Senate
Session 2018/2019
3 speeches
June 5, 2019
Official Hansard Report - Senate
Download PDF transcriptSession Summary
Simplified for YouThis was a short Senate session with no bills or substantive business. Instead, senators used the adjournment motion to discuss various issues. Senator Jones raised serious concerns about Bermuda's transportation problems, including daily bus cancellations affecting workers and students, and poor taxi service that disappoints 46% of visitors. Opposition senators criticized the government for increased spending despite promises to streamline, while government senators defended their record on helping workers and improving legislation.
Key Topics
Transport problems in Bermuda - bus cancellations, taxi service issues, and the 2019 Transport Green PaperGovernment spending and cabinet changes - concerns about increased costs despite claims of streamliningPLP Government's achievements in workers' rights, living wage, and workforce developmentPolitical tensions between PLP and OBA senators over past government records
Bills & Motions
Premier, Ministers and Opposition Leader Personal Staffs Act 2019 - received first reading only
Motion to adjourn until June 12th - used as platform for political speeches rather than routine business
Notable Moments
Heated exchanges between government and opposition senators, with multiple "points of order" called during speeches
Senator Jones revealed his personal stake in the transport debate as a former taxi driver and current minibus driver
Strong disagreement over whether senators were stating facts or making misleading statements about government spending
Debate Transcript
3 speeches from 3 speakers
Madam President.
The President
Pardon? Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Yes, please. Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Summary of Consolidated Fund, estimates for 2019/20 to 2021/22. Current account expenditure excluding debt and Sinking Fund, 2017/18 —$892,000, $867,000. Revised estimate 2018/19 —$931,000, $988,000. That is a $39 million increase. Madam President, may I proceed before all …
Pardon?
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Yes, please.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Summary of Consolidated
Fund, estimates for 2019/20 to 2021/22. Current account expenditure excluding debt and Sinking Fund,
2017/18 —$892,000, $867,000. Revised estimate
2018/19 —$931,000, $988,000. That is a $39 million
increase.
Madam President, may I proceed before all of
my time is taken up?
The President: Continue, Senator Kempe.
We are allowing him to continue with his
statement s.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: That is fine,
Madam President. Thank you. I will continue to ask for
his quotes.
The President: That is fine.
You have six minutes left, Senator Kempe.
EFFICIENCY COMMITTEE —CHAIRMAN’S REM UNERATION
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: I will move on to the recent
revelation that really struck me in this line of thinking.
The now -Minister for the Cabinet, who sits in another
place, was made Junior Minister of Finance in Oct ober 2017. As per parliament.bm
the remuneration for
a junior minister who sits in the House is $67,000, an increase of $11,000 annually from a Member of Pa rliament who does not hold one of these positions.
3 Royal Gazette, 28 September 2018
4 Royal Gazette , 8 November 2018
Bermuda Senate March 2018 to March 2019, thereabouts, he
was chairing the Efficiency Committee and earning an
additional $5,000 a month on top of the junior mini ster’s salary, as per what was disclosed in the House of Assembly on Friday.
Now, what strikes me most about this is that ,
during that year -long period of receiving remuneration
outside of his role as Junior Minister of Finance, a reg-ister of interest form was filed in December 2018. And
in question 2, an d this is available on parliament.bm
,
for the Attorney General , remunerated employment,
office, profession, et cetera, “Do you have any em-ployment, office, trade, profession or vocation (apart
from membership of the House/Senate . . . for which
you are remunerated or in which you have any pec uniary interest?” And “ No” was [circled] .
These additional payments, these political and
PR consultants , all of these little featherings, Madam
President, seem to only come to light when the Opposition asks pointed questions in the House of Assembly, either through Question Period or through Parli amentary Questions. And it really makes me struggle to
unders tand how we can have all of these high- lofted
ideals and things put forward, such as efficiency and
transformational and transparency coming from the
Government, repeatedly, when we see that there seems to be this kind of self -interest of certain Members, certain select Members, it seems.
The Junior Minister, or now Minister, seemed
to feel in the House of Assembly on Friday that, and I
quote (we all know) , “Junior Ministers do not do
much.” So, getting an extra $11,000 a year, chairing a
committee for another $5,000 a month, this Junior
Minister was getting close to $127,000 in a year for
chairing a committee and, whilst there are many backbenchers both in Government and Opposition
who serve on myriad of joint select committees because of their political purpose, they do not take any
additional pay for that.
The union representatives on the Efficiency
Committee did not take any additional pay, because
they felt that it was part of their existing role. And that
is certainly commendable. The report is not, from what
I have read, a glowing endorsement of the running of
Government. And I am curious as to why the union representatives did not sign the report, but that is
some commentary for another day.
Now, Madam President, I see you looking at
the clock, and I have had to circle back a bit.
The President: You have three minutes.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: I will sign off. Thank you.
The President: All right. Thank you, Senator Kempe.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Hayward, you have the floor.
Sen. Jason Hayward: Good morning, Madam Pres ident.
The President: Good morning.
PLP GOVERNMENT COMMITTED TO IMPROVING
THE LIVES OF BERMUDIANS
Sen. Jason Hayward: Good morning, colleagues.
Yesterday marked the end of my two- year
term as the President of the Bermuda Trade Union
Congress [BTUC]. And as many persons know, I do wear multiple hats in this community. And I am often
asked, How do you manage? And I say that the m ajority of my work i s to improve the lives of other people. Every role that I have is either voluntary . . . and it
is aimed at improving the lives of others.
The next question that follows is, How are you
finding politics? And then somebody makes a som ewhat negative comment about politicians in general
and says, But you’re not like them. But I am a polit ician. I was appointed as one; I serve as one. And
what I explain to persons is, It’s a lot of mud that you
have to walk through to do things in the best interests of people in the country.
There is a lot of . . . it is a tough- skin enviro nment. There is a group of people who are always tr ying to bring you down no matter what you do. When
you do positive things, it is never good enough. Pe ople take for granted the level of energy that each and
every one of us puts into trying to make Bermuda a
better place.
But what I can reflect on in my tenure as the
President of the BTUC is that we put out a bold wor kers agenda. The first item on the workers agenda was
the development and implementation of a living wage.
Madam President, I worked on the LAC [Labour Adv isory Committee] subcommittee responsible for the implementation of a living wage. I then sat on the Joint
Select, Parliamentary Select Committee, representing not only my party, but representing the Senate also.
And we were able to produce reports. Both commi ttees were able to produce reports that were utilised by
the House. I am pleased to say that we now have draft legislation that will be brought before us shortly.
There w as a lot of work put into getting that particular
output.
The majority of the unionised workers in this
country, Madam President, make above a minimum
wage. They are at living wage levels. So, the work that was done was not even to service my membership, but it was to service the wider population of people in Bermuda, those who need the assistance, those
who struggle day -to-day, those who make what we
would consider to be starvation wages. They exist in
our community. That is why I wake up and attend this
Chamber and am actively involved in the Progressive
Labour Party, to improve the lives of those individuals.
508 5 June 2019 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda Senate On the workers agenda was also the development of a workforce development plan. I had the
pleasure of chairing the committee responsible for
producing Bermuda’s first National Workforce Deve lopment Plan. That workforce development plan, hopefully, better aligns our workforce development system
and connects people with jobs. Recognising that
many persons are unemployed in our community and
remain unemployed and find it difficult to find reemployment, we said that the current system was not
working and things needed to be done. I am pleased to report that there is draft legislation for the impl ementation of a workforce development board which
will ca rry out the remit of ensuring that the National
Workforce Development Plan is implemented effectively.
Madam President, all of my members have
jobs. Nobody in my immediate family is unemployed.
But I worked hard with the committee to ensure that
we had a plan in place that services the people of this
country who need it. I had that opportunity because I entered politics. This is the reason why I wake up—to
improve the lives of others. I recognise we have to
walk through t oxic mines . But we are trying to make
the lives of individuals better .
The workers agenda addressed youth unemployment. Part of the workforce development plan has a component dedicated to youth unemployment. Part
of it was ensuring that we address age discrimination
in employment, especial ly for those 65 and older. You
will see that a committee that I chaired [produced a]
report that was tabled in Parliament, in the other
place, some weeks ago, and that draft legislation will come before us regarding shifting the retirement age.
We recogni se that when persons reach the
magic age of 65 they are cast out of the workforce.
We recognise that they still have a lot to contribute
and offer this country after the age of 65. We recognise that some persons when retiring are placed in
financial hardsh ip. But what we needed to do and
wanted to do is ensure that we provide a path for
those individuals to continue employment after 65.
I am a long way away from 65, Madam Pres ident. But I do care about that group, that population
group. That is why I get out of bed and do what I do.
That is why I entered into politics.
Madam President, we recognise that our l abour laws are outdated. And so, we put in the workers
agenda to reform labour and pension legislation.
Madam President, legislation will be before this
Chamber shortly where you will see updated labour
legislation, legislation which will create better pr ocesses for employer and employee relations in this
country.
All of these things, Madam President, bring
better outcomes for the people of Bermuda. This is
the dialogue that is had within the caucus. It is centred
on how we can continually improve lives. I was pleased to attend the Bermuda College
graduation. And then, I was pleased to see the volume of students who were beneficiaries of the Government ’s grant. That was a decision that the Government made that will, undoubtedly, improve the
lives of our young people. They were very much appreciative. Even in the young person’s address to her
fellow classmates, she indicated that they are the current and the future. They remain optimistic about their
future.
I know at times we hear in this Chamber that
our young people feel as though there is a level of
hopelessness. But that is not what was articulated at
Bermuda College. That excitement that those young
persons had after attending graduation from Bermuda
College . . . I believe all of them firmly believe that
they are on paths to success. And this Government
wants to support them on their path to success.
Madam President, these are the things that
we s pend most of our time on. There is a narrative
that this Government is out to service friends and fa mily. And let me agree with that. We are out to service friends and our family, because this country are our
friends and our family. And all that we have done and
all that I just explained is to make their lives better.
We are not enriching anybody through the political
process. Let us not make that out as though that is the
norm, as though individuals are just being enriched.
We are enriching the lives of people in our community.
That is what we are trying to do.
Madam President, we say at times that, you
know, we want to work together, collectively. But I
think each and every one of us knows that there is no
desire for the two parties to work together. The Pr ogressive Labour Party and the One Bermuda Alliance have no desire to work together.
POINT OF ORDER
[Imputing improper motive]
Sen. Marcus Jones: Point of order. Point of order.
Madam President, I believe that the Senator is
inadvertently imputing bad motives on this side of the
political aisle. I can say, [for] myself if for no one else,
that I have a deep desire to work and collaborate with this Government.
The President: Sena tor Jones.
Senator Hayward, carry on.
Sen. Jason Hayward: Madam President, we see it
time and time again. The statements that were made
today were not collaborative statements. If individuals
really want to work together with the Government, the
easiest thing that the Senator could have done this
morning when he was discussing the Green Paper is to pick up the phone and call the Minister and give his suggestions directly to the Minister. These are the
things that we can do. We can improve our communiBermuda Senate catio ns. But what we do is we try to score political
points and see if we can get in the newspaper the day
after the Senate.
But in the midst of all this toxic environment,
there is a group of people—and I cannot speak for that side of the aisle, but on this s ide of the aisle—
who is committed to improving the lives of Bermudians. And we will continue to be steadfast on our mi ssion.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Hayward.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Campbell, you have the floor.
OBA GOVERNMENT’S SILENT VOICE
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, what we have seen today,
at least the earlier part of today, is the ultimate in
Monday -morning quarterbacking or, more accurately,
Wednesday -morning quarterbacking. What we have
seen from the Opposition who sits in this Chamber is
a flood of op- eds and interviews proclaiming doom
and gloom over just about every piece of legislation
that this Government has brought to these Chambers
and in another place, expressing, supposedly, concern for Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda and small business.
But yet, since we were given a history lesson
earlier today, Madam President, I would like to give my own history lesson.
The same group, or a Member who sits on the
other side in this Chamber, sat silent, Madam Pres ident, when the OBA gave up control of one of our m ajor assets and the revenue associated with that asset—that is, the airport —for several decades, Madam
President. Not a peep w as heard from the Senator
during the debacle of the Pathways to Status, a
rushed piece of legislation for which the OBA, the
then- Government, ignored the voice of the people, Mr.
and Mrs. Bermuda, whom they now claim to care
greatly about. No op- ed—
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Point of order, Madam Pres ident.
The President: Senator Kempe, what is your point of
order?
POINT OF ORDER
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Senator Campbell seems to
be referring to positions that Senators prior to us held.
And we cannot certainly speak to or reflect his comments that seem to be directed at us.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I am referring to the Senator who just spok e, if I may be that
clear and that direct.
The President: Yes. Carry on, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you.
No op- eds, Madam President. No interviews
when the OBA spent $30 million- plus of borrowed
money on the creation of Cross Island for the Amer ica’s Cup, with no plan as to how this money would be
repaid, no guarantee that the America’s Cup would be
returning to Bermuda, no plan as to how to use this
space post America’s Cup.
Madam President, not even the static of white
noise, such as that emanating from a television, could
be heard from the Senator when his party ramped up
preparations for the America’s Cup, but apparently
ignored the need to pass the necessary legislation to
prepare this country for, and to ensure that this country pa ssed, the CFATF [ Caribbean Financial Action
Task Force] evaluation last September. Either they
ignored it or they forgot about it in the furore surrounding the America’s Cup. It does not matter which one is
the case, because they did not pass one piece of the
legislation required to ensure a successful evaluation.
I believe it was Madam Attorney General who
indicated —
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Point of clarification.
The President: Would you accept a point of clarific ation?
Sen. Vance Campbell: No, Madam President.
The President: Carry on, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: I sat quietly and listened. It is
my turn now.
It was this PLP Government that prepared us
for that evaluation. I believe it was Madam Attorney
General who had indicated at some point last year
that we had passed 86 Bills, approximatel y. I stand to
be corrected on the exact number, but I believe it was
80-plus Bills. And a significant number of those Bills
were AML/ATF [ Anti-Money Laundering and Anti -
Terrorist Financing] related, compliance- related. And
yes, a lot of those Bills did inc rease the burden on
small business. But it was necessary to pass those in order for us to pass that evaluation last September. Perhaps the former Government did not want to, or
did not have the intestinal fortitude to pass those Bills
because of the burden that it placed on —
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Point of order, Madam Pres ident.
510 5 June 2019 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda Senate The President: Senator Kempe, what is your point of
order?
POINT OF ORDER
[Imputing improper motive]
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: The Member is imputing i mproper motives. I ask that he withdraw that comment.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, it is my
opinion they did not have the intestinal fortitude.
The President: Carry on, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
Radio silence, Madam President, from the
Senator when his party failed to implement a single
recommendation from the SAGE Commission. One of
the first —
POINT OF ORDER
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Point of order, Madam Pres ident.
Senator Campbell is seemingly taking a pr olonged, direct attack at my person under the assum ption that I was a Senator at the time the OBA was in
Government. He is referring to a whole bunch of facts
and events that preceded my time in Government.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, the Senator was a member of the then- Government. He ran in
2012.
POINT OF ORDER
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Madam President, point of
order. That is false. I was not a member of the Government.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, he was a
member of the party that was the Government at the
time.
The President: Carry on, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: The SAGE Commission. One
of the first things they did once they assumed the
Government in 2013 . . . not one of the recommendations was implemented. We are talking about a history lesson here, because we see night and day between
now and then.
When the n ational debt was increased by approximately $1 billion under the OBA Government, [we heard] nothing from the Senator.
When the OBA Minister for Finance declared
that Bermuda had been brought back from the brink under his stewardship, nothing from the Senator, al though most informed adults, individuals in this coun-try, knew Bermuda was still, and is still very much in a
fragile and precarious state. No op- ed or interview,
Madam President, informing how it was wrong—
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Madam President, po int of
order.
The President: Senator Kempe, what is your point of
order?
POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: The Member continues to
mislead the House. I have actually written extensively
about the effect of the debt over the last 20 years.
There was a 27- page document I submitted a few
months ago.
The President: Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam Pr esident, I am referring to the period when his party was the Gover nment —nothing from the Senator.
The President: Carry on, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: No op- ed or interview, Ma dam President, informing us how wrong it was for Mr.
and Mrs. Bermuda earning $48,000, $50,000, $70,000
annually to be taxed on 100 per cent of their income,
whilst many in corporate Bermuda paid taxes on a notional income, but then turned around and received
dividends as compensation in the tune of tens of
thousands, hundreds of thousands and even millions
of dollars completely tax -free.
POINT OF ORDER
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Again, Madam President, the
Member is misleading the House and/or imputing i mproper motives. I have spoken extensively about the
need to enforce the notional salaries.
The President: Carry on, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, my point
that I was making [is that] he said nothing about the
fact that it was wrong for these individuals to be r eceiving tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars tax -free.
POINT OF ORDER
[Imputing improper motive; impugning integrit y]
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Madam President, that is exactly what I have criticised with the lack of enforc ement of the notional salary.
Bermuda Senate The Member has been imputing my motives
and impugning my integrity for not, apparently, speaking out prior to my involvem ent in Government, for the
last 10 minutes. And he has not retracted any of the statements despite repeated points of order.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, we will
agree to disagree on that point.
The President: Senator Kempe.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Madam President, I do not
believe it is a question for Senator Campbell to agree or disagree on. But the point of order is directed at the
Chair.
The President: Senator Kempe, Senator Campbell
has referred to the fact that, whether you were in the
Senat e or not in the Senate, you did not, even as a
member . . . that was my understanding.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: So, Madam President, can
we start talking about someone’s silence in 1972 and
use that to impugn their integrity in the present day,
before someone’s involvement in Government? That
seems like an absurd position to go on a 10- minute
tirade.
The President: Senator Campbell, carry on.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President —
The President: But determine what you are referring
to as to time frame.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I think
there is a big difference when you are not involved
and when you are involved. But I will continue.
This morning we heard reference to, I guess
the term used, if I remember correctly, was a slew of
consultants, using words to mislead, because the current practice of this Government is consistent with past practices of all Governments when it comes to consultants.
EFFICIENCY COMMITTEE —CHAIRMAN’S REM UNERATION
Sen. Vance Campbell: I will conclude with comments
on th e Efficiency Committee. Madam President, I
wonder what is the real issue here. Is the issue because a Member of the Legislature received pa yment?
If that is the issue, then —
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Madam President, I can clar ify that.
The President: Senator Campbell, do you want to
have Senator Kempe make a clarification?
Sen. Vance Campbell: No, Madam President, b ecause I am running out of time, as well.
The President: You have three minutes.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Okay. Thank you, Madam
President.
If that is the issue, then why is the focal point
only on the former Junior Minister, when we have a
Senator who also received payment as part of this
committee?
And I am not attacking either. I am just saying
that is a fact. We have a Senator, but that Senator is
not the focal point of any discussion as to why they took payment. I believe Senators and Members who
sit in another House function on many committees
without compensation. And they do a lot of work,
Madam President. So, I have no issue with this pa yment.
Is the real issue the amount? Perhaps if the
Junior Minister was paid only $2,000, as was the
Senator, this would not be an issue. I do not know,
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Yes, please.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Summary of Consolidated
Fund, estimates for 2019/20 to 2021/22. Current account expenditure excluding debt and Sinking Fund,
2017/18 —$892,000, $867,000. Revised estimate
2018/19 —$931,000, $988,000. That is a $39 million
increase.
Madam President, may I proceed before all of
my time is taken up?
The President: Continue, Senator Kempe.
We are allowing him to continue with his
statement s.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: That is fine,
Madam President. Thank you. I will continue to ask for
his quotes.
The President: That is fine.
You have six minutes left, Senator Kempe.
EFFICIENCY COMMITTEE —CHAIRMAN’S REM UNERATION
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: I will move on to the recent
revelation that really struck me in this line of thinking.
The now -Minister for the Cabinet, who sits in another
place, was made Junior Minister of Finance in Oct ober 2017. As per parliament.bm
the remuneration for
a junior minister who sits in the House is $67,000, an increase of $11,000 annually from a Member of Pa rliament who does not hold one of these positions.
3 Royal Gazette, 28 September 2018
4 Royal Gazette , 8 November 2018
Bermuda Senate March 2018 to March 2019, thereabouts, he
was chairing the Efficiency Committee and earning an
additional $5,000 a month on top of the junior mini ster’s salary, as per what was disclosed in the House of Assembly on Friday.
Now, what strikes me most about this is that ,
during that year -long period of receiving remuneration
outside of his role as Junior Minister of Finance, a reg-ister of interest form was filed in December 2018. And
in question 2, an d this is available on parliament.bm
,
for the Attorney General , remunerated employment,
office, profession, et cetera, “Do you have any em-ployment, office, trade, profession or vocation (apart
from membership of the House/Senate . . . for which
you are remunerated or in which you have any pec uniary interest?” And “ No” was [circled] .
These additional payments, these political and
PR consultants , all of these little featherings, Madam
President, seem to only come to light when the Opposition asks pointed questions in the House of Assembly, either through Question Period or through Parli amentary Questions. And it really makes me struggle to
unders tand how we can have all of these high- lofted
ideals and things put forward, such as efficiency and
transformational and transparency coming from the
Government, repeatedly, when we see that there seems to be this kind of self -interest of certain Members, certain select Members, it seems.
The Junior Minister, or now Minister, seemed
to feel in the House of Assembly on Friday that, and I
quote (we all know) , “Junior Ministers do not do
much.” So, getting an extra $11,000 a year, chairing a
committee for another $5,000 a month, this Junior
Minister was getting close to $127,000 in a year for
chairing a committee and, whilst there are many backbenchers both in Government and Opposition
who serve on myriad of joint select committees because of their political purpose, they do not take any
additional pay for that.
The union representatives on the Efficiency
Committee did not take any additional pay, because
they felt that it was part of their existing role. And that
is certainly commendable. The report is not, from what
I have read, a glowing endorsement of the running of
Government. And I am curious as to why the union representatives did not sign the report, but that is
some commentary for another day.
Now, Madam President, I see you looking at
the clock, and I have had to circle back a bit.
The President: You have three minutes.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: I will sign off. Thank you.
The President: All right. Thank you, Senator Kempe.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Hayward, you have the floor.
Sen. Jason Hayward: Good morning, Madam Pres ident.
The President: Good morning.
PLP GOVERNMENT COMMITTED TO IMPROVING
THE LIVES OF BERMUDIANS
Sen. Jason Hayward: Good morning, colleagues.
Yesterday marked the end of my two- year
term as the President of the Bermuda Trade Union
Congress [BTUC]. And as many persons know, I do wear multiple hats in this community. And I am often
asked, How do you manage? And I say that the m ajority of my work i s to improve the lives of other people. Every role that I have is either voluntary . . . and it
is aimed at improving the lives of others.
The next question that follows is, How are you
finding politics? And then somebody makes a som ewhat negative comment about politicians in general
and says, But you’re not like them. But I am a polit ician. I was appointed as one; I serve as one. And
what I explain to persons is, It’s a lot of mud that you
have to walk through to do things in the best interests of people in the country.
There is a lot of . . . it is a tough- skin enviro nment. There is a group of people who are always tr ying to bring you down no matter what you do. When
you do positive things, it is never good enough. Pe ople take for granted the level of energy that each and
every one of us puts into trying to make Bermuda a
better place.
But what I can reflect on in my tenure as the
President of the BTUC is that we put out a bold wor kers agenda. The first item on the workers agenda was
the development and implementation of a living wage.
Madam President, I worked on the LAC [Labour Adv isory Committee] subcommittee responsible for the implementation of a living wage. I then sat on the Joint
Select, Parliamentary Select Committee, representing not only my party, but representing the Senate also.
And we were able to produce reports. Both commi ttees were able to produce reports that were utilised by
the House. I am pleased to say that we now have draft legislation that will be brought before us shortly.
There w as a lot of work put into getting that particular
output.
The majority of the unionised workers in this
country, Madam President, make above a minimum
wage. They are at living wage levels. So, the work that was done was not even to service my membership, but it was to service the wider population of people in Bermuda, those who need the assistance, those
who struggle day -to-day, those who make what we
would consider to be starvation wages. They exist in
our community. That is why I wake up and attend this
Chamber and am actively involved in the Progressive
Labour Party, to improve the lives of those individuals.
508 5 June 2019 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda Senate On the workers agenda was also the development of a workforce development plan. I had the
pleasure of chairing the committee responsible for
producing Bermuda’s first National Workforce Deve lopment Plan. That workforce development plan, hopefully, better aligns our workforce development system
and connects people with jobs. Recognising that
many persons are unemployed in our community and
remain unemployed and find it difficult to find reemployment, we said that the current system was not
working and things needed to be done. I am pleased to report that there is draft legislation for the impl ementation of a workforce development board which
will ca rry out the remit of ensuring that the National
Workforce Development Plan is implemented effectively.
Madam President, all of my members have
jobs. Nobody in my immediate family is unemployed.
But I worked hard with the committee to ensure that
we had a plan in place that services the people of this
country who need it. I had that opportunity because I entered politics. This is the reason why I wake up—to
improve the lives of others. I recognise we have to
walk through t oxic mines . But we are trying to make
the lives of individuals better .
The workers agenda addressed youth unemployment. Part of the workforce development plan has a component dedicated to youth unemployment. Part
of it was ensuring that we address age discrimination
in employment, especial ly for those 65 and older. You
will see that a committee that I chaired [produced a]
report that was tabled in Parliament, in the other
place, some weeks ago, and that draft legislation will come before us regarding shifting the retirement age.
We recogni se that when persons reach the
magic age of 65 they are cast out of the workforce.
We recognise that they still have a lot to contribute
and offer this country after the age of 65. We recognise that some persons when retiring are placed in
financial hardsh ip. But what we needed to do and
wanted to do is ensure that we provide a path for
those individuals to continue employment after 65.
I am a long way away from 65, Madam Pres ident. But I do care about that group, that population
group. That is why I get out of bed and do what I do.
That is why I entered into politics.
Madam President, we recognise that our l abour laws are outdated. And so, we put in the workers
agenda to reform labour and pension legislation.
Madam President, legislation will be before this
Chamber shortly where you will see updated labour
legislation, legislation which will create better pr ocesses for employer and employee relations in this
country.
All of these things, Madam President, bring
better outcomes for the people of Bermuda. This is
the dialogue that is had within the caucus. It is centred
on how we can continually improve lives. I was pleased to attend the Bermuda College
graduation. And then, I was pleased to see the volume of students who were beneficiaries of the Government ’s grant. That was a decision that the Government made that will, undoubtedly, improve the
lives of our young people. They were very much appreciative. Even in the young person’s address to her
fellow classmates, she indicated that they are the current and the future. They remain optimistic about their
future.
I know at times we hear in this Chamber that
our young people feel as though there is a level of
hopelessness. But that is not what was articulated at
Bermuda College. That excitement that those young
persons had after attending graduation from Bermuda
College . . . I believe all of them firmly believe that
they are on paths to success. And this Government
wants to support them on their path to success.
Madam President, these are the things that
we s pend most of our time on. There is a narrative
that this Government is out to service friends and fa mily. And let me agree with that. We are out to service friends and our family, because this country are our
friends and our family. And all that we have done and
all that I just explained is to make their lives better.
We are not enriching anybody through the political
process. Let us not make that out as though that is the
norm, as though individuals are just being enriched.
We are enriching the lives of people in our community.
That is what we are trying to do.
Madam President, we say at times that, you
know, we want to work together, collectively. But I
think each and every one of us knows that there is no
desire for the two parties to work together. The Pr ogressive Labour Party and the One Bermuda Alliance have no desire to work together.
POINT OF ORDER
[Imputing improper motive]
Sen. Marcus Jones: Point of order. Point of order.
Madam President, I believe that the Senator is
inadvertently imputing bad motives on this side of the
political aisle. I can say, [for] myself if for no one else,
that I have a deep desire to work and collaborate with this Government.
The President: Sena tor Jones.
Senator Hayward, carry on.
Sen. Jason Hayward: Madam President, we see it
time and time again. The statements that were made
today were not collaborative statements. If individuals
really want to work together with the Government, the
easiest thing that the Senator could have done this
morning when he was discussing the Green Paper is to pick up the phone and call the Minister and give his suggestions directly to the Minister. These are the
things that we can do. We can improve our communiBermuda Senate catio ns. But what we do is we try to score political
points and see if we can get in the newspaper the day
after the Senate.
But in the midst of all this toxic environment,
there is a group of people—and I cannot speak for that side of the aisle, but on this s ide of the aisle—
who is committed to improving the lives of Bermudians. And we will continue to be steadfast on our mi ssion.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Hayward.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Campbell, you have the floor.
OBA GOVERNMENT’S SILENT VOICE
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, what we have seen today,
at least the earlier part of today, is the ultimate in
Monday -morning quarterbacking or, more accurately,
Wednesday -morning quarterbacking. What we have
seen from the Opposition who sits in this Chamber is
a flood of op- eds and interviews proclaiming doom
and gloom over just about every piece of legislation
that this Government has brought to these Chambers
and in another place, expressing, supposedly, concern for Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda and small business.
But yet, since we were given a history lesson
earlier today, Madam President, I would like to give my own history lesson.
The same group, or a Member who sits on the
other side in this Chamber, sat silent, Madam Pres ident, when the OBA gave up control of one of our m ajor assets and the revenue associated with that asset—that is, the airport —for several decades, Madam
President. Not a peep w as heard from the Senator
during the debacle of the Pathways to Status, a
rushed piece of legislation for which the OBA, the
then- Government, ignored the voice of the people, Mr.
and Mrs. Bermuda, whom they now claim to care
greatly about. No op- ed—
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Point of order, Madam Pres ident.
The President: Senator Kempe, what is your point of
order?
POINT OF ORDER
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Senator Campbell seems to
be referring to positions that Senators prior to us held.
And we cannot certainly speak to or reflect his comments that seem to be directed at us.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I am referring to the Senator who just spok e, if I may be that
clear and that direct.
The President: Yes. Carry on, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you.
No op- eds, Madam President. No interviews
when the OBA spent $30 million- plus of borrowed
money on the creation of Cross Island for the Amer ica’s Cup, with no plan as to how this money would be
repaid, no guarantee that the America’s Cup would be
returning to Bermuda, no plan as to how to use this
space post America’s Cup.
Madam President, not even the static of white
noise, such as that emanating from a television, could
be heard from the Senator when his party ramped up
preparations for the America’s Cup, but apparently
ignored the need to pass the necessary legislation to
prepare this country for, and to ensure that this country pa ssed, the CFATF [ Caribbean Financial Action
Task Force] evaluation last September. Either they
ignored it or they forgot about it in the furore surrounding the America’s Cup. It does not matter which one is
the case, because they did not pass one piece of the
legislation required to ensure a successful evaluation.
I believe it was Madam Attorney General who
indicated —
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Point of clarification.
The President: Would you accept a point of clarific ation?
Sen. Vance Campbell: No, Madam President.
The President: Carry on, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: I sat quietly and listened. It is
my turn now.
It was this PLP Government that prepared us
for that evaluation. I believe it was Madam Attorney
General who had indicated at some point last year
that we had passed 86 Bills, approximatel y. I stand to
be corrected on the exact number, but I believe it was
80-plus Bills. And a significant number of those Bills
were AML/ATF [ Anti-Money Laundering and Anti -
Terrorist Financing] related, compliance- related. And
yes, a lot of those Bills did inc rease the burden on
small business. But it was necessary to pass those in order for us to pass that evaluation last September. Perhaps the former Government did not want to, or
did not have the intestinal fortitude to pass those Bills
because of the burden that it placed on —
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Point of order, Madam Pres ident.
510 5 June 2019 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda Senate The President: Senator Kempe, what is your point of
order?
POINT OF ORDER
[Imputing improper motive]
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: The Member is imputing i mproper motives. I ask that he withdraw that comment.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, it is my
opinion they did not have the intestinal fortitude.
The President: Carry on, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
Radio silence, Madam President, from the
Senator when his party failed to implement a single
recommendation from the SAGE Commission. One of
the first —
POINT OF ORDER
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Point of order, Madam Pres ident.
Senator Campbell is seemingly taking a pr olonged, direct attack at my person under the assum ption that I was a Senator at the time the OBA was in
Government. He is referring to a whole bunch of facts
and events that preceded my time in Government.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, the Senator was a member of the then- Government. He ran in
2012.
POINT OF ORDER
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Madam President, point of
order. That is false. I was not a member of the Government.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, he was a
member of the party that was the Government at the
time.
The President: Carry on, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: The SAGE Commission. One
of the first things they did once they assumed the
Government in 2013 . . . not one of the recommendations was implemented. We are talking about a history lesson here, because we see night and day between
now and then.
When the n ational debt was increased by approximately $1 billion under the OBA Government, [we heard] nothing from the Senator.
When the OBA Minister for Finance declared
that Bermuda had been brought back from the brink under his stewardship, nothing from the Senator, al though most informed adults, individuals in this coun-try, knew Bermuda was still, and is still very much in a
fragile and precarious state. No op- ed or interview,
Madam President, informing how it was wrong—
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Madam President, po int of
order.
The President: Senator Kempe, what is your point of
order?
POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: The Member continues to
mislead the House. I have actually written extensively
about the effect of the debt over the last 20 years.
There was a 27- page document I submitted a few
months ago.
The President: Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam Pr esident, I am referring to the period when his party was the Gover nment —nothing from the Senator.
The President: Carry on, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: No op- ed or interview, Ma dam President, informing us how wrong it was for Mr.
and Mrs. Bermuda earning $48,000, $50,000, $70,000
annually to be taxed on 100 per cent of their income,
whilst many in corporate Bermuda paid taxes on a notional income, but then turned around and received
dividends as compensation in the tune of tens of
thousands, hundreds of thousands and even millions
of dollars completely tax -free.
POINT OF ORDER
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Again, Madam President, the
Member is misleading the House and/or imputing i mproper motives. I have spoken extensively about the
need to enforce the notional salaries.
The President: Carry on, Senator Campbell.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, my point
that I was making [is that] he said nothing about the
fact that it was wrong for these individuals to be r eceiving tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars tax -free.
POINT OF ORDER
[Imputing improper motive; impugning integrit y]
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Madam President, that is exactly what I have criticised with the lack of enforc ement of the notional salary.
Bermuda Senate The Member has been imputing my motives
and impugning my integrity for not, apparently, speaking out prior to my involvem ent in Government, for the
last 10 minutes. And he has not retracted any of the statements despite repeated points of order.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, we will
agree to disagree on that point.
The President: Senator Kempe.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Madam President, I do not
believe it is a question for Senator Campbell to agree or disagree on. But the point of order is directed at the
Chair.
The President: Senator Kempe, Senator Campbell
has referred to the fact that, whether you were in the
Senat e or not in the Senate, you did not, even as a
member . . . that was my understanding.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: So, Madam President, can
we start talking about someone’s silence in 1972 and
use that to impugn their integrity in the present day,
before someone’s involvement in Government? That
seems like an absurd position to go on a 10- minute
tirade.
The President: Senator Campbell, carry on.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President —
The President: But determine what you are referring
to as to time frame.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President, I think
there is a big difference when you are not involved
and when you are involved. But I will continue.
This morning we heard reference to, I guess
the term used, if I remember correctly, was a slew of
consultants, using words to mislead, because the current practice of this Government is consistent with past practices of all Governments when it comes to consultants.
EFFICIENCY COMMITTEE —CHAIRMAN’S REM UNERATION
Sen. Vance Campbell: I will conclude with comments
on th e Efficiency Committee. Madam President, I
wonder what is the real issue here. Is the issue because a Member of the Legislature received pa yment?
If that is the issue, then —
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Madam President, I can clar ify that.
The President: Senator Campbell, do you want to
have Senator Kempe make a clarification?
Sen. Vance Campbell: No, Madam President, b ecause I am running out of time, as well.
The President: You have three minutes.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Okay. Thank you, Madam
President.
If that is the issue, then why is the focal point
only on the former Junior Minister, when we have a
Senator who also received payment as part of this
committee?
And I am not attacking either. I am just saying
that is a fact. We have a Senator, but that Senator is
not the focal point of any discussion as to why they took payment. I believe Senators and Members who
sit in another House function on many committees
without compensation. And they do a lot of work,
Madam President. So, I have no issue with this pa yment.
Is the real issue the amount? Perhaps if the
Junior Minister was paid only $2,000, as was the
Senator, this would not be an issue. I do not know,
Madam President. I am confused.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe
Madam President, I am happy to remove the Senator’ s confusion, as I did state clearly in my time. [Crosstalk] Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President . . . or is it simply the fact that a member of the PLP received compensation? No mention in all of this, Madam President, …
Madam President, I am happy to remove the Senator’ s confusion, as I did state
clearly in my time.
[Crosstalk]
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President . . . or is it
simply the fact that a member of the PLP received
compensation?
No mention in all of this, Madam President,
that for an expenditure of $130,000, there was a $12
million improvement in the state of this country as a
result of their work. I do not believe that there is an yone sitting around this table today, Madam President,
who would not invest $130,000 who, in a year’s time,
would receive—
The President: Twelve million.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Twelve million. I do not think
any of us would decline that type of investment.
Madam President, I will conclude by sugges ting that there is no issue. There is just an opportunity
for political grandstanding.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
Motion to Adjourn?
Senator Robinson, you have the floor.
512 5 June 2019 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda Senate Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Good morning, Madam
President.
The President : Good morning to you.
REAFFIRMING THE ROLE
OF THE OBA OPPOSITION
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: So, today I have heard
mention of op- eds and the rush to legislation, all of the
things that can be pegged to the Progressive Labour
Party, as well. But my main purpose of speaking today is to re -affirm what the role is of the Opposition, because it seems as though it is being muddied up as our simply attacking and trying to obstruct the Go vernment, which is not at all what we are doing on this side.
The Opposition, and I know I can speak for
my colleagues in this regard, has the best interests of
the country at heart. We want the best option for Bermuda to be passed. So, when we scrutinise the Go vernment or provide criticism, Madam President, it is
not from a place of, Oh, it’s the PLP doing it, but a
place of making sure that the people of Bermuda get the best possible options. So, we come together to
scrutinise and make sure that these pieces of legisla-tion are passed in the best interests of Bermuda. It is really that simple.
And regarding the op- eds that were mentioned, just recently there were two politically charged
op-eds which were released by PLP backbenchers
with barely any substance in them except for what the
previous administration did wrong. And I know a lot of people have mentioned to me, Madam President, that they would rather a Government with a 25/11 majority just get on with governing and not waste time putting
out op- eds directed at an Opposition that, at the m oment, does not have any sway in the H ouse regarding
numbers.
Regarding the rushed legislation, just recently,
we had a piece of legislation which was read three times and passed in one [sitting]. We also had a piece
of legislation that was brought forward regarding the Sex Offenders Registry that was put forth before any
consideration of the joint select committee that was created to investigate it.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Point of order,
clearly in my time.
[Crosstalk]
Sen. Vance Campbell: Madam President . . . or is it
simply the fact that a member of the PLP received
compensation?
No mention in all of this, Madam President,
that for an expenditure of $130,000, there was a $12
million improvement in the state of this country as a
result of their work. I do not believe that there is an yone sitting around this table today, Madam President,
who would not invest $130,000 who, in a year’s time,
would receive—
The President: Twelve million.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Twelve million. I do not think
any of us would decline that type of investment.
Madam President, I will conclude by sugges ting that there is no issue. There is just an opportunity
for political grandstanding.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
Motion to Adjourn?
Senator Robinson, you have the floor.
512 5 June 2019 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda Senate Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Good morning, Madam
President.
The President : Good morning to you.
REAFFIRMING THE ROLE
OF THE OBA OPPOSITION
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: So, today I have heard
mention of op- eds and the rush to legislation, all of the
things that can be pegged to the Progressive Labour
Party, as well. But my main purpose of speaking today is to re -affirm what the role is of the Opposition, because it seems as though it is being muddied up as our simply attacking and trying to obstruct the Go vernment, which is not at all what we are doing on this side.
The Opposition, and I know I can speak for
my colleagues in this regard, has the best interests of
the country at heart. We want the best option for Bermuda to be passed. So, when we scrutinise the Go vernment or provide criticism, Madam President, it is
not from a place of, Oh, it’s the PLP doing it, but a
place of making sure that the people of Bermuda get the best possible options. So, we come together to
scrutinise and make sure that these pieces of legisla-tion are passed in the best interests of Bermuda. It is really that simple.
And regarding the op- eds that were mentioned, just recently there were two politically charged
op-eds which were released by PLP backbenchers
with barely any substance in them except for what the
previous administration did wrong. And I know a lot of people have mentioned to me, Madam President, that they would rather a Government with a 25/11 majority just get on with governing and not waste time putting
out op- eds directed at an Opposition that, at the m oment, does not have any sway in the H ouse regarding
numbers.
Regarding the rushed legislation, just recently,
we had a piece of legislation which was read three times and passed in one [sitting]. We also had a piece
of legislation that was brought forward regarding the Sex Offenders Registry that was put forth before any
consideration of the joint select committee that was created to investigate it.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Point of order,
Madam President.
The President
Madam Attorney General, your point of order. POINT OF ORDER Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: That is an i ncorrect statement. The joint select committee sat. The joint select committee consulted. I made representations to the joint select committee. What you fail to realise is that the Government does …
Madam Attorney General, your point
of order.
POINT OF ORDER
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: That is an i ncorrect statement.
The joint select committee sat. The joint select
committee consulted. I made representations to the joint select committee. What you fail to realise is that
the Government does not have to embrace the recommendations of the committee. If you go back [and
review] recommendation by recommendation, you will note that most of them already exist or were em-braced. And the ones that were not were not relevant to this Government’s mandate. So, let us be clear with
respect to the role of a joint select committee.
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: So, we are clear. And I also
know that you do not have to take the recommendations of the joint select committee.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Absolutely.
[Cros s-talk]
The President: Speak to the President.
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Yes. We understand that.
That is literally what the point was. There was a point made earlier that we had passed legislation without taking in proper scrutiny. So, I was also drawing refe rence to that in which the Attorney General then made
the point for me. So . . .
As far as collaboration goes—
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Point of c larification, Madam Pres ident.
The President: Do you accept a point of clarification,
Senator Robinson?
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Not at this time.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: That is fine.
The President: Carry on, Senator Robinson.
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: As far as collaboration
goes, we have not obstructed every single piece of legislation that has passed in this House. We have
repeatedly, repeatedly stated which legislation we
support and which legislation we do not support. That has never been a vague t hing.
EFFICIENCY COMMITTEE —CHAIRMAN’S REM UNERATION
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Regarding the remuner ation of a junior minister, what we have an issue with on this side of the fence is not that a member of the PLP received remuneration. It was the fact that we believe that it is already in his remit as a Junior Minister and Member of Parliament to be chairing these
committees. And that is being construed into the fact that we do not want someone from the PLP to receive funds. That is not at all what the case is.
So, hearing [from] the other side that we devolve into political point -scoring, and then having to sit
B ermuda Senate through 10 minutes of political point -scoring really
proves that one side is definitely looking for op- eds. It
is not this side.
So, I just wanted to speak and throw my hat in
the ring on that note, Madam President. And with that,
I will close. Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Attorney General, Kathy Lynn S immons.
2019 TRANSCPORT GREEN PAPER
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: I thought we
would have a short morning, but it turns out to be quite interesting and lengthy. And thank you to Sen ators for your comments.
Let me start with Senator Jones. We always
have an issue politically about the subject of consult ation. And you mentioned previously today that the Green Paper was not necessary. The Green Paper speaks to consultation on the subject of transport in
the country.
Sen. Marcus Jones: Point of order, Madam Pres ident, if I may.
The President: What is your point of order, Senator
Jones?
POINT OF ORDER
Sen. Marcus Jones: My point of order is, she may
have misheard me, [or] misunderstood me. But I was not saying that the Green Paper in its entiret y was
unnecessary. My point was that one section of the
Green Paper which was suggesting centralising of the dispatching system should be done did not need a Green Paper to come up with that solution, as this has
been in the public space for a long time.
The President: Thank you, Senator Jones.
Carry on, Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Madam Pres ident, thank you.
One of the things I take great pleasure in d oing when I come here is to make notes. And as the
Senators speak, I listen with great interest because
there may actually be something that we can take away and use.
And I quote what I made a note of. He said,
The Green Paper is not necessary. My point being
that you cannot have it both ways. The Opposition takes great pleasure in making noise about the lack of consultation. The Green Paper speaks to consultation on a very important subject. And I expect that it will be embraced against that backdrop. But your comments
and your recommendations have actually been noted.
POLITICAL CONSULTANTS
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: We seem to
have a problem discussing money. And we seem to have a problem with respect to our understanding of
the complexity of governance. And I have heard comments today about the size of Cabinet, t he expenditures, so on and so forth. And as a Member of the Cabinet, as a Minister responsible for a huge por tfolio, I can say hands -down I wish I had more money
to spend, because you cannot take Bermuda back to the past. And the complexity of the issues that we are dealing with, Madam President, is huge. The financial issues, the social issues are huge. And so, let us not get caught up in who spent $10 on Tom . At the end of
the day, we need a result.
What I am hearing is that there may be a desire for more transparency with respect to expend itures. And we certainly will take that on board in the event that there may arise occasions where someone did forget to publish a contract. But let me make it
clear. Consultants did not come out of the sky. We
have a ministerial code of conduct which allows mini sters to have two political consultants. And the mini sters have the opportunity to assess their operations and determine whether additional support is neces-sary beyond that which is provided by civil servants.
And that is what we do, without apology.
With respect to the issue of part -time versus
full-time consultants —let me correct myself —
ministers, hands -down, I will say that any Cabinet
does not do justice to the country and the business of
governance if they do not have full -time ministers. And
having inherited departments that fell under ministries where there were not full -time ministers, you can see
where that is a disservice to the country. And that is not meant as a criticism; it is actually a fact. This i s
huge. You cannot do this thing piecemeal, and you
cannot do it part time.
With regard to Senator Kempe, I am sorry to
have taken up your time, but I welcome a factual nexus for the comments that are made. What we must not descend to is rhetoric that does not have a backup. So, thank you for providing your quotes, and I will continue to ask you to provide your source so that the
public is best served with facts as opposed to our po-litical rhetoric.
I have good news to impart this morning,
which speaks to what Senator Hayward (and I am not
going to get emotional; this is really crazy) had to offer
about what we do.
[
Pause]
514 5 June 2019 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda Senate PROTECTING BERMUDA’S CHILDREN
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: On the 26th of
May, I departed these shores accompanied by the
Perm anent Secretary and the Director of Child and
Family Services to visit our children. Reference to “our children” is in reference to the children of this country
who are overseas in institutions committed to advancing their wellbeing. And there has been a v ery unfortunate narrative and dialogue with regard to psycho -
ed and all sorts of negative comments made about why, how, where, who. We have had parents speaking out. We have had the Royal Gazette fishing ove rseas and undermining the operations of the Gover nment with respect to the services provided to our chi ldren.
It was a whirlwind visit of more than six facil ities. And I saw our children. And I will say, hands -
down, that I will applaud to the end of time the bonds that the Director of Child and Family S ervices, Alfred
Maybury, has forged with institutions overseas to pr ovide services that we do not and cannot provide for
our children. We have seen residential care. We have seen psychological assessment facilities at hospitals.
We have seen sex offender programmes. There is
one programme that our children are sent to where they have various sexual disorders, things that I have never even heard of. I got a lesson on the effect of pornography, and I intend to come back to this Cham-ber with real details and to speak about it publicly.
And I say all that to say that there are things
in this country that surpass political partisanship. And most of you will know that, as the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs responsible for our chi ldren, I do not take the bait. There have been numer-ous reports, negative reports about our operations,
about the staff of Child and Family Services. And I can
say, hand on heart, that where there is ever a mis-deed, it is dealt with by the procedures that are in place to deal with it.
I will encourage everybody on both sides of
the divide, based on what I saw, that we cannot con-tinue to do a disservice to our children with this neg ative and vicious dialogue. The conditions that we ref-erence today pertained long before I took this post. My hope is that they will not continue while I am here and after I am gone.
We spoke, in the context of the budget, about
the money that is spent in the education system for psychological services for our children. I actually saw the face of that with our children. And the teams that are responsible for our children are dedicated and committed, and were so happy to see that Bermuda
actually cares. We are actually miles ahead.
To the Royal Gazette, who has a reporter in
this Chamber today, please do not harass these inst itutions. Please do not try to obtain information that is
detrimental to what we are trying to accomplish. If you have a legitimate question, I am more than happy to
answer it.
But I will say to Senators today, there is much
work to be done. And in the months that come, I will
be bringing legislation to protect our children. I have
actually invited several of the specialists whom I met to come to Bermuda to educate the public on some of
the issues, particularly the effect of por nography on
our children. I was amazed that we even have a pro blem, a very specialised problem.
That leads me straight to Westgate with r egard to our sex offenders. So, to Senators, be pr epared. The legislation is coming. We have internation-al conventions that we are signing onto, where there
is a slew of initiatives aimed at protecting our children.
I do not expect to have the discourse on that subject descend to what I generally hear with regard to this subject matter.
So, with respect to today’s session, I welcome
the spirited comments. But there is much work to do. And there are issues, Madam President, and matters pertaining to our children and the socio- economic
condition of this country that we must partner and move forward on in the interest of the country.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Kathy Lynn Si mmons, Attorney General and Government Leader in the Senate.
Senators, the Senate stands adjourned to the
12th of June next week, Wednesday.
Thank you. The Senate is adjourned.
[At 11:16 am, the Senate stood adjourned, until
10:00 am, W ednesday, 12 June 2019.]
of order.
POINT OF ORDER
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: That is an i ncorrect statement.
The joint select committee sat. The joint select
committee consulted. I made representations to the joint select committee. What you fail to realise is that
the Government does not have to embrace the recommendations of the committee. If you go back [and
review] recommendation by recommendation, you will note that most of them already exist or were em-braced. And the ones that were not were not relevant to this Government’s mandate. So, let us be clear with
respect to the role of a joint select committee.
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: So, we are clear. And I also
know that you do not have to take the recommendations of the joint select committee.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Absolutely.
[Cros s-talk]
The President: Speak to the President.
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Yes. We understand that.
That is literally what the point was. There was a point made earlier that we had passed legislation without taking in proper scrutiny. So, I was also drawing refe rence to that in which the Attorney General then made
the point for me. So . . .
As far as collaboration goes—
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Point of c larification, Madam Pres ident.
The President: Do you accept a point of clarification,
Senator Robinson?
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Not at this time.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: That is fine.
The President: Carry on, Senator Robinson.
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: As far as collaboration
goes, we have not obstructed every single piece of legislation that has passed in this House. We have
repeatedly, repeatedly stated which legislation we
support and which legislation we do not support. That has never been a vague t hing.
EFFICIENCY COMMITTEE —CHAIRMAN’S REM UNERATION
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Regarding the remuner ation of a junior minister, what we have an issue with on this side of the fence is not that a member of the PLP received remuneration. It was the fact that we believe that it is already in his remit as a Junior Minister and Member of Parliament to be chairing these
committees. And that is being construed into the fact that we do not want someone from the PLP to receive funds. That is not at all what the case is.
So, hearing [from] the other side that we devolve into political point -scoring, and then having to sit
B ermuda Senate through 10 minutes of political point -scoring really
proves that one side is definitely looking for op- eds. It
is not this side.
So, I just wanted to speak and throw my hat in
the ring on that note, Madam President. And with that,
I will close. Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Attorney General, Kathy Lynn S immons.
2019 TRANSCPORT GREEN PAPER
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: I thought we
would have a short morning, but it turns out to be quite interesting and lengthy. And thank you to Sen ators for your comments.
Let me start with Senator Jones. We always
have an issue politically about the subject of consult ation. And you mentioned previously today that the Green Paper was not necessary. The Green Paper speaks to consultation on the subject of transport in
the country.
Sen. Marcus Jones: Point of order, Madam Pres ident, if I may.
The President: What is your point of order, Senator
Jones?
POINT OF ORDER
Sen. Marcus Jones: My point of order is, she may
have misheard me, [or] misunderstood me. But I was not saying that the Green Paper in its entiret y was
unnecessary. My point was that one section of the
Green Paper which was suggesting centralising of the dispatching system should be done did not need a Green Paper to come up with that solution, as this has
been in the public space for a long time.
The President: Thank you, Senator Jones.
Carry on, Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Madam Pres ident, thank you.
One of the things I take great pleasure in d oing when I come here is to make notes. And as the
Senators speak, I listen with great interest because
there may actually be something that we can take away and use.
And I quote what I made a note of. He said,
The Green Paper is not necessary. My point being
that you cannot have it both ways. The Opposition takes great pleasure in making noise about the lack of consultation. The Green Paper speaks to consultation on a very important subject. And I expect that it will be embraced against that backdrop. But your comments
and your recommendations have actually been noted.
POLITICAL CONSULTANTS
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: We seem to
have a problem discussing money. And we seem to have a problem with respect to our understanding of
the complexity of governance. And I have heard comments today about the size of Cabinet, t he expenditures, so on and so forth. And as a Member of the Cabinet, as a Minister responsible for a huge por tfolio, I can say hands -down I wish I had more money
to spend, because you cannot take Bermuda back to the past. And the complexity of the issues that we are dealing with, Madam President, is huge. The financial issues, the social issues are huge. And so, let us not get caught up in who spent $10 on Tom . At the end of
the day, we need a result.
What I am hearing is that there may be a desire for more transparency with respect to expend itures. And we certainly will take that on board in the event that there may arise occasions where someone did forget to publish a contract. But let me make it
clear. Consultants did not come out of the sky. We
have a ministerial code of conduct which allows mini sters to have two political consultants. And the mini sters have the opportunity to assess their operations and determine whether additional support is neces-sary beyond that which is provided by civil servants.
And that is what we do, without apology.
With respect to the issue of part -time versus
full-time consultants —let me correct myself —
ministers, hands -down, I will say that any Cabinet
does not do justice to the country and the business of
governance if they do not have full -time ministers. And
having inherited departments that fell under ministries where there were not full -time ministers, you can see
where that is a disservice to the country. And that is not meant as a criticism; it is actually a fact. This i s
huge. You cannot do this thing piecemeal, and you
cannot do it part time.
With regard to Senator Kempe, I am sorry to
have taken up your time, but I welcome a factual nexus for the comments that are made. What we must not descend to is rhetoric that does not have a backup. So, thank you for providing your quotes, and I will continue to ask you to provide your source so that the
public is best served with facts as opposed to our po-litical rhetoric.
I have good news to impart this morning,
which speaks to what Senator Hayward (and I am not
going to get emotional; this is really crazy) had to offer
about what we do.
[
Pause]
514 5 June 2019 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda Senate PROTECTING BERMUDA’S CHILDREN
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: On the 26th of
May, I departed these shores accompanied by the
Perm anent Secretary and the Director of Child and
Family Services to visit our children. Reference to “our children” is in reference to the children of this country
who are overseas in institutions committed to advancing their wellbeing. And there has been a v ery unfortunate narrative and dialogue with regard to psycho -
ed and all sorts of negative comments made about why, how, where, who. We have had parents speaking out. We have had the Royal Gazette fishing ove rseas and undermining the operations of the Gover nment with respect to the services provided to our chi ldren.
It was a whirlwind visit of more than six facil ities. And I saw our children. And I will say, hands -
down, that I will applaud to the end of time the bonds that the Director of Child and Family S ervices, Alfred
Maybury, has forged with institutions overseas to pr ovide services that we do not and cannot provide for
our children. We have seen residential care. We have seen psychological assessment facilities at hospitals.
We have seen sex offender programmes. There is
one programme that our children are sent to where they have various sexual disorders, things that I have never even heard of. I got a lesson on the effect of pornography, and I intend to come back to this Cham-ber with real details and to speak about it publicly.
And I say all that to say that there are things
in this country that surpass political partisanship. And most of you will know that, as the Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs responsible for our chi ldren, I do not take the bait. There have been numer-ous reports, negative reports about our operations,
about the staff of Child and Family Services. And I can
say, hand on heart, that where there is ever a mis-deed, it is dealt with by the procedures that are in place to deal with it.
I will encourage everybody on both sides of
the divide, based on what I saw, that we cannot con-tinue to do a disservice to our children with this neg ative and vicious dialogue. The conditions that we ref-erence today pertained long before I took this post. My hope is that they will not continue while I am here and after I am gone.
We spoke, in the context of the budget, about
the money that is spent in the education system for psychological services for our children. I actually saw the face of that with our children. And the teams that are responsible for our children are dedicated and committed, and were so happy to see that Bermuda
actually cares. We are actually miles ahead.
To the Royal Gazette, who has a reporter in
this Chamber today, please do not harass these inst itutions. Please do not try to obtain information that is
detrimental to what we are trying to accomplish. If you have a legitimate question, I am more than happy to
answer it.
But I will say to Senators today, there is much
work to be done. And in the months that come, I will
be bringing legislation to protect our children. I have
actually invited several of the specialists whom I met to come to Bermuda to educate the public on some of
the issues, particularly the effect of por nography on
our children. I was amazed that we even have a pro blem, a very specialised problem.
That leads me straight to Westgate with r egard to our sex offenders. So, to Senators, be pr epared. The legislation is coming. We have internation-al conventions that we are signing onto, where there
is a slew of initiatives aimed at protecting our children.
I do not expect to have the discourse on that subject descend to what I generally hear with regard to this subject matter.
So, with respect to today’s session, I welcome
the spirited comments. But there is much work to do. And there are issues, Madam President, and matters pertaining to our children and the socio- economic
condition of this country that we must partner and move forward on in the interest of the country.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Kathy Lynn Si mmons, Attorney General and Government Leader in the Senate.
Senators, the Senate stands adjourned to the
12th of June next week, Wednesday.
Thank you. The Senate is adjourned.
[At 11:16 am, the Senate stood adjourned, until
10:00 am, W ednesday, 12 June 2019.]
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