November 21, 2018

The numbers vary
considerably from Clearwater Middle School where
there are 111 students; at Whitney [Institute Middle
School], 219; at Dellwood Middle [School], 245; at
T. N. Tatem [Middle School], 184; and at Sandys
Secondary Middle School, 157.
Madam President, the total enrolment at the
middle level is 916 students. I do not have trend data,
20 21 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate but it would be interesting to study that to see if enrolment is incr easing or decreasing at the middle and
senior levels. Altogether, and this would be total senior and middle school enrolment, we have just over
2,000 students, 2,099.
I share that data because if Government is
only seeking to create signature schools at t he senior
level, the numbers tell us that we could only have two or three signature schools with populations of no more
than 400 to 600 in each school —three [schools] maximum. In my opinion, we need to make sure that we
have the critical mass in our school s so that there is
appropriate use of resources. If, however, we assume
the Government is planning to take the middle school
population and the senior school population to create the signature schools, then we could have more. But
the number only goes up t o four or five, especially if
the population remains at approximately 2,000 st udents, then we could have 400 in the middle/senior
school band. But we are looking at seven- year groups
with 400 students, meaning each year group in those
schools will be quite small and [the] class size will be
even smaller.
So funding becomes a real issue. And looking
at how we have historically funded our schools, this is
a big concern for me because salary expenses for
teachers will be high since the signature schools not only need to hire the best teachers in those particular
fields, and we need to find them as well, but we also
need to ensure that every single class that requires a
specialist teacher has the specialist. So Government
can anticipate having smaller schools, s maller class
sizes, when you compare with the average size of the
senior schools, but certainly not when you compare to
the average size of the middle schools. Our middle
schools are considerably smaller right now.
Madam President, the staffing in the senior
schools will be critical to their success and we must —
we must —have specialist teachers in every single
field. I know from personal experience that the system has had issues recruiting enough specialists in some
key areas, even now as we speak.
I would like to quote, Madam President, from
the Magnet Schools of America website, if you do not
mind.

The President: No, absolutely. Proceed.

Sen. Michelle Simmons: It states quite clearly, I
quote. “ High Quality Instructional Systems are rooted
in well- prepared, well -educated professional educ ators. Teachers and administrators who are student -
centered, collaborative, and inquisitive prepare lear ners to be world ready, workforce ready, and higher
education ready. Teacher and administrative development through MSA [Magnet Schools of America] encourages networking, shared research and information and professional growth, the benefits of which translate into an ever -evolving, ever -improving instructional s ystem. ”
That sounds like the ideal situation, especially
when they talk about how teachers prepare learners
to be world ready, workforce ready, and higher educ ation ready. Is that not what we want for our children?
Research in the US has shown that the s uccess of middle schools was stymied by the lack of subject matter expertise among middle school teac hers who were not certified to teach at the middle school level. It was the case that the majority of mi ddle school teachers were certified to teach only at the
primary level, with those teachers lacking both training
in the developmental needs of young adolescents as
well as subject matter, knowledge, and understanding.
This was further exacerbated by inadequate staff development.
Let me go back to Bermuda and what we
know from some of the reports we have had in the
public domain. One such report is the review of public
education in Bermuda, produced by Professor David
Hopkins, et al, in May 2007. That was more than 11 years ago. It provided a comprehensiv e review, focusing on primary, middle and senior schools —so the
whole system. In the interest of time I can only give very short snippets of what Professor Hopkins said,
but I am going to start with one quote, if I may, Madam President —

The President: Yes. Carry on.
Sen. Michelle Simmons: —from the Hopkins report
regarding middle schools. This is something that was
quoted in May 2007. “ There is no doubt, for example,
that the move to the middle schools was a mistake but the Review Team believes that a str uctural response
would only cause more confusion and instability and leave the real issue—” [i.e.] “the low quality of teac hing and learning— untouched. ” (End of quote.)
This is why Professor Hopkins recommended
that the system not spend its valuable time on a r estructuring effort in 2007. Instead he recommended a
phrase or an expression that we have all heard, I am
sure, which is, the “re- professionalisation” of our pr ofessional educators.” That means he recommended
that we spend time improving the quality of instruction
in the classroom, as well as improve the administr ative capabilities of our school administrators.
Another aspect of reform that Professor Hopkins recommended was reform to the Ministry and the Department of Education, along with many other re commendations, which I certainly do not have time to
go into. Since this report has been published, there
have been attempts to begin the re- professionalisation
of our professional educators. But some of those efforts have been inconsistent, as far as I can see.
So 11 years down the road, Government is
now considering a structural reform to the system. I am not sure if that is the best way to proceed, but that


Bermuda Senate is because I do not have enough information to be
able to make an informed decision. However, I hope
that those who are looking closely at this structural
reform of our public education system will be consi dering every bit of school data that is available to them.
While some of the major concerns of the Hopkins r eport are still present in our sy stem, I believe that Go vernment would still benefit immensely by going back
to the Hopkins report and taking many of the recommendations on board.
Madam President, I would like to throw in a
personal view, and that is, in the experience that I have had as an educator in three different countries
around the world, the most effective schools I have
seen and worked in, I may add, have been schools which are K through 12 schools. In these schools,
students are known by staff members from the age of
5 all the way through to the time that they graduate
from high school, senior school. Students have pr ofiles which they develop as they progress through the
school. There is a consistent academic programme which has a thread running all the way through from
primary to senior. Students develop very strong skills
over time, based on the school establishing consistent
standards and expectations. There is a well -accepted
school culture that permeates everything that is done
in the school. And one of the wonderful aspects of
such schools is the mentoring that goes on between
senior students and the youngest.
If I had a free hand with unlimited licence to
transform our educational system, I, personally, would push for K through 12 schools. I believe that there are
too many transitions that we are putting our students
through as they go from the age of 5 to 10 in primary
schools, then from the age of 11 to 13 in our middle
schools, and then from the age of 14 to 18 in our senior schools. Research has shown, and there is no
doubt about it, the fewer transitions our young people
have to go through, the better.
And so now that I have been able to get all of
that out of my system about education, let me move
on quickly in the time that I have left —
The President: Which is 10 minutes.
Sen. Michelle Simmons: Ten minutes? Great, that is
all I need.
—to another aspect of living in this community
that impacts everyone, and that is the cost of living in
Bermuda. Just a few points.
I am delighted that Government is taking
steps to reduce the extremely high cost of living that we all exist under here in Bermuda. Coming to grips
with this single issue by employing multiple strategies,
as they have outlined in the Throne Speech, will have
the greatest positive impact on families in this c ountry.
Currently we see it. We see it every day —I know I
do—families who are struggling under challenges which are just crippling. They are not able to make ends meet, not able to afford housing, not able to buy
healthy food, not able to pay utility bills in a timely
manner, paying out exorbitant amounts for medical,
and almost unable to provide tertiary level education
for their children. We cannot continue to exist this way. And it is just an existence for many people at the
lower end of the economic spectrum. So, thank you
Government. I endorse any policies which will help to
reduce the cost of living on this Island and make it
better for families.
Five of the strategies that I picked out were:
Removing that stamp duty on mortgages valued at $750,000, w hich are going to be refinanced. That will
help some people, definitely, to be able to keep the
roof over their heads.
Second, the premiums paid to insurance
companies. I know single people who are paying i nsurance premiums of $1,400 a month. However, I also
know people who pay $380 a month. And we know
that when you take the profit out of insurance, the
premiums go way do wn. I am not suggesting that we
are trying to . . . or that anyone is trying to put any i nsurance company out of business or trying to create unemployment for those in that sector. But we have to
address this —$1,400 to $380 is a big difference.
Energy cos ts, we have to do something. We
have talked and talked about it for years. BELCO . . .
well, no one wants to see BELCO go out of business. But we do want to see a change in how energy is
generated. I think that will go a long way towards,
number one, improving our environment, and number
two, reducing the cost of our very expensive energy.
Thank you, Tax Reform Commission. I am
sure you did your work well. And I am sure there are a host of recommendations that the Government will
review carefully. Senator J ardine [and] Senator Kempe touched on some of the recommendations earlier. I do not have much time, but I hope that those recommendations are considered, especially since we are looking for a fairer way for taxes to be assessed in this
community.
Those four strategies all look at the outgoing.
And the fifth strategy is the one that looks at the i ncoming, i.e., income, family income. Yes, a living
wage has to come into being. Senator Jardine earlier gave us some insight into a minimum wage, as well as
a living wage. I would suggest that anyone earning
$7.00 an hour in this community has to work for at
least 140 hours a week, which is far more than the 35hour work week. And that is why so many people
have one full -time job, but they also have a second
and a third job, because they have to make up that
gap in hours. Is it any wonder that our children are not
being appropriately nurtured in their homes?
And finally, the last thing I would like to just
touch on is something that impacts, again, on family life. And that is mediation and arbitration. Madam
President, as you well know, alternative dispute res olution has become much more widely accepted as a
22 21 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate means for negotiating agreements. It saves time, it
saves money, it saves a lot of negative energy as
well. Bermuda is viewed as quite a sound jurisdiction.
We have a well -respected judicial system. And as one
of the Senators said earlier, this is not a new idea, but
it is time to bring it to fruition.
Family mediation, yes, it has gained much
more acceptance here. It is a way of making sure that when there are domestic issues, especially when chi ldren are involved, that resolutions can be achieved in a much more harmonious way. I would just like to suggest that Government consider wrapping all of that
into one c entre, like a mediation and arbitration centre. And that —

[Inaudible interjection]
Sen. Michelle Simmons: Okay. Okay. Excellent.
So, ladies and gentlemen, as you can tell, I
have very strong passionate views about education
and where it should be going. I see it as a most i mportant issue in our community because if we can educate our young people, i.e., the generation coming
behind us (maybe they are about two generations behind us), then we will have done something that will
be in the best long- term int erest of Bermuda. And I am
talking about all of us in Bermuda.
We cannot continue to have a private educ ation sector that appears to be doing so much better
than the public sector. And I put it that way deliberat ely because efforts are made to compare pri vate and
public education in this country, and you are compar-ing apples and oranges. Okay? It does not work. So we have to fix public education so that it is as good
as, if not better than, what is offered in the private sector.
So with those remarks I wi ll end, and thank
you for listening to me.

The President: Thank you, Senator Michelle Si mmons.
Senators, I just want to remind everybody, we
have, for the moment, 45 minutes for the rest of the
time that we have. So, each of you, until we get to five
hours.
So which Senator would like to speak next on
the Throne Speech?
Senator Robinson, you have the floor. And I
believe this is your maiden speech, so you have our
rapt attention.

MAIDEN SPEECH

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Good afternoon, co lleagues.
After hearing my fellow colleagues speak on
education and the like, I do not necessarily want to
focus on those things, because we do not have a
budget to really say where we are pulling mone y to do certain initiative, but I will say that I have a lot of r espect for the vision that was outlined in the Throne
Speech. But I do also have a few concerns that I
would like to put forward.
One of the things that I was looking for in the
Throne Speech was gaming. The reason why was because I did a lot of personal resear ch into this i ndustry and it was going to . . . there was talk of trai ning and indoctrination of Bermudians into this new industry. And it looked very achievable; it looked like it
was moving. And then, after the loss of Mr. Schuetz, we have heard very lit tle on it. So I would like to put
forward to the Government that I would like see the
position [where] the gaming industry is now, and I
think it could be a very viable way to employ many
Bermudians.
Another thing that stood out to me was, I did
not real ly notice a stimulus of the economy that was
not really tax based. And I looked. Now, I know that
there were some ideas, but I did not see something very concrete as far as stimulating the economy from
the outside. Now, I understand that there is a lot of political football being done with the America’s Cup.
Regardless of how we might feel about it individually,
it was something that did stimulate the economy. And
I know many feel that it did not touch every “everyday”
Bermudian, but I do think that we need to look at av enues in which we can bring income that does not necessarily revolve around tax.
With a shrinking population, that is going to be
a very finite [source] of income, because, frankly, we are looking at an ageing population and a population that we will have to sustain. And a lot of young people
who are supposed to be sustaining it are pl anning on
leaving, or have already left. We have to change that environment. We have to touch the young people in a
way that basically makes them believe that Bermuda is the place where they can get those opportunities.
So, I am going to go through the T hrone
Speech and just give my concerns on certain things that jumped out to me. If I have . . .

The President: Certainly. Continue.
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you.
The cost of living. I do not want to get too
deep into that as well because we do not ha ve a
budget, but I do definitely think that there has to be an
alternative way for people to make income in our
country. I do think that right now we put a lot of emphasis on tourism, and we have not reall y put emphasis on innovating the economy in a way w here newer,
like more fresh, ideas can come forward because we
have a lot of social media influences. We have a lot of
jobs like that that are being done online that have
reaped rewards for younger people in other countries.
I do hope that one day, you know, we can implement some of these things here in Bermuda that can kind of
widen the amount of income sources that people have


Bermuda Senate available to them, because a lot of times people are
making more of their wealth kind of on the side of their
job doing certain th ings that are now available to the
mass public, like YouTube partnerships and all of the likes. I feel like that it is kind of stringent on our popu-lation that we have not exactly updated ourselves
when it comes to those sorts of things.
Another thing was tax reform. I very much like
the idea of a progressive tax. I think it is long overdue that folks who are making more should pay more.
They should pay their fair share. Everyone should. My only concern with tax reform of that like is that when
people’s bottom lines are affected, they always pass
the buck. And I am fearful that if we are not vigilant
that that buck will be passed on to the everyday Ber-mudian. So even though they may not be getting as
much money taken out of their pay by payroll tax, or
social insurance, they still may end up paying more for
fees such as cell phone bills, groceries, and all the
like. So the money that is supposedly being saved
eventually will be spent having to keep up with the cost of living because somebody’s bottom line i s being
affected. And as every business has loyalty to their bottom line, they will pass that on to people who are
not necessarily well endowed when it comes to assets
and income.
Mortgage relief. For me as a young person, I
absolutely enjoy it. I am keeping my optimism open for this point. I really do hope to see it further developed
as we go along in the [Throne Speech] Reply. B ecause I know personally of the scare and fear of
somebody who is growing up looking at trying to get
into owning a house or bei ng a homeowner and reali sing that this dream is impossible for a young person
who does not necessarily have a hand- up or have
maybe even property left to them. If you wanted to be
somebody who worked by the sweat of your brow,
and wanted to own a house, a lot of young people are
deciding to move to the UK.
I know this has been touched on as well by
Senator Jardine, but it is, to me, a burning, burning
point. There has to be opportunities made for people
who are working in their own country to live and own property of some sort. There has to be! It is akin to the
American dream, really, to have your own little spot
[that] you can call yours, that you can pass on to your family. And I think that having mortgage relief, though
the specifics might not be as ham mered out as I like. I
do hold that optimism that further on down the line that will be something that I can look at and say, Well,
I want to purchase a home, I can purchase one. So I
am still really excited about that specific point.
A liveable wage. When I read this, the co ncept of it was good. However, there are extenuating
circumstances, like the growing amount of taxes and
the weight that businesses are facing right now, esp ecially local businesses, to keep up with paying so
many different expenses a t the moment. And, again,
with a shrinking population you end up having a much smaller profit margin. So I do think that the concept of
a liveable wage is a good thing. And I do believe that
everybody who works, and works hard at an honest
living, deserves to be able to able to make a wage
that they can sustain their family on in their own country. But with the way things are going at the moment,
with all of these different payments, I fear that people
will instead choose to lay off people if they feel as
though they cannot keep up with the payments being
made in certain taxes, and also with the cost of living continuously rising.
So I am nervous that we will see people, i nstead of looking to move around their income, they will
instead move around their expenses, which to some
businesses that is exactly what workers are—
expenses —unfortunately.
Education, Madam President, was just outlined in depth by my fellow Senator . I support a lot of
her views as far as education goes. I personally b elieve that it is time for us to take politics out of educ ation and to look towards an Education Authority, because I keep hearing the same things when an Edu-cation Minister comes in. They try to do their best. A
lot of times you really need something called “continu ity.”
And I feel like the way Bermuda’s education is
set up, we make strides, and then sometimes we do not make strides. But if you left it to people who are experts in that particular field, which we have seen
with the BTA [Bermuda Tourism Authority] . . . if you
left it to experts, you would be able to set up a 5- , 10-,
15-year plan that even if a Government was removed
from power, that plan would still continue. And, frank-ly, this sort of educational pitfall that we are in, where
our children are struggling with the basics, it is going
to take years to overhaul that and to touch the next
generation. It is not going to happen overnight.
I feel like you need continuity. You have to
have an Education Authority that is working on that
continuously throughout whichev er administration is
involved, with oversight from the Minister, of course.
I love the initiative put forward with the i ncrease in maternity leave. I just wanted to see a little
bit of emphasis put on paternity leave, as well. Now, I
know that was mentioned already, as well, but there are fathers who are supporting households that are
not necessarily put in that box, you know, needing to
take that time off to rear a new born. I think that just a
bit more emphasis on paternity leave, as well, could
have kind of sealed that completely for me.
Madam President, I looked at the tourism part
of the Throne Speech, and I found it to be relatively small. I see that there is an interest in the Government
getting involved in the BTA. I am very reserved about
that bec ause of the amount that was put into the
Throne Speech regarding their views on tourism. There were not many initiatives, not many stimulating ideas put forth in the Throne Speech that would make
24 21 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate me feel as though the BTA should be brought under
the direct ive of a Minister.
I do think that the old saying rings true, If it
ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I feel like the things that were
put forth in the Throne Speech did not really hit too
many nails, as far as tourism goes, because there
was not much mention of ecotourism, which I was
looking into, which is tied to conservation. We do not
do a lot of land conservation. And a lot of tourists do
come to view native species of local flora and fauna
that we could be [promoting]. We could be marketing
Nonsuch Island a bit more as well, in that regard. B ecause I remember a lot of folks went there when they
were younger, and I did a few school trips there too,
and it was like . . . they had no idea that this actually
existed.
Now, youth development for me was a massive thing that I was pretty much sitting there waiting
to hear about. And I just feel as though it is almost . . .
I would not say “lacklustre,” but it just did not make me feel confident that we were really, really, really, really putting that invested time in youth, because I would
put forward an idea that we do a community centre in
every parish, like a revamped community centre that
provides, you know, alcohol - and drug- free interaction
for young people that gives them an alternative to just
kind of going to Front Street and drinking, or whatever other recreational activities.
I think a centre in every parish would be good
as well for career planning, because I feel like one
thing that education somewhat lacks is the industry -
led, sort of, initiatives, where you have somebody who literally outlines to you, Okay, these are the types of
jobs that are prevalent in your country.
I remember that when I was going to high
school one of the biggest things was picking what you wanted to do; picking what you wanted to basically
dedicate your entire life to. And, really, that was a
tough decision for many of us because the career
planning, as far as what exactly . . . if I go away to
school for something, will that degree warrant me a
job? Will that degree give me a j ob? It is okay to like
something; but where exactly is the initiative or the guidance that says to you, Okay, you like this thing,
but there may not be a job for you here in this current
climate.
Sometimes a lot of people who are young and
coming up do not necessarily really look at those
things. [They say] I like something; I want to go away
for it. But how many barristers do we have (you know,
before you commit to a law degree)? And I understand that it looks, it sounds as though you are kind of stifling somebody’s dream. But it is good to get som ebody to really sit down and commit to something with
the proper channels of being able to pursue that to
sustain themselves and/or a family later on. Because the last thing you want to do is to shoot our kids of f,
and then they come back finding out that there is nothing for them. And this tends to be the case, which is why
they either stay away, or grow up planning to leave anyway. So, a lot of these ideas are formulated in high
school —whether somebody wants to stay or go. And
we have to be getting to the youth there from middle
school onward. I also reserve a lot of pensiveness
when it comes to signature schools as well. So, I
would look forward to seeing whether that would be
implemented as far as career progression and the
likes.
I was also struck by national security, Madam
President. I feel as though it would solve a lot of our problems if we strengthened the Royal Bermuda Regiment. I think that we have an opportunity to really foster an employment option if they were given the tools
to actually make a transition into a viable humanitarian force, because their personal goal is to become a h umanitarian force. And I feel like if we supported them
more in their endeavour, a lot of young people who
are having trouble finding jobs and a lot of, not just
young folks, but a lot of unemployed folks may find
that there is something in that sort of organisation for them. And with a larger budget and more support, I
feel they could provide a very, very, very lucrative sort
of employment for many folks who are looking for
something to benefit the community and looking to get
involved, and also to take a lot of practical skills and
translate them into a viable workforce later on.
Because you serve . . . right now, if you v olunteer you would go in for a year and then you can resign on as you go. And that would be able to cultivate
a lot of people and also to give viable job opportuni-ties. I did not see any mention of that in the national
security segment. And the Royal Berm uda Regiment
is having some troubles right now. It is shrinking; it is having trouble getting bodies. And, you know, it is r eally good at moving around what little budget it has. But I would call to try and build it up to be comparable
to the police force, as far as an employment option
goes.
With environment and planning, Madam President, I mentioned earlier about conservation for local flora and fauna. I was approached by an expert in the
field who told me that there is basically barely any
conservation in that sort of area. Now, we do a lot of
marine conservation, and we do a lot of conservation
as far as the oceans go, based on, I guess, the mot ivation [of] tourism. I believe that we could strengthen
our local flora and fauna and also translate that int o a
tourism avenue and maintain a lot of our species that have been going extinct, or species that we did not even know that we had, that could also provide a jobavenue point for folks who are getting involved in env ironmental science and studies. Like my good friend,
Kyasia Fishenden .
Arts and culture is something near and dear to
my heart. I have put a lot of time in supporting local
artists myself, and though the $40,000 grant to the
Bermuda National Gallery is a good move (and I do


Bermuda Senate support it), I do feel as though we, again, have not
had that facelift when it comes to actually engaging
and assessing the arts community in our country.
We have a very vibrant arts community selection here where we have rappers and models and ar tists and all the like. And they rarely, rarely , get mentione d for these sorts of initiatives. Now, I did hear
about a meeting with the department for creatives, the Department of Youth and Cultural Affairs, and I was
very happy to hear about that. But, not having an init iative mentioned in the Throne Speech, to me kind of
makes me wonder how serious the Government is regarding these other industries of art because there
are a lot of people who are getting recognised now on
social media who have nowhere to perform.
[There are] no competitions for them. No av enues to showcase their art unless you are somebody
who paints. But there are so many more artistic opportunities that should be made available in our country
that I feel as though can help with the economy as
well. I feel as though an arts culture that is bolster ed
can actually become a very viable pillar of the econ omy because a lot of people do travel and a lot of peo-ple do invest in things that support a culture—that bo lster people’s national pride.
And we know from history that this is typically
based in art. And we have constantly neglected our
artists for a long time—especially vocal performers
who have been going to events like Big Chill and tr ying to survive off of private events when we could be
providing a platform for them that could bolster that
portio n of the economy. And we have a lot of people
who are unemployed who are artistic who could find a
different avenue of income if we just gave them a bit
more backing.
So, I really am making a call that platforms be
really made and invested in as far as —even if we are
using Cross Island—that could be a good avenue to invest in, to really give the arts a leg up because I feel
like we are missing out. And I feel like that is a viable,
viable, viable economic standpoint there with the ar tists.
And my final q uestion is with the creation of
the Bermuda Event Authority, I am wondering whether or not that will be brought under the BTA because it
seems to me as a . . . somewhat of a . . . not . . . I
would not say a waste, but I would say it seems like it
is somew hat of a double- tap, if you have a BTA which
kind of oversees these sorts of things that you would
have a complete separate event authority.
Now, I think that it will work in tandem well,
because the BTA could then provide what it is doing and the Events Authority could provide logistical support to the BTA, but I do not think they require another
standalone Events Authority.
So, all in all, I look forward to these many in itiatives being outlined and to figure out exactly where the funding is coming fro m for all of these initiatives
and I definitely remaining optimistic. Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
Throne Speech?
Senator Jones, you have the floor . . . sorry,
did you . . . ?
[Inaudible interjection]
The President: Senator Jones, you have the floor ,
and this is also your Maiden Speech.

MAIDEN SPEECH

Sen. Marcus Jones: Madam President, good afternoon to you and my fellow Senators.
As this is the first time that I am addressing
the Senate, I would like for you, Madam President, to
indulge me just before I start talking about the Throne
Speech to first of all extend my appreciation and grat itude to the party Leader of the OBA, Mr. Cra ig Ca nnonier, for affording me the opportunity to represent the party and the country in this particular role as a
Senator. Also, I will be remiss if I did not extend
recognition and appreciation to my wife and family
that have released me and allowed me t o spread my
wings within this part of the vineyard, as they say, within the political arena. So, having gotten that out of
the way . . .
As I read the Throne Speech, there were lots
of things that came to my mind. And I am a person
that is more of a half -full glass as opposed to half -
empty, and my DNA dictates that I look on the sunny side of life. As I read the Throne Speech, I was i mpressed. I felt that it was an aspiration— very ambitious, [with] a lot of good things in there. As I went
through the Throne Speech, and did a forensic anal ysis of that speech, Madam President, I would have
been absolutely exhilarated by the Throne Speech if it
was 2003 as opposed to 2018.
If we can go back in time and remember those
times back then, that is when the PLP Gov ernment
had been in power, for the first time after 30 years, for
three or four years, by that time. They had successful-ly been able to put out balanced budgets. In fact, the
PLP Government was able to decrease our debt. I
believe it was back in 2003, jobs were plenteous. You
were able to quit your job at five o’clock on Friday
evening and by Monday morning you were gainfully
employed somewhere else. They were wonderful times and, so, a Throne Speech of that magnitude
would have been absolutely perfect for the year 2003.
But, unfortunately, here we are. Our times are different today.
We have experienced, as per last data that
we have retrieved, six months of continuous dropping of retail sales. We know where our debt is. Many of
our people are still unemplo yed. As much as we do
26 21 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate need to as a Government and as parliamentarians to
make legislation that takes care of those that are the
least amongst us, there is also a need for us to be
realistic. There is a need for us to be very measured
in the way that we address our year -to-year budgets
and our initiatives that we want to take on.
Let me say from the outset, as I address this
particular topic, I do not want to repeat myself (many of the points that were raised by my fellow Senators
around the Table), I do not think it is of any benefit if I
just repeat the same figures, if I repeat the same points. But what I will do is highlight those themes that
I think are very important.
Now, whenever I consider legislation, or if I
consider putting ideas for the benefi t of the country,
there are three things that I consider. And I would like to put these markers down as I begin this discourse.
The one thing I think about most strongly is future
generations. The decisions that we make today, Madam President, will have re verberating effects on generations that follow us. So, I am not just looking to
plan for today, tomorrow, for one year, for two years.
But we are looking into the future to 10, 15, 20
years —decisions that are going to impact the next
generation. How will t hese policy and legislative dec isions factor into future generations?
Secondly, I am thinking of solutions versus
problems. When we sit around this Table, are we
more geared into providing solutions for what ails our
country or are we more interested in amplifying the
problems? We know that we have talk radio, we have The Royal Gazette , we have the blogs —there is no
shortage of a very over -intensive, over -excitable verbiage in the public marketplace about what ails Bermuda. You will not be hard- pressed to find people that
can give you a very colourful narrative of what ails o ur
country. What I do find in scarcity are people that are
willing to step up to the plate and bring solutions as
opposed to exacerbating on the things that are wrong
in our country. So, when I contemplate a Throne
Speech like this, I am thinking of future generations. I
am thinking about whether this Throne Speech is pr esenting enough solutions.
And, finally, another thought that captures my
attention is the fact that we are one Bermuda. The fact
[is], despite our ethnic, racial, gender differences, par-ty affiliation differences, we are one. We are one
country. We are one identity. We should have one
purpose which is how do we make Bermuda better for
its citizens.
Now, we know that each party has its own
definition or has its own pathway to improving the lives of its citizens. I think, for example, if you live in
the west and if you are trying to get to Hamilton during
morning traffic, there are different ways that you can
get to Bermuda . . . sorry, that you can get to Hami lton. We are all in Bermuda, right?
So, really, parties have different routes to get
to success for the country. And, as the electorate, every five years they get to determine which party can
best get them to their destination. Just as an aside,
those of you who are trying to get to Hamilton from
Somerset in the morning, the best route to take is to
go Bay Road, Harbour Road into Hamilton. You will get the most quickest and efficient way getting around
the traffic.
So, when I consider this Throne Speech, I am
thinking of those three it ems—future generations, s olutions, one Bermuda. And, as I said earlier, I live on
the sunny side of life. So, one of the things that I think about is to consider the good in things and praise it,
and that is what I did when I first picked up the Throne
Speech. I said, Before I go to look to criticise it, let me
look and see what I can get behind —what I can applaud, what I can celebrate. And there are some
things in there that I absolutely am thrilled about —
roadside sobriety testing, fitness equipment in pub lic
parks, eliminating paper forms by 2022, naming the
old Hamilton Police Station after Mr. Ottiwell Si mmons, eliminating single- use plastics by 2022. Those
were some of the initiatives that the Government put
forth in their Throne Speech that I think are worthy of
applause —it is worthy of a standing ovation. It is worthy of the praise that it deserves without putting a “but” behind it. Just congratulations, a great thought, exclamation point.
But I am duty -bound in the place that I hold to
also highlight some concerns of ours, things that we
need to consider. Things [which] we can, as a body,
regardless of party affiliation, [consider] together and
make Bermuda better.
On page 1 of the Throne Speech, there is a
phrase there on the bottom that says, “Gov ernment
revenues are up.” Like Senator Jardine, I have had
my experience within the accounting field as well.
Numbers do get my attention right away. And num-bers tell a story. Numbers can be manipulated. We
also have heard the adage that numbers do not lie. Numbers are there to tell a story, and we realise that
revenues were up primarily because of the increases
in taxes. But we know that increased taxes do not
raise the economic viability, do not necessarily i ncrease GDP. Taxation of a citizenry is a light form of
redistribution of wealth.
I was reminded of my childhood as a young
man growing up in God’s Country, which is, for those
of you who do not know, in the West End, which is in
Somerset!

[Laughter]
Sen. Marcus Jones: So, if God’s Country is in the
West End in Somerset, then I would think “heaven” is
in the neighbourhood of Cooks Hill Road, in Somerset
village. And I was reminded, as children my brother
and I thoroughly enjoyed playing marbles. I do not how we gained these marbles. I do not know if my
mom gave us an equal amount of marbles. But for the


Bermuda Senate ages between five and seven the economy in the
Jones’ home for those two boys (my brother being the
oldest) was marbles.
Now, my brother was older than me. He was a
far better marble player than I was, so he consistently
wanted to play “keeps” as opposed to “funsies.” So,
on a regular basis I was unloaded of my supply of
marbles by my brother’s expertise as a master marble
player.
Now, the reason for this scenario and this i llustration that I am put ting out here . . . let us say my
mother gave me 50 marbles and gave my brother 50
marbles. After a week of playing marbles, if she would
come and find out how much each of us had at the
end of the week, it was quite normal to discover that my brother at t he end of the week would have 80
marbles and I, the younger brother not as skilled as him, would have, say, 20. In a perfect world, my
mother would be the sovereign arbiter of the dispensing of those marbles, and I would like to have thought
that at the en d of every week, after counting those
marbles, realising that the younger brother, Marcus,
had only 20, she would, by rule of law, take 20 or so
marbles from the bigger brother and be able to di spense them to me—who was clearly one of the least
of these.
That is what Government does in a very si mplistic manner. But, that action of . . . if my mother was
able to take those marbles, [that] is not making the
economy of marbles for those two boys any better. It
is just shifting around the marbles. So, from a simpli stic standpoint, the answer for those two boys would be
to look to diversify. They would need to go beyond those two brothers to bring in more people, more
marbles. So, we would have to get beyond playing
marbles with one another. We would have to in vite the
boys down from Beacon Hill, from Broome Street,
from Bob’s Valley, invite them over so that they could
be potential victims of our marbles game and would
increase the pool of marbles within that economy of
the Jones’ brothers.
You may be saying, Senator Jones, you are
being very simplistic . But our economy is very simple.
We have to widen and diversify to a point that our economy can be stimulated, it can be allowed to wi den the tax base. No, we would not be inviting expat
workers as willing vict ims to this Island, but know that
we will be rolling out the red carpet for us to be able to
employ them, to be a part of our economy, to sit and
spend time in our restaurants, to rent our homes. I am
reminded of back in the 1980s when we had the
American military here in Bermuda. They rented our
homes. They ate in our restaurants. They were able to
prop up our economy. They were able to bring a lot of
resources to this country. A lot of times we tout what
tourism did for us back in the 1980s, but it was al so in
tandem of that military arm that was brought here that
helped to boost our economy. The reason why I am belabouring the point is
because in this Throne Speech, I believe what was
missing were the ideas for expanding and diversifying
of our economy. I realise that we have put a lot of our
trust in FinTech and the industries that would support
this particular initiative. But there is definitely a need
to for us to go beyond that.
I was also concerned (on page 7) about ed ucation. And after listening t o Senator Simmons talk
about it, there is no need for me to go into too much
detail. But I remember being a part of the public school system back in 2007. My kids were part of the
public school system. I was a Parent Teacher [Ass ociation] president at the time and we battled, and we
really discussed and we really worked over that Hopkins report.
I remember it very clearly because it was a
very emotive subject back then, and we realised that to a large degree the middle school system was becoming the scapeg oat for some of the failures within
our public school system. But I have to ask the question today —keeping in mind that that report was pr oduced was over 10 years ago— are all the stakehol ders on board? Has everyone been fully consulted?
Would there be too much disruption at this time before
we take that very critical step? And what are the pr ospects that this structural change will . . . will it improve the outputs, or the outcomes, of our students? We have to ask that question, and we need empirical
evidence to prove it —not just anecdotal examples —
but we need hard data to be able to make that dec ision.
Immigration reform. As I said earlier, it is very
important that we widen and diversify and invite more
people in. Will the reforms that we are looking at p ut
us in a position as a country, which is witnessing the
loss of too many of our next generation . . . whether
they are staying in university longer, whether they are
determining that the Bermuda dream is not for them. What are we doing, first of all, to keep our young pe ople here? What is the Bermuda dream? Is it still the
same as it was 20 or 30 years ago? Maybe the Bermuda dream that we grew up with is not realistic t oday.
So, when we talk about immigration reform,
we need to be able to let go of the fear that lingers
amongst us, that our foreign workers are more of a
danger or risk to us, to our livelihood. We need to be
able to let that fear go, but at the same time have a
balance so that we do all that we can to reward good
corporate citizens as far as immigration is concerned
so that we can widen our tax base and be able to see
the fairness and the spreading of the taxation around
our workers, which is fair for everybody.
Tourism and transport. Having worked within
the tourism industry for most of my career, I was very
much a part of the Concession Act th at was part of
legislation . . . we are talking, now, 30 years ago. And
we saw the benefits of that particular legislation. It
28 21 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate came through at the right time. The question always
remains whether that particular concession . . . if it
was viewed as corporate welfare that was extended
too long, and now it has become the fabric of concessions that we in Bermuda expect, and those within the industry expect —it is something that is going to be
there in perpetuity. We have to look at what we are
going to do with these vacation products that our cit izens are now looking to get away from providing rental properties for our locals, to opening up for Airbnb. If
we are going to do these tax breaks, we need to look at it very carefully. We need to make sure that the
monitoring of the quality of these homes is in keeping
with what Bermuda would expect.
I know that many of us are concerned about
over-regulation, but we definitely do not want to
cheapen the Bermuda product and if we are going to
consider giving concessions to these vacation rentals,
then there should be at least a little measure of monitoring how these products are rolled out to our visitors.
Then, on page 9, we saw the proposal of cr eating residenc es in the City of Hamilton for Bermuda’s
young people to own their own place. And, after listening to my fellow Senator, Senator Robinson, talk
about how this initiative would interest him as far as
mortgage relief is concerned as well, I said to myself
we need to pump the brakes just a little bit. And one
or two Senators have mentioned around the Table
even today when we look at Grand Atlantic and we
see that this particular project . . . $42 million I believe
was the cost of that particular project. We definitely need to step back and say, Is this the right use of li mited funds at this time for a country that has debt this
high?
And, then, if you step back again and you look
at the demographic that the Government has outlined
as target persons for these particular one- bedroom
homes, we recognise through the Population and
Housing Census Report of 2016, that this demographic group, between the ages of 25 and 45, is the largest
emigrant number out of this country. That particular
demographic group is also t he one group that has experienced since the last Population and Housing Ce nsus anywhere between 6 [per cent] and 8 per cent of
a decline in their gross salaries.
So, it begs the question, if we are targeting
that particular demographic, taking into account that we have empty units there at Grand Atlantic and
South Shore in Warwick, is it smart for us to be engaging and getting involved into that risky enterprise?
We know the world over that governments do not do very well when it comes to getting involved in private
real estate schemes —maybe because the profit aspect is not first and foremost. But I do believe that we
can step back and rethink that a little bit.
Now, if you look at the Opposition Party’s R eply to the Throne Speech, you will find that there are
over two dozen ideas and suggestions to improve the
welfare of our citizens here. I do not like very much the title “Opposition Party,” although that is the legal
and official title of the party that is not in power. I
would like to think of this side of the Table as the “A lternative Party,” the party that offers alternative ideas. One thing that I think all of us can all agree with is that we all have the same purpose and desire in mind. And
that is the best for Bermuda.
So, during the course of this session for this
next year, I believe that we will have more of a chance to expand on the ideas that were presented by the
Opposition Party, because I believe that our mandate is to provide alternatives to this country. Our job is to
enrich and to expand on the ideas of our Government
and give the electorate opportunities to make a dec ision on which work best for them, the alternatives or the Government’s plans.
So, real quickly, some of the things that came
out of our Reply: Education—an independent Educ ation Authority. Having seen the success of the Berm uda Tourism Authority and having seen the successive failures of the output and performance of our young
people, it is definitely worth checking out, and at least looking at, to see if it would work for us. We have the
fate of the next generation in the palm of our hands
and I think we need to all say as a legislative body, we
will not allow our kids to fail . Not on our watch!
Also, in the Opposition’s Reply there were
suggestions put forward in regard t o economic stim ulus and growth, which involved increasing the pension
pool, bankruptcy legislation, things of that nature.
There was also a suggestion that we have a Public
Registry to track utilisation of services and health care and the like. These are all suggestions that we shall
put some more meat on as time goes by.
But I would also be remiss if I did not address
the elephant in the room, and that is the debt that we
look at on a continual basis. Bermuda’s debt stands at about $2.6 billion. And with a balanced budget aspir ation being pushed back for another year, it leaves me
with great concern. Our debt -to-GDP ratio is som ewhere between 40 [per cent] and 45 per cent. The UK
is about 47 per cent. The United States is 75 per cent.
Canada is 90 per cent. Japan is some crazy number
like 122 per cent of its GDP. Heaven help us, not on
my watch will we allow it to get that bad. But it makes you stop and think.
Our debt financing represents 20 per cent of
our annual operating expenses. That is more than t he
Government spends on health care; more than it
spends on public education. Here is a number that
would give you chills at night: $62,000. That is the per capita cost of debt for every American that lives in the
United States. That represents $20 trillio n. Each
American represents $62,000—that amount of money
in debt. [That] $62,000 sounds like a lot, does it not?
Guess what? If you rolled that out for every Bermudian [it] represents about $62,000 per Bermudian to cover our debt. When we look at America’s debt, it


Bermuda Senate looks crazy. Oh, man, we are not that bad. In real
numbers, no; but per person we are just as bad.
But you know what? What I also realise is that
the Bermudian public is weary of us blaming one another. This debt that we have . . . each party can own it. To the public, it is a colossal waste of time regurgitating who started it, who added to it, who made it
worse. It is a nonpartisan issue that all of us need to
own up to. But the Government that actually holds the
public purse is mandated to bri ng leadership to managing and eradicating that debt. And, so, to some degree, we on this side of the Table . . . our hands are
tied. So, we will be holding the Government to account when it comes to our debt.
Very little was spoken, or addressed, about
the debt in the Throne Speech. I would like to suggest
to the Government that it put together a long- term
plan, a plan that outlines different steps, or different
stages, by which we can improve on our debt situation. Forty -five per cent of GDP is unsustainable for a
country of this size, where our debt lies today. A decade or so ago, our debt was about 25 [per cent],
26 per cent of our GDP. This was very much in line
with the islands to the south of us. It was manageable.
We could handle it.
If we could plan different fragments of i mprovement from 45 [per cent], say in five years we
could be at 40 per cent; say in 15 years we could be
at 35 per cent and then in 20 years we could be below
that 30 per cent of GDP mark. It would get the popul ation stirred up to see a target. And then, as much as
everyone hates to pay more taxes, if they saw that the Government of the day . . . regardless if it is the PLP or the OBA in Government. If they were able to see
improvements to the debt situation of this country,
people would be more willing to take a little bit out of
their pocket because they see it going somewhere.
One of the most exciting days of my life was
when I paid the last payment on my mortgage. I
mean, the sky was bluer, the sun was brighter, my
wife looked absolutely gorgeous, because we together
had been able to make some sacrifices. We had
planned it out. We saw it coming down and then we were able to celebrate it together. Can you imagine
what this country would be like if we were able to see
it going do wn and down to a point where it is manageable? Where the public does not see us pointing
at each other, fussing with each other, but together in
a bipartisan manner, we are attacking this public debt.
So, I was hoping that more could have been said by
the Government in regard to plans to eradicate our
debt.
There is much more that I could say. And like
I said, there is much that was said before I rose to speak. And I hope and trust that some of the things
that I laid out today would be helpful and food for thought.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you very much, Senator Jones.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Campbell, you have the floor.

Sen. Vance Campbell : Thank you, Madam President .
As an aside, I am not sure which population
figure the Senator who just finished speaking used, because I get a figure of around $40[,000] to
$43[,000]. However, nonetheless, it is still a huge fi gure.
Madam President, the purpose of a Throne
Speech is to lay out the legislative agenda of the
Government for the upcoming session. So, I would
like, with your indulgence, Madam President , to focus
on the Opposition Reply, keeping in mind what a
Throne Speech is.
For much of the Reply, it was anything but a
reply to the Throne Speech. It read more like the prel-ude to the launch of a general election. Much was
said that was incorrect, and, with your indulgence,
Madam President, I would like to go through and
quote what they say, picking pieces from their Reply
and then just outlining the reali ty.
The OBA stated, Madam President, and I
quote, “Opportunities for Bermudians were bearing
fruit.” That is one quote. Jobs for Bermudians were
being created . Second quote, Madam President . It
was the OBA that increased employment opportunities for Bermudians .
The reality, Madam President , is there was a
net loss of jobs under the OBA. Some use the figure
of 2,000. I do not know what the exact number is, but it is commonly accepted that there was a net loss of
jobs. And you can dispute the 2,000, wh atever the
number is. But there was a net loss. What you cannot dispute (because this was borne out in the census
data) that jobs for Bermudians decreased while jobs
for non- Bermudians increased under the previous
administration.
Another quote, Madam President, “The number of Bermudian jobs created by the PLP thus far
seems to amount to zero.” Well, as was stated earlier
(by, I believe, Senator Jardine), governments do not
create jobs. They create an atmosphere for job creation to take place. However, aga in, the reality is since
the PLP took office in July 2017, there has been a net
increase in jobs in the economy.
Continuing on this theme, Madam President,
the OBA, in criticising the Government’s efforts in the
area of FinTech, were critical of the sale of the land
and building on Victoria Street, saying it was sold to a
foreign- owned company with no Bermuda track record. Those are their words, Madam President, not
mine. The reality, Madam President, with the new ai rport deal, is the OBA negotiated the l oss of control of
a significant asset for approximately 30 years, I think people estimate, along with the significant revenue generated by this asset. Hundreds of millions of dol30 21 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate lars—hundreds of millions of dollars —to a foreignowned entity with no Bermuda track record.
The reality, a second reality, the proceeds of
the sale of the building on Victoria Street went to
Bermudian owners. Those Bermudian owners have a choice of keeping those funds within Bermuda, rei nvesting in the Bermudian economy. The Berm uda
public have no say in how AECON uses the $100 mi llion that will be taken out of the economy. But when
you have a Bermudian owner, or owners, receiving
funds, they have the choice to reinvest in Bermuda. They also have the choice to invest outside of Berm uda. But at least they have the choice to invest in Bermuda. AECON have no interest in investing in Bermuda. They are here for the profits and those profits will be shipped off Island.
Another comment: The OBA realise the comments made about St. Regis and Morgan’s Point. The
reality when it comes to St. Regis. They were issued,
carte blanche, dozens of work permits. Most projects
in Bermuda, even the ones with overseas partners,
have a local general contractor. The majority of the
staff onsite at any one time are staff of that general
contractor. That general contractor, historically, has
been Bermudian. That is not the case with the St. Regis. They are using those dozens of carte blanche
work permits, Madam President, to bring in workers.
They are acting as the general contractor. So, that
has significantly affected the numbers of Bermudians
that are working onsite. And it is no secret, Madam
President, that the work at Morgan’s Point has slowed
considerably.
An OBA comment, again, this is all from their
Reply to the Throne Speech outlining the Gover nment’s legislative agenda for the upcoming year. In
2012, we were on the brink of total economic disas-ter—on the brink of total economic disaster, Madam
President —with a debt of $1.4 billion at the time when
they took office, approximately. The OBA adds $1 bi llion to the national debt and calls this turning the
economy around. And one member of the previous
OBA Government even sought to write a book —did
write a book, Back from the Brink . Do we understand
what “back from the brink ” means? We were on the
brink; we are no longer on the brink. But everything
we have heard today is we are very much still on the brink.
The OBA: “If the OBA Government did not
make some of the tough decisions to pull [all of] us back from the precipice.” The OBA . . . one of the first
things they did when they took Government was form
the SAGE Commission to look into government spending and efficiency. How many of the decisions . .
. rather, how many of the recommendations, Madam
President, of the SAGE Commission were actually
implemented? The tough decisions that needed to be
made . . . the party that can make those tough dec isions, that brought us back from the precipice, the unpopular decisions. I would say little to none; little to
none.
Perhaps they were afraid to make tough dec isions, but it cost them the general election. Maybe they were “Term 2” initiatives. But the fact remains, those tough decisions that needed to be made based
on their own Commission’s recommendations were
not made.
The OBA: “The legacy of the America’s Cup
has been squandered by the PLP,” Madam President .
The reality: the OBA spent over $100 million on the
Ameri ca’s Cup. There was no guarantee that it would
return for a second year. There was no foresight into
how the $39 million spent on creating Cross Island
would be repaid. There was no plan even as to how to
use Cross Island after the America’s Cup. All this for a
short -term boost. And, yes, it was. I am an America’s
Cup fan; have been one since returning from univers ity in the early 1980s. But, again, a short -term boost.
Money borrowed to create Cross Island, with no plan
to repay it.
The OBA: “The reason th e OBA was able to
increase taxes without a revolt from the business sec-tor, which shouldered most of the tax burden,” Madam
President, “was because there was a demonstrated
commitment by the OBA to use those tax increases to
eliminate the Island’s deficit. ” Reality: The OBA i ncreased taxes. They would have you believe the rhetoric that we hear, Madam President, that they did not
increase taxes, the PLP increased taxes on the average Bermudian. The reality: OBA increased taxes.
Reality: The OBA did not elimi nate the Island’s deficit,
Madam President .
Madam President (again, quoting from the
OBA response to the Speech from the Throne), we
are talking about the legislative agenda for the Government in the next year. I do not believe I have act ually spoken in regard to any of the items that we laid
out in our agenda so far.
OBA, in reference to the Gaming Commission
where we still do not have an executive director almost 18 months after his departure . . . that is, in fact,
correct. That is the reality. Part of that reality is also
the reason why the former director departed. Madam
President, do I have leeway to read his own words —

The President: You can.

Sen. Vance Campbell: —the former executive director?
In a letter to the Commission Chairman, he
wrote he
1“quit his job after he decided the island’s
leaders lacked the ‘political will’ to keep the industry
corruption- free.”
If I jump down further, he says, “ He wrote: ‘My
primary reason for resigning is that I have lost conf idence that the Government of Bermuda,’” (we are

1Royal Gazette, 23 November 2017


Bermuda Senate talking during a time, the final days of the OBA Government. So he is referring to the OBA when he is
talking about the Government of Bermuda) “‘and its
legal system . . .”. And he says, “ My primary reason
for resigning is that I have lost confidence that the Government of Bermuda, and its legal system can
provide the necessary protections to offer well -
regulated casino gaming on the island. ”
He says a whole lot of other things as well,
Madam President, but I will not go into them.
Again, in reply to the Government’s initiatives
for the upcoming year, in reference to the Gover nment’s refinancing some of the more expensive debt
with lower cost debt, the Opposition Leader said, “I
am duty -bound to remind the people of Bermuda that
this wa s pioneered by the OBA.” Madam President,
the reality is that refinancing has been around long, long before there was an OBA.
Again, the OBA: “It was the OBA that reduced
health care costs for all Bermudians.” Reality: I never received a reduction in the cost of my health care. Did
you, Madam President ? Did anyone around this table
receive a reduction in the premiums that they were paying for health insurance? Hmmm . Interesting. The
reality: The average Bermudian never saw a reduction
in the premiums they paid for health insurance.
The OBA: “It was the OBA that helped those
less fortunate in Bermuda through a progressive pa yroll tax.” There was relief, but the reality is had the
OBA been in power in 2018, there was a plan to i ncrease payroll tax. They never got to deliver that
budget. Instead, Madam President, in 2018, the PLP
did not follow through with that plan to increase the
tax and in fact reduced the taxes on the lower band
for those who needed it most.
Again, Madam President, quoting the OBA,
“The PLP gave concessions on employee and employer contributions to payroll tax for small and medi-um start -ups, which certainly assist with critical year -
one expenses.” The reality, Madam President, is the
PLP gave concessions on employee and employer
contributions to payroll tax for small and medium start -
ups which certainly assisted with critical year -one expenses. That is the reality.
OBA: “We are disappointed that the Gover nment is putting all Bermudians' hopes and dreams in
the FinTech basket.” Madam President, this is simply
not true. FinTech is one of the areas the PLP, this
Government, is looking at in an attempt to diversify
the local economy. The Government of the day, the
PLP, continues to look for more ways to diversify and
strengthen our economy. We are not putting all our
eggs in one basket. And one of the things that the
PLP has always said, we are looking to strengthen our
economy whilst protecting our hard- earned jurisdi ctional reputation.
The OBA, Madam President, says, “Bermuda
is not as ad vanced as other nations on the issues of
women's rights and equality.” The reality, the OBA missed an opportunity when appointing (no offence,
gentlemen) an all -male team to the Senate. But yet
they call for a big conversation on these issues.
Madam Presi dent, there was an initiative by
the OBA offering early retirement to employees of the
government who qualified, and then freezing those
posts for two years. They would then fund those
posts, Madam President , and take that money and
divert it, redirect it, to be used for the America’s Cup,
primarily.
What the OBA administration will be reme mbered for, as a result of such initiatives, Madam Pres ident, will be the lack of attention to the physical plant
of our public schools. They are in a deplorable state.
What they will be remembered for is the
crumbling infrastructure that we see and that this
Government is now trying rectify, as evidenced by the neglect on our roads —both the surface of our roads,
the overgrowth of foliage, and our parks. The Botanical Gardens was a disgrace as a garden.
What the OBA administration, Madam Pres ident, will be remembered for is not providing the appropriate resources to maintain our buses —our ageing fleet of buses. And this is all as a result of this pol-icy of early retirement, freezing the positions, funding
the positions, and then diverting the funds elsewhere.
For the same reasons there is a lack of r esources to collect our garbage on the day it is supposed to be [collected] without the incurrence of great
amounts of overtime.
Madam President , the OBA Government will
be remembered for passing zero anti -money laundering and anti -terrorism funding legislation when we had
this review coming this year. Were they too focused
on the America’s Cup? Maybe. Maybe it never entered their minds. Hence . . . and we all know, I think
there were 42 pieces of legislation that dealt with the AML/ATF. We are not going to say that this is the only
reason why some of our other initiatives did not get completed, but it did take up an enormous amount of
time in this Senate.
Madam President , we agree on the PLP side
that we must increase immigration. But as, I believe it
was Senator Jardine, again, that said, You can broaden your tax base, you can bring these people here.
But what are they going to d o if you don’t already
have the jobs for them to occupy? No jobs. They have
no money to pump into the economy. But we do be-lieve there must be a balance between increasing the
tax base and meeting the needs of the businesses in
Bermuda—both local and international —and the expectations of Bermudians that they should find employment within their country.
Having said all that, Madam President , no one
group has all of the ideas. No one group has all of the answers. And I truly believe (as was borne out in our
history) that if we are to succeed with the challenges that . . . in addressing successfully those challenges
that we face we will requir e a bipartisan approach to
32 21 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate solving [them]. This Government, Madam President ,
welcomes input from the Opposition, the relevant
government departments such as the BMA and the
Registrar of Companies and others, our industry par tners, and the general public.
What you see, Madam President , in the
Speech from the Throne presented by Government, is
an attempt to look long term. Our efforts to continue to
diversify the economy of Bermuda are long term. We
hope to have some short -term successes, but we are
looking l ong term. We are looking towards growing
new sectors of industry. We would like to see and contribute to the continued growth in tourism that we
have realised, Madam President . And we would like to
reduce long term —not for a week, not for six months,
long term—the cost of living in Bermuda, putting more
disposable income in the hands of families that they
can then turn around and pump back into the economy as well as reducing the cost of doing business in
Bermuda.
We are committed to these things, Madam
President , and with that I will conclude my comments.

The President: Thank you, Senator Campbell.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
Throne Speech?
Senator Hayward, you have the floor.
Sen. Jason Hayward: Good afternoon, Madam President .
The Pr esident: Good afternoon to you.
Sen. Jason Hayward: Thank you for giving me the
opportunity to weigh in on this debate regarding the
PLP’s 2018 Throne Speech and our legislative agen-da set out for the next fiscal period.
I believe this Throne Speech [can] be well -
considered to be transformative. And I say “transformative” because it hits in a number of areas that
are required for us to break down what we call “sy stematic income inequalities.” Interesting enough,
when I look at the cover of the OBA Throne Speech Reply they used these sustainable development goals
on their cover. And that is fitting, because those sustainable development goals help us to achieve a fairer and better Bermuda. Those sustainable development
goals, if achieved, help to reduce inc ome inequality
within the countries that are able to get to that standard.
Madam President , income inequality is a huge
issue. It is probably one of the single- most issues
plaguing countries worldwide because the trickle- on
effect of this income inequalit y is social and economic
deterioration for groups of people within countries. So I was glad to see the shift in the Government’s Throne Speech. It is good to have a balanced Throne
Speech, but then it is also good to have one that is
focused on the people. And that is what I believe this Throne Speech is —one that is surely focused on the
people. We can talk over and over and exhaust the dialogue regarding economic growth. But, more i mportantly, what this Throne Speech seeks to do is i mprove on our economic development, and the ec onomic development is focused on the people, the cit izenry of the country.
Progressive taxation. We talk about equity
versus equality. Progressive taxation is something
that a Labour Party always has in its arsenal of things
to do t o level the playing field . . . always has in its
things to do to level the playing field. Where there are
individuals that make more, they have a responsibility
to contribute more. I think that has been embraced by
the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr.
Wright, in a recent Royal Gazette article where he has
admitted that the burden of taxes has been placed on
employment and the workers of this country. The F inancial Responsibility Panel has also highlighted
twice in their annual reports the disproportionate burden of taxes that are placed on workers and the lo west earners within the country.
There has been no secret that wealth in Bermuda has gone largely untaxed. The rich get huge tax
breaks in Bermuda compared to the taxes they would
have to pay i n other jurisdictions. I am not talking
about income tax. I am not even talking about corpo-rate taxation. But certainly inherited wealth that has been passed on also goes untaxed. It is sensible for
us to consider expanding our tax base.
But we cannot get across the argument, when
we say that, is the importation of individuals into our
society going to displace Bermudians in their home
country? And this is what we have seen. Based on a
number of factors we have seen Bermudians di splaced in Bermuda. When we look at our unemplo yment rate, which is roughly around 7 per cent, and
has remained relatively static since 2010, what you will find is that what we have is what we consider structural unemployment. We see a mismatch between the skill sets which businesses demand from
our citizens and the skill sets our citizens present for a
portion of the unemployed.
However, for another portion of the unemployed there is this thing that we call “discriminative hiring,” and Bermudians are not getting a fair share or
havin g fair access to employment opportunities, so
much so that the Government is looking to progress
workforce equity and pay equity legislation in this session. Workforce equity and pay equity means if a
woman is equally as qualified as a man, then we should look to employ that woman, if the demographic
makeup of the company does not possess or have
large portions of women . . . or is not reflective of the
population. And it is not forcing companies to employ
women, but also the company has to justify why it h as
no women as senior executives when women are
qualified.


Bermuda Senate We have to look at that when we look at our
black population. Why do blacks not have access to
certain jobs, but whites do?
To what level does one’s disability prevent
them from obtaining a job? A person who is in a
wheelchair who possesses a masters’ degree is less
likely to be employed than the person that is not in a
wheelchair that has that exact same masters’ degree,
because when they go on that interview they are di scriminated against based o n their disability.
The census data shows us that there are pay
equity issues in our system. Men make more than
women in the exact same occupation, even though
[men] generally, across the board, have a higher m edian income than women in the exact same occup ations. In the private sector women make less than
their male counterparts.
Bermudians make less than their nonBermudian counterparts in high- end jobs and it is the
reverse at the low end jobs, where non- Bermudians
make substantially less than Bermudians in low -end
jobs. Pay equity seeks to rectify that.
I just did not want to stick to the census data
when we were looking at equality . . . workforce equity
and pay equity. So what I did was I took the time to speak with persons who were in certain industr ies
who were ably qualified for certain jobs and asked
them about their workplace experience. I asked a
black Bermudian female who works in insurance what
her experience was. And she said that her male counterparts make more than her for the same job.
I asked, Why?
[She said,] They were able to negotiate better
salaries . That is , despite what she can bring to the
table, they were paid more based on their negotiating
ability.
When asked regarding her counterparts that
are non- Bermudian, it was revealed that nonBermudians make substantially more than Bermudians in the international business or insurance sector.
When asked about reinsurance the response was,
That’s a playing field that Bermudians simply can’t
penetrate. Forget being a black female in reinsurance.
And when you look at the numbers, you have
to ask yourself how this is the case where we have
qualified black women who cannot penetrate certain industries, number one; and then, number two, get
paid substantially lower than their male counterparts
and substantially lower than their non- Bermudian
counterparts —all with the same level of ability. And so
pay equity seeks to rectify that situation.
The insurance companies have recognised
that this is an issue and so they have run a huge
campaign “Dive In” —Diversity in Insurance Campaign.
And part of the dialogue was embracing [the fact] that
they have dropped the ball in these areas. The con-versation [and] the dialogue then translates into
whether or not legislation is needed or can act as a
catalyst to the change. But while I highlight insurance and reinsurance, it happens across every industry in Bermuda. And so we have to ensure that we break discrimination down and we ensure that persons that are ably
and suitably qualified receive the remuneration that they deserve and also have access to employment
opportunities. Unless we break down those barriers,
we will continue to see our young persons attain a
certain level of education and leave the Island b ecause there is no opportunity.
Madam President , this Go vernment seeks to
extend employment for public service officers beyond
the age of 65. That is commendable. That is som ething we have been championing for a while. Madam
President , you would know that a person’s life does
not end at 65. But somehow their em ployment, or the
way in which they are viewed in the employment market, changes when that person reaches that magic
age. There is legislation in Bermuda that makes it
mandatory for individuals to retire at the age of 65.
The Public Service Superannuation F und or Act e nsures that any public servant reaching the age of 65
must retire. And that legislation needs to be amended.
However, many persons sign up to retire at
the age 65 when they sign their employment contracts and they do it without full knowledge of knowing what
they are doing. And so, naturally, persons’ emplo yment contracts have an end date at their 65
th birthday.
And when you are being employed at a younger age
you do not really look at that line, you are happy to get
that job. However, when you want to continue to work,
most times persons are denied that opportunity.
But we recognise that we do have an ageing
population. The census data indicates that the unemployment rate for those over the age of 65 has i ncreased. That is strange because natur ally you would
think that persons are no longer looking for work after
the age of 65. But they are, and the unemployment
rate for those individuals has increased because there
is more willingness from persons over the age of 65 to
continue to work.
Madam President , the number of persons 65
and older has also increased, which means there are more persons 65 and older being retained into the
workforce, recognising that they are capable of con-tinuing to work after that magic age of 65. The Government, underst anding that in its wisdom, is looking
to push the retirement age up past the age of 65 . . .
looking at those factors. In some countries they have
moved to a point where they have removed any sort
of retirement age altogether.
But we are making steps. I was part of a Labour Advisory Council subcommittee which actually
looked at putting a report together. That committee
contained: individuals from the Pension Commission, Peter Sousa; individuals from Age Concern, which
would have been Claudette Fleming; members from
the Hotel Association, Corporation of Hamilton, and
the unions, and the Bermuda Government’s labour
34 21 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate officers. A tripartite committee looked at this and put
recommendations forth to the Government, and those
recommendations were considered when the Government sought to place this item in their legislative agenda.
Reducing the cost of health care is huge. It is
a huge undertaking and a huge exercise. It is easy to
say what we need is to have some type of restriction
on utilisation and put caps on or regulate the cost of
health care. It is easier said than done. And so I was
part of a committee that the Bermuda Health Council put together to look at health care financing reform.
And when those questions were asked about the ou tcomes of ensuring that there is accessible and affor dable health care for all, ensuring that everybody has
health insurance, and ensuring that the health insurance premiums that people pay are actually affordable, we said, Why don’t we just do those two things?
Let’s put some rest rictions on utilisation so that persons are not utilising the most costly procedures over
and over or over -testing and things of that nature, and
let’s just reduce the cost of health care across the
board. And the financial . . . the health care econ omists informed us that it is not that easy.
You see, within our health system costs are
interlinked. So you cannot just reduce one cost. The
whole finance . . . the whole model is an interdepen dent matrix. And so it is not like you can just adjust certain levels or restrict certain costs, you have to make
fundamental changes to the whole costing system.
In order to do that the actuaries that actually
looked at providing the options of either a unified or dual payer system said that what you need to do is change your financing system so that you create a
level of efficiency across your board. Once you have
that unified system, then it is easier to make the
tweaks. And that is why the Government is looking
first to adjust the financing strategy, which we currently operate under because they believe, or we believe,
that this will be the best approach for allowing us to make those necessary changes in the system that we
require.
Madam President , you will see that there will
be revisions to labour legislation, but als o the
strengthening of national sexual harassment law and
policy. Sexual harassment in the workplace is som ething of concern in Bermuda. It largely goes unrepor ted. So if you went to the Human Rights Commission
and asked for the cases of reported sexual haras sment, you would get a handful, if that. But when we do internal employment studies . . . and one of the largest
employers in the country did a study. We saw that sexual harassment was actually up there at 7 per cent
of the workforce . . . said that the y had been sexually
harassed in the workplace. It is not . . . when you are
talking about 100 people, we are talking about 7. But when we are talking about an organisation that employs a couple thousand people, now we are talking
about 140 persons who are saying that they have been sexually harassed while working in the wor kplace. That is alarming. That needs to be addressed and the Government is seeking to address it.
But I would be remiss if I did not say that there
are huge differences in the way genders view sexual
harassment. And so studies have shown that males
view sexual harassment fundamentally differently than
females. Males who are subjected to sexual haras sment in the workplace, a study showed that 60 per
cent of the males found it flattering (sexual advances
in the workplace), while 61 per cent of the females in
that same work environment found it insulting. And so
there has to be a shift in what is acceptable and unacceptable in the workplace.
But these things are things that we need to
put for th because if we do not create that working environment, for women in particular, . . . most times
these women are the backbone of families. So if they
are not treated right in the workplace, or are denied
opportunities in the workplace, or are not living in a
dignified working environment, those problems translate into the house and translate into further social problems.
And so when we talk about the education sy stem and the reforms that are needed, what model would be best? People can refute what model and
have their own opinions on what model is best for our
education system. If we do not address the social problems that are now in our education system, it
does not matter what model we go to. We have
teachers who are unable to teach because children
have so many social issues. We have seasoned
teachers who have been in the education system for
15-plus years who have said, This is the worst cohort
of students . . . the environment is one where it is not
conducive to learning. We have more paraeducators
that have to sit in class for non- disabled kids. These
are kids with social issues that require paraeducators
to sit in class with them. See, if we do not begin to address some of
the root causes of the problems, primarily where I began with income inequali ty, we breed these social environments that are not conducive to families, and
then we have kids emanate from these social env ironments that are incapable of learning once they get
into a school.
I met with a school counsellor and she told me
that she has to keep women’s —girl’s—underwear in
her office because young girls are going to school . . .
because their parents are not washing their under-wear. So they go to school with no underwear on. They come to her office every day for fruit and lunch —
kids. She did a presentation and she was talking to
the class about the negative effects of smoking. And
one student asked her whether she was talking about
marijuana or crack. The teacher was talking about
cigarettes. We have children who have now . . . they
are in households where they are exposed to drug
use to the extent where crack cocaine . . . the use of


Bermuda Senate crack cocaine is being observed by our young kids.
And if it is being observed, it is probably being i nhaled.
We have issues with our social environment
and t his is why . . . forget the balance. We try to pr ovide a people- focused Throne Speech. Because if we
do not focus on the people, we are not going to have a business environment that businesses wants to
come and operate in.
Ensuring that people have access to secondary, post -secondary education is key, breaking that
cycle of dependency. And so because your family
does not have the financial means, but you have the
skill sets to operate in a college environment, does not
mean that you should not be able to attend. And so this Government is going above and beyond to ensure
that more and more individuals have an opportunity to
attend. Hopefully those young kids take advantage of
the opportunity which is provided, they go off, they get
an education, and they com e back and they are able
to find a job in our community.
We want to ensure that we implement a living
wage. I have had the unique opportunity to be on two
committees responsible for looking at the living wage.
One was the LAC subcommittee looking at that ma tter, and the second would have been the joint select
committee.
The majority of persons that were interviewed
regarding a liveable wage were able to provide a s ocial argument in terms of why it is needed. Everybody
embraced the social argument in terms of why a living
wage was needed. The difficulty is the application of
applying it. But if the social argument is so strong, then we should move forward with implementation.
Yes, we recognise that the views of the business
community need to be taken into c onsideration. And
that is what we seek, and plan to do. And so if you
saw the report that was provided by the joint select
committee, it actually said that we are not in a position
to establish a living wage . . . the committee was not
in a position to est ablish a living wage. What the
committee wants is that a tripartite wage commission
be established and those people will be in a better position of establishing a living wage, taking into consideration everybody’s view.
We looked and said that a living wage is d esired. But a minimum wage is still required, because
we do have persons who are making deplorable wages in this country. And without any regulations they
will continue to make those wages. What was actually
recommended was $12.25. No, it is not too high
based on our jurisdiction. We cannot be blind to the fact that we live in a country with one of the highest
costs of living in the world. And so we should expect
that our minimum wage rate be a bit higher than other
jurisdictions, especially comparati ve jurisdictions to
ourselves.
But what we sought to do was not just pluck a
magic number out of the sky. In February of this year the ILO released a minimum wage price setting policy
guide, and we were able to follow that guide in terms
of establishing t he number required for a minimum
wage. And so what we wanted to do was produce a number that would be in alignment with international best practice. So what we did was ensure that we
provided a figure that was well within the range of the
recommended polic y framework that the ILO had put
out.
There is no policy framework for a living
wage, which made it more difficult. And so what we
sought to do regarding a liveable wage was look at
thresholds that currently exist. We recognised that
there were studies do ne regarding a low -income
threshold in Bermuda. And so we determined that if a
low-income virtual number was established, we
looked to see if other jurisdictions were actually using
low-income threshold figures as benchmarks. And
what we found was that, ye s, in other developed juri sdictions, which have strong statistical offices, those
low-income threshold levels are actually used as
benchmarks to deriving some sort of living wage fi gure. And so we were on a very sound footing with rec-ommending that some sort of benchmark around
$18.00 to $18.25 be utilised.
The conversation would have to continue. We
would have to have extensive industry consultation.
But, certainly, that will improve the lives of many. Yes, there is a consideration around how gratuities wi ll be
factored into the equation. But apart from the unio nised environments, there is major concern in this country regarding how gratuities are shared in the first place. Many employers are not sharing gratuities with
their staff. And so we attend restaur ants and the expectation is the tip that we leave goes to the person that served us, or the person in the back room who
cooked the delicious meal. That is not the case. And
so we have had numerous amounts of complaints
coming into the Government from emplo yees regar ding the inequitable distribution of tips. So that is an
item that is currently on the agenda of the Labour A dvisory Council and something the Government will
look at to put some sort of policy framework in place
to address.
Madam President , it w as interesting to note
Senator Robinson and his comments regarding what is being done for the youth, because I was also part of
another committee, which is the Bermuda National
Workforce Development Team. [This committee] was
responsible for the implementation of Bermuda’s N ational Workforce Development Plan. And if I can just
read excerpts from that particular Plan for my fellow
Senator who had concerns in terms of what the Government is doing regarding the youth . . .
The President: Yes, you may.
Sen. Jason Hayward: “Strategic Priority 4: Youth
Workforce Programmes. This Plan prioritises support
36 21 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate for youth and young adults, ensuring that there are
substantial investments in programmes and services
that help young persons to lead healthy, safe, and
successful lives. This Plan also seeks to ensure Youth
Workforce Programmes are developed and impl emented. Youth Workforce Programmes will be primar ily targeted at middle level school students and support them on through their academic journey. Youth
Workforce P rogrammes will be used to create av enues to employment. This would include ensuring that students increase their career awareness by providing them with data- driven career advice and providing
them opportunities to develop skill sets that align with
current and future job market demands. Youth Wor kforce Development Programmes will integrate basic
education with college- level course work, leading to
an industry -recognised credential, and can be the first
step toward an academic certificate or degree.”
In this calendar year, Government also hired a
consultant to advance an implementation plan for the strategic and operational plans outlined in this doc ument. And so we will be actively working on the Wor kforce Development Plan. I would encourage every Senator to read it. It is one that did not really get the
national coverage that I believe it deserved. We saw
the roll -out of a National Training Plan, and that was
kind of promoted and tooted and floated. But this document is far more comprehensive than the Nati onal
Training Plan that was produced. It progressed past a lot of the concepts that were in the National Training
Plan. And when we have our stakeholder meetings,
when we speak with industry and the likes, they are
impressed by that Plan. And so I would encourage everyone to take an opportunity to read this Plan because this is a strategic plan in terms of how we get
Bermudians skilled- up and how we get Bermudians
active in the world of work in Bermuda.
Madam President , we talk about what the
Government’s plan is regarding economic diversific ation. It seems as though we have put all of our eggs in the basket regarding FinTech. But that is not the case.
In the last legislative session the Government created
a position in the BEDC for a Director of Cooperativ es.
Last night I had the opportunity to go to a presentation
that presented an impressive model for cooperative
development. The work has begun regarding non-traditional forms of economic enterprises, which are
cooperatives.
Cooperatives are what I consider to be a vi able option for economic growth and development in
this country. Cooperatives can create jobs. Cooper atives do not necessarily have to be a new industry, but
what they can do is penetrate and expand current i ndustries that we are in. The BEDC is doing a lot of
work. They have two further sessions regarding cooperative economics and cooperative models. I believe the sessions are on December 4
th and 5th of this year,
and I would encourage everybody to attend. What I realised [and saw] last night was
something that was insightful. I actually saw tangible
movement in the area in terms of informing and educating the population regarding cooperatives. We have one major cooperative in the Island that is operating, and that is the Bermuda Credit Union. And they
are doing a yeoman’s job in terms of servicing persons who cannot get access to capital from banks. So
they operate on a not -for-profit model, one where employees, one where end- users can also be owners of
those particular enterprises.
Senator Campbell did an excellent job of hig hlighting and filtering out noise. And so what I found in
this particular Speech from the Throne was that there
was very little regarding noise, and persons say that it
lacked detail. Certainly it will . . . and every Speech
from the Throne that you have read thus far would
lack detail because it is not designed to provide a
great level of detail. It is not designed to provide great
insight in terms of how these initiatives will be funded.
It always seems as though when you raise a
new initiative in a legislative agenda somebody says, Well, how is it going to be funded? as though we do
not have government departments that have funding already. Some of these [require] just shifting priority
and funding that is already with in government in certain areas and departments into these priority areas. Certainly, for capital development we have to look at creative ways of funding projects. But for the most
part the Throne Speech items will be funded by current department allocations. That was the case in the
last fiscal period, and that will be the case in this one.
The Government is not prepared to go and
ask the House of Assembly to adjust its debt ceiling. We ultimately want to pay down our debt. We have a
plan in place to do so. We have a Finance Minister
who is capable and competent enough to execute that
particular plan. We just saw where the Government
refinanced its debt. But we also see now where the
Government has given the average Joe the opportuni-ty to refinance his debt, especially his largest debt,
which is the mortgage. I cannot underscore how si gnificant that will be to a number of families.
We can talk about growth, growth, growth. But
this particular Throne Speech was about social and
economic development. I was ver y pleased to see the
shift from what I would consider to be neoliberal pol icies that we have been pandering to in the past.
The unions of this country have been doing a
lot of advocacy over the years, and in this Throne
Speech we were able to tick off six or seven items that
we have been actively advocating for that the Gov-ernment is moving forward with implementation. We
do our, the unions do their, advocacy selflessly. Most
times our members are not in the conditions that we
are advocating improvement for. But it is nice to see a
translation . . . from the translation of advocacy to be
now in the position of Government where we can a dBermuda Senate vocate some of those things that will improve the lives
of the average everyday people.
And when you look at the Throne Sp eech . . .
I want to go over with a measure and use the meas-ure to say . . . tick the items and say, Will this item
improve the lives of the everyday person? Yes or no?
Regardless of what concerns you may have in terms of how it will be funded, or your concerns you may
have in terms of where it may have missed the mark
regarding job creation, when you look at this Throne
Speech you can tick off almost every item and say,
You know what? This will improve the lives of the ev eryday person.
I am pleased to be associated with the Pr ogressive Labour Party. I am pleased to be associated
with this year’s Speech from the Throne. The initi atives are certainly ones that I would consider to be progressive. They are social democratic principles
that I think that a Labour Government should espouse.
But, Madam President , after this debate the
hard work begins. And I will be pleased to assist the Government in any way in carrying out these initi atives.
Thank you, Madam President .

The President: Thank you, Senator Hayward.
And Senator Richardson . . . I believe you . . .
you have the floor.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Good afternoon, Madam
President .

The President: Good afternoon to you.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: And fellow Senators, especially those who are new as of last we ek.
What is the time limit?
The President: We still have 45 minutes. After five
hours of debate, then we reduce it. So you have up to 45 minutes.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President , you
will be pleased to know that I am not going to take 45
minutes.

[Laughter]

Sen. Anthony Richardson: As you know, I rarely
take that much time to speak.
But as an opening comment, I want to say
that I actually attended one of the living wage forums that was held. And what I came away with from that
as a real learning point, which was really emphasised,
was that, guess what? Behind all that we do there is a
person. Sometimes we refer to these persons as b eing Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Sometimes we refer to them as being Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda. And sometimes we refer t o them as just being Joe Public. But I want to
emphasise the fact that there are people behind all that we do who will be impacted, and I hope that we
are able to keep that at the forefront of our minds as
we go through this legislative session, and even as we go through now —not now, but as we go through— and
really put in place some of the initiatives that have
been outlined in the Government’s Throne Speech as
we have all articulated today.
When I sat last week, Friday, and listened to
the Throne Speech, like everybody else, it was the first time I had heard it. I knew of some aspects, but I
heard it for the first time. And my immediate thought
was, I am going to go home and tell my daughter to
read the Throne Speech. My daughter is 17 years old.
I did exactly that. And what did she say?
Daddy, no way, I’m not going to read this
thing, it’s too long winded.
And I said, N o, yes you are .
And the reason I had that thought was because I was thoroughly impressed by the level of detail within the Throne Speech in terms of how it
touched almost everything. And I wanted her to understand that she, as a future university student, had
to make sure that whatever she wants to do should
align with what Bermuda will be like going forward.
Because as some of you have said already, it makes
no sense to be going overseas to get an education to
come back and find out, guess what? What I have
now learned and become expert in is no longer rel evant in the context of having a job.
And so we had that conversation, and I am
saying this now for fellow Senators and those in the
listening audience— whether it be parents or students
alike. I want to encourage them to do the exact same
thing. It is not about being lazy and listening to the
sound bites, because, by definition, sound bites are
just that. They are meant to be headline catchers and
that is it. They do not carry any detail. And I think it is irresponsible for us not to take the time to do that.
We, as Senators and the Ministers and other
members of the public will do their bit, I guess, to pr ovide information. But I think we are at a stage now
whereby each of us has to take our personal respo nsibility more seriously and understand where we are,
because Bermuda is definitely changing. And, again,
we need to make sure we are in th e right place to participate in where Bermuda is going, because otherwise we are going to increase our own level of frustr ation.
One of the things I was going to highlight, to
be honest, is the education, because those Senators
sitting around who were her e in the last session know
that I am a proud advocate of public education. But
based upon the comments that have already been
made, there is no need for me to do so. Certainly
Senator Simmons more than ably led off with, I think, a very complete commentary on education. And
Senator Hayward just added to that, primarily I believe
38 21 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate from the social aspect, because for good or for bad
. . . I am not sure quite how to phrase this. But I almost live vicariously in the education sphere because
my wife, as you know, is a school principal. And I am
very much aware of the significant and sustained s ocial issues that impact our children when they come to school.
And I know it is very difficult to manage a
classroom when you are trying to teach and you have children that have come to the school . . . and I do not
even blame the children. But their social environment
is such that they are not prepared to learn. And you
are right, they might have no clothes, in some cases,
maybe no breakfast. But, more importantly for me i s
the fact that they came out of a dysfunctional family. And so we think, okay, fine, it is whatever . . . It is
eight -thirty, nine o’clock, I am here to learn. But I have
come out of an area whereby I might have had . . .
myself had what we called licks whatever. Or my parents might be dysfunctional. I might just be in a dy sfunctional environment . And this has to be addressed.
And Madam President, the Attorney General
referred to the budget discussion earlier this year
when we talked about the Education br ief. I believe
the number was $16.5 million which was spent in public education and support services. Right? That is a
huge amount of money. And while I am at it, I think many people sometimes mischaracterise [the situation] because public education, when compared to
private education . . . because if any of you have any
friends or otherwise in the private system, you know
full well that the level of support systems in private is
not the same as in public. And if you happen to be, unfortunately, dysfunction al in the private system you
are going to be moved out for whatever reason into
the public system and then, as Senator Hayward said
already, there is going to be a significant additional
effort put in place for your child, which increases the
cost of publi c education.
But as I said I am not going to go there b ecause cer tainly Senator Simmons and others have
already done a very good job in that ar ena.
So what I will do instead is simply focus on
and area where I am going to have more impact going
forward, which is a more full review of the cost of li ving for Bermuda. Members may be aware that the
Premier and former Minister of Finance, the Honour able David Burt, did put in place a Cost of Living Commission, and asked me to chair that. And we are doing
some w ork around that. And I was pleased, again, to
see that many of the areas [which] we are addressing
have been addressed in the Throne Speech in trying to, in a very practical way, assist Mr. and Mrs. Berm uda or Mr. and Mrs. Smith, or Joe Public, as I said, to
really get a handle on the actual cost of living in Ber-muda.
Clearly, for the household there is emphasis
on both the revenue, i.e., how much do people earn? And that is going to be a derivative of what job you may have, which is based upon a lot of di fferent factors. Because in some cases you may be well -
qualified, but not able to get the job that really meets
your potential, because in Bermuda there are, in some
cases, structural, sustained, compromises when it comes to employment, and so this has to be addressed.
But the first one I want to talk about, to be
honest, is that in terms of cost of living, one of the
most significant underlying factors is, in fact, the cost
of credit, or lending, or mortgages, whatever we call that, which comes really down to how banks operate
in Bermuda. And it almost seems, I suppose, that now
there is a greater focus on lending institutions, of
which we really have three —three major ones in any
event. And there is definitely a disproportionate amount of funds being earned in that arena because of the difference between the deposit rate (i.e., what
you can get if you put your money into the bank) and
the [rate] that you borrow at.
It is actually ridiculous in comparison to a lmost anywhere else overseas. And for many reaso ns
there is resistance in the Bermuda marketplace for
additional competition from a banking perspective. I
believe the capital requirement is probably about $15
million, plus there are many other aspects in terms of
who can actually operate a bank. We know that there
were some almost well -publicised persons who had
banking licences in the past and for whatever reason allowed them to be merged with other banks, which
[resulted in] less competition.
And so I want Bermuda to get behind the
Government’s attempts or plans to introduce compet ition in the banking sector, because that is going to be
really the only way by which we can actually start to
reduce those costs.
Based on today’s discussion, I did a very u nderstandably rough calculation. And that is that if we
assume that there are 16,000 households which have mortgages —16,000 mortgages outstanding— and you
could reduce those mortgages by reducing the actual
mortgage rate to the extent that the mortgage itself is
reduced by $500, the monthly impact is $8 mi llion.
And we often talk about the idea of there are reduc-tions in terms of retail spend and other things in the economy. And it is patently obvious that if househol ders had an extra $8 million a month to spend, then the
economy would actually be more ener gised. Because
if any of us had, for example, an additional $500 per
month to spend, or just had that money, rather, some
of us around this Table would clearly spend that mon-ey. A few of us may decide to save the money, but
several of us I am sure would decide to spend it. So,
therefore, there is a legitimate discussion around rea lly working to reduce the lending rates overall to boost
the economy.
Similarly, if you have a business loan outstanding, you have to factor your interest cost into your prices. And so even if a reduction in the lending


Bermuda Senate rates did not cause you to reduce your prices, as a
business owner you would still have more money to
spend as you choose, because you will then also
spend it. You may do other things. For example, you
may not go to a retail store, but you will start doing
things such as you may renovate your house or do
other things that would definitely start, again, to energise the economy.
And so that, for me, is a significant component
within the Throne Speech, and I definitely l ook forward
to how the Government will now move forward to
make that a reality. I hope that the increased discussion in the community around the concerns of the
spread between deposit rates and lending rates will
cause the existing banks to be more respons ive to
what is an acknowledged need in the community. The
general public will be aware that the Government, and
by extension all of us as taxpayers, took a significant
role in ensuring that one of our local banks did not, in
fact, experience even more financial difficulty than it
did. Effectively, the Government rescued that bank. And it now seems as though that bank forgot that
Bermuda ensured its survival.
Clearly, the management at the bank has
changed. Certainly, at the head level and the senior executi ve have changed. However, I think there is a
recognised need for social responsibility for them to
demonstrate that they do remember what Bermuda
did for them, and to act accordingly. And if that does
take place, then, clearly, other banks will respond.
So even the initiative, whereby there will be a
reduction of the stamp duty to transfer mortgages, it would hopefully stimulate persons to become more knowledgeable and understand which banks have the
lower lending rates and then move their mortgages
from one bank to the next.
I will say, Madam President, that in the debate
in another place on Friday, there was some discus-sion in terms of whether or not that would be effective.
And politely I will say that some of the commentary
was disingenuous in the sense that, clearly, if you
have been granted a mortgage at one institution it is
not as though you cannot afford the mortgage. So you should, by and large, qualify for a mortgage at another
institution. So I would encourage persons in the community that, if they have a mortgage and, once the legislation is passed, to actively look at the possibility
of moving their mortgage from one institution to another.
What Bermuda does not have, by the way,
which happens in other jurisdictions, is legitimate
mortgage br okers. When you want to borrow money,
you have to go to the mortgage broker, and their job is
to look in the economy and find the best mortgage
that fits your particular criteria and then recommend
where you should go. And in doing so, you have more expert knowledge around how to place your mor tgage, and you benefit by hopefully getting the best possible mortgage. The other area is health care. Other Senators
have already commented about the health care costs, but, clearly, to the extent that I can reduce my monthly
health premium, I would have more money to spend
on other things, or just reduce my stress. I get paid at the end of the month. And my first thing is to review
which bills have to be paid. I am more frustrated if my
total expenses are more than the amount of money I
am earning. So, to the extent that we can get it more
balanced for each household, there would actually be,
I believe, a positive impact on the home environment because those persons who feel frustrated in terms of
not being able to pay their bills have almost a natural
dysfunctional interaction with their families [compared
to] the persons who are paid each month and are
comfortably able to pay all their bills each month and
have an excess.
I think that is standard human behaviour in
terms of if you believe you have less, it is more diff icult to manage your family. And from . . . I want to say
from a male perspective, it is disheartening if you work a full week and you are still unable to provide for your family in terms of paying expenses and then having
something in excess to do certain things. So I think
that is a natural reality that we have to face up to.
So I certainly look forward to the additional
discussions around how we are going to form these, I
believe it is two, pools, a nd the impact it is going to
have on overall health care in Bermuda.
Another aspect is housing. There have been
some comments in terms of, yes, is there a demand to satisfy the proposal to allow one- bedroom and studio
apartments to be built in the Hamilton area. I guess I
want to say politely that, clearly, no one is going to
spend $10 million, $15 million, or $20 million to build
these units without doing the necessary work to [know
if] persons are desirous of obtaining those places. I
will say, as an asi de, that to use the Grand Atlantic as
an example of how it cannot be done is not giving full
description as to what happened with Grand Atlantic.
And even now, in terms of how the Housing Corpor ation is making use of the Grand Atlantic speaks to the
fact t hat when things do not go the way you want
them to go at first, there is always a Plan B. It requires
more work sometimes, but, yes, there is a Plan B. But
in this instance, I do not think the comparison between
the Grand Atlantic and what is proposed for Hamilton
is appropriate.
Anecdotally, I suppose, Senator Robinson’s
comment earlier, in terms of how he hoped that the
mortgage relief comes into play to allow him, for ex-ample, to get a housing letter would be but a small
example of how many others there are who would be
in a similar position. So, again, we encourage ever yone to get behind Government and support their efforts in that regard.
The next aspect, which is not directly touched,
but will have an impact going forward, is food prices in Bermuda. We need to ensure that persons are able to
40 21 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate buy healthier food and, again, to the extent that these
initiatives allow persons to have more disposable i ncome, they can then start to make better choices
when it comes to their food purchases. That is i mportant, of course, because to the degree that we are
able to eat healthier food, we will be healthier for sure,
and that will also lessen the need for us to engage in
health care services, and so we do have that overall
trickle -down effect, whereby we would ha ve more di sposable income. Again, that is going to be important.
The next category is education. I am not
speaking to education in terms of the proposal to
change how we educate our children, but more so to
the extent that the Government has pledged to c ontinue the success around granting additional funds to
qualifying students to attend Bermuda College. It is
always so true that to the extent that you have educ ation beyond high school, your employment opportuni-ties are also increased. And to the extent t hat the employment opportunities are increased, you have a
greater chance to earn income and, therefore, again, the trickle -down effect, you will be able to better pr ovide for yourself or your family if that is the case. So, I too look forward to the idea of providing additional
funds for persons to effectively leave high school and
then attend Bermuda College using the additional
funding from Government. I will also say that for education, I am aware
that parents do recognise in the public high school system that it is financially advantageous for them to
sometimes have their children go to private schools to
get the GCSE [ General Certificate of Secondary Education] and then transfer into the public system and do
the dual enrolment programme, as opposed to IB, because, again, it is financially advantageous to do so. I
know this because, similar to Senator Hayward, it is
not just what I think, but I sometimes ask persons, and
that is very often the reason why some students will
leave the private system and come to the public sy stem, because they know they are going to get the equal educational value at a lot lesser cost. And then
if they do that, certainly, through the dual enrolment
programme, they can leave high school properly qual ified to transfer overseas into their third year. And by
doing so, of course, the parents will save the first two
years of schooling, which, of course, is a significant savings.
And to that degree, I do commend Dr. Duranda Greene, the president of the College, and her staff, because they have done a significant amount of work
to ensure that there are proper articulation agre ements between Bermuda and several overseas un iversities wh ich allow our children to attend Bermuda
College and get an associate’s degree and then trans-fer directly overseas. Again, I believe that they are
more prepared academically and also emotionally be-cause of the difference between going to, say, a high
school and then to college in terms of the college gi ving you much more flexibility in terms of you can come to class, not come to class, and it is on you, and so it
creates an additional level of responsibility and, ther efore, I believe that children that do participate in the
dual enrolment programme will go overseas and be
better prepared for college life and then come back to the Island.
Another fundamental cost in the Bermudian
context is, in fact, electricity. I have been pleased to see that Government is committed to ensuring that the
cost of electricity is lessened as compared to what it currently is. I certainly accept that the current BELCO, being a private company, would have expectations in
terms of its return on equity. However, we have to
recognise that BELCO operates in a monopoly env ironment, and has done so for a significant period of
time. The current conversation in terms of there needing to be additional capital expansion, and having to have additional fees to pay for that is almost counterintuitive in the sense that they knew they would have
to do this and they should have been putting aside funds to cover this cost.
So, to fellow Senators, and to the public at
large, I want us to ensure that we remain engaged in terms of the conversations about electricity, and you
attend the public forums as and when they are avail able and you respond to public information, because it
is going to definitely impact each of us going forward.
And, clearly, it is true that even when it comes to businesses relocating to Bermuda they do consider
what the costs are in this jurisdiction. And one of the
costs would be the cost of electricity, because that will
factor directly into their monthly operation costs.
Then, beyond the expense reduction, which,
of course, is very, very important, is the aspect of i mmigration. Immigration, I believe, is fundamental to
Bermuda moving forward. There have been many
comments around that. And my question, rhetorically, is how many of us complain about the fact that there
are too man y actuaries in Bermuda, too many nonBermudian actuaries in Bermuda? I would offer that
there are very few complaints about that. And you
may ask, why?
The reason why is because we generally accept that . . . I am gently aware of one concern around
that. But we generally accept that every single qual ified Bermudian actuary is employed. Every single
qualified Bermudian actuary is employed. Now why is
that important? It is important because we have to
recognise that once you are qualified there should not
be any unnecessary or artificial stumbling block for
you to achieve your potential. And I would suggest
from experience that one of our issues when it comes
to immigration is not so much that we are worried
about our guest workers, we are worried about our
guest workers to the extent that they displace qualified
Bermudians.
And I completely reject the idea that there are
Bermudians that may be qualified on paper, but the
majority of them do not have the experience for the


Bermuda Senate job. Again, if you ask around and do a little research
you will find in many cases you would have a worker,
a visitor, come to Bermuda that has the basic qualif ications, let’s say whether it be in accounting or other-wise, and then they are given additional exposure and development opportunit ies that are not given to Bermudians. And that is how they progress. So I am positing a theory that the reason why Bermudians right
now are so sensitive about immigration is because
they are not given a fair shot when it comes to their
ability to progress within the industry. That is the i ssue.
In the past, Bermuda, I guess has been mi sled about the idea that I am going to come to Berm uda as a non- Bermudian, and I am going to train a
Bermudian so that they take my job within three years.
That’s not going to happen. That is contrary to human
nature. You may get one or two that would do that, but
it is contrary to human nature. I believe that we have
fooled ourselves into believing that is going to be possible in the past . It makes no sense; because you
know t hat if you come to Bermuda on a three- year
contract, if there is no qualified Bermudian you get to stay for another three, and then potentially more than
that. So why would you compromise your own financial interest by training a Bermudian? It really makes
no sense.
In the past I have only seen it happen on one
or two occasions. And sometimes it is a person who is
not Bermudian who is coming to the end of their c areer. Then they do not have a vast interest, necessar ily, in staying. So they don’t mind pass ing on the i nformation. But, again, those things happen very, very infrequently.
But what I will say to all of us, as Bermudians,
when it comes to the immigration changes, is that we
also have to adjust our expectations, because if I
come to Bermuda (and I am obviously not Bermudian)
to work in the business arena, depending on my level
of engagement, i.e., my seniority, I might actually
have what I want to call personal staff that I want to
bring with me. And one of those personal staff might
be what we refer to as a nanny. And my nanny has been with me for the past three, four, five, or six years
bringing up my children. So there is the personal co nnection. And it is not that easy to say, Well, I’ll come
to Bermuda, Anthony, and just hire somebody else to
take care of my child. That is where I think we have to
start to adjust our expectations to be realistic.
But that is only going to be in the instance
whereby the fundamental job that is being offered is
not available to . . . sorry, there is no qualified Berm udian for that post. That is when I believe we can make
some progress.
And then, we have to be mindful of the sound
bite which says we have to simply increase our nonBermudian population. I say it is a “sound bite” because in and of itself it is not correct. You cannot, as
others have said, simply bring in a thousand people tomorrow and let them be employed, because without
the thousand jobs, you are going to obviously displace
Bermudians. And what I have then seen is you di splace Bermudians even at what we refer to as the
lower end of the employment range, because if we allow easy immigration . . . and let’s just use . . . and I
do not mean this to be derogatory, but a dishwasher.
And Anthony is a Bermudian, and [he says] I am going to be a dishwash er. I cannot do so at $6.00 per
hour. Unfortunately, if we allow it, some employers will bring to Bermuda a guest worker and pay them $6.00 per hour. And that person can sometimes survive because they will stay in, maybe a one- bedroom apar tment, with two or three others. And their requirement
for expenses is a lot less than a Bermudian because
effectively they have no attachments.
Some of us may remember that when we
were younger we could work virtually 24/7. We had no
obligations. We did not have to go home, we did not
have to worry about a wife, did not have to worry
about a child, did not have to worry about an ything,
and we could just work. If I recall correctly, when I was
in university that was my life. I did not mind co ming
here and working at the hotel. You leave at 7:00 in the
morning and work until whatever time and go back, all
that drama. But that is not the lot of a Ber mudian now
who might be prepared to work as a dishwasher, even if they are aged 25 and older, be cause that is what
they want t o do. But you cannot do so if the level of
payment is so low.
Similarly, I want to offer that even when it
comes persons who have graduated, and I will use accounting as an example, and they are now working
on a designation, even though they may not have the
responsibility of an entire family, they do have almost a social obligation. So they cannot work as many
hours as maybe their non- Bermudian counterparts.
And in the past what happened was they were crit icised for not being as committed or not having t he
social skills and otherwise, when the reality is the
Bermudians have other social responsibilities that
others do not have.
I am saying all of that to say that I believe
that, yes, immigration has to be adjusted. We have to
be more flexible. But, there has to be a balance in
terms of ensuring that qualified Bermudians are able
to be employed to the extent that they are able to
reach their potential. And if we can do that in a genuine way, then I do not believe that opening up imm igration would be as emotional, I want to call it, as it has been in the past. I think that is going to be a key consideration going forward.
I would continue on a discussion, but I am not
going to do it today, in terms of being more factual about Bermuda’s deficit and national debt. Again, I
believe that there are a lot of disingenuous comments being made about that. As a quick example, I will only say that one aspect of the current debt is the wharf
terminal up in Dockyard. In times past I went through
42 21 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate an analysis to figure ou t really where the Government
spent money to create the debt, the $1.5 billion. And it
is interesting because in the . . . I know there may be
some comments in terms of, yes, but there were over-runs. But I am ignoring that for the moment to say that in the absence of debt Bermuda would not have had
the safety net of the cruise ship passengers that have
come and energised the Government’s coffers, parti cularly, for cabin tax, but also the transportation industry.
As we all know now, many persons have benefitted in terms of minibuses, in terms of taxis, benefi tting from the revenue that derives from cruise ship
passengers. So I do not want us to be misled by,
again, the sound bite, as to where the current national debt is. Yes, it has to be addressed. Yes, i t must be
paid down , and yes, it would be nice if we did not
have to pay the interest, the daily interest amount . But
the reality is that there is a reason why we have these
debts. And in the absence of that debt Bermuda would
be in a very different space.
So, Madam President, to conclude my comments, the Government has certainly recognised that we do have Mr. and Mrs. Smith, we do have Mr. and
Mrs. Bermuda, we do have Joe Public that has to be
addressed, and has been addressed in terms of initi atives in t he Throne Speech. And in a concrete way the
Government has done that through the Living Wage Commission, which has now concluded. Their report
has been given.
The Tax Reform report has been given and
we will obviously go through and decide which as-pects of that will be implemented. For the Tax Reform
Committee, in particular, it has given a report that
talks about how the Government can generate i ncreased revenue. And I trust that we will get to a stage
whereby those in the community that are earning
more realise that they have a social obligation to pay
more, because in the absence of doing do, I believe Bermuda will experience additional significant social
unrest that will be to the detriment to the entire Island.
There is no way that any of us can enjoy our lives in
Bermuda if there is increased social dysfunction and
unrest from those persons that are not able to benefit
from what they see around the Island.
The last two obvious aspects from the Government are, as I said earlier, the Cost of Living
Comm ission, of which I chair. We are doing our work.
I will report on that at a different time, but we are d oing some work even in terms of looking at food prices
and trying to understand how the supermarkets determine their price structure. Obviously we recognise they have the original cost, but we have to deal with
that. And the other committee the Government has in
place, which has not been talked about too much, is
the overall efficiency committee which looks at the actual cost of collecting any intended tax -based rev enue, because as I think someone said earlier, it does not make sense putting in place an additional tax r e-gime when the infrastructure to collect the taxes ou tweighs the cost of the amount generated through the revenue centre. So Government is looking at that. I
believe that is being chaired by the Junior Minister of
Finance, Wayne Furbert.
So, Madam President, with those comments, I
will conclude. Thank you.

The President: Thank you, very much, Senator Ric hardson.
I would just like to say that regarding the
Throne Speech, my comments will be very brief. The
Throne Speech has been very well received. I think
we can all agree to that. It has been very well received
by the public. And we know that because of the comments that have been made by s takeholders in the
community. And I have been very impressed, and I
am sure everybody has been, by the roll -out of this
Throne Speech and the fact that the Premier has
gone about to speak at the Berkeley school and he
was also interviewed on television. I do not know if
you all saw that.
So, I am saying that in terms of this roll -out it
has been really, really well received. I also want to
commend each and every one of you here present
because, as Senators, you have really gone through it
with a fine -toothed comb. And with your background
and your expertise you have spoken very, very well.
And I think the general public will be most impressed
with each one of you and your presentations today,
as, indeed, I have been listening.
I am a former health care worker, and I have
been very impressed with the fact that the Gover nment is going to deal with the cost. I mean, when you
look at the OECD countries and what they pay on
health care, ours is . . . as you have heard around the
Table, we have the third highest health care cost.
I am also impressed with the fact that the
Government is focusing on seniors and on health care
generally. So, I think that there is so much in this
Throne Speech, and I am looking forward when the
budget comes so we will be able to address and try to
ensure that the money is behind a lot of these objectives, because that is going to be key.
So, I would just say that I am sure the general
public has been most impressed with the debate and what they have heard from each and every one of
you. And I want to personally commend each one of
you for the work, and for your comments today. I think
it has been most informative.
With that said, I would just like to hand over to
our Attorney General and Leader of the Senate, Kathy Lynn Simmons.

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I, too, have enjoyed the debate today. There
are things that I did not know that I now know. I have
come to know each and every one of you better in the


Bermuda Senate sense that it will inform our dialogue around this T able.
I have to say, and I cannot leave this out, that
I have some dismay in terms of the continued disconnect between policymaking and consideration of the human impact of our policies. I have listened very
closely to all of you. The economi c piece I absolutely
get. However, I cannot get beyond the fact that I continue to hear a dialogue about the poor public schools
results. And I have a very esteemed educator at the
Table. And I have to point out the contradiction be-cause we hear Senator Ha yward, and we all know this
fact, that kids are incapable of learning because of
their socio- economic condition. But the prevailing narrative that we have all heard for years is that the public schools have bad results.
Connect the dots. We cannot contin ue to
promote that negative narrative without looking at what is behind it; the reasons why we have those r esults. The private schools do not have the same demographics. So let’s look at our results realistically and focus on what we have to do as a collec tive to
change the socio- economic dynamic.
So I encourage Senators, please do not miss
the human element in what we do, because if we do
[miss this], we serve for nothing.

MOTION

MESSAGE TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR
ON THE PRESENTATION OF THE
2018 TH RONE SPEECH

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: And with those
remarks, Madam President, I move that the following
message be sent to His Excellency the Governor:
May it please your Excellency, the Senate has
been honoured to thank your Excellency for the m ost
gracious speech with which your Excellency was
pleased to open the present session of Parliament.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. A message will be sent to His
Excellency.
Thank you, very much, Madam Attorney General and Government Leader of the Senate, Kathy
Lynn Simmons.

[Motion carried: Message of thanks to be sent to His
Excellency the Governor.]

The President: Moving on to [Order 13] item 2 on the
Order Paper, which will be carried over; [Order] 14,
Motions. No motions.
[Order] 15, Congratulatory and/or Obituary
Speeches. Would any Senator care to speak?
Senator Michelle Simmons, you have the
floor.
CONGRATULATORY AND/OR OBITUARY
SPEECHES
Sen. Michelle Simmons: Thank you, Madam Pres ident.
Very briefly, I would like to ask that condolences from the Senate be sent to the family of the
late Mr. Eugene Clement Wainwright. Mr. Wainwright
was a very, very well -known person in St. George’s. I
believe he was probably as well known in other parts
of the Island as well as an athlete, notably for football
and cricket, and a dedicated member of Richard Allen
AME Church. A former employee of Bermuda College.
Most importantly, he was a family man who loved his
family. He is survived by his wife, Rose, and two daughter s, Tarana and Eugena, as well as a gran ddaughter, Tajant é.
Mr. Wainwright may be remembered for the
role he used to play every Good Friday in the pageant
that they have in St. George’s because he would r eprise the role of Jesus. He will be greatly missed by
the community, and I just ask that condolences be sent to his family.
Just one more. I would also like to ask for
condolences to be sent to the family of Mr. Ross Si nclair Tuzo, who was husband of the late Gloria Tuzo
(the inseparables, I used to cal l them), and father to
Dr. Deborah Tuzo and Livingston. He was a friend of
our family, and I am sure he and his wife were extremely well -known up and down the Island.
Mr. Tuzo was indeed a man of many, many,
many talents. I just want to highlight a few. H e was
politely described by close friends as, and I quote, “an
introspective person who exhibited strong conviction.”
And you would have seen some of those strong convictions in his letters to the editor of the Royal G azette, in which he articulated his political and social
views for no less than two decades. He was prolific!
His letters were never very long, but they were suc-cinct and to the point. He was a master craftsman,
builder, entrepreneur. He operated his own carpentry
business which opened in 1962 , and kept it going for
42 years.
My father was also a carpenter, and I can still
hear my father speaking about the fantastic work that
Mr. Tuzo used to do. In fact, I think he was one of the
few people remaining who could build the original
Bermuda blinds .
In his formative years he was a great saxophonist. We send condolences to the entire family, but
especially to Deborah, Livingston, and his wife,
Shirley. Thank you.

The President: Thank you Senator Michelle Si mmons.
Does any other Senator . . . Sena tor Jones,
you have the floor.

Sen. Marcus Jones: Thank you, Madam President.
44 21 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate I would just like to make mention of Flora
Duffy, who has proven to be quite the standard bearer
for Bermuda. I think it is safe to say that she has put
Bermuda on the map as it relates to triathlons. So I
would like for this Senate to offer and send congrat ulations to her on receiving the Order of the British E mpire. About a week or two ago, she expressed this
herself in that it was an incredible experience and we
would love t o be able to push her on to higher heights,
so she can achieve more than she already has. Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Jones. I am sure
the entire Senate body would want to be associated
with those congratulations.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Richardson, you have the floor.

Sen. Anthony Richardson: Madam President, I just
wanted to also acknowledge Mr. Steve Wilson who
won the Gold Medal recently in boccia in Buenos Aires. It was wonderful, when you think about how he
did that, in terms of how committed he is to the sport.
And while I have the micr ophone, I also want
to say congratulations to K ameron Young, to which
you should be smiling quite brightly, [as] her mentor.

An Hon. Senator: Yes, my niece.
Sen. Anthony Richardson: In terms of, like, the fundamental research that she has done in trying to trace
our sweetness, let’s call it, to our DNA. But beyond
that, I am aware of some details in terms of the levels to which she personally did so much work to bring this
to the fore. It wasn’t just, Come on, let’s do it, and
make it easy. She had to go through some hurdles to
make it happen. So I want to commend her.
From an obituary perspective, I just want to
mention the names of persons who lived in the Devil’s Hole area, certainly well -known Devil’s Hole area,
which is Gershwyn Smith, the great kno wn High Priest
Shiloh, everybody knows who he is. He died recently. And Mr. Allan Smith , another stalwart in the community of Devil’s Hole.
Thank you, very much.

The President: Thank you, Senator Richardson.
Are there any other Senators who would care
to speak? I would just like to be associated with the
comments for Mr. Tuzo. I would like to be associated
with the comments made by Senator Michelle Si mmons. He and his wife attended our church in Devo nshire, and so I got to know the family quite well.
If no one else has anything to add to Congra tulatory and/or Obituary Speeches, we will move to
adjournment.
Senator Kathy Lynn Simmons you have the
floor.
ADJOURNMENT

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Madam Pres ident, thank you.
I move that the Senate do now adjourn until
Wednesday, November 28th.

The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
the motion to adjourn?
The floor is open to you, Senator Kathy Lynn
Simmons, Attorney General and Government Leader
in the Senate.

THANKING THE EDUCATORS O F BERMUDA

Sen. the Hon. Kathy Lynn Simmons: Thank you,
Madam President.
I will be brief, Senators.
I would like to take this opportunity to actually
thank the persons in the community, particularly in the
civil service, who care for our children, starting with
our educators. I do not think we have an appreciation
of what they deal with on a daily basis, because when
we talk about socio- economic conditions and the associated dysfunctions, we fail to recognise the chal-lenges on a daily basis.
I have met with, as most of you, some of you,
have, with educators who are sorely challenged to get through a day . They are not necessarily equipped to
deal with that demographic. And I think as a Gover nment, and I am sure the Senators will join me in act ually expressing some appreciation this evening for the
services that they render.
I would also like to highlight our child care
[professionals] who are now under my Ministry, particularly in the Department of Child and Family Services. I am happy to have that assignment and I can
inform Senators that from day one after the swearing in ceremony I had cause to meet w ith the acting director of Child and Family Services. We met for three hours and I can honestly say that after 45 minutes I
was fatigued.
So, on behalf of the Government once again, I
would like to thank them, as I have already, because I
had a departmental meeting at BPSU to thank them for their services, and to also give them the assurance
that this Government acknowledges and will support
the efforts that they make with regard to caring for our
children.
On day two I visited our children facilities. I
am ashamed to say that they are not in optimum con-dition. But I am encouraged and excited to say that on
day three the Minister of Public Works and I went
back to those very facilities and a plan has been made to ensure that they are in optimal condition so that our
children live in dignified surroundings that will support their development. I will say that the work will not be easy. It is
discouraging. But I would like to encourage Senators


Bermuda Senate to get behind every initiative that comes to this Table
so that we do right by our children. In the upcoming
sessions I will take the time to highlight the operations
that exist in that department because you do all need
to know. And the public needs to know how we care for our children.
And with that, Madam President, those are my
comments.

The President: Thank you.
The Senate stands adjourned until next week
Wednesday, which is November the 28
th.

[At 5:56 pm, the Senate stood adjourned until
10:00 am, Wednesday, 28 November 2018.]

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Bermuda Senate



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