June 22, 2018

Under the Financial Instructions, all infractions of the Financial Instructions are to
be addressed to the Accountant General. So, if there was an infraction in any manner in regards to the sole
source waiver process, and it, basically, goes against
the F inancial Instructions, it moves from the Director
of the Office of Project Management to the Accountant General. So, therefore, are we going to make that
shift? Or is the process to remain unchanged, and all Financial Instructions infractions will continue to go to
the Accountant General, and that includes the infractions for sole source waivers?

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: Member, section 8 is what
has been moved to the Procurement Code. And
whatever is in the Financial Instructions will continue. So, if there is an infraction and it is highlighted in F inancial Instructions, then Financial Instructions —

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: Right.

Any further questions?
Ms. Atherden, question for the Premier?

QUESTION 1: INSURANCE REGULATORY
SANDBOX TO BOOST INSURTECH IN BERMUDA

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I was just wondering if the
Premier could just expand for us, this is in terms of the
Insurance Regulatory Sandbox, just [what] type of
technology that one might expect to . . . the companies might want to use to take advantage of this? And, obviously, I have just been looking on the Willis Towers Watson website just to sort of see. You know, we were speculating, ourselves, whether it would be specific types of insurance products, whether it would be
things relative to utilising the technology. And I just
wondered whether you could just expand.

Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Deputy Speaker, I am not
entirely certain how I can answer the Opposition
Leader’s questions. InsurTech and the purpose of a
Regulatory Sandbox is to make provisions for things
which may not even have been invented yet. But the fact is that there are standard insurance products, and
there may be products that are created that will provide insurance services, which may not specifically fit under any specific definition of which currently exists
inside of our Insurance Act or existing licensing r egime. So, the Sandbox is here.
So what would typically happen is that, if there
was a n ew product, the new product would have then
had to go through BMA [Bermuda Monetary Author ity]. They would have examined it, figured out whether
or not it fits inside of the current licensing regime. And
if it did not fit inside of the current licensing re gime,
they would have to go through the process of creating
amendments and changes to the Act in order to enable that process to happen and to work.
Right now, or with this innovation, with the
Regulatory Sandbox, what will then happen is that a company c an, if they have a new product or service,
have this set up inside of the Sandbox in a limited
fashion, where it is not exposed to clients in general,
where there are a limited number of clients so it can
be tested so that the regulator can be comfortable
with how that particular instance should be regulated
so that we can, basically, get it to market more quickly
than would have been the case if we would have had to amend various laws and Acts in order to do that.

2484 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Deputy Speaker: The Chair recognises the Ho nourable Pat Gordon- Pamplin.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Thank you, Mr.
Deputy Speaker. Just a quick supplementary, if the
Premier would be good enough to advise.
In providing an environment for additional
types of products, is it possible that the regulatory and
prudential standards would also include an enhanc ement of the capital requirements that would embrace
any new type of products? I hope that the question is
clear enough.
Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, what th e
Bill will allow for is, inside the Regulatory Sandbox it
will allow the Bermuda Monetary Authority to exercise
its flexibility in putting in place the appropriate prudential standards for whatever may come up. So, as I
said, this is on a case- by-case bas is. These are things
that are innovative technology, and it will allow the
Bermuda Monetary Authority the flexibility to set
whatever standards it feels are necessary.
But when we are talking about the high level
of prudential standards, let us just be clear that the purpose of the Sandbox is to expose these things to a limited number of customers at the outset. So, I am
not going to expect that there will be a huge amount of
capital requirements, et cetera, on that particular basis. But the Bermuda Mone tary Authority will have the
flexibility to set what is necessary in order to protect
consumers, while not stifling innovation.

Any further questions?
The Chair recognises the Honourable—

QUESTION 2: INSURANCE REGULATORY
SANDBOX TO BOOST INSURTECH IN BERMUDA
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: And I applaud the Premier, from the point of view of coming up with the idea.
And I think, if I am reading it correctly here, the indic ation is that whoever the person is who enters into the
Sandbox, whet her it is the insurer or the intermediary,
there is definitely . . . I believe that they will use the
Sandbox to test their product out, exit the Sandbox
and then roll that product out into the open market,
provided that it achieved the positive goals that it set
up.

Hon. E. David Burt: Yes.

Mm-hmm. Okay.

Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Deputy Speaker, if I may
elaborate, that is the entire purpose of the Sandbox,
to make sure that things can be tested before they are
sent to the broader publ ic, yes, the broader market. The Deputy Speaker: Ms. Atherden.

QUESTION 3: INSURANCE REGULATORY
SANDBOX TO BOOST INSURTECH IN BERMUDA
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Mr. Deputy Speaker, the
last question.
In terms of the indication that the insurer must
have demonstrated understanding and assessment of
the relevant risk, does the BMA or someone review, (quote/unquote), the “risks” which are associated with this product before it is allowed to go into the San dbox? Or is that something that is then only assessed
once it comes out of the Sandbox?

Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Deputy Speaker, the BMA
will have the power to assess whatever risk profile it
wishes to give and to set the restrictions of which it
feels are necessary in order to make sure that Bermuda’s reput ation is upheld.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
The Education Minister’s Statement indicated,
on page 1, it says, “ the statistical data revealed a declining trend in enrolment of courses offered, going
from 2,505 clients in 2012/13 to 746 clients in
2017/18. ” Do you have any data that really supports
why the decline occurred over that period? Because I understand you did a study on it. I was just wondering
if you had any data to support why the decline oc-curred at such a dramatic pace.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Mr. Deputy Speaker, the
data indicated, as I spoke further into the Statement,
that other entities, private and government, were e ncroaching on what was traditionally offered by CEDP
[Community Education and Development Pr ogramme], and so, people were g oing elsewhere to
take these courses. Some of them, in some cases, were being offered for free. So, we were finding
[courses] which people were just going elsewhere to
do, the things that the CEDP had become accus-tomed to doing.

The Chair recognises the De puty Premier, the Honourable Walter Roban.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you very much, Mr.
Deputy Speaker.
I wish to, Mr. Deputy Speaker, give recogn ition to the celebration that was held yesterday in the
honour of Ms. Laura Gayton, Laura Chesney Gayton ,
who celebrated her 100
th anniversary [of her birth],
with her family yesterday at Calvary Gospel Church in
Southampton. I had the honour of attending on behalf
of the Premier to celebrate with her family. It was a
wonderful occasion, and I am sure that there was press there who took photographs, and perhaps it will
be covered in an edition of the daily and perhaps on
other social media. But I was honoured, particularly
because of the fact that, to be in the presence of
someone who has had such a full life and a life that
has transcended such a dramatic period of Bermuda’s history . . . and we gave recognition, in a Statement
recently done in this House, to what that period repr esented. But that lady, Ms. Gayton, has lived through
that period, did up a famil y, a family life, and made a
great contribution to this country. The irony is that she
was actually joined by a friend of hers, Ms. Smith (and I cannot remember Ms. Smith’s name, and I apologise for that), but who was 102! She came and joined her
at the bi rthday. So, it was an extraordinary experience
to be in the presence of two persons who represented
200 years of Bermuda history, in one place. How else
would you get to be in a place where you have som ebody who is 102 and somebody who is 100? So, [it
was an] enormous, enormous celebration! I wish to
congratulate her family and those who helped put it
together, who were there, her friends and family there
to celebrate with her.
And it is just important that we recognise that
milestone for Ms. Gayton, but not only just because it was her birthday. But these are the people who
helped to build this country and the foundation of fam ily and the foundation that allows many of us, including myself and all of us in this House, to be where we are.
Their hard work and sacrifice are why we are here.
And I just want to give recognition to Ms. Gayton, and
her and her family’s accomplishments.
Thank you very much, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
and good morning.
I rise in this Honourable House on this pr ofound note of sadness, to recognise the passing of
Victor Anthony Heyliger. Uncle Victor had an enor-mous, an absolutely enormous personality. I would
like to associate Members in this House, the Honourable Kim Swan and Mr. Neville Tyrrell, the Honourable
MP Neville Tyrrell. Uncle Victor certainly represented and certainly gave us an enormous personality. He
was a profound person in that he had a quiet count enance, but, as he stepped into our Somerset Western
community, he made quite, quite an impact.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I also recognise at this
time members of the family, Ms. Annette Barclay (Wi lliam), Joanne Smith (Heman) and also Virginia
Mussin (and that would be Melvin). We send our
deepest condolences to them from our family to their
family, knowing that he will be widely remembered. And as we move towards his eulogy being presented
on Saturday, knowing that there will be much s aid as
we remember a very, very significant life in our Wes tern community.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Thank you.
The Chair recognises the Honourable Member Lawrence Scott.

2486 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. W. Lawrence Scott: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
I actually rise on a happy note. I would just
like this House to send congratulations to Arnezha
Astwood, who is a young man who goes to . . . and I
will associate the Honourable Minister Weeks and his
MP, the Honourable Col. Burch. Because Arnezha
was acce pted on a full scholarship to Northwood
School in Lake Placid, New York, just for football. I do
train with him, and he trains with me. But —

[Laughter]

Okay. He is going to come to
train with me, Monday, 7:30 at BFA [Bermuda Football
Association] field.
But the thing is, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the real
. . . I am very proud because I have helped—as he
mentors me on the field, I have helped mentor him in
academics at the Berkeley Institute. His mother has
been very supportive, Ms. Arnelle Astwood. And for
those who do know his mother, you can see t he passion that she has and the pride that she has for her children. But this is something, the principle, that I
want us all as a country to come behind. Our young
men are doing wonderful things, our young men ex-celling in things that are very positive to the community. And, hopefully, this is probably the start of the next generation of footballers. He has hopes and dreams and aspirations of playing in the MLS, hopefully, with
under this Administration’s guidance and leadership
that we could probably be able to put together a World
Cup team that we could be going and watching in the
future. I do not want to put a date to it. But, once
again, I am very proud that he got a full scholarship to Northwood School in Lake Placid, New York. And I
just wanted to ma ke sure that the House was aware
and that congratulations were sent.

Thank you.
The Chair recognises the Honourable Dennis
Lister III. Mr. Dennis Lister III: Good morning, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
I also would like to extend congratulations to
all of the graduating students in all of the public
schools who graduated this week. I will associate the whole House. Specifically, though, I want to send
congratulations to the school in my constituency, T. N.
Tatem. Unfortunately, I did not get to attend their
graduating ceremony yesterday. But I just want to
make sure that all of the students in the M3 class,
who, last week Thursday . . . all the Warwick MPs —
we have five Warwick MPs now —

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, firstly, let me ask that the
House send a letter of condolences to the family of the late Cyril “Big” Smith. He will be sadly missed by
his wife, Paulette. Some of us may remember Big Smith being a daredevil some years ago on cycles.
So, that is the Big Smith whom I am talking about. He
was a constituent of mine.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, having been absent for a
few weeks, this item may have gotten brought up al-ready. If it was, I wish to be associated with it. But if it
has not, I wish for letters of congratulations to be sent to three of our local powerboat racers, who (Honour able Weeks wishes to be associated) were very successful in the powerboat season last year, locally. But
they took those skills abroad to Dorset in England to a
much -bigger -skill race and were very successful there
as well, despite some setbacks along the course,
where I think there was a hole in their hull or som ething and they had to, obviously, fight to get back to
the finish line. But they actually made the podium, Mr.
Deputy Speaker. But I certainly want to say t hat hist ory was certainly made because this is the first time, to my knowledge, that Bermudian power -boaters have
actually excelled at such a high level.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Thank you.
Any further speakers?
The Chair rec ognises the Honourable Member Rolfe Commissiong.



Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Rolfe Commissiong: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. I appreciate it.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would like to just say
that I want to associate myself with the comments
made by the Premier in commending the A ME Church
in Bermuda, specifically Reverend Tweed and his fellow pastors, in spearheading this effort to posth umously honour the work that Vincent Monk conducted
on behalf of the voices and the powers, those black
workers up at the Dockyard. And I thank them for bringing this to the table, and I hope that the Governor will do the right thing here.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I just also would like to
take time out to offer condolences to the family of Mr. “Skipper” Hollis. That was his nickname, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Mr. Deputy Speaker, as a young boy gro wing up at Spanish Point, I always speak fondly of my Spanish Point years from [age zero] to 13, 14, a very
idyllic neighbourhood. Everybody treated each other
as if we were related, right across from Admiralty
House in those areas there, St. John’s Hill and surrounding areas. And Mr. Skipper Hollis, a well -known
taxi driver, he was a young man by the time, let us say, of the mid- to late- 1960s. But he was somebody
we always looked up to with awe, you know, a very
charismatic guy living out there in Spanish Point at the
same time.
And it is funny. My wife and I had to go for a
trip in conjunction with our 10
th anniversary. And when
we came back, Mr. Hollis, Skipper, Mr. Dennis “Ski pper” Hollis, was at the airport. And that was only about two and a half weeks ago, as you know. And as I
walked past him, I gave him a little nudge in the back, you know, a little tease, a little nudge in the back. And
he looked around with that magnetic smile, and we
acknowledged each other. And so, as it is with these
types of things, you know, two and a half weeks later, we now know that he passed away. And he will be
sorely missed.
Again, he was a great ambassador for Bermuda. A very intelligent and bright guy. When you see
people like Ski pper Hollis, you wonder, if they had
grown up in another era, what they really could have
achieved in this society or anywhere. But in the era in
which he grew up, coming of age in the 1950s and
1960s, the scope of opportunity for those people, for those y oung black men and women, was far narrower
than it is today. But, again, he made his contributions to Bermuda, and he is going to be sorely missed.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Yes. Thank you, Mr.
Deputy Speaker.
I would like to be associated with the condolences that the Honourable Member just sent out to the Simmons family.
And I would like, on a happier note this mor ning, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for recognition to go out to
the winners of the Edward Cross Long Distance sai ling race, which I proudly support and follow, and was
there. This year’s winner was Mr. Malcom Smith, and
he was crewed by a young St. Georgian, whom I certainly know very well, Mr. Damien Payne, whose f ather i s probably smiling down upon him, my good
friend Anthony Payne from Floral Lane. And the Ed ucation Minister would like to be associated. So, they
won that race, and congratulations to them.
Also, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the winners of the
Bermuda Amateur Golf Championship, held last
weekend. Mr. Will Haddrell won in a playoff for the
overall championship, played some fine golf. Ms. Eli zabeth Parsons won in very fine fashion and showed great prowess in establishing that championship very
handily. And in the seni ors, Mr. Hav Trott.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I could not pay homage
to them without recognising that week as a bittersweet week because the organisers, the Bermuda Golf A ssociation, saw it necessary to eliminate that event being not only to establish the amateur champions, but
the overall open championship. It is a historic date. I
declare my interest: I was a three- time winner for
Bermuda in that. But it also marks the desegregation
of golf. It was the first integrated golf event in Berm uda when it was establis hed in 1967, won by former
Bermuda resident and an honouree in the US, Mr.
Doug Dalziel, professional, who went on to Connect icut and won it three times. So did I. And to eliminate professionals from this event a few years ago has done a disservice to Berm uda’s history and almost
serves to rewrite history.
And, whilst we honour these young people
who did well, certainly it hurts any person here and
abroad who has won that event and no longer has a
true national championship in that sport. And I know the significance of it because it opened up the world to
me. And I hope that they will see the wisdom, those
who organise, to return that event. But hats off to
those who had the opportunity to share in that historic
week, as I have in the past.
Thank you, Mr. De puty Speaker.

2488 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Deputy Speaker: The Chair recognises the Ho nourable Michael Dunkley.
You have the floor, sir.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. I think maybe the Black Rod is at the door.
They are knocking.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I rise this morning to
congratulate and thank the staff at the Blood Donor Centre down at the hospital. Last, I guess, Thursday,
June 14
th, would have been World Blood Donor Day.
That is celebrated all over the world. And, you know,
Mr. Deputy Speaker, this is taken as an opportunity to
thank those who voluntarily give, because without
blood provided in our community, we would be in a
much, much worse situation.

That is right.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: The donation of blood
provides for a very effective health care system. Obv iously, Mr. Deputy Speaker, as you and honourable
colleagues, some who actually donated in this House, are well aware, the transfusion of blood and blood
products helps save millions of lives every year and
probably hundreds of lives in Bermuda with the work
that is provided. So, I have taken the opportunity 27
times now, Mr. Deputy Speaker, to give blood. And I
urge people, who might have a bit of a phobia about
getting a prick or getting the needle, to go down there.
The ladies are excellent at what they do.

Yes.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: And now is a good time to
go, because they have the TVs on. So you can sit back, relax, enjoy helping our community, and watch
the World Cup at the same time, Mr. Deputy Speaker. So, I congratulate the wonderful ladies at the
Blood Donor Centre for what they do, and urge ever yone in Bermuda, if they can, to give. Because it is
perhaps one of the most important ways we can help
our community. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

I would like to join you with
that, as a blood donor.
It is a good experience if you go down there.
And as the Honourable Member just said, if you go
once, you will want to go again.
The Chair recognises the Honourable Member Diallo Rabain.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would like congratul ations sent out to all the winners of the National Trust
Awards which were handed out last night. Caring for
our environment is an important [activity], and we wish
more people would do that.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would also like congratulations sent to all of the Denton Hurdle awar dees, the winners as well as the persons who were
nominated. I will list only the winners here. In the pr imary school category, it was Imojen Judd from
Somersfield, and Khari Sharrieff from Elliot Primary
School. And I would also like to as sociate Minister
Weeks with these comments, as he was there, and
also MP Scott Simmons. In the middle school was
Nisaiah Berkeley from BHS [Bermuda High School]
and Sam Williamson from Warwick Academy. In the
high school category, the winners were Sakari Famous from the Berkeley Institute, and Robert Edwards
from the Berkeley Institute.
Also, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would like congratulations sent out to all of our primary school st udents who have completed the first coding programme
that was introduced earl ier this year within the school.
We could not have pulled it off without the assistance
from Cora Wells at Connectech, as well as the generous sponsorship from the Hamilton Insurance Group.
All told, Mr. Deputy Speaker, over 340 primary
school students got exposed to 10 weeks of coding,
which is a good step towards some of the things that
we are trying to develop, as coding is the basis for
learning when it comes to anything that has to do with
computers, cell phones, as well as blockchain and
FinTech technology, stuff that we are talking about.
So we are putting our students on a good foothold. And we are already discussing how we can not only
have this next year, but how we are going to integrate
this within the curriculum in the coming years at the
primar y school level. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

We are doing Orders Nos. 1, 2,
3, and 6, as I understand. Am I clear on that, Mr.
Whip?
And the first Bill is the Health Insurance
Amendment (No. 2) Act 2018, by the Honourable Mi nister, Ms. Kim Wilson.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I move that the Bill ent itled the Health Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Act 2018 be now read the second time.

Mm-hmm. BILL

SECOND READING

HEALTH INSURANCE AMENDMENT
(NO. 2) ACT 2018
Hon. Ki m N. Wilson: Mr. Deputy Speaker, I bring to
this Honourable House today the Bill entitled the
Health Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Act 2018. Mr.
Deputy Speaker, the purpose of this Bill is to update
the standard premium rate, inclusive of the Mutual ReInsur ance Fund, and to make benefit adjustments to
HIP [Health Insurance Plan] and FutureCare. Mr.
Deputy Speaker, the standard premium rate (or the
SPR) is the premium for Bermuda’s basic mandated
package of insurance, the Standard Health Benefit
[SHB]. The pr emium is set annually, following actuar ial reviews facilitated via the Bermuda Health Council.
As this Honourable House is aware, the
Standard Health Benefit is the basic insurance pac kage that all employers must provide to their emplo yees and employees’ n on-employed spouses, and pay
50 per cent of its premium. By law, all health insurers
must include this package in any insurance policy.
The package is regulated, as are its fees and prem iums. In addition, government subsidises the cost t owards SHB coverage for children, indigent persons,
and seniors. The premium of this mandated package
is called the standard premium rate (or SPR). It co mprises an SHB component and a Mutual Re- Insurance
Fund component (or the MRF).
Mr. Deputy Speaker, the SHB covers most l ocal hospital -based care, which is both inpatient and
outpatient services; select diagnostic imaging in and
out of hospital —for example, mammography; and s elect medical home benefits —for example, IV infusions.
The MRF is a prescribed amount, which each ins urer
pays into a pooled fund to cover all insured persons’
kidney care, including transplants and transfers to
specific health programmes.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, following careful consi deration of the volume of services used in the past year
and historically, as well as projections for future use of
SHB and MRF benefits, the actuarially derived prem ium for 2018/19 is $355.31 per month. This represents
an increase of $21.31, or 6.4 per cent, from the current SPR of $334.00 per month. Mr. Deputy Speaker,
increas ing premiums is not something any gover nment takes lightly. However, we have seen significant
increases in the use of services, [caused by] the high
instance of chronic, non- communicable diseases, and
the ageing of our population. The sicker our people
are, the more it costs to care for us, and the higher the
premiums become. It is a simple and preventable c ycle that we have got to get out of.
I should note, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that in order to contain premium increases, BHB [Bermuda Hospitals Board] fees are not being raised this year.
2490 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly As I indicated previously, the conversion of BHB fees
to relative values remains on our agenda for this year.
It is highly complex work trying to balance numerous
moving pieces, including the SPR. But we intend to
bring that update later this year for a revamped set of
BHB fees, based on relative values and derived with
the principle of revenue neutrality, meaning BHB will
not generate additional revenue from the change.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Bill also brings adjustments to the Mutual Re- Insurance Fund and its
coverage for kidney care. Specifically, coverage for a
kidney transplant is increased from $100,000 to
$150,000 in order to enable more transplants. Histor ically, Mr. Deputy Speaker, there has been lack of clarity as to whether the Mutual Re- Insurance Fund dial ysis claims were covered under subsidy or not. The Bill
clarifies this treatment in making dialysis subject to the
same rules of the Standard Health Benefit with r espect to subsidy coverage.
And lastly, to protect the fund and prevent i nadvertent cost increases due to shifts in practice, dial-ysis coverage is capped in an amount equal to 13
sessions a month, unless more is medically recommended per existing standards. Furthermore, classif ication is made that the MRF is only responsible for
the cost of locally insured persons .
Mr. Deputy Speaker, in addition to utilisation
increases, the major part of the increase in the SPR is due to adjustments in the transfers to the Health I nsurance Fund to support the low cost insurance pr ogrammes of HIP and FutureCare, and to prevent their premiums from increasing. These health insurance
options are the lowest -cost in the market, and they are
subsidised by both a dedicated cash injection from the
Consolidated Fund and transfers from the MRF.
These mechanisms keep the fund solvent and able to
pay the claims of its policyholders, including the F inancial Assistance client group.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, it should be noted that
Financial Assistance clients are a population with a
heavier burden of disease and disability, resulting in
much greater need for care and, consequently, much
higher cost. Policyholders in this group generally cost about four times the premiums collected. That is, for
every dollar collected, the fund, oftentimes, s pends
four dollars. This is a staggering, unsustainable di sparity and an example of why financing reform is so
desperately needed in our health system.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, my Ministry is working
on these reforms, and I will be bringing more information about this in the coming months. But for now,
we have to accept that, in order to pay for the care that our people need, the premiums have to increase,
as recommended by our actuaries.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, in addition to setting the
standard premium rate and associated premiums, this Bill brings benefit revisions to HIP and FutureCare,
which have no impact on the premium, but enable
operational efficiencies, regularise actual practices, and provide clarity for policyholders. More specifically,
Mr. Deputy Speaker, the FutureCare pharmacy ben efit is amended to provide 100 per cent coverage for
brand or generic drugs. Although the Ministry supports
wholeheartedly the use of generics, this change elim inates co- pays for brand drugs, which are sometimes
less costly, a nd administratively it is more efficient and
cheaper to bypass adjudication based on type. The pharmacy benefit will remain, Mr. Deputy Speaker, at
$2,000 a year, and we continue to encourage phys icians, pharmacists, and policyholders to stretch their
cove rage by using the lowest -cost options.
Other updates to the HIP and FutureCare
benefits, Mr. Deputy Speaker, are the following: The wellness benefit is made more flexible by removing
the co- pay while keeping the annual cap at $210. The
personal home care benefit is made claimable on a
prorated monthly basis, making it easier for providers
to claim. The requirement for a physician referral for
speech therapy is removed, as it is not necessary. And FutureCare dental benefits are clarified and
aligned with HIP benefits. Finally, the FutureCare ki dney transplant benefit wording is amended to clarify
that the coverage is towards the cost of a transplant.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, this will enable coverage of
transport and assessment consultations to remove
barriers to kidney transplantation.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, this is the extent of the
Amendments proposed in this Bill, which will effect changes to the Health Insurance Act 1970, the Health
Insurance (FutureCare Plan) (Additional Benefits) O rder 2009, the Health Insuranc e (Health Insurance
Plan) (Additional Benefits) Order 1988, the Health I nsurance (Mutual Re- Insurance Fund) (Prescribed
Sum) Order 2014; and the Health Insurance (Standard Health Benefit) Regulations 1971.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

The Deputy Speake r: Thank you.
Any further speakers?
The Chair recognises the Honourable Leader
of the Opposition, Ms. Atherden.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
Today I have three jobs to do. My job number
one is to be an MP for the constituency 19 and repr esent the concerns of Mr. and Mrs. Spanish Point and
explain to them how this legislation affects them, the
personal element. Job number two is a stand- in for
the Shadow Minister of Health and Seniors, and explain how this legislation improves things that are i mportant to them. Job number three is for me to be able
to be the Opposition Leader and to talk about things
that have happened in the health insurance arena
which are impacting on the cost of health care in Bermuda, and to explain to the public how some of the things that have been done, or have not yet been
done, might impact on them.


Bermuda House of Assembly If I then talk about my first thing as the MP for
constituency 19, I would have to say that there are
some things in here which, obviously, are going to be
concerning to the people in Spanish Point. One, because the cost of their health insurance premiums is going to go up. And the reason I say that, and if you
will allow me, Mr. Deputy Speaker, just to refer to
something here?

Yes.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: For the last three years,
four years, the cost of SPR, which is the standard premium rate, has gone down from $301 in fiscal
2015 to $338 in 2016 . . . sorry, had gone down from $338, it had stayed the same . . . In 2016 it was unchanged at $338. In 2017, it was unchanged, at $338. In 2018, it went down to $334. So, at least the people
of Bermuda, Mr. and Mrs. Spanish Point, have been
able to say, Well, at least my health insurance prem iums have not gone up, and last year they actually
went down. So, now they have to adjust to the fact
that their premiums are going to go up.
And the reason I say that is because, for most
people, and especially a lot of people in my constit uency, they recognise that health care is very important
to them , and therefore it impacts their pockets because most of them feel that if they do not stay
healthy and go to the doctor and do all of those things,
that their quality of life [will deteriorate], as well as the
potential for illness is going to increase. S o, I listened
very carefully to what the Minister said with respect to
why the costs were going up.
But I guess it raised some questions for me,
which, if I put my hat on in terms of standing in for the
Shadow Minister of Health, I would sort of want to
know why, even though we are talking about the cost,
there were a number of changes and suggestions that
have been put in place when we have been involved
in the Government that one would hope are still continuing and one would have to ask a question as to,
Where are we with respect to pulling those levers or
seeing those changes take place?
And I refer to the fact of the financing reform.
Because if people do not understand, the Gover nment, with HIP and FutureCare, as the Minister said, provides insurance f or some of the people who, unfortunately, have what I call the largest number of claims,
the most unwell persons. And, therefore, when the
Minister said that sometimes the costs of their care is
sometimes 400 per cent higher than the premium, that
means that you have this inequity where the prem iums come in, but the expenses —the revenue comes
in, but the expenses that are going out are four times
[as much]. And so, it means that the loss ratio for the
Government policy, which is like HIP and FutureCare, are always more than 100 per cent, whereas the loss
ratios for the private sectors are invariably something in the order of 85 [per cent] to 90 per cent. So, I guess I am asking the Minister, and she
did mention it, but I have to ask it because I think that the last time I was aware of this, the financing reform
was being developed. And I would have hoped, by
now, we would have had the financing reform being able to be put into place to be able to see that it has
actually kicked in, and that might have offset what I
call this increase in premiums. Mr. and Mrs. Spanish
Point are interested.
The Minister did answer the question that I
had with respect to the generic drugs, because Mr. and Mrs. Spanish Point are mindful of the fact that
they understand, because I think a lot of education
has taken place to make people realise that, unless
the brand name is cheaper, then generic drugs result
in a reduction in the expense. So, it is good to see that
that is happening. I know that Mr. and Mrs. Spanish Point would, ob viously, like to see that the cost of
drugs would actually go up above $2,000 because I
know that Mr. and Mrs. Spanish Point always talked
about the fact that they wished that there would be
more . . . that the cost would go up. It just causes me
to just ask the question of the Minister, because she
made reference to the drug and the drug benefit, as to
what progress had been made with respect to reac hing out to PAHO [Pan American Health Organization]
and to see whether there were other drugs that Bermuda m ight be able to get, which would be cheaper,
and therefore, once again, do something about reducing the cost of health and, if you can, reduce the cost
of prescriptions?
But it is important to recognise for Mr. and
Mrs. Spanish Point that $2,000 at least for now is the
limit, and at least for them . . . because at one stage, it
used to be—and the Minister did not say it, but I am
saying it because I think it is important to remember. If
you had a generic drug, it was paid 100 per cent. And
if you had a bra nd-name, you were only paid 80 [per
cent]. And, therefore, that meant somebody coming
into their pockets. So it is good to see that it has occurred. But I am just saying that so that Mr. and Mrs.
Spanish Point, who are out there listening, understand
that this is the reason why it did not go up at least to
$2,200 or something like that, but at least they got the 100 per cent.
Now, if I am also looking at, as I say, Mr. and
Mrs. Spanish Point, because I am making Mr. and
Mrs. Spanish Point understand the im pact, I think it
was good to see that the subsidy was then also going
to cover the kidney care. Because that is, obviously,
something that has been what I call the grey area. And I know that when we made the recommendation
that you would want to work towar ds having more
people stay off of dialysis as long as they can, and
you would want to have more people having the ability
to have transplants, so that I am pleased to see that
the cost of the transplant, what you would pay towards the transplant, has gone up. Because this is som ething that is very important.
2492 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly But I guess the other side of it is . . . and one
would hope that maybe the Minister, at some point in
time, might give us a little more indication about how
we are making out with respect to getting people to
actually understand that a kidney transplant is a viable alternative for them, and get more people to start to
go along the process of staying off of dialysis and
working towards getting a transplant. Because it really
is a conscience decision. And I know that it is som ething that is going to take a lot of education. So, I am
saying that with respect to Mr. and Mrs. Spanish
Point.
Now, if move a little bit, if I move to me thinking about standing in for the Shadow Minister of Health and Seniors, I would then need to talk a little
bit more about what I call the industry element. And
the industry element is the fact that, right now, the
Standard Health Benefit, as we talk about that, the
Standard Health Benefit has an element of the Mutual
Re-Insurance Fund.
And the Mutual Re- insurance Fund [MRF] and
the Standard Health Benefit [SHB] are the two components that are in there. And the Mutual ReInsurance Fund, per se, has this element of moving
things in and out. And it is good to know that, based
on the information that the Minister has supplied, that
the fees for BHB have not been increased, because that has always been an element that has been very
important.
And I am just going to say this, because it is
not just for Mr. and Mrs. Spanish Point, but it is also for Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda. W e do not always reco gnise that when health insurance came into effect,
health insurance came into effect because it was designed, initially, to deal with inpatient care. Because
the belief was that most people, if something goes
wrong with them, are going to have an issue and be
an inpatient. And, therefore, that is how insurance
started. Outpatient services then came later on. And
so, that is why, when you start to see, you see what is
happeni ng, you could see that BHB, which is one of
the most significant providers of health insurance, if their fees are staying the same, then that is a good thing. That is a good thing for Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda
because then it means that the loss ratio at the cl aims
experience will go down a little bit.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I guess when I am looking at the increase in the services, I was pleased to hear that the relative value methodology for the fees
for BHB will come into effect later this year. And I look
forward to that because this is something that I believe Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda want to see, because this
means that you can make better comparisons between what is happening in the private sector with
what is happening in the public sector.
And if I put my hat on now as Opposition
Leader, in terms of saying things that one should look at with respect to what is happening, what is impac ting on Bermuda, recognising that health care costs actually account, other than debt, health care costs
used to be the largest expenditure that government
had. And, therefore, it is also the largest expenditure that Bermuda has with respect to things it wants to
control. So that, if I am looking at that, then I have to
say to myself, As the Government, what thin gs are the
Government putting into place to get the cost of health care down? And it comes to mind that there was a . . .
Not only was there a wellness programme,
there was what I call an Enhanced Care Pilot. And the
Enhanced Care Pilot was very important because the
Minister referred to the fact of people who are in F inancial Assistance, the fact that the cost of their pr emiums are higher than the expenses. And I am sa ying, they, if I remember correctly, were some of the
persons who might be eligible to get into this pr ogramme. And the intent was to get their health under
control, resulting in less cost to the community. And
then, if you start to see that, then you can start to see
a trend of something that might be able to be used
and expanded.
So I just w ondered whether the Minister , if she
is not able to indicate what has happened with that
today, at least indicate whether at some point in time
she will come back to this House and let us know how
that is going. Because that is one of the things in the
Mutual Re -Insurance Fund, those funds are allocated
for these programmes. And if you have funds that are
allocated for programmes, you should also at some
point in time not just come and say, This is what it has
moved from here or there. It might be useful for us to
hear about how things that you are moving around,
what impact that you will have.
So, I mean, it is all very well to talk about ki dney transplants going up from 100 to 150, to talk
about there is a cap being on the dialysis because of
the number of sessions that you should have, which is
good, because that means then that there is some
element of making sure that this does not get out of control, and people having what I call the over -
utilisation. And I am being careful in terms of what I
say, Mr. D eputy Speaker, in terms of over -utilisation.

Mm-hmm.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: So that the mere fact that
these things have a cap on them and an increase has to be medically approved, then I think that this is all
good stuff for Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda. It is all good
stuff for the Shadow Minister of Health. It is all good
stuff for me, as the Opposition Leader, looking and trying to make sure that the Government, our Government, is making sure that the cost of health care is
under control .
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, on top of that, I
would then also have to ask the question— and this is
me now talking about, as the Leader of the Oppos ition, and the Government trying to make sure that
health [care cost] is controlled. The question that I


Bermuda House of Assembly would have to ask, and hopefully the Minister will tell
us about . . . at one stage there used to be a review of
things like labs and diagnostic imaging in terms of an
average, an average. And doctors were given information about whether their utilisation was greater than the average, with a view of having two things happen:
one, making sure that if someone had a utilisation that
was out of the norm which was not medically necessary, then at least that person could have some conversation about why and what [was the] impact. B ecause we all know that if you have things that you do
not . . . if you have medication or radiation or anything
else which is not what you require, it also has some
negative impact.
So I was just wondering whether those things
still exist. Because that is also good information for
the Government to tell us, the population, about what
are they doing to keep the costs under control and
recognising that over -utilisation in any form creates
this added expense, and then creates this demand for
additional premiums. So, these are the things that, if I am putting my hat on in terms of my various hats,
these are the types of questions that I would want to
ask.
Now, I, obviously, have looked at all of the
various clauses. And I know that, as I say, I am clear
on the fact of why the renal dialysis is put in there so that anybody who is eligible for subsidy has it covered, whether it be the over -65 . . . but I think the one
that I found was interesting, and may be . . . I will not
ask it now, but I will ask it when it comes up. But this
was talking about loss of income. And so, I was just
curious, but I think I will ask it when the Minister comes and does her statement.
And I heard the Minister say something about
speech therapy. And I am going to ask this now rather
than waiting for it, because I know that speech ther apy has always been one of those things where there
are never enough therapists, and there is tons of demand. And I just wondered why we would take away
the need for the referral. And maybe I can understand
the referral may be taken away from a general pract itioner, because it is not always the general practitio ner who actually knows enough about what is happe ning with the child. Maybe some other people might —
some other agencies might be interacting with the
child, and therefore might know that the child needs
therapy. So, my question is, Why are we blanket ly
taking away the requirement for a general practitioner,
which, to me, then I worry that then nobody has any
sort of review to make sure that a person is referred to
a practitioner?
And, therefore, then you run the risk of the
supply is not going to be able to match the demand
because we always know the demand is already out
there. And how will practitioners then be able to de-termine . . . and I am talking about the speech therapy
practitioners. How are they going to be able to determine who has got a greater need? And how will they determine that they will put Mr. and Mrs. Smith’s child
ahead of Mr. and Mrs. Jones’s son in terms of the
need , without somebody coming up and giving them
some measure? And I just question, ask, the Minister whether some consideration should be given to, even though you remove the general practitioner, it should
be a referral of some sort.
Because I would hate to think that . . . and I
am going to say this because, too often, I have seen where the demand results in greater supply. And
when the demand results in greater supply, then where you have no control, this is where we have
seen in many other areas, where all of a sudden we
have what I call the Bermuda scenario where we have
more X, Y, Z physicians, practitioners than the normal
average of other places.
And we have seen that. We know that we
have. If you do the cost per capita, I mean the per capita in certain professions, we have more than
would normally be for an island our size. And, ther efore, I would worry that, by taking out the referral from
a general practitioner and not putting some referral from somewhere else, that we will run the risk of there
not b eing any regulation. And then we will have this
phenomenon which Bermuda does not need, which is
the supply being increased to take care of the demand. And because it will be covered, it will be cov-ered under our benefits, then you do not have what I call . . . and I am not advocating that money should be
the way to what I call regulate it. I am advocating that
there should be some measure of some approval el-ement, rather than just saying, If people can pay for it,
they can get it. Because this results in m ore money
being spent than society should actually spend.
With respect to . . . I think that the basic dental
care, I was intrigued . . . well, I mean, I was intrigued
in terms of basic changes to the rate. And I think the
question, and I am going to ask t his, or maybe I will
ask it when the Minister comes. I am looking at the
personal home care services. And I know that personal home care services has been one of those
things that has benefited lots of Bermudians. And
when I am talking to my seniors, this is Mr. and Mrs.
Spanish Point, Sr., when I am talking to them, I say to
them, If you qualify for personal home care services,
then make sure you get registered and make sure you
take advantage of it. Because our seniors, they should
not have to struggle when we have things that have been made available to them. So, I do look at that.
And I also recognise that, by turning around
and coming up with some numbers that reflect what seems to be appropriate services and an appropriate
dollar amount, I hope that this will go a long way to
eliminating what I also recognise, where some people
are having to pay more money out of their pocket just
because the services that they . . . the benefit does
not come up to that. And I am not advocating 100 per cent, because we have to rely on the Health Council
2494 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly and the people who are in there to look at what is appropriate and make recommendations to the Minister.
With respect to the wellness, I guess I just
wondered if the Minister is able to perhaps give some
indication, and I am saying this, I am asking it now
rather than when we are talking about the individual
clause, the actual clause- by-clause, because it is a
general question with respect to what I call the ge neral debate. We have the wellness promotion benefit. This is s aying that it covers a maximum of six counselling sessions.

Okay. All right.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Because I believe my
question relates to this whole thing about wellness,
wellness in terms of, you know, the Minister being
able to advise us in general terms not only about the
sessions that people are eligible for, but the whole
concept of whether the Ministry is finding the wellness
programme, which the Mini stry is advocating, which
we are all talking about the wellness programme.
What it is doing for Bermuda, whether the Minister is
able to indicate to us whether this programme is act ually, actually having taken any bite, whether she can
indicate any documents, information that sort of says
that not only have the numbers been rising in terms of people taking advantage of the wellness [programme],
but also whether, at what point in time, the Minister
would be able to say that you can now see that there is some tangible benefit.
And I say that because I know, and I have to
say, Minister, I mean, I have to say that I know. B ecause having been there, and I say as the Shadow
and Opposition Leader and also other stuff, I know
that there are a number of programmes. But in health, unless we can at some point in time start to measure
how successful we are, then we are not able to question why premiums go up, why the expenses are at a
certain level, why the loss ratios are . . . and therefore,
as Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda want to know, because they
see it hitting their pocket, they want to say, they want to know, Is this curve bending? Are the costs of health
going down?
And I say the other side, because in other
places, we know that the number of employed people
in Bermuda, unfortunately, has gone down, which means that the ratio of people who are elderly or sick
has gone up. And that is resulting in what we see. So,
I am asking the Minister, when she responds, to tell
Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda how, what they as a Gover nment are doing to either pull the levers . . . how well these levers are working. Because the bottom line is, whether we like it or not, we dropped the insurance
rates last year, and now they are going back up. And,
therefore, Mr. and Mrs. Spanish Point, Mr. and Mrs .
Bermuda and whoever else are going to feel that.
And I am putting my Opposition hat on now.
We all have to understand that everybody out there,
every insurance company, is going to take these i ncreases in the standard premium rate and pass it on
to thei r various companies. That is the way it is. They
are going to pass it on. And, unfortunately, some of
them are going to pass it on, and they are going to also pass on another increase in their rates. And I
have advocated forever, and I still advocate now, that
more and more companies have to have convers ations with their insurance companies as to the actual loss ratio that they have, and making sure that, if they
have good loss ratios, that there is some sort of bene-fit that they are being given.
Because th e bottom line is, yes, as I mentioned earlier, this is the rate which covers everybody. But the private insurers get to have the 90 per cent,
and the government gets the 105. So, when the Mini ster finally comes back and tells us that everybody’s money goes in there, and then maybe she will not
have to make as much money in terms of transfers to
HIP and FutureCare and other funds, then Mr. and
Mrs. Bermuda will be able to see that some of this
benefit is resulting.
Now, I am saying all of that, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, to say that I do recognise that there were
some other things that the Minister talked about. And I just wanted the Minister to confirm that the decrease
in fees for haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis,
which happened last year, I just wanted to make sure
that this decrease still maintains. And the reason I say
that is because I am quickly trying to go through, and I
am looking at the legislation that says that you can
only spend, I think it is $12,532 per month for haem odialysis treatments. And I j ust wanted to make sure.
We spent a lot of time and effort last year to try and get the cost of dialysis down, and because that resul ted in a savings, that also helped the fees to go down.
And that was also part and parcel of trying to get the
people to go on to transplants. And I just wondered if
the Minister can confirm that this cost still has not gone up, because that would be sad.
And, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I think that I have
asked all of the general questions that I want. And I


Bermuda House of Assembly would just say to Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda that, while the
Minister is here telling you about the cost of health
care going up and she is telling you about some of the
things that you are going to get, whether it is with r espect to dialysis being covered if you are a senior,
whether it is with respect to the generic drugs, et
cetera, that Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda have to understand
that they play a part in all of this! If they do not start to
take care of themselves with respect to eating better,
exercising, going to their doctors, et cet era, they will
then produce a result which means more claims, more
premiums, and more heartache.
And so, just before I sit down, I just have to
say that I have to at least be supportive of the Minister of Health and the technical staff. And I know that the
technical staff have been working hard over there. But
I really would hope to think, as I get back to the two
things, one, we will get to see the financial reform because that is everybody, the insurance companies,
putting their money in there. Two, we wi ll hear som ething more about the Government projects, which are
designed to improve wellness, et cetera. Three, we
will hear something more about the Enhanced Care
Pilot, which is designed to deal with those people
who, to use the phrase, those 20 per cent of the people who are accounting for 80 per cent of the expenses.
Those are things that Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda
want to hear about, because they know that, bottom
line, if some of those things are happening, then ma ybe they can look forward to a future which says pr emiums can go back down again, and at the same time make sure that they take advantage of any of the ser-vices that are available to them.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, let me declare my interest: No, I am not a member of the insurance company
business, who make profits in regard to this area. No,
I am not a physician, although I ha ve a member of my
family, my stepdaughter, who is one, but not practi cing in Bermuda. I guess I would be one who would be
in that category of persons who often get referred to
as being in that category of overweight, somewhat
weight -challenged, who are oft en referred to . . . and
sometimes, I think not referred to in the best of lights, because many of us are recovering overweight per-sons.

And it comes with many,
many challenges. And I do believe that persons who
find themselves in that category are like myself, are there trying to reverse that trend. I often speak to addictions, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The ability for us as a
people to reverse this trend is not going to happen
easily. I do not want to reflect on a past debate, i mmediately past. But I certainly appreciate, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that in order for us to arrest the problem of
the obesity and overweight culture that exists in our
country, it is going to be addressed by the people our-selves, by our citizens ourselves, I say ourselves, in a
way that is beneficial to the whole picture of our health
care system.
It is going to take some time. It is going to
take working in tandem with educ ation. It is going to
take working in concert with the Minister responsible for Community and Culture and Social [Development],
because it is cultural and social parts of our way of
life, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that causes us to be those persons whom people l ook at, notwithstanding there
are other persons in our community who have habits
relating to other vices that contribute also to the challenges placed on our health care.
But if our community is going to embrace a
different way of acting, I respectfully s ubmit for the
consideration of the Minister of Health, and also for
other Ministers who are part and parcel and have
budgets that can be directed towards changing the
psyche of our community, that and education, that and social rehabilitation, and also for culture, to work in
tandem, in a joined- up way. And let us celebrate persons who are practicing the type of lifestyles that we
want to embrace!
As I look at you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I see an
example. I see the Honourable Member (he is not
here right now) who always makes reference to you in
a joking way, the Honourable Government Whip. But in you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, is an example and a
model whom persons my age and older, and even
younger, need to emulate. I believe last week I made
reference to Flora Duffy, who is the epitome of excel-lence globally. But let us also look at the persons who
practice that type of consistent lifestyle on a daily basis, who forgo the urge to have a soda or who may
have grown up with macaroni and cheese, and rice,
and potato s alad, like me.

[Laughter]

I can say this, that since
we have had these types of debates of recent, and I
have been here participating, my portions are smaller.
But the frequency still goes. I mean, we only have to go to 5:30 on a Friday evening, when indeed the
same temptation will be presented to us once again.
And, you know, we have been brought up and raised
not to show disrespect to those who prepared good
meals, but to celebrate them! And I declare my interest: If my wife is going to make some nice rice and
peas with some lovely portions of meat tucked in
there, and using coconut milk . . . I think last week I
2496 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly said coconut water, and I was roundly chastised for
saying [that], Who in the Caribbean cooks with coc onut water? I said, Well, there is someone out there
inventing a new dish with coconut water. But we throw
a little coconut . . . and it is tasty!
And if you have been brought up on that type
of lifestyle, not to denigrate our cultural legacy with
regard to our food consumption and the like, but a lot
of it is part of what we have been raised on. And in
Bermuda, we have become more connected in recent
years, in the last 20 or so, with our Caribbean heri tage, for good reason. And certainly, now persons who
did not even . . . [who] used to turn their nose up to
jerk chicken are running around saying, Where is the
jerk chicken place?

[Laughter]

And being critics, having
never even known what jerk chicken was in one part
of their life, now say ing, Well, I like mine this way
spicy and that way spicy, and the like. And so, as we
look at other cultures, who would temper their diets
with—dare I say wine? Not in great quantities, but to
help affect, I guess, the good regulatory movements
that happen in life, and also the pairing of foods, the
use of olive oils in proper quantities, the use of other
seasonings, turmeric and the like, which you see has
also some benefits medicinally in its incorporation.
You know? I mean, I have grown up. One thing our
old-timers, you know, I mention how much they would
cook certain foods that we gravitated to, because if we liked the macaroni and cheese, we went back in greater portion, and, of course, if the macaroni and
cheese was made by Aunt Rose, you know, you cou ld
be Aunt Rose’s favourite because you liked Aunt
Rose’s macaroni and cheese!
But they also would incorporate the medicines
that we needed in our meals sometimes. Mothers do it
with children, mash up a little bit of things that you
needed to [have] and m ake sure that you took it if you
did not want to take the medicine. Our culture has
shifted towards being totally dependent on what we like versus what we truly need. And so, the challenge
that those in health care have today, notwithstanding
other challen ges of persons more technically and f inancially connected to it, is that we tend to look at the
challenges only in dollars and cents.
And, hence, I get back to where I started, as
declaring my interest as one who has been on both
ends of that spectrum, who trained with the best of
them and then, as that need diminished, gravitated to
what you like versus what is best for you, and best to
help you sustain a long and healthy and prosperous
life. Because as I remember one time, and I tend to
drift back to, you know, my golfing trade, the great
Moe Norman, the great Canadian—any Canadians
out there know him, the great Moe Norman. I saw him
in New Smyrna Beach in Florida, down there at the New Smyrna Open, and he says, What’s wrong with
you, young man? You don’t look too . . . I said, I don’t
feel well. The weather is bad. I have got to go out and
play. And he said, Let me tell you a story.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker .
I am just winding up now, but before we concluded for a healthy lunch I was relating a story that
was shared with me by the late and great Moe Nor-man as it related to me getting read y to go play in hurricane and cold conditions. And he, being the legend-ary Canadian golfer and very eccentric figure, looked
at me and said, Let me tell you a story about one of my wealthy friends who was in the hospital. And he
asked his family to wheelbarrow all his money next to
him, but with all that being done, he did not have the
wherewithal to get up out of that bed and even touch
the money . . . but look at me, little Moe, not very
wealthy, but healthy as can be. Your health is your
wealth. A nd only in the way that he could say it.
And let me say this, Mr. Deputy Speaker , if in
our country health is to become all of our collective
wealth, then we have to change the mind- set of our
people —

Yes.


Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Hubert (Kim) E. Swan: —and make healthy living
a reality. I made reference in my opening remarks to
the example that you set, Mr. Deputy Speaker , and
how you pedalled your bike. How, even at lunchtime today, that salad that you had . . . I saw that you had
something that had . . . I am not revealing the whole
menu, but I know it had a little bit of olive oil in it to
help the flow of traffic.
[Laughter]

No, but you have to . . .
you have to practice what you preach and I am trying.
But reversing that trend is not going to be easy. And
yes, it is costly, but as I also started off by saying, with
those of us who fall into that overweight category, r eversing that in Bermuda is going to come abou t when
we get joined up . . . not only the Ministry of Health
who bears the brunt of it with regard to the budget that
deals with it on the front end . . . on the back end, r ather, but my colleague who is here with us right now,
the Minister responsible for social conditions and cu lture, changing it in the mind- set on the front end, and
as it relates to the Minister responsible for Education, changing the mind- set of our people on the front end.
And that is going to take some time because the real ity is tha t you just cannot look at the 20 per cent that
fall in that category that I declared my interest of being in and working my way out of. I will always have empathy for that community because he who carries it or
feels it, knows it , so I understand it. And w e still have
. . . we still make a valuable contribution.
So in closing, Mr. Deputy Speaker , I want to
encourage you to continue being that role model. And
I encourage those Ministers who are responsible for
changing the mind- set to join up and use, maybe you,
along with Flora Duffy, to represent the community
that I am closing in on, to be able to appreciate a healthier lifestyle for many, many, more years to come
because we are living longer and that helps to make
the cost increase as well. So that in it self is a good
thing, but quality of life needs to be improved along
with that as well.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker .

Thank you, Honourable Member Swan from St. George’s.
The Chair recognises the Honourable Member Michael Dunkley.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker , and good afternoon.
I was not going to start off where the Honourable Member left off, but I will just because I think it is an important point. Yes, our health is our wealth. And unfortunately the older we get the harder we have to
work at it, Mr. Deputy Speaker , and you know that.
And it is interesting because quite often people will comment and say you come into the world needing to be supported by your parents, family, and friends, and
you leave t he world needing to be supported by those
same people. And you would hope that this would
take place.
And if you look at the human body when you
come into the world, you know, especially women,
they are liable to say, Oh, they look so cute with the
rolls around the arms and the cheeks and the legs
and the pudgy ankles and all that type of stuff. But
what happens? And I was in that category when I was
that category when I was younger —I hear the Oppos ition Leader say, Watch it, but it is the truth. When
have you ever heard a woman walk up and not grip
that little bit of pudge around the ankle and say, It’s so
cute, or the cheek . . . whatever?
And as you grow from that very young age, I
guess, your metabolism kicks in and you are able to
burn a lot more than you could, but then, all of a sudden, you hit that imaginary line, you know, probably in
your mid -30s, early 40s, when your metabolism slows
down again and you cannot deal with what you put
into your body like you used to, and you have to work
at it. So , more than ever your health is your wealth
because you have to work on it.
The problem that we have as a community —
and I say “we” because I am in the same boat, like everyone here, I like to eat . . . I love to eat, I enjoyed
it over this weekend for Fat her’s Day and my birthday
and I ate too much and Tuesday morning I felt bad, but I got right up and exercised. So you have to work
at it, you really have to work at it.
And if we can do anything in this House of
Assembly, if we can provide some solid leadership in
this way, we can change the habits that have been deeply ingrained in many of our lifestyles, Mr. Deputy
Speaker . And, you know, I think we can set the example, not only by the actions we take, but by what we do up here. You know a couple of weeks ago, not to
reflect on a debate, but we had an important health debate and here we are moved on a couple of weeks and the majority of the stuff that you see in the House
of Assembly fridge is still the stuff that we taxed.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker , if we ar e going to
show that we are serious about doing it, we should have thrown that stuff out. We should throw it out and
say, Okay, you can have water and you can have . . .
but it is still in the fridge. And every night we have . . .
when we work late, as we work hard and late many nights here, we have food that, you know, as Berm udians say, It tastes real good, but it does not do much
for our health. I certainly do not feel any better when I
go home and have to lie down after that, Mr. Deputy Speaker , and I have to . . . that is why you like to eat
early because you like to get it out of your system with
2498 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly that olive oil as the Member from constituency 2
talked about.
So, not only do we need to talk about it, but
we need to walk that way in life, Mr. Deputy Speaker ,
because for all the legislation we can pass, if we do
not take it upon ourselves to make these changes to
health, it is not going to get any better and our costs
are going to continue to go up.
You know, a couple of years ago— and God
rest his soul, h e has passed away now —but I had this
young man, at the time, working for us and he was a
diabetic. I did not know it at the time, but one day he
flopped out on the loading ramp and, of course, we
had some people in the company who were aware of
the symptom s, and so a young lady jumped right to it
and helped him until the ambulance came. And then
we met with him and we talked about it and he said,
You know, I need to stop smoking. I need to stop
drinking. I need to stop all this stuff , and he was so
shaken b y flopping out on the job that he said, I’ll
change my ways . . . change my ways. But he never
changed his ways and he had more than three strikes
and it got so bad that he could not do the work that he
was employed to do and he left of his own accord. I
saw him a couple of years ago when I was down at
the hospital visiting someone. I did not know who he
was because I was walking by and I saw a person out in the wheelchair in front of the hospital with som ebody —and I am behind him —passing him a cigarette.
I said, Wait a second. It looks like this guy has got no
arms and no legs and somebody is passing him a ci garette. So I went out to check it out. It was the same
guy who flopped out on the loading ramp years ago.
And he said, Boss, I didn’t listen. But here he is, he is
in his wheelchair, he is on his . . . his life is shot and
he is still smoking that cigarette.
So, when we talk about health, there is som ething in each and every one of us that allows us to be
what we are, and health is your hardest thing to control. It is your hardest thing to control. So if we say we have all the answers —we do not —for you, you are fit,
you work at it. There is something in your DNA that
allows you to wake up every day and commit to do that, and that is laudable. But for som ebody like this
gentleman or my father who smoked two packs of cigarettes a day and dropped dead from a stroke at 40, he could not do it. Now maybe that life changing
experience for me as a young man just hit me over
the back of the head and said, You know , I’ll never
smoke cigarettes because I have seen what it did to
my father, my hero. And so, consequently, I try to live
my life healthier. But I still love to eat, still love to drink, but I will work out from that.
So, as we come here and we tell all these
good stories, if more of us would commit to leading by that example, we would see the young people change like there was no tomorrow. And so when we have
legislation that can impact people’s behaviour, we are
the ones that have to be the truth of all of that, Mr. Deputy Speaker . And it is not partisan, this is real
across the red carpet . . . this is real, this can help our
community in greater ways than anything else. This
provides hope and opportunity.
You know, Mr. Deputy Speaker , as I know,
when I wake up in the morning and I have that workout, I feel like a million dollars. It is amazing how
you feel, not only physically, but mentally as well. And
if you do not wake up and you are not productive, your
body wanes a little bit on you. That is your body telling
you stuff. And so I am glad we had the opportunity to
speak about it today and I hope that we can take
some of those actions and let them go on the streets.
And that is why it is important that we commit to
health, which is why it is important that all these pr ogrammes that we have in the schools should be wrapped up, and I thank the Ministry for the work they are doing. And us, as leaders in the community, we
should get there and show people how we do it because they will be inspired. They will have some
laughs at us, but they will be inspired because they
know that we are actually committed to it as well, Mr.
Deputy Speaker .
And so, you know, this Health Insurance
Amendment (No. 2) Act 2018, the Government be-lieves it is a necessary piece of legis lation because
without that backdrop of health insurance we have real challenges in our community. And we have come a long way because many people now have the ability
to be covered for health. And you know, too often not
only do we take our health for granted, but, Mr. Deputy Speaker , we take the ability for us to have health
insurance for granted too. I remember a gentleman
once, a couple of years ago, when he got sick and
went to the hospital he was happy because he said he
had never been sick before but he said, Now I get to
use my health insurance, something I’ve been paying
for all my life. And while I understand the sentiment,
Mr. Deputy Speaker , I do not want to use that health
insurance. I mean, the only time I want to go to the
hospital is like I went this morning to donate some
blood, or if I have to go see somebody. But a lot of us think if we have our health insurance, I’m going to
make the most of what I’ve paid into, I’m going to use
it. But we do not understand just how costly all these
medical treatments are. And I do not want to get into a debate about the proper cost of the treatments, but
they add up, and everything that we cover adds up.
And so today, as we look at this increase, and
the Opposition Leader has said it is a 6.4 per cent i ncrease, Mr. Deputy Speaker , I sit here today and I
chuckle because, you know, for the time we sat on the
other side in Government I listened to the [t hen] O pposition continually beat us up about the cost of health
care. And as the Opposition Leader has said, you
know, for a couple of years the Standard Health [Benefit] premium stayed stable and then went down and that was pooh- poohed, Mr. Deputy Speaker , because
it was not much of a decrease, just $4.00. But here we


Bermuda House of Assembly are today; we are going up $21.31, [and] that is signi ficant for anyone. And when . . . if you look at the PLP
platform it says the PLP is committed to reducing the
cost of health care, so one of the first things that has
happened [is] the cost of health care has increased
because the cost of insurance has increased.
And look, when I sat on the Government
benches and we were criticised, it hurt because we all feel what community members tell us. And if you look
at the census you see the largest growing segment of our population now is the seniors. I do not need to repeat that because it has already been repeated, but
where are the seniors going to find that extra $21 in
monthly premiums? Now, I am not saying that the actuary has not done his work and the Government has
not looked at it, but for the opportunity over a couple
of years to hold those premiums in line and even drop
them, now to put them up by 500 per cent, seniors
have got to be wondering, What are we going to do?
Because they are on a fixed income. And we all know the stories about seniors who, you know, many of them have to take medication, more than one or two
different medications for various ailments that they
have. So this extr a is a tremendous burden on them.
And I am sure Government Members understand and appreciate that, but Mr. Deputy Speaker , it
takes more to talk about controlling— you notice I used
“controlling”, not decreasing the cost of health care,
because first you ha ve to control something. When
you are admitted to the hospital, if it is a dire injury,
you have to control the situation, then you can deal
with it from there. But we have to learn . . . we have to
control the cost of health care before we even think
abou t reducing the cost of health care because, for all
the signs that I see, as a community we are not ready
yet to make those tough decisions to allow us to control and then reduce the cost of health care. Because
everyone— everyone of us —Mr. Deputy Speaker , will
come up with a reason of why we should not touch this, we should go in another direction. And until we
understand that we have to make some of those diff icult decisions, and as a Government if you do not
make those difficult decisions, you will not ma ke the
progress on many of the issues that you have to deal
with. And there are many issues as a Government you
can deal with that are win -win for you, there are no
political repercussions, you just do it, but when it
comes to an issue like our health, and our wealth because of it, there are tough decisions that have to be
made.
And you know, I know, and my colleagues I
am sure will agree that we will stand behind the Gov-ernment as we try to get on top of this because the
cost of health insurance is continuing to grow. And
today we have added on to it with a 500 per cent i ncrease in that premium alone, Mr. Deputy Speaker .

Hon. E. David Burt: Point of order.

Yes. What is your point of order?

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Deputy Speaker , the pontif icating from the other side is laughable. I would like the
honourable former Premier to tell in what place there
is a 500 per cent increase in anything.
Secondly, Mr. Deputy Speaker , he is clearly
misleading the House as he talks about the increase in health insurance rates for seniors. FutureCare is
not going up, so there is no increase in health insurance rates for seniors.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker .

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you for the interjection by the Premier. I am sure that, you know, it is a little touchy because he was one of the Members that
sat on this side and talked about decreasing the cost
of health care. But when the premiums are reduced $4 and then increased $21 . . . well, you figure it out
yourself, Mr. Deputy Speaker .
Now, as I was saying, I referred to the seniors. What about, Mr. Deputy Speaker , those in our
community who are struggling? They now have to find
extra dollars to pay for this. I am well aware that some companies are looking at their cost of health insurance to try to find a more effective way to—

Hon. E. David Burt: Point of order, Mr. Deputy
Speaker .

And who would want to pay for
something more expensive when you can, at 65 you can go on FutureCare?
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Those in the community
who want to try to help the community, Mr. Deputy
Speaker .
So I know we are going to get political on this
debate, but the fact of the matter now is the shoe is on the other foot, and it fits ti ght sometimes. It fits tight
sometimes.

Okay.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: That is why we have a
debate.
Now, those who struggle in the community
might find that their place of employment will look at
the insurance cost and try to ameliorate those in certain ways by taking out different classes of insurance.
That is real. I have heard Members talk about it in this
Honourable Chamber before, you know? Those types of challenges . . . it might be another way to cut the
cloth, but it does not work in the long run because
then when a procedure comes up . . . and none of us
want to have any type of illness. But when something comes up . . . and the older you get the more serious
these types of . . . you know, the illnesses you get can
raise . . . they are expensive. They are expensive.
And because we pay insurance all our mature
life, we expect it to cover. But if you go in and you
have heart surgery, that is not going to cost you a
couple hundred thousand dollars. That will cost you . .
. and I know because I speak from experience, not on
myself, but of what I am aware of. It will and can cost you six figures. That can break, not only the person,
but the company.
And you know in these tough times where
businesses are trying to return to a level of sustainability and profitability, I do not support people not pa ying the costs associated with that business —whether
it is insurance, social insurance, payroll tax. But you
can see why people say, Well, wait a second. I’ve got
these claims and now the insurance company is coming to me and saying our premium is going to go up 20 per cent this next year. What do we do?
What about, Mr. Deputy Speaker , those who
are in poor health and have to continue to rely on that insurance to cover the cost? Eventually the insurance
runs out and then it takes family and friends. And I
know of families who are basically brok e because of
that. They turn to helping agencies and it does not work. But, you know . . . and I want to say but for the grace of God anyone could be unhealthy. Even the
healthiest person can get struck down with something.
And so we should not say, Well, it will never happen
to me because I watch what I eat and I exercise, but
for the grace of God . . . but for the grace of God .
So, then, as Members have referred to, [as]
the Honourable Member from constituency 2 who just
spoke, what about some of us who pay less attention
to our health than we should? And we do not look at
the symptoms. Now, I can speak for myself. As a man,
I think I am tough. So if I get a little bit of a headache,
I do not take the aspirin. I drink a lot of water thinking
maybe I have not hydrated my body. But you know we
try to put those symptoms aside.
I bumped into a long- time friend about a
month ago when I was away. I had not seen him for a
long time. He had another stent put in. He has four
stents now and he said last time he had pains in a
certain place in his body and he thought that it was
just . . . you know, he had a tough workout that mor ning and [thought] it would go away. When he went to his doctor he said, Man, I am glad you came in, you’re
having a heart attack, brother.
But for the grace of God!
So, you know, we need to take care of our
health, not only in looking at the symptoms we might
have, but we need to actually commit to doing what we have to do because, generally, mor e and more of
us take less care of our health and pay less attention to our health. We get busy. We wake up in the mor ning and then we are going . . . all day long we are g oing. You have to take some time for yourself because
health insurance is not going to take care of you if the
big one comes. It will help; but a lot of people do not have the ability to have the health insurance that
takes care of all those medical costs, right?
And so we have to work at it. We have to work
at it as individuals. And as a Parliament we need to
work at controlling the cost of health care. And I, for
one, will support tough decisions that Government has to make to curb those rises in costs because it has
gotten out of hand. It is going to continue to go that
way because, as another Member said, if there is an
ability to have a service there people will want to pay
for that service. And in health care that is a slippery
slope that allows us to get in a position where, all of a sudden, that horse has bolted and it is a runaway
cost.
So what we have done today, in the wisdom
of the Government, they have decided to increase the premiums. It reverses a trend that the former Government worked hard to halt, and we are here today to talk about it. And I hope if anything comes out of it [it
will be] that there is a renewed commitment that we


Bermuda House of Assembly can all do something to change that horse bolting from
the stable in our health costs because we are losing it.
We spent many, many, hours debating health care,
but we still want to subject ourselv es to unhealthy
foods as we work up here for the people of Bermuda.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker , I will support the
Government in making Bermuda a more healthy pr oductive place, but I have grave concerns about the
increasing costs of health care. Thank you.

Thank you, Honourable Member, Mr. Dunkley.
Now we have the next speaker, who is the
Premier, the Honourable David Burt. Mr. Burt, you
have the floor.

Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr. Deputy Speaker .
Mr. Deputy Speaker , I am going to try to be
brief and to tell, I guess, a story about how things get
to where they are. Because the Honourable Member
who just took his seat is the master of the art of pol itics, the master in the art of obfuscation, the master of the art of sayi ng one thing when he actually knows
what the truth is, Mr. Deputy Speaker .
I know that that Honourable Premier chaired a
meeting that takes place on Tuesday, and it is called Cabinet, and at that meeting where he chaired a
meet ing on Tuesday that is called Cabinet, he also
had an Honourable Minister of Health at the time who
happens to currently be the Opposition Leader, and it
is incredibly rich to listen to them come to this House
to tell the people that, Oh, health insurance rates
didn’t move and they w ent down, when they were gi ven the advice that the utilisation went up, and if they
did not increase the rates to take into account the ut ilisation then the rates were going to have to go up
twice as much the following year.
But guess what? It was an elec tion year and it
would have made prettier platform writing to say that,
Oh, we’re going to reduce health insurance rates and
put it on the future. That is why we are here, Mr. De puty Speaker .
And we are here, Mr. Deputy Speaker , because they received advice that they had to increase
rates for utilisation and they ignored it. It is the same ignoring of the advice that they did, Mr. Deputy
Speaker , when they were told how to set certain rates
and they decided to set them arbitrarily, Mr. Deputy
Speaker . That is what that Government did, Mr. Deputy Speaker , the former Government. And that is the
reason why we are here.
So to listen to these lectures 11 months after
they no longer have this office, Mr. Deputy Speaker , it
reminds the peo ple why they no longer have it. B ecause they were engaging in the politics of trying to
make things different or better than they are and not
fessing up to the hard and difficult decisions that have
to be made. So when I hear a former Premier say that, We
will support the tough decisions . . . I have a very si mple question: Why did you not make them? If you were
given the advice to increase rates based on utilisation,
why did you say, Oh, we’re not going to do it? It is
very simple. You do not have to answ er, we know
why. It was an election year and your consultants told you that it would look better inside of a platform if you
can write this.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Point of order, Mr. Deputy
Speaker .

Continue.
Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Deputy Speaker , I am going
to tell you the fact of which I know. Because the facts
are, Mr. Deputy Speaker , that we get the information
from the same technical officers who gave them the
recommendation. And so when it came to us to consider, on a Tuesday, and we were talking about util isation, it was, The former Government decided not to
raise rates as was recommended based on the i ncreased utilisation. And that means that we have to
double it up. That is what happened, Mr. Deputy
Speaker .
So as much as we want to hear from t he other
side, the facts remain that what they did not do we will
do. The difficult task of balancing what we have to do with the relative value method, the difficult task of
coming to grips with this is what we are going to e ngage in. But here is what is funny.
I heard that the former Minister of Health
asked, What is going on with the health care financing? Now, Mr. Deputy Speaker , you would know that
when the Progressive Labour Party left Government there was a plan for health care financing.

Yes, Member.

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Yes, the Honourable Member is
inadvertently, no doubt, misleading the House. In D ecember 2012 there was a report that was completed,
and I can quote, called the 1Health Financing Reform
Report. It recommended two different systems for f inancing health, and it was completed in December 2012 under this PLP administration.

[Desk thumping]

What is your point of order?

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: The Opposition Leader
[sic] is misleading the House. I did not need Mr. and
Mrs. Spanish Point to write my speech, I was able to
write my own speech.
And in the current time I would like the Mini ster who just spoke a moment [ago] to table the report
because we had been working on health system ref inancing with the Health Council, and I do not know
why anybody, if there was something that was there, would not take it up at the time.

Continue.

Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Deputy Speaker , if the O pposition Leader wants to ask that question I think that
they have a caucus meeting next week and she can

1 Report on a Health Financing Structure in Support of
Bermuda’s National Health Plan talk to whoever was the Minister of Health when they
took over. They had so many I cannot remember, Mr.
Deputy Speaker .
But what I can tell yo u is this, Mr. Deputy

We understand where we are. We understand the challenges which we have to face. And it is
difficult work being Government, I get that. But what
we are not going to sit on this side and accept is a
rewriting of history by thos e who did not want to make
the decisions which were required at the time and who kicked the can down the road.
What we have done, Mr. Deputy Speaker , is
we have taken into account what is necessary and
required. But what we have also done, Mr. Deputy
Spea ker, is that we have made sure that the most
vulnerable populations in this country —those persons
on HIP and those persons on FutureCare—have had
no increase in their rates.

Hear, hear!

Hon. E. David Burt: That is the most important thing.
So when we hear these made up numbers of
500 per cent increases for seniors, the people will
take it in the exact same way as the 2,000 jobs pledge
from the One Bermuda Alliance . . . it will come in one
ear and out the other because they know the sourc e,
Mr. Deputy Speaker .
We will continue to do the work that is r equired, but we will not let them rewrite the history.
They were told to increase the rates based on utilis ation, they decided not to do it in an election year, we
are picking up where they have left off, cleaning up the system, and making sure that the work that was
done in 2012 to create a National Health Care Plan
and actual health care financing will be complete, Mr.
Deputy Speaker . We tick the boxes off on our platform
week by week, and he alth care, Mr. Deputy Speaker ,
is another box that we will be proud to tick. Thank you .

[Desk thumping]

Thank you, Mr.
Deputy Speaker .
Mr. Deputy Speaker , exuberance in a presentation does not necessarily mean that facts are being
disseminated. And I say that with all due respect to
the Honourable Member who just took his seat because when the Premier just indicated that they were
ensuring that FutureCare and HIP did not have i ncreases, they might remember, Mr. Deputy Speaker ,
that back in 2012/13 the premium that was appended to the garnering of FutureCare, in particular, indicated


Bermuda House of Assembly that those people who came onto the FutureCare plan
initially were paying something like $300 and change.
(I do not have the specific amount, but somewhere in
the region of $300- and-some.) And the following year
the new people who were coming onto FutureCare
had to pay something like $600- and-some. The idea
being that if you managed to get in under the wire
when it was first introduced then you would have the
preferable rate, but later on that rate was not going to
be available because the utilisation was such that they
could not justify having the introductory rate of $300, so they put the second tier up to be $600 and change.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , what was not recognised
and what the previous Government failed to acknowledge was that what was being provided by
the insurance coverage for FutureCare was exactly
the same. The benefits were exactly the same. So it
was a question of saying if I bake a loaf of bread in
the morning, I put it out on the shelf for sale and I can
sell it a t $0.50 cents, but [if] I bake that loaf of bread
later in the evening, that same loaf of bread is going to
cost $1.00. And that was the premise under which the
rates were set under that former PLP administration.
When this side came into Government . . .
and I have to say that I was one of those . . . I served
as a Minister of Health. And the first thing that was
very apparent to me was that it was unfair to have the same services and benefits being offered to the same
population of people at different rates. It was unfair.
And as a result we sought the assistance of Morneau
Shepell to make the determination as to how we could
have insurance rates that were equitable across the board for the same services that were being provided.
And you will know that s ome of the premiums.
Those that were previously $600 and change, came
down to $500 and . . . early $500s and those that
were . . . had gone up then from $300- and-some to
$400- and-some by the time we had the increase from
the first year to the second, that they actually went up
to $500.
You will recall, Mr. Deputy Speaker , that during that period of time we caught several challenges. We heard it from both sides. We heard people saying,
Thank you so much for considering us . . . that our
pockets are now not going to have to be so hardpressed so that we are able to pay $500- and-some
instead of $640, or whatever the second rate was.
And then there were those who were now paying only
$400- and-some who now had to pay the additional
$100 and they were . . . as a Government we were
told, You’ve treated me . . . you’ve given me hardship
because I’m now paying nearly $100 a month more
than I had to pay before.
So, to say that we did not make tough dec isions . . . what we were looking for was something
that was equi table, where you paid the correct price
for the correct product. That was something that was
. . . where the previous PLP administration did not
understand or grasp that basic concept. Because very clearly to have two significantly different premiums for
the same output made no sense. And I was very
pleased to be able to introduce into this Honourable
House a premium that had been actuarially calculated
which was able to show equity in the health insurance pricing scheme in which people who were getting the
same services were able to pay the same premium.
We understand what it is like, Mr. Deputy
Speaker , to have to deal with the cost of health care—
the rising cost of health care. One of the things that
occurred . . . because it was not a question of not making difficult decisions. We made a decision that
said that we would try and reduce the cost of health
care as much as we possibly could. We looked at ut ilisation and we tried to come up with a premium that
was actuarially calculated —not arbitrarily calculated —
that we were able to . . . and let me just explain for
those who may not be aware.
When an actuary looks at a set of information,
it is not a precise science as one would get from an accounting perspective. You will know, I will declare
an interest t hat I am an accountant by profession. And
to an accountant you have a debit that must equal a
credit, you have one plus one which must equal two.
In an actuarial world you have what is called a
range. So you might have the same set of facts that
you are l ooking at as an accountant, but as an actuary
you will end up with a result that may have no comparison to what you might come up with if you looked
at something from an accounting perspective.
So an actuary will look at something and say,
Based on what w e anticipate with utilisation, with the
costs that we have, with the increasing costs that are
likely to be incurred, then the range that would be a ppropriate would be from A to F. And there is no right
or wrong answer.
So to hear the Premier say that we did not
want to make the tough decisions is not just disinge nuous, it is completely misleading, because if the act uaries had said that your range is from A to F and the selection point was something that was not within that
range, then that would have been, not just irrespons ible, it would not have been wise. But if you choose
something that is in that range, that is sustainable and
supportable by the actuarial studies, you know, you cannot come back after the fact because you now
have to not just justify i ncreasing the rates in order to
keep the system sustainable, which we all understand
. . . and I can just go back to a personal level.
On a group insurance basis up until June 30
th,
my personal insurance premium is $1,120.56 per month. As of July 1
st, on t his group policy, I now have
to pay $1,644 because I have changed the status of
my employment so, therefore, what is being paid in as
a group premium is significantly higher than what the
group that I came out of required. But I have to pay it. I am not co mplaining about it because I get the coverage.
2504 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly But what I will not do is sit and listen to history
being retold or reframed to suit the political narrative
that the Premier wishes to advance by suggesting that
we did not wish to make difficult decisions.
We made a difficult decision.
You can imagine what it is like, Mr. Deputy
Speaker , to be walking down the street and you have
got one person on one side —one ear —telling you,
You did a really good job; and a person on the other
ear saying, You did a really crappy job because now I
have to pay more money. But you have to look at
what range was deemed to be appropriate by the actuaries and to determine where on that continuum of
rates could you land with something that was acceptable to what the economy provi ded, what people’s
pockets provided. And even though some people had
to pay more, it was the right and the fair thing to do
given that if you want to have an equitable and sustainable insurance scheme to be able to cover the
cost of health care, there were going to be some
tough decisions that had to be made. And we made
those tough decisions.
What we did find was that some of the rates
we looked at from a utilisation perspective, as the now
Leader of the Opposition and former Health Minister
was able to determine, was that there were some util isation factors that were causing the health care costs
to become totally out of whack. And as a result som ething had to be done in order to not just equalise, but to make it fair.
What the then Health Council did in l ooking at
some of the utilisations and looking at some of the things that were covered, with the necessary input from the actuaries, they came up with a recommendation that effectively said that certain things ought to be
covered at a lesser rate and that was implemented.
So we were called, again —a difficult decision, yes —
everything but a child of God.
So, when this Government came to power
again in 2017 one of the first things they did was to
say, We’re now going to make sure that for the people, for the h ospital, as well as the private medical
clinic that was hard- done by, by the policy of decreasing the reimbursement levels that were made by the
Health Council, we’re now going to put them up. And
that was their right to do so . . . that was their right to
do so.
That had to be a difficult decision because by
what they did initially was to say, We’re going to take
money out of the Consolidated Fund. That was only
just beginning to teeter on the brink of recovery because . . . in 2012 they left [Government] in a disastrous situation where our economy was in freefall and
we did not have the funding to be able to say that we
could sustain what the previous Government were
expending, literally haemorrhaging money out of the economy.
So they made the determinat ion that they
would take money out of the Consolidated Fund—thank God there was some there—to be able to say,
We’re going to give a premium to the private agency
and we’re going to do something with the hospital to
make sure that they aren’t going to suffer the decreases in reimbursements that had been foisted u pon them by the previous administration.
We should not have to apologise for that, Mr.
Deputy Speaker , because what we attempted to do
then, and we will always attempt to do, is to ensure
that to the extent that health care costs start to rise
exponentially and become out of reach of the pocket of the average person to be able to afford it, we need
to be able to put controls in place. And we cannot say
that because somebody wanted to have extra utili sation that we are going to take money out of the . . .
and I say “somebody,” an industry, wanted to justify
extra utilisation and, therefore, their total aggregate costs have now risen exponentially, that somehow we
have got to continue to sustain that which is unsustainable.
So, when the rates were put down, it was in
consideration of the fact that some of those testings had come out of the general, we’re -going-toreimburse- everybody attitude and there were r estrictions, there were caps that were put on. Hence,
we were able to reduce the premium.
So, when I heard the Honourable Member , my
colleague from constituency 10, say that that $4 d ecrease has now gone up to a $20 increase, that is
significant. It is significant. So that is where the 500
per cent to which he spoke arose—

[Inaudible interjection]

If you are talking
about the differential —not 500 per cent of the prem ium, 500 per cent on the differential —and that is a
mathematical reality.
Whether the Honourable Member wants to
laugh about it or not, that is the math that happened.
The premium went down under the previous OBA
administration and now under the PLP new admi nistration it has gone back up. And it is going back up
to the point that, you know, somebody m ight say $20
is not a whole lot of increase. And that might be for
somebody who has sustained revenue, for somebody
who might be able to afford it, for somebody who has
a job. For somebody who has income, that might
work. But there are those who cannot aff ord it.
Even the Premier indicated, you know, F utureCare is not going to go up, HIP is not going to up. You know what? The premium still has to be paid and
it has to be paid by somebody. And to the extent that
individuals do not have the means, that money still
comes out of the Consolidated Fund by way of support and supplementals that come out of the Financial
Assistance Department to ensure that our seniors and those who cannot afford it otherwise are covered—
and it is the right thing to do. I am not suggesting for a


Bermuda House of Assembly second that we ought not to cover people who are
vulnerable and do not have the means to cover themselves.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , you will know that I have
reached the age of seniorhood and I certainly would like to be able to say that my premi um is at such a
rate that, you know, maybe I do not even have to pay.
But no. If I have the ability to do it, it is my responsibi lity to carry my share of the weight. But I am not going
to sit here and allow the Premier to rewrite history b ecause it suits his political rhetoric. What I am saying is
the rates are going up.
The Minister made reference to a report that
was completed in December 2012. I can tell you, I served as a Minister, and if that report was in the hands of those people who were responsibl e for hel ping to make those decisions, I have never seen that
report. I have never seen that report. I am not saying it
did not exist, I am just saying that there are times when information is made available to . . . for whate ver reason, it is not widely m ade available.
So, all I will say, Mr. Deputy Speaker , in co ntributing to this debate today [is] that it is concerning,
obviously, when premiums go up. We have to conti nue to do our utmost as a community to be mindful of
our health choices and our utilisat ion factors to try to
minimise and ameliorate those levels of increases that
might otherwise inure as a result of the choices that
we make —our diets, our exercise regimen—all those
things that you will probably never be accused of, Mr.
Deputy Speaker .
The average person . . . the average one of
us is not going to be out riding a pedal bike and being
at our maximum or optimum health level and, ther efore, we might find ourselves having the requirement
to rely on medical services —some of us more than
others. But we have to recognise that the more i ntense the utilisation, the higher the rates are likely to
be. And it is an obligation on behalf of the Gover nment to ensure that our lifestyles are sufficiently made public so that people can . . . you know, that we have
advertising, that people are made aware of those
things where the choices that we are making will neg-atively impact not just our own health, but the cost that
we are going to have to pay in order to cover that
health.
You know, I had not intended rea lly to speak
to this. But sometimes when you hear what my
grandmother used to call gopseed —and I do not
know, I never quite knew what “gopseed” was until
she kind of explained that that is nonsense. When you
hear things that just do not add up, I have to s tand
and speak to the gopseed that we have just heard
from the Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker .

Thank you, Honourable Member. The Chair recognises . . . are there any other
speakers? There appear to be none. The Chai r recognises the Minister, Ms. Kim Wilson.
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Let me start by saying I am pleased to hear
colleagues in unison speaking about the importance
of us taking care of our own health and the fact that
you have heard me speak over and over again in this
honourable place that we have a high instance of chroni c non- communicable diseases that are crippling
our health care system. And these diseases, by and
large, are preventable. So if we adopt proper lifestyle
choices and the like, then we will help to arrest this
particular phenomenon.
Unfortunately, because we have not reached
that point at this stage, we have seen an increase in utilisation. And one of the main factors that is attributable to the setting of a premium and the cost factor is
utilisation. And, as I have said previously, Mr. Deputy
Speaker , we have seen an increase in utilisation by
our sick population. So, unfortunately, that is the rea-son that we are here today.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , there were a couple of
questions that I would like to answer in a moment. But
the first question that was asked, actually, was with
respect to what is being done— and this was by the
Honourable Opposition Leader —concerning health
financing reform. And the Premier did indicate, as well
as I did during a point of order, that there was a subcommittee under the National Health Plan when the PLP’s former administration was in under the honourable then Minister of Health, Zane DeSilva. And he
made the difficult decisions as part of a PLP admi nistration and decided that we were going to, whilst we
looked at reform of our health care system, we were
also going to look at how we were going to finance it
because that is a very critical part of the decision and the conversations that have to be made.
And there was a report that was commenced
and it was conducted, and it was refer red to as the
Health Financing Structure, Options for Bermuda, D ecember 2012. It is actually, as I have been made to understand, on the webpage of the Bermuda Health Council for those of you who would like to peruse it.
And that report does speak about a number of things
and a number of options that I am very excited about
and that I will be providing more information to this
Honourable House and Members in very, very, short
order.
Now, in addition, Mr. Deputy Speaker , you will
recall that the starting point —the Throne Speech of
2017 of the PLP Government —was launching “ a
comprehensive review of healthcare costs in Bermuda
and will seek to extract savings throughout the entire
healthcare system. ”
Mr. Deputy Speaker , that is a tall order, but it
is an order t hat we are all committed to on this side to
2506 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ensure that we receive comprehensive health care for
everyone and we reform the system so that those who
cannot afford it or are having difficulties paying for
proper health care can have it. We want to create an
equitable and a sustainable health care system so
that everyone that needs it can obtain it.
Now two of the mechanisms that we are going
to be looking at to do that and deliver that, Mr. Deputy Speaker , are (as I quote) “very tough tasks” and very
difficu lt decisions that we are prepared to make. And
the first is the implementation of an RBRVU system (Resource Based Relative Value [Unit] System).
There have been a number of reports for the last 18
years —the Arthur Andersen Report, I think PwC —a
number of health care reform reports were conducted by individuals in the private sector and all of them recommended that we look at a more transparent and
rational mechanism for setting fees.
That is the RBRVU system. And this Gover nment is committed, and you have heard me speak
about it in this Honourable House, to implementing that.
You may recall, Mr. Deputy Speaker , in 2016
that information or that recommendation was made to
the former Government and I believe the Honourable
Opposition Leader was the Minister of Health at the
time and that Government . . . the recommendation was made by the technical officers, the same ones
that are sitting here assisting this Government to i mplement the RBRVU system and adopt that for all of
the BHB fees.
That recommendation w as ignored, it was not
accepted. The technical officers did not accept it —

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Point of order, Mr. Deputy
Speaker .

What is your point of order,
Member?

POINT OF ORDER

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I would like the Member
who just spoke to table in this place the recommendation that the RBRVU system was recommended to
this Government, because in the past we had talked about the relative value (RVU) system and unless that
Minister —
Hon. Kim N. Wilso n: It is the same thing.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: You are saying the “R esource Based” and . . . and on the other hand we ac-tually implemented the RVU system, we started that.
And I just want to make sure that we are not differentiating, because that was already started under the former Government.
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: I am sorry. Sometimes we refer
to it colloquially as “RVUs” but the actual terminology is “Resource Based Relative Value Units” —RBRVUs.
As I was saying, Mr. Deputy Speaker , in 2016,
late 201 6, the technical advisors suggested to the
former Government, the former Minister of Health
(who now sits as the Honourable Opposition Leader)
to adopt RBRVUs for all of BHB’s fees. That recommendation was ignored and we see where that landed.
And the poi nt is, Mr. Deputy Speaker , that
they were not prepared to make the difficult decisions and make the difficult . . . implement the difficult task
that would have seen the commencement of a reduction in health care costs, starting with the Bermuda
Hospitals Board. We are going to do that —

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Point of order, Mr. Deputy
Speaker .
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: —because 48 per cent of all of
our health care costs —
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Point of order, Mr. Deputy
Speaker .

What is your point of order,
Member?

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: The Minister is misleading
the Government . . . the Government Minister is mi sleading the House. The RVU units were implemented
partially in the rates that were implemented in June
2017.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Mr. Deputy Speaker , that is e xactly what I said. The recommendation was to impl ement RBRVUs for all of BHB fees. The Government at
the time was not prepared to make the tough dec isions and ignored the advice of the technical officers
and implemented it . . . they implemented it based on
the DI fees in the community and we know what the
results are. History has already said what happened
when that decision was made, okay?
So we have technical officers that hav e provided this information and at the time, the Government of the day refused the advice of the technical officers,
they were not prepared to accept and make the diff icult decisions. We on this side will do just that. And
you will be hearing very soon from me more information concerning the implementation of the RBRVU
system to the Bermuda Hospital fees.
Why are we starting there? Because over
48 per cent of our health care costs come from the
hospital and that is where we are going to be starting.



Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Point of order, Mr. Deputy
Speaker .

Yes, what is your point of order, Member?

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: The Member is misleading
the House in the sense that, on the one hand the Member i ndicated that there was already something
that was ready to be implemented, and now she is
indicating that we are having to delay for it and not
being implemented until now. If it was ready it should have been implemented now.

Do you want to make that
clearer so she can clear it up, Honourable Member ?
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: On the one hand the Mi nister indicated that there was a recommendation that
was available in 2012, and now she is indicating that
she might have something to bring forward to this
House in the future and indicated that we . . . there
was a technical . . . there was a recommendat ion from
the technical officer that we did not implement. If it
was already available and ready to be implemented,
why is it not already implemented now?

Okay.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
I believe that the Honourable Member is ina dvertently confusing two issues. There was, on the one
hand . . . I indicated that in 2012 there was a Health
Financing Structure Options report —December 2012.
That is one issue which I want to come back to be-cause that is very crit ical.
And then, on the other hand, there were the
recommendations in 2016 by the technical officers to
the former Government to implement the RBRVU sy stem across the board for all BHB fees. That was the advice that was ignored. The Government at the time
refused to make or were paralysed in their ability to
make the tough decisions. We, on the other hand, will
not be so paralysed and we will make those decisions.
And you will be hearing from me very soon about the
BHB fees with respect to the implementation of
RBRVUs, so watch this space.
That brings me to a second point and that is
with respect to the issue concerning this Health F i-nancing Structure Options. Now, as I indicated prev iously, Mr. Deputy Speaker , there is this report and the
question was asked, (quote) “What is the Government
doing concerning health financing reform? Why hasn’t that been moved?” Well, if the former Government was committed to health financing reform, they would
have looked at the report that was completed in D ecember of 2012—ins tead of shelving it —they would
have looked at it and started implementing it. We are going to implement it. We have pulled that report off
the shelf, we will start the implementation.
I have commanded my team to start impl ementing and you will hear more about that for 2019.
So we will, as the Government, make the tough dec isions for health financing reform as well as the reform
of the hospital fees, which take up approximately
48 per cent of our health care dollars. So we are pr epared to make those decisions.
So, to answer the question, what happened to
it? They know what happened to it because the report
was there in December 2012 and they shelved it. We
have picked it back up—

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Point of order, Mr. Deputy
Speaker .

Hon. Kim N. Wils on: —and we are going to impl ement that report, to answer the question.

Member, what is your point of
order?

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: The Minister is misleading
the House. There was a report which was being
worked on, which is the one I questioned. There was
a report which was being worked on by the Health Council . . . the Health Council Financing Report. And
I am asking what the status of it is because there was
a report, and I am not aware of the report that the Mi nister is relating to [from] 2012, but I am aware of the
actions of the committee that was dealing with health
financing reform, and I want to know where that report is. And I think all of Bermuda wants to know.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
That report, as I indicated, is dated December 12, 2012. It can be located on the Bermuda Health
Council’s —
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Point of order, Mr. Deputy
Speaker .

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: —webpage.

What is your point of order?
2508 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly POINT OF ORDER

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: There was a committee
that was working on health financing reform, and I
asked the Minister . . . there was a . . . more recently
they were working on it in 2013, 2014, 2015, and I am
asking because the Minister indicates that their Government is looking at everything and is aware of ev erything. I want to know . . . the people in the technical
offices were working on health financing reform up
until 2016. Where is that report?

So there was a report . . . you
are saying there was a report that was completed u nder the former Government?

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: There were committees
that were doing the work, and I want to find out . . .
that committee was developing fi nancing reform and I
just want to find out where it is because, on the one
hand, I cannot believe anybody would have a financ-ing reform report and work for three years on doing
health financing reform.

Because I think it
is important to clarify this. The report to which the Mi nister speaks, is she speaking of that which was soundly rejected by the Health Council at the ti me and other
contributing parties within the health system because
the former PLP Government were wanting the exempt
companies to pay for the cost of the additional cost of
health . . . is that the report to which she is referring?

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: I am not really sure what the
Honourable Member is referring to as a point of clarif ication. But I can say, Mr. Deputy Speaker , and I am
sorry to sound repetitive, that the report that was
commissioned under the former PLP Government, under the former Honourable Minister of Health, Zane
DeSilva, was with respect to the Health Financing
Structure Options for Bermuda. It was in Dec ember of
2012. We—

One second . . . go ahead.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: And perhaps I can clarify
this for the Minister, as well as all of Bermuda.
The Health Council had a subcommittee that
was dealing with health financing reform that met in
2013, 2014, and 2015. And so all I am asking the new
Health Minister is that that committee was working on
a report which I would have expected to be ready by
now.

Put your microphone on,
please.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , there were a few other
questions that were raised. I think we have beaten
that dead horse.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: It is on the website. So I am just
going to invite all of Bermuda to look at the website
and they will be able to answer the questions because
there will be more information coming.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: You are looking at it now.
There will be more information coming to this
Honourable House, Mr. Deputy Speaker , concerning
the implementation of that report and the options. That
is what we are doing right now, exploring the options that were presented in that report, whether it be a Un ified or a Dual System. But we are looking at that so
there will be more information to come.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , a couple of questions
were raised. One was with respect to any progress
made by our relationship with PAHO [ Pan American
Health Organization] concerning the importation of
drugs.

[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: That did not come out right, did
it?

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: No, importation of drugs.
There is a strategic fund that exists under
PAHO and what they do is they do buy bulk drugs and
they allow certain members to purchase those drugs
at a discounted fee and we are looking at reviewing
that to see if we can expand it to include other drugs
that are util ised heavily in Bermuda.
The other question that —

Pharmaceutical.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Yes, pharmaceutical drugs.
Thank you for that clarification, Mr. Deputy Speaker .
Mr. Deputy Speaker , there was another question that was raised concerning the referral or the r emoval of the requirement to have a referral for a
speech therapist. And the idea behind that was tw ofold; that it is actually an unnecessary requirement
because it just is a bigger cost to the patients because oftentimes if they go to the doctor then there is going
to be a co- pay, so it is not anticipated that there will be
any type of increased demand on that particu lar element and, as such, that is why we are making this
recommendation and the legislation speaks to that.
As was said previously by the Honourable
Premier —and I want to emphasise that —these i ncreases will not affect FutureCare and HIP patients.
Almost 38 per cent of all FutureCare patients . . .
38 per cent of seniors are on FutureCare, so that is
almost a third of the 11,000 -some seniors in Bermuda,
and they are on FutureCare and they will not see any
rate increase as a result of what we are debating thi s
morning . . . this afternoon.
There was one final question concerning the
wellness programmes. And, Mr. Deputy Speaker ,
those wellness programmes, as we will indicate when we get into Committee, as you rightly pointed out that
question really relates to Committee, that we will be
capping the benefit of $210 annually and it will cover things like smoking cessation, nutritional counselling,
and the like.
I believe those were the bulk of the questions —

The House will move into
Committee.
Honourable Member Swan.

House in Committee at 3:08 pm
[Mr. Hubert (Kim) E. Swan, Chairman]

COMMITTEE ON BILL

HEALTH INSURANCE AMENDMENT
(NO. 2) ACT 2018

2510 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Chairman: Honourable Member s, we are now in
Committee of the whole House for further consider ation of the Bill entitled the Health Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Act 2018 .
The Chair recognises the Honourable Minister
for Health.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to move clauses 1 through 4,
please.

Continue on, Minister.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: This Bill seeks to amend the
Health Insurance Act 1970, the Health Insurance (F utureCare Plan) (Additional Benefits) Order 2009, the
Health Insurance (Health Insurance Plan) (Additional Benefits) Order 1988, the Health Insurance (Mutual
Re-Insurance Fund) (Prescribed Sum) Order 2014,
and the Health Insurance (Standard Health Benefit)
Regulations 1971.
Clause 1 is self -explanatory.
Clause 2 amends section 2 (Subsidy for certain persons) and section 3A (Mutual Re- insurance
Fund) of the Health Insurance Act 1970. Section 2(1)
is amended to transfer cover for dialysis treatment from the Mutual Re- insurance Fund in respect of
those patients who are already covered by the Standard Health Benefit under that section. Subsection
3A(2E) is amended as follows:
a) to clarify that the Mutual Re- insurance Fund
covers dialysis treatment only for persons i nsured under the Act;
b) to link it to the Amendment to section 2(1) by providing that claims for dialysis treatment
cover are subject to the newly added subsections (2F) and (2G); and
c) to increase from $100,000 to $150,000 the
amount paid out of the Mutual Re- insurance
Fund in respect of all insured persons towards
the cost of a kidney transplant and maint enance drugs.
Subsections (2F) and (2G) are added to section 3A. Subsection (2F) provides that claims for dialysis treatment are not covered under subsection
(2E)(a) where and to the extent that such claims are covered under section 2(1). Subsection (2G) provides
that a person’s cover under subsection (2E)(a) and
section 2(1) shall be limited to an amount not excee ding $12,532 per month for haemodialysis treatment
unless additional sessions are determined by the
Committee to be medically necessary.
Clause 3 amends the Schedule to the Health
Insurance (FutureCare Pl an) (Additional Benefits) O rder 2009 to broaden and clarify certain benefits.

The Minister has moved clauses 1
through 4.
All agreed?
Continue on, Minister.

[Motion carried: Clauses 1 through 4 passed.]
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I would like to move clauses 5 to the end.
Clause 5 amends the Health Insurance (Mutual Re- Insurance Fund) (Prescribed Sum) Order
2014 to increase the amount paid to the Health Insurance Fund and decrease the amount paid to the Bermuda Health Council.
Clause 6 amends the Health Insurance
(Standard Health Benefit) Regulations 1971 to i ncrease the standard premium, including the Mutual Re-insurance Fund component of the standard prem ium.
And clause 7 is self -explanatory, Mr. Chai rman.

Thank you, Minister.
The Minister has moved and explained
through to the end clauses 5 through 7.
Any other . . . Member . . . Opposition Lea der?

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I just have one question, and this is relating to
clause 5, I think it is, clause 5 which is . . . I see that
the amount being paid to the Health Council has decreased. I just wondered if the Minister can explain


Bermuda House of Assembly that. I think I know why, but I just thought that Mr. and
Mrs. Bermuda might want to know. And—

It has been moved by the Minister
that t he Bill be reported to the House as printed.
Any objections?
No objections.
Agreed to. [Motion carried: The Health Insurance Amendment
(No. 2) Act 2018 was considered by a Committee of
the whole House and passed without amendments.]

House resumed at 3: 15 pm

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

REPORT OF COMMITTEE

HEALTH INSURANCE AMENDMENT
(NO. 2) ACT 2018

All right. Any objections to the
Bill entitled Health Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Act
2018 being approved as printed?
There appear to be none.
Approved.
The next item is the second reading of the
Defence Amendment —or are we going to do [Order]
No. 3? We are doing [Order] No. 3.
Any objections to doing [Order] No. 3?
Okay. The consideration of the Government
Fees Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2018 by the
Minister Kim Wilson.

REGULATIONS

GOVERNMENT FEES AMENDMENT
(NO. 2) REGULATIONS 2018
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , I move that consider ation be given to the draft regulations entitled the Go vernment Fees Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2018
proposed to made by the Minister of Finance under
the provisions of section 2 of the Government Fees Act 1965.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , I am pleased to bring to
this Honourable House today the Government Fees
Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 2018, hereinafter referred to as “the Regulations.”
Mr. Deputy Speaker , the Government Fees
Amendment Regulations 2018 and the Psychological
Practitioners Act 2018 were enacted with in days of
each other, resulting in a discrepancy in the fees
charged to applicants by the Bermuda Psychological Council.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , these regulations pr opose to keep the fees as per the Government Fees
Amendment Regulations 2018 and add the addi tional
fee categories for authorisations as per the Psychological Practitioners Act 2018. The authorisations are
required for two new applications under the recent
amendments authorising visiting psychologists and
locum psychologists.
2512 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Therefore, Mr. Deputy Speaker , it is proposed
that Head 58 in the Government Fees Regulations
1976 is revoked and replaced with the existing fees as
per the Government Fees Amendment Regulations
2018 and the additional new authorisation fees for visiting and locum psychologi sts.
With those introductory remarks I will take my
seat, Mr. Deputy Speaker .

Any further speakers?
The Chair recognises the Leader of the O pposition, Ms. Atherden.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Sorry, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I just have one question.
I understand why these fees were put into
place and, as the Minister had indicated, the ps ychologists I understood are supposed to come under
the review of the Health Council. I just wondered if the
Minister could indicate how the Ministry is progressing
with having all of these, what I call, auxiliary bodies coming under the Allied Health purview.

Any further speakers?
Minister?
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: I am going to ask your direction
because that has nothing to do with the regulations at
hand. The regulations at hand are quite simple as to
apply a fee for the psychologists. The question about
Allied Health and that direction really does not have
anythi ng to do with the Bill at hand . . . the regulations
at hand.

Yes, yes.

BILL

SECOND READING

DEFENCE AMENDMENT ACT 2018

Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Deputy Speaker , the Bill
before this Honourable House is the Defence
Amendment Act 2018.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , Honourable Member s
will recall that this Government promised to end con-scription in the Royal Bermuda Regiment within its
first legislative session. This Bill represents this Government’s commitment to t hat promise by finally en ding conscription.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , Honourable Member s
will know that back in 1965 the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps and the Bermuda Militia Artillery amalgamated to form the Bermuda Regiment, which is now
the Royal Bermuda Reg iment (or the RBR). The Ro yal Bermuda Regiment has a rich history and has served this country well for 53 years.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , in 1960 the United Kingdom ended conscription. Ironically, in this same year,
Bermuda reinstated conscription to the Bermuda Mil itia Artillery having previously reintroduced conscri ption to the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps three years prior. Until the introduction of the Bill before this Honourable House today Bermuda remained the only Bri tish Overseas Territory to practice conscription.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , conscription has served
Bermuda well over the years having begun with the
onset of World War II and seen us safely through i nternational conflicts and several natural disasters. That said, the modern era dictates that the time has
come for conscription into the Royal Bermuda Regi-ment to end as is the case in each of the other Overseas Territories.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , Honourable Member s
opposite will be aware that one of the key concerns of the former Government of complet ely abolishing co nscription was the Royal Bermuda Regiment’s ability to
continuously recruit volunteers at a high enough rate
so not to disrupt operations. However, the Royal Bermuda Regiment has developed a comprehensive str ategic plan that can and will help them to evolve into a
modern defence force.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , I am pleased to confirm
that the Government and the Ministry of National S ecurity have worked with the Royal Bermuda Regiment
to ensure that when this Bill comes into operation the
Bermuda Regiment will be able to sustain —


Bermuda House of Assembly An Hon. Member: Your microphone is not on.

If that is what you want to do,
continue.

Hon. Wayne Caines: Thank you , Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , the Bill before this Honourable House is the Defence Amendment Act 2018.
Honourable Member s will recall that this Government
promised to end conscription in the Royal Bermuda
Regiment within its first le gislative session. This Bill
represents this Government’s commitment to that
promise by finally ending conscription.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , Honourable Member s
will know that back in 1965 the Bermuda Volunteer
Rifle Corps and the Bermuda Militia Artillery amalgamated to form the Bermuda Regiment, which is now
the Royal Bermuda Regiment (RBR). The Royal Ber-muda Regiment has a rich history and has served this
country well for 53 years.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , in 1960 the United Kingdom ended conscription. Ironic ally, in this same year,
Bermuda reinstated conscription to the Bermuda Mil itia Artillery having previously reintroduced conscri ption to the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps three years prior. Until the introduction of the Bill before this Honourable House today Bermuda remained the only Bri tish Overseas Territory to practice conscription.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , conscription has served
Bermuda well over the years having begun with the
onset of World War II and seen us safely through i nternational conflicts and s everal natural disasters.
That said, a modern era dictates that the time has
come for conscription into the Royal Bermuda Regiment to end as is the case in each of the other Overseas Territories.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , Honourable Member s
opposite will be aware that one of the key concerns of
the former Government of completely abolishing conscription was the Royal Bermuda Regiment’s ability to
continuously recruit volunteers at a high enough rate so as not to disrupt operations. However, the Royal
Bermuda Reg iment has developed a comprehensive strategic plan that will help the Bermuda Regiment to
evolve into a modern defence force.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , I am pleased to confirm
that the Government and the Ministry of National S ecurity have worked with the Royal Bermuda Regiment
to ensure that when this Bill comes into operation the
Bermuda Regiment will be able to sustain the strength
in volunteer numbers. The Royal Bermuda Regiment
will continue its extensive public relation campaigns
and incentivised programmes in order to attract men
and women to serve.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , Honourable Member s
and the public will be aware of the success that the
Bermuda Regiment has had in the recent years in
boosting volunteer numbers. The Regiment has gone
from 10 volunteers i n recruit camp in 2013 to 42 volunteers in 2014 and 61 volunteers in 2015. Members
opposite will recall the success of recruit camp 2016—
the first all -volunteer recruit camp—with some 50 vo lunteers. This past January the first recruit camp of 2018 saw 37 privates, all volunteers and they all
passed out in the passing out parade.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , this number stands to be
bolstered by an additional 25 soldiers who are sche duled to begin recruit camp in July. This will be the first time that the Royal Berm uda Regiment has run two
recruit camps in one calendar year. One of the merits of an all -volunteer Regiment is that the men and
women who volunteer to serve are well aware of the
commitment and dedication that is required, yet are
still willing and honoured to serve the country in this
capacity. Many of these volunteers will stay beyond their three years, that is, beyond their compulsory
three- year service, thereby, reducing the number of
recruits needed to make in each year’s recruit intake.
In fact, Mr. Deputy Speaker , statistics show
that more soldiers stay on beyond the three years and two months required without conscription than is the
case when there is conscription.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , over the last six months
the Royal Bermuda Regiment has been conducting a
strategic review aimed at providing progressive rec-ommendations on how the Regiment can best fill its
role in the 21
st century. The associated analysis has
been conducted by a steering group, which is com-prised of representation of both full - and part -time o fficers and soldiers. The aforementioned analysis has
realised a number of observations and key recommendations. The strategic review is currently on the
final desk level circulation prior to being presented to
His Excellency the Governor for consideration. Ho wever, I am in a position to apprise this Honourable House of some notable headlines with regard to the
revised offer, the structure, and the modus operandi,
which will help define the Bermuda Regiment’s post -
conscription focus in suppor t of the defence and sec urity of Bermuda.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , the first headline relates
to the size of the Royal Bermuda Regiment. Four
2514 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly years ago the National Security and Defence Review
in 2014 recommended that a minimum of 400 personnel is now consider ed the lowest acceptable level of
manpower. This is the lowest acceptable level of manpower for the Bermuda Regiment to fulfil its role, broken down into 31 officers and 369 soldiers.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , the 2018 strategic r eview has proposed a more coher ent mission with
tasks and concepts of operations which are aligned to
delivering an operational effect. The results are three
courses of action in relation to [the] size and structure of the Bermuda Regiment. The proposed course of
action is based on 28 officers and 299 soldiers —in
total 227 [sic] soldiers.

[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Wayne Caines: Pardon me, 327 soldiers in t otal.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , this [is] three less offi cers and 70 less soldiers than recommended in 2014.
This structure will supp ort two main operational outputs: (1) MACA (Military Aid to the Civil Authority); and (2) humanitarian aid and disaster relief. The two sections will be efficient and balanced with an integrated
reserve.
The course of action also allows for a greater
return on investment and a dedicated career path for both full -time and part -time employees.
So two main elements that the Bermuda Regiment structure will change: one is called MACA (Mil itary aid to the civil authority); and HADR (Humanitar ian aid and disaster relief; and an integrated reserve.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , the Royal Bermuda Regiment and the Ministry of National Security have been
working very closely with Government House and the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office to fund training for
Royal Bermuda Regiment soldiers to become experts
in MACA and HADR. There is an opportunity for the
Royal Bermuda Regiment to become a quick reaction
force for this region with the ability to lead restorative
efforts in other countries that are affected by disasters.
Mr. Deput y Speaker , the creation of the Royal
Bermuda Regiment Coast Guard has been addressed in the review. The Regiment is conducting prepar ations to assume a greater maritime role. While the
Government develops the necessary legislation that
ensures that the nec essary funding is in place, the
Regiment will concentrate their efforts on delivering training and conducting effective operations in the
domain of military aid to the civil authority and hu-mani tarian aid and disaster relief while also preparing
for the pr oposed maritime role in cooperation with the
Bermuda Police Service.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , the plan for the Royal
Bermuda Regiment Coast Guard is for the Royal
Bermuda Regiment to commence training now and
perform their role alongside the Bermuda Police Ser-vice until the Royal Bermuda Regiment Coast Guard
is fully trained and can completely take over the func-tion. Simultaneously the legislation of amendments
required will be drafted and brought before this Honourable House. It is anticipated that the entire process will take approximately 18 months with a goal that by
April 1, 2020 the Bermuda Police Service can hand
over the responsibility for policing the waters to the
Royal Bermuda Regiment Coast Guard. But I digress.
Until 2020, the Bermuda Regiment Coast Guard will
work alongside the Bermuda Regiment while they are being fully trained and the necessary legislation is b eing put in place.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , this modus operandi of
the modernised Royal Bermuda Regiment will rely on
economy of effort, which is born out of the need for
increased interoperability with partners on and off the
Island. Defence engagement and collaboration opportunities will also assist the Regiment to continue to
punch above its weight, especially in the international
arena. Operati on RUMAN can be a recent example.
Underpinning the Regiment’s operational capability
and output, either individually or collectively, there is a
need a for revised Statement of Requirement and
Training Needs Analysis. This has prompted the creation of a Tr aining and Validation Centre of Excellence,
which will deliver the pipeline of training in a cost -
effective and focused manner.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , with the current strength
of the Bermuda Regiment at 340, it is important to
understand that the Regiment wi ll no longer require an
annual recruiting target of 100- plus soldiers in recruit
camp . However, the Bermuda Regiment must c ontinue to attract the very brightest future officers and soldiers from across the I sland in sufficient numbers to
allow the Bermuda Regiment to carry out its key
tasks.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , in order to provide added resilience to the proposed manning target, the Bermuda Regiment will seek to rejuvenate the Reg imental Auxiliary Unit (or the Regimental Reserve) .
The Regimental Auxiliary U nit is a holding unit for officers and soldiers who have specialist skills that are
not required for routine active service. This volun tary
organis ation may be called up individually or
en masse, if the situation dictates. Recruiting for this
voluntary organi sation will start with a veterans weekend at the end of this year. This w ill also be a chance
to recognis e the sacrifice made by our former soldiers,
while informing them of the developments in the Re giment and how they may assist. The Regiment will
create a PR plan to invite, to encourage and to give
the opportunity for the Regimental Auxiliary Unit and
programme to be develop ed and ready for soldiers
ready for deployment .
Mr. Deputy Speaker , I have discussed this
very concept with a number of former soldiers from
various ranks with whom I served during my time in the Regiment; and am delighted to inform this Ho nBermuda House of Assembly ourable House that they were all —most of them —
willing to serve in the Regimental Auxiliary Unit as the
programme currently exists to help Ber muda in its
time of need.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, the second headline in
the Strategic Review relates to “The Offer. ” The Regiment seeks to recruit from across the Island and from
a diverse demographic therein. At the heart of “The
Offer” will be a promise to invest in those officers and
soldiers who volunteer to serve Bermuda. Through
training partners in Bermuda and overseas, the Reg iment will develop a pathway of education and training
that is second to none. This , in turn, will directly ben efit those companies, big or small, who employ reg imental personnel. In short, this is a very exciting time
to be a member of the Bermuda Regiment.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , the Royal Bermuda Regiment has a rich history which we will continue to ce lebrate. This is a once in a generation chance to transform the R BR into a bespoke hybrid organis ation,
which is more efficient, effective, and professional.
The Ministry of National Security remains committed
to supporting the Bermuda Regiment through this p eriod of change, in order to ensure the security of the
people of Bermuda.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , yesterday I met with the
Nine Colonels, a group of former Commanding Offi cers of the R oyal Bermuda Regiment who have been
proponents for conscription to continue , but this group
of men are truly vested and interested in the sustainability of their beloved Regiment. I have outlined for these men the plan for the R oyal Bermuda Regiment
and how we plan to evolve the organisation to better
serve its stakeholders and how we plan to sustain t he
numbers necessary to achieve this aim .
Mr. Deputy Speaker , the R oyal Bermuda Regiment has worked hard to transform in to an all -
volunteer Regiment. Their ongoing public relations
campaigns have been aimed at highlighting the benefits of volunteering and improving the public’s perception of the R oyal Bermuda Regiment . I believe they
have seen much success. I believe t he Government
and the Ministry of National Security will continue to support the R oyal Bermuda Regiment through this
transformation.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I am confident that Bermuda will be better for ending conscription and supporting the Bermuda Regiment as it evolves into a
more modern, innovative and sustainable defence
force that will serve the people of Bermuda in a manner that is appr opriate for the needs of today and t omorrow.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I commend this Bill to
the House and the Honourable Members to discuss.

[Desk thumping]

Thank you.
Any further speakers? The Chair recognises the Honourable Member Michael Dunkley from constituency 10.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker .
I thank the Honourable Minister for the
presentation. And as I start my presentation let me
just say the word “bad,” not in the meaning of the
word bad, but in the three letters —B-A-D. And I want
to acknowledge, as we start, the efforts of the Berm udians Against the Draft [BAD] in the work that they have done over the years because I think it has
brought a lot of attention to this matter and I, for one,
believe that it has helped stimulate us to get to the
position that we are in today, Mr. Deputy Speaker .
It has not been mentioned by the current
Government, but certainly the Bermudians Against the
Draft . . . whilst all of us might not agree with ever ything they ha ve done or said or positions they have
taken, I think that they have enabled the discussion
and the debate to take place. And I think that they
should be comforted in where we are today and how we got there. They should take some credit for that.
I apprec iate the presentation by the Honour able Minister. And in starting my comments let me say, Mr. Deputy Speaker , three things, that this Bill has
three main priorities or provisions:
1. the voluntary enlistment and the abolishment of compulsory enlistment;
2. it ma kes sure that anyone who has been e nlisted by virtue of conscription must serve out their outstanding time; and
3. that any hearing that has been commenced prior to this Bill coming into operation shall continue.
So in a broad brush of this very important Bil l
those are the three, what I consider, to be the three
main highlights of it.
Now, Mr. Deputy Speaker , we all have, I think,
very strong sentiments one way or the other in regard to conscription because it has been debated for some
time and it has, at tim es, become a political football.
But I think the seed, the germination of where we are
today should go back to the former Government and
should go to the National Security and Defence R eview (of which I have a copy of here), Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker , and which, if you will allow me, I will read
from a bit of it.
It was commissioned in 2013, I believe . . . or
late 2013, but in 2014 it was presented and it was a joint effort between the Government of the day and the Governor George Ferguson (at the time). And t hey
presented what I call a very comprehensive review of
Bermuda’s National Security and Defence with recommendations on a viable approach to make sure
that we have a more secure Bermuda going forward.
When I was the Minister of National Security, I
made sure that I had a list of all the recommendations
that was available to me and on that list of reco m2516 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly mendations there were ones that were supported and
ones that were not supported and we worked through
the list. The abolishment of conscription was one of
those, Mr. Deputy Speaker , that was set in train in
2014 when we changed some legislation to allow co nscription to be a backdrop of where we stand today. In the last three years no one has been conscripted into
the Regiment. And that was a change that was m ade
under the former Government and we have been successful. The Honourable Minister presented the numbers of conscripted [sic] individuals since that time
and you can see that it has been —

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: —sorry, volunt eered—
during that time and they have been effective in making sure that they had the numbers that were available
to them.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , if you will allow me to
refer to the National Defence Review
on page 32 it
says that: “ it is of critical importance that the Reg iment’s ”—

POINT OF CLARIFICATION

Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Deputy Speaker , point of
clarification. Which year are we talking about? There
have been several defence reviews, which year is he
speaking about?

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I already mentioned it. The
Review is dated 2014.
Hon. Wayne Cai nes: Thank you.

Mm-hmm.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: It says: “it is of critical i mportance that the Regiment’s transition from a volu nteer force supplemented by conscription to an all -
volunteer force be conducted over a time frame that
preserves those national defence, internal security
and disaster relief aspects provided by the Regiment
currently or in the future, subject to this review.”
It goes on to say, under a section on the next
page, page 34, the “Abolition of Conscription” it s ays
in the Throne Speech of November 2013, the Go vernment clearly committed their intention to abolish conscription over time. So, against that backdrop, the very able
Committee, which was chaired by Leopold Mills and a former Member of this House, Louis e Jackson, sat on
it; former Commissioner of Police Jonathan Smith; former high- ranking officer in the Bermuda Regiment
Mr. Jones; and there was a fifth individual . . . let me
refer to it earlier in the page because I do not want to leave anyone out for t he good work that they commi tted to do, served on that Committee, and they put a lot of time and effort into everything they did, Mr. Deputy Speaker . And I believe that their work not only
served the former Government well, but I think their
work will serv e the current Government and anyone
who wants to take advantage of the Report going forward . . . take advantage of some of the recommendations in it.
So, we arrive at where we are today with this
Bill to end conscription and, as the Honourable Mini ster has said in his presentation, the conscription in other jurisdictions has been abolished some time ago. And there are varying reasons why it has taken the
amount of time it has to get the position where we
have been in spite of lobbying which, I would say, Mr.
Deputy Speaker , in my review of the subject, probably
really amped up over the last 10 or 12 years. And it
has been fairly constant since then about it and com-mitments have been made and we have made some
progress to it.
I, for one, have always suppor ted the Regiment because I am well aware of the work that they have done in our community in times of need and the
work that they have done in our community in times when people do not even notice what they are doing
behind the scenes. However, I have alwa ys been
concerned about an aspect of conscription, and that is
why with my colleagues we worked to get to where we are today by taking the first steps to make sure that
we abolished it. However, we allowed the Regiment to
put itself in the position to go f orward.
You know, the fact of life was, before, that you
would be very lucky as a young male in Bermuda if you did not get conscripted. Now, the Honourable Minister gave an overview of the starting of the Royal
Bermuda Regiment, the amalgamation of two re gimental bodies, which . . . I support the Minister fully in
the work that it has done and the ability that it has
over the time to help break down barriers, Mr. Deputy
Speaker , where individuals of different races would
work together to accomplish goals and move forward. And there are those in our community who support
conscription who still say, Well, you know, it would be
nice because I want my little son to be able to go to
the Regiment to learn some discipline, and all that
type of stuff.
But here we are, Mr. Deputy Speaker . I believe conscription served a time, years ago, because
of the way the world was and the need to have a si gnificant number of people in any military body b ecause of the greater incidence of war at the time and
the lacking of opport unity for any country to get people
into the ranks to help defend their principles, their
coast, or whatever it might be. But that has changed.
And what I have seen happen over the years, especially in my time, and you know I have said it before in this Ho nourable Chamber and also in another place,
that when I came back from university in 1980, I had never been conscripted. But I was starting a job . My
job required me to work at least six days a week, early


Bermuda House of Assembly in the morning work. And I knew that the chances of
me getting conscripted were going to be there—I was
only 21 years old at the time. And so what I did was I
joined the Bermuda Fire Service because I wanted to
do my service on the timeframe that was important to me.
And I stayed in the Fire Service for a number
of years, well past my time, because I thought it was important to do community service. And I learned a lot
of skills from that discipline there and helping the
community. And also with me being up early in the morning and going to work, at the ti me there was a
high degree of volunteers in Bermuda. If an alarm
went off I was already up at 4:00, I could go to a fire. I
could be on the second truck leaving the station. And that type of service and the experience I got with pe ople who were full -time o n the job is still invaluable to
me today because I still remember those skills, but the
interaction with people that I would probably never
have had before.
You know, I can still remember my first fire, I
was going down East Broadway with my knees sha king, you know, thinking about how well a light it is going to be and the guy tapped me on the back of the
truck and said, You can calm down now, Dunkley,
because there is no fire, it is an automatic fire alarm.
I said, How do you know?
He said, It’s Elbow Beach, if it was a fire we
would smell it by now.
But Mr. Deputy Speaker , the same thing goes
for the Regiment. What you can learn in that Reg iment will carry you for the rest of your life— it builds
skills for you, it builds teamwork, it builds discipline. And you know one of the most important things about
being in a service like the Royal Bermuda Regiment is
that when those in the job market, those employers,
those business owners, when they look at you and
they see your background on it, that means a lot because you have proven something, you have accomplished something, they know you can do more diff icult things, they know you can think outside the box,
they know you know the value of teamwork and all
those things I mentioned before like this.
But what I fo und with conscription— and this is
my own humble view, Mr. Deputy Speaker . I found it
to have an element of discrimination. Because if you look back, certainly, and it has not changed much
now, but in the ’70s and ’80s and ’90s I was well
aware of stories of young men doing whatever they
could to get out of the Regiment because they did not
want to be conscripted for their own valid reasons.
And at that time white individuals found it easier to get
out because they could just say, Well, I’ll go away to
university for a couple of years and then when I come
back maybe . . . you know, that boat has passed me
by.

I was in the army.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: It was an unlevel playing
field in conscription.
Now, there were many valid reasons that
people were exempted from it, for medical reasons,
you know, if you could not see, they were not going to
accept you int o the Regiment. But I know people who
dodged the draft and they had the ability, they had the
funding, the family had the money to Get out of Dodge
for a couple of years and come back and not do it. And I believe that if service is something that we r equire everyone should be subject to it.
Now, to digress a bit, there has been talk
about national service for years. There are papers in
the Ministry, which I am sure the current Minister is
aware of, on national service. And I, for one, think that
2518 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly it is good for all individuals —whether you are male or
female —to have some type of national service and
that is probably a discussion for another day. Because
I think in the society that we live in at the present time,
national service will not only help us as a com munity—and it does not have to be restricted to any one or
two or three areas, there are many great organis ations you can give your service to— but it would help
our young people learn many of the things that those
people who support conscription believe ar e important. And you know I think there is some sort of
argument there.
So, I have always supported the Bermuda
Regiment, the Royal Bermuda Regiment now, for what they have done, but felt very uncomfortable about conscription. So I am glad that the day ha s
come where we can deal with it, but at the same time we need to make sure that the Royal Bermuda Reg iment is in a position to effectively fill out their mandate.
Now the Honourable Minister referred to the
Nine Colonels and, you know, as the former Mini ster,
I, too, was lobbied by the Nine Colonels and I always
respected their opinion. And I remember before we
brought the Bill to change it where conscription was
just a backdrop and we were going to work to volunteer numbers the Nine Colonels were vehement in
their position— You must have conscription . . . you
must have conscription . . . you must have it. But once
we passed the legislation they always appeared wil ling to work with us, to continue to keep the Regiment
strong. And so I am pleased to see that the Honour able Minister said that they met yesterday and expressed their concerns and I believe the Minister alluded that there had been some type of understanding, even though they disagreed about conscription,
that there was some type of understanding that we
can work together and move forward. And I think that
is healthy because, certainly, those who have served
at that high level, they have a lot to offer. And whether
you agree or disagree with what they have to say, it
should be taken on board.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , I was pleased to see that
finally the Minister had the opportunity to provide a
high level overview of the Regiment going forward in
the future. He has talked in this Honourable Chamber a number of times about the work that has been going
on behind the scenes and a copy of the report is now
on the desk of the Governor and, I assume, the Mini ster as well. So I am pleased to see that they have now
come up with an approach of MACA, HADR and int egrated reserve unit, because it is important when we
look at the abolishment of conscription to make sure
that we do have the required numbers. The Security
and Defence Review has said, in a number of parts
through that review, that the Government of the day along with Government House needs to decide on
what the role will be, what the mandate will be, and
the amount of people to get to that position. And so it is littered all through the report where it talks about
how we get there.
And, you know, as the Minister has found out
in his short time on the job so far, the volunteer numbers have waned off just in the last couple of years. We were quite successful in the first year and the
second year, there were only 35 or 37 in the camp
early this year, now I am glad to see there is 25. But
there are a number of reasons for that. I think one of
them is that we have an ageing population, clearly, and the older you get, you know, the more likely you are going to stay committed to what you believe you
can do and some of the things you want to do in the
balance of your life.
I think also that and I believe the National S ecurity and Defence Review says in it very clearly that
if we do go to a volunteer Royal Bermuda Regiment as the former Government signified and now this
Government has made law, that it is not just . . . it is
not enough to have a fancy advertising campaign and to have financial incentives for individuals who might
want to join up. You need to make sure that the fabric of the Royal Bermuda Regiment is woven into the
community so people take pride in that and they want
to be part of that. And I think if we can, going forward,
if we can continue to mould three of those aspects
together, and the most difficult one is going to be the
last one I mentioned, the connectivity to the communi-ty by the Royal Be rmuda Regiment.
If we can do that with advertising to show the
benefits of it and the financial incentives to be i nvolved in it, I think we can have the potential to have a Regiment that attracts the amount of people that it
needs to do the new mandate that the Minister is tal king about. And, you know, I would believe that over the next coming weeks the Honourable Minister will
give a broader overview of what those three units will exactly do and put some more meat on the bones so
all of us can get a better understanding of where we stand.
Now, one topic of conversation as we have
talked about the Royal Bermuda Regiment, Mr. Deputy Speaker , for a number of years now has been the
marine role that the Royal Bermuda Regiment has played. And I thank the Honour able Minister (if I have
not done it already) for a copy of the ministerial brief.
And he mentions in there a bit about the role of the
Regiment and that it will take some time—18
months —to get into 2020 when the training and we
can have the feet on the gr ound —or on the water —to
do what they have to do.
But in the National Security and Defence R eview, as I think all Members of this Honourable House
would be aware, is that any changes for a maritime
role will have a significant impact, not only on the r esponsibility of the Regiment, the training that is r equired, but there will be a bunch of impact that has the potential to be quite significant. And so I urge Honourable Member s to take a look at some of the reports


Bermuda House of Assembly that have been done in the past and the one I referred
to a lot today —the National Security and Defence R eview—because in that there are some numbers that
probably are a bit higher than most people would i magine on what it would cost to have that maritime role.
And so, as we look at abolishing cons cription,
and the Minister has outlined the numbers that will be required—just over 300 now, I think it was 327 in total
full time and the volunteer numbers —a maritime infl uence on the Regiment will probably have some impact on what that final number will be. But it will definitely have some impact on what the budget will be for the
Regiment because if we are going to do it we have to
do it right.

Right.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: There is no doubt about it.
And in my humble view, as a f ormer Minister of N ational Security, I do not think it is going to be as easy
as taking the money and the manpower currently in the BPS Maritime section over to the Royal Bermuda
Regiment and think you can just plug it in and move
forward. It is not going to work like that. A number of
the options I have seen have clearly shown that there
are different levels you can carry on at and . . . you
know, the push was to get to one where there was a
little bit more enforcement and help on the oceans
than it is at the present time and that is going to cost
money, more money than we put in at the present
time.
Another aspect of the elimination of conscri ption which I think we should look into is . . . I am of the
belief that when you have a higher number of volunteers in the Regiment, the cost for you to maintain that
Regiment will go up because I think more money is
going to have to be put in to the salary side of things.
The proof of that will come out in time, once the new
role is set up with the three distinct sections that the
Honourable Minister has talked about and we will see
over time. But you know it has been clear because of
the budget constraints that the Government has had
over the past six or seven years, the Regiment has been one of those that has operated very well with a
decreased budget for a number of years and then a
stagnant budget over the past couple of years.
I do not think that we are going to be so successful going forward with the budget staying where it
is. I think it is going to have to change. I hope when
the Honourable Minister comes back with more information on how those three sections will work, that we
can start to plug in some numbers. I have asked the Honourable Minister for some numbers just in itself to
the maritime section, but I accept that it is a little bit
too early to even think about that. So this is a process
that is rapidly evolving to a new body. A new body that is critical for Bermuda.
I would be remiss if I did not just take the opportunity to focus in on the good work that the Regi-ment has done for so long. A lot of it we hear about
because it is publicised when we have a challenge in
Bermuda, such as a catastrophic hurricane . . . the
Regiment are there —right away!
I remember the last hurricane in October of
2016 when that wall was knocked down up at Somerset Cricket Club, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The Regiment,
the day after the hurricane, was out before daybreak
cleaning the main arteries throughout the Island. They
started up at Camp headquarters and went west and
then went east, and by the time most people were getting out of the comfort of their beds at that time, or
the comfort of their house, or the safety and security
of the house, the Regiment had cleaned most of the
main artery. So we saw that.
A lot of the work we do not see is behind the
scenes when they go to other countries and work for disaster relief and how uncomfortable the conditions
are for them, when our family and friends are down
there doing what they have to do. Or more behind the
scenes when they support the police in some of the
work that the police do in the community; or last year with the America’s Cup, how critical the role of the
Regiment was; or when we have had dump fires before, how the Regiment has been boots on the ground
doing whatever they can to support us there. I think
from time to time they have even helped up in the prisons when there has been a shortage of manpo wer.
So, you know, the work of the Regiment is
wide and varied and I do not think that is going to change as we go forward. That is why it is there. Let’s face it. They are not going to get their guns and go
down to the shore and defend us from anybody. That
is just not what is going to happen in today’s world. In
today’s world we need a trained body that is capable
of dealing wi th the challenges that we face and we
need to support them in what they have to do.
Now, because we have abolished conscription
with this Act today, it is imperative that we give them
the tools they [need] to be successful in meeting the
stringent respons ibilities they are going to have going
forward. And it is not going to be as easy as said and
done. You know, it is going to be tough to get volu nteers to come forward because everyone is busy.
Everyone has many or varied options of how they
want to spend their free time, and what they have to
do, but I can assure you just as I found that my service in the Bermuda Fire Service (at the time) has,
even to this day, many years later, proven to be good
for me and I hope good for the community.
Everyone in this House I am sure has stories
that they can tell. We need to attract our young people
to give something back to the community. I think by
volunteering for the Regiment . . . with the makeover
that we have seen in the Regiment over the past 10 years, how they have been very outward with what they do and how they do it, with some of the hard, fast
military rules being relaxed. You know, we had acc u2520 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly sations of certain types of allegations of abuses at the
turn of the century. I give commanding officers since
that time great kudos for clearing that type of stuff up.
The Regiment has opened its house, been very transparent and open about what they have done. They have offered an exciting opportunity for young people
to get involved. They have tried to attract the c omm unity.
So as we make this big step to abolish conscription, where the Nine Colonels do not agree b ecause they say they have a survey that shows that the
vast majority of the people still agree with conscri ption, well, I do not look at it that way. I thi nk it was 52
to 48, Mr. Deputy Speaker. And perhaps if weeded out all the people that were not eligible to be con-scripted, it would be the other way.
You know, sometimes in life . . . if it does not
impact me I am liable to say, Well, that’s fine for you,
go ahead, knock yourself out. But having said that,
knowing that there are still a reasonable number of
people who say that men should be conscripted into
the Regiment, I think it is the right move that we make
and we need to do all we can to support the Royal
Bermuda Regiment to get the volunteers in. We need
to do all we can to get our young people to get i nvolved in it, or the numbers will not pick up.
I think right now for volunteers . . . and the
Honourable Minister when he has a chance to wrap
up ma ybe he can answer a query, but I understand
that there is a reasonable number of commonwealth
citizens who have volunteered to get involved. So we
need to get more Bermudians involved. We love to
have the commonwealth citizens involved because the more you serve your community, the more you are
entwined in your community, the more we build up the
community spirit.
We have work ahead of us. It is not going to
be easy. And we need to make sure that we have
committed to it. Like the former Government, we
made sure that we got the number of volunteers into
the camp, and we need to make sure that we continue
to do that going forward.
So I will finish where I started. I would like to
thank all the community partners for the impetus in
making it happen. It was a gradual change that, certainly, people like BAD [Bermudians Against the Draft] probably did not support. But I believe it was done in
an appropriate way because, Mr. Deputy Speaker, a
bull in a hurry never made a calf, and we set the table
for, I think, a s uccessful transition. Thank you.

I also wanted to give recognition to BAD, Bermudians Against the Draft, who 12
years ago, in 2006, first initiated the conscientious
objectors and the talk of abolishing subscription,
founded under the leadership of Mr. Larry Marshall,
Sr. To name a few of the members of BAD: Larry Marshall, Jr., Lamont Marshall, Jamel Hardtman,
Shaki Easton, Haroon Eve, and a few others. I would
just like to recognise what they have done; [they]
paved the way 12 years ago.
I also want to say that as men of my gener ation that they created a path 12 years [ago] that today they can sit back and say that this is something that
they had a part of and started it. So, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, again, I just want to recognise the members
of BAD, Bermudians Against the Draft.
Secondly, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I want to declare my interest as a former member of Bermuda
Regiment. I served as a private for three years and
two months, Mr. Deputy Speaker, so I can speak from
experience when I speak of the Regiment. But I will
come back to that.
I first want to start with the word “ morale.” The
definition of the word “morale” is the confidence, e nthusiasm, and discipline of a person or a group at a
particular time. I know most of us here are familiar
with the number “300.” And, no, not your age, Mr.
Deputy Speaker.

[Laughter]

But the movie 300.
The movie, 300, Mr. Deputy Speaker, is a hi storic story about the Battle of Thermopylae during the
Greece and Persian Wars. In the battle the 300 soldiers that defended their nation states against the
Persian Empire, 300 strong, the Spartans (as they
say).
And, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I can relate because during my time in the army my lieutenant called
us “Spartans,” so I can relate to the Spartans.

So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, these
300 men who defended their nation against the empire of Persia, did it through training and tactics. They
did not need a large army . It is about what is in your
head, what you are trained to do, but also your passion, your morale, your national pride.


Bermuda House of Assembly We have heard from the previous two speakers of how there were objections to conscription because of the lack of numbers, because we have a set
amount, but Mr. Deputy Speaker, if those 300 can do
it, and as the Minister of National Security stated, that the preferred number of the Royal Bermuda Regiment
is around 300 to 400, then we hit that right on the
head. We are the Spartans.
So, M r. Deputy Speaker, in today’s modern
warfare, we see less hand to hand combat fighting on
battlefields. Most of the fighting in battles today is long-range warfare, drone warfare, more specialised,
less personnel. Mr. Deputy Speaker, if that is the way
the world is going then why can’t the Royal Bermuda
Regiment go that way? We do not need large numbers because for one, Bermuda does not fight in wars.
Yes, we sent soldiers overseas in the past to fight in
the world wars and other . . . just the world wars, actually.

But, Mr. Deputy Speaker, those
were different times when you did hand- to-hand battle.
In today’s world, we can use what small army
we have with specialised training, specialised tactics
to learn whether it is . . . the money that we can use to
invest in drone warfare, learning how to . . . I do not
have all the names of the different tactics, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, but you see where I am going here.

We do not need large numbers
[of] specialised soldiers trained to do this.
Morale, again, Mr. Deputy Speaker, plays a
big part. During my time with the Regiment, I was (for
a lack of a better word) “forced” to. You are conscripted against your will. As t he previous Member before
me said, I also tried to dodge. I went away to school,
but you can only go away for so long and then you
have to come back and face reality, Mr. Deputy Speaker. So, again, I was dragged against my own
will to participate and serve my time in the army, and
reluctantly, Mr. Deputy Speaker. You do what you are
told, reluctantly.
From day one I always counted down the day
I was out of there. That three years and two months, it could not go any slower, Mr. Deputy Speaker. But
once I was out, I said, Check later. Why, Mr. Deputy
Speaker? Because against your will, you are co nscripted and forced to go up there. When you are up there it is a chore, it is a task because it is not what
you want to do, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
But if, as we are d oing now, abolishing conscription and we are going toward a volunteer army, then you get persons who are willing to do and they
happily want to do it. They have pride doing it. Their morale is high doing it, Mr. Deputy Speaker, because
they are not being f orced to do it. When your morale is
high and you have pride, you can stand proud. Mr.
Deputy Speaker, during my time with the army, and
yes, I was guilty of it also, I spent a few nights on or-ders and extras because I did not want to be there. I
may have s kipped a few nights, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
or skipped a training session. Why? Because I didn’t
have the morale. I did not want to be there, Mr. Deputy Speaker. And there were numbers of my fellow so ldiers that had the same attitude. We did not want to
be th ere so we did not want to do that.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, when you have volunteer soldiers who want to do it, for one, you end up with less soldiers on extras or on orders because they
are going to make their time. They are not going to be
late, they are not going to not show up for weekend
camp, not show up for training nights, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. So having morale and pride in doing what
you do goes a long way in helping the Royal Bermuda
Regiment accomplish what they need to accomplish.
Also, Mr. Depu ty Speaker, with their going
forward with the volunteer Regiment, it is also a way to help bring other benefits. If you are offering, for i nstance, educational opportunities, or job opportunities,
more people are going to want to volunteer because,
again, if you are underemployed or unemployed at
this present time and you have an inkling to volunteer for the army, you look at volunteering versus what are
the benefits. But if you create more benefits, you will
see it might not be a vast increase in volunteer s but
you will see those who want to volunteer for the benefits, knowing that they can go away to school, they
can go up to college. So these benefits can be incorporated in this new volunteer Regiment to encourage
more people to volunteer.
Also, Mr. Dep uty Speaker, we had the men
state of how there was a myth that if we cannot recruit
100-plus soldiers every year that the army will falter
away. But, Mr. Deputy Speaker, if you have volunteers who have pride in what they do and the morale
is high, you will not have a high amount of those that
leave after their time. If I was of a different mind- set
and wanted to join the army 10 years ago, and when
my three years and two months came up and I wanted to stay on, who knows, I could be a Lieutenant Col onel toda y. But with that frame of mind, I did not want
to be in the army. So once my time was up, Check later, I am out!
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, again, you have the
morale and pride, yes, we keep those so that at the end of every year we do not lose 100- plus sol diers.
You may lose five or so volunteers, but the next volunteer recruits that come in make up for those numbers.
So, again, it is a misconception that you have volu nteers will not be able to fulfil the amount required. But if you do not have that vast am ount leaving, you do
not need the high numbers to recover those that
leave, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
2522 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly So, again, Mr. Deputy Speaker, back to the
300. Those 300 battle- hardened men. They fought . . .
if you ever saw the movie . . . have you seen the movie, Mr. Deputy Speaker?

Oh, you saw the Bible version
then, so it didn’t have all the graphic and the extra. I
will keep my . . . I will edit my version for you.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, those 300 battlehardened warriors and soldiers, they fought from their heart because they had pride for their country. It was
engrained from birth to fight for their country, protect
the land, Mr. Deputy Speaker. As was stated also by
the previous speaker, if you start from early to engrain
this in our people national pride and a [desire] to serve
your country, when they get of age then their mind- set
will be to volunteer for national service, and you will
have those who stay on wel l past their time.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, in my brief comments, which I will just kept short, again, I support this
Government in abolishing conscription, but also creating an avenue of voluntarism for those who would like
to volunteer to learn skills and tools. Mr. Deputy
Speaker, I will not lie. I learned valuable skills in the
Bermuda Regiment when I was up there. But, again, being forced to do it versus willingly wanting to do it,
has a different affect on you. So new training met hods, training our v olunteers in specific tactics.
We heard the Minister speak of maritime service, Mr. Deputy Speaker. We could have a new Bermuda Coast Guard. So these are things that you could specifically train small amounts of soldiers to do
so that the more specified t hey are in a tactic, the better they are to learn. It is the same as in our schools
nowadays, where we have smaller classrooms because the teacher can focus on those children much
better and get to their needs.
So, in closing, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I support
this and endorse the Minister of National Security
wholeheartedly in doing this and helping to change
Bermuda, because this will help change our national pride in Bermuda. Thank you.

Let me say that I
am one who when I see what I used to call “my Regiment,” as the Shadow Minister in a previous admi nistration responsible for Home Affairs under which the
Regiment fell, I used to go down to the parades and
there was such an overwhelming pride that I felt in
looking at those soldiers, especially on specific cer emonial occasions [such as] the opening of Parliament or any event that required the presence of the Reg iment. And there was such a feeling that these are my
people; these are my guys .
Let me just say that I am the mom of two
sons. And I do not mind sharing this story because my oldest son who was drafted at the age of 18 and was away at school and the minute he came back he had
to go and serve his time in the Regiment. A nd no twithstanding that it was a draft environment, he did
not necessarily show an over enthusiasm when he
first went, but as his time went on, to see the development and the maturity that came about in my young man, it was something to behold.
And I am going to miss that requirement, that
it now becomes the purview of those who really want to be there, because there are some of our young people who did not want to be there, but who will tell
you [that] in retrospect that they could not have had a
more posi tive experience. And for that, and also recognising that times move on and life changes and ci rcumstances change and, you know, the Governments
change and things change, and therefore we have to
keep up with the times; therefore, we are taking the steps that we are taking today . . . I am going to miss
it. I am going to miss hearing the positive experiences
from those who did not want to do it.
Unlike the Honourable Member who just
spoke who said he did not want to do it, and therefore
served his three years and two months, as he counted daily how many days were left, and did so reluctantly,
and that seems to me to be a bit of a shame. Because
sometimes you find yourself in circumstances in which
you really did not want to embrace it at the outset, but
you find that the experience becomes so positive that
you are wondering, Why was I kicking and screaming
at the beginning?
So my son, who was drafted for three years,
ended up spending five years (and some) in the Regiment and ultimately loved every minute. And it was
only because of later work demands that he probably
did not become a lifetime person in the Regiment. To say that it taught them a level of discipline, my older
son subsequently shared with my younger son, I didn’t


Bermuda House of Assembly need the Regiment to discipline because we have the
Mama that we have. And I accept that, and I apprec iate that because . . . but I think that the Regiment
helped to enhance that which he was being taught at
home.
What was more interesting was an experience
he had in going to one of the camps in Canada. I think
he was like . . . he was sort of at the upper time of his
stay in the Regiment. And I think he had gone to J amaica and had gone to North Carolina for training, he had done the local training. So he is off to Canada for a camp. And they did all the training and everything
they needed to do there. And they were given instructions that the bus was going to leave from where they
were in Quebec (I believe it was Quebec) to take them back to Toronto at 1500 hours. So because it was
their last night and these boys, as young men, would
be, went out and enjoyed the time and my son, hear-ing 1500 hours in his mind, notwithstanding the years
that he spent in the Regiment, was thinking five
o’clock.
So he showed up at the base for a five o’clock
departure, from which the bus had left two hours be-fore, [and] the bus was long gone. So I get a call in
the middle of the night from my son to tell me that he
was stranded. They had left his passport, so he act ually had travel documents, but he had no money. So
he had a godmother who lived in Toronto and I was
able to try to make some arrangements to get him to
actually fly from Quebec to Toronto so that he could
be there early the next morning before . . . well, actually before the bus arrived, an d he was able to be
there to catch his flight to come home.
But what was the lesson that was learned?
Number one was that he was brought up on charges, I
guess that is what they call it, in the Regiment when he got back for missing a bus, because that is just not
what you do. But more importantly, when he came
home he was made to pay back the money that I had
to pay in order to get him home.
And he was like, Well, Mom, do I really have
to pay . . .
[And I said,] Yes, you have to pay it back, because I don’ t pay for your mistakes.
So that is something that I do not know that
my son has ever late, subsequent to that. Because I think there was a lesson that was learned.
There were comraderies that were able to be
gleaned and to be [cultivated] and developed during his time while he was in the Regiment that some of
our younger people will not have that exposure, notwithstanding they may not like it at the outset, but it is the circumstance in which they found themselves.
Fast forward 20 years later, I have anot her
son, who is 20 years younger than my older son, who let me know that he is blessed inasmuch as he was born in the United States, therefore he does not have
to do Regiment time because he will not be able to be
drafted. And I thought, Well, why not? He said, Well, Mom, I have checked and they
do not register foreign births or foreign deaths in the
registry in Bermuda, so they won’t know that I exist
because I was born in the United States, I am not re gistered here, so I won’t have to do time in the Regiment.
And I said, But they will know that you [exist].
And he said, Well, how will they know?
And I said, Because I will tell them.
And the reason for that is because I looked at
the positive experience of my older son and reco gnised that he had learned valuable lessons that could
bridge generations. So when I said to my younger
son, Well, I will tell that you are here. I will tell them
that you should be drafted. And I dutifully made sure
that the information was made available.
And he said to me, Well, Mom, I don’t need
the discipline of the Regiment.
And I said, Well, maybe you don’t because
you got a crazy Mama, but just imagine the other
young men of your peers who may not have a crazy
Mama who may need you to serve as an exa mple to
them.
So what does drafting do but put together in a
melting pot a group of young men who might otherwise not be able to share the experience one with the
other.
So fast forward, we get into Government and
we recognise under the Ministry of Nation al Security
that times had to change. And I accept that. What we
did at the time was to look at how we could sustain
the Regiment and the functions that it had to perform for it to continue to be a viable entity and still answer
the call of eliminating the draft? What was done was
to try to determine over the last years, as the Minister indicated in his presentation, the ramping up of the
volunteerism that would have been necessary in order
to sustain the numbers that were required for the Regiment at that time.
And that worked, and we brought in a bac kdrop (as it were), a catchall to say, If we don’t get
enough volunteers, then this would be the outcome. Let’s keep this in reserve in our back pocket and let’s
say that if we don’t have enough numbers, if the numbers fall short, if we have national disasters —and the
Regiment have been absolutely tremendous in national disaster times, in times of relief. So if we do not
have enough people in order to fulfil those responsibi lities, or to do those things that makes the Regiment a
viable entity, then we would have a backdrop to say,
We are not drafting you at the outset, but if the volunteers fall short, then we have got a catch situation in which we can help to bolster the numbers.
It is very, very easy for us t o say, I really don’t
want to do it, so let those who wish to carry the bur-den. Very much like serving in this Honourable House,
Mr. Deputy Speaker. There is not a person in the country who recognises that the functions that we
serve in this House, both in Government and in Oppo2524 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly sition, are not vital and important, and integral to our
societal development. But so many people are saying,
Well, you know what? You all can do it because it is
not for me. And that was the attitude that we got from
some people wit h the Regiment. It is like, Those who
want to volunteer, you all can do it, but just not me.
Like the tax man, you know, don’t tax you,
don’t tax me, tax the man behind the tree. And simila rly, it is like, Let the man behind the tree be the one who volunt eers for Regimental duty.
So from the prospective of having something
that is structured, I will miss what we had. But I have
never had to serve in the Regiment.

So, you know,
there was a difference between male and female. Let
me say that for those who have argued for their right
to not be drafted, that it is a violation of that which . . .
you know, of their human rights, and whatever their
arguments are, I respect it. I did not necessarily agree
with it at all times, but I certainly respect their right to
hold the positions that they held.
And I thank the Government for responding to
the call. It is taking it one step further than I would have liked to have seen because I thought that the idea of having a catchall was the ideal way to carry it
forward. But clearly, times do change. And sometimes
kicking and screaming, we, and I as an old individual
have to change with those times.

Just to the point made by the
[Member] having a catchall, that is why they left conscription when the previous Government. I can be c orrected, but in the Regiment’s constitution, there is still
foresight so that if a national disaster, or we went into
war, any former serving soldier in the army can still be called out. So at present there might be 10,000 to
15,000 former soldiers presently in Bermuda. So at
any time, if needed, they can—

[Inaudible interjection and laughter ]

Thank you. I accept the intervention because I obviously do not know
all the innuendos when it comes to the Regiment and
its constitution. But I can stay, again, Let all the guys
who used to do it before who were trained before, let
them be the ones who are on the front line to be called up to do it. I don’t like it, I don’t want to do it and
therefore I don’t have to.
As I said, we have protections against people
being forced to do those things that they choose not to
do. But I am going to say that on a personal level, and
seeing some of the benefits that it has offered, and
some of the friendships that have been garnered, and
the relationships that have been fostered as a result of
interact ions that may not necessarily have occurred
outside of the environment of the Regiment, I am going to miss it.
Let me also say that when we have organis ations that have a positive impact, I do not think that we
should be willingly and readily anxious to pull down
those protections. I think that, as I said, I support
those people who have the right to say, I don’t wish to
do this. It is a violation of that which I stand for. I accept that. But I would have liked to have seen, at the
very least, not somethi ng that says, If you served before, we have the right to call you back up. The Honourable Member has just given the information according to the conditions that prevail. But to say, l et’s
have the ability for new people, new blood, new inf usion, because wh o is to say what new people coming
to the Regiment are going to bring. Who is to say what
they will have to offer. They may volunteer, or not.
Circumstances may be such that, Well, it’s available
to me to volunteer, but work is a little bit more appealing. Earning a pay cheque or creating a family or
meeting other responsibilities now becomes my prior ity. And therefore this Regiment no longer prevails, or
is no longer my thought process.
You know, my younger son, as I say, he
wanted to know how he could not do it. And he didn’t.
He went back to school and I told him , For as much as
I’ve spent on school fees, he could have been 10
times a brain surgeon . But that said, he elected not to
go into the Regiment.


Bermuda House of Assembly The circumstances were that he could have
been cal led, I believe until he was age 31, or som ewhere along . . .

Or, 32.
Of course, I think once he passed that age, he
was like, Whew! I got through that. But knowing that
his Mom . . . if I’d had my druthers, he would have
been there on his 18th birthday, on day one, and
served even if it was a mandatory three years. My
oldest son spent five, and loved every minute of it.
And in retrospect, the experiences that he has been
able to share over time, and some of the friendships
that I have seen him continue to develop remain t oday, and he is 52 years old.
So let me say, Mr. Deputy Speaker, notwit hstanding that there are many ways to skin a cat, to
completely abolish the conscription is something that
has been the next natural progression to the steps
that were started under the previous administration,
notwithstanding that we were drawn to that position
kicking and screaming because we believed that full
conscription initially was probably not a bad t hing. I
would not say “we.” I would say that there was some
dissention.
But “I” believed that full conscription was not a
bad thing. And then I had to come around to the thought process that maybe the way that I thought
about things needed to be updated, and I was happy
to do that. Now, as we go to this next step that the
Government has chosen to take in which conscription will be completely abolished, and I certainly hope that
going forward we do have sufficient volunteers that
will help to sustain this i conic institution called the
Bermuda Regiment.
I want to continue to go to the Peppercorn
Ceremony and to feel that pride when I see the soldiers marching onto the square. I want to continue to
watch on all ceremony occasions, the 11
th of November, and an y ceremonial occasion, because I have
watched Regiments and, you know, sort of regimental
parades and the like around the world in various countries and under various circumstances and there is
nothing like our Bermuda Regiment. They look sharp, they march sharp, they act sharp, they are sharp. And
I just have a sense of pride that is . . . I bubble over
when I see them.
And I certainly hope that going forward there
are sufficient numbers to volunteer to be able to con-tinue to sustain all of those requirem ents that are necessary in order to keep this Regiment as a viable ent ity. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
Ever so briefly, Mr. Deputy Speaker, on this
subject I want to commend the Minister for where we
are today. I also would like to commend all those persons past and present who have made a contribution
to our country through service in the Bermuda Reg iment either by conscription (previously) or by volun-teering.
Going forward from this point, assuming that
this Bill will pass successively through both Houses, and receive the ass ent from the Governor, I felt it my
duty to point out that the role of the Regiment comes under the Government House and the responsibilities of the Minister here are delegated. As the previous
speaker spoke to how much she enjoys watching the
ceremonial r oles of the Regiment, I certainly look forward to the day when we can celebrate Bermuda, the
nation, and that ceremony that ensues after that and the challenges that we have as a country totally r esponsible for our own destiny.
But we are where we are. Let us look at how
we are going to encourage greater participation in our
Regiment from a voluntary basis. Looking at other
jurisdictions, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I think the lynchpin for us in Bermuda lies with education. As I am familiar,
my alma mater, Troy Un iversity, we proudly have
been connected with the ROTC [ Reserve Officers'
Training Corps ] programme and we have campuses
all around the world, and that did not just start 10, 20,
30, 40, 50 maybe 70 years ago through worldwide connections through US military bases and it conti nues today, stretches through Asia and offers many . . .
so much so that my chancellor was . . . when I last
touched base with him a couple of weeks ago, he sent
greetings to me from the graduation in China.
And so there is an opportu nity for us to further
educate our Bermudian persons here with the opportunity of partnering, not just with the United Kingdom,
but other jurisdictions. The University of West Indies
have a management science degree in national sec urity and strategic servi ces for someone who might be
academically motivated, and the like, and want to go
all the way. We see the need, not only in the military,
but the Police Service to train Bermudians. Why not
identify persons with that aptitude and interest and
provide them that type of opportunity?
ROTC programmes exist not only at Troy,
where I am familiar, but other universities around the United States which is a lot closer to us than the UK,
and a lot more familiar to us. And notwithstanding, in
Canada, the University of Alberta, is an example that
has programmes designed for reserve officers’ trai ning and the like.
Certainly, as we look to enhance our role using our waters, as a young man who grew up in a fis h2526 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ing and boating family, it is a natural synergy for us to
explore opportunities there. But not only as it relates
to persons who might be (quote/unquote) “officer m aterial, ” but persons who may be just the rank and file.
A very important part of any organisat ion is the rank
and file. Technical education, and the development of
technical education could very well be linked and
there is a natural synergy that can be built upon. I
know the Minister of Education is looking very, very
closely at enhancing and building upon technical educational opportunities. It can be partnered with the Minister of National Security as we try to identify
young people with an aptitude.
And sometimes we have to do it differently
than just following the model that another jurisdiction
is following. I noticed that when I just looked at some
of the other jurisdictions with regard to reserves, you
know, the age is usually 17 to 19. But in our country
we have a problem right now with young people, and
the ages are getting younger. So there might be an
opportunity for us a little bit younger to involve persons with educational opportunities that provide them
with some type of military training and connection.
The discipline that you learn is not too dissim ilar to what we received, for those of us who went into
sport, discipline being very much a kingpin. And so as
we look to how we are going to take it forward, one particular resource . . . and I would say, you know,
obviously on the Government benches we pay homage to one of the colonels of Bermuda, he is actually a
Member of Parliament. But also in the legislature i tself, in our Sergeant -at-Arms, let us not forget that
there is someone here who is very well versed and very knowledgeable and appreciative of what that type
of service can prov ide. And whether or not a person
comes in kicking and screaming, there are many persons who through experience have changed their
opinion of when they walked through the door the first
time from when they walked out.
And many, certainly, if I likened my mi litary
experience in sport, with the coaching of the great
Mike Griffin from Troy and Auburn [universities], my
coach, you know, he was far more rigid than any ROTC leader at Troy University, I can tell you. They
would be hard- pressed to find a harder pers on crac king the whip than some of those football and basketball and golf coaches. So, that type of experience is of
benefit. And if in our country we are finding that by
time our young people are reaching 17, they have a lready gone in the wrong direction, they have already
met the fork in the road, we need to set our net before
the fork in the road. And that is the opportunity that presents itself. Because what I have not heard coming
from those who call themselves the “Nine Colonels,” I
have not heard them address some of the real cha llenges that the country is facing—the social difficu lties. So you just cannot keep with the same old, same old and not appreciate some of the modern- day cha llenges that are facing ourselves. And I think the Minister, Minister Caines, who
is a gentleman with military background as well, and
well versed, and we respect that, would appreciate
that the discipline that is provided in this space is valuable. But as I, you know, always try to seek the i mportance of joined- up Government with the other ar eas of responsibility marrying up, I think there is a nat ural synergy that presents itself with the responsibilities of national security, with the responsibilities of educ ation, with the concentration of culture, and also with the respo nsibility that lies in marine and ports.
Because anyone . . . look, I was just out on
the water on Monday. I saw one of my cousins there,
had the committee boat right there out of White Hills,
driving. But the guys with nice boats are the guys that
work i n jobs that allow them to be on the water co nsistently. And even though a guy like me grew up
around the water, unless you are handling those crafts
on a regular basis, you are better off sitting on the
bow, or finding a nice seat down there and volunteering to run out and grab the rope and tie it up. You do
not know where to navigate.
So we have an opportunity, I believe, when
we take ownership, partial ownership, dare I say, de legated responsibility for a Regiment whose ultimate
responsibility lies in La ngton Hill, to look at what educational and vocational and certainly in the trades, is
available. The United States, Canada, the Caribbean, and let us not forget, in the United Kingdom, what e ducational opportunities are available that would allow
our young people and the younger of young people to
get an appreciation for that type of service and disc ipline and how it can help us make a better society
along the way, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
That is my contribution to this.

Mr. Deputy Speaker, I
guess we should hear from the other side now.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, it may come as a surprise to you, and others, I guess, that I too was a conscript, and a reluctant member of the Bermuda Regiment. I did not volunteer for it. And so part of that experience is what you are experiencing today, because
people are a product of their experiences , oftentimes.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, my own view on this has
evolved. I can tell you quite frankly that I disagreed
years ago, in 2012, I believe it was, with both Paula Cox and Michael Dunkley, who in my opinion seemed
to have a race to abolish conscription based on a
threat from a group of people who did not want to
serve. Whilst everybody is entitled to their opinion and
their views, my primary concern, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
was that not only did they want to abolish conscri ption, but they were vehemently opposed to any type of
public service to th is country. And that is where I have


Bermuda House of Assembly a real and great challenge. I think that we still, to
some extent, have not addressed it today, even to
abolishing this. I think, in my humble opinion, the two
items should have come forward together.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , I get that times change
and that situations evolve. I can tell you that as som ebody who has served in the Regiment for 20 years, and the only reason . . . and it is probably worth a little
bit of history too, Mr. Deputy Speaker, because having
been a conscript, I did not go in at 18, I went in a lot
later, about in my early 20s, having been successfully
able to avoid the draft. And then I finally decided, You
know what? Give up the running. But in about two
weeks I knew, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that in order to
survive that organisation I had to spend my three years and two months advancing as far as I could because I have never been a person who likes people
telling me what to do.
And so, you know, for those who think I have
just come by that because of the current post that I hold, they will get some insight in that, you know, . . .
my parents, if they were still here would tell you that
. . . He probably arrived like that. I never liked people
telling me what to do. And so I knew that in order to
be able to survive the Guard House, and probably
prison outside of the Regiment, that I had to advance
as far as I could and then leave. And that is the path that I was on.
Two and a half years in I actually thought that
I could make a difference. And I quite enjoy ed it and
so I stayed. I never expected to command. We had a
archaic system where you had almost, dead- manshoes promotions, so if you hung around long enough
and you were within the age group, you eventually got
to command. And so if you look at the history of the
Regiment you will see that there are people who
commanded who probably if they had to compete on
ability, probably would have never made it to that
post.

[Laughter]

That is the truth.
And so, Mr. Deputy Speaker, you know, I had
no expectations of commanding when I looked at
those people who were ahead of me. And I was going to, in the late 1980s, head for retirement because I
thought I am not hanging around here, you know, in
the hopes that one day I might get to this. But we had
a Governor who came to Bermuda who happened to be a Major General. And in my humble opinion, he
was probably the last competent Governor that we ever had in this country, and his name was Sir Henry
Desmond Langley, a Major General, who commanded
the Household Cavalry. So he knew what to expect of
us.
As a result of his time in this country . . . I am
sure that Sir John Swan remembers him. He hap-pened to be the Premier at the time and he resented the fact that we had the British then, as s ome of us do
now. But what he did was to raise the standard of the Regiment, and the competency of the Regiment in
terms of requiring us to do what it was that we were
required to do in ensuring that we had the resources and the support to be able to go to the next level.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I have made friends as a
result of that experience that have been lifelong friends. I think that it is a testament to many people
who have served, particularly in capacities of authority
where you tell people who do not want to be there what to do, that after you no longer have the cover of
being in the military and that support, that they do not
come looking for you. My experience has been, Mr.
Deputy Speaker, for all the people that, you know,
appeared on orders, and if young MP Lister had a ppeared on orders, he probably would be singing a di fferent tune today because we would have sorted him out years ago. But, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the exper ience was one that I would not trade even though I went in as a reluctant cons cript. But I get that we
evolve, and we are at this stage now where we are
abolishing conscription.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, in order for this to be
successful, though, in order for this exercise in terms of the survival of the Bermuda Regiment to be successful , we require people who are in service in the
Regiment to actually have the ability to convince young people that this is something that they want to
do. And in my humble opinion we are struggling right
at the moment in terms of people who are in that role,
and that is part of the reason why we see the numbers the way that they are. Because I do not think that the
people who are trying to sell it to young Bermudians
have the right approach, or the right currency in putting up a flag outside of Warwick Camp once. Putting
a sign on it outside of Warwick Camp on South Shore
saying, Come join the army, really isn’t going to get it.
You have got to have advocacy that is aggressive and
innovative and talks to young people where they are.
And if we are going to mak e a success of this, then
that is what is going to be required.
I also think, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that there
has been a lack of vision and foresight in terms of how
you advance this. If I had been commanding the Ber-muda Regiment today when Minister Caines came
and said, I want to have a boat trip. What is it going to
cost and what is it going to require? Well, there would
have been all sorts . . . not necessarily padding in the
sense of wastage, but there would have been all sorts
of other benefits that would have been in that package in order to make it more attractive to young people
that are not just about turning up to Warwick Camp on
an evening and going off to play soldier in North Car olina or Jamaica.
The benefits of the Regiment extend far beyond what people often only attribute to the military
experience. Certainly during my time, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, you get advice from those people who are
2528 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly supposed to be professionals who come here from . . .
who come here on British Airways, but they do not
have the local experience. And that is the advantage
that we have.
And certainly one of the recommendations
made to me was that we should not go to Jamaica,
ever again! Because the soldiers get down there and
smoke weed. And that is true. Some of them do get
down there and smoke weed. I resisted that suggestion, Mr. Deputy Speaker, because we have a rel ationship with the people of Jamaica, and I am not tal king about the people that you read about in the new spaper around here where they only provide negativ e
stories about what goes on in Jamaica.
I know for a fact that the standard of expertise
in the Jamaica Defence Force [JDF] is second to none, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Their soldiers train and
graduate from Sandhurst, just like the British soldiers
do. Their soldiers graduate and train from the best
staff colleges in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the
United States, just as the British soldiers do.
And so, Mr. Deputy Speaker, about a decade
ago now, we had an experience where we traditionally have fluctuated between regimental sergeant majors
[RSM] who are Bermudian and regimental sergeant
majors who come from England. The British had the
unfortunate experience of having me in the chair as commanding officer when they said that they could
not provide us with a British RSM. And we needed
some help because we did not have a Bermudian in
train.
And so I said, No problem. We have a rel ationship with the JDF. And so I reached out to them
and asked them if they could provide us with an RSM
and they said, Oh, yes, w e can. And sight unseen, Mr.
Deputy Speaker, I knew that they would pick the best person that they had to represent their country in their
interests.
Now what do you think happened, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, after I went through the process of saying,
you know, We will pick a Jamaican? Well, you can
imagine, Mr. Deputy Speaker, without a whole lot of
imagination, there was all sorts of resistance, not the
least of which the British said, Oh, we can find somebody for you now. You cannot possibly go to Jamaica.
You have always had a line.
And I said to them, Well, hold on a minute.
That is one of the advantages of being a local is that actually we have had a Bermudian.
And they said, What?
And I said, Oh, yes. Because you have that
advantage.
And so what ended up happening, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, is we had a Jamaican RSM who came here for three years, and did an amazing job, so much so
that he left this . . . well, he left this country early, actually, because the chief of staff of the JDF said to us,
He has to come home because he is going to be the four-star major of the Jamaica Defence Force. And so what he got was a promotion as a r esult of his ability and his expertise. And that is what they do. That is what is required of us —us, those who
now serve.
If you want to get young Bermudians interes ted in a career in the Bermuda Regiment . . . and I
know people that served with me who, like myself,
would leap at the chance that is being presented to
the Bermuda Regiment today, where you are going to
provide opportunities for young men and women to serve in an organisation that can give them personal and professional satisfaction and upward mobility and
a decent salary.
I marvel today, Mr. Deputy Speaker, when I
look at the budget for National Securi ty has for the
Regiment because I look at times when we served. I
mean, it is very similar. The attitude of the Gover nment of the day then is very much the attitude that
they had toward people who served in this place.
They are not worth being paid what th ey are worth.
And you will know that, Mr. Deputy Speaker. In this
the case was that you got your salary from down town so you did not have to worry about paying a decent
salary today. And we live with the curse of that today.
Because there isn’t a day that goes by that people do
not say, You know, you are making this big large sal ary, you should be able to do miracles. Well, if anybody
up here—Minister, Premier, or whatever job you want
to have —is doing it for the money, I got a padded
room down Devonshire for you, okay? Because that is
exactly where you belong.
[Laughter]

Mr. Deputy Speaker, I
get that times change. But if this is going to be a success in terms of a practical application of a voluntary
Regiment, then it is going to require imagination, it is
going to require ingenuity, and, more importantly, it is going to require energy and a relationship with young
people, and an ability to be able to relate to them and
convince them that this is a career that they should
explore.
I also think, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that even
within the confines and the constructs of the budget that the Regiment currently has, that they can look at
opportunities other than just on the water. We should
look at how military responsibilities are distributed
around the world. We are different. And it is a part of
our racist past, why you would not have soldiers
guarding Government House, why you would not have soldiers guarding the House of Assembly, why you
would not have soldiers guarding the Premier’s res idence. You have policemen because nobody trusted
Bermudians.
I think that we need to flip the script, Mr. De puty Speaker. We need to flip the script. And if you did, what you would find is that apart from the variety of
jobs that young people w ould be offered in the RegiBermuda House of Assembly ment in terms of not just marching in parades, you
would find . . . and if you sold it properly, you would
find that there would be greater interest from young
people in actually not only serving in the Regiment but
serving their country.
And I have heard some people talk today
about how they served elsewhere and all of that, and
all of that is well and good, but I think we also need to
flip the script, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and get to a point
where we expect and require (and so her e we go,
compulsory again, but you do not have to do that if it
was taught to them at home) that young people have
a sense, or people generally have a sense of public
service, that you do something in your community just
because we are fortunate and blessed enough to live in this country.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, in his current role, I see
. . . and I told one of my colleagues today I will not out
him, because everybody asks Public Works to do ev erything for every community that they live in, as if they
are the only ones asking. And I said to him, Organise
a cleanup in your own neighbourhood, man. That’s
what it is. Even that will engender some type of co mmunity spirit. And I am not talking about something
that I do not know anything about, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
In my own district, in Cedar Hill, they have
formed . . . and “they” it is not even “we.” I am just on their periphery and I get the information and I partic ipate, but on their own they formed their own neighbourhood watch, their own neighbourhood communit y
group, and they came up with their own ideas about
what it is that they want to do to enhance their com-munity. And if we can get to that page where, you
know, this is . . . you are not pointing a finger at ev erybody else to fix every problem that we have around
here. If we all have a role to play in it, and can do
something to contribute, and more hands make for
light work.
And so, Mr. Deputy Speaker, with those few
remarks, I support the amendments to the legislation
and I encourage those who now serve a t the Bermuda
Regiment who are looking to encourage other young
people to serve to think outside of the box. Look for
ways and opportunities that you can encourage young
people and get the message out. I mean, we could give them a page out of our book up here. I say it to
people all the time, You have to say the same thing 20
times before people actually hear you the first time.
And so if you are going to have a campaign of r ecruitment, my submission would be, you have not r epeated it often enough in order for the message to get
to the constituency that you want to get it to.
And certainly one of the biggest advantages
that you have is that the salary that is being offered to
soldiers today pales in comparison to those who have
served before, and it is comp etitive to jobs that young
people could get in the private sector, and so that might be a starting point. But thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, for this opportunity to make this contribution.

Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, this is surely an historic
occasion here on the consideration of the Defence
Amendment Act 2018. And as mentioned earlier,
clause 2 repeals and replaces section 4 of the princ ipal Act, thereby: (a) retaining voluntary enlistment as the only means by which a man or a woman can enlist
into the Royal Bermuda Regiment; and (b) abolishing
compuls ory enlistment (or conscription).
Mr. Deputy Speaker, this has been a bipart isan effort. But it cannot pass without noting that when
it came down to declaring one’s intentions before the
election, there was no mention of this on the part of
the former Gov ernment. But it has been the PLP
which put this front and centre in its platform and is
here to deliver, to take it across the line. For the first
time in so many decades there will no longer be compulsory enlistment in the Bermuda Regiment.
Mr. Deputy Spe aker, I came across an interesting website that is called https://libcom.org
. It is a
UK-generated website. It is a liberal progressive website. And if I may, I would like to start off, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, to recite a poe m that is called the “Black
Soldier’s Lament.” It goes as follows:
“Stripped to the waist and sweated chest
“Midday’s reprieve brings much- needed rest
“From trenches deep toward the sky.
“Non- fighting troops and yet we die. ”
That poem is in relation to the British West I ndies Regiment soldiers who served honourably in the
British Empire forces during World War I. But, Mr.
Deputy Speaker, there is something that happened at the end of that war that I would like to share with you
because it, again, tends to i llustrate, at the very least,
the ambivalence of persons of African descent not
only with respect to the Regiment here, in terms of the
tortured history, but beyond our shores, particularly in
the Caribbean.
And if I may with your indulgence, Mr. Deputy
Speaker?

[Inaudible interjection]

“With the outbreak of the
first World War in 1914, thousands of West Indians
volunteered to join the British army. They were encouraged to do so by activists like Marcus Garvey, on
the basis that if they showed their loyalty to the King
they would show they have the right to be treated as
equals.
2530 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly “Initially, the Secretary Of State for War Lord
Kitchener believed that black British soldiers should
not be allowed to join the forces, but King George V's
intervention—combined with the need for men—made it possible.
“Thousands of West Indians volunteered. ”
(flocking to the Colonial and Empire’s banner,) “[t] heir
initial journey to England was perilous, with hundreds of soldiers suffering from severe frostbite when their
ships were diverted via Halifax in Canada. Very many
had to return home no longer fit to serve as soldiers, with no compensation or benefits.
“In 1915, the British West Indies Regiment
was formed by grouping together the Caribbean vo lunteers. This should not be confused with the West
India Regiment, founded in 1795, which was normally
stationed in the British colonies in the Caribbean
themselves. . . .
“Arriving in the war zone” (in the First World
War) , “they found that the fighting was to be done by
white soldiers, and that West Indians were to be as-signed the dirty and dangerous work of loading ammunition, laying telephone wires and digging trenches.
Most of them went to war without guns. ”
This is 1917 at a time when my Bermudian
grandmother would have been 14 years old.
“Conditions were appalling. George Blac kman, a Barbadian member of the fourth division, when
recounting conditions to a journalist rolled up his
sleeve to show his armpit: ‘it was cold. And ever ywhere there were white l ice. We had to shave the hair
there because the lice grow there’ (he said). ‘All our socks were full of white lice. . . .’
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I will continue.
“One Trinidadian soldier in Egypt wrote to a
friend saying that: ‘ We are treated neither as Chri stians nor as British citizens, but as West Indian “ niggers” without anybody to be interested in nor look after us .’ . . .”
Mr. Deputy Speaker, this story is connected to
what was called the “ Taranto Revolt.” I will now outline
the nature of that revolt. And Bermuda is factored into
what took place.
“After Armistice Day, ” (the war officially en ded) “on 11 November 1918, the eight BWIR battalions
in France and Italy were concentrated at Taranto in Italy to prepare for demobilisation. They were subs equently joined by the three battalions from Egypt and
the men from Mesopotamia. As a result of severe l abour shortages at Taranto, the West Indians had to
carry out arduous physical tasks. They had to load
and unload ships, do labour fatigues Manual or menial labour and perform demeaning tasks like building and
cleaning toilets for white soldiers, which all caused
much resentment. As did the discovery that white soldiers were being given a pay rise while black soldiers were not. ”
This is where we get to Bermuda’s r ole because they subsequently found out when making i n-quiries that that pay raise was only for British soldiers
coming from the Home Guard areas. I think that was
the term that would have been used. British soldiers
coming directly from the UK. Guess what they found
out, Mr. Deputy Speaker? That was not true because you had some overseas soldiers too who got the pay
raise. And who were they? White Bermudians in the
British colony.
“By 6 December 1918 they had had enough: ”
(especially after hearing that news) “[T]he men of the
9th Battalion revolted and attacked their black officers.
On the same day, 180 sergeants forwarded a petition
to the Secretary of State complaining about the pay
issue, the failure to increase their separation allo wance, and the fact that they had been discriminated
against in the area of promotions.
“During the mutiny, which lasted about four
days, a black NCO shot and killed one of the mut ineers in self -defence and there was also a bombing.
Disaffection spread quickly among the other soldiers
and on 9 December the 'increasingly truculent' 10th
Battalion refused to work. A senior commander, Lie utenant Colonel Willis, who had given the orders to
BWIR men to clean the latrines of the Italian Labour
Corps, was also subsequently assau lted.
“In response to calls for help from the co mmanders at Taranto, a machine- gun company and a
battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment were despatched to restore order. Perceived ringleaders were
rounded up. The 9th BWIR was disbanded and the
men distri buted to the other battalions which were all
subsequently disarmed.
“Approximately 60 soldiers were later tried for
mutiny and those convicted received sentences ranging from three to five years, but one man got 20 years,
while another was executed by fir ing squad. ”
Mr. Deputy Speaker, it is said that the genesis
of Caribbean self -determination, which 30, 40 years
later would result in the independence movement and
the independence of these Caribbean countries, act ually began, had its germination, with thi s event, because these men all went back to those respective countries after the war was over, after they were
shipped back home, and many of them began to ag itate for change and self -determination.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, certainly we know that
there were bl ack soldiers from Bermuda who served
in World War I. Subsequently we know that there are
even more black soldiers who served in World War II.
And in both occasions, the promises inherently made
by the Empire were never fulfilled. And when they came back af ter fighting for democracy in the First
World War, and then again fighting for democracy and
to put an end to a racist regime called the German
Nazi Regime, they came back to societies where they
were treated as second- and third- class citizens wit hout eve n the right to vote.
I, myself, as a young man, again, growing up
in the Key West, out in Spanish Point . . . remember


Bermuda House of Assembly Admiralty House? In the mid- 1960s, by the time I b ecame conscious of this, that, I believe, was the home
of the black Bermuda militia, w ith the Bermuda Rifles,
the white unit situated up at Prospect, and I believe up at South Shore in Warwick. Only later would we get the amalgamation in 1965 that led to what we now call
the Royal Bermuda Regiment, the designation “Royal”
having been appended or granted only within the last
two or three years.
But for my generation in the late ’50s, ’60s,
and ’70s in particular, there was, again, that ambiv alence toward the Regiment. Because for my gener ation many of us viewed the Regiment as another tool
of colonial oppression, and racial oppression. I r emember as a young boy, coming from Spanish Point
at age 11 in 1968, Mr. Deputy Speaker, finding myself
across from Annan’s on Court Street and looking
down, with mayhem all around me, and seeing the Regiment approaching containing individuals who
were older than me, because, again, I was only 11
years old. It would have contained some of my rel atives and your relatives, the fathers and brothers of
friends of ours. So it was not just the police that had
this v ery fractured relationship with Bermuda’s black
majority, but the Regiment as well. I suspect that if we
would have had volunteerism then, the ranks of the
Regiment during the 1960s and 1970s would have fallen off precipitously.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I think it bears saying
that Larry Marshall, who I went to school with briefly,
and you know him, needs to be commended for his
advocacy. But despite what might have been said earlier, the advocacy around eliminating conscription be-gins way before those individuals began to get a pu blic profile . . . we are talking about Mr. Marshall, his
sons, and even Jamel Hardtman. I might just say very
quickly, I always thought that comparison to chattel
slavery that they continue to make was invidious and
insulting. I remem ber having backdoor conversations
with them to stop making that comparison. In the latter part of their advocacy movement they did begin to
desist.
But in 2005, 2006, the Bermuda Indepen dence Commission [BIC] of which I was a Member, the
[Deputy] Speaker was also a member, along with
Dame Lois Browne- Evans (God bless her) and a
number of others, even a former party leader, Marc
Bean, Philip Perinchief who was the former Attorney
General would have been a legal advisor to the committee.

—Lieutenant Colonel
Lamb—of the Bermuda Regiment and he gave a presentation to the Bermuda Independence Commi ssion in 2004/05.
He tal ked about how the Regiment would be
able to transition to serve and to reform itself, moder nise itself in order to serve in the context of an ind ependent Bermuda; set up what would be the optimal -
sized force. Numbers were crunched around in 2005
dollars, how much that would cost, what would be the
demand on an independent Bermuda budget, for example. Even then we talked about developing coast guard and maritime capabilities. That was in 2005 or
2006. That report is still available. I would encourage
Bermudi ans to get their hands on it if they can.
Secondly, I also remember in 2007 or 2008,
by that time you had the public advocacy, as exempl ified by Mr. Marshall and his sons, begin to percolate. I
was instructed as the consultant to the Premier to go to the n (the title still may have been) National Security
Minister Burch, who spoke earlier (apparently he has
forgotten about that), to move forward on that issue. I
then contacted Colonel Burch who had earlier ap-peared before and testified before the Bermuda I ndependence Commission. And we had a short meeting
with the then Minister Lieutenant Colonel Burch. Not hing came out of that. And I am not positioning or assignment blame for that, it was just that the time was
not right. But certainly, now the time is right to move
forward with this.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, we have heard expected
pushback, and I might just say . . . I hear people sa ying, I want to declare my interest , oftentimes here.
And half the time they then declare something which
is not even relative t o the topic at hand. But I heard
everybody talk about their experience, of lack thereof,
with the Regiment, and I just want to say that I r emember Colonel Putney, after I came back school, I
got a letter and I replied to Colonel Putney,
“Dear Sir,
“As a socialist revolutionary who believes in
direct action, I could not in good conscience ser ve
under the Bermuda Regiment.” I never heard back
again.

[Inaudible interjections]

I never heard back again.
But, Mr. Deputy Speaker, this move to modernise the Regiment, to accept that we can only move
forward with a volunteer Regiment, and that people
are demanding that, which certainly is part of our plat-form, I think is long overdue. And it is happening in a
framework that does not increase the risk profile of
2532 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Bermuda in terms of national security and safety, but I
believe will, in time, demonstrate that it actually enhances national security and national safety for Bermuda.
Certainly, look at the experience in the US.
That volunteer army , the organisation around it, we
have Bermudians connected to us, relatives, who
have served in that volunteer army. I spent a few . . . a
week or so with a mutual relative of Ms. Foggo here,
from constituency 3, only a couple of weeks ago. It
has been a s uccess. Now, people like myself, of
course, are not happy with the way that volunteer army has been deployed by the US over the last 30, 40
years since it was created. But it has been a success,
and a success in terms of being a successful model for volunt eerism. Why? Because it provides a career
pathway, for example, for many of its soldiers.
Persons who come from lower income fam ilies and others of similar social economic status can
find a pathway to lifelong and successful and lucrative
jobs by going through the training regimes and the opportunities for learning that are in the US volunteer
army system. We need to emulate that and other volunteer models. I am sure there are others in Europe
that the Minister in his wisdom has looked at. It is the
way to go.
And I have always been enthused about the
notion of providing this sort of diversification as inher-ent in the decision to pursue the model of having a
maritime corp. This may not be the official way it is
being designated here, but I think everyone here and
the listeners will understand. Hopefully, in 10 years
from now or even sooner we can add a helicopter to that in terms of search and rescue.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, this is the future. I
am also happy to hear that the opposition that was
coming fr om the so- called “Nine Colonels,” or is it 10
now?
[Inaudible interjection]

Okay. From the Nine Col onels has been ameliorated somewhat, it has been diminished somewhat by the assurances given by the
Minister to them.
I am heartened by the way that we are pr ojecting the numbers now. There was probably misapprehension that every year or so we will be looking for 100 or more soldiers. But clearly, it is volunteer force,
people are being remunerated in a far higher degree
than we wer e under the conscription service, and as
the numbers are laid out here (and I do not have them
at hand. I have got so many papers here.), we may
just need —and again, somebody correct me—to ev ery year look to see anywhere from 30 to 40 members
on average, being new volunteers, to come in to keep that new complement, which is at 340 instead of 400.
People are going to come in, they are coming in to
volunteer and serve full time. They are not going to be leaving in great numbers —when I say “great numbers,” 100 per year. So the demand that is there that
is going to result in us keeping that ideal complement,
I think are realistic numbers and quite doable.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Regiment has
come a long way from a highly segregated body pre-Regiment days, but we still have a reflection of Bermuda’s racial realities even today within the Reg iment. I had a conversation with the Minister a little while ago, and I remember as a little boy —and a not -
so-little boy, teenager even, but my perception was
that, you k now, even on parades officers were always
white and the blacks were not usually reaching, going
beyond being sergeant majors in the great uniforms,
and the conscripts of course were overwhelmingly
black. I do know that today not much has changed in
that re gard. Hopefully with the professionalism that is
going to now not only be confined at the higher levels
of this service, but will necessarily percolate down to
the lower ranks we can foster more commitment to a
lifelong service and a commitment to gain the necessary qualifications on the part of more African Berm udians to join the officer ranks. Certainly it has to be troubling and unacceptable to both black Bermudians
and white Bermudians that the Regiment is still reflective of that racial hierarchy in Bermuda. It is time that
ended.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Minister certainly
has my support. I sought to give some historical bac kground to this. The past is always a prologue and it is
necessary sometimes to see how we got here so we
can have a more, not only an evidence- based conversation, but one that is reflective of the realities that
Bermuda has always reflected in our lives, particularly
with respect to racial disparity.
Once again, I thank the Minister and I want
Bermudians out there in radioland to take note that
another promise made is about to be kept.

Thank you, Honourable Member Rolfe Commissiong.
Are there any further speakers?
The Chair recognises the Honourable Member Jamahl Simmons from constituency 33.

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, and thank you to all the colleagues who have spoken before me.
I have a considerable amount of praise that I
must give to Minister Caines for bringing this forward
because this is the fulfilment of a promise t hat was
made by this Progressive Labour Party Government in
our platform. So, as my colleague who just took his
seat alluded to, promise made promise kept.
The Minister deserves praise because any
other man or woman in the position could have looked at our platform and said, Well, let’s just get rid of conscription and be done there, the promise would be
kept. But this Minister took it upon himself to take a


Bermuda House of Assembly promise and over -deliver, which I believe is something
that is to be commended, because in the end ing of
conscription, he has brought forward a vision of an
empowered Regiment, a volunteer -driven Regiment, a
career opportunity for young men and women if they
seek to take advantage of it. And, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the fulfilment of the promise of ending conscription
has been a long- time coming. And it is a long- time
belief of myself that this should have been done. So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, today I feel very gratified to see
and be here and be a part of watching this historic day as we end conscription in B ermuda.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, many have fought and
sacrificed to see this day come. I have heard com-ments in praise of and criticism of the Bermudians Against the Draft [BAD], but Mr. Deputy Speaker, I am
not going to let the quest for perfection eliminate the
good.
Where I have commendation for that group,
Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Bermudians Against the Draft, is that in Bermuda we are often told of our-selves that we will not stand up, that we have no
backbone, that we will just go along to get along, that
we just say, Well, whatcha gonna do? And they did
not. And whether you like them or not, whether you
agree with them or not, I hope that more Bermudians
take the example of not being that person who says,
Well, whatcha gonna do? There remains in this cou ntry a need for people of will, willing to stand up [for]
what they believe in. I hope that the seed germinates throughout our people being committed to that and
willing to sacrifice to move our country forward.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I served in the Reg iment. And, like my good colleague, the Honourable
Member from constituency 25, I was a reluctant inductee, worse than that. I will tell you my mother says
often that in college I majored in women and skylar king. And I can say that in the Regiment I majored in
tomfoolery, shenanigans, and other things that probably should not be said in this Chamber. But Mr. Depu-ty Speaker, in my being drafted for the Regiment I can
say that I am one of those people who said I did not
need discipline, because I had a daddy and I had a grandpa, and they gave me discipline. But beyond
meeting people I would not have met and friendships
that I have had for the rest of my days, that exper ience did reveal a need for us as a community to instil
in our men basic life skills that many are not getting.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I went to the Regiment
at 27 years old and I had been shaving since I was
11—

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Jamahl S. Simmons: Yes, unfortunately, an
early bloomer.
But there were men who had never shaved
and did not know how to shave. Men who had never
ironed a shirt. Men who had never polished their shoes. And it is unfortunate that so many had to be,
against their will, given these life skills. We must do
better and we must each share our knowledge with
those who can. We cannot continue to say that som ebody else will do it. We have to do that.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I think what I would like
to conclude with these brief remarks is that between
2012 and 2014 I had the g ood fortune to spend a si gnificant amount of time in the Caribbean. There is a
level of pride that I witnessed, whether it was Jamaica, Saint Kitts, or any of the other islands I spent time on, in serving in the military, in the uniform of the mil itary, and in respect for the people who serve in these
countries. Mr. Deputy Speaker, if you go to our islands
to the south, you do not see them bringing in anybody
to run their militaries, to teach their troops. They have
confidence and belief in [themselves]. It is my hope,
Mr. Deputy Speaker, that as we begin this day that we
never again have to bring in anybody to fill a role in
this Regiment that can be filled by a Bermudian that
we have put confidence, faith and training in.
I am confident that the Minister, for as long as
he holds this role, is committed to this as well. I be-lieve that we will see going forward, as we develop as
a country and mature as a country, some saying that
you will only get that pride if we become independent.
But to prepare for that day, whenever it comes, we must begin to start feeling pride now. We must begin to start instilling pride in those institutions that serve
us and start creating within our people the need where
we do not have to go to volunteers for anything because we lov e our country so much that we are giving
time, whether it is with the Regiment, whether it is with
KBB [Keep Bermuda Beautiful], or whether it is with
the political party of their choice to improve this cou ntry. The sense of pride and ownership and belongi ng
is something that can begin with the Regiment and
grow throughout our country.
So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would just like to
conclude with this. I think that when the Minister brought forward his proposal and the vision for this
Regiment, and he brought forward the facts about the
numbers that will be required, he spent much time in
consultation and listening and taking on legitimate
criticisms to ensure that when this was done it was done correctly. The Bermuda Progressive Labour Party made a promise and the Minister and this Gover nment have over -delivered. I think that as we sit here
today I believe that we will, in unanimity , support this.
Today is a historic day and one that we should all r emember and treasure. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Thank you, the Honourable
Member Jamahl Simmons.
Any further speakers?
Minister, are you closing out? Minister Caines.

2534 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Wayne Caines: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
It is indeed a momentous day. I think that
when we listened to some of t he speakers we felt that
this was a eulogy for the Bermuda Regiment. Nothing
is further from the truth. This is a renaissance for the
Bermuda Regiment.
Some Hon. Member s: Yes.

Hon. Wayne Caines: The army, the Bermuda Reg iment, the Royal Bermuda Regiment , will continue to
be out on parade, they will continue to be able to conduct the Peppercorn Parade. They will still be the forward guard on the opening of Parliament. We will still see them as evidenced in the May 24
th parade as a
security unit.
This Regiment will grow from strength to
strength. The main concern, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
when I met with the Nine Colonels yesterday . . . and
it was a difficult meeting. They were committed to
conscription. At the end of the meeting they saw the
plan, they realis ed it and they said, You know what? If
we can see these things evidenced in writing, [you] will have [our] full support.
So this morning when I saw the newspaper,
and I saw the half -page article that was taken out, obviously I was concerned. But after tal king with one of
the colonels, he said that after his meeting with us he tried to retract it from the Royal Gazette. He tried to
retract and take out the ad from being in the paper. He
said that he was unable to do so because the deadline had been passed at the Royal Gazette.
So I do think that we have the support of the
Nine Colonels who are men who have served this
country with distinction. But if we were just to stop at
the Nine Colonels, we would do this Island disservice.
Over 10,000 men and women hav e served in the
Royal Bermuda Regiment at some time since 1965.
Over 350 women, from all walks of life. In this very
room we have two colonels, a major, two sergeant
majors in this very room.

A bunch of privates.

Hon. Wayne Caines: A bunch of privates and I stand
before you, a former captain in the Bermuda Reg iment who came in as a private soldier, who went off to
the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst directly up through a captain in the Bermuda Regiment.
This Regiment has moulde d men and women
in our community as will continue to do so. The bi ggest fear was that when the Regiment would be called
for significant elements that it will not have the requisite amount of people. That should not be a concern any longer. Those fears should be allayed.
The number in 2014, the number for strength
for the Regiment was 400, [there were] 331 officers and 69 soldiers. We have now again relooked at those numbers and the number that we are looking at is 327
soldiers, which includes 28 officers and just over 300
soldiers. We have 340 people in the Regiment right
now and so where we were trying to get hundreds of people every year, we can have directed recruitment
and just getting under 25 or 30, whatever that number
is.
But if that is not enough, if we do not have
that number, we hit the ground en masse, if there is a
national emergency. What happens if we need more than 327 soldiers? We are going to re- enact the Regimental Auxiliary Unit, or the Regimental Reserve. So if you were a former soldier , you can sign up for the
Bermuda Regiment Reserve, come out once a year and be in that number. And when your country needs
you, you can be in a specialist role and get called out.
So what does that mean? We do not have to worry any longer about not having the coverage in case of
emergency if we activate, and there are number of
people who will be interested in that part.
Are we out of the woods? I think we are not
out of the woods yet. I think that there is a component
that we have to stress to the listen ing public. This still
requires character and discipline. This still requires
people to understand the rubric of being a soldier. The
epicentre of being a soldier is what? Discipline. And
so things will not wane, they will not be thrown away.
We will still have a disciplined service.
The only thing that will change, and momentously so this afternoon, is that there will no longer be
conscription. We still will have this institution. We will
still have the protection. We will still have the opportunity for y oung men and women to be disciplined, but
it will be with a full volunteer army.
I do think that we need to . . . we are waiting
for the plan from the Bermuda Regiment. His Excellency the Governor will see it. And we have to be held
to account. There has t o be a timeline. There have to
be numbers and a budget put behind, and that is something that we will bring before this noble and Honourable House in time.
But I do believe that the men and women of
the Royal Bermuda Regiment should be congratulat-ed. The leadership, past and present, should be congratulated for the yeoman service that they have given
this country.
We have much to be proud of. I have heard a
lot said about the men of Bermudians Against the Draft. I believe that sometimes you have to make unpopular stands. We have seen a lot of people stand
for things in this country over the last few months, and
they too stood at a time when even I disagreed with
their position. And they did so in the face of a lot of
opposition, and today they are vindicat ed—they are
vindicated. This country moves to not only to end conscription, but to modernise. And we, like the rest of the
people of the Overseas Territories and the rest of the Caribbean, will now have and form a full -time volu nteer force.

B ermuda House of Assembly Mr. Deputy Speaker, my last point is that
since 2015 we have legitimately ended conscription. It
was ended by the former Government. They did not get it across the line. For whatever reason —for wha tever reason—they did not make this ultimate step.
And so we will give Ja ck his jacket . But we have done,
we have made a promise in this parliamentary year,
and Oh, you just want to tick off a box, and what you
have done is just ticking off a box. You said it to the
people and so you are going to take this through kic king and screaming and just get rid of conscription.
Well, that is false.
You have seen the plans with the MACA, Mil itary Aid to the Civil Authorities, so if there are some problems during times of emergency, if the civil au-thority needs help, well, we have an element that deals with that. The second element is HADR, H umanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief. If there is a hurr icane in one of the islands down to the south, or an ywhere in our region, they will go to help them. And the last that we spoke about is the auxiliary unit or the [Regimental] Reserve unit.
That is what this country will be trained and
changed to. That is the bearing that we are going to
march on, that we will not only have the end of conscription, but we will have a rejuvenated, redirected proper ly trained Bermuda Regiment.

Yes.
Hon. Wayne Caines: It is self -explanatory.
Clause 2 repeals and replaces section 4 of
the principal Act, such that voluntary enlistment is the only means by which a man or woman can enlist into the Royal Bermuda Regiment, and abolishes compul-sory conscription by any means into the Royal Ber-muda Regiment.
Clause 3 (a) repeals sections 12, 13, 13A, 15,
15A, 16, 17, 17A, 17B, 18, 19, 20, 23(3), 23(4), 23(5), 25(1)(a), 27, and 28(5) of the principal Act, [and (b)] Part III and Part IV [and] the Schedule to the Bermuda Regiment Governor’s Orders 1993. These repealed
sections speak to registration and liability to military
service, method of selection for service, period of
compulsory service, the Exemption Tribunal, defer-ment of the offences related to the failure to complete military training. As clause 2 of Bill abolishes conscrip-tion, these sections of the principal Act and Governor’s Orders are redundant.
Clause 4 is the transitional provision which
clarifies that: (a) any man of the Regiment having become a man of the Regiment by virtue of compulsory enlistment (conscription), prior to the coming into o peration of this Bill, shall serve out any remaining per iod of time by his compulsory enlistment as if this Bill had not come into operation; and (b) any hearing commenced prior to the coming into operation of this Bill, in relation to compulsory military enlistment (conscription), shall continue to be in accordance with the
Defence Act 1965, as if this Bill had not come into operation.
Clause 5 is the commencement provision
which states that this Act shall come into operation on July 1
st, 2018.

Thank you, Minister.
The Minister has presented clauses 1 through
5 of the Defence Amendment Act 2018. Any other Member care to speak [to it]?
I recognise the Member from constituency 10,
the Shadow Minister.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Honourable
Chairman.
To the Honourable Minister, in clause 4, which
is the transitional provisions, the Honourable Minister said that persons who have been compulsorily enlis t2536 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ed shall serve out their remaining period of time. Any
idea how many individu als fall into this class? B ecause I assume that we would be in the last year, and
correct me if I am wrong, Honourable Minister, but
2018 would be the last year for the three years and two months, so everyone should fall off the books by
2019. The Honourab le Minister is shaking his head,
so that answer is acceptable.
Secondly, part of that provision is that any
hearing commenced prior to the coming into operation
of this Bill in relation to compulsory enlistment shall continue in accordance with the Defenc e Act 1965. Is
the Honourable Minister able to provide how many
individuals might fall into that category?
The Minister is shaking his head no. If that is
case, is the Honourable Minister, through the support
of those here to provide technical advice, abl e to say
how long it is anticipated that some of these hearings could be completed?
As a former Minister, I know they have taken
some time. It would appear that some of them really
have not had any attention over a period of time, so I
think because it is a transitional provision, and there is
no mention of when that transitional provision will end,
I think we need to set some time frame on the ending
of that transitional provision so that it just does not
drag on and cases are not dealt with.

The Chairm an: Any other Member care to address
the clauses 1 through 5 before the Minister . . .?
You have the floor, Minister.
Hon. Wayne Caines: Thank you.
If there are any outstanding matters that are
before the court, with reference to military service,
they are governed by the civil laws of the land. The
civil laws of the land provide specific statute of limit ations with reference to some re- offences. And so if
there are any matters that are outstanding, then we
will have to then find out if there are any mat ters at the
Royal Bermuda Regiment that are outstanding, and if
there are matters that are outstanding, what is the civil
or criminal disposition of those matters.
And I will have to give an undertaking to the
Member from constituency 10, but let’s be clear, that it cannot be anything outside of six months if it is al-ready in front of the court. Based on if something is
front of the summary courts, in order for it to be more
than six months, it would have to be fiated, in order to
extend that period.

The Chair recognises the Honourable
Member from constituency 10.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I appreciate the advice from the Honourable
Minister. So, I am not being a lawyer, the Minister r eferred to matters before court. Does a hearing mean that that matter is in front of the court, or is that a regimental hearing that will take place?

The Chair recognises the Minister.

Hon. Wayne Caines: There are internal matters of
discipline in the Bermuda Regiment that follows the orders process if a person is indeed . . . if there are
matters of internal discipline within the Bermuda Regiment as it pertains to absenteeism, if a person has
fallen afoul of being reported to duty for specific per iods of time, there is a process within the Bermuda
Regiment and it is called “the orders process.” As long
as that person is indeed a member of the Bermuda
Regiment, they can be internally dealt with through
the orders process.
If that person has to go to the civil courts becaus e their period of absenteeism or that offence falls
outside of the scope of the Defence Act, that matter
indeed has to be in the courts within a six -month per iod after it goes to the DPP’s [ Department of Public
Prosecuti on] office, if it indeed falls under any su mmary jurisdiction Act.

Member from constituency 10.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes, Mr. Chairman, thank
you for that.
So, that being the case, there seems to be
two sets of what can take place. Would it be wise to have a defined period for this transitional stage? And
if not, the reason why not? Because it would . . . just
one second. It would mean, Mr. Chairman, that at
least we would know that we could end the transitional
period at a certain stage rather than have something
hanging over the Regiment or individuals concerned.

Any other Member care to speak?
Minister?
Hon. Wayne Caines: A soldier has a determined period, three years and two months. So if a soldier has a
determined period of time, let’s suppose a soldier is
out of the country for a specific period of time and he
comes back in. Well, the Regiment still are within the ambit of the law to deal with that matter. If a person is
. . . if the matter is so significant and it goes to the
courts, well, that matter has to be dealt with within a specific frame of time.
The Act is simply saying if a soldier finds hi mself within that three years and two months that they are a conscripted soldier, that the Regiment has the
legal ability to deal with that matter internally. And so it
is not a matter of it hanging over a person’s head. The
Regiment has clear mechanisms of dealing with that
person, but it onl y can take place for the term that
they are a soldier in the Bermuda Regiment. And that
will be the duration of the three years and two months.



Bermuda House of Assembly The Chairman: The Chair recognises the Member
from constituency 10.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes, thank you, Mr.
Chairman. Just one last comment, then.
I would appreciate if the Honourable Minister
could touch base with his technical officers some time and report back to the House on the number of these
hearings that are still on the books.

Hon. Wayne Caines: I give an undertaking that at the
next sitting of the House I will have that information,
sir.

Are there any objections to the
Bill entitled the Defence Amendment Act 2018 as
printed, be approved?
There appear to be no objections.
Approved. The next order of business is the motion by
the Honourable Lovitta Foggo. You have the floor,
Minister.

MOTION

2016 POPULATION AND HOUSING
CENSUS REPORT —TAKE NOTE MOTION

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I will just refer to you as
Mr. Speaker since you are indeed acting in that c apacity.
I move that the House do now take under
consideration the following motion, notice of which
was given on the 1st of June 2018, that this Honour able House take note of the 2016 Population and Housing Census Report.

Continue.
Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: Thank you, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, and Members of this
Honourable House I am pleased to rise this evening to
lead the debate on the take note motion. Again, that
this Honourable House take note of 2016 Population
and Housing Census.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I have to say, I really
struggled with this assignment. I was initially resistant
to this debate. I could not quite understand what I
could share that was not obvious. What message was
there for me to share that the data did not speak to?
What else is there to say that would affect the cond ition of the people, my people, the people who have
bestowed upon me an awesome leadership respons ibility to represent their interests in this Honourable House.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I poured through the
report time and time again and then it occurred to me.
The young man who is contemplating dropping out of
school because . . . the single mother strugglin g to
make ends meet; the ailing senior citizen forced to
make a choice between buying food or buying medi-cation; the unemployed daughter who has a stellar
academic background: undergraduate degree, post
graduate diploma, certifications, and a decade of experience, but cannot get a job; the father who is putting in an honest days’ work for half the pay of the guy
who might not look like us sitting next to him.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, these are the people
that need to hear from me. These are the people who need to know that this Government has collected the
data, have and will continue to analyse the data, and will use the data to implement policies and enact legislation that will lift up, support, and provide for our
people.
2538 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The data tells us that our populat ion is gro wing older, family size is declining, household income is
shrinking, and, notwithstanding an economy that is
dependent on intellectual capital, a significant portion
of our population has no more than a high school e ducation.
The data tells us t hat the number of blacks
working in the service industry is declining, while mixed and other is taking their place. The data tells us
that Bermudians are being shoved out of corporate
Bermuda and that income disparity is real.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the f acts are that the
population was 63,779 in 2016 and the sex ratio i ncreased from 92 to 93 males per 100 females. The median age of the population increased to 44 years, up from 41 years, and the proportion of the population
that was Bermudian increased fro m 78 per cent to
79 per cent.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged
at 7 per cent, and the average weekly hours worked in
a main job declined from 41 to 40 hours, while the
median annual gross income from the main job for the
full-time working populati on increased to $65,418, up
from $63,789.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the median annual personal gross income declined from $58,466 to $53,716.
The median annual household gross income declined from $103,657 to $93,713, while the average hous ehold size declined from 2.39 to 2.26 persons per
household. And the number of occupied dwelling units
was 28,192 in 2016. These are the data; these are the
facts. The numbers speak for themselves.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I stand here today because somebody made a way. In 196 3, a small group
had the tenacity to form an organisation that would
challenge the status quo and mount a campaign to
advocate for equitable taxation, economic parity, we lfare programmes, housing and educational and electoral reform, [and to put an end to racial discrimin ation]. In that year, the then Opposition gained a mere 10 seats in the House of Assembly.
Fast forward just over half a century, and in
the historic general election of July 18
th, 2017, we sat
in this Honourable House as the majority, initially holding 24 of the seats, whilst the Opposition held 12.
Less than a year later, as a result of the June 7th byeelection, our number has increased to 25 and the O pposition holds 11. It took 55 years, Mr. [ Deputy ]
Speaker. But, Mr. Deputy Speaker, my people need to
know that, in the words of Barack Obama, this is the
audacity of hope.
Hope defined is an optimistic state of mind
that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes
with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life
or the world at large. As a verb, it is a notion that r equires that we expect with confidence.
Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker, the people of this country can expect with confidence a better and fairer
Bermuda. They can expect that the data gathered will be used to support policy decisions that are in the
best interest of all of the people of Bermuda. They can
expect a government that is serious about working for
and with its constituents and stakeholders for the
achievement of desired societal outcomes. Mr. [ Deputy] Speaker, the p eople of Bermuda can expect with
confidence a government that uses leading data tec hniques in decision- making and performance management.
Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker, Bermuda’s most recent
census was launched on May 20, 2016, in alignment with the Statistics (Census of Population and Housing)
Order 2016. The census data provide an invaluable
snapshot of the profile of Bermuda’s people and housing stock. As such, the 2016 Census data is an excellent resource for research, study, business forward
planning, and evidence- based decision- making to
help shape our country’s future. Mr. [ Deputy ] Speaker,
today I am looking towards the future. Mr. [Deputy ]
Speaker, I am consciously putting the past into per-spective, recognising that it is time for our people to expect with c onfidence.
Our story is one of progress, notwithstanding
the journey that has been filled with potholes, roa dblocks, and glass ceilings. Do not worry, Mr. [Deputy ]
Speaker. I do not plan to dwell on opposition or o ppression, struggle, inequity, or barriers placed and
then repositioned to prevent progress. Mr. [ Deputy ]
Speaker, I am sure you know, because I have heard you do it many times here, that story has already been
told.
My story today, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, is
about the progress and the road to a better and fairer
Bermuda. I will share the facts and speak to the f uture, exploring education, economics, jobs, income,
and the way forward. The people of Bermuda can—
they can, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, expect with conf idence on education. Honourable Members will recall
that I am an educator by profession, and therefore I appreciate the opportunity to explore these data
points, especially. Education, you already know, is
commonly divided formally into such stages as preschool or kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, and then college, university, or apprenticeship.
Education in Bermuda is compulsory from ages 5 to
18 years, and is offered by public and private instit utions.
Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker, education in Bermuda,
to the secondary level, is free. P rogress? Yes. Good
enough? No. We no longer are required to leave
school before it is time, to help the family survive. L egally, we are mandated to stay in school. Useful? Yes.
However, our economy now requires more than just a
high school diploma. Mr. [ Deputy] Speaker, data on
the highest academic qualifications held by persons
16 years and over indicates educational advanc ements during the intercensal period. It was gratifying
to observe that the population without a formal ac ademic certificate declined 1 0 percentage points, to 14


Bermuda House of Assembly per cent. This was offset by percentage point gains for
the holders of high school certificates, technical or
vocational certificates, associate degrees or diplomas
and degrees.
Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker, in an economy dependent upon intellectual capital, requiring specialist
skills and higher levels of educational attainment, we
still have work to do. As high school certificates, we
are still the most common highest academic qualific ation, representing 35 per cent of the total. Encour agingly, however, the population was more than twice as likely to hold high school certificates, or degrees, than
to have no formal certificates. It is my view that these
data demonstrate that the people of Bermuda attach a
growing value to education.
The data are representative of all racial
groups, as all were less likely to have no formal certi ficates and more likely to have a higher academic
qualification in 2016. Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker, notably,
blacks with no formal certificates fell 12 percentage
point s, to 16 per cent, and those with high school certificates increased 7 percentage points, to 40 per cent.
Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker, you will recall that, on
December 1, 2017, the Honourable Minister of Educ ation, Diallo Rabain, excitedly presented to this Hous e
and the general public Plan 2022, Bermuda’s strategic plan for public school education. The Minister, on be-half of this Government, has pledged to raise conf idence, quality, and investment in public education. Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker, Honourable Members wil l recall
that the plan was produced by a diverse team of
community members, using research- informed best
practices. The priorities as set out in the plan are as
follows:
1. increasing academic rigour in student engagement;
2. ensuring career, college, and workf orce readiness;
3. enhancing the quality of teacher practice and system leadership;
4. improving infrastructure and instructional r esources; and
5. ensuring system success of the Bermuda Public School System.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, this Government a ppreciates the need to move our people to attain the diplomas, certificates, and degrees that will see them
play a more active role in the economy. We have taken the necessary steps to redirect funding to support
more scholarships, scholarships to the Bermuda Co llege, as well as scholarships to institutions of higher
learning overseas.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, Honourable Members
will recall that a few weeks ago, 124 graduates r eceived degrees, diplomas, and certificates from the Bermuda College, 54 per cent with honours. And 56 per cent of the graduates were males. And so, it
was fitting that our own MP Chris Famous was the commencement ceremony speaker. (I just thought that would be a nice note, Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker.) Mr.
Deputy Speaker, every society needs workers at var ying levels of academic, technical, and vocational skill.
And whilst those attaining higher levels of education generally are increasing, our work to redirect r esources and retool the education system must conti nue.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the data show that we
continue to have more skilled jobs in Bermuda in the
economy than Bermudians are there to fill. And, ther efore, we find ourselves in the unenviable position of
selling the Bermuda dream to non- Bermudians. Mr.
[Deputy ] Speaker, a quick Internet search on getting
jobs in Bermuda pulls up sites that entice non-Bermudians dreaming of a job in Bermuda to apply.
One particular site provides a plethora of advice. It sets out the basic requirements for a job, i nforming that for a professional job, a bachelor’s degree is expected, at the minimum. It advances [to say
that] the higher degrees, like master’s and doctorate, are given clear preference. And it shares that the a verage annual gross salary for certain professional p ositions can be $80,000 to $95,000, and that a middle
management role in international business, like reinsurance companies, will command about $150,000.
The site goes on to share the details about how much
higher the packages can be for the senior manage-ment roles.
I read with interest about the B ermuda dream,
targeting non- Bermudians, and the simple, clear message. Our young people need to know that education is key. A high school education is merely a stepping stone. The Bermuda economy has evolved, and it is
no longer good enough. That is why, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker, this Government is committed to providing
financial support to students in need, to ensure access to Bermuda College for all Bermudians. Not b eing able to achieve an education beyond a high school
certificate to compete with non- Bermudians for a job
in your own country because of insufficient funds is
not an option for the people of Bermuda. Our young
people can expect with confidence that this Gover nment is making the necessary funding available to
support the Bermuda dream.
Mr. [Deput y] Speaker, this Government is
committed to the delivery of a bona fide national wor kforce development plan, in collaboration with key
stakeholders, and to the development of a national
skills policy for employers to address chronic skills
shortages across different occupational groupings. Mr.
Deputy Speaker, there are clear economic benefits to
education, both for the individual and the economy. A
country with a highly educated population is generally
more competitive. Economists have long explored the
role of education in promoting economic growth. Bermuda’s economic competitiveness is dependent on education reform. Mr. Deputy Speaker, we are com-mitted to progress. Education and training is one of
2540 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly the tools that we will use to continue to strengthen our
most valuable resource—our people.
On economic activity, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker,
during the week preceding Census Day, among the
53,613 residents who were 16 years and over, 35,530 persons were employed; 2,625 were unemployed; and
15,428 were economically inac tive in 2016. Of the
15,428 economically inactive population, more than
half, 54 per cent, were retired; 20 per cent were full -
time students not actively seeking work; and 11 per cent were engaged in home duties. Mr. [ Deputy ]
Speaker, 7 per cent of the pop ulation was unemployed. The number of unemployed persons, as stated earlier, stood at 2,625. Of unemployed residents,
57 per cent were male, and 43 per cent were female. The unemployment rate for blacks, 9 per cent, was
triple the rate of whites, 3 per cent. Whites had the lowest unemployment rate.
Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker, the findings from the
2016 Census indicate that there is a strong relatio nship between unemployment rates and educational attainment. Unemployment rates generally declined
with increasing ac ademic qualifications. Of the persons who reported that they were unemployed, persons with no formal certificates accounted for the
highest unemployment rate, of 13 per cent, up 5 percentage points since 2010. The second- highest unemployment rate was repor ted by persons who had
attained a high school certificate, at 10 per cent. In contrast, the lowest unemployment rate was recorded
for persons who acquired a graduate degree.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , I have already spoken
to some of the steps that this Governm ent will take to
ensure that we continue to develop our human r esources through education reform. This Government
continues to work to increase options for on Island training to prepare Bermudians for today and tomorrow. Other colleagues will share more about the work
that this Government is doing relative to training and
unemployment. I will say, however, Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker , that in recent weeks you have heard the
Honourable Premier repeatedly speak to the training
opportunities requirement embedded in t he MOUs
with companies seeking to establish a presence in
Bermuda to operate in what will be our well -regulated
FinTech sector. These opportunities will represent
initial training for some and retraining for others, as
our people retool to participate in an evolving econ omy.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , this Government is
committed to economic diversification. FinTech is an
awesome example of this commitment. Yet, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , you will know that our efforts are not
limited to the international business sector. This Go vernment is committed to growing wealth within our own communities. The Honourable Members will know that this Government has already taken steps to
double the guarantee capacity of the Bermuda Ec onomic Development Corporation, to appoint a di rector of cooperative economics at the same institution.
These, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , are job creation initi atives. This is to encourage small business develo pment and entrepreneurship. Our aim is to stand with
the corporation in support of the mission to actively assist the development of a strong, well -managed,
and prosperous local business sector in Bermuda.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , a cooperative is d efined as an autonomous association of persons united
voluntarily to meet their common economic, social,
and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly
owned and democratically controlled enterprise.
These are businesses owned and run by and for the
members, people working together to build wealth
within their own communities. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker ,
the new director appointed earlier this year is tasked
with development and use of innovative economic development tools to foster local economic development growth in Bermuda.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , this concept is not a
new one. In Bermuda, we can trace the use of the
model back to the Friendly Societies. The records show that there was the Ireland Island Co- operative
Society and Bermuda Workers Co- operative Society,
formed under the Bermuda Industrial Union in 1969. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , the new director recogni ses
that, for 21
st century cooperative economics to succeed in Bermuda and for Bermudians, we must set in
place the framework for re- engagement. This is our
commitment, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker . We will continue
to take deliberate and intentional steps to moti vate,
support and encourage a self -determined people to
build their own wealth.
Further, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , we will not
make apologies for supporting historically economical-ly disadvantaged businesses, by ensuring that they
are awarded government contracts. And where they
are unable to provide all of the services that they are
capable of providing for the government and the people of Bermuda, there will be assistance in place. In this regard, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , our people can expect with confidence.
As evidenced, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , you will
recall my earlier Ministerial Statement regarding the Code of Practice for the Project Management and
Procurement. Embedded in the codes are the r equirements to realise our policy position. And you will
know that training and awareness -building activity, via
the Bermuda Economic Development Co- operation
and the Construction Association of Bermuda, have
already taken place, and these exercises will conti nue. This is some of the assistance that we just were speaking of.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , we will diversify the
economy, support international business, support l ocal business, stimulate the development of job crea-tion and wealth- building within our own communities,
all in a bid to eradicate the 7 per cent unemployment rate.


Bermuda House of Assembly Looking at the working population, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , notwithstanding the static unemployment
rate of the 7 per cent, the working population was
35,530 in 2016 and represented 66 per cent of the
population aged 16 years and over. Male workers outnumbered female workers. This represents a shift
from the 2010 Census, when both sexes comprised
half of the working population. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker ,
youth workers aged 16 to 24 represented the lowest
proportion of the working population, at 5 per cent, in
2016, and lost the most ground over the six -year per iod by falling 2 percentage points. In contrast, workers aged 55 to 64 recorded a 4 percentage point rise, the
highest amongst all age groups, and comprised
21 per cent of the working population.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , the median age of the
employed population was 46 years, up from 45 years in 2010. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , in 2016, blacks co mprised 51 per cent of the working populations. Whites
represented 30 per cent, while mixed and other races
comprised 18 per cent. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , in co ntrast, the 2016 Census results showed diametric
changes among persons who were black and of
mixed and other races. The share of black workers fell
3 percentage points, and the proportion of workers
who reported mix ed and other races increased
3 percentage points.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , the increase in the
number of mixed and other races in the workplace is
more than likely related to the issue of our ever -
changing dynamic. Blacks today are less inclined to
work in the service industry. Historically, blacks were
pleased to work in our hotels and restaurants, and they did well. However, black Bermudians started,
with good reason, to gravitate away from the service
industry. Initially, this was by choice. Our economy
was thriving, and the acquisition of higher skill levels
and an evolving economy provided other career and
employment opportunities. As the economy slowed,
however, many Bermudians have found that the r eturn to the service industry is not so easy.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , today we hear stories
of many Bermudians being shut out of the service i ndustry. A high school diploma, keen interest, and a
willingness to do anything are not good enough. To
this end, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , the Minister of Educ ation and Workf orce Development recently provided an
update on the hospitality training programmes. Most
recently, we learned of the training programme for
room attendants that the Department of Workforce
Development has been instrumental in driving during
the past few m onths. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , a total of
53 persons participated in the training programme.
Those who successfully completed training received a
certificate from the American Hotel and Lodging A ssociation as a certified guestroom attendant —a professional certification.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , gone are the days of
the chambermaid, a post where on- the-job training was the norm. In today’s environment, our people are
required to be certified. This notwithstanding, Mr.
[Deputy] Speaker , this Government is determined that
this new norm of certification at even the lowest entry level will not be a barrier to entry for the people of Bermuda. We will continue to support the develo pment and training of our people.
Looking at the industry, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker ,
the dominant industrial group, based on the Bermuda
classification of economic activity 2003, was educ ation, health, and social work, which grew 3 percentage
points, to 15 per cent, in 2016. This sector was followed by hotels and restaurants, international bus iness activity, and business services sector, which
each comprised 11 per cent of the working population. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , Bermuda is a microcosm of the
global society, and therefore it is not surprising that
our dominant industrial groups are education, h ealth,
and social work.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , the health industry is
growing, not only here in Bermuda, but also globally. One of the reasons it is growing here in Bermuda is perhaps as a result of an ageing population. It is expected that, as our populati on ages and life expectancy grows, the demand for health care will continue.
This has an impact on the geriatric unit at the hospital,
nursing homes, and other elderly health facilities. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , the frequency with which we are
celebrating centenary milestones in Bermuda is quic kly becoming the norm. Just yesterday, we read about
the lovely Laura Gayton who turned 100. Her celebr ation is not uncommon. My uncle just celebrated his
100
th birthday back at the end of May. Our population
is livin g longer. And, as a result, our health care sy stem is impacted, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker .
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , the progression of new
medicines and technology is also contributing to the growth of the health care system. We have seen the
advent of medical group practices and integrated health systems, which are becoming larger and more complex, some complete with MRI services, dialysis
services, pharmacies, and even many other boutique
services, such as medical cosmetology. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , traditionally, many of these services were
offered only via the hospital. The evolution of the pr ivatisation of these services is driving the need for pharmacy technicians, medical assistants, and other
medical staff roles.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker , this information is i nstructive in terms of directing our young people t owards careers in the medical profession. This information also offers useful insights for mature individu-als who require retraining in order to make themselves
marketable. As I mentioned earlier, our Workfor ce
Development Plan will take all of this into consider ation and use the data to assist our people.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, among the industries
that reported negative employment growth, the greatest loss was reported for the public administration
2542 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly sector. Th e proportions of persons employed within
this sector shrank by 3 percentage points, to 7 per
cent, in 2016. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, you will already
know that the negative growth in public administration
was as a result of deliberate action taken by the pr evious administration to reduce the size of the public
service. This was the result of the implementation of
voluntary early retirement programmes, as well as
hiring freezes. Indeed, these actions had a short -term
impact on reducing the size and the cost of the ser-vice. However, one must ask, To what end? Mr. [Dep-uty] Speaker, I have taken a look at the strategic i mplementation of these initiatives by the OBA Gover nment and could not find evidence that consideration was given to the impact that the staff cuts would have
on the delivery of services and the stability of oper ations.
For instance, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, maint enance issues as a result of fewer staff at the Depar tment of Public Transportation, as well as the lack of capital investment, has had a clear and verifiable i mpact on the delivery of a consistent and reliable bus
service. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, fewer staff and the lack
of investment by the previous Government in maint enance in the fleet at the Department of Works has had
a clear and verifiable impact on this Government’s
ability to maintain twice- weekly garbage collection. Mr.
[Deputy] Speaker, the reduction of staff under the pr evious administration has had a clear and verifiable impact on this Government’s ability to maintain simple
mail deliv ery on all of the delivery routes. In fact, in
some instances, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, and on occ asion, some taxpayers have been asked to collect their
own mail from the post office.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, had the OBA Gover nment taken a strategic approach to the reduction of
staff, the negative consequences may indeed have
been different. In an organisation as complex as the
public service, strategic thinking and planning is an
imperative. Hence, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, this Government has invested time in the g overnment reform
strategic planning process that will inform our reform
actions. A government is accountable for measuring, reporting, and achieving sustainable outcomes. Many
of the employee cuts in the public service under the
previous administration hav e proven unsustainable.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, this Government e ndeavours to recruit talented people, to respect its employees, and to position the public service as an employer of choice, an employer that attracts, motivates
and retains a quality talent pool. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, as an employer, our officers can expect that they will be responsive to the changing needs of our employee base, embracing flexibility and rewarding effectiveness and the achievement of clearly stated ou tcomes.
That said, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I now want
to explore the data and the story that it tells with r espect to education, employment, and income. I am looking at income, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker. The total
gross annual income from main job for all workers,
full- and part -time, was $58,113. On average, females
earned $58,652 per year, compared to $57,655 for males, a difference of $997 in pay, or 2 per cent. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the highest median annual gross
income of $77,539 was reported for white workers,
133 per cent of the median, while mixed and other
workers received the lowest, $49,962, which was 86
per cent of the median. Black workers earned a median annual gross income of $53,730, representing 92 per cent of the median.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, in regard to Bermudian
status, of the non- Bermudian workers recorded, the
highest median gross annual income, at $70,797, or
122 per cent of the overall median. In addition, nonBermudian spouses of Bermudians earned $64,523,
followed by permanent resident certificate holders, at
$59,707. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, upon further evaluation of the data, full -time working population compri ses persons who work 35 hours or more per week, and
12 months prior to the Census Day. This median i ncome level measured higher than the median income
level f or personal income, as it only reflects those persons with a full -time job.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, analysis by race and
sex showed increases across every category, with the
exception of black males, who experienced a decline in median annual gross income fr om their main job.
White males, the highest income- earning group
among the working population, earned a median i ncome of $96,824. This level was nearly one and a half times higher than the median income for the entire
working population, and 11 per cent more than was
earned in 2010. The income level of white males exceeded those of black males by 70 per cent, Mr.
[Deputy] Speaker, and was 17 per cent higher than the income level of white females.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the disparity between
black males and black females widened over the i ntercensal period. Black females earned a median annual gross income of $61,792, which measured 4 per
cent higher than in 2010. The median income of black
males dipped— Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, dipped 3 per
cent—to $56,845 in 201 6. Black females earned an
average of $1,096 above black males in 2010. And this difference in annual earnings expanded to $4,947
in 2016.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, the breakdown of i ncome by Bermudian status and sex showed that nonBermudians were the highest income earners in 2016,
with a median annual gross income of $76,311. This
level was 21 per cent higher than the median income
for Bermudians. Bermudian males were the only
group to record a decline in median income, falling
1 per cent between 2010 and 2016.
Well, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, what can I say?
These data tell the story of income disparity, wage gap, inequality in pay, and unequal distribution. Call it


Bermuda House of Assembly what you will. These facts are the facts. Mr. [Deputy]
Speaker, I recently read with interest com ments attributed to a chief financial officer, Mr. Jonathan Reiss,
of corporate Bermuda. Mr. Reiss, addressing an aud ience of his industry peers, admonished about the i ncome disparity and discrimination, largely racial, still prevalent in corporate Bermuda. Perhaps Mr. Reiss
had read the census report. Or perhaps he was
speaking from his own experience.
Many have long lamented income inequality,
what I like to call race- based pay. The racial wage gap
is real. He who feels it knows it, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker.
Clearly, income disparities have not levelled out despite our best efforts. Amendments to legislation that
require equal pay for equal work have had limited i mpact. There is an absolute difference between white
wages and black wages. And many across this I sland
can speak to that story, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, there have been any number of
studies that have looked at the issue. Contributing
factors include education and occupations. This is perhaps one of the reasons blacks left the servi ce industry. It simply did not pay enough versus jobs in other fields.
Notwithstanding the exit and the attainment of
higher education, blacks are still more likely to receive a lower wage when working in the same profession as their white counterparts. The realities of racial income
disparity are clear. Yet, we still struggle to talk about it
and have done little to address it. We are more i nclined to have a conversation about the gender gap. It
is a far more comfortable discussion in comparison.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, in preparing for this debate t oday, I googled “steps to closing the racial wage gap”
because I wanted to come prepared to offer solutions.
The irony is that my search pulled up more about the
gender wage gap than the racial wage gap.
So, I com e simply urging that we have a real
conversation, that we work towards real solutions,
develop real proposals. I am not going to stand here
today and pay lip service to what we can do or what
we should do, or even make empty promises. I have
highlighted a number of areas where we have made
tremendous progress over the past 55 years. I have
highlighted areas wherein this Government has done
things to address the situations that we look at in our economy, and they were highlighted throughout this
speech. And I have also spoken to the steps that this
Government will take to address many of the issues
that the people put me and my colleagues in this
Honourable House to deal with.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, before I close out, I just
want to quote Mahatma Gandhi, who said, Be the
change you seek, and I just slightly paraphrased it.
Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I can stand here and attest to
the fact that I will be that change agent. And further than that, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I will be the ever -
changing change agent. As situations and conditions change, it requires us to change to address them. And I know that I stand with all of my colleagues with this
Government, determined to create the changes that
we seek. We all stand here as change agents.
But, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, just before I take
my seat, let me say this. I did, as you have heard in this speech, urge my people to expect with conf idence. The 10 who sat in this House 55 years ago on
our behalf advocated for the end to racial discrimination. And here we sit today, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, on
the matter of the racial wage gap. Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, I am still stumped, I am still floored by the present state. At this point, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker, let
me just say this: I will be taking my seat with the
hopes that others will rise to speak and to address the
outstanding issues that we were all elected and put
here to deal with. Thank you, Mr. [Deputy] Speaker.

Thank you, Honourable Mini ster.
Are there any further speakers?
The Chair recognises the Honourable Michael
Dunkley, from constituency 10. Mr. Dunkley, you have
the floor.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I thank the Honourable
Minister for the presentation that she delivered, I am
sure helped in great part by staff at her Ministry and in
the Statistics Department.
And before I get into the main body of my
comments and give other people the opportunity to
speak, I will say that, you know, in listening to the Mi nister’s presentation, there was a great de al that I certainly agreed with. The census is very clear. The i nformation is there. And it shows a number of areas
where there is a great deal of work that has to be
done, certainly in regard to disparity and inequality
and the uneven and very unlevel pla ying field.
But what I will not allow, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
is for the Minister or anyone on that side to just take
an easy pot -shot at the former Government and blame
us for what they believe did not happen, or did happen
and it was not the appropriate wa y. And why do I say
that? Because it is easy to blame the Opposition for
when they were in Government. But the fact of the
matter is that we contributed greatly to pulling Berm uda out of a deep hole. And it seemed like we were
continuing to dig that hole deeper, but we pulled Bermuda out of that hole with significant investment in
projects from one end of the Island to the other, and new hotels opening up or in the present state of being
built.
And we took significant steps to put gover nment finances in a m uch better position. And those
are the facts. Those have been illustrated by Auditors
General with the reports that they have given over the past couple of years. And I will not sit here and allow
the Government to blame the current Opposition for
2544 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly what the y have done. And it gets tiresome to hear
some of the rationale or reasoning behind it. Well, you
know, we cannot fix the buses because we do not have the resources to fix the buses . Well, there are
other ways that we can solve that problem. And I sat in the meeting with the union and said we would pr ovide the support to fix those buses. But, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, what I see today is more buses being br oken down on the side of the road than I saw a year
ago. And what I see today is the need to look at the
schedule which will allow us to [use] the resources in
the most appropriate way.
Now, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I hear the comment about cannot deliver the mail. Well, you know, I
find that quite baffling, because there is less mail to deliver, and we have the poli cy of, every time Michael
Dunkley has a letter for his mailbox, the mailman runs around to my box and delivers it. We should not be
delivering mail every time you have one letter. I think
that is an inefficient use of our resources at the pr esent time. And we should look to delivering to 18
Belmer Drive twice or three times a week. Do not run
around there with one piece on Monday, one piece on
Tuesday, one piece on Wednesday. Because a lot of
the mail we get is junk mail. And I say that with r espect, but a lot of the mail we get is for people pus hing out advertisements or talking about stuff they do,
and it is not necessary that I get it right away. It is fine
if I get it in two or three days’ time. Let us use our r esources. So I get tired of that.
You cannot blame the former Government for
trash collection. Because we have gone to once a
[week], and we still have a problem with trash collec-tion, and we have more rats running around the community than we ever had before. So, you know, it is
frustrating to hear those continual comments, and I
am not going to sit in my seat and take it anymore.
Because the fact of the matter is the Honourable Minister referred to cuts in the civil service. There
were no cuts! There was attrition, and there was the
voluntary earl y retirement programme. Now, for those
who want to know, the voluntary early retirement pr ogramme was a programme that had to be agreed by
the directors of the department. So, if Michael Dunkley
wanted to retire, the director, my boss, had to say it
was ok ay that I retired, and that position could not be
filled for two years. So, if the director of the depar tment thought that the voluntary early retirement of
Michael Dunkley would not work, the director could
refuse it. But what we found was that they were being
given out without the refusal, and then the directors
were coming back and saying, We need a person to
do the job. Well, why did you let them go? Why did
you let them go?
And the attrition was done by natural attrition.
And we had good debates around the Cabinet table
about attrition, because what was decided, and it
started under former Premier Cannonier and it was
continued under my leadership, the Finance Minister decided that, Look. When people leave, we need to
look at the role that was being fil led to see if it was
needed. And it was up to the department at that time
to make the presentation. But the challenge that was
had was, departments were slow in making the presentation about the need for those workers. And
that is where the challenge lay.
And there is nothing wrong with, when people
leave in any industry, in any business, for any em-ployment to take a look. Is the job that Michael
Dunkley was doing necessary? Should the role change? And so, you know, I take those comments by
the Honourable Minister as a backdrop to say, Well,
we’re going to increase the number of civil servants,
and we’re going to do it because we’re going to blame
the former Government. Well, just like I stand here
today and am critical of the comments by the Minister,
I will watch closely, and my colleagues will support it, I
am sure, in watching closely any increase in numbers
within the civil service, because we want to make sure
that we get value for money.
Of course we want to provide employment
and opportunity! That is a given. But we must do it and make sure that the taxpayer is comfortable with
that. And I am a politician. One of the things that I do
not like is for governments around the world to try to
raise as much money as they can for all of their pr ogrammes without having the ultimate responsibility for
the taxpayers’ dollars —because it is the people who
are paying for that. Whether they can afford it or not,
they pay. And so, as we talk about disparity and as we
talk about the uneven and unlevel playing field, th ere
are people who have to pay taxes, and they cannot
afford to pay those taxes.
And so, we need to do our job as politicians
who are responsible for taxpayers’ money, to make
sure that if we ask them to reach deeper into their pocket, we are giving them t he efficiency and accountability they need on that dollar. And to increase
the numbers in the civil service without showing that it
is needed is certainly not acceptable. And, you know,
the Government has talked about civil service reform,
and we have talk ed about House committees to do
various overviews. We have looked at, I know the Honourable Premier, I believe, has carried a copy of the SAGE Commission report around, and he talks
about reducing the number of ministries. We see an ything but that!
And so, I stand here tonight to support the
Minister in many of the comments she said. But in
those comments that relate to the items I have just talked about, I do not agree at all, and I will continue
to push back on it.
Now, in regard to the census, and I hope all
Members have taken the opportunity to read it, be-cause the 2016 Census, to me, in my view, my humble opinion . . . and we on this side in the OBA are going to take credit for it because it was done pretty
much on time, well under budget, and I believ e it is


Bermuda House of Assembly probably the most accurate census in the history of
Bermuda, just by the way it was completed, the most
accurate census in the history of Bermuda. And, you
know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the interval between the
2010 and the 2016 Censuses is also the shortest i nterval of a census ever because of the change from
doing [it every] 10 years to [having] to do [it every] 5
years. And so, with that, we now have (my view, and
Honourable Members on either side can counter and
say it is not true) . . . but I think we now have perhaps
the most accurate census in the history of Bermuda,
to use for planning. That is critical. That is critical.
And, Mr. Deputy Speaker, allow me just to r efer to the census, which I have downloaded on my laptop here. Page 11 of the census, because I need to illustrate the difference between 2010 and 2016, right,
to show the accuracy and to show how, in changes,
we have retrieved the information that allows us to be
so much more accurate. It says in the 2016 Census,
“The pre- imputation com pletion rate was 98% . . .”
That is pretty high. And, “leading to 827 households
that were not completed.” So the census, ably led by
Director Melinda Williams, and her staff, whom I
worked closely with as the Premier, “to achieve a
complete data set for all households, data was imputed for these missing households in cases of partially
completed households . . .” That brought it up to
100 per cent —100 per cent.
It goes on to say, on page 11, “At the end of
the census data collection period,” [for the 2010 Census, Mr. Deputy Speaker,] “a 100% coverage rate was
achieved with a pre- imputation completion rate of
87%.” So, the imputation rate was down by 11 per
cent. And they had to impute that to get to that point. Where I referred to the number of persons who needed to have data put into for the 2010 Census, there
were 4,400 households for which data had not been
obtained. That is a significant number.
So, the report goes on to say, “In alignment
with statistical best practices, administrative data
sources were utilized to reduce the undercount and to
impute important demographic data items, such as
age, sex, date of birth, Bermudian status, emplo yment, and race. As a result, census records [for 2010]
for 1,106 households comprising 2,551 persons were
imputed only for these demographic data items. The imputation reduced the undercount of outstanding
households. However, data items for the remaining
census questions were not imputed for 1,106 hous eholds.”
And so, it clearly shows through that information that, in 2016, you had 98 per cent that was
collected in the way that you could have very strong
derived confidence in the information. And the other
2 per cent was obtained in appropriate ways that are
done for measuring statistical data. But in 2010, it was
87 per cent, and we had to go up from there. So,
clearly, this census is going to provide us with infor-mation that is much more accurate and, because of that, I think, much more useful. And it will allow us to
be much more effective in the policies that we come
forward with. And I look forward to the debate that
Honourable Members will continue on after I finish my
comments.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, the next point that I
would like to address is the budget for the census on
2016. And anyone who is following it online or has a
copy pulled out can see, on page 14, the estimated
2016 Census Current Account budget was $1.7 mi llion. It goes on to read, and I will quote from it directly,
“However, actual expenditure amounted to $572 tho usand (34% of the budget). The primary reason” [for
this, Mr. Deputy Speaker,] “for being under budget was that the budget accounted for a higher percentage of data collection being completed by the more
costly field interviewing than actually materialized.” And what we did at that time was we made sure that
we did the computer -assisted survey imputation for a
much longer period of time.
I do not have the exact numbers in front of
me, but I think I recall from the papers that, originally, we were going to try to get 12 [per cent] to 15 per cent
generated online. We raised that number to 25 per
cent. We kept that phase of the field work —I use that
loosely because you are not in the “field”; you are on
your computer. We kept that phase of the work open for a longer period of time because we knew t wo
things would happen. The more people we got to
complete it by doing it through the computer, the more
money we would save on it and the more accurate we
would be in the data collection.
And so, we significantly overshot, on the good
side, the estimation of the number of people we had to
fill out online. And I have to give credit to Director Wi lliams for her doggedness and keeping at it in helping
people, in making sure people understood ways that
they could complete it online, allowing my grandmot her and your grandmother to be able to have some assistance if they came into the Statistics Department down in Hamilton and helped them fill it out online
themselves, rather than send people out in the field
and look for people and complete the records that
way. So, it ended up that, in 2010, I think the budget
and the final cost of the census was north of $3 mi llion. It ended up that, in 2016, we completed a census for $572,000, and perhaps got the most accurate census in the history of doing the censuses here i n Be rmuda.
Now, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Minister has
gone through in her comprehensive overview of the
census many of the items that are critically important.
And I will just touch on a few that the Minister has
touched on, and then a couple of others whic h I did
also find interesting, as well. The first one would be in
regard to education. You know, I think that colleagues
in the House of Assembly, because of our ability to access materials and because of the debates that we
have, we know full well that we have a sophisticated
2546 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly little economy here. You know, we have all of the
goods and services you would expect in First World
economies around the globe.
But in addition, we have some industries here
that you would never expect to find in a population of just north of 63,000 people, out in the middle of the
Atlantic Ocean. You know, we have our international
business industry and reinsurance industry that r equire a high degree of intellectual talent, and it r equires the ability for those companies involved in that
to be able to get the best of the best here to do the
job. Because if they did not do that, then that industry
could be located anywhere around the world. So, in
that understanding, it creates the disparity that we
often talk about. Because when the c ensus is co nducted, people within that industry, who make more
money than you could ever imagine being made, are
included in the census. But if you remove those pe ople from the census, because they could be anywhere
in the world, for a small community like Bermuda you
would see some of that disparity level change.
But, Mr. Deputy Speaker, we still have a cha llenge. Because not enough people are assuming positions, rightfully so, in those industries.

The Member, I believe, is
misleading the House. The individuals he is talking
about are resident here. And even when they leave, others come in and are earning the same degree of
money. And with respect to the issue of income inequality, it has the impact on Bermuda as a whole. So,
I think that is a non- argument meant to diminish the
necessity of talking about the issue of racial disparity.
[Inaudible interjections]

Continue, Honourable Member.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
The Honourable Member has a half -hour to speak. So
when I am finished, he can go on his horse and say all
he wants. But I stand by those comments. I am glad
the Honourable Member left his seat to get back to his
seat for the point of order, but that is just mischievous,
at best.
So, there is no doubt, as I was saying before I
got interrupted with a non- point of order, that we have
a great challenge in Bermuda of making sure that we provide the education fundamentals, and, further on
through the education curve, to allow our people to
not only have access to the best -paying jobs, but also be prepared for those best -paying jobs. Because in
the industries that we are trying to attract, the industries we have in Bermuda, like international busin ess
and tourism and the new FinTech industry, wherever it might be, whatever it might entail, if we do not have those people who can fit into those positions and conduct the job as is required by those demanding employers, then we are just setting our people up to fail.
I find it interesting because, you know, the
Honourable Minister so passionately stated the case
about education, as a former educator, getting people into position to do it. But at the same time, we have
heard incessantly over the past couple of weeks that
the Government is trying to attract people for the digital asset exchange and cryptocurrency and all of that
type of stuff. And we are fast -pacing work permits
through Immigration to bring people in to do those
jobs. Now, that is reasonable because you need pe ople to conduct a business that you are attracting to the
Island. But what that also does is it makes it harder for
us to get Bermudians prepared for those positions,
because you are bringing people in. They have an expectation of a j ob they are going to do. And they
have no expectation of when that job is going to come
to an end.
And so, this is nothing new because it ha ppened with international business. And we see by the
census report that we have not made as much pr ogress as we wo uld need to get Bermudians at all le vels in that industry. Right?

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Well, now I hear the Ho nourable Member who is talking from his seat over there, and he will have his half -hour to speak, as he
did before.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: The Honourable Member
should never say what I talk about because I might
pleasantly or unpleasantly surprise the Honourable
Member.

Continue, Mr. Dunkley.



Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. I will have to give a good report to the
Speaker when he returns, so far, on your performance.

[Laughter]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: So do not let me down. I
hope I can give the report. Do not let me down later
tonight, Mr. Deputy Speaker —

[Laughter]

Hon. M ichael H. Dunkley: —as all Opposition Members bang their feet on the floor.
So, this census accurately portrays some of
the challenges that we face. And I can speak for m yself, and I am sure colleagues on our side, we will
support whatever initiatives that can be put in place to
deal with some of the challenges that we have. And
we are probably going to talk about it a lot more t onight and in the future, going forward. But the key is to
find ways to make sure we can make some progress.
Because the Honoura ble Minister even admitted at
the end of her presentation, as she googled, trying to
find some programmes that have worked in other j urisdictions, that it related more to gender challenges
rather than racial challenges.
So, that situation is not going to go away. And
politicians will continue to talk about it. And that could
be good if we leave our biases aside and we try to
make meaningful change. And I will support that.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, it is a long report, so I
am glad we have laptops so we can dow nload it now
and save the paper. Some people still like to look at
paper, but I have gotten more used to doing it this
way. But [there are] some interesting things that the
Minister did not touch on, so I will try not to repeat a
lot that the Minister said that I agreed with. But page
24 of the report shows population by parish and m unicipality, 2016 and 2010. And what is interesting is
the loss of population in urban areas, Hamilton and St.
George’s, and the loss of population in Sandys and St. George’s, w hich, you know, I think changes a
trend probably from 20 years ago, because I recall when I first started really looking at censuses, the loss of the population was from the middle of the Island to
the ends, and now it seems to be reversing itself.
So, if you look at that table on page 24, in
2010 there were 1,800 people in the Town of St.
George’s. Now it has dropped to 1,527. So, you know,
that is a significant drop in six years. If you look at the City of Hamilton, most people think the City of Hami lton is bigger. But those who actually are resident in it,
in 2010 there were only 1,032. So, St. George’s was almost twice as big as the town. But now Hamilton is only, in the 2016 Census, 854 people. And St.
George’s is almost twice as big at that time. And if you
go ahead and look at the population by parish, you will see that in St. George’s the population has dropped
from 6,422 to 5,659. That is a significant drop in that
census period. Maybe that explains why St. George’s
has a problem getting a Cup Match team that can win,
because some of the better players are moving to the
middle of the Island.

[Inaudible interjections and groans ]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: No, but in a lighter heart,
but back to it. And then, if you look at Sandys, Sandys
has the sam e challenge. The population in 2010 was
7,653. It has dropped, Mr. Deputy Speaker, to 6,983.
But if you look at some of the middle parishes, Smith’s
Parish has had an increase. You know, down in God’s
country, which you and another Member from Hami lton Par ish—

It is the holy land.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Hamilton Parish has
stayed pretty much stable, lost about 8, 10 people.
Paget has increased in population. Warwick has i ncreased in population. Southampton has stayed st able. But Pembroke, now people seem to be coming back into Pembroke from when they left before. And
we saw it with constituency boundaries. We saw, you know, some constituencies in Pembroke have about 900 registered voters. But now this census shows that
in Pembroke, in 2010 there were 10,614 people. And
now that has risen to 11,160.
And so, when we do any planning, housing,
infrastructure, roadwork, we need to be very cognisant of the changes in the population, because, clearly,
there are plans for infras tructure that have been bandied about. They cost a significant amount of money.
This type of information can help us be much more
beneficial in how we spend those tax dollars if we take
a look at it.
Another interesting part, although the Ho nourable Minis ter did refer to the age, and, you know,
we are all getting older. And that is good, because we are living. But the downside of that is that the seniors
population is increasing, and, you know, now it used
to be in days gone by some of the younger bands were the most populated areas. That is slowly chan ging, where the bands over 40, over 50 and 60 are becoming the largest bands out there. And as we had a
debate earlier today about health costs and insurance
premiums (not reflecting on that), the problem is much
bigger than just health. The problem is quality of life
issues for seniors, because we see that is a growing
segment of the population.
And you know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, you are
still very physically fit and you are still very active. But there are a lot of people at your age who are not that
fortunate, because of things that could be out of their
control. So they are more sedentary. They are stuck in
2548 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly the house. They do not get to see their family and
friends. So their quality of life changes.
The D eputy Speaker: Yes. Yes.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: And that is why it is i mportant that we not only focus on the cost of health care, but we focus on the quality of life for our seniors.
And one of the things that we are big on in the OBA is
assisted living and staying at home with your family.
Because, as you get older, it seems like your friends are in the same position as you. So you get out and
about less. You cannot go play golf. You cannot do
this, you cannot do that. So you are stuck by yourself.
And then I was having a conversation just the other
night with my wife and another person whom we were
at a function with. And we wondered . . . we were tal king about how some of our seniors seem to be more unhappy and in a bad mood than they were 20 years
ago. But that is because their quality of life has
slipped because they cannot get out and about. And they do not have the human interaction that is so i mportant for everything that we do.

Yes.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: And so, this cens us highlights, very clearly for us, some of the challenges that
we have to face as a community.
And so, I know this debate is going to be a
long debate. I have tried to touch on some salient points and not to revisit, and to leave plenty of meat
on the bone for my colleagues. But one last point I will leave, Mr. Deputy Speaker, you and colleagues with
is, with any commitment by a government, also must
come a commitment of responsibility by those people
whom the government is trying to help. That is pretty
straightforward, what I say. But, typically, gover nments try to deal with issues that face their people
and go to significant lengths to do critical and, oftentimes, important things. And sometimes, governments
get it wrong and they are not that important . But that
commitment means that there has to be a social r esponsibility to make sure that it works. Right? And as
a people, I think we need to support the commitments
that government makes to help, whether it is in the area of health care, whether it is i n the quality of life,
whether it is in education.
For example, we debate education, as polit icians, until the cows come home. And we all have our
pet points that we like to make. It could be the lack of
access to scholarships and stuff like that. But what I found, and I am not pointing a finger at anybody. I am
saying that, generally, we all like to talk about issues.
But at the end of the day, we do not put enough work
into making sure that we find solutions for those i ssues. And in a small community lik e Bermuda, just like
one of our young track stars did not have a commi tment that was needed to go away to compete in a track meet. As soon as that was put out there, that
person found the funding to support that.

Hmm. Mm -hmm.

Hon. Mic hael H. Dunkley: People rose up and
helped out. And so, if Government is going to make a commitment to bring forward issues and solutions to
issues that they believe are important, we need as a
people to have a social responsibility that we can . . .
We ca n critique them all we want. But we need to
make sure that we find a way to make them work. B ecause it is too easy to pooh- pooh an argument and
never try to make it work. So, this census is going to
give a lot of food for thought all across this House.
And there will be a lot of commitments to things that
we believe will bring the country forward. But we have
to have the responsibility as people to actually make it
work.
So, if education is offered at a higher level,
people need to get on board. Do not mak e excuses. If
you have the opportunity to go to Bermuda College,
use the Bermuda College as your two- year degree.
Use it as a stepping stone to higher education. B ecause the census clearly shows that still too many of our people are stopping at high school education. And
we need to make sure we do offer that high school education. We need to make sure that we get those incarcerated or those who join the Regiment as volu nteers, if they do not have a GED, we need to make
sure that we get them in the right dir ection.
Because in today’s world, while there is an
unlevel playing field, when an employer sees som ebody come in the door, they are looking for —most of
the time, they are looking for the most qualified, the
most able, the most committed, and the most energised person to do the job. And those people who are continuing on with that disparity or that unlevel playing
field, those are the type of people we as politicians can call out and make sure they correct their ways.
And so, if we have not only the commit ment from government, but the social commitment from the people
whom we serve, the progress can be manifested in a
much higher level. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Thank you, the Honourable
Member Michael Dunkley.
Any further speaker s?
The Chair recognises Minister Walton Brown.
You have the floor, Minister.
Hon. Walton Brown: Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, let me just first of all say
that it is gratifying to be able to address the 2016
Census, [it is a] very important document. It is a document that came about as a result of the change in
the legislation to allow for a census to take place ev ery five years. This was six years after, but close


Bermuda House of Assembly enough. And that was an important decision to take,
because what it does do is that it allows you to get
better information faster. So you have better information to make decisions. All of this is about getting
good quality information for better decision- making.
So, I just want to commend all those who
were involved in t he production of the census report. It
truly is an amazing document.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I want to talk about a few
matters involving the census. I want to first talk about the population shift. In 2016, the population was rec-orded as 63,779 persons, compared with 64,237 in
2010, or a decline of 458 persons. That is an i mportant figure, Mr. Deputy Speaker, because it speaks
to the issue of the decline in our population. The de-cline is not as significant as many have pondered its
being. We saw a marginal dec line, from 64,000 to just
over 63,000. If you compare it back to the 2000 Cen-sus, Mr. Deputy Speaker, you will note that the figure
there was about 64,000. So, we have not seen a dr amatic decline in our population. If you look at any gi ven period, you will see the decline is relatively minor.
What is interesting is that there was a spike in
those persons coming to Bermuda around 2006/07, when we had a tremendous growth in our economy,
and you had 12,000 work permits issued. So, you had
an increase in the population for a period of time. But the trend is always identified in the point of data collection. The trend from 2000 to 2010 to 2016 shows
no appreciable decline in our population. So, I think it
is very important to make this point known, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. There has not been a dramatic drop in our
population. It is a consistent trend, slightly downward,
but not overly so. I think it is very important to note
that.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, I want to talk about the
foreign- born migrant population. The foreign- born m igrant population that has been here over 20 years is about 7,000 people. So, about 7,000 people who are
non-Bermudian have lived on this Island for 20- plus
years. That has significant implications when it comes
to the work of the Immigration Working Group, because there are those who wish to pressure [Gover nment] to give status to everyone who has been here
for a specified period of time, and the ideal number
that people look at is 20 years. But if you can imagine, Mr. Deputy Speaker, a policy decis ion that allowed for
7,000 people to get Bermuda status, that would be a
truly dramatic development. So, it is unlikely that we
are going to change any policy or any law to allow for
7,000 [people] to get status in one fell swoop. That
would truly be a dramatic change in the demographics in our country, Mr. Deputy Speaker. So, it is not som ething that is likely to happen.
But it does speak to the importance of the
numbers when it comes to immigration, because we need to look very carefully at what we are do ing with
immigration reform. We need to strike a balance be-tween the humanitarian approach, an approach that examines the priorities of Bermudians coming first in
their own country. So it is a balance that we need to
strike, a balance that posits the primacy of Bermudians, but recognises the importance of some human
rights issues involving long -term residents. It is a del icate balance. We will find that right balance, Mr. Deputy Speaker. But it will not be with the point of allowing
7,000- plus people to gai n Bermuda status. That will
not be happening under my watch, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.

Yes. Hear, hear!

Hon. Walton Brown: If we look at immigration fi gures, the numbers of people who leave the Island,
between 2010 and 2016 you saw 1,424 people leave
the Island. That is in contrast with those who left between 2000 and 2010, 974. So, a greater number
have left the Island between 2010 and 2016 than
those who left during the 10- year period between
2000 and 2010.

Minister, what was that number
again?
Hon. Walton Brown: It was [1,424] left the Island b etween 2010 and 2016, in comparison to 974 who left
the Island between 2000 and 2010. So, that is a figure that does cause some concern, because you want to
know what the rationale is for those who leave the
Island. There are economic migrants, and then there
are those who just leave for better opportunities.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Walton Brown: These are Bermudians who
have left the Island.
So, you need to find out what it is that is driving those individuals. Some might say they have done
it because they want a better life. They have searched
for a better life, a better set of opportunities. Some
have gone off to England to go on the dole. Others
have just found work out side of Bermuda and have
made their life outside of Bermuda. So there are i mportant policy implications to all of this here because there is a need to try to focus on the rationale for
those who leave the Island and identify what needs to
be done, if anything, to get those to come back, because if you are leaving because of economic imper atives, that is a cause for concern, and [we] want to try to address it. So we have to figure out what the r ationale is for those who have left the Island, especially
those who have left for economic reasons. So that is
an issue for concern.
The labour force changed. It went down from
40,681 people in 2000 to 38,155 people in 2016. That
is a slight drop of about 2,000 people. So, the wor kforce has declined. Now, what explai ns that? Clearly,
it has to do with some of the consolidation that has
2550 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly taken place in industry. In the international business
sector we have seen a lot of consolidation. Technol ogy is responsible for some jobs disappearing because
computers can do more wor k for more people than
ever before, and that is an issue. But we need to be
concerned about this, because a declining workforce
is a challenge. There are so many implications for the
Island when you have a declining workforce. It has
implications in terms of what is being paid in social
security for health care, and for pensions, and it is a
matter of concern. But we need to find out what it is that is driving this here. Is it purely technology? Is it
companies that have just left the Island for whatever
reason? We need to identify the causes of this because it is a matter of some concern how this came
about.
Now, one issue that concerns me greatly, Mr.
Deputy Speaker, is the unemployment rate among
black and white. The unemployment rate among black
people is 9 per cent, and among whites it is 3 per
cent. That is a fundamental difference in experience,
Mr. Deputy Speaker. And it is cause for concern.
Does it speak to a practice of institutional discrimination? What explains this fact, such a large percentage
of unemployment among black people compared to
white? Clearly, it is not just economically driven by the
sector of the economy. There has to be more at play in this regard, and we need to identify what is at play.
It is a matter of contention.
When it co mes to explaining this here, Mr.
Deputy Speaker, we need to identify what some of these issues are in relation to the unemployment rate.
Could it be institutionalised discrimination? Could it be changing job categories? Could it be lack of educ ational atta inment? We do not know what the answer
is, but we need to try to find out because this has a
significant bearing on our economy and on opportun ities for people in the country. And we need to ensure
that we have greater opportunities for everyone in the
country.
When you compare the unemployment rate
among Bermudians versus non- Bermudians, the u nemployment rate among Bermudians is 8 per cent; unemployment rate among non- Bermudians is 3 per
cent. That is not a major cause of concern, Mr. Deputy Speaker, because most non- Bermudians will be here
on a work permit. So if you do not have a work permit,
you are unlikely to be able to stay here. So it is not a
cause for concern that the unemployment rate among
non-Bermudians is only 3 per cent and among Bermudians i s 8 per cent. That is not a major cause for
concern at all, because your unemployed non-Bermudian will not normally be on the Island unless
you are a spouse of someone on a work permit and
you are in between jobs, or you are just someone who
has recently been terminated and has permission to reside and seek work in Bermuda. So, it would be a
very small percentage of people who fall into that cat-egory. That is not a major cause of concern at all in
that regard.
Now, a real issue involves the income dispar ity between blacks and whites. Between 2010 and
2016, the income of blacks decreased by 13 per cent.
The income of whites increased by 1 per cent. That is
a truly startling figure, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It requires
explanation. How is it that the income of the largest
group of people in Bermuda, black Bermudians, would
decrease by 13 per cent? Not 1 per cent, not 2 per
cent, not 5 per cent, but 13 per cent? That is a dr amatic decline in income. That speaks to a practice of institutionalised discrimination. Ther e is no other explanation, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It is a serious cause
for concern. And it is a matter that needs to be addressed. It requires that it has to be addressed, Mr.
Deputy Speaker.
Yes. It cannot simply be explained away by
job categories and so forth. It requires an explanation
based on race and racial discrimination. That is the
major issue for consideration, and it is a major issue
for us. We have to stand firm on the issue of racial discrimination, Mr. Deputy Speaker. It is a matter of
serious concern, and it requires that it be addressed.
We do not have the answers at present to this, but we
know it needs to be addressed. You cannot have a
statistic like that in this country in this day and age
where you have a decrease in income of 13 per cent
over a six -year period. That is truly a startling figure. A
13 per cent decline in one’s income, while the other
group has an increase of 1 per cent —that requires a
full explanation, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
Okay. So, Mr. Deputy Speaker, those are the
essenc es of my comments that I wish to make on this
take note motion. It is an important topic. It is a rel evant topic. It is something that we all need to reflect
on. And I am happy to be able to participate today.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

Thank you, Minister Brown,
Minister of Immigration and Labour.
Any further speakers?
The Chair recognises the Honourable Member Trevor Moniz, from constituency 9.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker. Perhaps I might address the comments
made by the Honourable Minister of Home Affairs first.
He had some cogent remarks on unemployment.
There obviously was, as he said, a major
spike in the Bermuda economy leading up around 2006/07. And then in 2008 there was a collapse. So,
of cour se, the two census periods came after that p eriod that we are talking about were 2010 and 2016.
But there was this spike and then the collapse. And
then we know a lot of it was blamed on the global r ecession, et cetera. There are some interesting figures
there, and the Minister of Home Affairs raised some
interesting questions. I would suggest that, with r eBermuda House of Assembly spect to the loss in jobs, we do need to look at sectors
where people are employed, it does make a difference. And the comment has been expressed before—
when you are talking about unemployment figures,
you are talking about blacks versus whites. It is inter-esting to know whether they are Bermudian or nonBermudian. And there are interesting—

Red herrings!

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: There are i nteresting factors
in the Bermudian society which will affect this.
For example, certainly when I was growing
up, I grew up in Smith’s Parish. It is a farming district.
We have a lot of farms. And all of the time I grew up, all of the farm workers at the dairies and the farms
were Azorean. They were white foreigners who came
to work here in the farming industry. And certainly,
around the 2000s, Jamaicans were being brought in.
So now almost every farm worker you see is a Jamaican. Wherever you go, you will see Jamaicans. Well,
they were white; they are now black. None of them
are Bermudian. And therefore, in terms of what people
are doing for Bermudians, to my mind it does not rea lly matter if those workers are black or white. If you
change their colour tom orrow, it is not going to make
Bermudians either better off or worse off. But it will
affect your statistics.
And if you look at most of your high- flying i nsurance executives, they are white. But they, most of
them, are not Bermudian. The vast majority are not
Bermudian. If suddenly, overnight, they became black,
it would not make Bermudians any better off or any worse off. So, those are the questions.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: The Honourable Member, Mr.
Commissiong, is trying t o barrack me. He will get his
turn. He can take his turn. And I know he is a great
believer in more of a racial issue, and not talking
about Bermudian versus non- Bermudian. But I am put
up here to represent my constituents, who are all
Bermudian.
They want to know, Are you representing my
interest? So I am very interested in whether people
are Bermudian or non- Bermudian. And we know . . .
The one aspect where I disagreed with the Minister of
Home Affairs . . . and I thought he made very cogent
remarks. But where I disagreed with him was saying,
Well, it’s not important what sector people are in. And,
with all due respect, I think it is important. Because I
think there is indication that, with respect to black f emales, black females were far more successful in getting employment in occupations in office jobs and in
the international business community. And we know that during the recessi on, the international business
insurance and reinsurance continued to be strong. It continued to do well. And salaries continued to i n-crease. So if you were in those sectors, your salary
was still going up while everyone else was suffering a
recession.
Whereas if you were in . . . Let us say you
were a civil servant. Well, we know what happened in the civil service was that civil servants all kept their
jobs. There was not any downsizing of the civil service. But the wages stayed the same. They did not
increase with inflation. So you had the effect of stagnation in the civil service. If you worked in an industrial sector or in the commercial sector, like two of my brothers did . . . one of my brothers was in the civil
service. His salary stayed the same. Tw o of my brot hers were more in commercial and industrial settings,
and their wages went down, in one case went down, I
think, by 15 per cent and in one case by 25 per cent.
So, what was the difference between them? Well, the
difference between them is what sector they were
employed in. None of us were in that international
business. I was here in the House. I think our wages
largely stayed the same. Some of the Cabinet Ministry
ones actually went down by 5 per cent. So, we did not do well.
So, I think the m ost important factor is the
sector you are in. And with respect to black Bermudi-ans, I think the figures show that black females are
much more successful in getting into the international business sector. And the job of the Government, be it PLP or OBA, is to get more Bermudians, and in particular black Bermudian males, into that international
business sector.
Having said all of that, I do not work in that
sector. But I understand, you know, there is some
merging of companies, so there is some minor shedding of jobs. So it is not a time of expansion in that
sector. And, obviously, you need to have the right
qualifications. Having a degree is not good enough.
You are going to need a business degree or professional qualification like the actuarial qualificati on, a
talent qualification, a legal qualification. And you are
going to need something more than that to get into the
skills set of insurance or reinsurance. So, all of those
things apply.
Now, that is the one thing that is a problem.
Obviously, one of the other things that the Minister mentioned was emigration of Bermudians, and saying
that between 2010 and 2016, the emigration of Bermudians increased. I think it was in 2002 that Berm udians got the right of full employment, residency in the
UK. So from th at time forward, people could move to
the UK. For some people, it was attractive. I have
heard of people. I was on one flight where a couple
had flown over to have a baby in the UK, and then
they flew back. So there are certain things in the UK
which are m uch cheaper. They had the National
Health Service. They have housing subsidies. So, some people have gone over there for that, for wha tever reason. And, obviously, while Bermuda was going through a recession, that was a good valve to
2552 22 June 2018 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly have, for people in our population to be able to go
there and to be able to have a better life.
Now, the job now of the Government, whether
it be PLP or OBA, is to make this Bermuda economy
more successful, and to draw Bermudians back. But if you are successful . . . Let us sa y this present Go vernment . . . and the present Government is very high
on blockchain and cryptocurrency. Well, let us say all
of that takes over. You produce a whole bunch of
jobs. Are the Bermudians who are overseas who
might want to come back, are they qualified to do those jobs, be they lawyers who want to go into compliance jobs or computer experts, or whatever other
skill sets? I am not an expert on what the skill sets
might be. But are the Bermudians who are abroad likely to be ones who are going to fill that skill set? I
suspect not. But I do not know.
But those are the sort of things that we need
to investigate to see whether we can plan our economy a little better in the future than we have in the past.
As we say, we are an ageing population. The Minister of Home Affairs pointed out that we had a drop of
some 2,000 in the workforce between 2010 and 2016,
and between 2010 and 2016, I think there were 1,400and-some Bermudians who emigrated for one reason
or another. And I do not think we have great, detailed
records on why they emigrated. We just know they
left. And the Minister said they may have left for better
opportunities, or they may have left to rely on health
[care] in the British, more socialised, system.
But we really do need to examine our econ omy. And earlier, you know, not in this debate, but pr eviously, I heard people say, for example, that more housing, more public housing has to be produced.
And again, one of the things is, well, if you are a wor king population and your population is getting smaller,
do you need more housing? Well, the answer, of
course, on the face of it would be no, you do not need
more housing. You need to know that you have stock
which is available, but you do not need more housing
to house 2,000 fewer people. So you have got to be
able to plan your economy.
And I think one difference between the PLP
and the OBA is, Is the glass half full or is the glass
half empty? We certainly believe that you needed to
get in foreign investment, that in order for tourism to
flouri sh . . . that Bermuda’s branding was stagnant.
We needed to rebrand it. And one of the things we did
for that was the America’s Cup, which was extremely
successful. And we followed that up with the Intern ational Triathlon Union Events. And the desire of that was to rebrand Bermuda, kick -start the tourism industry, get new hotels up and running. And that supplies
a lot of jobs to a certain sector of our community. Tr aditionally, we have had a lot of people in the construction industry, which particularly employed a lot of peo-ple to build large buildings, like hotels in the skilled
and semi -skilled and the non- skilled categories. But then also, you need service- level workers in hotels.
And we hope to have those.
It is no good just having jobs for actuaries and
lawyers and accountants, because everybody is not going to be an actuary or a lawyer or an accountant. So you need the full gamut of jobs, and it is difficult in
Bermuda to get that balance very right for very long.
You know, we have suffered the problem where we
have dips, and then we have spikes. And we have not
totally mastered it. I think we have done better than
many small island economies in terms of balancing what we do. But that is what we need to work on.
And with respect to . . . the Minister of Home
Affairs touched on an important point when he spoke about . . . I believe he said (and he will correct me if I
am wrong here), but there were some 7,000 people
who were foreign- born non- Bermudians who have
been in Bermuda for over 20 years. And those were
the people who might be looking for some sort of longterm rights in Bermuda. Obviously, we have the PRC,
the permanent resident certificate. And, obviously,
people looking for status. And again, that is a delicate balance because you want, when people come here
. . . You know, people constantly complain when pe ople come here if they have a decent job and they
make remittances home, that they send their money
home. People complain and say, These terrible, terr ible guest workers come here, make money and they
send it home.
But of course, if they see no future for the mselves in Bermuda, what would you do if that was
you? You would send the money home. You have no future here. You send the money home. But if you see
a possibility of a decent future here for yourself or for
your children, then you are more likely to invest that money and spend that money in the Bermuda economy. Generally, if people feel confident and upbeat, they are just going to spend more money, period, on
everything, whether it be clothes, whether it be resta urants, food in their house, anything. They are likely to
spend more money here if they see that there is some
sort of positive future for them here and for their chi ldren.
And the comment that I would make for the
Minister of Home Affairs is that, of particular concern
are those children who are born here and know no
other home. They have been born here, they have
been raised here and they are part of our community.
And, you know, we need to give rights to those ind ividuals. Those have always been my greatest con-cern. And you will know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that I have spoken out for the rights of those individuals
publicly, as a public figure, since 1991. So it is not sort
of some sudden urge I felt. I have always felt that we
need to have rights for these people, which are rights
in accordance with the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. I am sure the Minister is working on that, and we look forward to
hearing from him in the future.


Bermuda House of Assembly Those are al l of the comments I have with r espect to the Minister of Home Affairs.
Going back to the Minister who spoke to the
motion with respect to the census, the Minister of R eform, I thought that there were some gratuitous r emarks in the Minister’s brief with respect to whose
fault a lot of these things are. You know, the fact of
the matter is you have to stand or fall by your own
performance. And the fact of the matter is, you know,
when we were Government, we had the SAGE
[Commission] report. There had also bee n other r eports which indicated that the size of the public service was too large for an island like Bermuda to be
able to support. We had to seek some efficiencies.
And one of the things we had difficulty with was old practices, practices from the 1960s.
And I know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, you are a
trade unionist yourself, so I know you have strong
feelings. But there are things which need to move forward. And our feeling with respect to the buses . . . I
was very disappointed this past weekend to see bus-es abandoned all over Bermuda. There was a bus at
the top of McGall’s Hill I saw just abandoned there.
Someone else saw someone up on South Shore. I
think there are reports of three buses just abandoned
around Bermuda. And, you know, the truth of the matter wi th the buses is that we need to get a new schedule. While we were Government, we were not successful in getting the union to accept a new schedule.
But there needs to be a new schedule. Each one of
those buses cost the same as a small house. Those
buses cost just about $400,000 each. And it is really
not supportable to go on buying those buses and bus-es.
There are the questions of why the Minister . .
. and I do not think he has ever spoken to it. The Mi nister of Transport has said, Well, you know, there
were going to be three additional buses on the road
by the end of March. But the one that came in January, I do not even know if that one is on the road yet.
But, certainly, there were not the three additional
ones. And the new Director of the Public Transport ation Department, I think it is Roger Todd, certainly
faces a big challenge. My sympathies to him, but he
needs to try and work through this and to get some
improvement.
I mean, it is the same thing we faced with the
postal service in terms of delivering letters. There
were antiquated methods of delivering. We have to look at being more efficient. People in the private sector are not sitting still. They are moving forward. In the
government sector, we are sticking with practices from the 1960s, which are outdated. They are not efficient.
And instead of just saying, Well, we need more pe ople, more people, more people, if you are going to
balance the budget . . . Government has promised to balance the budget. And you cannot just do that on
the back of the taxpayer. You have got to seek eff iciencies. There is plenty of evidence that we need more efficiency in this economy. It was pointed out in
the SAGE Commission report, at great length. And we
need to get more efficiency , and we are just not ge tting those ef ficiencies.
This Government is not being able to produce
what it needs to produce in terms of effectiveness. We
have the same situation with the trash. And there was
a bad situation there. You know, when I was Public
Works Minister, we had these trash truc ks down there.
And we had all sorts of different makes. And there were fronts and backs of the trash trucks. And they came from all over the place. Some of them were
American. Some of them were European. There were
different fronts from backs. And keeping the parts in
play and keeping them up to date was a very difficult
job. And the last ones bought by the PLP Gover nment, in America, did not work. The hydraulic arms
did not perform as they were supposed to perform, for
whatever reason. And now we are looki ng at getting
some British ones.
But the fact of the matter is that the situation
needs to be dealt with, and the public are looking forward to having their trash picked up. So, you know, it
is no good coming up here with a census report and
then trying to blame the old administration for every
problem under the sun. Hey! You bought it; you own
it. You are now the Government. You own all of these
problems. Your duty is to solve them and not to con-tinually look back and try and blame someone else for
the sit uation we are in, because the past administr ation is going to look back to what they received. And,
of course, we are going to say in 2012 what we got did not look very pretty.
So, right now the Government is still facing
the fact that they have got a burg eoning national debt.
The Current Account deficit does not look like it is being closed. The Health Minister is giving money away
to Dr. Brown. And then coming here today, we saw
that the Standard Health Benefit, unlike last year, is going up. And it is we ll enough to blame others for
that, but you are here to solve all of these problems.
And these problems will get out of control very quickly
if this Government does not sharpen its pencil, if it
does not become more efficient, look at better ways to
do thi ngs and stop looking in the rear -view mirror and
trying to blame the past OBA Administration. You are
now in the driving seat, so please take responsibility.
Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.