November 28, 2018

Thank you, Senator Jason Hayward.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this?
Senator Robinson, you have the floor.
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. Good morning to my colleagues.
I would like to commend the Attorney General,
as well, for the work done with her team on this particular amendment. And I do agree with the comments
made by Senators prior that we cannot simply forget that they are people. And we cannot just lock them up
and throw away the key. I was especially hopeful and
optimi stic by the comment, when it came to the
framework for future policy, made by the Attorney
General. And I think that this is a great start and that
we need to get something in place to properly police sex offenders, and also to make sure that our children
have some sort of mechanism at work so that these
sorts of heinous crimes do not continue.
I do have one reservation, as far as the PATI
request. I kind of do want that to be available to par-ents who have experienced trauma of some sort, or
children who h ave, because I know a lot of parents
may actually want to find out which sex offenders are
around them in this particular area. And you mentioned, I think, that they would be notified through school. But I know some people like to do their own
research. But I am, as well, happy that you mentioned
targeted notification, because that gave me a lot of reassurance that you are, indeed, looking at making
sure that people are properly notified and that the
community is protected.
So, I also share a lot of reserv ations, Madam
President.

[Laughter]

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: My gripe is that they are
supervised by a probation officer, Madam President.
And I would like to know how the numbers of offenders stack up [compared] to probation officers. B ecause I know that , in government agencies, we do have people who have a higher workload placed on
them than they might be able to keep up with. And I
would like to make sure that we have adequate numbers of officers [compared to the] numbers of offenders so that they can properly police these people and keep some supervision on them. Because the last
thing we want is to have a great, robust system in
place, and then we have an influx of offenders —like
Senator Hayward has said, some of them have not
even been identified yet —and we end up overwhel ming the probation officers and having them [assigned]
to monitor 20 or so people on their own. So, I would
like to know how the numbers stack up, probation officer to offender, which would make me feel a bit better about that system.
I also want to remind us all, and those who
are listening, that I respect and see both sides of this terrible issue, where you have a government that has
to make sure that people are able to be viable citizens
and reintegrate into society. And then, you have a
segment of our population who has been hurt by
these people, who want it to be public, who want them to be able to name and shame. However, I do understand that the Government’s priority is to all people,
Madam President. And we cannot lose sight of either
the victim or the offender.
The offender should be able to be reintegra ted into society. However, I do feel as though there are
a lot of moving mechanisms in place for this particular
plan. I know that there is a history, sometimes, of the
Attorne y General being notified late on offenders being released, the Attorney General from the past. I am
not sure about the current Attorney General. But they
have been notified late on certain releases. And I feel
as though we do leave a lot to be desired when we
put in so many moving compartments, and basically
hope and pray that each compartment is operating
efficiently to make sure that these notifications . . . that
these people are properly policed and that they are,
indeed, handled correctly throughout the system.
It is great to put a system in place. And it is
great to say, This is a great system, and this is som ething that works. But we have not really been told if
there are any personnel issues even within the prison,
as far as maintaining psychologist s and the proper
staff who are qualified to work through these rehabil itation programmes with these offenders. We do not
know whether or not they are properly staffed within
Corrections with these people, to make sure that each
sex offender is actually reh abilitated properly and that
it is not a huge workload on maybe one person or two
people, for all we know.
So, I also would like to outline that, with all of
these rehabilitation programmes [which are] put in place for the offender, we must also look to put into
place a lot more rehabilitation programmes for victims,
as well. And I do feel as though we have a very, very, very, very flat mental health policy and trauma policy


Bermuda Senate here, as far as community -wise. I really am not just
putting it on the Government.
But, community -wise, we do not discuss these
things. We do not really give as many outlets to pe ople who were on the victim side to really deal with
trauma. And we have not really put a lot of mechanisms in place for those victims to reintegrate into s ociety after they have dealt with their traumas, because
we just simply do not put a lot of emphasis on mental health in this country. And it has been called [for]
years before me. And I do think that if we are going to put this mechanism in place for offenders, then we
need to make sure that we have adequate mechanisms regarding mental health and trauma rehabilit ation for victims, as well.
And I am only putting that out there as a suggestion, because I do not know exactly what is happening within the Govern ment. They may be looking
at these specific things, as well. But I still think that it
is good for us to highlight them, to caution people, that
we are not just here to make sure that the sex offend-er can reintegrate into society, but that we are also
putting that emphasis on healing and reintegrating our
people who have been hurt by these offenders, into
society as well, Madam President.
We have a history of gaps in systems within
Bermuda. I do not want this to become a system that
gets gaps, because, at the end of the day, we do not
know the future. So, we can only do what we best can do now to put these mechanisms in place, which I
want to make sure that there are fail -safes upon fail -
safes as far as hiring goes, as far as qualifications go.
Because, as Senator Hayward said, this Offender
Risk Management Team is going to be very important.
And we have not really heard or been reassured as
far as how that will be maintained and how the personnel will be picked. Will they have to take certain
courses or [get] qualifications within Corrections or the
Bermuda Police Service, or whichever entity they
come from, to make sure that they are properly qual ified to really deal with this specific issue? Because it
is a very pin- point issue.
And we have to make sure t hat this [Offender]
Risk Management Team is up to task, because we do
not want it to become something where we put it down
on paper, and then, when the operation comes about, it is not up to snuff. So, I would like to also caution, as
far as that goes, that, with such an integral, pivotal
piece of this legislation being on the Offender Risk
Management Team, the public is properly reassured
that this Offender Risk Management Team is indeed
the best that we can put up for maintaining this parti cular team.
I just also want to make sure that we understand and take into account, which I am also praising the Attorney General for doing, looking at both sides. And she was able to adequately address both sides of
the argument, as far as public and private. So, I jus t
want to urge us as an entirety, as well as the comm u-nity, to make sure that we look at both sides, as well.
And to the victims and those others, we will provide
that sort of insight. So, I will not stand in the way of
this particular Bill, because I feel as though it is a step
in the right direction. And I do feel that we have to get
it in place. But we also have to make sure that this is
properly serving the community and that everyone’s
thoughts have been tallied and put into place, as far
as the victim . It is hard for us, looking in, to step into
the shoes of a victim. And they need to be properly reassured, because this Bill is for them. It is not for the offender. It is for the victim.
Yes, we have to manage offenders. Yes, it is
a tough, tough job. And it is something that a lot of us
dread even discussing in communities. But this is for
the victims. And we have to make sure that, whiche ver way we decide to go with policy now and policy in
the future, the victim feels comfortable and safe to
walk the streets of their country. Because, regardless
of how many mistakes we make as a community r egarding our children, there is no excuse for someone
to then capitalise on that mistake and to violate som ebody.
So, I will leave on those comments, that the
victim must be satisfied and feel secure, Madam President, in this policy and the policies going forward. And
that must be the focus.
Thank you.

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

Sen. James S. Jardine: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Madam President, I will be brief because
much has already been said around this table. In fact,
I was going to mention, myself, and in fact, I wonder
sometimes whether ESP exists between people. I was
looking across at Senator Hayward, and it was as if
our minds were somewhat linked, because exactly
what I had planned to say today he has already said.
And, certainly, my initial comments are that I whol eheartedly support this legislation. It is so mething that
is long overdue. And we had a very good summary of certain issues, which was put forward by Senator
Michelle Simmons, which I listened to with great interest.
My own views ––and I did wrestle for some
while with the question of a public register ––I will say
that the Attorney General gave us a very good overview of what, in fact, will take place here. I have li stened to other comments around the table. And I
share Senator Hayward’s views in that, so often in our
system of justice, people a re found guilty of a variety
of different offences. And we try to assimilate them back into our community, with a variety of different methods. We are an incredibly small place of [22]
square miles. We see people all the time, whom we
60 28 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate know, who have, for a variety of reasons, found themselves convicted of crimes, a variety of different
crimes. And we try to assimilate them back into our
community.
So, my own views on a public register —I do
not really think that this, shall we say, serves a great value. I t hink it serves to, obviously, notify people of
sex offenders. But it also puts those individuals in a
very difficult position in terms of trying to assimilate
themselves back into the community, to find a way
forward out of whatever crime they have committ ed—
in this case, a sex offence. And we have heard about
the example of someone who is 18 years old, perhaps. One can draw the same, shall we say, side
conclusions about people who have been convicted of possessions of cannabis, for example, at a very young
age who are then prevented from travelling overseas
to gain further education. And, you know, we have all
seen the changes we have made in that area, which I
think are long overdue.
So, from my point of view, from what I have
heard today and what I have read, I think that this Bill
is an excellent first step. As with all legislation, and for
those who have been around this table for a long period of time, we have seen amendments to legislation
that we passed even a year or two before. So, it is not
unusua l for legislation to be amended on the basis of
circumstances as they unfold, once legislation has
been put in place. And I think that this is, as I say, a
very good first step. But there will be, no doubt,
tweaks as time goes by.
I listened to Senator Ha yward in terms of the
importance of the Offender Risk Management Team,
and I agree that it has a very important role to play in
going forward in all of this. I listened to, obviously,
concerns about the victims. With daughters, wives,
one is always conscio us of sex offences. And we talk
about children, but there are also others in the community whom we should be concerned about, as well.
So, I understand the importance of this. As I
say, I think it is a great first step. And, no doubt, we
will have amendments to it as time goes by. And I
want to thank the Attorney General for a very detailed explanation. I see that she has been scribbling notes
over there, and I am sure we are going to get even
more information that will make us all feel as comfor table as w e can with respect to this legislation.
So, Madam President, without talking any further at length, I would just like to say I support this legislation. Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jardine.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Senator Kempe, you have the floor.
Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Thank you, Madam Pres ident. First of all, I would also like to extend the
gratitude to the members who served on both Joint
Select Committees, the one formed in 2015 and r eformed again in 2017, for the work that they did r esearching and interviewing, and speaking to comm unity groups and victims and police and government
works to try and come up with the recommendations from the Joint Select Committee, which formed the
basis of this legislation .
A couple of notes just as we go through this : I
think the argument seems to be focused primarily around paedophilia. But there are many other types of
sex crimes, of people who would qualify for the sex
register. It is not solely a crime that is committ ed by
men unto girls or men unto young boys. Some of the
findings that I think jumped out, at least based on
stats from the US, were that 25 per cent of sex offenders are women. Forty per cent of child abusers
are older children. Ninety per cent of childre n who
were victims know their abuser. So, there is definitely some decent stats information around what kind of
comes in here.
And I think it is also important, and something
which was highlighted a few times in the Joint Select
Committee report, [to note the] tiers of offences, tiers of qualifying people who would be on a sex offenders
register, from low -risk to medium -risk to highrisk/dangerous. And, certainly, the recommendation
that came out of the report, and I think it is i mportant
that we not conflate this issue when we are discussing
whether to have a public register or not . . . the Joint
Select Committee did not recommend that low -risk or
medium -risk people be on a public register. So, that
would pertain when you are tal king about, as Senator
Jardine said, the 19- year-old who has sex with a 17year-old girlfriend, or whatever the case may be.
And that is actually another curiosity, where
there are a lot of assumptions, I think, in inequality
and gaps in the legislation. The age of consent for females in Bermuda is 16, whilst the age of consent is
18 for males. So, there are a number of areas where
the follow -up legislation, I am hoping, will be on the
heels of this sex register legislation to close the gaps,
tidy the gaps identified in this report.
My concern about not having a public register,
I understand the mechanisms in place, and I certainly believe the [Offender] Risk Management Team will
play an essential role, but there are a number of other
areas when high- risk individuals or individuals who
risk reoffending . . . especially when we talk about
things like paedophilia, which I believe is, among the psychologist community, widely believed to be part of
that person’s nature and there are not, from what I
have read, a lot of kind of beliefs in the rehabilitative
process.
So, it is all good and well that people who are
hiring for a school, or a day care, be aware when
people are made public. I think it would be useful that
they could also query the registry about hirings, which


Bermuda Senate is where the PATI mechanism being exempted is
something that caused me a bit of a challenge. Or, if
you are sending your kids to someone down the street
who offers babysitting, they are not doing this under
the construct of a company. Or, if you work in any
company not in the child care industries, but there are
staff members who bring their children to work, they
hang out in the kitchen, or do whatever around the
company after school. I think it would be useful if we
know of these sorts of indivi duals who have potentially
incurable predilections. You might not be informed
when you are hiring them as an employer, just b ecause you do not work in a child care industry. It does
not mean that you should not be, as someone ult imately responsible, inform ed about the potential for
things to look out for, for employees or employee’s
children on the site of your business.
The other side of it, of course, when we take
the paedophilia argument out of it, is the sexual assault for disease. So, the people who are cognisant of
the fact that they have communicable diseases (HIV, chlamydia, et cetera) and are knowingly having unpr otected sex with unknowing victims, people who are serial offenders like this . . . who would you inform?
The dating pool is not necessar ily linked to a school
environment. So, these types of high- risk, dangerous
individuals, being on a public register would allow p otential victims to protect themselves far better.
And I understand the arguments about it, [how
this] would hamper their abil ity to reintegrate into s ociety. But, at the end of the day, if assessments are
made and they do not seem to have the remorse, the
commitment to reform, then I believe a public register is the only protection. And if it means that they live
somewhat uncomf ortably in Bermuda, then so be it.
Quite frankly, I will put the protection of their past and
future victims at far higher priority than the possible
reintegration to a comfortable life for the offenders.
Laws without compliance are somewhat us eless. I m ean, certainly, in this House our function is to
legislate. However, I worry when I look at systems.
The more complex a system, the more likely it is to
have gaps or have failures in the future. I know we talk about assessing people when they go into the
prison system. I know there is meant to be, or in theory, there is meant to be three [assessors] at all times. I
know, historically, there has been challenges between
whenever the work environment gets to someone and
they leave, the hiring process can take some time to
refill . . . this kind of thing. So, at times when [prisoners] are onboarded, they might not have that initial assessment, and they can fall through the cracks.
So, again, the more steps we have in the pr ocess like that, the more challenging the gaps in communication, fail -safes can fail, and then there is not
the communication that is needed to protect the com-munity. So, again, for the high risk, for the dangerous
category of sex offenders, a public list would be, in my
view, a far better sol ution. The Attorney General, when she gave her
statement, mentioned that we have information ex-changes with Interpol. When she responds, I would
like to know if those exchanges are automatic or not,
because the Joint Select Committee seemed to sug-gest th at information sharing was missing in Bermuda.
They spoke to the Lanzarote Convention, and Interpol, amongst other things, about this automatic ex-change. If a sex offender moves to Bermuda, and
does not register, we seem to put all the responsibility
and onus on the offender. If we had automatic ex-change of information, we would be in a far better position to, again, protect our people, especially from
people who are coming from outside our community,
[at] risk of offending. At that point they could be assessed and, again, deemed whether they should be
on the private or the public register and for how long.
So, again, there were a number of issues
highlighted that need beefing up as follow -up to this
legislation, [to] gaps in our legislation. People who have been convicted of sexual acts . . . and this is the
legal term, of a “defective.” They are speaking to pe ople with mental disability, and this kind of thing. That
seems to only be an offense for a male that has sex
with a female member of our society wi th mental dis ability, not the other way around. So there are a number of gender -biased legislations and protections in
our laws, and I think it is under the, initially, ill -
informed belief that certain activities and certain
crimes only go one way. And it does a disservice to
the conversation; it does a disservice to protecting our
society. And I would love to see a commitment to a timeline to fill in the rest of the gaps that were hig hlighted in the report from the Attorney General.
I think those are real ly my comments. I ce rtainly support the Bill. I commend the Government for
bringing this forward on the heels of the Joint Select
Committee, but I have severe reservations about the
PATI exemption and the fact that there is not a legi slated public element for those high- risk offenders, as
opposed to [being] at the discretion of whoever is si tting in the chair of the Attorney General at the time.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Kempe.
Would any other Senator care to speak on
this Bill?
Senator Campbell, you have the floor.
Sen. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Madam President.
The Attorney General in her brief spoke about
that there is an average of approximately 25 prosec utions per year in this area. There is a concern [of] how many more reported cases are not prosecuted because of a lack of evidence, and how many cases go
unreported, as was mentioned by other Senators earlier. But the status quo, Madam President, is that these individuals are currently being released into our
society without any kind of . . . very little or no, man62 28 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate agement, and no treatment. No programmes have
been fulfilled. So that is the status quo. These offenders are released, having served their time. No matter
what that sentence was, whether it was 10 years, 15
years, they are released having served their time,
while the victims continue on suffering a lifelong em otional and psychological trauma.
As was mentioned, Bermuda is a small co mmunity, and [they are] released into this small community. And there is a risk that t he offender and the
victim will come face to face. That is, without a doubt,
a concern. However, it also works the other way in
that news travels extremely fast in Bermuda. So it can
work where once that information is known by one or
two individuals it can spread. That is not something that you really want to rely on, but it can work the ot her way as well.
As far as a public register, like many Senators
around the table, I have mixed feelings on this, but the
thing that clinches it for me as far as living with the
register not being public for now, is [that] in Bermuda
we have many people with similar names, and same
middle initial. They have the same first name, same
last name, so let’s look at the middle initial. Oh, that is the same as well. How do we av oid Vance Campbell
being labelled incorrectly for something that he did not
do because he has the same name—first name, last name [and] middle initial —of someone [else]?
And so you say the register has a picture. I
am sure all of us around this table, Madam President,
have friends that we have known, or people we have
known for a long time, many years, and yet we bump into them and [they] say, Oh, I saw you last week,
didn’t I, at a function?
[We say,] No, I was not at that function.
So . . . mistaken ident ity. And in Bermuda,
once you are labelled, it is hard to remove that label.
And many can attest to that fact.
As far as the legislation, Madam President, I
know that when you see the term “he” or “his” in legi slation, it refers to the opposite gender as w ell. I do
have some concerns that this legislation has “he” and “his” in here because, like was mentioned by the O pposition Senator, the offenders are both male and f emale. So, it bothers me a little bit that that is in there, as opposed to “they” or . . . but again, as long as we
keep in mind that the offender is not just male.
It has been mentioned, Madam President, that
the Offender Risk Management Team is critical, and I agree. I agree. Their work is critical in that they set the
level of oversight and supervision according to the risk
of reoffending. We cannot lose sight of that. Do I think
it is perfect? No. Do I believe that offenders released
should have to wear an ankle bracelet? Yes, I do. But,
again, and I will conclude with this, this Bill is the first
step, Madam President.
And whilst I may believe, and others may believe, that the provisions of this Bill do not go far enough, each of its provisions is an improvement on
the status quo.
Thank you, Madam President.

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

Sen. Crystal Caesar: I will be very brief.
Also, as a member of the Joint Select Committee who submitted the report earlier this year with
regard to this subject matter, I am happy to see this
amendment in place.
I would like to reiterate that the Joint Select
Committee’s report spoke to a myriad of issues, and
this speaks to a portion of that. There are varying pol icies, procedures, [and] is sues that we discussed, and
I think it would be prudent of me to remind Senators
and the listening public that we all also have a r esponsibility to educate ourselves on these particular
types of issues. Legislation is not a panacea to all problems that Ber muda has.
Having sat on the Joint Select Committee, I
became aware of things that I was not aware of; in fact, I even attended a SCARS [Saving Children And
Revealing Secrets] class, in which I became SCARS
certified, and found out things that would not nec essarily fall under this particular legislation, but I, as a
mother, as a member of this society, need to be
aware of. So I think we need to be careful in thinking
that this is going to solve all of our sex offender i ssues. That is not what this is for. This is just a small
portion of managing that particular [sector] of society .
So, I think we also need to be diligent ourselves in understanding the risks, [and] not putting ourselves,
our children, our loved ones in positions where things can happen.
I thin k we tend to look with blinders on at just
this particular legislation sometimes, and I think we need to just step back and reconsider that there are
other things that we as a society can do to ensure that
everyone is safe. Bermuda has, in the past, had a cu lture of, Well, if you don’t talk about it, it doesn’t exist.
Now we see that this is changing; but we need to do more. I just wanted to sort of mention that because I
feel that we are expecting the Attorney General’s
Chambers to come up with this robust and all -
inclusive legislation that is going to solve all problems.
It will not. This is an excellent first step.
It is putting things in place that we did not
have before, which I think is phenomenal. There are [other] things that I would like to see; however, again,
this particular legislation is not necessarily for that.
So, I just wanted to mention that. I am, obv iously, in complete support of the legislation and I
thank the Attorney General and her team for bringing it forth.
Thank you.


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

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Good afternoon, Madam
President —or, good morning, I believe it is —and fellow Senators.
The President: Good morning.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: I will follow what ever yone else is saying, I will be brief.

[Laughter]

Sen. Anthony Richardson: My opening comment
actually follows from Senator Caesar in terms of [that]
I think that Bermuda, as a community, has to be
aware that there is a heightened sexual sensitivity in
the community, and it is based upon just how we live these days. Whether it be television, whether it be
music, whether it be our dress code, the whole nine yards, there is definitely a very heightened, I want to
say, sexual sensitivity in the community that we have
to be aware of, again.
I, too, am a parent of younger children, and I
am very mindful, especially for my son, in terms of there are things that we sometimes make assum ptions about that may not be applicable. So I am very,
probably, overly conscious of where I see him being
exposed to potential dangers. And I would just encourage others to do the same. And it also applies, of course, to any school environment, any nursery
school environment, basically any environment
[where] children are involved. But also I think it extends to both males and females that are older, because, again, we make a lot of assumptions, so I will
say that.
In terms of what a lot of us are focusing on
now, which I think should not be the real focus in
terms of should the register be public or not, I was
encouraged (to be honest) in terms of what the Attor-ney General had said in that in her role as Attorney
General she has effectively mandated that the victims
are always notified. And do I believe, I hope, that we get to a stage whereby it becomes more than Madam
Attorney Gener al’s perspective, but it becomes necessary that whenever an offender is going to be r eleased, that the victim is notified 100 per cent [of the
time]. Because in doing so it will allow those persons,
as best they can, and I am not sure what that really means, to equip themselves with any available information such that (I will say) when they see the offender, they are as best, as they can be, prepared.
I also want to endorse the earlier comments in
terms of ensuring that Bermuda does what it can in the whol e mental health space to provide assistance
to victims in those circumstances, because we never know when a victim will come into contact with the
perpetrator.
The other thing I want to make a comment
about is [that] very often when we deal with these i ssues and others, we tend to conclude based on our
personal emotions. But in this instance, I am happy to
note that, again, the Attorney General has emphasised that this is not an emotional response, it is act ually evidence based. Again, her brief (I won’t repeat it)
did talk about other jurisdictions that have actually
used a public register to the detriment, actually, of the community, because it becomes more difficult to
manage the offenders.
And, certainly, we do not want to get to the
stage in Bermuda whereby there are many persons released into the community that basically just fall off
the radar, because as small as Bermuda is, that can happen. We would want, of course, to better be able
to manage and maintain the contact with them so that
they can be managed to the community’s overall benefit.
I guess my final comment is, given the subject
matter, to, as best I can, encourage those in the
community that have been victims of sexual offences
in the past to do whatever they need to allow the offence to be reported. Because, again, we are talking
today about convicted offenders, effectively, but I would almost estimate that there are many others . . .
there are many other offenders that have not even
been reported yet. And, therefore, you have many
victim s that are virtually suffering in silence and ha ving the negative consequences develop in themselves
and, by extension, in the community.
And with those comments, Madam, I will say
thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
I would just like to make a couple of co mments myself. As a person who has worked in mental
health for many years and counselled quite a number
of people, I can tell you that anyone who is traum atised through such an experience as having a sexual
offence [committed] against them —and I will say to
you, that I have counselled both males and females, and have been aware of children who have been sexually abused.
For some . . . I want to say that I am glad this
is being addressed, because for these individuals who have bee n traumatised in this way, it is a horrific experience for them. It affects their lives for years to come. I am sure you have read of situations where people are traumatised, and even [after] they reach the age
of 50 and beyond, they are still traumatised by it.
People suffer from anxiety; people take overdoses;
they have difficulty in their interpersonal relationships,
either in their marriages or in whatever type of int imate relation they try to get into. It is very, very traumatic for them.
64 28 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate So, I am glad to see this legislation here. I
think that each one of you has brought particular
comments that I am sure the Attorney General would
take on board, as will her technical officers (who are
here). I view this legislation as extremely important and I am sure it will go a long way to assist the ind ividuals. And hopefully this discussion will allow people
who are traumatised and who have been silent all this
while, to seek the support, counselling, and whatever
else they need, because I think that it is . . . having
seen the other side, where people leave it for so long,
that their lives are totally [traumatised] and they cannot relate to individuals.
So, with that, Madam Attorney General, I
hand it over to you to address some of the comments
that have been made.
Thank you.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President, and thank you, Senators.
Let me start by thanking my team. We have
been fortunate to have the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, who is with us today, as the drafter of this Bill. The
policy was developed within the Ministry by our policy
team; Livingston Wedderburn headed it, and was
supported by the Director of Court Services, who is
also with us today. But we did have extensive input
from the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, C indy Clarke. And to all of these persons, we are grateful.
I have to dispel a myth and advise Senators
and members of the listening public that this Bill was
actually drafted before the Joint Select Committee
rendered its recommendations, and we did not table it
at that time because we wanted to have the benefit of
the recommendations to see if there was anything that
we needed to take on board at this time. So, I will rei terate Senators’ comments, and thank the Members
who actually took the time to explore this subject. We
did, in fact, go before the Committee, myself and the
Director together, and I know the DPP’s [Department
of Public Prosecutions] offices also had an audience
with the Committee.
What was very apparent to us was that this is
such an emotive subject that even in the context of
the mandate to make recommendations, people had
to work very hard to divorce themselves from the hu-man aspect of it and take an objective approach to
benefit the community with their deliberations. And to
them we ar e grateful because you did an excellent
job.
You all had so many comments; I have a book
here.

[Laughter]

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Let me just
say at the outset. Underlying most of what you have
heard today is an acknowledgement that we do not
have prisons in Bermuda. We have correctional facil i-ties. That forms a basis of the thrust of this legislation
which demands that we make every effort to reint egrate people into the community who are sex offenders. And Senators have acknowledged that this balanced approach is necessary. And I hope that when
you all are out in the public domain that you reinforce
this to members of the public, who are still very em otional about this subject. That will not end. But we all
have a joint responsibility to make sure that we impart
the facts around this subject matter. And you will be
aware that the Ministry has released a fact sheet. And we will continue to inform the public every step of the
way, as this is rolled out.
Now, to the “book” of questions. Okay, I will
start with Senator Simmons . I thank you for your co ntributions. You raised various matters, but the management framework actually gives control and it is a foundation for future paths for development and pr ogramming. That was one of your concerns.
The high- risk offenders will be supervised for
longer periods, and the level of supervision will be based on the gravity of the offence. And that conti nues to be mentioned in the brief.
The Bill is actually a response to persons being released, having serv ed their time, and [who have]
not done programmes. And so, what we have in that
situation is the supervision and monitoring component, which is imperative through registration. So, in the past, without naming names, offenders who did
not comply, simply cam e out, and they were gone.
And so registration allows us to monitor the category
of offender who does not take programmes.
But the amendment to the prison rules is penal in a sense that time can be added to the incar-ceration period. So we are happy that w e sort of balanced that, to some extent. But the key to this entire
regime is the monitoring and supervision once the
offenders are released.
The protection of the victims and the comm unity are considered, advice is given to them, and they are notified of the release of the offender. And that
was mentioned several times. We did actually have a
Victim Care Unit in the Department of Public Prosec utions, which, in addition to my notification to the victim saying that the offender is going to be released, we offer services and support in that communication
which they can avail themselves of. But understand
that this is voluntary. Victims often do not avail themselves of the services that are in the community. It is a
process, like the process of actually repor ting an offence.
And I will draw a reference to one evening
when I was collecting groceries from Supermart and
one of their packers who accompanied me to my car,
thought it necessary to tell me of an incident in her
neighbourhood where the neighbour’s fiv e-year-old
was being abused by the partner of the mother. The
entire neighbourhood knew, and no one reported it.


Bermuda Senate So I piggyback on Senator . . . Caesar’s
comment (I did remember your name) —

[Laughter]
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: —that it is a
joint responsibility. And we all have to step up, and we all have to ensure the safety of, particularly, our chi ldren—particularly our children.
Senator Simmons and Senator Jones . . . he
was concerned about the victims being shackled in
fear and having to look over their shoulders. We are
satisfied that the notification processes are sufficient,
for taking notification to the victim. There will be reassessment and renotification when necessary. The no-tification regime has different levels. And it is very i mportant for Senators to know . . . and I will be general in my comments because there was some overlapping in the questions that came.
In the first instance, when I receive a ps ychologist’s report from the Department of Corrections,
it clearly indicates the level of risk of reoffending.
There are instances where, based on the profile of the offender, we have categories of great mental illness.
And in those cases it is essential that we monitor and
supervise and offer services. The victims will be pr otected. The victims are always protected. I did say in
the brief, when people actually breach the orders, they
are reincarcerated. So the consistent monitoring of the
level of risk that they pose is necessary.
And the level of risk can often be determined
by the interaction with the therapeutic staff with the offender. So based on their expertise, and the ques-tions, and the interaction, and the responses that they
get from the offender, they know when the risk is going up. Okay?
The curfew chec ks. There are models of behaviour for these offenders, which only experts will be aware of. And it is based on those models and its behaviours that they are able to identify certain triggers.
And they know the risk factors, and we govern ourselves accordin gly.
In the past there has been not sufficient coordination between the different agencies, and that is
why this team is very important. I depend on the D epartment of Corrections to give me timely notification
of the release of an offender. That does not always
happen. It did not always happen in the past, so it is
essential now when you see those gaps . . . the coordination has been such that we are closing the gaps. And the legislation supports that. So the two- months’
lead time gives us plenty of time to do our own assessment and put in place the safeguards that are
necessary. So we feel that we have closed that gap,
for sure.
I am just trying to go through these . . . and
that consultation and collaboration of departments and experts in the field is absolutely ongoing. The parents
and guardians are always notified. This is essential. A minor cannot protect himself, so no worries in that
regard.
And the overseas vetting piece, persons who
come into Bermuda are always vetted, whether it is
people coming here to work, there are security checks that are undertaken by the Department of Immigration
as a matter of course. We do have a relationship, as I
said, with overseas authorities, but they will be more
formalised as we go forward so that the reporting i s
consistent, and the exchange of information is con-sistent. And we will monitor whether we need to en-shrine that in legislation, but there will be conventions
that we will have extended to us, which speak to those
relationships.
And Senator Hayward made general comments. Senator Robinson was concerned about the
[number] of probation officers to service the offenders. There are, in fact, ample probation officers and a highrisk team is an added resource. So we have been d oing this consistently, forever, but we are adding to, we are enhancing the system to make sure that we can
actually target this more effectively. The numbers are manageable at present, and specialist interventions
are available through certifications and training and
this will be ongoing. It is actually essential to the sy stem.
The Offender [Risk] Management Team will
have training, but they currently consist of various
senior personnel who are experts in this field already.
So we have the officers from the BPS who are partic ularly train ed for this role.
The Department of Corrections are actively
recruiting for psychologists. And what we do in the
interim period is outsource and share the available
resources. And across the board, the psychologist s do
have the training that is necessary . The question
keeps arising as to whether we have specified paedophile psychologists. That component is integrated into
their training, but I have made note of . . . I would not
call it “outcry,” but the consistent mention of that, and I will actually tak e some steps to get the stats, because
everything we do is evidence based, to see if that is
actually a necessary speciality, separate and apart
from what they are already specialising in. Okay?
In terms of the resources available to victims
and particularly the mental health considerations, mental health for victims and trauma rehab are avai lable through other resources in the community, and
everyone will be familiar with the Women’s Resource
Centre, SCARS (which was mentioned earlier). We
have community mental health sources, and as I men-tioned, also the DPP’s Victim Care Unit.
Have I missed anyone? I think I have generally touched everyone’s questions.
Again, I thank Senators for their contributions.
So, without further ado, Madam President, I
move t hat the Bill be read a [third] time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
66 28 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate No objection. Carry on.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

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

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]

BILL

THIRD READING

CRIMINAL CODE (SEX OFFENDER
MANAGEMENT) AMENDMENT ACT 2018

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: I move, Madam President, that the Bill entitled the Criminal Code
(Sex Offender Management) Amendment Act 2018 be
now read a third time.
The President: Is there any objection to the third
reading?
No objection.
Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you.
I move that the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that Criminal Code
(Sex Offender Management) Amendment Act 2018 do
now pass.
It is passed.
[Motion carried: The Criminal Code (Sex Offender
Management) Amendment Act 2018 was read a third
time and passed.]

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senators, and thank you,
Kathy Lynn Simmons.

MOTIONS
The President: There are none.
Senator Jones, you have the floor.

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR
OBITUARY SPEECHES
Sen. Marcus Jones: Madam President, I would just
like for us as a Senate to extend congratulations to
Nikki Bascome, who was able to successfully win the IBA International Welterweight Championship [Title].
After having suffered a brutal loss a year ago on home
soil, Nikki Bascome returned home to a raucous
crowd and was able to regain redemption by winning this bout last Saturday night. What he proved was that
one can make a successful comeback if you can
commit to hard work, be willing to learn different tactics, and listen to one’s coach. He is an example to young, aspiring boxers and local athletes in general.
We wish him well in his future fights as he holds the
Bermuda flag high.
Obituaries: I would like for this Senate Chambers to extend condolences to the family of the late
Elois Grace Swan, a Somerset resident, who had a zeal for travel, was one of the founding members of
the Freemason’s Wives Island Fellowship Circle,
formed over 45 years ago, whose mission was to pr ovide financ ial assistance to students and families in
need. One of her favourite passions was discussing
local politics, with an eye to the historical context. I
had the pleasure of being a recipient of her tutelage
before she succumbed to her long- term illness. She
will be [surely] missed.
Thank you, Madam President.

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

Sen. Crystal Caesar: Thank you, Madam President.
I would like to congratulate the Bermuda Ec onomic Development Corporation for a successful
Global Entrepreneurship Week of activities. In partic ular, I would like to mention that the Women’s Entr epreneurship Day [Conference] was held on Friday, November 16
th in which two international guest
speakers and eight local speakers, all female, were at
Rosewood and had sessions throughout the day.
The two international guest speakers were
Stacey Ferreira, she is the CEO of Forge, and spoke on: Navigating in a Male Dominated World. The other
was Shelly Bell, founder of Black Girl Ventures Foundation, and she spoke on the Alternative Ways of
Funding.
The local entrepreneurs were Gaynete Jones
of G.A.M.E. Changing Industries; Tania Kowalski, health and happiness coach; Nishanthi Bailey, a noted
actress, teacher, and host; Pamela Barit Nolan from
Transform Bermuda Coaching; Kristin White of Long
Story Short; Trina Roberts of HSBC Bermuda; Christie Hunter -Arscott, who speaks on gender and gener ational strategies; and finally, Kidist Emery, of Salon Pink.
I would like to just acknowledge again the
BEDC and the great work that they do for entrepr eneurs, and in particular, for the Women’s Entrepr eneurship Day.
Also, I would like to congratulate the MarketPlace for putting on the very well -received Sant a


Bermuda Senate [Claus] Parade. I have an eight -year-old so I had to
attend. And they even had snow in Bermuda—

[Laughter]
Sen. Crystal Caesar: —so I thought that this was
quite interesting and fun. But it was actually . . . the
displays . . . all of the participants from dance schools
to the Gombeys and of course Santa, at the end, it
was quite special for the children, so I wanted to just
thank them for continuing to do that.
Thank you, Madam President.

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

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, at risk
of stealing the thunder of Senator Simmons, I wanted to comment that last week, Thursday, I had the abs olute pleasure of attending the prize- giving ceremony at
the Berkeley Institute. We were all reminded that this
year Berkeley celebrates 121 years of existence, and
they continue to do a stellar job.
I clearly cannot read all this information; ho wever, I want to highlight the fact that Ms. Douglas, the
Principal, did advise that 251 students wrote one or more IGCSE/GCSE examinations, which comprised
51 different papers; 156 students received one grade
between A -star and C; and 25 students received one
grade between 4 and 9, using the new gradi ng system
for several subjects. The other comment, I guess, is that the graduates from last year secured a total of $565,000 in
scholarship monies to assist in their further education.
There is a lot more information. I guess I will give it to
the Clerk to determine what he would want to include
in the Minutes, because I could not read all of this i nformation. And maybe with your permission, I could
bring a more concise commentary next week, maybe
under . . . yes , I have the potential for that, I suppose.
But I really want to commend the fact that . . .
you will know that I am an avid advocate for public
education. I do not do it in the context of it being good
or better or worse than private, but just to highlight the
fact that within the public system t here is a lot of good
being done. And as Madam Attorney General said last
week, the story is not what the results are, it is the
context in which those things are being done. I guess
my final comment would be that at Berkeley they even
introduced a program me for autistic students, to assist
those [autistic students] who are coming out of middle
school, and this is also having significant success. I
will end there.
In addition, I want to commend Mr. Paynter,
who is the Deputy Principal at Berkeley, him and his
students, because there is a programme in Bermuda
whereby they are trying to reduce the cost of food,
and they import containers on a monthly basis. Mr. Paynter and some of the S4 students , both male and
female, assisted on Monday evening to distribute
those goods.
The comments about the others who helped
organise that, where the S4 students themselves were
so attentive in what they were doing, more than what
they were doing, but in terms of the impact on the
community. I believe it bodes well for our young pe ople when they are involved in these activities because
it helps them to understand that there are others in the
community that need assistance and the can provide assistance in doing so.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
No?
I would just like to make a comment. I would
like to have the Senate send condolences to the fam ily of Mrs. Clara “Keggie” Hallett, who was laid to rest
last week Wednesday when we were debating the
Throne Speech. I had really wanted to go to the f uneral, but obviously could not.
Much has been written about the legacy of
this phenomenal woman and her literary brilliance, and I would like to invite all of you to read, if you have
not done so alr eady, Dr. Harris’ report in the paper. I
think that this was really telling.
For my part, Mrs. Hallett was a most humble
and gracious woman who volunteered in the Admi ssions Unit at St. Brendan’s Hospital, it is now MWI, [Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute. But when I was there
years ago as a nurse manager, Mrs. Hallett had called
and said she wanted to volunteer, and she came, and
she worked for a couple of years at St. Brendan’s
Hospital, at that time. And she really had a humble
approach and she got along very well with staff, but
particularly with the patients.
She had time to talk to the patients and it was
just a wonderful opportunity for me to have her volun-teer on the unit at the time. And this was at a time
when most people, [if they] wanted to volunteer, they
volunteered at King Edward [VII Memorial Hospital].
But here was a woman of her stature who wanted to
volunteer at MWI. And it was just a great opportunity for the patients, for myself, and for the staff.
We stayed in touch beyond the time she was
there. We exchanged Christmas cards and things, and she always let me know what she was doing. But
she was a brilliant woman, and I would just invite you
all, if you do not know very much about her, to read about her and her work, because as I said, she not
only helped her husband . . . and I do not know if you
are familiar with it, but the 19 th Century Church Regi sters of Bermuda, if you don’t . . . I am not sure if it is
still in print, but I remember having a copy of it and
was able to look up my fam ily members on both sides
of my family and distant relatives, and it was . . . it is
an excellent [book].
68 28 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate I am not sure it is in print. But this was som ething that will, I think, be important for all families going forward. I would just like for the Senat e to send
condolences to her family.
Thank you.

[Crosstalk]

The President: We now move on to adjournment .
Kathy Lynn Simmons, Attorney General.

ADJOURNMENT

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I move that the Senate do now adjourn until
Wednesday, December 5th.

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

GRAND ATLANTIC CONDOMINIUM COMPLEX

Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
In response to the Parliamentary Questions,
which I would thank Senator Campbell for furnishing
us with the answers to the questions that were put
forward to the Junior Minister in regard to the Grand
Atlantic condominium complex there on the South
Shore Road, to the question of how many of the units
were occupied? Of the 78 units, all are presently v acant.
Also, to the question of how much it costs the
Government for operating and staffing costs. The
amount was $168,400.
The reason why I have a desire to highlight
that, thes e particular questions, is because the pr esent Government in the Throne Speech has desires of
actually continuing this direction of creating affordable
housing for Bermudians of a different demographic,
though it might have been from the Grand Atlantic.
But it really bodes well that the Government paused,
and had another look at this particular scenario.
Now, as per the Throne Speech, if Madam
President you would just allow me to just quote one or
two sentences from the Throne Speech?

The President: You c ertainly may, Senator Jones.
Sen. Marcus Jones: “One specific project being a dvanced by the Bermuda Housing Corporation is the
construction of residences in the City of Hamilton,
which will provide affordable studio and one- bedroom
apartments for rent or purchase. This will meet the Government’s mandate of putting independent living
in reach of many of Bermuda’s young people who
want to own their own place and move out of their
family homestead. ” A very familiar adage that we are all used to is
that one s hould measure twice and cut once. And so
in my contemplation of this particular initiative, and
looking at Grand Atlantic as a backdrop, we see that
with the empty units that are there, and the demand that was suggested to the public over 10 years ago,
that there was a demand there, it means that we need
to reconsider moving forward.
We know that there may be some young people within our community that would like to live in si ngle units in the City of Hamilton. If those persons are
out there, I would definitely like to know who they are.
Having tapped into some friends in the real estate
market, agents who are pounding the pavement trying
to find as many buyers as possible, it was made
abundantly clear to me that there is little- to-no demand from that parti cular demographic group desiring
single homes within the City of Hamilton. That can definitely be substantiated because we know that in
large part it is the foreign workers who come here to
live who would enjoy and really take advantage of li ving, working, and playing within walking distance of
their lives.
So we know that for the Bermudian young
person of that age group, there may not be a large
demand. We also know that one of the major issues
for young people is actually access to capital. I believe
that the Government has done well in their Throne
Speech in tackling the issue of mortgage relief, of finding ways to negotiate with the banks to make it easier
for young people to gain help as far as their down
payment is concerned. I think that is where the Go vernment needs to focus its efforts and its energy because that, I believe, would go much further in facil itating this opportunity for our young people.
And as a side note, as I am about to finish off,
as I drove by the Grand Atlantic, and have done so on
a number of occasions late at night, I am a little surprised that there is no one occupying those units. I
have seen lights on at night. I have seen cars parked
in the parking lot. Of course, that may not mean an ything, but it just makes me curious as to want to ask
the question, Do we have freeloaders who are han ging around in those units? It may be something that we may want to check out to make sure there is no
one just living there freely.
And also, this summer I had the pleasure of
having guests come to Bermuda from overseas and in
the Somerset area we tried very hard to find places,
Airbnb units, for our friends and family to stay close to
where we live. We tried everywhere. And I got the r esponse that there were no units available all through the summer for Airbnb occupation. And the thought
occurred to me that , being that these units are totally
empty, maybe the Government could look to, you
know, exercising its energies toward vacation rentals
during the summer months. This annual operating
cost of $168,000, you could definitely recoup a large
sum of that money back through temporary vacation


Bermuda Senate rental opportunities for those who are looking for an
Airbnb experience.
So with those thoughts, I thank you for the
time, Madam President.

GRAND ATLANTIC CONDOMINIUM COMPLEX
The President: Thank you, Senator Jones.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Richardson, you have the floor.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Yes, good afternoon,
Madam President, again, and fellow Senators.
Thank you, Senator Jones. I was preparing to
actually exit the Chambers subject to everything being
considered, but you have given me a chance to speak
yet again today.
In terms of the . . . first of all I want to say that
your comment in terms of i s there any demand for . . .
let me back up a minute. What the Government had said is that in order to stimulate the economy and also
provide additional resources, that they would contemplate building studios and one- bedroom apartments
within the City of H amilton. And if you recall, perhaps
you don’t, last week, if you move to your left, Senator Robinson, said he would be one of those persons who would be looking to that type of accommodation as a
single person, I believe. And so, that would be an example of someone who would want to avail themselves of these opportunities.
I do not know what the intended price point
would be for these units, but that would be all part of
the process in terms of Government deciding to move
ahead or not move ahead. And so t hat is key.
My bigger point, however, is that . . . and I am
not sure, but I will say this for members of the public, I
am not sure whether you, Senator Jones, are aware,
but the Minister has already announced that there is
an agreement in place for the Grand Atlantic to do just
what you are suggesting, which is to move it into an
apartment -style hotel, effectively. You will see that
part of the process in doing so is that they are going to
now remodel those units, such that they do provide up
to three- bedroom units for rental.
And they have what is referred to as “lock -
offs” such that there can be a three- bedroom unit, but
it can be divided into a two bedroom and a one bed-room, each of them having, of course, a bathroom, to
do just what you are saying. B ecause the reality is in
the Bermuda tourism economy (I want to call it) there are several price points for accommodations. The standard hotel accommodation price point sometimes
is too high for those who want to come to Bermuda.
Therefore, we are trying t o develop now a broader
spectrum of price points.
The Airbnbs would offer, typically, a lesser
price accommodation, but they also offer a different
experience because when you come to the Island for Airbnb, more than likely you will be in contact with the
actual owner of the Airbnb, which gives you a more homey experience. Very often they provide these services in terms of maybe getting groceries for you before you come. They will ensure that you now have access to what are effectively car rentals. And so all
those things are now being engaged. My understan ding is that the Grand Atlantic is intended to be in that price point between, say, Airbnb and the standard h otel prices.
So I would suggest, again, that we all look
forward to the opening of the Grand At lantic. I am not
sure what the opening timeframe is going to be, but
that is the intention. You will also note, if you come
from that area, that the Grand Atlantic has actually
been painted. So now the units themselves are more
attractive even just in term s of their colouring. If I r emember correctly, the Minister of Public Works has
stated that the persons who actually painted those
buildings were non- traditional in that it was not a company that did that, individuals were able to do it to a llow them to ha ve an opportunity to get gainful employment.
As an aside, I will also say that we . . . or at
least I tend in this Chamber not to be overly political,
but in the context of the Grand Atlantic, I think that if
we are all honest, part of the reason why the Grand Atlantic was not successful in its inception was be-cause it became a political football in terms of whether
the units were physically safe— yes or no —and the
whole nine yards. But we do know that, notwithstanding the public commentary [which stated] t he units
were not physically safe, they were actually used during the America’s Cup to house some of the teams.
And so, the actual ability of those units to be used has
now been demonstrated already.
I hope that going forward all of us in this
Chamber, and others, are able to, when appropriate,
be more constructive, because it does not bode well for us when we are unnecessarily political.

REFINANCING GOVERNMENT DEBT

Sen. Anthony Richardson: And the final comment I
will make today is that we are all awar e now that the
Government recently went to market, in terms of rai sing funds to effectively refinance the existing debt.
The Minister of Finance has already commented that
the issue was oversubscribed. What that speaks to is
the fact that, notwithstanding what we may say locally,
the international community is still very positive on
investing in Bermuda. If that was not the case, then of
course, the subscription would not have been oversubscribed.
I also believe that . . . well, not believe ––the
Minister h as also said the success of that offering is
also evidence of the excellent outlook of Bermuda
going forward from an economic perspective. There
will be some other comments around, I know. But I
70 28 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate think that we need to be as factual as possible when
we speak of these things because it does have an
impact on Bermuda from an international perspective.
So, thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Kempe, you have the floor.

GRAND ATLANTIC CONDOMINIUM COMPLEX

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: Like Senator Richardson, I
was not planning on speaking today, but on the vein of being objective and not using political conjecture, the cost of the Grand Atlantic units, when you did the
math with the zero money down guarantee scheme,
that was offered at the time, was, if you looked at it,
certainly far more than what could be afforded by
someone who fell into the low income bracket, which
the units were destined for. So I think there was a m ajor misalignment between the purpose of the units and
the abil ity of the target demographic to afford them.

REFINANCING GOVERNMENT DEBT

Sen. Nicholas Kempe: On the point of the new issue
of debt, the term “investing in Bermuda” was used. I think we need to be careful that this was an issue of
debt, not a new busin ess creation.
Everyone involved with the deal, whether they
are getting interest or they have locating fees on the bank side, make money off of a refinancing process. It is not Bermuda; we bear that cost.
If I read the article correctly, there are some
short-term notes that were converted into long term,
but it effectively added another $200- or-so million to
our debt burden.

The President: Thank you, Senator Kempe.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
No?
Then the Senate stands adjourned until the 5
th
of December.

[At 12:30 pm, the Senate stood adjourned until
10:00 am, Wednesday, 5 December 2018.]