July 3, 2019

Senators, the Senate is now in Committee of the whole for further consideration of the Bill
entitled Premier, Ministers and Opposition Leader
Personal Staffs Act 2019.
Senator Campbell, you have the floor.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, I move that Senate do now
rescind each of the amendments to clause 9 of the
Bill, which were approved by the Senate in Committee
at the last day of meeting, such that the Bill may be
restored to its original text —that is, to rescind the
agree d motion that clause 9 of the Bill be amended as
follows:
1. By deleting the word “March” and substituting
the word “May” in the first paragraph;


Bermuda Senate 2. By deleting the words “appointed to a” and
substituting the words “who have served or
are currently serving on a ny” in the first par agraph;
3. By deleting the word “calendar” and substituting the word “fiscal” in the first paragraph;
4. By inserting the word “gross” immediately after the word “their” in subsection 9(b); and
5. By inserting the words “for the entire fiscal
year” immediately after the word “remuner ation” in subsection 9(b).

Thank you, Senator.
Would any Senator wish to speak to this m otion?
Senator Kempe, you have the floor.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I guess the commentary that I would like to
provide on this is that the whole point of our system,
Mr. Chairman, is to have some checks and balances to the legislative process between the House and the
Senate. There were deficiencies in the wording ident ified in another place t hat did not allow the spirit or the
intention of the reporting transparent, good gover nance function, to be wholly codified in law. And those
deficiencies were instead going to be filled by person-al commitments and this kind of thing. And the Senate
considered a Bill that, in my opinion, very noncontroversially corrected some of these errata. It was
not a political Bill, it was not a massive departure from
the spirit or intention of clause 9 that we were originally considering.
And instead of considering the content of the
amendment that was passed in this Chamber, what
we saw was a deplorable display —

Senator Kempe, if you could please
keep your comments to clause 9 and not stray into
areas which are not relevant to this particular clause.

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The point of the amendment was about getting it right, Mr. Chairman. And we did not get any
counter debate in the Committee from the Gover nment side, just voting against [it]. If the Government
side felt it w as ambushed, as was suggested in another place, they could have risen and reported. So,
this whole thing is about process, Mr. Chairman. And
we have gone back and forth. And I would just like to
say that I think it was a chance for the Government to
accept bipartisan constructive criticism, and instead it
chose to engage in ad hominem attacks against the
integrity of Senators —

[Crosstalk]

Thank you, Senator Kempe.
Would any other Senator wish to speak to this
amendment?
No?
Then I would like to make a statement, if I
may; at least make comments.
On May the 31st, Members in another place
unanimously passed the Premier, Ministers and O pposition Leader Personal Staffs Act 2019 in its orig inal, unamended form. Let me stress the word “ unanimously ” again. This Honourable Chamber subs equently passed an amendment to clause 9 of t he Bill
and returned it to the House. It was clear from the
outset that the concepts of openness and transparen-cy were shared by all in the Legislature, both here and
in another place.
The amendments that were put forward by the
Senate at its meeting two weeks ago seemed to me to
be reasonable. The amendments suggested by the
Senate did not mean that clause 9 was rejected in its
entirety —far from it. However, those amendments
have been rejected by a majority of Members in an-other place, and so we are left to consider the motion
before us today.
Now, I could dig my heels in, as they say, and
vote to reject this motion, and indeed the Bill, in its
original form. But, frankly, that would seem to me to
be totally counterproductive, since by rejecting the
original Bill, we would effectively delay for a further
year the ultimate passage of that Bill and the i mportance of clause 9. In other words, the Government
could simply wait one year, put the Bill forward for
royal assent and move on. But we would have delayed for a further year the requirement for a report to
be prepared as required in clause 9.
That is to say it would not be possible until,
say, March 2021 before we would see any report d etails at all. Is that what we want? I do not really think so. If we d id that, we would, as the saying goes, be
throwing the baby out with the bathwater, i.e., rejec ting the whole Bill because we are not happy with the
entirety of one particular clause—clause 9.
It seems to me that calm heads and a sens ible approach are what are called for here. There is
simply nothing to be gained by ping- ponging clause 9
backwards and forwards between the two Houses, or
indeed by eventually defeating the Bill and having it sit
for another year. And it would further delay the ope nness and transparency that everybody in the Legisl ature seems to want.
Those are my comments on that.
Senator Campbell, if you would like to move
your motion, please.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
546 3 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Mr. Chairman, I move that clause 9, as printed
in the original version of the Bill, be now approved and
stand as part of the Bill.

It has been moved that clause 9, as
printed in the original version of the Bill, be no w approved and stand as part of the Bill.
Are there any objections to that motion?
Senator Kempe, you have the floor.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Mr. Chairman, our objections
to the deficiencies were duly noted, but we will not be
voting against the passage of the Bill.

Madam President, if you would like to
resume the Chair.

Senate resumed at 10:37 am

[Sen. the Hon. Joan E. Dillas -Wright, President, pr esiding]

REPORT OF COMMITTEE

PREMIER, MINISTERS AND OPPOSITION LEADER
PERSONAL STAFFS ACT 2019

The President: Thank you, Senator Jardi ne, for chai ring the Committee. And thanks, Senators, those who
made comments.
Senator Campbell, you will now do the third
reading of the Bill.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I move that
the Bill entitled the Premier, Ministers and Opposition
Lead er Personal Staffs Act 2019 be now read a third
time.

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

BILL

THIRD READING

PREMIER, MINISTERS AND OPPOSITION LEADER
PERSONAL STAFFS ACT 2019

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I move that
the Bill do now pass.

The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent itled the Premier, Ministers and Opposition Leader
Personal Staffs Act 2019 do now pass.
Is there any objection?
No objection.
The Bill is pa ssed.

[Motion carried: The Premier, Ministers and Oppos ition Leader Personal Staffs Act 2019 was given a third reading and passed.]


Bermuda Senate The President: Thank you, Senators.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator C ampbell.
We move on to the second Order of the Day,
and that is the second reading of the Government Loans Amendment Act 2019 (Governor’s recommendation signified). Senator Campbell, is that your Bill?

Sen. Vance Campbell: That is mine, Madam.

The Presid ent: You have the floor.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I move that
the Bill entitled the Government Loans Amendment
Act 2019 be now read a second time.

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

BILL

SECOND READING

GOVERNMENT LOANS AMENDMENT ACT 2019
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, the Government wishes
the Senate to now give consideration to the Bill ent itled the Government Loans Amendment Act 2019
.
The Bill seeks to amend the Act to provide the
Minister of Finance with discretion with respect to
making the Sinking Fund contribution. Madam Pres ident, effect ive the 31st of March 1993, the Gover nment Borrowing Sinking Fund (the GBSF) was estab-lished as a separate legal entity for the repayment of
government borrowing under the provisions of the Government Loans Act 1978.
During each financial year, the Consol idated
Fund of the government is required to pay to the GBSF 2.5 per cent of the gross public debt outstanding in the Consolidated Fund at the end of the prece ding fiscal year. Madam President, Senators may recall that, due to the prolonged economic condit ions pr evailing from the 2008 recession, the Government
amended the Government Loans Act 1978 in 2009 to
provide the Minister of Finance with additional capac ity to respond to economic conditions that could impair
the government’s tax yield. One of the changes made
enabled the Minister of Finance to postpone the a nnual contribution into the Sinking Fund, while another
amendment provided for the Minister to determine that
the interest expense on long- term public debt be paid
from the Sinking Fund, if necessary.
The assets of the Sinking Fund are invested
in accordance with the Public Funds Act 1954 and are shown as a reduction of debt issued on the Consol i-dated Fund’s Statement of Financial Position. The
assets are currently invested in US Government and
Agency securities, investment -grade corporate secur ities and money market funds. Madam President, the primary objective of the investment strategy of the assets in the Sinking Fund is principal protection. The
one-year return on the fund, as at the 31
st of March
2019, was 2.63 per cent. As at the 31st of March 2019,
the Sinking Fund balance was $219.2 million.
During this fiscal year, fiscal 2019/20, a [full]
$180 million of the monies in the fund will be used to
repay two tranches of maturing private placement
notes. These repayments will reduce our annual interest costs by $12.1 million and lower our weighted average cost of borrowing from 4.591 per cent to
4.437 per cent, or a reduction of 15.4 basis points.
Madam President, I am pleased to advise the
Senate that, on the 21st of May 2019, Government
repaid $100 million of private placement notes that
had matured. This action reduced our gross debt by
$100 million. But the net debt remains unchanged, as
the balance in the Sinking Fund was used to fund the
repayment of the notes.
Madam President, in uncertain times, fiscal
rules must accommodate volatility and the funds available for future budgets. Sluggish international
growth may continue to limit Bermuda’s ability to i ncrease GDP, generate or sustain employment opportunities and increase government revenues to support
the provision of services. On occasions, there is a f inancing gap between the stimulatory policies that we
would like to see in place to protect jobs and the pol icies that we can finance from revenues. Madam President, governments must either borrow funds to bridge
this financing gap, or they must cut spending to accommodate actual revenues. Spending reductions
ultimately result in public sector downsizing, which
could create weakness in the private sector.
Madam President, over the last decade and a
half, Bermuda has experienced recurring budget def icits and a growing national debt, coupled with periods
of negative economic growth. Significant attention has
been focused on our approximately $2.5 billion of
debt, with calls to reduce expenditures, deficits and,
consequently, the debt. The Government is mindful of
the effects of the debt burden on the country’s fiscal posture and is taking the necessary steps to prudently
manage our debt throug h strategic refinancing d esigned to lower interest costs, extend maturities, and
with the ultimate goal of reducing debt while providing
the Government with the space to execute on its ec onomic growth strategy.
Madam President, for the record, successive
governments have been committed to the Sinking Fund. And from March 2011 to March 2018, Gover nment has contributed $407.3 million into the fund.
Given that during these periods the Government was
running deficits, we have had to borrow monies to
make the s tatutory contributions to the fund and also
548 3 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate pay the required interest on this debt. Or, this can
otherwise be described as “ borrowed savings .” Furthermore, during this period, the average rate of interest on these borrowed funds was higher than the rate
being earned on the Sinking Fund investments.
Madam President, as announced in the
2019/20 Budget Statement, due to the uncertainty
facing the Bermuda economy, mainly in relation to
unknown impacts of the implementation of Bermuda’s
Economic Substance regime, the Ministry of Finance reconsidered the Government’s fiscal strategy for the 2019/20 budget as laid out in the pre- budget report.
Accordingly, as announced, the Government decided
to suspend the m andatory annual contribution to the
Sinking Fund rather than borrow additional monies to
make this annual contribution. Madam President, this
decision was made in light of the following factors:
1. Apart from the private placement notes referenced above, t he next maturity of government debt
will occur in 2022.
2. Interest expense associated with borrowing
to fund the mandatory Sinking Fund contributions will be greater than the investment return generated on
those funds, a concept known as “ negative carry .”
3. And lastly, Government has forecasted operating surpluses in fiscal 2019/20 and fiscal 2020/21 as set out in the most recent Budget Statement, and it intends to contribute to the Sinking Fund or use [funds
from the surpluses] to make open market purc hases
of its existing indebtedness.
Madam President, the Government Borrowing
Sinking Fund is still an important part of the Gover nment’s debt management strategy, as its primary purpose is to repay public debt.
Madam President, the purpose of this
amend ment is to modernise the Act and provide a
level of flexibility in the process to allow Government to make the appropriate responses during times of
uncertainty.
Madam President, to provide some context,
when the Act was drafted in 1993, government was
running surpluses and government’s debt was minimal. Therefore, the Sinking Fund contributions would
have been immaterial as a percentage of the gover nment’s spend. In fiscal 2018/19, the $64.2 million con-tribution represented 5.7 per cent of Government Current Account spend, including debt service. Additiona lly, the Government has been borrowing to fund its
mandatory contributions to the Sinking Fund. Surely,
the policy intent when the Act was drafted was not to
borrow funds to place in the Sinking Fund.
This legislation effects the policy objectives
mentioned above and provides for the following: It
gives the Minister of Finance the flexibility with regard
to making a contribution into the Sinking Fund, the
provisions for making contributions to the Sinking
Fund for excess funds borrowed, and the sale of land
remains the same, as these are fiscally responsible. It changes the provision of a government ha ving to make Sinking Fund contributions before the 30
th
of June of each fiscal year. The contribution will now
need to be made within the relevant fiscal year. It r emoves the provision for government having to pay interest to the Sinking Fund for late payments. It
makes little sense, Madam President, for the gover nment to be paying interest to itself. It allows the Sink-ing Fund to be used to purchase the government’s
public debt. This would allow the government to then
cancel any of the notes that it purchases without pa ying the make- whole provisions.
It repeals the power of the Minister to suspend
contributions to the Sinking Fund, as this provision is no longer needed. And lastly, it provides that this
amendment applies to the current fiscal year, meaning that no contribution is to be made to the Sinking Fund.
Madam President, we have discussed the
suspension of the Sinking Fund with the credit rating
agencies, and while they recognise that the Sinking
Fund is a positive feature of Bermuda’s credit profile, as it reduces liquidity risks, they have noted that, from
a credit standpoint, its effectiveness is limited because government transfers to the fund were financed by the
incurrence of new debt.
Furthermore, on account of liability management operations conducted by the Government in r ecent years, which ha ve extended our debt maturities,
the immediate need of the Sinking Fund is reduced.
Madam President, one agency noted the following:
“The Sinking Fund continues to provide overall credit
support to Bermuda, as it helps the Government to
meet its debt obligations. Nonetheless, should the
government continue to post fiscal deficits, pushing debt stocks higher, contributions to the fund will also
rise and continue to be mainly financed through add itional debt, thus decreasing the fund’s effectiveness
as a savi ngs mechanism.”
Madam President, I trust that I have provided
sufficient evidence to support this transformational policy change. And in closing, I wish to assure the
public that the Government and the Minister of F inance are sensitive to the challenges w hich arise
when debt is unsustainably high, and to reiterate that
the Government has a plan of action to reduce public
debt and to guide the country to a sustainable fiscal
path.
With those remarks, Madam President, I now
welcome the participation of other Senators. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITORS
The President: And before I open the floor to other
Senators, I would just like to acknowledge the presBermuda Senate ence of the Financi al Secretary, Mr. Anthony Manders, in the Senate. Welcome, sir.
And Mr. Kevin Grant, the Labour Relations
Advisor, is in the Gallery, as well as the Parliamentary
Counsel, Brian Eaton. Welcome to all of you.

[Government Loans Amendment Act 2019, second
reading debate, continuing]
The President: Now, would any Senator care to
speak on this Bill?
Senator Jardine, you have the floor.

Sen. James S. Jardine: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, I listened with interest to
the comments from the Senator who just read the
statement. And there were some interesting additional
amounts in there, additional comments with respect to
the application of surpluses to reducing debt going
forward, which I wholeheartedly endorse. In fact, in reading the Bill bef ore us, obviously there are some
interesting changes. And I understand why, and I support the Minister of Finance in his comments about
not borrowing money where the interest we are paying
exceeds the interest we earn on our Sinking Fund. I
think that makes eminent sense, and I said that during our Budget Debate in March.
Obviously, the key changes in here, compared to the previous Act, are with respect to [clause
2, amending] section 12(2), where the words “may be
paid” have been now substituted for the w ords which
said “shall be paid.” So, there is some flexibility there
for the Minister in terms of payments that he makes.
[Clause 2, amending] section 12(2A)(a) and (b) are
essentially the same as the original Act. So, those are
just carried forward, and I appreciate that.
I think the only comment I make and would
have liked to have seen in here, and maybe it is
something the Minister can take under consideration
at some point, is an additional clause which requires,
by way of this Act, a percentage of the surplus in any
one year, cash flows permitting, to be applied to the
Sinking Fund or reducing debt. I think that is the one
area that is not specified here, that if we are going to
have surpluses . . . and I appreciate the comments
from the Senator that s ay that they will look at surpluses and use them to apply to our debt. It would be
nice to have something in legislation which actually
sets that out, because I would hate to see us use our
surplus cash positions for anything other than reducing our debt, going forward.
Those are my comments. Thank you, Madam
President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jardine.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Kempe, you have the floor.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
And we talked about this a bit during the
Budget Debate. So, I will try not to go on for too long here. But, essentially, after we retire the notes this year, the Sinking Fund is going to be essentially
tapped out. And with there being little progress over
the next few years, contribution- wise, there are no firm
commitments of contribution to the Sinking Fund or to retire notes. There is an “up to a certain” percentage
of surplus. I do not know what the intentions are with that additional surplus, even if t he “up to” number is
maxed out.
Senator Campbell spoke to how it was i mportant not to borrow to save, and I understand that,
the logic and cost -effectiveness of avoiding the negative carry. But he mentioned that this was so that
Government could provide s timulatory policies and
that without them there could be weakness in the pr ivate sector.
Now, I would like to get some more information on what these stimulatory policies are, b ecause, certainly, the private sector is failing, or is not
feeling that love of these stimulatory policies. It seems
to be that removing the discipline of the Sinking Fund,
or the goal -setting of contributions to retire debt, is, in
large part, because the Government has reversed the trend of control of government spending. Governm ent
spending went up from the actuals in 2017/18 —and
we are talking about the Current Account of spending
here—from 2017/18 to 2018/19 fiscal years by $39
million. And that is on the actuals to the revised est imate in the Budget Book, for those who want to reference it.
So, it is all good and well to say that, you
know, we do not want to borrow to save. But it is Go vernment’s own actions that are forcing us into these
positions. If we remove the contribution to the Sinking
Fund in 2017/18, there was a mere $8 million, after
interest on debt, after capital expenditure, a mere $8
million gap to a balanced budget. And from 2017/18 to
2018/19, that gap, instead of being close to zero,
which was a very manageable number of $8 million,
got expanded to $38 million .
So, to say that we are doing this in the name
of fiscal prudence I think needs to be taken with a little bit of a grain of salt, because all we have seen is a
growth in government expenditure and a rise in taxes
to feed that animal. The private sector i s feeling it. The
business confidence dropped the first year this Gov-ernment has been in power. And it has fallen off an absolute cliff this year. Business confidence is at
63 per cent. And some might attest that this has
something to do with who runs busi nesses. But IB
[international business] which is generally political apolitical, has the lowest numbers, at 55 per cent, on
the index.
So, I think the sugar -coating around why this
is being done is somewhat misleading. Government
550 3 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate needs to focus more on controlling its spending, because there is only so much in taxes that the private
sector can bear. And we must keep our surpluses
there so that there is something to put towards the
Sinking Fund or retiring debt. I am not really wed to one instrument or the other. It depends on the type of
note that we are trying to retire.
So, I would prefer that Government controlled
its spending to the point where we have some surpluses, and we set some more firm language in this
Act where “ it shall be retired as debt, ” as opposed to a
very ephemerous “ may. ” Thank you, Madam Pres ident.

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

Sen. Jason Hayward: Madam President, I support
the amendments that the Minister of Finance is putting
forth because they make logical sense.
Negative carry is real. It makes absolutely no
sense where the cost of funds that we are borrowing
exceeds the income generated from the funds that we
borrow. To put it in layman’s terms, it is like taking
your credit card, walking to the ATM and getting a
cash advance on your credit card, at 19 per cent i nterest, and then putting that money in a savings ac-count at your bank and receiving lower interest. But
the money in your savings account then has to go to
paying your bills, including your credit card bill that
you just borrowed at 19 per cent.
It makes no sense. The Government has recognised it makes no sense. And so, this is logical.
There is no need to create a new narrative around this
particular story. The design of the fund was, when we have surpluses we put money aside for a rainy day.
But we are not running surpluses. So, what we are
doing is utilising debt to pay off debt. It makes no
sense.
And so, I appreci ate where the Senator was
trying to go regarding fiscal prudence of the Gover nment. But we have to realise that our community d emands services. In order for those services to be effectively provided to our community, we need the r esources to do so. It make s no sense when we have
government departments that are understaffed, under -
resourced, to try to get them to provide the level of services that the public actually demands.
And so, this is sensible, Madam President.
There is no need to change the narrativ e. It just
makes logical sense. Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Hayward.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
No? Then, Senator Campbell, do you have a
response? Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
I think Senator Hayward summarised things
quite well. So, there is no real need to say anything
else.
And with that, Madam President, I move that
the Bill entitled the Government Loans Amendment Act 2019 be now read a second time.

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

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

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

The President: Is there any objection to that mot ion?
No objections.
Carry on, Senator Campbell.

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I move that
the Bill entitled the Government Loans Amendment
Act 2019 be now read a third time.

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

BILL

THIRD READING

GOVERNMENT LOANS AMENDMENT ACT 2019
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I move that
the Bill do now pass.

The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent itled the Government Loans Amendment Act 2019 do
now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Bill is passed.

[Motion carried: The Government Loans Amendment
Act 2019 was given a third reading and passed.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
The President: We are moving now to the third item
on the Orders of the Day, and that is the second readBermuda Senate ing of the Electricity Amendment Act 2019. Whose Bill
[is it]? Sorry.
Senator Richardson, it is your Bill. You have
the floor.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Good morning, Madam
President.
The President: Good morning to you.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Fellow Senators, viewers
in the Gallery, which are numerous, and those in the
listening audience.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
the Electricity 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

ELECTRICITY AMENDMENT ACT 2019
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, before I start, I want to give
what I believe is the appropriate context for what is
being done today. And that is that electricity supply in
Bermuda is controlled by a single entity, and their actions have a significant impact on those individuals
and corporate entities. Accordingly, appropriate oversight is paramount. They are effectively a monopoly
granted by the Legislature. The amendment today
provides more detail for the existing role of the Regu-latory Authority [RA].
Now my formal comments , Madam President .
I am introducing the Bill entitled the
Electricity
Amendment Act 2019 to be read for a second time.
This Bill seeks to amend the Electricity Act 2016 (the Act) to expand the requirements for granting consent
to the transfer or assig nment of licences.
Madam President , in a Ministerial Statement
on the 7th of June 2019, the Minister of Home Affairs,
the Honourable Walter Roban, indicated that he was tabling this Bill to assure the proper regulation of the
electricity sector, particularly after the announcement was made that the Ascendant Group was for sale, the
parent company for BELCO.
Madam President , I must state that we have
every confidence that the Regulatory Authority will perform the due diligence required prior to making a
decision on whether to approve the transfer of any licence, under the leadership of the Chief Executive,
Mr. Denton Williams. In this regard, you will note that
a number of long- outstanding issues have either been completed or are currently out for public consultation.
These include the Integrated Resource Plan [IRP]; the
granting of new Integrated Communications Operating
Licences [ICOLs]; and Consumer Protection Standards and Open Internet Regulations.
However, Madam President , you will be
aware that certa in issues were previously delayed at
the RA. It follows then that in any organisation there should always be adequate checks and balances.
Madam President, it is important to remind Honour able Senators that section 6 of the Electricity Act 2016
defines the purposes of the Electricity Act 2016,
namely, “to seek —
“(a) to ensure the adequacy, safety, sustai nability and reliability of electricity supply
in Bermuda so that Bermuda continues
to be well positioned to compete in the international business and global tourism
markets;
“(b) to encourage electricity conservation and the efficient use of electricity;” (And those would be such things as how we use our
water heaters and incandescent lightbulbs.)
“(c) to promote the use of cleaner energy
sources and technol ogies, including alternative energy sources and renewable
energy sources;
“(d) to provide sectoral participants and endusers with non- discriminatory interconnection to transmission and distribution
systems;
“(e)” (which adds extra emphasis,) “to protect
the interests of end- users with respect to
prices and affordability, and the adequ acy, reliability and quality of electricity services;” (i.e., to make sure that the prices
are as reasonable as possible)
“(f) to promote economic efficiency and sustainability in the generation, transmission,
distribution and sale of electricity.”
Madam President , these are admirable purposes that also underscore the commitments made to
the people of Bermuda by this Government in the
2018 Speech to the Throne, including addressing high
energy costs and increasing the uptake of renew ables.
Madam President , I must also remind Ho nourable Senators that section 8(1) of the Act provides
the Minister with the authority to “issue Ministerial d irections to the Authority regarding any m atter within
his authority respecting the electricity sector.” And again, I emphasise the fact that it talks about electric ity, because BELCO [is] the primary provider.
Section 8(2) states that “Ministerial directions
shall be designed with due regard to t he purposes of
this Act.”
Madam President , the Minister of Home A ffairs, the Honourable Walter Roban, issued a Minist e552 3 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate rial direction to the RA on the 19th of March 2019, after
being informed by the Board of Ascendant Group Ltd.
that they intended to sell t he company. With your
permission, Madam President, I would like to highlight the following excerpts, which are important to this debate:
“Pursuant to section 15 of the Act, in dischar ging your functions, including the consideration of any change in ownership of any licensee under the Act or of any proposed concentration under section 87 of the
Regulatory Authority Act 2011, you must act in a
manner consistent with the purposes of the Act as set
out in section 6” (which I just read a few minutes ago.)
“As we have discussed, and as you would know from
statements made by the Government, the Gover nment is concerned with ensuring that the above purposes are met and that, in particular, where possible,
section 6(e) which speaks to the purposes of protec ting ‘the i nterests of end- users with respect to the pri ces and affordability and the adequacy, reliability and quality of electricity service’ is given the highest prior ity, provided there is no detriment to section 6(a) which
speaks to ‘adequacy, safety, sustainabi lity and reliabi lity of electricity supply in Bermuda.’” (And that generally speaks to the idea that we want to make sure costs are as low as possible but do not compromise
the quality and sustainability of the electricity supply.)
“I expect that while the Authority considers
whether to grant its consent to any transfer of ownership, as delineated in section 30 of the Act, deliber ations consistent with this direction will provide add itional layers of diligence, which we have discussed,
and will better safeguard the interests of the ratepa yers and further strengthen the application of the Act.
“Please note that this direction in no way o bviates any of the other regulatory processes established around the transfer of ownership of any lice nsee, but rather adds to the process.” Madam President , the Bill at hand amends section 30 of the Act.
The amendment provides that:
1. An Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) must be
approved under section 44(2) and published
under section 45 of the Act and that due r egard is had to t he IRP when the Authority
makes its decision whether or not to give con-sent.
I would like to highlight section 44(2) , which
states , “The Authority may approve the Integrated R esource Plan if, acting in accordance with the regulat ory principles and any adm inistrative determinations, it
considers that the final draft Integrated Resource Plan
is the best approach to meeting the purposes of the
Act and complying with Ministerial directions.”
2. The Amendment also r equires the Authority to
consult the Minister an d obtain his approval
before it consents to the transfer or assign-ment of the Transmission Distribution and R etail [TD&R ] Licence or a Bulk Generation Licence. 3. The Minister may refuse his approval, but only—and I emphasise that, but only —if he is
satisfied that the Authority’s intended consent
to the transfer or assignment is not in accor dance with Ministerial directions.
Madam President , it was argued in another
place that the independence of the Regulatory Authority would be compromised by this legislation, which is
not correct.
There is a limit to the Minister’s authority in
this Amendment, as a refusal of his approval pertains only to whether the transfer or assignment is in accordance with Ministerial directions. To explain, section 8(4) of the princip al Act states, “The Minister shall
not direct the Authority regarding—(a) the application
of general policies to specific matters before the A uthority; or (b) the specific rights or obligations of any
individual licensee or licensees in the electricity sec-tor.” And, Madam President, what that speaks to is
that the Minister does not have the authority to direct
what happens with the operations of the entity more
so from a policy direction.
Madam President, there is already a prec edent for Ministerial consent for a licence to be transferred by the Regulatory Authority, because the A uthority itself is responsible for telecoms and electricity. Section 18(6) of the Electronic Communications Act
2011 states that “An ICOL shall not be transferred or
assigned, and m ay be terminated by the Authority in
the event of any such transfer or assignment or if
there is a change of control over the licensed entity
unless the transfer, assignment or change of control is
authorised in advance, in writing, by the Authority ac ting with the written consent of the Minister.” So, this is
not new.
Madam President, after the Ministerial Stat ement on the 7
th of June, concerns were raised that the
sale of Ascendant Group Ltd. does not require a
trans feree licence because it is Ascendant Group Ltd.
being sold and not BELCO.
However, I would like to draw Senators’ attention to section 30(2), which states, “Transfer includes change in control of the licensee, where ‘control’ r efers to– (a) the power, whether held directly or indirec tly, to ex ercise decisive influence over a licence holder,
including by directing its management and policies,
whether through ownership of shares, stocks, or other
securities or voting rights, or through an agreement or
arrangement of any type, or otherwise; or (b) the
ownership of 25 percent or more of the shares,
stocks, or other securities or voting rights, including
through an agreement or arrangement of any type.”
And so, clearly, the sale, the proposed sale, of
the parent company does have an impact on BELCO as a subsidiary evidencing a change in control as i ntended by the Act.
The proposed sale of the Ascendant Group
Ltd. does reflect a change in the control of the lice nsee as described in section 30(2).


Bermuda Senate Madam President , I repeat my opening comments regarding the context of the amendment. It has
been repeatedly highlighted in previous statements
regarding this matter that the BELCO plant is a strat egic asset, which is used by all residents in Bermuda. It
is therefore critical to our social and economic well -
being. Therefore, it is the duty of this Government to
ensure that any proposed sale will promote economic efficiency and sustainability in order to reduce our r eliance on fossil fuels, increase the use of renewables and make electricity more affordable for all residents.
Madam President , I will now complete my
comments.

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITOR

The President: And before I open the floor, I would
just like to acknowledge the presence of Ms. Rozy
Azhar, the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs.
Welcome to you, Madam.

[Electricity Amendment Act 2019, second reading debate, continuing]

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

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. Good morning to my colleagues, and to yourself,
and to the listening audience.
In the most part, I believe that this is proper
due diligence, as we all agree that BELCO is a crucial
asset to the country and is definitely a monopoly in the
sense of an energy provider. I am especially happy to
see due diligence provided for the Integrated R esource Plan, as well, because I believe that this is
something that should have been in legislation beforehand.
And I a lso appreciate the brief by Senator
Richardson addressing the scepticism that we have
on this side regarding [clause 2, subsection] (6) of
section 30. And we will reserve our scepticism because we have seen these sorts of clauses injected
into Bills, where the independence of an Authority is
indeed jeopardised. However, since those points were
addressed in the brief, we can acknowledge that the
Government has at least heard our scepticism and
has attempted to answer that.
So, to be honest, this Bill seems to be tabled
in the interest of protecting Bermudians and cost eff iciency, as far as energy goes. So, well done. Thank
you.

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

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I want
to thank Senator Robinson for his comments. And I
will just add, briefly, in terms of there is an ongoing
process for there to be a published IRP for this int egrated resource planning. The idea is for Bermuda to
better understand how electricity is going to be pr ovided to us, going forward. And that is now part of this
process. And so, prior to any approval of the sale of
Ascendant, you would have to know, it would have to
be published now what t hat plan is. Because it has
been ongoing for quite a while. And Members may be aware that there have been several extensions to the previous deadlines throughout the past year.
And so, I concur with you, Senator Robinson,
that in terms of having this as a prerequisite to any
agreed sale, this will serve Bermuda well. We will bet-ter understand what is happening and therefore there
should be more sustainability around the future of
electricity supply in Bermuda.
Also, before I conclude Madam President, I
just want to emphasise again the fact that the Minister
can give directions and also would give final approval does not, in and of itself, compromise the independ-ence of the Regulatory Authority, who do have the
technical expertise. And the Act already provi des for
limitations to the degree that the Minister can do certain things. And so, I would offer that the independence is still there, and they would give good, sound
advice. And the Minister would have to almost justify
why he would not accept their advic e in that circumstance.
And so, with that, Madam President, I move
that the Bill entitled the Electricity Amendment Act
2019 be read a second time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objections.
Carry on, Senator Richardson.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam President.
I move that the Bill entitled the Electricity
Amendment Act 2019 be now read a third time.
The President: Is there any objection to the third
reading?
[Inaudible interjection]
The President: Standing Order 25 [sic] . . . Sorry.
The Clerk: Standing Order 26.

The President: Twenty -six.
554 3 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Sen. Anthony Richardson: Oh, sorry.

The President: Yes. You have it there?
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Yes. I request that —
The President: Yes. Sorry.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

Sen. Anthony Richardson: I request that Standing
Order 26 be suspended.

The President: Is there any objection to the suspe nsion of Standing Order 26?
No?
Carry on, Senator.

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended. ]
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you.
I now move that the Bill entitled the Electricity
Amendment Act 2019 be now read a third time.

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

BILL

THIRD READING

ELECTRICITY AMENDMENT ACT 2019

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

The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent itled the Electricity Amendment Act 2019 do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Bill is passed.

[Motion carried: The Electricity Amendment Act 2019
was given a third reading and passed.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you.
The President: We will now move on to the fourth
Order of the Day, and that is the second reading of the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation
Amendment Act 2019.
This is your Bill, as well, Senator Richardson.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Yes, Madam President.

The President: You have the floor. Carry on. Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation
Amendment Act 2019 be read a second time.

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

SEC OND READING

BERMUDA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION AMENDMENT ACT 2019

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam President.
Before I even start, I want to commend Ms.
Erica Smith, who is in charge of [BEDC]; Ms. Miriam
Rogers, from the Attorney General ’s Chambers; and
the Cabinet Secretary, Marc Telemaque, who assisted tremendously in making sure that I was prepared for
this debate.
Madam President, the
Bermuda Economic
Development Corporation Amendment Act 2019 , before the Senate today, seeks to amend the Bermuda Economic Development [Corporation] Act 1980 to
permit the BEDC [the Corporation] to form subsidiary
companies, or join in the incorporation of any company to further any public/private partnership in keeping
with the functions of the Corporation.
The Bermuda Economic Development Corporation [BEDC] is a provider of business management
advice and financial assistance to the local small and
medium -sized bu siness sectors in Bermuda.
The BEDC is currently responsible for overseeing the operations of the Economic Empowerment
Zones (the EEZs), for providing financial support and
technical advice to small and medium -sized busines ses, for managing the operations of outside vendor markets, and for managing vendors in issuing vending
licences.
Since the establishment of the 1980 Act, and
a partnership between the Bermuda Government and
the local banks, the BEDC has been, and continues to be, Bermuda’s premier sou rce of free confidential advice for entrepreneurs and business owners. BEDC’s
mission is to inspire, inform, support and grow new
and existing Bermuda businesses through education,
guidance, data provision, advocacy , networking and
financing.
The Corporation has a focal vision of helping
to create an expanded pool of inspired entrepreneurs
running successful businesses that fuel Bermuda’s
economy.
The BEDC’s remit has expanded significantly
over its lifespan. Originally conceived in 1980 as the Bermuda Small Business Development Corporation to
only have responsibility for the Island’s small bus inesses, in 2011 its responsibility grew to embrace the


Bermuda Senate Island’s medium -sized business sectors, the three
Economic Empowerment Zones, and to establish
market vendor sites. Then, in 2015, its remit was expanded again to have legislative oversight of all of the Island’s local pedlars and vendors.
Madam President, today we are here to mark
the continued evolution and expansion of BEDC with
this new amendment to its legislation. The amendment will allow the BEDC to enter into formal corporate arrangements in association with other persons
for the purpose of aiding those persons in the deve lopment of a new business, or a new undertaking.
The Corporation’s key ob jective remains to
assist the Government in encouraging economic growth for Bermuda’s local small and medium -sized
businesses. However, increasing numbers of entr epreneurs are seeking more than just investment capi-tal or loan guarantees in support of their endeavours.
As such, the BEDC is committed to developing a
range of creative business support services and pro ducts to meet the needs of 21
st century businesses.
To take advantage of the protections afforded
to incorporated entities, entrepreneurs often seek the
added assistance of the BEDC as more than a lender
or guarantor. Madam President, the BEDC currently
has, through section 5(2) of this Act, the power to borrow money, to lend money, to make grants or guara ntee loans, and to acquire, hold and dispose of personal and real property. The BEDC can also do anything
incidental to any of its powers.
Whilst the broad power currently contained in
section 5 of the BEDC’s Act may already lend itself to
create subsidiaries, it was recommended that out of
an abundance of caution the specific powers to create subsidiaries be included in the Act. The proposed
amendments would also allow the BEDC the specific
power to engage in the incorporation of entities in
support of public/private partnerships. In addition, as
part of the incorporated entity, the BEDC would have
the opportunity to exercise greater oversight in su pport of the businesses supported through its existing
powers. The amendments will only focus on local
companies, or LLCs, this with the goal of specifically
assisting in the development of new businesses or
ventures.
Ministerial approval will be required for the
formation and divestment of any company through this
provision, and the BEDC will divest itself of its shares in a local company, or resign its membership in a local
LLC, as soon as it has fulfilled its purpose.
Madam President, with this legislative
amendment, the Government desires to continue to create an environment where entrepreneurs can be nefit from economies of scale through the creation of
shared assets. This also includes shared infrastructure. The ability for the BEDC to create subsidiary
companies based on a public/private partnership model will progress this concept of shared assets for
entrepreneurs. We currently see the beginnings of this concept with the BEDC’s incubators, shared spaces,
shared resources and shared supports.
The BEDC has the resources and structures
to partner with entrepreneurs to more easily bring their
ideas to market, stay in partnership beyond those cri tical start -up years of the first three to five years, and
then exit the company once it is solidified. These par tnerships are even more critical if the company oper-ates i n an industry that the Government is desirous of
growing. It is anticipated that the implementation of this new legislation can be managed from within the BEDC’s existing resources and funded from within the
BEDC’s existing budgets.
In closing, Madam Pres ident, a key national
objective continues to be entrepreneurship. Berm uda’s local small and medium -sized businesses are the
lifeblood of our Island’s economy. As such, the Go vernment of Bermuda intends, through this legislative amendment, to broaden its reach to foster local ec onomic development activity. Without question, the
Government is serious about encouraging a viable and reputable local entrepreneurial environment with
the BEDC providing tangible support and advice. To
this end, this Government will continue to ensure that
local economic development is a priority by putting
businesses and entrepreneurs first and creating
sound, progressive policies for their success.
In a word, Madam President, this amendment
allows the BEDC to have more tools in it s toolbox to
assist local entrepreneurs. And, Madam President,
with these remarks, I now invite fellow Senators to
participate. Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITORS
The President: And before I do that, I would just like
to acknowledge in the Gallery the presence of Ms.
Erica Smith, Director of the BEDC, as well as the Parliamentary Counsel, Miriam Rogers.
Welcome to you both, ladies.

[Bermuda Economic Development Corporation
Amendment A ct 2019, second reading debate ,
continuing]
The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Senator Kempe, you have the floor.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I am glad the Bill was amended before it came
to us, because there was a section which said that the
CEO “shall” be appointed. That had caused me some
concern when I saw the Bill as originally tabled. What
556 3 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate I would like to speak to, now that it is [changed to]
“may,” and I understand the importance of being able
to app oint a director when you are a significant investor in the company, but I have some questions that I am hoping Senator Richardson can answer for me as to, Will these directors be appointed from within me mbers of the board, within members of BEDC staff? Wil l
they be third- party nonexecutive directors?
How are we going to rate their expertise? Will
they be compensated? How much time will be spent on these various boards? And how will their potential liability as directors be protected? Obviously, if you
are a director of BEDC directly, there are protections
within the 1980 Act. But there is nothing in this
amendment which speaks to potential liabilities as the director of a third- party start -up that the BEDC is i nvesting in.
I note that clause 5 of the amend ment seeks
to insert or somehow . . . I guess because it is not a
subservient section, it is like a whole new block that is just inserted in complete independence from the rest of it just because it is under the powers of the Corporation to grant. So, I wo uld like to refer to section 13 of
the original Act to give some context to my comments.
In section 13 of the original Act, there are a
considerable number of restrictions as it relates to the
powers to lend and grant money. There are caps on the total am ount that can be lent or granted. And no
one business shall be benefited with more than $200,000, or cap that at 15 per cent of the capital of
the Corporation, whichever is greater. There appear to
be no such restrictions on share equity the Corpor ation ta kes with this new amendment that is before us.
There are restrictions that money lent or
granted must be for businesses that are created for
profit —i.e., we are trying to actually create businesses
as opposed to a donation to charity or some other v ehicle which would be more appropriate through a di fferent vehicle other than the Bermuda Economic D evelopment Corporation.
Section 13(7)(a) of the original Act speaks to,
money shall not be given to a person by way of grant
or loan “to a person not resident in Bermuda.” [Clause
5 of the Bill, which inserts section] 13A that is being
debated today has no such restriction. So, we could
be buying minority shares, or majority shares even, where the other 40 per cent is not even a Bermudian.
Then there is also the restriction “as to assist
a business not being carried on within Bermuda . . .,”
when granting or loaning. There appears to be no
such restriction in the [clause 5 of the Bill, which i nserts section] 13A insertion that we are debating t oday.
Part V of the original Act talks about “Exam ination as to application of money lent or grants
made.” And there are all sorts of powers that the Board has to review and see that the grants and loans
have been done in an appropriate fashion. There appears to be no language in the amendment we are debating today that extends those powers of examination to the Board for purchases of share equity.
Section 16 of the original Act speaks to “Mi sapplication of grants and loans.” And again, there is
no such language in this new amendment to provide such powers to the Board when the Corporation e nters into share purchasing vehicles.
And when we speak to . . . and again, this is
what I alluded to earlier, Madam President. Section 25
of the original Act speaks to the “Protection of directors” of the BEDC. And it says, “[(1)] No action or suit,
prosecution or other proceeding shall be instituted
against any director personally in respect of any act or
omission bona fide done or made by him in execution
or intended execution of any function of the Corpor ation under this Act.”
Obviously, if you are sitting on a board of
these third- party subsidiaries or investment vehicles,
the protections of the 1980 Act will not be extended,
and there is no language in this amendment to extend
those protections.
So, I am a little confused as to the exact purpose of this. I understand the need to find other vehi-cles to fund and start -up small businesses in Berm uda. I understand that there are some serious challenges in the banking sector to get this debt equity,
essentially, for . . . or loans for start -up businesses
that do not have a proven revenue stream, or have
very limited collateral. And I understand that small
businesses provide a much more stringent or disadvantaged risk profile for the bank’s balance sheet.
One of the things that I know the BEDC has
struggled with historically with small businesses is the
understanding of the difference between equity and a
loan. Certainly, there will need to be a bit of an educ ation process so that people are less fearful, or more
understanding of what it means to have an equity p osition taken in your start -up, that you are going to do
all the work and, obviously, if the company grows ten-fold and it is purchased back, that buy -back will be
perhaps tenfold more than what was put in. Whereas,
obviously, if the company fails, as many risk -takers
unfortunately do in the first three years of start -up, that
money will not come back to the BEDC. So I can see
how there is a way, somewhat like venture capital, to spread the risk and hopefully you pick a few big wi nners and get back that contribution.
But it is also not clear, under this Act, when
you look at . . . (My apologies, where is that section?)
Anyhow, when the shares are repurchased, there is . . . and I under stand so as to not be fully bound. But
where the . . . sorry. In [clause] 5 of the amendment,
which will insert [section] 13A(4), it speaks to divest iture of the shares. And this is where I believe there is really going to be a need of a sense of education with
a lot of first -time business owners’ start -ups, about
what it means to have an equity position taken in your business that you are creating. Because, again, like I
said, if you are successful —and the hope of these


Bermuda Senate sorts of tools is that the company [ will be] be succes sful—that growth will, I’m assuming, be purchased
back at the new market rate which would far exceed
what interest would be if that type of lending was
available.
So, I guess the bulk of my concerns come
down to, this seems to be a . . . it is a new way of offering financing to small business, but it seems shoe-horned into the Act and completely avoids itself of
many of the good governance restrictions that relate
to loans and grants that run throughout the rest of the original Act. Thank y ou, Madam President.

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.
Madam President, I appreciate the comments
from the Junior Minister. They did answer a number of
questions that I had. I just wanted to follow up on a
few points. The first was, will the BEDC have an a nnual, sort of, budget limit for this type of investment?
In other words, will they say, We are only going to allow “X” number of thousands of dollars to be used for
(let’s say) the purchase of shares for an equity interest, or the number of start -ups? I just wondered if
there was any thought of a limit.
The other question, the Junior Minister did
answer in part, and I was more concerned about . . .
because of the change, it appeared in allowing equity
investments, would the BEDC not require more experienced personnel on board in order to . . . if they did
act as directors, or they were giving advice on an equity loan basis, would they not need more . . . or
should I say, different experience available to carry
out and monitor these types of business?
I recognise that the Junior Minister said that
they should be able to manage with the staff levels
they have. But my concern is we are moving into, perhaps, a somewhat different realm here where the BEDC is taking . . . or could take an equity interest in
the business. And I am just wondering if they may r equire different experienced staff in order to carry out
their responsibilities there.
And the final point was, again, the Junior Mi nister indicated that they should be able to manage with their existing budget. And I believe, and I had to
look at the Blue B ook, the Consolidated Fund pays
out some $2.6 million every year to the BEDC. And I
just was, again, concerned about whether they are
going to be able to manage for the rest of this fiscal
year, or what is left of it, until March 31
st of next year,
with th e existing budget. Or, will they need additional
funds in order to be used for the expansion in terms of what they are going to be offering entrepreneurs. Those are my questions and comments.
Thank you, Madam President.

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

Sen. Jason Hayward: Madam President, I am actually excited about the changes that will take place at
BEDC once this Bill is approved.
I recognise that persons have questions and
concerns regarding the business structure and how
the functionality of this new initiative will become effective. But I do not think we should take our eye off
the prize.
As you travel the world, most local gover nments have some sort of business development
agency. These business development agencies engage in a number of services similar to what we are
proposing today. No, they are not focused on, you
know, service providing and retail establishments and things of that nature. B ut there is a suite of businesses
that they get involved in— innovation hubs, incubators
and accelerators —that actually service their local
communities. And that is what we are actually focusing on. How do we create sustainable economic development and economic growth? And this is what this Bill aims to do: create new ventures that strategically
help with attaining sustainable economic growth and
development model.
We recognise that it is very difficult for start -up
companies to be successful in Bermuda. There are a
number of barriers to entry. But what we are actually
trying to do today simply aims at improving the performance of small and medium enterprises, nurturing
talent and entrepreneur skills, and the entrepreneurial
whole spirit, to make sure that we support those individuals with the resources they need to thrive in our
community.
The model that we have been utilising all this
time is not working. [It] can be enhanced, and that is what we are seeking to do—enhance the model.
When I hear about the possibility of BEDC creating a
business incubator, when I was touring the US on a Workforce Development tour, a critical component of
Workforce Development was the creation of entrepr eneurs. A critical component of successful entrepr eneurship was the individuals, the ones in local com-munities that were successful, many of them emanated from some sort of incubator, where they were able to leverage the resources they need as a collective to
be successful in their infancy stages.
And so it is important that we recognise that
there is great opportunity that can come from ventures that the BEDC can partner with entrepreneurs in the
community. What it is ultimately doing is giving BEDC greater leverage to cultivate the entrepreneurial ec osystem, a valid entrepreneurial ecosystem. Because
558 3 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate right now the BEDC provides service and advice, but
now it kind of gives them the opportunity to provide a
greater amount of resources to small business ow ners.
The amendment, the Bill, what we see in front
of us today is nothing new. It is new to Bermuda, but it
is not new worldwide. This is what economic deve lopment agencies do across the globe. This is the
model that they are moving to. We cannot simply say
we want more small businesses; we want more entr epreneurs without providi ng them the necessary su pport. The BEDC will leverage its resources to create partnerships that ultimately benefit this community. If
we have more successful small businesses, we have
more jobs. More successful small businesses then lead to more medium -sized businesses and greater
employment opportunities, a greater spread or variety of goods and services in our country.
We have a number of persons who provide
awesome services, but they are limited to being ve ndors because they do not have the capacity whic h is
required. I know for a number of years I only bought
my ties from a vendor who put out on a social media
site that they have ties and that they would come to
your house and you get to pick the ties out of a bag.
But this person had enough demand for t ies where if
they had the proper support system, they would have
been able to start their own retail business providing
men’s accessories.
And I would have liked to have seen that person’s business flourish into some type of retail esta blishment that I could have walked into and patronise.
But it is about time, and know -how, and resources.
And now there is an opportunity where if that person
was at my doorstep now I could say, Hey, go talk to
BEDC and see if there is some partnership or see if there are ot her small businesses that you can leverage your resources and you can all share a facility.
We are talking about innovation in our community. Technology hubs are going to be the thing of
the future. We have our kids at Bermuda College developing apps. We have a government app that was
developed by Bermuda College kids. Upon graduating
Bermuda College, wouldn’t it nice if they can begin
their own app or technology business that is suppor ted by BEDC? And this now gives BEDC the opportunity to have those crit ical conversations that we
need to progress the interest of those who want to
add value to our community. And so what I ultimately
see is this creating value for our community. This will
ultimately . . . hopefully it is a catalyst to greater ec onomic growt h and development and job creation, and
hopefully the resources provided to individuals so that
persons can have sustainable business models.
And so, Madam President, I recognise that
. . . I guess the word “scepticism” was used earlier
regarding BEDC’s i nvolvement into business. But I
would just say that BEDC is evolving into what many other economic development agencies are already doing around the world. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Hayward.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Senator Jones, you have the floor.
Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
I would like to weigh in on this particular debate. First and foremost, having worked myself within
the Economic Empowerment Zone [EEZ] and havi ng
the pleasure of seeing many small businesses rise
from being fledgling vendors in certain areas around
the Island, to actually becoming established bus inesses, I was always cognisant of the fact that the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation, the
small business agency at the time, was limited in its
toolbox of tools that could assist and support these
small businesses, and now they have also brought
under their umbrella the mid- sized businesses as well.
So, I do appreciate this particular legislation. In fact, I
am very happy about this legislation as well because
any way that this Government can provide support to
these businesses, and we know the world over that
especially in times of downturns in the economy, it is
the small businesses that appear t o be the engine that
keeps the economy going because many of the big-sized companies, they look more to cutting with more deeper cuts than do the smaller businesses.
So, let me just reiterate and underscore the
Opposition’s side’s support of the direction and the spirit of this Bill. But I believe that the questions that were emanating from my colleague, Senator Kempe,
his concerns, which are shared by myself, are that we
need to ensure that there are measures in place to
beef up and provide checks and balances so that this
initiative can be successful. We want the proper frameworks, the proper checks and balances in place
so that this initiative will have every advantage of b eing successful.
We also recognise that one of the number -
one challenges for businesses, both small and large, is capital. Bermuda does not have a central banking
system whereby the supply of money within an economy can be controlled, can be made available. And so, the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation
has to be creative in findi ng ways to get added capital
to these companies.
So with that in mind, I really do not want our
fellow colleagues, or the listening audience, to think in
any way that we are negative or discouraging this in itiative, because we are thoroughly behind it. But we
do want to reiterate the need that we do all we can to
firm up this initiative. The spirit in which this legislation
has been rolled out is positive. I think it is encoura ging. But we also note that there is a certain amount of speculative- ness that i s a part of this initiative, so we
just [want to] make sure that everything is in place to


Bermuda Senate make sure it is successful. Thank you, Madam Pres ident.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jones.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Senator Caesar, you have the floor.
Sen. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam President.
I, obviously, support this Bill and find it to be
very timely and also in keeping with the Government’s
mandate to support local entrepreneurship in Berm uda.
Having been the former Junior Senator of that
particular area, I can definitely say that the staff and employees in the Bermuda Economic Development
Corporation are very eager, also very inspiring, and
also looking constantly for innovative ways to assist
our entrepreneur s. And I think that if people watch that
space, they can understand and see that they do a lot
for our entrepreneurs and try to assist those with that entrepreneurial spirit in Bermuda.
If I could, Madam President, I would like to
quote from the National Business Incubation Associ ation [NBIA].

The President: You certainly may.
Sen. Crystal Caesar: Thank you.
Just on how they support entrepreneurship.
They state that, “The business incubator programmes
that are used are useful in ensuring that entrepr eneurs have the ability to translate their ideas into sustainable and highly successful and functioning bus iness investments by guiding them through the start -up
period and throughout the growing and development
stages.”
I think that is key. Oftentimes we hear there is
some sort of assistance to start your business, to come up with a business plan, et cetera, and then certain places will send you off and that is it. But oftentimes entrepreneurs, once they have begun, need
consistent guidance so that they can be sustainable
and profitable. I am sure we all know people who have
started businesses in the past, they did a great job,
and then, for whatever reason, we do not see them any longer.
So I feel that this Bill is only going to enhance
and assist entrepre neurs, which, again, this Gover nment has agreed to . . . not agreed to, sorry, I cannot
think of the word right now. But this Government has indicated that they want to support entrepreneurial businesses, so this Bill I think is very timely and I am
happy to support it.
The President: Thank you, Senator Caesar.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Campbell, you have the floor.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, too often we sit here and
we talk about antiquated legislation. Here, today, we
are talking about an entity . . . from the Senator’s brief,
he advised us that the BEDC has continued to evolve
from its conception in 1980 right through until today.
And today we find ourselves here discussing a Bill to
contin ue that evolution and expansion of the BEDC.
So it is refreshing that we are not talking about som ething that was put in place in law, you know, in 1953—
just picking a date out of the hat.

[Laughter and inaudible interjections ]

Sen. Vance Campbell: Yours, maybe.
[Laughter]

Sen. Vance Campbell: It is also no secret that this
Government looks to support entrepreneurs.
And when we look around the world, Madam
President, the old model of the retail giants, you know,
where they have that corner store wit h multiple levels,
occupying tens of thousands of square feet, that perhaps is a thing that is going the route of the dinosaurs.
So what you have is . . . and we have heard from a
number of Senators here today, talking about the local
small businesses and the medium -sized businesses
being the lifeblood of the Island’s economy. But they
are also more nimble. They have the ability to be
more nimble and able to react to changes in the market [more so] than those retail giants that I just spoke
about. So, that is the advantage of us supporting them
as well. They are more in tune, at times, you can say,
with their market and the changing demands from that
market.
But I support this as we conti nue the evolution
of the BEDC and support them in their commitment to
being creative and meeting the 21
st century needs.
And this has the potential to turn the unemployed into the self -employed. It has the potential to turn the employee into the employer. It has the potential to
change the economic trajectory of individuals in fam ilies, Madam President. And if we do that, we also r educe the reliance on the government’s support ser-vices, such as Financial Assistance. So, with those
comments, Madam President, I support this.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
No?
Senator Richardson, it is over to you.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam President, and all Senators who have spoken.
Madam President, I guess in my own way I
am excited. I have heard all the comments around the
table. And when I was first given the brief I also had
some concerns in terms of, okay, what does this
560 3 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate mean? That is why I said I give tremendous accolades
to Ms. Smith and the rest who assisted in preparing
the brief because I had to ask questions and I have
come to the reality that this is a good thing.
And I would, if you would permit, I would
characterise Senator Kempe’s comments in terms of being concerned about governance, How would the
governance be wrapped around this? And for Senator
Jardine, I guess a little bit more practical in terms of
how will this actually work its way through? And if you
will allow me, Madam President, I would give a few more comments.

The President: Absolutely, Senator Richardson.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: And [these comments]
are in answering the questions that have been
[asked].
But in terms of what is a small business versus a medium -sized business? It actually incorporates
businesses that have gross sales of [less than] $1 million or a payroll of less than $500,000; that would
be a small business. And then for the medium size,
you have gross revenue between $1 million and $5
million. And so that is, in my mind, kind of big for a
Bermuda- based bus iness. And so it speaks to the
mandate of the BEDC to assist many businesses in
Bermuda.
And then to move on in terms of there was a
general comment about (and I am paraphrasing),
Does the BEDC have sufficient staff with the appr opriate technical and management ability, plus Board
members, to do this?
And I would say that the answer is yes.
Senator Caesar says she was a former Junior
Minister for this. Senator Kempe, I believe, formerly
served on the BEDC Board. I served on the BEDC
Board. And [from] the meetings and [from my] interaction [with] the staff, yes, [I would say] the staff is able
to carry out these functions. And I want to underscore
the fact that they are not going to perform these tasks
in a vacuum. They perform the tasks under [the] normal governance model, in terms of reporting to the
Board. And the Board would obviously have a pretty
good oversight in this whole process.
In terms of detail, I am not going to suddenly
say, Okay, fine. It is not open to everybody. Based
upon being practic al, the BEDC will determine how
they are going to start to implement this to ensure that
we do not have this significant and sudden change in
what they have to do. So, Senator Jardine, yes, they should be able to manage it within their existing . . .

[Inaudible interjections]

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Sorry, Madam President.
Sorry. Madam President, they will be able to identify
which staff are able to participate and then which
Board members.
And to answer Senator Kempe’s comments
about, Will there be t hird-party presence involved?
That will be a different conversation because clearly
you cannot . . . the BEDC will not be able to be able to
just call up somebody from “the street”
(quote/unquote) to come and do this process. They
will have to be within the framework of the BEDC.
That should be fine.
Beyond from a governance point of view, r emember, there is even Ministerial involvement in
terms of the formal process of the BEDC either for ming a company on its own or in partnership with ot hers. And so, from a governance point of view, you
have, obviously, the staff. You have the general direc-tor, the Director, Ms. Smith, herself. You have the
Board. You have the Minister, and all those things in
between. So I do not think there will be any significant
issue s from that perspective.
[It was asked] a few minutes ago, generally
speaking, How will the BEDC roll this out? There will an initial focus in terms of EEZ innovation hubs, virtual
markets, small scale vertical farms, incubator accelerators, and the rest of it, to build it up so that it can be
sustained, as I said a few minutes ago.
There was a comment also in terms of, I
guess a general comment now, in terms of, Will these
businesses understand the idea of debt versus equity
as they get going? I would s uggest that that would be
dependent on which BEDC staff member or Board
member is involved, because that is part of the pr ocess.
And so, Madam President, if you come and
say, I want to start a small business. There is a signi ficant process that you would go through to ensure,
from the BEDC perspective, that you understand what it is. If you do find yourself in the position where you start a small business that then thrives, and the BEDC
wants to then divest itself, there are two options. One
would be that you then can buy out the BEDC pos ition, or it can be offered otherwise. And so there
would not be an unnecessary burden on you as the
company to have to pay for the divestment. So the BEDC, I think, and the company itself would work that
through. So it sho uld not be a concern in that sense.
There was also a comment in terms of potentially the BEDC getting involved in a . . . either a nonBermudian entity or a majority non- Bermudian owned
entity. And, again, I would defer to the idea that it was
based upon governance, and the Board would ult imately give direction as to whether or not any indivi dual proposed activity would be approved or not, and then by doing so we defer to the expertise that is on
the actual Board, and then we can move forward.
And so, in summary, Madam President, I
would like to offer the fact that —



Bermuda Senate Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Point of clarification, Madam
President.

The President: Will you accept a point of clarific ation?
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Sure.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Thank you, Senator Richar dson.
I guess I just had two questions that I had
asked that I do not believe you answered in your summary. I was hopeful I could get some clarity.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Mm-hmm.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: One was as it rel ates to the
liability of BEDC Board members or staff serving as
directors on these new companies. They have protec-tions under the 1980 Act, but I do not believe you described any mechanisms by which they would be pr otected under this new venture. Is it Dir ectors and O fficers Insurance, who is paying for that, and that kind of thing?
And the other thing comes down to the divestiture of the BEDC’s monies. You mentioned that it
could be a share buy -back by the entrepreneur or offered on the open market, but t here is no value for
money stipulation in the amendment we are debating. So, in theory, someone could be given $500,000 in
start-up capital, and then divested for a dollar. So
there are no parameters around how that taxpayer
value for money will be protect ed.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Thank you, Madam President.
I think the comments in terms of liability i ssues for those who would serve on those entities and
divestiture, it does go back , in my mind, to gover nance in terms of the Board would be in place t o ove rsee whatever is taking place. So, Ms. Smith, for example, as the Executive Director, would be the first
line, and then the Board. So, the idea of liability issues
would be addressed before this is rolled out, and then divestiture issues would again b e a similar idea, b ecause, clearly, Ms. Smith would not want to be seen
to do these things that are not appropriate, and neither would the Board.
And I would emphasise again that some of us
around the table have served on the BEDC Board and we see how it actually operates and so I believe those
things will be taken care of.
And so I thank all Senators for their comments. And I think I said it just now, but I will say it
again, I believe that what is taking place is the BEDC
is taking a lead in what other financial institutions
should have done, or could have done otherwise, even including the banks, for example, to provide this
sense of opportunity whereby if the banks, for exa mple, make (I don’t know) say, 10 investments, they
would win some and lose som e, but overall, win
some. And certainly we all know that the small bus inesses and the medium size businesses do actually add extra energy and drive to the economy.
We could imagine what will happen now if
there are numerous small businesses which are able
to thrive based upon this additional tool in the toolbox
of the BEDC. And I emphasise the fact that this is not just a one- off, in isolation, there are many other opportunities provided by the BEDC to ensure that persons
have the appropriate expertise and exposure to trai ning to allow them to manage these things effectively.
And so with that, Madam President, I will conclude my comments.

The President: Do you want to do your second reading now?

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Sure.
Madam President, I now move that the Bill entitled the Bermuda Economic Development Corpor ation Amendment Act 2019 be now read a second time.

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

[Motion carried: The Bermuda Economic D evelopment
Corporation Amendment Act 2019 was given a second reading.]

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

BERMUDA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
CORPORATION AMENDMENT ACT 2019
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I
move that the Bill entitled the Bermuda Economic D evelopment Corporation Amendment Act 2019 be now
read a third time.

562 3 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

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

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

The President: It has been moved that the Bill ent itled the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation
Amendment Act 2019 do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
The Bill has passed.

[Motion carried: The Bermuda Economic Development
Corporation Amendment Act 2019 was given a third
reading and passed.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson, and
all the Senators who have participated in this debate.
We will move now to item number 14.

MOTIONS

The President: There are none.

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR
OBITUARY SPEECHES

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

Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
I would like to go back to a congratula tory
speech which was made last week when . . . I have
forgotten which Senator began it, but we all joined in
the congratulations to Bermuda National Football
Team.
The President: Mm-hmm.
Sen. Michelle Simmons: I promised that I would
bring the names of each of the members of that very
successful football team to the Senate today. And I
would just like to say once again how proud we are of
every single member of the team, and the coaches, and, indeed, the Bermuda Football Association which
has been building over the years so that we could see
this huge success.
So the names of the members of team —the
history -making team —included, if I may read them all,
Madam President?

The President: Absolutely, you can.
Sen. Michelle Simmons: Nahki Wells, Dante
Leverock, Jont é Smith, Reggie Lambe, Dale Eve, Oliver Jalen Harvey , Calon Minors, Roger Lee, Kacy Milan Butterfield, Jaylon Bather, Lejuan Simmons, Donte
Brangman, Chikosi Basden, Zeiko Lewis, Willie
Clemons, Jahquil Hill, Osagi Bascome, Cecoy Robi nson, Justin Donawa, Wendell Tre Ming, Liam Evans,
Marco Warren, and Quinaceo Hunt .
I apologise if I have mispronounced any
names, but those are the young men of whom we
should all be extremely proud.

[Desk thumping]
The President: And we all are, and you hear [that]
from the other Senators.
Carry on.
Sen. Michelle Simmons: I just want to go to our public high school graduates and the graduation cerem onies that both took place last week: The Berkeley I nstitute on Thursday and CedarBridge Academy on
Friday.
I am going to start with CedarBridge Acad emy’s graduation. First of all, congratulations to their Acting Principal, Mr. Kenneth Caesar, who spoke of
how delighted he was to participate in the ceremony when 94 graduates were honoured. And I dare say
the graduating class was extremely diverse in terms of
the aspirations of the students. Mr. Caesar said that
23 of his graduates would be immediately going to
colleges and universities overseas. He also noted that
41 were going on to Bermuda College. So altogether, that is 64 students from that graduating class who will
be pursuing tertiary level education, either overseas or
right here in Bermuda, taking advantage of, hopefully,
scholarship opportunities, bot h overseas and here,
because there are many, many . . . and I would just
encourage students to go after those scholarships and
awards.
I would like to single out one of the CedarBridge graduates, well, three of them. First of all, Mr. Kace Wales. [He is] 15 years old. Yes, you heard cor-rectly. He is only 15. And he completed his education
at CedarBridge in three years, instead of the usual
four. He also earned a scholarship, a very prized scholarship, to United World College in India. I am not
sure how many scholarships were given out this year
by the United World College Committee, but normally
there are only one or two. So, Kace is a very special young man and I am sure all of us would like to congratulate him and wish him well in his studies.
And finally , with regard to the CedarBridge
graduation, there were two valedictorians. I do not know how often that happens, but I suspect that the
staff of the school had a hard time deciding on just
one. So congratulations are in order to Ethan Fubler
and Shani Dar rell who spoke of their years at the
school and were very encouraging to their classmates


Bermuda Senate and, hopefully, all of them will go on and enjoy huge
success. So congratulations to all the graduates of
CedarBridge Academy.
And then there is the Berkeley Institute. I
would like to congratulate Principal Keisha Douglas who announced that the graduating class was made
up of 135, and she calls them “outstanding students.”
There were 38 students from the class who will be
attending colleges and universities in the UK and the
US and Canada, as well as 57 graduates who will be studying at Bermuda College in the fall. So, altoget her, that is 95 graduates from Berkeley who will be going on to tertiary level education immediately.
Then we have the great privilege today of
congratulating Jordyn Richardson, who is the daughter of two people who are in this room today. Our own
Senator Richardson, and in the Gallery . . . oh, in the
Gallery a minute ago we had Mrs. Richardson. So this is an unexpected pleasure. We were going to congratulate Jordyn anyway, who was the valedictorian,
but now we can actually say congratulations to her parents because we know without them she would not
be where she is today, about to go off and study overseas. And I know her goal is to become a ps ychiatrist
in due course. She is a graduate of Bermuda College
already, and also of the Berkeley Institute, since she
was in the dual enrolment programme.

The President: Mm-hmm.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: And, finally, from that graduation ceremony I just have to congratulate the
speaker, Gherdai Hassell. I heard her speech and I thought it was first -class. It was excellent. She talked
about her own educational journey. And remembering
her from my time at Berkeley, she has just pursued
her dream, her real dr eam, not without taking some
detours. But it is so wonderful to see how accomplished she is as an artist, and also to note that the
government has included some of her artwork in . . . I
am not sure which building, but in at least one government building.
So on that note, I will stop, except I would like
to encourage our young people who have had these
successes to go on. Be hungry for more. And if it
means having to spend time filling out application forms, applying for scholarships, applying for burs aries, applying for loans, do whatever it takes to get to
where you want to be in the end. Keep the end in view.

The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Si mmons.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Jones, you have the floor.
Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
I would surely want to associate myself with
the comments made by my colleague, Senator Si m-mons. We are always excited and proud of our young people when they reach for the stars and they [make]
their best efforts and th ey get the results which r ewards them for those efforts.
I am going to continue on the sporting vein, as
we did last week, and extend congratulations to our
national swim team that participated in the Central
American and Caribbean Championships in Bridg etown, Barbados. I was happy to hear that they were
able to attain 29 medals: 6 gold; 16 silver; and 7
bronze. They are to be applauded along with the N ational Coach, being Ben Smith, a colleague of ours in
another place, as a Member of Parliament. They hav e
done really well. They have done us proud and we
wish them all the best in their future endeavours.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jones. I am sure
we all agree with your sentiments that have been ex-pressed by both of you today.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Caesar, it is over to you, since the
other . . .

Sen. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam President.
I also wanted to extend congratulations as I
recently was online and saw something very special
which I think we oftentimes forget to send congratul ations to people while they are with us and
acknowledge their contributions.
A former PLP MP and former Speaker of the
House, the Honourable Randy Horton, has been r ecently featured in a book that was publ ished in North
America entitled Black Pioneers of the North Amer ican Soccer League [1968 –84]. I think that is quite an
accomplishment —

The President: Mm-hmm.
Sen. Crystal Caesar: —and needs recognition and
congratulations to him.
And if I could just quote from the article and
the book, which states: “Pele and Eusebio couldn’t
have done it by themselves; there were the other
black pioneers, some of whom predated Pele, who played major roles in making the NASL a great
league. ” And our Honourable Randy Horton is named,
specifically. “W ho played for the New York Cosmos
and led the team to its first NASL title.”
In addition, the book also features him on the
cover, which I think is great as well, not just inside, but
on the cover. And the book also mentions his fellow
Bermudian football legend, Mr. Clyde Best. So I wanted to say congratulations to both gentlemen for being
mentioned, and for their accomplishments, during
those years. So I am sure everyone wants to be ass ociated with that.

The President: We certainly do, yes.
564 3 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Sen. Crystal Caesar: So, I just want to say congrat ulations.

The President: And we certainly . . . the entire Se nate body joins you in those comments. And thanks for
relaying it to us.
Would any other Senator care . . . ?
Senator R obinson, you have the floor.

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you.
I was recently online and I came across a r eally nice video of goalkeeper, Dale Eve, signing the
gloves of a young lady who is an aspiring goalkeeper as well. I just wanted to extend my congratulations to
him because a lot of times we find our young people aspiring to be “outside.” Or looking up to, you know,
folks who are doing things overseas. And it is really nice for me to see that we now are embracing local
and homegrown heroes, and for him to be taking time
out of his success to pass it on to somebody who may
be coming after him, for me, was really touching.
I have a little brother who looks up to Stephen
Curry and stuff, you know, and I can now say, Why don’t you go and . . . why don’t you go and look at Mr.
Dale Eve, or anyone of these amazing footballers, and swimmers, and basketball players that we have co ming up in Bermuda? So I would like to congratulate Mr.
Dale Eve on that. And those are all my comments.
Thank you.

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

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I am
smiling because these are wonderful times. It is nice to hear all these wonderful comments around the t able this morning.
Without going too far back, I too attended both
the CedarBridge Academy graduation and the Berk eley [graduation] and I was touched because during each ceremony there were many (I want to say many)
wet eyes. I say that because at each ceremony there was at least one student who spoke about how their
teacher, or principal, or some adult person helped
them to achieve what they were achieving that day.
And certainly, I recall, in particular, there was
a lengthy description or credit or tribute to Mr.
Paynter, who is the S4 principal at Berkeley, whereby
a student had many, many issues (as f ar as I can recall), to the extent whereby they were going to be expelled, they were going to leave out and whatever. And Mr. Paynter, through his caring, his dedication
and his personal attention caused the person to act ually turn themselves around and ul timately graduate
last week Thursday. So I want to commend Deputy
Principal, Quincy Paynter, in that regard.
I said it before and I want to say it one more
time––for Berkeley, it is difficult, obviously, to com-ment on one and not the rest ––but the head g irl, Tylasha DeSilva, she has been absolutely tremendous in her journey. What I did not know, what I found out at
the graduation was that she almost failed her S1.
When she first went to Berkeley, she almost failed out. And then she ended up being a top st udent. And she
was the one I referred to last week whereby, based
upon her achievements at Berkeley, she has received
a $30,000 scholarship plus some others and will now
be traveling with upward people.
And so, again, I just want to commend her for
what s he is doing. And for all young people, and in
general, also, especially . . . well, for both of them, to
see how students of various abilities were also reco gnised as opposed to just the (quote/unquote) “top” student, because everyone will play a part, goi ng forward, in our future.
If I may, Madam President, I want to give
congratulations in particular to Ms. Katina Woodley,
which is a nod to the arts.

The President: Mm-hmm.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: And with your permi ssion, I would like to read what was read at a dance
recital on Saturday, or Sunday . . . Sunday. And it was
penned by Ms. Coral Waddell , who is responsible for
the overall school.
If I may?

The President: You certainly can.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Her comments are that:
“Mrs. Katina Woodley has decided that it is time for
her to hang up her ballet shoes. She has taught at the
School of Russian Ballet for over 40 years and she
loved teaching. She could not think of wanting to do anything else and we are going to miss her, but we
are going to try to continue on in her absence. She
has been a great inspiration to me through the years
and I will miss her. I know the children will miss her as
well. She has taught thousands.” (And then, for her to)
“enjoy her retirement and don’t be surprised if she
gets a phone call or two.”
I will also add that . . . and I am sure Senator
Caesar will know more than I do, in terms of the bene-fits of dance and ballet and jazz and all the rest of it
on a young person, because i t gives them a sense of
confidence in how they carry themselves, and also
creates discipline which lasts them throughout their
lifetime. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
No other Senator wants to speak?
I think most people have.
We will move on to item number 16, adjour nment.
[Laughter]


Bermuda Senate ADJOURNMENT

The President: Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons, Attorney General and Government Leader, over to you.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I move that the Senate do now adjourn until
Wednesday, July 10th.

The President: Thank you.
Would any Senator care to speak on the m otion to adjourn?
Senator Caesar has reached first. You have
the floor.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Sen. Crystal Caesar: Yes, thank you, Madam Pres ident. I promise to not be too long, but in keeping with
the theme today of graduations and scholarships, I
thought I would speak on something that I am very
passionate about which pertains to the number of
scholarships which are left on the table.
Unfortunately, I was made aware of quite a
few scholarships that had not been applied for in tens
of thousands of dollars. So my appeal today is to st udents. First of all, there is a great resource named:
bermudascholarships.com which I think many of us
are aware of. But for those who do not know, there is a resource.
Oftentimes students, for whatever reason, feel
that a scholarship is not for them, or they won’t get it. But the Bermuda Scholarships website [berm udascholarships.com] ac tually has frequently asked
questions [FAQs], and within those frequently asked
questions, one of them is: It’s not worth the trouble as
I know no one has ever gotten a scholarship. And the
response to that on the Bermuda Scholarships website is: You would probably be surprised how many
people you know have received a scholarship or f inancial help to continue their education. They just
may not talk about it. Do not be defeated before you
even start.
And I repeat: Do not be defeated before you
even start.
There are hundreds of scholarships awarded
every year to Bermudians, and they do not and cannot go to all students who are (quote/unquote) “the top of
the class.”
So that leads me into my next part of what I
wanted to speak about. In that, oftentimes, we h ear
the accolades given to the top students, academically. And oftentimes I feel bad; I am always for the under-dog. But I often feel bad for those students who have
strived, they might not necessarily be at the top of the
class, and do not necessarily get that recognition. So
I, today, would like to congratulate the students who
have strived and may not necessarily have gotten si n-gled out within that classroom, but nonetheless, continue to strive.
I would like to appeal to them and say that if
you do a bit of research you will find worldwide that
oftentimes the most successful people are not those
who are necessarily at the top of the class. And I say
that because those are people who have, throughout
their lifetimes, had to overcome. And as they become
adults and go through life, they know how to deal with
adversity. And I admire people like that. I was . . . a
little brief story about myself.
I was a top student; always at the top of the
class and what have you. I knew how to get an A. I
knew how to study and all the rest of it. And then
when I got to university and I did not get an A, I was
quite taken aback. I did not know how to handle it. S o
I admire those of my colleagues and schoolmates that
actually persevered because they did not fall apart like
I did at first, thinking the whole world had come to an
end.
So I think we oftentimes overlook those
(quote/unquote) “students in the middle,” for a lack of
a better term. I appeal to them to research, find out
what scholarships are out there because there are
plenty which are not actually asking for top students.
They are just asking for students who want to pers evere and pursue their higher education. And it may not necessarily be academically. So, again, I would like to just make an additional appeal to the scholarships
boards and donors, as well, to cast your net, consider
casting your net a bit wider, as I do think that we
sometimes do our st udents a disservice in that we do
say, Oh, your GPA has to be a particular point average.
I serve on a scholarship board, an arts one, in
which we actually . . . yes, we do look at student’s academic record. But that is not the be- all and end- all of
those who apply to us. I actually find it very heartening
when students actually come in and meet with us. We
try and make it as undaunting as possible. But we find that these are typically students who, for whatever
reason, have not been at the top of the class but they
come in and they represent themselves in a passion
which, ultimately, they are the ones who get the
scholarships.
So I just want to appeal to students, parents,
also school counsellors, to encourage students to apply sooner. As a parent, I know that, yes, it can be
very daunting to get all the different paperwork that is
required, and all the requests, and what have you. But
it is worth it in the end, particularly in these times when higher education is becoming more and more
and more expensive e very year.
So, again, in keeping with the theme of scholarships, students doing well, and graduation, I just wanted to make that appeal and let people know that
there are those of us who do recognise and realise that there are a lot our students that aren’t necessarily
566 3 July 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate the top students. Again, they are the ones who are the
future of Bermuda. So thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Caesar.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
No? Well, with . . . oh, Se nator Campbell.
[Laughter]

The President: You have the floor.

BERMUDA NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM

Sen. Vance Campbell: Okay. Thank you, Madam
President.
I may be requesting a change of seats, but I
think Senator Simmons —

[Laughter]

Sen. Vance Campbell: —was over here reading my
mind, checking my notes. No, I, too, wanted to mention the names of the 23 players. I will not repeat them
since Senator Simmons has already —
[Laughter]
The President: That is already done.

Sen. Vance Campbell: —done so. But with your
permission, I would like to mention the names of the
support staff and their roles.
The President: Absolutely.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Because—

[Laughter]

Sen. Vance Campbell: —I am using this to make a
point later on, Madam President.
[Inaudible interjections]
The President: Carry on, Senator Campbell.

Sen. Vance Campbell: Mr. Kyle Lightbourne, Head
Coach; Scott Morton, Assistant Coach; Mr. Ray
Jones, Assistant Coach; Maurice Lowe, Technical
Development Director; John Morei ra, Goalkeeper
Coach; Craig Brown, Physio Therapist; Dom inique
Nanette, Strength and Conditioning Coach; Andrew
McDowell , Video Analyst; Antoine Augustus , Media
Manager; Crenstant Williams, Head of Delegation;
Brendalee White, Team Manager; Gary Adams, Mar-tin Wolffe—I say there are 13, there are . . . I read out
those names . . . I would have read out the team
names, as well, because the players come from var i-ous teams. Locally, they are competing against each
other. Some play together; but they are competi ng
against each other. We have the support staff who,
like the players, they come from varied backgrounds
and bring different skills to the table.
When they got together to form the entire
Bermuda contingent, they put on that Bermuda jersey.
They adopted one single collective goal, Bermuda’s
goal, for the Gold Cup. The individual goals remain, I
am sure the players had some individual goals in that
shop window; they wanted to perform. The coaches would have had individual goals. But those individual
goals were subjugated for the team goal.
Individual personalities —I know some of the
personalities, strong personalities —were blended into
a mix that resulted in a strong team personality. And
that was important to what you saw on the field. As a result, the B ermuda team amazed commentators,
they amazed spectators with how they worked toget her, for each other. You could see as they were running
up and down and they were training and they were
sacrificing for each other, there was also an enjo yment in being around each other. There was a pos itive impact on our football. There was a positive i mpact on our nation. But not only our nation, there was a positive impact on CONCACAF , the CONCACAF
region.
As a result of adopting that one collective
goal, when they put on that Bermuda jersey, we were
able to compete against some of the power houses in
the region. And not just compete, we were holding on.
You know, you could argue, we should have won that group if we were taking our chances. So, Bermuda
was able to punch w ell above its weight, as they say.
Madam President, you might say, Why am I
raising this? And I am raising it because we in this
Senate, and those who sit in another place, can learn from those 36 individuals who came together as a
team —different backgrounds, different teams. No
matter what team you represent, whether it is PLP,
OBA, or the Ind ependents, when we enter this Chamber, and we put on that “Bermuda shirt” we should have a single purpose—a single purpose. And that
purpose should be through teamwork, working t ogether keeping Bermuda’s needs in mind at all times.
We should be looking to pass effective and
necessary legislation on a timely basis, thereby allo wing Bermuda, a speck on the map, as a tourist dest ination, as a business jurisdiction, to continue to punch well above its weight.
Madam President, I will close with the question: Will we do so? Or, will we simply say that the
Westminster system, by its nature, does not promote
cooperation and teamwork? Thank you, Madam President.

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

Ber muda Senate We will take yo ur comments on board, Senator Campbell.
The Senate will stand adjourned until the 10th
of July.
[Inaudible interjections]
The President: Thank you.
[At 12:32 pm, the Senate stood adjourned until
10:00 a m, Wednesday, 10 July 2019.]
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