided and mai ntained school to provide children with appropriate i nformation on the risks of sexual exploit ation and sex ual abuse, and how to protect themselves. This will ensure that our children receive information on the risks
of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, as well as on
the means to protect themselves as the first line of
defence. Furthermore, consideration will be given to adapting this information to the child’s evolving capacity.
Madam President, the requirement for corroboration, which is evidence that confirms or supports
the evidence of children, has been abolished in most
Western countries, and Bermuda is behind in this r egard. The prosecution process itself, especially the trial, can be daunting and stressful for children. There
are risks of re -traumatising the child or causing the
child unnecessary worry and distress. Bermuda’s pr otections for children in the courts are outdated. Comparable jurisdictions such as the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Australia, Canada and the UK have all modernised their evidence legislation to more adequately
reflect the importance of achieving the best evidence
from children.
Bermuda’s laws in this regard have not been
reviewed or updated for 25 years. Presently, as an example, where a 12- year-old is sexually exploited
and cannot demonstrate that they understand the s eriousness of a criminal trial and the particular responsibility to tell the truth, that 12- year-old will not be a llowed to testify under oath. This means that the accused person cannot be convicted unless there is i ndependent evidence to support what the child has alleged. This is a major stumbling bloc k to justice in
these cases, as by the very nature of these offences,
there may be no witnesses to the acts and forensic
evidence is often no longer available when a child makes the disclosure. Therefore, the Bill removes the
requirement for corroboration of a child’s evidence.


Bermuda Senate Madam President, the Bill also provides for an
entirely new and modern approach to special
measures available to the court to receive the ev idence of children. The Bill permits a child’s evidence to be pre- recorded in the absence of the jury and the
accused, and that recording may be accepted as ev idence during court proceedings. By so doing, child
victims will be afforded the protection of being heard
in the courtroom without being present, through the
use of appropriate communication technologies.
The new special measures provide that,
where the child witness is a person other than the ac-cused in criminal proceedings relating to a sexual offence, the child’s evidence is to be pre- recorded. In
the event that the pre- recording for some reason cannot occur, the child’s evidence is to be given with the
use of an audio– visual link or with the benefit of a
screen. The court also retains the power to exclude the public from the courtroom. At all times, the fai rness of the trial procedure, the rights of the accused,
and the interests of justice are to be considered by the court.
Madam President, the Bill creates a new r egime that protects the privilege of sexual assault
counselling communications. Presently, such comm unications are automatical ly disclosable to the court
and to counsel for the defence. This causes distress
and discomfort to victims who, consequently, either do
not seek counselling and remain in a traumatised
state, or choose to withdraw their complaint rather
than expose themsel ves to questions about their
counselling. The Bill, therefore, prevents automatic
disclosure and requires the leave of the court hearing the proceedings to be obtained to:
• compel another person to produce a protected
counselling communication;
• produce to a court, adduce evidence of or
otherwise use a protected counselling communication; or
• otherwise disclose, inspect or copy a protec ted counselling communication.
Madam President, the current sexual offender
provisions in the Criminal Code are designed for adult
offenders. This Government is not blind to the fact that
sometimes it is a child who assaults other children. In
such cases, both children are causes of concern warranting systemic intervention relative to each child.
Therefore, the Bill amends the Young Offenders Act
1950 to ensure that intervention programmes or
measures are developed or adapted to meet the d evelopmental needs of children who sexually offend.
It is also of note, Madam President, that this
Bill ensures that those professionals who hav e regular
contact with children have not been convicted of acts
of sexual exploitation or abuse of children. The listening public is invited to take note that this means that
no person whose name appears in the Child Abuse
Register or in the Sex Offender R egister will be employed as a health care professional; a school princ i-pal, teacher or counsellor; a social worker, youth
leader or recreational leader; member of the clergy or
child care worker; or a police officer, probation officer
or youth care worker.
I have no doubt, Madam President, that the
Bill will provide Bermuda with the tools to ensure that we are among the most progressive nations in the
world pertaining to our child protection regime. These
measures attest to the value we place on our children
and our appreciation that their proper development is
indispensable to the future of our society.
Madam President, as I close, I would like to
acknowledge the team that has worked tirelessly to
bring this very important initiative to fruition, namely,
our Deputy Chief Parliamentary Counsel, [Diana] Lorraine Welch; Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions,
Cindy Clarke; Policy Analyst, Livingston Wedderburn; Assistant Parliamentary Counsel, Lovette Tannock;
Permanent Secretary, Marva O’Brien; and Deputy
Solicitor General and National Child Safeguarding
Committee Chairperson, Shakira Dill[ -Francois]. And,
Madam President, special appreciation must be extended to the heads of government departments,
namely, the Director of Court Services, the Director of
Child and Family Services, the Commissioner of P olice, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Commi ssioner of Prisons, the Commissioner of Education and
the Chief Medical Officers, and in particular, their of-ficers who are responsible for safeguarding our chi ldren and whose continued collaborations will underpin
this important legislative initiative and ensure its success.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Kathy Lynn Si mmons, Attorney General.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITORS

The President: And before I open the floor, I would
just like to acknowledge the presence of the Perm anent Secretary, Ms. Marva O’Brien, as well as the A ssistant Parliamentary Counsel, Lovette Tannock, and
Ms. Gina Hurst -Maybury, who is the Direc tor of Court
Services. Welcome to you all.

[Child Safeguarding (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act
2019 , second reading debate , continuing]

The President: And now I would ask if any Senator
would care to speak on this Bill.
Senator Kempe, you have the floor.

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Certainly, the Opposition welcomes the enhancing of safeguards for protections of children, both
580 17 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate from the Joint Select Committee from last year with
the Child Protection Committee Report and the N ovember Sex Offenders Management Act. We spoke
to, as did the Joint Select Committee, a number of the
inherent biases in our law that we hoped would also be further advanced and corrected after the Sex O ffenders Management Act, such as the questions of
biases on gender and age, and these kinds of things
as relates to consent.
It is also good that the language has been
corrected not only for the exploited, but also as it r elates to exploiters. When you look at the sections on
prostitution, for example, it was an ac t that could, if
you were the facilitator, was only judged to be for one
gender, as were questions of certain sex acts were deemed to be [that] only certain genders could be the
victim. So, we certainly welcome the correction and
improvement of these.
Certainly one of the questions we have, I
guess in the House, or in another place, is that the Children Amendment Act 2018 has been on the Order Paper since November 2018. And I notice that this Act
amends the Children’s Protection —

The President: The Childr en Act.

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: —the Children Act 1998. And
it does not have any reference to section 30. I am not
sure if the Bill which is in front of the House, or has
been on the Order Paper since November, is going to
be removed, or if it is still going to be considered to be
taken forward, seeing as that waters down the protection of children. And I just want to know what the Go vernment’s intentions were with that.
Obviously, this Bill is a rather large omnibus
Bill that amends and draws together a num ber of ot her pieces of legislation and, as the Attorney General rightly pointed out, required great coordination between a number of departments, which is what made
it that much more regrettable that we could not have
the due process allowed for a fuller v etting process. At
the presentation that was offered on Monday, what
was handed out for the very first time was a working draft that was branded “confidential.” Unfortunately,
the Members who sit in another place did not receive
an invitation to attend. An d more importantly, the pu blic did not get a copy to allow their input prior to our
debating and representing their greater interests.
I understand the Government’s desire to go
on recess at Cup Match. But, quite frankly, for a Bill of
this importance and this comprehensiveness, the O pposition certainly would have preferred that, if we had
to come back and meet again after Cup Match, so be
it. But that the due process and the availability for the
public to see the final drafts and for us to see the final
drafts before we debate them, to allow for that public
input, would have provided a much better confidence
that there were no omissions or errata of content. But the spirit and the closing and modernising
of language and inherent cultural biases that this Bill
seeks to correct we wholeheartedly support.
Thank you.

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 ident.
There is no question that this is a very complex and important piece of legislation. Safeguarding
the children in our society is absolutely critical, and
this legislation is very much welcomed.
We have had the benefit of a presentation by
the technical advisors an d draftspersons from the Mi nistry who led us, clause by clause, through this Bill,
taking some two hours, explaining the reasons for the
various amendments and answering the many questions we had. And I would just like to say there were a lot of questions. Certainly, there was a lot of participation from the Senators who attended that session.
So, I first want to thank them for the many,
many hours that they have, obviously, put into this
legislation. I believe that consideration started way
back in March, or drafting started back in March, from
what I hear. So, this is not something that has been
thrown together in five minutes; this has taken a very
long time and has had a lot of input from various ar eas.
I was impressed by the time and the great
comfort of their knowledge, not only with respect to
this piece of legislation and the issues surrounding
this Bill, but also their deep knowledge, familiarity with
other key pieces of legislation that are impacted by this Bill, such as the Criminal Act 1907.
A lot of the questions we had were basically
because of our ignorance of some of the legislation that already exists. And one individual was able to
quote verbatim from various sections, obviously deeply imprinted in her mind as to what the codes are with
respect to criminal acts in the 1907 Act. And certainly,
that gave me a high degree of comfort that we have
people who are involved in the drafting of this legisl ation who have a deep appreciation and understanding
of current legislation, and also some of the more upto-date pieces of legislation that exist outside Berm uda. So, I took a lot of comfort in that.
As we have heard from the Madam Attorney
General, this Bill seeks to amend six pieces of legisl ation; these are existing pieces of legislation. And there
are four key pieces of legislation that are significantly
impacted by this. And of course, they are the Criminal
Code Act 1907, the Children Act 1998, the Evidence
Act 1905 and the Young Offenders Act 1950. There are, obviously, two other pieces of leg islation, but


Bermuda Senate those are the key pieces that seem to be significantly
impacted by this.
Now, Madam President, I do not intend to r epeat a lot of what Senator the Attorney General Kathy
Simmons has already provided this morning. The amendments proposed are many and, in some cases,
very significant, such as being able to prosecute, for
example, in certain circumstances, those who commit
offences against a child while abroad. And I think that
is a significant change, and there are others.
I was also pleased t o see the change from
“may” to “shall” in [clause 39, which inserts new] sec-tion 11A(1), on page 15, with respect to the constit ution of the committee. And I appreciate the Attorney
General’s consideration. That was a comment that was raised by, I believe, Senator Michelle Simmons
when we had our discussion back on Monday. And I am pleased to see that this change, a small but signi ficant change, has been made to the legislation.
We were told during our session by the Mini stry’s technical advisers and by Madam Attorney Gen-eral that many of the amendments were adopted from
the Lanzarote Convention, which is considered to be
best practice. And I did go online to find out what that
was all about, having not heard of it before, myself,
and found that it has been adopted as enforced by 45
EU countries, including, as I understand it, the UK, according to what I found on Wikipedia.
Bermuda, we were told, already follows many
of the recommendations that are contained in the
Lanzarote Convention, and this is further involving
and in acceptance of other items which are contained
in that convention which are relevant to Bermuda. And so, we are, where at all possible, following best practice.
There is naturally a careful balance that has to
be struck or kept between t he need to protect our
children while at the same time upholding the rights of all persons, as defined under our Constitution. And
the draftspeople have attempted to do this throughout
the Bill. And that is a difficult thing to do, as we know.
Our Constitution is an important document for all of
us. So, while they are trying to, obviously, protect our children, they also have to recognise the rights and
privileges granted under the Constitution to ever ybody.
Having said that, clause 48 also addresses
the m atter of privilege as it relates to counselling. And
I think this is an important point, too, where the co ncept of a “protected counselling communication” is defined. It should be highlighted here that the definition of a “counsellor” specifically means —and Madam
President, if you will allow me to quote from clause 48.

The President: You certainly may, Senator Jardine.

Sen. James S. Jardine: It says, [new Part IIIAB, se ction 42X “counsellor means”] “a person who—(a) has
undertaken training or study, or has experience, that is relevant to the process of counselling other persons; and (b) in the course of the person’s paid or
voluntary employment, other than as a religious representative, counsels another person.”
So, it would seem to me, Madam President,
that the litmus test here is that any person who thinks
he or she is a counsellor under this Bill, and therefore
believes to be protected under counsellor privilege,
must be able to demonstrate proper, adequate trai ning or experience and has, and is, in the habit of
counselling other persons —an important point, I think,
in determining sexual assault counselling privilege.
And again, here it is treading a fair and balanced line
of what is and what is not acceptable as far as priv ilege is concerned, because we are dealing with chi ldren here and it has to be taken very, very carefully.
Further, in clause 48 [new Part IIIAB] section
42Y(2), and if I may quote again from that, Madam
President?

The President: Yes, you may, absolutely. You certainly may.
Sen. Jam es S. Jardine: It says, “a communication
made to or by a medical practitioner about a physical
examination of the counselled person conducted” (and
this is key) “in the course of an investigation into an alleged sexual offence is not a protected counsellin g
communication.” So, I think it is important that readers
look at the various clauses and understand the signif icance of them, because they are there for a reason.
So, Madam President, this is a very compr ehensive Bill, which brings forward many new and rel evant additions to the various Acts which are impacted
by it, while at the same time making numerous other
changes to wording which is obsolete in today’s world,
such as the many gender -neutral changes appearing
throughout the Bill. So, Madam President, I am ther efore very pleased to be able to support this Bill.
Thank you.

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

Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, we sat here not that long
ago debating the Bermuda Economic Development
Corporation Amendment Act 2019. And I made mention at that time that it is not that often that we get to debate a Bill that is a continuation of an evolutionary
process. More often than not, we are debating Bills
that are updating antiquated legislation, outdated legislation.
Today I am actually pleased to be sitting here
debating this particular piece of legislation, which, as the Attorn ey General stated, brings much- needed r eform to our child safeguarding regime. Our children,
582 17 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Madam President, are our most vulnerable in the
community. And it is our responsibility to pass
measures which provide greater safeguarding for
them. The Attorney General, Madam President, began
her brief with a quote from the 2006 UN study on vi olence against children. With your permission, Madam President, I would like to restate that quote.

The President: You certainly may, Senator Campbell.

Sen. Vance Campbell : It stated that “No violence
against children is justifiable; all violence against chi ldren is preventable.”
Madam President, it is my belief that the
measures introduced by this Bill will go a long way in
preventing harm to our children. And where harm
does occur, it ensures that the perpetrators will r eceive increased and more severe penalties for their actions.
Madam President, I believe, and I am sure all
Senators will agree with me, if only one child is
harmed, that is one child too many. And I will repeat
that: If only one child is harmed, that is one child too many. This Government, this PLP Government,
spearheaded by the Attorney General and her team,
remains committed to the safeguarding of our chi ldren. And we use [the term] “ safeguarding” here because safeguarding, as opposed to protection, is a broader and deeper concept in child welfare than
simply child protection. So, you have heard that [word]
“safeguarding” used continuously today, Madam President.
Madam President, the changes provided by
this Bill are in alignment with the Lanzarote Convention. And [as with] many Senators, this was a new
concept to me. And you have heard that this is the
gold standard, it is considered the gold standard for
child safeguarding. And the measures of this Bil l, we
have been advised, we had heard, are in accordance with the Lanzarote Convention.
We have heard the different concepts of this
Bill. It has modernised its language. It amends six pieces of legislation, as highlighted by Senator Jardine. It compels t he court to consider certain factors as aggravating when dealing with the actions of child abuse against . . . well, child abuse. It addresses
the challenges previously held as it relates to jurisdi ctional issues. It removes the statute of limitations.
These are significant things, Madam President. We
are not talking about small matters. These are signif icant.
It creates specific offences under the range of
prosecuting children and around pornography. As I
mentioned before, it increases penalties. It is now
gender -neutral. So, for the young male children, this is
a good thing, you know. It covers them. We do not
have to refer (I believe we were told) to assault, sex ual assault. They were covered under that before. But now this specifically deals with gender neutrality. There have been provisions made for the possibility of
a child giving evidence, which is important, as hig hlighted by Senator Kempe. There are provisions when
the child is the perpetrator and not the victim.
Madam President, this Bill is the culmination
(and I stand to be corrected) of four to five months of work by the Attorney General and her team. But I
think the concept was born a lot longer ago, I believe
nine, ten, twelve months ago. But the drafting work, I
am told, began four to five m onths ago. And I would
like to thank them for their efforts because this is a
very important Bill as it relates to the most vulnerable
in our community.
Madam President, I will conclude with som ething I said earlier. And that is, if only one child is harm ed, that is one child too many.
Thank you, Madam President. I support this
Bill.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Michelle Simmons, you have the
floor.
Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
This morning (I think it is still morning) I am
going to begin by commenting that I am delighted that
Government has taken so seriously the need to pr otect and safeguard our children. As a couple of Senators have already said, we have seen an Amendment
to the Criminal Code. That is the Criminal Code (Sex
Offender Management) Amendment Act 2018, which
became law in February of this year. That was step
number one.
Today the Bill before us is the next phase of
the actions we, as a community, need to take to ensure the safety of our children. Government, through
this Bill, is strengthening several aspects of our legal framework so the children, and indeed the whole
community, can have an improved degree of safety.
I think all of us were researching the Lanz arote Convention since Monday’s meeting, and many of us before that, as well. But it is interesting to note
that this convention was first signed in 2007. And the UK Government, very recently, Madam President, in
June 2018, I bel ieve, finally ratified the convention.
So, this means that, as a Government, they have said,
We intend to subscribe to this convention. And ther efore, their laws and their policies and practices will
take Lanzarote into consideration.
We are saying, throu gh this Bill today, that we
too intend to take the Lanzarote Convention to heart
and make sure that our laws, our legislation reflect the
seriousness of these crimes that are being perpetrated against our children.
According to the Lanzarote Convention, as
has already been stated . . . and I will just repeat a
small part of it. The intention was to criminalise all


Bermuda Senate kinds of sexual offences against children whether
committed at home or abroad. This includes the exploitation through prostitution, grooming and offences
related to child abuse material. The convention, Ma dam President, also was enacted to protect the rights of child victims and to promote national and intern ational cooperation so that, indeed, we could come t ogether across countries to support each other in our efforts to protect our children.
Sometimes, we tend to bury our heads in the
sand. But this is not the time for that, because we need to acknowledge as a community that, on a reg ular basis in this community, in this wonderful paradise
in which we live —we are blessed to live here—
children are being abused. They are being sexually
abused. They are being sexually exploited. In fact,
you only need to refer to any of the local news media
outlets on a daily basis to see instances through the
courts or people disclosing information regarding
things that have occurred to them either as young
children, as teenagers, or even as adults.
In many instances when children have been
abused in the past, Madam President, they have not come forward, for vari ous reasons. But after years
and years of suffering from the consequences of the
abuse perpetrated against them, they have, as adults,
as mature adults, been able to come forward and deal with what has happened in the past. We have seen a
few stories recently.
The Bill before us today, Madam President,
attempts to ensure the rights of children without di scrimination on the grounds of sex, race, gender, rel igion, social or national origin. There are lots of component parts in this Bill. And these issues hav e been
thoroughly addressed.
We have heard about the six Acts that are
being amended under the Bill. And I would like to thank . . . as every Senator who has spoken so far
has, I too would like to thank the Attorney General and all of the staff in her Chambers, the Deputy Director of
Public Prosecutions, the Deputy Chief Parliamentary
Counsel, the Permanent Secretary and everyone else
for all of their hard work. Because they have ploughed through a lot of Acts. They have been thorough. And
they have given us a wonderful briefing session earlier
this week. So, thank you, thank you, thank you. The beneficiaries will be our children and the whole community.
Because very few people beyond this room
have seen the [Bill], I am going to repeat a few things.
I call it some of the highlights for me from the Bill. And
I will be brief. But these things need to be stated so
that those listening to us will know that the rights of
our children, the rights of adults are being taken ser iously and they are protected. So, perhaps those who
have not come forward up to this day, in hearing about some of these amendments, will also find the
courage and the support that they need to step for-ward and declare so that these matters can be dealt
with.
First highlight: The Bill strik es a great balance,
and I believe I am almost quoting (I am not quite quo ting) either the Deputy Parliamentary Counsel or the
Attorney General from the briefing on Monday when
they said, This strikes a balance between persons’
constitutional rights and the need to safeguard the
public. I liked that expression, especially when it
comes in relation to our children. For example, the
amended Criminal Code will require judges and mag-istrates to take into consideration, before passing se ntence, the seriousness of the crimes, as well as aggravating circumstances, which seemed to not have been considered in the past.
Next highlight: The Bill removes all of those
archaic expressions, and it updates the language. And the Attorney General delivered on some of that thi s
morning. “Defective” —we cannot refer to people in our
community in that way —“unnatural offences,” “offences against morality.”
Another highlight: The Bill is gender -neutral.
Boys and girls. Girls seem to have had far more pr otection in the past than our young boys, but now the
Bill is gender -neutral, so unlawful carnal knowledge
will apply to both boys and girls. The crime of incest
has been more tightly defined, and relationship tests are very clearly elucidated in this Bill.
The Bill removes something v ery important,
and that is the time barrier that existed, because it will
now no longer be the case that the prosecution of an
offence has to occur within 12 months after the of-fence has been committed. That [is] gone. And I think
that one is worth repeati ng. It will no longer be r equired to begin the prosecution for an offence within 12 months after the offence has been committed.
Another highlight, for me, Madam President,
was that the Bill enables Bermuda authorities to have
jurisdiction in cases where an offence has been com-mitted against a child outside of Bermuda. We know
of instances where that has happened, and people
have escaped prosecution. But they will not any longer.
Very importantly, the Bill will require the Director of Child and Family Servi ces to . . . and, Madam
President, may I quote this part?

The President: You certainly may, Senator Simmons.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: The director will have to
“arrange for the delivery of physical and psychosocial
assistance to a child . . .” (That is the end of the
quote.) And this child may either be the victim or the
perpetrator of sexual crimes. We have acknowledged
that, yes, we have child victims. But we also, unfort unately, have child perpetrators. And both of them will be eligible to receive suppor t and services through the
office of the director.
584 17 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Another important aspect of this Bill, Madam
President, is that anyone who is registered as a sex
offender must also, as part of his or her registration,
have a DNA profile attached. This is important b ecause it will be clear who the offender is, without any
doubt.
Another highlight of this amending Bill: The
Minister, at his or her discretion, shall establish (and
thanks to Madam Attorney General, it was changed to
“shall” establish), as a statutory body , a National Child
Safeguarding Committee. There is already an exce llent group, an excellent committee hard at work. But I think this just gives that committee even more teeth to
ensure that their recommendations are taken to the
highest level.
I have alm ost reached the end, Madam Pres ident, but just a couple more highlights. The Bill pr ovides that in cases where the victim or complainant is
a child, prosecutions may proceed without a stat ement from the victim. But the law will also enable chi ldren under t he age of 14 years to provide unsworn
testimony. That was not allowed for in the past. So, I think it is an important piece.
Finally, I am hoping that the passage of this
Bill will also provide a platform for Government to pr ovide more resources to pursue those who commit
these crimes against children and also to provide
more assistance to the victims of sexual abuse. We
know that there are victims who have not had any
counselling, who have not had support, for various
reasons. But now this will allow Government to direct
more resources to people who have been victims.
As far as I am concerned, this is a critical
piece of legislation that we, hopefully, will pass today. It will ensure —it will help to ensure the safety of the
most vulnerable population in B ermuda. However, I
am urging parents to take the issue of sexual abuse of
children as seriously as possible. It is not something
that we should just feel will never apply to our chi ldren. It is an issue in this community. And I also want to mention SCARS, which has been offering training
courses. They are three- hour training courses which
support parents, teachers, guardians, relatives,
friends, anyone who wants to be part of the solution to
this problem. It will be three hours well spent because
you will c ome away enlightened. You will come away
more knowledgeable. You will come away with more
tools which will help you to protect the children in our
community.
Thank you, Madam President. I think it is quite
clear I do support this Bill.

The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Si mmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
No? Then, over to you, Senator Kathy Lynn
Simmons, Attorney General , to respond.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President. And thank you, Senators, for your
comments.
You will recall some months ago in, I believe,
one of my motion to a djourn speeches, I did notify the
Senate that I would be bringing initiatives pertaining to
the children. And I think I went so far as to say that I
expect bipartisan support. I was probably in one of my
moods where I was being demanding. But I apprec iate the support. I had no doubt that Senators would
support this initiative, given the importance it has with
respect to safeguarding our children.
In terms of the urgency of the initiative, let me
be clear. We are going to have a long, hot summer. There are children in our community who are not s upervised, who are not protected. And these measures go a long way in acknowledging that we must protect
them.
To Senator Kempe, the public will have a full
understanding of this Bill because we intend to do outreach. [There are] f ifty-nine clauses I think we have
here, amending six Bills, which are very difficult for
anyone to wade through. So, to release this in its pr esent for m would not have been useful for anyone. So
we intend to make sure that the public is well aware of
the rights that the children have under this legislation
and the protections that are afforded to them, and the
support that will be afforded to children during the court process.
Madam President, Senator Kempe asked
about the status of another Bill that had been tabled
with regard to children. And that Bill is the Children Amendment Act that was tabled in the House of A ssembly in November. I will say categorically that the intention of the Ministry is always to ensure that we
have the best model for any initiative. And the Bill that
was tabled is a very narrow amendment. And I have undertaken to ensure that, in reviewing the scheme
appropriate to litigation guardians, it will be the best scheme that will reflect the best standards for that particular protection that is afforded children in the court
process. So, Senators will stay tuned, a nd rest assured that, as we have done with child safeguarding,
we will ensure that international best practices are
Bermudianised to achieve a sustainable model for our
children.
The Child Safeguarding Committee has to be
acknowledged. And Senator Simmons mentioned the good work that they do. This was actually an ad hoc
comm ittee that I came upon when I took office that did
not have any statutory mandate or any teeth. And it is a collaboration of the agencies that are listed in the
Bill and that I mentioned in my Statement that have
worked together to share common experiences and to
support each other in their mandates to safeguard our
children. They will be pleased to see that they now
have a statutory mandate. And this legislation has been circulated to all of the agencies. And we will definitely be monitoring their progress and their oper aBermuda Senate tions. But at least they have a formalised springboard
to continue their work.
Senator Jardine was very thorough in his
comments, as usual, and acknowledged that we do, in
fact, follow many of the requirements under the con-vention already. What is important to note . . . and
mention was made of the time- consuming process of
drafting this legislation. I have an unsung hero sitting behind me. That is the Chief Parliamentary Counsel,
Lorraine Welch, who actually pressed “p ause” and
advised tha t there were constitutional issues that had
to be addressed, that had to be addressed. And those issues pertained to ensuring that we acknowledge that
the accused also has rights in the process. And so, I
am happy to say that under her stewardship (and tha t
is Lorraine), she has achieved that balance and effectively prescribed it in legislation. So, many thanks to
her.
And the voice of knowledge that was at the
briefing was none other than our Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Cindy Clarke, who lives criminal
prosecution and who was able to, as Senators will
recall, speak to this from a position of huge knowledge
and expertise. And I cannot thank her enough for the
support that she provided in drafting this legislation,
from a practical point of view, because, of course, it
has to be able to be implemented.
Senator Campbell has acknowledged that our
children are our most vulnerable citizens. But the Bill
also effectively acknowledges that we have vulnerable
citizens in our mentally challenged populati on who
also need to be protected.
The resource issue, Madam President, was
raised by Senator Simmons. We always review our
programmes to ensure that they are properly funded
and that the allocation of human resource is appropr iate to the task at hand. In this particular instance, I
can say that the agencies responsible for child saf eguarding, Madam President, are up and running, are properly resourced and will continue to deliver the
service that they do with regard to the subject matter.
Without more, I will say that Senators enjoyed
their briefing. And I am pleased that they have come
to the table with a full understanding of what we are
advancing today. Members in another place, the
House of Assembly, will be invited to a briefing. It was deemed that a very protracted session was not advi sable for the first go- round, given the number of questions that would probably arise from this Bill. So, we are more than happy to invite other Members to participate and avail themselves of the expertise from our
technical team.
With that said, Madam President, I can ensure
Senators and members of the listening public that the Government will continue to bring measures to further
protect our children and that our commitment in that regard remains undaunted.
And with t hat, Madam President, I move
that— Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Just a point of clarification, if I
may?

The President: Yes. Go ahead.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: It was not clear from your r esponse to the . . . sorry.
Madam President, it was not clear from Madam Attorney General’s response about the Children
Amendment Act sitting in another place if it was the
Government’s intention to proceed with that Bill as is.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: That is not a
matter for this Senate at this time.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Attorney General,
and Senator Kempe.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: I believe that I
. . . shall I move the second reading again?

The President: Yes. Please do that.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Yes. I move,
Madam President, that the Bill entitled the Child Saf eguarding (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2019 be
read now a second time.

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

SUSPENSION OF STANDING OR DER 26

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I move that Standing Order 26 be suspended
in respect of the Bill.

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

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

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

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

BILL

THIRD READING

586 17 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate CHILD SAFEGUARDING (MISCELLANEOUS
AMENDMENTS) ACT 2019

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I move that the Bill entitled the Child Saf eguarding (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2019 do
now pass.
The President: Is there any objec tion to the passing
of this legislation?
No objection.
The Bill entitled the Child Safeguarding (Mi scellaneous Amendments) Act 2019 is now passed.
[Motion carried: The Child Safeguarding (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2019 was given a third reading
and passed.]

The President: Thank you, Senators, for your support.

MOTIONS

The President: There are none.

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR
OBITUARY SPEECHES

The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
this?
Senator Kempe, you have the floor.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I would certainly like to extend my congratul ations to the Bermuda Debate Team who represented
us in the Czech Republic. They got the highest plac-ing Bermuda has had to date, with a second place
overall. They won seven of their eight preliminary
round matches. They ended up with the most wins in
the tournament, the highest judge’s ballots, at 21, and the highest speaking point totals. Both as the team
and individual members won a number of speaking
prizes. The team of Kate Tobin, Genevieve Lau and
Hailey O’Donnell should certainly be congratulated, as
should the coach and former neighbour of mine, Coy
Kijaun Millett.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Kempe. I am
sure we all join you in those congratulations. That is
quite an achievement.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Campbell, you have the floor.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President. I will add to Senator Kempe’s comments by
saying that Hailey O’Donnell was ranked as the best
overall speaker at the tournament, while Genevieve
Lau ranked third, and Kate Tobin ranked fourth.
Madam President, I would like to congratulate
the 24 young women who completed the first -ever
She Leads: A Real World Readiness Programme in a
public/privat e partnership offered to the students of
the BHS (Bermuda High School), the Berkeley Inst itute and CedarBridge Academy. It was a weeklong
programme, Madam President, that taught the girls
tools, frameworks and mind- sets necessary for them
to take ownership of their education, employment and
beyond.
Madam President, I would also like to congratulate our Adult National Jump Rope Team for their
good performance in representing Bermuda at the
World Jump Rope Championships in Norway. They go by the name as the Bermy Bounce Backs, and the
team consists of Kendia Gill, Lawriette Thomas, S afiya Dyer and Keitha Hodgson. And the coach was
Toni Dickerson. They participated in 14 events, in
which they placed first in one, second in another and
received two third- place finishes. So, I would like congratulations to go out to them.
I continue, Madam President.

The President: Carry on.
Sen. Vance Campbell: I would like to congratulate
Mr. Kairo Morton, who received sponsorship from
Premier David Burt and CCS Ltd., both i n the amounts
of $2,500 each. Mr. Morton will be working on an art ificial intelligence PhD project administered by Assi stant Professor of Computer Science, Ruzica Piskac, and this is run at the Yale University with the ROSE
Group. And Kairo attended the Co de 441 Bermuda
Hackathon, where he impressed the Yale computer
science faculty, Mr. Mark Santolucito, PhD candidate.
And he was invited as a result of his performance there. So, congratulations to him. I am sure his parents are proud of that.
Lastly . . . well, not lastly. Two more, two
more.

[Laughter]

The President: You are on a roll.

Sen. Vance Campbell: I would like to congratulate
Rockal Evans, who sailed to victory in the 2019 International Finn Queensland Championship Regatta in
Australia. He won the seven- race series with 12
points. And he finished with three wins and three thirdplace finishes, never finishing out of the top four. Participants were from Bermuda, Hong Kong, Sydney,
Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Queensland.
Lastly, Madam Preside nt, the Corrections D epartment held their GED graduation recently. And I


Bermuda Senate would like to congratulate the young men, Daymon
Simmons, Dion Cholmondeley, Detre’ Ford, Andre’
Richardson and Mikiel Thomas for successfully completing and receiving their GED. Hopefully, they will
use that as a springboard to better things for the mselves, going forward. Thank you, Madam President.

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

Sen. Antho ny Richardson: Madam President, just
briefly, I want to acknowledge the recent passing of Mr. James Parsons and send condolences to his si ster, Valerie. And for me, he was one of those persons
whom I met when I was a lot younger. And [he] intr oduced [me] i nto the work world and taught me about
proper decorum and good work ethic.
On a different note, I want to actually, I guess,
acknowledge Ms. Debra James, as I want to call her a
community hero. She is actually one of the Cros sroads soccer moms. And she had some concerns that
she wanted to bring to clean up the neighbourhood,
effectively. She did make some requests of Gover nment and others. And in an instance whereby they
were not able to do what she wanted to get done, she
undertook it herself to do it. And in my mind, it came down to the idea that the Government starts with the
people. And she was very effective in making sure
that there was a lot of community clean- up this wee kend, also assisted by Ms. Celine Talbot, who is really
responsible for the whol e Crossroads soccer pr ogramme. And I will also give acknowledgement to MP Sylvan Richards, who was also present at the time to
help us get some work clean- up done.
So, those are my comments, Madam Pres ident.

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

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Senator Campbell, you stole one of mine. But
that is okay. I forgive you.

[Laughter]

Sen. Michelle Simmons : Madam President, I would
like to thank the Premier for seeking, and I would like
to thank the Governor for granting. And I think ever yone knows what I am referring to. It is the posthumous
pardon for Rev. Charles Vinton Monk, obviously, former Pastor of Allen Temple AME Church in Somerset, as well as Pastor of Mount Zion AME Church in
Southampton. When he was assigned to Bermuda by the
Bishop of the First District of the AME Church, he was
sent to pastor both of those churches. Living in the
West End, he saw f irst-hand many of the injustices
that were being suffered by imported workers from
Jamaica who were helping to extend the area in the
west. A lot of people think it was just Dockyard; but in
fact, it was Ireland Island, Boaz Island, all the way
down to Wat ford Island. There was a lot of work being
undertaken during that period.
And it was quite clear from the research that
Ira Philip did, the painstaking research that he did in at
least three countries —in the United States, in the
United Kingdom and certai nly here in Bermuda—that
there was a story to be told. Most of us had never heard of the detailed story. If you do not know it, try to
get a copy of Freedom Fighters: From Monk to M azumbo and spend some time reading it because it will
really give you a good look at how Bermuda operated in the late 1800s, early 1900s.
I believe that this is the first time that a Go vernor of Bermuda has actually acknowledged that
there have been grave injustices committed against
people of colour in this country. Therefore, I just wanted to take a moment today to thank the Premier for
seeking this pardon and to thank the Governor for
granting it. I am sure they both did their homework. They both did their research. And in the end, they have stood up for justice.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Si mmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
No?
Senator Simmons, Attorney General.

[Crosstalk]
The President: I thought Senator Simmons was going to speak on condolences. And so, I would just like
to say that I would like for the Senate to send condolences to the family of former Senator, Mrs. Jeannette
Cannonier, who was gazetted today as having
passed. And so, I think on behalf of all Senators, we should send condolences to her husband, George,
and her two children.
With that, I will now hand over to Senator
Kathy Lynn Simmons for the adjournment.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
Before I adjourn, I would like to acknowledge
the success of the martial arts group that travelled
recently to San Jose [California] and came back with
seven medals. Their accomplishments are near and
dear to my heart because one Kaelin Cox, whom I have seen from a youngster, excelled along with his
teammates in that competition. A nd I would like to
588 17 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate point out to Senators that the martial arts are a sport
that is very under -acknowledged in our country. We
come here week over week, and we applaud football,
we applaud cricket. And I encourage Senators to have
an eye out for the youngst ers who are doing great
work internationally in representing Bermuda in the
martial arts. So, to Kaelin Cox and Garon Wilkinson
and the other teammates who represented us so well,
we send our congratulations.

The President: Thank you, Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons.
And now you . . .

ADJOURNMENT

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I move now that we adjourn Senate until J uly 26th [sic].

The President: July the . . . oh, the 24th.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Anthony’s. . .it
looks like the 26
th . . . July 24th.

The President: July 24th. Thank you.
Would any Senator care to speak on the m otion to adjourn?
Senator Kempe, you have the floor.

DEPARTMENT OF CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES
INVESTIGATION

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I would just like to take advantage of my time
allotted to restate some questions that were raised
three weeks ago that we have yet to get answers to.
And they were directed 1three weeks ago to Madam
Attorney General. And it is, Un der what Act or other
instrument was the first investigation started under
Minister Weeks carried out? And which outside entity
performed the investigation? Two, Was that investigation completed after
former Minister Weeks was removed and DCSF [D epartment of Child and Family Services] moved under
the Attorney General’s charge?
We did get an answer to the third question I
asked about who decided to use the Internal Audit Act for the second investigation. And apparently, it was
the former director.
And the fourth question was, Did the Attorney
General know that the results of investigations under
the Internal Audit Act 2010 could not be publicly di sclosed prior to the start of the investigation? Thank you.

1 Official Hansard Report , 26 June 2019, page 537 The President: Thank you, Senator Kempe.
Would an y other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
No?
Then, Senators, Senate stands adjourned
until the 24th of July, next week Wednesday. Thank
you all for your work this morning.

[At 11:55 am, the Senate stood adjourned until
10:00 am, Wednesday, 24 July 2019.]