December 1, 2017

Thank you, Member.
Minister?
Hon. Walton Brown: No, there is no distinction from
a US Customs/Immigration standpoint. The issues
have less to do with the demarcation GBR versus BMU; it has more to do with clearly identifying the cit izenship of the person carrying the passport , and hol ding a BOTC passport is not a clear indication to US
Customs, US Immigration officials, of the citizenship
of that national.

Thank you, Member.
Minister?
Hon. Walton Brown: Mr. Speaker, there is no real
issue here with the GBR demarcation on the pas sports because US Customs and Border Protection
people are all fully informed of the issue. It remains an
issue at times in any number of other countries where
someone is trying to get on an airplane to travel to the
US, and the airline people have in their system that
the GBR coded passport requires an ESTA to g o to
the US. The airlines have been informed, but the i nformation does not always get down to the desk level at the check -in counter.
It is also an issue sporadically at different
ports of entry to the US, where you will have that I mmigration official who is not familiar with the GBR and
has not received the information about Bermuda st atus holders, and so it does become an issue. It is an issue every so often. So, we still need to get the issue
resolved.
Once we can get back to the passports having
a pur ely BMU demarcation on it, there will be no i ssue. It is a problem with the GBR, where GBR does
not show a necessary connection to US policy regar ding the visa exemption for Bermuda status holders.

732 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Thank you, Minister.
Any supplementaries?

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Supplementary.

I recognise the Honourable Opposition
Leader. Madam, you have the floor.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Minister, you mentioned
something there which I just wanted to raise because I
think as we start to deal with issues coming up, you
mentioned getting this information down to the desk,
the person at the airline, the desk check -in. I am just
wondering how we are going to sort of get around
that. If you agree that understanding the nationalit y of
the passport holder and saying that the person is reg-istered as a Bermudian, and you have people using
online check -in, which means that they do not get to
see what it says in there, all they get to see is the fact
of the country where the passport was issued, is there
any way that we are going to be able to turn around
and get that fact that the person is registered as a
Bermudian somehow linked, or being able to get to
the airline, especially the ones that are flying directly
to Bermuda, because it i s so silly not being able to
check in or having to turn around and say, I am flying
out tomorrow , as a way to turn around and fudge the
system? So I just wondered if we have been able to
identify how we can make this problem . . . come up
with a solution t o this problem.

Thank you, Member.
Minister?

Hon. Walton Brown: Mr. Speaker, there is an obv ious solution, but we are not at a point where we want
to contemplate that solution today. The question that
the . . . the issue is that Bermuda status is not citizenship. And so most countries in the world have clear
identification of who is and what is a citizen. We are in
that ambiguous grey area where we are British, but hold Bermuda status. But not all British citizens have
equal rights in Bermuda, and, therefore, Bermuda st atus is a separate demarcation recognised in Bermuda,
in the UK, but I doubt anywhere else.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Minister, as you know and you have heard me
say in this House during the period from the late
1970s to about 1995, we had about 180 individuals, or
so, who contracted HIV/AIDS and who achieved fatal ity as a consequence of [ heroin] use, by way of shared
needles. The question I have for the Minister is, We
know, anecdotally at least, that heroin use is growing. Is that something that is being monitored by your department?

Thank you, Member.
Minister, do you want to respond to that?
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Health Department does keep various
statistics as it relates to factors that they are seeing
with respect to persons who are coming within the
community health or the doctors’ offices and the like. I will have to get that further information. I do know that
there is a lot of data collected regularly from the
Health Department, whether it breaks it down to the
individual type of drug use, as opposed to general
drug use, I do not know, and I will have to get that i nformation for the Honourable Member.

Supplementary. Continue, Opposition
Leader.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Je anne J. Atherden: Just for clarity because I
think on page 3, Minister, you indicated that fewer
than 10 new HIV infections have been reported since
2011 with all of them [were related] to sexual contact.
So, does that mean that the trend has now been r eversed, which is, people getting HIV from drug use?
And does that mean that as we start to make people
aware of our status that we can actually not only have
no transmission mother -to-child, but maybe would
ultimately have no new transmission whatsoever?

Thank you, Member.
Minister?

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Yes, as statistics are showing, they have d ecreased drastically with respect to new transmissions
of HIV via drug use, shared needles. However, we are seeing that there are also reductions with respect to
AIDS generally, contraction of AIDS, but the majority


Bermuda House of Assembly of those cases are as a result of sexual contact as
opposed to intravenous drug use. So the message is
getting out with respect to that.
And if I can also add, Mr. Speaker, as part of
everyone’s health plan, we are encouraging people to have HIV tests.

Thank you, Minister.
Any other questions? No other question? We
move on.
The next statement that Members have indicated they have questions for, is for the Minister of
Education in reference to his statement on the Plan
2022. The first Member who has questions is the
Member from constituency 22. Honourable Member, Gibbons, you have the floor.

QUESTION 1: PLAN 2022: BERMUDA’S STRAT EGIC PLAN FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
On page 4 of the Minister’s Statement, he
indicates that “the Department of Education will be
working on delivery plans during the month of D ecember so that the first rollout of the Strate gic Plan
can start in January 2018.” Mr. Speaker, given the fact that the former Commissioner of Education has been suspended, and the Department has also lost , through
the pursuit of another opportunity , a very senior me mber of the Education Department, c ould the Minister
please explain how this next five- year Strategic Plan
will be affectively implemented without a Commi ssioner of Education and the loss of that very senior member of the Department?

Thank you, Member.
Minister?

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The Strategic Plan is driven by Board of Education in concert with other senior members. We have
been operating as if we had to operate without the
Commissioner in place and we will be pushing forward with the Strateg ic Plan keeping with the schedule that
was established previously.

Okay. Sorry, I did
not have it. But the question that I have is, and it may
be included therein, but if the Minister could just perhaps allude to, on page 3 of his S tatement when he
spoke to the issue under number 3, of “Enhancing the
quality of teacher practice and system leadership in
order to have a sustained and transformative impact on the academic achievement of young people.” Can
the Minister advise whether this enhanced quality of
teaching will include an annual evaluation for the
teachers, and offer training if a teacher falls short, or
dismissal if their situation is irreparable?

Thank you.
On page 4 at the top, is where the Minister i ndicates that they will bring forward fairer budgets so
the children get the education that they need and d eserve. Within the private sector the actual cost per
child for education is actually less than that of what we
are getting in the government sector, but the outcomes seem to be better. My question is, Are we g oing to be able to reconcile the outcomes? Because the
students’ success is the important thing. Are we going
to be able to reconcile the outcomes of those results that are coming from the private versus the public?

Thank you, Member. Minister?
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Mr. Speaker, I think I must
preface the answer to the question by making sure
that the Honourable Member who asked the question understands completely the difference between public
school and private school, in that the comparison that
she is asking me to make is apples to oranges.
Mr. Speaker, private schools are allowed to
select their students that attend their schools. Public
schools do not have that luxury. We have to educate
everyone that shows up at our door. That is why we
have to provide wraparound services such as paraeducators, educational therapists, psychologists, also
programmes for autistic children that are in the autistic
spectrum, things that the private s chools do not have
to provide and do not provide unless the parents are
willing to pay extra for that. So, therefore, to ask the
question that compares the cost of educating a child
in public and private schools is disingenuous at best,
without taking into effect all of those factors, Mr.
Speaker. Thank you.

The concern is the
output and the ultimate s uccess of the students. And
my question was really relating to when bringing forth
fairer budget s that we are looking to ensure that the
output and the success of our students, in respect of the extra services required in order make public and
private rank pari passu, that we want to make sure
that the outcomes for our students are effective. So I
just want to make sure that that is a key —

[Inaudible interjections]

Thank you, Member.
Minister?
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: I am kind of confused here,
Mr. Speaker, because if we are going to ask if we are intent on making sure that our children are succee ding, you know, why would we ask t hat question when
that is the sole purpose of this plan, to make sure that
our children are able to compete on a global level
along with their counterparts in private schools. So the
answer to the question is, everything will be done to


Bermuda House of Assembly ensure that our chi ldren receive the services that are
required for them to compete with any other students
on this Island. So the answer to her is, yes, everything
will be . . . things will be put in place to ensure that.

Continue on. Speak to the Chair.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I would just like clarity as
to a “fairer budget” because, to me, a budget . . . if I
am looking at a budget, I am presuming that it has
some identification of what should be in there, the
amount that should be there and how it is going to be
spent so there is a comparison of the budget to what was previously available to produce the outcome.

Ooh!

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: —in which it excluded the
fact that this now prevents us fr om doing the things
that we wanted to do, like putting Wi -Fi in schools,
replacing computer labs, and the like. So when we
talk about “fairer budgets” we talk about looking at the monies that we have available and making sure that
we get more bang for our buck, including making sure
that our children are looked after first and foremost.

Yes, I have a supplementary based on the Minister’s response. He
spoke to the interpolation by the Honourable Member
who sits on his side, the Honourable Minister, and the
question that I have is that in that very disingenuous
interpolation we had, the Honourable Member indicated that fairer budget s would suggest not spending on
the America’s Cup.
This is coming from a Member who took full
advantage of the America’s Cup and the spending,
and the spectating, and I just wonder whether —

Address your question to the Minister
that is appropriate to the topic that was being r esponded to. Do not take a sidetrack because it is not
going to be allowed. If you have a question, it is going
to go directly to the Minister’s response, speak to the
Minister to respond. Do not speak to heckling from someone off the floor. That person was not being recognised. The Minister was the one being recognised.
Your supplementary goes to the Minister.

Second question. You asked one question before. Yes.

QUESTION 2: PLAN 2022: BERMUDA’S STRAT EGIC PLAN FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL EDUCATION

736 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda House of Assembly Hon. Dr. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, given the volume of statements
that Government has been making around technology
and the hub at Southside, and all the rest of it , could
the Honourable Minister explain how the Strategic Plan will address the issue of providing our students with the required technical and other skills necessary
to participate in this?

Thank you.
Minister?
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
As the Member would well know, this is the
Strategic Plan. And I did talk about the implementation phase. The implementation phase is now taking the
Strategic Plan and creating the programmes and such
that will be put into it. Coding and the like, coding and computer lessons and stuff like that will be included because it is stuff that we are talking about. But it is
not included specifically in the Plan, exactly what these initiatives will be, but they will be hashed out.

Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I just wonder if the Minister can
share whether it is the intent to continue the liaison between our local students and their ability to, as the previous Government, previous, previous PLP Gov-ernment, had initiated and supported the liaison with New England Institute of Technology and schools such as that to ensure if that liaison will continue, is
that part of that strategy?

I am concerned
about the educational component which our students have the capacity to study with . . . to have a liaison
for students to have better outcomes. Irrespective of who houses the programme, I am looking for student


Bermuda House of Assembly excellence. So I said it a little slowly, maybe the Mini ster will be able to appreciate—

[Inaudible interjections]

I have no problem showing the door to
any Member who does not understand how this House is going to be run. That is for all Members. The
Member on the floor has the right to speak to this
Chair. I do not need any interpretation from anyone
else. If they feel they are going to do that, let the door
hit them in the back before I ask you to leave.
Continue, Member.

Yes, exactly.
Mr. Speaker, could the Minister say whet her
there is anything in the Plan which address the decli ning numbers of students over the last few years in the
public school system that relates to consolidation of
schools, or perhaps closure of schools, because clearly this was something that the depar tment was
looking at going back a number of years.

Thank you, Member.
Minister?
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Mr. Speaker, the Plan does
not speak specifically to consolidation and closing of
schools, but at this point, as we have stated in ou r
Throne Speech, we will be undertaking an exercise to look at all schools from a building perspective and see what needs to be done on that perspective.
In terms of the declining enrolment, Mr.
Speaker, I believe the Member would know that en-rolment has edged up just slightly here recently and so when we are looking at . . . and the Plan also
speaks to the revamping of schools in terms of, as you know, our Plan is to phase out middle schools,
and we anticipate that we will not be losing as many
students as we [have been] when that does come into
effect.

Minister?
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Mr. Speaker, the depar tment views home schools as alternative schools and it
is spoken to, but it is not included within the Plan.
738 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly What this Strategic Plan is, it is a plan for Bermuda
public schools. It does not include private schools. It
does not include home schools into that effect. It is
about creating a curriculum and creating a plan to
move forward with Bermuda public schools.

Thank you, Minister.
Do you still have a sup plementary?
I recognise the Opposition Leader. You have
the floor to ask your supplementary.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Yes, thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, a lot of the discussion has
caused me to read a little more into the Plan 2022 , so
that I can appreciate all of the objectives that are
there. I just wondered if the Minister could just clarify
or just enlighten us, because in the technical strat egies, there was an indication in terms of educator
evaluation and performance management. The fact
that the Department of Education was going to pos ition the Human Resource Department to identify personnel to support the Commissioner of Education
[CoE], directors, and assistant directors in monitoring
quality assurance and compliance in terms of perfor-mance [management], and I think that sort of goes to
a question that we had earlier in the sense that you
now do not have the Commissioner of Education, you
also do not have a director. Is this going to impact on
the achievement of this technical strategy which is
quite important?

Could t he Minister
please give us an understanding of what the
timeframe is to review the schools, and the necessity
for the number of schools given the plan for the closing of middle schools? Are we talking about 2018? Are we talking about 2019? What timeframe i s the
Minister likely to come back to this House with a r eport and recommendations?

Thank you, Member.
Minister?

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Mr. Speaker, one thing that
I will state unequivocally that this administration will
not push things forward for political expediency. When
the time is right, the time will be right. Our children
deserve at least that. And so to answer the Member’s
question, our platform stated that the phasing out of
middle school is a long- term plan and that plan will b e
done very strategically and with lots of stakeholder
consultation. So when it is ready to be done, then I will
make an announcement on that.

Okay.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Could the Minister ind icate, based on what is in this Plan, whether budgets
have been developed because it say s “Ensure budgets are developed by December for the next school
year and school leaders are provided some autonomy to establish budget priorities for discretionary funds.”
Recognising that budgets and fair budgets are very
important, and even when we talked about, you know,
what would happen in terms of schools, is that som ething which will be taking effect in this December, or is
that something that is going to be December 2018?

Thank you, Minister.
There are no further questions for the Minister
of Education.
The last Ministerial Statement that Members
have a question for is that of Minister Caines.


Bermuda House of Assembly Minister Caines, you have a question from the
Honourable Member from constituency 10. Honour able Mem ber Dunkley, would you like to put your question?

QUESTION 1: DISASTER AND EMERGENCY PR EPAREDNESS BELCO MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL
EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY PLAN TABLETOP
EXERCISE HELD ON 29 NOVEMBER 2017

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
And good morning colleagues, and those listening.
Mr. Speaker, just before I put the question I
would like to congratulate the EMO and the good work
they have done and the progress that we have made over the past couple of years, not only dealing with
challenges, but in bringing this area into a much more
effective area.
In regard, Minister, on your page 4 of 6, the
second paragraph where you say, “The aim is to cr eate a Department of Disaster Management with the appropriate leadership to ensure Bermuda follows
international best practises . . .” A question for you.
Has this been a major push of the UK? And the second part of that is, Any idea . . . you have thought
about it, you have had this Statement, is there any
idea of the size of the department, the cost, the number of positions, and if the expertise in that depar tment will be able to be provided on- Island with the
professionals that we have at the present time? Thank
you, sir.

Thank you, Member.
Minister , you have the floor.

Hon. Wayne Caines: Yes, Mr. Speaker.
All very good questions. This has been considered and I would not say “pushed” by the UK but
they are looking at the small island states making sure
that the infrastructures are in place to deal with national disaster.
Mr. Speaker, this came to the fore as a result
of the recent hurricanes and a lot of the countries ha ving the lack of the facilities. Looking at some of the countries, they have departments of national disaster,
they have 12 and 13 people in there with really big budgets. The Deputy Governor was recently in contact with our offices asking us how will we deal with
national disasters. We have put together a plan t hat
sees a Department of National Disaster, and this has
been in train for a while, Mr. Speaker.
It will initiall y be housed and staffed . . . right
now it has an inspector that is on loan, Inspector St eve Cosham. He acts as the Director of the EMO, wor king every day in that department. The plan is to sec-ond an officer from the [Bermuda] Fire Service and another offi cer from the Bermuda Police Service. We
are still in the budgeting phase now, but we do not anticipate having to go outside and get a department . . . no more than four or five people with an administr ator. But we believe we have the expertise on- Island.
They now do the majority of the work.
We simply now need to look at things specif ically. Let’s look at specific protocols and specific ar eas as it relates to disaster management [and] terrorism management. Mr. Speaker, our EMO is an ad hoc
committee that o ftentimes only meets when there is a
national disaster. We believe that it is an opportunity
for us to develop a long- term strategy looking at a
multiplicity of issues and having a team on- Island that
can do it.
The next question is . . . we do believe that we
have the necessary expertise on- Island. That expertise has been identified and we are putting steps in place to put them in on a long- term basis, Mr. Speaker.

Continue on.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I thank the Honourable
Minister for that in- depth reply.
I note, Minister, in the comments that you
made in reply to that question, you referred to cha llenges with our Caribbean neighbours with the hurr icane. Minister, do you believe that our EMO operates
much more effectively than some of our neighbours to
the south, even with some of their disaster management teams, and that is why constantly we are asked
to give advice and support down there? Do you believe that we are in a much better position now, even
without this department being as you would like it to
be going forward?

Thank you.
Minis ter?

Hon. Wayne Caines: I believe that Bermuda has had
a very robust response dealing with hurricanes. That
is our area of speciality. So when we look at responding, and the global response that we have . . . well, when we have a hurricane, we have very good pla nning laws, and we have a very good Bermuda Regiment, a very highly specialised police force. And so
when you put all of these things in place, over the time
we have developed a subspecialty dealing with hurr icanes.
There are certain elements of national disa sters where we have not been tested as yet. So, when
740 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly it comes to what we have seen with our neighbours, a
lot of things to do with the budget, their building practices, they have come up short, i.e., based on what
has happened with the hurricanes. But I can say that
our EMO has acquitted themselves well on every oc-casion. But we believe that this is an opportunity to
look at this and look at a lot of different examples,
modalities, so we are prepared for any national disaster, Mr. Speaker.

The S peaker: Thank you, Minister.
Supplementary?
I recognise the Honourable Member from
constituency 25. Honourable Member Baron, you
have the floor.

SUPPLEMENTARIES

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, this is right and just and I commend the Minister for updating us and also advancing
this.
My question as a result of his comments r egarding the four to five estimated people that may be
in this department, can the Minister expand a little bit?
He touched on it briefly. Can he expand on the subject
matter “experts” that fall outside of the police and fire [service] to manage these plans that he identified to
need development?

Thank you, Member.
Minister?

Hon. Wayne Caines: When you look at the areas that
we will be preparing: hurricanes, emergency plans for
the airport, marine, search and rescue plans, and I will fast forward to counter terrorism plan [and] a mass
casualty plan. When you are putting together a plan,
as with any exercise, we will find the subject matter
expert s in those areas and they will help us to develop
the plan. What we are doing is, we are putting toget her the bones of a plan. And what these area experts will do, they will develop our national strategy using experts in the specific fields to advance a national
disaster plan.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Just to drill down on that specific point, when
you have, again on page 4 into page 5, the 10 items
that need to be developed, six of those items, Mr.
Speaker, fall outside of the range of subject matter
expertise between the Bermuda Police Service and the Bermuda Fire Service, which is why I asked the
question regarding subject matt er experts, how are we
engaging folks who are professionals in food security,
water security, fuel and energy sectors? I would like,
Mr. Speaker, some specific answers.

Thank you, Member.

Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker, the absolute genesis of this statement is showing the collaborative approach that we are using. We did not have the expertise as it pertains to dealing with major oil spills, dealing with the BELCO incident, and what did we do? We
partnered with BELCO, the experts at BELCO, an d we
put together a plan to develop a disaster management
plan going forward with a tabletop exercise. We believe that there is . . . if you look at the 10 areas, of
course, we will not have subject experts on- Island. We
have the opportunity to develop an overarching disaster management plan. As it relates to each element of
the plan, we will have to employ subject matter experts to help us to drill down to the specific, to the f inite elements of the plan.
Let’s go to the plan again. We have an EMO
and they have been dealing with national disasters as they occur. We now see an opportunity for us to d evelop a Department of National Disaster that puts t ogether a national disaster strategy. Elements of that will have to be honed in with obvious specialists loo king to put together a specific plan. Do we have the
names of those specialists now; the cost of those
specialists now? We do not. Those matters are in train as we are developing that plan as we speak, Mr.
Speaker.

Thank you, Minister.
Supplementary?
We recognise the Opposition Leader.

SUPPLEMENTARIES

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the Minister, I just wondered, because we
can get expertise and advice from lots of people and it
helps us not reinvent the wheel. Hav e you taken advantage of the expertise that comes through PAHO
[Pan American Health Organization]? Because of
course, we are a member and they have lots of information as it relates to disasters, especially when you
start getting down into things like the food security,
water security, and other things like that. So I just wondered whether we have engaged PAHO to help
us with our development.

Thank you, Member.
Minister?
Hon. Wayne Caines: Absolutely. There are a number
of agencies worldwid e that we are a member to, we


Bermuda House of Assembly are signatories to, and we believe a part of this pr ocess, Mr. Speaker, and so that we are all aware, the
Foreign & Commonwealth Office has a disaster management plan for each of the islands. They have
looked at a number of th e countries [to see] where
there are failings and where there are shortcomings.
The entire plan is to make sure that there is a consistent and a contiguous plan across all of the islands.
And Bermuda is simply saying that we get it! We are
putting a plan t ogether. And we are going to use the
relationships and leverage the relationships that we
have to put together —bearing in mind the costs, bearing in mind the budget that we have—a team that best
reflects the needs and the future for Bermuda and
making sure our Island is indeed safe.

Yes.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: The reason I ask the
question is because every time we do many of these
things it becomes a budgetary issue and sometimes
we are able to take advantage of programmes, especially like PAHO, that they might have where we can
get some of this expertise at no cost to ourselves, and
I just wanted to make sure that we are utilising all of
these—

You danced a little on that one. I was
giving you a leeway, but make it a clear question.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: My supplementary was,
have we reached out to any of these agencies to see
whether from a budgetary point of view we could take advantage of some of the [free programmes] that they
might have available to us? Not just from the point of
view of perhaps giving us expertise.

Mm-hmm.
Hon. Wayne Caines: If the Bermuda Government
were to host a seminar such as the one in the Stat ement, it would have been exceedingly cost prohibitive.
We decided to partner wi th experts in a specific [field]
to benefit not only the private sector, but the public
sector, but specifically the people of Bermuda. I believe that in keeping with the Foreign & Common-wealth Office and the push to standardise the proc edure for the depar tments across the Caribbean, we
have to and we will leverage international relationships. Number one, keeping in mind the budgetary
constraints, but not limiting to the expertise that is i ndeed available. Obviously, we realise that there are
signatories to different conventions, different associ ations, and we will make use of our partners globally to
the benefit of the people of Bermuda, Mr. Speaker.

Okay.

QUESTION 2: DISAS TER AND EMERGENCY PR EPAREDNESS BELCO MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL
742 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY PLAN TABLETOP
EXERCISE HELD ON 29 NOVEMBER 2017

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
To the Honourable Minister, in regard to the
Tabletop Exercise that BELCO hel d, and I congrat ulate them. The Minister used the words “demonstrated leadership.” However, I think it is expected by our util ity provider to demonstrate that leadership. We will
recall the incident we had years ago —

Put your question now. Put your question.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I am getting right to that.
But years ago when the Island was without
power for a long period of time, we had some challenges. So now that we have had this Tabletop Exercise, what specific recommendations [are there], and
who will follow up with those recommendations as a
result of the Tabletop Exercise?

Thank you.
Minister?

Hon. Wayne Caines: The team that was present. So,
the first part of it was the . . . before we go into to the
Tabletop Exerci se, the first part of it was looking at the
infrastructure of BELCO. The first part of the exercise
was understanding the significance of Bermuda.
The second part was classes that were held
on the Incident Command System —how that runs,
how do you manage i t. So, soon into that was the
Tabletop Exercise and the question- and-answer. The
person who represented the Bermuda Government —
was also described as the senior administrator —was
Steve Cosham, on behalf of the Ministry of National Security. He will be the reservoir of information and
will be responsible for the action items and the proc edures, the policies, implementing the plans going for-ward, Mr. Speaker.

The question was from a different perspective. They are looking at the response as far as a
disaster.
Your question was actually looking at the i nfrastructure of BELCO in regar d to a different perspective from the RA; there are two different perspectives in this sense.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: No. Mr. Speaker, for clar ification, when the Honourable Minister started to a nswer the question, he referred to looking at the infr astructure. And because of that, I have asked the question: In the look at the infrastructure, was the RA r eport used?

No. Thank you.
No further questions?
Your third question now. Third question; go
ahead, last question for you.

QUESTION 3: DISASTER AND EMERGENCY PR EPAREDNESS BELCO MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL
EMERGENCY CONTINGENCY PLAN TABLETOP
EXERCISE HELD ON 29 NOVEMBER 2017

Mich ael H. Dunkley: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, in previous years, thanks to the
leadership of the former Minister, Minister Baron, text
messaging has been used quite effectively during the
preparation for the oncoming of the hurricane season.
Is that programme still one that the Minister believes
is important, and are our cell phone providers on
board to continue that? Social media has played a
valuable part in getting the message out, and I would
hope that would continue.

Minister .

Hon. Wayne Caines: For clarity, it was not the last
Minister that put text messaging in place, just for clar ity. From another position that I had, Mr. Speaker, I
can tell you that it was the Progressive Labour Party,
a Progressive Labour Party Minister who initiated that
and started that process, even in an unofficial capac ity. That is a fact, Mr. Speaker.

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Wayne Caines: That is a fact, as I can tell you,
from the CEO of a telecoms company locally. That is
fact.


Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Continue.

Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker, technology has
evolved. So we are not saying, Are we going to use
Instagram, Facebook? That is now an integral part of
the system of notifications with our Department of Communications, with the Bermuda Police Service,
with our senior communications. That is now part and
parcel of all messaging for the Bermuda Government.
Using social media, using text messaging, [we] are
getting the message out to the general public, Mr. Speaker.

So, let me just first pay
tribute to the outgoing President of Somerset Cricket Club, of seven years, Mr. Alfred Maybury, who gave
stellar service. Whilst in Somerset Cricket Club last
night, Mr. Speaker, I had to reflect on that I may never
complain about PLP caucuses again, because it took
us about five hours almost to get to a point where we
actually were able to elect a new leadership at Somerset Cricket Club.

Oh, yes, a lot of bus iness conducted, Mr. Speaker.
But what I would like to do is to extend congratulations to the new Executive at Somerset Cricket
Club, the new young Executive at Somerset Cricket Club, led by Vashun Blanchette, who has moved up
from Vice President to President. Nadir Wade is Vice
President; Christopher Dechabert is Treasurer;
O’Brien Roberts is Assistant Treasurer; Dawn Si mmons is Secretary; and Nasir Wade is Assistant Sec-retary.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to note that, in
electing a 10-member Committee of Management, it
includes somebody who is a member of this House, the Honourable MP, Dennis Lister III. And so, I would ask that the substantive Premier also be associated
with these congratulations, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.

The Speake r: Thank you, Minister.
Does any other Member wish to speak on
congratulations or condolences?
No other Member?
Oh, okay. I recognise the Honourable Oppos ition Leader. You folks are slow this morning. We almost moved on.
The Honourable Member, you have the floor.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I am sorry, Mr. Speaker. I
just assume everybody would be up on their feet, and I was biding my time.

You thought everybody would be congratulating Somerset; I understand that.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Oh, yes. I am a Somerset
supporter, so I go for that.
Mr. Speaker, I just want to ask this House to
send congratulations to the Georgia State University
Risk Management Foundation. One might wonder
why I would be asking congratulations to be sent to an organisation that might not look like it has a relationship to Bermuda. But it does. And I want to make it
clear that the Georgia State University Risk Manag ement Foundation has been collecting funds so that
Bermuda students could go to Georgia State and
study risk management, and we have a number of
students who are there. And it is significant that the
744 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda House of Assembly way they have been raising [these funds] is to have a
track from the Bermuda Railway, starting from Somerset Bridge all the way down to Swizzle Inn. And this has been going on for 14 years, from 2003 to 2017. And I must admit, it caused me to get out yesterday and to be on the Railway Track. And I am quite amazed at how much you see, going through the rai lway.
But the people who have been associated and
involved with this are ABIC, the www.bermudascholarships.com, BFIST [Bradley Fire Support Team], and JLT. And you have got Willis [(Bermuda) Limited] and [Willis] Towers Watson; and
McGriff, [Seibels & Williams, Inc.], and also Paragon.
And I just wanted us to recognise that we do not a lways realise that people who operate here many times turn around and look at how they can contribute not just through donations, but also through other events. And this, to me, recognises something that
they do. And I am sure that there are others who are
doing this as well, but I just want to offer congratul ations.
While I am on my feet, I would also like to
have congratulations sent to Gosling Brothers [Lim-ited], who, once again this year, have been holding
their Gosling tournament. And the reason I want co ngratulations to be sent from this House is because they have been a stalwart at the forefront in making sure that this event attracts not just local golfers, but lots of people from abroad, professionals as well as
amateurs who come down. And it very much fits into
the tourism theme, if you will, that Bermuda has lots of opportunities for us to do things. And they make sure that they come. And this year, they spread it around so that it was golf at Port Royal, as well as Belmont, so it means that you have exposure to some of our
government courses and some of the private facilities.
And last, but not least, while I am on my feet,
and I am sure I am not going to be the last person to
speak on this, but I just wanted to say that I would like to have —
[
Timer beeps]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would just like to have this
House commend the work of Pastor Leroy Bean. As we know, he is the Gang Intervention Coordinator,
more specifically because of the public announcement
of the formation of the Fathers Support Group. These are the fathers who have been affected by gang vi olence for too long. I think many Members here will concur that the fathers have been the invisible parents around this issue. And I have the Honourable Derrick
Burgess, from constituency 5, who wishes to be ass ociated with these comments. And so, I am happy that
we are getting the fathers involved here. Like I said, for too long they have been the invisible faces behind this ongoing Bermudian tragedy. And again, I want to have Pastor Leroy Bean keep up the good work thus
far. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you.
Any other Member?
I recognise the Honourable Minister of Educ ation. Minister, you have the floor.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like this Honourable
House to send a letter of condolences to the family of Mrs. Patricia Holder, long- time teacher in Bermuda. I
think the entire House will want to be associated.

No, no; Sunday.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain : Mr. Speaker, I would also
like congratulations sent to Ms. Sandra Dill, who organised the Bermuda International College & Univer-sity Fair that started yesterday. It is a fair that brings
universities from overseas, and includes our own local Bermuda College. And it allows high school students a chance to talk first -hand with recruiters from these
various institutions, versus having to go there and see them.
Also, Mr. Speaker, the CedarBridge Academy
family celebrated their first Annual Founders Day this week. As we know, this year is the 20
th year of the
founding of CedarBridge. I am quite happy to see that they are doing things to . . . there are different teams
promoting the school itself and the excellence that comes from there. There was a surprise pr esentation


Bermuda House of Assembly to the principal by the students that was very well r eceived, as well.
Mr. Speaker, CTY, or the Centre for Talented
Youth, held their annual Math Olympiad this Sunday,
which I attended. And I would just like a letter of con-gratulations to be se nt to them, as they continue to
look to push our students to perform in mathematics
and in other subjects, but, in this case, particularly in
mathematics.
Also, Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate
the graduates of the CedarBridge fall graduation class, who walked across the stage yesterday and
took up their certificates. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker, and good morning. Good morning to my co lleagues, as well.
Mr. Speaker, I stand to ask that this House
send condolences to the family of the late Claude
Gregory St Clair Boyles, of Dev on Springs Road. I
have been in connection with Mr. Boyles and the
Boyles family in two instances. Firstly, some of you may know that I canvassed in that area and ran in that
area a couple of times. And the Boyles family were
very complimentary to me in terms of running in that
area. Obviously, I was not successful there. But in
another instance, his son, Ranay, and his family act ually live in my constituency; they are my neighbours.
So I ask that this House send condolences.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

The Sp eaker: Thank you, Member.
Does any other Member . . . I recognise the
Honourable Member from constituency 11. Honour able Member Famous, you have the floor.

Good morning to the li stening audience.
Like my cousin, Honourable Member from
[constituency] 26, the Boyles family has been the
foundation of constituency 11. And I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Claude Boyles a week before the election . And he gave his blessings that our party
goes forward. So, Mr. Boyles was a master excavator.
Many houses and buildings in this country, the foundation is built on his work.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to give congratul ations to St. George’s Cricket Club President, Mr. Neil
Paynter. His 50
th birthday was two days ago. And I happened to notice that half of the people named in
the Somerset new executive [were] down there taking
notes. I do not know what the Colonel has to say. But
I think the next day they went and realised that they
had to up their game.

[Laughter]

I congratulate them for
taking notes.
Mr. Speaker, there was an opening in a book,
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .”
Mr. Speaker, a year ago to today, it was the worst
time in Bermuda. I am sure we will speak on it later,
but I just want to congratulate the Bermudians who
stood firm that day in the face of something that we
have never seen before. So I just want to take the
time for all of us to reflect that what happened one year ago should never happen again. Again, I want to
thank the Bermudians w ho stood firm.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that this Honourable
House send a note of congratulations to the Chamber
of Commerce. Earlier this week, they put on an abs olutely incredible Breakfast Panel Discussion on Living
Wage in which they had a guest speaker, who was
Chuck Collins, t he author of the book called Born on
Third Base: [A One Percenter Makes the Case for
Tackling Inequality]. The panel was moderated by Dr.
Myra Virgil, and consisted of Craig Simmons and N athan Kowalski. Through their discourse, they were able to highlight some of the challenges, as well as to
offer some of the solutions that we can implement —at
least consider —from our Bermuda perspective. I think
it was not just timely; it was certainly effective. And I would ask that my Honourable Leader, Opposition
Leader Atherden, as well as, in her absence, the
Deputy Opposition Leader, Leah Scott, be associated
with those comments, as well. And I think it might also
be that the Member who leads the Panel on Living
Wage, appointed by the House, the Honourable Member from constituency 21, who was also in at746 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly tendance, would probably also want to be associated
with those congratulations to the Chamber.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

It has been a lot of talk around
here today about St. George’s/Somerset, but I will get
to that after the fact.
First of all, I want to just give condolences to
the Holder family, as well. Mrs. Holder was my year 4
form teacher. And those of you in Berkeley know I was in the East, which was at that time, and probably
still is, considered the best of the forms in Berkeley.

So, Mr. Speaker, is it my time to
speak, yes? Thank you.
But I do want to just let Scott and Lisa —and
Lisa was in my y ear in Berkeley —know that they are
in our thoughts and prayers at this time. I am sure that
each and every one of us has a Mrs. Holder story. I do not care to share any of mine at this time.

[Laughter]

Yes. But I just want to let them
know that they are in our prayers.
I would also like to send congratulations to Mr.
Richard Todd for being elected the President of the
Bermuda Football Coaches Association. Everybody
who knows Richard knows that he has been involved
in football for some time. And also, congratulations to
the Parks staff. Last night, they officially launched The
Old Fort Is Alight. And I would encourage each and
every one of you to go down to Fort St. Catherine and
see. I must admit, though, Mr. Speaker, that St.
George’s has got it going on right now in terms of lights. Anyone who has had the opportunity to even
visit us and see the town area and that li ghting, you
would definitely be missing something if you had not. And congratulations to the Mayor, Quinell
Francis, and her team, for the town, as they had their
official lighting ceremony last week Saturday, as well.
So I just want to make those notes, Mr.
Speaker, and let you know that . . . I know that you sit
on the other side in terms of the St.
George’s/Somerset thing. But definitely, St. George’s
has it going on and is alight at this time, Mr. Speaker.

This season brings red lights down
there for you folks.
I recognise the Honourable Minister, Minister
Foggo.

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Firstly, I would like to be associated with the
comments made by my honourable colleague, Renee
Ming, regarding congratulations going out for the
Mayor of St. George’s and her team. St. George’s is
definitely alight. St. George’s is definitely the place
where things are happeni ng.

Maybe I should have taken the other
Member.

[Inaudible interjections and laughter ]

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: And I want all Members here
to understand that. The mayor has done a remarkable
job in ensuring that St. George’s stays on the map.
And I would say to our Acting Premier, he needs to
come down and visit and he will see that. Hopefully, he will be there tomorrow evening when Santa Claus
comes to town.

I would like to take a picture of that
one. That would be a first.

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: But also, Mr. Speaker, I have
to join in with the condolences for Madam Holder. She
was a teacher par excellence. I am sure the Clerk can
attest to this: She indeed did teach me French, and I did a stellar job because of her. I consider Madam
Holder not just a teacher, but also a friend. She def iBermuda House of Assembly nitely looked very keenly at my career in education,
and did give me sage advice on numerous occasions.
The Berkeley family definitely mourns her loss. And it
is a loss. I know she has not been teaching there or
[serving as] the pri ncipal there for quite some time.
But whenever we lose a member with that sort of hi story, it impacts us deeply. And so, condolences to her
family, her son, Scott; her husband, Leonard; and her
daughter, Lisa, who likewise is a friend of mine. And
they should know that the whole Berkeley family is
standing arm -to-arm with them at this time of bereavement. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Minister.
I recognise the Honourable Member from
constituency 10. Honourable Member Dunkley, you
have th e floor.

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated
with the condolences to the Boyles family. I was the
MP for that area when the boundaries were first
changed. And I certainly always viewed that family as
a foundation for Bermudian community, as many
Bermudian families are. So, condolences to wonderful
people.
I would also like to pass on condolences,
have the House send condolences to the Peacock family, Alan Peacock’s wife, Esther, and son, Jonathan. I think Members of the House would like to be
associated, the Opposition Leader and MP Tyrrell
from constituency 26. He passed away recently after a
short illness. I first met Mr. Peacock on the football field. He certainly had prowess not only in the community in business, but he loved his football as well.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: And I will disregard the
comment from Minister Caines over there, because I
do not know the last time I saw him put cleats on over
there, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like this House to send a
message of condolence to Gita Blakeney and her
family for the passing of St. Clair just recently, after
suffering from a major illness. I know it is tough times
for them, a wonderful family. And I think our message
of comfort will help them to get through this.
Mr. Speaker, I would like this Honourable
House to send congratulations to the Royal Family on
the recent engagement that was announced with
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle just recently. Now the Duchess of Cambridge has some competition as
far as the paparazzi is concerned and the pictures that
they wish to take. But we wish them all the best as
they move forward towards their wedding day next year.
And lastly, Mr. Speaker, I would ask that congratulations be sent to government workers. And I am sure the Minister of Works, the Acting Premier, would
like to be associated with congratulations to Mr. Roger
Parris and Mr. Sam Santucci on their continuation of
the Skills Development Programme, which this Government has supported, going forward. There is a new cohort that started yesterday, and the Minister intr oduced them. And I think it is a wonderful cross -
community initiative that will pay rich benefits for all of the people of Bermuda. Thank you, sir.

Yes, good morning, Mr.
Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like a suitable letter sent
to the President of the Par 5 Golf Club, which is cel ebrating 20 years in existence in our community. Mr.
David Bur ch and the Opposition Leader, Mrs.
Atherden, would like to be associated. They are an
outstanding organisation that cam e together through
friendship and have carried on a great legacy of not
only participating in organised, structured golf events,
but providing great camaraderie and also travelling across the world. They will celebrate with a banquet this weekend, and I look forward to bringing some
suitable remarks as their after -dinner speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would also like to be associated with the condolences sent to the Blakeney family
on the passing of Mr. St. Clair Blakeney. And I would
also like to be associated w ith the remarks sent to the
Gosling family with regard to the Goslings Invitational that concludes today at the Belmont Hills Golf Club,
after playing with Port Royal. I associate with the
birthday wishes to my president, Neil Paynter, and
indeed associate also with the condolences sent to
the family of the long- serving schoolteacher, Mrs.
Holder. And finally, Mr. Speaker, I associate with the
congratulations being sent to Mayor Quinell Francis
and her team on the lighting ceremony that I had the
pleasure, along with the Members from constituency 1
and constituency 3, and also with the [Deputy] Premier Roban, of being a part of that ceremony. It was
wonderful. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
First, let me just associate myself with the
condolences to the Blakeney family. I spent quite a bit
of time with Mr. Blakeney, getting into t he political
arena. And the advice and history alone that he gave
were quite phenomenal. And it seems that we are at a
748 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly stage politically when we are beginning to lose many
of the stalwarts of the beginnings of democracy in
Bermuda, back in the 1960s when w e started the p olitical parties. I have travelled quite a bit with the fam ilies. Year after year, we would go on cruises together. And so, it is not necessarily shocking; we knew that
he was ill, fighting. But again, it is always tough to
take a loss like that, someone who historically has
been a big figure in Bermuda in so many ways, bringing equality to the country.
On a lighter note, I would like to commend . . .
I did not hear Camiko Smith’s name mentioned. At Port Royal, he shot —Honourable Member Swan, he
shot a 64 at Port Royal! So we need to commend our
young people who continue to do well in a sport that . . . we would like to see him [play] internationally,
abroad, overseas. I know that Honourable Member Dunkley keeps close to all of that golf stuf f; I am sure
he wants to be associated with that, and the Honourable Opposition Leader as well.
Also on a lighter note, I had the opportunity
again to be at the Christmas Parade that Marketplace
puts on. And I want to thank again Ms. Ferrero for the
oppor tunity that she has provided for Bermudians to
show up. Our young people showed up in droves. I
brought my grandkids. Of course, parents were not
happy, because they walked away with bags and bags of candy. But it is always good to see Bermudians together enjoying this time of the year. So we
want to congratulate Marketplace on the fantastic job,
and that they continue to have that parade. Thank
you.

No other Member?
We recognise the Honourable Minister De
Silva. You have the floor.
Hon. Zan e J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to join colleagues in
offering condolences to a few people who have
passed in the last couple of days, and that being, certainly, Mr. Peacock, who I have known for many
years. He was a go od friend of my brother, played
football with my brother for many years. And of
course, he was a long- term employee. And I think he
will be sorely missed by all those at Colonial Insurance. Also, Mr. Speaker, to Mr. Blakeney and his
family, who have strong roots within the Progressive
Labour Party. So I surely do wish the family all the
prayers that we can give for them as they go through
this period.
Now, Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member,
my colleague, Mr. Famous, talked about Claude
James [sic] and how he—

It is Boyles. Boyles.
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: I mean Claude Boyles,
Claude Boyles, Mr. Speaker. It is funny. Because we
are talking about golf, I think about Claude James.
But certainly, I had many experiences with
Claude and his son, and I think everybody knows his son and what a character he is. But, certainly, he will
be missed. And I wish the family many prayers in the
coming days, also.
Now, Mr. Speaker, I would also like to assoc iate the congr atulations with our young pro, Mr. Cam iko Smith, who shot . . . I do not know if folks realise
how low 64 is. It is not up at Princess where the par is
54. It is up at Port Royal, which is a very, very tough
course, Mr. Speaker.

Have you hit those numbers yet yourself?
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: And I could tell you that we
had major championship winners, Mr. Speaker, come
to Port Royal over the years. And I can tell you, for
him to shoot that score at Port Royal under tourn ament conditions was absolutely phenomenal.
And whilst I am on golf, Mr. Speaker, I would
also like the House to recognise a long- term visitor to
Bermuda. And that is Mr. Pat Horgan III. He is here.
He is doing quite well, Mr. Speaker. I think, as of yesterday, he was in about fourteenth spot. He is now a senior. And I think that he fell in love with Bermuda
about 25 years ago, he got married here, Mr. Speaker, and has been a regular returning visitor. And I
think that yesterday he indicated that he wants to sit down [to tal k], and when the Minister of Tourism
comes back, I certainly would like to have a chat with him because he has some ideas for Bermuda and the
Champions Tour and possibly holding an event here
in Bermuda, Mr. Speaker. So I remain very optimistic that, with his influence and the influence of former
PGA President Joe Steranka, that we might be able to
pull that off. So, let us stand by for that, Mr. Speaker.

[Timer beeps]

Good morning, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, I rise and ask that I be associated with the remarks so far on the passing of Mr. St.
Clair Blakeney. It is with respect that I extend my


Bermuda House of Assembly deepest condolences from my family to their family.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Blakeney was synonymous with his
given surname. He was a true icon, and his memory
will not soon be forgotten. Known for his masculine elegance and eloquence, he exuded deep, deep pride in family, social and business standing, and the country that he loved. Mr. Speaker, in my experience, Mr.
Blakeney was not easily read. He displayed a begui ling and buoyant and disarming personality. And he
was a true treasure of a bygone era. Mr. Speaker, as
the world turns on this day, he and those of his class and stature are all the more missed. We send our
condolences to his family. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We have one Government Bill to be
introduced today. And we recognise the Honourable
Minister. Honourable Minister De Silva, you have the
floor.

FIRST READING

MISUSE OF DRUGS (DECRIMINALISATION OF
CANNABIS) AMENDMENT ACT 2017

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. S peaker.
Mr. Speaker, I am introducing the following
Bill for its first reading so that it may be placed on the
Order Paper for the next day of meeting: Misuse of
Drugs (Decriminalisation of Cannabis) Amendment
Act 2017.

I give notice that I propose to
move the following motion at the next day of Meeting:
WHEREAS it is acknowledged that the public
are becoming increasingly aware of incidents relating
to sexual offenders, and these incidents are alarming
and create widespread concern as to how we manage
the information relating to sexual offenders and how we protect our communities simultaneously;
BE IT RESOLVED that this Honourable
House establish a Joint Select Committee to examine,
review and make recommendations, and report to this Hous e its findings on existing legislation which addresses the necessity for a public sex offenders’ regi ster, along with other pertinent matters relating to con-victed sex offenders.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

We are now on Orders of the Day,
Members, and the first item that we will be taking up
this morning is Order No. 2, in the name of the Mini ster of Health. And it is the Residential Care Homes
and Nursing Homes Amendment Act 2017.
Minister Wilson, you have the floor.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Real quick. All right. Now you can r esume to your feet, Minister.
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: All right. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for that pause. I wanted to share a copy
of the brief with the Shadow Minister. This morning
when I was walking in this morning, I was approached
by the Opposition Leader to see whether or not I
would be prepared to share the brief, which, of
course, I had photocopied already. And I was pr epared to do so, notwithstanding the fact that when I sat on the other side as the Shadow Minister of
Health, the brief was never shared with me. But no netheless —

It is a new day. Let us go forward.
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: It is a new day. And as Christ opher Earle, who is a novelist as well as a motivational speaker, said, it is always important to be gracious in
defeat and humble in victory . So with that, I will antic ipate and help, encourage myself and my colleagues,
to be humble in this honourable place, particularly
when we are the Government.

Thank you. We appreciate that.

BILL

SECOND READING

RESIDENTIAL CARE HOMES AND NURS ING
HOMES AMENDMENT ACT 2017

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased
to rise before this House today for the Second Reading of the Residential Care Homes and Nursing Homes Amendment Bill 2017.
Mr. Speaker, the Residential Care Homes and
Nursi ng Homes Act 1999 regulates care homes, for
example, residential care homes and nursing homes that provide room, board, and personal care to two or
more seniors or persons with disabilities. The overall
purpose of this legislation is to protect and ensure the
health, safety, and well -being of these residents.
Mr. Speaker, despite a dynamic and evolving
sector, the legislation has not been substantially u p-dated since inception, which was nearly 20 years ago.
Recognising the breadth of changes required, the
Ministry is moving forward amendments in phases,
addressing first and foremost some urgent improv ements to the regulation of care homes. This first phase addresses the most pressing areas identified
by stakeholders and lays the foundation for future i mprovements. Specifically, the objectives of this
amendment Bill are (1) to clarify and improve the Mi nistry’s intervention authority and compliance mechanisms; (2) to modernise the regulatory framework in order to provide standards on the model of care, level
of care, and specific residence needs; and (3) to raise
the minimal care standards.
Significantly, Mr. Speaker, the Bill introduces
and it includes fundamental components of the Pr otection of Persons in Care Act, which I proposed earl ier this year whilst in Opposition, to enhance reporting
of abuse and powers to intervene.
Mr. Speaker, currently the Chief Medical O fficer has oversight of 22 care homes and delegates
the administration, registration, and compliance moni-toring processes to Ageing and Disabil ity Services.
The Elder Care Team is the team of inspectors who
assess compliance with the legislation. This team i ncludes persons from the Health Department’s Community Rehabilitation Programme, Nutrition Services,
Environmental Health and Community Nursi ng. In a ddition to inspectors from Ageing and Disability Ser-vices are the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Services.
Mr. Speaker, the diversity of inspectors r equired shows that the regulation of care homes is a
complex and resource- intensive task. In addition, care
homes do not all fit within a single mould. They come in varying sizes and provide different models and lev-els of care, and can specialise in serving particular
sub-populations requiring long- term care, such as
adults with physical disabilities. Over th e past three
years, Mr. Speaker, Ageing and Disability Services
has made substantial improvements in monitoring and
enforcing compliance in care homes. As a result, we
have seen improvements in the quality of care by the
homes, although much variation remains, and conti nued enhancements are a work in progress.
In fact, limitations in the legislation and broader systematic challenges have restricted the extent to
which regulatory interventions and standards can be
advanced. This amendment seeks to unblock s ome of
these limitations. In particular, the specific factors
shaping this amendment are the challenging realities
with respect to capacity and financing. First, care
homes are consistently close to 100 per cent capacity,
especially facilities that provide higher levels of care.
This reality challenges enforcement options when problems are discovered, as closure is not often a viable solution, since there are no alternative plac ement options for residents.
Second, many homes struggle financially,
which mak es it a challenge to improve standards. F iBermuda House of Assembly nancial difficulties are, in part, due to the high cost of
operating care homes, people’s inability to pay out of
pocket for residential care, and the reliance on go vernment benefits.
Both supply and financing of long -term care
are currently being targeted in the Ministry’s strategic
initiatives, such as the Long- Term Care Action Plan,
and efforts to identify incentives for private sector i nvestment in long- term care sector are underway.
However, these are not quic k or easy fixes. Cons equently, the amendments proposed have taken these
limitations into account to achieve as much as poss ible within the current realities.
Mr. Speaker, I will now highlight the primary
components of the amendment Bill. First, the amend-ment explicitly establishes an improved graduated
system of notification and interventions based on risk and reoccurrence of noncompliance. The aim is to
improve the overall protection of persons in care. D epending on the type of intervention required, thes e
amendments provide for the Ministry or the courts to
take action, including publication of conditions and
restrictions on a care home to ensure greater public
accountability and transparency; ministerial orders to
require immediate action to protect resi dents’ health,
well-being, and safety; interim management orders by
the courts to put in place interim administrators or operators in circumstances of serious risks to the safety,
health, and well -being of residents; notification and
appeals mechanisms to ensure due process for operators; and, finally, a tiered re- registration fee based on
the level of compliance.
The higher the level of compliance, the lower
the annual registration fee. This serves as an incen-tive for care homes and maintains the current l ow fee
for the fully compliant homes. Although the fees r emain far lower than the actual cost of regulating the
care homes, the aim has been to reflect the intensiv eness of regulation required. Less compliant homes need more inspections, monitoring, and enforcement,
thus costing more to regulate.
Second, Mr. Speaker, the amendments pr ovide for a Code of Practice to be published, which will
set a higher standard of care across the sector. Sp ecifically, the Code will improve compliance by provi ding a comprehensive resource for care homes, ma king standards and expectations explicit; set general
standards for all care homes, in addition to standards
specific to a home’s level, or model, of care; include
best-practice guidelines, not yet mandatory, but to
prepare homes for future advancements in the minimum standards; and, finally, enable continued i ncreases in standards by regularly updating the Code,
with consultation.
The first edition of the Code will include exis ting requirements, as well as new and improved
standards in three priority areas, namely, (1) health
and care services, which includes requirements for
assessment of residents’ care planning and clinical practice standards; (2) protection from abuse, use of
restraints, and managing challenging behaviours. Mr.
Speaker, this includes standards to ensure better pr otection for persons in care from abuse and neglect, which is a top priority for this government; (3) staffing. This includes supervision, training, qualification, and
minimal staffing levels.
It is important to note here the one change to
the regulations at this time is to raise the qualification requirements for administrators and deputies. Existing
administrators will be grandfathered in at the current facility, but may be required to take addit ional training,
based on compliance levels.
Future editions of the Code will continue to
raise standards, based on care, priorities, cost, and
available resources. Enhancing the regulatory env ironment for care homes will be an ongoing process,
Mr. Speaker, and these amendments set the stage for
continued progress in improving standards and regulation. Future phases of amendments will update the
regulations and continue to enhance the Code of
Practice to better respond to broader long- term care
initiatives.
Mr. Speaker, in closing I want to acknowledge
the time and effort put into this amendment by the Ageing and Disability Services, the Elder Care Team,
care home administrators, and key community stak eholders. In addition, subject matter experts and stak eholders have been involved in the development and
review of the new sections of the Code of Practice
and continue to contribute to this work. We look forward to maintaining our engagement with partners in Government and the community, as we know how
much work remains to be done to improve long- term
care in Bermuda. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Thank you, and good mor ning, Mr. Speaker.
I want to also thank the members of the Ageing and Disability Services, Members of the Ministry of
Health who have worked very hard to make these
amendments possible, and certainly all of the admini strative and owners of residential care homes and
nursing homes in Bermuda for all of the effort and
good intention that is placed in their daily commitment
to the population.
I want to begin by just declaring my interest,
Mr. Speaker. I have been working for the past year and a half or so with a residential care home, Summerhaven. And I want to put that out there because
we have been through quite a journey, and much of that journey and its learnings, I personally believe, are
a main part of the amendments to this Act. So, I just
752 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly want to let everyone know that there are certain
amendments in this Bill that I certainly have personally
been a part of, through the process.
So, I would like to begin by just speaking to
intervention, triage, recover y. Much of the amendments to this Act are around enforcement and how the
Government can support or step in to intervene and
assist any kind of residential care home or nursing
home that is struggling with their standards of care.
And certainly, Mr. Speaker , the responsibility of an
administrator and an owner/operator of a home is cri tical. But one of the pieces that I am feeling is not as readily clear in this piece of legislation is the patient’s
rights. And certainly, at some point in all of the repor ting and enforcement of standards in homes, can [we]
officially, or in some way, structurally include a patient’s right to make a full and official complaint and
that this can be used and be a part of enforcement,
moving forward?
Because certainly there are a number of people, and certainly Members on both sides of this
House have stood up here on motions to adjourn and
at other times and expressed their concern for patients who may have been traumatised or have felt
that their standard of care has not been appropriate.
And we, as Members of this Honourable House, are at
all times doing our best to make sure that everyone is afforded the best care.
But from time to time, we do find that there
are people in our community who are not as comfor table in their resi dential homes as they could be. And I
have my first feeling around this, that there are som etimes patients who are in homes, or homes that are accepting and taking care of people who may be outside of the definition of their particular home. And
when these things happen, and certainly there have
been a number of cases brought to this House, the
home is then responsible for any kind of maladmi nistration. And I just want to talk to that for a minute.
So, Mr. Speaker, a person opens up a res idential home and they take in residents, and they take
in residents based on what the Government is trying to say —Let’s see if we can keep people in their
homes or in their place of residence for as long as we
possibly can so that they can feel as though they’re
ageing in a home where they are comfortable and
their level of care is consistent. When a person opens
up a home . . . let us say it starts out as a nursing
home, and they accept a resident, you know, at an
age at which they are still able to walk around and
convers e and carry on and be able to feed and care
for themselves. But over a period of time, that person
is going to become more frail as they age. Unfort unately, there seems to be a bit of a breakdown in the
resident ageing and having more physical disabilities
and having more demands for medical care, and the
home is being stretched in that the definition of that
particular facility or home does not cater to the medical needs of the resident, albeit that the resident may have lived in this home for a number of years and that
this may be considered to be their home. For financial reasons, it can become difficult for a care home owner
to want to transfer a resident to a nursing facility or
somewhere where they are going to get additional medical care.
The other s ide is that in some situations the
family is having a difficult time wanting to move the resident because there are additional costs or the le vel of care is such that it is something that cannot be managed from home. So there becomes this conun-drum where a ll of the onus falls on the rest home because they are the ones that are reaching their level
of capacity to care for an elder who is now having additional and increased medical needs. And because of
that, there becomes this generation or environment
where the government then, the inspectors and such,
will go into the home. And the inspection, the reporting
of the standard of care is then less than compliant.
And so, then this is where the conflict shows up. And
we need, as a Government, to find a way around that.
There are a myriad of situations where the
financing [is such that] it is costing more to care for a resident when the medical and care standards fall below, because it is beyond the capacity of a home to
care for the medical needs of a resident. When there
is not enough money, because of the allocations . . . many of the seniors who are in homes are on financial assistance, and if there is not enough money to cover
the cost of care for individuals living in the home, then
we have a huge increase i n trauma and threat of maladministration in an organisation. And with all of that
and levels and layers of complexity, it makes it very
difficult for the home to keep abreast of all of the
changes that are taking place.
And so, I guess what I am getting a t is that it
can be a very complicated and complex situation that
is going on in many of the homes. And I am not convinced, or I would like to see that there is more sup-port available to owners when they reach that stage of
emergency and intervention, and that Government
can provide as much support for triage and recovery
as possible.
The piece of legislation today, the amendment, includes, which I believe is the first step to cur-ing or assisting in strengthening our care homes, is
the qualifications of th ose who are working in the sy stem. So, at present, someone can own a home and
there are not as many requirements or qualifications
for the administration, the people at the top who are
caring for the residents and the operations of the home. And, moving forward, according to the amendments in this Bill, there will be greater attention paid to
the qualifications of administration. So I believe that
this is a very good first step in beginning to strengthen
and improve the quality of care in the homes.
The second level that Government is introducing through this piece of legislation is the inspection. And I have seen the inspection report. I can honestly


Bermuda House of Assembly say that it is thorough. I believe that the inspections
themselves and the rating of the various line items are
fair. My concern is that we are able as a Government
to be able to fill the capacity. So, right now, we do
face delays. So inspection reports can be a little de-layed, and it poses the risk that rest home owners and
residential care owners will then, t oo, delay their i mprovements to standards. I am not convinced that
there are enough inspectors on staff to reach out and
be able to provide timely inspections and reports. So if
we are going to rely on this legislation, based on i nspections, there probably needs to be more done to
make sure that we meet the capacity to do and carry
out these inspections in a timely fashion.
Now, if a home owner is threatened by what
may come out in an inspection report, within the
amendments of this Bill there is now a piece that says
that an owner can close their establishment. And yes,
part of this, which is fantastic, is that they have to give
six months’ notice. And if someone is, in all discl osure, closing their home because they wish to retire
themselves, or it is not working out, it is not econom ically feasible, it is beyond what their means are as far as caring for seniors, then fine. Six months, you let the
Ministry know. Give that notification in writing. And
then, everything needs to be done to make sure that
the residents in that residential care home or that
nursing home are placed in appropriate alternative
living residences. And that is great.
The other side of that, though, is using closure
as a threat. And, certainly, we have to be cognisant within the frame work of the law that people who are
not keeping their residential care homes up to standards are not using the closure of the facility as a
threat. This can be a silencer for the residents who
are living in the home. And it can also be a means to a
sort of get-out-of-jail-for-free card if you say that you
are going to close a home and you are then able to
maybe duck some of the inspections, compliance or
noncompliance. That is certainly something that could
create some reputational risk for the home owner.
So, with the compliance, the Code, having a
number of other standards that are in here, it is very
clear to me that this is one phase moving toward accreditation. And I just want to make sure that Government —and it has been very clear that Government
will be taking its time.

[Inaudible interjection]

Thank you, Members.
The House stands adjourned until 2:00 pm.

Proceedings suspended at 12:31 pm

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

BILL

SECOND READING

RESIDENTIAL CARE HOMES AND NURSING
HOMES AMENDMENT ACT 2017
[Debate thereon continuing]
754 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Members, we are resuming the debate
on the Residential Care Homes and Nursing Homes
Amendment Act 2017 and the Shadow Minister, the
Honourable Member Jackson, had the floor.
Member, do you wish to continue?

So we have had a look at the
fact that there are inspectors. I would suspect that
Government is going to increase their group of inspectors that will be supporting residential care homes and
nursing homes. We will probably have a comprehen-sive Code of Practice coming out soon, and I believe
that owners and clients, residents of residential care and nursing homes, should look out for it. And these
will be the frameworks from which residential home
owners will be held to account moving forward.
Failing that the amendments to this legis lation
are going to put enforcement in a very direct path so
that the Ministry and Government will be able to have
a simplified and efficient way of stepping in and intervening, when necessary, in order to enforce whatever
intervention is needed in order t o make sure that res idential home clients are kept healthy and safe.
There was a time when the enforcement of
such was not really that well -defined and, therefore, it
was more difficult to enforce any laws in order to i ntervene with homes. With the amendm ents to this Act
being able to intervene and enforce laws in order to
[ensure] health and safety and/or the taking over of a rest home can be done as quickly and efficiently as
possible . . . and when that does happen, these
amendments are allowing for a t eam of professionals
to come into the rest home in order to basically create
and serve as triage in order to make sure the i mprovements are made and that the rest home is co mplying with the Codes and the licence.
I am not going to speak too much to all of the
particulars. I do feel that the amendments are . . . they
are within the fees. So if a home is non- compliant, the
fees get incrementally higher, as the Minister had
mentioned in her brief, and there is a considerable
amount of concern amongst owners of homes that they would have to pay those fees. And very clearly it
was stated by the Minister that it is the anticipation
that homes will abide by the inspection, the Codes,
and will put into practice the standards the Ministry of
Health are demanding. If they do not, then they are
going to have to pay a substantially higher fee for the
licence in order to continue to practice and, of course,
those fees are going to be paying for the additional
cost of support in order to help get those homes co mpliant.
But I would like to think that the Government
will keep an eye on rest homes and not allow these
levels of concern to grow to such an extent that there would be that level of non- compliance. And certainly,
again, as I mentioned before, Mr. Speaker , I have
seen the Code and I have seen the inspection reports,
and many of the line items in the report are things that a home that is engaged, a home that wants to provide a standard of care, can certainly take the time . . .
many of the requirements are not about large expenses, but are about making sure that on a daily basis the
right kind of accountability and standard of care is being put in place. And some of it is a commitment to
making sure that homes have that level of high stand-ard and care.
So, with that, I really do not have a whole lot
more to say in the general debate. The rest I can speak to in Committee. But just to say that certainly
this amendment is all about enforcement; this is all
about being able to step in. So when we find that there are clients out there and . . . we get reports on a
regular basis and sometimes it feels as though it is not
enough to intervene. But when you are hearing mult iple reports from clients —residents of homes —and/or
the reporting starts to escalate, then there is a cert ain
level of concern. And if there is any additional
amendment that I would love to see put into this legi slation, it would be to create some sort of legal fram ework to allow for client reporting. I am not aware of any real whistle -blowing legislation that covers people
who want to report through the rest homes and that
might be a nice addition to add to future amendments.
And so, Mr. Speaker , with that I am going to
take my seat and look forward to Committee. Thank
you.

Thank you, Member.
Does any other Member wish to speak?
We recognise the Honourable Deputy Speaker. You have the floor.

Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Mr.
Speaker .
Mr. Speaker , I am always glad and happy to
see something coming forward that would enhance
the situation with rest homes and our seniors. But I
am not satisfied . . . I will never be satisfied until the
residents of rest homes can get at least a three- star
establishment to stay in and five- star treatment.
Because, Mr. Speaker , what concerns me . . .
and I have visited some homes, and I will be doing some more very shortly. What you see—

[Inaudible interjection and laughter ]

Very shortly!
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Well, they . . . those
are my relatives —
[Inaudible interjection]



Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, those are my re latives there speaking, Mr. Speaker . And I am going to
try to take care of them also.
But Mr. Speaker , you know, when we talk
about the furnishings of a rest home, the bedding,
they should have proper matt resses, not any cheap
mattress that you put in a room. You know, you need
to have the type of bedding, mattresses, as they
would have in at least a three- or four -star hotel, Mr.
Speaker . And the furnishing, because I have seen
some furnishings and bedding that require a lot, it
looks like you just got it from any old place and maybe
not necessarily second hand, because you can get
good second- hand stuff, but it is not furniture of good
quality, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker , we will be tabling or taking up a
motion in this House on the Charter of Rights for Seniors—those in long- term care and those that are phy sically challenged— very shortly, which will be the foundation for a reference, actually a document as to how
you should be treating seniors, because seni ors
should not be abused in any way, whether it is phys ical, emotional, financial, or even pharmaceutical, be-cause as it stands today they do not have a choice on
medication. They really do not have a choice on
whether they get a second opinion. It is not enshrined
in the law. And those things should be enshrined in
law because just because they are a senior, just because they are 90 years old, they still have rights just
as you and I and others have, and they need to have
that protection that they can get a second opinion.
Their privacy is respected; because I know of
a few cases, not many, and thank God it is not many,
where there has been alleged physical abuse. The
police have been called and the reaction from the police has not been great. And I guess the policeman
said, Well, this person’s got this and that. They are so
many years old and I can’t take this seriously because
they really can’t explain. But that is why I think the
police need to have somebody especially trained in dealing with the abuse of seniors.
You know, certainly when you look at a senior
[and] you look at somebody 27 years old, there is a
different approach and different method to how you
deal with it, Mr. Speaker . And, you know, in the legi slation you can call the Minister and we k now what that
means.
But Mr. Speaker , what I would like to see—
and I am advocating and will continue to advocate for
it—is a hotline. I think seniors need a hotline just like
other folks my age and younger can call a hotline for certain things, like you c an call a hotline for immigr ation. They should have a hotline and they can make
these calls because a lot of times families and seniors
themselves are reluctant to make this call about phy sical abuse or emotional abuse because they are afraid
that, If I le ave my mama there or my daddy there,
there may be retaliation in some form. Not physical form, but one of emotions, the way you talk to them and that type of thing.
So we have to make our seniors as comfort able as possible in anything they do in their li fe in that
home. And, again, I know there are some guidelines
on meals that have not always been observed in rest
homes. When you hear of some rest homes giving
seniors hot dogs . . . that is the last thing a senior
should have —hot dogs and pizza! They should not
have that type of foolish food. That is what I call it —
foolish food. But that is what some of them are doing.
Now, do not get me wrong, we have some
good homes . . . some good homes and some not -sogood [homes]. You know, I have the evidence where [there are] bedsores on some of our seniors. It looks
terrible. I would not show it to the average person. But
that is what goes on, Mr. Speaker , those types of
things in this new responsibility which I have been
given, with others. We will certainly do our best to deal
with this situation, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker , we have been in homes where
(not me, but one of my folks has been in homes) the
residents have been restrained without a doctor’s order, doctor’s letter. You cannot tie up seniors in any
form u nless you get permission and the reasons from
a doctor. But they do that. So that is something that
we have to put in law, that you cannot do that.
Mr. Speaker , in the Regulations, as it presently stands, just about anybody with experience— that is
all it is, experience—can open a rest home. In En gland, I think you have got to have probably up to a
master’s degree before you can operate a rest home. And I am not trying to bring down others because I
know we have some good people out there doing their
best, a ll right? So, some homes, I think, many of us
will not want to go there. And if we do not want to go
there, why should we think that others should be
there? These people have got to bring their game up
and our intent is to have that happen —to bring their
game up, Mr. Speaker .
You know we have some homes that even
during the summer do not have their air conditioners on or they only have it on certain times of the day.
Those types of things cannot happen, Mr. Speaker ,
because there are criteria, guidelines in the Act for
how many can be in a room, how a room should be situated, windows, and those types of things. It is
there already. But some of that is not always being
adhered to, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker , when we see reports of falls . . .
one fall is too many in a rest home. And I really do not know what has been done to eliminate any falls at all.
Or what can we do because, you know, at that age
the bones are brittle. They tell me, in some people . . .
I guess I have to ask Zane De Silva. He would know;
he is older than me . . . if his bones are brittle, you
know.

[Laughter and crosstalk]
756 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: But I understand that
is what happens, and, obviously, if they are brittle,
they break very easily, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker , even the staffi ng in the rest
homes, there needs to be special training to work in a rest home. That is not enshrined in the law. Because
folks, many folks, are not trained in how to deal with
dementia patients. And that is becoming a bit too
common today. When I talk about “common” I am tal king about the number of people that have come down with dementia, although many people . . . we would prefer that people, if they can, families should keep
their folks at home. Sometimes that is not possible
because it is very, very, expensive, Mr. Speaker .
But I think the big deal right now, Mr. Speaker ,
is how we pay for all of this stuff because many fam ilies cannot afford to keep their folks in these homes.
And I think we have to develop a public/private based
system to pay for seniors because our seniors should
not be hampered. Families should not be hampered,
whether I leave my granny or momma in this home and they cannot pay, because we do have some
homes that are owed monies. They are not going to
put them out on the streets, but they just cannot pay,
and some families are not paying, sometimes they
cannot afford to pay it. So we have got to address
that. We have got to address that early.
In order to get the standards to where they
should be we have got to address that issue. . . it is
almost like health care—affordable health care. It is
the same thing, in my opinion. We must address that
. . . and it is a cost . . . there is going to be a cost. I am
not concerned about that because it is almost like . . .
what do they say? Pay now and go later. That is what
it is, because those seniors have done their work. We,
in this House, stand on the shoulders and backs of
these people who have been out there, built this country up, this system that we have. And we cannot, because of a cer tain age, [consider] that they are gone.
Because, you know, as I understand it I think
the most reasonably priced seniors’ home in Bermuda
is Lefroy House. It is government run. But most of
them are like $5,000 and up a month. I am not sure if that is the correct price, I am not sure if that is too high
or too low. I would tend to be on the side of it is too
high, but we will be looking into that, investigating that
to see if that is the proper price, Mr. Speaker , to
charge folks. You will hear something on this later.
And then activities, Mr. Speaker , I have been
in homes where I have seen people just sitting around
in a square or a circle doing nothing. The Act calls for
an activities coordinator. I guess the day I went they were probably off . . . I am as suming, I guess. But you
just cannot have people just sitting up there like they
are waiting to . . . Whose is going to call me? Is it the
Lord, or who? One of my children? You know that
should not happen.
We should try to model ourselves after England when it comes to taking care of seniors. England is in the top 10 as far as having good care for seniors.
And we must model ourselves after that because that
is our endeavour —to be in the top 10— as far as ta king care of our seniors. Because many of us think t hat
younger people . . . I think they feel that they are ne ver going to get that age; they are never going to need
care in a home. But you never know what tomorrow is
going to bring because you do not have to be 65 to go
in a seniors’ home. But there are p eople in seniors’
homes that need that care that are not 65 years old, Mr. Speaker .
And Mr. Speaker , with those comments I will
take my seat. Thank you.

Thank you, Deputy.
Does any other Member wish to speak?
Okay, we recognise the Leader of the Oppos ition. Madam Opposition Leader, you have the floor.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker , obviously, a year ago I would
have been the Minister of Health and Seniors, so
when I look at a lot of the things that are being co nsidered here they are things that I am very familiar
with and things that are dear to my heart.
And I am reminded, when the Deputy Speaker
talked about what he would be doing very shortly, that
last December and January I visited all 22 seniors’ rest homes with a view of getting out and not only
seeing what they were doing, but to be able to understand some of the difficulties they were having, some
of the challenges. Because as we go forward I am sure all of us, I am sure the new Government and the
Minister, we all want to do what is right to improve the
care and the well -being of our seniors. We are all going to be going there and whether we are ageing at
home or whether we are ageing in a facility, the bot-tom line is we have to have some standards that talk
about consideration for our well -being and the fact
that we have helped the community get to wherever
they are.
Therefore, I look at this as a progression, and
I am very pleased to see many things come forward because there are many things that I am aware of. I
think the one thing I just wanted to make . . . and I
know that Minister did not enumerate on all of the people that helped to get us there, but the one group
that also came to my mind was the Seniors’ Advisory
Council. So I just believe that it is good to be aware
that lots of groups have been trying to look at the
problems, make some suggestions, and it is very good that this Act, this Bill, has now come forward.
I would just like to just go through and make a
few observations in terms of what has been put here because the fact that we are talking about improv ements in terms of the monitoring and compliance. We have known that this has been an issue. And Ageing and Disability Services have done a mammoth job of
trying to get out there using th eir resources available


Bermuda House of Assembly to them, to try and help the various rest homes and
nursing homes to improve their standards.
By and large what I found when I went out vi siting all of them was that most of them actually wanted
to do the best for their residents. Most of them had difficulty, perhaps, complying because sometimes
they did not understand, sometimes they were not
able to turn around and actually appreciate the i mpact. So when I look at some of the increases and
when I look at some of the standards here, I just . . . I
want to make a couple of observations.
The mere fact that we are now talking about
making sure that the register is going to be published
on the website, so it means that individuals will know
what licences a particular home has, and they w ill
then understand, either before they go to decide to put
a family member in there, or even when the family
member is there, that it is licensed and what type of
licensing it has. That is going to be very good, because sometimes people do not appreciate the difference between a rest home and a nursing home. And
by the time they have gone there or thought about it,
they do not understand the difference in care that they
are actually going to have given to their family me mber.
And the mere fact that the Min ister now has
greater ability to be able to talk about setting condi-tions relative to the licence that the particular rest
home or nursing home has to adhere to, that goes a
long way to starting to turn around and make sure that
we hold our administrators accountable. Because a lot
of times you know that you want to continue to give
them a licence, because you are up against what we all know are the issues —where are they going to go if
you have to shut the rest home down? Or where are
they going to go if suddenly you have to turn people
out? So, knowing that we have this six month, if you
will, lead time for people to decide if they are giving up
their licence or the ability for us to turn around and
say, We’re going to allow you stay operating but we
are going to give you these conditions, that is going to
go a long way to hopefully help people to buck up and
do what is needed.
I do want to say that there is one thing that
caused me a little bit of concern. And this was when I went back to the part that says that there is going to
be a transitional provision. I appreciate that when you
are starting to put in new regulations you have to turn
around . . . everybody cannot do it overnight, and you
have to . . . you want to make sure that they stay in
operation. And I am just going to throw this out as
something for the Minister to consider, which is the fact that if you do have this transitional period, and
you are going to have a requirement for persons who
have been designated as administrators and deputy
administrators to have certain qualifications, et cetera, and you are having a transition that says that these
things will not apply to those persons who have a lready been designated as administrators, before this comes into effect, I would like to throw this out for the
Minister to consider if you do that: that you somehow
set some sort of timeframe or relationship so that if
somebody has been given a transitional . . . has been
grandfathered, if you will, that you start to reduce the
period in which they can c ontinue to be grandfathered
based on the licensing.
You know, if they are having super . . . if they
are having a licence issued and everything is going
well and they are doing well —fine. But if you are star ting to see that this particular administrator, when you
go through and you review their premises and you review their operations, if you are having to put lots of
restrictions on them, to me that says that you need to
turn around and reduce the length of time that they
have before they need to turn around and say, You
need to adhere to the new criteria that is given for the
new people that are going to be administrators and
deputy administrators.
And I am just going to say that it might already
have been considered, but my concern is that if you
do not do that, you have potentially an open- ended
grandfathering. And if you come up with something
that shortens it, the shortening of the period should be
related to how well they are performing.
The other thing that I just wanted to say was
that I do recognis e . . . and in the Minister’s speech,
he talked about the fact that there are going to be
substantial improvements and Ageing and Disability
Services have been doing lots of work within the lim itations and the fact that improvements in monitoring
were also being contemplated in terms of the Longterm Care Action Plan. I know that very well, and I
know that this is something that we need to do. And I
know that the Minister and her technical team will
make sure that this goes forward.
I think the only point t hat I want to make is
that some of the difficulties, as the Deputy Speaker
alluded to, relate to financing and how people are able to pay. And as we go forward, if we are able to turn
around and have different options in terms of longterm care, then that would mean that in terms of what
the residents will have available to them, as rest
homes and nursing homes, will also be increased.
And then you could potentially have, if you start to translate that care into what people can have as it r elates to insurance and what they can actually charge,
you then might find out that it creates more availability
of people wanting to come into that business, if you
will, or into that area of health care, because they will
start to see that it makes sense to get involved, not
just because it is a business, but they can see that
they can make a difference.
And especially when you start to put more
regulations to say, If you’re going to be in this bus iness you have to adhere to these standards . You do
not want people to all of a sudden be frightened and
back away because they are not sure how viable it could be.
758 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly I will just throw this out, because I know I have
said sometimes to some of the technical officers, and I
say to the Minister as well, the one thing that I found
when I went around and looked at some of these rest
homes and nursing homes, especially those that have been in there for a long time and were having admi nistration challenges, some of them, with the best will in
the world, are challenged as to how to make sure that
they take care of the residents under their care.
And as we go forward we might have to . . .
and the Government might have to start considering that maybe people, instead of getting out of being an
administrator, would be prepared to make way for professional administrators or people who administer two
or three different homes. So a home that has got a
good administrator and is well run might take over
running another facility even though they do not own
it. That sometimes if we could start moving towards
what I call “joint administration,” . . . a lot of people are
administrators because they own the facility. They
went into business, but maybe they are not admini strators. And if we can start saying to people, Well, let
somebody administer this for you because you do not have the talent , but they can still have a business, and
going forward you can sometimes reduce your costs
by having people administering two or three different
facilities, utilising the benefits of administrating more than one fac ility, reducing the costs, understanding
some of the bulk -buying opportunities, et cetera. B ecause as we go forward we have to do things to make
sure that these facilities can benefit from reducing
their costs and improving the quality of care.
The Deputy Speaker mentioned something
about restraints, et cetera, and meals. All I just want to say is that I am reminded of the fact that the regul ations that are set out make sure that there is meal
planning that needs to be done, make sure that when
the team goes around they are able to see the meal
plans, they are able to see that the residents have
refrigerators —full refrigerators. And I must admit I was
reminded of the fact that pizza and hot dogs, et
cetera, does not necessarily mean that this is som ething wh ich is not appropriate, because I remember a
nutritionist saying to me, You don’t want heavy meals
at night; you actually want . . . So all I am saying is
that that caused me to reflect on the fact that I was not
going to try and be the expert. I wanted to just make
sure that I understood how . . . we tried to make sure
that the residents have something that is appropriate.
And I also want to say —and I am saying this
to the public out there—the fact that I then understood that having a fall does not necessarily mean that you did not try to take care of an individual. Because on
the one hand you are trying to make sure that you do
not restrain people unnecessarily, because that is a
bad thing, you know, having people sitting up there in restraints, et cetera. But that does not mean that you
do not try and make sure that they do activities. The fact is that sometimes people, as they are
more fragile and if they do not use their walkers or whatever else, could actually have a fall. But as long
as the facility h as this true balance between their c apabilities, and when they start to become unsteady on
their feet, start to put things in place to adjust for that,
then it means that at least their care is more geared
up to the individual.
And I think that is the thi ng that we keep trying
to make sure that they have individual care plans because that means this person might have to have a restraint because they have a problem that would
cause them to fall or do whatever else. But it is not
sort of like where you go so mewhere and everybody
is sitting in there in restraints because that is the way
you make it simply so that you can have fewer people
taking care of them.
So I think that . . . and I am certain that as we
go forward, and I am sure as the Minister starts to
come back, we will see some other things which will
come into effect which will work towards us saying
that we want to be sure that the residential care homes and the nursing homes have the type of structures set in place.
There are just two other things t hat I want to
mention. This was with respect to the ability to be able to appoint interim administrators, et cetera. I know
from when I was Minister that sometimes there are some things that we wanted to do but the Act just did
not allow us. So seeing some of these things being
presented, I am pleased, and I know that as we go
forward that this is not the end of what we will see, because as you have said, you cannot put everything
in place. You are trying to do it in line with making
sure that you do it over a progressive timeframe because it is impossible for the persons that are in the
business right now to be able to do everything at once.
But I want to just say, with respect to the r equirement to keep the proper accounting records, that has been something that actually, I think, the Ageing
and Disability Services team has been working to
make sure that lots of people do that. But they were
working for it by effectively saying to them, Do you
want to get accredited? Would you like to become licensed? Then you tell people that this is what you
need to do. But now the fact that it is actually in the
Act, then it means that you do not have to try and e ncourage people to do things; you can make it a r equirement. And I think this is what this Act is doing. It
is taking away things . . . it is making things that we
had to encourage, turning around and making sure it
is actually in the Act, because then it means that you
are going to get a better level of care for the people of
Bermuda who are going to be utilising these facilities.
So last, but not least, I just want to say that I
think it is very appropriate that the Minister now has some more responsibility, as opposed to the Chief
Medical Officer, because the Minister has responsibi lBermuda House of Assembly ity for other aspects of it. And as we go forward it is
going to be something that will be an improvement
because we are all going to be headed in that direction.
And I just want to make the observation that in
some cases some of the things that you put in here I would ultimately see that we will start to go from nur sing homes and rest homes and be the type of things
that you would put in terms of just anybody who is
caring for a senior in their homes. We keep talking
about ageing in their homes, [and] that is going to mean that other people might care for them at their
home and you might have a care provider. They are
not an administrator, but they are still a care provider.
So I am hoping and believing that ultimately when we start to talk about seniors’ abuse and we start talking
about vulnerable persons, et cetera, that this will be
the next thing that we see coming, because the bottom line is the fact that it does not matter what happens at rest homes. We have to make sure that it
translates into any type of care that you give to a senior. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker .

Thank you very much, Mr.
Speaker , and good afternoon.
I do not want to belabour the introduction of
this amendment Act, but I do wish to commend the
Minister and support her in bringing it forward.
Let me say that I believe that all avenues
must be pursued in improvi ng the levels of care for
our seniors in these homes. And I certainly recognise that as we have an ageing population it is going to be
even more important for us to look in this direction. I
am not as seasoned as my colleague from the Bible
belt down there, but I certainly agree with many of the
things that he said.
But, back to the Act itself, in terms of the regulations, bringing systems of notification for account ability, I mean, that is something that should happen
anyway because, again, it speaks to t he health and
safety of the residents in the homes. The compliance
. . . and certainly being compliant, again, for standard
of care, whether it be for just looking after the res idents themselves, or the food that is prepared, or the
activities that they ar e given to keep them, sort of excited about . . . in their final (if I can use the term final)
years that they may be going through.
I certainly like the idea that the homes now
will not be able to go unchecked or unreported when
there is abuse or neglige nce, because sometimes I
think family members may not know some of the
things that go on in the homes. And this certainly
speaks to it. I did note that there was some concern on the
Opposition side in two areas. One was the inspectors. I believe that they were concerned that we would not
have enough inspectors. But I am hoping that the Mi nister . . . and I am sure that the Minister has given
some thought to how this can be regulated so that the
inspections can be done on a timely and consistent
basis. And I think the other concern was the trans itional period, which I certainly think is reasonable. It is
humane, it is giving people the opportunity, I think, to
get their act together.
And last, before I take my seat, Mr. Speaker ,
let me say that I would wis h to commend the staff in
most of these residences. I have had the opportunity, from some personal experience, to visit some of these
homes. And I will tell you that it is not the sort of job
that I would want to do. I do not think I have the pa-tience or ( I do not know that the term is) be able to
give attention to the sort of residents that go to these
residential homes. It takes a special type of person,
and I certainly would like to commend them.
Again, I thank the Minister for bringing forward
these amendments. Thank you , Mr. Speaker .

Thank you, Member.
Does any other Member wish to speak?
No other Member?
Minister.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
And I thank those Members who contributed
to this debate for their support and, in particular, the
Honourable Leader of the Opposition, who helped to
clear up some misconceptions that have been raised.
Let me just start from the back, I guess, with
respect to some of the issues. As I indicated previously, this will be rolled out i n phases. And then there will
be a number of phases coming. The next phase i ncludes the updating of the regulations. What is also
being considered, Mr. Speaker , is expanding the
scope of this legislation and the Codes, in particular,
to also include day care facilities as well as home
care.
Mr. Speaker , a lot was said concerning the
rights of the patients. And though I did not go into full detail concerning the content of the Code, let me just
explain a couple of the things that the Code will i nclude. And one is with respect to a resident’s Bill Of
Rights that will also be included in the Code of Prac-tice so that this will allow residents and their family
members, in particular, to understand what their rights are as patients. Some of the rest homes . . . many of
the rest homes already have adopted this, but the
Code of Practice will ensure that all the other rest
homes also follow suit.
The Code of Practice, Mr. Speaker , will also
include issues concerning the multiple levels of care. So the Code of Practi ce . . . a lot has been discussed
today about the continuity of care. When a person’s
760 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly needs change there are oftentimes situations where
the individual . . . maybe the family members do not
wish to move that person from that comfort zone or
from the place where they were previously residing
and that care facility might not be the appropriate
place to care for that patient because they do not
have the level of care that this patient needs. But the
family members may choose for a number of reasons
not to move that patient.
So what the Code of Practice will also be d oing is looking at the varying levels and developing more provisions with respect to the varying levels of
care. And I can also add, Mr. Speaker , that there is a
universal assessment tool that has also been deve loped to address this. And that is being rolled out now.
In fact, the Bermuda Hospitals Board has already rolled that out and Sylvia Richardson is 70 per
cent complete insofar as rolling out that assessment tool. And that will also help to i dentify some of the
concerns that have been raised today and address it
when it deals with the different levels of care for the facilities.
A lot was also spoken about concerning the
length of time that the inspections were taking place
and so forth. And, Mr. Speaker , up until recently there
have been hiring freezes, so we have seen shortfalls
in staffing and staffing shortages that have affected some services, and the ADS [Ageing and Disability
Services] is one. So the reality is that we recognise
that those hiring freezes have affected certain things,
particularly as it relates to the inspections. But the
ADS is actively taking steps to improve the inspection
process.
We are actively recruiting as well so that we
can add more people to that team who prov ide a very,
very, valuable resource to Bermuda because they are
the inspectors. They inspect the rest homes and they
are the ones that are on the front line going into the
rest homes, hearing the complaints. They play a very,
very, vital role in this, and I commend that department.
It is a thankless job, but they are all deeply committed.
And, again, as I have indicated, they are on the front
line and they are the ones that do the inspections, and they will be receiving further support through increases in staffing.
Mr. Speaker , real quickly, there was another
issue that was raised concerning the fees for the registration, and the fees do not adequately represent
how much it costs to regulate. I have indicated prev iously that the re- registration fees are go ing to be
based on a tiered system, so the higher the level of
compliance, the lower the fees.
For example, for the [Level] D, which would
represent low compliance, the re- registration fee is
$1,000, whereas for [Level] A it is $75. So I do not think it is going to break the bank; but at the end of the day it is a fee that: (a) will address and identify the
level of compliance, so we are trying to encourage
people to be more compliant because their fee will be lower; and (b) as I have indicated, it pales i n compar ison to the cost of regulation when you think about the expenses associated. But in any event that [deals
with] the fees.
And the last point that a lot was spoken about
was concerning “grandfathering in” with respect to the individuals and the adm inistrators. Mr. Speaker , as I
have indicated before, unfortunately as it stands now,
there are administrators that . . . I think, the criteria is
you have to be 18 years old to run a rest home. And
the reality is that this can create a dangerous scenar-io. So, part of the compliance levels that will be ident ified in the Code will require administrators to have
certain types of training —internationally accepted
training —with respect to how they run a nursing home
and the things that I spoke about. We recogni se that
there are some nursing homes where the administr ators may require a little bit more help to get them up to
speed and that is what the department of ADS is there
to do. So we will work with them.
And there was another question that was
raised concerning the six -month time limit if a rest
home has to close because of lack of compliance.
Again, it is a gradual system. So if there is some type
of infraction, the inspectors will identify it, they will give
the administrator and the deputy administrator time to
rectify it, they will go back and review it, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So the process is gradual. They are
not going to walk in tomorrow and say, You must be
closed, because the reality is that it is not like we are
closing a restaurant. If we are closing a nursing home
then we have to find alternative accommodations for those residents, which can create a challenge. All
right?
So in that regard, Mr. Speaker , I think I have
addressed all of the questions that were asked during
the general deb ate and, as such, Mr. Speaker , I would
like to move that this Bill be committed.

Members, we are now in Committee
of the whole House for further consideration of the Bill
entitled
Residential Care Homes and Nursing Homes
Amendment Act 2017 .
Minister, you have the floor.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.


Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Chairman, this Bill seeks to amend the
Residential C are Homes and Nursing Homes Act
1999, and to make consequential amendments.
As such, I would like to move clauses 1
through 5.

Oh, okay. Well, the Minister has the
floor.
Go ahead, carry on, Minister.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Okay, thank you.
Clause 1 provides a citation for the Bill.
Clause 2 amends section 2 of the principal
Act by amending, deleting and inserting definitions.
Clause 3 amends section 5 of the principal
Act by providing for the particulars to be set out in the
Register of licensed homes, and for the Register to be
published on the Government website.
Clause 4 repeals and replaces section 10 of
the principal Act. The new section 10 now provides for
an operator to apply to the Minister for the removal or
variation of conditions attached to the licence of the
home.
Clause 5 repeals and replaces sections 13
and 14. The new section 13 now provides for a l icence to be issued for such period as the Minister may allow. In the new section 14, the reference to the
payment of Government fees has been removed as
this matter has been provided for elsewhere within the
Act. However, the full re- licensing process is now set
out in this new section 14, and includes matters which
the Minister must take into account when determining
an application for the renewal of a licence.

I just have one question. I
notice that in the definition they have repealed the
term “appli cation,” but then there is reference to making application throughout those first five clauses. So I
do not know if there is an actual written application
that needs to be made or how that works, whether it is something formal or a written letter?

The Cha irman: Any further speakers? Minister?
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: I am sorry. Which section was
the Honourable Member referring to? Clause?

Clause 5 is where it appears.
So it is making application for a licence, and then an application f or renewal, and then . . . it comes up one
more time . . . and then it is referring to an application
fee, which I guess is the fee that is the licensing fee.
But I am just curious if there is a structured applic ation, what does that application . . . give n the fact that
we have deleted “application” in the substantive legi slation?

Yes, it is . . . in clause 2(b)
“by deleting the following —(i) the definition of ‘applic ation.’” But then in clause 5, you know, there is just reference to an application quite a bit. So I just do not
know if there is a written application or a letter that
you write to apply for a licence or —

[Inaudible interjection]

Mm-hmm.
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: In this Act, unless the context
otherwise requires, the word “application” is deleted there, but the word “application” still exists throughout
the rest of the . . . I am sorry, in the interpreta tion se ction of clause 2. The word “application” is deleted; but
the reference to “application” still exists throughout the rest of the Act. It has only been deleted in the Inter-pretation section.

Any objections to moving clauses 6
through 9?
There appear to be none.
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Clause 6 inserts sections 14A and 14B, and a
division heading entitled “Powers of the Minister.”
Section 14A provides for the operator of a home who
intends to cease operat ions to notify the Minister and
residents of the home six months in advance, and to assist, as far as practicable, in relocating residents before the home ceases operations. Section 14B provides for the Minister to issue an order directing an operator to c omply with a requirement of the Act, a
duty under the Regulations, a condition of the licence,
or a provision of the Code of Practice. An order may
also be issued where it appears to the Minister that an
operator is intending not to comply with a requirement,
regulati on, condition, or provision of the Code.
Clause 7 amends section 15 of the principal
Act to specify the matters by which the Minister may
cancel, et cetera, the licence of an operator. It also
provides for the operator of a home to assist, as far as
practi cable, in relocating residents where the licence
has been cancelled by the Minister.
Clause 8 amends section 16 of the principal
Act to specify the matters by which the Minister may
apply to the court, in urgent circumstances, to cancel the licence of an o perator.
Clause 9 inserts sections 16A and 16B. Section 16A provides for the Minister to apply to the court
in urgent circumstances for an order appointing an
interim operator of a home where there is a serious
risk to the life, health, or well -being of the residents of
the home. Section 16B provides for the Minister to
apply to the court in urgent circumstances for an order
appointing an interim administrator for a home where a failure on the part of the administrator has resulted
in a serious risk to the life, health, or well -being of the
residents of the home. The duty of the interim oper ator or interim administrator is to establish the orderly
operation of the home, and in both instances, the sa lary or any remuneration of such persons are to be
paid for by the home.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am just questioning on page 6 under
clause 7 where the operator of a home is required to
assist in the relocation of residents. This is after the Minister has cancelled a licence. I am just wondering


Bermuda House of Assembly why it would be the operator that would assist in rel ocating, given the fact that there is serious risk to life,
health, and well -being of the residents, and why it
would not be a person who has been appointed by the Minister to come in . . . like an interim operator? So
instead of just having the operator, maybe it should be
the “interim operator” of the home who is required to
assist to r elocate?

Any further speakers?
Minister, you have the floor.
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: As the provisions relate, Mr.
Chairman, it is as far as is practicable because the
conditions in which the Minister may put on the home, i.e., perhaps, to cl ose the home, cannot be . . . they
may not be related directly to the way that the oper ator was administering it. It may be because the facil ities are derelict and that they must, as far as practic able, assist with respect to the relocation of those pa-tients.

Any objections to moving clauses 10
through 14?
There appear to be none.
Continue, Minister.
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Clause 10 repeals and replaces section 17 of
the princi pal Act for the purpose of deleting and substituting various references in that section, including deleting the reference to Magistrates Court and substituting a court of summary jurisdiction.
Clause 11 amends section 18 of the principal
Act by providing f or appeals against a decision of the
Minister to be made to a court of summary jurisdiction,
and for appeals against an order of a court of summary jurisdiction to be made to the Supreme Court;
and for those courts to remit matters for determination.
Claus e 12 repeals and replaces section 19.
The new section 19 now imposes a requirement on
the operator of a home to keep proper accounting
records, to prepare annual financial statements, and
to produce those records and statements for inspection; and to conduct the business of the home in a
prudent manner.
Clause 13 amends section 20 of the principal
Act to provide for an inspector to give written notice to the operator of a home where the operator has failed
to comply with a requirement under the Act, a duty
under the Regulations, a condition of the licence, or a
provision of the Code of Practice, and to report the
giving of such notice to the Minister.
Clause 14 amends section 23 of the principal
Act to provide for the Minister to make regulations with
respec t to matters relating to the home, recordkeeping, and the preparation and submission of r eports .

Any speakers to clauses 10 through
14?
There appear to be none.
Minister, do you want to move the rest of the
clauses?

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Yes, thank you.
I would like to move clauses 15 through 20,
please.
Clause 15, Mr. Chairman, inserts section 23A
which provides for the Mini ster, after consultation with
the Chief Medical Officer and considering represent ations m ade by stakeholders, to i ssue a Code of Practice with respect to the care of residents of the home,
the operation of the home, and the facilities and premises of the home. The operator m ust take account of
the Code of Practice.
Clause 16 inserts Schedule 1 to this Act which
sets o ut miscellaneous amendments to the principal
Act, including removing references to “registration” and substituting “licensing,” deleting “Chief Medical
Officer” and substi tuting “Minister”, and deleting “owner” and substituting “operator.”
Clause 17 insert s Schedule 2 to this Act which
makes consequential amendments to the Residential
Care Homes and Nursing Homes Regulations 2001
as follows —
Paragraph 1 amends regulation 5 by providing
further qualification and training of a person who is to
be designated as the administrator of a home.
Paragraph 2 amends regulation 6 by providing
further qualification and training of a person who is to
be designated as deputy administrator of a home.
Paragraph 3 amends the Regulations in r espect of the definition of “operat or”, by deleting “regi stration” throughout and substituting “li censing”, and by
deleting “Chief Medical Officer” throughout and subst ituting “Minister.”
Clause 18 inserts Schedule 3 to this Act which
makes a consequential amendment in Head 63 to the
Schedule to the Government Fees Regulations 1976 with respect to the application fees.
And finally, Mr. Chairman, c lause 19 is a transitional provision which provides that the qualification and training requirements in paragraphs 1 and 2 of
Schedule 2 to this Ac t will not apply to persons who
had already been designated as administrators and
764 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly deputy administrators before those paragraphs come
into operation.
Clause 20 provides for commencement of this
Act, and for the Minister to provide for different prov isions t o come into operation on different dates.

Any speakers to clauses 15 through
20?
The Chair recognises the Leader of the O pposition, Mrs. Atherden.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, I would like to refer the Minister
to clause 19 which is the transitional, which indicates
“Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule [ 2] do not apply to
persons who had been designated as administrators
or deputy administrators before the date on which
those paragraphs come into operation. ”
I would like to ask the Minister to consider . . .
if persons who are operating facilities which have r estricted licences on them, especially if some of those restrictions relate to their ability to effectively make
sure that the rest home is in compliance, then perhaps
those persons should not have that open transition to
say that they are going to stay as administrators and
deputy administrators forever, that maybe some consideration should be given to . . . at what point in time
do you say that you no lo nger . . . if you have effectively grandfathered, at what point in time would you say that this individual has to turn around and comply
because their qualifications, et cetera, are potentially
bringing the residents into risk because they have all
of thes e restrictions that have been assigned to them?

Any further speakers?
Minister Wilson?
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Yes, Mr. Chairman, and thank
you for that question.
There will be . . . there could potentially be a
myriad of reasons why the Mini ster may not allow for
the grandfathering in and, obviously, it would be dealt
with on a case- by-case basis. But that is certainly
something to consider if the reasons why . . . if there
are challenges within the way the home is being ad-ministered. Again, we know that there are few homes
where the administrators will require further assi stance to bring them up to speed with the Codes and
with international best practice, unlike some of the
other homes. And we will be working with those
homes. But obviously, if it is a situation that could affect adversely the life and well -being of the residents,
which is of paramount consideration, then the time
period with respect to allowing them to come up to
scratch will be reduced.

Thank you, Minister.
Any further speakers? The Chair recognises
the Leader of the O pposition, Mrs. Atherden. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I guess I just want some
clarity in the sense that right now the way it is worded,
it sounds to me very much that it is open- ended, that it
just says that these paragraphs will not apply if they
had been designated as administrators or deputy ad-ministrators before the date on which they came into
operation. So is there something somewhere else —
either in a regulation or something else —which sets
some sort of review of whether persons automatically
go forward in terms of having these not apply?

Yes. Any objections to clauses 1
through 20 being approved? There appear to be no objections.
[Motion carried: Clauses 1 through 20 passed.]
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I move the Preamble—

The Deputy Clerk: The Schedules
Hon. Kim N. Wilson: —and the Schedules.

The Deputy Clerk: The Schedules.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: The Schedules? Well, my note
says Preamble and Schedules.
I move the—

Yes, so moved.

Hon. Kim N. Wilson: Thank you.

[Motion carried: The Residential Care Homes and
Nursing Homes Amendment Act 2017 was considered by a Committee of the whole House and pass ed wit hout amendments.]

House resumed at 3:07 pm

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

REPORT OF COMMITTEE

RESIDENTIAL CARE HOMES AND NURSING
HOMES AMENDMENT ACT 2017

Good afternoon, Members.
Any objections to the Resident ial Care Homes
and Nursing Homes Amendment Act 2017 being r eported to the House?
No objections to it being reported as printed?
So moved.
We now move on to the next Order of the
Day. I understand Orders 3, 4, 5, and 6 are being carried over. Is that correct Members?
Orders 3, 4, 5, and 6 are carried over.
We are now doing Order No. 7, are we, Members?
I recognise the Honourable Member from
constituency 2. Honourable Member Swan, you have
the floor to move your Motion.



MOTION

JOINT SELECT COMMITT EE TO INVESTIGATE,
REPORT AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON
THE EVENTS OF DECEMBER 2ND 2016

Yes, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker , I rise to move the motion:
“WHEREAS the Government having declared
its intention to establish a Parliamentary C ommittee to
look into the events generally, including the decisionmaking and any di rectives of the Executive and the
then Speaker of the House given to the Police, that
led up to and precipi tated the events on that day, i ncluding the deploy ment of the pol ice in riot gear and
the use by the Police of incapacita nt pepper spray on
the crowd of citizens assembled;
“BE IT RESOLVED that this Motion for the
appointment of a Joint Select Committee to carry out
the said Inquiry into the said events of December 2nd,
2016 be approved;
“AND Thereafter , pursuant to Part IV of the
Parliament Act 1957, that a Parliamentary Joint Select
Committee be appointed (1) to inquire into the events
as aforesaid as thoroughly as may be; (2) to bring cl osure to this event by the mak ing of all proper and necessary findings, recommendations and where required sanc tions; (3) and to submit its report to the House of
Assembly within three to six months.”

Mr. Speaker , I rise today
[to speak about] a solemn date in Bermuda’s history,
namely, December 2
nd 2016, the anniversary of that
unfortunate day when Bermudians found themselves
in the line of an aggressive police deployment. I say
“unfortunate.” Mr. Speaker , let me just say at this particular time that on that day, and today my heart goes
out to the seniors and all those who have been long
suffering in this case . . . this situation on December
2nd. It unfortunately is also the anniversary date, t omorrow, which would mark 40 years since the [events] of the 1977 disturbances that took place in Bermuda.
It is not a pleasant day in our history to recall. And for
many of those persons who are our seniors, Mr.
Speaker , it remains so.
Mr. Speaker , it is important to note that some
citizens demonstrating on December 2
nd officially r eported their concerns to the Police Complaints Author-ity and have been given a date spec ific for response.
Mr. Speaker , I have to also highlight that the
complainants to the Police Complaints Authority, I am hoping that they can certainly be afforded some grace period to allow this Joint Select Committee, if approved, to conduct its business . Hence, the complai n766 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ants to the Police Complaints Authority, Mr. Speaker ,
be given a grace period —a suitable grace period —
following the findings of the Joint Select Committee to
see where we are going.
Mr. Speaker , it is pertinent that we highlight
that on December 2nd, 2016 Ms. Ginny Ferson (soon
after included on the Queen’s [Birthday] honours List)
was the Acting Governor and Commander -in-Chief of
Bermuda, with jurisdiction over the police on that day.
For the record, it is noteworthy that, Mr. John Ra nkin
had not yet been sworn in as Governor during the D ecember 2nd incident when the police riot squad unit
was deployed and demonstrators were pepper -
sprayed in the discourse of their duties. Governor Rankin subsequently ordered a review of the policing
that took place to review the events of December 2
nd
and all that took place— not all that took place; certain
things that took place as it relates to policing.
Beforehand, Mr. Speaker , when Governor
Rankin made his initial public statements, no reference w as made to Acting Governor Ms. Ginny Ferson,
her involvement, and comments attributed to her in
the aftermath. I think that is a very key point, Mr.
Speaker . I will repeat that. Beforehand, Mr. Speaker ,
the Governor, when he finally was sworn in and made his initial comments . . . no reference was made to
Acting Governor Ms. Ginny Ferson, her involvement,
and comments attributed to her in the aftermath. I find this key and critical to our point that a review —a comprehensive review —is necessary, Mr. Speaker .
We must get to the bottom of it. And if we do
not look at the involvement of everyone in here, if we
just bypass the Governor’s role, it brings to mind one of the most famous roles of a Governor throughout the
annals of history, Mr. Speaker . And that was Pontius
Pilate, how he was able to wash his hands of a very
significant decision that was made. And this is what
. . . this started off that way.
The Governor, for whatever reason, was due
to come into Bermuda right around that time and came in on the he els of . . . and for any comments
following the decisions made, the Deputy Governor or
Acting Governor . . . because if you go to Wikipedia
and look at who served as Governor of Bermuda between Governor George Ferguson’s departure and
Governor John Rankin’ s arrival for history, Ms. Ginny
Ferson, now recognised by the Queen, served as Ac ting Governor of Bermuda. So from that point to not have any reference to what she said, Mr. Speaker , I
think is significant, and makes our point from the outset . . . from t he very outset. We must get to the bottom of it and we cannot get to the bottom of it by b ypassing the role that this official had in this play.
It would be wrong to hold anybody account able without looking at the very top. And if the very top
is excluded from that consideration, then everything
that we have done so far is really null and void. I am no lawyer and I do not play one on the radio, Mr.
Speaker . But I will tell you this: All those who have been put under the scrutiny thus far, in my respectful
opinion, have no case to answer if you bypass the
very head of the situation at the time.
Mr. Speaker , [in] the immediate aftermath Ac ting Governor Ms. Ferson out -rightly implied wrongdoing of protestors in an article in
1Bernews . With your
permission, Mr. Speaker , I will refer:
“‘I am very concerned at the events which
took place today outside of Parliament,’ Acting Governor Ginny Ferson said this evening, as ‘Bermudians
elect their MPs to represent them and to debate bills in Parliament,’ Mrs. Ferson said, ‘Preventing MPs
from getting into Parliament to carry out their legisl ative business is a serious infringement of the . . . law
and the democratic values we all hold dear. The right
to peaceful protest is also a right we hold dear.’” Then
. . . “‘But there are people who seek to go beyond peaceful protest and incite criminal activity.’”
That is a serious indictment by the person at
the head there, Mr. Speaker . That is a serious indic tment. And for that person, that official making that statement, not to be held to any type of scrutiny, Mr.
Speaker , is wrong in this process. It is wrong, Mr.
Speaker , to the people who had to wipe pepper spray
out of their eyes. It is wro ng to the officers . . . yes, to
the officers.
You know in the Bible, Mr. Speaker , when a
Roman soldier came to Jesus and Jesus said, Go
back and tell . . . and he’ll be healed. And he showed
more faith than all his disciples because he said, do
you know what the Roman soldier said? He said, I
command armies and when I say ‘go’ they go. So
Master if you tell me to go back and he will be healed,
I believe you. And you know what the Father said? He
said, You show more faith than those around me.
So those of ficers . . . my father, Mr. Speaker ,
was a 30- year career officer who served under five
Governors at Government House. I have a great r espect for law enforcement in Bermuda. I have been
brought up under it and I understand the role that the
police play as it relates to Government House. But
Government House does not get a pass if it partic ipates in an act, in the deed. It does not get a free
pass.
Pontius Pilate died a long time ago. Scrutiny
and accountability is the name of the game. So you
cannot look at any others, particularly those officers,
those constables who were sent out, following the orders of others above them, Mr. Speaker . So for this
very statement . . . and then . . . Look, I know that
someone . . . because, you know, Mr. Speaker , we
have s een, as we related earlier to the events of 1977,
we saw in recent years where a former Police Commissioner, Mr. Jonathan Smith, pulled out a very
comprehensive book being able to catalogue events as they were released . . . belatedly some 35 years.

1 2 December 2016


Bermuda House of Assembly Those seniors who were pepper -sprayed do not have
that long to wait to get to the bottom of it.
And guess what, you have a Labour Gover nment today that is making sure we get to the bottom of
it. I think every Member who was part of the legisl ature, who was part of the hierarchy of the police . . . I
believe that we owe it to them to get to the bottom of
it. We owe it to former constables that we want to r ecruit to get to the bottom of it. We owe it to fellows like
Hubert E. E. Swan, who died as a former constabl e, to
get to the bottom of it.
And you cannot give the top a pass. And from
the very start . . . you know, I am no soldier; but I have
been around one or two. And if you start off on the
wrong foot at the leader, you march to the wrong step. They started off this very process on the wrong foot.
And so when you get things wrong from the very start
and you try to sort of circumvent wrong, every step
following that is a compensation. Every step following
that is a compensation.
So I cannot come here and look at other
Members of the House in isolation of the very person at the helm at that particular time who said (and I r epeat), “B ut there are people who seek to go beyond
peaceful protest and incite criminal activity .” We need
to know who that person was referring to. We do.
The Bermuda Police Service is tasked with
upholding law and assuring public safety —absolutely
correct, Mr. Speaker ! The protocols they follow are
aimed at minimising use of force and avoiding injury,
both to public and to their officers. “For my part ” (and
this is not me speaking, I am reading what Acting
Governor Ferson said) “ For my part, I would urge
those who wish to protest to act within the law so that
occurrences like this can be avoided . . .”
But you know, Mr. Speaker , if I just g o back
and look back, if I look back to March when the Parliament was occupied for several days, when Governor George Ferguson —and I joined with him —
congratulated police . . . who was the officer in charge? Acting Commissioner Antoine Daniels. A fine
St. G eorgian, right? To his credit, he was unable to be
around Bermuda around that time. He was engaged in
a very important part of his life, and we wish him well.
But we missed him then because he carried out that
type of mantra that was mentioned right there in that paragraph in March, when Governor Ferguson, who
retired, I believe, in August, was able to compliment
and commend the police for several trying days, Mr.
Speaker . Not so with the Acting Governor here, Mr.
Speaker .
A statement
from His Excellency the Governor
Mr. John Rankin, CMG, on Wednesday December the
6th, Mr. Speaker , in one of his early statements, if not
the first statement from His Excellency the Governor
said: “I have spoken to the Commissioner of Police”
(and may I read, Mr. Speaker ?) “to the Commissioner
and Acting Commissioner about the protests outside
the House of Assembly and the police response to those protests. They have assured me they are conducting investigations into what took place.”
Interesting . . . interesting, because what took
place related to commands that came down . . . it is a chain of command . . . a chain of command, not we
bypass the chain and we are looking at the executors
of the message. No, we cannot have that, Mr. Speaker, we absolutely cannot have that.
It goes on, “the Police Complaints Authority
provides independent oversight of complaints against
the police and can independently conduct investiga-tions. Anyone w ho wishes to make a complaint can do
so through the Professional Conduct Unit and on- line
through the PCA website.
“The Commissioner has also undertaken to
provide me with a briefing note about police public order response capabilities more generally, incl uding,
where appropriate, any resources or training which
will assist the Bermuda Police Service in responding
to any similar incident in the future.”
Already they are starting to look ahead. Here
we are . . . here we are, Mr. Speaker . A statement in
Decem ber, and they are looking ahead. There were
seniors who could not even look beyond the hand out in front of them because they had pepper spray in
their eyes! The Government is looking ahead. Government House is looking ahead, but the people can-not even see because of that physical act carried out
by officers acting on a command . . . acting on a
command, just like that Roman soldier said, Under my
jurisdiction I give officers orders and they carry them
out, Father. If you say so, so it will be.
So it was on December 2
nd. Those officers
were carrying out the will . . . that if you look back to March of 2016 you may recall that there was concern
in Bermuda that troops were going to be brought in.
So much so that Mr. Antoine Daniels had to go on the
radio and put those fears to rest. And because he is a
person who commanded that respect in his communi-ty, it carried over into Bermuda. And because he gave
his undertaking he made sure that hey, my word is on
this line, and the Governor had his back. What
changed between March and December? That is the
question. That is the question.
Mr. Speaker , Government at the time, the
One Bermuda Alliance, hereafter referred to as the OBA, under Premier Michael Dunkley, had anticipated
a protest directed at the Bermuda House of Asse mbly—we would expect they did— who were due to d ebate the controversial airport legislation, a legislation
designed to authorise the development and operation
of the Bermuda International Airport by a foreign entity
for 30- plus years, along with concessions, assignment
of revenues, tariffs, that would direct millions of dol-lars, almost up to billions of dollars, from government
coffers over a period of time. Projections at that time
headed up there (probably still do) close to a billion over that period of time.
768 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly It is noteworthy, Mr. Speaker , that earlier in
the same year, in March, there was a protest against
the OBA immigration policy deemed “Occupy Parli ament,” a protest that lasted several days and prevent-ed parliamentarians from passing a draconian policy
many Bermudians deemed racially motivated. And if
passed it would have altered the political and social
landscape of Bermuda. And I am duty -bound to share
with this House that this protest was peaceful and had
its conclusion, in direct contrast, Mr . Speaker , to the
tone set on December 2
nd.
Mr. Speaker , it is noteworthy that the newly
sworn in Governor of Bermuda, whose Deputy, Ms.
Ferson, acted as Governor on December 2nd, one of
his first acts was, as I mentioned, to mention nothing
about the invo lvement of the Acting Governor and to
somewhat minimise the situation. Notwithstanding,
Mr. Speaker , it is reported that Governor Rankin, who
had been in that post for only a month at the time of
this statement , said that UK officers would also make
recommendations whenever improvements could be
made, including future resources and training.
“‘I have also agreed’” (and this is the Gove rnor speaking) “‘with the Commissioner of Police and
following consultation with the Premier that, in line
with best practice, the police response to the protests
should be independently reviewed by a peer organiz ation,” . . . and “‘I am making arrangements to have a
senior UK pol ice officer conduct such a review and
make recommendations wherever improvements
could be made, including as appropriate on any future
resource or training needs.’”
Once again, the focus is on the workers; the
focus is on the constables. There is no concentration on the mind- set. Rankin’s intervention came after
Shadow Attorney General, Mr. Michael Scott, earlier
“demanded a judicial public inquiry into the December 2
nd protest, accusing Michael Dunkley of failing to
set any ‘parameters’ when he requested a n investigation into what happened that day.” And that was what
Mr. Michael Scott had to say in that regard.
Mr. Speaker , not everyone was pleased with
the strategy of the police in March. There were Cabinet Ministers who criticised the position where the
Governor had complimented the handling of it by the police. So if you look in the context of how the police
handled a three- day protest and then look to see that
there was disquiet within the leadership, you can look
at how . . . because the question has been asked on
many occasions, Mr. Speaker , how did this happen?
Mr. Speaker , we are not talking about young
people running around Bermuda with guns, which
back in our day you would not have had that anyway,
but you had some guys running around the Island ri ding bikes. My mate, Tango, became a police sergeant,
a police officer. He used to come up the golf course and [say], You byes been down the tracks last night?
You know, ease up. But you have today . . . the Mini ster of Public Safety would attest to it, the Shadow Mi n-ister of Public Safety would attest to it, and the former Public Safety Minister would attest to it. [We have t oday] unprecedented levels of murders. These were
not the young people that were out protesting, these
were their grandparents and their great -grandparents.
Mr. Speaker , I am sure that if you are . . . and
I declare I am just the son of a police officer. But I was
raised on the mind- set, so I understand that you have
to assess a situation. You have to look and survey
what you are dealing with. And, you know, today we
have drones. You certainly have the vantage point to send a couple of undercover officers up on the top of
the Government Administration Building or on the balcony here and look down with some binoculars or
something to assess to say, Oh my God, that looks
like Renalda Bean (who is 74 years old) in that crowd.
And there were a lot of Renalda Beans. Renalda Bean
recalled a story to me, Mr. Speaker , of that day. He
said, you know, I was there and it was . . . I didn’t
know it w as coming; and, You know, I could feel that
baton against my chest and I said to the man, ‘Are you trying to kill me?’
Mr. Speaker , look, I just turned 60. You know,
I can still dance; but these ankles and knees just do
not work like they used to work when they were 50.
Imagine what they are going to be like at 70, 75.
And look, Mr. Speaker , if you are out there
protesting because you are concerned about your country and your police can look in that . . . look, my
father worked in narcotics. He was around special
branch. I know a few special branch officers. I am
sure they were in the crowd to be able to send word
back and to say to somebody, In that crowd there are
a lot of seniors . And if it was not so, an investigation
should tell us. But that was not th e case. We know it
was seniors. We know it was persons who may have
been brought up on protests that know that, Listen,
I’m not protesting at 75 because . . . you know me.
How many 75 -year-olds at 2016 are dead t oday? How many have gone on to their reward with
that not being resolved, with the Acting Governor let
off the hook until today?
It is not going to happen. It is not going to
happen, because it is wrong if it does and we cannot
condone wrong. We have got to get to the bottom.
Renalda Bean said to me, . . . you know . . . and look,
the officers that were in the midst assessing the situation must have known that if they were coming into a
crowd hitting seniors, pushing, where were they going
to go? Up against a wall? So what are you trying to
make . . . spaghetti? Those brittle bones are going to
be injured, some probably permanently.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Point of order, Mr. Speaker .

Yes.



Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: What is your point of order?

POINT OF ORDER

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: I am just concerned that the
Honourable Member is not arriving at the conclusion
he thinks the Joint Select Committee should arrive at. Presumably, what we are debating is whether this si tuation should be referred to a Joint Select Committee.
We should not be arriving at conclusions today. Ot herwise he may have to rule himself out of being on a
Committee if he cannot approach it with an open
mind.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
But I appreciate that the Honourable Member
would bring a point of order. I certainly . . . in trying to
get a feel for why . . . because we have to realise, Mr.
Speaker , that the course of action has gone well beyond those persons who have passed on get ting th eir
truth told . None. Appreciated.
And yes, Honourable Member , I certainly
hope that, you know, an independent inquiry is done
that will delve into the truth of what happened. B ecause it is far more reaching, in my respectful opinion,
than just those pers ons who, unfortunately, were on
the receiving end of the police force. And it is far more serious than those officers who were on the receiving
end of some orders that, in my respectful opinion,
were being . . . had not been put to any type of scrut iny. An d that is why I . . . you know . . . because we do
not know, because those in power did not feel it nec-essary to scrutinise. The only evidence I have to make my case is persons who I happened to be around on
the golf course sometimes who he aid to me, You
know, I still think of that day and I remember the lady
that was near me, she was older than me! That is how
I know the crowd was, you know, not a young crowd,
Mr. Speaker .
So, Mr. Speaker , as we look at events of D ecember 2
nd, and as we look at the hierarchy of leadership that, in my respectful opinion, to date has been given a pass on it, when we are looking at mind- sets
. . . yes? You look at the leadership of law enforc ement, and I have put this out here before, when you
look at who the Acting Governor was of the day, when
you look at who the Premier was of the day, when you look at who the Commissioner of Police was of that
day, when you look at who the Minister of Public Saf e-ty was of that day, and when you look at who the A ttorney General was of that day. You come to one
conclusion in a country whose voting population is
70 per cent black. And I know Members of that side
know that because they study those numbers in how they go about crafting election plans.
So here we have law enforcement hierarchy
that is not plugged into the community. And when you
look at who the protestors were, they were black, save
and except for maybe a few whites who were there,
but the majority, by and large, well in the 90 percentile
and upwards, were black, they were elder ly, and there
were many women.
Look at the mind- sets. Look back to March.
Look back to March when the lead officer, who was a
young black man who was connected to the communi-ty, put it out there and made sure . . . that type of
mind -set does not seem to have prevailed on that day.
And we would not know because the will to ensure
that the type of comprehensive review to date has not
prevailed.
Mr. Speaker , there in Bermuda’s history when
you look at 1977 and then you look at December 2,
2016, the difference is that in the ’70s many social
psychologists were called to be able to find out what
was going on, in addition to reviewing what happened,
a wider picture of what was really going on and at play
in this country. And bypassing proper scrutiny, b ypassing that prevents us from really getting to grips with some of our really systemic structural problems at
play, which was highlighted when I pointed out to you
how one- sided, racially one -sided, leadership was at
that time against the protestors, and how it play ed
itself out.
We have seen, in other jurisdictions, protests,
Mr. Speaker . UC California Davis, an area I know
quite well. I went there in 1979. A very progressive university town. In the ’70s they rode pedal bikes
around, no motorised vehicles on the cam pus. The
students there in 2011 [who] protested . . . and were
asked to leave and would not leave were pepper -
sprayed. The review awarded some of them healthy financial awards as a consequence of finding that persons carried out their duties incorrectly. We certainly
need that type of will to take place in Bermuda, Mr.
Speaker .
Mr. Speaker , in reviewing here today to make
the case for why it is necessary for Bermuda to have a comprehensive look at this matter, to be able to look
at it upside down and to ge t to the bottom of it, I could
not help but be reminded in history of Selma. Thankfully . . . thankfully, police did not have other weapons
to use. But what they had they used that day. And
some of the findings, Mr. Speaker , in the Police Co mplaints Report speak to the surprise that the demonstrators felt, the unpreparedness of the officers. So
that is not on them, that is on leadership.
And we have not really touched on (but I am
sure others will, Mr. Speaker ) the political involvement
770 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly at play with the per sons that I named. What was their
involvement at that particular time? Those are the
things we have got to get to the bottom of, Mr. Speaker. And I cannot help but look at the mind- set of
March 26th, which I will call (in Alabama terms) the
“Prichard” mind -set of carrying out those duties wit hout there . . . and then the mind- set of December
where you took the bull kind of . . . or the “John Clark”
approach and you send in the mighty hand. That is
the examination that needs to look . . . even as we
look bey ond the events of this, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker , I just want to close by causing
us to reflect on the tenet of this motion here today.
Why is it necessary for us to inquire into the events of
December 2016? Because it was so serious and unprecedented in m odern Bermuda, that we owe it to
ourselves to get to the bottom of it. Why should we
bring closure to this? Why not? Because, as I mentioned, Mr. Speaker , many of the persons who were
impacted by the events of December 2nd, 2016, were
seniors. Some may not even be around too much
longer.
Why should we just be concerned enough to
have recommendations coming on the officer side of it
and give those in leadership a free pass? No, Mr.
Speaker , we cannot allow that. We cannot allow that
because our police servi ce is too important. Their
roles are too significant for those in leadership to be held to a standard far less than what you are going to
hold that constable to. And why must we submit its
report to the House of Assembly soon? Because a lready this is one y ear, Mr. Speaker , and already one
year has passed and much of what happened that day
remains to be brought to the sunshine of public scrut iny.
Mr. Speaker , I look forward to listening to the
debate that will follow, and an opportunity to reply at the end. And I thank you for allowing this motion to be
tabled, not on behalf of Kim Swan, but on behalf of the Progressive Labour Party representing the people of Bermuda, the people of these Islands who up until this
date on this particular instance have not seen the bottom of the truth unearthed.
The late Martin Luther King used to say,
“Truth crushed to the earth will rise again.” This truth—the truth pertaining to this incident on December 2
nd, 2016, —will be unearthed for the benefit of
future generations and for the benefit of those who
were involved on that day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

[Desk thumping]

Thank you, Member.
Does any other Member wish to speak?
I recognise the Honourable Member from
constituency 9. Honourable Member Moniz, you have
the floor.
Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you . Thank you, Mr.
Speaker .
I rise to my feet on behalf of the Opposition to
congratulate the idea of this motion from the Honourable Member . We agree on this side of the House that
there should be further inves tigation into the actions of
December 2nd, 2016.
As I stood to my feet to take the point of order
I just have to urge Members when they are on such a
committee to have an open mind, to try not to have
any preconceived notions. It is very difficult in a si tuation . . . and I hear somebody laughing. They think
that is funny. But it is very important in this situation.
All of us . . . I do not think there is anyone in Bermuda
that does not think that the happenings of that day
were very unfortunate and were v ery negative for this
community as a whole.
But there are, you know, a number of points to
be made. And there you have to remember (and I
think the Honourable Member who spoke perhaps
missed out some of them) there were facts at the time . . . and he said in his speech, he said, Well, what was
the difference between March and December? What
was the difference? And in my humble opinion, the difference may lie in the point where in March people
were called out to have a peaceful demonstration and
to not break the law, not to interfere with parliamentar-ians, Ministers, people going about their normal bus iness in the House of Assembly. And at that time, even then, there were problems. People . . . their actions
occurred, like one of the doors in this building w as
nailed shut, some difficulties happened. They were very challenging circumstances even though, at that time, a peaceful demonstration was called for which
would not interfere with anyone’s daily activity, certainly anyone in authority.
Of course, in December what happened was
people were called out for a demonstration; they were called out by some people for civil disobedience.

Thank you, Member.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Yes, Mr. Speaker . I beg to
differ with that. There were a number of people that
. . . I think that he may mean to say that he did not call
someone out for civil disobedience, and that may well


Bermuda House of Assembly be true. But there were calls for people to come out
and make demonstrations. There were even people who made statements who said, I am going to come
out . . . I am going to have civil disobedience, and I
am willing to take the punishment because I am stand ing for my principles. There were even people
who came out and said that. So to say that everyone
came out purely to have peaceful demonstration . . . I
do not view that as a likely outcome with any invest igation.
Now, what in fact did happen, and appeared
to have happened, is that people were obstructed
from getting i nto the grounds of Parliament on that
day. And as everyone had pointed out —people like
the Centre for Justice that carefully pointed out, certainly I had pointed out in a public statement I made—
that these were breaches of the law in terms of bloc king any parliamentarian, any Minister, anyone who
had official duties in this place. If they were blocked
from reaching this place, then that was a breach of the
law. And there were a number of people who were called to court, and I think in the end most of them
were bound over to keep the peace and they admitted
the facts which were alleged. Those facts were never
disputed. None of those findings were ever appealed
by anyone. So to say that, you know, this was completely untoward on that side is not true.
Now, ho wever, we do not dispute that on the
other side we are not happy with the situation that got to a point where people, particularly elderly people,
were pepper -sprayed. Now, the Honourable Member
got very, very, excited and, perhaps, got a bit carried
away with his testament quoting, and his drama, tal king about bones being broken and people being hurt.
But he was talking about other situations —

Member, let us not get caught up on
semantics o ver there, because the bottom line is that
people were injured. Let us move on.
Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Yes. Clear enough. I am not
sure if “ broken bone” is technical to the person who
has it, but we will move on.
We agree with this. We agree with this. Th ere
is obviously more than one point of view. And I know Members are going to be very emotional today, and I
noted that people . . . for example, that Member was
talking about my involvement. As Attorney General I
had no further involvement than over a month later I
made a statement as to what the law was. In fact, the
first people who came out and stated what the law
was after the event were the Centre for Justice. And that was with reference to quoting section 12 of the
Parliament Act, which makes it an offence to interfere
with the free exercise with this House, of its authority, or with the free exercise by any Member of his duties
or authority with such. So, of course, that day was a
Friday. Members had to attend the House, Ministers had to attend the H ouse, [and] they were unable so to
do. Those were breaches of the Parliament Act.
There also could be a breach of the Criminal
Code, and there were other offences, generally, under
the Criminal Code. And as I said previously, some
Members had gone . . . some people had gone before
the courts, and I do not think . . . on those occasions I
think people were bound over to keep the peace. in So
I do not think any of that are matters which are in di spute.
772 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Now, I think the Member, for some reason,
wants to have a go at the Acting Governor. He read
out the statement that she made after the event, and I
myself did not hear anything in that which was objectionable. I do not . . . I have difficulty, Mr. Speaker , in
anything in that statement being objectionable at all .
So I do not see what . . . and he mentioned her getting
some sort of an honour. And I think that was generally for work which she had done in St. Helena. So I think
it was unrelated to the events of that day. So it is mi sleading with respect to that Member.
But as I said, we had serious concerns with
what happened that day. People in this community do
not appreciate it, and it was a terrible thing. We should
not see that. And from my own personal point of view, over the course of time there had been a num ber of
demonstrations. They had come very close to being problematic, as I said on one occasion with doors being nailed up. There were other cases where, I think,
the Senate was invaded. So there were a series of
events leading up. And when the Honourable Member
says that, you know, there is a broader context to all
of this, there indeed is. And we agree that a commi ttee should be appointed. They need to have an open
mind and we will see what comes of that.
So I urge Members to not get too emotional
on this matter because it should be left to the Commi ttee to form those conclusions, not for Members of the
House today to be jumping up and saying what their
conclusions are. Otherwise, as far as the members of
the public are concerned, the appointment of a co mmittee would be a waste of our time.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

Thirty-six.
I recognise the Honourable Member Michael
Scott. You have the floor.
Hon. Michael J. Scott: Mr. Speaker , thank you.
Mr. Speaker , we find ourselves on the anniversary, nearly by a day, of the terrible events as I
recall them and as I lived them last year almost to the
day.
The motion in the name of my colleague, the
Honourable Member Mr. H. K. E. Swan, is that the
House acknowledges that the PLP Government, ha ving declared its intention to establish a Committee, a Joint Select Committee, and as the former Attorney
General who has just taken his seat has said, this
Committee ought to go about its work dispassionately,
clinically, to look into these events to ensure that we find out who was responsible for mandating the complete collapse of good or der and of civility in our I sland, to a day, 12 months ago. Who was responsible
for it?
And today we need not speculate, but at the
time the chronology was clear to myself, to yourself, Mr. Speaker , and we will recall (you will recall ) the role
that we pla yed as the events unfolded in their most
terrible of aspects when the police arrived armed with helmets looking menacing. And it sent a shudder
throughout the assembled protestors —all there justif iably to express a civil opposition to the airport Bill going through and to express their democratic rights to
prevent, stop by any means necessary, this airport Bill
being debated.
It was the country called to arms. They felt . . .
and the Opposition supported them completely in de-bate after debate in this House against this airport Bill,
which culminated in the forced bringing of this airport
Bill to this House against the express wishes of a
large section of this community.
And so, yes, there must be an investigation i nto why people were harmed that day, not on ly in their
emotional feelings, but then were physically harmed
by the unwarranted use by the police, with that
masked phalanx of police officers seeking to just
break through a number of citizens —a good deal of
citizens —standing at the gates of Parliament . And
later it escalated to the use of incapacitant spray.
So the motion calls for the investigation into
the decision- making, and the decision- making being
taken by the Executive, the Premier (then, Premier
Dunkley), advised by his Chief Legal Officer, the A ttorney General no doubt, spurred on, no doubt, we know by any reasonable conclusion about Executive
decisions that day by the Minister of Finance, who
was determined to have his motion . . . to have his Bill
passed in this House.
That is as far as my assessment and analysis
will take it, that the Executive decision- making r eferred to in this motion is to be called into question as
a consequence of the collapse of law and order that
day . . . as a result of the collapse of the good admi nistration of a r easonable Government faced by a legi timate protest from a significant number of citizenry saying no, and the Government taking the bullheaded
position of, Yes, we shall get into this House come
what may, come hell or high water.
These were bad decisions —administratively
they were bad, legally they were bad, they were the
decisions of a . . . they were not the decisions of a
reasonable Minister of Finance or a reasonable Premier or a reasonable legal advisor in the person of the
Attorney General (who just took his seat when speaking), and any other Minister or Backbencher of the
OBA that day who were in support of the decision to
break through a crowd on Parliament Street and enter this House. These were unreasonable decisions. They
were . . . it may be found by the inquiries of this Joint


Bermuda House of Assembly Select Committee to be wrongful decisions; they may
be found to be unlawful decisions.
But a dispassionate Joint Select Committee of
lawyers, ordinary citizens, Members of this House, in
whatever capacity we can fairly pull together from the
membership of this House and the other place, to not
do what was recommended in the newspaper the day
following, which was to forget this day —A day to forget . . . but it was a day that must be remembered and
never forgotten and never repeated, which is the re ason why we should have this investigation at the level
of the Legislature. So we want to find out about the
decision -making that day. We want to understand
what directives were exchanged between the Premier
and any of his advising Mi nisters and the Speaker of
this House, the then Speaker of this House. Because
as far as we have been able to understand, the then
Speaker, the Honourable K. H. Horton, was put in the
position of also having a role in interfacing with the
decision makers t hat day. And, of course, then the
steps taken or the decisions made as passed on to
the police to deploy that day the unwarranted, is one
word . . . but they are more particularly characterised
in their own findings in the independent report that
was made by the independent police inspector from
the United Kingdom who looked into these matters.
I recall that the Commissioner of Police found
himself (as he expressed it to myself) in an invidious position of being between the politicians of the day on
the two sides —the OBA and the PLP. And he expressed this view, that he was put in this position and
that better decision- making—or, as the law puts it,
wiser, more reasonable decision- making—would not
have caused his deployment either at the gold level or the sil ver level or the bronze level, to put his police
officers, with whom I came face to face on a number
of occasions on December 2
nd of last year, who with
pained deployment of their duties found themselves
staring me down, staring down senior citizens, and
just ordinary citizens of this country, pushing against
them, trying to break into the House.
These are the reasons why we call for this i nvestigation at the legislative level because the police did not want to do what they were doing down there at the rank and file level. And I am now advising that
even the Police Commissioner felt that he was put in
the most invidious position of carrying out unreason able demands, directives, whatever they were, of the
decision makers of this day in coordination with the
Speaker.
I do not wish to prejudice any assignment of
fault or wrongdoing. But, plainly, there was communi-cation between the then Acting Governor, Mrs. Ferson, there was communication which we saw demonstrated in telephone records that we accessed through
PATI requests, there was communication between the
then Premier Dunkley and Government House, there
was communication about what should be the tactic
and strategy to enter this House as a consequence of the communication between the then Speaker of the
House and any number of those persons in author ity—the Acting Governor or the Premier —of the day.
All of this combined to create one of the most
serious of days for us in this country. And we should not make this a clinical matter of, Well, we want to
inquire into it because we are legislators. People were
hurt, as you indicated, Mr. Speaker . People were hurt
from ages beyond 65 and over, middle- aged workers,
union workers . . . people were hurt. People had inc apacitant sprayed at them, which also caused them
hurt. People had their sentimentalities, their expect ations of a reasonable Government, tested sorely that
day. And the initial response of looking into the police
conduct is now a matter of record, that the police deployments that day were overwhelmingly ill-advised,
not based on sufficient training, and bound to have
come to the very outcome that they came to, which
was a complete and utter failure to carry out the supposed objective and end.
Mr. Speaker , the motion then seeks to exa mine closely the decis ion-making of that day. That is
what I am concerned and interested in from a legal
perspective, from a legislator’s perspective, and from
a citizen’s perspective—the decision- making that led
to directives that led the police to take this action
which resul ted and precipitated the events that included citizens being pepper -sprayed by police officers.
Now, once that investigation is properly deployed in this House by legislators, then the good
work will start and there will be, under the Parliament
Act, the p ower to call for witnesses on that day. Members of this House will be called, no doubt. Members
on both sides of this House will be called. I will no
doubt give evidence to such to the Committee and
share what I saw and what I did. But many other
members of the community . . . and there has been a
cast of thousands . . . hundreds, to be accurate, who
can be called on to give an account so that we come
to or this Joint Select Committee comes to a clear u nderstanding of cause and effect, of blame and r esponsi bility, of absolvement and innocence.
So once struck under the Parliament Act, Part
IV thereof, our Committee will inquire into the events
thoroughly. We hope that this will bring closure to the
event. And we know that it will result in and lead to finding s and recommendations and, where required —
and I do not mind indicating my recommended amendment to the wording here —where required
“recommended sanctions,” because this House need
not and should not be making sanctions. Sanctions
are for the courts if inde ed the findings warrant sanctions. Civil, criminal sanctions are what I am referring
to in this regard.
People were hurt. Negligence has been laid at
the feet of the deployments that day by the police. So,
certainly, civil penalties and criminal sanctions arise
just as a start for assault. Defences, whether they are
raised or not by the police that they were responding
774 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly to acts of unlawfulness, will have to be examined, and
questions of constitutional rights to publicly protest will
be put in the balance, and these investigations will
come to a conclusion about what and where the findings . . . where they find themselves and how they
should be finally resolved and in whose favour.
And finally, the report of the investigations and
proceedings of the Joint Sel ect Committee should be
made, tabled in this House, tabled before the public,
and we hope that this will bring the required closure
because truth will have been added to the absolute cover -up that took place [in the] days following D ecember 2
nd as we struggled to understand from the
Executive of the day —the OBA Government —who
made the calls for the police to be deployed or to
break the lines and get into this House. What were the communications that led to it, et cetera, et cetera? We know that the police attempted and failed.
Mr. Speaker , so the motion is a good motion.
The motion is a necessary motion. The motion is one that will look into, as we ought [to] as legislators, who
faced, witnessed, took part in these awful events one
year ago. And we should be doing it on behalf . . .
primarily, we should be doing it in the name of a good
democratically organised community. We should be
doing it on behalf of those who suffered the highest
levels of assault and insult that day. We should be
doing it because peop le need to have legislators who
take it unto themselves to make unwise and unre asonable decisions leading to harm to people, called to
account and held responsible for their actions.
And so, Mr. Speaker , this body will thankfully
call for a Joint Select Committee . . . I beg your pardon, it will vote to have a Joint Select Committee established so that it might get on with its work within the
stipulated period, and on or before the conclusion of
that period we should have a better understanding, a
clearer and truthful understanding of what took place
and why it took place. And to my mind there can be no more important or urgent a body of work to be carried
out to reflect, report, and inquire into the events of
December 2
nd, 2016.
So I want to urge and expres s my thanks to
the Member who pilots this motion in his name. I want
to commend this House for the courage of adopting
the motion wholeheartedly or unanimously because it
will show that we are all of one accord on this most
important and serious event one year ago. Obviously,
these kinds of exercises . . . I beg your pardon, I do
not want to . . . it deserves the word . . . it deserves
the characterisation higher than an “exercise.” These
kinds of necessary legislative responsibilities should
be discharged today, as we are doing so, because people want to understand and know what and why
the police were deployed in that way one year ago in these near vicinities of this House.
I was involved in the further Executive and
Judicial decisions taken to charge pers ons with summary offences under the Parliament Act and the Cri m-inal Code. And this was a course of action which was
reactive, as well, and I submit [it was] wrong. And it
was proven to be ill -advised when the court proceedings, the judicial charges, were, at the instance of the
Director of Public Prosecutions, essentially backed
away from on a compromise of having everyone or, I think it was 12 defendants, enter into bonds to keep
the peace rather than go through trials that were
meant to end with convictions for people expressing
their constitutional rights of public protest.
And so that becomes a relevant feature in the
investigation, and I am glad that the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. Mussenden, took the bull by the
horns in this regard and prevented the country —the
entire community —being exposed to the charade, to
the unnecessary charade of citizens being charged in
court for the offences that were laid at their door. It
was reactive and it was not the right thing to do. And I
think Mr. Mussenden was alive to the fact from the
beginning that this was not the right thing to do.
Today we do the right thing by striking this
Joint Select Committee to have as judicious an investigation and inquiry as can be mounted so that we understand what took place on that fateful day. And so
may it quickly pull itself from this discussion to a Committee that has been struck and structured and
mandated to carry out its mandate under this motion
by the Honourable Member Mr. Swan.

—you make the motion and we can
vote on the motion and have that amendment made
now.



Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Michael J. Scott: All right. I will try and do it [by]
the seat of my pants . . . but I could take my seat,
write it and pass it in. But I am having an indication
from Mr. Scott that this might be a smoother way of
doing it.
But to speak to it . . . and I have heard the
Shadow Attorney General indicate, it is to simply ind icate—

[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Michael J. Scott: Okay. Which is to allow for the
recommendation of sanctions arising out of the inves-tigation, but I have not got . . . I have not got my mind
wrapped around [it]. I do not want to delete or make
any . . . I do not want to leave it without any reference
to sanctions.

[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Michael J. Scott: Yes. So I will sit down and
draft it, with your leave, Mr. Speaker .

2“What transpired in Bermuda last Friday was disheartening to see and unacceptable. Let me be very clear, I do not condone the
violence that occurred against our citizens and was
deeply troubled by what occurred.”

2 Bernews , 4 December 2016 Let me repeat, Mr. Speaker , the former Premier said, “I do not condone the violence that occurred against our citizens and was deeply troubled by what
occurred” —Premier Michael Dunkley.
Mr. Speaker , it is clear that even the Premier
of that day saw that it was violence against citizens. So it is necessary to have a motion when we have
violence against an individual, and especially against
groups of Bermudians.
Mr. Speaker , let me further quote something
from the Commissioner of Police himself, Mr. Michael De Silva. During a press conference on December 2
nd, the Police Commissioner stated:
3“Once it was announced that the House
would sit, police initiated positive action to open a path . . .” (to the House). “Police officers approached the
protestors that were blocking access, warned them
that they were committing offences, and instructed
them to desist. Immediately the crowd surged and
some of the protestors assaulted the officers. . . .
Some officers deployed incapacitant spray . . . in a
proportionate response to disburse the crowd and
create a safe separation.”
Mr. Speaker , on that day there was one initial
set of police officers that came and spoke to the crowd, and there is not one shred of video evidence or
photographic evidence of the crowd surging into the
police officers. What happened, Mr. Speaker —and I
am speaking from first -hand experience —is that a
second group of police officers made their way along
Church Street heading west and then on Parliament
Street heading south and barrelled right into the crowd
without stopping, without saying, If you don’t move
we’re going to do this. The first set of officers was
surprised by the second set of officers. That means
that there was no comm unication between the two of
them.
Mr. Speaker , earlier that day I happened to be
walking up Court Street at approximately 12:30 [pm]
and at that time there was a funeral procession for
Sergeant Keith Whorms heading north on Court
Street. I stopped, looked at the procession, and then
proceeded south on Court Street. As I walked across
the Police Station, at the corner of Court and Victoria,
I saw a white van pull up. At first I did not pay it any
mind. Then I was saying, Why are guys in a van wea ring helmet s? Then I realised this van stopped outside
of the Police Station and out came police officers in
full riot gear at 12:30 pm, Mr. Speaker . I want that
time frame to be kept for a reason.
Mr. Speaker , I find it highly interesting that
then Premier Dunkley h ad a conversation with . . . that
he acknowledged having a conversation with the then,
well, current, Police Commissioner, less than 10 minutes before the riot squad came around the cor-ner. Think about that for a minute, Mr. Speaker . The
Premier of this Is land has a conversation . . . I do not

3 BPS media release , 15 December 2016
776 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly know who initiated the conversation, but the Premier
of this Island has a conversation with the Police
Commissioner at just after 1:00 [pm] and less than 10
minutes later the riot squad comes around the corner and bar rels straight into women and seniors.
Now, Mr. Speaker , there are those who are
going to say as the Honourable Member from consti tuency 9 stated, that there were calls for violence, and
people were prepared to go to jail and . . . Yeah, people may have bee n prepared to go to jail; but nobody
was prepared to be barrelled into by the police.
Mr. Speaker , I find it suspect that at 12:30
[pm] the crowd outside was 70 per cent women and
the police were in full riot gear. So why would som eone call . . . they had to be giving orders, why would
police be called in from other parts of the Island to don
riot gear by [noon] in order to be at the Police Station
by 12:30 [pm]? Who gave those orders, Mr. Speaker ?
And the timeline of [the] conversations between the Premier (the then Premier) and the Commissioner reveal that there were calls all through the day. Now, I am not saying that somebody called
somebody and said, have the riot gear, but it looks
awfully suspect.
Mr. Speaker , what makes it even more suspect is that t here were countless demonstrations. We
have always had demonstrations on this Island. I r ecall one day riding along the road on Reid Street here
and seeing a demonstration of people in 2009. I do
not know if anybody recalls that. There were like a
thousand people. I was like, Wow, white Bermudians
can protest. And they had placards and they were
saying, Down with Brown, Up with Cox. But what I did
not see, Mr. Speaker , was any police in riot gear. Why
is that? I will yield if you would like to answer that.
[Inaudible interjection]

Okay. We will be tolerant and allow the
former Attorney General if he wants to shed some
light on that.

POINT OF CLARIFICATION
Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker , I do not speak for the police, but
I just reiterate what I quoted earlier from the law in terms of . . . you are not able, under law —under either
the Parliament Act or the Criminal Code— to block
parliamentarians from doing their business in Parlia-ment. On that day parliamentarians were not able to
reach Parliament, so it is the police’s job to ensure
that the law is kept. And the Centre for Justice pointed
out that you have a constitutional right to free asse mbly, but you cannot block the public or officials from
getting to their place of work and doing what they have to do. And it is the police’s job to make sure that
people obey the law.

Fair enough, Mr. Speaker .
Some people will rely on laws from racist
days, but . . . Nevertheless, Mr. Speaker , we have had
protests up and down this Island, many protests ou tside this very building. As the Honourable Member
from constituency 2 said, we had thousands of people
outside of t his building in March and there was no i ncident. The only incident was somebody who got drunk [and] had to be escorted off. The police were
walking around, people were clapping at police, ev erybody was Kumbaya.
For some reason, of all the protests during t he
time of the OBA, they were determined that this legi slation was going to go through. That also has to be
kept in our mind.
Mr. Speaker , I see a lady in the Gallery right
now who I would like to recognise as someone who
was deeply hurt on that day. And M r. Speaker , I could
not believe my eyes. I did not have to have witness
accounts; I could not believe my eyes when police
officers of this country were laying their hands on
women.
Mr. Speaker , if I were just to go up to a woman now and lay my hands on her , I could go to jail. So
why is it so different that police officers felt that they
could put their hands on women and nothing is supposed to happen to them?
Mr. Speaker , I am grown man, but I cried that
day. I did not cry because the police had their hands on my neck. I did not cry because they pepper -
sprayed me along with others. I cried because I saw
something that I never thought I would see in this
country —grown women laid out on the ground. An
ambulance had to come for them. Grown men crying.
Mr. Spe aker—

[Inaudible interjection]

Mr. Speaker , there are
those who are going to say just get over it! There are
those who are going to say the people got what they
deserved as far as being pepper -sprayed. Anyone
who has felt pepper -spray does not deserve that.
So I want to know . . . I also remember that
the then National Security Minister claimed that he
knew nothing about this operation. And I find it suspect that somebody who was the Minister did not


Bermuda House of Assembly know anything about one of the most critical oper ations that the Bermuda Police were going to carry out.
So, it seems to be that everyone is playing a
game of denial. I did not know —

[Gavel]

Mr. Speaker , the entire police oper ation was the subject of a re port, as the report we have
already seen (the independent report) has revealed.
This report was out days before this operation. If he is
speaking specifically to tactics, then he should clarify
it. The Report of Operations was made available well
before th en. He is misleading the House. He is mi sleading Bermuda. He is misleading everyone who is
listening to this.

Former Attorney General, you have a
point of order?

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Well, the difficulty here in
terms of misleading the House is whether we are getting into evidence that the Committee would hear. You know, it is what I warned at the beginning. Are we tr ying to be a committee in the House and arrive at con-clusions or are we going to appoint a Committee?
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: It is an open debate on
whether to have a Committee to inv estigate this; not
to give evidence.

Attorney General, I recognise the concern that you have addressed, but as you know, as a
Member who has been around here for a number of
years, an open debate allows it to drift in many different ways. We will remind Members that they are not
here during this debate to draw the conclusion. That is
a fact. But they do have the ability to have a broad
debate if they wish.
We would trust that they understand and a ppreciate that at some point this will come to a vote that
will put in place a Committee that will go away and do the investigative period; but this is not that period now.
But they do have the latitude to be broad.

Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: But my concern is that we not
be seen to undermine the integrit y of that Committee,
when it is appointed, by saying that the conclusion
has already been arrived at. So that is my concern.

Members are expressing their view and
their opinion of that particular date. But I am reminding Members that the int ent of
this motion is to allow the House to formulate a Committee that will do the investigation, and not necessar ily for the investigation to take place on the floor of the House at this time.
Continue on, Mr. Famous.

The headline says: “Baron:
I was not consulted on police actions.”
I will quote, Mr. Speaker :
“Senator Jeff Baron, Minister of National S ecurity, said he was ‘troubled and concerned’ by the
altercation between police and protesters last week.
“And he pointed out he was not consulted b efore police moved in.
“The comments came shortly after Walter
Roban, the Shadow Minister of National Security, r eleased a statement questioning the senator’s silence.
“In a statement this ev ening, Mr Baron said:
‘Certainly I remain troubled and concerned about the
events that unfolded last Friday. The injuries suffered
were unfortunate and regrettable and I have personally reached out to and spoken to those members of the
public and to the po lice officer who was hurt.
“‘As it relates to the operations on Friday, I
wish to advise that as minister I was not consulted,
nor informed of the tactical options discussed and decided upon by the Bermuda Police Service or anyone
else on Friday.’”
That ki nd of contradicts what he just said.

Thank you, Member.
Member, you have made a few points of order
on that matter. What I am going to suggest is that if
you do not like the suggestion that is being made by
the speaker at this time, you have the ability to rise to your feet when he, or any other Member, finishes to
set the record straight, if you think it is not being set
straight. I recognise you have got s ome concerns. The
Member has . . . what he read just now was som ething that was publicly released. He read that. He read that.

[Inaudible interjection]

Yes, Mr. Speaker .
This highlights why we need to have an i nquiry, Mr. Speaker , because my initial comment was I
find it highly interesting that the then Minister of N ational Security could say that he knew nothing about
this operation. That is all I said. He got up, point of
ordered me, and said, I knew. So, what I am saying,
Mr. Speaker , is that either he knew or he did not
know, but I find it suspect that ministries under his remit would not inform him .
[Crosstalk ]

Mr. Speaker , this . . . 364
days ago was the worst day Bermuda has ever seen
in quite some time. Without a doubt it changed the
mind -set of how Bermudians see the police officers, how Bermudians see each other through a racial context, as if it could get any worse.
In a time that we need, as a country, to have
good relations between the police officers and the cit izens, a motion—this motion to get to the bottom of
this—would help that because right now many police
officers are painted with a brush as, You were part of
this, you were part of this, you were part of this. I have
had police officers come to me and say, Hey, F amous, I weren’t a part of that there brah, or, I didn’t
know nothing about that there.
Somebody knew because there is no way 20
police officers can put on riot gear, come around the
corner and go straight into civilians.
So again, Mr. Speaker , I applaud the Member
from constituency 2 for bringing this motion. And I
would implore those who would sit on the Committee
to find out the facts, because what we have been pr esented with by this “Independent Police Report,”
which basically says the same thing that the Police
Commissioner said, seems to be (for lack of a better
term, Mr. Speaker ) a whitewash. And as a country, as
the Honourable Member from [ constituency ] 2 said,
there are those who are going to be in this country
who need to know the answers before Mr. Augustus
comes for them.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

Thank you, Member.
Does any other Member wish to speak to this
matter?
No other Member is speaking?
I recognise the Honourable Minister. Minister
Foggo, you have the floor.

Hon. Lovitta F. Foggo: Yes, Mr. Speaker , thank you
for the opportunity to speak.
I feel compelled to speak on this matter in
terms of th e impact that it had throughout our society.
There is no one that can argue that an injustice took
place on December [2
nd] last year. That injustice
played out in the public before many people who happened to be near the House of Assembly that mor ning.
And I get up to, more so, stand in support of
the Member who just took his seat with some of the
comments that he shared. Being on the sidelines and
having a direct view of what took place I, too, wi tnessed riot police coming onto Parliament Street —
very much to the surprise of other police officers that
were dispersed around the House of Assembly. And,
though I will not name the police officer, there was
one police officer who seemed to be in charge of
some of what was going on that day who made it very
clear , by speaking it directly, that he had no
knowledge of riot police officers being asked to come
out. None whatsoever. And it was the riot police offi cers that barged their way into people. And you know
780 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly there are some who would say that it was an assault
on their persons.
Mr. Speaker , I was in total shock —total, total
shock —to see officers who were there to keep peace
. . . incite, if you will . . . I do not want to call it vi olence, but that . . . it seemed like some violent actions
that were taking place.
Mr. Speaker , for those who are not aware,
who sit in this Honourable House, people of the public
were hurt. I can say I had family members who were
hurt, who suffered weeks afterwards with eye issues because of pepper spray being sprayed directly into
their eyes. And I understand from a physician that
there are cases, when people are sprayed like, that
this can lead to blindness because pepper spray can cause blindness. And that was confirmed, Mr. Speaker. I had a constituent who was hurt. I had a friend
who was hurt. And I can say, Mr. Speaker , with the
friend who was hurt, it was a person who works dri ving a bus —a female—who was physically assaulted
and slammed onto the ground, who had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital, who suffered neck inj uries and who, for months . . . and I do not even know if
she is operating the bus today, but who for months
and even now, cannot drive a bus.
She had her livelihood disturbed. And she
was standing by and doing nothing. They aggressed
her, physically slammed he r to the ground. And today
she still suffers from that.
I saw seniors —women in their 80s —sitting on
the sidewalk, totally upset, crying, who likewise had
been pepper -sprayed and pushed down. And so, yes,
that image is etched in the minds of many. And even
young people, to this day and probably forever, be-cause it definitely, definitely, totally, gave a different
view of, I guess if you will, the role of the police officer.
Many left that day looking at the police as aggressors, people who clearly, clearly , would do som ething against another individual when they are there
peacefully —peacefully and democratically —
exercising their rights. And I characterise that as an
injustice. And it was, indeed, an injustice on the pe ople of Bermuda that day.
So, Mr. Speaker , because there seem to be
differing views and because there seems, in the minds
of many —and we are here to serve the people—that
justice has not been served, I believe it is incumbent
upon this Honourable House to ensure that a Commi ttee is struck up t o look into the events of that day, and
whatever the recommendations are ensuing from the
findings, that they ensure that those recommendations
are followed so that we can have that matter properly addressed.
Justice mandates that this matter be properly
addressed. The people deserve to have that situation looked at properly, Mr. Speaker . And they have to at
least know that we, as their representatives, are wil ling and are there to serve them and to make certain that we are acting in their interests so that they can count on us to ensure that we stand up for their rights.
Because we are here . . . we are here to do just that.
We are here to enact measures that are for the betterment of our people and this, our country.
So, Mr. Speaker , on those notes I want to say
thank you to the Honourable Hubert K. Swan for co ming here and laying that motion and allowing us, on
behalf of the people of Bermuda, to address this very,
very, upsetting, very concerning matter that took place
a year ago tomorrow and ensure that it has the proper
review so that we can ensure that our people are treated in a just and right manner. Thank you, Mr.
Speaker .

Thank you, Minister.
Does any other Member . . . I recognise the
Honourable Member , the Minister for National Secur ity. Minister Caines, you have the floor.

Hon. Wayne Caines: Mr. Speaker , you cannot fix
what you do not face. You cannot fix what you do not
face.
Mr. Speaker , we have heard about the i nstances and certain things that took place on December 2
nd. I ac tually think that Bermuda is ready for hea ling. I believe that our country has the scars, the war
wounds; our people now have the stress of that day
and the people of Bermuda— on both sides —are
ready to heal.
In order for any healing process to take place
there must be an opportunity for this country to look at this event and look at it and delve into the facts to deal
with it [in order] to move on. Almost like the Truth and
Reconciliation [Commission] in South Africa. As jaded, as disgusting, as heinous as the past was, they had to
look at that and categorically and systematically work
through the challenges.
We realise that the things that happened on
December 2
nd, many of the catalysts, many of the pr otagonists, they are not in the room today. If you look
across the floor there are only two Members of the
Opposition present.

Correct.
Hon. Wayne Caines: And that is why we have to, on
behalf of the people of this country, show them that they are important, that they matter, and we will stand
up for injustice every time.
Now the reason why this is important for us to
learn from these mistakes, Mr. Speaker , is so we do
not repeat them in the future. We could find ourselves,
as the Government, in a similar set of circumstances.
What we have t o do is look at and learn from the mi stakes that were made; indeed, chart a path so that if
this is able to happen again that we learn from it. What we cannot do is sweep it under the rug. We
must acknowledge it so we can fix it. Thank you very
much, Mr. S peaker .


Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Thank you, Minister.
Does any other Member wish to speak?
I recognise the Honourable Member from
constituency 1. Honourable Member Ming, you have
the floor.

Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker , and
listening audience.
Mr. Speaker , I solemnly rise to my feet today
to actually talk about December 2nd, 2016, because it
is one of those days where, I do not care how much
we talk about it, I will never be proud of what happened. I will never probably even accept what happened. And those visions of what I witnessed on that
day with my eyes will probably never be erased from
my mind.
Mr. Speaker , it was an emotional day and it
started out . . . it actually started out emotional an yhow, because I know we had been talking about D ecember 2nd, 1977. And so who would have thought
that on December 2nd, 2016, we would find ourselves —especially us, people who are younger —in
that situation? It is still an emotional day. And at times it can be very difficult to talk about what happened on
that day.
Mr. Speaker , that day —December 2
nd—in
some regards was sort of like a culmination of events,
because we were sitting there having had 26 protests
in a four -year period. Okay? I could sit here and read
them all out to you, but I am not going to take that
time. There is another time and place for that. But we had 26 protests in a four -year period. Okay? And so
what we saw was coming and we should have probably put the brakes on a long time . . . long before we
reached that stage.
Because when you stop and you really think
about that, Mr. Speaker , you take those 26 protests,
you divide them by 4, the people of Bermuda were
protesting almost every other month, if you were going
to take some numbers and look at it. Ridiculous! That
is not how we can work forward and move together as
a country. And the people who were in the spot to make a decision should have looked at that. They should have felt that tension. I sat here on this side
and we knew, like, something was happening. We had
seen everything erode, from race relations to just ten-sion going on around the Island. It was eroding right in
front of our faces. And if it was eroding in front of me, I
am sure my colleagues who sat on that side at that
time had to know and feel and see what the climate
was like in Bermuda.
Mr. Speaker , there are so many things that I
could say, but I am not even going to be too long because I do not know . . . no one may want to interview
me for whatever. But just being there on that day . . .
and then even when I got home that night I remember,
because this is one of my favourite days, I actually
enjoyed the Bermuda National Trust Walkabout down
there in St. George’s. I did not go last year. It was my first time not going because when I got home there
was no way I could set my feet down there and be
smiling up at people because inside I was crushed.
My first time ever not attending because the events
that happened out on our roads, our streets, with our people . . . there was no way I could get down there
and do that.
And t hen what made it worse was I was
watching the news . . . because in my mind som etimes I feel like, Did that happen? Did today happen?
Did I see the police come marching around the corner and hear clink, clink, clink of boots and stuff like that?
And I am s itting there with my daughter (because I
wanted to watch the news and the news was 12
minutes late coming on) and I remember thinking, We
are not censoring the news now. Like everything is
going through your mind because you are already feeling like you ar e in a situation of . . . like, Whoa,
what next ?
So I did end up watching the news. I remember watching it with my youngest daughter (because
she watches the news) and she was like in awe about what she saw. But it was her comment that probably
cut me even deeper on that night because she said,
What? Did you see all those police officers, mommy,
what they did? I’d punch them if they did that to me.
I see that as cutting because she has a father
who is a police officer. Yes! She has a father who is a police officer, and he had to come home that night
and he had to sit down and talk to her. And we had to
talk to a nine- year-old like a 19- year-old lady so she
could understand what happened in her country.
So many things, like I said, Mr. Speaker , happened on that day. I look forward to getting some of
the questions [answered] because I remember hearing the Commissioner of Police talk about this “escal ation.” And I am trying to understand (because I stood
down there on that road that day), what was the esc alation. So hopefully, the formation of this Committee
will give those types of answers because we should go back and we should read the articles that were
written and comments that were made on those days
and we should question until we get the answers that
we want, Mr. Speaker .
I even often have wondered how my colleagues who sit on this side felt on that day, because you only have this recollection coming from us because you were not there. And I do not care if you
looked at it on Facebook live, and all of t hat, that does
not give you that real feel of being there on that day. We might have stood there and, you know, we went and got water trying to help people with their eyes and
stuff, but inside, I am telling you people were crushed
. . . crushed. An Island almost brought to its feet. And
so that is a question I want . . . maybe they will say
. . . I mean, because it is one thing if we can politically
stand up and say, We don’t condone and we don’t do
this, whatever , but when you actually hear stories
from p eople that sat there . . . and I do feel for you
782 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly because you can only hear stories because you did
not come out on that day.
Mr. Speaker , many unanswered questions.
And I just pray and I hope that we get some of the
answers that we are looking for. And I do not care, we can tout other great events that Bermuda has had, but
this was a dark day in Bermuda. You know you saw
that eclipse going across? That is how Bermuda
looked and felt on that day, even with the brightness
of sun. It was a very dark day in our history.
Mr. Speaker , we owe it to our public to find
and give them the answers that they are looking for because small children, teenagers . . . I know when I
was canvassing I had teenagers who were talking to
me about the event and how it made them feel. And in some cases some of them were saying they were going out to vote as a result of . . . so this whole incident
had wide- reaching implications. And so when I stand
here today I am proud and hopeful that we will do the
right thing in here in terms of forming the Committee
and that the Committee will get in immediately and do
work because we owe it to our fellow Bermudians to
get those answers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker .

[Desk thumping]

Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
Let me first say I want to thank the [previous]
Member for her comments. I actually was sitting here
and not having any intention of saying much at all to
the year -ago situation and then said, You know, I think
some of us are not aware of what we then, as a Government, were going through, and some of us as individuals. So I appreciate that comment that she would
like to hear that. And I am going to give you exactly
how I felt on that day.
Having many of us here a similar age, having
seen the riots in the 1970s and what took place and
how dark it was, immediately that day to see what was
taking place, the reminder of the late 1970s and what
took place came to my mind. The question that we have today is, in 2017 as we look back, how did this
happen?
The question that we are all asking, really and
truly . . . and I have attempted since the Prayer Breakfast not to cast aspersions on anyone or come to any
judgments, because I know that at times it can get very emotive in these Chambers, Mr. Speaker . So I
am attempting to sift through some of the things that I
have heard that I may have thought politically you
may be trying to cast blame, but I was disgus ted.
I was afraid. I was scared for the people that
were down there. And, quite frankly, even defiant wit hin my own ranks . . . some of us. So I hope that the public does not walk away from what we are discus sing tonight thinking that only the Government felt di stressed about this. There were many of us . . . I
walked around the block not wanting to sit in a room and just sit there and watch my cousins walking away having been sprayed and looking me dead in the eye
with disgust at what had happened.
So ye s, I was scared for them. It was painful
for me to watch, but I want to make sure that these Honourable Chambers and Bermuda understand that
this is not a one- sided experience that took place. And
so for the Honourable Member to bring this to the t able . . . I commend him for it. What I am concerned
about is how much information will we really get from a Joint Select Committee. I am going to be honest
with you. How much can we really dig down to find out
what happened? Because I am going to tell you right now, I want to know what happened. I want to know
what happened.

Yes. Yes.
My point is this: You know, we are going to
have a whole lot of this going on. You know, I am
hearing the . . . this . . . while I am speaking . . .
When are we going to grow up and just allow
somebody to speak and listen? You will have your
turn. Then listen, just listen.
[Inaudible interjection]

And so, based on that, Mr.
Speaker , based on what I have just heard, we have to
take a collective agreement here that we could thro w
a whole lot of blame around. The point is people
should have never been in the position of getting pe pper-sprayed, at the end of the day. So I am hoping,
from this Joint Select Committee, that we come to some conclusions.


Bermuda House of Assembly And I reiterate my fear that once questions
start getting asked, we may not get the answers. And
so somehow, as a collective group, as legislators in
this House, we need to be able to ensure that the
Joint Select Committee has enough teeth to get the answers. This is going to be a chall enge for us. I am
going to tell you now it is going to be a real challenge,
and we will go unresolved to something that is histor ical, quite frankly. Historical. So, you know, I will d eclare my interest.
I see my son in the Chambers. And you know
it will be another fight that he and I will be getting at
over some of these things, as a young man coming up in Bermuda and looking for certain changes that he is
looking for. And to hear how disgusted he was at what took place. I mean . . . man, I go back to the same
question though: How did this happen? And how did we get here?
I appreciate the Honourable Member Kim
Swan from the constituency 2. I hope he would say
that it is the greatest constituency on the Island —
number 2. I live there and he is the represent ative
there. And I appreciate the passion that he brings to the table. One of the things I am also very cognizant
of when he was giving the analogy of Jesus and you
know the Centurion who wanted his child to be healed
at that particular time, that was draw ing nigh to . . .
that was the beginning of the end . . . Jesus, when he
was going to be crucified, and he goes on the cross
and said, They know not what they do. They know not what they do. Forgive them, for they know not what
they do.
The church crucifi ed him. And I have watched
Bermudian against Bermudian in that situation—
whoa! We were put in a situation whereby we were
attacking one another. Unfortunately, the police were
in the middle of this here. I am saying “unfortunately.”
We do not know who gave . . . or what directives. But I
can assure you that the room that I was in . . . the room that I was in was upset. People were walking all
around here, What in the world is going on? Upset!
People were crying, literally crying, Cabinet Ministers in tears, What is going . . . ?
I can remember. I said, I’ve had enough. I am
not staying in this cooped- up room here like this here.
I walked around the block, coming around Marketplace here only to walk into members who had just
been pepper -sprayed. I was like, Oh, my goodness!
What have we done? What have we done?
And so somehow, as a Legislature, we are
going to have to come to grips with this. Yes, we are
looking for answers. And I pray, brother, Honourable Member Kim Swan, that we get some answers. I am
praying with the fervour that you had— how you got up
and spoke—that we get some answers, man, because this cannot be just a political move. We need answers. So I am asking you to press the envelope for answers.
You brought it to this Honourable House; I want s ome
answers, Honourable Member from constituency 2. I want some answers. So press the envelope for these
answers.
I do not know who is going to be on that Joint
Select Committee. I do not know who is going to chair
it. But I tell you what: None of you ove r there has got
any more energy than myself for the answers. I want
the answers too, because we need some resolution.
People need to walk away with some resolve in kno wing exactly what happened.
And with that in mind I am also reminded of
the fact that . . . be careful what we pray for. We have
to go down this road, because there might be some
unlikely answers. And we need to stand on getting the
answers and getting some resolve regardless . . . regardless . . . and this is important, Mr. Speaker , because I know that Members want answers. But it is
important that Honourable Member s and Bermuda
understand that there are people weeping. I mean,
people were at each other’s throats and did not even
know why, in the room. And so what was going on?
Bewildered, I mean just completely bewildered . . .
bewildered.
And so, again, I think that we are all on the
same page here. We want resolve. So I thank you. I
believe that we are on the same page; we need a
Joint Select Committee. But I also believe that we
need to figure out how this Joint Select Committee can get the answers. I do not see the pathway right now. I do not see any answers coming forth through
this Joint Select Committee except for, you know,
some fluff. We want some answers, Honourable
Member . Yes, we want some answers.
So somehow we have got to figure that part
out, and I hope that we as a group . . . we are an inte lligent bunch up here— although we do not always act
like it sometimes. We are very smart up here; we can
get some answers and get resolve for this situation.
Back to the question that I asked from the
beginning, How in the world could something like this
happen in Bermuda, Mr. Speaker ?

Thank you, Member.
We recognise the Honourable Minister for
Education. Honourable Minister , you have the floor.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
I know we often say this when we get up that,
you know, I was not expecting to speak , and such.
And I really was not, until I did hear the Member speak because he said, How did we let this happen?
And then I went on to reflect on the Member who
spoke just before him. We know how we let this happen, Mr. Speaker . It is either . . . you were either wo efully ignorant or intentionally blind to not see the un-rest that was in this country leading up to December
2
nd. There is no other way that I can explain that. It is
this ignorance or this intentional blindness that led to these events. That permanent black eye that is now
784 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly on this country is a result of woeful ignorance or inte ntional blindness.
See, Mr. Speaker , if it could not get any worse
(and I am referring to the Member that just sat down),
after this happened we got all sorts of varying excuses from the One Bermuda Alliance on why things happened that day. They blamed the PLP; they cr ied victim; dismissed the intelligence of the electorate b ecause they followed the PLP. There was a complete
refusal to take any sort of responsibility for the r esponse by the OBA Government at that time and the
tactics that were employed, Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker , we can even go to the events
that happened in this very House the next time we sat after that event. We had a Member from the One Bermuda Alliance ejected from this House—ejected—
for saying, You deserve to be pepper -sprayed, to a
Member of the P rogressive Labour Party. How is that
. . . how is anyone saying, I can’t believe this ha ppened? How are we supposed to believe that they
were in a room at each other’s necks, saying, How
could this happen? Then come up here and say, You
deserve to be pepper -sprayed? How could that even
be a possibility?
We had another senior Member from the One
Bermuda Alliance, Mr. Speaker , who wanted to compare what happened to the people down at this gate,
to her being cursed at, like there was some compar ison. There i s no comparison with being cursed at to
people lying on the street pepper -sprayed.
Now, Mr. Speaker , we have all seen the foo tage from that day, and the picture and the video of a white policeman with a look of what can be pure d etermination indiscriminat ely spraying people with pepper spray. That will be emblazoned on people’s minds
forever.
So when the One Bermuda Alliance wants to
get up and say, We were upset . . . when did they
show any upset -ness? The next time they came in
here they blamed the PLP for not being able to get in
here. They snuck in here under the cover of darkness
. . . they snuck in under the cover of darkness to debate that legislation.

Just let me give you some direction.
Just speak to the Chair and try not to take it on a personal level to anyone. Just speak to the facts as you
know them without getting personal.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker .
But, as I was saying, Mr. Speaker , the facts
speak for themselves. The facts speak for themselves
and the people know and that is what counts.

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleadi ng]

Let us not get all riled up over small
matters in regard to side comments that may have
been said. Let us speak to what has got to be done on
both sides, and let us go on to the matter before us.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Mr. Speaker . . . and I
speak as the Opposition Leader leaves the Chamber
during this very important debate—

No, no, no, no, Member. Take your
seat. Take your seat, take your seat, take your seat,
take your seat.
I am in the Chair. I am controlling this House.
If you have a problem, the door is there. I have
stopped the Member because I am going to address
those side comments. I do not need help with that
from anybody.
Member, the debate has been going fairly well
all this time. When you start making little side throws
at individuals, you take it off course. If you intend for


Bermuda House of Assembly anybody to take off the course, leave the room now so
I do not have to put you out. If you intend to partic ipate in this debate, let us keep it at a tone that does
not distract from why we are here.
Continue.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker ,
and I appreciate the guidance.
But Mr. Speaker , it comes down to this: We
know what happened. We know what happened; we
need to figure out why it happened. And I applaud the Member who spoke before me because he said he
wants to know as well. And we all know that and this
is why we are p utting together this [Joint] Select
Committee, or we are proposing a [Joint] Select
Committee to investigate these instances, Mr. Speaker.
But I reiterate that I take exception to saying
that their caucus was upset when they would come in
this House and r epeat some of the things that they are
repeating.

POINT OF ORDER

Let us . . . let us . . . I said to the room
just now, let us not get caught up on semantics or little
words. He expressed his opinion. If he goes too far, I
will call him to order . . . if any Member goes too far.
He is expressing hi s opinion, let him continue.

Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: So, Mr. Speaker , for me,
this motion here is a simple one and one that we
probably should not even have had to have spent
hours debating.

I was hoping we would have out of it by
now, but continue on.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: It is a motion to get a Joint
Select Committee to look into why the things happened the way they happened on that day, Mr. Speaker . And any responsible Government would
want to go that route and this is what we are proposing, Mr. Speaker . Thank you.

Thank you, Member.
With that said, Members, remember we are
here to get to the agreement of a Joint Select Commi t-tee that will do the investigation. We are not here to conduct the investigation.
So . . . at this time, Honourable Member from
[constituency] 36, I saw you rising. I will acknowledge
you now if you want to put your motion that was to
make the amendment.
I will a cknowledge you now.

Hon. Michael J. Scott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker , only
if other Members have nothing further to add, because
I have now structured the amendment that I think can now be inserted. But it can come now —

Yes, just put the motion, now that it has
been structured.

AMENDMENT TO MOTION

Hon. Michael J. Scott: It is proposed to insert the
following amendment after the word “required” in paragraph (2), the following words: “include in any recommendation such sanctions as are appropriate ari sing from the Committee’s findings.”
Hansard will get that . . . to insert after the
word “required” in paragraph (2) of the very ultimate paragraph of the motion the words “include in any
recommendation such sanctions as are appropriate arising fro m the Committee’s findings.”
Deliberations . . . I am hearing. I do not know
if it is making . . . “findings” . . . “findings.”
Did you get that, Mr. Clerk? Are you good?

Would it not be simpler,
with respect, to the Honourable Member , and instead
of . . . I was not quite sure what he was saying, but
“where required recommend sanctions”? Would that
not just be . . . insert the word “recommend” after [the
word] “required,” would that not do the job?

Hon. Michael J. Scott: I will give it a go, yes.

That is the one word that needs to be
addressed.
So if everyone is comfortable with it, I will read
what we have done now, if you do not mind.
Basically, under that section of the motion, it
is listed as item (2) on there, it reads . . . and I am going to read the entire item (2), which [will] read:
“(2) to bring closure to this event by the making of all proper and necessary findings, recommendations and where appropriate recommend sanctions .”
It recommends sanctions rather than requires
sanctions. Are we all comfortable?
Okay.

Hon. Michael J. Scott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker , and I
am grateful to the Honourable Member , Dr. Gibbons,
for his participation.

Thank you , Mr. Speaker .
Mr. Speaker , let me begin by saying that t his
is a slightly different debate than, certainly, the one we
just had. And I recognise and appreciate that. But I
think it is also fair to say that there is an anniversary
here which is a slightly happier one, and that is, exac tly three years ago, in New York on the 2
nd of December, the announcement was made that Bermuda was
successful in its bid to host the 35th America’s Cup.
I have had some time to reflect on it since the
end of the events back in June, and I believe that in
many respects the bid to h ost the America’s Cup was
a silver bullet, or about as close as you can get to
one. It came along at just the right time and helped us
to rescue, economically, Bermuda and restored our
confidence in a country in a very difficult period.
Mr. Speaker , I thi nk many Honourable Members will know, if they think about our history, that
Bermuda’s ability over generations has been to see opportunity and act on it. And the America’s Cup bid
was one of those opportunities. We do not have a lot
of natural resources. W e do not have diamond mines
or oil wells. But as a country we have been very good over the years —over the centuries, in fact —in recognising and seeing opportunities, whether it be the blockade running during the US Civil War, selling Easter Lilies and citr us to the East Coast in the 1920s,
expanding Island tourism after the Second World War
with our airport, and indeed the launch of our offshore
business with pioneers like Peter Graham, who is a
lawyer at Conyers Dill [& Pearman], and captives with
Fred Reiss in the 1960s, and certainly, those who saw
the opportunities following the catastrophic damage
with Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
So no, it would be fair to say that hosting the
America’s Cup did not put a chicken in every pot. That
is not the way things w ork, despite the promises of
politicians sometimes. But in many respects it
changed the fundamental economic circumstances in
a very clear way and, like the legendary silver bullet,
restored Bermuda’s pride after a period of extreme self-doubt and dire economic deterioration. It made us
players again. It put us back on the world stage. Ber-muda at that time needed something to pull us out of the economic death spiral we experienced in 2011
and 2012. The hosting of the 35
th America’s Cup was,
in many respects , like a lifesaver and kept us afloat
and headed us in a good direction. It created the hope
and the pathway to foreign investment and jobs, particularly in the hospitality sector.
788 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker , in one of the documents I just
tabled, Andrew Green, who was speaking for the
Green family at the Princess hotel, said (and this was
after the events):
4“As a result of Bermuda being selected as
the host for [the America’s Cup], we significantly i ncreased our investment in hotel upgrades. Hamilton
Princess & Beach C lub, as the Official Host Hotel,
saw a record number of first time visitors during the
event, with guests benefitting from the newly renova ted . . . facilities. We believe the exposure from the
event, both broadcast and tourist, will encourage more visitor s to think of Bermuda when choosing their travel
destination for years to come.”
Honourable Member s may recall the debate
some years ago when people would complain about
how little advertising Bermuda was doing and how little exposure it had in northeast c ities like New York
and Boston and, indeed, Atlanta, as well, compared to
the Bahamas with the Atlantis going on, Jamaica and
Barbados with Sandals. I was sitting in my Ministry, probably back in March of this year and had a visitor
who was consulting on behalf of a hospitality investor,
and he was talking about . . . he had just flown in and
he said Bermuda used to have a very low profile in
Long Island (which was where he lived), in New York .
But he said the America’s Cup hosting was absolute
genius. He s aid everybody is aware of Bermuda, ev erybody knows where Bermuda is, and everybody is talking about it. He said it has done extraordinary
things to raise Bermuda’s profile.
And I think it is fair to say, and we will get into
this a little bit more, but th e America’s Cup impacted
multiple business sectors, both large and small, and
created opportunities for Bermudian entrepreneurs
and provided a significant jump- start to our struggling
tourism sector. And from a financial perspective it
came in under budget —a remarkable achievement,
given the experience of other jurisdictions who hosted
large sporting events, like the Olympics and the World
Cup.
Mr. Speaker , I think it is well known that after
the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games it took Montreal
almost 30 years to pay off what was roughly a billion
dollars in debt. The London Olympics had similar i ssues in 2012. They are currently trying to collect an additional $1.4 billion over 10 years and they have
done that through increasing taxes on the London
Council . . . sorry, the London Council is trying to i ncrease their tax base on individuals. And I am going to
come back to this later as I get further into the body of
my presentation.
In many respects I refer to this as the foundation for future growth in the actual motion itself, but the
America’s Cup is the gift that keeps on giving. The global exposure that Bermuda received was unpara lleled and is projected to boost our visitor numbers for

4 “America’s Cup Bermuda Legacy Impact ” years to come. The America’s Cup put us at the centre of the sailing world, and we have already added, I
think as many Honourable Member s will know, new
sailing events, including hosting the World Sailing A nnual Conference in 2018, as recently announced by
the Bermuda Tourism Authority.
It also created a new generation of enthusi astic young Bermudian sailors, thanks to the Red Bull Youth Team, and over 1,600 individual middle school
[students] in the Endeavour Programme. It was the
vision of Russell Coutts, and has certainly done a lot to rejuvenate sailing on the Island. It accel erated the
cross- Island construction and the Dockyard renov ations, a promising event platform which is going to be available for future deployment.
And it won huge credibility in our international
ability to host, as an Island, international sporting event s to world standards. And a good example of
that, I think, is the . . . shortly after the 2015 World
Series, we were approached by individuals who were connected with the World Triathlon Series who wan ted to host the World Triathlon Series here. And act ually in December of last year in, I think it was Madrid,
we were awarded three years of World Triathlon S eries events with the possibility of the Finals four years
down the road.
It also attracted a remarkable number of
superyachts, in fact, three times the number that visi ted San Francisco, and it has created the potential for an ongoing service business for superyachts, not to
mention the impact on our tourism product as well.
And I think it would be fair to say, certainly
from the conversations I had as we look back over the
last three or four years, that it was an effective cat alyst to get a lot of our hotel infrastructure projects
moving forward, which included new construction and
jobs, which are going to extend also, certainly, into the
future and which the current Government will benefit
from.
Now, Mr. Speaker , these are some of the obvious things about the legacy of the America’s Cup for
Bermuda. And it is unfortunate, because as much as
the current Government and former Opposition chose to downplay, a nd in some respects discredit, its signi ficance, the Government will, in fact —the new PLP
Government —be the beneficiary of these legacy benefits as will Bermuda way into the future.
So for the Government, in many ways it represents money in the bank and, c ertainly, significant
development opportunities should they choose to act
on it. And I am going to come back to these legacy
benefits and opportunities later on in the discussion and touch on some of the work by the ACBDA Legacy
Committee, which is one of the reports that is on the
table there, which is their written report about the legacy benefits of the America’s Cup.
But I think it is worth mentioning a convers ation I had with Sir Russell Coutts some months after the America’s Cup announcement three years ago.


Bermuda House of Assembly He said to me that there were lessons to be learned
from Auckland, New Zealand, and their experience in
hosting the Cup (and that was twice, both in 2000 and
then in 2003). He suggested that New Zealand’s first
experience in 2000 was all about a le arning curve,
putting the Cup on and trying to understand how best
to deliver the event. But it was not until the second
time that they hosted it in 2003 that they appreciated
the potential legacy benefits and took advantage of
the opportunities to really maximise the advantages of
having hosted the America’s Cup, and that was only
after the second time.
And you can see it in the success . . . well, we
saw it this summer, actually, with the success of the Emirates Team in terms of their marine technology, and we can see it in terms of the benefit it has already
had in Bermuda from a legacy perspective so far.
But what he really said was he hoped that it
would not take Bermuda a second go- round to put in
place strategies to take full advantage of what it
means to host an America’s Cup. And I do not think I need to remind Honourable Member s that, in light of
the June results, we will not have the benefit of hos ting a second America’s Cup —AC36 —unless, of
course, New Zealand changes its mind, which is highly unl ikely.
So it is fair to say, I think, that those respons ible are going to have to work strategically to extract the maximum opportunities for Bermuda. And that is
the point behind the Legacy Committee Report that I
mentioned earlier.
Now, ironically, whil e the PwC report (and I
will get to that in a few minutes) does not seem to
have attracted a lot of attention, the irony is that it has
actually been read and studied very carefully in New
Zealand right now, because they are in the process of
looking at what they need to do to host AC36 and to
understand the metrics, particularly the economic metrics, that they are going to be required to go through.
So let me take a few minutes now to put the
America’s Cup events in context and to explain why
the One Bermuda Alliance Government decided to
pursue the opportunity to bid on the 35
th America’s
Cup. And I will start back in January 2014 when pr eliminary discussions between the Government and the
America’s Cup took place, almost a year before the
announcement. And I guess the fair question to ask is,
what were the economic circumstances in which Bermuda found itself in January of 2014?

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

And I think we all recall
in this House, Mr. Deputy Speaker , that Bermuda was
struggling at the time to emerge from a prolonged r ecession that occurred in 2009, or, I should say, it
probably began in 2009. And when the former Government left in December 2012, the then new Go v-ernment was left wit h what would be best described
as an uncontrolled $300 million deficit, spiralling go vernment debt (which had grown by some 700 per cent
by 2012), high unemployment, and a serious lack of investor confidence in Bermuda.
I think it is also worth noting that by 2012 a lot
of other offshore competitors, and, indeed, First World
countries, had effectively come through their own
problems with the economic downturn and had a ddressed the immediate impact of what was really a 2008/09 recession and financial crisis . But unfort unately, by 2014 Bermuda’s economy was only just
starting to emerge from the recession and really not
as quickly, I think, as we had hoped.
There was a lot of discussion about “green
shoots” at that particular time. But it was not, in fact,
until 2015, Mr. Deputy Speaker , as you will know, that
Bermuda had the first fully positive year of economic
growth. It was compounded, of course, by the loss of
some 5,000 jobs earlier and the loss of almost $300
million in discretionary spending from those who were
employed previously, that made that recession and coming out of it that much more difficult for Bermuda.
I say all of this because I think it is important
to recognise the context in which we found ourselves
in 2014, and why that bid for the America’s Cup, in
many respects, was so critical. Because Bermuda effectively needed an economic stimulus to restore
badly needed confidence to create jobs and attract
foreign investment, and I think it is fair to say also to
rejuvenate what, at the time, was a stagnant, and in
some respects moribund, tourism sector.
Now, Mr. Deputy Speaker , you will remember
at the time that the Finance Minister introduced in that
budget a number of tax incentives. But it was difficult
for him to afford to do very much because there really
was not a lot of money to work with. Bermuda could
not afford a large stimulus package, as other countries
have done, as there was very little money in the till at the time. And important spending on social insurance
and the increasing demands there were rising at a
fairly quick pace. So I think there was a recognition
that we could not simply turn around an economy by reducing the size of government, and that the main
engine of economic growth at that time, which is international business and particularly reinsurance, was not growing appreciably and actually had been losing
jobs up to that particular point. And it was not until
2014 when that job loss situation started to turn around for international business.
But it was still clear that Bermuda needed
something to help drive the economy in a positive di-rection and build on the green shoots that were just
starting to emerge. It also needed to be back -loaded.
And what do I mean by that? It had to be a stimulus
where the bulk of government spending would be
spread out, and hopefully towards the latter part of it
as opposed to right up front, and it had to be designed in such a way that the foreign investment that would
790 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly hopefully come with it would be front -loaded or would
appear very quickly. A nd it also needed, given the
constraints on the OBA Government at the time, to
create opportunities for Bermudians. It needed to cr eate jobs and business opportunities, and these nee ded to be spread as widely as possible throughout the economy.
Mr. Deputy Speaker , I think all Honourable
Member s will be aware that other countries have used
economic stimulus in various ways in order to mitigate
downturns and recessions. And a good example would be Obama’s (and I quote) “American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act” that he brought into effect in
February of 2009 to mitigate the effects of that earlier
financial crisis and the problems within the United States in 2008/09. Now, while a significant portion of
that Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act was
actually tax cuts, there was a piece of it —a fairly siz able piece— which essentially was aimed at stimulating
the economy, the US economy, through investment in energy projects and infrastructure.
I think we mentioned earlier the fact that other
countries have used large sporting events, like the Olympics, Formula 1, and World Cup, and I think most
recently at Brazil, to try and get their economy moving
as well. But, as we all know, and I mentioned Montreal
and the UK, there are pitfalls in these things because you can have significant cost overruns and you can
also create large arenas that are of no future use five or 10 years down the road.
So I think when we started to think about this
at the time, it was pretty clear that because of Berm uda’s size and scale, there are not many sporting events that we would be able to host. And in a very
interesting sort of way the America’s Cup and the opportunity to bid was unique in a sense, not only b ecause of the extraordinary sailing legacy that it stood
for going back some 165 years before the modern
Olympics, but the fact that its economic impact would spread over three years as opposed to a simple oneoff, or a week, or even an event that would go on for a
couple of weeks. And the other nice thing about it, as I
have said, is that it was also pretty clear to us when we were looking at it, that the spending associated
with the preparation could be spread over three budget cycles. So we could spread the cost of the prepar ations that would be required for Bermuda to, in fact,
host the America’s Cup.
I am going to turn now and comment on the
PwC report
, which was entitled the “ Economic, Env ironmental and Social Impact of the 35th America’s
Cup on Bermuda.” In essence, this report was an i ndependent report card on those issues —the economic, the social and environmental conditions. And it was
essentially put in place in November of 2016 by the
ACBDA. It was based on a bid process , they asked
and . . . in fact a number of different independent or-ganisations . . . this was a top- tier advisory and accounting firm, but there were a number of organis a-tions that bid on it. But PwC was chosen. And my understanding was that because of the work involved
they might actually have come out behind on it, but I
think it is important and I think we recognise that going
way back that other America’s Cup venues (and, I
think, particularly of San Francisco and New Zealand)
had also done economic reports, and I think there was
one done in Spain as well, in Valencia.
It is important when you do something like this
to try and assess the results, not only for your own benefit, but for the benefit of others, to try and under-stand what the impact really was. And I think it would
be fair to say that as you would expect from a top- tier
independent accounting firm like PwC, the report, for
those who actually read it, was very conservative and
it was carefully done. In fact, it drew on a large number of different sources to get data and information—not only the Government, but also the private sector
as well. And there were quite a few surveys. And I am
not going to go through the surveys, but suffice it to
say that they spoke to 850 visitors that came to Bermuda, they spoke to 1,700 residents —these were
canvassed and surveyed, there were 200 stakeholder
interviews, and they had interviews with various other
sectors like superyacht captains, the yachting community, sponsors, hotels and, indeed, local busines ses as well.
And they examined the data and reported
their economic findings from a couple of different perspectives. And I am going to explain this because I
think it is important, because when you read the report
it is useful to understand what perspective is being
referred to. So they reported on both what was r eferred to as “additional spending,” which was direct spending that occurred as a consequence of the
America’s Cup, as well as what they referred to as the
“GDP” or economic impact on Bermuda as a cons equence of that direct spending. There is a lot of clear
and careful thought in the report which looks at avoi ding double counting, [and] looks at avoiding what
would be called displacement where money might
have been spent anyway. So they discounted that
money, for example, local residents might have spent anyway, so they would discount that and not count it
in to the spending totals.
They also used, in terms of trying to understand what the economic impact was, a model which
took the direct additional spending and added it to
induced spending and indirect spending. And let me give an example now, Mr. [Deputy ] Speaker , because
I probably lost a number of people already who have glazed over. So, for example, when a visitor pur-chased a lemonade at Ashley’s St and, this created
direct spending at the stand, but it also produced ind irect spending in the supply chain back to the whol esaler from which Ashley’s lemonade may have purchased products to make the lemonade. And finally,
there is what is referred to as “i nduced spending”
where staff or colleagues working for Ashley in their


Bermuda House of Assembly wages would have spent those wages, and that pr oduces additional economic impact as well. So the
economic [impact] is straight additional spending, i nduced spending, and also indirect s pending as well.
So the point here is that that first spending has knock -
on effects which, when included, give a more complete picture of the overall economic circumstances.
So what did the report measure? And what
did it find? First of all, it showed that direct additional
on-Island spending amounted to $271 million, including what was referred to as $76 million of ongoing
legacy tourism spending. As far as the economic i mpact was concerned, beyond the simple additional
spending it showed that the America’ s Cup overall
economic impact, as measured by contribution to
Bermuda’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounts
to some $336 million, and that included some $19 mi llion of ongoing or legacy tourism spending after the event was finished. And that is the part of the gift that
keeps on giving, with respect to the America’s Cup.
It is also, I think, important to note that the r esults that PwC had indicated were that our initial pr ojections back in October 2014 were exceeded by almost $30 million. And the PwC report noted that while
the three- year Government budget for the 35
th Amer ica’s Cup was estimated to be originally $77 million,
which was a $77 million budget projection over the
three- year period, the actual spending was only $64.1
million, under budget by basically $13 million, which I
think in many respects, given the experience of other
countries, is a rather remarkable result and I think
speaks to the care that both the ACBDA did and the Government [did] in terms of trying to make sure that
there were not overruns here.
So, in essence, what the PwC report is saying
is that for every $100 invested by Government in pr oducing the event, Bermuda received $500 or over $500 in additional spending that would not have ha ppened unless Bermuda had actually hosted the America’s Cup —certainly a welcome and rather large sti mulus to our local economy. Maybe I am being a little
cute here, Mr. Deputy Speaker , but I know the Government likes to talk about economic ripples. What the
PwC report found was this was really a tsun ami effect
on Bermuda.
So, in essence, hosting the AC35 provided
the economic boost, the so- called silver bullet, that
Bermuda needed at the time to continue growing and to restore confidence in Bermuda and on our Island.
I think some have speculated, and I think it is
a fair speculation, what would have happened had Bermuda not invested in hosting the America’s Cup?
And I guess from my perspective it is not difficult to
imagine that Bermuda’s economy would have conti nued to struggle, requiring further public and private
sector downsizing, and even less spending on social
services like social insurance, seniors, and health care. And the direction was pretty clear in 2014, that
had something not happened we would be looking forward to higher deficits, more debt, and higher taxes—certainly not a healthy option— but that is where
we seemed to be headed after December of 2012.
So the question, I guess, arises, when you
look at the results the PwC talk about, what sources
were primarily responsible for the economic impact?
And the answer came through that the largest source,
and I guess this is to be expected, came from the
America’s Cup Event Authority and the teams who contributed something on the order of $139 million of
what is effectively foreign investment . And that came
about as a consequence of people being here—some of them were here for almost two and a half years. We
had 450 team members and another 360 family me mbers who were on the Island, you had over 725 short -
term work permits to deal with technic al issues, by
and large, [and] they contributed to the economy as
well. And up through the end of July international vis itors contributed about $42 million of additional spen ding, with about another $8 million coming from res idents. Superyachts contributed about $20 million. And
the Government and ACBDA, when discounted against the sponsorship, contributed about $25 mi llion. So these were some of the results coming out of
the study to give a clear sense of where that additional spending came from.
Now, ano ther question which I think is interesting for people is, how do we compare to San Fran-cisco (because they were the last ones to host, and it
was the 34
th America’s Cup back in 2013)? And there
was a similar study done by the Bay Area Economic Institute in San Francisco in December of 2013. And
when you look at that and compare it with Bermuda, the total economic impact for San Francisco was $364 million compared to our $336 [million]. So even
though it was a much larger catchment area, a much
larger city, the numbers are not that far off.
It is also interesting because the Final Events
in San Francisco lasted over a much longer period
and it went from the 4
th of July to September 25, 2013,
so it was a much longer Final Event period there. The
teams in San F rancisco and the America’s Cup Event
Authority there spent $137 million versus $139 million
in Bermuda—an interesting comparison. The difference for San Francisco was they had probably som ething on the order of 700,000 visitors there compared to the number s that we had, which were obviously
probably a tenth of that. The visitors there they calc ulated as having spent $127 million versus the $42 mi llion in Bermuda. So, in many respects, we came out pretty well.
Most of the visitors were either resident in
state or out of state, the largest number of internatio nal visitors, interestingly enough, came from New Zea-land, and New Zealand spent a lot of time basically
marketing their products there, and that was one of
the reasons why they were upset, I think, when the
America’s Cup came to Bermuda for the 35
th Cup.
792 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly The other interesting thing was, and I mentioned superyachts earlier on, in San Francisco the
superyachts accounted for some $6 million of ec onomic impact. In Bermuda it was over $20 million. So, we did a lot better. San Francisco also was able, because of the large size of the city, to have concerts,
and they made a fair amount of money there. The
economic impact in Auckland back in 2003 was $364
million. So it is interesting, all of these— Bermuda
$336; San Francisco $364; and New Zealand, quite a
few years ago, was $346.
The other interesting feature was that the occupancy rates for San Francisco hotels went up about
6 per cent. Bermuda’s increase in occupancy as r eported was closer to 8 per cent. One of the things that
San Francisco reported was [that] it looked at the
number of jobs, the PwC report (as Members will
know who have read it) did not touch the issue of additional jobs at all. In San Francisco they reported that
the 34
th America’s Cup created the equivalent of some
1,700 one- year jobs. So, I think if you try and extrapolate to Bermuda it is hard to say exactly what the total
number was because Government was not able to provide it to PwC, but it is interesting that for that
amount of spendi ng, which was for economic impact,
which was fairly equivalent, they ended up with close
to 2,000 additional one- year jobs.
I mentioned our own economic analysis which
we did during the bid period to try and get a better understanding of what the benefit would be to Berm uda. As I said, the PwC data showed that the actual
numbers exceeded our own estimates by some $30
million. The ACBDA report which we did back in O ctober of 2014 . . . it was not the ACBDA report. The
ACBDA was not actually put in place until January of
2015. But the actual report essentially indicated that
we were estimating about $94 million for the teams in
ACA spending. The actual amount came out quite a
bit larger. The reason for that was that we benefited by the fact that teams moved in early, whether it was
Oracle, SoftBank Team Japan, and others actually set
up bases here. Artemis, as you know, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, actually put a base out at Morgan’s Point. And this early spending made quite a significant di fference.
Okay. These are all numbers. Why was this
important? Well, we had to do an economic projection
back in 2014. We were in a middle of a bid period. We
had to understand what the costs and benefits were to actually host the America’s Cup. We were being
asked to look at spons orship. We knew we were in
competition with some very heavy hitters in terms of San Diego, Chicago, New Port, and other cities. So
we had to have a very good understanding, or at least
the best understanding we could, as to what kind of an investment we were prepared to make in order to
be able to be successful in what was clearly a bidding
situation. Suffice it to say that as the Minister at the time
I had to be able to justify to my Cabinet colleagues
and explain the value for money that we were likely t o
get. That is why we took some pains during that year
to essentially work through not only what the spending
would be but to understand very clearly what infr astructure changes were going to be required and, as
you know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, we actually st arted
out looking at Morgan’s Point, but the cost of that was
such that when we looked at Dockyard it made a
whole lot more sense. Not only because of the legacy and history there, but because Dockyard was already
up and going in many respects, WEDCO had done a
good job and it was very clear that this was a much
better alternative.
I am going to thank some other people when I
get toward the end of what I have to say, but I think at
this point it would be useful just to say that Alan Burland and BCM McAlpi ne should be commended for
what I think was an extraordinary contribution. I am talking about the period leading up to the announc ement in December of 2014. Because on a pro bono
basis, they did an extraordinary amount of costing of
what the various options were, looking at issues —
everything from floating docks, to sewage, to water, all
the issues that you need to sort of look at in terms of
saying, How much is this actually going to cost us to
be able to prepare an Event Village? What do we
need to do? And, as I said, I have to commend Alan
Burland, particularly, but some of his people, like Maurice Caines, Jonathan Darrell, Mark DeVerti, and Mike
Ewles spent an extraordinary amount of time actually
looking this.
We all know that BCM McAlpine was chosen
very quickly after the announcement to be the project
manager. But I have to say that I suspect they did not
come out very far ahead on this because the actual
arrangement which was negotiated, their fee schedule
was only 3.8 per cent. Mr. Deputy Speaker, yo u will
know that for most construction firms it is somewhere
between 5 and 10 per cent, and for some of them it is
even higher. So, whether they lost money on the pr oject I would not be surprised, but I have to say in terms of making it a success that they did an abs olutely extraordinary job and put us in a situation not
only to understand what we were facing but to work through significant problems all the way through until
the end of the event. So I think it is important to thank
people when it is due.
So the question is, Where did this initial
spending go? The fact of the matter is, the bulk of it,
almost $56 million, or 30 per cent, went to hotels and
restaurants. Real estate benefited by something on
the order of $27.8 million. (These are PwC numbers.)
The construction industry benefited to the degree of a
little over $25 million, or 13 per cent of the additional
spending. A lot of that, as I think in a number of Mini sterial Statements I noted, was smaller construction firms. They were pouring slabs for some of the teams.


Bermuda House of Assembly They were helping to clean up the South Basin dock.
They did, I think, a fairly remarkable job and a lot of
them went on to work for teams as well. Some of them
actually grew quite substantially.
The report also notes that when some of the
business surveys were done, some 25 per cent of the
businesses increased their investment in the period
from June 2016 to June 2017, and actually 22 per
cent of this broad survey done of local businesses
increased their staffing during that period as well, cr eating jobs.
As you know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, from the
debate on the supplementaries we had, there was a
fair amount of overtime paid to ferry operators and
others. I think the Princess actually announced that their May 2017 was one of the best Mays . . . it was
the best May ever in the hotel’s history. They paid something on the order of $200,000 in overtime pay
for a staff of 600, which is actually increased as a
consequence of the America’s Cup.
There was a significant amount of work done
by Erika Smith, the General Manager at the Bermuda
Economic Development Corporation, the small bus iness group, working with Eugene Dean and others, holding town hall meetings to get entrepreneurs to set
out exactly what could be done, where the opportunities l ay, and a number of people really got off the
ground with new initiatives on that one.
I am going to comment a little bit on the area
of Government spending. As I have noted, the PwC
report indicated that we were some $13 million under
the budget of the $77 million which was originally pr ojected back in 2014. The actual budget revolved
around mostly the ACBDA who is essentially the host
committee. There was also a small group in the Mini stry of Economic Development, and I think particularly
of the liaison officer, Jasmin Smith, who had been s econded, and Judy Hall -Bean who was actually an
enormous help towards the end when things got to be
really, really busy.
Of the $64 million, that was the final amount
as compared to $77 [million] . . . it may actually go
down because there were a number of what I will call “capital assets,” like floating docks and other things
which ACBDA may yet sell which will further reduce
the cost. Obviously, there was a lot of stuff that was given away. I think the ACBDA put in a rather sophi sticated Wi -Fi system up at the Event Village. That was
a little over $100,000. And that, as we know, was do-nated to the schools, which obviously helped getting
the schools’ Wi -Fi up and going.
I am going to comment a little bit on sponsorship because that was a significant part. In fact, it was
more than half of the Government expenditure. Spon-sorship worked out at about a little more than $34 mi llion in the end. And I think Honourable Members will
remember that there were two parts to the s ponsorship. One was a $15 million sponsorship over a per iod, spread over three years. That was sort of our ante to get in the game. But then during the bidding pr ocess it became pretty clear that we had to sweeten the deal otherwise we would have probably lost it to
San Diego in the end.
But there was the additional $25 million guarantee which we negotiated in such a way that we were able to claw back some of that money based on
sponsorships which Bermuda actually introduced. I
think between the ACBDA and myself we probably
had about 50 different sponsors that we approached.
Obviously, not all of them took it up. I believe in the end the actual sponsorship was probably around $20
million that was introduced by Bermuda.
As I said earlier, one of the challen ges of getting sponsorships here, as opposed to San Francisco, was [because] Bermuda is a very small market.
Whether you are BMW or Land Rover, or indeed,
some of the teams, they want a large market to be
able to essentially sell or market their products t o. So,
in Bermuda it was quite limited, with a population of 65,000, or whatever. So that made it somewhat diff icult. But in the end, based on the clawback, we were
able to get that sponsorship guarantee down to $19.3
million. It also included some rents and some sales as
well.
Interesting enough, San Francisco right now
is having some problems of its own with financing.
There is debate going on between the government and the city and. In fact, Abu Dhabi has stepped in
and offered to host the AC36 with an $80 million bid. I
do not think it will happen because of national pride,
but it is interesting to see what the going rate is these days. We knew that Valencia paid around $50- odd
million back in 2007 to host it. The average cost of things like Formula One is roughly $30 [million] to $40
million annually, if you are going to host that as a
country.
I am going to shift gears a little bit. There has
been some discussion about Government income as
a consequence of this. I think it would be fair to say
that people misunderstand it if they think that Go vernment was supposed to make money out of this. In
an economic stimulus you end up with Government
generally spending money. And the PwC report notes
that there were a number of areas in which the Gov-ernment ac tually did get some tax revenue back. They
said that it was probably a lot larger than . . . I think it
was probably about $4 million to $5 million that Go vernment actually received back again as a cons equence of hotel occupancy, payroll tax, vessel char-tering, superyachts fees, things of that sort, because
they were simply unable to get it.
We had originally estimated close to $15 mi llion in additional fees and taxes that would come to Government. I think it is fair to say that PwC was not
able to count i n some of the departure tax [and] the
aircraft fees for private jets. There was a fair amount
of money that was picked up by I think the ferries as
well. There were things like additional telecom fees
794 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly which Government will get at a later point. Also, all t he
teams that left their bases here paid duty on it when
they handed them over to WEDCO. So that will be
additional money in the Government’s till.
I said earlier that the 35th America’s Cup was
the gift that keeps on giving long after the final events. PwC looked at that in a couple of ways. They looked
at the amount of money that came directly, up until the
end of June through visitor’s spending, but they also looked at the ongoing benefit of the exposure that we
got. And they refer to that as legacy spending.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, you will know that the
BTA [Bermuda Tourism Authority] recently announced
that air visitor spending for the first three quarters of
the year is up 22 per cent through September. The
total of air visitor spending of $222 million is already higher than the entire 2016 year. They commented in
their release that the America’s Cup has driven spend ing figures this year and the data shows that
visitor spending has remained strong post the Amer ica’s Cup. I guess the obvious question is, Well, why ?
And the reason is fairly straightforward.
The America’s Cup Event Authority commi ssioned an independent media study which basically
showed that Bermuda received was is called “an advertising equivalent value” of some $80.9 million.
What that means is that if Bermuda wanted to get the same amount of publicity and exposure that they got,
they would have had to spend over $80 million to get
that. Another way of looking at that is that Gover nment basically gained back something on the order of $80 m illion in additional spending, in additional advertising value. I am not going to go through them in de-tail, but the media numbers are sort of remarkable. I
will just touch on a couple of them.
Some 452 million viewers across the world
saw the America’s C up. It was broadcast in 163 cou ntries by 31 broadcasters. Over 22,000 news articles in 76 countries, and 51 million people watched the Cha llenger series, the Qualifier series, and the Finals. And
PwC determined that the legacy, the ongoing spending, was eq uivalent, roughly, directly to about $76 mi llion, but depending on the multiplier used could have
been as high as $229 million. Another way of putting
this is over the next five years PwC estimated that our
tourism spending would be increasing by 10 per cent
every year, simply as a consequence of that legacy
impact.
I am going to move along fairly quickly now. I
think some of my colleagues are going to talk about
some of the social impact. Dare I say that the enthus iasm and the excitement around the Bermuda Red Bull
team, the number of school children that were i nvolved in Endeavour, and some of the work that was
done there. The participation, the involvement by a lot of the teams, and schools, and charities was quite phenomenal. They were really good citizens on a
temporary basis while they were here. The environmental impact was also quite
positive because the event was run in a way which
was sustainable. I think we all know that some of the teams made a big contribution. Ben Ainslie Racing, or
the BAR tea m, the British team, actually donated solar
panels to the National Museum of Bermuda [formerly,
Bermuda Maritime Museum]. They now have the
equivalent of some 60 kilowatt of additional power
coming in from those solar panels. Let us also not forget what I would call the national pride , particularly in
relation to the Red Bull team. And just simply, Berm uda, Mr. Deputy Speaker, being on the world stage.
So, on page 10 of the Legacy [Impact] report,
the America’s Cup legacy committee set out some of
the immediate legacy benefits. I have talked about the
global exposure, the over $80 million there. Clearly,
the infrastructure improvements ( and I think one of my
colleagues will talk about that ), the accelerated construction of Cross Island. The upgrades, the amount
of work that was done on the South Basin, that was
done on Prince Alfred Terrace, Moresby House, the
Sail Loft, and as I said, Bermuda has acquired . . .
WEDCO has acquired a number of new team bases
which will be, I think probably a pretty extraordinary
platform for events whether they be sailing or otherwise going forward.
I think one of the other huge legacy issues
here is [that] Bermuda has successfully demonstrated that they can host an international sporting event to
world -class standards. We have already seen . . . I
mentioned the World Triathlon Series, but we have already seen a number of other sailing and other
events where we have been approached as a cons equence.
I have talked about the Endeavour programme, the community outreach with the don ations
there. I have talked a little bit about the benefits to
local business, both small and large, the number of
entrepreneurs that were given an opportunity to set up. The amount of volunteering that went on was also
quite remarkable. San Francisco, I t hink, had about
700 volunteers. We ended up with something on the
order of 545 [volunteers]. They were all trained to be
certified tourism ambassadors, so I think that this is a
legacy going forward as well.
Team BDA received world- class training from
Oracle. There were a number of innovations. I think
Bermuda was the first country to actually have on-water Wi -Fi. That was led by one of the local telecom
companies. There were a whole series of upgrades
that happened to [the] telecom area, Internet, and
bandwidth capacity as a consequence of the Amer ica’s Cup as well. And last but not least, we have seen
I think a lot activity with hotel upgrades, new hotels. A
lot of them based this on what they saw as the future prospects as a consequence of the exposure of the
initial visitors that would come.
So, I think I probably have about 10 minutes
left? How many . . .


Bermuda House of Assembly [Inaudible interjections]

Four minutes left. Okay.
Well, let me . . . I am going to pass on the
Dockyard because I think that . . . but that was not in
the report. PwC made a conscious decision there.
I think I will end on this, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
And that is [this] question , What does Government
need to do right away t o try to realise the opportunities
created by the America’s Cup? Because we have
talked about the foundation for future growth. I think
the first thing is the Government . . . and they have
talked about an Event Authority. But the Government needs to recog nise the tremendous amount of valu able experience that lies in the many people that worked on this and made this event happen. This is
intellectual capital which needs to be preserved and
will be lost if it is not given the support that is required.
A lot of the people that are very close to this have what I would call “invaluable contacts” with sporting
groups around the world, and an enormous amount of
credibility. It would be a shame if this credibility would
be lost.
With respect to another immediate thing, there
was work being done on superyacht legislation. These
boats on average leave about $200,000 in Bermuda
every time they call here. I think that is something that
needs to be pressed forward and I will obviously take
it up with my counterpart, the Minister for Economic
Development and Tourism, on that.
So, as I said, Mr. Deputy Speaker, tomorrow
marks the third anniversary of the announcement in New York that Bermuda had won the right to host the
35
th America’s Cup. Bermuda was really only the f ifth
country (depending on whether you count in the first
one in the United Kingdom) to host the America’s Cup
in its over 165- year history. I think, as I said way back
in 2015 in January, this was really a transformative
moment in our Islands’ history. I think we should have
a tremendous amount of pride in our ability to accomplish what we did, in what was almost a flawless ex ecution of an extraordinary event. There were hundreds of volunteers, many committee members who worked
to make AC35 happen. And rea lly an extraordinary
ability of what Bermudians can do when they work
together. And I am talking about everybody from Government departments through security services
through all the volunteers.
But let me conclude by singling out three pe ople who worked tirelessly to make it happen. The first
one was Jasmin Smith, who was the America’s Cup
liaison office, who did an extraordinary job of working
between the ACBDA and the private sector to essentially make sure that the Government departments were working. And I have to say, without Jasmin, I am
not sure we could have done it. The two others are perhaps more obvious. One is Mike Winfield, who came on board as the CEO of the America’s Cup
BDA. And the other one was Peter Durhager who
worked for about two years without any kind of co mpensation whatsoever. It was all pro bono. But they all did an extraordinary job and I think, frankly, we owe them a debt of gratitude. Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.

Thank you, the Honourable
Member from cons tituency 22, Grant Gibbons.
Any further speakers?
The Chair recognises the Honourable Minister
Zane De Silva.
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Deputy
Speaker.
What a presentation. Mr. Deputy Speaker, the
Honourable Member who just took his seat started off
by saying that the America’s Cup was a silver bullet.
After that presentation, you would think that at the end of the rainbow he found the pot of gold. Mr. Deputy
Speaker, he also talked about Bermuda doesn’t have
any diamond mines. He forgot to mention unless you
own a business on Reid Street .
Mr. Deputy Speaker, he also started off by
saying it did not put a chicken in everybody’s pot. He
got that right. Mr. Deputy Speaker, he went on to say
that the America’s Cup was and would continue to be
a significant jump- start to our fragile tourism product.
For the sake of Bermuda and Bermudians, I hope he
is correct.
And he said several times, the gift that keeps
giving and will boost our tourism numbers for many
years to come. Again, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I hope for
the sake of Bermuda and Bermudians that he is correct. Mr. Deputy Speaker, I will tell you what, you will
know that when I was Shadow Minister of Tourism I
said many times that what we need to do is pump
more money into advertising our country.
As you know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Ho nourable Member also mentioned that he had a consultant that flew down from, I believe it was Rhode
Island, or Long Island. He said that now everybody
knows where Bermuda is, because of the America’s
Cup.
You will know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, when I
was Shadow Tourism Minister, and of course, the
Honourable Wayne Furbert, when he was Shadow
Tourism Minister, certainly talked about pumping more money into advertising in Bermuda and this country, in
particular, t o the Eastern Seaboard.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Honourable Member
and his colleagues have talked many times about how
the America’s Cup is the silver bullet, was the silver
bullet, and will continue to be the silver bullet for tour-ism. Tell you what, Mr. Deputy Speaker. You give me
$100 million and I will get tourists to this Island too.
Now, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I found it interes ting . . . I am just going to highlight some of the things
796 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly from the Honourable Member’s speech and then I will
get into mine. B ut it was interesting to hear him say
that the America’s Cup spurred new construction pr ojects. [He] talked about Hamilton Princess. Well, Mr.
Deputy Speaker, I remember . . . I know I am getting a
little old, but I think I remember under the Progressive
Labour Party Government, when we were still in Government, back in 2012, Hamilton Princess announced
they were going to put a $100 million addition on. That
was before the Honourable Member even knew what
the America’s Cup . . . I will not say he [did not] know
what it was, but certainly . . . well, maybe he was ha ving talks back then, I do not know. But it was not an ywhere on the horizon, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
He talked about the Loren and a couple of
other developments that had long been in train. In one
of the reports they even highlight Rosewood, because
of the America’s Cup they are going to put $25 million in renovations. I can assure you, when those new
owners took over Rosewood, America’s Cup did not
have anything to do with those plans. Those plans were on the books.
Another thing I hope the Honourable Member
is correct with . . . he said the PLP will benefit —the
PLP will benefit —from the legacy benefits that he
talked about in great detail. Again, I hope he is cor-rect, because if we are successful, t he country will be
successful, and our people should be successful.
It was interesting, Mr. Deputy Speaker, when
the Honourable Member talked about the PwC ind ependent report card, he also mentioned several sur-veys that were done. And he said that there were too
many to read them off. But he did read off a few. Well,
I wonder if his people that did surveys went around
North Street, down Back o’ Town, Mr. Deputy Speaker, and did any questioning of folks who live around
that area. Because I think you may ha ve found that
the answers that they were hoping to get would not
have been there.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, you know what I found
very interesting? When the Honourable Member said
that if we did not get the America’s Cup then Bermuda
and its people would have continued to struggle, and
what really struck a chord was when he said that we
would have had higher deficit and higher taxes. So
now, let us think about that for a minute. If we did not get the America’s Cup, we would have had a higher
deficit and higher taxes. I do not recall . . . and I will
take a seat if someone wants to draw a point of clarif ication. I do not recall in the OBA's 2012 platform seeing an “America’s Cup.”
Okay, I did not get a point of clarification or a
point of order, so I guess I am right.
So, (his words) if the OBA Gov ernment did
not host the Amer ica’s Cup, they would continue to
struggle, they would have a higher deficit and high er
taxes. Well, if I remember that 2012 platform correctly,
Mr. Deputy Speaker, they were going to creat e 2,000
jobs. They were going to reduce the deficit. They were going to reduce the debt. So thank goodness for the
America’s Cup, I guess. Thank God it dropped out of
the sky after 2012. And, might I add, they doubled the
debt. So maybe if the America’s Cup had not come
around, the debt would have been tripled. His words:
Bermuda would have continued to struggle. The def icit would have been higher. We would have had more taxes. That does not equate to me, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, maybe I am missing something. Ma ybe his
colleagues can expand on that if they decide to talk.
Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Honourable Member
did talk about in the two reports, he talked about jobs.
He talked about jobs a few times. Well, I guess it is a
good thing we did get some jobs out of America’s Cup
because we know that statistics told us that in their
first two years they lost 2,000 jobs. They lost 2,000
jobs, Mr. Deputy Speaker! We already had 2,000 people out of work. And remember they promised
2,000 jobs in 2012. In their first two years, they lost
2[,000]. So there were 4,000 jobs owed to the country based on their platform.
Now, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Honourable
Member Dr. Gibbons also said that they looked at Morgan’s Point, but it was too expensive. Now, I think
I know a littl e bit about trenching, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
and I think I know a little bit about construction. I tell
you what. I will declare my interest. I did some work
up there at Dockyard during the America’s Cup too. But, Mr. Deputy Speaker, knowing what I know, looking at those two sites, because I noticed that there
was no mention tonight of the $40 million for Cross
Island. Not one word! But I did hear about how we saved $12 million from the $77 million that was budgeted. I did hear that. Now, what is 66 and 40? I think
that is just over 100 million, is it not?

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Oh. Okay. Hmm. Hmm.
Forty million to develop . . . and do you know what?
We still do not know what it is. I have seen reports
from the OBA. I have seen reports from the WEDCO
chairman. I have seen reports from my good friend,
Mr. Famous, from constituency 11. It is funny how I
can remember his constituency, because the Giant
Slayer . . . you can never forget number 11. It just
happens to be my lucky num ber, by the way. But a nyway . . .
But the fact of the matter is I remember, in
fact, I have a little file down here with Mr. Famous’ mathematics on how much acreage we have up there and how much it costs, probably the most expensive
real estate in our hi story —$40 million. Now, you are
going to tell me that for $40 million, just that
$40 [million] —I am not going to talk about the other
$66 [million] -plus, plus, plus, plus yet —that we could
not have gone and done a deal at Morgan’s Point? Something smells a little fishy about that. How interesting, indeed.


Bermuda House of Assembly [Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: How interesting, indeed.
Like I said, I have a little bit of experience with trenc hing, laying utility cables, laying other cables.
[Inaudible inter jection]
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: And a little pipe now and
then, too, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: But, Mr. Deputy Speaker,
that was interesting. Now, the other interesting thing
that—

[Inaudible interjectio ns and laughter ]

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Mr. Deputy Speaker, as we
try to gather ourselves in this House —
[Inaudible interjections and laughter ]

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Mr. Deputy Speaker, as we
try to gather ourselves in this House, I did not thi nk
there were so many Members interested in laying pipe
in this House, Mr. Deputy Speaker. But it is obviously
a passion of many.
But let me say this, Mr. Deputy Speaker. But it
is true. Think about that for a minute. Why? And what a beautiful sight that would have been. A little more
centred to the Island. I will not . . . because I have a
lot to cover tonight, Mr. Deputy Speaker.

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Mr. Deputy Speaker, the
other thing that was interesting was when the Honourable Member Dr. Gibbons thanked, and I have to
repeat that word, thanked, Alan Burland and BCM. He
thanked them for their . . . he said for their pro bono
work.

Hmm.

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Now, Mr. De puty Speaker,
because I do not know if I am going to run out of time
tonight or not, and I have quite a bit of files here.
But one of the things I have, Mr. Deputy
Speaker, is a copy of Hansard from March 16
th, 2015.
And in that Hansard, Mr. Deputy Speak er, with your
indulgence, we had questions from the Honourable
Member, Wayne Furbert, myself and a few others to
the Honourable Member Dr. Grant Gibbons. We questioned, because he was the one that said that Burland’s were doing all this pro bono work, maybe a couple of hundred hours. Well, I will tell you what, Mr.
Deputy Speaker. If the Honourable Member had come
to me when he was thinking about doing some pricing for America’s Cup, I would have gladly given him
twice as many hours pro bono work as Burland did, if I
would have known that I was going to get an $8 mi llion payday when I was done.

The Honourable Member
is clearly [imputing] improper motives there in calling it friends and family. I think it is just a sad pathetic given
the amount of hundreds and hundreds hours that Alan
Burland personally put in before the announcement of
the America’s Cup.

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: What the Honourable
Member is not telling you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, he said, hundreds and hundreds of hours now, so maybe
it is more than the two he said back in March 19 [sic].

[Laughter]
798 1 December 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: He said, before what? B efore he started any w ork? Did it go out to tender? Oh,
no!