March 1, 2019

Any more questions?
Minister, you have another Member who
would like to put questions to you on your Statement
this morning. It is the Member from constituency 10.
Would you like to put your question, Member?

QUESTION 1: UPDATE ON THE WORK OF THE
BERMUDA CASINO GAMING COMMISSION
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Good morning to you and colleagues, and those in the listening audience.
The question to the Honourable Mi nister of
Finance; on the bottom of page 2, the Honourable
Minister gives some details about the recruitment pr ocess for the vacant executive director position and
that it was advertised locally and overseas four times,
in August 2017, March 2018, October 2018, and January 2019. Can the Minister respond to this Honour aBermuda House of Assembly ble House on how many applicants have applied each
time?

Thank you.
Supplementary or new question?

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I accept that answer, Mr.
Speaker, and I look forward to the commitment.
But, supplementary, which the Honourable
Minister probably will not be able to answer. But I
would ask that he get back when he does with the
other answer. I assume that, since the position has not been filled, all of those applicants would be considered unsuitable. So, I would just like confirmat ion
for that?
And another question, Mr. Speaker. Second
question, Mr. Speaker.
So, I would ask a supplementary, which is,
assuming that the position has not been filled —

Minister. Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker, I will take
them in the order in which they were asked. I will certainly get back to the Member with respect to confir ming why applicants were not successful in the process. It could have been either not being suitable or not d eciding to pursue the process any further.
With respect to the third question, I guess I
would answer it with a question: How long is a piece of string? I do not know.

Thank you.
No further questions?
We will now move on to the next Statement
that there wer e questions for. And we will go to the
Deputy Premier.
Deputy Premier, the Opposition Leader would
like to put a question to you in regard to your Stat ement this morning.
Honourable Opposition Leader, your question
to the Deputy.

QUESTION 1: THE BILL ENTITLED
MUNICIPALITIES REFORM ACT 2019

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes. The Honourable
Member mentioned— it is not numbered, the page, but
I would say page 3, down under item 3 (b), the Honourable Member says, “ The status of the World Herit610 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly age Site is under threat, in part because of the lack of
a proper management plan.” I just was curious, as
they have been working with the corporation, could he
shed some light on some of the other areas that have
been threatening the Heritage Site, other than just proper management plans?

Minister.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: To be precise to the question,
the overseeing of the World Heritage designation has
been, not in the hands directly of the Corporation of
St. George’s, but [in the hands of] a committee themselves. And they had responsibilities for maintaining
the requirements to maintain the plan. And they did
not produce any plans. So, that is what has put the
situation to where it is. In a sense, I guess they did not
have the funding or the expertise to actual ly produce
the plan, which is why the Government took over r esponsibility for producing the plan.

Go ahead.

QUESTION 2: THE BILL ENTITLED
MUNICIPALITIES REFORM ACT 2019

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Further on down, the Honourable Member states, “ As a result, the Government
intends to give greater authority to the Corporation of
St. George’s, both legislatively and financially .” I can
understand “ financially,” what they mean by that. I am
assuming that this means that they will be giving . . .
more monies will be available to the corporation. But,
legislatively, I was wondering. What is that “greater
authority” that will be given to the corporation legislatively? It is kind of vague.

No further questions? Good.
We will move on to the next Statement this
morning. Minister of National Security, there are actua lly three Members who hav e indicated that they have
questions for you today. And the first is in the name of
the Member from constituency 31.
Honourable Member Smith, you have the
floor.

QUESTION 1: DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
AND MITIGATION TEAM UPDATE

Minister.

Hon. Wayne Caines: The DRRM does not have a
budget, per se. At this present moment, Mr. Speaker,
we have taken members under secondment from
specific government departments. For example, a
person from the Customs Department will sit in the
office. A person from the Police Service will sit in the
office. So, whilst we are putting together this particular
department for 2018/19, we have this department that
is in our office on an ad hoc basis until we work out
some of the logistics.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Would the Honourable Minister be able to
provide an estimated amount that has been spent so
far for this?
Hon. Wayne Caines: Again, so far, there is not a
specific budget that has been set. There has not been
a budget that was set aside. T he DRRM [members]
are working from the individual departments. The only
thing that is different is that they are sitting in our office and working together as a team.

Supplementary, okay. Yes.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Supplementary.
Yes, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, considering that these individuals are actually doing work for this new entity, is it
reasonable to expect that funds will be vired from
these initial ministries to the now -revised ministry r esponsibility?

Hon. Wayne Caines: That remains a work in pr ogress. Let us go back to the beginning and to the
genesis. Over the last year, Members would remember, when we brought this concept initially to the
House and we shared that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office highlighted for all of the Overseas Terr itories that they wanted us to put together disaster risk
reduction units in our countries, we realised that it was
important.
And it was being mandated for the OTs to
have this department up and running. And so, rather than put it off, and rather than wait, we thought it not
robbery to take everyone from their particular depar tment s and put together a team.
Prior to this, the departments were run by the
Emergency Measures Organisation, and they would
come together on an ad hoc basis (i.e., if there was an
emergency). We thought it important to put together a
national disaster risk reduction strategy for the government. What is taking place right now, until we are
able to regularise the budget, is that we are taking
secondees from different government departments.
And these secondees, all of their salaries are still ap-propriated and coming from their individual depar tments. The only thing is that, right now, they all sit in the Department of National Security Headquarters, Mr. Speaker.

Minister.
Hon. Wayne Caines: There is a principal Customs
officer, Kelly Trott, representing Customs. There is a
division fire officer, Mr. Furbert, who represents the
fire department. There is Wa rrant Officer Class Two
Rubaine, who represents the Bermuda Regiment.
There is Mr. Steve Cosham, who is the head of the
department. We have representing the Bermuda P olice Service, Sergeant Lyndon Raynor, who is responsible for the policing side.

Thank you.
Supplementary? No further questions? Thank
you.
Minister, the next individual, the next Member
who indicated he had a question for you is the Member from constituency 10.
Honourable Member Dunkley.

QUESTION 1: DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
AND MITIGATION TEAM UPDATE
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Minister has
informed this Honourable House that the members are within the Ministry of National Security, fulfilling
that role. Who is fulfilling the r oles and responsibilities
that all of those members had in their original jobs?

Minister.

Hon. Wayne Caines: That is actually a brilliant question.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Oh, thank you very much.
But I would not go that far.
Hon. Patrici a J. Gordon -Pamplin: I would.

Hon. Wayne Caines: The reason why it is a brilliant
question is because that is what all of those depar tment heads are asking. They are asking, Who is fulfilling those roles? Again, Mr. Speaker, and this is
something that we have to understand as a country.
This is something that we have to do as a country.

Yes.
Hon. Wayne Caines: And this was put on us at the
last minute. We are putting together a team to be able
612 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly to regularise our international standards with r eference to disaster risk and reduction. And this is som ething that is currently a work in progress.
Of course, those positions and the leaders in
those particular departments want those people to
have their positions to regularise because they are
operat ing, in many circumstances, with one man
down. But we have to continue to make sure that
Bermuda’s overall security is managed.

Yes.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I thank the Minister for the
compliment. But the answer was really not that complete. So, supplementary question.
Are those positions full -time within the
DRRM?

Hon. Wayne Caines: I really do not know how to
break this down any further, you know. I have said it
three times, that they have been seconded over, Mr.
Speaker.

[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker, that they have
been seconded over. That the positions, we are in the
process of regularising that. At present, they have been seconded over, Mr. Speaker. And that is four
times.

Supplementary.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pampli n: Yes, thank you.
If the Minister can confirm that if they are s econded over, that presumably he is now saying that it
is on a full- time basis. Then the initial premise ought
to be that they must be paid. Therefore, one of the
first steps ought to have b een, or ought not the first
step to have been to tran sfer the funding to ensure
that they are paid, rather than to have the cost centre
from which each indivi dual me mber is coming being
responsible for their sal aries? Just accounting, from
an accounting question. The Speaker: What was your question? I am waiting
for your question.

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: The question was,
Would it not have been appropriate to transfer the
funding to pay people, who have now moved over on
a secondee basis, to transfer the money from point A
to point B for them to be paid under that cost centre?

This is your second supplementary.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
The Honourable Minister said in answer to a
previous question that he is unable to say how much
money has been spent. He was unable to say how much the budget is. So, can the Minister assure this
Honourable House that they have stayed within the
budget for the Ministry and we will see no supplementaries duri ng this Budget Debate?

Minister.
Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker, there is an opportunity for us to understand—understand what this
Government is doing. There is an opportunity for us to
create a disaster risk and reduction strategy for this
nation. This was thrust on this Government in the
middle of the fiscal year. We did not abdicate our r esponsibility. We then moved around key chess pieces
to ensure that this Government had the necessary
personnel in place. We have had the opportunity to do
so. We have done so in accordance with financial i nstructions.
When the opportunity presents itself, we will
regularise the positions and make sure that this is
done in a formal manner, Mr. Speaker. We have the
opportunity to meet on a regular basis wit h each of the
department heads in our Ministry. They have the o pportunity to test and adjust their position with reference to personnel. It is always our mission and aim to make sure that each and every one of the ministries in
our remit have the necessary personnel, they have


Bermuda House of Assembly the appropriate budget and they have the direct opportunity to lead in this country.
With reference to budget, my learned friend
has a copy of the headings. And at the appropriate
time, we can debate the appropriate parts of this budget.

Members.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I have not heard any ind ication that, with all the services that are covered,
there is anyone there who has been seconded with respect to what I call the medical and social services
area.

Hon. Wayne Caines: At this stag e, Mr. Speaker, and
I just say again, this Department of Disaster Risk and
Reduction is in its genesis. There are a number of
elements when we are talking about the EMO. The
Emergency Measures Organisation takes key me mbers from each part of the government ministries
when there is a national disaster. This still exists. So,
if we have a national disaster, all of the key elements from government come into the place.
We have taken four key elements of our Mi nistry, and we put them together to form the reduc tion
team. When there is a part of our strategy that r equires someone to do with medicine or other key places, they will seek the expertise from that person to work with the national strategy with reference to pr otecting Bermuda Government as it relates to medical
and medical -related incidences.

Thank you.
Would you like to put your supplementary
now, Member? Yes. Go ahead.

SUPPLEMENTARIES

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Yes. My suppl ementary is in respect of the earlier answer, Mr.
Speaker. And the question is, Has there been or is
there overfunding in the Ministry of National Security
at the moment? Overfunding such that people coming in are being able to be paid out of the budget of N ational Security without having the virement from the other ministries?

Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker, I have answered
that question.

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: You have not a nswered the question.

Second supplementary.
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Second suppl ementary.
The Minister has not answered the question.
Is there funding and a funding excess in the Ministry
of National Security so that that Ministry can pay people coming over? Or will there be a supplementary
virement from their original ministry to the Ministry of National Security? It is just a basic accounting question, not meant to try to trap anybody. It is a pure accounting question.

Thank you.
Supplementary? Yes.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Supplementary, Mr.
Speaker.
Bearing in mind that the areas that have been
chosen–– I just cannot believe that, and I would like
the Minister to indicate to me. Normally, when som ething constitutes a disaster, there is some sort of el ement in terms of people and things that have ha ppened on such a global nature. I do not understand
why there would not have been someone from what I
call the medical or social services seconded to that
group. Because you are planning. This is all about
planning. And I just wonder if there is any reason why
this group was overlooked? Or was it because they
are just not part of National Security?

Now, now, now, just stick to the facts.
Keep it to the facts.
Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker, with the greatest
of respect, we have shared with the House that we
have a cybersecurity ministerial subcommittee that
meets on a regular basi s. There was another person
on our team. We have a person who specialises in our
cybersecurity strategy. His name is Stewart , and his
last name escapes me. He is putting together the c ybersecurity plan for each government department. The cybersecurity strategy is something that has been
a work in progress for the last 18 months. And that is
robust, and that indeed is looking at plans with patc hing, with plans for training, for plans for development,
and looking at the government infrastructure with referenc e to protecting the IT biosphere.

Minister.

Hon. Wayne Caines: There is a global standard that
is put together by NIST [National Institute of Stand-ards and Technology]. NIST is a national organisation that is responsible for cybersecurity. We also hav e the
Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation,
which has worked with Bermuda to put together the
National Cybersecurity Strategy.
I have shared with our House the National
Cybersecurity Strategy on previous occasions, setting out in a Ministerial Statement the part for the National
Cybersecurity Strategy. Each of the elements are
there. They rise to global standards. And indeed,
[with] each government department working with the
Ministry, we have a National Cybersecurity plan that is
now in the public domain.

He is looking for a timeline as to when
it will be completed for each department.

Hon. Wayne Caines: Each department has a strat egy. Each department has the parts of the strategy that
are key for their ministry. It has been distilled down for
that ministry.
Let us just talk about training, for a second.
The biggest part that we have seen was the training and preparation for understanding the cybersecurity in
each department. The training is taking place where
each member of government, every month, has a c ybersecurity plan that they have to answer, and secur ity questions that they have to answer. There are spe-cific people in each department through the ITO [I nformation Technology Office] who understand their
remit for the specific infrastructure that they are in
charge of.
So, there are two [sic] parts to this strategy.
The first part of the strategy is the ITO department. The ITO department has the key personnel who are,
overall, responsible for running the government’s pr ogramme. Within the Ministry, we have a cybersecurity
manager, Stewart . Stewart’s responsibility is for ma naging the overall government strategy. He then poli ces the people at ITO, making sure that they are putting on the patches, that the government cybersecurity
strategy is being enacted.
Yes. The third part is everybody who works in
government having an understanding their part that
they have to play with keeping their desktop or their
servers together. That has been cascaded down to
each government department with a security survey
and a test that is given once per quarter to each go vernment official.
So, three parts, Mr. Speaker. The three parts
are the government has a cybersecurity manager who
is within the DRRM. He is responsible for the overall cybersecurity strategy. Then you have the ITO department of managers, who cascade down and are
responsible for each department and the cybersecur ity team. Then you have the third layer, which is all of
the 5,000 government employees, who are respons ible for making sure that the cybersecurity on their desktop or on their tablet, making sure they are r esponsible for that. I hope that is helpful, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.
Any further questions?
No further questions.
Minister, that completes the questions to you.
The last Statement this morning which Members have indicated that they have questions for is
that of the Minister of Education.
Minister, the Honourable Member from constituency 8, Honourable Member Simons, would like
to put a question to you regarding your Statement.
Member.

QUESTION 1: 2018/19 FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR
BERMUDA COLLEGE STUDENTS

Just one simple question.
The Statement indicates, and I quote, “ The financial
awards have ranged from 30 [per cent] to 80 per cent
of a student’s educational costs . . . .” How does the
awards committee define whether a student will get 30 per cent of the costs or 80 per cent of the costs?
And what criteria do they use?

Minister.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Mr. Speaker, I would have
to endeavour to get the criteria from the Bermuda College. But I have been assured that the purpose of
these funds is to ensure that students who normally
would not be able to afford to attend the Bermuda College get funded.
I am unsure of why the Opposition would want
to question the Bermuda College’s v etting process on
ensuring that these 511 people who have benefited
616 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly from this programme should have benefited from this
programme. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

One second. One second. Let me hear
her question out.
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: —with respect to
the people who have gotten the benefits of the grant.
The question was, simply, Is it based on family i ncome? We do not deny or begrudge anybody getting
additional assistance. We are just trying to determine
whether it is based on family inc ome or the individual
student’s circumstance.
And the only reason in asking that question,
Mr. Speaker, for clarity to the Minister, is just to en-sure that if there is a family member who can assist,
whether that is going to be considered, or whether the
student’s own individual, specific financial situation is
the only determining criterion.
If the Minister can get that information, I would
be happy to hear it. I certainly do not begrudge the students or their ability to further their education.

Okay.
Minister.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Mr. Speaker, once again, I
am at a loss to understand why we want to ask this
question. If we are talking about a student who has no
family, what are the criteria then? If you are talking
about a student who may have a family who is strug-gling, I do not understand. I do not understand the
question, period.

Well, let me help you out, Minister. You
seem to be confused. It is simply a [question] of, Do
the criteria take in just the individual? Or do the crit eria take in the family, as well? That is basically what is being asked.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: And, Mr. Speaker, my reply
to that is I do not see why it is relevant, but I will ask
and get back to the Member.

So, no, no, no, no. I think you should
take y our seat, while I am talking anyway. Take your
seat.
I think it is a relevant question. And you just
need to answer. It is either the individual, or it is the
family. And it is not belittling the student. It is not beli ttling the family. It is, What are y our criteria?
Do you know why I am doing this? Because if
one of my constituents asked me, I need to know what the criteria are. I think we are all asking for that.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker,
and I will be guided by your direction. And I will e ndeavour to get the criteria from the Bermuda College.

I did not want us to go there. I spoke to
try to keep us on a proper level. I am not going to a llow us to go down the wrong track. It is early in the
day, and we have got a long day ahead of us. Let us
understand that. We are going to stay at a proper le vel this entire day. Or people are going to be leaving this Chamber. Is that clear? Is that clear?

Member.
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, last week, because of time constraints, I did not have the opportunity to ask that this
Honourable House join me in sending condolences to
the family of the late Franklyn DeAllie. You might r ecall, Mr. Speaker, that Frank DeAllie served on our
police service for a significant period of time, having


Bermuda House of Assembly come to Bermuda from Grenada, originally via the UK,
and into Bermuda, where he had married his wonderful wife, Winifred. Frank was the husband of Wi nifred,
the father of both Ian and Samantha. And he just was a very good family friend.
But, as the news of his death was announced,
Mr. Speaker, you will recall that he was actually the
officer who was duty at Government House on the
night that the former Governor Sir Richard Sharples
and his ADC [ aide-de-camp], [Hugh] Sayers, and their
dog, were actually shot on the grounds of Government House. And he was the sole officer on duty at that
time.
Frankie also, on the lighter side of things, was
actually a m ember of a very popular UK rock band
called “Hot Chocolate.” And it was very interesting the impact that his band had on music in the late 1960s,
early 1970s, and actually right into the 1980s, after
Frank had already actually left Hot Chocolate and
come t o Bermuda. So, I just ask that condolences be
sent to his family.
I would also ask that congratulations be sent
to the Ord Road Paget Primary School. That Paget
Primary School, very recently, Mr. Speaker, this past
week, in celebration of Black History Month, had a
classroom exercise in which each of the classes was
required to highlight a popular figure from Bermuda, where they could identify and represent them in their
classroom environment to represent what those individuals contributed to Bermuda. I was actually made
aware of it because my father, the late Dr. E. F. Gordon, was one of those chosen by Class 4, Smith to
make a presentation and to do an exhibit. And they were absolutely first class, Mr. Speaker.
But among some of the others, we had former
Premier Jennifer Smith. We had former Member Neletha Butterfield. We had the Talbot Brothers. We had
Nicky Saunders. We had Fred Ming. We had, actually,
the current Premier, David Burt. We had Hubert
Smith, Sir John Swan. There was just a plethora of
individuals. But the exhibits themselves, Mr. Speaker,
were absolutely first class. And the little ambassadors
who showed people throughout the exhibits were so enthusiastic, and they deserve our congratulations.
And finally, Mr. Speaker, I would ask that thi s
House send congratulations to the Youth Parliament in their debate this past weekend at Southampton
Princess, where they debated the worth, or lack
thereof, of the sugar tax. And they did an excellent
job.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[Constituency] 2, rather. Yes, 2.
Hon. Hubert (Kim) E. Swan: Thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I would li ke to be associated
with those condolences to the family of the late Alex
Swan, a cousin, and a gentleman I always admired, a
silent giant behind the scenes there at John W. Swan Limited, in the real estate section. And I know that all
of those persons who worked there [in the past] are
mourning this gentleman’s passing.
In addition, Mr. Swan was a stalwart in the
football community and the club administration community, with his proud association with PHC [Pem-broke Hamilton Club]. And anyone who knows the
type of persons who have associated themselves with
clubs like PHC knew that it was a time when my club,
St. George’s Cricket Club, way back in the day, nee ded help. And PHC’s forefathers came to the rescue. This is why some might wonder why PHC has such a
lovely spot at St. George’s to watch Cup Match. And,
certainly, this year, when we win the cup back, we will
be remembering Alex when we do that triumph, Mr.
Speaker.

I am glad you have got a good imagination.

618 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly [Desk thumping]

Hon. Hubert (Kim) E. Swan: But I certainly would like
my condolences associated with the Honourable
Member Zane De Silva, to go out to his family here and abroad. His brother is a Methodist minister in
Canada. Valerie is . . . and one of his other brothers is
a celebrated physician in Bermuda, deceased, and
[condolences to] his entire family, Mr. Speaker. He
has done great, great things in the business community and in the sporting world, and I am sure in other areas that I might not even be aware of.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I did not intend to get up. But after hearing of
the death of Mr. Alex Swan, like the two colleagues
preceding me, I had to get up and say that Mr. Swan
was iconic, a pioneering figure in Bermuda’s black
community over the last 40, 50, 60 years. We heard
this morning a fitting tribute to Montague Sheppard.
Certainly , Mr. Swan belongs in that group, that generation, along with a number of others, who paved the
way in terms of black business development, entr epreneurship within our community. He also had an
abiding love and interest in the overall welfare of Bermuda and Bermudians. I cannot recall the number of
times that Mr. Swan would pull me aside, as a good family friend —our families had a background in
PHC —and would give me advice on the latest political
issues of the day.
He was so multifaceted, he was a Renai ssance man. And I am speaking with some emotion
here because, again, I have a deep and abiding r espect for Mr. Alex Swan. And that generation which he
was such a part of laid the foundation for the Bermuda
that we have today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

First, I would like to send co ngratulations to the Purvis Primary School. Last week
they held their science fair. I would also like to assoc iate MP Tyrrell, even though he is not in the House.
We both attended last week. And we were thoroug hly
impressed by the projects that the students in the school came up with. It reminded me of not too long
ago, when I was in school and had the same science
project that we had to do. And I was thoroughly i mpressed.
Also, I would like to associate with t he congratulations by the Honourable Member Pat GordonPamplin, for the Paget Primary and their Black History
Month event that they put on. Also, Mr. Speaker, while
we have in the Gallery Dr. Carika Weldon, I would like
to congratulate her for putting on t he gala last week
for the Bermuda Principles Foundation. It went over
very well.

[Desk thumping]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and
good morning to you.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to start off by ass ociating myself with the remarks about Mr. Alex Swan. I
did not know him when I was younger. But as a man, I
was one of his colleagues at the Leopards Club and
had the opportunity to learn a lot from him then, you
know, not only about club life. We talked a lot about
sports. I went to school wi th one of his daughters, so I
know his family well. He was definitely a good man,
and he will be a big miss.
Mr. Speaker, on a warmer note, I would like to
have the House recognise the exploits of Mr. Ottiwell Simmons. Mr. Speaker, last Sunday, some colle agues
and I were invited to St. Philip Church —

That little church by the
sound, yes.
And that church, their youth were putting on a
Black History event. And the theme was celebrating
Ottiwell Simmons. Mr. Speaker, I had to be there b eBermuda House of Assembly cause Mr. Ottiwell Simmons has always been not only
an icon to myself, but to our community.
[Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., Deputy Speaker, in the
Chair]

When I got down to the
church, I was a little late. And I was expecting to run
into standing room only. We have to try to appreciate
and recognise, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that those who
have gone before us, well, they are still here. So, I enjoyed my time. And I know, and I saw you, Mr .
Deputy Speaker, and the Honourable Minister of Education, holding hands and singing Kumbaya. But Mr.
Simmons was definitely appreciative of all that we had
done for him, Mr. Deputy Speaker. And we wish him
many more years. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
I rise to associate myself with the comments
made in regard to Alex Swan, Paget Primary, and Dr. Carika Weldon. I went to her event on Friday night ,
and I can say I left the event knowing a bit more about
DNA splicing and the benefits of its application to spi-nal injury. It was something that I would never have
gone to, but I think I grew scientifically as a result of
that rewarding experience.
I would like to also send congratulations to
Juliana Snelling and her charity, Support Public Schools. Last week, they had a fundraiser.

[Timer beeps]

No.
[They had] a fundraiser. And they raised
$70,000. And Juliana also was able to get 90 secondhand computers for our schools from Lombard Odier
and Fidelity International. To me, that is a worthwhile contribution from our corporate community, and I s alute them for their commitment to education.
I would like to also acknowledge the fact that
the charity, Support Public Schools, has donated over
$110,000 towards school supplies as of June of last
year. So, again, congratulations. Keep up the good
work! The community acknowledges you and praises
you for yo ur contribution. Thank you, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker.

The Chair recognises the Ho nourable Minister of Education, Diallo Rabain.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker. Mr. Deputy Speaker, first, on a sad note, I
would like to have a letter of condolences sent to the
Benjamin family of Loyal Hill. I associate Pat GordonPamplin (I want to say PGP ; I am sorry), who does
live on Loyal Hill, as well. It is unfortunate. I spoke to
the family last night. And I have met Roderi ck [Benj amin] numerous times [while] canvassing up there. And
it was just one of those things where he was suddenly
found unresponsive. So, a letter of condolences sent
to that family.
And, Mr. Speaker, I do want to touch on some
of the things that were s aid previously. With Paget
Primary School, this occasion happened to be their
second annual Black History Museum function that
they put on. They have actually outdone themselves
this year. I think that one of the displays that we must
pay very close attent ion to was the one that was done
specifically by the ASD [autism spectrum disorder]
classroom, which honoured the current Premier, the
Honourable David Burt. It was a phenomenal display
put on by these young children, who range in age
from P3 all the way u p to P5.
With that I would also like to join my colleague
in congratulating Purvis Primary for their science fair.
This is the third time I have attended their science fair,
as well. And it is something that is an annual event. It
is something that I also look forward to.
I also want to give congratulations to all of the
students who put artwork into those annual primary
school artwork displays, which is currently happening
at City Hall. And if anyone out there has not yet visi ted, I encourage you to go and visit and see what
some of our people are doing.
Again, joining my colleagues with the performance put on my St. Philip AME YPD [Young People’s Division] this Sunday. And what he did not me ntion is that the Deputy Speaker took part in the display and he was actually part of the skit that they put on,
which was a bit of a surprise for us, as well.
Going on with the congratulations, congratul ations to ABIC [Association of Bermuda International
Companies], Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, who have been
working with the Department of Education to develop
an international business curriculum with our middle schools. We had all of the middle schools out this week, visiting various companies around Bermuda. I
dropped in on the Dellwood Primary when they were
at Chubb on Monday.
And lastly, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, along with
Mr. Cole [Simons], I want to congratulate Juliana
Snelling and the efforts that she has done. I associate
Minister Wilson, as well, with that. Juliana is passio nate about what she does. And what we can say is that
when I sat down with her and we talked about Plan 2022, which also incorporates reaching out to the corporate sector to get them to donate to public schools,
she had taken that on with a passion. And everything that she does ties directly back into Plan 2022, which
620 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly should serve notice to the public how wonderful that
actual plan is and how it reaches all of our community.
She is not a registered charity. It is different
the way they operate. They literally collect no money.
They just get peopl e to donate supplies, which go to
the schools. And they reach out to the schools and
ask the schools what it is that they actually need so
that they are not bringing anything that will not be ut ilised. So, congratulations to them. They had deliveries
this week to all of the primary schools, all 18 of them,
over the course of three days, where they delivered,
as Mr. Cole [Simons] said, almost $70,000 worth of
supplies in this week alone. Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today just to
recognise . . . this week I had the opportunity to attend
the Southampton Preschool following an invitation
from the Administrator, Ms. Karen Joyiens. And, Mr. Speaker, I ask that we send them our absolute co ngratulations on their Bermuda Black History Week. It
was an excellent time that was had by all who were
present. Mr. Speaker, the teacher, I believe it is Ms.
Durrant, Ms. Katiuska Durrant . We had a great time.
Black History Week is an important time in our history. And to see our young people, to see our preschool students expressing such energy and the excitement
they presented! They are preschool students, but they
expressed so many good questions to me as it related
to the job that I do, what I am doing in the community,
and also as a parliamentarian. And they were excited.
And the teachers and all of us had a great time.
I had also an opportunity while I was there to
visit the classroom. So, Mr. Speaker, I rise on this oc-casion to wish them all the greatest of congratulations
and to wish them well as they begin this tradition of
annually recognising this particular time.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Member.
I recognise the Honourable Member, Minister
Simmons. You have the f loor.

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker,
and good morning.
I rise to my feet today to give congratulations
for Dalton E. Tucker Primary’s P6 class for the com-pletion of their Random Acts of Kindness initiative. Mr.
Speaker, early in February , Ms. Daniels , from consti tuency 33, and I were given the opportunity to judge
the list of Random Acts of Kindness that the class
wanted to participate in in the community. And, from
the list the children produced, they identified the following things that they would do. And they went out
on the 28
th, the last day of February, and did comm unity work at the Port Royal Golf facility, the Dr. Cann
residential Park, Telford Nursing Home and at the Port
Royal Fire Station. I think that the commitment of the
teachers and the parents, and all who were involved
in this initiative, in getting our children to understand
giving back to the community, and the enthusiasm
that was displayed by the children who participated,
was unparalleled. And I send commendation to ever yone involved.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to extend congratulations to the Bermuda Economic Development
Corporation, which last week hosted an event cel ebrating all who helped to make the year 2018 successful. Mr. Speaker, the work being done at the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation is outstanding. The team who have been placed there have
been doing a phenomenal job to move the dial in terms of expanding entrepreneurship and making the
path to business ownership, and access to capital,
much eas ier. And their work should be commended.
And finally, Mr. Speaker, on a sad note, I neglected to [note it], if it has been mentioned before, I would like to be associated with the remarks. But if not, I would like condolences sent to the family of Ms.
Eleanor “Lolly” Simmons, a stalwart Hog Bay Level.
She was a woman who lost the use of her arm in 1978
in a traffic accident and waged an epic case to actua lly get justice for herself. Despite her disability, she . . .
And also, before having the accident, sh e was one of
Bermuda’s first black female traffic wardens and was


Bermuda House of Assembly a trailblazer in many ways. But what I remember her
for, the last time I saw her, was her little dog. She had
to tell you that he did not bite, because he was a little
nipper. And [I remember] her for claiming possession
of every PLP paraphernalia I could take off when I came by the house. If it was a wristband or a lanyard,
anything, it was not leaving the house.
So, Mr. Speaker, she is missed. She had a
beautiful homegoing ceremony at Fort Scaur, which
the outpouring of love from the community and the
number of people who came out —family, friends,
neighbours alike—truly showed the impact that she
had that went beyond the public note and the things
that she was noted for, but to the connecti ons she
made with everyone in the constituency and the
community at large.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Member.
Does any other Honourable Member?
We recognise the Honourable Member from
constituency 19. Yes.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to have congratul ations sent to the Leopards Club, who, over the weekend, celebrated their 70
th anniversary. And I must admit, Mr. Speaker, it was very good to see the install ation of the new e xecutive, because I was impressed
by not only what I call the youths, as well as the elder
statesmen, but also the number of women, as well.
So, Mr. Speaker, they have a long history and they
should be congratulated.

Thank you.
Any other Mem ber wish to speak?
We recognise the Deputy Premier.
Deputy Premier, you have the floor.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I wish, of course, to be associated with the
condolences message to the family of Mr. Alex Swan.
I would also like to ensure that the record notes the
congratulatory message for the group Hindsight, who last week had a musical revue at the Spinning Wheel
nightclub, bringing much wanted activity to the north
of Hamilton, assisting in our efforts to bring new life
and rejuv enation to parts of the city. They not only
featured themselves, but also featured a number of
local artists in their own effort to advance and i ncrease the opportunities for local musicians. This is a very passionate cause that the Hinds brothers and
their musical group are working on.
I believe this revue was a tribute to Stevie
Wonder. And their next one is likely to be a tribute to
Motown. So, all persons are encouraged to follow and
attend their next event. They are one of Bermuda’s top music bands; t hey have travelled the world. But
their desire is to see the lot of musicians and music in Bermuda move forward and to improve back to, and in
tribute to, some of the days in the past when we had
many more things happening for musicians. So, co ngratulations to them and their efforts to advance mus icians and the cause of music in Bermuda.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I would like to congratulate the Bermuda Special Olympics Team, who will be on their way to the
UAE [United Arab Emirates], March 14
th to the 22nd,
where they will be representing Bermuda in various sporting events, such as track and field, tennis, bocce,
bowling and equestrian. And I would just like to call out their names: Kristopher Trott, Kirk Kemari Dill, Del -
Che Landy, Damon Emery, Solay Thomas, Danielle
Gibbons, J’Naysha Maloney, Bridget Marshall, Micah
Lambert, Ti annai Lowe, Wayne Smith, Carlton
Thompson, and Eden Woollery. And for anyone who
is interested, we should have the opportunity to take
the time to view the opening ceremony, which will be aired on the Sporting Channel, 8:00 am our time, on
March the 14
th.

I would like to associate the
whole House with that, Mr. Speaker.
And I would also like to thank this Gover nment, the many other spo nsors, coaches, volunteers
and fam ilies who have as sisted in making this opportunity pos sible. And hop efully, when they return, we
can con gratulate them with any awards or medals that
they have won.

I would just also like to be ass ociated with the Black Histor y Month exhibit at Paget
Primary. I believe the Minister of Education specifica lly spoke about the ASD classroom, in which they did a
phenomenal exhibit on our Premier, David Burt. It was actually quite awesome. They did a fabulous tour for
whoever went to the classroom and toured the clas sroom. And it really, really represented an awesome
exhibit and museum style. So, I want to say congrat ulations to the whole of Paget Primary and the ASD programme, who did a phenomenal job in that aspect.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.
Does any other Member wish to speak?
622 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly I recognise the Deputy Speaker.
Deputy, you have the floor.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated
with the remarks on the esteemed Alex Scott —Alex
Swan, sorry.
[Laughter and inaudible interjections ]

Have you checked this morning with
Lawrence?

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, yes. No, La wrence is okay.
Mr. Swan —every time I visited his house, we
sat down and we had a good rap. And I always left
that house with words of wisdom and some things to
do. So, I know he will be sorely missed by his family,
friends and everyone who knew him.
Also, Mr. Speaker, I would like to send condolences to the family of Mr. H enry “Beardy” Smith, who
was eulogised last week in Hamilton Parish. He also
will be sorely missed by his family.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated
with the remarks concerning the Honourable Ottiwell Askew Simmons. Mr. Speaker, everybody in this country has benefited from the work and the commi tment of Otti Simmons —everybody, every job, regar dless of what you have. In fact, it was Mr. Otti Si mmons, under his leadership, that the health and safety
standards in the workplace —he achieved that for the
workers. You know, once upon a time, you would go
up on a scaffolding on the outside of a building, just
some two -by-fours and two- by-twelves, and that was
it. No netting or anything. Today, you see it different
when they go on high roofs.
Also, I must s ay that Mr. Simmons is probably
one of the most honest people I ever met. I can recall
one time, sitting in his office. And he received a call
from a supplier from overseas. And he had it on the
blower .
And the guy said, Do you want me to doctor
the invoic e down so you pay less money in taxes?
Mr. Simmons said, Let me tell you, sir. I don’t
mind paying my taxes. Whatever it costs, that is what I
want to be shown on the invoice.
So, Mr. Speaker, I have learned a lot from the
Honourable Otti Simmons, and I am so glad that he is
still with us. And I hope he sees many, many more
years in this country.
Thank you.

Thank you, Deputy.
I recognise the Honourable Member from
constituency . . . oh, okay. I was going to call one of
them, but they both sat down.
Premier, the floor is yours.
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to rise this morning
on a very sad note. And I want to ask that this Ho nourable House send a letter of condolences to the
family of the late Mr. Henry Junior Smith. And I will
associate all Members of this Honourable House with
that. Mr. Henry Smith, the husband of the late Gloria
Smith and loving father to Shawn Smith, who is married to Janell Smith; and also Shawnette Perott, who
is marr ied to Terry Perott. I knew Mr. Smith. I had
known him my entire life, Mr. Speaker. As he was a
member of the Breakfast Club, and my father is a
member of the Breakfast Club, as well. So, I have
known him throughout my entire life.
He was our family plumber. He was a very
experienced plumber and worked not only in his pr ofession, which he passes on to his family with his son
and also his grandson, but in addition to that, he was
a musician and a well -known musician. And so, he
was in the Bermuda Regiment B and for a very long
time. He was also a member of the Blues Beat Band,
a member of the Ex -Artillerymen’s Association. And I
mentioned the Breakfast Club, and also the Man
Cave/Woman Cave Crew.
He was in his 80
th year. He will be recognised
in a homegoing service tomorrow afternoon. But I
wanted to make sure that we could at least extend
condolences up here, Mr. Speaker, as he is another
stalwart who has gone on to glory.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to associate with the
remarks of which have already been gi ven today, for
Dr. Carika Weldon, and the Bermuda Principles Foundation, on the success of their third annual conference, which took place here. Dr. Weldon, as I see
her, she came to visit me in the office yesterday. And I
think she might have actually bee n up here earlier.

Just left. She just left.
Hon. E. David Burt: And I tell her, Mr. Speaker, that
she inspires me. She inspires me to continue to do the
work of service, because she does not hold any pos ition and/or rank. But the work of which she has done
for our young people, the vision of which she has had
by watching a BBC documentary, finding out about
Bermuda Principles and starting this foundation exposing our young people to Nobel Prize- winning sc ientists. And some of the best scient ists and genet icists in the world find their way to Bermuda on an a nnual basis because of her vision. It is something that
the Government is proud to support, and I know that Members of this Honourable House supported her in
her work and her effort. I think that, last week or the
week before last, as she has mentored Ms. Kameron Young to go ahead and . . . and Ms. Kameron Young,
I should also extend congratulations to her, as she actually presented at Bermuda Principles as a result of her research.


Bermuda House of Assembly The Spe aker: Yes.

Hon. E. David Burt: It is excellent stuff, and this Go vernment wants to make sure that we continue to recognise her and to hold her up.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I want to be associated
with the remarks for the congratulations that were gi ven to P aget Primary on their annual Black History
Month Museum. It was especially poignant for me. I
was surprised that my mother was able to keep as
many mementos as she did. But I think that it was a fitting tribute. But I think what was also impressive, Mr.
Speaker, is that it was the ASD programme. And what
this shows is that we can be inclusive, and all of our
students can participate and can demonstrate their talents to the country.
So, thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Premier.
I recogn ise the Honourable Member Moniz.
You have the floor.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
I just rise to my feet to be associated with the
condolences that were given to the family of Eleanor
Simmons. I just wanted to elucidate a lit tle bit on that.
I have a long association with Ms. Simmons. She was
a wonderful person. I represented her as her attorney
for many, many years. And it was I who took her case
to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council when
she was injured in a traffic accident where the person
who hit her was uninsured. And we took that case to
the Privy Council. And that case was one of the factors that led to the creation of the Motor Insurance
Fund, which is the fund that we all contribute to that
covers people who are injured by uninsured drivers.
And I just say I represented her for many
years. And she was a most marvellous person. Unfortunately, I was unable to get to the event at the time of
her passing. But I would just like to send my cond olences to her family . Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Member.
Now I recognise the Minister.
Minister Caines.

Hon. Wayne Caines: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to associate myself
with the congratulations to the Leopards Club. I had
the privilege of being the keynote speaker for the
event. It was indeed a privilege to be chosen.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to give my congrat ulations to Bermuda’s Under -16 Netball Team. And
although they are due to head out quite soon to take part in a tournament, Mr. Speaker, these are young
ladies who have been chosen from around our high
schools. And these are the best of the best that we
have in Bermuda. They are due to go to play in the Caribbean later this week. And we are wishing them
well. But, most of all, we are really excited for their
accomplishment. One of their proud mothers is here in
the Gallery this afternoon. We would like to
acknowledge her, as well.
Mr. Speaker, on a sad note, I also would like
to offer condolences to the famil y of Ms. Hilda Place.
Mr. Speaker, Ms. Hilda Place was 97 years old. She
was the daughter of Mr. A. B. Place of the Recorder , a
long-time resident of Shelton Road, and a member of
the Hamilton Seventh- day Adventist Church and a
stalwart member of our community. I would like to offer my condolences to her family.

Good morning.

Hon. Michael J. Scott: Mr. Speaker, may I ask that
congratulations be sent, firstly, to the organisers of
Keeping Bermuda Culture Alive. This was an event
again held at one of our institutions that has been
mentioned a number of times this morning, the Leopards Club. The speakers who were celebrating our
cultural literary giants included our own Minister, the
Honourable Walton Brown; Dr. Radell Tankard; and young teacher, Mr. Junior Burchall (he told me not to
call him Colwyn. It seems like he wants to be known
as Junior.) To be associated is my honourable friend, Mr. Michael Weeks, the Honourable Michael Weeks.
Sir, I would also like congratulations of this
House to be sent to the most recent inductees to the
Honorary Fellows of the Bermuda College. This year,
they were . . . and the Honourable Member and Mini ster of Health, Ms. Kim Wilson, would like to be assoc iated with these congratulations, to Mr. Andrew Banks, Dr. Wilbert Warner and Mr. Peter Durhager.
Mr. Speaker, very quickly, on a sadder note,
in the Somerset and north area, we lost Mr. Calvin
Lynch over the period. And Minister Wilson and I
would like to be . . . I would like to associate the whole
House.

Yes.
Hon. Michael J. Scott: A very dyn amic, decent Bermuda citizen, cut his path in broadcasting behind the camera, Calvin Lynch. We ask that condolences be
sent to his entire family.
Mr. Speaker, I also would like condolences to
be sent to the family of another constituent, the family of Mr. Adrian Hassell, a young man who lost his life
tragically in a tragic accident over the last month or
624 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly so. Young Adrian was a dynamic student at the
Berkeley. And his principal, Ms. Gabasi , was there, in
great lamentation over [this]. Mrs. Simmons was there
lamenting the passing of this young man, because
she recalled what a great leader he was and what a great figure and presence he was at the Berkeley I nstitute. So, to his family, on the sadness of this occ asion, we offer the House’s condolences.
Thank you.

I recognise the Honourable Member
Dunkley.
You have the floor.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated
with the congratulations sent to Dr. Carika Weldon,
but also add that one of my c olleagues, the Honour able Cole Simons, pointed out that she had just been
nominated and [she has] accepted an invitation to join
the Royal Society of Biology in the UK, which has over 18,000 members. So, it is clear that Bermudians continue to do great thi ngs around the world.

[Desk thumping]

Yes.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, I would like
this Honourable House to send congratulations and a thank -you to Pat Phillip- Fairn, who, I believe, is moving on from the BTA [Bermuda Tourism Authority] at
the end of April. Pat has done a tremendous job and should be thanked.
To Lamont Marshall, a constituent of mine,
who broke the Bermuda record again in the 5,000 m etres just recently in a race overseas.
And to firefighter Haynes on being nom inated
and receiving the Firefighter of the Year, named after a wonderful firefighter, [William] Glasford.
I would like to be associated with the condolences sent to constituents of mine, and close consti tuents of mine, Henry Smith and the Benjamin family ,
on their [losses].
And also, I ask that the House send condolences to Mr. Frank Flood’s family on his passing in early December.
To the Paiva family on the most tragic passing
of their daughter by way of suicide.
To the Minors family on the passing of No rman Minors, who loved to talk about everything, especially golf. And my colleague, the Honourable
Jeanne Atherden, would like to be associated with
that.
Recently, the passing of Cecil Latham, who
used to work up in Somerset and was a manager of, I
believe, one of the MarketPlace stores. Cecil knew
everyone in Bermuda, and he died after a short il lness. And finally, to the family of Shustan B adendock, who passed recently. And I think the Ho nourable Member from constituency 3 would like to be
associated , as well as Honourable Members in this
House. She was a young lady who inspired people
with her perseverance and her can- do attitude, and
she always had a smile on her face. And she will be
missed by family and friends. I know all of her family at the ACE group of companies .
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Good morning, Mr. Speaker and
listening audience.
First of all, Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated with the comments for Mr. Alex Swan. And I
would also like to extend thoughts and prayers to the
family of Mr. David Parsons, formerly of Bermuda,
now in Canada. His daughter, Fiona, works with me.
And I know that this has been a difficult time for her.
So, I am just letting them know that they are in our
thoughts and prayers.
And on a happier note, Mr. Speaker, I would
like to congratulate the St. George’s Parish Council.
They are one of our s taples within our St. George’s
community. And this past week, they hosted their a nnual public meeting, which they are required to do.
But they always do it with finesse. They always make
sure that they have something that is interesting to the public, so t hat when the public comes out, they are
engaged.
And this year, they actually had the information commissioner. And I was shocked to see that
so many people wanted to actually come out to hear
what the information commissioner had to say, be-cause sometimes when you speak about certain
things, people are like, Aah, I don’t want to go. But
this time, they had a crowd of, I think I counted just
about 20 people. And there were a lot of relevant questions that were being asked about the information
commissioner and what her office does.
So, I commend them for continuing to look for
ways to engage and interact with the public. And also,
for their chairperson, Ms. Roslyn O’Brien, who has
served on the council for many years. And she conti nues to invest so much of herself into the St. George’s
community and so much into the St. George’s Parish Council.
So, on that note, Mr. Speaker . . . and just a
big shout -out to Mr. Stanley Morton, because I know
he is out there listening today. I just want to let him know that we are thinking about him, as well.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I would like to be associated with the condolences to the families of Alex
Swan and Henry Smith. I, of course, found Henry
Smith in the Bermuda Regiment when I joined. And I
left him there when I retired, I will say.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like for condolences
to be sent to a constituent of mine, the family of Cat herine Virginia Marilyn Fisher. Mr. Speaker, anybody
who went on Cedar Hill would know the Fisher family.

And, certainly, Mrs.
Fisher, who loved to cook and provide goodies. And
so, she did not have to worry about me coming to
canvass. Because whenever I smel led baking, whet her it was her turn or not, I would swing by. And so, I
would ask that condolences be sent to her husband, Mr. Freeman Fisher, and her four daughters.
Mr. Speaker, thank you.

Yes. You can move yours, put your
Bills in. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead on.
Okay. Go ahead, Minister of Finance.

FIRST READINGS

LAND TAX AMENDMENT ACT 2019

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker, I a m intr oducing the following Bill, which, according to section
36(3) of the Bermuda Constitution, requires the Governor’s recommendation, so that it may be placed on
the Order Paper for the next day of meeting: Land Tax
Amendment Act 2019.

FINANCIAL SERVIC ES TAX AMENDMENT
ACT 2019

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker, I am intr oducing the following Bill, which, according to section
36(3) of the Bermuda Constitution, requires the Governor’s recommendation, so that it may be placed on
the Order Paper for the next day of meeting: Financial
Services Tax Amendment Act 2019.
Mr. Speaker, can I just give all five, six names
sequentially? Or do I need to introduce them individu-ally?

You have to name them individually,
but I will let you do them all t ogether. How is that? R ather than get up and down.

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Perfect. In the spirit of eff iciency, which this Government is promoting positively.

FOREIGN CURRENCY PURCHASE TAX
AMENDMENT ACT 2019

HOTELS (TEMPORARY CUSTOMS DUTY RELIEF)
AME NDMENT ACT 2019

RESTAURANTS (TEMPORARY CUSTOMS DUTY
RELIEF) AMENDMENT ACT 2019

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker, I am intr oducing the following Bills, which, according to section
36(3) of the Bermuda Constitution, require the Governor’s recommendati on, so that they may be placed on
the Order Paper for the next day of meeting: in this
case, the Foreign Currency Purchase Tax Amendment Act 2019; the Hotels (Temporary Customs Duty
Relief) Amendment Act 2019; and the Restaurants
626 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act
2019.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Members, as you know, the major item
today is [Order] No. 1 on the Order Paper, which is
the resumption, or the Reply to the Budget Debate. And, as the clock is so close to that magical time of
12:30, I am going to suggest that we rise now, have lunch and be back at two o’clock. And we can start with the Reply from the Opposition to this year’s
Budget [Statement].
Are there any objections to that?
Okay . We will now stand adjourned until
2:00 pm.

[Gavel]

Proceedings suspended at 12:2 4 pm

Proceedings resumed at 2:02 pm
[Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair]

Members, we are going to start with the
first Order of the items today, which is the Reply from
the Opposition in regard to the Budget Statement that
was read out to us last week.
And, as we know, the Shadow Finance Mini ster sits in another place, so on his behalf we are going to have the Shadow Minister of Health, Mrs. GordonPamplin, deliver the Reply this [afternoon].
[Inaudible interjection]

Yes, yes. While we are getting settled, I
am just giving everyb ody the update as to where we
are. The Shadow Minister of Health will give the Reply on behalf of the Opposition this afternoon.
And with those few comments, Minister, would
you like to lead us into it?

MOTION

APPROVAL OF THE ESTIMATES OF REVENUE
AND EX PENDITURE FOR THE YEAR 2019/20

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Good afternoon, Mr.
Speaker .

Thank you for your comments .
Shadow Minister?

THE OPPOSITION’S REPLY TO THE
BUDGET STATEMENT 2019/20

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker and Honourable Member s.
Mr. Sp eaker , may I first beg the indulgence of
the House to address the errata on the cover page of
the Reply which should have read “delivered by the Honourable Patricia Gordon- Pamplin for Senator Nick
Kempe, who is the Shadow Minister of Finance.”
Mr. Speaker , the One Bermuda Alliance believes that cultivating attitudes of acceptance and to lerance, recognising that Bermuda’s strength resides in its plurality and building on our status as a part of
the global economy are the keys to economic growth.
Furthermore, we believe that improving standards in
education as well as providing mecha nisms to anchor
job creators to Bermuda together with facilitating res ident savings to be deployed in the local economy are
fundamental to ensuring that growth is inclusive and
sustainable.
Bermuda faces a number of systemic ec onomic challenges, many of which every Finance Mi nister has had to grapple with for the last 15 years:
• external impacts;
• our accumulated debt and the re lated repayment costs;
• ongoing annual deficits (Government overspend ing);
• an antiquated immigration system;
• the rising cost of health care;
• an ageing population;
• shifting hostile global compliance standards;
and
• a narrow economic tax base.
This Government and those before it have a
some what limited toolkit with which to tackle these
challenges. Those tools consist primarily of taxation,
management of Gov ernment spending, as well as legislation and policy.

EXTERNAL CONTEXT
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker ,
Bermuda’s economy is one of the most open i n the
world. As such, we are widely exposed to ex ternal
shocks. Bermuda’s long- standing comparative tax
advantage with the United States was af fected when the US lowered its cor porate tax rate for tax years b eginning from January 1, 2018. Our relatively hi gh cost
of living was never enough to offset the compar ative
tax advantage for busi nesses operating from our
shores. Whilst the combined federal and state US
corporate tax rate dropping from 40 [per cent] to
24.9 per cent has not noticeably impacted our reinsurance and insurance business, it becomes even more important that we focus on reducing the cost of
living as well as maintaining the integrity of our other
jurisdictional advantages as a business centre.
Trade wars and the recent raising of tariffs for
many goods imported via the US will have a knock -on
effect for the cost of goods in Ber muda. The United
States is our larg est and clos est trading partner so it
will be very difficult to change our buy ing patterns
enough to avoid the increased cost of phy sical imports.
EU s ubstance requirements has a yet to be
determined effect on our economy. There are clear
and obvious negative effects for many businesses that
currently are based in Bermuda and for those comp anies that ser vice them. The reports that have been
done to date conclude that the legislation’s effects will
be both significant and negative for our economy.
Whilst there is some hope that some posi tive employment effects will come of this legislation, it is pa ramount that Government prepares to confront the upcoming fiscal year with an abundance of caution.

DEBT

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, the
public debt will continue to erode the prosperity of
Bermudians for at least another generation. There has
been a narrative pushed by the Government to attri bute the debt to the OBA’s short time in Government
that attempts to deflect from the real causes of the
debt predicament we find ourselves in today.
We do a disservice to the people of Bermuda
by not engaging this topic with intellectua l hones ty.
Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.

How we got here: The 7 years of plenty between
2001/02 and 2007/08

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: During each of the
seven years of plenty, Bermuda was in an ideal situ ation benefit ting from increasing GDP and Government
revenue. Despite this excellent economic context, the
Government’s operational (current account) spending
outgrew the yearly increases in revenue.
The real damage was done due to uncontrolled capital expenditure and an addiction to borro wing to pay for this appalling fiscal management. The OBA believes that Government should be prudent and save when the economy is growing.
628 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Competing with the private sector, especially
for construction projects, only drives up costs and
overheats the economy. Pr udent management of surpluses (that should have happened when Government revenues had sustained growth) allows for those sav-ings to be deployed back into the private sector during
recessions to stimulate the economy and to avoid going deeper into debt.
The PLP did the exact opposite of best practice. Capital expenditures grew along with the yearly
deficits as did the incessant borrowing and related interest costs on the debt. From 2001/02 to 2007/08,
Government revenues grew each year by 6.8 per cent
on average; however, the public debt grew by 116 per
cent, from $128 million to $277 million. This reckless
management of the people’s money was a recipe for
disaster waiting to happen.
With the seven years of plenty, Mr. Speaker ,
what would you think if your cousin got a raise every
year and still went deep into debt?
The mismanagement in times of plenty made
it extremely difficult to protect Bermudians when, from
2008, the global economy went into recession coupled
with continued Ber muda- specific mismanagement.
The PLP had created a Government machine built on
overspending so it did not take much for the excesses
during times of plenty to be felt subsequently.

How we got here: The 7 years of famine
(2008/09 to 2014/15)

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Seven years of
plenty were followed by seven years of famine. D espite moderate Government revenue growth in
2008/09, the out of control spending outpaced even
growth that year causing an operational deficit (current account shortfall) of $14 million. The full deficit
was $241 million that year, but we will explore why
later.
There was no rainy day fund as there had not
been a surplus since 2003 and it was impossible to
slam the brakes on Government spending without
casting hundreds of people into the streets. Desperate for revenue, in 2010, the PLP hit the business community with a 15 per cent increase in payroll tax wit hout any consultation. This surprise increase to the
cost of business in Bermuda was a breach of trust
between the Gover nment and International Business
and accelerated the on- shoring of back office functions. In fact, in the two years following this move,
1,550 work permit workers left our shores and another
1,250 local workers lost their jobs.
Despite a misguided belief b y the PLP Go vernment of the time that “Bermuda was another
world” —immune to the effects of a sustained debt addiction— when the global economy entered into recession our homegrown problems caused us to suffer more and for longer than our economic neighbours . Mr. Speaker, 2009/10 was a particularly bad
year as the public debt doubled in one single year
from $335 million to $666 million.
During the seven years of famine, Gover nment revenues decreased on average by 1 per cent
and expenditure grew on average by 1 per cent. The
effect of debt repayment started to be felt as public
services started to get crowded out in order to pay
back the indulgences [procured] during the times of
plenty.
During the seven years of famine our debt
grew by 512 per cent, or six -fold, from $335 million to
$2.050 billion.
The preceding examples are highlighted not
just to cast blame, albeit well deserved, but so as to frame the realities of that time as the debt created
from the mismanagement of projects and operational overspending under the last PLP administration co ntinues to haunt us to this day.

How we got here: The OBA Effect

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker , the
OBA was elected in late December 2012, right before the close of the 2012/13 fiscal year in March. Unfort unately, one cannot stop a moving train wreck in its
tracks and there was little to be done about the
2013/14 budget already well in motion. Minister Ric hards looked “under the hood” as promised. A plan
consisting of economic stimulus to create jobs and
disciplined reduction was followed by a determined
effort to reduce the deficit.
Of course, money had to be borrowed (as
there was a massive inherited deficit) while the stim ulus programme took effect and Government spending
was reduced gradually in an eff ort to avoid mass r edundancies of civil servants. The OBA determined the debt ceiling required to clean up the mess and set it at
$2.5 billion. The OBA inherited a machine running an operational def icit of $101 million and an overall deficit
of $299 million in 2012/13. The OBA handed over a
Gover nment run ning an operational surplus of $166
million and an overall deficit of only $8 million (if you
do not include the Sinking Fund contr ibution) in
2017/18.
For those Honourable Members wishing to
make political points with the debt, it is worth noting
that during the last five fiscal years of PLP Gover nment (2008/09 to 2012/13) the debt grew by 320 per
cent from $335 million to $1.408 billion. From the start
of the times of plenty in 2001/02 until the year of th e
election in 2012/13, the debt had grown by 1,045 per
cent or eleven times over!
The OBA returned the Government to current
account surpluses after only two years at the helm by
successfully bringing the Government overspending
machine under control. This was the first time that the
Government achieved a current account surplus in
over eight years. The OBA was on target to deliver a


Bermuda House of Assembly balanced budget and cap the growth of debt in fiscal
year 2018/19, that is, this past fiscal year.

DEBT SERVICE

Hon. Patric ia J. Gordon -Pamplin: The problem with
public debt, Mr. Speaker, is not just its effect on
crowding out public services and driving up taxes, but
the fact that the negative effects are not widely
enough understood. The numbers at times seem so
large that t hey are unfathomable.
If debt had not been racked up unnecessarily
during years of tragic mismanagement, we would now
be able to spend almost double what we presently
spend on education, for example. Or we could have paid for the hospital and the airport i n cash without
needing to go to foreign investors. In 2019/20, the $117 million per year in interest on debt alone makes
it one of our biggest ministries along with National S ecurity ($135 million); Education ($137 million); and
Health ($190 million); plus $51 million for Financial
Assistance. The debt is very real and without aggressively paying off the debt the yearly interest will continue to take money that should be spent on education
and seniors.

DEBT MANAGEMENT

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker , just
as bundling and refinancing personal debt, credit
cards, and mortgages can save money and reduce
size of payments, so can careful management of the
public debt. Minister Richards was the first Finance Minister to successfully tender existing loan notes to
lower the overall yearly interest cost. Imitation being
the sincerest form of flattery, the PLP Minister of F inance has repeated this wise precedent. Whilst there are limits to this strategy of debt management, it will
have to remain for the foreseeable future nonetheless
as our debt is here to stay for many years to come.
DEFICIT

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker , like
any household, when the Government spends more
than it earns, it needs to make up the difference either by dra wing down on savings or by racking up debt.
Government has had no savings for a very long time.
The amount that Government overspends each year
is called the deficit. A balanced budget is when the
Government does not spend more than it earns and a
surplus is when there is money left over after balancing.
The Government earns revenue through tax ation. Once you subtract the operational spending, you get the Current Account Balance which we spoke about earlier. After that you must take into account the
interes t on debt and the Sinking Fund contribution
which is a forced savings of 2.5 per cent of outstand-ing debt to assist at the time that debts become due.
The only other consideration is capital expenditure for
the year.
After all four of these expense lines are subtracted, the Government accounts will be either in a deficit, balanced, or surplus position.

DEFICIT: PLP LEGACY

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, r emember the example of 2008/09, when the Gover nment first presented a current account deficit of $14 million, but a final deficit of $241 million? Let’s take a
look at the last 20 years of capital expenditure
(CapEx) in five years blocks to understand more:
• 2000/01 to 2004/05: average CapEx per year
was $69 million;
• 2005/06 to 2009/10: averag e CapEx per year
was $141 million;
• 2010/11 to 2014/15: average CapEx per year
was $72 million;
• 2015/16 to 2019/20 (estimate): average
CapEx per year is $62 million.
As we take a closer look at the numbers, it is
clear that the additional $73 million per ye ar on average in capital expenditure between 2006 and 2010,
when compared to the other periods, drove the def icits that played a significant part in creating the debt
problems that continue to harm Bermudians to this day. At the end of 2004/05, our yearly Government
deficit was $37 million and our public debt was $128
million. By the end of 2009/10, our debt had grown
fivefold in as many years to $666 million and the Government was now overspending by $194 million each
year! Hence, the PLP debt mountain.
Much noise was made about the amount of
money invested to support one of Bermuda’s signa-ture stimulus programmes, the America’s Cup. It is
clear to s ee from his torical spending that the OBA
provided incredible value for taxpayer money. This
investment created jobs, stimulated the economy and
improved the prosperity of Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda.
The 2006 to 2010 period truly marks the
height of irresponsible governance and the lowest point of trust in the PLP’s ability to manage the public
purse. Multiple Auditor G eneral Special Reports were
published in response to the mismanagement of mon-ey during that period—Heritage Wharf, the Berkeley, BLDC, Port Royal, GlobalHue, et cetera —and $890
million of audits [audited accounts] were unaccounted
for.
After the 2012 elect ion, the OBA set into action its stimulus plan for the economy and then tackled
the Government spending problem. Between 2014/15 and 2017/18, Bermuda’s economy as a whole exper ienced GDP growth for the first time in six years, Go vernment revenues grew by 4 per cent on average,
whilst Government spending was reduced by 2 per
cent each year. Part of the Government’s revenue
630 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly growth was due to increased economic activity and
part was due to new taxes.

DEFICIT: OBA RESULTS

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, the
OBA believes that Government has a social contract with the taxpayers and will not tax Bermudians without
both a plan to grow the economy and a commitment
to reduce Government spending at the same time.
The OBA was on target to deliver a balanced budget in fiscal year 2018/19. This plan was reiterated as an
election promise by Minister Richards and the OBA
was on track to deliver. Premier Burt repeated the
promise and committed to a balanced budget by 2019; however, we have now seen that mark m issed
for two consecutive years if Sinking Fund contrib utions are considered.

IMMIGRATION POLICY

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Bermuda has
been managing its immigration policy since 1956 with
a tool built on the premise that we need to keep people out. In fact, the piece of legislation is called the
Immigration and Protection Act.
With empty homes, stores and offices across
the Island, what exactly are we protecting ourselves
from in 2019?
Up until 2007/08, Bermuda’s working popul ation grew almost ever y year according to the annual
employment briefs. That year, Bermuda’s workforce
was at its largest ever coinciding with both the most work permit holders and locals (Bermudians, spouses
of Bermudians and PRC holders) ever employed and
Bermuda was at its w ealthiest. By the end of the se ven years of famine, 3,377 work permit holders left our
shores. Some would attempt to convince you, ther efore, that Bermudians would reap the benefits and fill those jobs. The reality is that another 3,517 locals lost
their j obs too. The total number of jobs in Bermuda
declined by 6,894.
That is almost 7,000 fewer people earning
money to spend in the stores, take taxis, et cetera. Consider the fact that when guest workers stop wor king, they also leave the Island. That, therefore, is
3,377 fewer people paying rent in Bermudian- owned
rental apartments.
The narrative that guest workers take Berm udian jobs is also false when the economy is grow ing.
During the seven years of plenty from 2001 to 2008,
work permit holders in creased under the PLP by
2,446. The increase in guest workers did not displace
locals whose numbers actually increased by 325. For
those who want the breakdown by race, the highest
number of guest workers employed in Ber muda was
in 2008, which coincided with the highest level of employment for black people, and presumably for black Bermudians, albeit that level of detail is not available
in the Employment Briefs.
The positive effect of guest workers is the i nconvenient truth of our times in some quarters and the
longer this issue is politicised, and decision- makers
stick their heads in the sand, the longer Bermudians
will struggle to find prosperity in our own land.
An excellent anecdotal example of how work
permits create employment for locals comes from the Premier himself in a recent motion to adjourn. The
Premier laid out the example of an unnamed entity
that if it were to create a company in Bermuda it would
consist of 14 work permit holders and six Bermudians.
In that specific case there are over two work permits
required for every one Bermudian job created.
In a jurisdiction as small as Bermuda with
such a large percentage of the economy built around
International Business, immigration policy and its rel ation to resident population is an important lever that
Gove rnments have to directly stimulate the economy.
Jobs for Bermudians was, and remains, the
priority of OBA economic policy. In order to achieve
this, job and wealth creators should be welcomed to
our shores so that talented Bermudians presently
overseas hav e a working economy to which they can
return. Making Bermuda an attractive place to do
business is a combination of jurisdictional reputation,
residential know -how, cost of living, and immigration
policy. Mr Speaker, we believe that a growing economy is th e best way to ensure a job for every Bermudian and a welcoming immigration policy is a precursor
to achieving that growth. Furthermore, after guest workers have shown their commitment to Bermuda,
clear pathways to status should exist to allow resident
job creators and their children the security to commit
financially long -term to their and our mutual success.
Bermudians, Mr. Speaker , have a choice: Do
we want jobs and prosperity? More money in our pockets, or do we want more taxes and a higher cost
of livin g?

HEALTH CARE COSTS

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: When we talk
about cost of living in Bermuda, Mr. Speaker , the two
main components of non- discretionary spending are
now rent and health care according to Government’s
Consumer Price Index. However, i n 2004, health care
spending lagged well behind food.
In fact, from 2004 to 2012, the total spend on
health care for Bermuda rose by 80 per cent.
There is major resistance by the current a dministration to address the root cause of unchecked provider costs and overuse of certain services.
In February 2018 the BHeC said: “Our health
care system is at a breaking point. We cannot conti nue with the status quo and we must make bold moves
to change this course.” And added, “Our population is
ageing which means there are less working people to


Bermuda House of Assembly fund the health system. If we do not make impactful
changes soon, the younger generations will be paying
for our inaction in the future”.
Recently, the head of Bermuda’s health care
watchdog organisation, BHeC, was unceremoni ously
dismissed in a move reminiscent of the 2007 office
raid and arrest of [the] financial watchdog, the Auditor
General.
PATI requests have now reaffirmed the fact
that the cost containment policies implemented under
the OBA were not politically targeted as the PLP has
alleged. The fact remains that the efforts to contain
the areas of most egregious overuse were undermined by a PLP Cabinet insistent on reimbursing pr eviously reduced diagnostic imaging fees without ev idence of necessity. Spending of taxpay ers’ money
must always be subject to taxpayer scrutiny.
Another payment that was agreed without any
assessment in court was the recent compensation for victims of the unfortunate pepper -spraying incident.
The payment was also made prior to the finalisation of
the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee’s findings
and was subject to a Non- Disclosure Agreement. Lack
of transparency, Mr. Speaker , evaporates trust.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: We as Bermudians are not replacing ourselves. Like m any western
economies, the baby boomer generation is retiring or close to doing so. From 2010 to 2016 the old age dependency ratio increased from 19 to 25, at the same
time as the youth dependency ratio decreased slightly from 23 to 22. The census projecti ons show that we
are at the tipping point now and that in 2026 we are
on target for the old age dependency ratio to soar to
40! Including young age dependency (under 15 years
old), the total dependency ratio is set to move from 47
in 2016 to 61 in 2026.
That means that for every 100 working age
individuals there will be 61 non- working age individ uals. That is an increase of 30 per cent in a 10- year
span. The working population in Bermuda fell by nearly a thousand people between 2016 and 2018 accor ding to the most recent Labour Force Surveys. The de-pendency ratio can only be covered by increased tax-es, increased premiums or aggressive regulation of
the largest abusers on the cost side. The burden on
Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda and the private sector needs to
be cons idered in the stark light of demographic truths
and not political rhetoric. This again speaks to the dire need for immigration reform. This trend, as it stands, is simply unsustainable.

SHIFTING GLOBAL COMPLIANCE

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: There ar e many
acronyms associated with the heightened global compliance structure, Mr. Speaker : FATCA, BEPS, AML -ATF, KYC, et cetera, and they all bring an increased
cost to businesses looking to operate and bank in the
global economy. The newest layer is EU subs tance
requirements with an OECD global standard around the corner. The largest players on the global market are looking outward to the offshore world with much
more vigour than they are internally to try and address
tax compliance and collection challenges in their own
jurisdictions. The hypocrisy of EU substance requir ements is obvious as it is only outward looking and fails
to apply the same standard to Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, and other places closer to home.
This latest salvo will fundamentally affec t the
ability for certain companies to maintain their pres-ence in Bermuda in their present forms. The thrust of
this legislation is for companies to prove “adequacy”
or, in layman’s terms, to put “boots on the ground” in Bermuda. There are some that believ e that a silver
lining may come from EU substance in the way of i ncreased presence of certain companies here. Whether
that will outweigh the negative effects from exiting
businesses is still to be seen. It is of note that the r ecent EU Economic Incentive P rogramme was simply a
rehashing of existing policies and OBA stimulus legi slation. Until we have more certainty around the impact of EU substance requirements, this existential threat
must be matched by increased caution in Government revenue projections a nd a greater resolve to control
Government spending.

NARROW ECONOMIC BASE

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Almost two-thirds
of Government’s revenue in 2018/19 was budgeted to
come from payroll tax ($454 million ) and customs duty
($235 million). Both of these taxes are inextricably
linked to our working population. When fewer people
are working in Bermuda, each worker will bear a larger portion of the burden if Government does nothing to
reduce spending to match a smaller worker base.
There has been no at tempt to resize Government to
the declining population— or increase the population
to match the size of Government —during the two PLP
budgets since the election.

TAXES AND COST OF GOVERNMENT

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Taxing the pop ulation sensitively and spending that money efficiently
are two equally important parts of the social contract
that any Government has with its people.
In sports, the art of the feint is highly prized. A
footballer feints like he is going left then suddenly
turns right, or feints that he is going to run then suddenly stops. Such tactics are designed to fool the opponent by enticing him to expect a certain outcome,
only to discover, often too late, that a different out-come is on the cards. This tactic is great in sports, but
632 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly a questionable one in finance because you sow doubt
into the minds of business people.
The Government has gone out of its way to
make Bermuda think that it was going to deliver a very
unpleasant medicine. First, there was the Tax Reform Commission which was directed to find $150 million in
increased taxes. Then there was the Pre- Budget R eport that proposed $50 million in increased taxes. The
prospect of this policy was frightening as everyone
predicted that it would implode what little vitality exis ted in the Bermuda economy. These feints were entir ely unnecessary as the budget gap that the OBA left was relatively modest and could have been closed
with a very modest increase in revenues combined
with further reductions in government spending.
This Governm ent campaigned on bold tax r eform, not increased taxes. What is to become of the Tax Reform Commission Report? Will we see it resurface in the next budget?
This Budget was full of sleight of hand to hide
the lack of results or actual reforms for a better and
fairer Bermuda, such as:
• Residential Rent Tax. Despite the outcry
against the rental tax, Government is putting
up land tax instead, which is worse. At least
the rental tax had a carve out for people living
in their own home. Also, the lowest ARVs had
their land tax reduced to 0.0 [per cent]. This
may sound good if you are struggling to get by in the smallest of dwellings in Bermuda, until you realise that the new $300 flat fee is act ually going to cost you far more.
• Economic Plan and National Health Pl an are
superficial and almost aspirational. There is
no “how” detailed and the results speak for themselves. The emperor has no clothes, Mr.
Speaker .
• Public Sector Reform and streamli ning the
operations of Government was promised, but there is no reduction in operational spend
budgeted over the next three years.
• The largest single increase of any cost line is the travel ac count at 12 per cent.
• From the Budget Statement: “it is not prudent
to raise an additional $50 million in revenue at
this time.” What was missing from that stat ement is that $39 million in revenue is being
raised anyway through increased taxation.
• Increased business registrations were a nnounced, but net numbers were not shared
and revenues from IB company fees were
budgeted to be lower than last year.
• Legislated Sinking Fund contributions have
been replaced with a vague “up to 75 per
cent” of b udget surplus. No matter how you
cut it, Mr. Speaker , that contribution wi ll be far
less than the approximately $65 million per
annum mandated by the Government Loans
Act. Even with Sinking Fund contributions, without reducing Government spending, gro wing the economy or imposing further tax i ncreases, the Sinking Fund will be woefully underfunded when it comes time to retire the
[$615] million worth of notes due in 2022/23. What is the plan to retire these notes?
• Payroll tax concessions were given to employers in International Business and only the
largest select retailers; there w as nothing for
the rest of Bermudian business in other industries or for t he smaller players in the retail sector.
• Again this year, the Finance Minister attempts to distance the PLP from the debt it created in
2012/13 by mislabelling that year’s de bt as
“OBA Government” in the Budget Statement.
This detail highlights a party mind -set more
focused on deflection that actually taking r esponsibility for the financial mess Bermuda is in.
• Sugar tax is increas ing from 50 per cent to
75 per cent and will apply to more items.
There was no mention of subsides for healthy
products so this m easure will have a dispr oportionate impact on those who cannot afford
healthy foods.
• Foreign Currency Purchase Tax. This i ncrease disproportionately hits Bermudians too. Basic ally, everyone earning Bermuda dollars lost purchasing power compared to those in International Business that earn in US do llars. Also, everything imported from now [on]
costs that much more so this tax will drive up
the cost of living for everybody.
• Commercial land tax is going up which is yet
another attack on a struggling Bermuda bus iness market.
• Government is going to be charging back tax-payers who pay by credit card. Unfortunately,
credit card agreements prohibit businesses
from doing the same thing to their customers
so this is just another way that taxpayers will
get squeezed in the middle. More taxes on
one side and Government charge- backs on
the other.
• The Financial Service Tax is increasing so
premiums on your car and bike insurance will
go up too. T he taxes will be passed on like
any other cost of business, so for the Go vernment to say that the fee would be the obl igation of the insurer is either naïveté or they simply don’t want people to see the line item
on their bill showing that it is indeed Gover nment causing them to pay more. More sleight
of hand.
• Ministry Headquarters have large increases in the budget allocations . The question, Mr.

Are the Ministers leading by example?


Bermuda House of Assembly It is reckless for Government to forgo the
Sinking Fund contribution of $67 million in order to
claim a sense of achievement of a $7 million sur plus.
Revised estimates show last year’s budget projections
are already on track to be missed by $13 million which gives little confidence that this narrow target can be
hit. There is no justification to celebrate a projected
surplus before it is achieved given past performance.
Removing the savings discipline of future Sinking
Fund contributions will leave us ill -prepared to retire
future debt.
It is curious that this Government sees fit to
increase taxation revenue by $39 million and yet do
nothing to reduce its own expenses! The Budget
Statement is quick to chastise the OBA for increasing taxes, but fails to note that the OBA handed over a
Government spending of only $908 million on a glide
path of reduced spending —a trend that this Gover nment immediatel y reversed. The OBA’s second year
in Government showed results, whilst the PLP’s sec-ond year will be characterised for slippage: slippage on revenue projections; slippage on spending targets;
and slippage on balanced budget promises.
In fact, Mr. Speaker, if you remove the Sinking
Fund contribution from the 2017/18 actuals at the end of the OBA’s term, there was only a deficit of $8 mi llion which the PLP regressed in its first budget in
2018/19. Despite the SAGE report providing a blu eprint for efficiency and savings, additionally the tax-payer was paying for a Minister responsible for Government Reform for over a year. On top of that, an
Efficiency Committee chaired by the Junior Minister of
Finance spent 15 months working on a report that was submitted in S eptember 2018. Where are the savings? Why aren’t they being passed on to Mr. and
Mrs. Bermuda?
Mr. Speaker , the private sector is reeling as
evidenced by low levels of business confidence,
months of retail sales declines, and decreases in
household final c onsumption, and yet taxes are going
up again this year, with up to $150 million in additional
tax burden being considered over the next two years.
Mr. Speaker , the Premier must start to lead by
example. When Premier Burt unveiled his first Cabinet, he stated that his Cabinet was smaller than the
previous OBA one and added that “fiscal responsibility must start at the top.” The inference, of course, was
that his Cabinet was going to cost the taxpayer less
than the outgoing administration’s Cabinet. This
proved to be a false premise as every single member
of Premier Burt’s first Cabinet was on full -time Minister
salaries increasing the total Cabinet cost by $150,000.
The very next year the Premier misled the public
again by inferring that savings were to be had b ecause he had reduced the number of ministries from
11 to 10. However, the number of Minsters actually increased to 12, including a Minister without Portfolio,
in total costing an additional quarter million per year
(for the two additional Ministers). While the number of ministries may have decreased, we have not yet
heard of any corresponding reduction of civil servants
or Government spend either. The Premier’s own personal entourage increased at the same time that he
dropped the Portfolio of Finance.
Whilst the entire PLP Cabinet is claiming full -
time ministerial salaries, many of those that have actually filed Register of Interests forms (as they are r equired to do) note that they are being paid from other
jobs. This is inconsistent with the leadershi p of a Government that is missing spending targets, forgoing
Sinking Fund contributions to balance the budget, i nconveniencing the public with austerity measures
such as once weekly trash collection, and raising taxes on everyday Bermudians. Why isn’t the PLP redu cing its spending instead of squeezing more and more out of Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda? It would appear that doing less with more has replaced the old campaign
promise of doing more with less.

STIMULUS

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, the
OBA worked quickly in Government to identify achie vable short -term sources of economic stimulus and
direct foreign investment as putting Bermudians to
work was our number -one priority. The America’s
Cup, the airport project , and the various hotels created jobs, many of which , thankfully , continue to this
day. The BTA has created a new life to tourism and
the growth also continues to this day. Imagine how
much worse our economy would be 18 months into
this PLP Government if the economy was missing
those jobs as well. Construction jobs, taxi fares, hotel
and restaurant jobs as well as many others. Gover nment’s own statistics office confirms this. The economy still needs diversification to mitigate external
shocks, but short -term private sector construction and
tourism -related growth provides much- needed runway
while Bermuda aggressively searches for new pillars.
Imagine how much worse it will be when the airport
and the hotels finish construction if the PLP still has
not found their stimulus programmes.
Mr. Spe aker, in a town hall meeting on the
Pre-Budget Report, the Finance Minister lamented, “I
cannot predict that an America’s Cup will happen next
year so in the meantime I have to work with the hand
that I wa s dealt.” This comment both acknowledges
that the C up had a positive influence on Bermuda’s
economy as well as recognis es that his Cabinet colleagues have not yet been successful in identifying or
successfully securing a new source of stimulus.

INFRASTRUCTURE FUND

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Spe aker, in
May of last year, the Bermuda Infrastructure Fund
was unveiled with the Premier stating, “The fund is
important for Bermuda on two fronts: it supports the
634 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly modernisation of Bermuda’s ageing infrastructure and
will provide jobs for Bermudians in the months and
years to come.” There is no mention of the fund in this
Budget Statement. The OBA would appreciate an update on what projects have been completed to date, how many jobs those projects have created, and how
much has been paid in fees by the Government for
the management of this fund thus far .

TOURISM

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker , the
America’s Cup, the airport, and new hotels all mean jobs. Growth in tourism means jobs. New jobs. Jobs
for Bermudians and jobs relocated here from ove rseas.
Our tourism industry is still ripe for more
growth potential, especially as it relates to hotel development. Overseas direct investment still needs to
be focused on. There are more sites that could be
developed and the OBA projects will end soon. While
the BTA is primarily a destination marketing entity,
Government is needed to find and close deals with
hotel developers. We are pleased to hear that the
Government has heeded our calls for an Event A uthority which should have happened in the immediate
aftermath of the America’s Cup. A Bermuda Yacht Agency for supporting superyachts is another legacy
stimulus from the America’s Cup that could have been
embraced had this Government not been so focused
on dismantling OBA successes.
If it were not for t he PLP’s toxicity towards the
America’s Cup, Bermuda could now be benefitting
from the presence of a Sail GP team and a circuit
stop.

INCREASED WORKING POPULATION

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker , economically, an increased residential worki ng population
contributes to alleviating every single one of the sy stemic issues addressed at the beginning of this Bud get Reply:
• Debt, debt service and deficit. More working
people [in Berm uda] means greater payroll tax
collection and more local consumpti on which
increases custom s duty. A greater residential
population creates a multiplier effect on our
two b iggest buckets of tax.
• Health care costs. Guest workers are genera lly younger a nd healthier than our average resident. Increasing the number of guest workers
massively im proves the sustainability of our
health care sys tem.
• Ageing population. Incr easing [the] working
age population, with all else staying the same, directly reduces our maintenance ratio. Total
health care costs and ageing population are
closely intertwined. • Global compliance requirements. Many com-panies are going to have to do more t o justify
presence in Bermuda under new tax regimes.
We are competing with other jurisdictions on this front and must present a welcoming att itude.
• Narrow economy. More working age people on Island decreases the tax load per person.
Whilst it would be nice to think that all that
growth can happen from returning Bermudians that went overseas during the seven years of famine, r ecent history does not support that h appening without
also increasing the number of guest workers.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POLICY

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: It is the OBA philosophy that Government’s job is not to create industries, but rather to create the conditions in which bus iness c reators can thrive. That philosophy appears to
differ from that of this Government.
The Premier is attempting to directly create
new markets in Bermuda, such as FinTech. A “new silicon valley” was promised at Southside followed by
backtracking to a hub in town and then more recently
something to be explored by the private sector. Herein
lies another major difference in approach to business
development between the OBA and the PLP. The
OBA approaches an opportunity or an obstacle, assesses the challenges, sees what the private sector
can do and then what Government can do to assist.
The PLP, on the other hand, sees the same opportunity or obstacle, promises that Government will do it,
then assesses the challenges, determines that it can-not actually execute its promise and only then turns to
the private sector. We question whether the desire to
find validation and credibility has led to many unfounded announcements of success —promises that
have not been fulfilled. Bermuda has been subjected
to a PLP pattern of o verpromising and under -
delivering on this front.
Jobs were announced in June 2018, but then
backtracked a few months later. A FinTech bank was
foreshadowed in an announcement at Davos, but then
the timeline “corrected” upon return to Bermuda. In June 2018, the Premier stated, “I’m relatively certain
that within the next two months you’ll begin to see more companies that will sign leases, that will begin
hiring, that will begin setting up, and will begin their
philanthropic efforts here in Bermuda.”
The number of FinTech MOUs that have been
signed promising tens of millions of dollars do not yet seem to have come to fruition. The hundreds of jobs
promised last year have not come to fruition either.
How many jobs have actually been created, Mr.
Speaker ? Surely , this Government must know from
payroll tax returns! This is the Government’s flagship
economic programme. If there actually were any successes, they would be promoted far and wide just like


Bermuda House of Assembly the MOUs that never happened. We understand that
the FinTech umbrella covers many business models,
some more legitimate than others. We hope that the
Premier’s zealousness does not cause Bermuda to
engage with [organisations] that could bring our juri sdiction’s reputation into disrepute. It is clear that banking is a m ajor challenge for the development of
FinTech and we wish the Premier the best of luck on
that front.
We also look forward to hearing progress r eports this session on the following MOUs:
• Arbitrade promi sed: $1 million donation to the
incubator at Park Plac e; $45,000 donation to
the gang rehabilitation chicken farm; $25,000
donation to Mirrors; and $25,000 to the Family
Centre.
• Shyft promised: $10 million investment in
Bermuda to create new jobs, re- skill workers,
invest in local businesses, education and i nfrastructure.
• Binance promised: 40 jobs (30 of which were
Bermudian); $10 million in university sponsorship for Bermudi ans; $5 million investment in
Bermudian blockchain companies.
• Medici Ventures promised: 30 jobs in Berm uda.
• Omega One promised: 20 jobs f or Bermudians and 10 per cent of a token sale to be d onated to sport an d community clubs in Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker , despite bullish optimism by the
Premier, we caution that the employment potential and other benefits of FinTech not be overhyped to the public .
Mr. Speaker, another industry where we believe it is Government’s job to create conditions for
success, but not get directly involved in the industry
creation, is bank financing.
The Minister said, “Government will, in conjunction with private sector banks, pilot a mortgage guarantee programme in return for a reduction in i nterest rates charged to Bermudians for their mortgages.” Mortgage loans, like all loans, are based on the
borrower’s ability to repay, as opposed to the quality
of the collateral. Loca l banks have a large book of i mpaired mortgages. Mortgages get into trouble because
of the borrower’s inability to maintain the repayment
schedule. This plan appears to be an invitation to the
banks to lay off their impaired mortgages onto the
Government. What administrative resources does the
Government have to manage such impaired assets? This plan will only serve to increase the civil service and not have much of an effect on overall interest
rates.
One of the most troubling proposals contained
in the Mi nister’s Budget Statement is, “Government
will create a government -backed mortgage lender,” to
provide mortgages to civil servants. The first question that arises is, Why does this
government see it fit to use taxes paid by everyone to
benefit only the ci vil service? Another question that
arises is, With what?
Mr. Speaker , the Government itself is a net
debtor to the tune of about $2.5 billion, meaning that it
has no real money of its own. Is the Minister’s inte ntion to use borrowed money to fund this enti ty, first
with equity capital and then with debt capital to lend to would- be borrowers? How can a government that
doesn’t even have enough money to meet its Sinking
Fund obligations even consider such a move?
Perhaps there is another source the Minister
has in mind. Is the Minister planning to raid the Public Sector Pension Funds, the Contributory Fund, or the
Public Service Superannuation Fund, to fund this venture? Both of these funds are underfunded. This would be a major departure from a long- held polic y of
segregating pensioners’ funds from Bermuda- based
risks and could be the thin edge of the wedge for further local investment adventures with pensioners’
money. It should be borne in mind that the public sec-tor pension assets do not belong to the Government —
they belong to Bermuda’s pensioners —both private
and public sectors.
Government’s role is one of prudent stewar dship. Such a use would violate any notion of prudent stewardship.
Also, Mr. Speaker , where would the Gover nment acquire the lending expert ise? There certainly is
none within the civil service at this time. Clearly, such expertise would have to be poached from the banking sector, thereby increasing the ranks of the civil service. And what would be the lending criteria? Where
would the account ability lie? How does the Gover nment discipline a poorly performing civil servant if his
termination will result in a non- performing mortgage
loan for the Government?
And we are not talking about insignificant
numbers either, Mr. Speaker . Mr. Speaker , prov iding
2,000 civil servants with $500,000 mortgages will r esult in a $1 billion mortgage portfolio.
Lastly on this subject, what will the unleashing
of all this credit on the local property market mean to
property prices? This proposal is a non- starter if G overnment cannot answer all of these questions sati sfactorily.

GROWTH -FOCUSED IMMIGRATION POLICIES

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker , is
immigration Bermuda’s Brexit? Brexit has divided a
country, divided political parties and is driving bus iness from Britain’s shores as economists are predic ting a Brexit recession. It is well known that members of this Government are stating in meetings with International Business that they recognise the need for increased immigration. This is in stark contras t to
much of their public political messaging. Like Brexit,
636 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly will immigration split a political party? Unlike in the
UK, will a leader emerge in this government to unite
the country around this issue in the name of Berm uda’s prosperity?
A recent article in Dowling & Partners’ IBNR
Weekly had the following assessment of Bermuda,
“We agree that Bermuda has a history of reinventing
itself, but the current environment brings new challenges as the island has to deal with the bloated government, high levels of debt, high costs of living and
no free flow of people (foreigners can’t own local businesses, can’t buy commercial real estate, can
only buy high- end residential properties and have very
high hurdles to become a resident).”
The fundamental inhibitors to growt h remain
the same from the OBA’s time in Government. A clear and welcoming immigration policy is needed to ensure
that we can attract the global expertise and capital
needed to grow our stagnant economy and drastically
increase our working population. Furt hermore, it is
essential that we arrest the exodus of long- term contributors to our economy.
The answers to immigration reform that have
been backed by the various working groups are es-sentially the same as those proposed at the time so
we welcome any act ion on this issue. We fully expect
to see Pathways to Status presented repackaged with
a different name. It is long overdue.
The Fiscal Responsibility Panel stated in its
2018 Annual Report that: “A precondition for faster
growth is to increase the island’ s workforce. It is the
only realistic counter to the island’s demographic cha llenge from a rapidly shrinking and ageing population.
Immigrants and returning Bermudians with the right
skills will help to create jobs, not displace them.”
This, Mr. Speaker , is a pivotal moment in
Bermuda’s history and this issue cannot be avoided
any more as it is presently being subjected to a slow
death by committee. The Premier purports to [be] able
to pass Immigration Reform because he feels he has
the people’s trust. The OBA welcomes him to move
ahead.

DEBT MANAGEMENT
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: The OBA recognises the Minister’s premise as relates to the Sinking Fund that borrowing to save can cost more due to
negative carrying costs (that is, the difference between borrowing and saving interest rates). However,
given the severity of the debt burden and fact that the margin of the projected surplus exceeds the amount by which the last budget missed its original estimates,
we fear that the departure from savings disci pline,
coupled with the political temptation to spend away
surpluses, will hinder our ability to retire future debt. The non- committal objective of dedicating “up to
75 per cent” of budget surpluses to debt re- purchases
and/or Sinking Fund Contributions is an entirely un-derwhelming alternative to [the] existing Sinking Fund
solution. For example, what happens to the other
25 per cent of the surplus?
Even the Sinking Fund contribution of $65 mi llion is not enough to drastically reduce the debt, and this up t o 75 per cent of surpluses contributes far less.
Realistically, without contributing $100 [million] to
$150 million per year towards paying off the debt (i ncluding Sinking Fund and surplus), Bermuda will continue to have services for Bermudians crowded out by
interest payments for generations to come. Without
growing the economy to increase Government rev enues at the same time that Government spending is
reduced through reform and new efficiencies, those
yearly debt repayment targets will not be met. Looking
to grow Government surpluses entirely with more taxation will only increase the cost of living, reduce Ber-muda’s competitiveness as a jurisdiction and strangle
any hope for local businesses.

RESIDENT LIQUIDITY

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Like immigration,
the historical context by which we approach capital is antiquated. The 60/40 rule was created to keep foreign capital out in a time when Bermudian capital controlled all the means of production. Bermudian capital
is not what it once was and Bermudians no longer own the banks or the telecoms. There is still plenty of
wealth being created in Bermuda and the OBA b elieves that coupled with Pathways to Status and a
more aggressive approach to attracting innovators, redefining the 60 per cent ownership r ule from “Bermudians” to “residents” would allow all people working here to invest in companies and drive innovation in
areas outside of their work permit categories.
Mr. Speaker , increasing the amount of capital
to invest in the local economy would assist entrepr eneurs struggling to find financing through the banks. A
more liquid local capital market could also invigorate
the Bermuda Stock Exchange which is sorely underdeveloped and the trend has been one of a diminis hing presence of non- finance companies. We send
large amounts of capital overseas by way of repatriated savings of guest workers and pensions of emplo yees in the local economy. We believe that we need to
take concrete steps to ensure that more of the savings
generated in Bermuda flow through our economy.
Mr. Speaker , there are many people that have
been employed and have lived in Bermuda for over a
decade. Their link to Bermuda is strong, however, they are forced to keep one eye on the door and accordingly will invest their savings overseas, usu ally in
the form of the purchase of a home. At some point we
must allow workers and their children, who have an
extended period of employment or residence in Bermuda the ability to fully formalise their relationship through some sort of mechanism. Not only will this
help anchor the key value creators who have already


Bermuda House of Assembly passed through various rounds of work permit control
to fully commit to Bermuda, but it will also provide the
incentive to direct their savings toward investing in
Bermuda instead of from whenc e they have come.

PRIVATISATION —MUTUALISATION

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker , the
OBA supports the Premier’s belief that privatisation of
certain Government services would inject “muchneeded innovation” into the economy. In his first Budget Reply as Junior Finance Minister in 2011, now
Premier Burt told the Senate that candidates to privatisation should include public transport, postal services, waste collection, waste treatment, water and recycling. Premier Burt also said that he believes that
“governments are not known to be the most efficient organisations.” He went on to say that “the new ent ities will have a stable income stream that will allow
them to expand and reinvest, thereby creating additional employment in our economy.”
For what ever reason, Mr. Speaker , that su pport changed to opposition to the idea when Minister
Richards sought to move forward “mutualisation.” We
can only assume that the Premier was opposing the
messenger for the sake of opposing instead of engaging with the idea and the process. Now, we believe, is the time to deliver on ideas that are good for Berm uda. The OBA will not oppose this process just b ecause the Government gets the credit. We believe
that there is common ground to be had here and
would welcome progres s on this much- needed shift in
delivery of public services.

EDUCATION

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker ,
promoting opportunities for Bermudians who want to
work in International Business will require a fair immigration system. Of equal or greater importance is that
our schools empower our children with the right tools
to compete on the global stage.
Ensuring that e ducation remains a priority f ocus is paramount.
With a declining youth population, rationalis ation of infrastructure will allow more funds to be ded icated towards teacher hiring and development. The
Hopkins report focused its findings on the quality of
teaching, reforming the Ministry and strategic management.
Whilst we recognise the importance of allocating financial support to students through scholarships
and grants, the OBA believes that funding continued
professional development for teachers is of equal i mportance.
We believe that consistent and increased accountability as well as removing the mid- term changes
in direction caused b y political cycles are integral to
improving the outcomes. We therefore repeat our support for the transition of the management in Education from the convoluted array of Minister, Perm anent Secretary, Commissioner, Department and
Board that presently overs ees our public education
system with an Independent Education Authority. Education needs to prepare Bermuda for our current and
future economy. Mr. Speaker, how are we Bermudians going to benefit from employment with the global
players on our shores when only 60 per cent of our
graduates are earning an internationally recognised
credential upon graduation?

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: The OBA believes
we should continue to support our business development agencies’ efforts to create an environment that is attractive to foreign investors that will grow our exis ting industries or develop new industries that will diversify our economy and mitigate our exposure to external shocks. New hotel development is one such example of the OBA’s competence in resolving long-standing problems. FinTech is one such example
where a regulatory framework reflective of innovators’
needs could lead to new industries developing in
Bermuda. We see merit in advancing legislation to
that end, although it should not be seen as the only path to diversification.
Our business development groups must be allowed to do their job promoting Bermuda as a welcoming jurisdiction that is open for business. Growing
our economy should not be myopic in its focus and
Ministers should provide oversight but not interfere.
Undermining the independence of the Gaming Commission, for example, has effectively killed any hopes
of the industry getting banking approval.

NOTIONAL SALARIES

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: We believe also,
Mr. Speaker , that notional salaries should be assessed and enforced. It is not fair that Owner -
Managers pretend that they not work at the company
in order to take all their pay as tax-free dividends. The
counter to that enforcement, of course, is that after
paying payroll tax on notional salaries, dividends for
smaller Bermudian- owned businesses should be taxfree just like publicly listed companies and exempt ed
companies. Not only does the recent dividend tax unfairly affect Bermudian owned companies, but it also
runs afoul of the “ring-fencing” criteria used to assess
tax havens.

OUR CONCLUSIONS
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, we
are concerned, as are many in the community, that
this Government has no plans to grow the economy. Everything the OBA did during its tenure was veh e638 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly mently opposed. In some cases, due to actual differences in political philosophy, but in most cases simply
because the PLP could not accept the fact that it was
not in power and refused to participate in any Berm uda successes that were delivered by the OBA.
The PLP has had the benefit of its first year in
Government essentially unopposed, an abundant twothirds majority in Government and yet has achieved
very little. The economy is stagnant, buoyed mainly by
the airport . Retail sales are sliding. Balanced budget
promises have been broken. There has been no pr ogress made on controlling Government spending and taxes have been going up every year with significantly
more being considered for the next two years.
The economy i s not growing and yet the Mi nistry of Economic Development has been done away
with. The Ministry of Government Reform and the Eff iciency Committee have produced a reduction of zero dollars in Government spending and yet the PLP keep
asking Bermudians and t he private sector to contri bute more. The cost of Cabinet and the burden of consultants and advisors only ever grow, and yet there
still is no clear direction, just plans to make plans.
This Government, as Opposition, fought tooth
and nail against every st imulus initiative of the OBA
yet as Government has provided little to nothing of
substance now that the shoe is on the other foot. The America’s Cup legacy has been squandered entirely
due to political hubris. The airport project and the St.
Regis are no l onger framed as the epitome of evil now
that it’s the PLP that gets to stand at the press conferences and smile.
Mr. Speaker , it is unfortunate that this Government puts the pursuit of power over providing for the people. Gaming has been all but killed due to the
injection of political interference clauses and yet the
same interference can be seen with the BTA, the
BHeC, and the corporations.
The OBA will support beneficial policies for
Bermuda and will not let the party or the person that
gets it over the line affect that support. Something that
is good for Bermuda will take precedence—

Members.
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Something that is
good for Bermuda will take precedence over political kudos. The OBA will also question, where needed, to
ensure that all perspectives are considered and will
oppose when legislation is brought forth that we feel is
detrimental to Bermuda’s best interests.
This is in stark contrast to the manner in
which the PLP behaved in response to the job creating s timulus programmes the OBA sought to move
forward for Bermuda. Imagine where Bermuda would
be if the PLP had put Bermuda first, rather than put-ting themselves and their partisan politics first.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Desk thumping]

Thank you, Honourable Member .
Does any other Honourable Member wish to
speak?
We recognise the Honourable Member from
constituency 6. Honourable Member Furbert, you
have the floor.

DEBATE ON THE BUDGET STATEMENT
AND REPLY TO THE BUDGET

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Mr. Speaker , I have been in
this House for a very long time and it is probably the
worst Reply I have heard.

[Laughter]

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: It is probably the worst Reply
I have heard since . . . I am sure, Mr. Speaker , you
will agree with me.

No, I am neutral.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Mr. Speaker , it is clear that
the OBA are the past and the Progressive Labour Party are the future.

[Desk thumping]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Mr. Speaker , the Honourable
Member stood up and said that the Honourable Member Senator Nick Kempe . . . it should not say [an ything] as far as who delivered it, but I am assuming
that the Honourable Member , the Senator, wrote this
Reply.

[Inaudible interjection and laughter ]

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: But the Honourable Member ,
Mr. Speaker , should be made aware that in this
House we do not mislead Members. On page 16,
Members . . . on page 16, Mr. Speaker , the Honour able Member said that the OBA handed over a Go vernment spending of only $908 million.
Mr. Speaker , here are the facts. I am assu ming that Mr. Trump had something to do with this.

Fact check!

[Laughter]

[Gavel]

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: That the actual amount that
the OBA handed over to the expenditure for this Government was $923 million . . . 4-9-1.
So I would ask the Honourable Member who
speaks for that side to check her facts.


Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: I think it was $893
[million].

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: [It was] $923 million!
Mr. Speaker , in this House it is known as mi sleadin g this House.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: What they were trying to say
. . . the Honourable Member who speaks for [constit uency] number . . . wherever he speaks for, but C onyers, Dill & Pearman. He was trying to say that they handed o ver lower expenses of $908 million. That
was what he was trying to say. But the expenses were
much higher.
I know you are a lawyer, so you have to ask
the Honourable Member who is an accountant.
So, guess what, Mr. Speaker ? They handed
over $923 [million], but the actual amount after hand-ing it over to us, Mr. Speaker , was $970 million. It was
this party that took it down to $970 million.
Mr. Speaker , they handed over interest on
debt [of] $124 million. It was this party that took it
down to $117 million.
Mr. Speaker , I would ask them to check their
facts.

That’s right. That’s right.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Mr. Speaker , I could spend
all of my allotted time —one hour —given me during
this economic debate to speak about how the workers
of the government were not even given a salary i ncrease for five years. But I [will] not.
Mr. Speaker , I could speak about how they
took away salaries from the employees of this gov-ernment which cost them somewhere between $5,000
and $6,000 per month, for 18 months, and then pr oduced a party at the America’s Cup. But I [will] not.
Mr. Speaker , I could speak for an hour about
the pain they inflicted on our seniors and how they did
not give them an increase for five years. Recognising that they were coming up t o an election they started to
say, Oops! There’s an election, let me give them an
increase.

Yes. Yes.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: But Mr. Speaker , I [will] not.

[Laughter and inaudible interjections]
[Gavel]

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Mr. Speaker , I could speak
about how the former administration increased tax ation from $866 million in 2013 to $1.52 billion in March
2018, which represented $185 million, or a 21.4 per
cent increase.
Mr. Speaker , I could take time out, but I am
not going to do that.

Don’t do it! Don’t do it! Don’t talk
about that!

[Inau dible interjections and laughter ]

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Mr. Speaker , during this p eriod, GDP growth averaged a moderate 0.1 per cent.
And Mr. Speaker , it mainly came from tax increases. I
am not going to take my time to speak about that.
Mr. Speaker , I could speak about how the
Government was going to increase revenue— payroll
tax—significantly in 2019/20. That is what their plans
were, to tax labour, Mr. Speaker . We have not i ncreased labour —payroll tax —since then.
Mr. Speaker , I could speak about how t he
Government over and over . . . but Mr. Speaker , I [will]
not because you know why, Mr. Speaker ? In 2017,
the people of this country spoke loud and clear.

That is correct.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Michael Jackson said it best
this way, Mr. Speaker : They really do not care about
us.
Mr. Speaker , I want to spend my time talking
about a Government that cares about the people. I
want to talk about a Government that is saying, Hold
on because a change is coming. Don’t worry about a
thing.
640 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker , I want to talk about a Gover nment that says, We can endure for a night, but joy will
come in the morning.
Mr. Speaker , they talked about how we are
after one year, basically, being in office.
Mr. Speaker , they promised 2,000 jobs. I
heard the Honourable Member put out lists of what
FinTech was going to do.
I am assuming, Mr. Speaker , the Honourable
Member did not read last night’s or today’s newspaper—how the Government finally was able to put t ogether a structure or work with an entity to produce
and provide service for the FinTech business.
I am assuming, Mr. Speaker , their report or
their statement was written before the newscast.
Mr. Speaker , we all know the reason why we
have not been able to progress as much as we want
on the FinTech industry ; because we did not have a
bank. We had banks down here which were not willing
to provide the services for this industry.
Mr. Speaker , finally —and I would like to thank
the Honourable Premier and the Honourable Wayne
Caines for the work they have done in this industry —
and finally, Mr. Speaker , we have hope for jobs coming here to this Island.
Mr. Speaker , as I said, I am assuming the
Honourable Member printed that report before they
heard about the good news.
Mr. Speaker , this budget is no different from
the last budget that this Government did. We consul ted widely, throughout the community. First time . . .
well, it is the third time, because in 2012 the Oppos ition (at that time) consulted about the budget. In 2018,
the Government consulted about its budget prebudget report and again this year.
Mr. Speaker , the OBA never consulted about
their budget. And the reason why it was important to
consult, Mr. Speaker , is to at least have the reflection
of what we are thinking about doing and listening to the people at the end of the day.
Mr. Speaker , you do not see too many people
mad at this Government. But Mr. Speaker , [the pe ople] continually marched—regularly —on the OBA
Government.
Mr. Speaker , we consulted with ABIC and
ABIR. We had public meetings. We met with the Trade Union Congress, Chamber of Commerce, realtors, real estate professionals and, Mr. Speaker , we
received about 50 emails giving advice. And Mr.
Speaker , this Government is a caring and listening
Government. And at the end of the day this is the r esult.
Mr. Speaker , it is important that we recognise
that the Minister was budgeting during uncertain
times. The Honourable Member said just a few
minutes ago, we do not know exactly where the EU
substance is going. We have planned for it. We have
got Bills in place; we have got regulations in place.
But Mr. Speaker , of the 11,000 companies that are here whi ch are affected by that industry, it could be an
economic boom, Mr. Speaker —11,000. Cayman has
135,000. BVI has 450,000.
Mr. Speaker , I think we could manage 11,000.
And if . . . if things go according (which we believe
they will) . . . if just 5,000 of t hese companies, Mr.
Speaker , if 4,000 or 3,000 and they each put a boot
on the ground, Mr. Speaker , we can get the economic
reality that we are looking for as far as payroll tax i ncrease, increase in retail sales, and the list goes on.
Mr. Speaker , I heard the Honourable Member
talk about the Government having an Efficiency
Committee. And yes, Mr. Speaker , I am the Chair.
And Mr. Speaker , that was the Honourable Premier
who thought it was important that we not only look at aspects of the Government as far as expenses, but
look at efficiencies.
Mr. Speaker , I am going to reveal some i nformation which I think people will find very interes ting, while they sat under the OBA Government.
Mr. Speaker , we had time to look at the Office
of the Tax Commissioner. We have looked at the Re gistrar of Companies, [and the] Office of Project Management and Procurement. We have looked at and
spoken to the Ministry of Public Works, the Depar tment of Financial Assistance, the Regulatory Author ity, Mr. Speaker , just to name a few as we continue to
go on.
Mr. Speaker , we have found many efficiencies
within Government to such a degree that this Commi ttee has recommended 60, mid- 60s, recommendations
to Government.
Mr. Speaker , the major problem we found had
to do with the former Government putting the squeeze
on hiring, which caused things to go off the rails. The
most significant area that needed immediate assi stance was the Office of the Tax Commissioner.
Mr. Speaker , the most . . . the [Office of the]
Tax Commissioner is the larges t tax collection department in Bermuda. It collects the bulk of Gover nment taxes, in particular, payroll tax, land tax, stamp
duty on voluntary conveyances, and the list goes on.
Mr. Speaker , what we found was that there were i nsufficient human resources t o deal with audits and
verifications.
Mr. Speaker , we had one person in that department who was doing audits. One person— who
was not able to go through and to verify that what
people were filing was correct. And that is because
the Government refused to hire individuals.
Mr. Speaker , debt collection became a problem; a serious problem. Mr. Speaker , we found over
1,500 un- adjudicated stamp duties not processed,
worth approximately $8 million. Mr. Speaker , this r esulted in significant revenue for the Government and increased the cost of borrowing.
Mr. Speaker , we immediately encouraged the
Government to take on additional staff to process these documents. The results are as follows, Mr.


Bermuda House of Assembly Speaker . The Government has since then collected
over $3 million in revenue, another $2 million (roughly,
$3 million) that is still to be collected, and most of
them have to do with voluntary conveyances. We are
working with the department to find out how we can get this process of voluntary conveyances [done] a
little differe ntly from the conveyance process because
most conveyance processes . . . the actual fees or the
expense is held within law firms.
Mr. Speaker , you would be surprised to hear
(and I heard the Minister say this the other day) but
we found over $330,000 worth of cheques in a dra wer.

Wow!

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: And they were supposed to
be good management, Mr. Speaker .

[Inaudible interjections ]

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Now if I found it, why could
they not find it? Because, Mr. Speaker , there was a
lack of caring for what was going on.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am going to repeat it again,
Mr. Speaker , $330,000 worth of cheques sitting in a
drawer.

Yes. A faithful steward.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: —the $8 million of unstamped, adjudicated . . . the Honourable Member
Trevor Moniz understands that —$8 million!

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz : You don’t want to hear me.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Well, you stand up.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: I can tell you exactly where it
came from. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Mr. Speaker —

[Crosstalk ]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Mr. Speaker —

[Crosstalk ]

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: —we found “non-sufficient
funds ” cheques sitting in drawers. NSF, you know
what that is —cheques that do not have any money in
the account.
Mr. Speaker , most of these problems were
due to a lack of staff within that Ministry.
I can report, Mr. Speaker , to this Honourable
House that this Government took the effort to put
people in place and now 98 per cent of those cheques
that were sitting in drawers have now been collected.
We are moving steadily toward collecting most of the
$8 million.
And the Honourable Member asked what we
were doing in the Efficiency Committee.
Mr. Speaker , it is clear that there is a lot more
work to be done, but I am going to mention a few. Government Board fees: The Committee looked
closely at board fees of various Government boards,
particularly those outside of the Consolidated Fund. I
do not know whether the OBA Government did, but we did, and found that there was a very [significant
difference] between fees received by boards outside,
and so this Government is working on how to make it
much more standardised. I mean, we were granting
fees from $50 a month (dare I say it?) to over
$100,000 in board fees a year.

The chief steward.

Hon. Wayne L. Furb ert: —the chief steward . . .
could not find it.
Mr. Speaker , clothing and uniforms. There are
certain departments that get new clothing every year,
every year , whether it is worn out or not ! And you try
and ask me whether we are trying to do things much
more efficiently? It was an Honourable Member . . . it
was a member of the BIU that suggested, We don’t
need clothes every year, and suggested putting in
place a policy for worn out. I said, Brilliant! I am hop642 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ing that eventually when the reform takes plac e as far
as the new agreement, we can get that in place.

Yes.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: What do I mean by joy ride?
Mr. Speaker , you know, if you pay your payroll
tax by credit card at certain banks you get what they
call points, travel points. The Government was paying
over $2 million in charges for people who charge on
their credit card.
It was this Government, Mr. Speaker , that
recognised the problem and now it will be effective April 1
st putting in place no more joy riding off the
Government. You can still take your credit card, but
you are going to pay those charges. Why didn’t the
OBA—the great wisdom or the great wise people on
that side — find th at information? You want to talk
about efficiency . . . $2 million, which now we do not
have to raise the revenue for it . . . the tax for it? It is
there. No more travelling.
In other words, Mr. Speaker , if you paid your
taxes . . . $1 million in taxes, you got one million travel
points. One million travel points is, let us say, worth $50,000. For one trip up to New York, you could take
20 trips per year.

A trip around the world.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: That is fine. You can still
take y our trips; but you are going to pay Government
those charges.
Mr. Speaker , it was this Government who recognised that there were some homeless people out
there who had and have social insurance. But they
could not get access to it because they had no bank
account. You want to know what the Efficiency Committee has been working on? I do not think the OBA
knew that, at least they did not work on it.
It was after my discussion with my cousin
Sonny. I said, Sonny, I know you’ve got some money
in social insura nce.
He said, Cousin, I can’t get it. I don’t have a
bank account. You cannot imagine Sonny going up there to
any bank talking about what [he] needs without any
ID. Sonny does not have any ID.
But working with the Social Insurance D epartment and working w ith the credit union, they now
. . . well, we have not put it quite in place yet, but very
soon they will be able to . . . and I will explain why.
The Honourable Opposition Le ader is laughing, because we are also concerned.
They will be able to go to the credit union, after transferring the money from social insurance to the credit union, let us say $200, and get their money after showing a government ID. Full stop.
But I am concerned and I am hoping the Go vernment will put together . . . bring a Bill that you ca nnot get the $200 up front because I can’t be taking your money and doing something with it. At least find a way to control it, some responsibility. I do not know
whether we can do it by law or whether . . . what are
the rights to it. But we just c annot have somebody run
over there to get their $200 and end up at Goslings.
You can get a Gosling a little at a time, but not all at once. In other words, we are trying to help them out to
manage their money.
So Mr. Speaker , these are some of the things
that this Government has been working on.
Mr. Speaker , after our consultation with the
realtors we found there was some inefficiency in alien
licences.

Yes.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: And what do I mean by alien
licences? You will note in t he Government’s Budget
Book that stamp duty on, I think, sales of homes for
overseas people, individuals, is down. And the reason
why is because at the end of the day there was a slow
process.
So Government has now looked at how we
can speed it up. So what we did, Mr. Speaker , was
very simple. We got all the bodies in the room and
said, What do you think?
It was a brilliant civil servant that said, Instead
of receiving a document by Immigration, send it out to BMA, send it back to Immigration, send it to Land Va luation, send it back to Immigration, send it off to
Works and Engineering, send it back to Immigration. If
something was wrong, it goes back to Immigration
again. [It was ] a brilliant suggestion. Why not, when
you receive the file, all parties get the copy of what they need?
You want to know what we have been doing
on the Efficiencies Committee, Mr. Speaker ? And Mr.
Speaker , by doing that we figure that somewhere between $1 [million] to $2.5 million should be able to be
collected much faster. Henc e, these are some of the
things we are working on.
Mr. Speaker , we realised that overtime is
huge . . . it is huge! And we have been working with


Bermuda House of Assembly . . . and the thing about it is the departments love tal king to us, giving us great ideas of how we can make
things much better. This is what this Government has
been doing over the last year, trying to improve and
make things efficient for this country. Because ex-penses would have been much, much higher or rev enue would be much less. Mr. Speaker , those are the
good things that we have been working on.
Now, Mr. Speaker , let me deal with something
the Honourable Member . . . it was the Tax Commi ttee, which suggested that we look at increasing land
tax at $500 on the top end. The Minister said, No,
we’re not going to do $500, and was wise enough to
suggest $300. That was after the Committee made the suggestion. The Government put it towards the Committee and suggested $500, the Minister suggested $300, saving individuals $300.
Now Mr. Speaker , I put it this way. T he average annual licence for your car is roughly $1,600 . . .
$1,500 . . . $1,300 . . . $1,000 a year. Why should the
annual licence for your house be $73?
Mr. Speaker , I am going to put some graphs
on the table so Members can see them. But the Land
Tax is the most progressive tax we have in Bermuda. I
am sure when I put this out some Members on that
side are going to look to see where their house is.
But Mr. Speaker , on the low end, individuals
are going to end up paying roughly $25 per month . . .
$25 per month, [and] on the high end, roughly $3,540
per month . . . $25 . . . $3,540.
And Mr. Speaker , the low end, the first two
bands are normally studio apartments and one be droom apartments.
Mr. Speaker , would you know that the indivi duals who pay the highest land tax in these islands
pays $254,000 a year? [That] $254,000 is the highest
land tax bill in Bermuda.
From $300, Mr. Speaker , to $2,550 [sic]—you
ask me if that is not progressive? That is progressive.
Mr. Speaker , [other] information is that in the
last two bands there are only 800 homes. And they, Mr. Speaker , pay almost 70 per cent of our Land Tax.
That is progressive. Eight hundred homes compared
to the first two bands adds up to about 17,000 indivi duals that pay $300 per month, or will pa y after the Bill
goes through. So we thought it was reasonable, after listening to the Tax Reform Committee of $500 to
come down to $300.
And Mr. Speaker , let me just say that the
Honourable Member s talk about Land Tax, I do not
know whether people forget , but I do not. I like to do
my research. But the Honourable Member has either
got a short memory or likes to forget that in 2016 (when they were Government) the highest band was
23 per cent. Mr. Speaker , they took it up to 47 per
cent! Mr. Speaker , I thin k those Members have got
short memories. The next band before that was 19 per
cent and it went up to 25 per cent. Mr. Speaker , I notice that Members on that
side are a bit quiet. I hope they are being schooled,
Mr. Speaker , on the facts. And note, these are just
facts.
Now let us talk about the Sinking Fund. I like
talking about the Sinking Fund. Mr. Speaker , I think
what the Minister did this year was wise.

Phenomenal.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Phenomenal.
But Mr. Speaker , who in this House goes out
and borrows money and puts it in an account for a
Sinking Fund for the future? Who goes out and does
that?

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Who does that? Goes and
borrows money at a high rate, at 4 [per cent] or 5 per
cent, to receive interest under 1 per cent? Who does
that? Mr. Speaker , we have to think about the intent of
the Sinking Fund.
Mr. Speaker , I fortunately happened to be in
the room when David Saul came up with the policy,
[in] 1993. And Mr. Speaker , I will read to you the
statement of David Saul’s budget of 1993/94. B ecause I believe, Mr. Speaker , the origi nal intent has
been lost. Mr. Speaker , this is what the Honourable
Member David Saul said: “Legislation will be intr oduced in this session to establish a Sinking Fund into
which regular contributions, financed” (here is the
point) “financed from current ac count balances.”
That was the original intent —

Not deficits.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Not deficits! That was the
original intent. That was the intent, Mr. Speaker . And it
came in 1993. So there were many years before that when the Government did not do it. This Government
has decided to make a change. Nothing is wrong with
that . . . 2.5 per cent . . . what was brilliant about
2.5 per cent? Why not 1 per cent? Why not 10 per
cent? But what the intent was [was] that the money should be borrowed, taken or financed from the cur644 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly rent account, not find we have got a deficit and go and
borrow more money to put into a Sinking Fund. You
can . . . if a balance came due, you go out and renew
them, refinance it. You could have done that.
And Mr. Speaker , if you check out . . . and
unfortunately, I did not bring that graph, but if you look
at the Sinking Fund from 1993 up to 2000 and roughly
’08 or ’09 or ’10 it was very low. It was not until the
OBA Government got in place and started borro wing—borrowing—$67 [million], $65 [million], $68 million a year for a Sinking Fund. Paying, Mr. Speaker ,
on that debt of roughly 5 per cent, 4.5 per cent , and
getting back 0.1 per cent. Who in their right mind
would go out and do that?
This Honourable Minister of Finance said,
Why borrow $67 million (which is going to cost the taxpayer . . . you asked us how we are going to r educe costs ) and cost the taxpayer in interest $3 million
a year!

An Ho n. Member: Yes.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: The Honourable Member
Michael Dunkley wanted to do that. Nobody would do
that.
The intent was to get the money out of the
current account. So now the Honourable Member has
said that out of the current account we are budgeting
for $7 million. He—the Honourable Member , Minister
of Finance, Curtis Dickinson —will take money out of
that and put it towards the Sinking Fund, the original
intent.
The next year, Mr. Speaker , the Honourable
Member is saying we will . . . assu ming . . . and we will
work hard to get the budget into surplus. He is going
to put aside . . . at least, I think it was, $24 —

How much?
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: —[I think] $24 million. I do
not have . . . let me get the book. [It was] $24 million
and then the following year $45 [million], taking it from
surplus, taking it from current account balances. We are not going to go out and borrow because we have
a deficit.
It makes common sense. Now, I was the only
one in that room when it mater ialised. So I can just
see the Honourable Member s—two of them sitting
over there— who came after me, but I knew what the
intent was. And I searched for this information and I said it did not make sense. Take money out of current
account balances, hence why in the financial stat ement it says “revenue, less expense, current account
balances.”
Mr. Speaker , I think I am schooling the Ho nourable Member s up today on what the intent was of
the Government at the time.
Mr. Speaker , going forward, the Government
has decided to keep expenses at the way they were last year. And you say, Well, you haven’t reduced it.
Yes, we did. Because we gave . . . we told the honourable . . . we told everybody to go out and find the
money in . . . do you know that there is a rate of inflation in the budget? Do you know that the Government
gave a tax . . . the civil servants an increase? You go
out and find it. So instead of going up 2 per cent or
3 per cent, the Minister said, Go find the money in that
budget.
Mr. Speaker , there is enough money in the
Sinking Fund to pay off the debt. Pay off the debt. Pay off the 2019/20 bond when it comes due. Then the
next bond, I think, is 2021/22.
Mr. Speaker , it was important that we realised
where we were and where we are. So there will be a
balanced budget for the first time in 16 years. The
debt, Mr. Speaker , will fall for the first time since 2003.
Mr. Speaker , the Government has put aside
further investment for our Education. Mr. Speaker , we
have put in place an environment for growth to help
produce career opportunities for Bermudians and to be smart but disciplined with public spending.
Mr. Speaker , there is retail payroll tax relief for
retailers and local musicians. Let me deal with that
because the Honourable Member s on that side st arting talking about retailers. I do not know . . . I think,
once again, Mr. Speaker , maybe the Honourable
Member , it is because he is not in this House, they
have a short memory once again. It was that Gover nment —the former Government —that increased payroll
tax on the retailers in 2016 and 2017. And now they
are saying that we have not done enough.
Mr. Speaker , we recognise the plight of our
musicians and decided to give payroll tax [relief] for the employer and the employee, hoping that at the
end of the day this will increase more opportunities for
our musicians. As we are all aware, during the slow season, particularly from October/November to March,
very few of them are working. So, once again, Mr. Speaker , it shows a caring Government.
Mr. Speaker , it is about balance and I believe
that this budget has found that balance.
Mr. Speaker , we put in place to allow for companies that come here to get payroll tax exemption on employers for at least two years. This would encour-age those individuals who are l ooking [at] the EU substance to make things work.
Mr. Speaker , this budget, I believe, is transformational. It sets us at a point . . . it sets us at a
point of where we can go from here. It was very easy. Ask the OBA–– if they were the Government they
would have increased the payroll tax significantly,
which would have caused significant problems within
our international business. The Honourable Member
who is the Leader said, I don’t know.
Mr. Speaker , one thing about us, we sit in the
Ministry of Finance and know most of the details that
take place or what the former Government was going


Bermuda House of Assembly to do. They were going to increase payroll tax on the
employer and the employee to get up to that point.
Mr. Speaker , if they were not, then maybe
they can tell us where they were going to get their
revenue from. But most of the money was coming
through payroll tax. It was easy. Payroll tax is the easiest thing to do. If you increase it by 1 per cent you get
$40 million.
But it was this Government, Mr. Speaker , last
year that said, Hold on. And for years (or for as long
as I have known him) the Honourable Premier said
that payroll tax for the employer is a prohibitive to
growth and we will find ways to spread the burden
around.
Mr. Speaker , I believe that we can stand
proud as a country knowing that the finances of this
country, Bermuda, is in the good hands of the Ho nourable Member Curtis Dickinson. He has done an
extremely good job in the short time that he has been here. And Mr. Speaker , I am learning some things
from him on a daily basis . . . but he is learning the
politics from me, though.
[Laughter]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: And Mr. Speaker , we are
committed to tax fairness. We are committed to the
most vulnerable.
And Mr. Speaker , this budget sets the Government movement for future growth.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

[Desk thumping]

All right.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: —so I am hoping you can all
understand if I am slowing down a little bit.
That was very interesting, Mr. Speaker , from
the Honourable Member Wayne Furbert, their Junior
Minister. We are sort of having a reprise of last year in
the sense that last year we spoke in the same order
and we may be saying similar things, time will tell, as I
make my speech. But he ended his speech this year
by saying that this budget was transformational. And
we obviously have a difference of opini on on that. We
see this as sort of a holding budget. Again, it does not really achieve anything, it is just holding on to where
we are.
Now, last year when he finished his speech , in
the Official Hansard Report of 23 February 2018
, at
page 1058, as he finished his speech . . . now last
year he did not use the word “transformational,” he said there was going to be “a renaissance.”
He said, Mr. Speaker, “A renai ssance which
will take Bermuda, not from where we are, we are
looking to grow this economy significantly. Because at
the end of the day, we cannot afford a country on the number of staff, number of people working in this
country, whether it is pension, whatever. The list goes
on and on. We cannot. If not, we just continue to i ncrease . . . if we had 6,000, 8,000 more people here,
we probably do not have to increase much at all.” (I think he is talking about taxes.) “But we need people
working here. We need to move forward. And the
Government, under the leadership of the Honourable
Premier, David Burt, has set the trail for us to move
forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”
Well, those were the words of the Junior Mi nister of Finance from last year saying that the y were
looking to grow the economy significantly, and he was speaking of the numbers of 6,000 to 8,000 more peo-ple in Bermuda. Now, Mr. Speaker, I think we all know
that did not happen. The economy did not grow signi ficantly. We do not have 6,000 to 8,000 more people
than we did last year. So that was the aim of the Government set out by the Junior Minister. We can count
that year as a failure, that is all there is to it. And in that sense, I guess the Premier’s Finance Minister
would, certainly from me, get a grade of F. It was a
failure, and I guess he perhaps agrees because he
has fired himself. He removed himself from the F inance Ministry and appointed Curtis Dickinson to r eplace him.

Curtis Dickinson?

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Dickinson.
646 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly An Hon. Member: The Honourable Member .

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: The Honourable Member , but
I have to say who he is. I cannot say the Finance Mi nister because we have had two of them, so, the Honourable Member Curtis Dickinson, to replace himself.
Now, th e new Finance Minister has come on
board and he has said on many occasions Look, I
have been parachuted in. It is at a late stage . I think
he came in either at the end of October or the begi nning of November, so there is very little time to set a
new cours e, and that is why we see the budget come
out at such a late date, perhaps. I mean, as our
Budget Reply said, the public of Bermuda were given
the indication that the Government were going in a certain direction, by all of the pre- budget information
we rec eived. It turned out that none of that pre- budget
information was true. Either the Government changed
its mind, which is what it is saying, and came to its
senses . . . and I prefer not to think that it was false
from the start. I prefer to think that the Government
came to their senses. Usually all of the budget figures
are sorted out in the middle of December. That is
when all the departments have to have all of their
numbers in for all of their operational capital expenditures —they have to be in by that date, at the very latest. That is not the earliest —

You can talk to me, speaker . . . I mean
member , you have the floor, speak to the Speaker.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you, thank you.
So, anyway, we come in and none of those
taxes came through. The Government saw a good
sense. Certainly, it is my view that if we had put large
taxes on this society, whether on businesses or on
individuals, that we would see the local economy d eclining at a faster rate than it already is. And I am one
of the ones who is reading the tea leaves, looking at the declines in the retail expenditure and seeing not hing but bad news.
To me, the decline of retail expenditures can,
to me, immediately look to come from two sources. One is that peo ple have less money in their pockets,
and the other one is that they are assuming that they are going to be getting less money in their pockets. In other words, they have less confidence about the
strength of the economy. They have lost their conf idence.
One of the interesting figures I saw was a
steep decline in the number of vehicles purchased on
a monthly basis, which is a large expenditure that
people have and if you do not have confidence, you
are not going to make that expenditure.

Hon. Wayne L. Fur bert: Point of order, Mr. Speaker .

Okay, continue on.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: So, it is my view, that we
have—and it is pointed out again in the Reply —that I
believe, it is my view, that we have declining business
confidence and we have declining consumer conf idence. So, we have continued to see local retail bus inesses closing, traditional ones. I know there can be a
plethora of reasons put forward, saying they were out
of step with the times, and people have not been agile
enough, et cetera. B ut nevertheless, you see a closing
business, it is a closing business. It is a business
where people are going to be let go.
Now, in the figures somewhere, I saw the
Government say that there are more jobs but there
was less income. More jobs and less income. That, to
me, was not a very strong message. It was not a strong message. Now, there were not large numbers
either way, but it was not a good indicator. It certainly
concerned me as I am reading the tea leaves.
Now, you know, I am one with the view that
the idea of not making your contribution to the Sinking
Fund is not a good idea. I hear all the arguments that
are being made by the financial people, and I see the
sense in that. But most of us, I think, would see that it
is a good idea to have a fund for a rainy day. A rainy -
day kitty, a rainy -day fund, whatever you want to call
it. It is a good idea to have one. And I think this Government are glad that we had one. What would they
do without it? They are saying that all the debts that
we have to pay in the next year or two are going to be
paid out of that fund until it is all gone, and after that
they may or may not be putting more money into that
fund. So, I think they are quite happy to have that fund there.
So, however stupid they say that fund i s, they
should be very grateful that we have a rainy -day fund,
that there is money there that they can use. It was a
good idea. Have conditions changed over the time?
Sure they have. Absolutely they have. But still, it is concerning. And I watch with inter est on, I think it was
Bernews who held a video round table with Cordell
Riley with Craig Simmons and Cheryl Packwood. And it was interesting to note that they were all also concerned, to various levels, with the failure of the Government to, firstly, make a contribution to the sinking
fund this year, even if it is then going to be taken out to pay debts as they come in. But also, not to make a


Bermuda House of Assembly strong commitment to future years, to say that they
are going to keep the sinking fund going. And so once
that rai ny-day fund is gone, it could be gone and there
may be no replacement for it, which was concerning.
And the other concern, of course, was to have
anyone claim that they are producing a balanced
budget when all you are doing is moving the goal post
by remo ving the legislative mandatory requirement to
pay into the Sinking Fund, well, it is . . . I would not
view that as a fair representation or a true represent ation.
[Crosstalk]

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: It is something they are going
to have to change the legislation to achieve, and they
have not done it yet.
The Honourable Member who spoke before
me spoke at length about a number of things. He
spoke about . . . one of the earliest things . .
. and you
got to watch people when they say things. The Ho nourabl e Member spoke about the concerns he had at
the Tax Commissioner’s office. Now, obviously if
things were being done there that should not have
been done, then those civil servants who were r esponsible should have faced disciplinary action. But
he did not s ay that. Somehow, he blamed it on the
OBA. I can assure you that when we came into office,
we did not find a better position than what he found
when he came in. But our view will be that we found a much worse position and we made it better. Are are
still things that need to be corrected? We will all agree
that there are.
He pointed to the board fees saying the board
fees are out of line and that on some boards there are
fees of $100,000. I think if he looks back, he will find the OBA did not create that board and did not set up
that fee. I think he will find it was a PLP board and the
PLP set up the fee. So, I do not know why he is coming here and shouting at us. Does it need to be sorted
out? I would agree with the Member. And if he is doing all of the th ings that he says that he is doing, I fully
support him. I am not going to sit here and throw rocks at him and oppose him.
The idea of speeding up land licences and
dealing with overtime, those are all very good ideas. I do not oppose any of those things with the idea of efficiency. We just have not seen any of it come to frui-tion yet. So, as last year he was saying there is going to be “a renaissance,” this year he is saying there is
going to be “a transformation.” some of it may be in
train, but of cours e, next year we will see. Are the
numbers better? Are we in a better situation? Are
government costs being reduced?

[Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., Deputy Speaker, in the
Chair]
Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Mr. Deputy Speaker, when I,
you know, when I looked at the books, for example, I
looked at the Cabinet office. And I know, you know,
we are not in committee, but I saw [enormous] i ncreases in the amounts of money being spent at the
Cabinet office, and of course, some of the depar tments came in and some went out. But, you know, I
basically saw from a few years ago a budget of
around $20 million go up to around, I do not know,
$46 million—more than doubling of the budget for the
Cabinet office. And during that time, some depar tments came in, one in particular, t he post office, went
out—and that was $10 million. So, I am saying my
Jenga’s, you know, where are these increases coming from? This seems to be growing like Topsy; it seems
to be getting larger and larger every day.
So, I do not know where the streamlini ng is
coming from. I do not see streamlining and that con-cerns me. When I streamline things, I see them getting smaller. Here I have not seen them getting smal ler. I see them getting bigger and, you know, the Honourable Member who spoke before me spoke about
what he viewed as some of the successes of the PLP
Government. And some of them may well turn out to
be that. Now, I am not against saying that. If he succeeds in the goals he has set himself, I certainly will
applaud him in that.
But when I look out at, you know, Mr. and
Mrs. Bermuda, there has been great concern. People
are concerned about every average ordinary thing.
You know, people are still concerned about once a
week trash. They are still concerned about that. And
we have this problem of rats, y ou know, we have a
problem of rats and Vector Control need to get on top
of it, and those are the sort of issues that everyday
people are concerned about and we have a problem.
Now we all know it is going to be a bigger problem
come Cup Match and the heat of the summer and all
the picnics and the food that people have, and som ehow we have to have a way of dealing with that. And I am not saying the Government will not, but those are
the sort of issues that the everyday Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda want to have dealt with.
We are seeing the collapse of the bus service
. . . the continuing collapse of the bus service. Now, I
know the Minister there has been working all winter on
the winter schedule, but hopefully he has got the
whole schedule sorted out because every time I drive
along I see people looking glum and unhappy sitting
at bus stops.

I do.
Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Exactly. So, he knows people
are unhappy and people are waiting out there for buses.
So, these are some of the concerns that people have, where they feel the oomph should be being put.
You know, today we saw a group demonstrating. They are concerned with sex offenders, and what went on with the department of child and family services and they would like to see some oomph, some
money, put behind that investigation. Appoint an inde-pendent investigator there to see what went on, to
interview everyone that was concerned.
We are all concerned to see in the paper that
the people who are actually involved, the children who
are involv ed, have not been interviewed. And yet the
Government says the investigation is complete, it is
finished. And the officer is reinstated, and everything
is okay. And the report is not going to be made public.
Well, you know everything is not okay if the rep ort is
not being made public. So, people want openness.
They want their money from their budget to go to pr oducing fairness in this community, and they are not
seeing it. They are seeing money wasted on things
like the appeal to the Privy Council for the s ame sex
marriage. They see that is now a waste of time. They
see that appeal as a waste of time and a waste of
money.
You have Government for a political reason,
to keep a certain group happy, saying, Okay, we will
appeal it . And I am sure Government Members are
saying to each other Well, we know we are going to
lose, but we are just appealing it to keep a certain
group happy . And during my tenure as AG, I was
stuck in the same situation where there was a judg-ment and people would say to me you should appeal
this judgment. And I was steadfast saying to people
well, I am not appealing it because if I appeal we are
going to lose. There is no reasonable prospect of suc-cess. And I think in this case, there is no reasonable
prospect of success. So, I do not think, you know, that
the people see that as a good expenditure of money in this community.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: I don’t thi nk Lahey was
either , or Dr. Brown. That was millions and millions of
dollars.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Now, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I
do not want to go into political corruption just yet. Let
us start with a different subject. My Honourable friend
would like me to go into political corruption, but I will
stay off of that for the moment.
The situation we now have is that this Go vernment are still riding on the coattails of the OBA. They are still riding on those coattails, they are riding
on the America’s Cup, they are riding on the airport
project. They are riding on the tourism successes, and
that is fine. But you have got to have more than that.
We have not seen anything come forward from the
PLP. We have given them a period of time. They had
a honeymoon period. As you know, we had the America’s Cup, we got the airport project, we got the hotel
in St. George’s, got a number of other cap ital projects
going on [which are] keeping this country’s head above water in terms of issues like construction, et cetera. But there is nothing new on that scale.
Now, of course, we were promised FinTech
and, you know, the Premier is quick to say Well, 6 6
companies have been incorporated. But in terms of
what comes out of that, we have not seen anything
come to fruition. And there are worrying signs. There are worrying signs, as was pointed out in the Budget
Reply. There are worrying signs about the hub, that
the Premier seemed to be moving away from the idea
of the hub. He has announced this new bank that he
says will be all things to all people and, you know, sort out some problems that we have. I, myself, must say I
am very close to writing off the prop osition of gaming
in the short term. You know, when you start to have
people jumping ship, which is what we are having
over there, you have only got a few people left. And
when they try jumping the ship, you get worried. So, you need to see some forward movement and we
have not seen any.
I am sure the Minister when he speaks will be
able to tell us, hopefully, of something positive that he
expects to be coming forward. I mean, from this Government, those are some of the ideas that I thought
would be positi ve. You know, they were very keen on
gaming, particularly this Minister of Tourism, very
keen on gaming.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Still am.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: That is right. Still is. He says
he is still keen on gaming. So, I am hoping that he can
get some forward motion on it. But it is a mess right
now. I think everyone, including himself, would agree. Well, we are hopeful this new bank achieves some forward motion. We are hoping they can get people on
board in the Gaming Commission who are experts in
the field and can attract business here and get the
thing up and off the ground.
As was said in the Budget Reply, it was a
shame that when the OBA were Government the PLP
were determined to be very political. There were all these demonstrations, some of which they were behind. Some of their members were actively, publicly
saying, Yeah, yeah, let us go out and demonstrate.
Let us put a stop to these projects . And they were attacking projects like the America’s Cup. You know, there were a lot of the PLP supporters saying Oh, we
do not want America’s Cup. America’s Cup costs too


Bermuda House of Assembly much. It is for rich white people. It is no good for Bermuda. We should not go. We should not have anything to do with it .

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: So, no w what happens? Now
we have them saying well, you know, Larry Ellison
has this international circuit of sailing and, gee, Bermuda would like to be a part of it . We would like to
have a team here. We would like to be a stop on that
circuit . But, of course, you know, it was all too obvious
to those people, the PLP have already said, We do
not like you. We do not want you here. We do not
want your money . That is it.

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: I am sure the Member will
have the opportuni ty to make his case. But he
changed his mind on the airport, and we are happy to
see that. He changed his mind. They are supporting
these projects now.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: In fact, the BIU are saying
they were never against . . . they are rewriting history
saying they were never against the project at all.
The BTA continues to have a stellar year.
They have had a stellar year and it continues to be
riding on that rebranding. If one looks back at the
PricewaterhouseCoopers report of October 2017, which is entitled “ Economic, Environmental and Social
Impact of the 35
th America’s Cup on Bermuda” we
would see the full investment of $64.1 million that they
estimated would be a positive impact of our GDP of
$336.4 million, inclusiv e of $90.8 million estimated
positive impact for future legacy tourism. And I think
we are seeing that wave going forward, seeing people
riding on that wave. Bermuda has been rebranded,
which is what we had hoped, and we have got new
life. Provided, of course, people can get here and the ministers responsible for that make sure that people
can get here for a reasonable price, stay here for a
reasonable price and have an enjoyable time while they are here.
With respect to the subject of immigration, you
know, this is just like repeating the same thing. And
even when the PLP were in power, towards the end
they were saying, Well, gee willikers, if only we could
find another 5,000, 6,000 people to come here and
spend money to rent apartments, to go to the rest aurants, to hire taxis, to spend money in this community .
But they were not willing to do what was necessary. Now, our neighbours to the south, like Ca yman .
. . they figured it out. They figured it out. And
while our ship was dead in the water, they wer e sai ling away from us —and they continue to do that. Now their business model is a little different from ours,
granted. But historically we always viewed ourselves
as being a little bit more up- market than they were
and more, perhaps, choosey in the business that we took. They were looking quite a lot for volume of bus iness as opposed to quality of business. That is the
way, certainly, we like to look at it.
But I think we need to take a page from their
book in terms of their immigration. You know, people
will say, Oh well, we can, you know . . . and this is one
area where I thought the Minister of Finance in his
Budget Statement was just wrong, you know. He says
Oh well, you know, this is simplistic (I believe is what
he said), that it was simplistic that if we get people
here that it is going to sort out our problems.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: I am just trying to find the
page . . . but the fact is, you know, it is not, you know.
And the implication was that if we can just get peop le
here, that is going to be good enough. But, of course,
you know, it is not good enough.
One of the things you find out when you have
people in a country is that you want them to use their disposable income in your jurisdiction. You do not
want them sending it back to where they came from.
And that is what they do if they figure they have no home in your country. And we are not the only ones. It
is at page 13 under The Case for Economic Reform.
And he says, I will quote him, he says “Mr. Speaker,
there i s a constant refrain in some quarters which
speaks about the need to relax our immigration laws
even further to boost the population in Bermuda. It is a
simplistic argument which wilfully ignores the other
economic challenges faced by Bermuda.”
Well, from my point of view it does not ignore
any challenges. It is saying that this is one of the
things which we need to do. There was a point in time
where we had too many people here, and we have to
try and restrict it. Now, we have too few people here,
and we have too little money in our economy.
We need people who are going to come here,
doing professional jobs, who are going to be spending
money. And I had assumed that that is what the Premier wants to do with FinTech. He wants that to
produce jobs —not just for Bermudians but get people
in here. Every, every, every . . . we know that every
guest worker that is here produces more than his own
weight in terms of Bermudian jobs. I think the average
is 1:1.3.
But the other key is that those people are
spending t heir disposable income in Bermuda and
they are going to spend that disposable income in Bermuda if they feel at home here and if they feel they
have a future here and if they feel their children have
a future here. And we all know it is a terrible situation for people to be here— their children are born here,
their children are raised here, they are making tr e650 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly mendous contributions to the economic life of this
community and to their volunteer life as well, a lot of
them do a lot of charity work and make huge contributions —and then they are told, Well you have no f uture. And, of course, what people are going to do in
those circumstances is they are going to just ship their
money back. There will be remittances.
For example, let us take . . . and this is not
just Bermuda. I recently read an article where I think it
said there were a million Polish people in Britain and
every year they send a billion pounds home to Poland. And why do they do that? Well, they feel they have no
particular future in Britain. They feel the negative
vibes, they feel the xenophobia, they feel the resentment and the anger of some of the political parties in the UK. They are looking at Brexit and they are sa ying, We are going to get as much money out as we
can because we are not welcome, we are not wanted.
And often from the supporters of the PLP, that
is the feeling that is given to our guest workers. And that is what we have got to stop.
You know it is . . . I do not know, it is . . . to
me it was strange because we had this thing abou t
rich white people and the America’s Cup and people
were saying we do not want anything to do with rich
white people and that is for rich white people and
then, of course, when you see FinTech and you see the Premier cosying up to all these people, they l ook
uncommonly like rich white people. That is what they look like. And in the best possible way —I am not i mplying anything untoward.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

We will take your point of order.

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
The Honourable Member is misleading the House
when he said, you know, they did not want billionaires, white rich billionaires, in Bermuda. No, we did not say
that, Mr. Speaker , at all. We never said that. What he
is referring to is a statement that was made in the last
session, if you will recall. And that statement was is
that they did not like the fact that we black people can
rub shoulders with billionaires.

Continue.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: He will get his turn.
Now, you know, I will just end with a final, r eally with a final word here, Mr. Speaker, and that is
going back to the government efficiency saying go vernment efficiency is surely judged by needing fewer
people to do the job and being able to do the job with
less money. Yet this Government has steadfastly said,
Well, we are not going to reduce the government
headcount. In fact, we will continue to increase it, I
gather, is the outlook. I looked at the budget of C abinet office, it looks like it is going up and up and up.
And if that is not correct, I would love for somebody to stand up and say it is not true, we are going to reduce
the government headcount. But it sounds to me like it
is going to continue to increase. And people in this
community are concerned —

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: People in this community are
concerned, Mr. Speaker, that we are going back to
what in the street was called the “friends and family
plan,” where people are getting nice government jobs, without them being advertised. We had the recent one
with Renee Webb in the Brussels office, brought on as
a consultant. I know that was under plan for some
time, as I had bumped into her last October coming back from Brussels. People are concerned that these
are people with political affiliations being brought into the government to do a job. And that is what people
are concerned about, when people are brought into
government. I was concerned when I saw, I think it
was Charles Richardson was brought in as Acting D irector of Legal Aid. And I believe at one time he was a
candidate for the PLP —

Thank you.
Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: All right, if that is true, that is
fine. That is fine. But was he brought in as a temporary person to fill the job? And was the job he is filling ever advertised?

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Well, you see in this House it
is confusing. The Honourable Minister for National
Security says it is a consultancy job. But last year in
the House Michael Scott jumped up, the Honourable
and Learned Member jumped up, and said the new
Director of Legal Aid is Charles Richardson. And then from her seat, I think the Honourable and Learned
Member Kim Wilson said no, he is in a temporary position or a consultancy positio n. So, it has not been
clear to me exactly what the position is and where it is
going.
But the Government Members can get up and
they can tell us exactly chapter and verse what is happening there and with the other members, including the Brussels office. People are obviously concerned.

Yes, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker, I am going to put on my Sher idan Raynor gear today and just come to the wicket
and play some of these new balls down the crease.
Mr. Speaker, as I speak today, I just want to
start o ff by congratulating the new Minister of Finance,
Mr. Curtis Dickinson, and his team, for the fine work
that they have done in producing this Budget Stat ement here 2019/20.
Mr. Speaker, I also would like to offer thanks
to the Junior Minister, the Honour able Member Wayne
Furbert, who spoke earlier. He deserves credit, Mr.
Speaker, because he has worked tirelessly in finance
and has done a good job, as he did when he led off on
our behalf.
Mr. Speaker, I could not help but notice some
of the coded language that gets used when it comes to speaking about the Progressive Labour Party, particularly when it comes to finance. And as I congrat ulate our Finance Minister, the Honourable Member
Curtis Dickinson, I think it is important to note that it
takes a wise person to recognise the talent that they
have and to utilise it in its most suitable location.
Earlier, a Member, and I believe it was the
immediate past Member that spoke, referred to the Premier as firing himself. And I respectfully totally di sagree wit h that assertion, Mr. Speaker, in that it is
within the purview of the Premier to use his team where he sees fit. And in this case I want to say that he has chosen wisely. I certainly know, Mr. Speaker,
having gone up and down the hills of some areas of Warwick and having had the distinct pleasure of being
with the Honourable Member when we were on the
hustings visiting persons and very confidently sharing
with them that they would be well served to put their
faith and trust in this gentleman who we have here. Eminently qualified; eminently qualitied.
When we speak about coded language, I was
not intending to spend too much time on anything ot herwise than what our intent was. But I could not help
but notice that as the Opposition made reference to
Government ’s initiative to offer lending to private sector workers, they used the term . . . I think it is on page
21, “Where would the Government acquire lending
expertise?”
I found that to be the most laughable coded
message of all because . . . I am going to re peat it.
The Finance Minister comes to Parliament, comes to this Honourable House, comes to the Finance Ministry
from an esteemed career in banking, and very ou tstanding academic performances, and with global
connections —global connections that will serve this
Labour Party well as he serves. And I take exception to the subliminal messages that get sent out there in Bermuda.
652 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Certainly, Mr. Speaker, we are a product of
the environment that we have grown out of. I believe
our Finance Minister understands finance better than
most, having trained in Columbia, probably walked the
same halls that the honourable Barack Obama walked when he went and came back and went and took his
academic career up and down that area of the Hu dson River. I believe you take the road, you go along,
you hit C happaqua Park and you might even find a
few nice golf courses along the way up there, Mr. Spea ker. But I am sure as our Finance Minister
traverses around some of the challenges that Berm uda faces, he is well equipped. So there is no p lace for
these coded mes sages.
But we will get them. You know, I did the O pposition Reply as the divide and conquer reply. And I
noted how many times pathway to status was mentioned, how many times the Honourable Member the
Honourable Leader of the PLP and the Government ,
the Premier of the Bermuda, was mentioned in the Reply. Served and trying to drive a wedge in our community, Mr. Speaker . And I think it is important
that Bermudians know this. It is important that we point this out, Mr. Speaker, because it is an old pla ybook. But it will not rest, and I am duty bound to point
it out.
I certainly have had a little bit of experience,
Mr. Speaker . I want to declare my interest, my past, if
you will. This is only the second year that I have ever
served in a Government. I have had some experience
being in Opposition. I certainly know what the role of
an Opposition could be. I heard persons that spoke
before me in the current Opposition make mention of the period of time as it related to 2010. And I said,
Well it is good to have selective memory . But if my
memory serves me correctly, Mr. Speaker, as it r elates to some of the reasons why there was great
trepidation in Bermuda economically in 2008, follo wing the years when the economic boom took place, dare I say XL? Stock may have gone down to two.
Dare I say American International would have had to
change its name? Would I dare say that even the
Bank of Butterfield, whom the Honourable Finance
Minister can speak to far better than me, had to rely
on a PLP Governm ent for a guarantee to move forward. And I am sure the Honourable Member can fill
in the blanks far better than I ever could.
Let us not forget the long arm of Madoff and
the long arm of Stanford and the impact that they had
on the economy. Let us not for get the re- domiciling of
companies that was taking place. It was not because of what was taking place in Bermuda. A lot of it had to be connected with some of the challenges that they
were facing that was placed [upon them] in boar drooms.
And let persons . . . look, it is easy to point
fingers at Government . And the Opposition today has
got a long look back into 2006, 2007. But let me tell
you something about what it takes to be somewhat responsible when you are in Opposition, Mr. Speaker .
It was the Premi er of Bermuda in 2008, the same one
that is under investigation by the Bermuda Police Service, ongoing through 2012, who came to me along
with members of the private sector, Mr. [Don] Kramer, Mr. Phil Perinchief and the US Consul General Mr.
Gregory Slayton. And as an Opposition who had persons chomping at the bit at the Government of the
day, we worked together with what? Bermuda First
that came out in November of 2009. And persons do
not want to talk about that, because it was a collabo-rative effort of responsible Opposition.
We are not seeing that today. We hear persons saying that gaming is never going to get its life line at all. You know, the naysayers, casting aspersions of doubt. But look, I believe in giving Jack his
jacket. Persons are seeing the steelwork going down
in St. George’s quite close to the beach, I might add,
where environmentalists were very quiet and silent on
that initiative, thank you very much. But, look, to the
best of my understanding, right, they are looking for a
gaming licence. And you tell me in a country that is looking at gaming, Mr. Speaker, where is it going to
move forward unless it has a corresponding bank to
partner with? Where is it going to go? How is it going
to happen? So, today, we come here and we find that
in New York there is a bank prepared to work with
Bermuda. That should be hailed, Mr. Speaker, as an
opportunity that Bermuda has been able to realise, because without that . . . and, look, as far as I know,
you can go in Florida, you can go in Connecticut, you
can go in Massachusetts, you can go in most states, and you can go in Nevada, you will find gaming inst itutions operating very well, thank you very much. But
in Bermuda, we had difficulty, you know? But the
Government did not roll over. We kept our hand to the
wheel, and you see the fruits of that labour. That is what is meant when you talk about transformational
government.
And the Honourable Member that took his
seat just before me was saying that, and I will par aphrase . . . he referred to the . . . he made two comments, the friends and family plan, which is another
code, right, and relating to Brussels. But let me tell
you something in defence of the former Member of this House who got elected, who I have known since I
went to Berkeley, Mr. Speaker . You know, she is in
Brussels. To the best of my understanding, having
played] professional golf in Europe, they speak
French in Brussels. I think she does as well, very conversant.
And on top of that, just like our Finance Mini ster, she is one of the brightest this country has to offer. And just because she is PLP, it gets clouded in smoke so people can look to say, Oh you are on the
friends and family thing. I mean, look . . . now, when
the OBA who want to tout the America’s Cup came
forward with a plan, who did they turn to? They turned
to OBA supporters. Who did they appoint to the TourBermuda House of Assembly ism Authority? And, I declare my interest. I spoke
about the Tourism Authority on more than one occ asion in this House. But they appointed an OBA person
there.
Mr. Speaker, you cannot have your cake and
eat it, too. Bermuda has to see the duplicity in that. And it has to see the coded language aimed at the
PLP when it speaks like that.
And, you know, I want to talk about the debt.
Mr. Speaker, you talk about transformational coded
language out in the country, you heard people stand up and say, You guys put us in all that debt, you PLP.
And, you know, from 2013 to 2017, the OBA presided over $1 billion -plus of debt that is on Bermuda’s
books. Now they will come here and justif y it. And let
me tell you, it will get all types of ink and the like as to
. . . because that is what they want people to believe
and there are people who believe that.
But let me tell you this, Mr. Speaker . If you r eally believed that Bermuda needed to r everse the
trend in debt spending, when you came to office you
would have executed on that with immediacy, with the
amount of fervour that you put into your language
leading up to the election. That is one of the most di singenuous things that took place th ere, Mr. Speaker .
The “red sea of debt” as people would have termed continued on.
So, why would this budget be transformational? Because the persons that people, when they used that tax -and-spend coded language, can now look at
this Progressive Labour Par ty Government as being
able to come here today and reverse that trend t owards balanced budgets with surpluses. And it is i mportant that the most capable banking- based Finance
Minister, probably one of the most qualified in that
particular field that we hav e ever had, and you can
compare him to anybody else that you want to . . . will
call, would come and say, Listen, why should I take
my $100 that I borrowed from you and you are going
to charge me 20 per cent interest ? Mr. Speaker , we
have loan sharks in Bermuda, we know that. So, I am
not calling you one, Mr. Speaker, but we have a loan
shark, he lends you $100 and is looking for you . . .
what do they call those things? Payday —

All right. So, the case I
am making is that the $100 that you take to put in
what I call my piggy bank sinking fund . . . and I go around to, then I put it there, I put it aside for a rainy -
day. In order to have that for a rainy -day, I have got to
make sure that I have that $1,000 plus the interest
rate that the payday lender has given me to satisfy my
debt.

[Inaudible interjection]

And guess what, Mr.
Speaker ? That makes absolutely no sense!
Now, I am not saying that the people that we
are going to are going to charge us that much. I am
just making the analogy, because I am confident our
Finance Minister wants to save every penny.
And let me tell you something about what I
understand about finance, having run a government
department for over eight years and having hired someone who was a reconciliation clerk at the bank.
And I will never forget Norman Thomas saying to me
you know that child has got about . . . he has got A
levels, he has got one in math, and got one in English.
He can write and certainly can count, and reconcili ation manager in the bank has to account for every
penny.
So, my Finance Minister now accounting for
every penny is saying, Why should I be giving 20
per cent to save when I know that I can ride that d epartment and make them do what it needs to do eff iciently to make sure that at the end of the day that 20
per cent that I would have given to Mr. Payday Lender
is coming to benefit Bermuda? An d, so, I can do it
now because I want to get Bermuda in the mind- set
that we have got to do business differently. And so
that is why it is a transformational budget in that r espect, because the Finance Minister has put his stamp on the fact that for the fi rst time in about 14
years, Bermuda can speak to having a surplus. And that is major, and it is going to continue.
And for those of you who have cast aspersions on the Honourable Premier, let me tell you what the Premier did say in 2018/19, and I quote fr om the
Budget Statement , “Mr. Speaker,” he said, “we
acknowledge that there are sceptics,” (there were sceptics then and there are sceptics now) “but let me
be clear:” (this is the voice of David Burt) “this year will be the last year in which debt will increase. Next year
we will start reducing our debt! We will continue to
reduce [our] expenses where we can, but we will continue to invest to ensure that we can grow our econ omy and create jobs.”
Promise made last year, Mr. Speaker, promise kept by this Fi nance Minister, that he has appointed, equally capable. so that he can do what he is
there to do as Premier, look comprehensively over
this country.
And let me tell you this . . . let me just speak a
little bit. I mentioned that the Sinking Fund . . . I think
Honourable Member Mr. Furbert, who was there in
that Cabinet, spoke ever so well to the minds that
654 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly there was a time that, you know, when all capital
works were done out of surpluses. And, certainly,
Bermuda is not in that space. And it was not investe d
in the infrastructure. You could find you could find good reason to build a prison . . . you could find good
reason to build a prison, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker, I liken the debt that we have to
address to a super tanker that had to slow down and change direction. The benefits of the initiatives that
the Finance Minister has outlined are very huge, as Bermuda can see that tanker turn around, and in his most capable hands, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker, I remember, I certainly remember, Mr. Speaker, looking when FinTech came here.
And Bermuda is a pioneer in the legislation that is al-lowing other countries to follow our lead. And when
the Premier announced with great pride that there is a
bank here, I was reminded that last year this time
when I was sitting in my seat looking back, I saw any
number of Google searches that related to how HSBC
was pursuing the FinTech initiatives over there in Asia with great fervour. Not in Bermuda. Such is the uphill
climb that we have had to endure in our country, Mr.
Speaker, and it did not just start in this administration.
It has been going on. It has been a one- sided toted
playing field against those of the black community.
And, yes, it is the black community that has
felt it disproportionately in Bermuda, because, as I
mentioned, what was mentioned often and often and often was Pathway to Status. You waved unbridled
immigration growth in front of the people of Bermuda.
It is like going over in the farm when we were kids and
running over there and trying to tempt the bull. P eople
know what that MO was all about. And it does not take
into consideration what is in the best interest to make
this country for all Bermudians. That was not taken
properly into consideration. It was an initiative that the
OBA came and thrust upon the people, and it was
rejected. And it caused great angst.
But they are coming here in 2019 and trying to
tell people, You were wrong, people. That is what they
are telling you out there, you know, You are wrong for feeling that way and being concerned about your
grandchildren and great -grandchildren. You are wrong
for feeling that way . And I am telling you that they are
wrong for still trying to push that stuff down people’s
throats, because that is not what is in the best interest
of our people, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker, I looked at some of the capital
and . . .
How much time do I have, Mr. Speaker ?

I heard Members opposite reference capital projects. And, oh boy, do I r emember trying t o tickle up the Government on many
of them. I will just go to one of them, as it relates to tourism: Heritage Wharf and what is now Dockyard in
Bermuda, an economic hub based around tourism.
You know, the Government very proudly . . .
and the Opposition w ent and started beating its chest
because it introduced the Tourism Authority and said, Look, look at tourism numbers, the best ever . But
what was the real genesis of the tourism growth? It was cruise ship visitors, I think to the tune of about 13or-so per cent—cruise visitors! And where did the
cruise visitors come? They came from Dockyard.
Now, let me just regress back a little bit because, you know, when Dr. Brown was trying to sell
that initiative initially, he was looking in the east as
well. And, yo u know, it met with great disquiet. I will
share that. It was met with great disquiet. Later, persons came with other options about maybe a pier off
of the golf course, down by, off of, by Khyber Pass, and the like. But by that time, because [the cruise
lines] were moving away from smaller ships to larger
ships, the Premier of the day at that particular time
decided that we needed to act, and it was built.
And, yes, those in Opposition . . . and I wave
my hand and say yes, we criticised it. But guess what? It was the genesis of the increase in record vis itor arrivals. So, you have to go back to what was crit icised back then. And I liken that to the criticism that is coming today with FinTech, because FinTech will
moves fast, and we moved fast to put it in l egislation.
But if our competitors move faster to find the proper
banking institutions to facilitate it while the Opposition
is playing, Hey, complain because I am here. I want
you to know I am here. Let me complain . Right?
Somebody else is going to get the spoils of our vision!
And you think that the PLP came up with that
vision for FinTech in 2017 when the people were singing so long, bye- bye? No! You can go back to the
Hansards in this Chamber, Mr. Speaker, you can go
back to 2014 when Marc Bean was lea der and the
Honourable David Burt was Opposition Shadow F inance Minister and see that those initiatives were put
forward as a solution for Bermuda’s economy and a
suggestion for the Government .
But because the Government of the day was
so shallow and narr ow-minded, it could not see that
opportunity. That is what an Opposition should be d oing—coming with solutions. And if the Government of
the day had any type of gumption, even though they did not understand what the space was, because they admitted that wh en the legislation came here, Oh, I do
not understand it; it is not what I understand. Because
you do not understand it does not mean that it is not
good for Bermuda.
And now that the PLP led the way, other juri sdictions around this world are looking at t hat and looking at how they can be more nimble. That is the real ity, Mr. Speaker . That is the reality of an Opposition
who, in my respectful [view], is concentrating on the divide and conquer initiative. Find a way to say what
needs to be said, that gets people exercised enough


Bermuda House of Assembly so that they can say, while you are up there saying
this and that you must have my best interest at heart.
And I am here to tell you, Mr. Speaker, that
when you look at those capital projects that they so
proudly tout out in lump sum and you start looking at
them, you would ask yourself, Where would the people of Perimeter Lane be staying if they were not stay-ing in Perimeter Lane today ? All those multi -story
units down there. Where would they be staying? They
certainly would not be staying in those houses that
people can afford to keep empty.
Where would the people on Butterfield Lane
be staying if those places were not converted up there
in Sandys Parish? They certainly would not be staying
in places that people are turning into Ai rbnb. Where
would they be staying, Mr. Speaker ?
And what is the plan for Bermuda as we have
challenges, such as Brexit there, when Quo Fata Farunt is not going to be an answer for us anymore,
Mr. Speaker , as Britain looks at us and tries to turf us
out. I am here to tell you, Mr. Speaker , that this bud get is transformational for just those points that I made.
And for many others, Mr. Speaker, for many
others, and it is time for the Opposition to come with
better solutions than just Pathway to Status which
does not take into account the impact that it would
have had when they tried to push it down people’s
throats the way they did.
And look, Mr. Speaker, at the amount of
MOUs they gave out that made it very difficult for this
Government, the PLP Government , to be able to act
in good faith. We act in good faith. We did not pass
legislation to reverse a government contract that had been given, like they did. We are more fair -minded
people than they are. Proven it! And I reject ( my final
comment ) I reject the coded language that —

Okay, that is all I need.
I reject when the OBA in Opposition would
use another coded [language] that would suggest that
the PLP do not care about white people. I have been
and I have sat with them both. Right? Honesty for r eality does not mean that you do not like people. You
are just courageous enough and care enough about them to tell them what time it really is and you are not
going to hoodwink them with camouflage and diversity
dressed up —
[Timer beeps ]

Thank you, Member.
Does any other Member wish to speak?
[Desk thumping] The Speaker: We now recognise the Honourable
Member from constituency 10.
Honourable Member, you have the floor.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Before I get started into the body of my contents, I appreciate the opportunity to speak , and to the
Honourable Member who just spoke, just a little bit
more clarification on the number of visitors to our I sland.
Yes, he is correct that we have seen an astronomical increase in cruise visitors . But what he forgot to say is that over the past probably four and a
half years we have seen a steady rise in air visitors ,
which has been most welcome.
And, Mr. Speaker, the other thing t hat I find i nteresting is that the Honourable Member always uses
the phrase Give Jack his jacket . Well, you know, the
Honourable Member now is wearing a different jacket ,
but I recall in 2012 when the Honourable Member,
talking about the PLP Government , said, They have
overspent atrociously and they have encouraged
elaborate living. So, Jack is wearing a different jacket
now, and he loves to forget what was said in the past.

Okay, thank you for clarification.
Member .

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, just pointing
out the facts about it.
This is the second budget of this PLP Government since the election of 2017 and with this second budget, Mr. Speaker, the PLP Government has
talked a lot over the past week about fiscal discipline
and a budget surplus . And I find that quite an interes ting and contrasting development from the past. And, Mr. Speaker, in spite of the wish of the current F inance Minister to take a different road, I would urge
caution because the past record, as I will show, Mr.
Speaker, of the PLP , does not breed confidence in
achieving those budget numbers.
Since this is the case, I suggest it would be
unwise for the Government to blow their horn at this point in time, because in fact, Mr. Speaker, the budget
has not been pas sed. And until next year when some
656 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly of the money has been spent and some revenue has
come in, it is very difficult to predict where you will
actually finish, and if your record shows otherwise it
might be foolhardy.
Mr. Speaker, I will also start my comments by
saying that while many in the community might be
pleased to some extent that tax increases have been
pared back from what they thought they would be, in
this budget (in my view) they are still very many interesting , and, I would say , worrying aspect s associated
with the Budget 2019. So, let me get into some of
them.
First, a comment that my honourable co lleague had touched on. I found it interesting that the
Honourable Premier has now relinquished the F inance portfolio after a very short time at the helm . And
one has to wonder why . Is it that the Premier is getting
out of the kitchen before it gets too hot , because the
economy is not going in the right way? Or, is the Ho nourable Premier too busy with his duties of being the
Premier? One can understand that. But situations have changed. If the latter is the case, Mr. Speaker, it
must be noted that the Premier has a Minister in the
Cabinet Office, a Minister without Portfolio, and add itional high -paid civil servants in the Cabinet O ffice that
now have been budgeted for this year.
Mr. Speaker, with the tabling of the Budget a
few days ago, we see numbers and estimates that
have been changed for the worse over the budget
from last year. Mr. Speaker, this goes against the
grain of fiscal discipline the P LP has lauded over the
past week , and I believe it creates doubt about the
accuracy of the budget. Now, the Finance Minister is
loath to say over and over again he only took over in
November . And so I give him the opportunity to make
those words come true next year. But let me look at
some of the numbers , because this is an economic
debate.
The original budget estimate for 2018/19 was
projecting an $89.7 million budget deficit. This has
been changed now to $102.6 million deficit. This is
due, as was said i n the Budget Statement, Mr.
Speaker, because expenditure is $2.8 million higher,
and revenue is $11.9 million less than was estimated.
This has resulted in an additional deficit of $12.9 mi llion being added to our bottom line, or, in percentage
terms, Mr. Speaker, 12 per cent, which in anybody’s
terms is a significant increase and certainly not a good sign and it cannot be considered fiscal discipline.
Now, Mr. Speaker, it follows on from the very
poor track record of the last PLP Government , which
repeatedly missed numbers to the wrong side . .
. I will
come back to those in a few moments time. Another concerning number, Mr. Speaker, from this Budget is
that the GDP estimate for 2018 has been forecasted
from 1.2 [per cent] to 2.0 per cent back down to a
smaller increase of 0 .5 [per cent] to 1.0 per cent. Mr.
Speaker, this is not a good sign , and it shows that the
economy is not taking any wind in its sails at this time. Mr. Speaker, another worrying development is
civil service employee numbers are set to increase
from 4,764 in the 2017/18 B udget , to 5,082 in this
Budget 2019/20. Mr. Speaker, that is a rapid two- year
rise of 318, or 7 per cent. This year alone, the numbers are to increase by 157 in the Budget Book, and
when you compare that, Mr. Speaker, t o the alleged
increased of jobs of 144, which is found in the E mployment Survey , which the Finance Minister relates
to on page 8 of the Budget Book, one might deduce that the only increase in jobs are all in the civil service.
Clearly, the Government’s economic plan is not wor king.
Now, Mr. Speaker —

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker, point of order, please.

Yes, we will take point of order from the
Finance Minister.

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker, I think the
Honourable Member is misleading the House. If he
were to go back and look back at prior Budget Books
from 2012/13 and beyond, he would see that the
number of employees in government versus the est imates have been substantially higher in the estim ates
versus the actual numbers. So, the phenomenon that
he is discussing right now is not unique to the PLP
Government. It is a phenomenon that has been experienced over the course of the last seven to eight years.

Okay.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, I will digress
for a minute to speak to some comments by the Ho nourable Junior Minister of Finance, who started off this
debate after the Opposition’s Reply.
The Honourable Member talked about
$300,000 worth of cheques being found in a drawer.
And for some absurd reason he tried to pin that on Government Ministers. Well, Mr. Speaker, I will take a
point of order right now if the cheques were found in the drawer of any Minister, Mr. Speaker . And also, Mr.
Speaker —

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Point of order, Mr.
Speaker .
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: If cheques are found—


Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Point of order, Mr.
Speaker .

Your point of order ?

POINT OF ORDER
Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: I am sorry the Honourable
Member is actually . . . I do not believe he understood,
if he would be willing to [let me] explain to him. The
issue was not that they were found in any OBA Mini ster’s drawer. The issue is that, with all this talk about
collecting taxes and being more efficient, those
things —those cheques found in drawers —were not
found by the previous Government .
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

Thank you.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Well, Mr. Speaker, that
point of order leads me to my next comment.
Can you imagine, Mr. Speaker, if Honourable
Ministers from the former Government had been looking through the drawers of civil servants’ desks, what
an outcry there would be, Mr. Speak er.
Now, Mr. Speaker, to me, I worked with the
civil servants for a number of years and I found very
many qualified, conscientious civil servants. For
cheques to be locked in a drawer and to stay there for
a period of time . . . there is not an excuse for that in
any way, Mr. Speaker .
Furthermore, most businesses, if a cheque is
not returned in a reasonable period of time are going to call up and ask [why]. So, the story by the Junior
Minister just does not take a lot of credibility, on my
part, Mr. Speaker . And to sa y that that is the reason,
because you found cheques in a drawer you are hiring
more people, is utter nonsense. That, if you find
cheques in a drawer, is people not doing their job and
the head of the civil servant and the department
heads, right on down, need to make sure people do
their job. That is the i ssue that Bermudians have been
talking about —efficiency in the public sector and the
private sector, Mr. Speaker .
The Budget Book also shows an alarming rise
in travel spending, from $2.04 million in 201 7/18 to
$3.41 million in this financial year, a 67 per cent i ncrease. And last year, on page 13 . . . and I question
these numbers. And the Honourable Finance Minister
when he wraps up at some time tonight or tomorrow,
can get the —

Tonight.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: —can give the answer.
But last year on page 13 of the Budget Statement, it
was stated that a civil service increase would be
2.5 per cent in pay. Howev er, in this year’s Budget
Statement it says, I believe on page 18, that some
public officers are awarded a 2.0 per cent increase.
So, there are two questions arising out of that.
First, why has the number changed [from] 2.5 [per
cent] to 2.0 [per cent] and, secondly, the wording that
the Honourable Minister used “some public officers are being awarded an increase” . . . where does that
come from? Does that come because some of the
organisations have not had their increase agreed to
yet?
So, Mr. Speaker, these comments reflect on
numbers in the budget and they highlight, in my view,
a lack of confidence in some cases regarding the ac-curacy and illustrate concerns for the policies and actions of this PLP Government . Over the coming days,
as my colleagues ha ve said, we will have the opportunity to go into Committee of Supply. So I am sure
there will be a great deal more debate at that time.
But, Mr. Speaker, as this is an economic debate and numbers are critically important, and colleagues who have spoken before me have talked
about the prudence of the PLP, let me refresh their
memory about some of their performance. Most r ecently, I have already covered in the one year. But the last six years of the PLP Government , because my
honourable colleagues in their R eply talked about
seven years of [famine] and seven years of plenty.
Well, let me look at the six years from 2007
and just look at these numbers and if anyone can
challenge me that this is fiscal prudence, I will take a
point of order.
In 2007, there was a budget estimate for a
$109 million deficit. It ended at a $136 million deficit —
$27 million out. In 2008, there was a budget estimate for a $131 million deficit, which ended at $241 mi llion—$110 million out.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Michael H. D unkley: In 2009, there was a
budget estimate for a $148 million deficit, which ended
at $209 million— $61 million out. And the kept birds
are singing over there. In 2010, there was a budget
estimate for a deficit of $143 million, which ended at
$254 million —$111 million out.

Say it is not so.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: In 2011, $147 million def icit was forecasted, and it ended at $229 million—$82
million out.
I go on, Mr. Speaker . In 2012, there was a
budget estimate of $172 million deficit , which ended at
$226 —$54 million out. Six years, Mr. Speaker, collec658 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly tively, [$445] million out, Mr. Speaker, on the wrong
side, an average of $74 million a year.
That is not even close. That is not even close.
And you wonder why . people lack confidence i n those
numbers.
In the Opposition’s Reply to the Budget, they
said, and I quote, “t his reckless [mis]management of
the people’s money was a recipe for disaster waiting
to happen. ” And, thus, because of this reckless mi smanagement of the people’s money, c oupled, Mr.
Speaker, with the inability to work the budget, there
should be little confidence that these PLP numbers
will actually stick.
And I hope they do. I hope this Finance Mini ster can stand around the table, sit around the table
and say, No, we are sticking to our numbers. The
OBA took over that slow -motion train wreck and in five
years met the number or beat the number every year.
In average, Mr. Speaker, in average, Mr. Speaker, it
beat the number by $35 million each year.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Sil va: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, I was not
going to tell him the numbers, but I will tel l him the
numbers, Mr. Speaker, since he wants to . . . and he
can get up and show me where they are wrong. But
he cannot, because they are in the Budget Book .
In 2013, there was a budget estimate for a
$333 million deficit —the one we inherited from the
PLP. We finished that at $299 million, $34 million u nder. In 2014, 267, we were under that budget. In
2015, $220 million deficit, we were under it at 161. In
2017, there was a budget estimate of $135 million, we finished at $70 million, 65 under that. You cannot say
those numbers are wrong, because they are in the
Budget Book . If you do, you are making it up. It is fake
news, Mr. Speaker .

[Laughter]
Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker, point of order. Mr. Speaker, point of order, please.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: In between the PLP now —

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: —and then, the OBA
brought it back from the brink.
[Inaudible interjections]

We will take the point of order from the
Minister of Finance.

[Laughter]

POINT OF ORDER
Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker, I will say this,
I am really good with numbers.
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Oh, yes, you are.
Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: So, if the Honourable
Member is going to start talk ing numbers, he should
talk about all the numbers, not just the ones he selectively chooses to highlight. In fact, over the course of
the last 10 years, successive Government s—both
PLP and OBA— have missed their numbers.

Thank you.
Hon. Patri cia J. Gordon -Pamplin: OBA far less than
the PLP.

[Laughter]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, I am pretty
good with numbers, and I am also pretty good with
reading and I am happy to sit down with the Finance
Minister after and go over them and he can show me
where I am wrong —

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Exactly.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: But I have taken these
right out of Budget Book s, Mr. Speaker . So, I am not
going to be side -tracked by the points of order b ecause when you bowl the line and length they cannot
hit it.
[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Now, Mr. Speaker —

[Inaudible interjections]



Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Okay, Minister, Minister? Let the Member finish talking.

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: With the Government
scrapping Sinking Fund contributions for the next three years and making a big deal about a predicted
$7 million budget surplus —$7 million —you scrap $65
million and say you are going to make $7 million, Mr.
Speaker . That is fine. But what you are doing is your
kicking the can down the road. In fact, no, Mr. Speaker, you are not kicking the can. You are kicking a barrel down the road—

Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker, another point
of order, please.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: —and you ar e taking a
significant risk.

Finance Minister, you would like to
make a point of order?

POINT OF ORDER
Hon. Curtis L. Dickinson: Mr. Speaker, I appreciate
that for the Honourable Member $7 million may not be
a whole lot of money, but for Mr . and Mrs. Bermuda,
as they like to quote often enough, that is a lot of money.
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Over billions of
dollars? No, it is not.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, but you
scrap $65 million from the Sinking Fund, a $7 million
surplus is not.
[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: But, Mr. Speaker, I just
illustrated where the PLP was $445 million over in six
year—that is a lot of money.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I do not think . . . Mr.
Speaker, I will say right here, right now, if the Minister
of Finance comes in with a surplus next year, I will be
the first person to walk across the floor and shake his
hand.

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: And say congrat ulations.

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I will be the first person to
walk over and shake his hand. What I am doing here
today is to stimulate them to stick to the fiscal disc ipline they talk about.

[Laughter]

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Master.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Not say it, because we
have Members over there like the Honourable Member who interpolates a lot —

Members!

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: —who talk fake news. And
then they try to say what . . . they try to say that they
did not say it, Mr. Speaker .

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: So, Mr. Speaker, this co ming year, in the Budget Book it says Public Debt
Charges, the interest will be $116.5 million. This pa yment, which will remain at that significant level for
some period of time, severely restricts the Gover nment —any government’s —ability to balance the
budget. It also severely restricts Government ’s ability
to meet those many social programmes that are i mportant to our people, like the homeless shelter, w hich
has not been raised in this budget yet. And potentially, Mr. Speaker —and this is an important point —it pote ntially makes it almost impossible for future large tax
increases not to be implemented. So, Mr. Speaker, if
anyone is relieved by the state of this budget this year without anticipated large tax increases, you will be
wise to brace yourselves for the future.
Now, Mr. Speaker, let me turn myself to the
economic plan of the PLP. It has not grown legs.
There has been lots of hype, lots of talk, lo ts of travel,
hype over one MOU after another, and money spent,
but no legs. The re- forecasted GDP clearly shows
that. FinTech is not developing yet into the third pillar,
Mr. Speaker .

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: There has been litt le me ntion [of it] in this budget. It has not created many jobs,
Mr. Speaker, and I am pleased to see that now the
Government has made announcement about a bank.
So, now all the excuses are cleared away, Mr. Speak-er, and now we can move forward. And if FinTech is
going to have some legs, it will actually get those legs,
Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker, the time for talk has disappeared. The shine has worn off the ball. The Silicon Valley that has been promised is still over in California, Mr. Speaker . It has not come to Bermuda yet.
660 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Those Bermudian jobs have not been promised yet,
even though the FinTech hub has been put on for fi scal prudence, maybe that is the new Finance Minister looking under the hood and saying, Wait a second,
guys. We need to make sure we do it in the right way.
We applaud that initiative, but they should have looked under the hood with fiscal prudence in that
FinTech hub last year when they rolled it out.
Now, Mr. Speaker —

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, the Gover nment needs to face the facts that Bermuda is still ri ding on the growth due to the vision of the former PLP [sic] Government.
But, Mr. Speaker, that is going to run out. That
will run out over time because the investment in the
hotels and the airports and all that we have done, Mr.
Speaker, they will be finished. Construction will move
on to business. We need to have more investment
come in. The PLP has not been brought investment to
the Island for hotels yet. That is critical. It is critical not
only because it will drive tourism, which we need more
heads and beds to supplement Airbnb, but it would
also help our International Business with more opportunities for them when they come here for their meet-ings. And, Mr. Speaker, it will allow any FinTech fledgling to have places to come when they have their business meetings, Mr. Speaker . But yet, the PLP
jobs they have created appear to be only in the go vernment , in the civil service, and a couple of Gover nment Ministers.
Along the way, Mr. Speaker, while they talk
about their fiscal prudence, we have witnessed the
dismissal of a well -respected health care professional
under concerning circumstances with secrecy sur-rounding the deal. A million- dollar pay -out to a former
Premier, after the Premier, I gues s, and the Minister,
in my opinion, have held the Government to ransom.
And, Mr. Speaker, we paid $175,000 this past year for
an empty office in Washington, DC. We have people sleeping on our streets and we are paying for an em pty office in Washington, DC. I hope we have not air -
conditioned it, Mr. Speaker .
Now, Mr. Speaker, gaming appears dead in
the water, but the statement the Honourable Minister
gave today . . . I applaud the Minister trying to move it
forward. But still we cannot even find a CEO because we poisoned the landscape, because of interference.
Bermuda businesses are under siege whether this
Government admits to it or not. Retail sales are down
drastically month after month after month, and the
sugar tax was a discriminatory tax that has caus ed job
losses. And it was implemented without adequate
consultation, Mr. Speaker .
In addition, promises made in relation to that
sugar tax have not been kept. What about the 15 per
cent duty reduction for water? What about the money raised from that tax being put into health pr ogrammes? I await to hear about those programmes in the next week, Mr. Speaker . Government has intended it wants to take over the corporation and tabled a Bill today without adequate consultation and in the best interest of the peopl e, Mr. Speaker .
Education is still in crisis. A lack of confidence
in the Minister who sat on the Opposition benches and talked about all he could do to change education. One
Education Minister has gone, and now the next Education Commissioner and the PS [do not] have the
confidence of the unions.
Mould is still in the schools, Mr. Speaker . The
Island’s facing a rat infestation. Cost of living conti nues to rise, and health care continues to rise, Mr.
Speaker . All of this makes it more concerning that all
the talk that Government talks about wanting Berm udians to come back home . . . you have to say, Mr.
Speaker, yes, but what for? What are they going to
do? Where is the opportunity? Where is the hope?
No, Mr. Speaker, it is not there. This Gover nment ’s economic plan is not working, and it will not
work, Mr. Speaker, with statements such as the one
on page 13 of the Budget Book , and I quote, if you will
allow me, Mr. Speaker, “immigration is not the core
issue; economic competitiveness is.”
But I say, Mr. Speaker, in my humble opinion,
that the two actually go hand in hand. And here are some facts to support it if you will allow me to get the
numbers right.
In 2007, we had 39,849 jobs in Bermuda, Mr.
Speaker, and of those, 18,131 were subjected to i mmigration control. Now, most people will recognise
that 2007 was the last year of plenty before the advent
of the down years. So, we roll forward, Mr. Speaker,
to 2017 (and I am getting these numbers from the
government stats) when there were 33,653 jobs in
Bermuda. And of those, 9,634 were subject to imm igration control. So, in 10 years, there has been a loss of 6,196 jobs and the loss, Mr. Speaker, of 8,469 work
permits.
Mr. Speaker, 8,469 people, and many with
families, have left the Island. People who have been
earning money in Bermuda. People who have been spending money in Bermuda. People who have been paying taxes in Bermuda. People who have been cr eating jobs in Bermuda. People who have been provi ding opportunity in Bermuda. People who have been contributing to the health insurance costs in Bermuda.
Poof! Gone, Mr. Speaker . What does that do to our
cost of living, Mr. Speaker ?
So, immigration is interrelated to our economic competitiveness, and here in a small jurisdiction like
Bermuda, more so than man y other places. And this
Government has done nothing on immigration reform.
Nothing on immigration reform in two years.
Mr. Speaker, it gets better. The Government
writes in the Budget Statement on page 12, and I will
quote, “the Bermuda economy witnessed an increase


Bermuda House of Assembly in international company registrations, an increase in
local company registrations,” (This is good stuff.) “an
increase in jobs located in Bermuda, an increase in
insurance companies setting up in Bermuda, and an
increase in tourists visiting Bermuda.” Man, everything
is good. We have gone to heaven. It’s Mecca.
Well, Mr. Speaker, I suggest that the Go vernment actually ask Bermudians if they believe all of
that. Ask Bermudians if they feel the benefit of what
Government said happened in the l ast year. Ask Be rmudians, Mr. Speaker, if they are better off now than
they were in the fall of 2017. Ask seniors, Mr. Speaker, if they support the statement written in the Budget
Book . Ask Bermudians if they really have been put
first, Mr. Speaker . Nine h undred jobs were reduced
from the civil service under the OBA due to attrition and voluntary early retirement. And now in two years
. . . and I hear the Honourable Junior Minister say
“lucky.”
Well, I want to be lucky and good.

[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, in the two
years the PLP approach to Government reform . . .
add the jobs back and find cheques in the drawer.
That is pretty good, Mr. Speaker .
We know the OBA stimulated the economy,
and we know the Premier is runn ing off of that. But,
Mr. Speaker, here we now have the stimulation by the
PLP, which is for the Premier’s Minister of Finance [to
sell] a building to a non- Bermudian company, and
what business could take place in that building once it
was sold? You cannot even sell fishcakes there, Mr.
Speaker, until that non- Bermudian company gets a
licence. That is not an economic plan, Mr. Speaker .
It is clear, very clear, that those rough waters
have returned to Bermuda, and confidence, as my
colleagues have shown, ha s waned under the PLP.

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: The PLP Government , Mr.
Speaker, in spite of the chirping birds, must not only
talk about fiscal discipline and economic plan, Mr.
Speaker, but they must deliver on their budgets. And
they must not allow slippage, or any recovery will not take place, Mr. Speaker . The past year has not i nspired confidence amongst many, and many of them
are PLP supporters.
So, Mr. Speaker, I have made it very clear in
my time that the honeymoon is over for the PLP. And all the fancy talk will not save the people of the country. This is real. We have many issues to address.
Now, Mr. Speaker, as I close, the Opposition
will support the Government in making Bermuda a
better place. And we will not conduct ourselves like the PLP did in Opposition by being critical of almost
every initiative and providing misinformation—so much misinformation they could not remember what
they said.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: But, Mr. Speaker, we w ill
speak out.
Mr. Speaker, the Honourable gentleman
wants me to talk about a certain company, I would be
happy to do it. The Honourable Minister is afraid to
talk about that company.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Oh, no I am not!

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, but we will
speak out. We will speak out, because we love Bermuda like they love Bermuda, Mr. Speaker .

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, we will not
spend time until the next election just banging the
Government . That serves only one purpose—to try
and increase your chances of getting elected.
Mr. Speaker, it does not serve the people who
we were elected to serve up here, Mr. Speaker . Too
many Bermudians are struggling. We all know it, Mr. Speaker . We need to wor k together where we can,
take criticism in the appropriate way, and make sure
that we build a better Bermuda for all Bermudians.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

Yes—

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: I am reminded of a saying
that I am going to paraphrase, Yesterday’s man with
yesterday’s lyrics reminiscing about those thrilling
days of yesteryear .
Mr. Speaker, the Opposition . . . I will deal
with his specific points as I move through my prese ntation. But I will begin with the presentation of the O pposition’s Reply. There was a significant amount of
time spent attacking the PLP’s tenure from 1998 to
2012. There was a significant amount of time spent
waxing nostalgic about the OBA’s success and great-ness that was so wonderful and fantastic that the
people showed them the door, [making them] a first -
term only Government for the firs t time in Bermuda’s
history. They were so successful, they were the only Government in Bermuda’s history —Opposition in
Bermuda’s history —to lose a seat in a bye- election to
the Government.
662 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly An Hon. Member: Yes.

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: That does not happen,

No, sir.

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: They have spent a signi ficant amount of time seeking to rewrite, rehabilitate
and resurrect the failed, rejected Pathways to Status
agenda, or as I like to call it, open up the imm igration
floodgates and hope for the best for Bermudians.
Mr. Speaker, one would almost believe that,
minus the updated financial figures and updated graphs, this is the OBA’s budget presentation from 2017. Or perhaps it is the OBA Budget Statement they
wish they had made in 2017.
Mr. Speaker, what the Honourable Member s
across the way do not seem to get is that those who
wrote the budgets from 1998 to 2012 . . . I could pretty
confidently suggest that they did not write this budget
and they will not be writing any of the next ones, Mr.
Speaker . And while we commend the service of those
who served before, this is a different time and a different era and a different team. And I will just repeat what people have said to me, I like your new , young
educated t eam.
So, that is, you know, the reminiscing about
the past, the waxing nostalgic, all of that . . . but, let us
talk a little bit about some points that were raised. The OBA asked (with your permission, may I quote, Mr.
Speaker ) “why does the Government see fit to use the
taxes paid by everyone to benefit only the civil service?” In response I asked, why did the OBA see fit to
use taxes paid by everyone to benefit only the select
few via the America’s Cup?
Now, Mr. Speaker, let us not forget as was
repor ted in the PwC America’s Cup Economic, Env ironmental and Social Impact report, it was recorded,
and I quote with your permission, Mr. Speaker, “Of the
businesses pursuing or planning to pursue an opportunity, 64% were owned by individuals describing
themselves as white, 16% black, 8% mixed and other,
and 12% declined to answer.”
So, Mr. Speaker, they do not have the moral
authority, and I am surprised that they are still bra gging and boasting about an achievement that has
helped the few and not the many, M r. Speaker .
The OBA also asks in their Reply, Mr. Speaker, with empty homes, stores and offices across the
Island, what exactly are we protecting ourselves from
in 2019? An OBA that faced numerous protests on
immigration, saw Parliament shut down for the first time in our history, and was shown the door in r esounding fashion, has the nerve to ask that question,
Mr. Speaker ?
Mr. Speaker, as our Minister of Finance said,
that is a simplistic answer. Opening up the immigr ation floodgates is a simplistic answ er. Mr. Speaker, if you open the immigration floodgates, as the OBA
would have you believe, or as our Premier has said
put 2,000 people on Front Street, where will they
work? What will they do? We have not heard one
suggestion from the Opposition in terms of what would happen. They have just said open the immigration
floodgates and let her rip. Good luck to the rest of you.
And that is why —

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Point of order.

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: —people do not trust —

Member, yield f or the point of order.
Point of order, yes?

POINT OF ORDER

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes, I was giving the Honourable Member some latitude, and I am still trying to
find where we said we were opening up the floodgates
of immigration. We have never said t hat.

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: You may recall, Mr.
Speaker, that I said in my words . I said in my words
that is the policy.
And those are the words of the people who
surrounded this Chamber, this building, those are the
words of the people who marched to the polls and
sent them packing. Those are the words of the people
who, when you asked, What do they have to fear?
They have to fear you. They have to fear you, Mr. Speaker, and that is where I think the difference is,
because we understand as a Government for this
economy to grow, we must create the environment
where there will be more people here. But Bermudians benefit, too. Not as an afterthought, not as a by -
product, that is the difference. That is a key difference,
Mr. Speaker .
So, if I may continue, we have heard from the
Opposition (again my words, my interpretation), open
the immigration floodgates, get more people here,
right. So, Mr. Speaker —

[Crosstalk]

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: —I want to know, I want
them to say for the record, what is their plan to put
thousands of people in [Bermuda]? And I will tell you
what, and I will touch on this a little bit later, too, they
talk about the bloated civil service. So, I ask this ques-tion, What is your plan to put thousands of people on
this Island? What is your plan? You had so much
bragging about what you did in Government and what
a great job you did. What is your plan?

[Inaudible interjections]



Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: You are the Go vernment, what’s yours?

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Mr. Speak er, Mr. Speaker, the other plan, the other issue is this, they keep
referring to a bloated civil service, Mr. Speaker, so the
question I have for the Opposition is this —

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.

Misinformation.
Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: —the words bloated civil
service . . . I know those Members have heard them
before. I know that Members in this Chamber have
heard them before and it did not emanate from the
Progressive Labour Party, Mr. Speaker .
So, the question I have, this bloated civil service that you promised in 2012 you would not cut jobs
at—

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: And we did not.

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Whose momma are you
going to put on the street? Whose grandma are you
going to put on the street? Whose father are you going to put on the street? Tell us. Tell us! But you never
hear that because it is a talking point and no deeper
than that.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I know that the answers to
those two topics will not be answered becaus e as
their former leader said, We do not know , and you do
not know —because they will not tell us . Now, listening to the Honourable Member who
just took his seat, the former Premier, I would provide
some advice, Mr. Speaker, when you are out of your
league and out of your depth—

[Laughter]

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: —you should not fake it
until you make it, because this fellow, this Finance
Minister, will embarrass you. He will embarrass you.
So, leave the heavy lifting to somebody else. This is not like m ilking cows. Okay?

Let us not get personal.

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: —he asked the question,
he said, Why did, you know, the Premier, like give up
the job? You know, why did he take it and have it for
such a short period? You know, is he trying to get out
the kitchen and get out of the fire? Mr. Speaker, the
Honourable Member who sits in front of me only ever
had to go through the process of removing one of their
seats from them to get in t his Chamber to fill that gap
and become the Minister of Finance. And I believe he
is doing a great job. And I am appreciative for that
reversal of fortunes that saw a seat won by them in
2017 taken back.
So, Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member
talks about how they did not rifle through drawers during their tenure, but we have heard the stories about rifling through emails at the Attorney General’s chambers.

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: So, Mr. Speaker, before I
go on to us, I feel I have dealt with them sufficiently, a
person may ask, Why spend any time responding to
them? Why give them the time of day? And I will tell
you why, Mr. Speaker . Some of our people have short
memories. Some of our people are very forgiving. But understand, t he agenda has not changed. And this is
an example of how you see the sort of operations of
the One Bermuda Alliance.
664 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly There was a big fanfare when the born- again
leader, the newly revived leader took over where he
was purging himself of the UBP and purging himself of
this or that. But then the first three speakers on the Budget Debate . . . you know, you cannot rid yourself
of what you are.
So, Mr. Speaker, let us talk a little bit about
our budget. Let us talk a little bit about what we have done, and I w ant to begin with values, Mr. Speaker ,
and so, the Honourable Finance Minister, paraphras-ing him, he said that the Government ’s priority is —

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Point of order, Mr.
Speaker .
Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: —to be a —
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Point of order, Mr.
Speaker .
Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: —to represent the values—

We will take your point of order. Mini ster—

POINT OF ORDER
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker .
The Honourable Member , the Honourable
Minister just indicated about the first three speakers you cannot deny who they are. The first three speakers—two of the first three speakers on their side of the
aisle . . . sorry, three of the first three speakers were
all members of a former party. So, they were all UBP
members —one, two, three.

[Laughter]
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: All three speakers.

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: And do you know what is
great, Mr. Speaker ?

Continue on. Continue on. Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: I am glad she brought
that up, Mr. Speaker . Do you know why? I left because of an organisation that was soft on racism. I left
an organisation that had no social competence. And
that is why you have had a steady stream of people leaving your party from when you called yourself
something else. So, understand . . . I had to look at
the philosophy and mind- set of what one party repr esented, what it was sold as, and what is the reality. And it is the reason why . . . it is the reason why —

[Crosstalk]

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: —it is the reason why, Mr.
Speaker, a lot of black people seem to find their way
away from them —and will continue to do so.
When the former Premier, who . . . the former,
the once and future Premier, Mr. Dunkley, talked
about rejecting the tokenism and colourism of the past
in 2007, we know w ho you are. You may perpetrate a
fraud, but we know who you are. But, Mr. Speaker,
this is why we should never forget who they are. We
should never forget who they are because they repr esent a clear and present danger to the next generation
of Bermudians.
But let us talk about the values, again, of this
budget, Mr. Speaker . We felt that we must balance
fiscal prudence and responsibility with a social co nscience. We felt we must invest in our people. We felt
that we must begin to revitalise our economy by t raining our people to take the jobs that are coming. And
so, we run through the successes that .
. . and let me
say this, Mr. Speaker, we have had some successes
in our period here. We have had some successes. But
so long as one Bermudian is unemployed who wants
to work, and there is one child who wants to go to school and cannot afford to go, there is one person
who does not have a house they can put their head in, there is one person who feels that they have been
deprived, legitimately deprived and denied in our
country, our work is not done. Our work is not done,
Mr. Speaker .
We were not sent here to maintain the status
quo. We were not meant to stay, come here and just keep things as it is. It was to transform. And so, we
look at the first balanced budget in 16 years. The first
decline in Bermuda’s national debt since 2003. No
increase to the debt ceiling. No new taxes and small
increases to existing taxes.
So, I am hearing a lot of chirping, Mr. Speaker. I understand.

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. J amahl S. Simmons: Mr. Speaker, I understand. It hurts their hearts.
[Inaudible interjections]



Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: It hurts their hearts.

[Laughter]
Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: It hurts their hearts.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Yes, you know, people
laugh, but you know, they are so bereft of talent .
. . if
I was crazy, I could probably go over there and run
the show in three weeks.

[Laughter]

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: But let us go back, here,
all right?
I think when we look at the record, we lower
payroll tax for workers for the first time in years, and
this is significant because it gave relief to allow a little
bit more money in their pocket to spend in our community. And when we look at some initiatives we laid
forward this year, in particular when we look at the
mortgage relief that we intend to do, it is more money
in the pocket. It is easing the burden.
But I think also, and the Premier said it quite
eloquently at our delegate’s conference, the people must take precedence over insurer’s profits. And we
are going to really take on—the Honourable Minister in front of me, I hope I am not overstepping my
bounds —but we are going to take on the forces that
keep health insurance high in this country, health costs high. And we are going to take on those things
that keep electricity high.
And it is important for us because those are
the factors that are impacting on businesses coming here as well as the quality of life for our people. So,
when you talk about opening up the immigrat ion for
getting more people here —they do not like my interpretation of that —getting more people here, part of
the reason you struggle to get people here is the cost of doing business here. And so, when you look at
what is in place already for a person who wants to
bring their business in Bermuda, who wants to do that
sort of thing, there is very little holding you back but
the one thing we hear is cost. Cost, cost, cost. And so,
we have to take that on for our people and for the enhancement of our jurisdict ion as an attractive place to
work, live and do business.
Mr. Speaker, what I am particularly excited
about . . . so many of our children have the ability and
the will, but lack the means to get higher education. And in this economy it is a challenge. An d in the f uture, it is going to be more challenging to get a pos ition that you can make a good wage on without ha ving that piece of paper. So, the more Bermudians,
particularly when we look at the census data and the
racial disparities around the awarding, the number of
people who have degrees . . . this is a national priority to increase the number of Bermudians with college
degrees so that the jobs that come—whether it is
through FinTech or whatever other initiatives that we
bring forward to bring more businesses here —we can
do a little bit more than carrying a tray and being by -
products. We can be participants.
And when it comes to every level of our soci ety, I am looking forward to the introduction of the living
wage because that is going to be so posit ive for our
people, so positive. And we are taking the time to get that right, Mr. Speaker .
I am looking forward to the regulation and the
framework set up for medical marijuana. So, there are
many opportunities financially there for our people, as
well a s socially and from a health standpoint. So,
there are a number of things and when we go through the future, in terms of what we need to be doing to move our country forward, we are now entering spaces that are unknown for much of the world and being
a trailblazer, particularly when it comes to the FinTech
space and things of that nature. And this is going to
be an opportunity . . . when you see the number of
people who went to the classes —the free classes,
provided by this Government —all ages, 50 and up,
down to 19- year-olds. You see people start to get the
bug and realise there is a place for them in this new
fraction of our economy.
When International Business was coming in,
and we are thankful for what they did, how many of our people had the opportuni ty to be trained and
ready for work before it was established? How many
of us had that opportunity? This is where there is a
difference in values. We are looking to prepare our people to be able to fully benefit, fully benefit at every
level, where the onl y limit is where they want to go.
Not because they cannot afford to go to college, not
because there is somebody blocking the path, but the
only limit is the one they put on themselves.
And so we are not done yet, Mr. Speaker . We
still have much work to do. There are still people who want to work who cannot work. There are still people
who want to reach their potential in this Island we call
home. And our work will not be finished until we move to that place where they can reach their potential.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

[Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., Deputy Speaker, in the
Chair]

Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the
Minister of Financ e has had a colossal job in putting
together this budget. But one thing stood out to me
when I read the budget that was very indicative of how he felt Bermuda should be developing in this coming
year. That simple point was when he downgraded the
GDP projec tions by 1.0 per cent to 0.5 [per cent] to
1.0 per cent. To me, that is very, very telling. To me, it
demonstrates a lack of confidence in being able to deliver sound economic policies that will help our GDP grow.

[Inaudible interjections and laughter ]

Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, let me
share with you some comparatives. We have said that
our revised GDP growth will be between 0.5 [per cent]
and 1.0 per cent. I looked at the IMF and I said, S o
what are our friends doing overseas? St. Lucia’s growth rate was 3.6 [per cent]. Antigua’s is 3.0 per
cent. St. Kitt’s is 3.5 per cent. The Bahamas is 2.1 per
cent. Canada is 3.0 per cent. Costa Rica is 3.3 per
cent. DR is 3.0 per cent. Grenada is 3.6 per cent. The
world economy, based on IMF projecti ons, they say is
going to come in at around 3.0 per cent. And yet we in
Bermuda are saying our projection falls far below our peers to come in at 0.5 [per cent] to 1.0 per cent. To
me, that is very, very telling. To me, it tells us that they do not have confidence in how they are going to sti mulate this economy.
And so, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I know it is a
difficult task. When the Minister got in there and he looked at the reports, I know he has seen employment
is down, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker . We have lost jobs in
the transportation and communications industry. We
have lost jobs in the fisheries industry, the agricultural
industry, electricity —look at BELCO. What happened
at BELCO? People were laid off. We have lost jobs in
the gas and the water supply indus try, in the whol esale industry, in the motor vehicles, restaurants, the
financial intermediation. What is the Minister going to
tell those people? How is this Government going to help these people get back on their feet with jobs in
those industries? What type of support has this Go vernment given those industries so that they can be
more vibrant going forward? I have yet to hear a r esponse, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker .
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, at the end of the day,
the pace of job growth is poor in this country. And it has not . . . and the Government has not demonstrated to us that they have the tools or ability to sustain a
recovery in the rate of job growth in Bermuda. Mr.
[Deputy] Speaker, they have demonstrated throughout
the Budget Debate that they have no rea l stimulus
package for our economy. They were placing their
hats on the FinTech industry and the momentum in
that space is slowing down. I have heard nothing else
in regard to another industry in which they can place
some credence on developing our economy —
something sustainable, even a signatory event that
will help provide jobs and growth in our economy.
Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. All they are doing
is increasing taxes and taking away from the average
man in the street, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker .
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, a lot has gone on in
health care. Yes, I accept the sugar taxes went
through. It has some merit. But, again, as someone
said to me the other day, I heard on a show that a 70year-old business on Court Street closed directly because of the sugar tax. They had to shut their doors
because of the sugar tax, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, like normal, you know, I
accept these sin taxes —alcohol and cigarettes. Yes,
they go up almost every four or five years. Yes, but it
hits the average man in the street. And I understand
using it as a health tool to defer bad habits. I accept
that.

[Inaudible interjections]

Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , I will
continue. At the end of the day, for 2018, the economy
has truly slowed down. It was at $1.5 billion and,
again, this was a reduction of 0.021 per cent.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, as was said earlier, the
Bermuda infrastructure fund that was due for inves tments, direct capital investment that would help our
infrastructure, help build bridges, help provide employment —again, dead in the water, no comments in
the budget and, again, nothing to show for the legisl ation that we put in place.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, at the end of the day,
we have to diversify our economy and make sure t hat
new industries —and I think leaving it up to the BDA
and other agencies is not good enough. When I went
through the Budget Book , I saw economic develo pment under 2018/19 year, fiscal year, but I did not see
the same for 2019. So I looked, and there buri ed under the Cabinet Minister was the allocation for the
BDA, and I think the Tourism Authority. At the end of
the day, we do not have someone, within Cabinet,


Bermuda House of Assembly within the Ministry, that is going out and looking for
ways to diversify our economy to look for new opportunities.
I know that a couple of people have said, Let‘s
go look at the environmental issues. The Chamber of
Commerce has a study in from bright university people, and they recommended a number of green energies that would be ideal for Bermuda. What has the
Government done with that report to diversify the
economy? At this point, they have presented nothing
to the community demonstrating that they have li stened to the report and taken up any of the recommendations that were produced by the Chamber of
Commerce and the university students that were bas ically recommending green energy solutions to Bermuda. And so I think, again, this should be pursued,
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker .
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the other issue that I
would like to speak to, again, is the g overnment -
backed mortgaging lender for government employees.
A number of people have come to me on this issue
and they are disturbed by the fact because they think
it is discriminatory. If you do not work for government ,
you are chopped liver, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, because
you cannot get that type of support —only for g overnment employees.
Is this going to be a civil servant employee
benefit? If you become an employee of government
then you will have access to a government -backed
mortgage. But this is inequitable, Mr. [Deputy] Spea ker, because at the end of the day the funding for this
agency is from public money and so we cannot ring
fence mortgages to government employees and you
are using public money. Everybody should have access to that service, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker .
And, again, as was said, if we cannot deal
with the debt and the issues that we have now, how
can we take on more credit liability in putting together
a mortgage- backed lender. And talking about liability,
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, another issue that I found very
interesting that had not been addressed, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker, is the guarantees that are out there, Mr.
[Deputy] Speaker .

[Inaudible interjections]

Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, right
now, there are outstandin g guarantees for Bermuda
Housing Corporation to the tune of $29.3 million.
There is a guarantee for WEDCO for $71.8 million.
There is a guarantee for BDC for $1.2 million. There is
a guarantee for the Hospitals Board under the PLP of $278 million and there is a Morgan’s Point guarantee
of $165 million, Bermuda Tourism Authority for $10
million, and the Gaming Commission of $1.2 million.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, what are we doing to
manage the elimination of these guarantees? If the
Government could come strai ght and say how they
are managing this contingent liability, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker . Nothing, nothing, nothing. This totals almost
half a billion dollars, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , and it is
not reflected on the banks . . . not the banks, the Go vernment ’s Budget Book at all. And so, let us speak to
that contingent liability, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker. I would
have thought that the Minister of Finance may have, or the Government would provide, an explanation to
the people of this country to demonstrate that they
have i t under control and that they are addressing the
reduction of the contingent liability through these guarantees, but not a dicky bird on this issue whats oever, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker .
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the other issue that I
would like to speak to, whil e I am on my feet, is the
credit card fee issue.

[Inaudible interjections and laughter ]

Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, at the
end of the day, we still need to reduce the cost of doing business in this country, and reduce the cost of living expenses in this country. And this is just an additional cost that we are putting on the average man in
the street, quite frankly, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker .
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the payroll taxes . . .
yes, I know that the Government cannot continue to
milk the golden cow, and that is International Bus iness. And I know, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, that they
have had pressure not to increase the payroll tax fea668 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ture for that industry. But yet, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker,
they are prepared to provide increased payroll taxes
for small businesses. Now, I know that they increased
the concessionary tax for the retailers: fashion stores,
shoe stores, jewellery and perfumes. But, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, again, this increase hurts the average small
business. They are supposed to be friends to small
business, but everything that I have seen in this
budget is basically i ncreasing the burden of the expenses in the everyday lives of small businesspeople.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, we go on to the 1 per
cent insurance tax. Again, the average man on the
street has to pay 1 per cent more.

Hon. E. David Burt: Point of order, or poi nt of verif ication of information.

Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I
would like to continue.
The foreign curr ency purchase tax —again,
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker . . . Again, this increases the
cost of doing business, a cost of living in Bermuda, as
we all know that we have to import 90 per cent of our
goods and services. And again, this Government is
increasing the tax burden for the average man on the
street.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, somewhere I read in
the Budget Debate that over the next two years they want to increase the tax burden by $150 million! A $150 million increase. That is unbelievable. And imagine how the av erage man on the street is going to survive with that additional burden that has been put on him, bestowed upon him by this Labour Government.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the other issue that I
would like to speak to is the land tax issue. Now, I agree that we s hould have a progressive land tax pr ogramme. But people are going crazy with this land tax
increase. I had someone send me an email yesterday
and they have an average size modest house, and they indicated to me that their land tax went from
$1,590 to $3,08 0. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, they said,
We are seniors and this is placing a burden on us because we are on fixed income.
Hon. E. David Burt: Point of order, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker.

Okay, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker,
I shall continue.
Education, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker. I note that
$473,000 has been allocated for standards -based
grading for our teachers. I have no problem with that
whatsoever. But what I would like to see is what else
are we going to commit to our teachers? I note that
during the budget we reduced the teacher training
awards by 3 per cent. Can we—
[Inaudible interjection]

I am just talking generally.
So, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I say that when we
are talking about education, we are talking about st udents and teachers equally, because the teachers
have to deliver quality education to get the results and
the best outcome for our students. So, they should be
given equal importance, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker . And I
believe that they need to be supported more going forward.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the other issue that I
found most interesting is that we saw a reduction in
the grants to primary schools. Again, I would like for
the Minister at some point to decide and give us some
reasoning for that.

That’s fine.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, International Business.
We have heard a lot about immigration, and I hear a
lot about Bermudians having this xenophobic culture
when it comes to immigration. Now, as far as I am
concerned, the jury is in and out on that label of “xenophobic culture.” But I find it difficult to understand
why there is so much angst, because if you look
around this room, most of us are first generation Bermudians. Our parents are immigrants, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker. Most parents [of people] in this room are
immigrants. And so why do we have this negative e nergy one generation on? And I think it is totally mind-boggling.
In addition, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, we have
our young people going overseas to live. They are in
school and univers ity. They stay over to get exper ience. They live there. In fact, I was in London in N ovember and I met a few seniors over there.
One guy I went to school with said, Cole, I just
retired and I am over here for good.
I said, What are you doing over here?
He said, Listen, I might as well take a dvantage of it and see what I can do to get a job and
enjoy some of the UK life, because I am finished with
my tourism career.
And so, again, there are no issues with us going over there. There are only issues with us having people come here to help our economy.
And yes, we have to be more measured in
who we let in. And I agree we need to have people
that will create jobs. We need to have people that will
invest in Bermuda. We need people that bring capital
to Bermuda. I am one, personally, for commercial i mmigration. I will just put that out there right now. If you want to invest $5 million in Bermuda in a house, then
maybe there is something for you to get a PRC or
something. Because when you invest the $5 million in a home you are paying for a contractor, you are pa ying for a gardener, you are paying for a housekeeper, you are paying for an electrician, you are paying for a painter. The multiplier effect, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker.

And the land tax! You are
absolutely right —and the land tax.
And so, I really struggle to see what all this
anxiety is about. It is political, yes. But does it serve
us well? Does it serve us well? I am asking this because we have a new Minister, and I am hoping that he sees that we cannot continue down this way. We
cannot continue down this way because too much is at risk. All the statistics tell us that we need more people in this country to be viable.
Our pension plans are basically at a rough
situation. You know that, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker. So, by
the time you retire, there may not be any money in the
kitty.

[Laughter and i naudible interjections]

And so, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, we need these people here to help us continue on
our economic journey as a country. And so, let’s get it done and let’s get away [from] this xenophobic thing
that I am not 100 per cent comfortable with, but that is
that best way I can describe it, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker.
The next issue that I would like to speak to,
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, is the cruise ship issue. Now,
the increase in cruise ship taxes and the increase in —

Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the
cruise ship tax a nd the cruise ship passenger taxes
. . . I do not have all the details, but what I do know is I
do not want us to price ourselves out of the market,
from an expense point of view, for the shipping industry that supports us. I think we have a very good repu-tation as a port. And I have done quite a bit of crui sing, and I think our infrastructure is up there with the
best.

Yes.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the other issue that I
would like to speak to before I take my seat is this: I
read an article on the business confidence. And in
2018, for the first time Bermuda’s business confidence declined. It went down 18 per cent compared to the
2016 level. This report was put to gether by executives
throughout the community. And I think it is important
that we read that report, because I will not be able to
get into it because my time is limited. But there are
issues in regard to training, there are issues in regard to immigration, there are issues around political stabi lity, and there are issues around making our guest workers feel welcomed, making our businesses feel
like they are valued partners in this.
They also say, You know, you need some
signature events. Yes, we have had a lot of flak about
the America’s Cup. But we have had the America’s
Cup and the Triathlon, and, again, those types of si gnature events boost the economy and provide employment for the people of this country. The Gover nment of today has not been able to com e up with a
signature event. I am hoping that they find something,
and I will be the first to help if I can. But they need to
do more in that space and be more entrepreneurial in
finding events of that nature, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, as I probably have two
minutes left, I will just say those are my limited contr ibutions. I have more to say, but I will leave it there
and use some of it during my education debate.
Thank you, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Me mber, Hedley Cole Simons.
Any further speakers? The Chair recognizes
the Honourable Minister, Kim Wilson. Ms. Wilson, you
have the floor.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Yes, thank you, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, it is no secret that one
of the mos t important factors relating to our economy
is the cost associated with health care, and I would
like to spend my time, not necessarily replying to the
Reply, but concentrating more particularly on the init iatives that are outlined in this Budget Statement , particularly those that relate to the Ministry of Health, to which I have purview. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the Government has
outlined in the Budget Statement, beginning at page
15, the steps that the Government will take to help to
provide much- needed rel ief to families and busines ses who are affected by the high cost of health care. In
turn, this will help to address the issue as it relates to
high cost of living, as well as to reduce the cost of d oing business in Bermuda. Again I am referring specif ically to pages 15 and 16 of the Budget Statement in
which (and I quote) “there will be relief that Gover nment will provide in reference to health insurance
costs that are a burden to Bermudian families.”
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, in addition to the high
cost of health care that is a burden to families, that same high cost of health care is a major expense to
doing business in Bermuda. It is a major expense for
the Government, for private employers, as well as it reduces our global competitiveness because of these
costs. Cost reductions, particularly in this area, will
help to lead to savings across the board and will help to promote economic growth.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I would like to speak a
little bit about some of the steps that this Government plans on taking to address the rising cost of health
care. Following extensive consultation, the Gover nment will soon be able to announce an important ec onomic reform relating specifically to the mechanisms
which we will adopt as it relates to health financing reform, and how we will better be able to provide
needed coverage for all persons at an affordable
price. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, this mechanism will truly be transformational.
In 2010, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the National
Health Accounts report predicted that if the gro wth
continued at its current pace, as it relates to health
care costs, that by 2017 our total health spending
would reach $1 billion. Imagine that price tag for 21
square miles and [approximately] 64,000 people.
However, the good news, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , is
that since 2012/13 we were able to bend that cost
curve and have sustained total health spending closer
to the $700 million mark. And the efforts were as a
result of dedicated health care professionals, insurance providers, public health providers, the business
community, and many other persons to help to assist us in bending that curve. And, yes, that also includes
initiatives that were advanced under the former OBA
Government.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, many measures have
been put in place since 2012 to a void that $1 billion
tsunami. But many more measures are needed. You
have heard me speak about this Government’s commitment to reforming the way that we pay for health
care, and, again, more good news in that regard will
be announced in the coming weeks. Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker, when I speak about those reforms, I am
speaking specifically, like I said, to Health Financing Reform.
672 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Now, some people may ask, Well, why do we
need health financing reform? Well, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker, let me tell you. We spend over $700 million
currently in our health care system, which is more
than enough for every one of us to receive the care that we need. That is almost $12,000 per person. Mr.
[Deputy] Speaker, to get better value for that $700
million, we need to change the way t hat the money is
collected, we need to change the way that we spend
that money, and we need to change what we spend it
on. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, that is what we refer to as
Health Financing Reform, and that makes sure, as
best as possible, that everyone is insured, that prem iums are reduced, and a basic plan is available to all
individuals to cover things like preventative care, hos-pital care, medication, and the like, the things that
people need, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker.
So, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, some may ask ,
Well, then how will that health financing reform work?
What will it look like, what does it mean? And Mr.
[Deputy] Speaker, let me explain.
Back in 2012, work was done by a bipartisan
committee that developed and looked at mechanisms
throughout the worl d insofar as different financing options. And that committee looked and met and r esearched these different jurisdictions and they came up with two options, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker. One option is what we refer to as the unified model, which a perfect illustrat ion is that of the jurisdiction to our west,
Canada. And then another option is what they referred
to as a dual model, which Switzerland is an example
of that operates under the dual financing method.
So, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, what happens is,
effectively, we have got all of the individuals that are
in our health care system. So, right now we have
some 48,000 people that are in the health care sy stem. And they would all be pooled together, either in
one pool which is a unified pool, or, alternatively, dual,
which obviously means two pools. So that when we have everybody it is almost like we have economies of
scale, because we have this large pool of individuals.
So you have a better opportunity to negotiate prem iums, as well as what will go into those premiu ms, the
benefit package, in particular. You have a better opportunity of spreading the risk.
So, therefore, if one person, for example, has
an insurance plan and it involves a pool of 10 people,
if there is a catastrophic illness for one of those 10
people, all nine of those people have to share the risk,
so their premiums are going to be adversely affected.
Well, imagine that same catastrophic challenge happening if you have a pool of 48[,000] or 28,000 pe ople. The risks are more equally spread, so you are not
feeling the blow and burden as much, and those are
the benefits, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, of a unified and/or
a dual system.
So, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, both options were
considered by this particular group that I was speak-ing about. And they looked at som e of the benefits of either a unified or a dual system, which are both options consolidating the insurance pools so that you
can gain better efficiencies. Again, you have got all
these persons that are insured together in a pool so
you can gain efficiencies. Currently, Bermuda has ap-proximately, as I said, 65,000 people, and we have
five separate insurers and innumerable pools. Every
employer has a pool.
So, there may be a pool for this particular
company that runs a supermarket, and they may have
25 people in that pool. Yet another company that may
have 50 lawyers, their pool is 50. So, there are var ying numbers of pools that are spread out within Bermuda with respect to our insurance. And the high
number of these pools, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, fails to
spread the risk evenly, like I said when I gave the example about a catastrophic illness.
You also have duplication of administration,
and this makes health care more expensive. We are
trying to find efficiencies. And if we can locate eff iciencies, then, clear ly, we will be able to save in the
dollars and cents
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, last year I was able to
establish a health financing reform stakeholder co nsultation group. So, they looked at the 2012 report
that made the two recommendations of either unified
or dual, and this stakeholder group met and looked at
those reports and went back to their constituencies to
say, What do you think would be the best for us to
consider? And this stakeholder group, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker, represented a cross section of Bermuda. We
had persons from the physicians’ community, nurses, seniors’ advocates, advocates that are mental health
advocates, BPSU, Chamber of Commerce, IB, health
care businesses, insurers, charities and patient adv ocates.
So this stakeholder group met and they pr oduced some very telling information concerning the options, having gone back to their constituent groups to see what would be best for them. So, we are r eviewing all that, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker. And in fact, you
will recall that the Government signall ed our commi tment in our Throne Speech that we would be impl ementing these reforms. And again, I am looking forward to being able to be in a position to announce those in the coming weeks.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the next steps that I i ndicated concerning these reforms will, again, help to sustain our health care system in the long run. It will
help to cut costs, it will help to reduce premiums, and
it will help to ensure that persons have the type of benefit and the type of health care that they need.
Mr. [D eputy] Speaker, one of the reasons why
our health costs are so high is because of our high instances of noncommunicable diseases. This is
compounded because we have an ageing population.
So we have a population that is living longer and r egrettably living sicker. Our average median age is 81
years old and we have a high cost associated with


Bermuda House of Assembly that because of these individuals that are living with
these chronic noncommunicable diseases.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I am going to share
with you some sobering statistic s. You will know that
50 per cent of adults have at least one chronic cond ition, be it diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease,
hypertension, high cholesterol. Fifty per cent of our
population! So, if you take that figure and recognise
that the median age is 81 years old, we could be
spending —we are spending—a significant amount of
money on treating individuals that have these chronic noncommunicable diseases. We have one of the
highest rates of diabetes in the world. And mirror that
with the amputations th at are as a result of diabetes,
we have the highest amputation rate of any country.
Seventy -five per cent of our adult population
is overweight or obese, and these chronic conditions are largely preventable as they relate to poor diets,
lack of exercise, s edentary lifestyles. I heard someone
once refer to them as the diseases of the affluent, because the people are not exercising, they are eating, eating, eating, and they are not taking care of themselves.
So, these noncommunicable diseases and the
instances of them are preventable! They are largely preventable. But we are spending all this money because of these particular ailments that the people are suffering from. And we know that persons who are
overweight or obese are more likely to develop certain
types of cancers. There have been 13 cancers that
have been —

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Point of order, Mr.
[Deputy] Speaker.

Honourable Member, what is
your point of order?

POINT OF ORDER

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Yes, I am just
wondering if the Honourable Member would indulge the House, because it seems as though the areas into which she is delving are specific to the Health Mini stry, not to an economic debate on the budget itself. And I just wondered whether, because we have eight
hours allocated to Health. And I do not want to have to
repeat this over and over again. So, if she would be
good enough to deal with an economic debate.

Minister, I think what the Honourable Member said is correct, because that can r eally come up in the debate and be very specific on it.
You have eight hours of that.
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Sure, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker,
thank you. As I started off by saying (but the Honourable Member, unfortunately, was not in the House),
the iss ues concerning our economy deal specifically with high costs of health. And when I speak about the
issues as it relates to the noncommunicable diseases,
this is a direct tie- in to what I will be speaking about
next, which is the sugar tax. So, with your in dulgence,
can I continue? Thank you, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker.
So, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, as I was indicating
we do have high rates of obesity and diabetes. Twelve
per cent of our adults have diabetes. We know that
there is a correlation between diabetes and sugar,
and I will use that as a segue to speak about the sugar tax, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker. We spent last year $77.8 million on individuals with diabetes. That clearly
has an adverse impact on our economy. That is
10 per cent of our total health care spending, Mr.
[Deputy] Speaker, $77 million just on diabetes. And
couple this with the $27 million that we spent on dial ysis due to chronic kidney diseases, again, another —

You are getting into specifics
of the actual Budget Debate that we will do in Commi ttee when you are talking about the budget numbers.
You can speak in general terms, but you are being a bit specific. And I appreciate the information, but we
can get that during the eight hours next week.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Certainly, Mr. [D eputy] Speaker.
So those figures , as I was indicating, which do
have an adverse effect directly on our economy, and the World Health Organization proposed that the use
of economic tools to help improve health outcomes
and direct persons toward healthy opti ons has been
successful . . . this is my segue to the sugar tax, Mr.
[Deputy] Speaker.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, you will recall that we
did speak about the sugar tax during the last year’s
budget and that we indicated that we would do it in a
phased approach, and that the 50 per cent increase
would commence on October 1
st with the 75 per cent
increase commencing on the 1st of April. Now, we
recognise that a sugar tax alone is not going to magically reduce health care costs. But it is certainly a fundamental part of the broader commitment of this Government toward reducing these conditions that are
causing us so much harm and so [much] expense.
So, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, with respect to the
sugar tax, the whole purpose of us extending it, intr oducing it and exten ding it, is to try to shift the public’s
choices toward healthier behaviours. We are understanding that under this tax both consumers and bus inesses would benefit from providing different types of
products that are not necessarily laden with sugar.
For example, this is a perfect opportunity for
entrepreneurs to develop products that do not necessarily contain so much sugar. And they can have
healthier options, because consumers are looking for
healthier options. I know somebody who makes very delicious cook ies, and the like, and uses everything
like purées and so forth as opposed to sugar. So, this
674 1 March 2019 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly is a perfect opportunity for entrepreneurs to exper iment with healthier options.
So, with that Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, yes, as of
the 1st of April we will see that there will be an i ncrease with respect to the sugar tax duty up to 75 per
cent. Now, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, this Government is
committed to reducing health care cost, so let me end
where I started. We are committed to reducing health
care costs. We are comm itted to reducing the cost of
premiums and committed to ensuring that we have a
healthier population.
And Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , I am very confident
that the strategies as outlined in this Budget Stat ement, a budget, I might add, that represents the first balanced budget in 16 years, a budget that represents
the first decline in the national debt since 2003, a
budget that represents no increase in the debt ceiling, a budget that outlines ways to diversify the economy,
reduce the cost of doing business, and making Go vernment more efficient, as well as the above plans
that I just spoke about with respect to health financing
reforms as well as the sugar tax increases, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , I am certain that the Government will
provide the proper relief to Bermuda as it relates to
health care costs and these strategies and initiatives
will help to move Bermuda forward.
Thank you, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker .

Thank you , Mr. Deputy Speaker .
I am not going to be long. Most of the points
that I would like to cover have actually been covered
by most of my colleagues during the debate. Howe ver, I do want to raise some points.
And I guess, Mr. Deputy Speaker , the most
important thing . . . well, maybe not the most important
thing, but I think that we need to understand the purpose of Government. And the purpose of Government
is to ensure the safety and welfare of its people. We
want to make sure that we keep pace with technology.
We want to make sure that we are innovators and that
we support long- term economic growth. And we also
want to make sure that we have solutions that are
meaningful and ar e improving of the people’s lives,
the people that we serve.
So, in an article that was done by my parli amentary colleague, Scott Simmons, the other day, he emphasised that there were four core values that the
budget —

[Inaudible interjection]