November 16, 2018

Yes.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: That 39 per cent
is going to administrat ion. And my question to that 39,
it is actually 40- plus per cent. It is 40.56 per cent that
is going to administration.
And the question is, Is that an equitable balance between the cost of administration and the con-duct of its mandate in respect of the anti -doping tes ting to conform with WADA [World Anti -Doping Agency] requir ements?

Thank you, Member.
Minister.
Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: There are strict . . . I basically
have answered that question, saying that I will undertake to get further information. But, on top of that,
there are strict international guidelines which require
this authority to operate in a certain manner. And
hence you will see why the expenses are broken
down in the way that they are.
You have to have a certain level of manpower. You have to have people trained to do certain
tasks. And that training takes place every two years.
So, if I can get more specifics on that for you, I will.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Just looking at the fact that there are 57 tests,
which is costing us $256,000, t he reason I brought up
the other sports is that if we are spending so much of
our money on testing and not a lot of money on developing athletes, how are we going to develop at hletes to test? So, we just need to have a better idea of
what we are spending t his money on.

Yes. So, I guess carrying on with this
same line, what is the level of our athletes to warrant
this level of testing? The reason [I] ask the question is,
if we are paying this amount of money, do we have
athletes of that calibre to continue to . . . Do we have
the statistics to show us that the amount that we are
spending on it is in line with what other juris dictions at
our level are paying?

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: In order for any athlete to
perform overseas — [Inaudible interjections]

Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Wait, wait, wait, Minister.
Members, the conversation is between the
person who puts the question, the Member who puts
the question to the Speaker, and the Minister to r espond.
Minister, you have the floor.

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: In order for any athlete to be
able to operate beyond this jurisdiction, they are subjected to this type of testing. The costs are the costs.
And, certainly, we think it is important that our athletes
be able to participate overseas to grow and enhance
their skills as an athlete. So, thank you.

Yes.

SUPPLEMENTARIES

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: The Minister indicated in her response that if a test is conducted overseas, it is $2,000, and if it is conducted locally it could
be $1,000 per test. So, the question is, Why do we
have $256,000 worth of tests for 57 samples if, at
$2,000 apiece, every one of them was an overseas
test? That will come to $114,000.
So, my question is, Where is the diff erential
between the $114,000 and the $256,000 for only 57 tests, as articulated in the Minister’s Statement?

[Inaudible interjections]

Thank you.
Minister, would you like to respond?
Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: I would think that that former
Minister can appreciate how these allocations come
about. And, as you know, there are the specific tests
and whatever else is involved in paying people who
are associated with doing these tests. So, you know.
And the number of tests that can be undertaken will
vary from year to year and depending on what spor ting events are taking place. So, you are not going to get one specific figure, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.
Supplementary?
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Yes, supplementary, Mr. Speaker.
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 23

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, the math just plain does not
work. The Minister, based on her response, has indicated that tests could be $2,000 and that the numbers
of tests would vary. Well, she has given us the number of tests being 57.
Could the Minister explain why 57 tests costs
us $256,600, which amounts to, if one averaged it, $4,503 per sample?

Thank you, Minister.
Supplementary or new question?
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Supplementary.

The S peaker: Supplementary on the supplementary.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
To the Honourable Minister: I think we all appreciate the Honourable Minister providing information on what the ancillary costs are. And at the same time,
we would be appreciative if the Honourable Minister
could provide some more detail. Because I have
looked through the report quickly, which the Stat ement pertains to. And it does not say the quotas that
have to be tested, who decides who is going to be
tested and when they are going to be tested. And I
think it would be important for us to have a better understanding of that, especially since it is not in the r eport.
I think we all understand and appreciate that
from year to year things coul d change, depending on
the competition.

Now, Member, you did indicate you
had a question. Do you still want to put your question?
Okay.
We recognise the Member from constituency 10 with his question now.

QUESTION 1: BERMUDA SPORT ANTI -DOPING
AUTHORITY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND
ANNUAL REPORT 2018

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
In the Ministerial Statement, it refers to the
report and the number of tests. But if you look quickly
at the report, Mr. Speaker, it jumps out at you that two of our national sports, football and cricket, are not i ncluded in the testing. And some of the other sports
that have a frequency of testing, like rugby, basketball
and volleyball, are not included in the report.
So, the question to the Honourable Minister is,
why are our national sports not covered by the local testing authority? And if they are not covered by the
local testing authority, who pays for that test? Where
does the money come from?

Thank you.
No supplementary? No further question?
We will move on to the next Statement. And
the next Statement that Members have indicated they
have questions . . . in fact, three Members have indi-cated t hat they have questions for this Statement. And
that is the Statement from the Minister Brown.
And, Minister Brown, the first question to be
put is in the name of the Opposition Leader, Honour able Member from constituency 12.

QUESTION 1: SUCCESSION PLANNING
IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker,
and good morning to everyone.
Minister, I just want to ask a question. You
mentioned over on page 2 about hard- to-fill positions
posts. And then, two paragraphs down, you also mentioned the combination of an ageing workforce and the
24 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda House of Assembly limitations in certain areas of specialisation, where
emphasis needed to be put on succession planning.
I just wanted to find out if you could give us an
idea of some of those areas of specialisation that we need to emphasise planning, in specific. It would be good to know.

Yes, Mr. Speaker, my supplementary on that .
So, as this is an ongoing programme, who is
actually leading this initiative of succession planning in
the public service? And will that person who is leading
it have performance targets? The Speaker: Thank you.
Minister.
Hon. Walton Brown: Yes. This will be jointly led by
the head of the civil service, as well as the Cabinet Secretary. And they have plans currently underway.

Okay. Thank you, Minister.
There is als o a supplementary from the Honourable Member, Mrs. Atherden.
You can put your supplementary.
SUPPLEMENTARIES
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, through you to the Minister: It is
an indication that 17 Bermudians are on the Public Services Development Plan Status Report. Is this
something which is public anywhere so that people
are aware of who is on this actual report, so that they can see the progress?

Yes.

Hon. Walton Brown: Yes. Well, that is a process that
is developed by the Public Service Commission [PSC] in terms of the employment opportunities. And when
jobs are made available, everyone is free to apply for
those positions. And so, the PSC makes a decision
based on who the ideal applicant is. For those people
who are earmarked for special consideration, those
positions are earmarked for them. So, there are special protections provided for them.

Supplementary? We have a suppl ementary from the Honourable Member from constit uency 19.
Honourable Member, you have the floor.

SUPPLEMENTARIES

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I
have a supplementary, and this ties into my earlier
question about whether the people who are on the
succession plan list were sort of identified. Because sometimes it is better to have somebody come in from
outside who can progress faster than having som ebody being developed slowly, internally, especially if
there are some necessary expertise and experience.
So that is why I just wondered—

Thank you.
Supplementary?
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Supplementary. The Speaker: Continue.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: And the reason I say, in
terms of the succession planning, is because the ad-vertising does not come until such time as the position
is ready to be filled. But if you are trying to develop
people internally, that succession planning means that
you should be looking outside to see if there is a Bermudian out there who would be better suited to go on
the s uccession plan than an internal development.
And is that being considered?

Hon. Walton Brown: Right.

We have a supplementary from the
Member from c onstituency 23.

SUPPLEMENTARIES

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, things happen. People quit.
People die. So the question is, just to elucidate on the
comment by my honourable colleague, How are we
looking at external Bermudians who are now working
external to Bermuda to be able to ensure that they
can be absorbed in the succession planning regime
so that, if such an eventually happens, it does not wait until retirement, and so that that person can be
brought into the mix for further consideration?

Thank you.
Supplementary?
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Yes. One more
supplementary.
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 27

Bermuda House of Assembly I think if the Minister had stopped before he
said “except,” I think I would have accepted his answer. But what he is basically saying is that a position
being earmarked for an individual, that individual can
expect, reasonably expect, to fill that position.
If the person has not yet been sufficiently
trained and somebody else has come in, a Bermudian
from outside, to fill that position, is the Minister, based
on his answer, really saying that that Bermudian from
outside coming in will not have an opportunity, because that position has been earmarked for the person who is standing in the queue, as it were? So,
where does the excellence in training come in so that
that scenario works well for everybody concerned?

One? Okay. Your second supplementary.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you.
To the Minister: In terms of determining who is
going to get the understudy position, is there anything within the civil service where the range of people’s
experience is identified? Because, sometimes, people
are in a position A, but they came into the civil servic e
with some other experience. And unless the civil service reviews all of the, if you will, expertise of their
individuals, they run the risk of overlooking someone
who could transfer into another position. So, is there
any examination of the experienc e or the expertise of
individuals before someone is chosen for understudy
in the civil service?

Okay.
Any supplementary?
No supplementaries, no further questions.
That brings the questions regarding that particular Statement to a close. We will now move on to
the next Statement for which Members have indicated
that they have questions. And we have a question
from the Member from constituency 8 to the Minister
of Education regarding your Statement on the Berm uda College.
Member Simons, would you like to put your
question?

28 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly [Inaudible interjection]

That is it? Okay.
The next Statement that Members have indicated they have a question for would be for the Mini ster of Works.
Minister of Works, you have a question from
the Honourable Member from constituency 7.
Honourable Member Richards, you can put
your question.

QUESTION 1: KINGS WHARF REHABILITATION

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Would the Minister provide t he Honourable
House the name of the Bermudian company awarded the contract in September to demolish and construct
the new deck at Kings Wharf? That is on page 2 of his
Statement, at the bottom.

It is early in the session. Let us understand that is not going to be tolerated through the
session. We will not be shouting and talking back and
forth to each other. Come through the Speaker, and
you will get your response.
The next Member who has indicated that they
have a question is the Member from constituency 10. And that is in reference to the Minister of National S ecurity in regard to the road sobriety testing.

QUESTION 1: ROADSIDE SOBRIETY CHECKS
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the Honourable Minister: First, I want to
thank the BPS [Bermuda Police Service] for the work that they have done on this most worthy initiative.
Honourable Minister, have you and the Bermuda Pol ice Service discussed any amendments to
the legislation that governs roadside testing?

Thank you.
Minister.
Hon. Wayne Caines: I am actually not clear. If you
can be more specific, that would be more helpful.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: It is not a trap, it is just
general information. Is there any discussion between
you, as the Minister of National Security, and the
Bermuda Police Service in regard to any amendments
to the current legislation that governs roadside sobri ety?

Hon. Wayne Caines : So, the Act is the Road Traffic
Act 1947. There are a number of discussions that
have been held in a number of successive convers ations. And that is why I am asking him to be more
specific. Are we talking about roadside sobriety? Are
we talking about —

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Roadside sobriety.

Hon. Wayne Caines: Hold on for a second. Hold on
for a second, and go through the Speaker.
Are we talking specifically just roadside sobr iety? That is the question, Mr. Speaker. I was not
clear.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes.

Hon. Wayne Caines: We have not at this point.

Second question. Go ahead.

QUESTION 2: ROADSIDE SOBRIETY CHECKS

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: In the Minister’s short
Statement this morning, the Minister does outline
where the checkpoints have been located over the
past couple of weeks. And we know that they are all in
the central part of the Island.
The Minister might not be able to answer this
question, because the police are responsible for their
operations. But it is curious to see, and I wonder why
there are no checkpoints set up outside the centre of
the Island, certainly when people, through their regular d ay and a weekend, are in the east and the west
quite frequently. And I am just wondering if there will
be a need for checkpoints to be expanded from the
central parishes.

Minister.

Hon. Wayne Caines: Eleven occasions, we started in
September , Mr. Speaker. We have had the occasion
to do this 11 times. And each time, there are over 100 people going through the checkpoints. This is som ething that we will not stop next week. This is an ongoing process. So, I am happy to inform the House that
the checkpoints will evolve. And once we evolve it,
you will be seeing the checkpoints throughout the entire Island at different times and discriminate places.

Would anyone like to speak on that
matter? Any congratulatory [speeches]? We recognise
the Honourable Member Richards from constituency
7. Honourable Member, you have the floor.
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will try and be as brief as I can.
I would like condolences to be sent to the
family of Mr. Gilbert Darrell. Mr. Gilbert Darrell w as a
very influential businessman in Bermuda. He started a
number of businesses over his career, including Papa
Darrell’s Grocery Store, Darrell and Seaman’s Gr ocery Store, Gilbert Darrell Equipment. He started the
Bermuda Retail Grocers Association. He was Pres ident for 18 years of the Bermuda Container Line, Ltd.
He had a very active political career, as most people
30 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly are aware. He went successfully as an Independent
for Parliament in 1963. He won a seat as a PLP
Member for Hamilton Parish in 1972 and becam e
Leader of the National Liberal Party in 1984. So, a very, very influential man in Bermuda. He will be
greatly missed. He was also a constituent of mine.
Another constituent of mine who passed, a
man who was ahead of his time, is Gershwyn [Charles
Conway ] High Priest “Git” “Shiloh” Smith . Mr. Smith
was a member of the Bermuda Young Progressives.
He went for Parliament as an Independent a number
of times, including against me in 2012. Mr. Smith
emerged as a leader of the Devil’s Hole community
back in 1969. He was a man ahead of his time. Shiloh lobbied the government to view marijuana as a medicine and not a drug. He was doing that for many,
many years. And he dedicated his life to seeking justice, peace and reconciliation for Bermudians.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Neil Inchcup, Sr.,
another constituent of mine. He was a man who was also ahead of his time in a different way. “Inchy,” as
he was called, as a self -made businessman who pi oneered gambling in Bermuda. In 1994, he began
Freeport Bingo, which was broadcast on TV. It was
very successful, but he was shut down at the time.
Other ventures that Inchy started included long- line
fishing, gambling machines and the casino ship, the
Niobe Corinthian, who shut him down. The first bus iness that Mr. Inchcup star ted was a laundromat in the
1970s. And he also opened the new Freeport Restau-rant in Dockyard in 1993.
I am going to miss Inchy. He used to call me
to his office right there above The Spot restaurant. We
would sit off and laugh. And he was a funny guy. I
learned a lot from him. And, unfortunately, I found out about his passing—I was off- Island when he passed.
And I had returned to the Island and did not realise he
had passed until I was having a conversation with a
mutual friend of ours in a bar. And he just let out,
Yeah, I went to Inchy’s funeral. And I was completely
shocked. So, definitely, I would like to associate the
whole House, the whole House with the passing of
Neil Inchcup, Sr., a man ahead of his time. And he will
be greatly missed.

The Speake r: Thank you, Honourable Member.
We recognise the Deputy Premier. Deputy
Premier, you have the floor.

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I wish to certainly be associated with the
comments concerning Mr. Darrell. And I am certain that all Mem bers of the House would be associated
with that, as Mr. Darrell was a long- serving Member of
the House of Assembly and played a pivotal role poli tically in the formation of our constitutional arrange-ments. He was one of the attendees of the Constit ution Conference of 1966 and had, certainly, a relation-ship with the PLP for many years. Obviously, his poli tical activities evolved.
But certainly not only would Members of this
House associate ourselves with our condolences to his passing, many of us attended his funeral, but I can attribute a personal relationship with Mr. Darrell for
many, many years. And, in some ways, my journey in
Bermuda politics started with Mr. Darrell. And also
with our colleague, the Minister without Portfolio,
Jamahl Simmons, and I, often, as teenagers, found
ourselves at the feet of Mr. Darrell and Walter Robi nson at his family’s home, listening to them discuss
local politics long before we both were in politics, also
with Minister Simmons’s father, Lionel Simmons, who
was also a Member of this House. So, my relationship
goes back personally with Mr. Darrell for many, many
years. And he made an outstanding contribution to
this country, as already stated, in business, but also
helped as those in those early days, in the 1960s, who
trans formed the country. So, we certainly on this side
associate ourselves with the condolences, but I am
sure the House, as a whole, as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I rise this morning to send condolences out to the family of the late Honourable C. V. “Jim” Woolridge, former Cabinet Minister, the “Voice of
Summer.” As you know, Mr. Woolridge was Berm uda’s foremost ambassador when it came to tourism.
He was instrumental in turning tourism around in the
1970s. It was a part of his well -being; it was a part of
who he was. He also had a passion for people less
fortunate than himself. He came from humble begi nnings. And because of that experience, he left a las ting legacy on Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, I remember many days when
Dame Lois Browne- Evans and he were bantering. It
was the most entertaining thing you would ever want
to see and experience. They were at each other. They
were teasing each other across the floor. And yet, you know there was a profound love for each other.
I would like to also associate myself with the
comments made in regard to his cousin, Gershwyn Smith, or his nephew.

Gershwyn Smith, again another special character from Smith’s —he lived in my
constituency. And, in fact, he ran against me in the last election. It was funny, because we were standing
at a polling station, saying, Where’s Gershwyn?
Where’s Gershwyn? And Gershwyn came in for about
10 minutes with his entourage, stayed 10 minutes,
and off he went. And no one had seen him all day!
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 31

Bermuda House of Assembly [Laughter]

But that was Gershwyn. And
I think I saw some writings about him. And to sum it
up, this report said that Gershwyn’s spiritual teachings
were summed up in his slogans, such as Build a better world. Build a better Bermuda. Unity in the community. Community development depends on you.
Peace and Love.
So, Mr. Speaker, even though he was a colourful character, he was a man who stood for what is best for the community. He wanted the community to
get along in unity, and he wanted us all to work t ogether. And I applaud him for his contributions because they have not gone unnot iced.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And
good afternoon, all.
Mr. Speaker, following our summer break,
three of my constituents passed on. Unfortunately, they were all women. And I would like this House to
send letters of condolences to each of them. And I will
name them in no particular order.
Mrs. Gertrude [Ingham -]Knight, of Spice Hil l
Road, whose husband is Mr. Joshua Knight. The sec-ond one is Mrs. Carmin John, of King’s Lane North, in Warwick, whose husband was Austin John. And finally, Mrs. Selina -Mae Dean. (I will associate my colleague, Lawrence Scott, with the condolences for the
family of Mrs. John—I think she was his neighbour.)
And the third person was Mrs. Selina- Mae Dean, of
Carver Heights Lane, whose husband was Antonio Toussaint . All three of these persons, Mr. Speaker,
were solid backers of the Progressive Labour Party,
and I visited them often prior to their passing. And, in
fact, I had actually seen Mrs. John a couple of weeks
before her passing, and she was in good spirits. But at
the same time, these things do happen, Mr. Speaker.
And I appreciate it if letters could be sent.
Thank you very much.

The building of many
foundations through family and through her love of
God and her service. My cousins from Rose Hill, and
the Bailey’s B ay family that it encompasses, as well. A
great lady —may she rest in peace.
Ms. Ianthe Louise Pearman, a stalwart of St.
George’s, very much the same in the St. George’s
community, did for the St. George’s community what
Aunt Fanny did for the Death Valley community, that
greatest community as well. A family of profound excellence, I must say, and a family that has longevity
where many of them have gone past the age of 90.
And her brother is certainly a centenarian and was
there yesterday, as she was being funeralised, as was her sister, and many of her relatives. And her former
students, as well, many there are.
And, finally, Mr. Eugene “Pudna” Wainwright,
my dear friend, and a father figure and a role model for many of us in the St. George’s community. A gentleman who loved his sport, was reserved in Cup
Match a couple of times. But was a great example of
service. We will miss him and miss his singing at Calvary at many funerals. Many people will have this
song just running through their head today, [as he is
being] funeralised tomorrow.
The family of Mr. Arthur Leroy “George”
Wales, who had a tragic coming to his passing in a
road accident on Cut Road. We offer our condolences
to his family on such a tragic loss.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Member.
I now recognise the Member from constituency 23. Honourable Member, you have the floor.
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I believe the tributes to Gilbert
Darrell and Jim Wool ridge have been associated with
the whole House. But I did want to express my personal condolences to the Jim Woolridge family, because my whole advent of my political career had
been enhanced by the knowledge that I had received
by having the experience of sitting around the likes of
Jim Woolridge during the currency of my time here in
this Honourable House.
I also would like to associate with the condolences regarding Mrs. John; Austin, her son, and A gnes, her daughter, we kind of grew up together. They
32 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly used to actually live over on Elliott Street, and I would
like to associate myself with those condolences.
And also, with the condolences to “Git” Smith.
Gershwyn was actually —we called him “Git.”
Gershwyn was actually one of those people who had nominated my father for the position of National Hero
at the same time as he did Sir Henry Tucker, as well
as Roosevelt Brown, Pauulu Kamarakafego. So, I
think that Gershwyn not only looked at his own i nvolvement in the community, but he looked broadly
across to w hom he considered to be appropriate people to be honoured in such a way. And, certainly, from
a family perspective, I appreciate the gesture that he
made in respect of my dad.
I also want to be associated with the condolences to the family of Selina Dean. She was not just
Herbert Antonio Toussaint’s wife. She was Toto’s
mom and Tahj’s mom, and Stephen and Paulette
Dean’s daughter. But apart from that, she served this
community really well as the Admitting Officer in the
Emergency Department at KEMH [King Edward VII
Memorial Hospital ]. She met her death at a very early
age, which was really quite unfortunate. But I would be remiss if I did not just stand and want to embrace
their family and certainly show my support for them
through association with the condolences given.
And finally, I would just like to offer congrat ulations to David Lambert at the Elbow Beach Tennis Club. David has developed a senior’s tennis pr ogramme, for which he has been able to get some really good sponsors, not the least of which ar e—actually,
they are key sponsors. Dunkley’s is their key sponsor.
But they also have Butterfield & Vallis, and Pepsi —
you know, Mr. Paul Spring—and different companies that have associated to make this seniors tennis pr ogramme successful. This past week, t hey had a sponsors’ appreciation day. And it was just amazing to see
the number of seniors —I call us the “Geriatric Club,”
because I had the opportunity to join them for the first
time this past Wednesday. And I think that, for som eone to ensure that there is a programme to continue
to enhance the health and welfare of our seniors is admirable. And I would certainly like to send congrat ulations to David Lambert and his team at Elbow Beach
Tennis Club for the support that they are giving to our
seniors for t he enhancement of their health. Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Member.
I recognise the Honourable Minister. Minister,
you have the floor.

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker,
and good morning, all.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today for three sad occ asions. But I begin with one that has a unique place in my heart and my family. Growing up, my father had
many political colleagues. But there were only three
that he never referred to by their first names: Ms. Browne- Evans, Mr. Cox and Mr. Darrell. And that was
the level of respect that was held for this that was a
virtual Holy Trinity, if it were.
And I think that, for those of us who believe in
black economic empowerment and for those of us who believe in a social conscience, the life of Mr. Darrell is one to be studied, not just for the political
achievements, but for proving that you can build a
business and maintain a social conscience. You can
build wealth and maintain connection with the common man. And I think that that is for those who aspire
to build wealth and grow, for those who aspire to participate and serve their country, the balance can be
struck. And he has shown it could be done.

Mm-hmm.

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: He was a mentor to my
father. And later in his life, he was a mentor to me.
And he will be truly, truly missed.
Mr. Speaker, Ms. Cheyanne Brangman, who
passed recently, unexpectedly, I first met during the last general election, the last day. She and her mother were the last two people I spoke with before we went
to the polls. And we built a very tight relationship. I
very quickly became . . . Because she was the type of
person who, if she liked you, she embraced you and
you became a part of the family. And so, I went from
Mr. Simmons to Uncle Jamahl in like 48 hours. And
she would hit me up on social media when she saw
something new that she had a question about. And
she would say, Uncle Jamahl, what’s this about?
What’s that about?
And she had a strong desire to become a
nurse. My mother, who was a nurse for many years, I
connected her with her, and she took her under her
wing. She became close and tied to our family. It is
always a tragedy when somebody so young goes.
But, in particular, this was a young lady who had challenges that she s ought to overcome. She sought to do
more. She sought to be more. And it is just . . . This is
the time that you accept that God has a higher plan.
You have to accept that to understand this, in this nature.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, I yesterday joined the St.
George’s community in saying good- bye to my aunt,
Auntie Pearman. To the people of St. George’s, the people of St. George’s knew her as the person who
taught generations of St. George’s at East End Prim ary—48 years at East End Primary. She is the person
who, while she had no children of her own, adopted,
embraced and mentored generations of Bermudians
who came through the halls of East End Primary. But,
to her nephew, who would only see her periodically on
these visits and pilgrimages to St. George’s, she was
the woman with the big smile whenever you saw her.
She was a true gem, who will truly be missed. Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.

Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 33

Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Member.
Now I will recognise the Deputy Speaker.
Deputy Speaker, you have the floor.

Hon. Der rick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to associate with the
remarks and tributes to Sir Jim Woolridge. And I say
“Sir” and I mean that because that is one person
whom I think should have been knighted. Because
Jim Woolrid ge was the salesman of the century. And
he had the voice to complement his salesmanship. He
could sell anything. Having been on a few trips with
him, he was very good. He was just on the wrong side of the Parliament.

[Laughter]

Beware of what you say.

[Laughter]

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: But, no. Jim Woolridge
was one whom I certainly respected and would certainly never forget him.
Also, Mr. Gilbert Darrell. Mr. Darrell, a polit ician, a businessman, one who was very well respec ted in Smith’s Parish and the people of Hampton Parish whom he represented. And a very strong A.M.E.
member of St. Philip A.M.E. Church, Mr. Speaker.
These two gentlemen will be sorely missed, all sorely
missed.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to send condolences to the family of Allen Robinson, a former civil servant, a long- serving civil servant in the social f inancial assistance, in that area, Mr. Speaker. He will
certainly be missed by his wife, former Permanent
Secretary of Education, Mrs. [Marion] Robi nson; and
his daughter, Dr. Emma Robinson; and his son, Allen
Junior. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Sure.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Because I think, too often,
we do not realise that, ov er time, people have many
different lives and different ways in which they assoc iate. Gilbert Darrell’s wife is my godmother. And so,
obviously, he and my father and mother were friends
a long time, for a long time. And when my father lived down in Knapton Hill, Gilbert would walk up to Knapton Hill. My father lived on the corner. And that is
when they had their political conversations about what
was happening in Bermuda. And they both were bus inessmen who started businesses, but never lost the
touch for the common man.
And I just think that it is important for us to
recognise that just because people are on different sides of the political divide, they are all Bermudians.
And they are all out there doing things for the comm unity. And I think if we embraced more what people do,
we would realise that we have more in common than we actually have in terms of differences. So that is my
first thing.
The second thing, regarding Jim Woolridge, I
just know, when you talked to Jim, Jim had that voice that, for a fem ale, he could just sort of make you sort
of—
[Inaudible interjections and laughter ]

Well, well, well . . . Just remember you
are speaking publicly now. You are speaking in public
now.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Sorry, sorry.
He could soften the edges.
[Inaudible interjections and laughter ]

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: No, no. He could soften
the edges.
And I just want to make one observation, because it is important. I remember when I went to see
Jim Woolridge, this was at the time when you had this
issue of men giving status to their wives and women
not being able to pass status. And I had the convers ation with him, because I felt it was very inequitable
that it could happen. And I was hoping that he would
change it so that everybody would give status. But in
the end, he changed it so that nobody gave status.

[Laughter]

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: But I must admit, when
you talked to Jim —

He made it equal.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: He gave equality. Not in
the direction that I wanted to go. But anyway, those
things happen.
So . . . but in any case, I just wanted to say
that these are people. And what worries me is that all
these people who are passing, these are the people
who got us where we are today. And many of them
actuall y interacted with each other and had respect for
each other, the mutual respect. So, let us hope that
we can remember that they did this. And you have
34 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly already told us that this week, this month, this year we
are going to emulate that.
So I will move on, and say that I have had a
couple of people in my constituency, Harold “Frankie”
Smith. Frankie was one of those people whom I always made sure that, when I was out going around, I
would go up and visit him. Frankie worked for my f ather before he went to wor k for the American Cons ulate. And so, he was one of those individuals who un-derstood politics, looked to see what was going on
and was always, always interested in what was happening in Bermuda. And so, I want our condolences to
go out to his family and al l the other people who are
here.
And Dr. Gordon Black. I do not know . . . I
mean, he is not in my constituency, but, obviously, I
worked at the hospital for a long time. And actually,
because I was helping in constituency 25, where he
lived, that was the last time I had the opportunity to,
sort of, think about him and realise that we are all getting older. And if we do not speak to these—

Getting better. How is that?
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Yes.
So, I just want to have condolences sent to
their f amilies and the family of Sherry Tavares and the
family of Giuseppe Rocher. Sherry, she was a consti tuent. Giuseppe and his wife were what I call the family
that we got together after Sonesta. When my husband
first came on the Island, the Sonesta family was part
of that group. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I was not sure if somebody
had mentioned it. I was out a little earlier.
Mr. Kenny Paul, for many of us who are lifelong St. George’s fans, we always remember him, those of us over a certain age, of being part of that St.
George’s dynasty in the early years that went on to dominate Cup Match for close to two decades or
more. But, Kenny Paul, along with others, such as Mr.
Jackie Durham, formed the lynchpin of that, the beginning of that dynasty. But, Mr. Speaker, for many of
us who are aware of our history and the role of the
labour movement, and, of course, laterally, the Pr ogressive Labour Party, in its struggle for justice and
economic and social and racial justice, Kenny Paul
has to go down as one of the pillars of the labour
movement. Maybe of your listeners may not be aware,
especially those of the younger generations, that he
played a key role out there during the so- called
“BELCO disturbances,” more commonly referred to as
the “BELCO riots, ” where men such as Mr. Kenny
Paul were determined—

The “BELCO strike,” yes.
[They] were determined to ensure that the
conditions that existed over there because of the lack of union representation were going to be addressed.
Of course, many of us know how that turned
out. And Mr. Paul, I think qui te unfairly, was arrested,
tried and spent some time in prison, I would say as a
political prisoner, for his stand and his principled stand
on behalf of workers and workers’ rights. So, let us not
forget him.
Mr. Speaker, I want to move on now. Oftentimes , you hear me talking about my close friends and
those I call extended family out in Spanish Point. And
when I say “ extended family ,” it does not necessarily
mean that I was related to some of these people. But
we lost a great Bermudian broadcasting icon, that being Mr. Everard Davis. And I heard there was a m emorial in Bermuda. He was buried overseas. But I
heard the comments of the Deputy Speaker and of the
Member from constituency 19, Pembroke West, about Mr. Woolridge, who passed away, his facility in t erms
of expressing, you know, via his voice, and the tone
and tenor of his voice. The Member from [constituency] 19 spoke of the seductive quality of his voice, I
believe.
But I will tell you this. Mr. Everard Davis would
give Mr. Jim Woolridge a run for his money. You
know, as a little boy growing up out at Key West out there, across from Admiralty House, there were some
icons in that community whom you looked up to. And
he was one of those. He was so irrepressibly chari smatic, so effortlessly in terms of his grace and charm
that, [for me] as a young boy, he was the type of guy that you wanted to be when you grew up. And Everard
Davis was certainly one of those individuals.
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 35

Bermuda House of Assembly Just a little quick background for some of our
younger Members, again. Mr. Everard Davis formed
part of a group—

[Timer beeps.]

No, I am not going to . . .
Okay, Mr. Speaker. I thank you for the time. And I
think it was time well spent. Thank you so much.

The Sp eaker: Thank you.
We recognise the Member from constituency 10. Honourable Member, you have the floor.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I will start off on a pleasant note
to piggyback on my honourable colleague, Pat Gor-don-Pamplin, on her congratulations to David Lambert
and his Bermuda’s Treasures senior camp. What I
found truly amazing about not only the organisation
and all of the pros who were there to help in this clinic,
but the spring in the step from the seniors. The former
Speaker was there also, yesterday. But the spring in
the step for seniors. And one lady said it was her first
time there. And she picked up the strokes and had
such a good time, it was truly amazing to see. And so,
congratulations to David on getti ng our seniors out
there. They had a great time, and it looks like they did
not want to leave at the end of the session. So we are
pleased to be able to support that.
Because we have been gone from this House
for some time, there are many stalwarts who have
passed away. And I want to be associated with the
condolences to the Honourable C. V. “Jim” Woolridge
sent to his family. I had known Uncle Jim for a long
time. In fact, on the passing of my father when I was
young, I remember shortly after, coming back for the
funeral, Jim said to me, Don’t worry, Michael. When
your father was on his deathbed, he told me to take
good care of you. And I will continue to do that. And
he did. We spoke in politics almost every day, right up
to the end. He just had a love for Bermuda and a love
for politics. And I remember early in my political c areer, I said, Jim, I would like to learn how you canvass. And he said, in his typical voice, Well, you’ve
got a long way to go. Because I’ve been around so
long now I just call up the neighbourhood and tell
them I’m coming, and they all meet at one house.
And that is how well known he was throughout
the Island and the love he had. He stayed in this place a long time. He never lost his shelf -life for politics.
There are statesmen lik e him, and Gilbert Darrell was
the same way. I met Mr. Darrell when I first came back from university. And you could tell that he was a very respectful man. He was a deep thinker. And he cared
about the community. So, condolences to his family.
And to Nei l Inchcup, as well. He used to stop
by my office quite often on Saturdays and have a con-versation. And he will be missed.
I would like this Honourable House to send
condolences to Robert Pratt, a constituent of mine
who was a well -known taxi driver.
To another constituent, a young man, Taylor
Grier, who was gunned down in August in what I con-sidered to be the wrong person in the wrong place at
the wrong time—a fine young man who, at the young
age of 30 engaged in politics and would continually
want to meet with me, WhatsApp with me, about our
Bermudian community. And it hurts our heart that we
continue to have this gun violence and a young man
like him to be lost.
I would like to send condolences to the
Chapman family on the passing of [Edward Somers] “Teddy” Chapman, a good man whom I have known
from the other side of the business desk. He was the
General Manager of Freezer Fresh Foods for many a
time. But Teddy Chapman was certainly a fine Ber-mudian who had a really strong sense of humour, and
I enjoyed that. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the time.

Yes.
We recognise the Minister of Education. Mi nister.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I, obviously, would like to be associated with
all of the comments, especially for Jim Woolridge and for Shiloh. Shiloh is someone who was very close and
near to my father, and they used to hang out back in
the day. And that is when I met him, when I was a
very, very young boy up there on Spanish Heights
Road, just off of Knapton Hill.
Mr. Spe aker, I would also like to have condolences sent to the family of Howard Cross, a constit uent of mine. He was a retired pilot. He just passed away last week.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to send condolences to the family of Allan Smith, a stalwart of con-stituency 7 for the Progressive Labour Party. Mr.
Smith had been active in politics since before I was
born. Constituency 7 has seen quite a few PLP candidates run in that constituency and being held by the
hand by Mr. Smith. And also, it would be remiss of me
not to mention Roddy Burchall, as well. That constit uency has produced four Cabinet Ministers who have run on successfully in constituency 7, but gone on to
become Cabinet Ministers, including myself. Minister
Wayne Caines, Minister David Burch and f ormer A ttorney General, Larry Mussenden.
Yes. I would like to associate the whole
House with the condolences for the family of Allan
Smith. Anyone who knew him knew that he was a r emarkable man. If you did manage to attend his funer36 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly al, you would have seen the tribute given by his son,
who considered him a man of men, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would just like to wrap up and
ask for a letter of congratulations to be sent to Trevor
Lindsay, of TNN news network. Trevor Lindsay endeavoured to take on—

[Desk thumping]

Associate!

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Trevor Lindsay —we can
associate the whole House. Trevor Lindsay took on
some students from Dellwood Middle School as a day
relief programme and brought them to my office. And
we had a good chat yesterday. I just want to highlight
that, to let people know that this is what our young
students do need, to get out there and be able to see
what they can do with the skills they want. He brought
to my office a set of twins. One wants to be a writer;
one wants to be a photographer. They fit very nicely
into what he is doing with his career, Mr. Speaker. So,
congratulations to Mr. Lindsay, and I do see him in the
Gallery, as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Yes, yes.
Members, your Whips may have indicated to
you just now that I would like for us to do the moment of silence for former Members. It should have been
done this morning. So, when we come back at the end
of the condolences and obituaries, we will do the m oment of silence. I was hoping we would have finished
before we went to lunch. But being that we have to
come back to complete this, we will do it at the end of
that.
So, at this moment, we will —
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Speaker, I ask that we
adjourn for lunch until two o’clock.

Yes. The House s tands adjourned until
2:00 pm for our lunch period, and we will continue with
the Orders of the Day at that point.

[Gavel]

Proceedings suspended at 12:32 pm

Proceedings resumed at 2:04 pm

[Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair]

The Speak er: Good afternoon, Members. Welcome
back from lunch. We will resume with the [continuation] of the speeches for condolences and congratul ations.
And Mrs. Furbert, I think you caught my eye
just before we closed to indicate that you wanted to speak. Do you still wish to speak?

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR OBITUARY
SPEECHES

[Continuation thereof]

Good afternoon and thank you,
Mr. Speaker .
I would li ke to give condolences [regarding]
quite a number of my constituents who have passed
in the last couple of weeks.
Mr. Wayne Johnston who was a long time
serving employee of the Southampton Princess, he
was responsible for security at Southampton Princess.
And I am wanting to send condolences to his family:
his wife Joanne—I associate MP Kim Swan with
that—and he leaves his wife, Joanne, and his two
sons, Jordayo and Daeshun.
I also want to send condolences to the family
of Mr. Wyman Minks, the son of Mrs. B arbara and
Cyril Smith of Wyndham Hill.
And then we had two persons within the Harlem Heights area and I want to send condolences to their families: Mr. Gilbert E. Hollis —condolences to
the Hollis family; and Mr. Neville Spencer —
condolences to the Spencer family.
And then I also want to send condolences to
the family of Mr. Leonard (Lenny) Wayne, quite popularly known in the Hamilton Parish area, who left us earlier this week. And I want to send condolences to
his wife , Michele Wayne, and his mother , Kathleen,
and his brothers , Che and Joe. Lenny was known for
many years as serving at the Crystal Caves. He gave
tours there at the Crystal Caves and so he will be sadly missed by the Crystal Caves family as well as by his
own family as well as the Hamilton Pari sh family. I
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 37

Bermuda House of Assembly also want to associate—he was also a former Berk eleyite —so I also want to share these condolences with
Mr. Christopher Famous and Mrs. Renee Ming.
Mr. Speaker , I also want to send congratulat ory notes to Mr. Sandro Fubler who recently opened up
a new business, the Bermuda Prevention and Rehabilitation Alliance. And I want to just give special note
to the many Bermudians out there who do open bus inesses [which] I think that we should be able to highlight a little bit more often because it is an acco mplishment of many Bermudians in Bermuda.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

—and Bermuda.
I wish to give condolences as well, starting off
with Mr. Wayne Augustus who was a faithful employee of the Corporation of Hamilton. He was also my
family.
Ms. Selina Dean, who was a classmate of
mine in Berkeley, she was a constituent of Mr. Neville
Tyrrell , and I remember on the day that we won the
bye-election we drove across to Selina’s house. She
said, What time have I got to vote?
I said , Now!
What do y ou mean now?
I mean, now you get in my car now. Okay. So
she was a faithful PLP supporter.
And as Mrs. Tinee Furbert spoke, Mr. Lenny
Wayne, he was also a branch member of constituency
4 and he was actually one of the persons that nom inated MP Ti nee Furbert to be a candidate.
I am going to finish on a note of a great Devonshire man, Mr. Kenny Paul, originally a pond dog.
And I listened to my honourable friend from constit uency 21 and he captured some part of it, but Mr. Kenny Paul was one who helped to build the Devonshire
community with his raw hands. If you did not know
what you were doing, he used to come around and
show you. If you had problems with planning, he
showed you how to get it right. So I speak about that
because it is often we hear about those of us that are
in the front line of politics [so] it has to be mentioned
about those that helped build communities behind politics.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

I have sad notes today, Mr.
Speaker. St. George’s has been taking a blow down
there, but I would like to just send prayers and words
of comfort to the family of Arthur George Wales —I like
his name as George, I do not know why I call him A rthur like that, that is just his formal name—but if you are from St. George’s , George is George. And he was
just one of those cool people that just got around to
everybody . . . well liked, well received. And I just want
to associate MP Tyrrell and MP Weeks and MP Cannonier with my comments as well.
I also want to send a condolence note to the
family of Annette Steede, another Cut Road, St.
George’s senior who went on to her glory.
And then I know my brother —my colleague, I
am sorry —has already done this, but Ianthe Pearman,
anybody in St. George’s, probably anybody from the age of 40 and upwards was taught by Ms. Pearman.
In my family she taught my grandmother, she taught
my mama, she taught me—so that was three gener ations right there. And she always started the year out
by saying, What high school do you want to go to?
And I remember saying, I want to go to Berkeley. She
corrected that one time, she said, No, it is not Berk eley—first of all , and then she said, We can make that
happen. Needless to say , Respice Finem . . . and
Gold House as well.
And also to the family of my Uncle Gene—
Eugene “Pudna” Wainwright —his funeral is tomorrow.
And I have known Uncle Gene all of my life, we have
been at Richard Allen [AME Churc h] for years, St.
George’s for years . . . I remember when I ran in 2012
and I visited his home and he said, Whatcha doin’
here? And whatcha doin’ here . . . normally when you
are a candidate are great words, right? Because you
know that is not a long visi t, that person is already
giving you their trust. And so his family, his wife, Aunt
Rose, the girls Tarana, Gena and TJ are all well -
known to me and I know that they are . . . whilst they
are sad at this time, we have no doubt in our mind
where he has gone. So I just want them to know that
they are in our thoughts and our prayers at this time.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker .

Mr. Speaker, thank
you and good afternoon.
Let me first be associated with the condolences for Allen Smith, Wayne Augustus and Eugene
Wainwright. And even as a Somerset supporter —
lifelong and gone die—I will be associated with the
condolences to Mr. Kenny Paul because even though
he played for St. George’s , some of his best friends
were from Somerset. Both he and his widow were
good friends of my parents. So I extend condolences to all of those families.
So I would also like to extend condolences to
a constituent of mine who passed in August , Susie
Melanie Almeida Sequeira of Cedar Hill who . . .
sometimes you make the mistake about people’s heritage where they might be placing their vote when you
just see their name on a . . . on a canvassing sheet,
but I was going to knock on everybody’s door in any
case, and that was one of the most pleasant surpri ses. When I knocked on her door she was PLP all the way and made no mistake about it and left no doubt in
anybody’s mind. I remember vividly on polling day she
came dressed in her green—all of it! So I extend condolences to her family.
Mr. Speaker , I would like for congratulations
to be sent to the graduates of the Right Living House. Two graduated from that facility at the Farm facility on the 5
th of September. And what was most encouraging
about this, Mr. Speaker , [was that] the guest speaker
was a previous graduate. And one of the real pluses
of this programme is that those people who graduate
from i t actually come back and continue to interact
and to support those who they may have been incarcerated with. So it is very encouraging.
I would also like a letter of congratulation to
be sent to the Department of Parks who on the 25th of
October graduated and certified 25 landscapers in
that department. The real uniqueness of this, Mr.
Speaker , is that those who have any —even remote—
knowledge of Parks will know that we have a lot of
Portuguese employees who primarily speak only Portuguese, we have a signif icant number of hearing i mpaired workers who, obviously, need to be signed to,
and then, of course, English- speaking workers. And I
would really like to highlight the facilitator of this pr ogramme, Mrs. Dawn Santucci -Smith , who ran three
different cohorts —she ran one in Portuguese, one in
Sign [Language] , and one in English—so that ever ybody felt as if they were a part of the process. And the
pride shown by those who graduated, whose ages
extended—or length of service extended—from 37
years down to 1 year, was clearly evident. Mr. Speaker , I would also like congratulations
to be sent to the members of Youth Parliament who, you will know, convened last week —
[Timer beeps]

Go right ahead.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: —let me finish off what the
Colonel was going to say . I think, in that . . . because I
attended the Youth Parliament as well —the opening—
and I think he wanted to certainly congratulate all the
young people that continue to participate in our Youth Parliament. And you will know, Mr. Speaker , you have
some very close relatives of yours that went through
that process.

A couple.
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: And, of course, I thi nk one
of them is here today , and the two of you have created history.
So, that being said, I would certainly like to
congratulate all of them for participating in Youth Parliament and I look forward to hearing some of the debates during the year.
Now, whilst I am on my feet, Mr. Speaker , I
would also like to congratulate a young man by the
name of Gary Pitt. Gary works up at Southampton
Princess and has been working there for seven years ,
and he had the distinction of earning two top awards
this year —the 2018 CTA (the Certified Tourism A mbassador) award for top food and beverage, and he
also won the 2018 Certified Tourism Ambassador for top tourism ambassador himself. So this is a young
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 39

Bermuda House of Assembly man, Mr. Speaker , he is probably . . . if you do not
know who he is he has probably served you because
he is always attends the large events. And I think he is
one of our up and coming young men that is going to
do very, very well. Minister Kim Wilson wants to be
associated . . . as does Colonel Burch.
But Mr. Speaker , this young man . . . I look
forward to . . . if you talk to him , you will see why he
was voted the ambassador . . . he is sharp, he is really sharp. And, in fact, one day I look forward to him
not only managing a hotel, but possibly being the
owner of one.
Thank you.

—he was the only one that moved,
right? Nobody else is moving, so I am going to assume . . . but Colonel before you go through, let me
invite you back in. Come back in because we have
now concluded the condolences and congratulations ,
being no one else is rising at this time.

MOMENT OF SILENCE

[In memory of the Honourable Jim Woolridge
and the Honourable Gilbert Darrell]

I would just like to ask all Members to
join me in a moment of silence to recognise our two
former Members who have already had words expressed, but I think it is only fitting that we do the tr adition that we would do for any former Member who
has passed.
So at this time let us just take a moment of s ilence to recognise the passing of the Honourable Jim Woolridge and the Honourable Gilbert Darrell.
[The House rose and observed a moment of silence.]

We have two Government Bills listed
on the Order Paper to be introduced, and we will call
on the Minister of Tourism —Minister —for the first matter.

FIRST READING

MERCHANT SHIPPING AMENDMENT ACT 2018

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker , I am introducing the following
Bill for its first reading so that it may be placed on the Order Paper for the next day of meeting: the Merchant
Shipping Amendment Act 2018.

Thank you.
And for the second it is the Minister of Health.
Minister.

FIRST READING

CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER ( [TRANSFER OF
FUNCTIONS] AND VALIDATION) ACT 2018

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
I am introducing the following Bill for its first
reading so that it may be placed on the Order Paper
for the next day of meeting: the Chief Medical Officer
([Transfer of Functions] and Validation) Act 2018.

Members, we have moved to Orders of
the Day and the first item on the Order Paper for t oday would be the continuation [of the consideration] of
the Speech from the Throne given last week. And t oday we will have the Reply from the Opposition, but
we will recognise the Deputy Premier to start us off.
40 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Deputy Premier, you have the floor.

MESSAGE TO HIS EXCELLENCY
THE GOVERNOR

Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
“May it please Your Excellency :
“We the Members of the House of Assembly
of Bermuda thank Your Excellency for the gracious
speech with which Your Excellency was pleased to
open the present session of Parliament. ”

Thank you, Deputy [Premier].
Does any Member wish to speak to that?
We recognise the Honourable Member , the
Leader of the Opposition.
Honourable Member Cannonier, you have the
floor.

REPLY TO THE 2018 THRONE SPEECH
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker ,
for this opportunity this afternoon.
Mr. S peaker , Bermuda is not in a good place
right now. Retail sales are in the doldrums. Taxes are
at an all -time high. Shootings continue. Our national
debt is rising. Employment income has fallen.

Thank you.
Opposition Leader, you can continue now that
they are being distributed. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you.
Employment has fallen. GDP is down. The
volume of retail sales is down. Schools are crumbling,
and health care costs are higher than they have ever
been. In short, we are on a path of perpetual contrac-tion, heading towards an economic abyss.

[Crosstalk ]

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: The OBA’s record in government was one to be proud of in terms of what we
achieved. Before the 2017 election w e were on track
to balance the budget in fiscal 2018/19. Major projects were either being completed or had been broken
ground.

Members, Members, we do not want to
drown out the speaker.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Business confidence was
once again on the rise. The opportunities for Berm udians were bearing fruit. Jobs for Bermudians were being created.
Mr. Speaker , the Premier has been, he says,
boldly pursuing a third economic pillar to rival that of
our international business sector and touri sm. The
Premier’s efforts, however, have fallen short. Where
are the promised jobs for Bermudians? FinTech was
barely a whisper in this year’s Throne Speech. D espite numerous PLP promises, despite numerous
MOUs, the number of Bermudian jobs created by the
PLP thus far seems to almost amount to zero.
The only tangible pieces to the Premier’s socalled third pillar are fast -tracked, unadvertised work
permits for a handful of FinTech entrepreneurs and the sale of Bermudian land and a building on Victoria
Street to a foreign- owned company with no Bermuda
track record. So much for the PLP protecting the land
for Bermudians. So much for the PLP creating jobs for
our people.
In the OBA’s four and a half years at the helm
we started on the construction of an airport, realised
the construction of the Loren, the renovation of Hami lton Princess, the commencement of Azure, St. Regis,
and Morgan’s Point hotels , and we facilitated the
transaction completion at Tucker’s Point.
All of these OBA projects continue to create
real and tangible jobs and opportunities for all Berm udians.
The, quote, “North American Airport Deal of
2017” is proceeding as per plan, on schedule, on
budget, and according to specifications. In the pr ocess it continues to employ many Bermudians and
Bermudian- owned subcontractors and suppliers.
Even more staggering, Mr. Speaker , is the
Burt administration taking credit for 322 more people working in Bermuda, which is directly related to the
projects started under the OBA. The amount of doublespeak we have been subjected to by the PLP
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 41

Bermuda House of Assembly makes me think the Premier believes Bermudians are
gullible.
Mr. Speaker , the Government’s policy of job
creation appears to be ensuring travel agents are kept
employed by the number of trips racked up in as short
a time as possible by the Premier and his unreported
entourage. It is simply not good enough. And it is di sappointing.
If we do not change course, and change
course quickly, we are doomed to end up in another
self-induced economic slump. This was the reality of
the previous PLP administration, in which Premier
Burt was the Junior Minister of Finance.
Despite the fact the US economy is in a very
strong position, Bermuda is falling short. The PLP is quick to blame outside forces when things go wrong
on their watc h, so what is the excuse now? If things
do not change, and change fast, Bermuda will be the
fallen star of the North Atlantic. The fact is —despite
the Premier’s cheerleaders lauding his recent policy
offerings —we are actually chasing the tail of a recession.
Mr. Speaker , it seems to me that the Burt a dministration is playing a perpetual shell game. Only
the Premier dares to be so bold as to pretend to the
people of Bermuda that he saved the taxpayer money
by reducing the number of Government Minis ters. Yet
at the same time, he increases the number of Mini sters. In real terms, the salary bill has gone up by some 20 per cent.
This time last year the same Premier tried to
make the people believe he was saving money with a
smaller Cabinet, but each Minister was put on a full -
time salary —thereby costing the taxpayer more than
the previous OBA Cabinet. I ask again: D oes the
Premier think the people of Bermuda are gullible?
Mr. Speaker , in 2012 we were on the brink of
total economic disaster. Where would Bermuda be
without the Tourism Authority?
Imagine where Bermuda would be without all
the major hotel and infrastructure since 2012. Where
would Bermuda be without the massive $300 million
boost we received from the America’s Cup? Imagine
where Bermuda would be if the OBA Government had
not made some of the tough decisions to pull all of us
back from the precipice. The truth is this: we would be
in deep trouble.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Mr. Speaker , the recent
economic indicators show t hat Bermudians —Mr.
Speaker , if we could have some silence, we were s ilent for everybody else.

Continue on.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you. We have compared—sorry. Mr. Speaker , the
recent economic indicators show that Bermudians
were bet ter off in the first quarter of 2015 than the first
quarter of 2018. We have compared the data from 2015 so that no one can say there was an artificial increase because of the America’s Cup. When you
include the GDP boost in 2017 due to the America’s
Cup, the PLP numbers for the first quarter of 2018
become even more dismal in contrast to the succes ses of the OBA.
The fact is, despite the Premier’s claims that
things are better, they simply are not. Just look around
you. The only positive numbers the Premi er can highlight are the OBA’s doing. The economy is now flat -
lining. Where, Mr. Speaker , is our much- needed ec onomic stimulus going to come from?
The legacy of the America’s Cup has been
squandered by the PLP. All the capital projects started
under the O BA will eventually come to an end. The
economy seems to be slipping backward, evidenced
by the negative trend in retail spending—six straight
months of decline.
Another stimulus is needed to turn the economy around. What is this PLP Government doing to improve the near term and longer term economic pr ospects of and for Bermudians?
In today’s challenging environment, Bermuda
needs effective, strong and realistic leadership. Leadership that has its feet firmly on the ground while tr ying to find new ways to promote prosperity in our I sland for all.
The Burt administration does not offer that. It
would rather offer petty critiques of the OBA’s ec onomic stimulus programmes, like the America’s Cup
and the new airport terminal. But the latest GDP fi gures for 2017 prove for all to see that these OBA pr ogrammes have worked for Bermuda and for Bermudi-ans.
While there has been an increase in gover nment revenue as a result of higher taxes, these tax
increases will not reduce the deficit if the PLP fails to reduce government spending.
The reason the OBA was able to increase
taxes without a revolt from the business sector, which shouldered most of the tax burden, was because
there was a demonstrated commitment by the OBA to
use those tax increases to eliminate the Isl and’s def icit.
Rather than doing more with less, the Burt
administration is doing less with more. In fact, the
Premier has already broken the promise of balancing
the budget for fiscal 2018/19.
The PLP’s grab for political control and their
ongoing inter ference with the Gaming Commission
has significantly reduced the likelihood of getting any
local banks to provide vital banking services for the
proceeds of casino gaming. Without this, there can be
no casino gaming. No related development. No jobs
42 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly that could and should have followed from this OBA
stimulus measure.
It is curious indeed the responsibility for gaming has been removed from the new Minister of Tourism and Transport and given to the Minister of F inance. Given the existing responsibilities of the Tourism Authority, the “Tourism” part of his portfolio is
nothing but a name.
We simply do not believe that having gaming
under Tourism was the obstacle to banks servicing gaming. With that logic, the Government’s misjudged
foray into cryptocurrency should also come under the
remit of the Ministry of Finance.
And now what do we see, Mr. Speaker ? We
see this PLP Government intent on taking away the Tourism Authority’s independence—the very independence that has helped the BTA bring new life to a
dying industry. Will the PLP’s proposed interference
mean that the BTA will soon resemble the current
Gaming Commission, where we still do not have an
executive director almost 18 months later after his
departure?
Mr. Speaker , the Burt administration is behaving as if it were still in opposition. It is doing nothing to
ensure real job creation, whether through capital pr ojects or by leveraging the successful initiatives started by the OBA.
The OBA recognised that Bermuda needed a
series of economic stimuli to rev erse the painful six -
year recession and achieve real economic growth.
The OBA developed. The OBA delivered. The OBA
turned the economy around. But still more is clearly needed.
Where is the Burt administration’s economic
stimulus? The Throne Speech certai nly did not tell us.
Mr. Speaker , this administration recently announced it is refinancing some of its more expensive
debt with lower cost debt. Such financial management
tools can save government millions. I am duty -bound
to remind the people of Bermuda that this was pi oneered by the OBA —something the Premier will never
acknowledge.
Even more interesting is the Premier’s boast
that Government revenues are up. But the reality is
they are only up because the PLP Government raised
taxes on Bermudians. Gover nment revenue is not up
because of any direct inward investment attracted by
the PLP Government.
Is Government’s growth plan simply to hire
more civil servants? Mr. Speaker , the OBA is proud of its record
whilst in Government. Despite the bleating from t he
PLP in Opposition and their related “pop- up” mov ements, who falsely claimed the OBA did not care
about Bermudians, it is clear for all to see that it was
the OBA that delivered for Bermudians:
• It was the OBA that increased employment
opportunities for B ermudians. • It was the OBA that negotiated a 10 per cent
discount for groceries.
• It was the OBA that attracted direct inward i nvestment for the benefit of all.
• It was the OBA —

[Inaudible interjections]

Members, Members.

Hon. L. Craig Cannon ier: It was the OBA that signed
agreements with Airbnb and developed the Tourism
Investment Act, which the Burt administration took
credit for.
• It was the OBA that started the conversations
and began work on roadside sobriety testing.
• It was the OBA that allowed for cannabis oil to
be used for medicinal purposes.
• It was the OBA that reinvigorated the Old
Town of St. George with a Heritage Tax, a
dedicated cruise ship, returned wharfage to
the Corporation and, of course, attracted a
world -class hotel developer.
• It was the OBA that reduced health care costs for all Bermudians.
• It was the OBA that brought not just one
world -class event to Bermuda, but two—the
America’s Cup and the World Triathlon S eries.
• It was the OBA that put Bermuda on track to
actually balance the budget by 2019.
• It was the OBA that gave tourists options with
mini car rentals.
• It was the OBA that started negotiations with NASA to allow for the tracking station to be reopened.
• It was the OBA that protected our satellite slot
rights.
• It was t he OBA that tackled rising energy
costs.
• And yes, it was the OBA that helped those
less fortunate in Bermuda through a progressive payroll tax.
All of this, plus so much more. And we did it
despite—

Members, Members.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: —the partisan shouting,
despite the misleading [statements] and heckling from the other side, as we can hear now. Despite the prop-aganda spread so thick by some of those “pop- up”
campaigns.
Mr. Speaker , Bermudians are starting to see
the hypocrisy of the Burt administration—what the
PLP opposed while in Opposition and what the PLP
now support as Government.
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 43

Bermuda House of Assembly The most recent example of this hypocrisy is
the St. Regis development, which was consistently
undermined by the then PLP Opposition in respect of
beach access. Now, as the project ramps up, the very
same PLP Members who made the misleading stat ements to the public in Opposition are now in Gover nment. So they hold a press conference to dispel the very rumours they created. Now, as the Government,
they assure the people of Bermuda the beach at
Gate’s Bay will remain open to the public —
unbelievable!
It is hypocritical indeed that the PLP, now in
Government, talks about regularising the position of
many long- term residents and, we understand, giving
statu s to various categories of people. And yet the
same people now in the PLP Government were the
same ones who protested vociferously, the same
ones who stoked anti -foreigner sentiment on a regular
uninhibited basis when in Opposition.
And there are numerous other examples of
the PLP flip- flopping since they have taken the reins
of power.
Take the former Minister of Home Affairs, who
supported same- sex marriage, but then pushed
through legislation to ban it.

Members, Members . . . Members.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Take the former Minister of
Transport. He licensed more mini cars even though he
stood in front of the taxi drivers and spoke against
mini cars.
Take the former Minister of Tourism, now in
charge of propaganda, who lambasted the BTA on a
regular basis, who attacked the BTA incorrectly for the audit procedures. Now he goes out of his way to associate himself with the BTA successes.
Take the calls by the PLP, when in Oppos ition, for a Commission of Inquiry on land grabs at
Tucker’s Poi nt. Now that the PLP is Government, the
land grab call has fallen away.
Instead, on the heels of PLP calls for independence, they hold a colonial -style high tea at Tuc ker’s Point to celebrate their women’s caucus. To cel ebrate those whose silence was deaf ening over the
Minister of National Security’s awful display of harassment of female store clerks in London whilst representing Bermuda abroad.
How’s that for hypocrisy?
Take the PLP’s open criticism of the new
Bermudian Chief Justice, based solely on hi s ethnic ity.
It all adds up to a national disgrace. It exposes the true feelings of the Burt administration about
anyone who is not a part of their elitist clique.
Mr. Speaker , my colleagues and I are disappointed at the lack of detail in the Throne Speech, which probably should be called “Throne Speech Lite.” The overall impression is that the PLP has already run out of ideas.
In fact, my OBA colleagues should in many
instances be flattered. After all, imitation, it is said, is the greatest form of flat tery.
I say this because the PLP has either conti nued to implement OBA policies or has simply dusted
off work that was in progress or proposed under the
OBA.
This has included a sex offender’s register, an
Events Authority to leverage the America’s Cup and World Triathlon Series successes, the workforce development plan, further municipality reform, amendments to allow for a marina in St. George’s, vertical
farming, codified labour legislation, continued imm igration reform and even discussion of a living wage.
The PLP’s “new” arbitration centre has been spoken about and discussed for many years.
Mr. Speaker , the PLP has been in power for
15 of the last 20 years. Yes, 15 of the last 20 years. Yet despite GDP growth from 2001 to 2010, the r esultant debt from PLP overspending between 2003
and 2010 set the dial for disaster.
The former PLP Government, with no savings
and already up to its eyes in debt, was forced to massively increase taxes. Payroll taxes surged by 14 per
cent—a fateful decision that expedited the exodus of
back office support functions in IB, shedding signif icant Bermudian jobs in human resource and admi nistration departments across the Island. Further jobs
were also sent to offices overseas.
As companies contracted, both in international
business and in the local economy, entry -level jobs
were the first to disappear. Young Bermudians either
stayed abroad after school or left our shores looking
for greener pastures.
Mr. Speaker , our residential population
dropped a shocking 10 per cent almos t overnight due
to the situation created by years of [PLP] mismanagement and their failed economic and immigration
policies.
As Bermudians all know, international bus iness and, to a lesser extent, tourism are the two main
industries by which Bermuda captures the foreign capital necessary to drive consumption and inves tment in our economy. Although international business
captures an incredible amount of foreign capital, not
enough of this permeates into the local economy.
The highest earners in any economy spend
the smallest percentage of their income on consum ption. Therefore they can dedicate the highest percentage of their income to investment and savings. Private
pension schemes now trail personal savings as the
largest category of outbound cash flows f rom our
shores.
Mr. Speaker , the unfortunate by -product of
these two factors is that despite generating a substantial amount of savings from employment within our
economy, Bermuda must still import the capital nec44 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly essary to finance business, especially loc al business,
from overseas.
Mr. Speaker , interest on mortgages and other
bank loans is now also being shipped abroad because
our local banks have significant foreign shareholders
and bank profits earned locally are being sucked out
of our economy. Our nat ional debt is no exception to
this cash exodus. We are now sending $500,000 per
day overseas in debt service costs.
Mr. Speaker , Bermudian- owned and operated
businesses are feeling the cash crunch as Bermuda’s banks are shunning local business loans in favour of
investment products. Our local businesses are also
still suffering from the effects of the great 2010 popu-lation exodus, which destroyed domestic consum ption.
The recent introduction by the Burt admi nistration of a de facto income tax on small and medium Bermudian owned and operated businesses has
further negatively impacted their ability to survive. The
effect of consumption taxes on disposable income and
the overall falling business and consumer confidence
completes the downward spiral.
Mr. Speaker , concessions were made to lower
earners when the OBA was in Government (and rightly so) through progressive payroll tax and raising the
threshold on taxable income on the highest earners.
Both of these were progressive policies to ensure a
fairer collection of payroll tax. The PLP gave concessions on employee and employer contributions to payroll tax for small and medium start -ups, which certainly
assist with critical year -one expenses. However, wit hout stimulating total demand in the local economy, the
chances of success in years two and three will conti nue to be limited.
Mr. Speaker , the Government’s previous announcement of the doubling of guarantee capital at
the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation
[BEDC] may sound good politically, but in real ity it
does nothing. The existing loan guarantee capital at
BEDC was only at about 30 per cent capacity. As I
have already mentioned, the real struggle for Berm udian entrepreneurs is getting access to bank loans.
What Bermuda needs is more financing options, not
[meaningless] political gestures.
The OBA, therefore, proposes that private
pension schemes invest a portion of their portfolios locally.
We also propose that all companies that operate in Bermuda, including those in the exempted space, participat e in the mandatory private pension
scheme. This will help mitigate the immediate outflow
of capital from our shores and drive the development of our local capital market. The Bermuda Stock E xchange has seen a marked decrease in the participation of local non- finance companies over the years.
Mr. Speaker , the 60/40 rule should also be
amended again, so that all Bermuda residents may qualify under the 60 per cent ownership portion, sub-ject to a carefully designed set of criteria. This will allow more of the wealth already on the Island to be
invested into our economy, which again increases the
availability of domestic capital. This provides more
competition for the banks, which will drive better lend-ing rates for Bermudians.
Mr. Speaker , we must also pass bankruptcy
legislation. The ability to fail, and rise again, is essen-tial to innovation. It is essential to business creation.
Our present framework makes it far too difficult to start
again. Bankruptcy legislation is essential to the development of a successful entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Bermuda can be a hub of innovation. We must create
not only the educational programmes, but also the
legal framework, so that when business start -ups encounter risk this need not be life- ending.
Accordingly, the BMA shoul d be empowered
through legislation and budget to monitor the effects
of legislation on our economy. The BMA should have
a specialised economic unit, staffed with trained
economists. The BMA should also have the ability to
monitor —and regulate if necessary —the fees that
banks charge, both for services as well as lending to
deposit spread.
The Government should also review each and
every public service and department to see which ones can be funded by Government, but delivered by
the private sector, in order to inject much- needed i nnovation into those services.
There could even be models whereby the
same civil servants that presently deliver the services
could be empowered through ownership in the newly
spun- off ventures. Government could provide fixed
term multi -year contracts to ensure a stable income
stream. This would allow these entrepreneurs to expand and reinvest, thereby delivering more successful
outcomes.
The efficiencies created will lead to more ec onomic activity and increased growth. The same em-ployees will benefit from the resulting profits previously lost to bureaucratic inefficiencies. Business man-agement support can be provided from Government
during the transition period. At the end of the period,
the economy will have a more competitive and efficient service delivery system, a new generation of
small and medium business owners, and—in the m edium to long term —a more productive tax dollar
spend.
Mr. Speaker , we propose that Government
adopt a ladder scheme whereby small businesses
progressively gain access to larger Government contracts. The first rung of the ladder would be for smaller
contracts, thereby affording small businesses r esponding to their first Request For Proposal (RFP)
greater chances of success. After the first success,
both Government and the small businesses will find
comfort signing contracts for the successively larger
and more complex jobs higher up the ladder.
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 45

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker , we are supportive of using
blockchain and other technologies to make doing
business more efficient. This, however, is a dangerous game. The widespread introduction of technology into Government could result in hundreds of Bermudian jobs being lost and without a growing local economy. Where will those people made redundant find
jobs?
We know, also, that there are many parts of
government that run on independent computer sy stems that will not easily communicate with other gov-ernment systems. Unifying all of this is going to be
very expensive and we will watch closely how this becomes a reality.
It is very interesting indeed that the implementation of this has been placed by the Premier under
his own ever -so-watchful eye. How this type of project
is going to affect the balancing of the budget remains
to be seen.
We recognise that there are already companies using legitimate blockchain applications for their businesses, but the opportunities for Bermudians and
Bermudian jobs have been massively overhyped.
Mr. Speaker , we are disappointed that the
Government is putting all Bermudians’ hopes and
dreams in the FinTech basket. The OBA questions
why the PLP is tying Bermuda’s flag to the crypto
mast. Cryptocurrency is seen by many experts as a
pyramid scheme or tool for illicit transaction.
Cryptocurrencies are being closely watched
by the international financial regulators because of the inherent risks of tax evasion, fraud and other criminal activity.
Latest GDP figures show that International
Business still contributes five times that of tourism to our GDP. The Island’s hard- earned, unblemished i nternational reputation is a fundamental cornerstone for
success, and necessary for all those who either work in that sector or depend on it for business.
Taken in this context, Bermudians should
question whether the PLP Government’s headlong pursuit of virtual currency exposes Bermuda’s biggest
industry, insurance and reinsurance, to unnecessary
reputational risk. We only need to scratch the surface
of Arbitrade and its supposed billions of bullion to understand the reputational risks involved.
Bermuda has come too f ar in the last 30 years
in developing the international business sector to have it undermined by pinning our hopes on something so
speculative.
More to the point, when will the jobs the PLP
has promised for Bermudians come to fruition? They will be as elusive as the audited accounts for A rbitrade—so enthusiastically supported by the Premier
and his National Security Minister.
It took almost 40 years for Bermuda’s tourism
industry to fully flower. It took almost 30 years from the creation of
Bermuda’s fi rst exempt insurance company until that
sector blossomed into a major pillar of our economy.
Are Bermudians prepared to wait another 30
or 40 years for this new virtual sector to bloom? Can
we afford to wait that long? Or wait even just another
four years for the Burt administration to turn the pursuit of FinTech as a whole into something tangible for
unemployed Bermudians?
Mr. Speaker , Bermudians should also consi der whether the reputational risk of the shadier sides of
FinTech could add to the ongoing hostile threats to
the future of our business model. Such threats i nclude: the Anti -Overseas Territory Legislation recently
passed by the British Parliament; the recent Anti -
Money Laundering assessment by the Caribbean F inancial Action Task Force; there are anti-Bermuda
threats coming from the EU Code of Conduct Group; there is the uncertainty of Bermuda’s relationship with
the EU, post Brexit; there are the growing tariff
measures between USA and China, and its inflationary effects on Bermuda consumers.
Mr. Speaker , let me remind you that it was the
OBA that first allowed the importation of cannabis -
derived products for medicinal use to ease people’s
suffering. It was the OBA that decriminalised possession of small amounts in order to keep people off the
Stop List.
That said, Mr. Speaker , we are generally supportive of the principle behind this Government’s r ecent announcements. However, we have concerns
that this is merely a politically motivated announc ement. There are very significant obstacles, not leas t of
which are the potential challenges of getting banks to
accept the proceeds —just as with crypto- business
and gaming. We look forward to an honest and transparent conversation on how these issues will proceed.
Mr. Speaker , as regards the issue of making
social insurance progressive, the Burt administration has followed the lead of the OBA in respect of pr ogressive payroll tax. It is right and just that those that
can afford to pay more do so. Yet we fear the complexity and cost of this new tax may be a step too far
for small and medium businesses, especially in the wake of all the new PLP taxes this year. Small bus inesses are already suffering. Why does the PLP insist
on penalising them further?
Mr. Speaker , the OBA will do whatever is
within the realm of possibility to lower health care
costs. And we did that when we were in power. How-ever, the Burt administration is not the best gover nment to address this, as has been demonstrated by the cash for friends and family payment of $1.2 mi llion. Mr. Speaker , does the Premier not understand
that the people of Bermuda know exactly what is go-ing on here?
We note, Mr. Speaker , with interest that the
Government has claimed that they will act to change
the way Bermuda pays for health care and make it
46 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly more affordable by expanding access to coverage at
better rates.
The last time we heard this was 2012, when
they released their first National Health Plan. Many
will remember that this plan was widely discredited;
not even the PLP advanced the plan in their 2012
elect ion platform. It was ditched because actuarial
reviews demonstrated that the plan would have signi ficantly raised premiums for Bermudians and was f inancially unsustainable.
Although the Government has provided few
details to support their promises this ti me around,
some of the same discredited concepts are resurfacing. It is simplistic to suggest that simply pooling risk will lower health care costs for everyone. In fact, it
may increase premiums for both employers and employees as Government attempts to s hift the growing
burden of providing health care to our seniors and
unemployed onto workers and businesses.
It is unlikely that there will be any meaningful
reductions in health care costs until Government is prepared to tackle the main drivers of increas ing
costs, which are over -utilisation and unrestrained pr ovider fees. Let me repeat that the reason health costs are so high is due to overuse of certain services. It is
noticeable that Premier Burt has outlined nothing in
this Throne Speech to tackle the root cause of our
health care costs.
The reality is that within five years health care
costs will reach $1 billion. Mr. Speaker , we believe
that a public register to track utilisation across the
whole system will lead to a more transparent and meaningful conversation about which services are
being over utilised. This will remove the ability for those with vested interests to divert progress towards a sustainable and affordable health care solution for
all Bermudians.
Mr. Speaker , as for energy, everyone w ants
lower energy costs and it is worth noting that energy
costs have gone up under the Burt administration.
Rather than simply using catch phrases, the Gover nment must deal with BELCO. The problems between
BELCO management and its employees are not a
matter just for that company, but for all of Bermuda. It
is not clear what role the Government is playing in
these discussions, but it is vital that Government represents everyone’s interests.
There must be a comprehensive solution to
the BELCO stalemate; one that management, shar eholders, staff, as well as the consuming public can live
with.
No type of job- creating capital investment in
Bermuda can be made with confidence if the Island
has uncertainty over the reliability and affordability of
electric power. Bermuda already has some of the
most expensive electrical energy in the world. We
support the continued efforts to drive renewable energy solutions. Bermudians deserve an energy gener a-tion model that is sustainable, affordable and independent.
I just wa nt to pause for a moment to welcome
the Premier.
We are very confused, however, at Premier
Burt’s doublespeak about energy costs. He says that
“high energy costs are among the first factors cited by
investors and developers as a barrier to doing bus iness in Bermuda” and also rightly recognises that
those same high costs are hurting working class Ber-mudians. How does charging developers more for
their energy through a new progressive tax encourage
them to invest and create jobs in Bermuda?
Mr. Speaker , we are delighted that the PLP
Government is continuing with the work outlined in the
Bermuda 2022 Education Plan born in April 2016 under the One Bermuda Alliance Government.
With the agreed objective to develop a strat egic planning approach that was transparent, inclusive, engaging and most importantly, community driven.
The plan’s overall intent was to drive a progressive,
sound, credible public education experience for our
children.
Mr. Speaker , entering the 2018 Parliamentary
year, out of a sense of transparency, one would have
thought that the Government would have given the
country a status report of the plan’s strategic priorities
and what has been achieved to date, especially as it
relates to student excellence and development.
Mr. Speaker , the Throne Speech indicated
that black Bermudians are falling behind in gaining access to higher education. To address this, the Government indicated that the current financial aid grant
will be increased to ensure that even more young and
mature students who have the ability, but not the
means, are not hindered from attending Bermuda College.
This is good and is worth the effort. However,
the real question is What has the Government done to ensure that our young people are being prepared to
enter not only the Berm uda College, but other international universities and colleges in the UK, Canada,
and the US?
Mr. Speaker, what would an OBA Gover nment do? We would budget per term for teachers to
buy supplies and equipment for classrooms. Teachers
continue to underwrite the cost of supplies and
equipment under a PLP Government, who broke a
promise to bring this practice to an end. We would
establish an independent standards board—the education equivalent of the Attorney General —to provide
independent and objective report s on schools and
overall student performance. We would review the
need to classify schools as aided and maintain
schools, establish a professional development centre
for teachers to focus on teaching skills, effective
classroom discipline and ongoing training, and set
high standards for hiring teachers and insist on performance in classrooms.
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 47

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, an OBA Government would also
reduce the number of school holidays so that they are
aligned with other G20 countries, so that students
spend more time in the school, and extend the school
day to allow for time for the arts, as well as sports and
academic support, incorporate coding training into
schools and explore same- sex schools for male st udents that would combine a solid economic foundation
with a str ong technical education curriculum to provide
good career options upon graduation.
Mr. Speaker, I will not stop there as education
is critical to the future of this Island. We would create
standards for a national physical fitness programme
that addresses health, exercise and diet beginning in primary school. We would create a specialist team for
each school that provides academic, remedial and
social assistance to students and parents and allocate
resources for support and counselling. We would i nves t in continuing education and retraining and par tner with the business community, unions, and the Bermuda College to define the skills required for pr ofessional and trade careers. As this Government has
continued many of our policies, I will be happy and
supportive if they adopt these education policies, as
well.
Mr. Speaker, I always think that if it is a good
idea, then use it. Removing politics from tourism brought results. We believe that an independent Education Authority would do similar great works for our
children. Our young people are losing hope and are
being attracted to gangs. Mr. Speaker, there are glaring omissions in the “Throne Speech Lite” in respect of dealing with gang violence and the increasing gun
play in our streets. This, despite the fac t that there is a
very well -compensated pastor allegedly in total control. Frankly, the reintroduction of parish constables
just does not cut it, and neither does a chicken farm.
With that in mind, it is disturbing indeed to see the
overall lack of focus i n identifying vulnerable youth.
We need to fund more artistic outlets and give
more tangible support for the arts and creative com-munity and a published policy needs to be adopted to
govern the special education programmes in schools.
Many at -risk children are placed in “special ed” simply
because they are disruptive, even though they do not
have a learning disability. This denies services to chi ldren who require special education support and causes disruptive children to miss out on mastering the
content t hey should be learning. Many of these chi ldren are at risk of gang initiation and other nefarious
threats. When their files are checked, most of these
students are undiagnosed, which means there is no
justification for them to be in special education.
We s uggest that a high school diploma for
special education be considered that is accepted by
Bermuda College. Currently, such students are given
a Bermuda Alternative School Diploma [BASD], which
is not accepted by the Bermuda College or in the US, causing them to have to seek out a GED [ General
Education Diploma].
To assist other students to find more opport unities, we encourage more accreditation for Bermuda
College. Many young Bermudians cannot afford over-seas education and should be given better opportunities for certificates and translatable degrees.
In addition, we need to update our mental
health legislation, which is woefully inadequate, and give greater legislation protection to women and seniors who often are the backbone of a Bermuda family
unit. We ignore their needs at our peril.
We must take a holistic approach to deal with
the rising tide of violence, from the ground up. Vi olence should never be tolerated, but all too often it is an accepted part of our lives. Young people need
guidance every day, which is why we will support init iatives to give estranged parents access to their chi ldren.
We also note that this year’s Throne Speech
shows no intention to support youth programmes this
year. After -school sports organisations with appropr iate plans f or keeping young people safe and in a pos itive environment should be supported by Government. We should be focusing our efforts on children ages 5
to 18. Keeping our Island’s children engaged after
school in positive programmes gives them less time to
be preyed upon by gang members.
Mr. Speaker, let me say c ongratulations to Mr.
Ottiwell Simmons. The Ottiwell Simmons Arbitration
Centre could be used to bring together all the different
boards and tribunals under one central roof with administrative support . Bermuda has more than 30 tr ibunals and boards, and people are often confused about which one to go to. The system could be
streamlined by bringing them under one roof, which
would be of great benefit to Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, there is absol utely nothing in the
Throne Speech about the state of the economy, gam-ing, or dealing with transport system issues. Other
than imposing higher taxes, there is nothing to encourage growth or give relief to the retail sector. The
apparent decision to again r evamp the immigration
work permit system reeks of desperation to cover up
former Minister’s failings in a department that has lost
all credibility in the eyes of the business community in
respect of wait times for permits, general lack of eff iciency, and a significant rise in Job Maker rejections.
The very statements made by the Government hark back to 2010 when the Department of Immigration
was the very definition of overblown bureaucracy and
red tape.
We are well aware of the instances where top
executives left Bermuda as a result of being treated as unqualified asylum seekers rather than as job pr oviders for Bermudians. We absolutely agree that firms
that follow the rules should be rewarded, but the fact
remains that the 2015 Work Permit Policy introduced
48 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly by the OBA Government was accepted by all stak eholders after extensive consultation.
Is it true that the Premier is telling business
leaders that the Island needs a population of 80,000
people to be sustainable? Given our declining birth
rate, we ask the question, Where are those people
going to come from?
Mr. Speaker, the OBA was alarmed by the
Burt administration’s plan to get involved in the buil ding of affordable housing in the City of Hamilton. It is clear that the Burt administration has learned abs olutely nothing from the previous PLP Government’s
disastrous scheme at Grand Atlantic , a scheme overseen by the current Minister of Public Works, responsible for the Bermuda Housing Corporation. By way of
reminder, the Grand Atlantic was a colossal waste of
money, overpriced, and never utilised, except when
the OBA arranged to rent the vacant units to the
America’s Cup teams and cover debt payments. With
the number of empty properties in Bermuda, we believe incentives for landlords to lease their properties,
and incentivising builders with tax friendly lease- tobuy schemes, could assist Bermudians to get onto the
first rung of the housing market.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, I make a few sobering
predictions: The economy will continue to falter. And
as it does, the Burt administration will increase its
emotive rhetoric to energise the PLP base support
and will introduce formal income tax to boost revenue
due to the squandering of public money that is the
hallmark of the Premier’s, and now ex -Minister of F inanc e, inability to properly manage finances. In fact, it
is likely that the Premier relinquished his Finance por tfolio to get distance from the inevitable demonstration
of his failures in the next 18 months.
I also predict the Premier, or one of his entourage, will continue to promote independence in order
to divert attention away from the rising unemployment, falling house prices, and an exodus of business due to
the tax and spend policies hidden under the guise of
equality.
Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, we are disappointed with the “Throne Speech Lite,” and disappointed for the voters that had such high hopes and
confidence in the Burt administration. It is “Lite” on
ideas, heavy on rhetoric and full of undefined empty
promises. Bermudians were promised help but have
been taxed on their sugar consumption, their payroll,
their vacation rentals, their commercial land, their di vidends, and as a result, too many are suffering.
Let me leave you with one final thought, Mr.
Speaker. Culturally, Bermuda is not as adv anced as
other nations on the issues of women’s rights and
equality. We would urge this Government to start the
Big Conversation on these issues as a matter urgency.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Desk thumping] The Speaker: Thank you, Honourable Member.
Does any other Honourable Member wish to
speak?
I recognise the Government Whip, the Honourable Member Scott. You have the floor.

DEBATE ON THE 2018 THRONE SPEECH
AND REPLY

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, there has been one time in my
life that I have ever seen my father speechless, and that was during a conversation he had with a family
friend. They were having a debate about different i ssues. My dad had an answer for every question that
person threw at him, until they said, Alex, if you are so
smart, why aren’t you rich? My question to the Opposition is, If they had done all those things that they said they did, why are they over there and we are over here?

[Desk thumping]

Yes, so many factual inconsistencies, that I was just waiting for the Opposition
Leader to pull out a “creepy calendar” to show on
what dates the OBA did what they said they did.
But, Mr. Speaker, I am not going to spend my
time talking about that so- called “Reply,” because
there was a . . . and actually, there is still a tourism
campaign entitled “Destination Bermuda.” And this
campaign was founded around making Bermuda a
more attractive destination to visitors. But what I can do, Mr. Speaker, is take that tourism campaign of
Destination Bermuda and put it in the context of the
Throne Speech. Because the Speech from the Throne
does exactly what that Destination Bermuda c ampaign does for visitors, but for Bermudians. It makes
Bermuda a place that people not only want to visit, but
a place where people, and mainly Bermudians, want to live.
So I just need you to picture this, Mr. Speaker.
I am speaking from a pilot’s point of view, being [that]
our Premier is a pilot himself. And as a pilot, he unOfficial Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 49

Bermuda House of Assembly derstands that the most precarious part of a flight is
the approach and the landing. Now, one of the key
successful ways to deliver your passengers safely is
to know everything about the environment at your
destination. Now, this is so key that the FAA [Federal
Aviation Administration] has a rule. They have rules
that say that a pilot must know all aspects of the flight
prior to takeoff, and be well -versed on the landing
procedures. And this is where I pick up where the
Throne Speech left off.
We could be further ahead than where we are
right now, Mr. Speaker. But the Premier (Captain Burt,
for this example) saw, studied, researched everything
that was needed for the potential flight ahead, which started on July 17th last year. And toward the end of
the Throne Speech he explains that out of the 125 items that were advanced, 42 were changes to ensure
that Bermuda had a successful review from the Cari bbean Financial Action Task Force [ CFATF] asses sment. Right?

[Inaudible interjection]

And as the Premier says,
that is work that the former administration should have
started. That is work that the former administration
should have done. Right? But I digress.
The thing is, Mr. Speaker, knowing that this is
what needed to be done in order to create a Bermuda,
or get us to the destination of a better and fairer Bermuda, the Premier took the time to ensure that onethird of all legislation passed last parliamentary session ensured our success this year.
Now, Mr. Speaker, there are key instruments
when you are coming in for a landing. And the Premier will know that one of those instruments is called “position indicator” or marker beacon. As long as the
pilot has the plane on the proper and correct glide
slope, these marker beacons allow the pilot to know
exactly where he is throughout the final approach to
the runway. So now there are three actual markers. There is your outer marker, your middle marker, and
your inner marker. All right? So, now, the outer mar ker, Mr. Speaker, is usually about four to seven miles
away from the end of the runway. And so that is us ually the first marker that the pilot will hit, or the first
marker the pilot crosses while he makes his way onto
the final approach.
Now, Mr. Speaker, our outer marker for this
context, on our journey toward a better and fairer Bermuda, is income inequality. For far too long Bermudians have had to work too hard, too long, and too
many jobs just to make ends meet. Now, working two
and three jobs, Mr. Speaker, is what you would hear
in other jurisdictions. But here in Bermuda you have
had to work three and four jobs to make ends meet,
Mr. Speaker. And the other administration did nothing
to address that. And this is where the living wage
comes in, Mr. Speaker. It was a PLP Member of Par-liament, Mr. Rolfe Commissiong, who piloted it
through this House of Assembly, and chaired the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee, and it is the PLP
that in their Throne Speech sai d that this is going to
be implemented in the next legislative session.
So, now, Mr. Speaker, the thing is that this is
not about just money. This is about the intangibles.
This is about providing a quality of life that Bermudians deserve, but have yet to achieve, Mr. Speaker.
This is about making Bermuda not just a better and
fairer place, but a safer one, Mr. Speaker. Because if parents, if guardians, are able to work less that means
they are able to spend more time with their family.
They are able to provide more intangibles to their chi ldren, which makes gang life, which makes antisocial
behaviour less attractive. And with that being less attractive, that means they can have more success in
other areas and other jurisdictions.
And, Mr. Speaker, if you c ombine that liveable
wage with the fact that this administration, Captain Burt, the Burt administration, is looking to level the
playing field for those members . . . there are members in this community, Mr. Speaker, there are owners
and upper management w ho are making roughly
$4,000 a week. And then there are employees that
are making $4,000 a month. But yet they pay the
same tax. That is not fair, Mr. Speaker. That does not
put money in Bermudian’s pockets

And that needs to be r eformed. And that is what this Government is doing,
Mr. Speaker.
How can we create a fairer Bermuda, how can
we create a better Bermuda, if we did not address income inequality? How can we ensure that every
Bermudi an has the same opportunity? How can we
ensure that every Bermudian has the same chances
at success if they are not able to access or have the same access to capital?
Mr. Speaker, the strength of an economy is
the size of the middle class. So, when the mi ddle
class, Mr. Speaker, has more disposable income, when the middle class has the cost of living reduced,
those savings get filtered back and circulated
throughout our economy. And while I talk about the
middle class, that brings us to our middle marker.
Now, Mr. Speaker, the middle marker on our
journey toward a better and fairer Bermuda . . . in av iation the middle marker is usually, I would say, probably about a mile away from the end of the runway,
which means that you have made significant progress from where you started when you turned onto the final
approach, but you are still not there. You still have a
little ways to go. All right?
So, Captain Burt has placed in his Throne
Speech about the Government’s overall course for the
next legislative year to provide an environment in
50 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly which Bermudians could save hundreds of dollars per
month on health insurance premiums. Now, Mr.
Speaker, How is that going to be done? one might
ask. That is by moving forward with a National Health Plan that has sat collect ing dust on the former Government’s shelf since 2012. But yet we have heard
from Members on the other side that health insurance
and health care were important to them. It could not
have been—if you could have reduced health cost, if
you could have reduced the cost of prescription medicines, or made them more affordable, but you did
nothing. Instead, you made a decision which went against your technical advisors and actually increased
the cost of health to every person in this country.
Now, while you do that, while we are utilising
the National Health Plan to help reduce the cost of
health care, we are also utilising a combination of
relative value units and providing a creative pooling
option for members of this country, because the bi gger the pool, the lower the health insurance prem iums. And as the Premier said in his Throne Speech,
we are looking to reduce the pool from multiple or
numerous pools, to maybe just one or two big pools.
So, Mr. Speaker, we are almost at that inner
marker. At that point . . . as the Premier who is a pilot
knows, before you get to that inner marker, you, by
rules, have to be able to see or observe the runway
environment before you can proceed any further.
Now, the runway environment includes lights, runway
markings, so on and so forth. But the thing is, the environment at our destination for a better and fairer
Bermuda puts more money in the pockets of those low income earners. And the environment in a better
and fairer Bermuda makes living in Bermuda more
affordable, which means living in Bermuda is more enjoyable, which means that living in Bermuda is
more attractive to those Bermudians who fled, who
actually created an exodus between 2012 and 2017.
So, Mr. Speaker, when you are at your inner
marker you are roughly at about 200 feet above the ground. And at that height, at that altitude, if one was
to look out the window, one could see the houses.
Visitors would be enamoured. Visitors would be enthralled and excited about seeing the pastel colours
and the white roofs. But on our destination to a better
and fairer Bermuda, when Bermudians look out that
window, they would be enamoured, they would be
excited about lower mortgage rates, Mr. Speaker, for
those homes. They would be excited that it becomes
more affordable to own a piece of the rock.
Now, Mr. Speaker, in the Throne Speech the
Premier has said that if you have a mortgage of $750,000 or less, this Government is going to allow you to take advantage of the competitive nature and
the competitive market, the mortgage rate market that
is here in Bermuda locally. Between the three banks,
one definitely has the highest rate and one has the
lowest rate. But right now what stops members of the
public, what stops your average Bermudian from tak-ing advantage of those competitive rat es is this big
barrier called the “stamp duty.”
It is a tax that makes it almost unfeasible to go
and transfer your mortgage from one bank to another.
This Government recognises this. This Government is connected to the average person. This Government
understands what it is to struggle to make ends meet,
and the stress in which you feel in your day -to-day life
is just because you do not know how you are going to
do it by keeping a roof over your head. So we are going to remove that stamp duty. We are going to remove that tax. We are going to remove that barrier to
allow families to save just a bit more money.
Imagine if someone’s mortgage [payment]
could go from $3,000 a month to $2,500; or from
$2,500 to $2,000.

[Inaudible interjection]

As MP Neville Tyrrell from
constituency 26, says, every little bit helps. So, Mr.
Speaker, on our way, making our way to our destina-tion of a better, fairer, and safer Bermuda, in these few minutes I have been able to show you how the
average Berm udian, through this Throne Speech, is
able to save money on health insurance, is able to
make more money through a liveable wage, and is
now able to afford their home and save money
through mortgages.
But, Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not
addres s those members of our society for whom this
relief comes just maybe a little too late. Maybe the last
four years, from 2012 to 2017, they just took a little bit
too much out of them. They tried to hold on as long as
they could, and the PLP might not have come just in
time for them, but help is on the way because, you
know what? For those who are now in front of collection agencies, for those who are having debt collectors calling and harassing them, for those who have
debt collectors threatening to take that home that they
are struggling to hold on to (even though the home was not a part of the original agreement), we have
consumer protections coming.
Consumer protections will be put in place that
will make stuff like that illegal, Mr. Speaker. Which will
mean that if it is not a part of the original deal, they
cannot go after it. Let’s just say, if you fall on hard
times and your house is part of that original deal, they
cannot sell your home for, let’s just say . . . and I will
put out a hypothetical number. You owe $250,000.
You cannot pay it. They sell your home for $150,000.
And then they come right now and say, You owe us
$100,000. That will not happen.

That is something that we
are going to tackle.
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 51

Bermuda House of Assembly We are going to have it so that consumer pr otections are put in place so if they sell your home, if
they sell that asset, you are not liable for anything
[else] or any other shortcomings. That is what this
Throne Speech is about. That is what the Bermuda
PLP, Progressive Labour Party, is doing for Bermudians. So you will hear Members of this legislature, you
will hear members of this community go out and tell
you things that are not correct. You will hear Members
tell you things that are more speaking thei r opinion
[than] as fact.
But, Mr. Speaker, I tell you today that this
Throne Speech . . . although members of the public
said our last Throne Speech was too business -centric,
this is a departure from that one. And I explained in
the beginning why it seemed business -centric, because we had to ensure that the country and the
country’s economy were protected by ensuring that
we were prepared for the upcoming assessment.
So, Mr. Speaker, I do not want to speak too
long because I believe that in my time I have outlined
some of those main focus points, the main benefits
that Bermudians will see. I have shown you the different markers, and these are things that Bermudians
can look out on and say, Hold on. Where is that stamp
duty relief? Hold on. Where are you with helping to
reduce health care through the National Health Plan?
And what about consumer protection and lower mor tgage rates?
One thing I noticed about the Opposition’s
Reply is that they used the word “was” a lot, which is
past tense. And in the Throne Speech we use the word “will,” which is future. That means that som ebody in this Honourable Chamber is looking to the past for validation, while another group is looking to the future. My church, Mr. Speaker —and the Honourable Wayne Furbert will ask, What church? Cobbs Hill
Methodist, built by slaves in the moonlight.

[Inaudible interjections]

Thank you.
And, Mr. Speaker, the Good Book also asks
for members to pray for those in authority over them.
So I am asking that Members pray for . . . the Honourable Member Wayne Furbert says, Pray for the
OBA. I am actually saying that members of the public
pray for their Government, which is comprised of both
a Government and an Opposition. Right? Therefore,
we can get this vision and take this vision and bring it to fruition so that everybody can see relief. OBA
Members can see relief. PLP Members can see relief.
Because we are not just a Government for PLP m embers, we are a Government for everybody. Because
everybody voted us in! Everybody voted us in, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, what I want to do in closing is to
say to those Members, because I understand that these proceedings are not just broadcast locally, they
are broadcast internationally via the
www.parliament.bm website. So those Bermudians
who are listening overseas, those Bermudians who
are listening in England that were a part of the emigr ation out, because you found it too hard to survive
here, because you did not feel as though the opport unities were available for you to make it in your own
country, I say, Come back! I say to all of you, Come
back!
Mr. Speaker, the thing is that part of the PLP’s
immigration policy, part of the PLP’s immigration plan
is to invite Bermudians back to the country. Come home! Because we may not be promising jobs like a
former administration did, but we promise to create an
environment where job creation is favourable. And
that is by helping to reduce the cost of living, helping
to reduce the cost of operating in Bermuda. And do
you know who has noticed [and] believes in this v ision, Mr. Speaker? The FinTech companies.
FinTech companies are successful because
they can see vision before it comes to fruition. FinTech companies are successful because they get
in on the ground floor of big things and big ideas.
So, Mr. Speaker, I indulge you [to allow] me to
go out and plead to Bermudians that are out there. There are thousands of Bermudians who have left,
and we are hoping t hat we can get thousands of Ber52 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly mudians to come back. Take part in your community;
take part in your country, because now we understand. There is a Government that can walk with
kings, but not lose the common touch.
Mr. Speaker, all those who know what 1906
stands for, know what I just said. And for those who are not fortunate enough to understand and know
what 1906 stands for, that means we may be a Government, we may be leaders of this community, leaders of this country, but we have not forgotten where
we came from. We have not forgotten the foundations
on which this party was built on. Therefore, we make
sure that the policies that are put in place now are
transformational and not transactional. The policies that are put in place now help transform Bermudian
lives, help transform Bermudians so that they know
that they can be successful in anything they try to be
successful in. The policies that we put in place now
provide a level playing field not just for Bermudians
today, for Bermudians tomorrow, but for generations
to come.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

[Desk thumping]

Mr. Speaker, governing is a challenge. And I am sure that this Government is finding
that governing is a challenge, just like the OBA found
it a challenge when we were Government. You have
to satisfy your ministers and your backbenchers. You
have to satisfy your local and international business
community. You have to satisfy the community at
large. And all have varying expectations and interests
and ideas. So how do you meet them all?
Mr. Speaker, the overarching theme of the
Throne Speech is to reduce the cost of living. A nd that
is a challenge in and of itself. Bermuda Government’s
import duties are its second highest source of rev enue, after payroll taxes. So how do we replace that
source of revenue in a way that allows us to reduce
the cost of living, but still maintain the level of revenue which is needed for the country? We also have the
highest number of civil servants per capita in the world, Mr. Speaker, which means that we have to
make some changes to our civil service, which is a
challenge because the civil service is the largest employer of people in Bermuda.
So I agree wholeheartedly that there has to be
efforts made to reduce the cost of living. But what are those things that we can do to reduce the cost of li ving? Now, I know that there have been some exem ptions on the import of certain food items when they come into the Island. My concern is that while those
exemptions are granted to grocers, are those exem ptions being passed on to the consumer? And if they
are not being passed on, then there should be some
form of penalty, because if a grocer is . . . by way of
example. If a grocer is bringing in (I don’t know)
chicken, and he pays absolutely no duty on that
chicken, the cost of bringing it in may be $3.00. Why
does he have to sell it to me for $13.00? He can s ell it
to me at $5.00 and he can still make a profit. So
things like that need to be addressed.
We are looking at renewable energy as a way
of reducing costs and helping us to go green. One of the things that I was thinking that we could do in terms
of a ssisting seniors is having a government -
subsidised solar panel programme, or you know, having a programme where people that use solar property
or solar energy get some sort of reduction. The cost of
living just cannot just be reduced by just saying that
we want to reduce it. We have to have some realistic
approaches and we have to recognise that our juri sdiction is peculiar. The things that might work in other places may not necessarily work here in Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, we amended the Cost of Living
Comm ission Amendment Act to add additional members and it was thought that adding additional members would assist in the formulation of ideas and suggestions as to how best to reduce the cost of living.
My understanding is that their mission was to obtain
information about import costs and profit margins. And
I have not heard anything about a report or any feedback as to what the status of that is and where we are
in terms of what they have been able to achieve.
Mr. Speaker, in the 2017 Throne Speech, the
Premier stated that the plans were to achieve ec onomic growth by creating new jobs. So the attempt to create new jobs has been through the FinTech industry, and attempting to create that as a third pillar of our
economy. It is true that since September 2017, thirty
FinTech companies have been incorporated. If you
will recall, in the earlier part of the year we had four
Memorandum of Understandings [MOUs] signed, with
Binance, Omega One, Shyft Network, and Medici
Ventures. And in the aggregate, there was a prom ise
or a commitment of about $25 million, which would
enable social programmes, education, training, and
other things. At the time the Premier had stated, if I
may quote, Mr. Speaker?
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 53

Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Yes.

“Based on these commitments,
. . . ‘We stand to create 120 jobs for Bermudians over
the next three years.’
“‘Most significantly, we believe in investing in
our people and the institutions that strengthen our
communities; so we are encouraging these corporate partners to tangibly do the s ame with educ ation, our community sporting clubs and in training
Bermudians.’” [ BermudaReal 2 June 2018]
Now, Mr. Speaker, I have not seen any jobs
come from FinTech other than the work permits for
the people who are here setting up the FinTech industry. I know that it takes time for these things to happen, but I want to know whether or not this is going to
be a true pillar of our economy, and when are the
commitments that were made by these four companies, who came here with great fanfare . . . there were
people in the Gallery, and press conferences. They
might as well have thrown confetti in the Chamber.
But what has happened since that time?
Binance is in Malta, and they are looking for
jurisdictions where there is a light regulatory touch. They do not want to be restricted in any way. What
about their commitment to Bermuda? Is it going to
happen? Or is it just something that we just have to
say, Oh, well. This isn’t going to work this time. That is
$15 million that we are not going to have. There are
people in Bermuda who are not going to be educated.
It’s lost money. We lost it as soon as we found it.
Mr. Speaker, I understand that Americ a’s Cup
is a thorn in the side of the PLP Government. The fact
of the matter is that the PLP does not want to always
acknowledge that the America’s Cup created a boon
for our country. I actually did do an interview, and my
parliamentary colleague said that I was confusing apples with oranges by stating that America’s Cup and FinTech were similar. What I was saying is not that
they are similar in industry, what I was saying was that
America’s Cup came to Bermuda and they decided to invest in Bermuda and they did what they said they
were going to do.
We have the Endeavour Programme, Mr.
Speaker, which continues to go on. PwC funded it for
a further three years. We have over 2,200 Bermudians who have passed through the Endeavour Pr ogramme and they have been taught the STEAM [Sc ience, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics] subjects, as well as social skills from sailing. They
have learned how to be team players. They have also
learned how to be independent and individual managers. That is the investment that America’s Cup has
made in our people. They have contributed to our
GDP [gross domestic product]. The Government’s
statistical report clearly states that this economy got a
boon from America’s Cup.
So my comment about FinTech and America’s
cup is that America’s Cup made the investment. Those billionaires came here and they were criticised
because they were supposed to be directed to a certain class of people. But the billionaires from FinTech
are not making that same investment in our country.
When are we going to see that? When are they going
to give us the $25 million? When is the Education
Centre going to be started.
We have Aribitrade, and you know, when they
did research on Aribitrade, its office was on top of a dress shop. Do they exist? Are they going to be able
to do the things that they said that are going to do? I
know that they have incorporated three companies:
Arbitrade Ltd, Arbitrade Exchange (Bermuda) [Ltd.],
and Arbitrade Property Holdings [Ltd.]. And the Property Holdings company (I guess) is the one that is going to hold the land at Victoria Hall.
Beyond that, though, what are they going to
do? Are they a viable company? Are they going to be able to do the things that they say they want to do for
our country? I’m not attacking, but I am all for anything
that is going to create jobs for Bermuda and put money into our economy and support our economy. So I
want to see these things come to fruition. I am not
criticising. All I am saying is, Where are the jobs?
For every $100 that was inves ted by Gover nment in America’s Cup, we got a return back of $500. Are we getting that same return from FinTech? Will
we get that same return?
And if I may quote again, Mr. Speaker, in the
[Department of] Statistics report, it states that our
economy’s “gr owth was attributed to increased construction activity associated with the 35
th America’s
Cup [event], residential renovation, airport development and hotel development.” Even the hair dressing
industry got an increase from America’s Cup, Mr.
Speaker.
So, I recognise that there are challenges. I believe that the Government is trying to create an env ironment for businesses to be established here, but
the truth is that we live in a global world. We do not
necessarily have to have boots on the ground in Bermuda anymore. People can work virtually. We also
have the general challenges facing us, such as the
economic substance issue, where the UK is imposing upon us the requirement for anybody that has a bus iness here to demonstrate that the economic sub-stance from that business is earned in Bermuda.
In addition, Mr. Speaker, today there was an article
that has been put out that said, “Corporate America
flees zero- tax Caribbean havens after crackdown. ”
[PostBulletin
15 November 2018]
So what we are having are a lot of the multi -
US companies leaving no- tax jurisdictions to go onshore. Trump has made onshore as attractive as it is
offshore, so now most of the people who are offshore
are here not for tax purposes, but for other reasons.
But with all of the regulatory requirements that are
coming down the pike, it is making it very uncomfort able for them to be here. So if we lose that business,
54 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly we lose jobs; we lose revenue; we lose people who
are contributing to our economy; we lose people who
are creating jobs, and we do not have a substitute for
that.
We have tourism, Mr. Speaker, which for the
second year in a row has had record numbers. But
there is a concern that there will be a change to the
legislation which will compromise its independence.
We have already had the independence of the Gaming Commission compromised. We do not have an
executive director. We do not have anybody interes ted in coming to Bermuda to be the executive director.
And we do not have the ability to process any of the
funds, if we were ever to get a casino off the ground. So my question is: We have a whole Gaming Commission set up, what are the people who are currently
working there now doing? There is no executive director. There is no prospect right now of being able to
have a bank or a gaming industry, so what are they
doing? Are we paying for something that is just not
going to happen? Are we throwing good money after
bad?
I am not trying to knock anybody out of a job.
But all I am saying is that we have something that is
sitting there that is quickly becoming an albatross
around our neck because it is not going anywhere. I
do not want tourism to be one of those albatrosses.
Tourism has really taken off. The Airbnb has really
taken off. Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda have found a second
form of revenue by being able to rent out properties,
and I would like to continue to see Bermuda be the
destination of choice for many people for a very long time. I am concerned about the possibility of amending the legislation and changing the independence.
Kevin Dallas has done a fantastic job. I parti cipated in the National Tourism Plan and we had three
or four different sessions with different people around
the table with great ideas. And I think that we can continue that, but it has to maintain its independence.
Mr. Speaker, there was established last year
under the 2017 Throne Speech, the Bermuda First Think Tank. And that Think Tank was supposed to
develop a social and economic plan. I have not heard
anything about that since the Think Tank was established, so I would be interested in having an update
on when the plan will be disseminated, and whether
there will be any consultation. It was supposed to cr eate a plan that would sustain long- term economic
growth and create jobs. So I would be interested on an update of that.
The 2017 Throne Speech said that they were
going to improve social conditions in Bermuda. In the budget this year there was no allocation for the Mini stry of . . . what is it? Community Development, or . . .
for that Ministry, which a lot of people in our country
rely on for financial assistance and other things. Not
only that, we have the Minister who worked in that
Ministry no longer heading it up. What are we doing
about addressing the social issues of Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda if we do not have a Ministry specifically designated to do that with somebody who is able to un-derstand and assist in carrying out the changes that
are needed to assist our most vulnerable people?
Mr. Speaker, as you know, I sat on the Joint
Select Committee for a Living Wage. I support people
being able to live in their country and survive in their
countr y. I do not know that a living wage is the answer. I believe that a person should be paid for an
honest day’s work. But I think that we cannot artificially inflate our economy. We have to make sure that we
have the necessary consultation and do all that we
need to do before we just implement a [certain] wage.
We cannot just pick a number arbitrarily and say,
Okay, this is the number. Because if we are not having training and education and social skills and life
skills that go along with that increase in inc ome . . . [if]
you are paying somebody $20 an hour and they do
not know how to manage that, paying them $50 an
hour is not going to make a difference. So we have to
include education and we have to help people with life
skills so that they can manage what they have.
I understand that the Premier has suggested
that they will create an industry through the develop-ment of medical marijuana. I have seen the effects of
medical marijuana, and I am sure everybody has seen
probably the . . . maybe it is 60 Minutes where the
little girl, Charlotte, was having seizures and the only
way that they were able to assist her was through
medical marijuana, the Cannabi noid oil, or whatever it
is. And I believe that we can be successful with that.
My concern is that if we are going to establish a medical marijuana industry, how are we going to manage
the dispensaries? How are we going to determine who
gets a licence? I believe the Premier stated in his
speech that the people who get a licence will be those
who have been caught with possession of marijuana,
who are on the stop list, so those will be the first people who will be entitled to get a licence. All I am concerned about is that it be monitored properly. We
need to make sure that we establish a framework that is effective . We need to determine that we have good
product regulations. We need to determine how we are going to distinguish between medical marijuana and recreational marijuana. And, again, we are confronted with the challenge of how we are going to—

[Noise from electronic device]

The challenge between medical
marijuana and recreational marijuana.
We have to make sure that the industry is pr otected and that our people are protected. So who are
our farmers going to be?
Then you get into the whole . . . like people
are going to be breaking into marijuana farms and then you need security and you know . . . so do we
have enough land mass to have secure fields and pr otect the fields. So do I support medical marijuana?
Absolutely! But we have to have a constructive
framework to develop it in. I agree that it is an opportunity for entrepreneurs and I hope that it is something
that we can do.
Oh! That is what it was . . . the challenge is
that we are not going to be able to bank the proceeds. That is the problem, because the correspondent
banks do not want to take the money. So in the United
States, marijuana is legal at a state level, but it is not
legal at a federal level. So while you can grow it at a
state level, and you do not get penalised if you have it,
federally, it is considered a crime, and any proceeds
from the sale of it are considered “proceeds of crime.”
So our biggest challenge is going to be the
correspondent banks. And, you know, I have spoken with some bankers. The bankers are willing to do
whatever they can to facilitate the economic growth in
this country. But the truth of the matter is that if we do
not have a correspondent bank, then we die as a j urisdiction because we cannot get our money in and
out of the country. We are not able to facilitate this
process ourselves. I think that there are, you know,
the initiatives. Like I said, gaming, cryptocurrency, and
medical marijuana are good initiatives. But I do not
want them to just remain as initiatives. There has to
be some implementation, and we have to be able to
get all of the ducks to line up in a row so that we can
get these things to fly.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, energy costs is one of
the things that have been addressed. And I know that
the Deputy Premier gave a statement the other day
talking about electric buses, which I fully support. I
fully support going green wherever we can, because
we have to protect our environment for the future of
our children. I know that the partnership with Rocky
Mountain Institute [RMI] is a partnership to, first of all,
do some research to determine whether or not electric
buses are even viable in Bermuda. You know, I think
that along with the research with Rocky Mountain I nstitute there needs to be a coinciding education campaign, because we need to understand the i mportance of reducing our carbon footprint, and we also
need to learn how to conserve energy.
You know, when I am home, I go from room to
room, I turn the lights off when I leave whatever room I am in. I do not have lights on all over my house. But
we have to understand energy conservation and I think that, you know, like everything else, there is an
education process, there is a learning process, and then there is a change. And change is not comfort able. People do not like to change.
But I think that the bottom line, as my colleague, Lawrence Scott, said, is that ultimately, we
are not all on a different journey. We are all going the
same way. And the same way is, we want a Bermuda
that everybody can live in, and live comfortably in.
And we want the people who have left Bermuda to
come back to Bermuda. But we also have to have
something for them to come back to.
You know, last week, or the week before last,
Tokio Millennium was bought by RenRe, which leaves
Bermuda now with only five reinsurance companies.
So what are we going to do about creating jobs for
Bermudians? Not just creating the environment. You
know, I can go out and I can plough my garden and till
it and turn it. But if I do not have any seeds to put in it,
then nothing is going to grow there. So I think that we
all have to work together, and I think that we can
make things better for all of Bermuda. But we cannot
do it fighting each other and, you know, picking out on everything that everybody does. We have got to work
together to create the Bermuda that we all want to live
in.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Continue on.

Hon. Walton Brown: Mr. Speaker, I would like to
begin by offering a correction to the Deputy Oppos ition Leader. She said that the Bermuda Government
has one of the highest per capita rates of civil service
employees. That is not actually true. It is about 17 per
cent or 18 per cent. That is a fairly common percentage around many countries. About 18 per cent of the
work force is comprised of public servants in many jurisdictions. So we are right in sync with what is the
norm. It just seems like a lot because we are so small,
and it seems like they are all around us. But that is the
reality. It is not a great aberration at all.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by repeating a few comments made by the Opposition Leader.
He spoke about the pop- up movements that punct uated the OBA Government. A pop- up movement that
was perpetrated on the claim that the Government does not care about the people. Well, the one pop- up
movement that I would like to refer to, Mr. Speaker, is
the Immigration [Reform] Action Group that resisted
56 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly the immigration reform plans [of] the OBA Gover nment. Those reform plans had in mind the granting of
status to thousands of people, and that was protested
by thousands of Bermudians, Mr. Speaker. That was
not just a pop- up movement. That was a deep- seated
movement that captivated the hearts and souls of
many thousands of Bermudians. It was no pop- up
movement; it was a sincere effort to stop a very div isive piece of legislation.
So I just wanted to make that point, Mr.
Speaker. It was not simply a pop- up movement. It was
a severe challenge to the authority of the Gover nment, and we were victorious. There was a sustained
opposition, many different forms of protest, including the shutdown of Parliament. That represented a mil estone in our development as a country, Mr. Speaker.
Secondly, the Opposition Leader spoke about
my position on same- sex marriage as Home Affairs
Minister. My position on same- sex marriage is a matter of public record. I do not shy away from that. What we did as a Government , however, Mr. Speaker, was
to change the law to provide for tremendous amounts
of benefits for same- sex couples. All benefits of marriage, save for the term “marriage,” including the right
to apply for status. That was a fundamental change in
the direction of the Government, Mr. Speaker.
The OBA did nothing. They allowed for a court
decision that allowed for same- sex marriage, but for
no benefits whatsoever that would accompany their
right to same- sex marriage. Every single right that a
person would try t o get would have to be fought [for] in
the courts. What we did in one fell swoop with the legislation, Mr. Speaker, was change the law to provide
for full benefits for same- sex couples. That was a pr ogressive piece of legislation by all accounts. It is now
before the Appeals Court and the Appeals Court will
render a decision very shortly. We are hopeful that we
will get the right decision.
Now, Mr. Speaker, the Government was very
bold in its Throne Speech, focusing on inequality —a
very bold effort that addressed the question of inequality. And I am going to quote, if I may, Mr. Speaker, from the opening paragraphs of the Speech in which the Premier stated that “. . . s ystemic inequality
is the root of much that has created the Bermuda of
today .” A failure t o address it will yield discontent, s ocial unrest and economic stagnation.
“Yield discontent, social unrest and economic
stagnation.” These are three very vital components of
the consequences of not being able to tackle inequal ity. And this Throne Speech makes a concerted effort
at addressing the effects of inequality. The Premier
needs to be commended for his plans for addressing
the effects of inequality.
One such measure to address the effects of
inequality is the mortgage tax relief being proposed, so that if you have a mortgage of $750,000 or less,
and you find an opportunity to get a reduced rate at a
bank, you could make the transfer to the other bank without having to incur any taxation charges. That is a
tremendous boost to the homeowner in search of low
interest rates. So that is a great benefit. That is a
measure of reducing income inequality, Mr. Speaker.
The National Health Insurance Plan to reduce
costs, having a single payer system, provides for an
opportunity to reduce costs significantly. This is som ething that should be cherished by all. It is a fundamentality important component of my colleague’s (the
Honourable Member of Finance) position. And I hope
to see this put in place very shortly. It should be of
great benefit to all.
The liveable wage. Who can survive off $400
a week, Mr. Speaker, $400 or $500 a week? Very few
people can, Mr. Speaker. But I posit to you that there
were hundreds of people who are earning that amount
of money on a weekly basis. [Just] $400 or $500 a
week. It is not a liveable wage. It needs to be addressed. We need concerted policies to address this
matter and they need to be adopted now. Whether we
go with the living wage proposal of the Living Wage
Commission, or whether we adopt another approach,
we have to find ways to address this issue. You know,
it is unacceptable to have a group of people who work
full time, 40 hours a week, and are unable to make
ends meet. It is just simply unacceptable in this day
and age. And we have to find ways to address it.
The Berm uda College, Mr. Speaker, is a gem
of an opportunity, providing opportunities to help st udents to progress in their life choices. Bermuda College offers many programmes to young people and to
not-so-young people. It is a real boon to addressing
this income inequality notion. We recently provided a
grant of $300,000 to help additional students take
courses at Bermuda College. That is a great boost to
everyone and it is certainly a great benefit to all.
Maternity leave is being extended to 13
weeks. It was a great step forward, recognising the
importance of the family. There will be consultation on
this point, but it will certainly help out the average person having a child to have extended family leave. It is
a great benefit that works as well.
[Regarding] t he part of giving fair opportunity,
it is the OPMP [Office of Project Management and Procurement] change and procurement policies. We
will change the law to allow for international companies that get contracts to require that there be local
participation. This is a great benefit to help them to
reduce the notion of income inequality , by providing a
real opportunity for local companies to get involved in the contract awarding process.
We will modernise the operation of the Post
Office, making them a one- stop shop for a range of
government services: licensing, payments, a lot of the
public services. This will help transform the Post O ffice into a far more effective vehicle. It is necessary to
do in light of all the changes that are coming around,
Mr. Speaker.
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 57

Bermuda House of Assembly I want to move on to the quagmire that is i mmigration. Immigration is fraught with conflict and tension, but we have to get the immigration reform pr ocess right. You will know, Mr. Speaker, that I am part of a bipartisan immigration reform action group, w orking under the Minister of National Security, Minister
Wayne Caines. We are tasked with looking at imm igration reform processes. We are currently looking at
coming up with a proposal for the harmonisation of
families that have PRCs [ Permanent Resident’s Certi ficate] . So if one person has a PRC in a family, we are
looking at harmonising that process to reduce the ine-quality there.
We are also looking at ways in which we can
harmonise those families where maybe one person has Bermuda status, to address that issue as well,
that inequality. That is an ongoing matter that we are
working with, Mr. Speaker. That is a very tense matter, fraught with conflict, but we are working hard to
address those issues.
The Debt Collection Bill is an important piece
of legisl ation. This legislation will address some of the
imbalance that exists currently in the debt collection
process so that people who owe debts are not unduly
harmed by the process. We are going to change the
legislation to allow for minimum interference with the
debt collection process. We are going to cap the i nterest rates that are permissible to be applied on the debt, and otherwise create a much more responsible
process for dealing with debt collection.
Finally, Mr. Speaker, on municipal reform, we
will adjust the legislation to provide for a 21
st century
approach dealing with municipalities. We will ensure
that there is a 21st century approach dealing with the
City of Hamilton and the Town of St. George’s. We will
modify the legislation to ensure that there is a work able solution for all, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We heard a barnstormer of a
speech from Bishop Lambe. And what he said was
this, people want to see, people in Bermuda, Berm udians want to see, bipartisanship. And he said this, If there is som ething good in the Throne Speech, then
why not say so? And so I shall. I shall make an effort
of collaboration, and I shall point out certain things in
the Throne Speech that we in the OBA think are extremely positive, that we support, and that we hope
will be implemented into legislation to solve some of
Bermuda’s problems.
Also, on the dais this morning, was the Deputy Premier, who stood in for the Premier, and gave a
speech, which at one point said this: People should
not criticise. Mr. Speaker, I respectfully disagree. People should criticise; but they should offer constructive criticism. They should offer civilised debate. But to
suggest that we, the Opposition, should not criticise is
entirely wrong because we have a job to do. But we
could do so wit h courtesy, and we could do so constructively, because we must speak the truth. And so
to the three points of collaboration that I intend to address, three points of praise for the Throne Speech, I
also intend to offer three points of criticism, construc-tive criticism.
First, to the collaboration. As the Leader of the
Opposition said earlier in his Reply to the Throne Speech, If you’ve got a good idea, use it. So, extending maternity leave. This is a good idea. I commend it,
and the OBA commends the Gover nment for consi deration an extension of the current eight -week maternity leave to a longer period. The Throne Speech pr oposed a period of 13 weeks. However, this needs to
be done right. It is all well and good to extend maternity leave, but we need to also consider the impact that
this will impose upon small businesses, and particularly very small businesses.
And so, again, in the spirit of collaboration, in
the spirit of constructive criticism, I ask the PLP Gov-ernment to think about these things. Consider whether
or not extended maternity leave should be limited to
businesses of a certain size. If you happen to employ
three people, and two are women, and they go off
pregnant, how long will that business survive? If, on
the other hand, you are a bank or a law firm or an ac-counting firm, and you have pregnancies, that is part
of the usual course of life, the usual course of bus iness, and it should be supported. So there is a difference between a large business and a very small one,
and I invite this Government to consider that point.
Equally, or alternatively, consider a certain
threshold of turnover. In some of the taxation pr oposals that have been floated out by this Government
in the Throne Speech, we see that certain things may
just apply to businesses w ith a turnover of $250,000.
That too is sensible. Let’s consider something where there is a threshold of turnover. All of us believe that
maternity leave is an essential thing that governments
and societies must provide for. We must recognise
that there is a cost when women in the workplace,
equal women in the workplace, go off on maternity
leave.
58 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda House of Assembly We must also recognise the clear scientific
data that children are better raised when their mothers
have the opportunity to spend time with them more
during thos e developmental stages, those early weeks
and months of childhood. So, yes, we support the expansion of maternity leave. It is a good thing and we
hope to collaborate, but please, be sensible. Consider
what this already delicate economy can sustain. Con-sider the possibility that we will look to the size of the
business or the size of the threshold.
Collaboration number two. In the Throne
Speech we heard about a new arbitration centre to be
honouring Ottiwell Simmons. Now, Mr. Speaker, this is
in fact an i dea that has been around for a while, but
nonetheless, we are pleased to see the PLP taking it
on. More importantly, unlike so many who have suggested this idea in the past, we very much hope that the PLP will deliver. Yet again, in the spirit of collaboration, this is an idea that could be improved. Why,
Mr. Speaker, just an arbitration centre? Why not a
general centre for all dispute resolutions?
The PLP Throne Speech talked about medi ation for families as an alternative solution to the di-vorce rates and the child custody battles. Well, why
not the arbitration and mediation centre? Why not al-low mediation for families to be conducted there? Or commercial mediations, for that matter? Why not i nvite the Bar Counsel to move their offices there, per-haps to pay some rent to help fund it? And as the Leader of the Opposition foreshadowed in his speech,
why not consider that there are over 30 boards, tribunals, commissions that all do yeoman service in Ber-muda, but are all in disparate places with different
admini strative support and nowhere to be found if you
are the user, if you are the common man or woman
who needs to appeal this or appeal that.
Put them all under one house. Move them all
under one central tribunal system. Make life easier for Bermudians, and make the central administrative
support easier for all of these boards, tribunals and
commissions. Then the building will get use if the arbi-trations do not materialise. You have a one- stop shop.
So, again, collaboration and constructive criticism.
Thirdl y, single- use plastics. We commend the
Government for its discussion to tackle the issue of
single- use plastics. Most of the time when people are
dealing with single- use plastics, we are talking about
plastic straws. So let’s just take that example. The Throne Speech suggests that it is intending to be
taxed and eventually eliminated. Well, again, here is a
suggestion to improve that idea. Why not just bypass
the tax altogether and eliminate plastic straws? N obody in Bermuda needs them. Turtles do not like
them. The world does not need them. They can be
made out of recyclable materials.
I am not a person who has a political belief
that we should be banning things left, right and centre. But I hope that most of us can agree that Bermuda
should take a bold st ep and just ban plastic straws. So why not? These are three points of collaboration and constructiv e criticism.
Now, Mr. Speaker, let me offer respectfully,
and let me offer with civility, three points on which I think that the PLP would do well to steer away from. Firstly, and this is a very serious issue, the Throne
Speech is discussing revamping our health care sy stem, a fundamental overhaul of our health care sy stem. This is a very bad idea. Single- payer systems
have been tried by other jurisdictions and have failed.
They have bankrupted other jurisdictions. If people want single- payer health care systems, if they want
socialist health care systems, move there. Bermuda’s problem is not that we are not a single- payer system;
Bermuda’s problem is that health care is too expensive. Why is it too expensive? Because the insurance
companies are generously paying the service provi ders.
If you go abroad for a medical procedure—

Mr. Speaker, as I said, Canada
has a socialist health care system. I stand by that. I
will be corrected, no doubt, later.
Bermudians do not want the clunking fist of
the state telling them how to manage their health care. Bermudians want choice. Bermudians want options.
Yes, we need to reduce the cost of health care. But a
massive, systemic gamble, a complete overhaul, is a
very bad idea.
Mr. Speaker, that is the first of three negative
observations on the Throne Speech, and let me move
to the second.
The Bermuda Tourism Authority was probably
. . . and I say “probably” because I sit next to many colleagues in the OBA, but in my personal opinion [was] the single best thing the OBA actually did. They
took the Tourism Authority out from under the politic isation of Government and they put it in the hands of
professionals. And well done them for doing so! This
was a good idea. It let people who knew what they
were doi ng manage Bermuda’s tourism. It took away
the political grubby fingers from any side of this aisle.

Mr. Speaker, the problem with
politicians getting involved in independent bodies, is
that they tend to mess things up.
Exhibit A: Gaming. If it is not stone dead, it
seems to be, at very best, on life support. Why? B ecause of Government interference. Because a Mini ster who decided that he knew best changed the control levers over this independent authority and scared
off the banks. Please, Government, the PLP Gover nment, do not make the same mistake with the Berm uda Tourism Authority. Recognise what works and support what works. Do not be political. You have got
a good thing, keep it. Third, and finally, there was very little, unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, said in the Throne Speech
about our children. There was, I accept, a programme
to send students abroad to London and Washington,
and that was a noble idea. But there was very little fundamentally said about the way in which Gover nment supports our children. And let me make a third
and final criticism. Something needs to be done by
this Government, and done swiftly, regarding the Department of Child and Family Services. It is a complete and utter mess. I make no criticism of the people
who work there, the social workers who do a fine job. I
am not criticising individuals. But the way this is wor king, systemically , it is failing.
We have removed the Minister. We have r eshuffled him out. We have moved to a different department, which is already struggling. It is now under
the Attorney General, a Ministry that is already struggling to keep up in the court systems. We have a di spute going on about litigation guardians and how they
are going to be paid; and I will say no more about that.
We have some very serious allegations about children
under the care of the department, which are now be-ing investigated. We thank you for investigating them.
But it is a mess.
The PS, I understand is retired. The director is
currently suspended. The Minister is now gone, and the department has been moved. Now, no doubt, we
can wait to hear from the Attorney General about all of
that, but when we are deal ing with our children, the
most vulnerable of our children, that is something that
needs Government’s urgent attention. So, again, r espectfully, I suggest that this be something focused
upon more than it was focused upon today in the
Throne Speech.
Mr. S peaker, in closing, I have discussed collaboration and I have discussed constructive criticism. One of the MPs from the other side, Mr. Lawrence
Scott, spoke earlier today and he said this, Help is on
the way. We have a vision. It is a bit late for that. T he
PLP Government has been the Government for 15 of
the past 20 years. Bermuda’s problems are your problems to solve. We believe in collaboration. We will
help where we can, but the PLP Government must do better. We need jobs. We need to grow the economy.
We need to fix education. And that is the PLP’s job to
do. Bermuda’s future depends on it.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Member.
Does any other Honourable Member . . . I
recognise the Honourable Minister of Health.
Minist er Wilson, you have the floor.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and
thank you for allowing me to contribute to the Throne
Speech Reply and the debate.
You know, when you go to a buffet, and people who know me well know that I definitely enjoy a
60 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly good meal. There is a wonderful spread of all kinds of
delectable choices of food and desserts, and just
yummy, yummy things. And you have a very wide
range of things to choose from. And you know, I would
like to use that food analogy as it relates speci fically to
the Throne Speech. By that I mean . . . because as
you look at the Throne Speech of the PLP, this recent
Throne Speech, there are a number of things to
choose from to debate today. There are a number of
initiatives, Mr. Speaker, that are in this Throne Speech
designed specifically to enhance the quality of life for
Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda.
And because I have limited time, I have to find
myself trying to choose, and choose carefully. Unlike
when you are at a restaurant, there is no maître d' that
is going to come up to you and say, Right. Ring the
bell at 30 minutes and say, Drop your forks, move
away from the table, your time is up. So I do not want
you to do that to me. However, I will like to speak —

Well, you have 30 minutes to talk
freely. I will do the bell after your 30 minutes is up. Go
right ahead.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
However, seriously, what I would like to do,
and I am actually in a very enviable position because, notwithstanding the many, many i nitiatives that are
contained in this Throne Speech, I am going to leave
that to my colleagues to discuss them a little bit further. However, the two initiatives that I certainly would
like to address and dig a little deeper in, actually I have the enviabl e position of being the Minister that
will be able to steer those through.

Mm-hmm.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: One relates specifically to
health care reform, which we have already heard spoken about this evening. As well as the other one as it
relates to the extension of maternity leave.
So let me start with the first one, the health
care financing reforms. Mr. Speaker, we know that we
are in a crisis as it relates to health care costs. They
are spiralling out of control. We have high instances of
chronic non- communicable diseases, largely as a r esult of things like diet and sedentary lifestyles. All things that can actually be changed if persons take
better care and take responsibility for their lives.
However, notwithstanding that important fact ,
we are spending far too much on health care costs, and we have to do something. We have to bring them
under control. There should not be situations where persons are going on GoFundMe pages to try to pay
for medical treatment for taking their children ov erseas who have special heart conditions. There should
not be persons or situations where persons have a
chronic disease and are left with loans and owing money to family members just so that they can help to
pay for the medical treatment that they require.
Mr. Speaker, in 2012, the PLP Government
under the then Minister of Health, the Honourable Zane De Silva, established a Finance and Rei mbursement Task Group under the National Health
Plan. And they, together, this task group, which was
made up of biparti san representation from a wide sector of our community —insurance, IB, health providers,
et cetera, a wide sector, a bipartisan committee—met for hundreds of hours, collectively, to come up with a
way to look at how we can better pay for health care.
And this particular group of individuals (again, the F inance and Reimbursement Task Group) worked t ogether with actuaries and came up with proposals for how we could reform our health [care] financing.
They produced a report, and it is entitled, Mr.
Speaker, the Health Financing Structure in support of
Bermuda’s National Health Plan. And this was pr oduced in December of 2012. And under this report,
Mr. Speaker, they presented some proposals, and
they developed these proposals that were designed
specifically to protect policyholders from large sways, to stabilise the health cost, and to move us toward
ensuring everyone can have decent health coverage
without breaking the bank. Mr. Speaker, these pr oposals, as I said, were developed under wide consultation and they came up with two options. And these
two options that were presented also included a benefits package at the time, in which our health financing
can be improved and made more efficient.
And it also assessed the number of other
things in criteria, includi ng the capacity to contain
health care costs, as well as the tentative costs for a
draft benefit package, Mr. Speaker. And this benefit
package that they spoke about back then, which is still
on the table, Mr. Speaker, included a number of
things. It included local hospitalisation, primary care,
prescription drugs, dental care, long- term care, and
overseas care. And this package would be a solid
package that would help to protect anyone from a s erious health event and give them the preventative, Mr.
Speaker , as well as the primary care that they need in
order to maintain health.
So at that time, back in 2012, some six years
ago, Mr. Speaker, almost six years ago, that package
benefit was costed out by this committee and the actuaries at $450, which clearly, obviously, would have
[to be] changed because it is some six years old, and
we have seen, unfortunately, the increase in utilisation
of health care services in Bermuda. So, clearly, that
package would be higher at this point; however, the
analysis that was completed (which I will speak about
in a few moments) would show that we would be able
to develop a better benefit package that everyone
could afford.
Now, you would ask, How do we pay for that?
Well, that is where the health financing committee
came up with these two particular options. What they
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 61

Bermuda House of Assembly looked at, Mr. Speaker, if I could just try to draw an
analogy. If you can imagine that you have small pools.
So, for example, Mr. Smith who works at this partic ular grocery store, he and his eight employees are in one particular pool of health insurance; whereas,
company ABC Inc. has 2,000 employees and they
have a different pool. So if in Mr. Smith’s grocery store
one of those persons, God forbid, has a catastrophic
illness and is hospitalised in intensive care, et cetera,
and has to receive very, very expensive major medical
services, those other seven people in that pool are
going to be affected because they are all sharing the
risk. So if one person has a catastrophic event, then
the other seven people’s insurance premiums are also going to be adversely affected because of the small
pool.
Whereas, when you have ABC Inc., with their
several thousand employees, if one of their employ-ees has a very similar episode, because there are
more people to share the ri sk then the likelihood of
them having adverse increases to their premiums is
remote, because of the sharing of the risk. So just like
the major insurance companies here when they rei nsure products and so forth, they are sharing risk.
What this particular c ommittee has come up
with are two options. And these options all relate to sharing risk. So if you can envision, Mr. Speaker, a
pool of 48,000 Bermudians insured under one pool,
then the risk is spread out. Unlike where Mr. Smith
and his eight employees feel the burden of one cat astrophic illness, versus ABC Inc. with their thousands
of employees, when you have 48,000, collectively, which represents the Bermuda insured population, all
pooled together with respect to their risk, then events
such as those are shared amongst 48[,000]. So there
is a bigger pool, so to speak, Mr. Speaker, to spread
the risk.
So, Mr. Speaker, large community pools, as I
said, spread the risk and it minimises the potential
impact on a few people (like Mr. Smith’s grocery
store), and it averages out the premiums across the
whole board. So, Mr. Speaker, given the bipartisan . .
. and I have to repeat that, there was bipartisan membership of this task group back in 2012 that spent
hundreds of hours in deliberations, researching other
jurisdictions, talking to actuaries, having present ations, and the like, from all of these representative
groups, and they collectively came up with these options. And I would invite anybody to look at it because
it is on the Government website or Bermuda’s Health
Council’s website. But that report is made public and it
talks about the two options that were being consi dered.
So let’s fast forward, Mr. Speaker, to October
and November of this year. We established a Health
Financing Reform Stakeholder Consultation Group.
We have asked them to review the 2012 report. And
let me just tell you the composition of that group.
Again, it is a stakeholder group. We wanted to pull together stakeholders from various industries within
Bermuda to look at the report, look at the options, opine on it, come back and say how they feel those
options would best represent the views of the stak eholder group that they represent. We wanted them to
look at the options. So those persons who were on
that group, Mr. Speaker, [were]: Berm uda First; Bermuda Hospitals Board [BHB]; Chamber of Commerce
(representing the employees); Bermuda Diabetics A ssociation (a health charity); we had health insurers at
the table; health professionals; IB; mental health pr ofessionals; nursing; physicians; s enior represent atives; and the union.
So we too, moving forward, pulled together
this [Health Financing Reform] Stakeholder Consult ation Group and they were tasked, Mr. Speaker, with
looking at the options presented back in 2012 and
how they may impact the people of Bermuda, and,
more specifically, their representatives from their var ious stakeholder groups. And the sole purpose, Mr.
Speaker, of this group was to provide feedback on the
recommendations of the committee that was appointed (which I spoke about) under the Honourable Mini ster De Silva. And their mandate was to review the
Health Financing option report and to provide the
views of their stakeholder group on those two options.
They also had the benefit of health economists to pr ovide further overv iews and further information if they
so required it.
I am glad to say that the two- month process of
their meetings has concluded. I am expecting to r eceive a report from them, probably within the next couple of days. And we also are expecting that report.
And it was communicated to them that their work was
not designed to come up with a joint position, because
we recognise that this wide stakeholder group would
represent various interests. So, therefore, we were not
expecting them to come up with a joint position, but
we just wanted them to come up with the differences
and risk viewpoints so that we can consider all of the
options.
Now, some people might say, Look, you are
speaking about health financing reform. Why not f ocus on subsidy reform? Why not focus on the benefit
packages? Why not instead focus on underinsured or
uninsured persons? Well, Mr. Speaker, all of those
factors are very, very important, but we cannot do anything about them unless we can figure out how we
are going to pay. So we have to fir st look at the better
way of providing payment for the health services that
we are offering to our community. And those factors,
though, are as equally as important, but you cannot
talk about subsidy reform or benefit reform without
first going back and saying, How are we going to pay
for the said benefit, or the subsidies?
So, Mr. Speaker, with respect to that, I think
that even though there has been a lot that has been
said today with respect to whether or not it is a socialist policy and the like, with respect to health reform,
62 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly again, we are going back to a 2012 report that was a
bipartisan group of individuals that represented a
cross section of Bermuda industry and the like. They
came up with two options. And the current group that I
just spoke about, the Stakeholders Group, are reviewing those options, going back to their stakeholders’
constituent base, and asking them what their thoughts
are with respect to these two options.
And we will be, I can assure you, bringing
more information to this Honourable House in due course as it relates to the way forward with respect to
health care financing. And that falls squarely, Mr.
Speaker, with respect to page 8, under the Throne
Speech, where we indicated that we would ensure that we look at how we will best finance health care.
That is what we were elected to do, and that is what
we will be performing.
Mr. Speaker, the last thing that I want to
speak about, which I am lucky to have within the remit of health, is the issue concerning, again, at page 8 of
the Throne Speech, the consideration of an extension
of paid maternity leave from the current eight weeks to
13 weeks. And I thank my Honourable and Learned
colleague from constituency 22 for his comments as it
relates to maternity leave, and he did make some
suggestions insofar as looking at the effect it may
have small businesses and the like. But if you look at
the Throne Speech, Mr. Speaker, we did say that we
would commence consultation. So during that consultation process, we would expect persons to provi de
input as to what the effects may or may not be on
small -, medium -, or large- size business. So that is
why consultation will take place. But the Throne
Speech is indicating the consultation period to commence with respect to maternity leave because that was something that was in the PLP platform when we
were elected.
Now, Mr. Speaker, let me just tell you really
quickly, and I am sure that you may be aware of this
but I think it warrants repetition. We are all familiar
with the benefits of breastfeeding, Mr. Speaker. And
we know that mothers that breastfeed their children,
obviously there are . . . it prevents childhood infections. Also, Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of evidence that
supports that breastfed children are less likely to be
obese. And we all know about the situation here in
Bermuda with respect to our obesity levels, as well as
in children.
We also note that breastfed children are oftentimes . . . their immune systems are further developed. In fact, Mr. Speaker, the infant mortality rate . . .
I am sorry. In fact, Mr. Speaker, with respect to breas tfeeding, the studies also show that it can also help
women with respect to weight loss and the like. So we
know that there are a lot of benefits in breastfeeding.
And if a mother was allowed to have extended maternity leave, then no doubt that may be a factor that she
considers as to whether or not to continue breastfeeding. Mr. Speaker, also, there are proven scientific
data that confirms that breastfeeding reduces certain
cancers in women. Also, Mr . Speaker, maternity leave
benefits and the extension thereof, allow mothers to stay home and bond for a longer period of time with their children, with their infants, which is obviously a
very critical period in their lives. It also will help to
ease some of the childcare shortages and expenses if
the mother is allowed to stay home for a longer period
of time with her child. And it is obviously, as studies
show, much safer for the mother to be home with her
child and bonding with that infant, as opposed to putting that child in the care of another individual at such a young age.
Also, Mr. Speaker, there are studies that show
that the infant mortality rate of children whose mothers have an extended maternity leave, has been decreased in some studied by 10 per cent. Mr. Speaker,
we also know that infants with their mothers . . . mot hers that have extended maternity leave . . . and I found this study very interesting, and it drives home to
Bermuda very clearly. Those children are more likely
to have well -baby visits and receive vaccinations.
And, unfortunately, we are at a situation now in Bermuda where we are seeing that there is a drive by
some to not vaccinate their children, and measles is
coming back.
So in certain studies they found that mothers
who stay ed home longer with their children during
their maternity leave were more likely to get their chi ldren vaccinated. And, again unfortunately, we are
seeing such things as polio and measles resurfacing.
Also, Mr. Speaker, mental health is increased
in women. The woman’s mental health awareness
and benefits are increased by staying home longer
with their child. Mr. Speaker, there are studies that
show that the women suffer from less bouts of depression if they are able to bond and remain at home
with an extended period of maternity leave with their
children.
So, Mr. Speaker, the benefits for extending
maternity leave I think are well documented, and I am
sure nobody would disagree with those. The fact that I
feel privileged and honoured that I have the oppor tunity to be able to start that consultation process, I am
quite excited about. I am also privileged and honoured
to be able to lead with respect to the necessary health
care financing reform that must take place, Mr.
Speaker, so that everyone has an oppor tunity to have
affordable health coverage and everyone has an opportunity to be able to not . . . no one will have to be
forced to start GoFundMe pages or get loans or be bankrupt simply because a catastrophic illness has
occurred to themselves or their family. We cannot
continue to live like that, Mr. Speaker.
Our health care costs have gotten out of control. We have to address it. We have a report that was started way back in 2012 that has provided some very
detailed options to explore. We are exploring those
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 63

Bermuda House of Assembly options and I will be returning to this House to discuss
those further.
So in that regard, Mr. Speaker, thank you for
the time. Thank you for allowing me to clean my plate
during my 30 minutes. I thank you.

Mr. Speaker, thank you for
acknowledging me here.
Mr. Speaker, after hearing the Opposition
Leader go through a fairly lengthy list of accomplis hments of the OBA Government, I am going to echo
what was said by my colleague from constituency 24,
and pose the following question: If the claims of the
great benefits bestowed by an OBA Government to
the people of Bermuda are credible, then how can you
explain the fact that the OBA Government went down
to one of the greatest electoral defeats in Bermuda’s
political history?
How do you explain that, Mr. Speaker?
If talk of Two Bermudas was just an election
ploy, then how do you explain that thousands of Bermudians rejected the OBA, reduced them from a slim
majority down to practically a rump party consisting of
11 Members? Is it sti ll 11 or has it gone down even
further?
[Inaudible interjection]

Only 11. And, in fact, the
haemorrhaging did not stop with the last election because they subsequently lost a bye- election.
Mr. Speaker, for too many Bermudians, a m ajority obviously, the misplaced and short -sighted austerity regime that was imposed upon Bermudians
played a huge role in their rejection of this party. They
ran as fast as they could when they got the right opportunity to reject this party, the then O BA Gover nment, at the polls. And for good reason, Mr. Speaker.
It is clear by a large part of their Throne Speech [R eply] that they still do not get it. In fact, Mr. Speaker,
they contributed mightily to that defeat and clearly are
at a position now where they do not really want to answer the question realistically as to what caused that
defeat.
Mr. Speaker, the OBA Government is out of
touch. They were out of touch, I should say. And the
OBA Opposition is doing just as bad. I had to sit here
just a while ago, you had one of the newer Members
of the OBA, Mr. Scott Pearman (that was one byeelection they did win), who sought to give a sort of standard, very rigid ideological response to the plans
that have been set in place by the Bermuda Gover nment to reduce the cost of health care. And you may
have heard this description of the plan to implement a
variation of a single- payer system as reeking of “s ocialism.” I am surprised that we did not hear the word
“communism” come out of his mouth, circa 1985, or
something to that degree. It was astonishing.
Clearly, he does not have any problem with a
current status quo that sees health care costs based on a fee- for-service system, which is analogous to
what they have in the US, continue to grow precipitously and caus e even more numbers of Bermudians
not to be able to afford health care. Is he not aware
that only in the last census report, reflective of that
intercensal period between 2010 and 2016, that over
4,000 Bermudians are now without health insurance?
If I am n ot mistaken, some of those Bermudians were
young children. In only five years that number had
doubled. In 2010, it was at around just over 2,200 to
2,300, and now it is over 4,000. If we do not arrest it,
within the next four or five years we will be looki ng at
a figure of 6,000 or 7,000 Bermudians, mostly low -
income Bermudians, without health insurance.
This is the fruit of what a fee- for-serv ice sy stem has produced in America and in Bermuda. That is
why, therefore, we have the same calls in the US now
for change. I am still a little shocked myself, Mr.
Speaker, to have realised that the issue that animated
so many American voters to vote for the Democrats . .
. again, I want to say this again. I am still surprised. It
was the issue of health care. That was the issue, the
number one issue, and the growing insecurity that
Americans are feeling about the very nature of unbr idled health care costs in the US. And the threat to
losing their protection for pre- existing conditions, for
example.
Now, those countries . . . I just want to say
this. We had a little back and forth with Mr. Pearman.
Those countries in Western Europe, developed countries, including Canada, have some form of a singlepayer system. Switzerland is in that box. You could
put Holland in that box. Some of them are a little closer to market based, but they are all variations of the single- payer system. I know he talked about socialist
countries, but then he sort of corrected himself and
said he was talking about this socialist system of
health car e. But these are all market -based economies, whether you are talking about Sweden, Norway,
and the countries of Western Europe and Canada.
It was very ideological to hear Mr. Pearman
make these allegations, these assertions, that are essentially saying that if you adopt this type of system
you are adopting a socialist system, that, essentially,
you are on the road to ruin. This type of stuff you hear
from right -wing ideologues, the type who support
Donald Trump in the US.

[Inaudible interjections]
64 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda House of Assembly Mr. Rolfe Commissiong: Extraordinary!
The reason why we must bring down health
care costs, and we have to bite the bullet now, the
reason why we must bring down the overall cost of living, which means in addition to bringing down the
cost of health care, in addition to dealing with the cost
of energy, in addition to that, ensure that our people are not going to be working for poverty level wages, is
because Bermuda cannot be a place anymore which
treats the least of us in a way we have been doing over the last few decades.
We must arrest the rampant growth of income
inequality in this country. The Tax Reform Commi ssion and its recommendations are part of that. Still,
though, we hear about austerity over on the other
side, in that Throne Speech Reply —cut this and cut
that! The reality is that one of the driving factors in
moving toward establishing the Tax Reform Commi ssion, besides just the basic issue of fairness, is the
fact that most experts who have studied our predic ament over the last seven, eight or ten y ears, although
it goes back decades before that, such as the IMF -
derived group [International Monetary Fund] . . . that
was the CARTAC [ Caribbean Regional Technical A ssistance Cent re] group, I believe. I think that was also
echoed by the Fiscal Responsibility Panel. They both say that Bermuda’s tax base is too narrow. It is too
small at 17 per cent of GDP. That is what they said.
We now have gotten it up to, at least the projection
here by way of the Tax Reform Commission, up to
20 per cent. Those are the recommendations. Frankly,
I myself would love to see it get up more toward
22 per cent or 23 per cent —myself. But I am prepared
to accept this.
I say this here: we need to continue to inject
more progressivity into our tax system. Those who
[get paid] the m ost, like lawyers from CD&P [Conyers
Dill & Pearman], have to pay more into the public kitty.
I am just so outraged when I hear Bermudians,
whether it is letters to the editor or on social media, talk about, Oh, the taxes they pay. Relatively speaking, what taxes do they pay, Mr. Speaker? Someone who is bringing in $400,000 or $500,000 in income alone, what taxes do they pay? How dare they talk
about this Government and all the taxes they pay
when in reality they pay relatively nothing!
The dirty little secret of Bermuda has been as
follows: For decades most of the tax burden has fallen on low -income people, those at the bottom of the i ncome distribution bands in Bermuda. And let’s be
honest here, brutally honest, most of those people are
black Bermudians. They are the ones who have borne that tax burden for years in Bermuda, while those who
own the businesses, when those who are earning
these high incomes, pay relatively nothing. It is ob-scene, Mr. Speaker. As one who has always been a
proponent of social j ustice and racial justice, because
in Bermuda those two roads meet everywhere you l
ook, by every metric, even when that statistic I gave
you just now about the number of people who do not
have health insurance, the stats indicated that again
the vast majority look like you and [me].
So if we are talking about a new social contract, then we need to do that. We have to be trans-formative! They are arguing that to just get back to the
status quo is sufficient enough for them. We know who have been getting the short end of the stack with
that status quo! No! That is not what we are about. We need to use this opportunity to be transformational and no longer transactional. I heard the Premier say
that, and he is so right. It is time now.
That era which saw everything shift like a
pendulum in favour of capital, starting from the 1980s under Reagan and Thatcher, right up until the present
time until the big crash of 2008 or 2009, has come to and end. It is clear what you are seeing in most Wes tern societies now is that we have been in a transition period since 2008, since that Great Recession. What is going to come out the other side is still to be determined, but in many respects, it can look very ugly.
Look at Europe! The rise of nationalism, xenophobia,
and racism. Look at the US! The period that led into
that Reagan/Thatcher in the post -1980s, that I said
just ended with the Great Recession, it also gave rise to these offshore international business sectors on
steroids —Bermuda being one of them. Again, we got
to have honest conversations here.
We have too much dependence on finance in
this country. It is too high of a percentage of our overall economy. Studies indicate that when we become so dependent on finance for growth, this is what happens. Let me use a metaphor. Mr. Speaker. It creates
a wonderful oasis for those who work in its precincts. Everything there is like manna from heaven in that
oasis. But eventually all around it becomes a desert.
And that is what we have seen in Bermuda over the last few years.
How do you tackle income inequality? How do
you reverse those multi -decade trends? Like I said, it
begins in Bermuda, and particularly in the AngloSaxon world of the USA and the UK, beginning in the
late 1980s. It requires . . . first of all, what is income
inequality? Simply put, it is a maldistribution of income
where you have national income going to those at the
top 10, 5, 1 per cent, hollowing out your middle class
and your middle- income groups.
How do you reverse that? You must use r edistributive poli cies—and I make no apologies about
that—reducing the cost of living, tax reform, [and] a
living wage. How do we deal with the intersection be-tween income inequality and racial disparity? Things like the procurement policy, the affirmative action pr ocurement policy we put in place. The proposal for pay equity. So we have non race- specific remedies. Again,
tax reform, reducing the cost of living, and the living
wage. And then you have more race- specific rem edies that also must be a part of it, such as what we did
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 65

Bermuda House of Assembly with our procurement, to ensure that black Bermudian
business owners, along with women and those on
disabilities, are going to have a preference to get a leg
up in this economy.
Pay equity to ensure that black Bermudians,
particularly in the corporat e sectors of Bermuda are
going to be paid their just due. And there is so much
more we need to do.
And let me tell you this . . . and forgive me for
not citing the various studies. What they are saying now is that if you want to create a healthier econom y,
reduce the extreme levels of income inequality. That
is like when the people cried about the imposition of a
living wage, I said, Well what about the . . . first of all,
have we not noticed, Mr. Speaker, all of the procrast inators and prognosticators ar ound the issue of living
wage? Not just Bermuda; it has been going on for years. Every time there is a substantive increase to
the minimum wage or introduction of the minimum and
now increasing living wage, they all come out of the
woodwork . . . right -wing ideologues, conservative
ideologues, the likes of which we just heard a few
minutes ago. The sky is going to fall . They cannot
show you one study to confirm that anywhere.
But I tell you what. We know from research
and from hard evidence that you place more money,
more purchasing power, in the hands of low -income
people and lower middle- income people who work
hard, they take that money and they spend more of it in the real -world economy. So, if you have a tepid
economy around consumer spending, which Ber muda
depends upon, the best thing we could do for the
business owners is to ensure that those people have
more to spend in this economy by giving them a decent living wage. Statutory wages do so. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be a member of
the Progressive Labour Party. And I will be honest
with you again. Some of these proposals that we are pushing forward now, let us be honest, Mr. Speaker .
And you would know this more than many of us in this
room. Some of this should have been done over 10 or
15 years ago. It should have. So, in many cases in
Bermuda, we can be a little bit behind the time, but we
get there. And we are getting there now. And we are
not ignoring the fact that we have to continue to grow
our economy. But this, as I said, is just as much an
economic initiative—reducing high levels of income
inequality and dealing with pre- existing racial dispar ities—as any other economic initiative that we could
come across right now.
This is going to be good for Bermuda. It is going to create a more sustainable Bermuda, a more inclusive Bermuda. And maybe, just maybe, the 1,500 or 2,000 Bermudians who have left here as economic
migrants for the most part, and gone to places like
dreary England, will have an incentive to come back
home and participate fully in this Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker, this is why persons like you and
me and so many others here joined the PLP. It is just a start. Like, we can do so much more, but it is con-sistent with our values —what we believe in. It is reasserting itself and we are going to be judged. [We will
see] 2019 as a pivotal year for the Progressive Labour Party Government. It will be a pivotal year for Berm uda—not just in terms of what we are doing internally,
but also in terms of that geopolitical context. And there
will be many challenges that will be coming from wit hout, along with the run- of-the-mill challenges that we
are charged to deal with internally.
Look at what is happening over in Europe
again. I talked about the racism, the xenophobia and
right-wing nationalism. But look at the other day in
terms of Brexit. We have a date due with the UK Government to discuss beneficial ownership. We have a
date due to discuss with the European Union about
the fact that some companies who are doing quite well
globally do not have a physi cal presence in Bermuda,
although they are based in Bermuda. Those issues
are outstanding. Depending on how we resolve or settle those issues will also have an impact upon Berm uda’s geopolitical, geostrategic position in the world.
So, let us not be all i nsular here. The world is
changing. We are entering a new era, and we must
prepare for it. And I contend that this PLP Gover nment is best poised to deliver at home and deliver
globally.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
[Desk thumping]

Thank you, Ho nourable Member .
Is there any other Honourable Member . . . I
recognise the Member from constituency 23. Honourable Member , you have the floor.

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker .
Mr. Speaker, I am going to address a couple
of gener al things before I go into the area of health
care because that is obviously my Shadow Ministry
and it is important to me that I speak to that particular
topic.
But one of the things that I noticed from the
Throne Speech and some of the comments that have
come through on things that the Government has recommended that they wish to do is basically to look at .
. . I want to speak to the mortgage issue. And one
thing that we have to recognise is that on mortgages,
banks . . . it might be wonderful to say Bank A has a
better interest rate offering to the population than
Bank B. But banks locally have geared towards an
income measure rather than an asset measure. And
what do I mean by that?
You may have a mortgage on one property
and you may say that you want to be able to go from
Bank A to Bank B because they are offering a better
rate on mortgages. But you may find that Bank B is
not willing to offer you a mortgage, notwithstanding
66 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly the value of that property, because they are less i nclined to be focused on your asset base than they are
inclined to be focused on your income base. They do
not want . . . banks do not want to be encumbered
with the responsibility of claiming your property if you
cannot meet your mortgage payments, and then have
the responsibility of trying to sell it, sometimes at a
haircut.
We saw that situation with Sandys 360 where
the funding by a particular bank . . . they wanted to
then ask the Government to settle the outstanding
amount that this particular entity owed. And, Mr.
Speaker, it is like the bank made a bad decision in
offering financing to an environment, to a situation, to
a company that was not solvent enough to meet the
demands. And then they want to turn around and say,
Government, oh, I am sorry, you have to pay. And that
cannot be right. So, if the bank made a bad choice in
doing the funding, then the bank has to bear some responsibility for the costs that they chose to underwrite.
Therefore, as opposed to the Government being left on the hook to pay the full amount that was outstanding, the bank had to acknowledge that they
had to take a haircut. And that is the right thing to do
because the Government should not be bolstering
poor banking decisions. But it is important to understand that the banks have moved more towards an
income base as opposed to an asset base. You might
find that you have got three or four houses, Mr.
Speaker, with a couple of million dollars’ worth of value to those houses and you want maybe two or three
hundred thousand dollars and the bank is going t o
say, Where do you work? What revenue do you have?
What income do you have? and Can we sustain your
loan by giving you a loan? because they do not have
to.
So, while looking for [lower] interest rates
would benefit Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda, and we certainly
applaud that, it is certainly not a given that when person—when anyone, Mr. or Mrs. Bermuda—goes to
the bank to negotiate a replacement mortgage, that it
is a given that they will get it. It is not; it does not work
quite that way.
The other thing that I w anted to speak to was
the issue of rental properties, where the Government has committed to bringing in new legislation in this
coming session to say that they will look at concessions that fit the model of hotels, as it were, for concessions for owners, f or homeowners, to be able to
build and refurnish and refurbish their properties and
have the necessary concessions.
As my honourable colleague from [constituency] 22 indicated, there are times when we may not
agree with a position or a direction in which the Government is going, but it would be foolhardy for us not
to indicate the reasons why we feel a little uncomfor table with that. And the reason I feel uncomfortable
with that, Mr. Speaker, is that the concessions for building and for hotel buildings and the like, are predicated upon not just the cost of importing things, but
the overall business structure that a hotel has in terms
of its requirement. They have staff to pay. They have
massive electricity bills to pay. They have, you know, the repairs and maintenance and all those sorts of
things which must, of necessity, be covered. And you
also have to look at the revenue that they are going to
get to be able to offset the cost of their business model.
And, in that doing, Mr. Speaker, when a home
such as , those of us . . . and I declare an interest because I do have an Airbnb apartment. I would not, in
all good conscience, go to the Government and say I
need to replace the bed that I have in my apartment, I
need to buy a new bed, and I am going to import one
and therefore I would like a concession on the import
duty relating thereto, or whatever fixtures and fittings
that I want to update. Because of the revenue that I
have earned while this place has been rented, effectively I have been able to be put rev enue aside. And
of that money that I put aside from what I have
earned, I do not have to pay significant repairs and maintenance. I do not have to pay staffing. I do not
have to pay all of the things that will be a drain on a
financial position of a hotel. And I do not think, quite
frankly, that I deserve it.
I do not think that I would deserve to go to
Government and say, I need you to give me a
handout because I also have a rental bed. Now, that
is my way of saying that Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda who
will benefit from the revenues that they are getting
from their vacation rental properties will be in a better
position on a percentage basis to put back into their
place for enhancing it than might be a hotel who
would have far more significant streams of expenditure that they have to fulfil.
So, I just want to ensure as the Government is
looking at this particular option and possibility that we do not end up giving away too much of our income
stream, our revenue stream, which we need to be able to provide other services. We cannot be all things
as a Government. We cannot be all things to all people. And while I am not saying that there may not be some legitimate need at some point, some people
may be taking that revenue to say that they are going
to pay the mortgage that they have, and they might
find themselves in relatively straight circumstances .
But I think that this may be the exception rather than
the rule. And I just think that we want to make sure
that we do not cut ourselves short in terms of the
budgetar y process, and that we end up giving away
something that we wish we [still] had when all is said
and done because we do not have the overheads.
I also want to speak to the issue of cannabis—cannabis oil and cannabinoid products —

[Inaudible interjection]

Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 67

Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Sorry?

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: No, no, no, no. I
do not touch anything close to that stuff. Smells so
nasty, I do not want to be anywhere near to it. You
can smell it from a distance—

Just speak to the Chair.

Hon. Patricia J. Go rdon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, you
know, some people can say, Oh, you know, I have
had this experience. I can say hand on heart that I
have never had an experience with it. You smell it at a
distance.
But let me just say that the use of medical
cannabinoid products and oils . . . to have it enshrined
in new legislation is a positive thing. The growth is
something different in terms of how do we control it.
How do we control quality and costs and the like? But
I will also say that we want to make sure that the use—the medical use—is the focal point.
I can recall, Mr. Speaker, as the Health Mini ster, having had a request from a particular patient who was suffering and in pain—in excruciating pain. The
only thing that his doctor had recommended in order
for him to be able to alleviate some of that intensity of
pain was for him to use the cannabinoid oil. Well,
at that time I was the Health Minister, we had no mechanism by which to allow him to import this oil
because cannabis and cannabinoid products were
illegal . And what did we do, Mr. Speaker , to evaluate
how we could provide comfort for a patient if that was
his only means of relief and still abide by what the
laws said that he could do? And as a result, I applied
to the Chief Medical Officer and we went through the
process of discussing with the police department and
the department of prosecutions and the like . . . not to
break the law, but to say that this gentleman, this patient, deserved comfort in his final days.
Now, unfortunately, the gentleman passed on.
But, Mr. Speaker, I would have felt really horrible if I
were the one who so stringently applied that law wit hout going through whatever possibilities we had to make things better, if this gentleman had passed and I
stood between him and some comfort t hat he would
have had in his last days. I do not apologise for mak-ing that decision because I think it was the right thing to do.
So, to have this as a formal structure, I believe is important. But as my honourable colleague Ms. Scott, the Deputy Leader, indicated, it is important
that this regime be well regulated and that we do not
have people going in and raiding gardens and stuff
after dark, as people will do night farming if they are
so inclined, and to make sure that the uses for which it
is intended are satisfied.
I am just going to go on to maternity leave,
because I will soon lose my time. With maternity leave there is perhaps nothing more positive than the bonding between a mother and a child. Therefore, the extension of maternity leave is a posi tive move that the
PLP has brought up in their Throne Speech, and how
they intend to implement it. But I also want to say that
it is so important to have effective consultation. I believe my honourable colleague from [constituency] 22,
as well as the Minis ter, indicated that consultation is
necessary. Because as Honourable Member from
[constituency] 22 indicated, and the Minister picked up
on the idea, there could be difficulties that could be experienced by smaller companies when they are
forced to employ the law that could apply to a larger
company who could sustain additional costs when a
smaller company might not be able to do so.
But I have one concern. Mr. Speaker, we live
in a misogynistic society. And I would just hate . . . I
would just hate for executives, HR people who are responsible for hiring to fulfil certain requirements in
their company for employees to decide that they start
to discriminate . . . not overtly, because you could
never tell why they say, No I prefer Mr. Smith rather
than Ms. Tucker . You know, you might find that the
HR person is saying, I am not going to hire that lady
because in my estimation she is of childbearing age.
And they do not want to run the risk of saying that
perhaps we might find ourselves in a situation of having to provide maternity leave for this young woman.
So, I just say that while we consider the entire
challenge, let us make sure that we are not throwing
the baby out with the bathwater and that we are not
going to overlook the misogynistic society in whic h we
live. That is something that we do not really have control over.
I also want to pick up on the Government’s
commitment to . . . there was one other thing that I
wanted to do in that particular . . . okay, let me just
talk about the living wage, and a liveable wage, as
has been committed here. We had a subcommittee under Workforce Development when I was the Mini ster responsible for Home Affairs, which was tasked
with looking at a liveable, a living wage. And that subcommittee was actually of the labour relations department. That subcommittee was chaired by now
Senator Jason Hayward.
He and his committee had extensive consult ations and came up with ideas. And when we had the
68 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly motion put to the House of Assembly to consider that
topic, I said we have som ething ongoing that was at
that [time] being worked on. So, to me, it was duplic ative to have two streams looking at the same thing at
the same time. However, be that as it may, the Honourable Member chose to continue to bring forward
that initiative. And now we have seen that it is being
developed to the point that it is ready to be brought to
be considered for legislation—or at least for further
discussion and consultation.
We want to talk also about income inequality.
And one of the things that we have seen over time,
Mr. Speaker, is that the same job can be done by two
competent people—one male, one female. The f emale will not get the amount of money that the male gets. Notwithstanding—

[Inaudible interjections ]

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: And, y ou know,
there is a racial divide as well —black and white. But a
female—and that is my focal point today —a female is
not considered in the same vein as a male, even
though the female may be far superior in being able to
do that job.
When a job is advertis ed, women just look at
it and say They are asking for five basic criteria, I only
have four, therefore I will not apply . A man? Just because of the way they think, they will say, Well, I have
got two of the five. I can probably slide my way through number three, so I am going to make the application. Nine times out of 10, they get it. And they get the job. And then especially when you are dealing
with not just black or white or male or female, when
you are dealing with local and foreign, you will get a company that says that they are willing to pay signif icantly higher salaries to somebody because they are
foreign. And they would not even dream of it, you
know, to pay somebody significant housing allowances and the like. So, by default, even if the salary for
the job is the same, the local has got to pay rent every
month whereas the foreigner gets housing allowance.
So, their total revenue, their total income goes in their
pocket. And these are things that we have to look at.
We want to start talking about being fair?
Let us go to health care and one of the things
that you can find, Mr. Speaker, with respect to health
care is that there are companies who say once you have finished working with them then you are not an
employee, therefore you cannot stay on their insurance plan.
Now, we can mandate . . . some of the difficulties . . . I had somebody call me the other day to say
that their insurance premium was $3,500 per month
because, you know, [it was ] for the husband and the
wife—two people paying $3,500 per month. And I li stened to that and I thought, You know what ? That
sounds like a lot of money, $3,500. But when you look
at it, it is $1,750 per person, per month— The Speaker: Still a lot.

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mine is $1,677.27
per month— The Speaker: Still a lot.

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: So, it does not
take much to get to a $3,500 premium.
But, Mr. Speaker, if a company for which, let
us say, I would have worked for, has a group policy
where my premium may have been $1,200, as opposed to $1,600 to come out and get a policy on my
own . . . if they are mandated to provide insurance
even if the ex -employee, the retired employee, has to
pay for it, but if they are mandated to keep the employees within their pool, then that assists that e mployee, that retiree, from having to go through the extremes of finding a lot of money in order to be able to
fund basic health care that they are entitled to have.
So, I think that before we look at disrupting
the entire system . . . and I understand how the Government wants to have it looked at. I listened to the Minister very carefully as she gave her comments. But
recognising that we have within the private sector . . .
profit is not a bad thing. It is not a bad word, for companies to operate and to expect that there is a return
on their investment. Companies, especially insurance
companies —I worked in the industry, so I will declare
that interest —are required to put up significant capital.
And in putting up that capital, they are not only r esponsi ble for putting up the capital for the business to
run, they also have to have excessive reserves that
are dictated by the rules and regulations of the Monetary Authority because you cannot have an insurance
company that goes under having collected premium s
and then find that they are unable to meet their obligations to pay losses.
So, they do not just have to put aside a r eserve for the losses that they have, they also have to put aside a reserve for the losses that may have oc-curred and about which they yet . . . they do not know
yet. What they call “IBNR” —incurred but not reported.
So, these are things that a company has to look at.
Somebody had to find that capital at the outset to start
that business. So to then look at that company to say,
you have st arted this business, you have committed
your capital, you know, but you are not supposed to
get any profit on this because . . . You know, why are
people in business?
And one of the things that I do know from
speaking with people within our industry, our insurance industry, is that many of them are able to effect
competitive rates, especially for overseas institutions,
because they are able to negotiate rates. They have
affiliates with companies that are in what is called “the
network” and they are able to negotiate rates, som etimes a 60 per cent or 70 per cent discount. I see that
sometimes with my monthly reports that come from
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 69

Bermuda House of Assembly the insurance company that say this is what the hospital has charged, this is what we have paid them. The
hospital may have charged $1,000. The insurance
company has paid that hospital maybe $300. You
would think, on average, that this hospital would bill
me for the $700 differential. But they do not because
the negotiated rate for the provision of services is that
there is a 70 per cent discount.
As a result of that, Mr. Speaker, people are
able to get benefits. We heard earlier that there is a
pool of 48,000. Now because there is a pool of 48,000
in Bermuda who are required to have insurance, it
does not necessarily say that the efficiencies that we
have within the system that will administer that [pool]
will also be able to automatically control the rates because one of the things that we looked at. We want to
talk about the rates of premium, but we also have to
look at the cost of providing services. And we cannot
effectively manage health care if we do not look at
both together.
It is okay to say, let us bring the premium
down. But also if the premium comes down but the cost of service providers stays up, then you are self -
defeating. And what will happen in such an instance,
Mr. Speaker, is that if you have . . . you know, look at
things like prescriptions. There is a dispensing fee
which, in some instances, ends up costing more than
your net pay on a prescription itself. You know, you
pay a dispensing fee. Who is looking at that?
These are the things that we have to look at
before we say let us dismantle and disrupt the system. We have some 3,000, I believe, uninsured or underi nsured individuals. I think we can have a legislati ve
approach that says to existing insurance companies, You are required to cover people who are from that particular statistical population. And there is nothing
wrong with saying that if you have got, you know,
20,000 people in your pool, and if we have, let us say
. . . well, we got 48,000. We have got three major insurers. So we are talking about 16,000, 17,000 per insurer if we spread it out evenly.
So, if we spread that 3,000, to say to that
company, they are required to insure these extra
1,000 peopl e, and you price them in with the rates that
you charge, that way you do not have the Government
having to have the responsibility of the amounts of
subsidies that are required either for aged, indigent or
youth subsidies where the Government is on the hook
for all of it. We can spread that risk and we can mandate that companies fulfil their responsibility because
it is not just business sense, but it is a moral responsibility, in my estimation. It is a duty.
So, when we hear this . . . the National Health
Plan that was in effect on which there had been ex-tensive consultation prior to the 2012 election, one of
the things that was frightening to a significant number
of the community is that it was placed that the insurance, I am sorry, the international busi ness would be
responsible for footing the significant portion of the bill. And that caused people to be a little bit concerned. Some of them were thinking that if they have to do this, then they do not have to be here because
they can get better rates for services that are required
for insureds . . . you know, for clinical services they
can actually pay less if they move to a different juri sdiction.
And I think my honourable colleague, Ms.
Scott, Deputy Leader, indicated that the President of
the United St ates has made business operating onshore in the United States far more attractive than it
used to be. So, companies do not have to be here.
And what we do not want to do is work in an environment in which we are trying to decimate the capital
because we think that there is something wrong with
this word called “profit.” We do not want to decimate
companies because the companies that we have
here, insurance companies, employ somewhere in the
order of 500 to 600 people.
So, if you decimate those companies and they
are no longer able to operate on a business model . . .
and there is nothing wrong with it because, as I said
earlier, they are putting their capital at risk in order to have that company going. If you decimate them,
where do you put the 600 people that , if they decide,
You know what? I really do not need to operate—because they are not benevolent —I am not going to
put up my $30 million, take it out of my petty cash tin,
and put my $30 million up, to know that there is som ething wrong with me having return on my investment .
So, if I decide, You know what? Let me shut
this down. Then what do you have? You have an i ndustry that has been decimated because of gover nment, legislative requirements and impositions . You
find that those companies can no longer operate and you have a significant number of unemployed people,
because that is what will happen.
And this is not about, you know, the sky is
falling . I have spoken with people who were part of the
consultative process and I understand that BHeC, the
Health Council, is not particularly enamoured with
some of the recommendations that have come up.
The study that they were looking at is predicated upon
a 2002 study , when they are talking about singlepayers ; a 2002 study, which by 2004 was already outdated. I am not saying it made countries bankrupt, but
it certainly was outdated. And you find as efficiencies
come online it is a lot better to have people who know
what they are doing in the industry than to say this is
now another way that we as a Government can collect
all the premium , and there is no case management.
We have to effect a regime of managed care. But
there is no case management , so there is nothing to
say what the expenditure is going to be, the admin
cost.
As we mentioned earlier this morning in one of the
Ministerial Statements , there are times when admini strative costs can become prohibitive compared to the
revenue that is coming in. And we have to look at
70 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly things like that. So, there are certain people in industries who are familiar with how businesses work and
who look at how they can maximise what is the cost of
business by looking at everything. All of the providers ,
whether it be a doctor . . . you know , I look at things
such as imaging, magnetic imaging and the like. Mr.
Speaker, we have a new facility going up a few blocks
from here which we have got enough, in my estim ation, of that particular type of technology that already exists for the population of the size that we have.
But, you know, we have a free capitalistic s ociety . And i n that society everybody . . . I have the
right to go down and say I am going to build, you
know, I am going to build a facility and I am going to bring in that machine and I am going to provide it. But
I know that I am going to have to pay for it. So, are we
looking at effectively determining what the optimum
amount of machinery, equipment , is that we need for
specific procedures ? Have we looked at that? And
can we do these things first , while we are also looking
at the best way to provide health care for everybody ?
So I have given a couple of recommendations. Force the existing insurance companies to insure those people who are under -insured or uni nsured. Look at total service provision in all of its forms in all the providers. Look at the premium before we
start looking at absorbing everything into one pool ,
two pools , or whatever the case might be, and find
that we may have administrative costs that have gone
totally out of whack and we are totally unable to sustain it.
Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have?

You have a minute and 24 seconds.

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Okay, there is one
final thing that I want to say. I am just going to move
from health care, and the one thing that I am going to
say in that final minute is , we talk about reducing
costs so that there is more money available. We heard it lauded loud and clear when we did the ICO
legislation, the Initial Coin Offering legislation, that the
average person in the street has been left out of the
economic circle and therefor e this is an opportunity for
people to get involved. I said at that time that the ICO
legislation in the way that we had discussed it was not
going to assist the poor person in the street , like me ,
to be able to get anything other than perhaps the abi lity to do some administrative and compliance work.
They are not going to earn the kind of revenue from
the ICO regime that was being touted at that time.
It is important that we embrace all of our people, that we look to see what are we offering, how we
can do it , not just expeditiously but fairly to everybody,
Mr. Speaker . And I think that before we start to di smantle and disrupt an entire system because som ebody seemed to think that it was appropriate to put a
socialistic environment in a capitalistic societ y, we should not be looking to fit a square peg into a round
hole.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

I recognise the Honourable Member
from constituency 36. Honourable Member Scott, you
have the floor.

Hon. Michael J. Scott: Mr. Speaker, thank you.
Mr. Speaker, I know that the Honourable
Member who has just taken her seat when seeking to downplay FinTech as not supporting poor people like
her good self, is not really being serious. We all recognise . . . and I do not know why I did not hear from
the Honourable Member the argument that diversity in
the economy is important. And this is what FinTech is.
And yet you will hear the attempts to fit i t into some
politicised square peg. It is meant to diversify our economy , which is always a good thing.
Now, Mr. Speaker, the Throne Speech, which
His Excellency was pleased to present on behalf of the PLP Government, in my view and in the view of
many people who heard it and applauded for it, I believe it is perhaps the single most important statement
of our nation’s state of affairs in a long time, if not in
our history. It is easy to defend. It made an accurate
diagnosis of the problem and what the problem was,
Mr. Speaker. Possibly, on every possible important metric in our society : health care and its cost; educ ation and public education; and the dealing with the
traumatically disturbed and misbehaved members of
our society that fall out of our public school system,
that metric; a regressive tax system, properly highlighted in the report that was tabled in a paper in another communication today; high mortgage rates;
steep energy costs; high food costs .
And I always remember the president of the
BIU. I will continue to cite his metrics with which he
reminds this community every occasion he gets about
the steep monthly expense cost that began to afflict
this nation in the 1970s, mid- 1970s and throughout.
These were the metrics and these are the
metrics that our Throne Speech identified as completely out of whack. High rent costs . High rent costs,
so that your weekly rent does not meet your monthly rent. And, so, it is the reason . . . and I heard the Honourable and Learned Member who describes himself
as the rookie in the House, and he does so accurat ely, cite Bishop Lam be’s reference today at Prayer
Breakfast, the way we began our morning.
Bishop Lam be, a solid leader in our community, has watched Bermuda long enough for him to say
what he said today at the Prayer Breakfast, that the
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 71

Bermuda House of Assembly Throne Speech touched him with its burgeoning r eforms. It touched him as a good statement. And, of
course, it would have touched him because it is addressing those metrics that I have just referred to and
numbered. It touched him because he saw an ambitious statement in the Throne Speech to first identify
the metrics that are out of whack and to postulate,
from the Government of the day, reforms.
So, you could not ask for a better Throne
Speech. Mr. Speaker, it made an accurate diagnosis
of the problem when it spoke to these high, steep
costs for health care and energy costs , and so. No
wonder we have a prognosis that has been put in place in the Throne Speech that seeks to address the two societies in Bermuda, the consumer society, one,
the consumer ; [then] the other society, the producer,
the owner and producer. And any Member of this Honourable House who continues to speak in the context of this reformist Throne Speech today about
maintaining the status quo is speaking com plete her esy. They have not heard a thing that Bishop Lam be,
as an observer and a participant and alive in this society, obviously has reached a point and found some
comfort —more than comfort, found some hope in the
prognosis contained in the 2018/19 Throne Speech.
I heard the Honourable and Learned Member ,
Mr. Pearman, speak to the delicate economy of Bermuda. And I heard the Honourable Member , Mrs.
Gordon- Pamplin, speak to how profit . . . there is not hing the matter with it. All of these propping up of the
system and the status quo have no place in what has been identified in the Throne Speech as a long-passed, a long- passed need for us to be addressing
serious reforms because the problem with our com-munity, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Mr. Acting Speaker —

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

Hon. Michael J. Scott: —is that the greatest contributors to it are displaced into the role of consumers . And
this delicate economy would be made more robust and successful if the consumer class were put in the
position of being the producer class. And they could
be the insurers. They could be the health care provi ders. They could be the educators. They could be the
energy providers , because by 2018 the stewardship of
this platform has caused us to have this diagnosis ,
which is found to be extremely wanting.
They have not been good stewards up to
date. And it is largely because . . . and many of our
problems would be solved, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, if
the role of the majority population in the country moved from being one of consumers to being one of
owners and producers. You have dynamism, innov ation, new players, new ideas. It would be a marked, marked improvement, a marked development of our
economy. But we will not move there without the energy and r esolve of this ambitious Throne Speech and a PLP Government , because we continue to hear that
we must hold on and keep things as they are. And
those kinds of heresies must be rejected. They have
to be rejected—w hether they are called communism
or socialism or not respecting profit. They have to be
rejected.
For example, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, members
of the Government, this new Government, have been
addressing the whole question of workforce deployment and workforce development and workforce trai ning. Now, as a practi cing barrister in this country, a
relevant, a critically relevant , element about a dynamic
workforce in this country is the whole question of pri son reform and prison realities in our country. We have
in our country a criminal justice system whi ch needs
[to be] completely dismantled and reformed. Why?
Because on a daily basis , for the last 40 years , our
criminal justice system has generated the creation of
persons, mostly young men, into persons with convi ctions. If they have not been created wit h persons with
convictions, they have been created into persons with imprisonment terms , so 290 or so inmates at Wes tgate, literally thousands . All you need to do is read the
budget outcomes from year to year, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker, which show how many conv ictions the
DPP’s office racked up in our country.
Convictions directly impact employability. You
have to declare these things when you are out into the
workforce. So financial assistance asks you to walk
around the country and look for jobs, but when you
have to declare the number of persons who have convictions , men, the breadwinner s, the typical breadwi nners . . . and, now in a modern society the women are
as equal the breadwinner s. But in ordinary parlance, it
is important that we note that black males , white
males . . . but go down to the Magistrate’s Court .
Generally , for the last 30 years in Magistrate’s Plea
Court No. 1, the convictions there are primarily of our
men. So, that is impacting our workforce strategy.
There could not be a more important area crying out
for reform than our criminal justice system.
No less so, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, than our
commercial justice system and our civil justice system
as well , civil justice system, for example, where you
have heard us go on in the Progressive Labour Party
through the Opposition and now into Government
about the concerns there and the management of
debt and the casting of people into courts for massive
amounts of debt. Why is there debt? Again, I refer to
the president of the Bermuda Industrial Uni on, Mr.
Chris Furbert . I will call them his figures . When he
makes the point and he is joined by Robert Stubbs,
the economist, or the census most recently taken, that
black incomes, the incomes of one society, part of the
society fell behind by 13 per cent, and that monthly
incomes since, as Mr. Furbert has indicated . . .
monthly expenses have outstripped (since the mid-1980s) incomes and have not [been] adjusted. So
when you hear speeches in this House about three
72 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly jobs and ten jobs and keep your head abov e water . . .
these are the reasons.
But the point on the 13 per cent, it is a stark
figure for myself. The point about that 13 per cent di sparity of incomes over the last 20 years since 1998,
not only indicates disparity; it is an indication of debt.
It is another indicia of debt. And no wonder we have
so many of us in debt . And then the statistics, again
placed in this House, about the levels of stress, the
breakup of our marriages, and the increasing divorces
because families are impacted by poor health from
stress, debt management . It is the story of Bermuda
and the Two Bermudas, the two societies —the very
theme that we ran a successful 2017 campaign upon. It cannot be ignored. It must not be ignored. The
Throne Speech addresses it , and I commend the
Premier and the Government Ministers who can easily
defend this Throne Speech.
I liked the way Minister Kim Wilson stood after
the Honourable Learned Member decried two pools
and was supported by . . . clearly, this has been the
strategy discussed at their caucus where you cannot
have insurance manifested as two sensible pools as-sessed and analysed by actuaries to work out in Bermuda because, God forbid, it is a sacred cow that
must not be touched. But the Minister of Health set it
out plainly and defended i t. As can all of the issues in
this Throne Speech by Ministers be defended—from
tourism to national security to environment, et cetera.
So, this is where we are, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker. We would be in a much better place if the dynamism of this economy was translated over into the
ignored members of the society who have for too long
operated in the role of consumer. We need to become
owners of capital, producers of income, and let us see
how this society really does take off.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I want t o make my contribution to this Throne Speech one where I look for ways to now execute these reforms. This has got to
be critical , and I look to my colleague and to Minister
Caines who did an excellent job at pulling together a
task force led by a task leader to produce the bloc kchain initiative to the point where we became leaders
in the entire world for this space. Having a well -
educated educator and person with expertise in deli very of reforms is the recommendation I make to head up a delivery unit to del iver on this Throne Speech’s
very, very important and necessary reforms , because
it is not going to get done unless it has gotten a champion, as was Wayne Caines, championing both
FinTech and blockchain. It needs to have a champion,
but it needs leadership. And we will have ploughed
the sea if we just make this beautiful statement and analysis and diagnosis without delivering on it.
And so, my contribution to the Government’s
Throne Speech is to look for ways and to put up my hand and say , yes, let us cre ate a delivery unit that
can deliver the reforms that are effective and meaningful for the people of this country based on the diag-nosis and the reforms that have been identified in this
Throne Speech.
Thank you.

Thank you. Any further speakers?
The Chair recognises the Honourable Minister
Wayne Caines.
Minister Caines, you have the floor.

Hon. Wayne Caines: If it pleases you, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I have had the opportunity to listen to the Throne Speech [Reply] as artic ulated by the Leader of the Opposition. I just had the
opportunity to read through it again and it . . . it is u nnecessarily combative. I understand the relationship
that the Opposition have, and I understand the role of
the Opposition Leader in putting this thing together.
But I had a read of it , and my first words are that it is
unnecessarily combative. I do understand the tenor .
And I hope this is not the line and length of the Opposition’s leadership over the next two to three years.
When we look at a number of the things that
were said in the Throne Speech, excuse me, the
Throne Speech Reply, I just want to go directly to correcting a few things. The thing that struck me as most
significant was this paragraph, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker,
and I c rave your indulgence to read the paragraph,
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker.
“Our young people are losing hope and are
being attracted to gangs. Mr Speaker, there are glaring omissions in the ‘Throne Speech Lite’” —let me
say that again—"there are glaring omissions in the
‘Throne Speech Lite’ in respect of dealing with gang
violence and the increasing gun play in our streets.
This, despite the fact that there is a very well -
compensated pastor allegedly in total control. Frankly ,
the reintroduction of parish constables just does not
cut it , and neither does a chicken farm. With that in
mind, it is disturbing indeed to see the overall lack of
focus in identifying vulnerable youth.”
When you are going to tell the story, Mr.
[Deputy] Speaker, you have to tell the whole s tory.
When you read the emotive reference to an “overpaid
pastor ” and the reference to a “chicken farm ” . . . that
is salacious at best.
And I know the Acting Opposition, excuse me,
the Opposition Leader , and that is not his nature; that
is not the tenor of this man. Let us just go through
specifics of what the gang enforcement unit is doing in
Bermuda because Mr. and Mrs. Smith are listening to
this at home and they will get the misguided notion
that this Government is not doing anything with reference t o gang violence reduction in Bermuda.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, we have the Interagency Gang Task, excuse me, the Interagency Gang E nforcement Team. The Interagency Gang Enforcement
Team, or the IGET . They are a working group of all
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 73

Bermuda House of Assembly available resources and i nformation that are used to
identify key persons, locations, groups who are
deemed to be at risk to our community through their
association or connection with gangs. This is chaired
by Assistant Commissioner Daniels. They have
monthly meetings, Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker, with the
Commissioner of Police, Customs, Immigration, the
Department of Education, Court Services, the D epartment of Child and Family Services and the Gang
Violence Reduction Team. That is one.
The next thing we do is community outreach.
The G ang Violence Reduction Unit maintains a connection to the community through direct interaction
with at -risk individuals. This is achieved by fostering
positive trustworthy relationships in their environment.
The Outreach Team is doing the following to reduce
instances happening in our community:
1. They meet regularly with targeted individuals to
reduce community violence by exploring tensions,
de-escalating tensions, mediating incidents,
providing individual coaching.
2. They case manage individuals and they connect them to social services , and they support indivi duals through community crisis situations. In other
words, the Community Action Team where there
is a young man, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, that says
that he has had enough of the gang lifestyle and
he wants to transition out, the social worker that is
within his group puts together a plan for him to
get, if needed, mental health treatment, if needed
a BAR C assessment, a Bermuda Assessment R eferral if there is substance abuse, if he needs to
get education. A case manager in the programme
is put together for them. If something is happening with his family, they are constantly engaged, em-bedded, meeting in at -risk communities in our
community. Not some days —every single day.
3. Prison outreach (that is number three) . This a llows members to provide many avenues of support for incarcerated violent offenders. The VRU
may offer therapeutic services, liaise with prison
staff, assist with inmate rehabilitation or providing
an affirming resource to assist with their wellbeing
while they are incarcerated for their reintegration
into society.
4. The Crisis Coordinated Response Team. This
team works to restore peace in the community
and assist family members, friends, and witnesses
in the immediate aftermath of violent incidents.
So, this summer when we had the unfortunate
murder, they immediately dispatched to the hospital, they dispatched to the area where the shooting was. They went into homes, they put together an immediate crisis response team made up of
professionals, made up of volunteers, but they are
in the eye of the storm when something transpires.
5. Triage Services. These are members of the community affected by violent crimes that often reach out to the VRU for assistance. They attempt to directly address problems, conc erns with individuals
and [connect ] them with the appropriate support
serv ices.
6. The School Initiative. The School Initiative from the Gang Violence Team started in September
and they worked with the administration and st udent services team at CedarBridge and Berkeley
alongside with the Bermuda Police Service to pr ovide support services for at -risk students. Exa mple: There was a gigantic melee with students going down Corkscrew Hill. As many people saw on
social media, this was an immediate crisis. A portion of our team has been embedded for the last
two months at the Berkeley Institute. A part of the
team has been embedded in the CedarBridge
[Academy.] A part of the strategy, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker, is number one, to target at -risk young
men and women whilst t hey are in their schools ,
and then another part of the strategy is when
young men are ready to go out, to make the necessary services for them to get out. A part of the
School Initiative is programmes in both schools. This week there was a major incident going down
Corkscrew Hill with reference to school -age chi ldren. The team immediately were able to go to
CedarBridge and carry out what we will commonly
call “an intervention” —finding out who the main
protagonists were, sitting them around a table with
scho ol police and members of our team they were
able to work together to find a common resolve.
Oftentimes, we see problems in our community
and we want to see the quick and overt and public
fixes. The Gang Violence Reduction Team has a
significant plan that i s a long- term solution to ending and stemming gun violence in Bermuda. The
team works with school’s administration and they
put together plans for safety for students.
7. Mediation Services. Mediation Services has coordinated with several sessions aimed at reducing
tensions with rival gangs between the Island’s senior schools. So the Mediation Services, this is
something that is active. These are not things that
are to come, these are things that are happening in our school where you are taking young men
and allowing them to mediate and integrate. We
heard that this is an overpriced pastor and a
chicken farm. These are the things that I am tel ling you that are transpiring right now in our community on a day -to-day basis.
8. Individual Student Support Sessions. The team
offers individual sessions to young men known to
participate in antisocial behaviour. Two hours ago,
one of the at -risk young men that was in the m elee going down Corkscrew Hill, one of his assignments was to sit in here today and watch this part
of this Throne Speech Reply. He came in with a
Gang Violence Reduction Coordinator. He sat in .
. . key members of Parliament were called outside
74 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly to give him some inspiration and tell their stories,
a part of the mediation programme. Again, we
want to minimi se it for a sound bite to a chicken
farm and an overpriced pastor. Well, today we are going to correct that, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker.
9. Group Session. The team is currently delivering a
10-week pilot excellence programme at the Bermuda . . . excuse me, at the CedarBridge Academy. The programme focuses on incident medi ation, understanding risk levels and encouraging
self-reflection and introspection. This is a pr ogramme that we are piloting in the schools, [for]
these young men that find themselves in difficult
situations. How do you diffuse it? How do you i ntrospect? How do you balance yourself? So, we
have heard about programmes thus far in the
schools, in the community —crisis coordinating
team, long- term plans that help our young men,
short -term plans to deal with problems as they i ndeed arise.
10. GREAT —Gang Resistance Education and Trai ning. The GREAT programme is a youth education
and awareness initiative that teaches life skill lessons and addresses antisocial behaviour in Bermuda. Last school [year], Mr. [Deputy] Speaker,
the programme trained 513 students in 22
schools, 4 middle schools and 15 primary schools.
This summer, four new customs officers were
trained as facilitators to teach in the schools. The
facilitators are currently running the programme in
six schools around the Island.
Does that just sound like a chicken farm and
an overpaid pastor? Well, let us just talk about the
chicken farm, because we want to reduce that into a
sound bite.
The name of that farm, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker,
will be called Redemption Farms. I think the name of
the farm is apropos because it deals with some of the
challenges that we have in Bermuda. A Redemption
Farm will be an opportunity for at -risk young men and
women to be in a therapeutic environment. The first
part of thi s will be the therapeutic part of it. In other
words, young men and women will simply not be out grazing and raising chickens.
Our young people will be assessed before
they join the programme [for] mental health challeng-es [by] BARC, Bermuda Assessment and Referral
Services. They will be given a case manager and, because you have different entities in Bermuda, they will
be assessed for their suitability of this programme.
The programme is now being penned. Remember, we
are talking about the academic part of the programme,
where a person comes into the programme. You look and make sure that they are fit for purpose, and then
they enter into the programme. [This] is a programme
that you deal with them with conflict resolution, with
challenges, dress for success, time management,
people management. It is going to be a 12- week pr ogramme, where people are going to be allowed to come in, they are in crisis, they are immediately tr iaged with help and support services, case management that allows them to balance themselves and to
be able to be reintegrated in our society. That is
phase one. The interesting thing about this Government
and what we are trying to do . . . we are not just trying
to give away fish. We are trying to teach the people of
Bermuda how to fish . And in keeping with this agenda—that we will not apologise for, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker —we feel that it is important to teach them a
skill. And we believe that farming not only has the
necessary therapeutic elements of it with the hands in
the soil, but it is indeed an excellent opportunity for
the young men to learn a trade and to indeed have the
ability to make money from this endeavour.
We have the opportunity to talk to key farmers
in Bermuda. On Monday at 5:30, I will have a meeting with the Bermuda Farmers Association to discuss and
share with them their plan. We have a young Berm udian farmer who is taking on the farming advice to the
Ministry on this. We have a local restaurant that has
indicated (outside of us) going to the farmer’s market and selling our wares. Anything that we do not sell,
this local Bermudian restaurant (who we will name in
due course) has said they will buy everything that we
can raise and farm. And we will be doing it organically.
The purpose of this farm is multifaceted. The
purpose of the farm is not only, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, to allow people to raise and sell produce and to have
recompense. The purpose of Redemption Farm is to
take at -risk young people and put them in a therapeutic environment to have the proper helping servi ces.
And we do not have to reinvent the wheel. We have a
Department of Child and Family Services. We have
Court services which already have counselling that is
available. A number of the at -risk young men . . .
guess what? They happen to be on parole. They already have a number of the reports already done.
What the Government is saying is that we are
talking to different ministries and we are saying that
we have a key corps of constituents and that we can
allow them. Now, if we were to just mention Redem ption Farm in and of its own, that would just be R edemption Farm. We just gave you six other things that
this Government continues to do. And remember, I
have not even mentioned Pastor Leroy Bean yet.
Pastor Leroy Bean is the man that leads this
initiative on a day -to-day basis. Right now he is at the
home of an incident where some issues are breaking out in our community. And what people do not see,
there are constantly . . . every night he is in the belly
of the storm, someone on our team, because we only
see when someone is shot. What we do not realise is that because of the disquiet in our community we
have to work with the IGTF [Inter -Agency Gang Task
Force]. And that, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, is the Police,
that is Customs, that is all of the policing agencies.
We established that policing is a part of this.
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 75

Bermuda House of Assembly But you saw the transition through the piece
where we talked about the training. We had six young
men in Westgate all serving periods of incarceration
for murder, just due to empty violence, working
through the issues, of course, in the Westgate Correctional Facility. We have seen another core dem ographic do yoga in prison. This is not happenstance. This is not just a chicken farm as you try to reduce the
Government’s Throne Speech to these awful sound
bites. This is a Government that has thought through
these things, giving you articulated plans [on] how we
plan to change this country. And the Throne Speech is
replete with these initiatives.
I saw over 16 references to “It was the OBA
did,” “It was the OBA did,” “It was the OBA that fi nished.” Well, that rings hollow when you sit in Oppos ition. Have we not learned from those mistakes? The
ability for a Government to do all of those things, but it
did not resonate with the people of Bermuda. We will
not fall into those traps. We have the ability to do
things for the business community but also to look at
the social needs of this country. How can we apol ogise for putting Bermuda first, making opportunities for
people through tax concessions? How can we apol ogise for the working men in this country that are strug-gling every day? We only stand here because they
voted us in. And so you now expect for us to follow in
your footsteps and lose our very place of prominence
because we do not listen to the needs of these people?
Why would we even apologise for having an
agenda that focuses on the people of Bermuda—the very people that are struggling, the very people that
are hurting in this country? Why would we apologise
for trying to make their lives better? When you look at the Reply to the Throne Speech . . . it spoke about
Immigration. Again, another falsehood. The Minister
that had responsibility for Immigration before me has
a working group. And on that working group there are
two Members of the Opposition. We sat together this
week, we know what the blueprint is. We will share
this in due course.
I have had the opportunity, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker, to share those thoughts with the team at
Bermuda First. Mr. Phil Butterfield met with me yesterday, him and his team. And we shared with them
the outlined and the strategic plan that we have for
going through that. If the Leader of the Opposition
needs to understand what the plan is, he has two
Members. The Learned Shadow Minister that sits O pposite is a member of thi s and he sees and he knows
the plan. He knows that it is a work in progress, that it is a legitimate plan, which tackles head- on the problems of immigration. I will not run from the fact that
there is a backlog of work permits. Why would I run
from that? I have come into that position, and I have
looked at that problem. We have put together a plan,
and we are aggressively tackling that problem. I have articulated the challenges that we
have. Why do we have the challenges? I am not going
to go back to what the OBA did. I am saying that we
inherited some challenges and we are putting together a plan that would require looking at getting these work permits approved in short order. And guess what?
Those work permits that . . . we are working through
them. We have spoken to ABIC, ABIR, the Chamber
of Commerce. We have spoken to the Bermuda Hoteliers Association. We have met with them. We have
shared our plans on what we are going to do. And
guess what they have said? We appreciate the notif ication. We appreciate the plan, and when we have
something we will directly reach out to the team. And,
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I believe that is indeed pr ogress.
When it comes to comprehensive immigration
reform, that is in train. We have a clear plan. I did not
make this plan. I found this committee deeply ensconced in their work. As much as we want to rush it
to the beginning, this is not something that we can
rush. This is something that has been done in consultation with the local stakeholders. And it is something . . . bec ause it is that seismic to this country, and the
reform is taking place. It is in a place of prominence. It
has a Minister that is focused on it and a team —
including Members of the Opposition—that I am
pleased and honoured to work with to bring this as an offering to the people of Bermuda to show how we
can take our country, indeed, from strength to
strength.
I read in the Throne Speech [Reply] the references to FinTech and cryptocurrencies and the over-reliance on and the risk to our economy based upon.
And I hear the former Opposition Leader, Mr. Dunkley,
speak, and it reminds me that they . . . and I do not
disparage, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker. They do not understand it. The do not understand the technology. They
do not understand the trajectory. What they foc us on,
and they limit this Government to, is the myopia of
their understanding of FinTech.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Wayne Caines: I, I, I . . .

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Wayne Caines: The myopia and the lack of understanding of an industry is forcing the Opposition to
make comments that show their lack of understanding. It is almost like Christopher Columbus going to
Ferdinand and Isabella and asking them for recompense to go around the world and everybody in the
court and the courtesans are convinced that the world
is, indeed, flat. They not only have to convince them
that the world is round; they have to get the money to
go and pay for the voyage.
76 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly And, so, we are sitting in a room with people
who are convinced that the world is indeed flat . When
everybody . . . when the Caribbean Blockchain All iance has come together, when all of them . . . when
the Maltese, when the Swiss, when everybody is looking at FinTech as the wave of the future, they stand
flat-footed like the rest of the world in 1998 to 1999
when they were convinced that the dotcom and the
Internet would not be the bastion of business. This is
the exact same mentality. This is the exact same
mentality that we are dealing with today, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker.
The Government has been bold. You hear
references to cryptocurrency. This strategy does not centre around cryptocurrency. The Premier leads a
team that is dealing with FinTech. That is RegTech.
That is MedTech. When you look at the reinsurance
company, the biggest thing in blockchain technology
right now is the ability for Bermuda to lead in putting
the reinsurance and everything on the blockchain.
When Joe Lubin, one of the biggest persons in this
space, came to Bermuda, he was so excited to talk to
our reinsurance entities because Bermuda can lead
the world in a new burgeoning form of FinTech. When
you hear what is going on with medical science and
putting medical records on technology, and what is
going on in pharmaceuticals, Bermuda is centred to
be the absolute epicentre of the world.
Now, that takes me to my next point. We have
seen very little movement in this space. Or I [heard] MP Pearman say, Well, look at Arbitrade. O ye, of
little faith. We are putting together industry, and Rome
was not built in a day. We have said to everyone that
we are not going to not . . . we are not going to deal
with . . . not deal with economic substance. We are
not going to deal with the tourism industry. We are not
not going to focus on finance. We can walk and chew
gum at the same time. We are looking at ways of diversifying the economy.
In one breath they are saying that the Throne
Speech was too based on socialism, and in the very
other breath when we are . . . socialism. And when we
are trying to diversify the economy, they speak out the
other side of their neck saying, Why are they trying to
be so risky with the economy? You cannot have it
both ways!

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Wayne Caines: This Government has to balance what is in the best interest, not only of the oligarchy, not only of the financial elite. We have to look out
for Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda. And we cannot, and will
not, apologise for building a better and fairer Berm uda. We will not apologise for standing strong for Bermudians. We are taking on the fortunes that have kept
our wages low, our opportunities down and our health
care and our light bills high. Bermuda has changed; and it has changed for
the better. However, despite this progress we are still a long way from a better and fairer Bermuda. And we
are still far way better and we have a fairer Bermuda
than we were last year when the people voted for us. We have the opportunity, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker,
through a leader that has the ability to think, that has
the ability to challenge authority, challenge the oligarchy, cha llenge the banks, challenge the financial inst itutions, and say to his team, T his is how hard I want
you to work. I want you to focus without apology on the people of Bermuda. I want you to focus on making
this country fairer so when your children need an opportunity, they have opportunities. And that is what
this does. And we will not apologise for it.
Do not think that we cannot walk and chew
gum at the same time, because we can focus on the
economy. We can focus on the budget. We can focus
on immigration. We can focus on crime at the same
time.
Thank you very much, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker.
[Desk thumping]

Thank you. Are there other . . .
the Chair recognises the Honourable Member Sylvan
Richards.
Mr. Richards, you have the floor.

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker .
I hope I can follow up after that Honourable
Member ’s enthusiasm and evangelism. It is a tough
act to follow, but I am going to do my best. But before I get into my remarks, Mr. Deputy
Speaker , I would like to just take a few minutes to
thank retired PS Wayne Carey, who recently retired from the civil service after a number of years of yeoman service. He was my permanent secretary for a
stint while I was Minister. He was very helpful to me. I
found him to be a very compassionate, very professional civil servant. His loss is a loss to Bermuda, and
I wish him the best in all of his future endeavours.
Now, getting into the Throne Speech debate. I
sat on the grounds of Cabinet the other day and li stened to the PLP’s Throne Speech with great interest.
And I listened very, very carefully. The PLP is the
Government of the day. They were elected by a mandate, and that is politics. Now, I sit here as an Oppos ition MP, and I have a job to do. I was elect ed by my
constituents to scrutinise the Government, to hold them to account in a fair way, and not just to criticise.
And I can say, Mr. Deputy Speaker, is that I have sat
here for almost 16 months since the election. And I
have allowed the Government to establish a track
record. I believe in they will show you who they are if
you just sit quietly and observe.
Now that the Government has a track record, I
can speak to it. And I do not profess to know ever yOfficial Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 77

Bermuda House of Assembly thing about everything, but I know what my eyes tel l
me, and I know what I hear when I walk the streets of
Bermuda.
To me, the theme of the PLP’s Throne
Speech is three words: tax and spend. It is quite apparent. And we were given the Tax Reform booklet
today, and I will go home and I will read it thoroughly
from cover to cover. Bermudians can expect for their
taxes to be increased. And ironically, it is not the taxes
on international business that are going to be i ncreased. Taxes are going to be increased on local
Bermudian businesses. People are going to be asked
to give more to this Government because this Government, Mr. Deputy Speaker , has very real challenges. And they are the same challenges that the OBA
faced when we were Government. The challenges
remain the same regardless of who wins the election.
And the remedy remains the same regardless of who
wins the election.
Now, from where I sit, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
the taxes that have already been imposed on the
Bermudian public and the new taxes that are coming
down the pipeline are similar to squeezing water out
of a rock. The difficulty is that the Government is challenged to make that rock bigger. We need a bigger
rock. The only way you can make that rock bigger so
that you can squeeze that rock and get out the taxes
that you need is by stimulating t he economy, encouraging inward foreign investment and diversifying our
economy.
Now, I give the Government credit because
now they are in the driver’s seat, and I am sure at
their Cabinet meetings they are having the same sort
of discussions that we had in our Cabinet when we
were Government. What can we do to create jobs in
this country? What can we do to diversify our economy? It is too narrow. We have a deficit. We have
massive debt to pay. It has to be paid. So, unless we
can do something to increase the funds coming into
government, dark days are ahead, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Now, the Government knows, the Premier
knows, his Cabinet knows that a key part of the sol ution is going to be amending Bermuda’s immigration
policy. And we all know how controvers ial that is.
There are some on the other side . . . and I am sure
their opinions vary just like our opinions vary. What do
we do? But the problem remains the same. Bermuda
must increase its resident population. We just do not
have enough people on this lit tle rock, this little coral
rock out here in the middle of nowhere. We do not
have enough people to support the size of the Government that we have. It is a fact. It is not scaremon-gering. It is not criticism for the sake of criticising. It is
a fact.
We have a shrinking population, an ageing
population combined with a declining birth rate. And also what is not being spoken about, but I hear it daily,
there is a continuing exodus of Bermudians leaving Bermuda. Even after the election, Mr. Deputy Speaker, people are still leaving Bermuda. Our students are
being educated abroad in institutions in the United
Kingdom, America and Canada, and they are casting
a wary eye towards their home, Bermuda. And they are asking questions. Should I go back home?

Come back.

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Is there a job for me if I
go back home? And what I am hearing, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, is that students are saying, Unless som ething happens soon, I am not coming back . Soon we
are going to have a brain drain, just like we have been
having all these years.
The Government has to make tough decisions
to address this problem. As I said earlier, the problem
is the same as when the OBA was Government, and
the solution is the same.
Now, I am not a pessimist; I am an optimist. I
always see the glass as half full. But I am going to
make a prediction. I am going to go out on a limb. And
I am doing it because I want it to be in the Hansard.
Before 2012, Bob Richards stood in this place, and he
gave the PLP Government of that time a warning. He
said, A recession is coming. Get ready. His words
went unheeded, and Bermuda found itself in the
throes of a recession that took years to reverse.
And I am going to make another prediction—

Crystal ball light.

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: —to do exactly what the
OBA Government attempted to do in order to grow our
resident population. I know they are having those di scussions, not because my ear is to the wall, or, as the
Honourable MP Rolfe Commissiong said, I had a cry stal ball. It is because the problem is the same. It has not changed.

Carry on.

78 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda House of Assembly [Laughter]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: That will be ignored.
As I was saying, this PLP Government is going to have to do what the OBA Government attempted to do in order to grow our resident population. And
that is that they are going to have to provide status to
long- term resid ents—those residents who are already
here, who have been living here for years. And that is
what they have to attack.
[
Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: I am making a predi ction. And I heard. I hear the winds. The winds are al-ready starting up.
[
Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: I must be saying som ething controversial.
[
Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: But it is going to go in
the Hansard. And in a year or two we will revisit it, and
we wil l see who was right.
[
Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: They will provide status
to long- term residents and . . . and . . . I am sure they
are having discussions about commercial immigration.
[
Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: And for those listening,
commercial immigration is when you say, We need
some millionaires, multimillionaires, billionaires living in Bermuda—
[
Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: —we need to have them
here and we are going to make a way for them to come here and start jobs . And we will give them a
passport. We will give them status.
[Laught
er and inaudible interjections]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: So, that is what is going
to happen. That is my prediction.
Now, the Honourable Member who took his
seat before I stood up, talked about FinTech. The PLP’s Throne Speech, I noticed, mentioned very little
of FinTech. Now, to be clear, I support the Gover nment’s attempts to diversify our economy. I support
the Government’s at tempts to develop blockchain
technology here. The issue, which is not being said, is that blockchai n technology is still i n its i nfancy. M any
countries around t he worl d are looki ng at it. Many
businesses ar ound the world ar e trying to figur e out a
way t o us e blockchai n technology t o provi de efficiencies t o their bus iness. I k now r einsurance is l ooking at
it. Everybody is looki ng at it bec ause it i s the wave of
the future. It is nothi ng to be scared of. T here is not hing controv ersial.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: The problem right now
is that blockchain technology currently is being used in non- critical operations. It is used in non- critical o perations.
[
Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: And no one has figured
out yet how to monetise blockchain technology.

Nobody said that.
Ano
ther Hon. Member: No one said that.
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: —and that it is going to
be young people working in blockchain technology after w e train them up. It is not going to happen in
time to turn this Government around, to turn our
economy around. It is not going to happen.
Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, point of
order. This Member is misleading the House today —
The Deputy Speak er: What is your point of order?
POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]
Hon. Wayne Caines: That there has . . . at no time
did we say that this was going to turn Bermuda around in the next day and that it, to paraphrase, is a
magic bullet for the country or for the economy, Mr.
[Deputy] Speaker . Never.

Carry on, Member.
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you for verifying
what I just said, Honourable Member.
Cryptocurrency —
[
Inaudible interjections and laughter ]
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 79

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Until I see something
concrete, Mr. Deputy Speaker, happening in this
country, as far as I am concerned, cryptocurrency is a
sideshow and has the potential to harm Bermuda’s
hard- earned financial reputation. I will park that right
there. Until somebody pr oves me wrong, it is a sideshow.

[Inaudible interjections]

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: You see, you hear a lot
of talk about cryptocurrency. I am not going to spend
a lot of time talking about it, but you hear a lot of talk
about cryptocurrency, and what it is going to do for our economy. The problem is that . . . the challenge is
converting digital currency into fiat currency or cash.
They are still trying to figure that out. So, I wish you
the best with that, but good luck.
Now, after 16 months in Gov ernment, the PLP
Government now understands just how difficult it is to stimulate job creation. It is hard, Mr. Deputy Speaker .
And they understand now just how difficult it is. And
when you are in politics, you know that you live or die
based on how your people feel. Do they have money
in their pockets? Do they have job security? And right now, it is still very tenuous out there, and the Berm udian public are patiently waiting for all these promises
to come to fruition.
I do not envy the Premier. He has the unenv iable position of walking a thin line. He must satisfy his base while making difficult, practical decisions that are
going to upset his base. So, their PR machine is going to have to be on full effect because, as I stated earlier,
the problems are t he same and the solutions are the
same and the medicine is bitter.
Now, the PLP Government —

[Inaudible interjections]

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: —seems to have an
infatuation with the fictional country of Wakanda,
which came out of the mind of the rec ently deceased
Stan Lee.

[Inaudible interjections]

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: I do not have to be car eful about anything. I speak my mind. And I live by it,
too. Always have, always will. So, there seems to be
this infatuation with the fictional count ry of Wakanda. I
went and saw the Black Panther movie. I enjoyed it. I
was very —
[Inaudible interjections]

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: It was a good movie.

[Inaudible interjections ]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: You said it.

[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Now, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, I have an infatuation with the HBO show
Game of Thrones . Game of Thrones . I am sure there
are a number of people in this Chamber who watch Game of Thrones .
Game of Thrones is a very interesting show. It
is very political. It is very, very political, and that is why I like it. Seven kingdoms fighting for control of the Iron
Throne. And then you have the infighting amongst the
seven kingdoms. However, in the upcoming last season that is going to start next April, the seven kingdoms are forced to come together to defend against
the Night King, a common enemy. And the theme of
the last season is “Winter is Coming.”

For Theresa May —not us.

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Unless this PLP Government can create jobs, pay down our debt, reduce
the deficit, winter is coming, Mr. Deputy Speaker .
Our economic indicators at this moment are
all pointing in the wrong direction. It is a fact. Our ec onomic indicators are pointing in the wrong direction. Is
Bermuda slipping into another recession? Time will
tell. And what is interesting about this period of time is
that our closest trading party, the United States of
America . . . their economy is booming. Jobs are being created. I hate to even say this because I think the
President is a knucklehead, but their economy is
booming.
So, if America sneezes, Bermuda gets a cold.
Conversely, if America is feeling healthy and strong, then so should Bermuda. And I am putting down another marker, Mr. Deputy Speak er. If our economy
slips into another recession—and all the indicators
look like it is heading that way —the Progressive Labour Party Government will own it hook, line and sinker.
Gaming had the potential to create jobs in this
country.

[Inaudible inter jections]

Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: And that is not going to
happen. Gaming is not going to happen in this country. Prove me wrong, because the chalice has been
poisoned.
That job has been advertised around the
world, how many number of times? You are going to
tell me there is not one person qualified in gaming out
there in that big wide world who would take on the job
in Bermuda? No, they are not going to take it on.
Why? Because the chalice has been poisoned because of interference by the Progressive Labour Party
Government. And the Bermuda Tourism Authority is
80 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda House of Assembly the one bright spot that we have going on for us right
now. The one bright spot. Let us see how long it takes before this Progressive Labour Party messes that up.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
[
Desk thumping]

Any further speakers?
The Chair . . . Mr. Premier, you have the floor.
Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Deputy Speaker, we have
heard a lot today. And what we have heard today is similar to what I have often spoke about, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker , and that is the past versus the future.
Today, I listened to the Leader of the Oppos ition, who is put there as a representative of those who
are fighting for the forces of the past, flanked by one
directly to his left who decides that he is going to stand up in this Parliament in 2018 and question what
the voters blessed about expanding maternity leave
from 8 weeks to 13 weeks. In 2018, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker .
In 2018, we listened this past speak about the
fact that we need to have a more fair tax system, Mr.
Deputy Speaker . We get to listen to people on that
side, Honourable Member s on that side, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, talk about the past and wonder why the
country is in the situation and state of which it is.
Let me explain to you something, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, because it seems the only people who are
pessimistic about the future of Bermuda sit over there, and [they] number 11. Because when you go on the
international stage, when you go on the international
scene, when you are like I was with the Minister of
Finance yesterday raising money with the tightest
spreads that this country has ever gotten, beating anything that was done under that former Gover nment, it shows that the people around the world have
confidence in this Government, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker .
[
Desk thumping] Hon. E. David Burt: That is the reason why for the
first time in 12 years Bermuda’s economic outlook was upgraded, because people have confidence in
the direction of this Government.
[
Desk thumping]
Hon. E. David Burt: But, yet, we get to sit here and
listen to people trying to rewrite history.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. E. David Burt: It was absolutely shocking. Now,
we all know that the Honourable Opposition Leader
has a problem giving full and complete answers to the
public. But even—
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. E. David Burt: —and this House, too!
But in the first few pages of his speech, he
confused himself! How exactly do you go from the fact
to say that there has been no growth in jobs and then
a few pages later saying that the PLP is taking credit for 322 more jobs?
[
Inaudible interjections]
Hon. E. David Burt: Oh, that is right, he probably did
not write the speech.
[
Laughter]
Hon. E. David Bur t: Then, we just hear things that
are completely made up. I get to listen to the Leader of the Opposition tell the country that the One Berm uda Alliance decriminalised cannabis. Oh, really? Really? And that is the problem, because in the speech
that I gave to the Delegate’s Conference, I was very
clear that Bermuda needs a strong and viable Oppos ition. But the challenge is, if the people cannot trust the words that are coming out of the mouth of the Leader of the Opposition, we will not have one!
[
Inaudib le interjections]
Hon. E. David Burt: So, here we are. So, after we
have a Throne Speech that laid out a vision that was supported roundly across this country, whether it be
from the Chamber of Commerce or whether it be from
the unions, whether it be from international business
or local business, even some people over on that
side, Mr. Deputy Speaker , said that there were good
things to celebrate. Today, we hear nothing but crit icism, doom and gloom for the future from the Leader of the Opposition.
So, now let me be very clear. The way in
which you ensure that you have a sustainable econo-my for the future is you have to create that economy.
And the way you create that economy is by ensuring
Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 81

Bermuda House of Assembly that there is equity inside of society. That is the only
way that you get sustainability because, let me be
very clear, anyone can spend $100 million on a onetime event. Anyone can do it! It is not hard work. What
is hard work —

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: What is hard work is putting sustainable things in place in order to ensure that you can
have a sustainable future.
So, while we hear the Honourable Opposition
Leader talking about the fact that we do not have . . . we have crumbling schools, I can tell you what, the $4 million that we are paying in interest for an empty i sland right now would do a whole lot to build some
schools. It would do a whole lot. It would do a whole
lot.

[Recorded voice: “It would do a whole lot.”]

[Laughter]

Hon. E. David Burt: Oh, I like the repeat. Yes, thank
you. List en to it! Listen to it. It echoed.

[Laughter]

Hon. E. David Burt: Yes—

[Laughter]

Hon. E. David Burt: It would mean a whole lot.
Now, here is the next thing, because the Honourable Leader of the Opposition, true to form, is there defending the past, defending the status quo inside of
this country. So, now we hear in this [Reply] about
health care reform. And what about the employees of
the health insurance companies? That is the standard
line. That is what happens, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
whenever there i s something that threatens the core
of what inside of this country are parts of the economy which have been carved out and divvied up for people
to take profits off of which does not benefit the people
of this country. The complaint always comes. The r esponse is always, But what about the employees?
What about the staff that work there?
Let me explain something to the Opposition
Leader. And let me explain something to those people
on that side who profess to know about finance. If you
reduce costs across t he economy, people have more
money to spend and it creates more jobs because the
economy is more productive. That is how you build long- term growth.
And so, if we are worried about the cost of
doing business in Bermuda, if we are really focused on what it takes to have long- term economic growth,
then I would expect there would be people on that
side who would say, I want to make sure that we have lower health insurance costs in this country because it
is beneficial .

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. Dav id Burt: So . . . oh, so they say, Of
course we do. The test will come, Mr. Speaker —
[Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair]

Hon. E. David Burt: —because when we bring a Bill
to Parliament, we will see if that side supports it. We
will see wh o is on the side of the people, Mr. Speaker .
We will see who is on the side of the people.
And I will make a prediction, seeing that people are making predictions all around. The prediction
is that, true to form, the past will support the past. And
that, Mr. Speaker, is why they will remain the past.
Now, I heard the Member who just took his
seat talk about immigration. And the statements of which he made were quite interesting. But I think the
most interesting statement of all was, he said that
“immigra tion reform is controversial.” Mr. Speaker,
immigration reform is not controversial if the people
trust what you are doing and trust your aims and objectives. But, to be clear, if it is led by the former A ttorney General a day after you lose a bye- election
who is going to come out of nowhere and go back on your election promises of where you say you will not
grant status and then you go around and say that you
will, then it becomes controversial.
What this Government recognises is that you
have to have a bipartisan approach to these problems. And the same things that we preached in Opposition are the same things that we are sure to enact in
Government. And so, on a bipartisan committee, there
are people on that side, Mr. Speaker, who are i nvolved in the pr ocess. And it is as clear as day. It does
not have to be controversial if you are willing to work together, if you are willing to engage in an honest
conversation, and if you are willing to do it to support
economic growth in the country and not try to cem ent
political power. And that is what immigration has been used for in the past by the past.

[Desk thumping]

Hon. E. David Burt: That is why they, Mr. Speaker,
are not trusted on this issue. And that is why, Mr.
Speaker, we will be trusted on this issue, because the
changes that this country need, Mr. Speaker —
[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: Boy!
The changes that this country needs, Mr.
Speaker, are not going to come from people getting
up here, talking a lot of noise, like we hear from the
Opposition. They are going to come from the work
82 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly and energy and effort. They are going to come from
the longest parliamentary session in history which
took place the last session that we had. They are going to come from 125 items coming to this Parliam ent
and being put through. And let me speak for a second
on that, Mr. Speaker, because it is in the Throne
Speech. If we are so concerned about international
business on that side, then why did we come into office and just about nothing was done to prepare us for
an anti -money laundering assessment?
[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: I came into office with complaints
from international business and all the rest fearful that
the work was not being done. One of the first meetings that I had was the chairman of the National Anti -
Money Laundering Committee, and she said if we do
not get our act —

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Point of order, Mr.
Speaker . Point of order —
Hon. E. David Burt: —we will not do well.

Premier, yield for a point of order. Point
of order.

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Yes, the Honourable Member is misleading the House. The AML r egime . . . I do not care what he chooses to say. I can tell you what we did, and the AML regime took constant, weekly pride of place in every single Cabinet
meeting that we had. So do not say that we did not hing.

Thank you.

Hon. E. David Burt: Because it is clear that we struck
a nerve on that side. But let me be very cl ear. Let me
be very, very clear, Mr. Speaker . If they did the work,
then we would not have had to have passed 42 Bills and sit for the longest sitting ever.

[Desk thumping]

Hon. E. David Burt: Plain and simple.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David B urt: So, they can make the noise of
which they wish, but they were a lot more focused—

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: —on the party. They were a lot
more focused on the optics. They were a lot more f ocused on their election marches up and down Morgan’s Point, a project that was a technical default in
January of 2017, six months before the election—

No point of order?

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: Understand?
So, yes, the Honourable Member that just
took his seat is right. We have problems that we must fix. And the problems of which we have, many of them
were left by the former Government. But that is okay,
Mr. Speaker . You know why? Because that is why we
were elected.
Now, let me talk about a few things inside of
our Throne Speech, because what we heard last
week on the Cabinet lawn was a forward- looking v ision for fai rness tackling the challenges that have—

Been embedded.

Official Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 83

Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. E. David Burt: —engrained in this society. So,
when I hear the scion of the Conyers, Dill & Pearman
family get up in this House, Mr. Speaker, and criticise
FinTech, when his com pany is making the most money off of FinTech applications —

[Inaudible interjections and desk thumping]

That is correct. He did support . . . he
did support the maternity leave. He supported that.
Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, I was not in the
Chamber, but I was listening in my office. And I was
listening to the Honourable Member talk about how
the fact about small business and this, and how it
could work and all the rest. So, if he is supporti ve, I
look forward to him voting in favour of the amendment
when it comes. And we will hold him to his word. But I
also heard that same Honourable Member protecting
the past, talking about the changes to the social i nsurance system.
Now, let me be clear, 42 years ago the United
Kingdom changed an unfair system, which someone who paid, [rather] who makes $4,000 a day pays the
exact same amount as someone who makes $4,000 a month. It was changed in Canada. It was changed in
many places around the world. But here we are 42
years later and all we hear from the protectors of the
past is, Oh, be careful of what it might cause. Let us
be very clear, the change makes sense. The change
is fair. We promised a change in our election manifesto. We won a landslide victory, and we will deliver that
change that we promised the electorate to make sure
that that system is just a little bit more fair, Mr. Speaker, because that is what we do.
I then hear this whole issue of payroll taxes
and this whole issue of the economy f altering. Here is
the thing, Mr. Speaker, payroll taxes for workers in
this country are the lowest that they have been in 23
years.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: This year when we lowered the
lowest band of payroll taxes down to 4 per cent, no
one has paid that rate in 23 years. But the rhetoric
from that side, Mr. Speaker, is, Oh my gosh! You are
raising taxes!
[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: And not only do we get that, Mr.
Speaker —

Members, Members! Keep it down.

Hon. E. David Burt: —this side, this Government also
said that medium or large employers who increased
the levels of staff of which they have will pay no more
payroll tax. But, yet, in the alternate reality of the O pposition Leader, we are increasing taxes and taxing
people out.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: So, while ABIC praises our tax
policy, while ABIR praises our tax policy, while the
Chamber of Commerce thanks us for recognising that
payroll tax inhibitor for growth, we get to listen to the
people who are defending the past just get up to make
noise about something.
Here is the thing, Mr. Speaker, we will, next
year, begin to reduce our debt. That is a fact. This year, as I said in the Budget Statement, is the last
year that net debt will increase and next year net debt
will decrease.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. E. David Burt: You do not have to hope, Honourable Opposition Leader. It is going to happen. And
it is going to happen in the exact same way that we
84 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly came to Parliament this year with a budget which did
not increase the debt ceiling. It is going to happen in
the exact same way that we beat the spending targets
which were established by the last Government, and it
is going to happen because we understand and recognise that you have to make choices.
But when we talk about tax and spend, I will
not apologise for investing in the future of this country by increasing the education budget and making sure
that we give people the opportunity to go to school.

[Desk thumping]

Hon. E. David Burt: So, they can say “tax and spend”
as much as they like, Mr. Speaker . We have priorities.
Our priorities are the most vulnerable in our society.
Our priorities are the people who are working very
hard to not get ahead, and that is t he reason why this
Throne Speech has laid out a progressive vision of
the future.
Now, before I end, I want to talk about one
thing, Mr. Speaker . And it is the topic of FinTech. The
past versus the future. When I heard some of the
statements today it remi nded me of what Brian O’Hara
said when we were in New York at the Bermuda E xecutive Forum in May. And what he said was the way
that he heard people talking about FinTech nowadays
was the exact same way of which they talked about
Bermuda Form Insurance in 1986.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: Yes, we all know who Brian
O’Hara was. There is a building named after him. It is someone who knows a little bit about insurance. And he is someone who is on the board of a FinTech company that started up in Bermuda—one of the many
that have started up in Bermuda under this Gover nment providing income to many law firms.

But they will not mention that.

Hon. E. David Burt: No, they will not mention that.
Houses and hotel properties that never sold a
single unit when they were in charge, but all of a sud-den when we are in charge, those units are getting
sold.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: So, while they say that nothing is
happening in Bermuda, Mr. Speaker, Doug Soares
who no one will count as a friend of the Progressive
Labour Party, says the start -up activity that they are
seeing in Bermuda they have not seen in a very long time.
Now, we all know that it is going to take a
while and FinTech . . . it is not going to happen over-night. And it is certainly not going to happen when we have an Opposition that refuses to be supportive and
will criticise at any particular turn.
[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: Yes. So whether it is a company
that verified funds t o purchase a building which was
supported by the Chamber of Commerce in the pur-chase of said building which passed the background
checks at the highest level —

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. E. David Burt: —but yet they will find space to
criticise. But I can tell you who is not criticising. It is
the taxes that would be collected off of the stamp duty for the sale of the building. It is the people who are
making money off of that transaction for the sale of
the building, and it is the future possibilities of which
may come.
But I want one thing to be very clear. This i ssue, when it comes to reputation, Mr. Speaker, is a
serious one. We have said that we will jealously guard our reputation. And we have put in place a regime that
has done just that. And you will not find people in the
international business community that do not agree
with that particular statement. And here is the reason
why, Mr. Speaker .
A lot of people say that they like regulation.
But when they see regulation, they may go som ewhere el se. Bermuda has never been about quantity.
Bermuda has been about quality. And the FinTech
companies that will set up underneath our regime will
be quality companies. The banks that will come to
Bermuda under our regime will be quality banks. And
we are going to continue to work and to build that i ndustry.
And no matter what the noise from the Opposition is, we will not be deterred. Because I would si ncerely hope that in the exact same way that many
people recognise that this is the future, that they will recognise it is the future as well, and they will find a
way to encourage and to support it as opposed to cri ticising it at every single turn.
I trust the Bermuda Monetary Authority. I trust
that they can examine any application that comes in
front of them and grant a licence accordingly. And I
would hope and expect that the other side of this
House, Mr. Speaker , would trust the Bermuda Monetary Authority as well.
We put in place a licensing regime. And companies that go through that licensing regime shoul d be
supported by all sides of this House.
Now, Mr. Speaker , let me come to my close,
because a lot has been said today from that side. But
a lot has been said today from this side. And what you
have heard, Mr. Speaker , from this side are persons
who understand that this Throne Speech represents
the collective vision of this party, it represents the colOfficial Hansard Report 16 N ovember 2018 85

Bermuda House of Assembly lective vision of this Government, it represents the
collective vision and voice of the people who voted for
us, and many of the initiatives that are laid out inside
of this Throne Speech come exactly from our platform.
We accomplished many initiatives last year
that we set out to do in our Throne Speech, and we will accomplish many initiatives this year that we set
out in our Throne Speech. We will grow the economy.
We will diversify the economy. And we will take on the
forces that are holding us back.
So when I hear about retail sales falling, I
have to question whether or not the Members oppo-site knock on the doors of their constituents, because
if they do they will know precisely what they are saying: My mortgage payments are going up and, ther efore, I have less to spend. That is a plain and simple
fact. We have to tackle that problem. And whether it is the stamp duty change which we will make, or our
other items which we may do, such as financial conduct, to make sure that we have the power to regulate
certain rates that are charged inside the economy, I
sincerely hope that the representatives of the past will
be on the side of the people. They will have the time
and opportunity to put their vote where their mouth is.
We will find out if they really want to stand up for a
better and fairer Bermuda. That is what we will see.
So, Mr. Speaker , the Throne Speech has
been read. We have debated this item today. We have a very ambitious agenda. I am certain that this
Government will continue to deliver the legislation that
it has promised to build that better and fairer Berm uda. And I look forward to making sure that not only will
we be held accountable to the peopl e who voted for
us, but I will also ensure that the words that have come from the Opposition may be matched with votes inside this House in support of this Government’s
agenda to build a better and fairer Bermuda.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

[Desk thumping]

Thank you, Mr. Premier.
Does any other Member wish to speak?
We recognise the Honourable Member from
constituency 10.
Honourable Member .

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker , I
appreciate that.
Mr. Speaker , I will start out by saying that I
was pleased to hear some of the things that the Honourable Premier said just a few moments ago. One
thing that struck me, Mr. Speaker , was the comments
that the Honourable Premier made about some people when they see regulation, they run from it. And I
am wondering if the Premier might be referring to the company, Binance, which seems to have set up in
another country. Mr. Speaker , I am not surprised at the vim
and vigour of the Premier here tonight on a number of
reasons, because that is his job—to defend the
Throne Speech, as some of his —
Hon. E. David Burt: Point of order, Mr. Speaker .

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: —colleagues tried to do
today.
Hon. E. David Burt: Point of order, Mr. Speaker .

I will take your point of order. Yes?

POINT OF ORDER

Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker , the understanding
which I have inside of the rules of this House is that a
mover of a motion, he is the last person to speak. The
last person . . . we gave the opportunity for Members
to stand up, they did not. Last week we moved a m otion . . . I moved a motion last week for the consider ation of the Throne Speech, and that motion was moved last week properly as per the Standing Orders
of the House, Mr. Speaker .
So the speeches . . . with my respectful submission, are out of order.

The Deputy got up and moved us into it
this morning.
Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker , with respect, if I
may, the motion was moved last week. The statement
that was read this morning was not the motion which
we ar e debating. The motion was moved last week,
Mr. Speaker , on the Order Paper to set down the debate, as is always done. The motion was not moved today, Mr. Speaker .

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker —

Members, I thank you for the indulgence. We have had quite a discussion back and forth
in regard to this. We have pulled out the Minutes and
we are going by the wording of the Minutes and what
was read last week in comparison with what we read
this morning and it . . . I am going to read it out for you
for the clarity of all.
Last week when the House returned from the
Cabinet grounds, where the Speech was read, the
Premier moved that Standing Orders 14 and 12 be
suspended to enable him to move a motion relating to
86 16 November 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly His Excellency the Governor’s Speech from the
Throne, which was agreed. The Premier moved “that
the Speech with which His Excellency the Governor
was pleased to present to open” [and] on and on. But
it moved . . . what I am getting at was that the motion
was moved at that time.
And what the Deputy did this morning was
simply to . . . the word of thanks from the Chamber to
the Governor for reading the Speech and the motion
then proceeded as having been opened last week.
So the fact that the Premier rose to his feet
and spoke as the person who had actually opened the motion does bring the motion to a close.
I believe before he rose to his feet . . . I was
out of the Chamber, but the Deputy did indicate that there was a pause to see if any other Member wished
to get to their feet and there was . . . no one else rose.
And the Premier rose to his feet and took the opportunity to speak, which will close the debate.
So, having said that, we have now completed
the debate on the Throne Speech for this year, and
that brings that matter to a close. We will continue
with whatever is on the Order Paper at this point.
Mr. Premier, the other items on the Order P aper for today . . . I am going to make the assumption
that t hey are all being carried over.

Hon. E. David Burt: Yes.

We heard about Game of
Thrones . Let us talk about People’s Court . Does anybody remember People’s Court ? Mr. Speaker , when somebody i s on trial the
first thing that has to be established is credibility. So
let us talk about credibility. The definition of credibility:
“The quality of being believable or worthy of trust. E xample: After all those lies, his credibility was at a low
ebb”—www.dictionary.com.
Allow me read a line from the Royal Gazette
,
September 24, 2018, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker , headlines —exhibit A. “OBA
must sever all links with UBP.” Hmmm. “The One
Bermuda Alliance has to dump MPs inherited from the
old United Bermuda Party or die, its former chai rman”(now Senate Leader, Mr. Nick Kempe)“warned
yesterday.”
So let us look around the room and who do
we see? MP Cole Simons —UBP, correct? MP Patricia
Gordon- Pamplin—UBP, correct? MP Michael
Dunkley —UBP. Not Ben Smith, he is not UBP. MP
Trevor Moniz —UBP. MP Jeanne Atherden—UBP.
That is five so far. Anyone else? Let us read something from Michael Dunkley
himself and inacc urate by the Royal Gazette since
Cole Simons, Pat Gordon- Pamplin, Susan Jackson,
and Scott Pearman are all former UBP. That is from
Dunkley, mate.
No denials? Any point of order? No.
[Inaudible interjection]

Sorry. Honourable Member Dunkley, my apologies.
So, according to my math there are seven out
of eleven OBA MPs who are actually UBP. Let us do
the math. Sixty -five per cent of the OBA is really the
UBP. Any denials? No.
So let us go to the statement from Oct ober 11
th—


B ermuda House of Assembly Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Point of order, Mr.
Speaker .

Yes?
POINT OF ORDER
Hon. Patricia J . Gordon -Pamplin: The UBP bec ame
defunct, and I am an OBA member and was elected
as an OBA member. If w e are talki ng about people
who wer e UBP, may be the Honourabl e Member can
conti nue and talk about thos e peopl e who us ed to sit
on the UBP benches who now sit on their benches.