March 15, 2017

We will begin with the Orders
of the Day. And that would be the resumption in
Committee of Supply for further consideration of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the Year 2017/18. I call on the Finance Minister. You have the
floor.
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Madam Deputy Speaker,
I move that the House resume into Committee of
1202 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Supply for further consideration of the Estimates of
Revenue and Expenditure for the Year 2017/18.

Good morning, Honourable Members
and listening audience. We are now in Committee of
Supply for further consideration of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the Year 2017/18, on
Finance, Heads 10 and 38. One and a half hours have
been allocated to these heads that are now to be debated.
I call on the Minister of Finance, the Honour able E. T. Richards, in charge, to proceed.

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

HEAD 10 —MINISTRY OF FINANCE HEADQUA RTERS

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Chai rman.
Mr. Chairman, I am introducing the budget
discussion for the budget estimates for the Ministry of
Finance Headquarters, Head 10, which may be found in section B of the Estimates Book, on pages B- 94
through B -97, and in section C on pages C -10 and C -
16.
Mr. Chairman, the overall purpose of the Mi nistry of Finance is to supervise the economy of Ber-muda generally, and to provide an overall framework for the financial management and control of gover nment activities. The Finance Ministry comprises five departments, led by Ministry of Finance Headquarters,
and includes —

The Clerk: Excuse me, Minister. Are you moving any
particular heads to be under consideration?
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I am moving Head 10.
The Clerk: Ten?

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Yes.

The Clerk: And 38? Those are the two? Just making
sure because you did not move the motion.
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Oh, I am sorry.
The Clerk: Thank you.
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I am moving Head 10,
and later on I will be moving Head 38.

The Clerk: Thank yo u. Thank you.

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I thought the Chairman
said that, but I guess it is up to me to say that.
The Clerk: I did not even hear you. I did not hear you
say it.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: No, we cannot have tha t
now, can we? The whole economy will fall apart if we did not have finance; that is for sure.
[Laughter]

Please proceed, Minister.
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Chai rman. I will not digress any further. I will not be inveigled by the Honourable Member to digress.
The Ministry of Finance comprises five d epartments, led by Ministry of Finance Headquarters,
and includes the Accountant General, Customs Rev enue, Social Insurance, and the Office of the Tax
Commissioner. Allocations to cover the interest on
government debt and contributions to the Sinking Fund are also included in the Finance Ministry budget. The Ministry has a total staffing establishment of 128
posts and an aggregate current account budget of
$286.5 million, and is responsible for collecting $822.3
million, or 78.9 per cent, of all government revenue. A
snapshot of key information for the Ministry of Finance is shown on page B -93 of the Budget Book.
Mr. Chairman, it is most fitting to have deli vered my fifth Budget Statement on Friday, the 24
th of
February, which was the official start of the Budget Debate in the House of Assembly, that we again are focused on the Ministry of Finance yet again. Over the course of these five budget addresses, Mr. Chairman,
you would have noted a recurring theme, that is, the
Government’s resolve to a two- pronged strategy to
improve Bermuda’s economy, consisting of
(1) implementing measures to foster economic
growth, foreign direct investment, and job creation; and (2) increasing the focus on fiscal discipline in an
effort to reduce the national debt.
Mr. Chairman, it is our obligation to the people
of this country to provide the best fiscal and economic management possible, and to this end we will conti nue to make the hard and necessary choices required to do so.


Bermuda House of Assembly The 2017/18 Budget. The Safe Hands Bud get—Helping people, protecting the country represents
the second year of a three -year plan to eliminate the
deficit, which Government considers the most i mportant step to ensure the long-t erm prosperity of the
Bermudian people. After all, Mr. Chairman, the public
debt is an accumulation of annual deficits. That is how
we got this public debt in the first place. So we have to
cut the deficit to zero first. Some underestimate the importance of balancing a budget, but a balanced budget is the only way to ensure long- term prosperity
for Bermudians. Government believes that eliminating the deficit is the single most important step we can
take to grow the economy and create jobs. It reinfor ces our credit rating, supports lower interest payments,
and stimulates greater consumer and investor conf idence. It strengthens our ability to respond to the unavoidable and unforeseen in this unstable and unpr edictable world.
Mr. Chairman, the Government’s two- track
strategy not only requires the controlling of gover nment spending, but also the stimulation of economic activity. To this end, evidence that the economy is growing once again after six years of contraction is
further proof that our strategy is beginning to bear
fruit. The major parts of the economy are much stronger than they were when we first took the reins of power in 2012. We have been working to restore i nvestor confidence to attract foreign dollars back to our shores, opening the Island to job- and revenuecreating activities, creating new possibilities for Ber-mudians to make a living.
Goals and Objectives. Mr. Chairman, the F inance Ministry’s key goals and objectives are:
1. to facilitate balanced economic growth and development by:
a. development and diversification of the financial services sector;
b. restoring investor confidence to at-tract foreign direct investment; and
c. providing support for small busines ses.
2. to provide strategic direction and an overall framework for financial management and con-trol of government activities by:
a. optimising the yield from gover nment’s revenue base;
b. assuring the alignment of resource a llocation with policy priorities;
c. instituting and adhering to the princ iples of prudent budgeting and the medium -term expenditure framework;
and
d. using output and performance measures to evaluate programme ex-penditure.
3. to safeguard Bermuda’s economic interests by: a. meeting international standards of f inancial supervision and regulation;
b. establishing and maintaining econom-ic intelligence networks; and
c. establishing and maintaining strategic economic alliances.
Mr. Chairman, other key department objectives are as follows: to prepare, implement, and clos ely monitor the National Budget; to arrange all gover nment borrowing requirements at the most c ompetitive
rates; to report on the country’s economic perfor-mance to the public; to maintain effective relations with credit rating agencies; to oversee and manage
the public pension funds; to ensure and support the
fair, coherent, and predictable development of finan-cial services regulation; and to be proactive in treaty negotiations with respect to tax information exchange agreements. Mr. Chairman, the Ministry’s core func-tions are discharged through five broad programme
areas:
• Policy Planning and Managem ent;
• Fiscal Planning and Control;
• Regulatory;
• Economic and Financial Intelligence;
• Treaty Management and Administration.
Mr. Chairman, in seeking to fulfil this mandate, the Ministry of Finance Headquarters has a staff
establishment of 15 permanent full- time posts, and its
total budget for 2017/18 is $4.297 million.
Ministry of Finance Headquarters budget allocation in 2017/18 is exactly the same when compared to the original estimate for 2016/17.The budget for Ministry Headquarters includes an operating element
for each of the five programme areas within Ministry Headquarters, plus grant funding to the Pension Commission.
Cost centre 20000— Policy Planning & Management. There is no change in the budget allocation here. Mr. Chairman, the Policy Planning and Management Unit provides overall direction and manage-ment of Ministry Headquarters and supervisory over-sight of the four departments in the Ministry of F inance, namely, the Accountant General’s Department, HM Customs Revenue, the Office of the Tax Commi ssioner, and the Department of Social Insurance. In
addition, this unit undertakes strategic planning, man-ages the Ministry’s public relations, coordinates initi atives in economic diplomacy, and organises the r eview and development of economic and financial policy. The budget for this unit in 2017/18 is $1.441 mi llion, the same as last year.
Mr. Chairman, Honourable Members are
aware that in 2016 the Ministry was vigorously i nvolved in reforming our tax system, following a review of Bermuda’s tax system by the Caribbean Technical Assistance Centre, otherwise known as CARTAC. Also, the Ministry continued with its mandate to boost international transparency and credibility through the Fiscal Responsibility Panel [FRP]. Honourable Mem1204 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly bers will recall that the role of the Fiscal Responsibility
Panel is (quote) “to provide Bermuda’s Parliament,
Minister of Finance and Financial Policy Council with an annual published assessment of the territory’s fi scal strategy, focusing on progress in meeting the terr itory’s medi um-term objectives for public spending,
taxation, borrowing, and debt reduction.”
During the week of November 14
th, 2016, the
Fiscal Responsibility Panel [FRP] visited the Island, met with a wide cross section of Bermuda society, and published its first r eport in December. Their report was
written and published without any oversight or a pproval from Government. The report concluded the
following, and I quote: “The risks and uncertainties
facing Bermuda’s economy in both the short and longer term are greater than they were a year ago, with Brexit, the US election outcome, and the impend-ing evaluation of the island’s anti -money laundering/counter -terrorism financing regime all presenting
potential new challenges. The current high level of government debt —combined with very large potential
liabilities from government guarantees and under-funded public pension and health insurance schemes —means that any negative shock resulting
from these or other factors, internal or external, could have very serious economic consequences. Reducing government debt and debt service costs must ther efore remain an overriding priority.”
Mr. Chairman, the Government shares the
FRP’s concerns in these areas and has already star ted to aggressively tackle these matters. If left un-checked, these risks threaten our very way of life. It is because of this that the 2017/18 Budget represents the second year of a three -year plan to eliminate the
deficit.
Mr. Chairman, I will now touch briefly on tax
reform. Honourable Members are aware that, to achieve the Finance Ministry’s objective to eliminate the deficit, the Ministry set up an ambitious target of cost savings on current account expenditure over several years. While reducing government expend iture has been, and still remains, a focus of the Go vernment, achieving sufficient savings in expenditure to balance the budget in the short term is becoming i ncreasingly difficult, considering government’s current structure. The second part of the Ministry’s deficit elimination efforts is to enhance revenue by restructuring and broadening the tax base, coupled with
modest increases.
Honourable Members are aware that the Ministry of Finance requested technical assistance from
the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre, or CARTAC, an International Monetary Fund [IMF]
regional body, to study the feasibility of broadening
Bermuda’s tax base. CARTAC recommended many widespread changes to the tax system. The Ministry has carefully considered all recommendations and is mindful that any tax reform should avoid damage to the Island’s most important industries —international business, tourism, and small businesses —and avoid
placing extra burdens on the least well -off. The main
objective of the tax review was to increase tax rev enues by $100 to $150 million. Based on the above, the Ministry of Finance is
targeting total revenue of $1.146 billion at the end of fiscal year 2018/19. This represents a $211 million
increase relative to the fiscal year 2015/16.
Mr. Chairman, the strategy, reforms, and actions that the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the
Tax Commissioner are contemplating over the next two years in order to meet the Government’s revenue target by the end of 2018/19 were clearly laid out in
the 2017/18 National Budget, and there is no need for
me to go over that information in this brief. I can con-firm that consultation was conducted with key stak eholders in relation to payroll tax reform, and it is anti cipated that consultation will commence shortly on the taxation of goods and services that will include the
introduction of a general service tax on specified ser-vices. Although some stakeholders were not in agreement with the payroll tax reforms proposed, the Government’s view is that the payroll tax reform al-lows the Government to raise the taxes in an equit able fashion.
Mr. Chairman, the Ministry of Finance is confident that the 2017/18 Budget will continue to provide a renewed level of confidence in Bermuda amongst the rating agencies and potential investors.
Mr. Chairman, the 2017/18 Budget also contains an economic stimulus element that will provide the local economy, and the local job market in partic ular, with the stimulus needed to expand jobs and i ncome. There is one more element to our stimulus ef-forts, and that is continued support and encouragement for our partners in international business and
tourism. The Minister of Economic Development and
the Minister of Tourism Development and Transport will expand on these sectors during their present ations —or they already have, some of them, at least ––
have expanded on their presentations during the
Budget Debate.
The largest share of the $1.441 million budget
for the Policy Unit is professional services and sal aries. The salary provision for the Policy Unit is
$512,577, and this covers four posts including the F inancial Secretary, Assistant Financial Secretary (Policy), and two Administrative Officers. This amount is
the same as last year.
Mr. Chairman, changes are ongoing in order
to improve the way we approach the handling of pub-lic mon ey. The Policy Unit will continue to oversee this
transformation of the management of the public f inances. Although there have been some improve-ments, there is always room for further enhancement. Accordingly, ministries will continue to enhance their mont hly reports pertaining to their expenditure versus
budget allocations so that slippage can be arrested before becoming problematic. In 2017/18, the Ministry


Bermuda House of Assembly will continue to focus intensely on containing salaries
and wages. We are certain that, with a dedicated f ocus, we can reduce these spend and budget alloc ations considerably.
Mr. Chairman, I will conclude this snapshot for
some of the work that is carried out by the Policy Unit
within Ministry of Finance Headquarters by noting that
this unit is responsible for coordinating all of the legi slative items that support the National Budget. The
process includes providing drafting instructions to the Attorney General’s Chambers for Bills, Orders, and Regulations; coordinating with other ministries where neces sary; and preparing legislative briefs to assist
Ministers and Junior Ministers in steering the legisl ative items through the approval process in the Legisl ature. There were more than 10 items of legislation as-sociated with the 2017/18 National Budget.
Fiscal year 2017/18 will be another important
year for the Policy Unit, as they will be heavily i nvolved in implementing the remaining tax reform pr oposals recommended by CARTAC and accepted by the Ministry.
The Fiscal Planning and Control section,
20010, is a [cost centre] for which the budget has no
change compared to last year. Mr. Chairman, the Fi scal Planning and Control Unit, AKA, as they say, the
Budget Team, is primarily responsible for the man-agement, collection, and collation of Consolidated Fund budget data; the monitoring and control of over-all government expenditures (on both Capital Account
and Current Account); and the achievement of go vernment revenues. The unit is also tasked with the
responsibility of reviewing and developing the Go vernment’ s annual Capital Expenditure Plan. The
budget for this unit in 2017/18 is $497,000, which is the same as last year.
The Budget Team provides advice and gui dance to department heads and controllers in both the formulation of Ministry budgets and on budget moni-toring and control. The team provides two formal trai ning sessions each year, designed for mini stry/departmental staff that have responsibility for budget preparation and/or budget monitoring and con-trol. As part of the budget monitoring and control ex-ercises, all ministries or departments are required to review expenditure performance and to confirm, on a monthly basis, their current and capital account expenditure performance with the Budget Office.
Mr. Chairman, in 2015/16, the Budget Office
closel y monitored budget performance, and due to
this constant oversight, total current expenditure spending was restricted to $1.071 billion, which was $12.1 million less than the original budget estimates. It
is through these efforts that the overall deficit f or
2015/16 was $59.4 million lower than originally est imated.
The Government has remained steadfast in
prudently managing expenditures. Reducing Gover nment expenditure has been, and still remains, a focus of the Government. Achieving further savings in ex-penditure to balance the budget in the short term is
beginning to become more difficult considering the
Government’s current structure and obligations. D espite this, it must be noted that current account spend-ing levels have been reduced by $88 million, or 8.9 per cent, from March 2012 to March 2016. Further, current account spending reductions have been
increasingly difficult to implement under the current Government structure and formulaic approach to ex-penditure cuts in previous budgets. Moving forward, the Government will take a revised approach in order
to implement such savings, either by way of increased
efficiencies or making structural reforms in the way in
which the services are delivered and the institutions are structured.

Hon. E. David Burt: Point of . . . If you could just r epeat that one more time, Honourable Minister?

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Certainly.
Moving forward, the Government will take a
revised approach in order to implement further savings, either by way of increased efficiencies or making
structural reforms in the way in which services are
delivered and institutions are structured.
A salary provision of $419,691 accounts for
84 per cent of the Budget Team’s allocation for 2017/18. The provision covers the posts of Director of Budget, Principal Budget Officer, Budget Officer, and
Budget Assistant. For the fiscal year 2017/18 the department
has set objectives to:
1. re-establish the open budget process;
2. effectively implement the medium -term
framework;
3. enhance budget monitoring and reporting to
government; and
4. bring all supplementary appropriations cur-rent.
Regulatory Unit —20020. The budget for that,
Mr. Chairman, has not changed since last year. The budget for this unit in 2017/18 is $318,574. There is no change to this budget allocation for this period. The Regulatory Unit is the lead policy division within the Ministry of Finance Headquarters in relation to the financial services sector. The Regulatory Unit is accountable to the Financial Secretary for the effective
discharge of the unit’s functions and, through the Mi nister of Finance, to Cabinet, and Parliament. The head of the unit, the Assistant Financial Secretary (Regul ation), carries out the Minister’s financial services pol icies through the Ministry of Finance, the Bermuda
Monetary Authority, the Attorney General’s Chambers,
the National Anti -Money Laundering Committee, the
Bermuda Public Accountability Board, and specialist
global partners.
The Regulatory Unit operates in response to a
broad range of opportunities and risks , which allows
1206 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly the Ministry to contribute actively to a continuous flow
of information on potential threats and opportunities to
Bermuda and its reputation. Those opportunities and risks are constantly changing. The Regulatory Unit’s plan responds to these challenges through various
goals focused on advancing the unit’s priorities and reflecting the outcomes that the people of Bermuda
expect. These goals are as follows:
1. Ensure and support the fair, impartial, eff icient, and transparent development of regul ation at the national and international levels.
2. Strengthen capacity to secure regulatory sol utions to economic security issues.
3. Strengthen public diplomacy and support bilateral and multi -lateral engagement.
The Regulatory Unit is involved in virtually
every policy and management area—from regulatory
reform and financial stability to anti -money laundering
and trade and development issues at home and
abroad.
In this environment of declining resources, the
Regulatory Unit is uniquely positioned at the inters ection of the financial services industry, regulatory and
law enforcement agencies, as well as domestic and
global partners. The unit is able to network these varied perspectives to bring a comprehensive insight in the development and protection of our economic s ecurity. This unique position allows the unit to develop and support multiple partnerships that have a broad domestic and international impact.
The list of international commitments is daunting, but they are critical to maintaining a strong rep utation. The 2016 Fiscal Responsibility Panel Report
stated that those same external pressures have not diminished. If Bermuda is not perceived to be deliver-ing on each of the proposals set out above, stak eholders will lose interest and subsequently not invest
in or recommend Bermuda. The Regulatory Unit serves many different
markets with different dynamics. With this bac kground, the unit has consistently demonstrated its c apacity to manage across functions and encourage colleagues and stakeholders to unify around common goals.
The unit’s primary role going forward in the
next year will be to continue to demonstrate to a di-verse stakeholder group that the Ministry of Finance
has set the right tone at the top and that the Ministry
has allocated the right level of resources to issues and
events which may have an impact on our reputation.
A salary provision of $228,074 accounts for
71 per cent of the Regulatory Unit’s allocation in 2017/18, which covers two posts including the Assi stant Financial Secretary (Regulatory Unit) and one Administrative Officer.
Economic and Financial Intelligence— 20030:
This unit, Mr. Chairman, has an increase of $11,000, or 2 per cent. Mr. Chairman, the Economic and Fina ncial Intelligence Unit provides research and analysis of economi c and financial conditions to facilitate sound
decisions on public policy and fiscal management. Responsibilities of the staff in the unit include ec onomic forecasts, economic modelling, projections of
GDP, and the development of key economic indic ators. A nalysis and commentary on economic and f inancial statistics are provided, and an annual and
mid-year review and outlook are produced. The budget for this unit in 2017/18 is $471,000, the very same
as the budget allocation for 2016/17.
Mr. Chairman, the unit also manages the rel ationship with credit rating agencies and is responsible for government debt management policy. The Go vernment is satisfied with its credit ratings that it cur-rently holds. We have a current rating of A2 from Moody’s, which is the sixth highest rating; and an A+ from Standard and Poor’s, which is the fifth highest rating. Mr. Chairman, it should be noted that we con-tinue to maintain our investment -grade credit ratings
when various other countries, particularly small is-lands, have been significantly downgraded.
Mr. Chairman, the unit is constantly reviewing
our debt management policy in order to take ad-vantage of favourable market conditions. When rai sing funds in the capital markets, the Ministry’s most important objective is to provide the Government with stable financing at minimal cost under the prevailing market conditions. Mr. Chairman, in 2016 this unit was instrumental in the launch of the Government’s US$665 million 10- year medium -term notes.
The successful transaction achieved the following results: On Tuesday, October 11, 2016, the
Ministry of Finance successfully accessed the interna-tional capital markets, placing via intraday execution a US$665 million, long, 10- year bond offering due January 2027. This resulted in a record low yield, a coupon (or yield) of 3.717 per cent, representing the lo west ever for Bermuda (42 basis points less than Bermuda’s former tightest coupon). A record low spread—the spread of US Treasuries, or over US Treasuries, was 195 basis points. That marks a record
low spread, and 30 basis points tighter than the Go vernment’s previous issuance.
A concurrent partial tender offering significantly reduced near -term maturities; $276 million of the
$500 million 5.603 per cent, 144A/Reg S (those are
notes maturing in 2020), those notes were tendered for cash. And now only $224 million of those remain
outstanding. This was the first time in history that the Bermuda Government has conducted a tender offer, and this has signalled to investors that the Gover nment has now moved to a strategic mind- set in its
debt management operations. The new issue and
tender offer are expected to reduce pro forma recurring annual interest expense by about $5.8 million. A reduction in the Government’s average borrowing cost of 0.41 per cent is also expected, along with a 1.7-year extension in the entire debt portfolio’s average life.


Bermuda House of Assembly Now, although the Government issued a total
of $665 million in new bonds, it is important to note
that the total amount of debt held by the Government
only increased by $188.9 million.
As mentioned in the 2017/18 Budget [Stat ement], Government will need to incur new borrowing of approximately $135 million in order to finance a
portion of the fiscal deficit. The unit will work with f inancial institutions to determine the most cost -
effective and practical way in which to do so.
Mr. Chairman, the unit provides advice to various government boards and is closely involved in the
administration of numerous customs duty relief r egimes including duty relief provided to hotels, restau-rants, and retailers. In addition, this unit oversees the public pension funds, along with the Bermuda Public Funds Investment Committee.
Mr. Chairman, against the backdrop of difficult
market conditions, the investments in the publi c sector
pension plans continue to perform well. I can report that, as of December 31
st, 2016, the Contributory
Pension Fund’s assets totalled $1.702 billion, versus $1.623 billion in 2015. Meanwhile, the Public Service Superannuation Fund’s [PSSF] assets totalled $554.2
million in 2016 versus $548.3 million in 2015.
For 2016, the contributory and superannu ation plans posted returns of 8.3 per cent and 8.2 per
cent, respectively, exceeding the policy index by
1.1 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively. Threethrough ten- year returns for the funds all outperformed
the actuarial required return of 6 per cent.
In the short term, the Contributory Pension
Fund and PSSF are in decent financial shape. As at December 31
st, 2016, the Contributory Pension
Fund’s total assets represented approximately 11 times the annual value of benefits to be paid in the
fiscal year, while the PSSF’s assets represented a pproximately 9 times the annual value of benefits.
Mr. Chairman, during the 2016/17 fiscal year,
this unit continued to work on implementing a deposit
insurance scheme in collaboration with the Bermuda
Deposit Insurance Corporation. Mr. Chairman, I am
pleased to announce that as at August 20, 2016 all the provisions of the Deposit Insurance Act 2011 came into operation. This means that individuals, charities and small businesses are now covered up to BD$25,000 by all four of the Island’s commercial
banks.
Mr. Chairman, other notable tasks to be
achieved by the Economic and Financial Intelligence
Unit in the upcoming f iscal year include the following:
• working with the Attorney General’s Chambers and the Bermuda Pension Commission
to amend the National Pension Scheme (O ccupational Pensions) Act 1998 in order to i ntroduce new provisions, as well as to enhance
existing pro visions;
• continuing to work with CARTAC to develop
econometric models for not only the forecas t-ing of key economic indicators, but also Go vernment medium -term fiscal data;
• continuing to working with the Government Employee Health Insurance Committee to as-sist in redesigning the health plan;
• conducting a review of our pension arrange-ments to determine whether public and private pensions are set up at appropriate levels; and
• continuing the review of all Government pe nsion plans to determine sustainability of those funds.
The salary provision of $291,603 covers two
posts including Assistant Financial Secretary (Ec onomics and Finance) and the Economic Advisor. The other major item of cost in this unit is a provision for consulting services for special studies, and fees for the credit rating agencies, which is $109,500.
Treaty Management and Administration—
20040. There is no change here in the budget alloc ation year over year. The budget for the unit in 2016/17 is set at $594,000—the same as last year. Mr. Chair-man, the Treaty Unit is responsible for negotiating tax
information exchange agreements, otherwise known
as TIEAs, and other agreements relating to tax information exchange, and associated agreements with member countries of the EU, G20, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),
and other jurisdictions. The unit is also responsible for relationship management regarding tax matters with
the USA, European Commission, and members of the
European Union. Additionally, the unit manages and admi nisters requests for information received under
the provisions of Bermuda’s tax agreements.
The work of the unit continues to diversify
from its original core activity of processing internatio nal tax cooperation requests on the “ by-request ” basis
to today where processing international tax cooper ation requests on the so- called “ automatic ” basis is b ecoming an increasing activity worldwide.
Mr. Chairman, the unit is currently creating a
new capital asset, a tax reporting portal for financial
entities in Bermuda to file their automatic exchange of
tax information, otherwise known as AEOI. It is hoped this new portal, which is being built jointly by Deloitte and Vizor, following an RFP process, will be automat-ed to the extent that it is anticipated that additio nal
staff will not be required. Ultimately, the experience of the first year of automatic exchange of information, which falls in this fiscal year, will determine if additio nal resources are needed. The successful creation of this portal is key to Bermuda’ s maintaining its reput ation as a leading international financial centre and to
avoid tax haven blacklists.
Mr. Chairman, exchange of information on the
by-request basis, commonly known as TIEAs, is
steadily increasing in volume and may accelerate further as countries may notice trends in the automatic
information that may prompt additional requests for
tax information to be sent to Bermuda. This may i n1208 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly clude an increase in volume from the US through its
IDES [ International Data Exchange Service] portal,
which to date has required the unit to hire an IT consultant to assist with downloads and uploads.
Mr. Chairman, perceived double tax treaty
(DTA) abuse by multinational companies and the new
non-acceptance by the EU, G20, and OECD countries
of legal tax avoidance is an increasing threat to low -
or no- tax locations. This is known as “base erosion
and profit shifting ” (AKA, BEPS) and refers to tax
avoidance strategies that exploit gaps and mismatc hes in tax rules, to artificially shift profits to low - or notax jurisdictions. To tackle BEPS, the OECD has cr eated the new inclusive framework on BEPS, and Ber-muda joined this group in late 2016 so that we have a seat at the table and participate on an equal footing in this important project that will no doubt have an i mpact on us.
The unit also provides key policy advice to the
Financial Secretary and the Minister on the ever -
evolving field of exchange of information for tax pur-poses. The previous and ongoing work of this team in the Ministry of Finance Headquarters has placed
Bermuda in a strong position and has made sure that
we are globally recognised as complying with the
highest international standards on tax transparency and compliance.
Mr. Chairman, in December 2016 Bermuda
underwent an in- depth monitoring and peer review of
our implementation of the international standards of
transparency and exchange of information for tax purposes by the OECD Global Forum. Mr. Chairman, the last Global Forum review on Bermuda was conducted in November 2013, and we achieved a rating of
“Largely Compliant ,” the same as the UK, USA, and
many other G8 nations. This OECD assessment was
extremely important for the jurisdiction, and we ded icated the required resources to increase Bermuda’s
chances to maintain our rating of Largely C ompliant
for this time around. It is important that we be suc-cessful in this particular endeavour. The OECD assessment will be announced later on this year. The
assessors are in the process of completing their r eport, which will be sent to Bermuda for comments in May 2017. Mr. Chairman, fiscal year 2017/18 will be a busy time for the Treaty Unit.
The salary provision for the Treaty Unit in
2016/17 is $326,000. The other major recurring item of cost in this unit is for travel for attendance at OECD Global Fo rums, meeting with European Commission
officials in Brussels, and the legal fees for exper ienced lawyers in this area who represent the Minister during any challenges from law firms on exchange of
information requests under Bermuda’s TIEAs.
We move to line item analysis of Head 10 of
the operational budget.

[Inaudible interjections and laughter]
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I do want to get to the
other head, but we are almost finished with this, Honourable Members.
Mr. Chairman, the estimated cost of operating
Ministry of Finance Headquarters in 2017/18 is ap-proximately $4.297 million, the same as last year, 42 per cent of which is accounted for by salaries —
$1.787 million. The salary allocation is apportioned between the functional units in Ministry of Finance Headquarters. So we have the Policy and Planning, which accounts for $523,000; the Fiscal Planning and Control, $419,000; Regulatory Unit, $228,000; Ec onomic and Financial Intelligence, $291,000; and Treaty Unit, $326,000—for a total of $1.78 million.
Mr. Chairman, the other line items are relatively the same as last year, and I will not go into any
further detail on that.
Revenue: The department generated revenue
of $188,000, which represents a guarantee fee of $165 million for the Morgan’s Point Guarantee. The
reduction in guarantee fees is due to the Butterfield Preference Share, which was paid off by the Bank of Butterfield in December of last year.
Capital Acquisitions. Those estimates are in
the Budget Book at page C -10. Cost centre 76152,
National Trust Furnishing Fund of $25,000 is unchanged. This provision is to fund new furnishings for the public rooms at Government House. Cost centre 76153, National Trust Maintenance Fund of $5,000 is unchanged. This provision funds the refurbishment of
furnishings, also for the public rooms at Government
House.
Cost centre 76867, OECD Common Repor ting System, is $1.33 million, an increase of $557,000. As mentioned earlier, there has been a material change in the primary focus of the Treaty Unit from
negotiating individual TIEAs or double taxation tre aties to handling exchange of information requests in a
timely manner and preparing for the new age of infor-mation exchange for tax purposes, so- called “ automatic exchange”, meaning online exchange of information und er US FATCA, OECD CRS (which stands
for C ommon Reporting Standard) and OECD CbC.
(Boy! Alphabet for days.) OECD CbC stands for OECD’s country -by-country reporting. To meet the
obligations of this change in focus, there has been a need to acquire a new specially encrypted e- portal
software exclusive to the Treaty Unit to retain the con-fidence of our tax treaty partners in the US and other countries.
Mr. Chairman, in 2016/17 the Ministry of F inance issued an RFP to obtain a vendor to create a specialised web portal for USA FATCA, and OECD
country -by-country reporting, and common reporting
standard filings, to be uploaded to this new portal from the Bermuda financial institutions. Following that RFP, contracts were awarded to Deloitte and Vizor to create the tax reporting portal.


Bermuda House of Assembly CRS filings are due to be reported to the
OECD central transmission system portal in September 2017, and CbC filings are due to be reported to the CTS in December 2017. To enable the Ministry to fulfil Bermuda’s international obligations on time, Deloitte and Vizor have begun work on the project, and at this time it is on schedule. Failure by the Go vernment of Bermuda to comply with the CRS and CbC reporting dates will expose Bermuda to the risk of negative reactions from several of Bermuda’s tax trea-ty partners, many of whom are EU, G20, and OECD countries or economies.

HEAD 38 —OFFICE OF THE TAX COMMISSIONER

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I am going to move on,
Mr. Chairman, to Head 38, the Office of the Tax Commissioner. Mr. Chairman, the primary responsibi lity of the Office of the Tax Commissioner [OTC] is to
effectively administer the timely and accurate collection of all taxes and stamp duties in accordance with applicable legislation. And legislation relates to Payroll Tax, Corporate Services Tax, Betting Duty on Turf and Betting Duty for Pools, Stamp Duties, Land Tax,
Foreign Currency Purchase Tax, Hotel Occupancy
Tax, Cruise Ship Departure Tax, Airport Departure Tax, Passenger Cabin Tax, Timesharing Service Tax, and Timesharing Occupancy Tax.
Mr. Chairman, the following are key stat ements regarding the Office of Tax Commissioner:
• The OTC is responsible for the largest portion of Government revenue and is estimated to generate $594 million, or 57 per cent, of Government’s total revenue in 2017/18.
• The OTC generated $183.00 of revenue for every current account dollar spent in 2015/16. It is estimated to generate approximately
$172.00 of revenue for every current account
dollar spent in 2017/18.
• Payroll tax is the single largest revenue earn-er for the Government, generating $361 million in fiscal 2015/16. The 2017/18 Budget
Statement for this current budget that we are debating today detailed significant payroll tax reforms, which will generate increased rev enue. The non- legislated payrol l tax conce ssions for the hotel, restaurant, and retail sec-tors, which have been in place since 2008, will be discontinued as at 31
st March 2017.
The results of these changes will be estimated
payroll tax revenue for 2017/18 of $439 million.
Financial Services Tax has also been intr oduced in this 2017/18 fiscal year, which will add an additional $11.4 million in tax revenues. The overall expected revenue increase for 2017/18 is $39 million, or a 7 per cent increase, in total projected revenues from tax es and stamp duties, in the amount of $594
million. Mr. Chairman, the vision of the Office of the
Tax Commissioner is to be a significant contributor to Bermuda’s prosperity and stability by being a progres-sive, modern tax administration committed to cus tomer service, continuous improvement, and collabor ation.
The OTC’s mission is to provide superior
quality and efficient service, with responsible enforcement of tax legislation, thus contributing to the economic and social stability of Bermuda. The four core objectives of the OTC are:
1. to administer the collection of taxes in accor dance with tax legislation and to provide pr ofessional advice to the Ministry of Finance;
2. to conduct responsible and effective enforc ement activities, creating an environment which promotes compliance and ensures that all taxes are collected in accordance with their respective Acts;
3. to educate and advise taxpayers on matters relating to their statutory obligations under the Acts and maintain community confidence; and
4. to ensure that revenue is available to fund Government programmes through the collection of taxes.
Mr. Chairman, the OTC is strategically divided
into four cost centres, as follows:
The Administration team, cost centre 48000,
provides the overall direction and management of the
office, which includes strategic planning, staff deve lopment, training, and general office support.
The next cost centre is the Stamp Duties
team, 48050, responsible for the administration and collection of stamp duties under the Stamp Duties A ct
1976. This includes the adjudication and processing of a variety of legal instruments including, but not limited
to, conveyances, transfers, leases and mortgages, as
well as administering the Primary Family Homestead Exemption Programme. The Audit and Compliance team, which is cost
centre 48070, is responsible for ensuring that taxpa yers are compliant with the taxes Acts throughout the life of the taxpayer, starting with their initial registr ation. The team conducts audits and inspections of taxpayer books and records, and is responsible for knowledge management and taxpayer education.
The last team is the Operations team, cost
centre 48080, which oversees the major activity of collecting and reporting on all taxes under the remit of the OTC. The team maintains taxpayer accounts r eceivable balances, levies penalties for late and insuff icient payments, and is responsible for debt collection and enforcement.
The OTC’s overall direction is defined by its
strategic priorities as follows: top quality taxpa yer se rvice; modernisation of the OTC through technology, people, and processes; and enforcement and debt collection. In the Operational Budget that we have for current expenditures, there is an increase of
1210 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly $270,000, or 8.4 per cent. And for capital account,
there is a decrease of $21,000, or 4 per cent. So, on
page B -108, there is an 8.4 per cent increase in current account expenditure. The OTC’s current expend iture budget for 2017/18 includes an increase of
8.4 per cent, or $270,000. The additional fundin g is
necessary to meet minimal operational requirements.
The 4 per cent decrease in capital account
(on page C -11) is for the Taxes Information Management System (TIMS). This project has been ongoing for several years, and it continues to make progress. Originally projected timelines have been adjusted,
resulting in funding adjustments. Delays have resulted
primarily from data clean- up and minimal capacity to
work on specific project tasks. The OTC’s depar tmental operating expenditure budget has been i ncreased in 2017/18 by 8.4 per cent, as I mentioned.
The additional funding is minimal, considering the o perational and strategic objectives for the department.
Other expense items include advertising and
promotion, which is increased by $20,000. An i mportant component of OTC’s mandate is to inform taxpayers and increase the taxpayers’ awareness as it
relates to their tax obligations. I think it is particularly
important now because of the changes that we are
making. The budget for 2017/18 has been increased by $20,000 to fund additional promotion related to
payroll tax reform. Other Expenses increased by $256,000. This funding is required to cover credit card commission expenses incurred through the E- Tax
system. These expenses were previously absorbed by
the Accountant General’s Department. Members will
recall that last year we enabled people to pay their bills online, using credit cards for the first time. And of course, the banks have to get their piece. That is what this is about.
Revenues analysis: Revenues are projected
to increase by approximately $39 million, or 7 per
cent, compared to the original estimate for 2016/17. Payroll Tax Revenue is anticipated to increase by $49 million, or 12.6 per cent. Reforms to the payroll tax
structure will result in additional revenues for 2017/18. Reforms include an increase in the salary cap and a progressive tax rate structure for the employee por-tion, resulting in greater amounts of tax paid by high -
income earners. The non- legislated payroll tax co ncessions for the hotel, restaurant, and retail sectors
will be withdrawn, as I have said before, resulting in
increased taxes collected from these sectors.
Financial Services Tax has been introduced,
which will add $11.4 in tax revenue. There is an Amer-ica’s Cup charter f ee, which will also add additional
revenues of $256,000 this year. And most other tax
types have been conservatively projected for 2016/17
levels.
Staff complement and changes: There are 29
full-time positions in the Office of the Tax Commi ssioner, which include three vacant posts. Funding for
all 29 posts has been included in the estimates for this coming year. The office is currently staffed with 24
Bermudians, 1 non- Bermudian, and 1 PRC [perm anent resident certificate] holder.
There have been no significant upgrades to
the buildings which the OTC occupies. The depar tment is scheduled to relocate to government -owned
office space once it is ready for occupation.
The new TIMS service, Tax Information Management System, project continues to progress. The
Stamp Duty Module, the Land Tax Workflow System,
and Improvements to E- Tax have all gone live. The
remaining phases of the project are expected to con-tinue through to 2018/19. Limited funding allocations
may result in delays in the implementation of the r emaining modules.
Mr. Chairman, the Office of the Tax Commi ssioner continues to experience challenges due to i nsufficient staffing—I keep getting that all the time from
the whole of Government, but this applies to OTC as
well—and inadequate systems. Recent external r eviews by CARTAC and the Fiscal Responsibility Panel
also commented on OTC’s limited resources and how this will impact its ability to successfully implement the recommended tax reforms.
Debt collection and tax enforcement continue
to be a priority. Steps to improve the overall tax cul-ture have improved current collections. I have to say, Mr. Chairman, the tax culture is a big problem in this country. I think every Minister of Finance has this problem in Bermuda. But there are steps to improve
the tax culture, and that has improved current collections. However, the excessive arrears from years of
the recession have proven to be much harder to col-lect and remains a serious concern.
The OTC is actively pursuing the collection of
debts through both courts, and works closely with the
Debt Enforcement Unit of the Attorney General’s
Chambers in these efforts. There are 156 matters cur-rently before the Debt Enforcement Unit (DEU) for collection. The Department of Public Prosecutions will also work with the OTC in 2017/18 to prosecute tax
offenders as criminal matters, in an effort to change
taxpayer behaviour and improve voluntary compl iance. That is the culture I was talking about just now, Mr. Chairman. The OTC will continue in its efforts to escalate matters of collection through the courts in order to reduce outstanding Government tax receiv ables.
The Stamp Duty Section of the OTC is under
significant resource and organisational constraints and challenges. The section is staffed with one la wyer, an officer, and three administrative staff me mbers. The Primary Family Homestead Programme,
otherwise known as PFH, which was introduced in
2005, has had a negative impact on the productivity of the section, and the impact has been compounded every year since. The Stamp Duty Section’s ability to meet its core function, being the adjudication of i nstruments subject to stamp duties, has been negativ eBermuda House of Assembly ly impacted by the volume of PFH applications for living applicants. The PFH exemption need only be applied for upon death of the property owner by the estate, during the probate process. Opening up the a pplication process to living applicants has created an unnecessary administrative burden on the Stamp D uties Section and has impacted its ability to meet its
core mandate.
In order to address these concerns, amendments to the Stamp Duties Act 1976 will be tabled in
the next session to alter the administration of the PFH programme. These amendments will not result in any loss of the exemption to existing or future applica tions.
The amendments are necessary to ensure that admi nistrative resources are not wasted on unnecessary functions. In addition to legislative amendments, the OTC will engage the Management Consulting Ser-vices department to conduct a review of the Stamp Duties Section. The objective of the review will be to
determine the appropriate level of resources neces-sary to address work volumes and internal and exter-nal service levels.
The modernisation of OTC’s legacy tax sy stems and business processes has been an ongoing
objective and will continue to be a strategic focus in the coming year. In order to remain a modestly sized tax administration, OTC will maximise efficiencies through technology.
The past year has seen an increase in the use
of the E -Tax system, from 25 per cent to 35 per cent.
Mr. Chairman, this is still not even remotely enough. The OTC will continue to roll out mandatory e- filing in
order to reduce the number of manual paper -filed tax
returns, thus enabling OTC staff to focus on more va lued-added functions such as enforcement and compliance.
In 2016/17, the OTC, in addition to the above
objectives, continued to support key Government init iatives that provide relief to various taxpayers and economic sectors. The office continued to successful-ly administer the Government -initiated Memorandum
of Understanding with the Bermuda Hotel Association, the restaurants through the Chamber of Commerce Restaurant Division, and supported a number of con-cessions and rebate programs across a variety of sec-tors, including the retail sector, the Economic Empowerment Zone (EEZ), and the Construction Sector R elief Programme for Approved Projects.
Major priorities for the OTC include modernisation of processes and technology; strengthening compliance and enforcement efforts through taxpayer education and audits; and recommending amend-ments to existing tax legislation to improve registr ation, collection, and enforcement.
That is all that I am going to read of my brief,
Mr. Chairman. I will invite Honourable Members t o
participate. Thank you.

This debate ends at 11:55.
Hon. E. David Burt: Okay. That means I have got
about 15 minutes. No problem. Thank you very much,
Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, I thank the Minister for his
brief. Unlike his other colleagues, he declined to share it, so I had to scribble as best I could.
Before I commence, I had e- mailed a number
of questions to technical officers, who are here. Spe-cifically, I will ask those first re garding Ministry of F inance Headquarters under the Capital Account, line item 76867, [page C -10]. If he could please advise the
top three vendors or consultants for the current fiscal year that we are in, 2016/17, and the amounts of which they would be paid, or which they have been
paid or expected to be paid, to make up that $700,000
figure, it would be appreciated.
Moving on to the Office of the Tax Commi ssioner, on the Capital Account, 76547, [page C -10]
the questions that I have for the Minister of Finance . . . the first question is What was the initial budget for
this project? Meaning, you know, when the Auditor General does her reports and it goes to Cabinet, and it is initially approved, what was the amount that was said that this item would owe? It is important that this
be known. And the question would be the total amount paid to date for this project. And then if the Minister
can advise the top three vendors and/or consultants
and the amounts which they are paid, actual 2015/16, and the revised 2016/17, so we can have an idea. Then also, the revised budget for this project, if there has been any change from the initial expectation of
this particular project.
So those are the main questions that I have,
and I will leave at least a few minutes for the Minister
to answer.
Regarding back to Ministry of Finance Headquarters and the questions that are there, the Minister
speaks about the work that happens in the Policy Unit
to make sure that the work is done to balance the budget. But of course, Mr. Chairman, we understand that this work was made a lot harder due to the Mini ster’s wish to privatise the airport. Now that the airport has been privatised, the budget balancing, as we
have seen this year, becomes a lot more difficult as
the impact on our current account in one year has been $30 million.
Now, we do realise that there has been very
little progress on balancing the budget, and I say that because when we look at the original estimates for the
1212 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly budget deficit last year, this year . . . in 2015 when the
Minister spoke about this current financial year which
we are in, the Minister projected that the budget deficit would be $150 million. However, when he came to Parliament and the budget of which he presented to us now, he is projecting a deficit of $212 million, which is $61 million higher than the budget deficit of which
he predicted, himself, only two years ago.
So that means this is a 40 per cent miss, Mr.
Chairman. And that means that there is certainly a
challenge when it comes to projecting forward num-bers and forward deficits. So the Minister talks about the need to make sure he puts forward realistic numbers, but then he misses his numbers entirely, which
calls into question the actual numbers which have been presented inside of this entire b udget.
Now, Mr. Chairman, it is also another point
which is something that is of concern, because today we have seen that we do not have a Customs Tariff
Act which has been tabled, an Act which was supposed to sit twice before they are brought up. Now, we understand, with communication which was sent
out to all vendors yesterday, that the Government is now reconsidering its Customs Tariff Amendment.
Now, we have not heard any announcement from the
Minister of Finance. We just had to find out from the e-mail which was sent to vendors. So the question that
we have is, if that is the case, what is going to be the impact on the proposed budget deficit? Are we still going to expect an increase of about $30 million in
from the revised figure this year to the new figure next
year for customs duty? And if that is the case, is the Minister going to be bringing a Bill to raise the debt ceiling? Because we are only $30 million away from it.
So those are questions that I hope the Mini ster can answer in the limited time in which he has.
Because we have not heard anything about . . . and I
am speaking specifically, Mr. Chairman, to Head 10,
speaking specifically to Fiscal Planning and Control, because that is what this department does. This de-partment is there to look at the budget and to make
sure that, when putting together this budget doc ument, we are correct. What is the status of the customs duty changes? Are we going to see these cus-toms duty changes? And will they have an effect, an impact, on the budget, on the actual budget? And are we going to have to be making some changes to
these estimates, given that the revenue figures may
not be actually correct?
Now, Mr. Chairman, one of the things of which
we have repeatedly said on this side of the aisle, gi ving our experience in Government, is the fact that across -the-board cuts do not work. And they tend to
limit productive investment while not tackling the root of the problem, which is efficiency. Now, the Minister in his brief spoke about the fact that (and I am going to quote), he says, “Moving forward, the Government will take a revised approach in order to implement fur-ther savings, either by way of increased efficiencies or making structural reforms in the way services are d elivered and institutions are structured, and by contin uing to reduce the size of public service.”
And then he goes on to say, “For the fiscal
year. . . the department has set objectives,” and he
goes on to name two of them, “to resume the open
budget process ; to effectively implement the medium
term framework. ”
Now, Mr. Chairman, the reason that I am able
to read those is because I am reading from the Mini ster’s brief last year that he gave to us on March 4
th.
The Minister has said the same things this year. So the question that I will pose to the Minister is, Given
that he said last year that the Government will take a
revised approach, why is he coming to us this year and saying that a revised approach will also be taken? Is the Minister admitting that no revised approach has been taken and the challenge of looking to efficiencies of which we have spoken about on numerous occ asions has not been done? And if that is not the case, can the Minister please advise us, what funding has been put towards efficiency reviews, which we know was the plan from the Minister of Finance back in 2012 after the first open budget process? So it would
be useful to at least have us understand that particular
process, because I think it is important. What type of items have been done on the efficiency level?
Now, Mr. Chairman, again on Head 10, Mini stry of Finance Headquarters, and I will give you the page. We are on page B -94. The Minister again spoke
to the issue of the Pensions Commission and the rev isions of the Pensions Commission and the type of items of which he is looking at in the revisions. Is there any consideration that is going to be given by the Minister to eliminating the discrepancy whereby occupational pensions are required only for Bermudians and non- Bermudians, which by its very existence
makes non -Bermudian employees more [sic] expensive than Bermudian employees?
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. E. David Burt: Sorry? That makes nonBermudian less expensive, sorry, or Bermudian employees more expensive to hire, or cost more to hire, than it does non- Bermudians. So, I was wondering if
the Minister could add any impact there.
Now, when speaking regarding business and
regulatory control, Mr. Chairman, I am on page B -94,
specifically on cost centre 20020 [Business Regulat ory]. We understand that the Ministry of Finance is r esponsible for the administration and regulation of the betting shops. And we understand that when we are
talking about the various assessments on the intern ational basis, which are coming up, we understand that
the country has a major assessment next year to do with anti -money laundering [AML]. And we know that
there have been specific concerns which have been raised to the Government regarding the existing reg uBermuda House of Assembly lation of gaming in Bermuda, specifically with the betting shops and betting pools, and the challenges of
which they have in our AML review next year. We un-derstand that the Bahamas failed its AML review due to the regulation of the betting shops, and I did not hear the Minister speak to that. We spoke about the need to make sure that we remain a reputable juri sdiction, but I am sure the Minister could understand
the challenge that the country would have if we were to fail our AML review.
So the question that I have for the Minister is,
Is he doing anything to ensure that those items are appropriately regulated? And what steps is he taking
in this fiscal year to ensure that we do not fail our AML
review like other jurisdictions have for these particular reasons?
Moving on ever so quickly, Mr. Chairman, to
the Office of the Tax Commissioner. I will speak again on a question that I had raised earlier, on a Parli amentary Question, regarding the change in the Office
of Tax Commissioner now requesting business plans for companies. It is something that we do not believe should be disclosed, and I would hope that the Mini ster would give directions to revise that guidance,
which is coming out from the Office of the Tax Commissioner, telling persons that they are required to complete and submit their business plans. Because some persons are incredibly concerned about this new development, and it is something that we do not think should be taking place.
The Minister spoke about the items in the
shortage in the Office of Stamp Duties and the shor tage of positions and the challenges of which that is
causing. The question that I would have for the Minis-ter is quite plain and simple: Will you be doing any additional hiring? This is stuff that we heard last year;
this is stuff that we heard before. Will there be a pproval for these posts, or are they, if they were vaca ted by the voluntary early retirement programme—are
these the type of items that are going to be held and frozen? What are the plans to rectify these challenges
of which the Minister has spoken about? We have
heard the Honourable Member from constituency 29
speak on numerous occasions about the adjudication of stamp duties and estates and the hold- up in the
funds that could come from that. However, we hear the complaints from the Minister, but we have not
heard the plan for the actual fixing of those particular
issues.
So with that, Mr. Chairman, I believe I have
left the Minister . . . how much time do you have on
your clock?

Does any other Member wish to co ntribute to this?

Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman.
The Honourable Finance Minister knows why I
am rising to my feet. I refer to page B -108, Head 38,
cost centre 48050, which is $416,000 allotted for
Stamp Duties. And I know the Minister touched on it, and I think he said he had four staff in that depar tment. You will know, Mr. Chairman (I do not want to use up a lot of time, because I know my Leader wants some answers), but I would also like to reiterate that
we need some answers on what is happening in that
department with collecting the tens of millions of dol-lars that remain outstanding.

Thank you, Honourable Member.
Minister.
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Let me answer the last
question first. Honourable Member, the problem of
which you speak is well known. And I did try to ad-dress this in my prepared remarks. The biggest problem in that department, and the reason that things are
so backed up, is this thing called the Primary Family Homestead programme. It is by definition time con-suming and manual. And the staff basically are inun-dated by these things and are not able to address their core function, as I said.
W hat are we doing about it? Well, we are g oing to bring amendments to change that so that they cannot . . . this whole thing about living people bringing this thing in is basically double- dipping. Because
when somebody dies, they get a chance to say what the primary residence is anyway, right? So basically,
we are going to make some adjustments to that so that people do not take a whole lot of time of our staff, so that they can devote themselves to what they are really there for. So that is the response to that —

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Yes, that is right.
So, maybe I am working backwards here. But
anyway, to answer the Opposition Leader’s questions
about staffing, philosophically, I think this Government
does not believe at just throwing staff at a problem if
we see one. But in the case of the Office of the Tax Commissioner, we have already approved four staff for that department. They have not been hired yet be-cause of another bureaucracy —i.e., the HR Depar tment. So we are working through that. But we have
approved four new staff for the Office of the Tax
Commissioner to give us some more resources to do what they have to do.
Insofar as the betting shops are concerned,
the Honourable Member has pointed that out as a p otential risk factor for Bermuda. And he is right. It is a
1214 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly significant risk factor. And it is one that has been
clearly identified by the National Anti -Money Laundering Committee, NAMLC, and the betting shops are
going to be brought under . . . they are going to be
taken away from a hybrid between Minister of Finance and Magistrate’s Court, which are the two arms of government that deal with these people. And I think,
ultimately, they will be taken and put under the Gaming Commission to be supervised properly.

[Inau dible interjection]
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: That is what I said. That
is the . . .
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: It is not what they want
here; it is what is good for Bermuda, right? If we fail the OECD assessment because of that, you know,
that would be a very difficult and bad situation. So, you know, we have got to do what is beneficial for the greater good here.
Insofar as occupational pensions are concerned, I think I already said in the general debate that we are taking a broader look at the whole aspect of occupational pensions, and it includes the matter that you brought up about its seeming to be discrim inatory against Bermudians. So we are looking at that.
You have asked about, what are we doing
about efficiencies? Wel l, we are doing something
about efficiency. And that is we are trying to make
everybody in the civil service accountable. And that
accountability starts at the top. There has been, as
Shakespeare said, much “muling and puking” about
that in the ranks of the civil service. But we are ma king accountability, the senior ranks of the civil service accountable to somebody. And I very strongly believe that accountability is like water, that it flows from the top down. If you do not have it at the top, it does not exist. So that is what we are doing about efficiency.
Also, as it relates to it, you see time and time
again we talked about putting in computer systems to do all sorts of —

Honourable Members, we are now in
Committee of Supply for further consideration of Est imates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year
2017/18, Public Works, Heads 36, 49, 53, 81, 82, and 97. Four and a half hours have been allocated. The heads are now to be debated.
I call on the Minister of Public Works, the
Honourable L. C. Cannonier, to proceed.

MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
To begin, I would like to thank this Honourable
House for the opportunity —

Minister, do you have your micr ophone on?

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you very much.
Again, I would like to thank the House for this
opportunity to present the Ministry of Public Works.
We will, as you h ave said, be looking at six different
heads, Head 36, Finance and Administration, led by JoAnne Smith; Head 49, Land Valuation, led by Diane
Elliott; Head 53, Bermuda Housing Corporation, led by
Major Dill; Head 81, Public Lands and Buildings, led by Chris Farrow; Head 82, Works and Engineering,
led by Yves Bob Lortie , and we also had Acting Kirk
Outerbridge for some time until Bob was acquired; and Head 97, Land Title Registration, led by Debbie
Reid.

HEAD 36 —MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS HEA DQUARTERS
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: I now turn to Head 36,
found on pages B -211 through to B -217. I would also
like to add that, in order to help facilitate the debate, I
endeavoured to work with the Shadow. I have been encouraged throughout the year in working with him. I
did supply him with a line- by-line item of all of the answers to those line- by-line items to help the debate go
along, and he has those with him.
Mr. Chairman, the Ministry of Public Works is
responsible for maintaining Bermuda’s critical assets and infr astructure. In fact, Public Works is the lead
agent in delivering the infrastructure requirements upon which so many of the services provided to this I sBermuda House of Assembly land depend. Some of the assets and infrastructure
that the Ministry is responsible for building and maintaining include:
• [There are] 617 roads —that is about 225 ki lometres of road surface;
• [There are] 753 buildings, with an insured val-ue of over $1.5 billion;
• [There are] 85 public docks and purpose- built
berths, servicing cruise ships, cargo ships, and hundreds of private vessels and yachts each year;
• [And also] 5 reservoirs with a capacity of 2.5
million gallons of Bermuda’s precious and
very limited fresh water resource.
Mr. Chairman, Public Works is also the lead
agent in most of the new large game- changing construction projects on the Island, such as the recently completed North Channel Widening project, South Basin Development that will be the America’s Cup Village, and the Morgan’s Point development project, just to name a few. It cannot be overstated how critical
this vast and diverse Ministry is to Bermuda and why it is so important that every possible opportunity must be grasped to maximise the economic benefits that the capital expenditures of this Ministry provide. This includes establishing private sector partnerships to ensure continued service excellence to the public at
large and other government departments.
We therefore must prioritise our infrastructure
facilities, not only because they are constructed to
keep Bermuda beautiful and safe, but because doing
so will help, as I highlight, help:
• provide the adequate capacity for future
growth Bermuda so desperately needs;
• enhance visitors’ experience when they come to Bermuda; and more importantly, however,
• provide a key source of job creation and economic empowerment, going forward.
Mr. Chairman, with that said, I want to thank
the many men and women of Public Works for their
continued hard work over the years of service to this Ministry. I was always overwhelmed by so many who had been with Government and within the department
just for decades, actually. Our well -manicured public
lands and roads are a testament to their skill and dedication, and I am excited to outline to you today many of the programmes and projects which our staff have worked tirelessly to complete this year.
Mr. Chairman, the budget allocation to the
Ministry of Public Works is $65,016,000. That is a de-crease of 1 per cent, $529,000, from 2016/17. This can be found on page B -211.
Mr. Chairman, the anticipated revenue for the
Ministry of Public Works is $22,615,000, an increase
of $2,140,000, or 10 per cent, when compared to the
2016/17 revenue budget, as seen on page B -211. The
increase in the revenue budget is tied to the export of electricity to BELCO, due to the installation of a new turbine at the Waste- to-Energy Tynes Bay Facility and anticipated sales of government properties by the
Public Lands and Buildings Department. The Ministry’s Capital Budget for 2017/18 is $41,553,000. This comprises the capital development budget of $37,138,000 and the capital acquisitions budget of $4,415,000.
The Ministry’s budgeted number of emplo yees, which are referred to as full -time equivalents
(FTEs), for the fiscal year 2017/18 is 557. That is a decrease of nine when compared to the current fiscal
year, as seen on page B -211. The overarching objective of the Ministry of Public Works Headquarters (F inance and Administration), Head 36, is to provide
centralised support to the departments within the Ministry, which includes Public Lands and Bui ldings,
Works and Engineering, Land Valuation and Land
Title Registration, to ensure delivery of their varied services and operating programmes. The services provided by the Ministry of Public Works Headquarters is organised into the following six programm es,
found on page B -213:
1. Head Office Administration —3601;
2. Accounts —3610;
3. Purchasing— 3611;
4. Telecommunications —3612;
5. Human Resources —3613; and
6. Architect and Design— 3614.
Head Office Administration, programme 3601,
which can be found on page B -213, comprises Headquarters Administration (including Safety and Health) and Central Filing. Headquarters Administration, u nder the direction of the Permanent Secretary, provides
oversight and management support to the entire Min-istry of Public Works. It also ensures that the Mini ster’s policy objectives are met and, specifically, is r esponsible for the implementation of the Ministry’s
Throne Speech initiatives, yearly business plan, management of safety and health matters, compliance, and numerous special administrative projects. And just here I want to also say that, since May, we took on a new Permanent Secretary, Francis Richardson,
and it has been a delight. He has done a fantastic
work with working with efficiencies as we make ad-justments within the Ministry, being it is so vast. And he is found to be a great asset, too.

He is from the West.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes, he is from the West.
Red and blue all the way.
[Laughter]

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: But he has been fantastic.
And the staff also have come to me on numerous occasions to talk of their delight with the PS of Public Works, PS Francis. (Sorry for that digression there, but I needed to say that.)
1216 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Chairman, during 2016/17 the Safety and
Health Office continued to focus on identifying and
controlling workplace hazards. This was done through
internal safety audits, workplace inspections, and risk assessments. And we continue to identify areas for improvement within our operations. The Occupational Safety and Health Regulatory focus has been on the
following sections:
• Safety and Health Committees (2);
• Investigation and Reporting (3);
• Fire Safety and Emergency (8);
• First Aid (9);
• Sanitation (11);
• Hazardous Substances (12); and
• Protective Clothing and Equipment (16).
All audited sections have developed a corrective action plan and are at varying stages of compl etion.
The Ministry of Public Works continues to
provide safety and health training to staff in an effort to promote safety, health, and well -being to all employees. In 2016/17, the Mi nistry of Public Works o ffered a total of 92 hours of safety training in the follo wing areas:
• Occupational Dog Bite Safety;
• Identifying and Controlling Hazards;
• New Employee Safety Orientation;
• Intro to Hazards in the Landscaping Industry;
• Accident Notific ation and Reporting;
• Manual Material Handling;
• AED and CPR/First Aid Training;
• Respiratory Fit Testing Training;
• Occupational Safety and Health Ticketing
Regulations.
These programme initiatives all increased
employee awareness regarding the hazards associ ated with work activities. In addition, 225 employees participated in safety training modules in 2016.
Mr. Chairman, the Ministry of Public Works
continues to conduct documented risk assessments to manage risk that Ministry employees and the public
are exposed to as a result of our activities. These assessments will continue into 2017/18.
Mr. Chairman, during the fiscal year 2017/18
the Ministry of Public Works will continue to develop and strengthen its safety and health programme in
accordance with the requirements of the Occupational
Safety and Health Act 1982 and the Occupational Safety and Health Regulations 2009. The Ministry’s safety and health programme will include the deve lopment of a safety and health policy, establishment of safety and health objectives, and processes to
achieve the policy commitments, performance monitoring, and management review. In addition, the Mini stry will continue with our current initiatives such as internal safety audits, safety and health awareness training, safety inspections, and risk assessments. The second area of support under the Head
Office, Administration, is Central Filing, which pr ovides records management for all human resource records, Cabinet documents, capital projects and co ntracts, and maintains records for the Ministry’s legi slated functions.
The operational budget for Public Works,
Head Office Administration, programme 3601, as seen on page B -213, recognises the multifaceted n ature of the work carried out by this Ministry. As such, it has been allocated $1,137,000 for fiscal year 2017/18, a decrease of $46,000 over the current year. The de-crease is due to a reduction in local consultant fees,
as the ongoing court cases from 2016/17 have been
settled.
Public Works Accounts, programme 3610.
[Mr. Chairman], the Public Works Accounts, pr ogramme 3610, provides the following services: ac-counts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, capital
asset recording, and non- financial and financial r eporting functions for the operating departments within
the Ministry. This section prepares and distributes
weekly payroll, vendor checks and invoices for services provided by the Ministry’s operational areas, as
well as collection and recording of online bank pa yments, and credit card, cash, and cheque receipts.
With the use of the centralised accounting
system, the Public Works Accounts Section manages
the yearly budget preparation and provides monthly management reports, a process that enables the effective and efficient monitoring and control of the Public Works Ministry’s cu rrent account budget, along with
the Ministry’s capital development and capital acquis ition budgets.
Mr. Chairman, during the fiscal year 2016/17,
the Accounts Section focused on the following: the
creation of project management and work order r eports to assist the operational areas in managing pr oject timelines, budget allocation and project spend—
this will continue in 2017/18, as the work was started in the fourth quarter of 2016/17; and improvements to
the management of fixed asset recording and repor ting—reviewing the process of gathering and recording
data, communicating, and training the operational areas and personnel on the information required for ac-counting purposes related to equipment and capital works.
Mr. Chairman, the Accounts Section’s focus
for the fiscal year 2017/18 will be on:
• improving the project and work order reporting system. This will assist project managers with
managing timelines and budgets and provi ding senior management with improved repor ting;
• continuing managing the debt collection for the Ministry by defining and managing the
monthly processes, including use of E1’s debt collection module;


Bermuda House of Assembly • working also with the Accountant General on
improving processes involving the E1 sy stem—payroll process, debt collection, vendor
payments, and general reporting.
The operational budget for the Accounts, pr ogramme 3610, as seen on page B -213, is an amount
of $918,000 for fiscal year 2017/18. And that is a decrease of $21,000 from fiscal year 2016/17.
Purchasing, programme 3611, provides a
centralised purchasing and supply function to the ot her departments and programmes within the Ministry,
and to other external departments from time to time.
The services provided range from the initial research of sources for supply, to ordering, customs clear ance,
the physical receipt of goods; and the management of inventory for the Vehicle and Equipment Maintenance
Section, Waste- to-Energy Facility, Tynes Bay, the W ater Section, and the Lands and Buildings Section.
During 2016/17, the Purchasing Section had a
challenging year with the continued vacancy of two
management positions, the Principal Purchasing and Supply Officer and the Assistant Purchasing and Supply Officer –Quarry. Due to the vacancies, the purchas ing team was led by the Assistant Purchasing
and Supply Officer, who is located at Headquarters. It
is the Ministry’s intent to have these vacant posts filled
during the first quarter of the new fiscal year. The f ocus of the purchasing team is as follows: to continue
processing improvements and creating efficiencies
relating to purchases. With the application of Microsoft
Visio, the team mapped out the purchase order man-agement and the customs clearance process. This allowed the team to identify gaps and duplications in
the system, and improvements were made that resul ted in increased efficiencies. And I remember this happening. This is quite significant, what was going on here.
The purchasing team introduced the E1 [E nterprise One] Buyer’s Guide, which triggers an action
to replenish the inventory stock, and this assisted with
inventory management. The reordering system had
been a challenge due to a manual paper -based sy stem. So you can imagine what is possible with a p aper-based system and handwriting. The Buyers Guide
had been implemented at Prospect St ores Building
Section, Tynes Bay Stores, the Quarry Stores, and Vehicle Maintenance Section for the Garbage Truck and Mack Truck Shops. The planned rollout for the remaining areas could not be completed due to the non-availability of the report in E1. So we are working
on that.
Purchasing and Procurement Training has also continued this year to ensure the Ministry is com-pliant with the Ministry’s policies and procedures. The training now includes a section for Financial Instruc-tions in respect to the sales and disposal of Gover nment assets.
Mr. Chairman, during fiscal year 2017/18, the
purchasing team will focus on the following: • continuing the training of staff on purchasing
policies and procedures, with focus on the
Building Section, Waste Water, and Vehic le
Maintenance Section;
• completing the rollout of the Buyer’s Guide at
the Quarry Stores –Vehicle and Equipment.
This will assist with managing the inventory
levels and providing improved service to the
operational areas;
• continue to remove obsolete parts from inventory, thus decreasing inventory carrying costs;
• purchasing has been given permission by the
Accountant General to conduct their own E1
training sessions for their staff;
• identifying monthly purchasing reports to increase communication with the operational
areas and to ensure inventory and special or-dering needs are being met. And I cannot say enough about what is going on there.
Mr. Chairman, the Purchasing programme,
3611, operational budget, as seen on page B- 213, is
$1,241,000 for fiscal year 2017/18. That is a decrease of $4,000.
Telecommunications Programme, 3612. Mr.
Chairman, the Telecommunications Programme pr ovides a suite of services to the majority of government ministries and departments. These services include the repair and replacement of telephones and related
equipment, the relocation of departments and mini stries, and management of mobile service contracts for
the Ministry. The programme also provides advice to
department heads regarding call flows, resulting in greater efficiencies; voice network designs and tel ephone system tenders; and managing the implemen-tation of new technologies to maximise cost savings.
Mr. Chairman, a few of the telephone projects
successfully completed during 2016/17 were:
• the relocation of Government offices for the Departments of Child and Family Services; Department of Social Insurance; Cabinet O ffice; Ministry of Tourism, Transport and Mu-nicipalities; and the Commission of Inquiry;
• replacement of the standalone telephone sy stem at the Works and Engineering Quarry, with remote solution leveraging existing ser-vices from the main telephone network locat-ed in the Administration Building; and
• the GPS vehicle tracking system has been extended to include the Department of Parks
vehicles.
Telephone Projects scheduled for the fiscal
year 2017/18 include, but are not limited to, Tynes
Bay and Prospect Depot. These locations will be m igrated to the main voice network, leading to further
reductions in operational costs.
Mr. Chairman, the radio service requirement
of va rious departments is under review by a commi ttee consisting of the Ministry of Public Works, Berm uda Police Service, Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service,
1218 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly and the Information Technology Office. It has been
determined that the most cost -effective solution going
forward would be the purchase and installation of a
Government -owned radio network. This project will be
put out to tender with a completion schedule of the first quarter of 2017, to eliminate service interruption disruptions for the blue light services during the America’s Cup event schedule.
As part of the internal restructuring, the main
295-5151 switchboard operators will be moving to a
new Digital Services Group under the Department of
Communications and Information. All voice network operations will be transitioned to the Information
Technology Office. And I would like to also thank that
group. They were a part of our team. And as I have just said, they will be moving now off to the Infor-mation Technology Office. I thank them for the fine work that they do. I do believe that they are going to be staying still within the physical area that they are
in, so it is just a budgetary change in location.
Mr. Chairman, following consultation with the
Bermuda Police Service, the Telecommunication Section will tak e over the responsibility of the communic ation towers. The Ministry is now in the process of having condition surveys completed to determine their
current structural state and the required repairs and maintenance to ensure the physical structures remain fit and suitable for use. The communication towers are
a very important asset, and it is imperative that they are properly maintained.
Mr. Chairman, the Telecommunications pr ogramme, 3612, as seen on page B -213, has been allocated an operational budget of $1,021,000 for fiscal year 2017/18. There was minimal change in the over-all budget allocation.
Human Resource, programme 3613, as seen
on page B -213, provides recruitment, employee rel ations, and training and development services to the various departments and staff within the Ministry of Public Works. The Ministry’s dedicated Human R esources team liaises and partners with the Depar tment of Human Resources to provide Human R esources advice and guidance, as well as provides administrative support, throughout t he Ministry. And I
just want to say here that we lost one of our valuable members within the Human Resources Department. She has moved up in the ranks. She has moved from
our Human Resources to run the Human Resources
of Correctional Services. So, we know that we in Gov-ernment, as well as the former, the Opposition when they were Government, have some great civil ser vants who are doing some wonderful work. And we can see where they are progressing now into higher cat egories of their disciplines.
With that in mind, Mr. Chairman, in 2016/17
the Human Resources Section focused on continued implementation of the Human Resource Business Plan, with emphasis on the Ministry’s Basic Emplo yee, Foreman and Superintendent Training Programme (known as BEFAST), Succession Planning for difficult -
to-fill jobs and retirements, as well as management of
the Trainee and Apprentice Programmes. The B EFAST programme is now in its fourth year and has proven to be successful. This programme’s objectives are to advance training, create career opportunities, and build new working relationships with peers and
staff, ultimately creating a team that speaks the same
language, resulting in providing better service to our internal and external customers. The details of the progress of the BEFAST programme are as follows:
The Effective Team Member and Leading E ffective Teams core courses under BEFAST were delivered by Bermuda College’s Professional Adult C areer Education Department. We coordinated two
courses attended by a total of 26 charge hands, for emen, and superintendents, which included staff from Parks, Highways, Tynes Bay, Prospect Depot Building Maintenance, and the Solid Waste Section, which
were all also well received. As of today, 134 charge
hands, foremen, and superintendents have completed
the Effective Team Leading training and/or Effective Team Member training.
In 2016/17, for BEFAST, we also focused on
computer introduction and Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. We partnered with the Bermuda Industr ial Union to coordinate the workshop on Understand-ing the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Safety and Health Officer coordinated courses on safety and health in the workplace, the correct way to report inc idents and accidents, CPR, and First Aid training. In October 2016, Mr. Chairman, four employees (Chris Farrow, Stephen Tucker, Steven Conway, and Myron Burchall) from the Department of Public Lands and Buildings took part in Project Management Profes-sional (PMP) and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) Certification training hosted by Media Tek Ltd. This course is designed to provide proven practical project management knowledge and skills. The skills and knowledge gained from this course will help managers avoid making costly mistakes and can
be applied to any type of industry.
The Human Resource Section continued to
devote time in 2016/17 to succession planning due to
the Ministry’s mature population and difficult -to-fill
jobs.
The Quarry Vehicle Maintenance Section and
Operations and Highways Section were the main areas of focus. Employees have been identified, deve lopment plans are in progress, and the employees have enrolled in the courses that will assist in prepar-ing them for positions that will become vacant due to contract expiration for difficult -to-fill job s and retir ements.
This year, Mr. Chairman, the Succession
Planning Committee focused on completing the d evelopment plans and training for employees identified during the succession planning for the Quarry M echanical Section. The success of this program me reBermuda House of Assembly sulted in a few employees being promoted, due to
retirements and internal promotions, to the positions
of Superintendent and Foreman. The Highways Sec-tion sent three labourers to the Tri -Trades course offered by the Community Education and Development Programme, where they studied carpentry, masonry,
and tiling for six weeks. They are now interested in
taking more specific courses to gain additional
knowledge to aid their advancement in these trades.
Mr. Chairman, with regards to the Ministry’s
apprentices and trainees, the Bermudians selected to take part in the sponsorship programme in 2013 are employed as third- year apprentices at the Quarry Vehicle Maintenance Section, and are now receiving on-the-job training.
Dornielle Farrel, an apprentice mechanic, is
currently employed in the Light Shop, where they r epair and maintain all government cars and vans. He is currently studying for his Automotive Service Excellence [ASE] exams, and receiving additional tutoring
from Bermuda Motors Ltd.
A second apprentice, Sergio Richardson, is
currently working in the Heavy Shop, repairing and maintaining gas and diesel engine construction
equipment and machinery. He completed his s econdment to Bermuda Motors to undertake Ford M otors Training and passed the Ford Motors exams. He
is currently studying for his ASE exams; he has passed the brakes module and is receiving additional tutoring from Bermuda Motors Ltd.
DaJon Carey obtained a Bachelor’s of Sc ience Degree in Automotive Management and is cur-rently employed as a Tradesman Class 2 in the Mack and Heil Shop, where all of Government’s trash trucks, road sweepers, cement trucks, skip loaders, and tractor trailers are repaired and maintained. And I
cannot say enough about him in the work that he
does. He is currently studying for his ASE exams and receiving additional tutoring from Bermuda Motors Ltd.
There were also three apprentices in the
Building Maintenance Section, two of whom are currently attending Bermuda College, studying electrical
wiring. Another apprentice, Kamal Bashir, graduated in May 2016 from the Plumbing Programme.
Mr. Chairman, the Ministry has partially spo nsored Ms. Georgette Trott for the period of September 2013 to December of 2016 in obtaining her bachelor’s
degree. Georgette is currently employed in the Human
Resource Section. In December of 2016 she completed the required courses to graduate with her Bachelor of Business Administration Degree with a major in Strategic Human Resource Management and a co ncentration in Management from Mount Saint Vincent
University, in partnership with Bermuda College.
Graduation is May 2017. In recognition of Ms. Trott’s superior academic performance, she was named to the Mount Saint Vincent Dean’s First Class Honour’s List for 2015/16. In order to meet the criteria for the Dean’s List, Ms. Trott had to achieve a GPA of 3.7 or higher in five consecutive units of credit, with no grade
below a B -. The Ministry of Public Works wishes her
the very best. She was extremely excited about this
accomplishment. We see her every day, so this is quite an achievement and again goes back to the wonderful people whom we have in civil service.
Mr. Chairman, the Ministry of Public Works also has in place a Trainee Programme in which two trainees are currently enrolled. This programme f ocuses on training Bermudians for professional pos itions that are difficult to fill.
Allanette Hayward, a former bursary student,
is in training as a civil engineer. She has joined as a
graduate member of the Institute of Civil Engineers
[UK] and currently is assigned to the Highways Sec-tion of the Ministry. She also received training in other civil engineering areas in the Ministry, such as the Water and Waste Water and Structures Sections. In April 2016, she completed a three- month public/private opportunity when she was seconded to BCM McAlpine and received a great recommendation. She received a scholarship from the Construction A ssociation of Bermuda, the first woman to achieve this. Allanette was recently awarded the opportunity of a
six-month paid internship with WSP Global and Quinn
Dressel Associates in Toronto to learn more about the
civil and structural engineering fields. She has an i ncredible, incredible story. If anyone ever has an op-portunity or would like an opportunity to listen to her
personal story, it is quite amazing —quite an amazing
woman, in fact.
Also, Ricardo Graham -Ward, another former
bursary student, is in training as a civil engineer and has joined as a graduate member of the Institute of Civil Engineers and the Institute of Structural Eng ineers [UK]. He is currently assigned to the Structures
Section and will receive training in other civil engineering areas, such as Water and Waste Water and the Highways Sections. He was also seconded to BCM McAlpine for three months and completed his assig nment on the 15
th of July 2016 with an outstanding recommendation from BCM McAlpine. He was also awarded a six -month paid internship, also at WSP
Global and Quinn Dressel Associates in Toronto, to further his career in the civil and structural engineering fields. And he is one of the key people who have been moving along with the swing bridge entering into St.
George's, which we anticipate to be completed this
April.
Mr. Chairman, in addition, the Ministry of Public Works also plays a part in the Gov ernment -wide
bursary scheme, and we currently have one bursary student in Land Valuation, Ms. Andesha Busby, who
is presently studying for a Bachelor’s Degree in Real
Estate. Ms. Busby recently worked with us for three weeks during her 2016 Christmas break . The Ministry
is in need of bursary students. I will go back and say that again so that the public hears this. The Ministry is in need of bursary students in the areas of structural
1220 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly and mechanical engineering, land valuation, and estates surveying for 2017/18. It has been difficult to find
folks, and so we are putting this plea out. If there are any students who are interested in that area, please contact the Ministry and/or our PS, Francis Richar dson.
Mr. Chairman, the Human Resource Team
continued its successful partnership with C.A.R.E. Learning Centre, which prepares a number of the Public Works staff for the General Education Diploma
(GED). To date, 14 Public Works Ministry employees have gained their GED diplomas, and five employees in 2017/18 are pursuing the qualification.
Mr. Chairman, in 2016/17 the Career Ou treach Programme was set up to introduce students to difficult -to-fill positions such as surveying, technical,
and engineering careers. The Ministry participated in
CedarBridge’s Think about It Thursdays , Berkeley’s
Future Fridays , and Clearwater Middle School’s Voc ational Career Fair this March of 2017, just gone.
Mr. Chairman, during this current year we had
two students from Bermuda Institute Career Pathways
Programme on day release. We had one student as-signed to the Architects Section and another student
was assigned to the Carpentry Shop. They each spent
one day per week for 12 weeks with the Ministry.
We also continued to provide the Reverse
Osmosis Level 1 training to our Water Section em-ployees, which was four days of onsite training with a trainer from David H. Paul Co. Six employees from the
Water and Waste Water Section, along with a department graduate engineer, participated in this course. This was the second time that this course had been offered to employees. Two staff members were successful in obtaining their Reverse Osmosis Spe-cialist 1 Certification, and it is anticipated that this kind
of training will form part of the Operation Training and
Certification.
And I just have about one more minute until
lunch. If I can read the last paragraph?

Sure. That is fine.

[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes, yes. Thank you.
Mr. Chairman, in February 2017 we sent four
employees —Kacie Fishenden, Jokai Fox, S tanley
Monish, and Edgar Perinchief Jr. —to the Astec A dvanced Customer School in Chattanooga, Tennessee,
for advanced training on our asphalt plant. And they will be trained on plant safety, burners, airflows, the causes and solutions for blue smoke, baghouse, silos,
drums, controls, and plant maintenance. I think I will
end right there before I go into the next section.

We are in Committee of Supply and
we are going to resume with the Honourable Min ister
of Public Works.
Mr. Cannonier, you have the floor.

MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS

HEAD 36 —MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS HEA DQUARTERS
[Continuation thereof]

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I will just end off at the last few sentences from lunch
time. T he current account budget for the Human R esources section 3613 as seen on page B -213 is
$606,000 for the fiscal year 2017/18.
Mr. Chairman, Architect Design , Programme
3614 (as we continue, Mr. Chairman), the objective of
the Architect Design, Programme 3614, is to deliver
architectural design support for Government’s capital development projects in a professional, fiscally pr udent, and timely manner. Further, it provides opport unities for Bermudian graduates in architecture and related disciplines to obtain the necessary experience and training to acquire professional designations in their chosen field. Objectives established are as follows:
• To administer the programme in an effective
and efficient manner, providing all required reporting to senior management within esta blished deadlines.
• To provide all required administrative func-tions for the programme within allocated
budgets.
• To have all programme staff undertake at
least one training and development opportuni-ty each fiscal year.
• Capital project fees less than the percentage
of fees applied by the private sector.


Bermuda House of Assembly The Chairman: Honourable Minister, did you just
want to make reference again to the head s o that ot her colleagues can follow?

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Oh, yes. [Programme]
3614, we are reading from page B- 213, and we are
now on to [cost centre] 46040, Architect and Design.
Also:
• To deliver project architecture design doc umentation within established budgets through
more effective quality management admi nistration.
• To provide all required technical support ser-vices so that architecture design will meet established schedules set by the project management plans.
Projects planned for the 2017/18 fiscal yea r
include for the Architect and Design, Programme 3614, just to remind everyone:
• Design of new additional restroom to be located near the concession area at Horseshoe
Bay.
• Architectural and interior design plans for
Teucer House, Allenhurst Building (Old Hamilton Police Station), 4
thfloor Government A dministration Building, 1st floor of Global House,
and a new EMO/COMOPS facility proposed
for the lower floor of the Dame Lois Browne -
Evans Building.
In addition, the following current projects will
be further advanced in the coming year, are:
• Public Works Quarry Master Plan;
• Public Works Quarry short -term projects, c oordinated with roof repairs needed there;
• GPO Parcel Post ;
• Registrar General ;
• Lefroy House Care Community minor alter ations ;
• Royal Bermu da Regiment Boat Troop.
Mr. Chairman, it is anticipated that the number
of employees within the Architect and Design section
will be increased by four to have a full complement of seven for the new fiscal year. The increase is related
to the proposed restructuring of the section to have the following positions:
• Chief Architect ;
• Architect ;
• Architectural Technician ;
• Quantity Surveyor ;
• Trainee Quantity Surveyor ;
• Construction/Project Manager ;
• Trainee Architect .
Mr. Chairman, the total budget for the Arch itectur al and Design , programme 3614, for 2017/18
year is $263,000.
Staffing: Mr. Chairman, the budgeted head
count for the Ministry of Public Works Headquarters is 46. This can be seen on page B- 215. The head count has decreased by three for the 2017/18 fiscal y ear.
The decrease is a result of the planned move of tel ephone operators to the Department of Communication and Information, which was discussed under section
3612 earlier today before lunch.
Output Measures : Mr. Chairman, I will summarise the performance measures for the Ministry of
Public Works Headquar ters as seen on pages B -216
and B -217:
Business Unit 46111: The Public Works Saf ety and Health Programme f ocused on the reporting of
work -related incidents, performing internal safety audits and risk assess ments , and also hazard awar eness training in 2016/17. Twelve monthly reports were provided to the management team regarding wor kplace incidents and the associated causal factors. Five sections have completed risk assessments to identify and control hazards within various operational
processes. Three sections within the Ministry received
an internal safety audit and each section has deve loped a corrective action plan to address safety concerns. In addition, 25 hazard awareness training sessions were conducted for employees with a total of 225 employees participating in training in 2016/17.
Business Unit 46115: The telephone maint enance section converged four departments onto
voice/data shared infrastructure during fiscal year 2016/17. They are the Quarry, the Commission of E nquiry, the Cabinet Office, and the Ministry of Transport
headquarters.
Business Unit 46116: The newsletter was
created to increase the communication to all workers. As of today, the Ministry has delivered four newsle tters for 2016/17.
Business Unit 46117: During 2016/17, the
Ministry had a 90 per cent completion rate for performance appraisals and 92 per cent completion rate for
forward job plans.
Business Unit 46118: The Ministry also completed seven Lunch and Learn sessions for the indus-trial staff for the current period. The lunch/breakfast
and learns included Police Thief and Robbery Identif ication ; Community Police on Residential Security ;
Olderhood; Stroke Association; Rent Commissioner ;
and Ghana: A Golden Experience and Personal Saf ety.
Business Unit 46030: The water [debt] redu
ction target for 2016/17 of 10 per cent was not met .
Every effort will be made in 2017/18 to get the water debt reduced by 10 per cent. The production and di stribution of operational and capital reports target of 100 per cent was not met, the actual target was
97 per cent; for 2017/18 we are aiming to meet the
100 per cent target.
Moving on to Capital Devel opment -
Headquarters on page C -6, Mr. Chairman, I now wish
to provide Members of this Honourable House with a
summary of the status of the major capital projects
being managed by the Ministry of Public Works –
1222 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Headquarters. The overall 2017/18 Capital Expend iture Plan for the Public Works Headquarters is
$2,350,000. Details are found on page C -6 of the
Capital Acc ounts Estimates and the capital developments include cost centres :
• Minor works , 75050 —$100,000;
• Miscellaneous small projects , 75053—
$250,000;
• Office relocations /alterations , 75099—
$1,500,000;
• Beach bathrooms , 7505— $500,000.
Some of you would know about, for instance,
some beach bathrooms, now that we have a beach initiative through the Tourism Authority and Parks, we are looking to get bathrooms to many of our major
public beaches.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my presentation
for the Ministry of Public Works Headquarters
Head 36, and I now turn to Head 49, the Department
of Land Valuation. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

HEAD 49 —DEPARTMENT OF LAND VALUATION

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: You can find that on page
B-218 through to page B- 220 in the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure Book .
Mr. Chairman, it gives me great pleasure to
present the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for
fiscal year 2017/18 for Head 49, the Department of Land Valuation.
Mission Statement is: The Department of
Land Valuation operates under the Land Valuation and Tax Act 1967 and is responsible for maintaining
an up- to-date and accurate valuation list of all properties on the Island for land taxation purposes, including
the quinquennial or five- yearly revaluation of all properties and pro viding accurate and timely valuation advice to other government departments.
The department’s work ethic, culture, and
expertise are aptly summarised in their maxim “We value Bermuda.” Thus, the Land Valuation Depar tment strives to be a model of appraisal and asses sment administration with a reputation for delivering impartial, accurate, and understandable assessments
that exceed the statutory requirements, guidelines,
and international best practices. To this end, the d epartment continues to meet its mission through:
• collecting and analysing information pertinent
to residential, commercial, and tourist property
assessments for maintaining the Valuation List;
• harnessing information technology and int egrating mapping and mass appraisal tec hniques to continually improve the accuracy of appraisals and efficiencies;
• regularly auditing appraisals to ensure compliance with legislation, accuracy, and agreed
service level agreements are met; • providing a Land Valuation website to allow
the public continuous access to the Valuation
List and information on assessments;
• training and developing staff and adhering to best practices in statutory appraisals and a dministration;
• improving customer service by conducting monthly customer feedback surveys, regularly
updating the website and disseminating i nformation on the department, its practices and procedures via information leaflets;
• maintaining a paperless office for environmental benefits and more efficient use of office
space.
Under programme 4901, Valuation Service,
Mr. Chairman, the Land Valuation Department has the single valuation service programme 4901 with the ac-companying cost centre of 59080, as shown on page B-218 of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure
[Book ]. The single valuation programme comprises
three primary areas: maintenance of the valuation list;
appraisal service; and revaluation.
Employee Numbers: Mr. Chairman, there has
been no increase in the number of civil service posts
in the Land Valuation Department, as seen on page B-219, as eight full -time positions have been budge ted for fiscal year 2017/18. There is presently one v acancy in the department, comprising the Assistant Director. It is anticipated that this essential position, which has been categorised as “hard to fill with quali-fied Bermudians” will be filled by during the 2017/18 fiscal year. Cabinet approval has already been s ecured for recruitment and the position was advertised
earlier this year.
Current Account Expenditure 2016/17 versus
2017/18: Original estimate 2016/17, $795,000; est imate 2017/18, $791,000. That is a decrease of
$4,000, a slight 1 per cent. Mr. Chairman, the current
account expenditure estimates for Head 49, the Land
Valuation Department, is found on page B -219 of the
Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure Book. A total of $791,000 has been allocated to the Land Valuation
Department for fiscal year 2017/18. This allocation represents a decrease of $4,000, or a 1 per cent r eduction compared to 2016/17.
Budget Variances: Mr. Chairman, the conti nuance of cost saving measures in fiscal year 2017/18, demands that each and every Government Ministry and department be financially prudent and creative in the provision of their mandates and services. The
Land Valuation Department is no exception and r emains committed to answering the call to dig deep.
This is evident in their 2017/18 current account expenditure estimates. To this end, all expenses, other than the absolute minimum to operate the department,
have been cut. As such, the department has no vehicles, no Government credit cards, no overseas travel funds, no facsimile line or cellular phones.


Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Chairman, the only increase in expenditures for the department is salaries, as the one vacant
position has been budgeted for the whole of fiscal year 2017/18. Salaries constitute the bulk of the d epartment’s expenditure, and the allocated $734,000 equates to 93 per cent of the department’s total expenditures. You can see they are pretty lean there.
Mr. Chairman, our people are our best r esource, and as a 21
st century organisation we are
committed to the investment in and development of our key resource, that is, our employees. The profes-sional members of staff within the Land Valuation D epartment are all members of the Royal Institution of
Chartered Surveyors and are required to undertake a
minimum of 20 continuous professional development hours annually. Unfortunately, workshops and confer-ences specialising in statutory valuations are virtually non-existent on the Island and thus online web classes are an essential tool and a cost -effective medium
for keeping abreast of current developments in the specialist field of valuations for taxation purposes.
The one thousand dollars requested for trai ning will cover the costs of the online web classes, and remains the same to that allocated in 2016/17.
Mr. Chairman, travel expenditure remains the
same at $2,000 and covers the reimbursement for mileage costs for the department’s field workers, the valuation survey technicians, in the performance of their duties, which includes the inspection of proper-ties across the Island for land taxation purposes. Mr.
Chairman, funds for Advertising and Promotion have been eliminated for fiscal year 2017/18 when com-pared to the allocation of $4,000 in fiscal year 2016/17. As aforementioned, the one vacant position in the department was advertised earlier this year.
Professional Services is estimated to be
$30,000 for fiscal year 2017/18. This includes pa yments to the members of the Land Valuation Appeal Tribunal, subscription fees for the professional me mbers of staff, and funds to cover legal advice for objection and court cases. Thirty thousand dollars repr esents a 17 per cent expenditure decrease in Professional Services compared to the $36,000 that was allocated in fiscal year 2016/17.
Mr. Chairman, expenditures of $18,000 for
Repair and Maintenance remain the same as that of fiscal year 2016/17. The expenditure covers the var ious maintenance agreements for items such as the department’s printer, digital drawing software, hosting of the online search facility on its website. Materials and Supplies, which is estimated at $6,000, see a d ecrease of 14 per cent. This expenditure reduction r elates to reduced operational costs and the continuing
financial prudence by the Land Valuation Department.
Mr. Chairman, revenue for the 2017/18 fiscal
year can be found on page B- 219 and is estimated at
$6,000 for Land Valuation Appeal Tribunal hearing
fees, the same as fiscal year 2016/17. The current tribunal hearing fee was increased last year and is due to increase again in fiscal year 2018/19 as part of
the biennial increase in Government fees.
Capital Acquisitions: Mr. Chairman, once
again, the department does not have any funds all ocated for capital acquisitions for fiscal year 2017/18.
Major Achievements 2016/17: Mr. Chairman,
the Department of Land Valuation has once again had an extremely busy and challenging year as it is still in
the revaluation phase of its business lifecycle. Despite numerous constraints and obstacles, the department met the demands placed upon it without hesitation.
The 2015 Revaluation Project: The depar tment’s statutory mandate includes the revaluation of
all properties in Bermuda for land taxation purposes
approximately every five years. The department con-ducted its ninth Island- wide reva luation in 2015, with
the 2015 Draft Valuation List coming into effect for land taxation purposes on 1
st January 2016. All taxpayers then had six months, which concluded on 30th
June 2016, in which to make a formal objection if they believed that their entry in the 2015 Draft Valuation List was incorrect.
Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to report that of
the 35,800- plus assessments, the department r eceived a record low of 30 objections to the 2015 Draft Valuation List —which is pretty phenomenal when you
think about it. This is less than 1 per cent of the assessments and is a testament to the veracity and ac-curacy of the assessments in the Valuation List and the work of the Land Valuation Department in analy sing the collected rental data and educating the public about the revaluation, the new assessments, and their right of objection. I remember last year during the budgetary period we had quite a bit of discussion co ncerning this year. So it is good to see that it is down to 1 per cent.
Bursary Student s: Mr. Chairman, the work of
the Land Valuation Department is a specialist and unique field, particularly valuations for statutory pur-poses. Unfortunately, it is a discipline that is unknown and unfamiliar to most students in Bermuda. Thus, the
department continues to make a concerted effort pr omoting valuation surveying in schools and the Berm uda College at career fairs, partaking in Government’s
summer employment programme for returning univer-sity students, and encouraging the Bermudian staff to become professionally qualified, to name just a few
initiatives.
Mr. Chairman, the Public Service Bursary
Award Scheme is also one such vehicle of highlighting
the valuation surveying discipline to young Bermudi-ans. Thus, it gives me great joy to announce that Ms. Andesha Busby was awarded one of the 2016/17
Public Service Bursary Awards in relation to property
valuations and appraisals. Ms. Busby is an extremely motivated, focused, and driven young Bermudian woman and commenced her studies last October at the University of Reading, England in the Bachelor of
Science Real Estate three -year programme, with an
1224 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly additional year of study leading to a Master of Science
and Diploma in Urban Planning and Development.
Ms. Busby is keen to learn all aspects of the
real estate market, including property valuations, and
will join the Land Valuation Department as the trainee
valuer in 2020, following successful completion of her studies abroad. As the trainee valuer, Ms. Busby will
obtain the requisite experience in order for her to attain the professional designation and post qualification
experience needed to ensure her seamless transition from that of trainee to valuer within the department.
Investment in our people is a priority and a
shortage of key skills will impair the growth pot ential,
relevance, and sustainability of any organis ation.
Thus, it is the aim of the director to Bermudianise the entire Land Valuation Department, particularly the pr ofessional positions. Currently, 71 per cent of the pos itions are filled with Bermudians. However, this needs to be 100 per cent with able, qualified and skilled
Bermudians in top management positions. The appointment of Ms. Busby is the start to attaining this goal.
Performance Measures 2016/17: Mr. Chai rman, despite being under -staffed for the majority of
fiscal year 2016/17, the achievements of the Land Valuation Department are indeed notable. The Per-formance Measures for the department can be found on page B -220, and I would like to speak to these
noteworthy achievements now.
Maintenance of the land valuation list: Mr.
Chairman, the mandated function of maintaining the valuation list utilises the majority of the department’s resources. This work entails inspecting, reassessing, and making a corresponding alteration to the valuation list o n any residential, commercial, or tourist property
that is built, altered, or demolished. At year end, there
were a total of 35,909 units in the valuation list with a
combined assessed rental value of approximately $1.3 billion.
A total of 600 Maintenance of the List cases
were completed by the department by year end, r esulting in 643 proposals to amend the valuation list. The cases were generated from a combination of cer-tificates of completion and occupancy from the Plan-ning Department, enquiries from the public, and cases generated internally by the department. Mr. Chairman, the department strives to amend the valuation list for
all changes within 20 working days of receipt, and
54 per cent of the cases completed met this target. Unfortunately, the vacancy of the Assistant Director -
Revaluation post has impacted this section, coupled with the resources needed for dealing with the objec-tions to the 2015 Draft Valuation List.
Appraisal Services: Mr. Chairman, the Stamp
Duty section provides valuations for the Tax Commi ssioner and Registrar of the Supreme Court for volu ntary conveyances of property and probate purposes respectively, to ensure that the correct amount of stamp duty is levied on each document. A total of 66 probate cases were received from the Registrar of the
Supreme Court during the year. All 66 cases were
completed and returned within the performance target of 10 working days. Mr. Chairman, equally impressive, the 162 stamp duty cases received from the Tax Commissioner for the year were all reported within 20 working days of receipt.
The Land Valuation Department also pr ovides advice to the Immigration Department in relation to sales of property to restricted persons. The depar tment reviews the purchase price, on which the gov-ernment licence fee is calculated, to determine if it can be accepted as an open market value of the property.
During the year, 29 cases were received from the I mmigration Department in respect of sales of properties to restricted persons. All cases were completed and returned within the performance target of five working days. Additionally, the department provides appraisal
advice to other government departments and received
one request from the Licensing and Insolvency Div ision of the Registrar of Companies. The appraisal was
provided within the service target of 10 working days.
The achievement of these targets is quite
impressive when one reflects on the small size of the Land Valuation Department and the staff shortages. It
speaks to the dedication and hard work of the Land
Valuation team and they should be acknowledged and commended.
Initiatives for the forthcoming year 2017/18:
Mr. Chairman, as previously highlighted, the 2015
Draft Valuation List came into effect on 1
st January
2016. All taxpayers had six months, that is, until [30th]
June 2016 to lodge an objection with the Department
of Land Valuation if they felt aggrieved with their new annual rental value. Following the closure of the ob-jection period, the department turned its focus to dea ling with the objections in a timely and expeditious manner, which will no doubt include presentations before the Land Valuation Appeal Tribunal.
To date, the department has completed 18 of
the 30 objections received, or 60 per cent, whilst also
maintaining the 2015 valuation list for changes to
properties. It should be highlighted that the 12 out-standing objections relate to six properties, as taxpa yers submitted more than one objection to multiple val-uation units at the same property, [e.g.] an objection submitted to both the main house and the apartment
at the same property. The department is pleased to
report that discussions have commenced with all six objectors and priority for fiscal year 2017/18 is the completion of the remaining objections.
Mr. Chairman, properties are altered on a
daily basis and the maintenance of the confirmed
2015 valuation list will also remain a priority of the department. For fiscal year 2017/18, the department will not [only] strive to meet its performance targets, but continue to be proactive with maintenance of the Val-uation List work, thereby generating additional rev eBermuda House of Assembly nue for government. This highlights the need for additional resources for this small department.
Providing a high level of service to the Tax
Commissioner and the Registrar of the Supreme
Court for stamp duty appraisals and probate purposes will continue to be a priority of the department. The department will continue to provide advice to the department of Immigration and other government departments, such as the Estates Section of the D epartment of Public Lands and Buildings and on prop-erty and appraisal matters as required and within agreed service targets.
As I conclude my presentation of the Est imates of Expenditure and Revenues for the Depar tment of Land Valuation, Head 49, I would like to draw
your attention to a few, often overlooked facts. The
department, which currently has only seven members of staff , had the smallest current account expenditure
in the whole of Government for fiscal year 2016/17
and the same is true for the upcoming fiscal year
2017/18.
The commitment and dedication of the Land
Valuation team is to be applauded. Their unceasing hard work is indirectly responsible for raising land tax
revenue of $63,200,000, or 6.3 per cent of Gover nment’s estimated revenue for fiscal year 2017/18
based on the assessments in the 2015 Valuation List that are maintained by the Land Valuation Depar tment.
Land tax, which represents Government’s
fourth largest direct revenue stream behind Customs duty, Payroll tax, and International Companies fees, continues to remain a secure revenue stream due to the efforts of the department in maintaining an up- todate and accurate valuation list. I know that the F inance Minister may give us a few more dollars coming
up for this particular area. They are on such a tight
budget.
[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Additionally, approximately
another $2.5 million is projected to be raised by stamp
duty levied on the appraisals provided by the Land Valuation Department to the Tax Commissioner for
voluntary conveyances of properties and the Registrar of the Supreme Court for probate purposes.
I am sure you will appreciate the relatively
low cost of the Land Valuation Department when compared to the significant revenue generated by the
maintenance of this list and appraisal services it pr ovides. However, much more can be achieved with a dequate resources for this department.
Mr. Chairman, there is an old African proverb
which says: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” (We have heard that be-fore.) Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to
thank Ms. Diane Elliott, Director, and her Land Valu ation team who “go far together” as a result of their steadfastness, tenacity, and perseverance. I know
that Ms. Elliott is probably listening on the airwaves.
She is home sick right now, which is rather odd, be-cause I see her every single day. So we want to wish her well. Often theirs is a thankless task, yet they qui-etly, efficiently, and effectively get the job done wit hout fear or favour.
The department provides appraisal advice to
other government departments, acting as Gover nment’s watch dog and ensuring that stamp duties and Immigration licence fees are based on correct values. Additionally, they vigorously defend the assessments in the valuation list when challenged.
Most importantly, the Land Valuation D epartment maintains our Land Valuation List, which is the concrete bedrock underpinning Bermuda’s land taxation regime. Since the first valuation list was pr oduced in 1967, there have been nine successive I sland-wide revaluations undertaken by the Land Valuation Department, with the most recent one completed in 2015 and the production of the 2015 Draft Valuation List.
Mr. Chairman, July 2017 is a milestone for
the Land Valuation Department, as this will mark 50
years of maintaining an up -to-date and accurate val uation list per the requirements of the Land Valuation
and Tax Act 1967. The department continues to grow from strength to strength, with each successful reval-uation, and is a pivotal component of our civil service and taxation system. I am confident that the Land
Valuation Department, with their continued financial
prudence, will strive to fulfill their statutory mandate and service provisions with the Budget allocations for fiscal year 2017/18.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

HEAD 53 —BERMUDA HOUSING CORPORATION

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: I now move on to Head 53,
Bermuda Housing Corporation. As I mentioned earlier,
it is headed by Major Dill. I have found that Major Dill
is extremely competent in his role and with his team. It
is one of the areas that the PS and I have very little
. . . we do not really have to have much interaction
with the reports that we get on a regular basis. They are doing a fantastic job in service to the Island of Bermuda. So, the Housing Corporation, Head 53 is
found on page B -221 of the Estimates of Revenue
and Expenditure Book .
The Mission Statement of the Bermuda Housing Corporation is: “To provide accessibility to adequate, affordable housing and promote independent
living to enhance the quality of life in Bermuda.”
The Vision [ Statement of the Bermuda Housing Corporation] is: “Every Bermudian will reside in an
adequate and safe environment .”
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Housing Corpor ation [BHC] page is really just one page. But I do want to highlight some of the fantastic work that has conti n1226 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ued with this administration from the prior administr ation, some of the good things they have done.
Bermuda Housing Corporation’s grant alloc ation of $6,050,000 represents no change from the current fiscal year. The allocated grant will be used to subsi dise the annual cost of repairs, normal maint enance of properties, support services for families and
individuals , and rental assistance via Rent Geared to
Income to clients of the Corporation, and for the continuation of the Hustle Truck Program me. And I will be
talking about that in just a little bit. But I do want to say
(and I mentioned it last year in the Budget Debate) that the Hustle Truck programme is an initiative by the
former administration, the PLP administration. And it has been extremely successful, I must say . As we
have talked to Major Dill about the fantastic work that they do, I guess you cannot really say enough about the programme, but we will read a little more about
some of what they do so the public understands how
they are working to get people back into mainstream
jobs through the Hustle Truck programme.
In addition to the operating assistance grant ,
the BHC is budget ed to receive a capital grant of
$4,800,000 for 2017/18 , which is the same amount
allocated for the previous year. The Capital Grant will
be used to pay for the interest and principal amounts due on the Corporation’s outstanding bank loan of $33,000,000. There are no other changes between
the 2016/17 and the 2017/18 budgets.
Mr. Chairman, the primary functions of the
Bermuda Housing Corporation are to provide housing in Bermuda, to promote home ownership, to undertake and carry out housing schemes, and to under-take such other functions in connection with housing as the Minister responsible for housing may require.
The Bermuda Housing Corporation continues
to provide methods for Bermudians to gain entry into the housing market, whether it is by way of becoming first time home owners or renting affordable units that are available. With the challenges brought about by the past financial and economic downturn, the Corporation has not shirked its duties to try to find solutions
to the housing problems affecting Bermuda. Again, I
want to say that I have watched Major Dill go through some of these financial challenges; just a well done
job in balancing the books and in meting out his man-date.
The Corporation continues to strive to provide
adequate, achievable, and affordable housing which
will benefit the residents of the Islands of Bermuda. This year, the Corporation engaged in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with Clarien Bank to assist hardworking Bermudians to obtain their first home. The roll
out of the HomeStart plan resulted in over 250 inqui ries and at least five qualified families in contract to
purchase their own homes for the first time within the
first six weeks of this launch, which is, again phenomenal and great work, knowing that owning their home in Bermuda is a dream that we all want to see for our
people and our young ones coming along.
The initiative has been very successful in
providing properties available for sale at affordable levels of purchase. In some cases, the sale prices of properties have been significantly reduced in return for sweat equity to bring the properties back to a
healthy , habitable state— which is quite great, again .
Many of the properties on offer were previously vacant
and derelict and it is a welcome relief to see previous-ly derelict units come back into vibrant life. Again, I tip
my hat to the Corporation.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Housing Corpor ation administers a number of programmes in pursuit of its mission including: Managing and leasing a large
inventory of properties comprising houses, apar tments , and building blocks. Some of these properties
are owned by the Corporation and others are leased from their owners. Mr. Chairman, the BHC manages
530 gov ernment and private sector residential units
Island- wide, and 7 transitional homes comprising of
182 rooms. The BHC also manages and controls the Hustle Truck program me (acronym for Helping the
Unemployed Sustain Themselves with Limited Employment ), which has been in successful operation
since 2007. This year marks the 10
th anniversary of
the program me and celebratory events are planned to
mark this milestone by the current Hustle Truck wor kers themselves. Again, kudos to this here and for the
brainstorm and idea from the former administration getting this done.
Mr. Chairman, it was Thursday April 5
th, 2007 ,
that the Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) brought
the Hustle program me to birth by contracting eight
young men and women of Middletown to paint over graffiti on walls of BHC’s property in Middletown. I am
going to have to get Major Dill to help us out with
some graffiti I keep seeing all of a sudden again.

Minister, I expect you will be seeing a
lot more graffiti in the coming months.
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Unfortunately. Yes, unfortunately.
It was very encouraging to see the young men
and women take ownership of their work , and, to date,
the graffiti has not reappeared in the area. Since then, the Corporation, through the Hustle Truck Pr ogram me, has helped hundreds of Bermudians in need
with short term, temporary employment and assisted
them with finding full -time jobs. In addition, the pr ogram me has provided much valued assistance to our
seniors, community groups, churches and schools and neighbourhoods.
The Corporation continues to find ways to r educe ex penses and generate positive cash flows.
Through efficient use of current staffing levels, redi stributi on of duties, retraining and in- house seminars,
the Corporation has been able to use available staff


Bermuda House of Assembly members to ensure daily operations are performed to
expectations , and in some cases exceeding expected
levels. The Corporation also works with local banks to
help assist Bermudian clients to retain their homes by advising on best steps to manage mortgage payments when they are under threat.
Mr. Chairman, the BHC is in the process of
completing a joint venture with an overseas tourism developer to transform the Grand Atlantic units into a new concept of a tourism condo hotel. This will be a welcome addition to the present tourism units on offer to our valued repeat and first time tourists visiting the Island.
The Bermuda Housing Corporation continues
to have empathy with many of its clients who have suffered a decline in their income through the misfor-tune of lost jobs or reduced work hours. The Corpor ation continuously meets with clients to help them nav igate through these difficult social, economic , and f inancial times. I want to make sure this is very clear to everyone, the Corporation does not evict clients for an
inability to pay rent . It does not. But rat her, when the
difficult decisions are made to evict, it is because of clients’ irresponsible or unhealthy behaviour after multiple meetings, cautions and intervention programmes
have already taken place. And I have personally
watched Major Dill as he has had many, many issues, and the Opposition MPs calling for situations that needed intervention. I am gl ad to say that logic and
common sense have always prevailed with the Housing Corporation as there are many situations that are
still aggrieving the folks out there. They seem to have
always found a way, so . . .
Rent Geared to Income: Mr. Chairman, t he
Rent Geared to Income (RGI) initiative gives real relief to clients by assisting them with requested payment of
only 25 per cent of their combined household income
to be paid to the Corporation as rent, regardless of
employment status of family members. Part of this program me includes a mandatory 10 per cent savings
portion of the monthly household income to guide cl ients into positive saving habits. The program me is
presently being reviewed for efficiencies as we move along with it.
Accomplishments and ongoing projects for
2017 /18: Transitional Housing. Mr. Chairman, the
BHC continues to operate seven rooming or trans itional houses that contain a total of approx imately 200
beds. The various houses are located throughout the Island and provide a safe home for BHC clients. The rooming houses cater to households that need imm ediate, safe, or emergency accommodation. The Su pport Services Department continues to hold regular
rooming house meetings to listen to concerns and
address complaints from the residents of the facilities.
The satellite offices at the largest rooming
houses at Southside are charged with regular meet-ings with clients who have fallen on hard times. The
support services given include economic, social and psychological guidance to occupants to assist them in
graduating out of the facility into more traditional Bermuda living. Since its inception in 2007, 360 families
have transferred out of the rooming house facilities.
Gulfstream Multi -unit Rooming Housing is
comprised of 78 rooms and currently houses 52 fam ilies from various backgrounds. Some families have
adjoining rooms to ensure adequate privacy for parents and children. The Gulfstream residents are a ppreciative of the opportunity and regular house meet-ings are held to listen to and allay concerns before they become problematic to society. Unfortunately, some clients have not been compliant with meeting
requests to discuss issues and only react when given
ultimatums of penalties. But the Housing Corporation will continue to work with them.
Langley House, Southside, St. David’s : Building 632, known as Langley House, is a 61 -rooming
house facility, located at Southside, St. David’s. The
rooming house is used specifically to house men in
need of affordable, safe accommodation. There are currently 56 men residing in the rooming house. The Langley House has recently gone through major reno-vations to bring it up to code and ensure that our most
vulnerable men have a safe and comfortable home in
which to reside. The Corporation has qualified social
workers working out of the satellite offices including a former police officer to monitor and correct anti- social
behaviours.
Harmony Club: Mr. Chairman, the Harm ony
Club property has been transfigured to form the Hus-tle Truck offices and provides accommodation for po-lice and other specialised personnel. The facility is
also a training ground for talented sporting youth groups who have access to a multipurpose gym and tennis courts.
BHC staff members have recently engaged in
a 90- day wellness and fitness challenge to help r educe the Island- wide concern of obesity in the Island.
Staff members have actively engaged in friendly rival-ry to help assist in health matters and reduce costs of
health premiums.
The Bermuda Housing Corporation’s head office is located at the IAS Park Building (east entrance )
44 Church Street , in the City of Hamilton, and presently consists of 41 personnel. Of that total, four Hustle
Truck members operate from office space at the Harmony Club and four staff members under the Support
Services Department direction operate off -site at a
satellite office in the Southside complex. The current
structure of BHC consists of seven departments : Project Management 2; Property Operations 10; Finance,
Collections and Home Ownership Services 8; Support
Services 10; Administration 5; Human Resources 2;
Hustle Truck 4.
Moving on to Project Management : The Projects department consisting of two employees assists
with advice regarding major repair work necessary on
existing buildings owned by the Corporation to ensure
1228 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly longevity of the Corporation’s assets. The department
has recently been restructured with the project managers overseeing the multiple dwellings that c ome
under the BHC remit to ensure effective and cost co nscious maintenance programmes keep the units in safe and healthy states.
The Property Operations Department is r esponsible for the maintenance of BHC’s housing stock of approximately 700 units including the rooming houses Island- wide. The department’s responsibilities
include the regular maintenance of buildings under the control of BHC and providing advice and assistance to clients of BHC on housing related matters. The department is comprised of three property officers, six
maintenance officers, and one administrative assi stant. The department conducts regular maintenance
checks of buildings under the management of the Corporation and is responsible for small maintenance works along with coordinating more difficult tasks with
trusted and able contractors.
During the 2016/17 year , the property oper ations department completed a total of 2,980 maint enance requests, an increase of 24 requests over the
previous year. The requests for maintenance that this
capable department handles are wide ranging. They
tackle everything from plumbing, electrical, water,
sewage, and roof repairs, to landscaping, painting, flooring, and major renovations.
The Finance Department has a total staff of
nine employees, consisting of one finance manager,
and two assistant finance managers, one responsible for reporting, and the other for IT, one accounts s upervisor, one finance officer, one junior finance officer, one collections officer, and one cashier. The Finance
department carefully monitors the Corporations spend ing and compliance, ensuring that Policies and
Procedures are adhered to and that clients act r esponsibly in paying their bills in a timely manner. The Finance Department fields questions of a financial nature, provides mortgage advice, and assists clients
with understanding their financial obligations to the
Corporation.
The Support Services Department is the department responsible for ensuring that adequate housing is found for BHC clients , and for regular inspections of BHC housing inventory. The department consists of ten persons, one manager, one rentals case
worker, two transitional house case workers, two ju nior transitional house case workers, three rental i nspectors , and one intake officer. There is a current
wait list for BHC accommodation of 162 clients , down
by approximately 100 clients from last year. This is as
a result of more accommodation becoming available
and rental price reductions in the open mar ketplace. It
is important to note that the wait list consists of appl icants seeking more adequate accommodation t han
where they presently reside—for example, not enough
room, or too much room, market rent too expensive, health and safety reasons including threats from neighbours and or domestic problems , or sim ply pe ople wanting a different location in which to reside.
The BHC logs requests and seeks to help cl ients via a weighted need register. In 2016, the Sup-port Services Department successfully housed 125 new families who were desperate for adequate ac-commo dation. The Support Services Department offers a myriad of services to clients that include money management, housekeeping, social and behavioral
problem eradication, child care, and health and safety
guidance. In addition the department offers advice on
support from other agencies that stand ready to assist
clients who are in need of professional counseling.
The department is also a member of the
Cross Ministries Intervention Team known as CMIT. The CMIT program me is used to assist at -risk families
in managing their daily lives including budgeting, learning acceptable social skills, job placement , and
more responsible behaviors.
The Administration Department consists of the
General Manager, one executive assistant, one recep-tionist , and two office assistants.
The Human Resource Department has a total
staff of two. The HR Department ensures that staff
members have the required skills to efficiently and
successfully carry out their daily roles as the Corpor ation ensures employee welfare and provides mentor-ing and training services.
Helping Unemployed Sustain Themselves
With Limited Employment (Hustle Truck) : The Hustle
Truck program me continues to be of valuable assi stance to unemployed persons who actively seek work. The Hustle Truck Runs out of the Harmony Club and caters to 20 temporary employees per week. The Hustle Truck continues to be of valuable assistance to
Bermuda with the ability to adjust to the needs of the
community as they arise. The current cost of the Hus-tle Truck program me is approximately $1,000,000 per
year, 20 people per week for up to three months total
per year, taking one week off each month to seek
regular employment. At this level the Corporation is
able to rotate through approximately 260 different
people per year. The program me is available for any
unemployed Bermudian.
At present, there are approximately 25 people
on the wait list daily who are advised to return the fol-lowing day for an opportunity to work. The H ustle
Truck Office keeps a data base of information on the
unemployed an d their skillsets for the specific purpose
of making a good fit when partnering with employers. The Hustle Truck office regularly receives requests from employers for qualified and suitable potential employees . Upon receipt of requests the database is
chec ked, and those persons who have the required
qualifications are sent on interviews in the hopes of achieving full -time traditional employment.
Mr. Chairman, in addition the Hustle truck has
fundamental ly replaced the bulk waste pickup section
that was closed in the Ministry of Public Works by colBermuda House of Assembly lecting and cleaning neighborhoods of illegally
dumped bulk waste items such as mattresses, sofas,
furniture, and appliances on a weekly basis. And I do
want to say thank you again to the Hustle Truck team for that. As you know, tipping has become a major
problem in Bermuda.
It is worthy to note that seven former me mbers were successful in gaining fulltime employment and several members were given guidance on starting their own businesses as entrepreneurs. The Hustl e
Truck continues the partnership with the Department of Corrections in providing temporary employment to inmates who are seeking parole or are about to be
released from the Corrections facility. The officers l iaise with senior corrections officers and com mit to
temporarily employ qualified inmates to assist the i nmates in gaining meaningful legal workplace exper ience.
Mr. Chairman, the Bermuda Housing Corpor ation has had multiple challenges this year, and in ev ery instance they have risen to the task to ensure that Bermudians have adequate, safe, affordable housing.
In closing, I would like to once again thank the
Board of Directors and the management and staff of
the Bermuda Housing Corporation for their past services and for the fine work that Major Dill has done
over the seven years that I have been in the Ministry.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

HEAD 81 —DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC LANDS AND
BUILDINGS

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Mr. Chairman, Department
of Public Lands and Buildings, found on pages B -222
through B -224.
Mr. Chairman, the Mission Statement: It is the
responsibility of the Department of Public Lands and
Buildings to: “Efficiently manage the Government property portfolio to enable the delivery of effective public services.”
Mr. Chairman, the Department of Public
Lands and Buildings is responsible for managing the Government estate of over 2,000 acres and some 751 buildings. The land and buildings uses are diverse and range from arable lands to a zoo, with all manner
of land and building use in between.
The department provides a critical support
role to ministries and departments to ensure that their real estate needs are met in order for them to provide services to the public. Without the real estate there are no public services. This is quite a responsibility.
Looking to the budget : Mr. Chairman, the total
budget allocated to the Department of Public Lands
and Buildings is $19,641,000 for fiscal year 2017/18,
as compared with $20,799,000 for fiscal year 2016/17. This represents a decrease of $1,158,000, or 6 per
cent, as seen on page B -222. The decrease reflects
the Governments drive to reduce operational costs and make savings. Mr. Chairman, the total number of staff or
FTEs for the department has decreased from an origi-nal estimate of 161 in budget year 201 6/17 to a r evised estimate of 138 for the same year to 155 for
budget year 2017/18.
Mr. Chairman, the reason for the revision
down of 23 FTEs in 2016/17 fiscal year was as a r esult of posts becoming vacant either through retir ement, contract officers contracts coming to an end,
and the unfortunate passing of three staff. Six staff took the early retirement package in September 2016 and their posts have been frozen for two years. Of the remaining posts, delays in the recruitment process
meant that the posts were unlikely to be filled by the
financial year end.
Mr. Chairman, recruitment is underway and
the revised FTE for 2017/18 is 155, which reflec ts the
reduction of the six frozen early retirement posts from the original 2016/17 budget. I will highlight thr oughout
my presentation, the four program mes or sections
within the department as well as the plans for the up-coming fiscal year that are designed to meet that r esponsibility. The four program mes under Head 81 are
as follows:
• Administration— 8100
• Buildings —8101
• Estates —8102
• Land Surveys —8103
Mr. Chairman, within the department there are
three main sections, the Buildings, Land Surveys , and
Estates sections. The estates section is responsible for the management of the government estate, the
Buildings section responsible for maintenance and
repair , and the Land Surveys section responsible for
mapping and cadastral surveys. The Administration,
Training and Apprentices program me comprises
mainly the director of the department and the trainees
and apprentices.
Administration, Training and Apprentices ,
8100 , total budget $604,000. The Administration Pr ogram me is split between two cost centres, namely:
91000 Administration, $170,000; 91001 Training and
Apprenticeship $434,000.
The Administration program me objective i s “to
provide administrative support for the Estates and Buildings sections”, and has a budget of $604,000,
split into two cost centres. When compared with the $481,000 allocation during fiscal year 2016/17, this budgeted amount represents an increase of $123,000, or 26 per cent increase.
Mr. Chairman, the Administration cost centre
91000, has a specific budget allocation of $170,000
for fiscal year 2017/18, as compared to the $172,000 for fiscal year 2016/17. This represents a decrease of $2,000, or 1 percent . These savings were made in
office supplies.
Training and Apprentices : Mr. Chairman, the
Training and Apprenticeship, cost centre 91001, has a
budget allocation of $434,000 for 2017/18 fiscal year
1230 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly as opposed to a budget allocation for 2016/17 of
$309,000. This represents an increase of $125,000, or
40 percent. The increase is purely for salaries and the
increase from six FTEs in 2016/17 fiscal year to eight FTEs in fiscal year 2017/18.
Mr. Chairman, the purpose of this program me
is to recruit apprentices and train them for the trades.
In addition, we seek graduates, whether high school
or college, to train as estates and building surveyors. It is also used for training existing staff to gain new skills, hone their existing skills , or become certified on
new equipment or techniques. Examples include courses on asbestos abatement, m ould remediation,
project management, corporate real estate, and facil ity management. The project management course pr ovides staff with a professional qualification that is i nternationally recognis ed.
You will note the commitment that the department and indeed the Ministry has to succession
planning and training, and the department has a structured apprenticeship program me for the trades to e nsure succession planning in this critical area as the backbone of the department is the trades. These pr ogram mes include those pursuing certifications in electronics, carpentry, plumbing, air conditioning at the
Bermuda College. During the existing fiscal year, Mr. Edwin Bashir, a staff member, graduated from the apprentice program me and is now employed as a
qualified plumber. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on successfully completing his
apprenticeship. Two other apprentices are coming into
their final year as electricians and we look forward to their graduation to becoming electricians.
We also offer team building and leadership for
the staff to provide a career path through foreman and superintendent posts with further opportunities for
gaining qualifications that open up senior management posts to those with the aptitude to ascend.
In the Buildings section, Mr. Ch airman, I now
move to programme 8101, Buildings , total budget
$9,187,000. The Buildings p rogram me is split b etween two cost centres, namely: 91002 Services
Management , $1,010,000 ; 91003 Maintenance,
$8,177,000.
Mr. Chairman, the Buildings program me as
seen on page B -222, has a mandate to effectively
manage the maintenance, repair , and minor renov ation of all Government buildings . It is led by the Buil dings Manager, Mr. Stephen Tucker, with a total budget of $9,187,000. When compared with the $9,567,000 allocation during fiscal year 2016/17, this represents a decrease of $380,000, or 4 per cent over the prior
year. This is on top of a 5 per cent reduction between
years 2015/16 and 2016/17.
Mr. Chairman, the Building Maintenance
funds are used for the operational costs associated with the maintenance and repair work to over 751 government -owned buildings including government
schools. The Buildings section employs 130 staff and is also responsible for the preparation for major Government events such as the opening of parliament
and the general election polling stations among ot hers.
Service Management : Mr. Chairman, the Service Management , cost centre 91002, has a s pecific
budget allocation of $1,010,000 for the fiscal year
2017/18. When compared with the $1,071,000 all ocated for the fiscal year 2016/17, this budgeted
amount represents a decrease of $61,000 or 6 percent. This decrease is attributed to the realloc ation of staff. This also reflects the budgeting for a vacant post.
Maintenance: C ost centre 91003 has a speci fic budget allocation of $8,177,000 for the fiscal year 2017/18. This compared with the $8,496,000 alloc ation for the fiscal year 2016/17 year, represents a de-crease of $319,000, or 4 percent . The main reason for
this decrease is the reduction of five FTEs in this pr ogram me. The Building program me total labour force of
full-time employees in both cost centres 91002 and
91003 stands at 130, as opposed to 137 in fiscal year
2016/17. And I spoke earlier to the change in FTEs for
the year for the department. The manpower is spread
across administrative staff, management, and the various work units. By balancing the workforce across all trades, ensures that each work unit has sufficient tradesmen to deal with the various maintenance r equests that the Depot receives on a daily basis.
Mr. Chairman, whilst our in-house workforce
will continue to be the first choice for works, they will continue to be complemented by a wide -ranging
group of private contractors. These contractors pr ovide services such as, general maintenance, painting, asbestos abatement, m ould abatement, plumbing,
cleaning, and fire alarm inspections to name a few.
Some $1,715,000 has been budgeted for 2017/18.
This supports the Government’s ongoing commitment
to provide opportunities for local companies, entr epreneurship, as well as maintain a minimal lean wor kforce to meet our needs.
Mr. Chairman, t he goal is to employ sufficient
staff to carry out the ongoing maintenance of our property portfolio and use private contractors where needed. Owing to the age and obsolescence of many of our buildings, maintenance and improvements put an increasing demand on our limited resources. Ho wever, there is a balance between hiring too many staff and wasting resources and hiring too few staff and
becoming too reliant on contractors for day -to-day
maintenance. It would be a waste of resources to be staffed for every building specialty and potential pr oject. The only time that the balance is severely challenged is after hurricanes when demands on contractors from the private sector often trump our requests.
I am proud of our in- house team , and our
tradesmen are amongst the best on the Island and provide quality work and value for money. The recent replacement of the hurricane damaged roof at the


Bermuda House of Assembly Purvis Primary School in Paget is a great example of
this. And if you have a chance, go down and take a
look. I must say, we have some extremely talented
carpenters. And the work that they do is incredible. I
just saw a picture frame that they put together. I have not seen something like that . . . I mean, the Bermuda
seal is incredible. The detail that these guys went to,
and these are Bermudians. Yes.

[Inaudible interjecti on]
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes. I understand also that
there is intricate work being done inside the Cabinet [building]. Sorry to sidetrack here, but I was shocked
at the detail. You think you need a machine to do this kind of detailed work, and these guys are doing this work. Incredible, incredible work.

[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: And we did. I must say we
hired several more people not too long ago into the
trades, all Bermudians. So, I think one is married to a Bermudian as well. But great work is being done
there.
Mr. Chairman, the Buildings section includes
a com plement of two estate surveyors, who assist
with the inspection of properties and the creation of
schedule of conditions with the goal to improve the planned maintenance program me. As part of this
work, we will also be contracting out some of the con-dition surveys to local firms for key government buil dings including this very House.
The age and condition of our buildings pr ovides a significant challenge to our limited resources, as you have seen over the last year with some of the
challenges that we have had. Prioritising works and a
preventative maintenance program me is key to su ccess in this area and to the property asset manage-ment plan. These surveyors are also responsible for developing the scope of works and tendering out of
major capital projects to the private sector. Once Cabinet has approved the award of the contract, the es-tate surveyors then issue the contracts and project manage the contract through completion.
I am just going to move to Health and Safety :
Mr. Chairman, the Health and Safety of staff . . . and I
do want to spend a little . . . it is a page or so here,
because over the last year we have seen where health and safety has played a major role in some of
the challenges we have had with the buildings. The health and safety of our staff and members of the pub-lic is a priority for the department , and protocols are in
place to address any health and safety concern that are raised. This includes proactive site audits.
One issue that is of concern is the air quality
of buildings. There is an increase in awareness about mould and 2016/17 saw a number of buildings closed
for m ould remediation including this very Chamber. Mould is not new to Bermuda and it isn’t a Bermuda
phenomenon. It is part of the natural environment and is found both indoors and outdoors, year round. Mou ld
thrives in a damp poorly ventilated environment. As many of us have learned the hard way, if you close up
your house in summer and go on holiday for two weeks, you will return to a musty house with visible
mould growth on some surfaces. There is no practical
way to eliminate all mou ld and mou ld spores in the
indoor environment.
Mr. Chairman, the key to preventing mou ld
growth within buildings is by ensuring that they are
well ventilated and moisture levels are kept low. It can
be as simple as opening the windows. Whilst in some
instances the mou ld may be the result of a leak in the
building, unfortunately, in some instances we have found that the occupiers themselves have created the conditions for mould, for example by blocking ventil ation ducts or water spillage on carpet that wasn’t
properly cleaned up. Where we receive reports of
mould, they are investigated by the Health and Safety
officer, the cause identified and fixed, and the mou ld
remediated by a licensed m ould abatement company.
As you know, our Health and Safety Depar tment have actually closed down some of our buildings because of this challenge that we have.
Mr. Chairman, I must say $500,000 is being
budgeted in 2017/18 in capital for air quality improv ements , and I will speak to this later in my speech.
Estates section: I now move to program me
8102 . Estates total budget $9,562,000 ; the Estates
program me is split between three cost cent res, nam ely 91004– Property Asset Management , $3,676,000 ;
91005– Insurance, $5,886,000; 91006– Government
Rentals , zero.
The mandate of the Estates program me is to
effectively manage the government estate, to provide insurance cover on all government buildings , and to
facilitate and secure office and residential accomm odation for government departments as needed. This section is led by the Senior Estates Surveyor, Ms.
Sudell Joseph.
Mr. Chairman, t he Estates section provides
property and land relat ed management service to all
government ministries and departments. This service
includes insurance, acquisition, letting, rental , and
disposal of land and property across the Island. The
section is the custodian of the foreshore and seab ed
and is responsible for licences and leasing of same.
Mr. Chairman, the Property Asset Management , cost centre 91004, together with the Insurance,
cost centre 91005, and Government Rentals , cost
centre 91006, have a total allocation of $9,562,000 for
fiscal year 2017/18 as compared with $10,484,000 for
fiscal 2016/17, as seen on page B -222. This repr esents a decrease of $922,000, or 9 percent. The d ecrease is largely due to recharging the insurance premium to the quangos and other entities that are on the government insura nce policy.
1232 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Chairman, Property Asset Management ,
cost centre 91004, has a total allocation of $3,676,000
for fiscal 2017/18. When compared to the $3,881,000
for fiscal 2016/17, this budgeted amount represents a decrease of $205,000, or 5 percent. The reason for
the decrease is a reduction in FTEs from 14 to 13 and a decrease in the rental of buildings.
Asset Management Plan: Mr. Chairman, th e
core objective for asset management of the Gover nment’s Property Resources is to support the more ef-fective delivery of public services to the community.
After salaries, property is the second highest
cost in providing public services. It therefore has a key
role to play in reducing running costs, creating eff iciencies and savings. This includes reducing the liabi lity for rents paid to the private sector for accommodation, and savings by more efficient use of space in
government accommodation.
Comprehensive and reliable management information is also a fundamental requirement for effective asset planning and management. Accurate and up-to-date information also helps identify opportunities
to improve performance. To this end, I am pleased to report that the Ministry is now in the process of implementing a new comprehensive Public Sector Prop-erty Asset Management System to manage all real
estate owned and leased by the Government. This is
a rather major task that we are taking on. It was part of some of the training that was going on in the intr oduction of this programme. So I think it will be quite
good for us.
Mr. Chairman, Concerto Integrated Software
has been appointed to provide the system which is
tried and tested by over 60 public sector authorities in the UK. This replaces the existing PIMS system, which was a bespoke system developed specifically
for Bermuda Government in 1989. PIMS is still in very
limited use but has served its purpose and is now out-dated and incompatible with current IT software oper-ating systems.
The new Concerto system will be the working
tool for the Department of Lands and Buildings for
property management. It will benefit all government departments with an integrated maintenance work order tracking and reporting system. The system also has a tracking system for condition reports on key buildings plus coordinated planning and control of
capital projects. Set up and data migration commenced in January 2017 and the software is expected
to be active by April 2017. This will take advantage of,
rather than the bulky radios that workers may have in communication, they will be able to use smaller un its
similar to cellphones. It will log when the guys show
up on the site, it will log when the actual aggregate
shows up, it will log when the job is finished or whet her or not it needs additional things. So it is quite de-tailed in its spectrum. It will go to helping us be more
efficient and cost -effective. Mr. Chairman, customer satisfaction with
property resources is a key driver for change to achieve improvements to the end delivery of public services. Property resources can make a difference between good service and poor service delivery. The questions must be asked:
• Are facilities in the right location?
• Are they fit for purpose with a good working
environment for staff?
• Are they used efficiently and well maintained?
To answer these questions, the Estates Se ction carried out a customer satisfaction sur vey in July
2016 polling all heads of departments about how well
their facilities met their operational needs and enabled
them to effectively provide their services to the public. Overall, some 60 per cent were satisfied or very sati sfied that their facilities met the operational needs ;
20 per cent were dissatisfied, and 20 per cent were
unsure. This survey provided vital information for as-set management and where to target resources and expenditure using the new Concerto system.
Mr. Chairman, rationalisation and efficient use
of space for public services continues to be important
across all government accommodation, coupled with
the need to make savings by reducing rents paid to the private sector. The rent r oll for government accommodation for 2017/18 stands at $8,983,000 and has been reduced this year by $91,000, however, there is still scope for further reductions if the real estate market does not change significantly.
To assist with savings in this area, it is pr oposed that where opportunities present themselves,
more efficient space standards be adopted together with the implementation of a flexible, agile working office environment which can potentially reduce space
occupation by 25 to 30 per cent and provide subs equent savings in rents and services. This requires a
change in working practices aligned with each office function, with an assessment of the role of each wor ker and their need for space. With new technology, “hot desks ,” working from home, flexi time, shared meeting
rooms, shared training spaces, shared interview ar eas, reduced or shared file storage can all make signi ficant space and cost savings. This can be achieved whilst improving the working environment for staff. This “new work place” initiative will be applied to the
proposed internal refit of the ground floor of Global
House and future government offices when they are due to be refitted.
Disposal of surplus properties : Mr. Chairman,
following a public tender the old Harrington Sound Post Office has been sold for residential use. Shortly
to come before the House will be the next batch of surplus properties for disposal which will include (and
this is to give an idea of some of the properties that we are looking at and will discuss here in the House as we move forward with these few, I will even take feedback from MPs on some of these properties as to
what they think :


Bermuda House of Assembly • Sound View Cottage, 15 Patience Avenue,
Sandys ;
• Hog Bay Flat Cottage, 2 Elm Lane, Sandys ;
• No 72 Middle Road , Warwick (current ly the
Warwick Community Education Office );
• No 108 Middle Road Paget ( the old Paget
Post Of fice);
• No 23 North Street , a derelict residential site;
• No 1 Schools Drive adjacent to Cedar Park.
Mr. Chairman, it is planned that not only will
the sales of surplus properties generate revenue but
also reduce maintenance costs and provide an ec onomic opportunity. It is estimated that these property
sales by public tender may achieve a return in the r egion of $2,000,000, depending on the responses to
the public tenders. A further batch of surplus proper-ties is under review for disposal and will come before
the House later this year.
Mr. Chairman, the Department of Lands and
Buildings continues to strive to align the public estate
with the Government’s strategic goal and objectives. What properties are needed now and what is required
in the future to provide public services. What sites are critical for capital investment to improve service deli very? Which properties are surplus and can be di sposed of to generate revenue? The 2016 survey of heads of departments also indicated that 56 per cent
of those who responded anticipated that their real estate needs will change in the next five years and the
Department of Lands of Buildings is planning to meet
those changes.
Insurance : Mr. Chairman, I draw your attention to page B -222 and specifically under program me
8102, cost centre 91005, where $5,886,000 has been
budgeted for fiscal year 2017/18 for insurance. This compares with $6,603,000 for the provision of insur-ance coverage for fiscal 2016/17. This represents a decrease of some $717,000, or 11 percent. This r eduction does not reflect a premium reduction which remains the same as last year , but, as I mentioned
earlier , is due to recharging the insurance premium to
the quangos and other entities who are on the go vernment insurance policy. The insurance paid for out of this cost centre includes buildings, marine fleet,
vehicle fleet , and the general public liability coverage.
Insurance settlement : Mr. Chairman, Hurr icane Nicole struck the Island in October of 2016 and government properties suffered some storm damage. The insurance claim for Hurricane Nicole is still being negotiated with the insurer. The insurer has advanced
some of the claim as the final settlement approaches
and it is an ticipated that the final settlement will be
reached by the end of March 2017. Whilst, Hurricanes
Fay and Gonzalo resulted in a claim of some
$25,000,000, it is anticipated that the claim for Nicole will be less than $5,000,000.
Mr. Chairman, Government’s Rental Budget
(cost centre 91006) has no budget allocation for fiscal 2017/18 as for fiscal year 2016/17. This cost centre was used to pay rents and deposits for property from
the private sector for departments that require more
accommodation or where we are renovating their ex-isting space. These costs are now budgeted either by the department themselves or against each project where the move is as a result of works being under-taken. In addition, there are two buildings that are
available and used as swing space for temporary accommodation reducing the need to rent any further temporary space.
Land Survey Management : Mr. Chairman, I
now move to program me 8103, Land Surveys, with
cost centre 91007 on page B -222. This program me
has a budget allocation of $288,000 with three em-ployees or FTEs for fiscal year 2017/18 as compared to a 2016/17 budget of $267,000, again with three
FTEs. This represents an increase of some $21,000, or 8 percent . This is attributable to a paygrade i ncrease for one employee and an increase in software
licence fees.
This section is led by senior land surveyor,
Mr. Sean Patterson with a broad and demanding land surveying responsibility. This team provides traditional and speciali sed land surveying expertise and guidance for the Bermuda Government . For example, they
establish, maintain, and update a national control
monument network across Bermuda, ensuring that private land survey companies have a standardis ed
and internationally compatible coordinate system to utilise; they perform and advise on hydrographic surveying and survey projects pertaining towards the Global Positioning System which includes modeling the gravity field under Bermuda.
Mr. Chairman, a total of 18 individual land
surveying requests have been performed this fis cal
year, equating to 36 per cent of this section ’s total a ccomplishments.
An example of an engineering task is a h ydrographic survey confirming a temporary small ves-sel channel to be used during the America’s Cup tour-nament; cadastral surveys for the airport development
project as well as small plots of Government land for
sale; and topographic surveys pertaining to various road improvement schemes like Lighthouse Hill Road, and other infrastructure projects such as the airport finger solar farm.
Mr. Chairman, the survey section has an i ncreasing demand for mapping products and Geo-graphic Information System (GIS) data. To be able to support the Bermuda Government and the mapping needs, this small team must collect, analys e, quantify ,
and disseminate all types of spatially related data. Examples range from a specific request for all public
road drains and soak -a-ways to be mapped for a
maintenance schedule, to collect sewer system data
for the Town of St. George’s, which is just one dataset
component for a N ational Waste Management Initi ative; to updating previous map datasets with the ne west Topographic Map Data collected in 2012. One ex1234 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ample of updating is the new land reclamation and
building infrastructure layout at the South Basin D evelopment in Dockyard. They also provide advice and
assistance to other government departments to help disseminate this newer data as well as specialis ed
department data.
There is nothing pretty about this type of work;
it is slow , it is tedious, and the demands have been
cons tant this year. Thirty -two government mapping
tasks alone have been accomplished this fiscal year, equating to 64 per cent for this section’s total accomplishments. For example, the justice system alone requested 22 tasks pertaining to increased penalty
zones and major court cases (murders, and things like
that). These cases often require the senior land surveyor to attend court and testify to their validity, a further demand of the section’ s precious time. The D epartment of Public Prosecutions states these map
products contribute significantly towards convictions.
Another example is the airport development
project where GIS was uti lised to map and identify
areas of interest, calculate and adjust boundaries and areas quickly , and to overlay various informat ion la yers for decision- making purposes .
Mr. Chairman, besides the standard surveying
practices and GIS mapping that this small section conducts, they also provide advice and technical knowledge towards much larger and demanding pr ojects. For example, they produced 44 subdivision
plans as part of the Morgan’s Point Act agreement ,
and they are currently producing subdivision plans for the St. Regis development agreement as well.
The Survey Section is looking to increase eff iciency and effectiveness by utilis ing Geographic I nformation System (GIS) based software to reduce processing time and increase the availability across
the government and out into the public. They are currently uploading GIS layers to the Cloud for easier data sharing practices and are currently developing a replacement for the online “Bermuda Maps” web inter-face.
Capital : Mr. Chairman, I now move to the capital expenditure estimates. Total budget $7,948,000.
The program me has five active cost cent res, namely :
• 75112, Major Building Upgrade— $3,000,000 ;
• 75298, Bathrooms upgrade GAB/GPO —
$165,000;
• 75309, All Schools Maintenance— $3,283,000;
• 75330, Allenhurst —$1,000,000;
• 75331, Devon Spring Plant Redevelopment —
$500,000. The capital expenditure estimates for the D epartment of Public Lands and Buildings can be found on page C -6 in the Budget Book] for the fiscal year
2017/18 and totals $7,948,000.
Mr. Chairman, the capital expenditure for the
Major Buildings Upgrade, cost centre 75112, has an
allocation of $3,000,000 for the fiscal year 2017/18.
When compared to the allocation of $2,000,000 for fiscal year2016/17, this represents an increase of $1,000,000, or 50 per cent. The capital expenditure
for the All School Maintenance, cost centre 75309,
has an allocation of $3,283,000. When compared to
the allocation of $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2016/17, this represents an increase over the fiscal year 2016/17 of $1,283,000, or 64 per cent .
Mr. Chairman, that 64 per cent increase in our
capital spend on schools . . .you know that this has
been a major concern as the buildings have become increasingly aged with some of the mould issues that we have had. So in addition to the Education Depar tment increasing its monies towards maintenance and
the likes, we also have moved in to also assist in ensuring that our schools are up to par. In addition, a further $500,000 has been budgeted in 75180 for air quality improvements in government buildings which also includes schools, as you know, in addition to the
mould issues that we were talking about. So in addition to that $1,283,000 increase, 64 per cent, we are
also adding to that $500,000 to help us combat some
of these challenges that we see happening with our buildings, including our schools.
Mr. Chairman, whilst the capital projects for
the 2016/17 fiscal year were br iefly interrupted by Hurricane Nicole, a number of projects were completed or are ongoing. Some of the completed projects include d
installation of new windows and sealing and painting of the exterior of the Government Administration Building in Hamilton wi th contracts totaling $634,000
for this work ; the reinstatement of the Dining Hall Roof
at the Bermuda Regiment Warwick Camp compound for $141,000; and the remediation of the Social Insurance Office within the Government Administration Building and the Supreme Court Registry at 113 Front Street.
Also, t he Sylvia Richardson Care Facility has
been painted at a cost of $160,000, and a contract
has recently been issued for elevator plant upgrades at this facility. As some of us would know, we had
challenges there with the elevators over the last year.
Mr. Chairman, I am happy to report this very
House has received some much needed attention. This aged facility like many other buildings in Berm uda was subject to mould and mildew and was in des-perate need of remediation. This very Chamber has been extensively cleaned and scrubbed by qualified
and certified abatement contractors from top to bottom. And, Mr. Chairman, I am very proud to say that
our very own in- house staff have installed new air -
conditioners in this Chamber to ensure the comfort levels for our honored Members, as well as our guests who come here. In fact, everyone is asking to turn the
air-conditioning off. It’s freezing in here!

[Laughter]



Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: It’s really good to have
them. C ousin, what did you say over there? Are y ou
enjoying it? He’s got a hot flash.

[Laughter]

Minister, I think we want to stay f ocused.
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes. But it is nice to have
this air conditioning. I must admit it is really nice.
Mr. Chairman, the Cabinet Building has been
sealed externally, I want everyone to know this as well, and new windows have been installed as
planned. There were additional internal works which
are near completion such as the remediation of asbestos and moul d in several offices, bringing the electrical infrastructure to code , and the relocation of the
Senate Chamber to this House.
I am proud to say that the work has been
mainly carried out by in- house craftsmen who have
tremendous pride in working on this historic monu-ment , the Cabinet Building. The quality of the work is
second to none, and I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank Mr. Dwayne Caisey and his team for their dedication to this project. I would say to
the Opposition, any of you, if you would like to go
down and see some of the work going on, these are people who probably came along during your time. There is fantastic work going on down there. It is really going to be nice when it is completed and, I think, it
is fitting for the Cab inet Building, because it was much
needed work.
Mr. Chairman, our in- house staff is currently
working with outside contractors to commission a new Munter s dehumidification system for our National Archives as well as a new Vortex fire suppression sy stem for the Archives and the Bermuda Government’s
network infrastructure, both in the basement of the
Government Administration Building . These new sy stems are to replace the old systems which had
reached the end of their service life and are specifical-ly designed to help us regulate the environment in the basement to preserve our national treasures for ge nerations to come. The contracts for this work total $845,668. You would also note that the Government
Administration Building and the post office building
have been redone by local contractors, the roofs
sealed, and even the walls sealed to help with that.
That was a major problem in the basement where w ater was leaking from four floors up down into the ar-chives and causing a major problem.
So, Mr. Chairman, works planned for the fiscal
year 2017/18 will include the continued refurbishment of the Marine and Ports building located along East Broadway. These works began when a serious structural issue was identified and our in- house staff had to
take immediate actio n. Mr. Chairman, the Headquarters of the Parks
Department located within the Botanical Gardens is another facility in our portfolio that is also planned to receive some much needed attention in 2017/18. Man, it was really bad down there. Reports of poor indoor air quality and mou ld has prompted the Parks
staff to vacate the building, and the team from Public
Works Lands and Buildings have formulated a plan to
address these issues.
Mr. Chairman, the capital expenditure for the
proposed bathroom upgrades at the Government A dministration Building and General Post Office has been given an allocation of $165,000. When co mpared to the allocation of $147,000 for fiscal year 2016/17, this represents an increase of $18,000 or 12 per cent increase for 2017/18.
Mr. Chairman, the bathrooms on the third floor
of the General Post Office and Government Admi nistration Buildings have been renovated already. The
works will begin on the second floor bathrooms and other floors until the buildings are complete. It is necessary to do the works systematically floor by floor so that the occupiers are not unduly inconvenienced.
Mr. Chairman, four capital accounts are all ocated capital funds this year that were not allocated funds in fiscal year 2016/17. These include $1,000,000 for the Allenhurst building formerly used
as the Hamilton Police station, and $500,000 for the Devonshire Recycling Plant Redevelopment (75331). These funds will be used to complete design drawings
and planning applications to begin the process of
bringing these properties back into use, one as offices and the other as a park, the Devonshire Recycling Plant.
Mr. Chairman, Allenhurst has been vacant
since 2011 when the police vacated the property. The
property is in a prime location for government offices
and it is time to refurbish it and bring it back into use.
Whilst there has been some private sector interest in the property, Government currently pays $5,300,000 annually to rent office space from the private sector in
the City of Hamilton. Allenhurst could provide valuable
office space for a government department or mixture of departments now accommodated in the private sec-tor and would thereby reduce government expenditure on rents and service charges.
Mr. Chairman, $1,000,000 has been allocated
for Government House (75340). These funds will be used to continue the necessary health and safety i mprovements and prevent any further deterioration of the building. Some of the works completed in 2016/17 included asbestos abatement, m ould and lead paint
remediation work s. An external painting contract has
just been issued for $180,000 for the painting of the main house so that the propert y is sealed and to prevent further water intrusion. Remediation works will continue on throughout 2017/18 and beyond to bring this facility back to good order.
1236 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly And lastly, Mr. Chairman, $500,000 has been
allocated to the design and building of Beach Bat hrooms (75341). These funds will be used to design
and build new bathroom facilities at public beaches. This will include major upgrades at Horseshoe Bay with some works being completed in time for the new tourist season.
Mr. Chairman, with the two capital expend itures for the Major Buildings Upgrade, cost centre
75112 and All School Maintenance, cost centre
75309, the Buildings team shall continue to be used as part of the planned and preventative maintenance plan to counteract the costly measures associated
with a reactive approach. Besides the cost benefits of
a planned approach, there is the added bonus of mi nimising the disruption to the occupants.
The importance of properly planned maint enance has been highlighted by ongoing discoveries of
mould. Most major government buildings were constructed at least 30 years ago. Over the past 20 to 30
years, many of our facilities have received basi c reactive maintenance and no planned or programmed maintenance. This practice has resulted in a portfolio of buildings that are currently facing major refurbis hment needs, with their physical plant and major sy stems having reached the end of their life c ycle. The
evaluation as to whether such buildings should be refurbished or even demolished will be assessed through the Property Asset Plan being prepared by our Estates section which will guide us through future
maintenance decisions here also .
During fis cal year 2017/18, the Buildings Section will utilis e cost centre 75309, or the All Schools
Maintenance vote , to complete many projects that
demonstrated our varied abilities and skill sets. The
Buildings team will continue to work closely with the
Ministry of Education to develop a planned maint enance program me by identifying and prioritis ing works
based on Safety and Health, infrastructure, and
school operations. These works need to be carefully
planned to coincide with school holidays, to minimis e
disrupt ion to the school program mes. Teams from the
buildings section have already begun inspections of the schools to identify and prioritis e repairs for the
new fiscal year.
Mr. Chairman, t he Ministry of Public Works
has responsibility for the maintenance of some 30
schools , including pre- schools, primary , and middle
schools. Ensuring that schools are ready for the new
school year in September is not just limited to the buildings as there are a number of other depar tments/sections responsible for items such as t he IT,
grounds (Parks), cleaning (custodians), materials and
supplies. Many of the schools are dated and require
extensive maintenance and repairs. They were designed and built for another era that did not envision air conditioning, computers , and smart boards. Most
maintenance works cannot be completed during the school year for health and safety reasons and to mi nimise the disruption to classes.
The majority of the works are therefore
planned for and completed when the children are out on vacation. The longest vacation is the summer hol idays , which begin at the end of June and run through
to early September when the new school year begins.
Mr. Chairman, the financial year 2016/17
summer maintenance project began in April with crews inspecting and identifying maintenance and repair issues for each school. The scope of works for each school was then drawn up and agreed with the Facilities Manager from the Ministry of Education. The
works were then planned to start as soon as the hol idays began. Some works , which were deemed not to
pose a risk to staff or students , were begun before the
schools closed for the summer. In addition, summer
works had to take into account and work around summer program mes that are run in some of the
schools. The planned works were extensive and i nvolved seven work units with over 110 staff including
HVAC crews, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, m asons , and painters. All staff of the Buildings section of
the Ministry were fully engaged in these works right
through the summer.
The scope of works and tight time frame r equired additional resources to assist in this project. As
such, contracts were awarded to some nine compa-nies to paint the interior and exterior of Devonshire and Warwick Pre- Schools along with Elliott School , St
David’s , Purvis, and Victor Scott Primary Schools ,
which totaled some $625,000. Whilst $2,000,000 was
budgeted for school works for fiscal year 2016/17, the
total cost of the works on the schools was revised to
$2,613,000. As the works were essential to ensure that the schools were open for the new school year
savings were made in other capital accounts. The goal was to ensure that critical works were completed before the start of the new school year and that no school would be unable to open for the new school year owing to maintenance issues. That goal was met.
Mr. Chairman, the works do not stop with the
opening of the school year as we have a dedicat ed
school maintenance team led by Mr. Calvin Waldron (many of you would know him) . Our team meets regularly with the Ministry of Education facilities team to
identify and priori tise works that can be safely completed during the school year in addition to responding to any emergency call outs like a pump failure.
As stated , the school works project for
2017/18 has already begun with the department wor king with the Ministry of Education in identifying the priority works. There are daily many small projects
undertaken and completed by the Buildings team. Many go unnoticed by the public and are carried out with little or no disruption to government services. I rrespective of size or scope, great emphasis was placed on ensuring that the work was carried out to


Bermuda House of Assembly the highest possible standards by the mostly all -
Bermudian teams.
Mr. Chairman, I reiterate my commitment to
support local businesses and contractors. For the p eriod 1st April 2016 through 31st January 2017 the department sought services from 192 local vendors at a
cost of $5,422,000. These were both operational and
capital funds and 2017/18 will see a similar amount
spent on a similar number of local vendors.
Mr. Chairman, as I conclude the Budget Brief
for Head 81, the Department of Public Lands and
Buildings, it is important to note the hard work, profes-sionalism , and dedication of the staff that gets the job
done , and I would like to take this opportunity to thank
the team at Public Lands and Buildings for doing just that, getting the job done.
Thank you Mr. Chairman.

HEAD 82 —DEPARTMENT OF WORKS
AND ENG INEERING

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Head 82, Department of
Works a nd Engineering, found on pages B -225
through to B -231.
Mr. Chairman, the Mission [Statement] of the
Department of Works and Engineering is: To ensure
the effective and prudent management of all oper ations and engineering services relating to the constructi on, erection, improvement, maintenance, and
repairs of Government infrastructure.
The Department of Works and Engineering is
responsible for the provision of essential services to the Bermuda public and the maintenance of highly visible major elements of the government infrastruc-ture which are extremely important to the way Berm uda functions as a civilized and modern society. The
range of varied and unique activities covered by the
department includes: garbage collection and disposal,
road maintenance and repairs, bridge maintenance,
government vehicle maintenance, as well as safe w ater extraction, treatment , and distribution.
Services such as safe disposal of hazardous
substances, disposal of vehicles and construction m aterials, recycling, composting, the maintenance and repairs of the government’s infrastructure, which i ncludes roads, bridges, docks , and street lighting, are
also carried out by this department. The professionalism and commitment that the staff and workforce have
demonstrated throughout the year needs to be applauded and I would like to take a moment to recog-nise the men and women of the Department of Works
and Engineering.
Mr. Chairman, there are seven operational
sections of the department: Highways, Structures, Electrical/Mechanical, Solid Waste, W ater/Wastewater, Tynes Bay Waste- to-Energy Facility ,
and the Quarry Facility . All of them are critical to the
effective operation and maintenance of the gover nment’s infrastructure. It is within this framework that I present the Department of Works and Engineering’s
Budget for fiscal year 2017/18.
Mr. Chairman, I will now present the seven
program mes and sub- programmes , or cost centres,
as shown on pages B- 226 and B -227 of the Approved
Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, namely:
• Programme 8200, Administration ;
• Programme 8201, Engineering;
• Programme 8202, Highways ;
• Programme 8203, Waste Management ;
• Programme 8204, Quarry Transport ;
• Programme 8205, Quarry Products ;
• Programme 8206, Water & Sewage.
Mr. Chairman, the estimated budget for the
Department of Works and Engineering for the coming fiscal year is $32,279,000, which represents an i ncrease of $853,000, or 3 per cent from the 2016/17
budget level. This increase represents a commitment
by Government to ensure the critical services provi ded by the Department of Works and Engineering are
adequately resourced and delivered to the public.
I just have to stop here and say that it has been
tough budgeting. We have been fighting to ensure, because what these guys do is so critical to people’s everyda y lives, just to get more money in these areas.
I am quite proud to say that my PS was really able . . .
I mean, we fought hard, but we got what we felt was at least fair to help us respond to the needs of our public. So, again, I sidetrack to say that it was not easy.
Programme 8200, Administration, page B -
226, provides for the salaried senior management
team of the department. In the past this included the Chief Engineer, Assistant Chief Engineer , and an administrative assistant. The mandate of the senior management team is the efficient management of the seven sections of the Ministry, including:
• Highways ;
• Structures ;
• Electrical/Mechanical ;
• Solid Waste, Water and Sewage;
• Tynes Bay Waste- to-Energy Facility ; and
• Quarry Operations .
Mr. Chairman, a $248,000 budget has been
allocat
ed for fiscal year 2017/18and this represents an
increase of $87,000 when compared to the 2016/17 budget allocation. This is due to the resourcing of the
administrative assistant post and the filling of the Chief Engineer post.
Refer ring to the performance measure under
business unit 92000, Administration, page B -229, for
fiscal year 2016/17 the total of the Occupational Saf ety and Health Administration (OSHA) accident fr equency rate for the department is currently five. This is an improvement over last year’s score of 6.2 and meets the desired outcome of five or less. The aver-age number of training days per managerial staff member is forecast to be only three, as opposed to
1238 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly the targeted five . This is due to the large number of
vacanci es within the senior ranks of the department.
Mr. Chairman, the full -time equivalents for the
cost centre 92000, page B -228, Administration is two.
This is an increase of one position over fiscal year
2016/17 and provides for the addition of an admini strative assistant.
Programme 8201, Engineering, page B -226:
Mr. Chairman, the mandate of the Engineering Services Program me is to provide quality electrical, m echanical and structural engineering services. A
$2,095,000 budget has been allocated for this pr ogram me, this represents a decrease of $179,000, or
8 per cent as compared to the 2016/17 Budget. This
program me includes cost centre 92001, Electrical and
Mechanical Management, cost centre 92002 , Electrical support and cost centre 92003, Structures.
The Electrical/Mechanical Management and
Electrical Support (92001 and 92002) manage the
provision of planning, design, construction, installation and maintenance services for electrical and mechani-cal systems associated with the government's facili-ties. This incl udes areas such as electrical power distribution, lighting, fire protection, security, telecomm unications, heating, ventilation and air -conditioning, as
well as energy conservation, and acting as gover nment's functional authority in these matters.
Mr. Chai rman, cost centre 92001, Electrical
and Mechanical Management is estimated at $547,000, an increase of $86,000 from fiscal year
2016/17 and represents the funding of an additional
electrical engineer post. This section provides support on electrical and mechanical issues to other sections and departments throughout government.
Mr. Chairman, referring to the performance
meas ure found on page B -229, for cost centre 92001,
Electrical and Mechanical , the percentage of hours
billed to projects for other Government departments is
forecast to be 22 per cent for fiscal year 2016/17. The
performance target for fiscal year 2017/18 is 25 per
cent and should be achieved with the additional staff
member. The full -time equivalents for the cost centre
92001, Electrical and Mechanical , are seven. This is
one more than the estimate for the fiscal year of 2016/17 due to the refunding of a previously unfunded electrical engineering post.
Mr. Chairman, cost centre 92002, Electrical
Support , is mainly used to provide the budget f or
street lights. Cost centre 92002, Electrical Support ,
has been reduced by $300,000 to $916,000. This si gnificant decrease represents the cost savings achieved by the LED lighting project which is phasing out the use of high- pressure sodium lighting to utilis e
far more energy efficient LEDs to illuminate Berm uda’s roads. Further reduction is anticipated as the lights across the Island continue to be replaced.
And I just wanted to point out about the stree tlights, what we were using before was above world standards and what we have now is just way out there, compared to what the rest of the world is doing
with this LED lighting. It is much brighter, much clearer. The only challenge we have now is that some neighbours who have houses that are close to some of them say it seems pretty bright. But the reduction
[in cost] you can see is just tremendous. So this took place over several years of getting to this point, so I
am glad to see we are now finally seeing the financial
results of that. So there is more to come. They have done most of the main roads, they are now moving to the side roads as we speak.
Mr. Chairman, referring to the performance
measure, page B -229, for cost centre 92002, Electrical Support, the number of new street lights to be i nstalled in fi scal year 2016/17 is forecast to be 24. The
performance measure for the average number of streetlights out of service remains at 4 per cent, which
is under the desired target of less than 5 per cent per
year. The full -time equivalents for the cost centre
92002, Electrical Support , is zero as all personnel in
the electrical section are now coded under cost centre 92001.
The Structural Engineering Services , 92003,
manage the provision of structural inspection, design,
construction, maintenance, project and contract management services , as well as acting as the Gover nment’s functional authority on structural and related civil engineering matters.
The budget for cost centre 92003 , Structures ,
is $632,000 which represents an increase of $35,000.
The Structures team has continued to operate
throughout fiscal year 2016/17 with a lack of human
resources. There is currently only one professional engineer in the section where in the past there have been up to seven. The Ministry continues to recruit both locally and overseas for engineers but in the
meantime has bridged the gap by the tendering and hiring a local engineering firm to provide structural engineering support services to Government. With the added support, the Structures team continues to carry out important Capital Works, delivering its mandate for
the people of Bermuda.
Mr. Chairman, with regard to the performance
measures within b usiness unit 92003, six inspections
have been carried out on bridges and 14 on docks during the year to date. The full -time equivalents for
the cost centre 92003, Structures are six. This is one
less than the estimate in fiscal year 2016/17.

[Ms. Susan E. Jackson, Chairman]

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Madam Chairman, pr ogram me 8202, Highways : The mandate of the Hig hways Programme is to develop and maintain the pu blic road infrastructure to ensure the safe passage of
motorists and pedestrians. This entails all work ass ociated with the planning, design, and construction of
road schemes and includes activities such as resurBermuda House of Assembly facing, drainage, signage, road markings, retaining
walls , and bus shelters. They are also mandated:
• to provide technical advice to other Gover nment ministries and agencies on highway r elated matters;
• to manage the improvement of public roads ;
• to assist citizens with their private road i mprovement needs under the Private Road I mprovement Act; and
• to act as the Government functional authority
on highways engineering- related matters.
Madam Chairman, a $4,307,000 budget has
been allocated to this program me. This program me
has increased by $322,000 as compared to the
2016/17 Budget. The increase is due primarily to add itional funding for highways internal equipment rental from the Quarry, which will increase service levels across the Island but utilising the newly purchased equipment by the Quarry, where otherwise we might have been renting it from somewhere else with som ething that we have been looking at. Note that this is
not a material increase in cost , but rather a budget
increase for cost -tracking purposes. The true cos t of
the added equipment will be reported in the Quarry
Transport capital budget, yet to come in this present ation.
Madam Chairman, cost centre 92004 , Management , has a budget of $574,000 which represents
an increase of $37,000, compared to 2016/17. The
performance measure for cost centre 92004 , Highways Management , indicates that the forecast amount
of communications received by the team from me mbers of the public during fiscal year 2016/17 is 1500
and the forecast for 2017/18 is also 1500. This clearly reflects the significant scope of the work and number
of issues that this section deals with continuously. To better service the public in this regard, the Highways section will be developing a management system for
its roads infrastructure that will also record and triage
complaints. I recall when first coming into the Ministry,
as I look across at the Opposition, several former Mi nisters of this Ministry, I was astounded at the number of calls and e- mails I was receiving at one time. It was
like over 100 every day. That was just those e- mails.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes, yes. But we continue
to work through those.
Madam Chairman, the full -time equivalents for
the cost centre 92004, Highways Management, is
nine. This represents no change from the previous
year. Cost centre 92005, Road Asphalt and Signs ,
budget is $1,084,000, which represents an increase of
$254,000. This reflects an increase in the internal ve-hicle hire budget, which is not a true dollar increase as
the budget is utilis ed as a cost -tracking function, with
the funds going to a receiving budget within the quarry transport section. Madam Chairman, the performance measure
for business unit 92005, Asphalt and Signs , shows
that the amount of road centre line marked out during fiscal 2016/17 is likely to reach 10 km, which is below
expectations, and is a direct result of material and
equipment procurement issues. Mr. Chairman, the
forecast for the road resurfacing is 10 km, which is in
line with the projected 10 km. You wil l note that performance measure printed on page B -229 is 8 km, but
the revised projection is 10 km. It is also worthy to
note that we did have reliability issues with the paving related equipment, some of which is approaching 20 years old. The Ministry plans for 2017/18 to include
the purchase of new paving machines and related
equipment to increase reliability of production and to
get more than just 10 km per year done.
Madam Chairman, the full -time equivalents for
the cost centre 92005, Asphalt and Signs , is 17, the
same as in fiscal year 2016/17.
The budget for cost centre 92006, Public
Roads Maintenance, is $831,000, which represents
an increase of $10,000 when compared to the 2016/17 budget. This unit is responsible for the
maintenance of retaining wall s, sidewalks , and other
masonry works, as well as the highways drainage sy stems. For 2017/18, the department will focus on the maintenance of boreholes to mitigate the effects of flooding experienced during heavy rainfall.
Madam Chairman, the performance m easure
for cost centre 92006, Public Roads Maintenance,
shows that one new bus shelter was erected during
fiscal year 2016/17, which is two less than planned.
Two hundred and eight feet of new sidewalks are ex-pected to have been completed in fiscal year 2016/17,
which was below the estimate of 300 feet. These r educed performance outcomes reflect a reprioritis ation
of funding for the budget year.
Madam Chairman, the full -time equivalents for
the cost centre 92006, Road Maintenance, is 25. This
is the same as the estimate for fiscal year 2016/17.
The budget for cost centre 92007, Public
Road Cleaning, is $1,818,000. This represents a slight
increase of $21,000 over the previous budget year,
which again is for internal vehicle hire and does not represent an actual increase in government spending as it is balance by a receiving budget.
Madam Chairman, the performance measure
for cos
t centre 92007, Public Road Cleaning , indicates
that the target for fiscal year 2016/17 was some
15,000 km of public road cleaned by mechanical
means. Unfortunately, reliability issues with the ag eing
mechanical road sweepers have impacted this service with only 4,630 km road services. A new mechanical
road sweeper is slated for purchase within the new fiscal year to improve these figur es. And I was quite
disappointed in that we were not able to get another sweeper. We were down to one and that continued to break down. So we will be able to correct that finan-cially in this upcoming year.
1240 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Madam Chairman, you should know that
these support service personnel also get called out
regularly to deal with emergency issues, such as wall
collapses, fallen trees, fuel spillages , and rock falls.
There were 11 emergency call -outs for fiscal year
2016/17, down from our anticipated 20. The full -time
equivalents for the cost centre 92007, Public Road
Cleaning, are 25. This is the same as fiscal year
2016/17.
Mr. Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92008, Private Roads , remains unfunded due to
budget constraints. The Ministry was therefore, unfor-tunately, unable to progress any works under this initiative for fiscal year 2016/17. And I will note, though
that there are a lot of private roads that are really, r eally in bad shape. So this year, although we do not
have anything in the budget, what my PS and I are looking at is how can we assist with some of these road works, because we are finding now that even
boundary walls are falling and the likes, putting at risk
the roads and the safety of the neighbourhood. And it is a bit challenging. Although they are private roads, we know that we need to be assisting wherever we can. So we will attempt to see what we can do about
this.
The performance measure for cost centre
92008, Private Roads , indicated that the number of
private roads on the waiting list for improvement under
the Private Roads Improvement Act 1969 is 37, same as the previous year. But again, as I said, we have
received many, many, many calls concerning some of the private roads and the condition they are in due to weather and storms.
Program me 8203, Waste Management , page
B-226. Madam Chairman, the mandate of the Waste
Management Program me is to arrange for the collection and safe disposal of Bermuda's solid wastes. The aim of the Waste Management Section is to serve the people of Bermuda by providing a comprehensive waste management programme, utilising the best technologies for disposal, recovery of materials and
energy resources, protecting public health, and saf eguarding the environment. This includes:
• education regarding waste reduction, reuse,
and r ecycling;
• waste recycling;
• waste collection;
• composting;
• land creation;
• high temperature mass burn incineration with
energy recovery (waste to energy) ;
• special and hazardous waste disposal ;
• management and maintenance of the Tynes Bay Waste -to-Energy F acility in a reliable,
safe, and cost -effective manner ;
• to act as the Government functional authority
on all matters relating to solid waste, environmental engineering, waste to energy and
process engineering. Madam Chairman, a budget of $18,769,000
has been allocated to this programme for fiscal year
2017/18. This represents an increase of $988,000 as compared to the 2016/17 Budget. This is accounted
for by the replacement of a 50 per cent cut in the r ecycling program me last year, additional funding for the
special waste program me, and funds to cover a budget error to the Tynes Bay operational budget that should have been added during the last budget cycle.
And I remember last year bringing this up as well.
Madam Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92009, Management, Education, and Enforcement is $364,000, which represents a decrease of $9,000.
This reduction is due to the vacancy of the solid waste manager post, which is yet to be substantively filled.
The performance measure for 92009, Solid
Waste Management , is forecast in fiscal year 2016/17
to have carried out 55 educational lectures during the year. These include both schools and corporate ent ities and target such aspects as waste reduction at source. This helps to keep Bermuda in line with global trends. The Solid Waste Section is also forecast to place 1,500 advertisements for 2016/17. All prom otional activities such as radio advertisements, interviews , and print advertisements are targeted specif ically for waste- related events. The full -time equiv alents for cost centre 92009, Solid W aste Management,
is three, this is the same as fiscal year 2016/17.
Madam Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92011, R ecycling, is $ 1,292,000, which is an increase
of $453,000 when compared to fiscal year 2016/17.
This in crease is because only half the funding was
allocated for the recycling program me last year and
the shortfall had to be garnered from other sections
within the Works and Engineering Department. With
the recycling budget now back on full standing, I am
pleased to be able to say that the recycling operations
will continue. In addition, the department is in the pr ocess of a restructure that will see a better management and maintenance of the Materials Recovery F acility.
The performance measure for 92011, Recycling, indicates that the amount of recycling materials
picked up in a month for fiscal year 2016/17 is still
projected to be 85 tons , and the amount of e- waste
picked up in the year will be around 50 tons, in line with estimates. The full -time equivalents for the Rec ycling plant are five , the same as fiscal year 2016/17.
Madam Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92012, Air
port Disposal Facility , is $1,344,000, which
is an increase of $40,000 over last year’s budget. This additional amount will be utili sed for additional private
equipment hire as needed during peak or contingency
conditions.
The performance measure for 92012, Airport
Disposal Facility , shows that it is forecasted that
20,000 loads of materials will be delivered to the Ai rport Disposal facility and the number of cars scrapped
will be around 1, 600 during fiscal year 2016/17, on par


Bermuda House of Assembly with estimates. Maybe some of us need to go into the
car business with all these cars being destroyed! The
full-time equivalents for the cost centre 92012 , Airport
Disposal F acility , is six , no change from 2016/17.
Madam Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92013, Composting Operations , is $1,960,000 which
represents an increase of $215,000, when compared
to fiscal year 2016/17. This addition amount is for external equ ipment hire during peak conditions such as
hurricanes where the facility can see service increas-es of up to 700 per cent usage. The full -time equiv alents for the Compositing Operations are nine , this is
the same as the estimate for 2016/17.
Madam Chairman, cost centre 92014 , Special
and Hazardous Waste, has a budget of $1,480,000,
which represents an increase of $166,000. The i ncrease is for the additional volume of hazardous waste materials that is expected during the America’s Cup, which will mainly be, just as an example, bilge
water processing for the large number of visiting yachts expected for the event. We know that some of
the waste will increase tremendously over a two-month period of time.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Oh, I a m sure there will be
a fee. Oh yes. We already have a fee to receive this
stuff. So we should see an uptick in revenue for the 2017/18 year. Good point to bring out.
The performance measure for cost centre
92014, Hazardous Waste, forecasts that for fiscal year
2016/17, 50 twenty -foot containers will be exported
overseas; to date 45 have been exported. The full -
time equivalents for the Hazardous Waste section are six, this is the same as the estimate for fiscal year
2016/17.
The budget for cost centre 92029, Collections ,
is $4,524,000, which has decreased by $371,000
when compared to fiscal year 2016/17. This might
pique your interest, Shadow [Minister], so I am going
to talk a little more about that as to why. This is an
essential service to ensure the garbage is collected in a timely manner to protect the health and safety of Bermuda residents. The decrease is anticipated through improved efficiencies throughout the year. I
am going to talk about what that is in implementing
this new GPS system.
The perform ance measure for cost centre
92029, Collections , indicates that on average 400 tons
of domestic waste continues to be collected during the
week. The section has had many challenges —
mercy! —many challenges during fiscal year 2016/17
primarily due to the age of the refuse collection fleet, some of which are over 20 years old. The Ministry has
made a commitment to replace 10 refuse trucks for
2017/18 to ensure proper service deliver to all res idents. The fulltime equivalents for the cost centre
92029, Collectio ns, are 58. This is the same as the
estimate for fiscal year 2016/17 and represents a
commitment to fill vacant posts from the present 50 staff to full complement in order to meet the service objectives. And just for the edification, I wanted to
speak to the Shadow [Minister]. What is happening is
we now have the GPS in place, and what is happe ning with that GPS is that it is already making suggestions where we can save on fuel in taking a different route. In addition to that what we found also was that when guys were finishing a particular area, which was normal; they have been doing it for several years, if
the truck could handle seven tons, for instance, they
will at six tons and when they finished a section they would go back to Tynes Bay, rather than continue on to another area. We found that we can get savings there as well. So they could pick up another ton in another section. But I understand why that happened
the way that it did. So this GPS is really beginning to
work for us now and make good suggestions. Just for your edification there.
Madam Chairman, the Tynes Bay Waste- toEnergy Facility is a corner stone of Bermuda’s waste
management system, providing refuse disposal and renewable energy for the country. It is anticipated dur-ing fiscal year 2016/ 17 that there will be 11 tours of
the facility as indicated in the performance measure for 92016, Tynes Bay Administration, on page B -230.
These tours are typically taken up by schools both
local and overseas, and universities. The facility is
also forecasting that there will be no complaints from
the members of the public from the public drop- off
facility and the number of employed power engineers will remain at 19.
The budget for cost centre 92016, Tynes Bay
Administration, is $530,000 and represents no c hange
from the fiscal year 2016/17 budget. The full -time
equivalents for the Tynes Bay Administration section are five. This is the same as the estimate for fiscal year 2016/17.
Madam Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92017, Tynes Bay Operations , is $4,938,000, repr esenting an increase of $447,000 from fiscal year
2016/17. This increase represents a budget correction due to an inputting error in the previous year’s budget and no operation variance at all.
The performance measure for 92017, Tynes
Bay Oper ations , anticipates that 58,000 tons worth of
solid waste will be treated at the Tynes Bay Waste- toEnergy Facility during fiscal year 2016/17. The
amount of electricity generated and sold to BELCO is forecasted to be 22,500 kilowatt -hours in 2016/17.
This revised outcome is projected to be less than the
original forecast due to turbine downtimes associated with planned outages and boiler maintenance works. Additionally , the new turbine generator integration is
still yet to be completed due to technical project de-lays, but is scheduled for final commissioning in
1242 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly March 2017. Estimates for fiscal year 2017/18 thus
include a greatly increased export of electricity to
BELCO of 40,000 kilowatts per year. Currently with
the old turbine we anticipated 3.5 megawatts and this
new turbine can put out 7.4 kilowatts, just as anecdo-tal information.
The revised forecast for the amount of ash
concrete the facility produces is 5, 500 cubic yards.
This is on par with the original forecast for fiscal year
2016/17. The full -time equivalents for Tynes Bay O perations are 31. This is the same as for fiscal year
2016/17.
Madam Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92018, Tynes Bay Maintenance, is $2,337,000 an i ncrease of $46,000 from fiscal year 2016/17. This
amount represents an increase in contractor services for plant maintenance as the recent plant refurbis hments are now post five years completion and are
now entering a maintenance phase.
The performance measure for cost centre
92018, Tynes Bay Maintenance , indicates that the
availability of stream one, stream two, and the turbine
is forecast to be 93 per cent, 69 percent , and 95 per
cent, respectively , for fiscal year 2016/17. The low
outcome for stream two was due to extensive planned replacement of 20- year old boiler components . For
2017/18, we anticipate the plant to be in good working order to receive the forecasted increase in refuse.
Madam Chairman, the full -time equivalents for Tynes
Bay Maintenance remains the same at 16.
Program me 8204, Quarry Transport , and pr ogramme 8205, Quarry Products , [is] on page B -226.
Madam Chairman, the mandate of the two Quarry programmes is, collective ly, to manage the fleet and
equipment leasing, mechanical maintenance, quarry operations, and t o act as the Government functional
authority on all matters related to fleet management and vehicle and other mechanical engineering and maintenance activities.
Program me 8204, Quarry Transport . Madam
Chairman, an $8,246,000 budget, and a $5,500,000
internal hire budget for vehicle rentals and maint enance has been allocated to this program me. This
budget has been increased by $322,000 as compared to the 2016/17 Budget.
The budget for cost centre 92019, Quarry
Administration, is $616,000, and has increased by
$25,000 as a result of the increase in security services and electricity charges. There have been to date three personal injury accidents in fiscal year 2016/17 for the
quarry workforce. This figure relates to reported lost time incidents which includes medical attention for ongoing conditions and is above the target given on
the performance measure for cost centre 92019 ,
Quarry Administration, [page] B-230. The full -time
equivalents for the Quarry Administration remain at
two.
Madam Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92020, Quarry Vehicles and Equipment Operation, is $2,757,000, which has increased by $113,000. This
increase is due to an increase in internal vehicle hire
costs as well as additional funds for overseas travel to inspect newly purchased equipment during the pr ocurement process.
The performance measure for cost centre
92020, Quarry Vehicle and Equipment Operation ,
forecasts that in fiscal year 2016/17, 18 per cent of the
Government fleet remains out of operation. The full -
time equivalents for the cost centre 92020, Quarry
Vehicle Equipment Operation , are 32. This is the
same as the estimate for fiscal year 2016/17.
Madam Chairman, the budget for cost centre
92021, Quarry Vehicles and Equipment Maintenance,
is $4,873,000, which is an increase of $184,000. This
increase represents an investment in staff for over-seas training to increase the efficiency of maintenance and repairs for the unit.
The Operation and Maintenance of the Government vehicle and equipment continues to be ham-pered by outdated facilities and an aged fleet. I am happy to report that some maintenance to the facility was completed in 2016/17 with the workshops under-going extensive work to replace the asbestos roofs.
Also, a large investment is being made to purchase
needed equipment to both increase the reliability of the fleet and decrease the amount of breakdown work
now being performed by this unit, which is both ineff icient and costly.
The performance measure for cost centre
92021, Quarry Vehicle and Equipment Maintenance,
indicates that it currently takes on average seven
hours to carry out a full service on a government vehicle. This includes all types of vehicles and construction equipment. It is expected that this will be mai ntained at an average of eight hours for the fiscal year
2017/18. The full -time equivalents for t he cost centre
92021, Quarry Vehicle Equipment Maintenance, are
47. This is t wo less than the estimate for fiscal year
2016/17 due to staff retirements.
Program me 8205, Quarry Products, Madam
Chairman, a budget amount of $2,184,000 and a
$3,140,000 rechargeable budget for quarry products has been allocated to this program me. This repr esents an increase of $44,000 when compared to fiscal year 2016/17 primarily due to an increase in asphal ting works.
Refurbishment work that was commenced on
the Mi ni
stry’s asphalt plant in fiscal year 2015/16 has
continued during 2016/17 which will make this piece of equipment more reliable in future. The performance
measure for cost centre 92023 , Asphalt Plant , shows
that unplanned downtime on the plant will result in
only 8,0 00 tons out of a projected 11,000 tons of asphalt is anticipated for fiscal year 2016/17. This is sufficient to carry out 8 km of resurfacing as well as pr oducing material for filling pot holes throughout the
year. The full -time equivalents for the Asphalt Plant
remain unchanged at seven .


Bermuda House of Assembly Program me 8206, Water and Sewage, page
B-227, Madam Chairman, the mandate of the Water
and Sewage Program me is;
• to provide planning, design, construction, o peration, and maintenance of the Government
water extraction, treatment , and distribution
systems and the wastewater collection and
distribution systems ;
• to produce potable water on a cost recovery
basis to meet demand;
• to provide septage receiving facilities for pr ivate sanitation truckers and for limited public
facilit ies; and
• to act as the Government functional authority
on all matters related to water and wastewater engineering.
Madam Chairman, a $5,070,000 budget has
been allocated to this program me. This represents an
increase of $69,000 as compared to the 2016/17
Budget.
The budget for cost centre 92025, Water and
Sewage Administration, is $993,000, which represents
an increase of $25,000 as compared to the 2016/17 Budget. This represents contingency funding for i ncreased service demands expected during America’s Cup. The performance measure for cost centre
92025, Water Section Administration, page B -231,
indicates that there are forecast to be 1, 008 metered
customers for fiscal year 2016/17. The intentions for
fiscal year 2017/18 are to increase the number of m etered customers to 1, 028.
The administration area within the section has
so far achieved 98 per cent response within 24 hours
to enquiries by customers during fiscal year 2016/17.
The full -time equivalents for the cost centre 92025,
Water Section Administration, on page B -228, are
five, the same as the previous year.
The budget for cost centre 92026, Water
Supply and Treatment , is $2,825,000, which is a d ecrease of $52,000. This budget ensures that there is sufficient fund allocation to pay for contractors who supply supplementary bulk water, remote monitoring and control systems support, and to pay for the elec-tricity charges associated with w ater treatments plants
within the infrastructure. The decrease is due to a r etendering of the Tynes Bay Sea Water Reverse O smosis Plant operational contract which resulted in a lower price for service for the next five years. And I
commend our team for being able to negotiate that.
Madam Chairman, the p erformance measure
for cost centre 92026, Water Supply and Treatment ,
on page B -231, forecasts that 220 [ million ] gallons of
potable water will be produced during this fiscal year
2016/17. This represents an increase in the quantity produced in fiscal year 2015/16. A large percentage of
water is rejected during the reverse osm osis process
to turn source water into potable water. This explains
why the total amount of water extracted is approx imately double than that produced. The volume of water extracted from the water
lenses are monitored by the Department of Environ-mental Protection (DEP) to ensure that abstraction limits are not exceeded. A report is submitted to DEP on the abstraction rates on a quarterly basis. Madam
Chairman, the full -time equivalents for the cost centre
92026, Water Supply and Treatment, are eight . This is
same as the estimate for fiscal year 2016/17.
The budget for cost centre 92027, Water
Storage and Distribution , is $837,000, which repr esents an increase of $7,000, to address an anticipated
increased in mains breaks due to the age of the distr ibution network which is slowly being upgraded.
The performance measure for cost centre
92027, Water Storage and Distribution, is forecasting
for fiscal year 2016/17 that the average lost service
hours due to a main’s breaks is 48 hours, which is in line with target. The number of mains repairs made for the year was six . Madam Chairman, the full -time
equivalents for the cost centre 92027, Water Storage
and Distribution, are eight. This is equal to the est imate given for fiscal year 2016/17.
The budget for the cost ce ntre 92028, Sewage Collection, is $415,000, has been increased by
$89,000 to ensure that there is sufficient budget a llowance to operate and maintain the new sewage r eceiving station at the Tynes Bay septage facility.
The performance measure for cost centr e
92028 gives the amount of time as a percentage that the Tynes Bay receiving facility is operational. For
2016/17 this figure was 98 percent , which was a very
good figure for the year. The performance measure
also tracks the number of blockages experienced in sewer mains across the Island and that number was 15, on par with estimates. Madam Chairman, the full -
time equivalent for the cost centre 92028 , Water Sewage and Distribution, is one. This is the same as fiscal year 2016/17.
Madam Chairman, total staffing levels within
the D ep
artment of Works and Engineering are shown
on page B -228. Employee number estimates for the
2017/18 budget are 334 which is no change to those
in fiscal budget 2016/17.
I now move on to the review of Major Capital
Projects : Madam Chairman, I now wish to provide
Members of this Honourable House with a summary of the status of the major capital projects being managed by the Department of Works and Engineering.
The overall 2017/18 Capital Expenditure Plan for the Department of Works and Engineering is
$22,040,000. Details are found on pages C -6 through
C-7 of the Approved Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure 2017/18. This highlights the range and var iety of activities that the Ministry is working on. I will
highlight some of these.
Swing Bridge Refurbishment, cost centre
75096: Madam Chairman, the 2017/18 estimate for this cost centre is $2,000,000. This budget will be
used to perform feasibility and engineering design
1244 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly work to facilitate the construction of a new crossing.
You will be aware that we are completing essential
repair and strengthening works to the Swing Bridge, allow ing it to once again accept two- lane traffic, with
no load restrictions. These repairs, while substantial ,
are temporary , and work continues on creating a longterm replacement for this most vital artery into the parish of St. George ’s.
Road Works , cost centre 75042. Estimates for
this cost centre are $3,500,000. This budget comprises major maintenance work to the road network,
which includes road resurfacing, as well as road i mprovement schemes such as junction improvements,
road widening, and new sidewalks.
In 2017/18, we anticipate carrying out less
work on the main roads due to the timing of the America’s Cup event, which takes place during the peak season for road improvements. The department will
thus focus during this period on surfacing several tribe
roads, which require a fair amount of attention. Some
of these roads will include:
• Tribe Rd No 1, Devonshire (just so the
public is aware, that is near Jubilee
Road) ;
• Tribe Road, Devonshire, South of Barkers
Hill;
• Tribe Road No 2, Devonshire (near North Shore) ;
• Tribe Road No 2, Paget (near Stowe Hill) ;
• Tribe Road No 3, Devonshire (near Cor kscrew Hill) ;
• Farrar’s Lane, Pembroke small public road from Richmond Road to Serpentine
Road;
• Mission Road, Paget (this road has a car
garage at the end and we expect low traf-fic volume there);
• Tribe Road No 2, Southampton, near Seventh Day Advantage Church; and
• Morgan Road, Warwick .
Following the completion of the America’s
Cup activities will revert once more to primarily mai ntaining the main roads. I must say you can see now as
you drive along North Shore and other areas that they
have done quite a vast area of road resurfacing, and it
looks very good.
Water Projects , cost ce ntre 75044: Madam
Chairman, this program me is for planned and unfor eseen small to medium water and sewage projects, including a requirement in every year to provide
equipment and general facility upgrading to meet ongoing treatment, environmental , and safety related
issues. The 2017/18 Estimate for this cost centre is
$650,000. This budget will be used to complete phase two of the septage facility upgrades at Tynes Bay , as
well as provide new membranes for the Tynes Bay
Sea Water Reverse Osmosis Plant.
Improvements in Street Lighting, cost centre
75046. Madam Chairman, the estimate for this cost centre is $500,000. This budget is used to cover the
ongoing LED moderni sation project currently being
delivered by BELCO. As mentioned previously, the
project has already realised a long- term savings in the
form of energy reduction as well as providing better quality lighting for the major roads in Bermuda.
Bus Shelters CEP , cost centre 75048: Madam
Chairman, the estimate for this cost centre is $50,000.
This budget will be used to build at least two new tr aditional looking bus shelters as well as install a couple of Plexiglass shelters.
Private Road Street Lighting CEP, cost centre
75051. Madam Chairman, the estimate for this cost
centre is $25,000. This budget will, as in previous
years, be used to provide extra lighting on private roads which can help with the safety of an area.
St. George ’s Sewage Plant CEP, cost centre
75061: Madam Chairman, the estimate for this cost centre is $165,000. This budget continues the water
study commenced last year that will provide options for Wastewater servicing sorely needed in the St.
George’s area. One of the other reasons for doing a
study down there is that we are consuming massive amounts of water on the Island. And being able to
keep up with that they will be making suggestions to
us as a team on how we can keep up with the airport build now, the Desarrollos build, and many other builds going on throughout the Island. There is going to be a massive strain on our fresh water and our sewage as well.
Asbestos Disposal, cost centre 75064: Madam Chairman, the 2017/18 estimate for this cost ce ntre is $1,000,000, which will be used to continue the
repacking of containers that have deteriorated too far
at the government Quarry and also to ship adequately packed materials to the United States for permanent
disposal.
Structural Refurbishment of Bridges , cost ce ntre 75116: Madam Chairman, the 2017/18 estimate for
this cost centre is $1,000,000. This budget will be
used to carry out repair work on Watford Bridge as
well as a survey of all bridges across the Island.
Refurbishment Ferry Docks and Public Landings, cost centre 75117: Madam Chairman, the
2017/18 estimate for this cost centre is $1,500,000,
which will be used to carry out maintenance and development of the Fast Ferry Floating Docks as well as
maintenance on a number of smaller docs across the
Island.
Reconstruction of Retaining Walls, cost centre
75127: Madam Chairman, the 2017/18 estimate for this budget is $500,000 which will be used to recon-struct a number of small walls that are part of a repair
list that is maintained by the department. As many
walls as possible are addressed each year as funding allows.
Stabilis e Road Side Rock Cuts (Structures) ,
cost centre 75142: Madam Chairman, the 2017/18 estimate for this budget is $200,000. The areas slat ed


Bermuda House of Assembly for stabilis ation are the Winton Hill railway trail and the
railway trail at Wellington lane.
[Foreshore Protection Work ], cost centre
75144: Madam Chairman, this cost centre is use d to
carry out repairs and mitigating measures to the for eshore. The 2017/18 estimate for this budget is
$450,000. This will be used for the design and pr ocurement of foreshore protection works at the Berm uda Aquarium Museum and Zoo, and also Dockyard.
Causeway Refurbishment, cost centre 75207 :
Madam Chairman, the 2017/18 estimate for the cost centre is $1,000,000. This will enable the Ministry to
carry out further feasibility planning for the replac ement of Longbird Bridge and the Causeway. So, as
we finis h off our Swing Bridge, we would then move
on to Longbird Bridge and options there.
Tynes Bay Waste Treatment Expansion , cost
centre 75210: Madam Chairman, capital funding for fiscal year 2017/18 is $800,000 and includes final
payments for the new steam tu rbine. This project has
unfortunately been hampered by technical issues with the electrical grid integration. The last electrical work is slated for the end of March where final commission
will commence.
Dangerous Walls and Rock Cuts (Highways) ,
cost centr e 75258: Madam Chairman, the 2017/18
estimate for this cost centre is $300,000. This cost
centre is used to carry out repairs to collapsed walls
and rock cuts. The department has spent a significant part of the fiscal year repairing walls that were damaged by storms or as a result of poor construction or
damaged by vehicle accidents.
Quarry Refurbishment , cost centre 75264:
The 2017/18 estimate for this cost centre is $500,000 ,
which will be used to carry out upgrades at the Quarry
Depot, which have buildings that now require complete replacement.
Pembroke Canal U pgrade , cost centre 75293 :
Madam Chairman, this program me is for the upgrade
of the Pembroke Canal. The 2017/18 estimate for this
cost centre is $250,000. This will be used for channel
improvements and for design work for culvert and
bridge improvements to increase the flow along the channel.
Reverse Osmosis Plants Electrical Systems ,
cost centre 75294: Madam Chairman, this program me
has been created for the upgrade of all the electrical
control and remote monitoring systems in each of the
Water facilities. The 2017/18 estimate for this cost centre is $325,000.
Tynes Bay Capital Maintenance, cost centre
75308: Madam Chairman, the 2016/17 estimated total
cost of this cost centre is $2,750,000 and will be pr imarily used for the purchase and installation of a new ash handling crane which will replace the existing equipment, that has reached the end of its useful life.
Morgan’s Point Works , cost centre 75324:
Madam Chairman, the 2017/18 estimate for this c ost
centre is $500,000. These funds will be used to ad-dress any further contamination discovered during the
Morgan’s Point site development and to progress, as
much as possible, works that still exist on the gov-ernment retained lands. These include the removal of oil in Bassett’s Cave, the capping of the landfill , and
the installation of shoreline stabilisation. The works are planned to be executed as budget will allow.
Review of Major Capital Acquisitions: Madam
Chairman, I would now like to provide you, M adam
Chairman, with a summary of the status of the major
acquisitions being managed by the Department of Works and Engineering, the details of which can be found on pages C- 12 and C -13 of the Approved Est imates of Revenue and Expenditure 2017/18.
Quarry: Vehicles and Equipment, cost centre
76495. Madam Chairman, the vehicles and equipment to be replaced under the 2017/18 budget are those that have surpassed useful economic life and are in poor and or dangerous condition. The focus for next
year will be sign ificant investment into the waste management fleet with the purchase of some 10 new garbage trucks, three skip trucks , and multiple compactor
bins. In addition, the budget will replace essential
heavy equipment such as pay loaders, pavers , and
crane trucks that are essential to the M inistry’s road
maintenance and cleaning services.
The 2017/18 estimate for this annual alloc ation is $4,060,000 and represents a significant i nvestment from previous years. This injection of new capital into the government equipment fleet will result
in better service to the public in many areas, especially in waste management, where service has been suf-fering for years.
In closing, Madam Chairman, I have now
been with the Ministry of Public Works for over two years I continue to find the staff and workforce to be
an extremely dedicated and committed team. I would
like to give thanks to the Chief Engineer Yves Lortie, Acting Assistant Chief Engineer Kirk Outerbridge, and
their entire team , Rami Saber and Tarik Christopher
who have done fantastic works on the water management system, and Rami in helping us implement
the LED lighting for the tremendous efforts they have
made throughout this year. The work that they carry out is often not understood or appreciated. But again,
I speak to the fact that the Department of Works and
Engineering carries out such a large range of activ ities, some of which are most interesting, most of
which are vital to maintaining a civilized way of life. You do not know how important plumbing is until the plumbing breaks.
The Department of Works and Engineering
has risen up and conquered many challenges in the
past year and will continue to be faced with many
challenges in the future. However , I can reassure the
people of Bermuda that the professionalism and dedication demonstrated by the staff and workforce of the Department of Works and Engineering is first rate,
1246 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly and Bermuda can be secure in the knowledge that its
infrastructure is in safe hands.
Thanks to all the department section heads
namely Kirk Outerbridge, Peter Havlicek, Clarkston
Trott, Mart in Biffin and Tarik Christopher, and as I
mentioned already Ra mi Saber. This was quite a
comprehensive overview of the d epartment, and I
conclude my remarks. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
So, I move on to the last, Head 97, which will
not take us too long. And that is the Land Title Regis-tration.

HEAD 97 —DEPARTMENT OF LAND TITLE
AND REGISTRATION

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Madam Chairman, it gives
me great pleasure to present the budget for Head 97, the Department of Land Title and Registration found on pages B -232 through B- 235 of the Budget Book.
Mr. Chairman, the Land Title Registration and
mission statements is: To build a sustainable future
for Bermuda by effectively providing a service for ownership of land and facilitating property transactions. And the department’s objective is to: To create
and maintain an electronic register of legal estates and interest in land so providing legal security for owners and third parties. And we know that is vitally
important as we have been talking about this in this House and in legislation that we are looking to bring to this House.
Expenditure Overview: Madam Chairman, the
Land Title and Registration Department has two pr ogrammes, as seen on page B -232: 9701 , Administr ation; and 9702, Land Title Management .
The total current expenditure for the depar tment is estimated to be $1,069,000 for 2017/18 and
this represents an increase of approximately $19,000 or 2 per cent higher than the budget for 2016 /17.
The cost centre for the Land Title Registry O ffice (LTRO) is 107030, Land Title Management, and
this has been allocated a total budget of $806,183, an
increase of $21,671. The increase is due to the expected transfer of additional staff from the Registry General to the LTRO.
Madam Chairman, one of the biggest challenges for the proper management of land in Bermuda is the lack of a land title registration system. The
LTRO has developed such a system for Bermuda. It
will be a transparent, accessible , and valuable land
and property information system that will underpin an
efficient land market in Bermuda.
The LTRO has also created an electronic sy stem to record unregistered deeds which are currently
held by the Registry General , and also judgments r elating to land which are currently recorded by the S upreme Court. The system that it has created allows for
all property title information to be held by one source
and the LTRO will , therefore, become a one- stop shop
in this regard. And we are all looking forward to this. Madam Chairman, th e effect of introducing
land title registration will be such that deeds and property information related to land will be deposited with the LTRO. Once a register is created the infor-mation will be held online, and be accessible to all stakeholders including members of the public. It will also allow for the future introduction of facilities such
as conducting all property transactions electronically.
Mr. Chairman, it is important here that the
Government develops a land registration system
which will house all information that affects a title to a property. Registered titles are the bankable assets of
the country which progressively draw in investment
and build the confidence of businesses and individ uals to participate in the development of the economy
and the country. Recent figures show that the real estate market is the second largest component of Bermuda’s GDP and so it is very important to the local economy.
The LTRO has one central administrative cost
centre 107000, Administration. T his programmed objective is to provide administrative support, and it has
been allocated a budget of $262,855. This represents a reduction of $2,145 from last year. The decrease
relates to cuts to general operating expenses. This
cost centre also carries funding for the administrative
running costs of leasing the LTRO’s office in part of Milner Place.
On page B -233, Revenue, the LTRO’s pr ojected income for the fiscal year is $501,000. This is a
reduction to the previous year’s estimate. This is due
to the major changes proposed to the Land Title Reg-istration legislation. Under the 2011 Act, the Gover nment was going to provide a guarantee of title to all registered properties by way of a government -backed
indemnity scheme. I am just going to slow down so
everyone understands this. Through discussions with
attorneys, the Act has been amended so that the at-torneys will continue to certify and guarantee the title of properties to their clients. The availability of indem-nity would have provided the assurance to registered
owners, should their title ever be subject to correction
or fraud, that they would have been entitled to be compensated by the Government if they suffered any financial loss as a result.
However, the removal of the indemnity
scheme is actually a benefit to Government, as it is in
the early years of registration, where the exposure to
indemnity claims is the highest. To pay for the indem-nity funds, LTRO’s fees were originally set at 0.1 per
cent of the value of the property in a transaction. Now that the indemnity scheme has been removed, the LTRO cannot justify charging the same fee. The new
fees are now set on a sliding scale and have fallen in
line with other countries that have introduced a sliding scale for land title registration.
Madam Chairman, it is proposed that the
LTRO charges the same fees as previously charged by the Registry General and the Supreme Court for


Bermuda House of Assembly the work that will be transferred over to it. The department workforce will increase once the Land Title
Registrar (Recording of Documents) Act 2016 comes into force. One member of staff from the Registry General will be transferred to the work in the LTRO.
As far as performance measures are concerned, cost centre 107030, Land Title Management,
the LTRO in the past year undertook and achieved the
following performance measures: 100 per cent of all
routine new addresses were assigned within two weeks of receipt of the request. The LTRO is not op-erational; therefore, it was unable to commence regi stration of private land.
Major achievements —Madam Chairman, the
LTRO has created an electronic register to record all the deeds held at the Registry General, and they are due to commence a project to scan such deeds so that stakeholders, including the public, can also have access to unregistered deeds online. T his will not only
provide an excellent service to them, but it will also assist in streamlining searches for deeds and allow the LTRO to eventually become a paperless office.
For the upcoming year, the key projects for
2017/18 are as follows: the LTRO to become oper ational and commence registration of private land; to commence the amalgamating of all land information, such as judgment debts, related to property and deed information held at the Registry General; to place all land information in one electroni c register, as this will
create a one- stop shop, for it will be open to the public
and other stakeholders. And I will just say that this whole House is committed to this, okay? I want you to know that. So, we are going to get this new Bill done. We have already started. So, I know it has been a long haul for you, and I want to publicly say that we want to get you guys up and going fully with this new
Bill to come.
So, in conclusion, Madam Chairman, it just
remains for me to thank the LTR staff for their har d
work and continued dedication towards this project
throughout the last year. So I thank you, Madam
Chairman, and that concludes my presentation
throughout the last six heads. And I will just briefly, once again, I do want to thank the Finance Ministry. Depending on how much time we have as we go
through the question period, so I want to get this in now. I want to thank my Permanent Secretary, Francis
Richardson, who has worked tirelessly since he has
come into the Ministry as of the end of May. I want to also thank our new Executive Secretary, Claudelle Richardson, who came in at budget time. And I know her head has been spinning trying to figure out all of this stuff.
I want to thank JoAnne Smith, who is at the
head office of finance, who stepped in, knowing that we lost our head of finance. And she has done a ph enomenal job at getting us to this place. I want to thank Diane again, of the Land Valuation of Head 49, for her tenacity, for her calm demeanour as well, in trying to get through a very frustrating time in getting things
done in that area. The Housing Corporation, I said
enough about Major Dill and all of the work that they have done there. Public Lands and Buildings, Chris Farrow. I want to thank them for the wonderful work that they have been doing. In Head 82, Works and Engineering, as I just . . . rather lengthy, but I want to
thank Bob [Yves] Lortie. At one time before Bob came a few months ago, acting Kirk Outerbridge stepped in at a time when we really needed expertise, a local guy who knows his stuff. So I cannot say enough also about him and to Debbie [Reid], from Land Title Registration. U nfortunately, she is sick and could not
make it. So, hey.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Oh, James. Oh, yeah,
James is down there! Yeah. You are hiding in there, PS! Now he is glowing, looks like the new LED stree tlights!
[Laughter]

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: I want to thank James also, in the Land Valuation area. He has been phenomenal in working with us —a tremendous work that they
have done. Also, in this Ministry we wanted to do something different. We handed over to the Oppos ition, whom we have been working very well with
throughout the year, Shadow Minister Lister, Dennis
Lister . . . what we did this year was we gave him lineby-line items of all of our answers to help with the d ebate today. And so, I appreciate you and the time that you have been putting into this Ministry.
And so, with that in mind, I will turn it over for
any questions.

That is right, 5:55.

Hon. Dennis P. Lister: Thank you.
Let me start, Madam Chairman, by just pic king up on a couple of points where the Minister just
finished. And the first one was the Minister’s recogni sing his staff for the hard work they have done—I was actually going to start, Minister, by complimenting the
PS in that the PS has been the only one here all af-ternoon. And I thought that was a good use of man-hours. Because too often we have too many people sitting around all afternoon, for five hours, when t hey
1248 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly could have been productive in their offices doing other
things. So, I was going to compliment him for just being here on his own, when in the last few minutes he did have other support come in.
Were you finished? I am going to start as far
as land tit le. Land title is one that I think you indicated
that this House is in full agreement on, seeing it completed. And I think that is unanimous, fully supported
by everybody in this House. My question, Minister, having listened to your closing remarks in reference to what has been done to accommodate the change in the land title, having had discussions with the legal fraternity, is, will that change now? Will that discussion
now allow us to finally move this forward? And that we know that part of the holdup or a big portion of the pushback from the land title, moving forward, has been from the legal fraternity.
And I would hope that by (what is the word?)
. . . I almost said “ compromising”. We are not compromising. We are being prepared to give, as you
have in this regard. Is the legal fraternity prepared to give back in similar terms and see to it that the hi ndrance that they have been providing all this time is now removed and we can, in the very, very, very near
future, see the Land Title Registry finally come i nto
effect? Which it was only a few months ago —maybe
not even a few months ago, probably a few weeks
ago we had a discussion in this here House in refer-ence to the last piece of legislation that was brought here regarding that. It was basically just a bit of
housecleaning legislation at that time. So I welcome
what you have just announced if —if, Minister, it will
remove that impediment from the legal fraternity so we can get this going.
Now, Madam Chairman, in light of the limited
time left, and I do have a few Members on this side
who have asked that I provide some time for them to
speak, I am going to just pick up on a few of the notes that I had originally put together for this debate today, and see if we can get through and leave sufficient time for others.
Madam Chairman, the Minister when he was
on his feet, under Head 36, the Headquarters, when
we were looking at the revenue, I may have missed it in your notes. I was trying to follow and I did not see it. You made reference to all the different cost centres
and expenditures. But under the revenue, it was a
reduction in the revenue, in a sense, in that . . . let me
walk through it like this. Last year’s estimate was
$21,000. The actual revised budget looks like it is go-ing to be 106. But we have gone back to an estimate for this year of 30K. I was trying to find out, what was the reason for the increase in what was originally estimated at 21? It went up to 106, and it seems that
was just a one- off boost. What was the reason for it?
The GPS system that was mentioned also,
and you mentioned it in the latter half of your presen-tation as well. But it was all mentioned earlier in Head 36 as well, when you talked about the GPS. And you are talking about parks being included now. There will
be a new addition into it. My question is, What does
that represent of the total Government fleet that will now be participating in the GPS system? You closed when you talked under the last head, or Head 82, in reference to the refuse vehicles now, the benefit that you have seen from having the refuse vehicles included in the GPS system. So there is no doubt it is a benefit to Government to have the vehicles in the sy stem, in the GPS system. Inclusion of the parks’ vehi-cles is the next phase.
My overall question is How many or what ot her department are you anticipating to have included in
the GPS system? So is it that we will envision one day
all government vehicles, whether it be the small cars that are used for the pool cars, et cetera? So proper tracking can be put in place to follow the use of all government vehicles, and again, help to reduce the cost of running the fleet because, already from the
refuse trucks that have been in the system, you have
already indicated that it has helped to provide more efficiency. And with that as a goal, all the vehicles
should be lined up in there as well.
The asphalt plant —asphalt plant. You are
smiling, Minister. Earlier in the presentation, reference was made to the fact that, I believe, three or four young men have been sent to Tennessee to be trained in the updated use of management, better f acilities, better management skills, et cetera, in running the asphalt plant. And I thought that was a positive. I
thought that was a positive, and I was expecting out of
that that we would see better projections of estimate for performance measures for this year. However, lat-er in the presentation, under performance measures, under Head 82, you indicated, Minister, that you are already projecting an increase in down time. I cannot
remember the time off the top of my head, but the pr ojection was that there was going to be down time.
I was hoping that we would not see that pr ojection. But being that we have invested in training
persons overseas, and the next phase of that is really
to identify what it is going to take to get the system up
and running so that we can fix it, if we are going to
invest in the human side of it, we really need to invest in the equipment side of it as well. Recognising that our roads, and I think it has been said that the infra-structure is one of the key parts of the country. Infr astructure that all the Works and Engineering provides, whether it be for the roads, the trash collection, se wage collection, all those things are key if we were to . . . if they were not functioning, as nice as our Island
is and we like to think it will be, it would not be without those things functioning. So it is important. I think
Works and Engineering is quite a lifeblood, so to
speak, in keeping that up and running, whether it is the beautific ation of our highways and byways or the
proper collection of our trash, the timely collection of our trash.


Bermuda House of Assembly Head 82, and, yes, Madam Chairman, I am
going all over the place, in consideration of the time.
Under Head 82, you also took a little steam out of one of my questions, Mr. Minister, in reference to the trash collection, in that you have indicated that in this budg-et that there are going to be 10 new trucks purchased. You will know that, as often as you get those complaints, they also call the Shadow Minister or include
the Shadow Minister in e- mails. So I am very aware or
much aware of the complaints or concerns that the community have made in the last year in reference to the untimely collection of trash. And it mainly boils down to the out -of-servic e vehicles. I believe the a verage right now for this past year was about six or seven vehicles in service on a regular basis, which meant we probably had about five or six vehicles out of service on a regular basis. So the influx of 10 new vehicles will be a welcome sight.
My question here, Madam Chairman, my
question is, when is the expected date of arrival for those vehicles? And how soon can we see the impact that they will have?
Madam Chairman, under the Land Valuation,
Head 49, my question here looks at the revenue that
is earned from here, in that for the last couple of years the estimate of revenue has been around $6,000, when the actual revenue has been either $1,000 or zero for the last few years. But projection continues, or the estimate continues looking at $6,000. And we are not meeting that target. And is that realistic to continually estimate at $6,000 if most years we are coming in at zero or, at the most, $1,000?
Now, my other point here, Madam Chairman,
is that if memory serves me correctly, I believe it was in the 2014 budget, 2014/15, I believe around that time, the fees for the appeals —and again, the rev enue from Land Title is a single source, and that is from appeals. And the 2014/15 budget, I believe it was, the fee for that was drasti cally increased and it had not
been increased for a number of years. But the whole fee used to be $15 for an appeal, and then it went
from $15 up to $545 for an appeal. And if you look at
that new fee, $1,000 really is only two appeals if the fee is costing you $545. So, again it falls back to, what is a realistic target we should be setting in that area? It would be different if the fee was still $15 and the target was $6,000 and we were getting $1,000. You
could say, Well, we’re still getting a lot of app eals r esolved, or put forward. And that 15 into 1,000 repr esents quite a few, versus the 545 into that 1,000,
which only represents roughly two.
Again just off the top, part of the issue could
be that the increase of the fee has dissuaded people
from subm itting appeals. And is that what we see now
in outcome as a decrease in revenue that is being
earned in this area?
Madam Chairman, also under the same Land
Title, I believe it was also in the same 2014/15 budget the Minister indicated that the Land Valuat ion D e-partment was going to be doing a project in conjunction with the Planning Department to try and regularise (my word) all the outstanding planning permits. And the Minister at that time indicated that some of those went as far back as 1971— 1971. And t he Mini ster, when he announced that during that budget presentation, there was an indication given that at
some point we would get an update as to how successful that project was. And I do not believe we have ever had that update. And it would be nice to k now
what success was achieved, or was success achieved in that exercise? Because it sounded like it is going to be a daunting task if there are finding outstanding
building permits all the way back to 1971. So I was
very interested, just because of the length of time, to see what success was going to be achieved out of that.
Madam Chairman, moving on, Head 81: The
question arises around the sale of assets. The Mini ster spoke to it while he was on his feet. He indicated there was a list of properties or gave a list, I believe, of six properties that are now earmarked to be put on the list of assets to be sold. I have a couple of ques-tions here, Madam Chairman. And if you look at the
Budget Book, it shows that —and again, this year the
estimated revenue is some $3 million, last year and
again this year. And last year the programme was in-troduced to try and sell off some of the unwanted, v acant, derelict, underused facilities, or properties, the Government owned. Last year the estimate was for $3
million. But if you actually look at the revised, it indicates zero.
But the Minister indicated while he was on his
feet, and the House is well aware of, the fact that the property formerly known as the Harrington Sound Post Office indeed was sold. It was sold. But no indication of that transaction is in the Budget Book, if you
look at the revenue for that asset, sales of assets , in
that there was a projected estimate of $3 million to be
raised, but the revised figure shows zero. Then when we look at this year’s estimate, once again it is est imated at $3 million.
Now, the part of the question here for the Mi nister is that, again in a previous discussion in this House in recent times, under Parliamentary Ques-tions, ministerial questions, the Minister indicated that he had [given] assurance to bring the list to the House
as early as convenient so that we can peruse the list. Because I think this is one of those situations where it would be better to have us all on the same page, in a sense, if we have access to the list and could be able
to discuss the purpose and reason behind why some of these buildings are selected versus why they are
not selected, rather than have to come here and a lways have to have a challenge back and forth on this
over the floor.
So an undertaking was made at that point. So
I am encouraging the Minister again to produce a full list. Or is this six the full list at this time? And what is
1250 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly the total list of buildings, of properties, that may be
targeted? Because we still do not know the total number that may be targeted.
Madam Chairman, still in Head 81, under performance measures, I think it is business units 91002 and 91003, there is one item under this performance measure that I want to mention. It is the number of
government -owned buildings that have schedules,
that have been scheduled for conditioning and
maintenance plan completed. The target here or the new target of six buildings . . . I pause there, Madam
Chairman, because I am assuming that this plan is a management plan that is going to be under business
unit 91002? On page B -224. I am assuming that this
plan is one where assessments are being done on all
government buildings to make sure that we have a proper condition and maintenance plan in place for all government buildings. And it has been in place now
for two years.
If you look at the performance measures, I
think one was completed last year and six this year. So now we have estimated for this year. So now we have a total of seven buildings that have been through this completion exercise and will have a maintenance
plan available to maintain that facility —six —seven.
The question is, Madam, or what the concern is, Madam Chairman, is that Government owns almost 800 properties, 800 buildings. And if we are only doing one a year or six this year, one last year, it is going to take us over 100 years at that rate before we get to inspect
all of the government buildings. Surely, that cannot be
an effective rate. Surely, it cannot be. The Minister is chuckling. I am not saying it to make you chuckle. But I am saying it because I am really concerned in that we recognise that a lot of our buildings have infr astructure issues. A lot of our buildings, where you
have seen the mould issue, and the Minister made
some good points in reference to that when he was on his feet. But yes, an effective maintenance plan would be what we would need in place to identify and ad-dress such issues.
But if we are looking at almost 800 properties
and I am only doing one a year or six a year, we will never get on top of that at that rate. So maybe what is in the performance measures here, is it giving an i naccurate picture of where you are on this? And some clarification would be needed. Or maybe what is there
is actually what has happened, and we need to fix the
process of going about and fixing, doing these assessments of the buildings.
Madam Chairman, on that point of proper
management of government property, I believe again . . . I am not sure if it is this budget or the previous
year’s budget. I think it was, Minister. Reference was
made to a best practice that would be a guideline. I think it was international best practice of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors was what we were going to be using to put our management plan into place. And when the Minister introduced it during that Budget Debate, I think you listed some dozen steps
that are taken as part of that international survey,
chartered guideline. And quite a bit of reference was made to it. I think, Minister, you went on to make re ference to the fact that we are going to be sort of
streamlining what we do here in line with two London cities you probably named at that time. I cannot r emember what the two cities were, from my notes, ci ties in the UK. And you were simply going to try and take what they were doing there and Bermudianise it here for us. But that was two years ago, two years ago.
And we have not had any update on that or
how effective it has been, whether it was actually adopted, that international best practice guideline that was indicated. Hav e you adopted it or not? And what
have been the results? What have we implemented as part of these dozen or so steps that were given as guidelines to achieving it?
Madam Chairman, I am just asking if you
would pause with me as I am picking out topics from
notes, being time is very short.
Minister, under the same Public Lands, Head
81, the Horseshoe Bay , in last year’s budget, I believe, there was $1.5 million that was allocated for Horseshoe Bay. This year there is a half a million, and it is more in line with the bathrooms. My question is,
and with the amount of work that is taking place at Horseshoe Bay now, will we receive the real funding for that if the only allotment this year is for bathrooms,
a half a million dollars for bathrooms, and $1.5 million
that was spent last year? Is that part of that packaging? That the work is taking place there now? And
what is the overall cost or estimated costs for the work that is taking place at Horseshoe Bay now? And are we def initely on time for the summer opening? I think
the tar get date was May 1
st. Okay?
Same thing, Minister. I have a question in reference to beaches. But we are going to the other end of the Island right now, going to the other end of the Island, Minister. Yes, yes, I am coming to St. George's
now. Fort St. Catherine is part of the development that
is taking place, of a hotel/resort there. But last sum-mer, the beginning of last summer, the vendor who had permission to operate on the beach from the pr evious year was told that they could not operate there this past summer just gone, summer of 2016, although they had been there summer of 2015 and
maybe 2014, but at least 2015. He was told that they could not be there in summer 2016 because the buil ding of the hotel was due to be started.
We are now almost at summer of 2017. There
is no indication of any building taking place at Fort St.
Catherine. Will that vendor be allowed to get access
back to the beach once again? Because it looks like we cannot tie down a date at this point as to when the work will take place. And they were told last summer
that they definitely could not be there, because the work would be taking place during that time period.


Bermuda House of Assembly Madam Chairman, I will move on to Head 82,
the Works and Engineering. Minister, the first one I
am going to pull out of my notes here will be that of the Private Roads programme, page B -229, under
Performance Measures, [business unit] 92008. As you indicated whilst you were on your feet, Minister, there is no allotment of funds for private roads this year.
However, and you made a valiant attempt of saying that we are still going to try and address some of the private roads projects. My question here, though, is, again before you made your statement there, I would have to go by what was in the Budget Book. And it was interesting that what is in the Budget Book is that
there is a list that is kept of projects for private roads
that neighbourhoods submit to have work done, whether it is resurfacing or repairs to that road, et cetera, et cetera.
For the last three years, that list has been 37
projects —for the last three years. Each year, the estimate is 37 projects. However, the revised figure for each year of what has been accomplished off of that list is zero, not a single project done, not a single pr oject. O kay? Not one. I understand there is no funding
this year for it. That was disclosed in your present ation. And, in fact, it was part of my question, had you not disclosed it. Because when we looked under the cost centre, there was no 92008 under the Expend itures, even though it is there under Performance.
But my point here, Minister, is that when you
do follow these performance measures, even though it
has been 37 on the list for the last three years and not
a single one accomplished, this year’s performance
measures indicate that all 37 are going to be done—all 37. We have not been able to do one in three years, but we are going to do all in one year. So my question is that there has to be a clerical error; there
has to be. I do not want to accept that we can do all
37 in one year if we have not done [any of] them at all.

[Laughter]

Hon. Dennis P. Lister: I would rather go by what is in
the Budget Book, right? That is what is in there, that it
is all going to get done this year and no funding is al-lotted for it. The Minister is going to pull off a miracle, see? He is going to be a miracle worker for us.
The other one again, Minister, you made reference to the bus shelters and this $50,000 allocated this year for bus shelters, two traditional and a couple with the Plexiglass. I am glad to see that is done. B ecause again, it is one of those infrastructure things that I think we need to put more time into. And seeing that we can put bus shelters throughout the Island
where feasible, because too often, we see folks stan ding in all sorts of conditions where there is space, in
my opinion, for a bus shelter to be at that stop. There is enough open space around where some type of a shelter could be there for those residents who live in that particular area. My quest ion here is one of procedure. What is
the procedure for selecting a location for a bus she lter, in that . . . And I thank the Minister for his quick
response, and the PS at the time, because earlier in 2016 we had to intercede in a bus shelter that was being built up near the S.A.L. , just before you get to
the roundabout, the corner on that sharp bend. All of a
sudden one day, work was being done as if the shelter was going to be there. Quick calls to the Ministry and they made him aware of the potential danger of that location, got it quashed. And now we see that the work is being done where the original stuff was, which I thought would have been the appropriate place from
the beginning.
So it left a lot of confusion in our minds as to
. . . traditionally, where the spot was chosen was a
wide-open location, no hindrance to sight lines for traffic, no hindrance to blind corners, all those things. But
when they decided to construct it, they put it right
where the blind corner [is and] would have made the
traffic a problem. So we have got some concern about
procedures for selecting a location. So I make note of that, but at the same time thank [the Ministry for] the quick response that had it resolved.
That takes me to one of my pet peeves when
we talk about infrastructure, Minister, and the i mportance of making sure the infrastructure is correct for all of our residents and road- users —sight lines,
sight lines coming out of gates. I think that is one of the things we should put on the agenda as objectives
for roadwork on our highways is that we start correc ting some of the sight -line issues, particularly coming
out of a lot of the smaller access roads onto the major
highways. Some of them are known to be accident sites because of the challenging sight lines.
And a lot of them, Madam Chairman, can be
easily resolved, in my opinion, by simply slight ad-justment to the hedge level or the rock cut as you come out of the gate. If it was cut down a little bit more, it would provide a better sight line. Some of the signa ge, the signs that are put up, block some of your
vision and hinder the ongoing traffic or the main road traffic from seeing that vehicle coming out. Some of it are poles, even poles. But I think it calls for an overall
commitment or programme that says, W e’re going to
make sure that, going forward, make sure that when
things are done at these junctions, they are done in a
way that doesn’t hinder the sight lines. And then have
a plan, a programme that also looks at correcting
some of the problems that some of these sight lines
create, the existing ones.
The other part of the roadworks on the hig hways is the timeline for some of the projects. And this
is a straight question as to, could we be informed as
to what has been the hindrance to completion of the road widening, sidewalk programme that is taking place at the juncture of Middle Road and Burnt House Hill? I mean, that has been a project that has been going on for two years now, at least, maybe longer,
1252 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly that looks like completion is very close. You know,
based on the work that was done and the stage that
we are at, it looks like we are very near to the finish
line. However, that finish line just seems like it keeps getting pushed, pushed, pushed back because of no work that is taking place there.
And it would be nice, and in your presentation,
Minister, you talked about programmes where the staff were going to be better trained in timeline man-agement, project management, all those things. This is one of those things that needs proper timeline man-agement. And it could be a reason for this one that is
beyond you. But it is also part of saying, Get all those
entities that are involved, whether BELCO, Telco in
moving the poles, all on the same timeline when pr ojects are being allocated so that we don’t find a project sitting here like this for two years. I believe if we go up
and down, that is probably the biggest one right now.
But if we go up and down the country, we can find
other similar projects —open trenches in other areas
that have been open for a while that need to be closed
up and should be done in a more timely manner.
My other pet peeve, of course, is the finish
work after a trench has been dug—after a trench has
been dug. Your guys do a good job of going out there
and asphalting the road. A year later, six months later, one of the utilities comes and digs up and puts a trench down in the middle of the road, and it is never resurfaced back evenly. They just fill in that little cut, and it is never, never done properly.

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Den nis P. Lister: Particularly people on bikes,
yes. People on bikes really have a challenge with that.
Now, when I was Minister for Works, one of
the things I kept throwing out to the team and . . . (I do
not see any faces over there in those conversations
there. Chris is there). One of the things I kept throwing
out was (Kirk over in the back) that maybe it is time that, when the utilities trench up a road like that, we
insist that they pave that whole side, not just the
trench in the middle. Pave the whol e side. If they have
dug them right down the middle, which is what they normally do, and they have not shown us that they have the ability —we have to go on the history. They
have shown us that they do not have the ability to
properly put it back to an even surface; they have to
pave the whole side.
Pave that whole side because it is the safety
of our road users is what we should be most concerned about, particularly those on bikes. And a lot of those problems have caused accidents and will continue to cause accidents. But we have to have maybe a carrot -and-stick approach. Say, you know, If you
can’t do it right, this is going to be what you have to
do. Maybe if we take that approach, because I know
the cost to them would be quite a bit more if they have to pave that whole side. Maybe if we take that ap-proach, then it is ensuring that the trench is put back
correctly and we would not have to go to paving and
doing the whole side. But that should be something that we look at putting on the table to get them to come to grips with the fact that they have been failing in the way that they do it thus far.
Minister, one of the other issues, Madam
Chairman, that I want to make reference to is again under Head 82, the Sewage Collection on page B -
231, business unit 92028. In this Performance Meas-ure, the amount of tonnage of sewage is no longer reported. Under the old system, under the old Perfor-mance Measures, annually you would get the amount
of sewage that was collected recorded here in tonnage. My concern here is that two years ago Gover nment introduced a fee for dumping of the sewage waste at Tynes Bay.
And now that we have a fee, I think it would
be nice to continually track the tonnage so that we can
make a comparison to what is the revenue that is being generated from that. Now, by removing that per-formance measure, there is no way of actually sort of balancing out the comparison of the new revenue that is being generated by introducing that fee by just looking in the Budget Book. If we still had the performance
measure of tonnage, we could compare it against the revenue that is being made on that new fee that was introduced.
But my main issue on sewage, Madam
Chairman, is another pet peeve, one that says we
have to— again talking about the importance of having
proper infrastructure in place, Minister —accept that
we are past this day and age of continually pumping
our raw sewage out at sea, 700 yards out off the South Shore. That day is outdated. That system is outdated. The technology as it is today, we have to
take the bull by the horn and accept that it is time to
do something better. It is time to do something better.
We like to pride ourselves as being a first -class dest ination and first class in all that we do. But we could be shut down in a heartbeat if that system ever failed and
stuff backed up and all our beaches were full of all of this raw stuff floating up and down.
And we all know that this is not just convers ation. The reality is you have seen small samples of that historically. We cannot sit around and wait until a
major fail comes and we have to shut down and we
are shut down in that regard. We have to prevent that
by being proactive, whether it is doing it in partnership with private concern, or government and corporation, but it has to be accepted that we can no longer continue to go forward in this day and age in that manner.
Madam Chairman, there are probably about
10 minutes left, right? I have got a couple of Members who want to make some comments. I am going to sit and give them the opportunity to make a couple of comments. And if they do not use up all of the 10 minutes, I may jump back on my feet. But I will yield at this point.


Bermuda House of Assembly The Chairman: Thank you, Member.
The Chair now recognises the Member from
constituency 5.

Hon. Derrick V. Burge ss, Sr.: Thank you, Madam
Chairman.
On page B -231, Head 36, under Architect and
Design, and I know the Minister is probably not going
to have time to answer all of these questions. But I wish he would if he would do it even, you know, Friday or whatever.
How many plans have been subbed out to
private firms, architectural plans, and the cost? Also,
what was the cost of the new office, or the quote for
the new office for Minister Fahy and the Government Building?

[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. Derrick V. B urgess, Sr.: Yes, where the cafet eria used to be in the Government Building. You turned
it into offices upstairs.

[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Oh, you did not do it at
all. Okay.
Now, the other thing is I can understand the
challenges you have had in this fiscal period we are in
now. Because out of the 123 employees that Go vernment budgeted for and did not hire, 80 per cent of
those employees were found in the Ministry of Works and Engineering. So a lot of the work you could not
get done. And most of those people were blue collar workers, if not all of them, that 80 per cent.
The electricity, the turbine, that has been . . . I
know the contract was given to Somers Construction for approximately $4.5 million to get that thing in place. It has been a year now, because in the last fis-cal period you budgeted to take in about $7.5 million in revenue, and you only took in, I think, $2 million or
just over $2 million. So we lost $5 million in lost rev enue because the turbine was not wor king. I would like
to know, what was the problem there?
On page B -229, cost centre 92005 [Roads
Asphalt and Signs], the centre line. This year —no.
You had budgeted to do 27 kilometres and you have only done 8.2 kilometres. That is a big difference in
the yellow line, the centre line.

Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes. Yes.
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: And the resurfacing of
roads, we normally budget to do public works 10 kil ometres a year, and you only did eight. I wonder if that
is a result of the staff cut s.
Now, the swing bridge (I am speeding now).
That was supposed to open—in one of the Parliamen-tary Questions we asked you last year —the end of December. You had some problems. The steel came.
They could not drill the holes, had to be sent back.
And now it is back. The latest we had was the bridge would be open at the end of March. I wonder if it has been taken into consideration (I am not an engineer —
yet), but the weight that you are putting in to reinforce that bridge, would that motor for the bridge han dle
that? Because I am sure that is a couple of thousand
pounds. When I say a couple of thousand, there are
thousands of pounds that you are putting in to put
those plates in to reinforce.
Sidewalks: You had budgeted to build 500;
you only did 208. That i s something I do not think we
should ever cut. Sidewalks are for safety, and we should not be cutting it. And the other thing is fencing. You had budgeted to do 150 feet of wooden fencing; you did 3,112. Was all that in the West End because of the America’ s Cup? Because we do not see too
many people in the East doing that, right?
Road cleaning, you had . . . I do not know if
that is a typo or what, 15,000 kilometres planned, but you only did 4,631. What was the reason for that? B ecause you have got some go od workers. You have
probably got some of the best workers in the world in
Public Works, Works and Engineering, because even
though you had numerous problems with those trucks, you were still able to keep your tonnage up as far as collections per week. In fact, you did more, you know. So my hat goes off to all of the employees, particularly those employees who pick up our solid waste in there.
Beach bathrooms —St. George's, Fort St.
Catherine, Beaches will remain a public beach. Will the Government be putti ng any toilets down there on
that beach? Because that world- famous beach, we
need to have some toilets on the beach. I know we do during public holidays; they bring some of these portaloos, right? But it should be some permanent structure. We can depend on the new hotel, if it is going to be built (hopefully, it will be) to put a beach. That is a public beach. It has been told to us that the beach will remain public. So we should at least have some toilets
on that beach.
Also, the Grand Atlantic, can you give us your
status report on that? And also, I understand that
some of those apartments are being rented out. How much are they rented for? There was, on page B- 223, Head 81, you had
an increase of revenue of 60 per cent on the [W & E
Property] Rentals, or $1.1 million, 60 per cent i ncrease. I am just wondering, what was the reason for such —

[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: The Rentals on page
B-223, line item 8795, [W & E] Property Rentals were
budgeted at $1.9 million, and you took in $3 million. I
would think that is rent increases, but hopefully not, right?
1254 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda Hous e of Assembly The asphalt, the special asphalt that you normally put in areas like the schools, that has not
worked for many, many years. In fact, you put it down; it looks nice for a week. And then it is the most untidy looking area on the road because of how it comes up. I am just wondering, have the engineers come up with a solution to that, if you can put something down that
will stay down? That stuff does not stay down. You
look in front, you pass it every day when you go to St. George's, the Francis Patton [Primary School], it looks very untidy. And I would hope that you have got some supplies in now for the lines, the marking, because we need to have, particularly in our school areas , the pedestrian crossings. They should be always looking nice and bright, particularly when school is in.
I think that is all I have. I know there are only
a couple of minutes left. Thank you.
The Chai
rman: Thank you, Member.
Would anyone else like to speak? Yes. So we have the Member from constit uency 26.

Thank you, Madam Chairman.
I will be very, very brief. I have a compliment for the Minister, and then I have two questions that I have to ask.
The Minister, certainly, I like his style. B ecause all through his brief, he talked about his staff. And I think that is very good. I come from an organis ation that had a slogan, People come first. I think he
must have borrowed it.
But I am referring to Head 82, Public Roads
and Private Roads. Minister, you know it must be a challenge at this time for residents to come together and try and get their private roads fixed in the face
that Government is not helping. So you know what it
must be like. So I am imploring you to try and do some thing about that in terms of allocating some
money for repair of private roads.
The other thing I want to implore as well,
some of the public roads that go into private—and I do not want to be too specific —also need attention that
they do not appear to be getting. I know we have
looked at little roads, South Shore Road, North Shore Road as the main drive, the main roads. But there are some other public roads as well that I think your Mini stry needs to look at. Thank you very much.
The Chai
rman: Thank you, Member.
Would anyone else like to speak to the
Heads?
Minister.
Hon. L
. Craig Cannonier: What have I got, two
minutes?
[Laughter] The Chai
rman: One minute.
Hon. L
. Craig Cannonier: Very valid questions. What
I will do is I will have our team consolidate all of these questions. And I will give it to the Shadow, as I did earlier with the answers. And that way, at least, we can address some of the concerns. I must say that we
are all pretty much on the same page with the co ncerns. I share those concerns with you. In the Mini stry, it has not been easy, especially with the ageing
fleet, and I think that is one area that I would conce ntrate on, the ageing fleet. But you see there, we are looking to do something.
The Chai
rman: Time, Minister.
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you very much, ev eryone.
Oh, yes, I have to move my head. Hang on a
second, let me get my own heads.
[Pause]
Hon. L
. Craig Cannonier: Yes, here we go.
Madam Chairman, I move Head 36, Head 49,
Head 53, Head 81, Head 82 and Head 97.
The Chair
man: It has been moved that Heads 36, 49,
53, 81, 82 and 97 be approved.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Agreed to.
[Gavel]
[Motion
carried: The Ministry of Public Works Headquarters, Heads 36, 49, 53 , 81, 82, and 97 were approved and stand part of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2017/18.]
The Ch
airman: Honourable Members, we are now in
Committee of Supply for further consideration of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year 2017/18.
Head 87 and Head 4 are now to be debated. I
call on the Minister in charge to proceed. Minister, before you take the floor, I would like to just introduce
that, in the absence of the Attorney General this evening, it will be the Minister of Health and Seniors. Mini ster, you have the floor.
Hon. Jean
ne J. Atherden: Madam Chairman, I would
like to move Heads 4 and 87.
The Chai
rman: You may proceed.
HEAD 87 —MINISTRY OF LEGAL AFFAIRS
HEA DQUARTERS MINISTRY OF LEGAL AFFAIRS

Bermuda Hous e of Assembly Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you.
Madam Chairman, the Ministry of Legal A ffairs, under the Direction of the Minister of Legal A ffairs and Attorney General, is charged with respons ibility for upholding the Constitution and legal system
of Bermuda. The Ministry’s mission is simply stated,
To provide and promote the fair administration of and
access to justice.
The departments that come under the umbrella of the Ministry are Legal Affairs Headquarters, the
Judiciary, the Attorney General’s Chambers, the D epartment of Court Services, and the Department of Public Prosecuti ons. The Ministry of Legal Affairs, as
with many other Government Ministries, was allocated a 1.47 per cent increase from the 2016/17 budget cei ling. A critical analysis of the Ministry’s expenditures was undertaken to accord with the budget ceiling while preserving the efficient delivery of services. The
current expenditures for 2016/17 versus 2017/18 are
as follows: The original estimate for 2016/17 was
$6,113,000. The estimate for 2017/18 is $6,203,000, an increase of $90,000, or 1 per cent.
Madam Chairman, the current account expenditure estimates for Head 87, the Ministry of Legal
Affairs Headquarters, begins on page B -72 of the E stimates of Revenue and Expenditure book. A total of
$6,203,000 has been allocated to Ministry Headquar-ters. This represents an increase of $90,000, or 1 per
cent, from the 2016/17 original estimate. The increase is mainly due to increase in the grant given to the F inancial Intelligence Unit. Additionally, funding was also allocated for the Attorney General’s Conference net of minimal reductions in overhead costs.
Madam Chairman, of the $6,203,000 allocated to Ministry Headquarters, $1,458,000, or 24 per
cent, of the budgeted amount represents the alloc ation for salaries. This includes salaries for Ministry Headquarters, the Legal Aid Office, and the Office of National Anti -Money Laundering Committee [NAMLC]
and is detailed as follows:
•Ministry Headquarters —$557,000;
•Legal Aid Office—$458,000; and
•Office of NAMLC —$43,000.
Madam Chairman, $2,605,000, or 42 per cent,
of Ministry Headquarters budget is allocated to Pr ofessional Services, largely consisting of the budget
allocation for external legal counsel retained by the
Legal Aid Office of $2 million. Also included in the Pr ofessional Services allocation is a budget for $451,000
for the Justice Protection Programme. This pr ogramme continues to produce excellent dividends for the Bermuda Government and the country as a whole
by aiding in the successful prosecution and conviction
of criminals.
Madam Chairman, the Ministry of Legal A ffairs Headquarters is divided functionally into five pr ogrammes: 97000, Administration; 97010, Financial Intelligence Agency (a Grantee); 97030, Legal Aid;
97040, NAMLC; and 97070, Justice Protection. Administration— 97000, 2016/17 versus
2017/18: The original estimate for 2016/17 was
$680,000. The estimate for 2017/18 is $733,000, an increase of $53,000, or an 8 per cent increase. This
programme provides for the administrative costs as-sociated with the Ministry Headquarters, to which $733,000 has been allocated. This represents an i ncrease of $53,000, or 8 per cent, from 2016/17 est imates. The increase is mainly due to funding allocat-ed for the Attorney General’s Conference, to be held in Bermuda in 2017.
Included in the Administration cost centre are
salaries and related costs for Ministry Headquarters.
Administrative support for the Minister and Permanent Secretary is provided by one seconded Executive As-sistant and one Administrative Assistant. Policy form ulation for Ministry legislative initiatives and project
management are provided by a Policy Analyst and an Assistant. Fiscal and financial control are provided by
a Ministry Comptroller.
Legal Aid— 97030, Current expenditure,
2016/17 versus 2017/18: Original estimate for
2016/17 was $2,892,000. The estimate for 2017/18 is $2,753,000, a decrease of $139,000, or a 5 per cent
decrease. Madam Chairman, the Legal Aid Office’s purpose is to ensure that legal advice and represent ation are readily available to those who need it most and who, because of limited financial means, can least afford it. The Legal Aid Office’s vision statement
is to provide quality legal representation for Bermuda’s residents. Its mission is to provide the residents
of Bermuda with an accessible, confidential, safe and
professional service in a timely and efficient manner.
Madam Chairman, the Legal Aid Scheme,
which is administered by the Legal Aid Committee, under the authority of the Legal Aid Act 1980, allocated for 2017/18 a budget of $2,753,000, which is a
5 per cent, or $139,000, decrease from the 2016/17
allocation. The decrease in the cash limit from 2016/17 is mainly due to less funding allocated to le-gal services due to cost -cutting measures.
Of the 2017/18 allocation, $458,000, or 17 per
cent, represents salaries for administrative staff and management. Two million dollars, or 73 per cent, represents costs allocated for legal services. The remai ning $295,000, or 11 per cent, represents administr ative expenses other than salaries for the Legal Aid
Office. I should note that it is our plan to explore curtailing expenses for legal services through legislative
amendment and additional in- house counsel. Madam
Chairman, the Legal Aid Office has focused primarily on increased operational and administrative efficiency, and the reduction of expenditure, where possible, given the limitation in budgets and small staff size, cou-pled with a high demand for services.
The largest area of expenditure within the Legal Aid budget remains legal fees, in keeping with hi storical trends. Budgetary allocations over the past five years have been insufficient to meet the demand for
1256 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly legal services. The Legal Aid Office continues to
maintain operational efficiency through the following
initiatives:
• use of a customi sed case management sy stem—Legal Files —with effect from April 2015,
which facilitates the creation and maintenance
of electronic case files, thereby enhancing
team member capacity to research matters
and to produce reports and statistics;
• scanning and e- mailing all correspondence
sent out to counsel in private practice who are
involved in the Legal Aid Scheme and clients who have e- mail, thereby reducing time spent
by administrative staff faxing and preparing correspondence for mailing;
• regular income review of certificate holders with ongoing matters, to ensure that their i ncome still falls within the statutory limit. Reas-sessment of certificate holders which reveals
that their income no longer falls within the
statutory limit results in immediate discharge of their legal aid certificates;
• review of all files held by this Office to deter-mine those that need follow -up and those that
can be discharged and/or archived; and
• reorganisation of filing room to facilitate easy access to paper files.
The office actively continues to maintain and
implement cost -control measures through the follo wing initiatives:
• containment of legal fees through requirement of brief fees for all criminal trials in Magis-trate’s Court and Supreme Court exceeding one trial a week in length, and for appeals to the Court of Appeal and Privy Council;
• strict adherence to the Act with respect to el igibility criteria on the basis of type of matter and household income;
• close monitoring of costs of current certif icates by preparing and submitting with each taxed bill a total of previous pay ments, which
triggers correspondence to counsel reques ting an estimate of time required to conclude the matter where payments are high or the matter has continued over more than one fis-cal period;
• utilisation of relevant training provided by the
Department of Human Resources, Ministry of
Finance, and other government departments
to reduce expenditure in this area.
New Cost Savings and Operational Efficiency
Initiatives: The Ministry will consider further legislative amendments to enhance cost savings and im prove
operational efficiency, such as establishing Legal Aid brief fees for all legal aid matters, where possible, i ncluding domestic, matrimonial and civil matters; and increasing the Legal Aid Committee’s power of as-signment of counsel for legal aid matters to maximise use of in- house counsel. Madam Chairman, Legal Services. Between
the period 1
st of April 2016 and 31stof January 2017,
the Legal Aid Office managed a combined total of 250 new matters —65 domestic matters, 18 matrimonial
matters, 65 civil matters and 143 criminal matters. The sum of $11,500 was recovered in the form of client contributions and has been applied to the Consolidated Fund. Recoveries in respect of continuing matters
over the same period were $2,785 for matrimonial matters and $89,750 for civil matters.
The Legal Aid Office continues to be a major
stakeholder in the specialist court programmes such as Drug Court, Mental Health Treatment Court, and
Juvenile Plea Court, providing defence counsel for
these courts. Most of these services are provided by in-house counsel, which assists in offsetting the impact of this assistance on the Legal Aid budget.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN

HOUSE VISITOR

I would like to take this moment to
recognise in the Gallery, Senator Renee Ming.

[Debate on Ministry of Legal Affairs , Head 87, continuing]
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: The Legal Aid Office also
continues to provide 24- hour access to legal advice
and representation to persons detained at the Island’s
police stations, through maintenance of its duty cou nsel roster. Counsel who are listed on this roster pr ovide services on a one- week rotation. In- house counsel generally serve two weeks out of each month
while counsel in private practice who are involved in
the Legal Aid Scheme are otherwise utilised.
Madam Chairman, Output Measures. The Legal Aid Office retains the ability to process applic ations for legal aid certificates within 14 working days. However, achieving this objective is dependent on
whether applicants have submitted the required information in a timely manner.
The average cost of each Legal Aid matter is
currently $5,419.00. This relatively low average cost not only reflects the effectiveness of the use of brief fees in criminal matters, particularly in respect of S upreme Court trials, but also reflects a drop in the number of criminal applications received—143 over the period 1
st of April 2016 to 31st of January 2017, of
which 77, or 54 per cent, were approved, as compared to 221 criminal applications received over the
period 1st April 2015 to January 31st, 2016, of which
115, or 52 per cent, were approved.
The Legal Aid Office continues to process applications for Temporary Certificates, commonly
known as “emergency certificates,” within 48 hours once all relevant financial information is submitted at
the time of application.


Bermuda House of Assembly [Change in Chairman]

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Mr. Chairman, Staff. The
Legal Aid Office is currently operating with a full staf fing complement. The staff establishment consists of
five permanent posts , one Senior Legal Aid Counsel,
one Legal Aid Counsel, one Office Manager, one A ccounting Assistant, and one Administrative Assistant. Recruitment began for the Office Manager post, which became vacant in July 2015 after the retirement of former post holder, Mrs. Dorothy Butterfield. The post was filled with the appointment of Ms. Vernicka S ymonds, who commenced employment on 2
nd May
2016.
Training and Development: The Legal Aid O ffice includes in its mandate the development of its administrative and profes sional staff. Therefore, much
attention has been placed on training, given the small size of the office and the need for efficiency. Training
opportunities not only enable staff to improve their skill
set, but also increase opportunities for upward mobili-ty within Government. Initial and refresher training on
Legal Files was conducted for the team, to ensure that they were kept abreast of updates to the case management system. Team members also benefitted from
the training opportunities provided by the Department of Human Resources, E1 training, and budget trai ning. In- house Counsel also participated in recent trai ning, in February 2017, for mental health and drug courts, put on by the Department of Court Services.
The diversity of legal work in the Legal Aid O ffice makes it an attractive option for pupils, law st udents, and summer students, facilitating the Ministry’s thrust to train and retain competent and qualified Bermudians. The office had one summer student over the period of the 6
th of June to 12th of August 2016.
Mr. Chairman, Other Initiatives —Legislative
Amendments: Three recent Supreme Court decisions resulted from judicial review applications made by l egally aided applicants in respect of the Legal Aid Committee’s decisions on the grant of legal aid.
Amendments to the Legal Aid legislation will be considered with respect to the calculation of disposable income and capital.
Office of the National Anti -Money Laundering
Committee (NAMLC) —97040, [Financial year]
2016/17 versus 2017/18: Original estimate for
2016/17 was $590,000. The estimate for 2017/18 is
$666,000, an increase of $76,000, a percentage i ncrease of 13 per cent. The purpose of the Office of the National Anti -Money Laundering Committee (Office of
NAMLC) is to ensure that Bermuda has a strong, ef-fective regime to combat money laundering and the
financing of terrorism and proliferation, while collaborating with international counterparts to help address these issues on a global scale. NAMLC’s budget for the fiscal year 2017/18 is $666,000, an increase of
$76,000 from the 2016/17 allocation. This increase is mainly attributable to an increase in the annual me m-bership fee for the Government’s membership in the
Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), as
well as to an increase in the annual consultant fee for
the Chair of NAMLC.
During the financial year 2017/18, a key focus
for the Office of NAMLC has been to continue working with the NAMLC agencies and other relevant parties
to ensure that Bermuda’s anti -money laundering
framework achieves a high level of compliance with
the international standards. These standards were
revised in 2012, and Bermuda’s evaluation against them is now expected to [commence] in 2018. In par-ticular, the office continued to work closely with the
NAMLC Legislative Working Group and Parliamentary
Counsel to address further legislative gaps in the framework.
To that end, three Bills were tabled in Parliament during 2016, and one at the beginning of 2017. All three Bills in 2016 were enacted, the most signif icant of wh ich brought real estate agents and dealers
in high -value goods into scope of the AML/ATF laws
in order to address these specific requirements of the international standards. The Bill tabled in February 2017 was enacted and addressed a number of regul atory issues identified by the Legislative Working Group
of NAMLC in order to remedy some legislative incon-sistencies and to strengthen some AML/ATF prov isions to bring them more perfectly in compliance with the international standards.
The office also worked cl osely with the Mini stry in the initiative to enact the Bribery Act 2016 and continues to lend support to the Ministry in the devel-opment of the attendant guidance notes preparatory to that legislation’s being brought into force this year. In addition, the office continued to work with Gover nment House and UK authorities in relation to intern ational sanctions, towards bringing Bermuda’s interna-tional sanctions regime in compliance with our intern ational obligations.
This initiative is part of Bermuda’s effor t to implement the requirements of the UN Convention
against Corruption, which is one of the requirements
of the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) 2012 AML/ATF standards. This legislation also allows Ber-muda to become compliant with the requirements of the OECD’s Anti -Bribery Convention, which, although
not specified by the FATF, provides detailed requir ements on the offence of Bribery of a Foreign Public Official, which is covered in less detail, but is also a requirement of the UN Convention.
During 2016, the office, working collaborativ ely with the NAMLC agencies, prepared and submitted to Cabinet a summary report of the findings of the n ational risk assessment on money laundering that was conducted in 2013. A National AML/ATF Strategy and Action Plan was also prepared on behalf of NAMLC and submitted to Cabinet for approval. Since then, with the coordination of the Chair and Office of NAMLC, NAMLC agencies have made weekly reports
1258 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly to Cabinet, outlining their activities and initiatives in
carrying out the action plan and preparing for the upcoming assessment of Bermuda’s AML/ATF regime.
As part of Bermuda’s preparations for the next
review of its AML/ATF regime and in keeping with the National Action Plan, in 2016 the office commenced a self-assessment exercise in which the office and all
NAMLC agencies undertook a detailed review of their laws and operations in light of the requirements of the international standards, with a view to determining what the remaining gaps are that need to be rem edied. Additionally, the office coordinated NAMLC’s assessment of Bermuda’s terrorist financing risk in
order to address the specific requirement by FATF
that countries should assess, analyse, and under-stand their money laundering and terrorist financing risks. This assessment has just been completed, and a report is being finalised for publication soon.
Mr. Chairman, as previously noted, Bermuda
has already embarked on its work to prepare for the next review of our AML/ATF regime, which is ex-pected to be carried out by the CFATF in the 3
rd quarter of 2018. This review will include an in- depth assessment of the effectiveness of our regime. The effectiveness assessment will involve determining the
extent to which Bermuda’s legal and institutional framework is successfully combating money laundering and terrorist financing within its borders, and c ooperating with international counterparts in the global fight.
The Office of NAMLC will play an integral role
in coordinating and providing relevant assistance for Bermuda’s efforts to develop its framework in the r equired manner. It is hoped that this will ensure our success in this upcoming review, given its importance in maintaining Bermuda’s position as a well -regarded
international financial centre.
Key initiatives that the Office of NAMLC team
will be working on in financial year 2017/18 to conti nue to prepare Bermuda for the CFATF’s 2018 on- site
visitare as follows:
(1) continuing the implementation of the str ategic plan for Bermuda’s AML/ATF regime, inclusive of updating the plan to include initiatives identified as necessary during the self -assessment;
(2) coordinating the second phase of the national self -assessment exercise, the first phase of
which began in 2016. The second phase will involve the NAMLC agencies focusing on closing any gaps
identified in the first phase, building the necessary evidence to demonstrate the effectiveness of Berm uda’s regime and, finally, preparing the written submi ssions required to be submitted to the external assessment team that will conduct the review of Berm uda’s regime in 2018;
(3) finalising any remaining legislative
amendments required to fully align the legislative
framework with the requirements of the FATF’s stan dards; (4) coordinating and managing an updated
assessment of the national and sectorial risks for money laundering, as required by the FATF stand-ards, as the findings of the 2013 National Risk A ssessment (NRA) exercise are now outdated. Cons equential on the finalisation of this exercise are coord inating and participating in outreach to relevant industry groups in order to familiarise them with the findings
on money laundering risk so as to enable them to make any requisite changes in their own risk -based
policies;
(5) coordinating the input from all NAMLC
agencies, as necessary, for the preparation of the
submissions to the CFATF assessment team, outli ning Bermuda’s technical compliance with the standards and explaining the effectiveness of our regime. These submissions to the assessment team will have to be made within the timelines stipulated in the
CFATF’s assessment procedures.
In order to progress all of these initiatives, not
only will the Office work closely with the relevant go vernment ministries and agencies, but it will also con-tinue to liaise with the private sector to assist them in understanding and effectively implementing the r equirements imposed on them.
The Justice Protection Programme—97070,
[Financial year] 2016/17 versus 2017/18: The original estimate for 2016/17 was $451,000. The estimate for 2017/18 is $451,000—no increase and no percentage change.
Mr. Chairman, the Justice Protection Pr ogramme has been allocated a budget of $451,000 for financial year 2017/18, which is the same allocation as the prior year 2016/17. This programme is operat-ed pursuant to the Justice Protection Act 2010 and provides protection for witnesses who support the
prosecution process and meet the legislative requir ements for entry into the programme. The success of
this legislative initiative is apparent from the increase in successful prosecutions, particularly those that are gang related and involve violent offenders.
Grants —[Financial year] 2016/17 versus
2017/18: The original estimate for 2016/17 was $1,538,000. The estimate for 2017/18 is $1,657,000, an increase of $119,000 and a percentage increase of
8 per cent.
Mr. Chairman, the budget allocation for grants
for fiscal year 2017/18 is found at page C -16 of the
Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure. For fiscal year 2017/18, grants will be provided to the Financial Intelligence Agency and for the Government’s annual membership fee for the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force.
Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA): In continuance of the Government’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, the FIA was esta blished under the Financial Intelligence Agency Act
2007. The FIA is the independent agency authorised to receive, gather, store, analyse, and disseminate


Bermuda House of Assembly information relating to suspected proceeds of crime
and potential financing of terrorism, which is received
in the form of a suspicious activity report. The FIA is
empowered to disseminate such information to the Bermuda Police Service and foreign intelligence au-thorities.
The sum of $1,600,000 was allocated for the
financial year 2017/18, an amount which has i ncreased by $100,000 for fiscal year 2016/17. Add itional funding is required by the agency to allow it to undertake its new supervisory functions in relation to dealers in high- value goods who are now subject to
AML/AFT regulations. Per the statutory mandate of
the FIA, it must uphold international regulatory stand-ards for the financial sector, requiring necessary r esources. The FIA, as required by law, reports its quar-terly expenditure and provides an annual audited r eport to the Minister of Legal Affairs.
Caribbean Financial Action Task Force
(CFATF): Also included in [grants is] the Gover nment’s Annual Membership in the CFATF, which is allocated from the Office of National Anti -Money
Laundering Committee’s allocation. Starting in the year 2017, the contribution will increase to $57,000,
an increase of $19,000 over the previous year. The
increase is attributable to the increased budgetary needs of the CFATF Secretariat, particularly in r espect of the implementation of the organisation’s m utual evaluation programme.
Capital Expenditure Estimates: Mr. Chairman,
the budget allocation for Capital Expenditures is found at pages C -9 to C -10 of the Estimates of Revenue and
Expenditure. The Ministry has been allocated a total of $308,000 for fiscal year 2017/18. Just over 62 per
cent of this allocation, or $190,000, is intended to be used towards video conferencing, court smart repor ting, case management, and a new judicial website. The remaining $118,000 will be used towards the pur-chase of fully depreciated assets wi th no residual va lue for departments under the Ministry.
Time, Mr. Chairman?

You have time, Honourable Minister.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: No. There is just one other
thing I wanted to also just report on, because I think it
is important and it comes in this section. Just to ind icate that, in this particular department, this particular Ministry Head, the Ministry has established a Child Safeguarding Committee. It started as an ad hoc committee last summer, but is now on firmer footing. The purpose is to increase coordination and cooper ation between the various agencies. The Ministry has
had a visit by Hilary Ryan, the Overseas Territories
Criminal Justice Advisor, and Kevin Peers , a Social
Services consultant. This is obviously something that has been brought into place in response to a recent situation where the protocols were not being followed. I just want to make sure that I made reference to this. Mr. Chairman, I am satisfied that the Ministry
of Legal Affairs Budget allocations for 2017/ 18 will
enable the Ministry to successfully fulfil its mandate with careful monitoring and the exercise of financial prudence. This completes Head 87.
I will go into something else.

HEAD 4 —ATTORNEY GENERAL’S CHAMBERS

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Head 4, Attorney Ge neral’s Chambers. Mr. Chairman, the Current Account
Estimates for the Attorney General’s Chambers, Head 4, begin on page B -84 of the [Budget] Book.
The original estimate for 2016/17 was $4,554,000. The estimate for 2017/18 is $4,808,000, an increase of $254,000, or a 6 per cent increase. A total of $4,808,000 has been allocated for Chambers. This represents an increase of $254,000, or 6 per cent,
from 2016/17.
Mr. Chairman, the purposes of the Attorney
General’s Chambers are:
1. to provide quality legal services to the Go vernment of Bermuda;
2. to advise all government ministries, depar tments, and entities on the law applicable to their operational requirements;
3. to draft legislation as required to implement the Government’s policy to maintain Berm uda’s le gislative database and to support law
reform;
4. to draft contracts, international instruments for mutual tax information exchange, conveyanc-es and other documents required for public purposes , and to provide advice on Private
Bills; and
5. to conduct litigation in the Civil Courts of Bermuda on behalf of the Government of Berm uda.
Mr. Chairman, the Attorney General’s Chambers is functionally divided into six programmes , accounted for below as follows:
Administration— 14010, [Financial year]
2016/ 17 versus 2017/18: The original estimate for
2016/17 was $361,000. The estimate for 2017/18 is
$410,000, an increase of $49,000, or a percentage
increase 14 per cent . Administration provides administrative support to the Attorney General, Solicitor General, and Crown Counsel. This cost centre provides
salaries for an Office Manager, a Receptionist, Records Management Clerk , and an Administrative Assi stant (Accounts) , and also supports the purchasing of
office supplies that are common to all sections of the department. The m odest year-over-year increase is
due to more funds allocated for administrative ex-penses.
Advisory —14020: [Financial year] 2016/17
versus 2017/18: The original estimate for 2016/17 was $1,966, 000. The estimate for 2017/18 is $1,929, 000, a
decrease of $37,000, percentage decrease of 2 per
1260 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly cent. Mr. Chair man, the Advisory Section (Advisory) is
responsible for providing quality advice to all Gover nment departments and to conduct litigation matters
brought by or against the Government. Additionally, Advisory is responsible for recovering debts owed to
the Government. This cost centre provides salaries for one Solicitor General, one Deputy Solicitor General,
two Senior Crown Counsel and six Crown Counsel,
and three Administrative Assistants. The year -overyear bu dgetary decrease (2 per cent) is due to r educed funding for consultants filling posts of C rown
Counsels.
Legislative Drafting —14030, [Financial year]
2016 /17 versus 2017/18: The original estimate for
2016/17 was $1,693,000. The estimate for 2017/18 is
$1,897,000, an increase $204,000, a percentage increase of 12 per cent. Mr. Chair man, the Legislative
Drafting Section advises regarding proposals to intr oduce or change legislation, drafts primary and s ubordinate legislation for all government departments, and
provides advice and support to Ministers in the House of Assembly and Senate as their respective legislation progresses. This section also provides advice to Min-isters and the Governor on legal and constitutional
issues. The salaries provided for in this cost centre
include the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Deputy
Chief Parliamentary Counsel, five Parliamentary Counsel, two Assistant Parliamentary Counsel, a Leg-islative Database Manager, a Legislative Editor, a Legislative Administrator , and a Legislative Database
Administrator. The increase in this cost centre is due to engaging a Senior Consultant Parliamentary Coun-sel and sala ry increments for two posts.
Revised Laws of Bermuda—14040, [Financial
year] 2016/17 v ersus 2017/18: Original estimate
2016/17 was $126,000. The estimate for 2017/18 is
$133,000, an increase $7,000, or a percentage increase of 6 per cent . Mr. Chair man, this cost centre
supports the consolidation, periodic revision , and publication of the l aws of Bermuda. It is responsible for
providi ng members of both h ouses of the l egislature,
businesses, lawyers , and the general public with access to the r evised statutes and r egulations of Bermuda. It also supports the ongoing consolidation of primary and subordinate legislation. The increase in this cost centre is to cover monthly web- hosting and
technical support fees for the website of Bermuda
laws, which is www.bermudalaws.bm
.
Debt Collection— 14050, [Financial year]
2016/17 versus 2017/18: O riginal estima te for
2016/17 was $308,000. The estimate for 2017/18 is
$315,000, an increase of $7,000, a percentage i ncrease of 2 per cent . Mr. Chairman, the Debt E nforcement Unit (DEU) within the Attorney General’s
Chambers was established by the Government to as-sist the Department of Social Insurance and the Office
of the Tax Commissioner in the recovery of unpaid Social Insurance contributions, Payroll Tax, Land Tax ,
and other taxes owing to the Government. The cost centre provides salaries for one Crown Counsel, one
Junior Crown Counsel , and an Administrator. The
marginal increase in this cost centre is due an incr emental pay increase for a Junior Crown Counsel.
Law Library —14060, [Financial year] 2016/17
versus 2017/18: The original estimate for 2016/17 was $100,000. The estimate for 2017/18 is $124,000, an
increase of $24,000, or a per centage increase of
24 per cent. Mr. Chair man, this programme provides
for the cost of maintaining the Law Library in the A ttorney General’s Chambers , which includes the purchase of books and periodicals, and the provision of
access to leading online legal information sources
such as LexisNexis and Westlaw. The increase in this
cost centre is due to increases in subscription fees
and additional users, an d the need to update legal
textbooks.
Output Measures: Mr. Chairman, during the
2016 calendar year 51 Acts were enacted and 125
statutory instruments made. In addition to the annual
budget legislation, there were a number of new and
amending Acts to give effect to the Government’s le gislative agenda , including two Acts to establish the
Civil Aviation and the Maritime and Shipping quangos;
updates to i nternational business legislation; and
amendments on subjects including public health, hu-man rights, proceeds of crime, medical practitioners ,
and liquor licensing. Also of note were the following new Acts:
• Money Service Business Act ;
• Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act ;
• Personal Information Protection Act ;
• Bribery Act .
The Bermuda Laws website, which contains
all of Bermuda’s laws and subordinate legislation , is
updated in real time from within Chambers , and we
are continuing to make improvements to the site. In August 2016, the website was re- launched on an updated platform with a new, more modern look and feel
and an advanced search engine. Since the implementation of the Proceeds of Crime Amendment ( No.2)
Act 2013, establishing the Enforcement Authority, there has been an increase in the number of requests for Mutual Legal Assistance. Notwithstanding this i ncrease, the number of days for us to respond has r emained constant.
Staffing: Mr. Chairman, there are currently five
vacant posts within the Civil Advisory and Litigation Sections of the Attorney General’s Chambers: one
Deputy Solicitor General and three Crown Counsel.
The recruitment process for two Crown Counsel is
nearing completion, and it is anticipated that the two
additional Crown Counsel will soon be recruited to join
the Attorney General’s Chambers. It is anticipated that
the contract for the sole remaining legal c onsultant will
end within the next three months. The remaining post
of Deputy Solicitor General will remain unfunded. The appointment of a relief Crown Counsel has been the one staff change within the Civil Advisory Section durBermuda House of Assembly ing the budget year 2016/17. As a result of the above
mentioned appointment, the current staffing levels of
the Civil Advisory S ection are the Solicitor General,
one Deputy Solicitor General, two Senior Crown Counsel, four Crown Counsel, one Relief Crown
Counsel, two Administrative Assistants , and a Paral egal to the Solicitor General.
There has been no staff change in the Debt
Enforcement Unit. In the Drafting Section of Cham-bers, there is one vacant Assistant Parliamentary
Counsel post , and the recruitment process for a Bermudian Trainee Drafter is underway. This vacancy
arose on the promotion in September of a Bermudian
Assistant Parliamentary Counsel to the post of Parliamentary Counsel, following five years of on- the-job
training and several intensive academic drafting courses overseas. We congratulate her on her suc-cess. Pending an appointment to this vacant post, in the Drafting Section of Chambers there are currently
seven Parliamentary Counsel (including the Chief and
Deputy Chief), one Consultant Parliamentary Counsel,
and one Assistant Parliamentary Counsel. In addition to these dedicated lawyers , who are responsible for
drafting all Government Bills and statutory instr uments, we are fortunate to have an excellent admini strative team comprising four persons, each of whom plays a vital part in the timely production, publicati on,
and consolidation of legislation.
Training and Development: The Assistant Parliamentary Counsel attended a two- day drafting wor kshop in Ottawa in September 2016 for federal and provincial drafters , arranged by the Canadian Institute
for the Administration of Justice. Members of the draf ting team take it in turns to give in- house monthly
presentations and lead roundtable disc ussions on
drafting matters.
Initiatives in the Forthcoming Year —Advisory :
Mr. Chairman, a principal focus will continue to be on
the development of Bermudians in Chambers , partic ularly in using Senior Counsel to assist Junior Counsel with advice and guidance on advisory and litigation
matters. Improving the personal development of staff
will remain paramount , by providing them the opportunity to attend training courses offered by the D epartment of Human Resources. The recruitment pr ocess for two Crown Counsel is nearing completion.
We will continue to r eview contracts for the
various ministries and departments to aid the same in making better decisions in contract negotiations. We will r eview the a ssignment of specific counsel to pr ovide advisory and litigation representation to ministries and departments , seek to improve our case management system to reduce our demand for paper r esources , and provide more in- house presentations by
couns el on a variety of legal topics.
Legislative Drafting— Staff a nd Training: Mr.
Chairman, a principal focus will continue to be on the
development of Bermudians in legislative drafting. The recruitment process for one Assistant Parliamentary Counsel is underway. Experienced drafters, including
the Consultant P arliamentary Counsel, will continue to
mentor the Assistant Parliamentary Counsel so that ,
in due course, they will b e able to draft independently.
Legislative Information Management System
(LIMS) : We continue to produce legislation quickly
and accurately , using LIMS , which is customised to
our Bermuda drafting style. This has kept the number of errors and inconsistencies found in legislation dur-ing House and Senate debates to a minimum , thereby
expediting the legislative process. We are supported in our maintenance of LIMS through our Canadian vendor , who provides timely professional assistance
whenever necessary and regularly updates our sof tware with the latest versions and technical support. The launch of the new website, with a more modern
look and feel and advanced search engine, has been
well received. At the request of users , we added a
new annual index of legislation to make it easier to
understand the historical notes used to trace amendments in the consolidated database. We will continue
to improve our database, and we aim to post new
laws within a week of enactment on the Bermuda
Laws online website, www.bermudalaws.bm
.
Consolidation, which is the incorporation of
amendments into the existing laws, is more time consuming , since the a mendments are checked by the
drafter as well as the Legislative Database Manager.
The goal is to complete the process within one month
of the enactment of the amending legislation. The
public are kept informed of laws which have been assented to, but which are not yet in force (highlighted in
green font on the database, to avoid confusion), as
well as laws which have been repealed, and are pr ovided with a quick reference point for m inisterial r esponsibilities. Subject to resolving all outstanding
technical and security issues with the assistance of
the Information Technology Office, it is antici pated
that, in due course, legislation will be introduced to
declare this electronic online version to be the official laws of Bermuda.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my review of
Head 4, and before I did Head [87]. So I am now g oing to leave time for my Opposition counterpart to ask questions and continue the debate. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Madam Minister.
Is there anyone else who wishes to speak to
these heads?
The Chair will recognise the Honourable and
Learned Shadow Attorney General. The Honourable
Michael Scott, you have the floor.

Hon. Michael J. Scott: May I thank you, Mr. Chai rman.
We would like to begin this response to the
Legal Affairs, Head 87, by first just underpinning the
mandate of the Ministry of Legal Affairs, which is to
1262 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly uphold the Constitution and legal system of Bermuda,
including the provision of legal services and the eff icient delivery of justice and accessibility thereto. Ha ving listened to the brief presented ably by the stand- in,
the Minister of Health, dealing with legal matters t oday, my overview of the brief is that it has been fairly
status quo. Our function this year, and the response of
the Progressive Labour Party, has been to seek and
to look for justice reform initiatives that effect a less unev en dispensation of justice in our country, based
on legacy inequities either based on gender bias, race bias, in some cases sexual orientation bias. That is what we have focused on for many years, in any
event.
But having heard the increases and the deployment of the increases largely with Professional
Services —and I will deal with that —and Legal Aid
Professional Services, and the Financial Intelligence
Unit, we do not see a response either to the need
within the provision of . . . in the context of uphold ing
the Constitution and fair and even delivery of justice,
this important second pillar of the whole constitutional setup, which is the Judiciary. And although we did not debate it, it certainly, the Judiciary, forms a vital part
of the constitutional framework and the delivery of
service, for it is through our courts that this takes place. And yet we have heard nothing in the present ation today, unhappily, that addresses the whole ques-tion of the housing for the Judiciary, in proper housing.
At the moment, all Members of the Bar, Attorney General’s Chambers, and I know the Learned Attorney General (who I hope is feeling better; I wish him well) will be aware of the scattering of the judicial staff and our judging staff across alternate living spaces because of mould issues, because of inad equate housing. Now, I am not so naïve as to think that
I expected anything more than a reference to —

Hold a minute, Honourable Member. I
am sure the Honourable Whips on either side can exercise a more appropriate level of interaction.

Hon. Michael J. Scott: That is very elegant, Mr.
Chairman.
But as an indication even for a plan, an alloc ation of resources to that plan, we heard the Chief Justice lament these issues. But that is not what we have
seen in the presentation today.
But I am particularly focused, therefore, on the
numbers and what they reveal. And just doing the
arithmetic, if I may put it that way, under the Profes-sional Services for Head 87, there is the allocation of $2,605,000 for Professional Services. And there was
an explanation given to that, and I will come to it. U nder the Financial Intelligence Unit, there is an alloc ation of $1,600,000. We heard that $100,000 of it was
for the consultant who is to deal with high financial crime, those matters that we have been dealing with within the House. So my question is, What has been the spending rationale for the remainder, $1.5 million, under the Financial Intelligence Unit? What has been the spen ding of the Professional Services, which the Minister of
Health indicated was largely for Legal Aid external
counsel ? And I have a concern about this. As I continue to actively practice and watch the doings, the comings and goings on the political . . . on the (I watch
the political one, too), but on the legal platform, I am
not aware that there is a huge use of overseas counsel, QCs, in any of the Legal Aid platforms. As a mat-ter of fact, we have been winding that back. So I did not follow that. So, I would like to have the rationale
for the statement that, for the Professional Services, it
has been largely for external counsel.
May I make this point? I will tell you what we
have seen, Mr. Chairman, is civil actions recently lev-elled against Members of this House, private citizens of this Island. And if the allocation for Professional
Services either to engage counsel or to pay for those legal actions is in these allocations of Professional Services, I would like to understand that. We know, as a consequence of questions put to the Learned Attor-ney Ge neral, that $400,000 has been allocated to the
civil action in Boston, and that is open ended and still running. So I calculate, of the Professional Services stated to be for external counsel under the Legal Aid regime of $2,605,000, and the Financial Intelligence, which is about . . . Financial Intelligence looks into
financial crime and investigating financial crimes. And
we know that the atmosphere that we are currently in
is about the much- published criminal investigation that
has been going on, which w as the subject of the
Commission of Inquiry. It has been stated that that criminal investigation has been going on for six years, and it involves several millions of dollars, without a
charge having been made.
But back to the total of Professional Services
and the Financial Intelligence Agency, I have
$4,205,000, together with the $400,000 for the Lahey suit by the Bermuda Government. So that is
$4,600,000. And the primary question is, Where is this
money being spent in terms of legal provision of la wyer se rvices or funding legal actions, whether criminal
or civil? You see, the Financial Intelligence Agency is an independent agency. And its principal mandate is to gather information and to share that information,
Mr. Chairman, with two entities —the Bermuda police
and foreign financial intelligence agencies. That would
be bank accounts, that would be e- mails, that relate to
a suspicious activity report.
And so I take that matter up because we have
heard, and I am still speaking to the Head 87, the
constitutional mandate of ensuring that legal services
comply with our Constitution, and our legal services are consistent with upholding both the legal system and the Constitution of our country. And the concern, of course, is that there has not been a blending of the civil actions and the criminal investigations, because


Bermuda House of Assembly that would breach the constitutionality framework that
we operate under. But what has been clear even from
just what is now known to us in the public, the most recent activity all driven by the publication of the COI, Commission of Inquiry. And I will not stray into it b ecause that is not what we are debating. But it has generated legal services in a massive way in our I sland.
And this is where I see all of the activity taking
place under the budget brief that was presented by the Minister of Health. This $4 million spend is the highlight of that budget. And we need to understand and have greater clarification, particularly in light of
the fact that QCs are not coming in at those $2 million
rates, currently, in our Island. And then there is the Financial Intelligence and its mandate, and the use of e-mails and the use of looking at bank accounts and
the use of that information, the deployment of that i nformation to both the police and overseas, which
could be the United States, which takes us to that entire issue about the huge questioning that we put to
the Attorney General that the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty may have been compromised by the blending in the Boston proceedings, civil proceedings using
criminal evidence from a criminal investigation in this
country.
Under Head 87, under the Financial Intell igence Agency, under their reports that I took the time to have a look at, Financial Intelligence Agency has listed indicators of suspected money laundering. And
they include cash exchanges, Bermuda dollars to US
dollars. They include drug trafficking activity. That is fairly understandable. They include wire transfers.
And this is the important one, gift club, and
club hands. And I want to ask the question, What is the rationale for the inclusion as a suspected money -
laundering trigger of gift club hands? Because it is going to, by its addition to this list by the Financial I ntelligence Agency, bring heat on the clubs, possibly stop them, and in a time when club hands, historically, are . . . it is like bingo. We look for other sources of
money. And I cannot, having read the report, 2015/16 of the Financial Intelligence Agency . . . it appears in
the 2013/14 report of the Financial Intelligence Age ncy. But it does not find itself mentioned again in the
2015/16. But I have been hearing rumblings that this line item of clubs is under the microscope. And we
want to have a good —I want to have a good, rational
explanation as to what makes club hands open to the
suspicion that it is being used in connection with money laundering.
I have not been able to follow it. Club hands,
generally, you know, my parents used to use them. I
mean, unless the argument is that there are many
club hands, because generally they never exceed 1,000. It is not in the hundreds of thousands, you know. These are mom -and-pop types of amounts. So
if it is the multiplicity of them that is the concern . . .
But I would like an answer. I am not going to try and answer it. I just really would like an explanation for its
conclusion and whether it still remains on the hit list, if
I may put it that way.
I would also like to have teased out just what
is happening, and I think the technical officers have heard my question, on external attorneys, or external lawyers, and the use of the budget there. So I would
like to have that answered, please. And those are my
questions arising out of Head 87, for the moment.
[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Michael J. Scott: Yes, I am going to give the
Minister an opportunity, if he has given some written
answers.

Is there anyone else who wishes to
speak to these heads?
Minister.

Hon. Jeanne J. Ath erden: The first one I was going
to take, I was pretty sure that I knew the answer, but
the technical people have confirmed it.
When we were talking about . . . and I am just
going to read the sentence again. This was talking
about the $2 million. It says, “Largely consisting of
budget allocations for external legal counsel retained by the Legal Aid Office.” That was external to the d epartment. So it was not necessarily meaning external to the Island. And so, it has been confirmed that, for the most part, it does not include any overseas cou nsel. And I think also I remembered when I read anot her part earlier that it also indicated that, by the department starting to have its counsel available for, I think, two weeks out of the month, that also suppl emented the need for Legal Aid in terms of Professional Services. So I think that was it.
Now, I am waiting for, obviously, response
with respect to whether the gift club hands are includ-ed. I must admit . . . and what I am indicating is that
this is because gift club hands can be a pyramid
scheme, where you can get . . . you know, you get the
money in and then you pay it out. And effectively, you can start to actually have, you know, a significant amount of money turning over. And therefore, you can lose control over where that money actually comes from. So that is why it is in there.
I think the other questions seem to relate to
this whole question of making sure that the Profes-sional Services were properly utilised. I am, obviously, with respect to where the Judiciary is housed, I can-not, obviously, answer that. And I am not even sure that the Attorney General would be able to answer that, because I am sure that it is a conversation that
1264 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly he will have at some point in time with the Minister of
Public Works. But I know it has been noted because I
know that you have noted it now, but I also know that
it was noted, I think, at one of your sessions , besides
this it was noted as well.
I do not think that there was anything else that
was a question that I could answer. I know that you
obviously indicated that you were looking for some more information with respect to upholding the Const itution and fair and even justice. But I think that those are the types of things that I am sure, from the Attor-ney General’s perspective, are also in his mind and intents. So I am not certain that there was a question,
but a statement. And I do not believe that . . . that is a
statement that everyone would want.

Thank you, Minister.
The Chair will recognise the Honourable and
Learned Member, Honourable Michael Scott.
Hon. Michael J. Scott: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Under the NAMLC provision, the consultants’
fees were increased. And then the Honourable Minister indicated what the consultant would have been
concerned with, the Bills dealing with real estate being
brought in scope and high- value goods being in scope
and some regulatory issues. Could we have a more clear rationale for the increase of this consultant’s in-crease? Were there any special or new responsibil ities th at drove the increase on this front for this consultant? Yes, I think that was it.

Thank you.
Minister.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Obviously, one of the diff iculties is when one is standing in. It is like the . . . you
know, you sort of feel like the telephone connection. It
has to start here, it has to come there. And then it has
to come around.

Hon. Michael J. Scott: I understand Minister. I am
respecting the technical officers.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: So I am just waiting to see
if—

Okay.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: So, I have taken the plugs
out. I am just waiting to plug it into the next slot. And I am familiar with some things which have
happened in the Ministry as it relates to NAMLC, and
also as it relates to, you know, the need for us to do some more reviews because of the real estate and others. I cannot turn around and specifically answer that question with respect to the consultant’s fees, because that is something which the technical people
would be able to tell me.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Why do you not continue
with some of your questions? And then continue. And what I would like to suggest, continue —

Minister, if you are going to speak,
you need to stand.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Sorry.
What I would like to suggest is, continue with
some more of your questions so that if we accumulate
a number of them, then it means that it gives the technical people more time to process them. And then I can start to respond back. Thank you.

The Ch airman: Shadow Minister.
Hon. Michael J. Scott: Thank you.
So, may I turn to Head 4, then, matters, which
is the Attorney General’s Chambers? Starting in the same way that I did for Head 87, the mandate for
Chambers is to be committed to providing high- quality
legal advice and litigation services and to drafting sound legislation, ever mindful of the need to protect the public interest and to safeguard and preserve the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in our
Constitution. And in doing so, we pledge to uphold the
traditions of equity and fairness inherent in the legal profession whilst simultaneously remaining on the cut-ting edge of legal trends and technologies to ensure that we are abreast and in accord with global trends.
There are some questions that are arising
directly out of the whole question, again, of the const itutional preservation of the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals in this community. When we see the Commission of Inquiry driving the civil litig ation at Port Royal, driving the litigation wherever else
we are going to hear from it, and in relation to Members of the Progressive Labour Party and two citizens of this country, and yet in relation to an OBA Senator, there has been no such equal treatment. Now, this is complete ly unequal treatment. And I am not expecting
. . . I wanted the Minister of Justice to be here to answer these questions.
On the same heading, again litigation being
driven in Boston against a well -known US entity and
clinic, with the view that links in Dr. Ewart Brown, a former Premier of this country, and links him in with pleading, reference to his e -mails and reference to his


Bermuda House of Assembly bank accounts . . . this use of this kind of evidence in
the civil proceedings is concerning. And if it breaches
Dr. Brown’s, or any citizen’s, constitutional rights to have a civil proceeding remain civil, and not use ev idence from entities or law enforcement agencies or the Financial Intelligence agencies or US agencies operating under the AMLC . . . so I see this crossing
of lines and this blending of civil energy in civil proc edure actions with the criminal side of our affairs in this country as falling far below the standards expected of the Attorney General’s Chambers. And in the absence of an explanation, the question arises .
Of course, an important part of the mandate,
Mr. Chairman, is to draft sound legislation. And I want to recognise the Chief Parliamentary Counsel and the Solicitor General in Chambers today, and Crown Counsel who is here, and commend you for the good work that you continue to do. Drafting sound legisl ation, of course, is the hallmark of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel and her team. It goes without saying that
the questions I was raising about blending of criminal evidence in civil proceedings falls to the Solicitor General, Mr. Douglas. And Ms. Balfour -Swain is co ncerned with the drafting.
Now, there is in this regard a concern that I
have, as the Shadow Minister of Justice, with the civil service regulations. Having the Public Service Com-mission Amendment Regulations, which were pub-lished, I believe, on December the 7
th of last year, they
were published, as I understand it, against the advice
by the . . . they were published against the advice of
counsel in Chambers as being unconstitutional on the
specif ic head that, under our Constitution, section 84
(I think it is), the Public Service Commission functions independently and shall not be subject to the direc-tions or control of any person or authority.
The provisions in these amendments at section 22 introduce a consultation platform with the Governor, the Premier and the Minister.
Sorry. Yes?

Okay.

Hon. Michael J. Scott: And the concern that this u nconstitutional . . . that these amendments, which have
caused some consternation with senior civil servants and rank -and-file civil servants, where the Premier
declared that they were prematurely published, but having been published, they are now, effectively, in place as law.
And what I am leading up to, having indicated
the unconstitutionality of them and the fact that the Governor, the acting Governor of the day, was asked to add her imprimatur to these regulations, what is the
status? Will these regulations stand, amended regul ations stand? Or are they to be withdrawn so that we
start afresh and have Public Service Commission Regulations that are constitutional and do not cause the civil service to go into states of unease or con-cern?
So I see that a question . . . there has been
some offering of assistance to Minister Atherden, the
Minister of Health. May I leave it there for Head 4?

Thank you, Honourable Member.
The Chair will recognise the Honourable Minister, Jeanne Atherden.

Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Mr. Chairman, if I can go
back to the NAMLC. And it is surprising, it is amazing,
when you get a little hint and you remind yourself about something. If you remember, we talked about NAMLC and we talked about the fact that the next
phase right now, we have to do the evaluation. And
so, this additional money was because we had a co nsultant who came down and helped us, if you will, look at how we had progressed with respect to our as-sessment, and giving us a feel of, have we got far enough? Because if we did not get that feel, we might
go into it thinking that we were fine. And then suddenly, when the people come in 2018, we get a rude awakening. So this gentleman came down and has been helping the NAMLC Committee look at our self -
assessment to determine what the gaps were and what else we needed to do. So that was a consultant
that came down. So that is related to that.
With respect to . . . and I am mindful of the
fact that I know how careful the Attorney General is
with respect to responding to different things. So I am going to say that I believe my recollection is that the
Attorney General had already addressed the issue
that there had not been any blending of criminal and civil evidence. So I do not believe that I would say a nything other than that. And if there was something more, he would answer that in some sort of actual question.
With respect to the public service regulation,
that is with the Governor. And so I do not believe that it is anything that I should be commenting on or that the Attorney General himself would have commented on. So that is the answer at the current time.

Members, it is has been
agreed that we rise and report progress on Friday,
March the 17
th, which is the next day of meeting.
Any objections to that motion? No objections.
Next on our Order Paper, I believe we are
carrying over Order Nos. 2 through 4, is that correct?
So we move to Order No.5.The Chair recognises the Minist er.

REGULATIONS

BERMUDA IMMIGRATION AND PROTECTION
(LAND -HOLDING CHARGES) AMENDMENT
REGULATIONS 2017

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Ma dam Deputy Speaker.
Madam Deputy Speaker, today I rise to intr oduce for the second reading the Regulations entitled
Bermuda Immigration and Protection (Land- Holding
Charges) Amendment Regulations 2017. This Bill seeks to amend the statutory period from 31st March
2017 to 31st March 2019.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I just wish, before I
go any further, to comment that these are regulations, and hence they will be dealt with solely in the House and this will not go into Committee.
So, Honourable Members will recall the passage of the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Amendment Act 2015 and the subsequent regul ations, Bermuda Immigration and Protection (LandHolding Charges) Amendment Regulations 2015. The two pieces of legislation sought to limit restrictions on permanent residents and restricted persons that
dampened Bermuda’s property market and stopped
the bleeding of property values, spurred growth in this moribund market and helped create jobs for Bermudi-ans.
Madam Deputy Speaker, Honourable Members will recall that before the Minister of Home Affairs
issues a land licence to a non- Bermudian to own
property, the applicant must pay a land- holding
charge. This is calculated as a percentage of the value of the land, ranging from between 4 and 8 per cent.
On September 30
th, 2015, those values were set to
automatically increase to between 6 per cent and
12.5 per cent. The 2015 Regulations sought to defer
this increase by a further 18 months, to come into ef-fect on the 31
st of March 2017. The 2017 Regulations
propose to extend the deferral period to 31st of March
2019.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to r emind Honourable Members of the current land- holding
charges, together with the values to which they would rise, if we do not extend the statutory period. They are as follows: For a permanent resident purchasing a residential valuation unit that is not a condominium
unit, 4 per cent of the land to rise to 6 per cent. For a
permanent resident purchasing a condominium unit
that is not tourist accommodation or hotel residence, 4 per cent of the value of the land to rise to 6 per cent.
For a non- Bermudian other than the spouse, child or
parent of a Bermudian, or a permanent resident, who purchases a residential valuation unit that is not a condominium unit, 8 per cent of the value of the land
to rise to 12.5 per cent. Any, other than spouse, child or parent of Bermudian or permanent resident, con-dominium unit that is not a tourist accommodation or a
hotel residence, 6 per cent of the value of land to rise
to 8 per cent.
Madam Deputy Speaker, since passage of the
Land Holding Amendment, there have been strong
signals of activity in the real estate market. This clear-ly demonstrates that the Government of Bermuda is
on the right track. Madam Deputy Speaker, to illustrate, I quote from the 2017 National Economic R eport: “The real estate and rental sector was the sec-ond larges t contributor to GDP. This sector accounted
for $983.6 million in output or 16.6 per cent of total
GDP. The value added from this industry increased by


Bermuda House of Assembly 2.1 per cent, increasing for the second consecutive
year. The growth in this sector can be attributed to an
uptick in property transactions including a greater vo lume of commercial property sales.”
However, Madam Deputy Speaker, while the
market is improving, we have had representations that
the market is still rebounding. As a result, both the
Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Finance
believe that this legislative change will provide an overall net benefit. However, we will not keep the lo wer rate in place in perpetuity. Instead, we will delay it to a future period when the Bermudian economy is doing much better and where it can withstand the i ncrease in the land- holding charge. As a result, we are
proposing that we defer this increase for a further two years until 31 March 2019.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker .

Madam Acting Speaker.
On this side of the House, Madam Acting
Speaker, we are prepared to support this regulation
as a matter of practicality, not because of enthusiasm or because we are particularly aligned with the Gov-ernment philosophy on these matters.
This question brings into relief the issue of
whether we have the right tax structure for dealing with ways to generate revenue for the country. The Government indicated when this measure was first brought into place that it would provide the necessary
incentive for there to be an uptick in real estate transactions. Clearly, it has not taken place to any signif icant extent and we are also getting mixed signals
from the real estate sector because while the Gov-ernment economic outlook identified that 16 per cent of GDP was for real estate transactions, the real es-tate sector were saying that last year and the year
before were particularly traumatic years because of a
litany of protests, and if you look at the annual report from one real estate agency it shows the protests in
December had a significant impact on real estate
trans actions. So we are getting mixed signals out of
the real estate sector but the Government is taking a
practical step to try to encourage these transactions to
take place. It really raises the question of what we
need to do from a practical standpoint to entice and excite people about buying real estate in Bermuda.
One issue might be the level of bureaucracy
involved, but the Government would know that better than we on this side. But from a standpoint of support
we will not vote against it. We are practically in support of it, but recognise that there needs to be a lot more done on a number of fronts regarding taxation, regarding economic incentives and ways to further grow our economy. But we will stand in support of this
regulation today, Madam Acting Speaker.

Thank you, Member.
Are there any other Members that would like
to speak?
There are no other Members that would like to
speak. The Chair recognises the Minister.
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Ma dam Acting Speaker.
I would like to thank the Honourable Member
for the contribution in respect of this regulation and
recognise the support of the Opposition because of
the pragmatism that is involved and the commitment
that we have as Government to ensure that we will continue to do those things which will assist in stim ulating the market to put more money in the coffers. The Honourable Member ’s comment with respect to
the taxation structure I do not believe is appropriate for this particular regulation but I certainly take it under advisement of a concern, and certainly our Gover nment is looking very carefully at what we do to raise revenues at the appropriate time and in the appropr iate manner.
It is unfortunate to hear that the Honourable
Member s are not aligned with Government but I am
very, very pleased to hear that they are not going to vote against this, that they are supporting it, and I think this is an ideal opportunity to point out that we
can work together as Government and Opposition
when it is pragmatic and when it is for the better good
of the country, and I believe that the Honourable
Member on behalf of the Opposition has indicated that
desire so to do and we are appreciat ive.
So with those few comments, Madam Acting
Speaker, I move that the Bill be reported to the
House—the regulations.

The next on our Order Paper is
Order No. . . . I think it was Order No. 6. And that O rder No. 6 is the second reading of the Financial Services Tax Act 2017.
I call on the Minister in charge. Minister?

BILL

SECOND READING

FINANCIAL SERVICES TAX ACT 2017

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Good afternoon again,
Madam Acting Speaker .
M adam Acting Speaker, the Government
wishes the Honourable House to give consideration to
the Bill entitled the Financial Services Tax Act 2017. This Bill provides for the introduction for a new fina ncial services tax chargeable on providers of certain financial services.
Madam Acting Speaker, Honourable Members will recall that in the 2017/18 National Budget,
Government announced that in an effort to broaden the tax base a new financial services tax would be introduced and that the yield from this tax would be approximately $11.4 million. Indirect tax systems are generally composed of three major revenue handles.
First, a general tax on final consumption of goods and
services, like a value- added, or VAT; a value- added
tax or general sales tax, is intended to efficiently mobi-lise revenue. Second, customs duties are imposed on imports at a low rate of tax on most imports to mobilise revenue, or with a few rates varying by the extent
to which goods are either primary, intermediary, final consumption or capital goods to provide some protec-tion to local producers. Third, excise taxes. Excises are typically imposed on a small list of goods the con-sumption of which increases social or environmental
cost, or is highly inelastic in- demand like cigarettes
and petrol.
Madam Acting Speaker, the current tax sy stem also imposes sales tax on a number of selected
services. Revenues from those taxes amount to about 3 per cent of total tax revenue. Services taxes include
the corporate service tax on service provider exempt-ed undertakings, the hotel occupancy tax, and the telecommunications fee. Most services remain un-taxed distorting consumption decisions between goods and services.
Most countries have adopted some form of
VAT to tax final consumption of goods and services. Honourable Members are aware that the Ministry of
Finance requested technical assistance from the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre, aka CARTAC
, an IMF regional body to study the feasibility
of broadening Bermuda’s tax base. CARTAC recom-mended many widespread changes to the tax system. However, when they considered the characteristics of
Bermuda’s economy and tax administration capacity
constraints, the CARTAC mission did not recommend the adoption of a VAT in the short to medium term.
Madam Acting Speaker, in order to broaden
the tax base, the CARTAC mission did, however, rec-ommend that Government introduce a sales tax on
turnover from the provision of most services excluding
health, education, social, and fina ncial services. It was
proposed that this GST would be levied at an approx-imate rate and as this was a change that would r equire significant adjustments in operations, billing, and reported on the part of service providers and collec ting, tracking and enforcement on behalf of Gover nment, this tax would not be implemented until 1 April 2017 at the earliest.
Unfortunately, the consultation period has
been delayed due to extensive consultation relative to
payroll taxes. It is not envisioned that the GST will be
implemented before 1 April 2018. However, Gover nment’s commitment to spreading the tax burden over
a broad cross section of the community remains i ntact, despite these delays. As plans for this tax be-come more well -defined, we will be reaching out to
stakeholders for their input and comments.
Madam Acting Speaker, we stated that not able exemptions to the General Service Tax will be in the sectors of banking, insurance, and healthcare. Small service providers will also be exempted from the tax. The formula of a percentage of sales or turn over is clearly not appropriate for calculating taxes on banks and insurance companies. However, pursuant to Government’s objective of diversifying its tax base we are proposing to introduce a new tax to be called the Financial Services Tax. This tax will be for banks,
local insurance companies, and money service bus inesses. This Bill provides for the introduction of this
new tax and also it provides for the following:
• Establishes a rates of tax payable by the
different financial service providers;
• Establishes the mechanism and time
frame for the financial services providers to
file a return and pay the tax;
• Sets out registration requirements; and
lastly
• Sets the commencement date.
Madam Acting Speaker, when applied to
banks, the tax will be calculated as a 0.005per cent of
assets. The tax as applied to local insurance companies will be a tax on gross premiums earned excluding
premiums from health insurance. The tax rate will be 2.5per cent on non- health related gross prem iums.


Bermuda House of Assembly Finally, the rate of tax on money services
business will be 5per cent on their aggregated income
and outgoing transmission. I have to add, Madam Ac ting Speaker, we are going to amend that rate later on.
I will make a floor amendment.
And with those introductory remarks, Madam
Acting Speaker, I will now read for the second time
the Bill entitled Financial Services Tax Act 2017 and
invite Honourable Member s to participate in the debate.
Thank you.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER

HOUSE VISITOR

This is clearly one of the Bills
that the Government has proposed is going to make
some changes and new taxes that have been pr oposed. On this side, we feel that this particular pr oposal sadly is bringing in new taxes which could p otentially bring some serious concern to those in the
business community as well as members of the mi ddle class.
We certainly are concerned that these taxes
are being done to perhaps plug up some . . . to pe rhaps the Government to avoid raising the debt ceiling. These are taxes that are going to impact on the middle class and we do have some concerns about their impacts going forward, Madam Acting Speaker .
Already we are hearing in the community that
some of the proposed taxes including this one which is proposed today is affecting employment decisions.
It is going to certainly bring about perhaps reconsider-ation by members of the business community on their decisions going forward and we do hope that the
Government understands this and is making the appropriate steps to answer the questions of the bus iness community as these new taxes are deployed and will be prepared to explain to the public the likely i mpacts and how these taxes are going to benefit Gov-ernment’s financial position. Bermudians have had a very serious cha llenging time with the last years of the recession. Bus iness as we are told repeatedly has been challenged. Jobs, we know, have been lost and there is a concern that any further steps that are made by the Gover nment will retard or slow down any other recovery that we can expect to move towards as we go forward. So,
I suspect other Members of the Opposition will have
something to say on this, but we are concerned that this particular tax with others that are being proposed is going to impact Bermudians in a way that will be
negative and will not aid in the position of recovery that we all want the country to be in.
So I will sit down and other Members of the
Opposition, I believe, will speak to this Bill.
Thank you.

Thank you, Member.
The Chair recognises the Member from constituency 6. You have the floor.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Madam Acting
Speaker.
Madam Acting Speaker, we are debating the
Financial Services Tax Act 2017. Something new;
something new that the Government has brought b efore us. Last year they promised us tax reform and this is the best they could do. This is the best they could do, Madam Acting Speaker. Here we are, once again— because if you think that these institutions, the
banks and insurance companies, are going to take the
hit then we are whistling Dixie . That cost will be
passed on to the consumer and that is what they are not thinking about. They are not thinking about the average men and women in our society. The impact could be . . . you know, every five minutes the bank is
increasing their fees without an increase of Gover nment’s involvement or some other tax being charged. Now, if they had the promises from the insurance companies . . . the chairman from them and who has
an interest involved in this is sitting right next to you,
and the other boards of the banks, if they are not g oing to increase the fees, then you may have my su pport. But the average man on the street, it is going to
have an impact on him when this service fee takes place. This is the best they can think of? Are there any
. . . is the Minister sitting down thinking about what
impact if we can have some tax reform? Matter of fact, what they should have done, and my honourable col-league, the Leader and Shadow Minister of Finance, has made a promise to the people of Bermuda, that
we are going to have tax reform also. But a compr ehensive tax reform. Not this side piece here and a
piece here and a piece there and hope in the end it
will balance and make sure our budget balances. We said that we will invite the Members on the Opposition
and the Government side, the international business, and the local business and hold hands on this one. We are finding this out on this side with the an1270 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly nouncement that the Minister made during his Budget
Speech. There cannot be a general . . . we realise,
and I know the situation that the Minister finds himself
in. The country is in a situation that we have got to find some funds to get rid of our deficit and we have got to find some funds to make sure that we pay funds on . . . excess funds on our debt. In 2012, [it was] $1.2
[billion] and now $2.5 [billion] or around about that number. So we have some serious problems.
But when you are in trouble, Madam Acting
Speaker, you do not try to do things by yourself. You
call the family together. And this one the Minister did not call the family together because we are part of the
family. We are part of the family in this House. That is
what I am talking about. If you want cooperation, if you wanted cooperation, Minister, you could have sat down as I told a former —

Member, refer to the Chair,
please.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: When I spoke to the Minister
of Economic Development, when they brought the
America’s Cup here, we asked to go see the Minister
of Economic Development and said, Listen, if you
want this thing to work , the best that [you] could do for
the country, is have us in from day one and in every
meeting going on. And the Minister promised us, and
we have not been to a meeting since. Hence, why
there are some problems. So, I am saying, Madam
Acting Speaker, that we have a situation right now
and the Minister, it may sound nice and the itching ear over there said, Well, they are hitting the banks . They
are hitting the insurance companies. They are not going to hit me. I can promise the average man and
woman on the street that they will be affected.
There [are very few in] business that are g oing to absorb certain things. Very few. They expect to
get their same ratio. They expect to get the same r eturn. In fact, they expect to get a bigger return on i nvestment every year. It is not about they do not want
to show any losses. They want a bigger return. So
how are they going to do it? I am going to pass the loss, pass the expenses on to the consumer, and I am going to point my finger right at the Minister. That is what they will say. Do not blame me. Go blame the Minister because it is the Minister —and so we get excited.
And, so, I just find it extraordinary and I said,
maybe the Minister has . . . I will be interested to know
whether the Minister, when he had these consult ations with these institutions whether they were so ex-cited. They brought out the wine and started celebra ting. It is the best thing. Yes, I support it, wholehear tedly. I mean, we already told you and I am not antic ipating debate when we get to the payroll part. Now, we have already heard rumours in the international market that they are concerned about the progressive tax and being hit, and that they do not have to be here anymore. They can operate out of a suitcase in Miami
or Timbuktu.
And go see Disney World in the afternoon, all
right, and swim on some nice beaches, too. So, it is not like they have to be here like in the olden days. Matter and mind had to be in Bermuda in the old days
and say, No, they do not have to be here anymore.
So, there are some real concerns coming
from this side that the Government, like I said, may
feel that they have done the right thing, but if they would have only talked to this side a little more, ma ybe we could work some things out. Not wait to 2018 and 2019 to get the numbers right. We could have
done some things better this year even some on the
expenditure side. I mean, we debated— and I am not
backdating on any debate —but the reason why Government has got to raise some money because at the end of the day we have to pay for certain expenditure.
We have to make sure that deficit . . . we a lready took the $20 million from the bank, from the hospital. And so he needs some more money. So, I am going to plug in here, let us look at some financial
services. If we think that this is not going to have an
impact on us, then we are whistling Dixie .
So, I tell the people, I tell the country out there
to hold on, just hold on a little bit longer because when
we are the next Government, we will have proper tax reform. We will be able to sit down and consult with those individuals who are the movers and shakers in this country to make things right for the business
community and the consumers. We have to get it
right. There are industries; there are revenues out
there that we can touch. I do not know why the Mini ster will not touch those particular ones, and I am not going to say which one it is, but I have spoken to him before about it.
So, that the biggest concern on our side that
we are heading the wrong direction when it comes to this Bill. So, just hold on people for a little while long-er. The change is about to come.
Thank you.

Acting Speaker, thank you.
Thank you, Acting Speaker. When we look at
this Bill and following in the same vein as my MP,
from constituency 6, it is obvious that this Bill, that the
taxes that he is proposing will hurt the middle class. Everything that is being proposed will be passed on.
We are going to be taxing insurance, everything but


Bermuda House of Assembly the health insurance—that is home, that is life, that is
motor, contents, liability —those are the things that all
of us require. Boats —those are the things that all of
us require and the Minister thinks that the companies
will absorb these costs. As my friend said, he is whis-tling Dixie .
But let us call these taxes what they really
are. It is a tax to pay for the revenue we have given
away by giving away our airport. It is a tax to pay for the America’s Cup. That is what it is. So, let us just call it the “Airport and America’s Cup Tax.” Let us not call it Financial Services Tax. The “Airport and Amer ica’s Cup Tax” that you Mr. and Mrs. Average Berm uda will bear the brunt of because we have been told
time and time again, time and time again, this is a great deal. It is the best deal in the world. We got an airport. But now we are finding out how good it is be-cause now we have to pay more money. We do not have that revenue that we did have so we have to
come up with it. We are paying for an America’s Cup
that we will see the benefits of maybe 10, 20 years from now, but we have to pay for that now. That is what we have to do, Madam Acting Speaker. So, the
Minister, in his infinite wisdom, has put forth this Bill,
this Airport and America’s Cup Bill, and it will hurt
those who least can afford to be hurt in the times that we find ourselves in. And that is exactly what he is doing here.
When we talk about collecting these taxes , my
Honourable Member that sits two chairs down from
me has promised to get up every week, every time we
are here and talk about the Tax Commissioner’s ina-bility to collect the taxes they are supposed to be col-lecting now. How are they going to collect these? How are they going to go about and get these to be paid? Will we be coming back here next year with suppl ementals for $25.4 million because we just were not able to collect taxes? You know, so, when I look at this, that is really what I see. That is all I see. I cannot really say much more to it. It is the “Airport America’s Cup Tax Bill” that Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda will bear the
full brunt of and we have the One Bermuda Alliance
who has told us that they are inking the best possible deals in the world for Bermuda but they are not telling
us, Oh, by the way, everything that we are giving up
we are going to have to take from you at some point in
the future.
Thank you, Madam Acting Speaker .

Thank you, Madam Acting
Speaker .
Madam Acting Speaker, I think the best way
that I can sum up this Financial Services Tax Act 2017 is to, and ignore my analogy, call it the Reverse Robin Hood. Effectively, what we have is a tax that will take
from the poor —or in this case, middle class —and give
to the rich. Now, why do I say that? We are speaking about a tax that will affect by and large the lower and the middle classes of our individual economy. Bank fees are already, in my opinion, astronomical. Every
time I look there seems to be an increased bank fee.
You are smiling becaus e you are probably agreeing
with me silently. But every time I look, Madam Acting Speaker, there is an increase in bank fees for this or
that. And oftentimes when I call from a professional perspective to the bank for my estate practise, my
legal practise, I always ask them is there going to be a
fee charge and they giggle because they know that
there is a fee charge for everything. You walk into the bank and you breathe, they are probably going to charge you a fee.
And, though I am speaking tongue- in-cheek,
the reality is we all know that we are being hit by con-stant increases in bank fees. Likewise, when we speak about insurance fees, we talk about insurance for home, for life, motor, as well as liability insurance. Just today I paid for liability insurance for my law firm
which was “X” per cent . . . you know, the actuaries
provide the amount that we should be paying. So, now
I know that with respect to those types of insurances, those are going to be increased. And we are seeing that the increase is going to be by some 2.5 percent.
Well, if I am an insurance company, with the greatest
respect, I am not going to eat that increase. I am going to pass it on to my clients. So, the reality is that Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda who are paying for insurance for their home or for their motor or for their life, are going to have to pay the increase that we are going to see with respect to the 2.5 per cent considered in this
legislation. The company is not going to eat it. They are going to pass it on to the consumer. Okay?
Whether that is that is fair or not, the reality is
that the consumer will be the one that is going to be
eating this increase. Same way with the bank fees.
The consumer will eat the increase of the bank fees
and likewise with respect to the money service bus iness. Notwithstanding, I see that there is an amend-ment in front of me, but the reality is that the money service business is going to have an increase in fees—sorry, in taxes, they are going to pass that on to
the consumer. So it goes back to the point that I raised before where the Government is acting as the reverse Robin Hood. We are going to steal from the poor and give it to the rich. Who is the rich? America’s Cup. I spoke about that yesterday and we all know that that is a sporting event t hat by and large attracts
high net -worth individuals. The boats are over a mi llion dollars. So they are running around, boys and their toys, running around speeding up and down the country with these $1 million boats. They are going to be the beneficiaries of this because we need to raise
our revenue stream by a taxation so that we can help
1272 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly support the America’s Cup and an airport that we
have all said before went untendered and a number of
issues that surround that.
So, again, Madam Acting Speaker, this is a
travesty for the middle- class Bermudians and the lo wer class Bermudians that are going to be asked yet again for pay for an America’s Cup and an airport that
went untendered, an America’s Cup that will not benefit the, by and large, the majority of Bermudians so that the Government can go ahead and have its way with respect to these two projects. And it is not equi-table. It is absolutely not equitable and when my taxes increase because my home insurance and my life i nsurance and my car insurance is going to be in-creased by 2.5 per cent so that I can help pay for an
event that I will not go look at —this is what the major ity of Bermudians are saying—it does not affect me. It only affects me because I am going to pay for this event, though I probably will not go look at it and I certainly will not be the beneficiary of any economic sti mulus that comes from the America’s Cup. It is not equ itable. It is not fair. And I am certain that people are
going to be sitting around looking, yet again, we are going to be having these tax hikes and tax increases
to pay for an event or an airport that went untendered
or an event that I will not even participate. And the question is, Is that equitable? And I say no, it is not. Madam Acting Speaker .
In addition to that, Madam Acting Speaker,
the Opposition has constantly called for –– and I am
glad that in less than 10 short months, when we are the Government, we will be in a position to put our words and actions in play so that we can commence the conversation for comprehensive tax reform. Bi -
partisan —we need to talk about how we are going to
deal with our tax restructure as it relates to payroll tax,
as it relates to perhaps corporate gains tax . . . our
whole tax structure has to be evaluated and we need
to have the hard conversations to discuss that so that people like Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda who are sitting in the middle class are not going to be the ones that are
saying hang on a minute, every time we need to pay
for some event or pay for an airport, I am the one that
is gettin g the squeeze. And it is not equitable and it is
not fair, and the best way to deal with this and the fairest way to deal with this is as a comprehensive measure and to look at our entire tax structure for
Bermuda from top to bottom and look at what is equ itable, what is fair, what is something that the majority
of people can live with —I mean, nobody likes taxes —
but what is something that is fair that we can all live with and recognise this is for the benefit of Bermuda and this is going to move Bermuda for ward.
So, I am going to end where I started. Comprehensive tax reform is the only way to address these issues. It is inequitable and we are looking at a tax structure that is going to, by and large, affect the middle class because you bet your boots, the insurance companies, the money service providers, and the banks are not going to eat this cost. We are going
to see some fee increases in the next couple of —the
moment this gets the royal ascent, we are going to
see fee increases and they are going to pass it on to the consumer and we are the ones that are going to be paying for things like the America’s Cup— we
spoke about it yesterday, not to reflect on a previous
conversation, previous debate, $25 million has been
taken from the indigent subsidy that is going to be America’s Cup. Again, taking from the poor and giving it to the rich. And the best way that we can address our tax system is by comprehensive tax reform so that it is equitable across the board for all of Bermuda.
Thank you, Madam Acting Speak er.

Thank you, Member.
Are there any other Members that would like
to speak?
The Chair recognises the Member from constituency 36. You have the floor.

Hon. Michael J. Scott: Just very briefly, Madam
Deputy Speaker, adopting the concerns and the
speeches that have been just uttered from the Oppo-sition side including the last Honourable and Learned
Member. You know, can I begin this way? I know that
the Minister of Finance probably should be . . . and I
am going to congratulate him for the testicular fort itude that he has displayed in finally making taxes against the bank —

Through me.
Hon. Michael J. Scott: —against the bank, and, um,
because that could not have been easy but he must
have prevailed. I know his colleague, the Minister of
Economic Development, would have given him an
argument. But he prevailed. But we began this entire, the Opposition began this entire debate on the Budget 2017/18 about focusing on inequalities in the whole economic makeup.
So, I hope this was not a trade- off. The banks
are going to be taxed. Insurance may have been a second guess that they are wealthy or capable of bearing it. But the money services are a new entity, the new kids on the block, and I have gone in there and I have sent money overseas. I know some of the
players. This is true middle- class activity as the Ho nourable and Learned Member, Ms. Wilson, was sa ying. And if they are going to be hit, was it the calculations of the banks Let us not let these other small
growing green shoots get away . But they need to be
led away so they can get capacity and grow. But this
country constantly keeps the status quo and the
banks are not going to let competitors, somewhat competitors like money services, receivers of money, deposit -takin g entities have a chance to breathe and
grow and help to create, as the middleclass always does, the economy.


Bermuda House of Assembly And, so, I add my voice to those that have
been raised about the equity that is involved here. It
has been the singular focus of the Opposition f rom
across all ministries. Inequities, injustice delivery, and the unevenness of delivery of justice matters in our country. We are seeing it in the economy and partic ipation in the economy. And, so, I add my voice to
those of my colleagues that this is a concern and
needs to be rethought.

Thank you, Learned Member.
The Chair recognises the Minister from constitue ncy 23.
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Ma dam Acting Speaker .
Madam Acting Speaker, the one thing I can
see by the contributions that have been made thus far
is that Members Opposite have responded to the i nstruction to go according to the playbook. The pla ybook is knock down the America’s Cup, knock down the airport, and knock down everything that the Go vernment has attempted to do in order to raise funds. The last speaker, to his credit, acknowledged that we
have now traversed a different pathway in putting f inancial services tax against the banks. He acknow ledged that that must have been difficult. And I think
that change is always difficult because there is the
possibility that some of these taxes will be passed on. However, Madam Acting Speaker, know that every
dime that we are able to raise in taxes is a contribu-tion to the coffers. Know that we would have been as
a country in a far more comfortable position if we did not have to deal with the deficits and the debt to which we have been subjected.
We heard the Member Opposite complain and
be concerned about the financial services, the small businesses that are now up and running because of
people going in and the fees that they are able to raise and now there is going to be an additional tax. But what the Honourable Member perhaps may not
have come to grips with or even realised is that while he may have utilised those services for personal rea-sons, a significant amount of the monies that are be-ing funnelled through those financial services agen-cies are effectively Bermudian employed people, many of whom are expatriate who are sending money
home. And that is —no, they do not get paid—
[Laughter]
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon- Pamplin: The people who
are sending money home—the Honourable Member
said from Guatemala and very tongue- in-cheek,
based on the report that was in the press, and I just
want to make sure because they will get up and say that I said that they do not get paid. Based on the r eport that was in the press, there was indication that people were unpaid. I went to the source to ask the question and I was told from the source from the people who were hiring those individuals that that was
absolute rubbish, that there was no story. That is the
information. I can show the e- mails because I was
concerned.
So, let me just say that we heard Members
Opposite talk about where you are taking money out
of, you know, it is reverse Robin Hood. We are taking
money from the poor to give to the rich boys who are out there sailing around on million dollar boats for the America’s Cup. Let me tell you about the amount of, not just work permits that have been issued because of people coming to do work in creating the America’s
Cup Village, to create an economic benefit and ad-vantage for Bermuda, let me say that there are fam ilies of the teams who have moved to this country, over a year. The significant impact that they have had
on countless rental units that heretofore the landlord may not have had revenue coming from, the benefits
that have inured to this country as a result of that
event, I think that for the Opposition to try to shoot it
down at every possible turn is a travesty to what it is that this Government is trying to do in order to keep us on an even keel.
Bear in mind that we do not have significant
deficits because we have outspent ourselves and we do not have any care or concern about paying off our debt. And the deficit that continued to rise was b ecause we had to pay the bills on the current account and we had to pay bills on the current account with
money that we did not have. So we had to then raise
money in order to do that. So once we are able to at least get rid of the deficits on an annual basis, we will
then have some money to pay off the significant $186 million that we are paying in interest —I think that is
the number —on an annual basis, $500,000 per day, I
believe to be the number, that we have to be able to start to retire some of the debt. We have to have money in order to do it. And, yes, it is not a good thing that some of these costs are likely to be passed on to the consumer. And I know that we do not want to see
people hurting to any greater extent than they must.
But we have to be able to raise money. We have to.
I heard one Honourable Member indicate you
should not have done this without bringing us into the
conversation and you do this without any sort of con-sultation. Let me say that if the Finance Minister had
the testicular fortitude to go to the banks and say to
them that I am going to put all this money and I am not having any conversation with you, I am just raising money, I am raising rates. I am going to do whatev-er—with no consultation . . . I doubt very seriously that
he would survive very long in that position. Because I
think that it is important that when we have policies
that are likely to impact our entire community, we have to make sure there is a level of consultation. And I think the Opposition Member’s learned it very quickly
in the end and fast and furiously at the point in time when that payroll tax went up by that 2 per cent and
1274 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly they saw the negative impact of what making dec isions without consultation would do.
So, the playbook on the other side says knock
down the America’s Cup. I heard the Honourable
Member talk about we are taking money out of the
indigent subsidy so our poor people will not be able to
get healthcare and this is just so—Honourable Member, this is so —

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon- Pamplin: No, the Honour able Member said that we are taking money —
Hon. E. David Burt: Point of order.

The Chair recognises the Mi nister.

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon- Pamplin: Thank you. We
recognise that there are alternative facts. The insinu ation by the Honourable Member , and forgive me if I
have misunderstood what you were saying, but there
is $25 million less going to the hospital to be able to
provide —what does the hospital do other than provide
healthcare? They provide healthcare. So when I say that there is $25 [million] that they are criticising that there is $25 million less . . . but bear in mind what the
situation was, Madam Acting Speaker. The hospital had $100 million of money that was stashed aside that they did not need —

We have to be careful not to
reflect too much. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Okay, I was not
here for that last debate so I am not trying to reflect,
but I just beg your indulgence for one second, just to solidify and underscore the nonsense that is coming from the other side because money that was utilised or failed to be put in the budget this year to support that was basically saying there is a pot of money here.
We are paying inordinate amount of interest in order
to support a debt that we have to finance and you have an institution that is relying on money coming out of that same pot of money that is being supported and we still now have . . . you know, they have a whole lot
of money that is sitting in a bank account somewhere
that they wanted to invest and complain because they
did not get all of the application that they have made.
So, I am concerned and I do apologise because I was absent on Monday, so I do not wish to delve too deeply into what may appear to be a reflec-tion on a debate, but if the Opposition would be ho nest with their interpretation and the delivery of the in-formation that they give to the public. Let us try and be
honest with people. It was not that we have drained money and taken money away from an institution b ecause we are so mean- spirited that we do not want to
see our indigent being taken care of. That is not the truth. They are alternative facts that are coming from the other side of the aisle.
The Honourable Member s also mentioned
about the airport that was, you know, not tendered, that was ill -advised. That they did not like it and all of
those things are very true . . . that they did not like it.
The biggest challenge that I see is that they did not do it and they do not like the idea that we found a way to put our Bermudians back to work. The very ones that they are criticising to say that that middle class is
shrinking—here is a project that will allow that same
demographic to earn some revenue for themselves.
Let us say that the rental revenues that have come in from the likes of apartment rentals, from even extra —
the Grand Atlantic, the disaster that was put up on South Shore by the previous administration —is now
able to be rented out so that there is revenue coming that is coming in as a result of America’s Cup.
Let us look at the hundreds of people who
were put to work on that site in order to build it up. Let us look at the hundreds of people who will be put to work at the airport in order to build that up. Look at the
hundreds of people that will be put to work at the D esarrollos project in St. George’s who will be put to
work. Why is it that the Opposition are so incensed
and upset that we are trying to put people to work? Yes, there may be some impact on the bank fees be-cause invariably a business model will pass on certain
aspects of a taxation to people. And, you know, the
one thing I notice t oday . . . you will notice that the
Feds raised the interest rate by .25 percent. You notice that almost immediately one of our banks said that they would follow suit today. The other bank said they would not. And herein lies the benefit of compet iBermuda House of Assembly tion when one can make a determination as to how
they choose to operate their business.
So, it is not necessary, does not necessarily
follow that because one bank might decide to increase
some of its banking fees that somebody else is going to automatically follow suit. So, I just wanted to make that contribution, Madam Acting Speaker, because,
you know, as I said, we will hear it one more time and three more times and five more times from whoever else is over there to speak. We are going to hear that we are putting money in the America’s Cup because that is what they were told to say, that is what their playbook has told them to criticise, that is what they
were advised to do. That is what they were admonished to do. PLP Members —we are in an election c ycle. When y ou are in an election cycle you knock
down everything the Government is doing. What the Government is doing —let us remind people that they
brought the America’s Cup, they are paying for an
airport and they took $25 million from our poor ind igent children and young people who will now not be
able to have healthcare. That is their playbook. That is
their M.O. [ modus operandi ]. That is what they intend
to do. We can hear it, we can be ready for it time and time and time again. There is no truth to what they ar e
saying. They have chosen to deal with alternative
facts. I think it is a travesty to the people of Bermuda and I really honestly wish that they would stop, Madam Acting Speaker .
Thank you.

Cooked up in a poli tical lab
of chicanery, some would say, of deception—those
outside these Chambers would say. This is the pot
calling the kettle black, Madam Acting Speaker. And
the Honourable Member who just took her seat knows
this playbook very well because it is the old, tired playbook of the United Bermuda Party that we thought was buried— I mean, I did my best to try to bury it
back in 2006 and the BDA tried their best to bury it back in 2012, but this is the playbook. I hear the voice
of Sir David Gibbons, I hear the voice of Jack
Sharpe—I hear these voices from the crypt with this
same old rhetoric. But Madam Acting Speaker, what concerns me is that when we hear Members such as the one that just took her seat speak of the middle class, speak of the poor, the contempt drips from their
voices.
The contempt drips from their voices. It is
clear, Madam Acting Speaker, that what we are sa ying comes not from a playbook but from what we are
hearing on the doorstep. What we are saying comes
from the people who told us, W e were tricked at the
last election. We did not realise we were voting for
this. And I would say to the middle class, the workingclass and all those who voted for the One Bermuda Alliance, did they vote for this sort of treatment as demonstrated by this particular Bill? Madam Acting Speaker, we . . .I can say this,
that the public is getting tired of what -about -isms co ming out of this Government. If a Member in the Senate is found to have engaged in potential criminal activity,
well what about what the PLP did. If they do not te nder something against financial orders, what about
what the PLP did. This Government needs to grow the
heck up! Leadership requires taking accountability and being man enough to say, You know what? This
is what I stand for and this is what I believe . I can tell
you this, Madam Acting Speaker, it is my hope that my colleagues will not use the One Bermuda Alliance
as their yardstick for performance. It is my hope that my colleagues will not come up here and say Well,
you did it so I can do it, too. Playground antics, chil dish antics.
The people expect better and it is the broken
promises that were made to the middle class. It is the
punishment that has been inflicted on the middle class
by a Government that did not campaign on this, that told us that they knew how to get 2,000 jobs. But
those 2,000 jobs, Madam Acting Speaker, have now
become a thousand volunteers at the America’s Cup.
Those 2,000 jobs have seen growth for nonBermudians, not Bermudians.
So, I would suggest this: that the Honourable
Member who just took her seat and whoever wrote
her script, because I keep hearing the same lines over and over again, Madam Acting Speaker . . . put away
the script. Let us see some jobs coming, okay? B ecause our people are not the ones who are benefitting from the rents, are not benefitting from the contracts. The people who are unemployed, who are suffering, do not want to hear about playbooks. They want to hear about the job that is coming. And, Madam Acting
Speaker, we have said repeatedly we want these jobs
to come. Do you know why? Because we all know
people who need jobs. I am not prepared, and none of my colleagues are prepared, to see our people suffer for political gain. We want our people back to work —
1276 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly and not rinky -dink, Mickey Mouse jobs either ; real,
good jobs with futures and liveable wages.
So, Madam Acting Speaker, my colleagues
have made the case about the damage that will be
done. They have made the case as to why this is be-ing done. But the case that must be made is this: Does the Government, in its final days, have any co nscience? Does it have any regard for the people who are not the beneficiaries of the America’s Cup? Are
they prepared to stop blaming people and saying, You
know, if you do not make any money off of it, it is y our
fault. There needs to be change in this country, Madam Acting Speaker, and the change starts with the
attitude of this Government. I could be anywhere else
instead of having to hear this nonsense about pla ybooks when people are unemployed. Utter rubbis h
and nonsense. The Government needs to grow up, take accountability for their decisions and let us call the election. Let us just call the election because I am
about done with hearing the nonsense out of this
Government.
Thank you, Madam Acting Speaker .

Thank you, Member.
Are there any other Members that would like
to speak to the Bill, Financial Services Tax Act 2017?
The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader.
You have the floor.
Hon. E. David Burt: Madam Acting Speaker , I am
privileged to serve with the Members on this side who
represent the people of this country and can forcefully
come up here and represent their interests, and o pposed to making false arguments, as we heard from the Minister responsible for Immigration or I should say the Minister responsible for Guatemalan immigr ation.

[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. E. David Burt: But the Minister responsible for
Immigration making up things that people on this side
said. The fact of the matter, Madam Acting Speaker, is that the One Bermuda Alliance may not like the
facts, but as the Honourable Shadow Minister for Tourism who just took his seat said, you have to be accountable for the decisions of which you have
made. It is that simple.
So, it is not as the Honourable Minister r esponsible for Immigration said knocking you down. It
is your record. Own it! You took the $25 million from the hospital, own it. You privatised the airport which cost us $30 million this year, own it! You are spending
money on the America’s Cup, own it! Those are the
decisions of which you have made. And when we hear
these things about, Oh, look at all the great things the
America’s Cup is doing, no one is denying that. But it
is not free! Again, Madam Acting Speaker, it is not free, and when all is said and done the bill will end up
being $100 million to host this event. It is not free.
So, we can talk about all the items being rented. We can talk about the eye- popping profits that will
come from the official alcohol supplier, Goslings, and
the official food supplier, Butterfield & Vallis, and maybe there is an official gas supplier and a boat
supplier . . . we can talk about all those things. But at
the end of the day, these are the decisions which
have been made. And when we talk very simply about the airport privatisation we know, and we can see, that
there used to be a line item under the Office of the Tax Commissioner for $17 million of revenue —

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Hon. E. David Burt: —of $17 million of revenue that
was coming in to that office and— $17 million —and
now that is gone. So, now we have to find revenue to make up for it. So, when the Shadow Minister or the
MP fro m constituency 13 said that we might as well
call this, the “Airport and America’s Cup Tax Act,” it is correct. That is what it is because we know that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and even though the One Bermuda Alliance have these wonderful campaigns talking about . . . what was it? Talking about
the airport will free up money for schools and seniors.
Yeah, free up money for taxes. Tax increases for the middle class. That is what we have here.
So, let us not be fooled. When all that money
was gone, this Bill, this measure, is coming to find
$11.4 million of revenue. But just like the mysterious customs duty hikes which have magi cally disappeared
because it seems as though if the people that the One Bermuda Alliance represent do not have to protest, do not have to march . . . they just pick up the phone and
call the Premier or call —maybe it was the Honourable
Minister for Economic Deve lopment . . . maybe his
stores were going to see an increase in their customs duty and they did not like it. So, all of a sudden it is
gone. We have not heard an ything about the customs
duty increase and now we see the money service
business tax being dropped. So, this morning we hear
this wonderful brief about the work of planning the budget and now we see more taxes disappearing. So, where is this revenue going to come from? Dropping revenue again— again? As I said, Madam Acting
Speaker, can these figures be trusted? We know the
Minister has missed his deficit targets for three years in a row. Again? We are going to see them missed
again. That is what we see.
See, Madam Acting Speaker, you have to be
accountable for the decisions of which you made. So when you march around the country and convince


Bermuda House of Assembly people into thinking they would not pay anything for
this airport, now the chickens are coming home to
roost. And, yes, there will be jobs for building a new airport. But for the $30 million . . . the $30 million— you
could have employed a whole lot of Bermudians for that, as well. Let us be clear. It is not free. We are paying for it. The people of this country who will see
their insurance rates go up, their bank fees go up, the fees of which they pay for money services go up as has been indicated which is mainly the middle class and the working poor.
Those are the ones who are going to be pa ying for this. But this is just one of the many things in
the Minister’s final budget which was explained perfectly by the Chamber of Commerce because just like the Chamber of Commerce said, it seems that the One Bermuda Alliance does not have a plan for jobs and growth in the economy and bringing more jobs to Bermuda—because we have seen many jobs disa ppear over the last two weeks. Jobs . . . yesterday tal king about increased costs of doing business , and we
read here, and I quote from the Chamber of Co mmerce release on the budget: “One area of concern for the Chamber is that this budget will be inflationary
for Bermudians. Those people who will benefit initially
from paying lower payroll taxes and, in fact, all res idents will start paying more for goods and services.”
So, when you realise your gas has gone up
and your BELCO has gone up and your insurance has gone up and everything else, cast your eye at the
wonderful new building that is being built, the airport,
and then remember that because the Minister of F inance made the deal those people are not paying any taxes at all. Those are the two Bermudas that we
have, Madam Acting Speaker. The Bermudians that
pay the taxes, that are out here in the day, that are
working, and the foreign companies that are repr esented by people who have long- term history and r elationships with the Minister of Finance, [they] can get
a deal for tax -free income and a 30- year deal where
they do not have to pay their taxes. And we are stuck here raising taxes on those who are struggling. I do
not have to tell Members on that side how sensitive Bermudians are for cost of living. I do not have to tell the Members on that side that Bermuda is number one for being the most expensive place in the world to live, and this Act here today will make it more expensive, to fill the re venue hole to pay for the Minister’s
projects. That is what we are here doing today, Madam Acting Speak er.
So, when the One Bermuda Alliance today
passes this vote to increase costs on the residents in Cedar Hill and in Cedar Park and over even in Ri ddell’s Bay . . . I hope they remember when they knock
on the door at election time to tell them, I voted to raise your taxes so we could pay for the airport that we convinced you was free .
Thank you, Madam Acting Speaker .

Thank you, Member.
Are there any other Members that would like
to speak to the Financial Service Tax Act 2017?
I call on the Minister in charge to proceed.
Minister?

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Madam Acting Speaker .
Now, we have had quite a . . . we have been
entertained by much rhetoric —most of it vacuous —
but just let me get back down to, perhaps, simple
arithmetic. The essentials of the budget are clear. The budget consists of revenues and expenses. We are
operating at a deficit. In order to do something about that deficit, we have to increase revenues and d ecrease expenses. If we do not do that, the inevitable occurs. It is just arithmetic. It is not politics. It is not even economics. It is just ar ithmetic. If we do not do
those, the deficit and the debt increases. Simple. It is
not an argument. It is not anything other than fact.
Simple as that.
Now, so, we have said over and over again
that our overriding objective and the overriding risk to the Bermuda economy, to Bermuda as a country, and
to the Bermudian people is the excessive debt that this Government has —getting close to $2.5 billion.
Imagine that —a country of 60- odd-thousand people
owing $2.5 billion. It is incredible. So, that is the objec-tive here.
My first budget, in 2013, I announced that the
deficit would be for that year $331 million. We have consistently reduced that deficit. I have promised to eliminate that deficit. This is one of the ways we do that. Now, the Opposition can get up and say that
people are not going to like increases in taxes. That should not be a news flash. Nobody likes an increase
in taxes. Nobody! You cannot find anybody on planet
Earth who likes an increase in taxes. So, him getting up there and being rhetorical about people not liking
increases in taxes is just a waste of breath. Nobody likes it. But we have to do this because of the situation
we are in. This tax is being characterised as the
“America’s Cup and Airport Tax.” Well, Madam Acting Speaker, this is m ore like the “PLP Deficit Tax.” That
is what this is. This increase in revenue is to eliminate a deficit that was started by their party. Again, this is not rocket science. It is not politics. It is just facts, and
facts always overwhelm those other things . This is the
“PLP Deficit Tax” increase. That is what this is. It is an
attempt and a way to pay down the deficit.
You know, there has been a lot talked about —
and I think that to a large extent it is a sort of reflection of a former debate, but, you know, the Government of
Bermuda has spent money, particularly, on the Amer ica’s Cup. You know, we are spending $70- odd-million
on the America’s Cup, but we are anticipating that this
country will gain $250 to $300 million from that $70 million investment. Now , that is a pretty good inves tment, Madam Acting Speaker. You spend $70- odd1278 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly million and you get $250 to $300 million back within a
year, a year and a half. That is a good investment,
and a lot of that money is being spent on wages and salaries for Bermudians. The problem is that the O pposition cannot get over the fact, they just cannot get over it, that we are actually doing these things to cr eate jobs and the jobs are being created by our actions.
They talk about jobs, but they are against the very
thing that is creating the jobs. Now, how do you, how do you compute that? How do you add that up to make sense? In the cockamamie world of politics, that is the only place it can make sense. The cockamamie world of politics because it does not make sense ot herwise, that is for sure.
So, when you see those folks working out
there reclaiming land and doing all that work out there, right, for the America’s Cup which is being paid for, to some extent, by the Government. Those are the jobs that are being created. When the airport starts, we are
going to be employing hundreds of Bermudians. That
is one of the reasons why this Government is here, to give the opportunity for employment for Bermudians. Hey, and we are real proud of that. I am going to spend a dollar and it is going to help employ Bermudians; that is a dollar I am proud of.
So, it is not an “Airport and America’s Cup
Tax.” These taxes will raise about $11 million and we
spent $74 million on America’s Cup. So it is not pa ying for the America’s Cup. You know? It is not paying for the America’s Cup. So how can it be an America’s
Cup Tax?
And then we hear the absolute nonsensical
stuff I am hearing about the hospital. I have to com-ment on that because we cannot let things that are just blatantly untrue stand. We cannot let it stand. I have said it here already but I am going to repeat it. I
heard tonight that we are taking money from the ind igent subsidy. That is not true. The indigent subsidy,
the subsidy that the Government pays to the hospital, is a matter of law and it has to be paid by the Go vernment to the hospital irrespective of whatever else
the hospital does. It has to be paid. And it is going to
be paid. The hospital had excess money. And how do I know it is excess money? I have said it before, I will say it again . . . because they wanted to invest in
Bermuda Government bonds with that money. They had $50 million set aside to invest in Bermuda Government Bonds. So, hey, they did not need the money. When you put money in the savings account it is because you do not need the money. It is simple. If
you needed the money, you would not be putting it in a savings account, particularly a 10- year savings account which is what these bonds are. Ten years —you
are going to set aside this money for 10 years. It was
clear they did not need the money. They had enough money on hand for their operations. So, the grant that we give the hospital, the BHB, was cut by $25 million, not the subsidy that is mandated by law. We pay two sets of money to the hospital —not just one. We pay that subsidy which is a matter of law, plus we pay our
grant. It was the grant that was reduced because they
are sitting on quite a bit of money, thank you very much. They have been very efficient on their oper ations. Very efficient. So, to their credit, it was a place where we could go for money. Incidentally, by the way, that money belongs to the Government, folks. It
belongs to the Government! It does not belong to
somebody else. It is our money. And they are blaming us for using our money.

It is for healthcare.

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: It is not for healthcare. It
is excess money. I just finished explaining that. You
can parrot that stuff all you like. It is not for healthcare. The healthcare is fine. They got money for that. There is money left over. It is the Government’s money. And we are using it to reduce the deficit. How about that?
And we got blamed for somehow, you know, reducing
healthcare for babies, indigent people—I mean, what nonsense, you know, the nonsense that comes from the other side sometimes is really beyond imagination.
Now, we have heard a lot about comprehensive tax reform. Well, that is a great idea, but by the time they get around to doing that, a lot of us around here will be pushing up daisies. I can tell you that for a fact. It took me 18 months in consultation with intern ational business for payroll tax reform —18 months —
and that is with the help of accountants and all kinds
of—not just accountants in Government, accountants
outside of Government. And, still, we did not come to
an agreement. Why? Because nobody likes to pay
more taxes. That is why. So, somebody had to make a decision and the Government made a decision. Just like with this tax on banks and insurance companies,
somebody had to make a decision and we made a
decision because nobody was going to agree to it. So,
if they think they can sit around, you know, chew the fat and have comprehensive tax reform and that pe ople are going to agree to it, you know, this is Bermuda
this is not Disneyland! This is not Mickey Mouse country. This is not a fairy tale. This is real life. Nobody is going to agree to more taxes. Somebody is going to have to make a decision and that is what we have done here, made a decision. Why? To reduce the def-icit. A def icit that we inherited from the other side.
So, all this stuff about comprehensive payroll
tax . . . it is a great dream but it is not going to happen
in my lifetime. And while they are talking about it and people are disagreeing with it and all that sor t of stuff,
the deficit and the debt will keep ratcheting up be-cause, Madam Acting Speaker, if ever there was an
example, this is a real -life example that time is money.
Time is money. So, while they are chewing the fat over comprehensive tax reform and do ing all this sort
of stuff, getting everybody together . . . it can maybe
have a nice feel -good factor, but the time it is going to
take . . . this Government cannot afford that time. A cBermuda House of Assembly tion has to be taken now. It has to be taken now —
and, again, somebody had to make a decision and we
have made that decision. That is why we were elec ted, to make decisions, not talk about it . . . to make
decisions.
Now, there were some remarks made about
companies not paying taxes —foreign companies not
paying taxes —and the remark was made about the
airport, and I do not want to re- litigate the airport. B elieve me; I do not want to re- litigate that. But I do just
want to say this, that the posture of this Government and the posture of their Government when they were Government was to give tax breaks to foreign investors in Bermuda. The Hotel Concessions Act is exactly
that—giving tax breaks to foreigners investing in Bermuda. We want foreigners to invest in our country. Now how do we get that to happen? We have to en-tice them. We have to give them sweeteners. The only way a Government can give somebody a sweetener is
to reduce the cost of it. Give them tax breaks. The
company that is investing over $300 million to build an asset that —

POINT OF ORDER
[Misleading]

Hon. E. David Burt: Point of order, point of order.

Thank you, Member.
The Chair recognises the Minister.
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Madam Acting Speaker,
the Honourable Member just does not seem to understand investments.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: You can borrow money to
make a n investment, Honourable Member. You can
borrow money to make investments. I mean, you
know, if you build a building and invest in a building and you take out a mortgage to build that building, you are investing in the building, but you are borrowing
money . I have never heard such nonsensical nonsense in my life. Because they are borrowing money,
they are not making an investment? Come on. An ybody knows that is nonsense. Anybody knows that.
Now, I will get back to my point. My point is
this that we have a policy, they had a policy when they
were the Government, to give tax breaks to encourage foreign direct investment in our Island. A foreign direct investment that is being made at the airport has been accompanied by tax breaks, just like the foreign direct investment in the Loren which has just been
opened was given tax breaks to build that, just like
Morgan’s Point has been given to build that, just like
Hamilton Princess when they invested in that. They got tax breaks. They did not have to pay, you know, their share of payroll tax. They did not have to pay
customs duties. We give all kinds of breaks for these people to invest in our country. So when you hear this
sort of nonsense that I am hearing about the airport
you know what is going on. It is an attempt to mislead the public for political purposes because it sure is not true. It sure is not true. It sure is not fact. It sure is not—and I hear the Honourable Member who wants to
be Finance Minister one day say that they have not made an investment in Bermuda because they are borrowing the money . . . I mean, geez, geez! Give me
a break!

[Inaudible interjections]

Members, I should really only
hear one voice.
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. So, that is what this tax is all about,
Madam Acting Speaker. These taxes are about rai sing revenue for the Government. Now, the Honourable
and Learned Member talked about how it took a lot of testicular fortitude to raise taxes on banks. No, Ho nourable Member it just took a decision. Not testicular
fortitude. It was not hard.

Arm twisting?
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: No arm twisting. Just took
a decision. It seemed that the former Government had trouble making those kinds of decisions, but this s ide,
we do not have those kinds of problems. We see what
has to be done and we do it. And that is it. Straight-forward. You are going from A to B in a straight line, and I think the people of Bermuda appreciate when people are straight shooters, are straight talkers, and
they are going from A to B themselves. I am here at A,
I am going to B and you do it. That is what this is about. We needed to raise revenue. We still need to raise revenue. If we are going to meet the objective which everybody says that we have to meet. The
Honourable Member quoted the Chamber of Co m1280 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda Hous e of Assembly merce . . . well, the Chamber of Commerce says yes,
you have got to eliminate that deficit so you can start
paying down the debt. Well, Madam Acting Speaker, you either have to raise revenues and/or reduce ex-penses. If you do not do either of those things you are going to increase the debt. It is inevitable. That is the simple arithmetic here. Simple arithmetic. Insofar as
the money services firms are concerned, I can tell you
that most of their business as the Honourable Mem-ber, the Honourable Minister of Home Affairs said cor-rectly, most of their revenue comes from expatriate workers working in Bermuda sending money home. That is most of their business. Now, you can make all
kinds of funny remarks about all kinds of other things
but, you know, people need to beware when they start talking about Guatemala I presume they are making some inference to something that we do not want to make an inference to or about. We do not want to be talking about money laundering. We do not want to be
talking about anything that will get Bermuda in trouble.
All right?
POINT O
F CLARIFICATION
Hon.
E. David Burt: Point of clarification if the Mini ster will yield.
The Act
ing Speaker: Do you yield?
Hon. E
. T. (Bob) R ichards: Sure, why not.
The Dep
uty Speaker: Please proceed.
Hon. E
. David Burt: Just to be clear, I was not talking
about anything regarding money laundering. I was just talking about the fact that there are 80 Guatemalan
workers here and they might be sending their money
home.
The Dep
uty Speaker: Thank you, Member.
The Chair recognises the Minister.
Hon.
E. T. (Bob) Richards: I find that to be interes ting indeed.
So, we have a lot more than those from other
countries where they have to send their money home to support their families because that is why they are
here, to support their families. These money services
firms are providing a valuable service in Bermuda be-cause in this day and age, quite frankly, they are providing services that used to be the purview, the singular purview of the banking industry and some of these banks that we have in Bermuda do not want
that business anymore. So, it is an opportunity. It is
one of the reasons why we changed the number in this thing to try to soften the blow, so to speak, for those firms.
So, those are my main comments here, Madam Acting Speaker. This deficit is the result of undi s-ciplined and unfortunate behaviour of a former regime
in this country and we are fixing it. But the fix is not
easy. It is not pa inful . . . or it is painful, excuse me. It
is not easy and it is painful and there is no tax —there
is no tax —that will not be inflationary other than income tax. That is the only tax you can pass in this country that will not eventually get to consumers.
Again, it is just because of the simple arithmetic of
income tax. So, when we hear all this talk about com-prehensive tax reform and that somehow we are go-ing to be protecting the poor and less fortunate, I will remind the Honourable Member s that this is th e first
Government to do anything about that. And you can
criticise this all you like, but when it comes to payroll
taxes, we are the first Government to do anything about lower income people and income disparity.
You heard a lot of hot air come from the other
side about income disparity. No action. And lots of time to act on that. Income disparity did not just happen after 2012. Income disparity in this country goes
back to Sir George Somers, and nobody has done anything about it until now. So, I do not want to hear anybody getting on a high horse over there about i ncome disparity because their team did nothing about it
when they had the chance.
This legislation in front of us is part of the exercise that we talked about in broadening the tax
base. Banks and insurance companies, local banks
and insurance companies in particular right now, they already pay what they think is taxes. But that money
goes into the Bermuda Monetary Authority and stays
there. It does not accrue to the Consolidated Fund at all. So, you can imagine when they heard about this tax, those guys were not happy. They were not happy because as far as they are concerned they are paying taxes twice.
But the taxes they were paying before was to
pay for regulation of their operations. In the world that
we live in regulation is becoming more and more bur-densome and omnipresent , and it is expensive. So,
where does the regulator get their money from? Well,
they get it from the people that they are regulating. Do
you not know you get the cut on both edges of that sword? You get regulated and the regulator forces you to spend all kinds of money to answer to the
questions that the regulators ask you, you have to hire people to do that and then you have to also adjust
your operations to meet certain standards —and most
of those adjustments are adjustments that reduce
your profit and then you have to pay for the whole ex-ercise yourself. And that is the nature of the beast. So, these guys are now having to pay that and they are having to pay more taxes. They do not like it.
And like I said, Madam Deputy Speaker, nobody likes to pay more taxes. But the exercise is one where if you are waiting for somebody to say okay tax me some more, I will pay, then the only thing you will get is silence and a bigger deficit. That is the only thing you will get.

Bermuda House of Assembly So, we have had that kind of Government before and Bermuda cannot afford to have that kind of
Government anymore. We cannot afford it. We cannot afford the approach that the Opposition has put for-ward. It is not an approach that this country can toler-ate anymore, where it is just all words and nicety and no willingness to take tough decisions. No willingness.
You have to take tough decisions as Finance Minister,
particularly as Finance Minister. You have to take tough decisions; you have to take decisions that are not going to be popular. But you take those decisions knowing they are the right ones. If they are the right ones, then you take them. And for that, sometimes it
does take testicular fortitude, Honourable and
Learned Member . Yes, that is right. Sometimes it
does. But that is the nature of the job and if you do not
have what it takes to do this kind of job, I told some people not that long ago, this job does not require an inordinate amount of mental inte llect.
You know, if you understand some basic
things, that is fine. What it takes is testicular fortitude. That is what it takes and I think the track record of the former Government shows that they are not up to it because they are too concerned about be ing popular.
You will be popular if you do the right thing and you explain what the right thing is to the people of Berm uda. The people of Bermuda are sensible. I really b elieve that, that people of Bermuda are sensible and they will understand, and I know that they do understand about this particular matter. They understand
that this has to be done because they do not want
their children, grandchildren, and great -grandchildren
suffering under this yoke. Getting rid of this yoke, now is the time because if we do not do it now we will nev-er do it, never do it.
The only thing we have to do is to look at dots
on the map south of us and you see what our future could be if we do not have what it takes to make these decisions now. I do not have to name Islands because you can almost pick any one and you will see what I am talking about. If the Governments do not have the
will to make the decisions before it gets out of control,
because once it gets out of control you will never get it back and that is what you see down there. You will
see our future. If you look down there you will see our future if we do not do what we have to do now, and I pray to God that Bermuda never ever gets there, ever
gets there. But if we have a Government that does not
have the will to make the tough decisions, then that is our future.
And, with that, Madam Deputy Speaker, I
move that the Bill be committed.
The Depu
ty Speaker: It has been moved that the Bill
entitled Financial Services Tax Act 2017 be commi tted. Are there any objections ?
The Chair recognises the Member from constituency 20, which is the Government Whip, who will Chair a Committee of the Whole. House in Committee at 9:06 pm
[Ms. Susan E. Jackson, Chairman]
COMMITTEE ON BILL
FINANCIAL SERVICES TAX ACT 2017
The Chai rma
n: Good evening, we are now in Committee of the whole [House].
Minister?
Hon. E.
T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Madam
Chairman.
The Financial Services Tax Act 2017 , this Bill
seeks to introduce new financial services tax, charg eable on providers of certain financial services. I would
like to move clauses 1, 2, and 3, please.
Clause 1 is self -explanator y.
Clause 2 defines expressions used in the Bill.
Clause 3 imposes a liability to financial services tax on banks, domestic insurers , and money
services businesses.
The Chair
man: Okay, it has been moved that the
clauses be approved. Does anyone want to speak to it, to the c lauses 1 through 3?
You may proceed.
[Inaudible
interjection]
Hon. E.
T. (Bob) Richards: No, no. I already said
what they are.
The Chair
man: You may proceed, Minister.
Hon. E
. T. (Bob) Richards: Can I assume that clauses 1 to 3 are approved?
The Clerk:
Clauses 1 through 3 have been moved.
The Chair
man: It has been moved that the clauses 1,
2 and 3 be approved. Is there any objection to the m otion?
No objection.
Agreed to.
[Gavel]
[Motion car
ried: Clauses 1 through 3 passed.]
AMENDMEN
T TO CLAUSE 4
Hon. E.
T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Madam
Chairman. I would like to move clause 4 but I have an amendment to clause 4. Let me just set out —it is a
very simple amendment.
1282 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Anyway, clause 4 sets out the rates of tax
payable by the different financial services providers:
for banks the tax rate is 0.005 per cent of a bank’s
consolidated gross assets per tax period; for domestic insurers, the tax rate 2.5 per cent of a domestic insurer’s gross premiums written in a tax period, excluding premiums relating solely to health insurance and annuities; and it is the third tax rate that the amendment
applies to, Madam Chairman, and that amendment I
think everybody should have a copy of that.
The amendment simply says that for money
service businesses the per cent taxed on aggregated
incoming and outgoing money transmission volume
will be 1 per cent, not 5 per cent.
So, I move clause 4 as amended.

We are going to discuss the amendment.

Hon. E. David Burt: Okay, regarding the amendment,
can the Honourable Member please give the reason
for the change from 5 per cent to 1 per cent? And then
also, I guess the question would be, What is the i mpact on the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure
because clearly there is going to be a difference and
is there any plan to make that up anywhere else? Or are we just going to increase the size of the deficit?

Minister?

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Good question. The
change happened after consultation with stakeholders
of business service industry and it became evident that 5 per cent was too high, way too high. So, we made that adjustment in the tax rate to have less del eterious impact on their operations.
As it happens, it really is not that big a deal
insofar as the dollar amount of the taxes raised, the money service business are very small compared to the business operations of the banks and the insur-ance companies. So, we are just talking about at most a million dollars.

Thank you, Minister.
The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader.

Hon. E. David Burt: I see the Financial Secretary
smiling over in the corner and I will use my Burt -Math
skills as the Premier loves to say and it is actually $1.6 million as opposed to not only $1 million. So, the
question is, where will that $1.6 million be found if it is going to be found anywhere? But I guess we move on to a different statement because I was very perplexed by this statement of which the Minister just gave. The Minister said that, you know, during before, in the
general debate, that we consult, but he just admitted
to not consulting with the money services business
before putting down a 5 per cent tax. So, I guess we
will go and ask about the other companies later but, would the Minister be able to enlighten us insofar as what consultation may have been made before the
5 per cent was decided which caused them to ask for
a reduction? Because it seems kind of strange that we
are changing these budget figures and one would have thought that this process would have been set-tled and that consultations would have taken place
before the budget was tabled, so, I guess , could the
Minister confirm that there was no consultation with
money service business before the 5 per cent was
set?

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: That is correct

The Chair recognises the Member
from constituency 6.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Madam Chai rman. It is interesting that the Minister now, I think I
heard, that he did not talk to the individuals befor ehand which I find extraordinary because like I said
during the great debate, we thought he consulted with the stakeholders. Now, when it comes down to now
moving from 5 per cent to 1 per cent it really becomes
a nuisance tax as far as I am concerned. We just
raised about, I think you said, a million dollars we will raise from the 1 percent —

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: The difference is $1 mi llion.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I thought we were going
from 5 to 1 percent. Well, if 5 per cent is $11 million,
at least I am looking at —

[Inaudible interjections]

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Oh, it is 2, all right. Okay,
fine.
But all I am saying is it just becomes a nuisance and I would have thought that based on that,


Bermuda House of Assembly Madam Chairman, that it is something that Parliament
should not even be considering. The Minister should
go back to work looking at some other raise in rev enues instead of just sticking this thing out there and causing all this uncertainty . . . or anxiety, that is the
word I am looking for, within that community.
So, I am just surprised right now that we are
now bringing this Bill, the Minister is bringing the Bill and tells this Honourable House that he did not con-sult. That itself sends the signals throughout the community whether anything else within these tax raising initiatives that the Minister has spoken about, whether we should believe them until we get to the
actual Bill those days. But that is very interesting.

It has been moved that the proposed
amendment to clause 4 be approved. Is there any ob-jection to that motion?
No objection.
Agreed to.
[Gavel]

[Motion carried: Amendment to clause 4 passed.]

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: So, Madam Chairman, I
move the rest of clause 4— clause 4 as amended.
The Ch airman: Would anyone like to speak to clause
4 as amended?
Yes, the Chair recognises the Opposition
Leader.
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much.
Could the Honourable Minister of Finance
then please let us know, I guess just very simply, how
were these figures arrived at and what consultation was held with the banks and/or the insurance compa-nies prior to the implementation of this taxation?

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I am not sure what you
mean how were these figures arrived at? They were
arrived at the Ministry of Finance. This tax was not
arrived at with prior consultation with the members involved.

Hon. E. David Burt: So, just to be clear, the Minister
is saying that there was no prior consultation with the
insurance industry, the domestic insurance industry, and there was no prior consultation with banks here locally. The question of which I was asking is, where did the 0.005 per cent come from and the 2.5 per cent come from? Did they just pick a number out of the
hat? Why not 3? Why not 2? That is what I was asking
if there was any particular, maybe, comparable fees in
other jurisdictions otherwise? That is why I was asking the question for the Minister to answer.

Minister, I think that the—
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Madam Chairman,
the question was when it came to the figures, was it a
question of comparing with other jurisdictions or was it
just pick the figure out of the hat? And if it was picked out of a hat, why was it not —if it is 2.5, why was it not
3 per cent or 2 per cent. That is all I was asking. If
there was a reason how they came up with the figure.

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Yes, Madam Chairman,
we used comparative numbers with some other sim ilar jurisdictions to Bermuda.

Thank you. The Chair recognises the
Member from constituency 6.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Can the Minister tell us w hat
these other jurisdictions are? Are they at the rate that
we have now? Higher than us? Lower than us? Same as us now? And what jurisdiction are you talking about?

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Mainly the Bahamas, and
these rates are very similar to what they use.

Would anyone else like to speak to
clause 4 as amended?
Minister?

1284 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda Hous e of Assembly Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I would like to move
clause 4 as amended, please, Madam Chairman.
The Ch
airman: It has been moved that the proposed
amendments to clause 4 be approved. Is there any
objection to that motion?
No objection.
[Gavel]
[Motion c
arried: Clause 4 passed as amended.]
Hon. E
. T. (Bob) Richards: Madam Chairman, I
would like to move clauses 5, 6, 7, and 8.
Madam Chairman, c lause 5 requires financ ial
services providers to file a return and pay the financial
services tax within thirty days of the end of a tax per iod.
Clause 6(1) requires a financial services pr ovider to register with the Tax Commissioner; failure to
do so is an offence under subsection (3). The Com-missioner is required by subsection (2) to establish and maintain a register of financial services providers.
Clause 7 applies the provisions of the Taxes
Management Act 1976, which sets out the machinery relating to the collection of taxes etc.
Clause 8 provides for a date for commencement.
The Ch
airman: Thank you. Would anyone like to
speak to clauses 5 through 8?
Minister, you have the floor.
Hon. E
. T. (Bob) Richards: So, Madam Chairman, I
would like to move clauses 5, 6, 7, and 8.
The Chai
rman: It has been moved that the clauses 5,
6, 7, and 8 be approved. Is there any objection to the motion?
No objection.
Agreed to.
[Gavel]
[Motion c
arried: Clauses 5 through 8 passed.]
Hon. E
. T. (Bob) Richards: Madam Chairman, I
would like to move the Preamble, please.
The Ch
airman: It has been moved that the preamble
be approved. Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
Agreed to.
[Gavel]
Hon. E
. T. (Bob) Richards: Madam Chairman, I
would like to [move] that the Bill be reported to the House as amended. The Chairman: It has been moved that the Bill be
reported to the House as amended. Is there any ob-jection to the motion?

All those —
[Inaudibl
e interjections]
The Cler
k: Nobody stood up.
The Chai
rman: Yes, so all those that say —
[Inaudibl
e interjections]
Hon. E
. T. (Bob) Richards: You haven’t stood up.
The Chai
rman: So, all those that say Aye.
AYES .
The Chai
rman: All those against.
NOES.
The Chai
rman: You have it. The Ayes have it.
An Hon
. Member: No! No way.
[General
uproar and inaudible interjections]
Hon. E
. T. (Bob) Richards: You have to stand up.
You have not stood up.
[Inaudibl
e interjections]
The Chai
rman: It seemed to me that I said that the
Ayes had it , and that was it. So, sit down.
Sorry?
[Inaudibl
e interjections]
The Cler
k: We have a division. We have to vote.
The Chai
rman: Okay, we will call the vote.
[Pause f
or ringing of the bell]
The Cler
k: The door is supposed to be locked.
[Inaudibl
e interjections]
The Cler
k:


Bermuda House of Assembly DIVISION
[Motion for Committee to report the Financial Services
Tax Act 2017, as amended, to the House]

Ayes: 15 Nays: 15
Hon. J. J. Atherden Mr. C. W. D. Brown
Hon. K. L. Bascome Hon. D. V. Burgess, Sr.
Hon. L. C. Cannonier Hon. E. D. G. Burt
Mr. S. G. Crockwell Mr. R. Commissiong
Hon. M. H. Dunkley Hon. Z. J. S. De Silva
Hon. Dr. E. G. Gibbons Ms. L. F. Foggo
Hon. P. J. Gordon- Pamplin Hon. W. L. Furbert
Hon. T. G. Moniz Hon. D. P. Lister
Hon. N. S. Outerbridge Mr. D. V. S. Rabain

The Clerk: Mr. M. J. Pettingill
[no audible response]
The Clerk: He cannot come in.
[Inaudible interjections and general uproar ]
The Clerk : [continuing the division]

Ayes (continu ed) Nays (continued)
Hon. E. T. Richards Mr. W. H. Roban
Hon. S. D. Richards Hon. M. J. Scott
Ms. L. K. Scott Mr. W. L. A. Scott
Mr. R. W. E. Scott Mr. J. S. Simmons
Mr. G. C. Smith Mr. N. S. Tyrrell

Report of the Bill as amended
for the Bill Financial Services Tax Act 2017.
We move to the next on our Order Paper. I do
believe Orders No. 7 through 17 have been carried
over, which leads us to Order No. 18, the m otion in
the name of the Member from constituency 17.
You are recognised, Member.

MOTION

REJECTION OF GOVERNMENT’S REVISED IMM IGRATION POLICY MARGINALISING BERMUDIAN
ENTERTAINERS

Thank you, Madam Deputy
Speaker .
Madam Deputy Speaker, I move the following
motion, notice of which was given on February 10
th
2017:
“WHEREAS Bermuda’s entertainers are a
critically important part of our history, culture, and
tourism fabric; and whereas there is an abundance of
locally available, exceptionally talented musicians,
singers, and other performance and visual artists;
“BE IT RESOLVED that this Honourable
House rejects the Government’s revised immigration policy which marginalises Bermudian entertainers and limits their opportunities.”
Madam Deputy Speaker, this is an important
motion for our entertainers, for our musicians, for our
tourism product and, indeed, Madam Deputy Speaker ,
for our country. I cannot talk about entertainers and music without at the same time talking about the growth and development of our tourism because there has been an intimate connection between tourism de-velopment, local artists, and local entertainment.
So let me just first go back to the onset of
tourism, Madam Deputy Speaker. It was in the early
1880s when Princess Louise, the wife of the Canadian Governor General, who on her doctor’s advice looked for a warm tropical . . . subtropical place to recuperate
from an illness and so she came to Bermuda. Along
with her came a number of journalists who began to
write about Bermuda and the beautiful space that they found, and so began the allure of Bermuda as a dest ination of magic, a destination of beauty, and a place for the wealthy.
The Princess Hotel was constructed, inspired
by the visit of Princess Louise, and really one could
1286 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly say that tourism began . . . it had its naissance with
this arrival of Princess Louise.
We had intermittent progress along the lines
of tourism in the early 20th century and up until the end
of World War II. But really between World War II and
the 1980s, Madam Deputy Speaker, we had what the
former Premier Dr. Brown called the “Platinum Period”
in our tourism. It was a period when we had over
10,000 beds. It was a period when we had high net worth individuals coming to our I sland in the tho usands , hundreds of thousands , as many as 500,000,
and there was something very magical about Berm uda. It is interesting to note that during this same period
we had many, many moments and many, many ruptures of discontent with the Theatre Boycott, the cam-paign for Universal Adult Suffrage, the BELCO riots, the riots in 1968, the riots in 1977, the Governor and
his a ide assassinations in the early 1970s, Madam
Deputy Speaker . But alongside this, tourism began to
develop. It became the core of our economy and in doing so it provided, literally, thousands of jobs for
Bermudians.
An intrinsic part of that tourism culture that we
created was in the music and the entertainment that
was just a necessary, unplanned part of our tourism
development. You can go back to the era of Hubert
Smith and his mesmerizing song Bermuda is Another
World . . . 700 miles at sea. If I were in another place,
Madam Deputy Speaker, I might ask my honourable
colleague, Wayne Furbert, to chime in. But we are not
in another place and this is not the time. Who would not be compelled to listen and appreciate what people
like Hubert Smith and the Talbot Brothers and others brought to Bermuda?
This Platinum Period of our tourism, Madam
Deputy Speaker, had Bermudians working in all sectors of tourism and we had hundreds of entertainers
who were gainfully employed at wages where they had a good living and made a good living. I was tal king to a family member of Hubert Smith’s just the ot her day and he was saying that Mr. Smith had jobs at
Inverurie [Hotel], Hamilton Princess, Southampton
Princess, Be lmont, Bermudiana . . . all over the place,
and do not forget the Jungle Room, do not forget Clay House Inn. So there were an abundance of places where people could find gainful employment.
And you know what? No one had to pass a
policy which said the hotels and other places should give first consideration to Bermudian talent. It was just a given. It was a natural and obvious thing to do. If you were creating a tourism product and you had an abundance of local talent, you would hire Bermudians. There was no policy in place regarding that. But the
hotels and clubs were replete with talented Bermudian
entertainers.
And this, by the way, Madam Deputy Speaker, took place alongside an abundance of foreign talent as well because to embrace local talent does not mean you distance yourself from foreign talent. I know through stories in the 1960s of many, many famous
artists who came to Bermuda to perform —
[Inaudible interjection]

Brook Benton, Tom Jones —a
number of different artists because they appealed to a wide segment of tourists. But the one thing tourists
want is local entertainment. Yes, we have the Follies . . .Greg Thompson’s the Follies. And I always wanted
to go the Follies because there was one very compel-ling characteristic of the Fol lies’ performance that I
wanted to see but I, alas, was too young and was not
able to get there. But I dreamed of the time when I
could actually go to a Greg Thompson’s Follies per-formance at South Hampton Princess.
So there was a meshing of the local perf ormers with the foreign talent. There was no animosity. There was work to go around because we had many,
many hotel rooms, we had very high occupancy, we
had night clubs that were bustling. This was a time when people could earn a very good living. You did
not have what we call, I call today, the commodific ation of entertainment labour where everything is just
commodified because I can get this person for $1,000
and I can get that person for $500, so I am just going to pick the one that is cheaper. And ther e is so little
focus on the talent and the vibrancy that people bring.
So we had that, Madam Deputy Speaker. The
most compelling part of why it was so attractive was it
created many jobs, high value jobs, jobs that sustained people’s families. And as I sai d, there was no
need for immigration policy regarding it.
But Madam Deputy Speaker, that was the
Platinum Period from about the 1960s to around 1980 and then we went into an abyss, didn’t we? Because
we got seduced . . . we were seduced by international
capital. The reinsurance world took hold and people
left one form of industry to go into another, and the
country has had a collective focus on that fast dollar from international business. And our tourism began to
decline because we took it for granted.
And with the decline in tourism it led to the
decline in opportunities for entertainment. If the beds
are declining, you have fewer venues for people to participate in. And so we had that decline and no one seemed to be overly concerned because there was
still money to be made in other sectors of the economy. But then 2008 came and the global collapse came
and a multitude of jobs in a whole variety of areas just disappeared overnight, and we found ourselves faced yet again with the challenge to provide good jobs at good rates in a wide range of areas for Bermudian
talent.
Now I am not one of those individuals, Madam
Deputy Speaker , who harkens back to the good old
days and wants to recreate what we once had. Times
move on and one needs to make an adjustment. But there is something consistent about great music. Bob


Bermuda House of Assembly Marley once said (and you can help me out, those
who know), “One good thing about music, when it hits [you], you feel no pain .”
And what he meant, in part, by that, Madam
Deputy Speaker , is that there is something captivating
and alluring about great music. Who is not seduced by
the sounds of ‘Shine’ Hayward when he gets on the
saxophone? One of my favourite artists here is Joy Barnum, the joy of Joy Barnum . . . captivating, mesmerizing. When she performs, I just sit there. I do not
even know what to say. Sometimes a little tear comes into my eye because she has a compelling voice; she has an amazing stage presence.
And when she is accompanied by Milton R eposo—he plays guitar and piano —truly captivati ng.
That is talent. And we are replete with talent in this country . . . we are replete. Who has not listened to
the magic that is Raven, the musician? She is a gu itarist and a singer. I remember some years ago I went
to a concert performed by Canjelae Tay lor at Kaleid oscope Theatre . . . yes, Kaleidoscope. It was a twohour performance that was on par with any perfor-mance anywhere else you would see in the world.
So I know we have the talent. We have a
trombonist sitting in the audience here, Madam Depu-ty Speaker , a man who can be gruff on occasion but
he is certainly very talented when he puts his mouth to his instrument, okay? Very talented. He is sitting there with a big smile on his face . . . but he understands
the issues involved in trying to get more work and sustained work for our musicians.
There is no shortage of talent. There is no
shortage of talent. And what we need to do is try to
create the appropriate environment so that the talent that is here is given a fair opportunity for success and work in our own country. It is very simple . . . it is very
simple.
There was a work permit policy that worked
for musicians right up until 2014. There was a work permit policy that worked. The policy was really very straightforward, Madam Deputy Speaker . It had two
very fundamental components: First, when a prospective hotelier or restaurant or club wanted to hire enter-tainment, they were to first seek out the local enter-tainment. There is nothing untoward with that. It is very normal, natural, and an obvious thing to do.
The second is that when you do bring in overseas talent, there was a requirement that traveller’s dues be paid. Traveller’s dues are a normal fee that is paid when musicians perform in other countries. It is almost like working in a closed shop union environ-ment, where everyone who comes to work in that en-vironment has to pay . . . you pay dues because it is a
closed shop. We can never negate the importance of organised representation. We have a former leader of one of the most powerful unions in Bermuda sitting
here and he can tell you about the power of organised labour to ensure that workers’ rights are protected and advanced. And so traveller’s dues are a critical component of helping to achieve that.
Let me just talk a little bit about what it meant
in practice. In practice it meant that if you wanted a
band to perform at your restaurant to turn it into a nightclub after dinner, you would first seek out the l ocally available talent. Whatever your genre of music
you can find it in Bermuda, whether it is Jazz, whether
it is Rock, R&B, Reggae, and the more contemporary genres. And my honourable friend is talking about r omance music . . . well, Lawrence Welk is probably not
as popular as he used to be, Honourable Member De
Silva —

[Laughter and inaudible interjections]

So, Madam Deputy Speaker , this
bar or this club would seek out among a list of locally
available talent what genre it wanted. But the cha llenge today is that the Government has decided . . . not decided, the Government has amended the policy
to say that all a business has to do is place an ad in
the newspaper and anybody who applies for it will be treated like anybody else who applies for it. There is
no preference given to the Bermudian artist community, which is how it used to be.
And so, on the one hand it looks as if it is all
very fair, level and equal. But what it does is create an environment where the prospective employer (b ecause of his or own circumstances) would want to hire
foreign workers. One reason . . . because we already
know there is an inequality in the pay packages b ecause you do not have to pay pensions when you are
hiring foreign workers. Secondly, a number of e mployers already have accommodation, so they factor
into the price their artists that you can stay for free at
my house . . . or my apartment that I have. So the ar tist—the foreign artist, who is happy to come to Bermuda for a gig for three months —can come here, let
us just say for the sake of argument for $1,000 a month, whereas a local artist, quite rightly, would demand $2,000 a month because one has to live in the
country as well. So you have a structural inequality in the employment environment.
That did not exist back in the 1960s and
1970s, Madam Deputy Speaker , because you had no
issue with companies wanting to hire locals. That was
just what you did because they knew that tourists
wanted to hear local talent, tourists wanted to see l ocal artists. But today we have moved away from that and this has weakened the artistic community, it has weakened the entertainment —

1288 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly [Music from electronic device]

I do not need those kinds of
props.
So that is a challenge and so we are asking
the Government to move back to the pre- 2014 pos ition. There is no tax consequence. There is no decline
in revenue anywhere. But what you would do is you
would create a greater set of opportunities for the
plethora of local talent that does exist in this country. You would create greater opportunities.
The second component that is an impediment
is the issue of traveller’s dues. Prior to the new imm igration policy when a Bermuda company wanted to
bring in a foreign act, they had to satisfy Immigration
that along with that application, the traveller’s dues had been paid to the Bermuda Entertainers Union. The traveller’s dues are, as I say, an international practice. It is nothing untoward. It is like paying when
you are part of a closed shop union. Honourable
Member , am I correct on that about a closed shop
union component?
[Inaudibl e interjection]

A closed shop. The money is
used by the Entertainers Union to support the enter-tainers, to provide scholarships for prospective entertainers and, therefore, helping to create more and more local talent.
The Government needs to revisit this and
make it a requirement that when you send in your ap-plication for a work permit for entertainers you include
that section, the box which says, Yes, we have submitted the dues to Entertainers Union. And if it is not
ticked, the application is not processed. Government
does not have to collect the money; but it certainly
should have on the form that the company has given an undertaking in writing to Government that it has
paid those fees. And if it has not paid then it wou ld be
up to the Entertainers Union to go after that entity
about the payment, which has given an undertaking to Government that it has paid. That would help to shore up the Entertainers Union to do more for its members. It would have the Bermuda Entertainers Union and the Bermuda Government in keeping with best practice
when it comes to having entertainers come from other
countries.
Madam Deputy Speaker, we are in a climate
today where the notion of xenophobia or the notion of Bermuda being a closed economy is always on the lips of someone when you start talking about such
measures. But let me be absolutely clear that no one I
have talked to in the Entertainers Union, no one I know who is a member of the Entertainers Union be-lieves that Bermuda should not have itself open to foreign entertainers. Let us just put that out for the sake of clarity to pre- empt some other comments that
may have been contemplated to come later. There is no incompatibility between ensuring that local artists are given fair and proper opportunity in their own country and having a diverse range of talent come from overseas as well. That is how it was in the 1960s and 1970s —Bermuda talent grew, learned, and benefited from such interaction —and it could continue t oday. It could continue today.
We know that if a couple have decided to
come to Bermuda to get married, they should be able to pick whoever they want to sing at their wedding. It
would be a bizarre immigration policy which said to a couple, Yes, you can get married in Bermuda, b ut,
you know, you’ve gotta have that Bermudian artist.
[And they would say,] Well, we don’t even know who he is, we want the artist from our home town to come and sing. No one is objecting to that.
No one is objecting to a company that is ha ving its AGM [ Annual General Meeting] . . . I remember
a company brought in Earth, Wind and Fire a couple
of years ago. I thought, Gee, I should have known. I
would have liked to have been invited to that AGM.
But they should have the right to do that as well.
Those rights are not incompatible with ensuring that Bermudian rights are protected and a dvanced. The policy that remains in place, that is sound, says that when you have a concert, when you are putting on a public event, then you are required to
have local entertainers in the same genre also perform. So you have the international act and you have your local act. That is fine. The Government kept that policy and I will commend the Government for holding onto that aspect of the policy. The other two need to be reinserted into the policy.
Madam Deputy Speaker, this is not just an
issue of ensuring jobs and quality jobs for Bermuda’s entertainers. They require that. It is also the case that Bermuda requires it because music, entertainers are a part of our culture. Who would separate the fiery limbo
dancers from what was Bermuda and cultural tourism
back in the 1960s? We do not know what is going to
evolve going into the future because music and cu lture evolve based on a whole variety of circumstanc-es, and different genres of music can get conflated and create something altogether new. We do not


Bermuda House of Assembly know that. But you have to have a sense of openness
to allow it to nurture and grow.
Unfortunately, this Government and, unfort unately, previous Governments, have not given the
kind of support to culture and the arts that it requires. We have been so focused on creating “Bermuda Inc.” that all we see ourselves as is an entity designed
around international companies and international f inance. But we are more than that. We are a country,
we are a culture, we are a community, and culture is what helps to hold together a community. So we need our arts, we need our entertainers, we need our mus icians. And strong countries have a strong culture.
Strong countries give support to their ar tists, to their
musicians and to their entertainers.
So I know this is not an Immigration matter,
but what I will say to the Government . . . and I will say
it to any Government that comes to hold the reins of
power in the future, our artists require support because when we support our artists we support our
country and we support our own culture. It is precisely the absence of a strong unified sense of Bermuda culture that is partly to explain for some of the social dysfunctions that we have today.
I do not want to digress too far from the m otion, Madam Deputy Speaker, but there is a clear
connection between cultural vibrancy, a sense of ide ntity, and social malaise. And when we recognise that we will act accordingly to address it.
On this motion, Madam Deputy Speaker , I will
say if the Government recognises the tremendous importance that music and entertainment has played in creating the very fabric of our country, the very fab-ric of our society; if they recognise the intrinsic link between our tourism development and our culture and entertainment; if they recognise the link between a
future with regard to tourism and culture, they will try
to ensure that the appropriate policies and legislation is in place to give our entertainers the ability to grow, the ability to work, to work with dignity, not have to
beg.
Someone was telling me a story just last week
of one of our most celebrated entertainers who last year worked one day as an entertainer. One day! One of our most celebrated entertainers. That is a travesty.
That is a travesty.
And so we cannot say we believe in Bermuda
and we support Bermuda if we cannot even, in a pol icy which has no financial consequence . . . if we ca nnot enact policy to give support to our artists, then we will fail as a country. Because it means the things that are immaterial do not have value. And if we continue to live in a society which does not value the immater ial, the culture, that which provides a social cohesion and social glue then we are a much weaker and more divided society, Madam Deputy Speaker .
Madam Deputy Speaker, that is the essence
of my presentation tonight. I believe that the Gover nment . . . there is a moral imperative on behalf of this Government to act in ways to support our artists, to
support our entertainers. This side of this Parliament
will do so, we will continue to do so, and we will e ncourage the Government to act likewise.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker .

The Chair recognises the Mi nister.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker .
Madam Deputy Speaker , let me first of all
thank the Honourable Member from constituency 17
for presenting his motion tonight and with the delivery of his arguments in favour of the motion that he has
put. Let me also say that the Honourable Member has
asked that the policies as they exist . . . if I can refer to
the actual wording of the motion, “Be it resolved that
this Honourable House rejects the Government’s r evised immigration policy which marginalises Bermudian entertainers and limits their opportunities. ”
Let me say, Madam Deputy Speaker , that
entertainment is, as the Honourable Member indica ted, an integral part of our social fabric and of our culture. And with that we wholeheartedly agree. What we
do not agree with is the total rejection of the policies that had been changed in 2014/15. And I will explain why.
Let me just by way of analogy, Madam Deputy
Speaker , speak to what happened in the United
State s with Obamacare, the Affordable [Care] Act,
which came into being in the United States under the former President Obama and which, through a cam-paign of whatever was going through in this last electoral cycle, it was determined, We’re gonna throw this
all out and we’re gonna start again.
And I make that analogy only to say that with
the comments that were made by the Honourable
Member there are things that occurred before that
needed to be held onto, there are things that have
been solidified by the new policy, but there were things that created challenges based on what the de1290 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly partment was required to do while trying to carry out
the old policy.
What I would suggest is that we look at a
methodology by which we can actually work together
as opposed to totally rejecting a policy and going back to the days when things were . . . according to what
the Honourable Member wants, but we recognised
that they created major challenges. Let us work t ogether to keep the good and reject that which was not working as opposed to throwing out . . . because the
motion requires rejection of the policy.
Every one of us recognises and appreciates
the musical talents that we have in our country. But let
me just speak to some of the things that the new policy has done.
First, hi storically, some establishments advertised if they wanted an employee, if they wanted m usical employees, and some did not. Within the new policy, they have been required to advertise. That is
something that never happened before. We further
determined that there must be some level of flexibility
by the hotels who are effectively funding . . . and I
think the Honourable Member indicated that they do
not have any objection to that side of it, so we are on
the same page with that. And we also provided that
local artists must be hired during one- off concerts so
that you have . . . if you have a foreign artist coming
in, you must have a local artist as part of your bill.
The challenges, though, that existed, that had
come to our attention . . . because obviously when this
motion was put to the floor there had to be a deeper understanding as to what the problem was being cr eated by the former policy and what was needing to be fixed. In other words, what was the mischief that was being created where things could have been done a little better? And the challenges that have come from
the department in administering what used to be had
indicated that the problems were a lot and they were deep- seated.
One of the things that was spoken about was
that the individual organisations were required to pr esent their events to the Federation of Musicians and then to show proof of Bermudian musicians making payment of fees to the Entertainers Union. With the receipt attached to the application the application would then go into the department for the department to process that application. So, if the applications
came into the department and did not have a receipt,
then it would be held until the payment was confirmed. So that left a situation in which an entertainment event was being scheduled, because they did not have a receipt for the local . . . for the payment of the fees by
the organiser, then it threw a spanner in the works in
terms of the timing and the processing of what was
required.
There were also frequent complaints b y organisers that the union representatives were difficult to get a hold of. Now, I do not know the players in terms of the unions, but my understanding is that they had actually changed from the Musicians’ Federation
to the Bermuda Federation of Musicians and Variety
Artists and, then, more recently the Bermuda Entertainers Union. So, there were issues coming from them that effectively said . . . and this is coming from
the department, that it was difficult for them to . . . for
people . . . for the organi sers because the onus was
on the organisers to make sure that the money was collected and that it was paid into the union with this application form coming from the department. And it was creating a challenge by the organisers for being able to make the payments so, hence, the whole thing . . . there were spanners going in the works all the
way through.
What they indicated to me from the depar tment was that, from the union’s perspective, they had changed from requiring registration for entertainers on an annual basis per permosa [SOUNDS LIKE] to r equiring entertainers to pay a fee for each event that
was being held in Bermuda. They made the change
without promoting that requirement publicly and, hence, that created additional challenges and pushback.
From the Corporate Services Department it
was indicated that they needed to make their me mbership by making . . . by public meeting or public announcement to advise of any changes that needed to be instituted. And that was not done in an effective way in order to be able to have a policy that was en-hanced and that benefitted for the local entertainers.
One of the other challenges was that the union was not satisfied with the responses to an organ-iser’s advertisement and if they did not like that, then they woul d be required to re- run the advertisement.
Hence, obviously, that caused challenges within the department.
There were concerns about other events outside of immigration control, such as religious enter-tainers coming to Bermuda to perform and no applic ation having been submitted and the fee not being paid
to the Federation.
So throughout the challenges that we saw that
were being articulated by the department, it was that the fees were a significant challenge, of making sure that the money actually got into the coffers of the . . .
whether it was the Federation, the Variety Artists or the Union, whichever way it went. And as a result, as I
mentioned earlier, of challenges with respect to banking information, they indicated that with the change of their name they were having issues with their banking
and who was signing and the like. So that caused a dditional problems. All of which were addressed—my understanding —by the Corporate Services Depar tment in trying to work out something that was feasible, that was w orkable, that worked well, and it was not
happening.
And then there were complaints that had
come into the Ministry because some promoters were asking for yearly financials before they pay other fees

Berm uda House of Assembly and they felt that they were being subjected to sep arate and independent taxes.
So, the department had gone backwards to try
to meet with and to try to resolve some of the issues
that were causing vexatious results and did not have a lot of success with that. So one of the things that they tried to do was to . . . apart from having met with
them, they in 2013 indicated that they were putting measures in place to ease the burdens of the orga nisers to make payments a little easier to be able to exchange as well as to allow payments to their ac-count online and that they would present . . . all they
did after that was to present a new constitution. But
none of the things that were going to make life easier
for the entertainers had been put in place to make it an easy way of doing things.
So, one of the things that we did, obviously,
was to try to come up with ways by which the local entertainers would not be disadvantaged, such that, if
within the Immigration policy, within the revised policy, there had been somebody who was working ultra vi res, there was the ability for a hotline to be established
. . . to be used and for those complaints that might
have come into the hotline to be investigated so that Bermudians were not consistently being disadvantage
through this process.
Some of the other things that have been put
into place require that events that are over 14 days must be advertised. Now, we have no variance with that, as the Honourable Member indicated with his
comments, but it certainly ensures that local enter-tainers are able to take advantage of long- term wor k
by being considered for events that are longer term in nature.
We went to [paragraph] 7.12 of the [Work
Permit] Policy which identified long- term commercial
entertainment requiring advertising, seasonal work permits up to eight months. The key is to make sure
that within those, that there was an attempt to ensure that we had local entertainers included. And one of the problems that was indicated by the department
said that if local entertainers fail to respond to the advertisements, then it was difficult for the event to carry on because there was . . . you know, they could not
meet a required schedule.
So, the difficulty lies in us being able to allow
local entertainers to be the key note, to be more than
adequately considered, because it is the right thi ng to
do, it is the Bermudian thing to do, to look out for our
entertainers, to look out for each other. But we have to do it in such a way that we do not create impediments when there is lack of response. I think all of us know the melodious tones of the Talbot Brothers and the
Strollers and the Gene Steedes and the Hubert
Smiths and the Coral Islanders from the time when there was Coral Island Hotel, which many of us pro bably do not remember, but I went to many events —
[Inau
dible interjection] Hon. Patr icia J. Gordon -Pamplin: —many events at
Coral Island Hotel down there in Flatts.
So, we are not —on this side —attempting to
not ensure that Bermudians get proper benefits and get proper recognition and have the necessary jobs that are going. We certainly agree with that. But to go
back to the policy that existed by rejecting, out of
hand, what we presently have, I do not believe to be the answer.
Based on that I will invite my colleagues to,
not support the motion that has been put forward by the Honourable Member , but to still open an invitation
to say, Let’s look at that which works, and let’s make
sure that to the extent that there were challenges that existed with the department that they were unable to work through, that we could actually put together , if
the existing policy needs tweaking, I am certainly
more than willing and more than prepared to embrace
new ideas, if that is what the Honourable Member is
willing to do, as opposed to saying— Let’s forget ev erything that’s there and let’s go back to the old days —
when there were significant challenges to that policy.
So in the absence of saying let us do specific
things, such as the traveller’s fees, the traveller’s dues
must be paid. Yes, traveller’s dues must be paid but they must be paid to the organisation to which they are going to receive the benefit. Is it fair to say to the
department, collect the fees, and then you make sure
that you have them passed on? That is not a tenable
way of doing things.
So what we want to do is come up with a
proper w ay to say we can make these collection of
fees, we can ensure that the unions have the money
that they need, but without the department having to
go through an onerous process that has been deemed
by the people who have been doing it to be unwork able. We w ant a solution in which our entertainers are
not just valued, but they are working, that they are
paid, and we certainly support that 100 per cent. But we want to make sure that what policies overarch that
process are effective, that we do not have marginal isation of our local entertainers, and that we put in
place things with which our entertainment industry are able to, once again, put themselves to the fore as did those of yesteryear.
I heard the Honourable Member from [consti tuency] 17 speak to the Joy Barnums of this world—
beautiful and melodious and sultry and all of those things that I wish I could be. And when I listen to the Honourable Member from constituency 6, who you
know, prides himself on his ability to be able to sing and to . . . you know, I have heard him sing on a few
occasions —I did not hear his Boston Red Sox exploit,
but I certainly have heard him sing on a few occ asions —and let me say that melody, music, talent . . .
irrespective of the genre, because there is something in music for ev erybody. The Honourable Member
spoke to Bob Marley, one of my favourite all- time m u1292 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly sicians, and I can tell you that I know people that have
travelled far and wide . . . I love Reggae. I love Country & Western; I probably know every lyric to every
song that is out there, but I do not know one artist because that is just not where my focus is. I like the m usic; I like the melody.
So we want to ensure that what policies exist
embrace the talents that we have, but to not do it in so onerous a fashion as to create the opposite of what we are trying to achieve. And the policy as it existed before it was changed was not getting the requisite result. And I think getting a good result for our mus icians is where we want to be.
We on this side want to support our mus icians. We do not want to be at loggerheads. We want to be able to have an environment in which visitors to our Island can come and say that . . . you know, from
Dee Dee the limbo dancer, who probably cannot get any lower than I can right now (she is my f irst cousin,
so she does not have a problem with me saying this) that this was what Bermuda was. And now we have moved to a slightly different progression in our conti nuum in which we want to be able to know that a newer and younger generation can still maintain and offer for
our visitors everything that we wanted, that we had
coming up, that a newer generation can appreciate. Who does not remember the steel band down at Clay House Inn? Who does not remember all of the ho-tels—Elbow Beach, as the Honourable Member said,
the Inverurie, the Princesses —the . . . who does not
remember the Thompson’s Follies, all of which had, at some point in time, some elements of local entertain-ment? And we want to ensure that we have and em-brace those who have that talent to provide. But we must not do it in such a way that it creates a problem and find out that we are not getting that result, as I
indicated.
So, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would hope
that Members opposite, in recognising that we on this
side also want the very be st for our entertainers, we
are not at odds with that, we are absolutely ad idem in
that particular context, but we cannot obtain that
which we want to do by throwing out the baby with the bathwater. I hope that we can work together on this
with a unity of purpose to say how can we better —if
something is not quite working right now —how can we
make it better? But we do not want to throw out some
of which is working now, which was not working before, and to make sure that we embrace our mus icians for the talent that they have, for the contribution that they make to our community and our society, and for us going together as a people and ensuring that we can . . . make sure that they, as their talent, their
art and their craft, can not only be recognised, but t hat
they can get the requisite payment for what they bring to the table.
So with those few comments, Madam Deputy
Speaker , I will take my seat, but I will certainly, once
again, implore that Members opposite join us in ensur-ing that we can work together well on this and recognise that the policy that came in place was not som ething that was meant to be an irritant for the industry
or to be an impediment or a hurdle put before the i ndustry. It was intended to smooth out some of those things that were not working well. And if there is a further distance to go, let us not be . . .let’s throw away
the Affordable Care Act , let us be a Parliament that
says let us continue to work together and take the
best of what there is, with recommendations for what
can be made better, and ensure that we have a uni-fied and agreed policy.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker .

Thank you, Madam Deputy
Speaker .
I will be brief, but my honourable colleague
that brought this motion. I support the motion as is
and I do so because I believe that music and entertainment are the soundtrack and also, let us say, the
screen play to our country and our culture. And if I was to say the didgeridoo you would know and you automatically think of Australia. If I talk about the dancing dragons you think of China. If I talk about
east coast versus west coast, you think about east
coast America rap versus west cost American rap. Country Music . . . so on and so forth. So these things
are things that define a culture, define an area, define a country.
And the thing is that what we need to do is to
inspire and motivate our entertainers. And how do you do that? You motivate entertainers and singers and whatnot by showing them that they can make a career out of doing what they love. And with the way that the policy is now, it st ifles that. I mean, if you were to talk about . . . if I mentioned the names of Kevin Hart, if I mentioned the name Drake or Chance the Rapper, 50 Cent, Ice C ube, even New Edition . . . these are individuals that theoretically came from nothing. These are individuals that were not scholastically big achievers, but they
were talented at entertaining and they were able to
turn their talents into a career.
But see, the environment that we have today
does not allow for entertainers to turn their . . . or it
does not . . . you have to be very lucky or ext remely
gifted or maybe a balance of the two to be able to do
that because you have got skilled entertainers . . . and
for those in here that are generationally challenged,
you have got entertainers like Fajr Bashir, Sia
Spence, Jah Simmons and Nadanja Bail ey, Twané e
and Colin Harper (otherwise known as Collie Buddz), but he also had a partner that had the stage name of


Bermuda House of Assembly RoacheKilla who came out with a song named Dark
Clouds and that was a big hit here locally. But b ecause of the fact that we do not embrace our entertainers as we should, or allow for a pathway to make
this a bit . . . to make . . . American Idol is a pr ogramme, is an entity that takes people from obscurity
and puts them on the billboards, on the top billboards.
We have Bermuda Idol , but Bermuda Idol showcases
our entertainers as it should, but then what do we do
from there? How do we embrace our entertainers? How do we nurture them and culture them?
They do not have hotels which they can go i nto and practice, and sort of formulate their craft. We
do not have those bars and diners where they can have the stand- up comics or the local nights. And for
me, that is part of what this motion is about, making sure that the policy is in place to do stuff like that.
So the thing is if you look at some of our MPs
even here, if they cannot make it as entertainers they
become politicians. So that is what we need. We need
to sort of have a little bit more leniency, a little bit
more flexibility. And I believe that this motion, in the way that it is worded, does the right thing. It has us going back to the drawing board and ensuring that we
create an opportunity and a doorway for our local e ntertainers —not just to be able to survive— but to be
successful.
Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Deputy
Speaker .
I just wanted a brief time to speak on this m otion and to the actual motion because I remember
when this was brought by the former Minister of this
Ministry. And I remember one of the things that were
prevalent throughout the music community was the
lack of consultation, the lack and disrespect that the musicians felt that this was just being forced upon them. So I find that ironic that the current Minister is
now saying, Let’s not reject it, let’s hold hands and
let’s talk about it. As we all know, one of the faults of
the One Bermuda Alliance that has happened year over year over year is the lack of consultation. It is just doing what they feel is best and who cares who is up-set about it?
So, we have had a whole list of musicians that
have felt disenfranchised and have asked for audiences with the Minister —the former Minister who sits
in another place —who asked for this to be tweaked,
who asked for this to be changed because they felt
disenfranchised about it, and they have received what amounts to very little in terms of respect. So now we have a motion on the floor and we
are forced to get to the poi nt where we now have a
motion on the floor that is saying that this House r ejects that policy . . . and I support that motion. We must reject this policy, send a message to the Government that, No, you cannot trample, you cannot run
roughshod over the people of this Island and the way
they earn their living. You just cannot do that. And
then when you do finally come to your senses do not come back and say, Please forgive me. Work with me
so I can help you now. It is too late. It is too late.
Now, when we t alk about entertainment here
locally all we have to do is go back to this previous
weekend. We had the Bermuda Idol that went on—
tons of entertainment. I was at an event that was put
on that had tons of entertainment —all local. There are
some MPs that sit in this Chamber that sat there as well. And I am sure they will agree with me. The type of talent that we saw from Troika (a dancing performance); Kayla Hollis (reciting a poem); Mia Williams
(dancing); Geisha Rene (dancing); then we had sing-ers Coshaun Ev ans, Olivia Hamilton and Jesse Se ymour —absolutely phenomenal local, young talent that
[we are] looking for. They are hungry for those opportunities —opportunities that some of them may not get
because of the policies that are in place.
So because of that, I fully support this motion
and I look at the Government with slanted eyes when they say let’s work together because we could have
done that years ago. They had their chance. Now it is time for us —the people—to show them that we are
not going to believe that they really do want to work
together now.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker .

Thank you, Madam Deputy
Speaker .
I was not aware that before coming to the
House this evening, or late this afternoon, that we
would be debating this motion, so I have not really applied my mind to it much. But I thought it prudent to
articulate my view on this based on the way the last
vote went, Madam Deputy Speaker . I just wanted to
state that I think all Members on the Government side
need to be in their seat if this goes to a vote because I believe it is important to send the right message to our local entertainers, [which is] that they have the full
support of this Parliament as it relates to this issue.
Now, I heard the Minister and I have, as she
knows, the utmost respect for the Minister. And I b elieve the Minister when she says that the Government supports the advancement of musicians. The problem is that even when the Minister tonight . . . because
when I was Minister of Tourism . . . you can apprec i1294 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly ate that tourism and music go hand in hand because
we want to offer . . . tourists are looking for that authentic cultural experience. And you find it mostly in
the indigenous music. That is where you find it. That is
where you can distinguish cultures around the world, by their music, and food and other things. But music is high on that list. We have lost that. And we have
heard that tonight and we bemoaned about that t onight.
I remember, when I was in my late teens and
early 20s, [it was] a big deal going to Hamilton Pri ncess for their show and a dinner and the Follies and
all that type of stuff. Like that was a big deal. And how
we ha ve lost that in its entirety is really astounding.
But there are still pockets around the Island. You can
go up to Grotto Bay on various weeknights and find . . . you will surprised to find some of the entertai nment that is going on, on the Island. But the fact is
that it needs support. It is struggling, Madam Deputy
Speaker .
Just this past weekend there was the Alpha
Ball, which I attended. Many Members of the Government were there as well. And they can attest to the fact that the entertainment was first class. And when it
went to the end of the evening which involved the
dancing they actually started off with a local entertain-er (and I wish his name would come to my mind, if someone here that was there remembers —a young
man). And he was phenomenal! His presence, his look and his delivery was first class. You could have
closed your eyes and thought it was BET playing. And
I was most impressed with the entertainment.
The fact of the matter is that we do not have
the infrastructure support base in this country to really provide the right platform for our entertainers to max-imise their talent. And what you find is, in order for our
local musicians to have an opportunity, they have to
leave Bermuda. They have to leave Bermuda and they have to go to major cities in the United States
and, you know, as part of the competitive reality. But they cannot effectively make a living here. I will tell
you, Madam Deputy Speaker, that I had an uncle who
lived off of the entertainment industry —Leon ‘ Spike’
Jones . And you know he was very close to my mot her, my mother’s brother. He was a master guitarist,
one of the smoothest voices you will ever hear. He died at a young age. He died at my age right now. He
died at the age of 47— well, I go 47 in a few weeks,
Madam Deputy Speaker . I remember the hard life it
was, performing almost every night to try and make a
living in this industry.
But when the Minister was speaking tonight
and when I was the Minister of Tourism and when
these changes were brought into force, I remember
speak ing to the erstwhile Minister of Immigration and
trying to understand the changes because local mus icians, and particularly those who represent the union, would stop me and complain about how it was hinder-ing their profession. And then I would go back and I would say, Okay, well exactly . . . let me understand
these changes and the justification for the changes.
And I would hear it, but I did not quite understand it. I could not really wrap my mind around it. And even listening to the Minister tonight when she . . .
and you know we all know that this particular Minister is a very eloquent and passionate speaker. But when
she was speaking on the changes and the reasons for
the changes, I was having difficulty really following and trying to grasp it. You know , you heard things like
“receipts ” and you heard things like “a difficulty to get
a hold of individuals at the appropriate time” and you
know “ banking information .” Those are issues that, I
am sure, needed to be ironed out. But it has to be . . .
I am sure there could be a way where the process
does not also create a situation where it is now r estricting or prohibiting advancement.
Now, whether it is or it is not, the perception is
that it is . . . over the way it what was being a ddressed, yes. So my understanding is that those were the problems. I was only saying the problems. But they were not problems. You know, when you are in politics you are able to sort of wrap your mind around a problem, sort of a global problem, you know, this is
a problem that is having an impact on something. But
that sounded [like] more granular issues that one would think, Okay, we can work this out, and probably
they have. But whether or not that has contributed to a
major policy shift that may have been deleterious to the industry, I do not know. But what I do know is that
there are members in the industry who say that it was.
And so I do not believe that if this motion was,
indeed, passed today if that would then force the Government to have to retract any of its policies. But I
certainly believe that the entertainment industry needs to know that Parliament has their back. So this is not
something that, if voted on successfully, will have any
impact on the Immigration policy at all. The Gover nment will have to go back and sa y, Okay, there has
been a statement in Parliament. But if they decide, We’re not going to change anything, the Government
does not change anything. So I just want to be clear on that.
So this is not like if it is voted on and succes sful it is going to force any Immigration changes. But it will send a message.

Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Point of information, Madam Deputy Speaker , if the Honourable
Member would yield.

Yes.

POINT OF INFORMATION
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: The wording of
the motion effectively says that the House rejects the
Government’s revised Immigration policy. So if the House rejects the policy, then that would, by exte nBermuda House of Assembly sion, suggest that the policy is no longer effective and,
therefore, a new policy would then have to be impl emented as a result. So I think the Honourable Member
may have misspoken.

Clarification.
The Motion very clearly is meant as a moral
imperative. It says “the House rejects.” The House
can reject or accept whatever it wants; it has no obv ious incumbency upon the Government to do anything. So just for the sake of clarity, it is a moral argument that we are making and we cannot, in this Parliament, determine what the Government can or should do.

And I agree with the interpretation of the Honourable Member who just spoke.
But I understand what the Minister is saying. And I
think that at the end of the day if there was a succes sful vote on this it may force the Government to go
away and say, Let’s have a rethink on the policy and
let’s collaborate on the policy and let’s see if we can
come up with something that is more amenable to all
parties. If that is what happens, then fine. But certainly
it will not be a statement that the Government has to
go away and select certain policies and abrogate those policies, because there are no specifics here. It is a general sort of statement.
My view of it is that it would be a strong
statement to the Government that Parliament is un-happy with the policies as they relate to entertainers. And I think a prudent Government would go away and
say, Okay, we need to have a look at this. It certainly
would not force the Government to do anything speci fically, but certainly it would prick their conscience to
look at it again and to revisit it.
I think that what the Honourable Member who
brought the motion was seeking to achieve is to ident ify the issue, because it seems to be an issue that has fallen off the radar. Identify the issue and send a
strong statement that there are deficiencies in the po licy. And I can tell you sometimes it is not . . . and I say
this with respect. I am not saying this in relation to the
current Minister, but sometimes it is the attitude t owards certain industries that matters. And I did not like the attitude of the former Minister as it related to this particular issue, which could have created the sense
that there was a problem with the policy.
So, there is disquiet in the entertainment i ndustry as it relates to the existing policy. It has been
identified. It is not the first time it has been raised in
this Parliament that it is seen to be unfair, and we heard the word “inequitable” in a previous debate. And
so I think that the Honourable Member , who I respect
and believe that he brings things in good faith to this
House, has done so to send a message to that se gment of our community that Members in this House support them. We do not want to see this industry die off. We have seen it substantially reduced. It has great
value to our community. And if we can be the catalyst
to help with the revival then, Madam Deputy Speaker ,
I support that 100 per cent.
Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Deputy
Speaker .
It would be remiss of me not to stand up and
represent my family. I am not going to go into a long
historical, chronological story about my family and their connection to entertainment here in Bermuda.
But I will briefly create the context, which is that back in the day, believe it or not, my father played the vi olin. And Clay House Inn, in particular, was a main venue for himself and his small orchestra that he played with. And he made quite a name for himself as a part of this band and travelled and went to quite a few of the then- segregated entertainment places in
order to perform. As I said, they made quite a name
for themselves. They were popular, and they were
good quality musicians, et cetera.
It was not that much longer that my mother
then came to Bermuda, and she was very much into the performing arts and she forged her way into the
entertainment industry here in Bermuda. She first b egan with her dancing school and making sure that th e
performers at the Jackson School of Performing Arts
were able to perform within the community and gain exposure and see what it was like to dance at a pr ofessional level.
Then the Member who just spoke mentioned
the Follies. And my mother made quite an effort to make sure that we were able —“we” Bermudians —
were able to compete with the Follies. And I have been sitting here trying to remember . . . I believe it
was called “The Too Hot Review .” And they were big.
They were at the Bermudiana, they were definitely at Elbow Beach, and they performed for a number of years here on the Island as a Bermudian dance . . .
sort of that Follie, Revue, Broadway -style dance, et
cetera.
1296 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Then probably the biggest next pillar that my
mother really got involved with was the Gombeys. And
as I recall that as a young person I felt as though the Gombeys were almost . . . if not, extinct, they were
endangered when my mother created this or devel-oped a relationship with the Gombeys. And that be-came a life -long love affair with the G ombey dancers
and my mother, and that lasted until the day that she died. And there was something about what my mother did in all three of those pillars of entertainment here in Bermuda which I believe may be part of the challenge now that we are facing.
So, the becoming marginalised as entertai ners, I completely get that. But I also understand what is needed, especially from a management perspe ctive. [And that] is to make sure that artists are given an opportunity to compete and perform in a profes-sional e nvironment. And in order to do that there are a
number of standards and there is a level of management and advocacy that is needed in order to even
compete and to keep up in many of the professional arenas where entertainers want to gain exposure.
In order to do that I believe that Governments
need to create an environment where management of
entertainment can be structured in such a way that
this level of professionalism and management can be executed in such a way that it allows for many of these very sophisticated and professional and, in t oday’s world very universal guest entertainment that comes to this Island, and guest promoters that come
to this Island . . . we have to be prepared to sort of run
in their world. And so we cannot take that for granted anymore, and it is not necessarily going to be a free ticket every time.
We Bermudians, I believe, need to have a
level of sophistication about the way that we manage
ourselves in the professional entertainment world that
reflects our level of professionalism and sophistication at a sort of . . . at least . . . well, I am going to say at a
global level of management for entertainment.
So I am saying all of this to say that I am not
sure that it is really all about anything that Gover nment can do. I personally, as a Member of the Go vernment team, will always —always —advocate for entertainers and will always have a very, very, very warm and open heart for entertainers, and will do an ything to advocate for them. But I do believe that we as
a Government need to create a space and be suppor tive in any way that we can to allow for entertainers
and their management, their administration, however they choose to structure themselves, that we should provide a platform for them to be able to do that and provide them, m aybe, with the support so that they
are able to develop. You know, as the Member just
said, the bank accounts and the receipts and the websites and whatever it is that entertainers and their management need to survive and to compete in this very sophisticated world of promoters and entertain-ment so that we can create an environment where
they can succeed.
I believe that maybe what is part of it is that
where we are now wishing to . . . the platform where
we would like to have our entertainers perform is becoming more and more sophisticated. It is moving very quickly and it is not enough for us to maintain a
pace that is a legacy pace that we have always had.
Maybe it is now time for us to look at how we can rea lly meet the needs of the global entertainment env ironment.
So, again, I am in complete support of entertainment and entertainers and local entertainers in
Bermuda and I certainly look forward to seeing the
development of their management and their admini strative structure so that it works well for everyone.
Thank you.

He must be starting to get
self-esteem issues, Madam Deputy Speaker .
Good evening and good evening to Bermuda.
Madam Deputy Speaker, the former Minister
of Tourism, the Honourable Member from constituency 31, said something that I think is very important
and my words (not necessarily his) about changing
the tone towards our musicians and our local talent. I
think that is important because this motion calls for action, because platitudes and expressions of support for Bermuda’s entertainers do not put food on the t able, they do not address the injustice that is occurring
and continues to occur when it comes to the concerns
that have been laid out by the musicians union.
Now the Honourable Minister responsible has
said that she would like to collaborate with the Opposition, and it goes back to something we have been
pushing for some time, an issue that is bigger than the
local musicians, comprehensive immigration reform. We have been calling for it, we have been hoping for it, because we believe that the comprehensive r eform—not piecemeal, not picked apart to sort of address an outcry —will crea te a level of consistency
across administrations, the same consistency that we have seen in dealing with other issues where we have united to come together and agree on a forward vision together. So I welcome the call, but let us not stop here. Let us take up the mantle of comprehensive
Immigration reform.
Now, Madam Deputy Speaker, I have occ asioned to spend quite a great deal of time in the Caribbean, and one of my particular favourite countries in terms of local entertainment is St. Kitts. And when you
go to St. Kitts there is a place called “The Strip” where all the bars and clubs and everything reside, and


Bermuda House of Assembly whichever entity you go into has entertainment. The
entertainment is all local. It is all local. St. Kitts has a
smaller population than ours, their economy is differ-ent, but their entertainers have an outlet.
So this is beyond a change of policy and a
reversal of a policy that is unfair and unwanted by l ocal entertainers. We have to look deeper into a
change of the culture. And this is what I mean. Our culture tells our talented young people there is no f uture for you in music. Our culture tells our existing
musicians no matter how talented you are, you have
to somehow meet some global standard that many of
the entertainers that have been hired to perform here from overseas do not meet themselves.
Madam Deputy Speaker, tourists do not want
to come to Bermuda to hear mediocre cover bands
from the 1970s and 1980s. They do not want to hear mediocre shows that could be done, in some cases, and have been done by some of our high school m usicians. Madam Deputy Speaker, when we talk about
a global standard, I do not expect entertainment in our hotels and our restaurants and our clubs to be what I would expect to find at an airport bar, you know, with some washed- up has -been. And I do not mean to be
disparaging, but it is a reality.
Madam Deputy Speaker, the Tourism Author ity finally, finally, finally, finally has understood that we need to target a younger market. The product that we are giving work permit s to ain’t cutting it. It is not cutting it, Madam Deputy Speaker. And so we go back to
the St. Kitts model. And I was at a place that . . . it
actually is a restaurant that is run by fishermen and
they sell fish and everything. They had a band there. And so I spoke to one of the fellows, he was about
maybe 15- , 16- years old, and I said, Well, where did
you go to study music?
And he said, Oh, I just learned, but I was gi ven an opportunity.
Madam Deputy Speaker, where can a 15year-old who can play music in Bermuda get that opportunity? We must change the culture, Madam Deputy Speaker .
Madam Deputy Speaker, how many of our potential Bob Marleys have been told, You’re never going to make a living doing that. Go be an actuary; go be a whatever? I have a family member who . . . and
in my family there has been a long legacy of people
with musical talent. He can play any instrument by ear
. . . any instrument by ear. When he was a little boy
his parents (my grandparents) had him out to dinner at Henry VII’s and the musician, the piano player, stepped away for a moment and he ran over there
and, of course, they are thinking, Oh, God, don’t touch it. Don’t break the piano. And he played and he played
and played. But Bermuda told him, You will not make
it here with that talent. You will have to find a job where you will make money. Bermuda Inc. and the
culture of Bermuda Inc. is failing our talent, it is chas-ing away our talent. Madam Deputy Speaker, I know a number of
local musicians who are thriving elsewhere on the global stage, who could not get work here. Something is wrong with our Immigration policy. I know Bermudi-ans who are doing phenomenally well and others con-sidering joining them because they are appreciated anywhere but here.
Madam Deputy Speaker , what do w e say to
the young person who has talent? Do we tell them,
There is no future for you because you cannot compete on the world stage and you need to pack it in and go do something else? Or do we take an approach
that has Immigration policies that encourage Bermudians and give them hope that they will have a fair shake? Do we look at things the way the PLP have done —signature schools that target the talent and
allow a young person that has musical ability to build on that talent, to get self -esteem from it, and understand that there is more to life than making money . . .
counting numbers? There is more to life than that. And there is an opportunity, if you do something you love, to make money. But we have to change the cu lture.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I am not going to be
much longer. We are now targeting a younger market, and so the challenge I put to local musicians and local employers and local people who use musicians is not to raise your standard to the global levels, because I know that many of them are at that level already.
What I challenge them to do now, with the support of
a Bermuda that embraces their culture, that gives
them the time to practice and rehearse . . . because the one thing that we do not talk about is that the pe ople who come on work permits make enough to make a full -time living. Many of our gifted musicians have to
work two and three jobs. They do not have access to
the same amount of practice time; they do not have
access to the same level of things that these other people do. So we ha ve had an un- level playing field
there alone.
So the challenge now, as a society, is to
change the culture. The challenge for our musicians is that when the opportunity comes, when we work to change the culture, when we knock down this policy and begin putting in place policies —not just in Imm igration but throughout our Government that reward and challenge our people to reach their potential —
then we will be able to say to our children, You have a
chance in your country to perform and grow.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker .

Thank you , Madam Deputy
Speaker .
1298 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly Madam Deputy S peaker , I rise to support my
honourable colleague from constituency 17 who
moved this motion because, having listened to his
presentation, I do not think anything else really has to be said. In fact, let me say that everyone who has spoken on this motion basically has supported the motion, except for one portion which I will get to.
But let me say that I want to refer to the Honourable Minister from constituency 23 who . . . 90 per
cent of what the Honourable Member said totally supported what we want. I g ot the impression that the
10 per cent that she did not agree with was like she felt that maybe having to change the policy would be
like a slap in her face. But I did not think that this is
what we are about. I believe everyone here is suppor ting the motion. It is not going to be any . . . it looks as
if you may have to because you are getting the mes-sage, Honourable Member . . . she is getting the message. The Honourable Member is getting the message that we want to support our musicians.
Let me say that I have many friends who are
musicians and at one time that was like their second job. They almost depended on having that second job to survive. Now they do not have it at all. And some of
them do not even have the first job now anymore. So,
we have really gone back by the fact that we have not
supported our local musicians and so I certainly feel every available local musician should be given a fair opportunity.
So, I certainly would support that and I believe
the Honourable Member supports it as well, Madam
Deputy Speaker , I certainly ask that this Honourable
House do reject this . . . what the . . . the policy, the
policy, but support the motion.
Thank you very much.

Thank you. Are there any other
Members that would like to speak to the motion?
The Chair recognises the Minister from constituency 19. You have the floor.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Madam Deputy Speaker,
in looking at this motion I think . . . this is my dilemma:
When you talk about the fact that entertainers are cri tically important, and about our culture and history and
the abundance of locally available talent and all of
those things, I think everybody agrees with all of that. I
do not think that there is any doubt that everybody in
this House agrees with that. For me, personally, the dilemma is this: It says “Be it resolved that the Hon-ourable House rejects the Government’s revised I mmigration policy which marginalises Bermudian enter-tainers and limits their opportunity.”
Now, I remember when we had this discussion way back, there were some specific concerns
that had been raised and concerns that I had enter-tainers coming and talking to me about the concerns they had about the existing policy. Now, when we changed the policy, did we get it right? Or in our change of the existing policy, did we get something
that was not quite right? Perhaps not. But when you
turn around . . . and, I am sorry, this is when we talk about rejecting the revised policy, it goes as if to say that everything that was changed was wrong.
To m e, I do not have a problem with saying
that we should revisit the Immigration policy because
nobody wants to marginalise Bermudian entertainers
and limit their opportunities. I think we all agree with that. And if this had said to me that we will ask the Government to revisit the Immigration policy to ensure
that it does not marginalise . . . and to revisit it to e nsure that it does not marginalise entertainers and limit
their opportunities, I would be right there. But right
now when you turn around and do this, when you say
“reject,” there is nothing in there that you can turn around and say everything that was in there is gone.
That is the way it looks to me, because I do
know . . . and as I say, there were entertainers that
talked about some of the concerns about the . . . what
do they call?. . . the traveller’s dues and some of the
concerns about whether actually everybody was going
. . . the monies that were being used, whether it was actually resulting in scholarships, whether it was act ually resulting in . . . the good entertainers continue to
get good, but whether some of the other entertainers were also not being encouraged to get better, be-cause the bottom line is we have to make sure that anybody that is out there offering themselves for en-tertainm ent has a standard that we can say that we
are satisfied with, that we want them to all to be out there now.
I am not an entertainer. But I could also hear
bad music and I can hear bad singing as well. So, all I am suggesting is that you do not want to turn around and talk about something that just basically says r eject because I know a Member over there said that that did not necessarily mean that you are saying you are throwing it out, but to me “reject” says everything gone. “Revisit” says look at again.
So that is why, as I said, that is my dilemma. I
really do believe that we all want to see entertainers in Bermuda encouraged. We do not want them to be marginalised. We want to put things into place that are going to make their lot in life and livelihood better. And I am not going to get into all sorts of other discussions about what people might do if they have not done in
the past about other things. I think the most important
thing is that there were some things that were not working before. We changed them and if it has intr oduced some other issues then it needs to be re-examined, revisited.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker .

Thank you, Member.
The Chair recognises the Member from —
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Two minutes.



Bermuda House of Assembly The Deputy Speaker: —constituency 6. You can
have as many minutes as you would like, Member.

Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I only want two minutes —
start from now. Just reject the policy and the Minister
can come back next week and give us some other policy. But just reject it today.
Thank you.

I believe that was shorter than
two minutes.
Are there any other Members that would like
to speak to the motion that is before us?
The Chair recognises —are you standing at
your desk? Yes. Are there any other Members that
would like to speak to the motion?
The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader.

Hon. E. David Burt: Oh, dear, it looks like my . . . he llo? The light is off —
[Inaudible interjection]

Hon. E. David Burt: Oh, you want to talk about Collie
Buddz? Okay, we will talk about Collie Buddz then.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I will be the last
speaker from this side before our Honourable Shadow
Minister responsible for Immigration will close the de-bate. But it is a very important debate tonight and, of course, I want to recognise the members of Berm uda’s local entertainment community here and the m usician’s union. This is something that has come up in numerous occasions and this was something that we pledged that we would bring to this Parliament.
The fact is that in 2013, a Minister who sits in
another place, the former Minister responsible for
Home Affairs, Minister Michael Fahy, made changes
to the Immigration policy. And as we saw in a vote earlier today, where members of the One Bermuda Alliance voted for a measure which will raise the cost of living on their constituents, today one more time
they will have another chance to vote and to see
whether or not they will stand with Bermudians. And I say this by reading from our Throne Speech Reply and our B udget Reply which says, and I quote, “The
next PLP government will undertake comprehensive and bipartisan immigration reform and will do so under
the following clear principles” and the first principle is:
“Bermudians must come first in their country.”
This vote and a vote “yes” on this motion t oday affirms that we believe that Bermudian entertai ners should come first in their country and that the One Bermuda Alliance was wrong for moving the requir ement for Bermudian entertainers to be inside of con-certs that we have locally. It is our hope that members
of the One Bermuda Alliance will support this Bill so that persons who have taken their evening out to come here to watch and those that are listening and the members of Bermuda’s musical community can at least hope that this Parliament will represent their i nterests first. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker .

Thank you, Madam Deputy
Speaker. Madam Deputy Speaker, this debate has
been an opportunity for all of us to share our views on
the importance of the entertainment sector to our cul-ture, to tourism, and job opportunities. It has been a robust debate. I think it is important to clarify a few points. In calling for a rejection of Immigration policy
as it pertains to opportunities for entertainers, it is not
calling for a return to the status quo ante. It is calling
for, as I said in my presentation, a new policy, a way forward that will help to provide a better environment for entertainers in this country.

[Inaudible interjection]

The Honourable Mem ber has just
said that if we make an amendment to say that . . . to
encourage the Government to revisit the Immigration
policy they will support it. I will take the Minister at her
word and I am going to come to that in my final com-ment.
The Minister also said that if we support this
motion here tonight it would lead to an automatic an-nulment of Government policy. I have to say, Madam
Deputy Speaker , that this is the legislature. We pass
legislation and we approve regulations. That is our
power. The Executive determines Government policy. The Executive sits somewhere else, so whatever we do here with regard to legislation and regulation has
no immediate impact on Government policy. So, the
policy will stay as it is unless the Government decides to amend it.
One of the consequences of this policy is the
dearth of opportunities that have now been created for local entertainers. I ask this question, When was the
last time there was a Bermudian entertainer involved
in the Bermuda Festival? It is called the Bermuda Fes-tival. It is one of our great marketing events. When was the last time that there was a Bermudian perfor-mance in the Bermuda Festival?

It was a three- hour performance.

1300 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda Hous e of Assembly Mr. Walton Brown: Okay, all right. So, there was one.
Let us give applause. So, there was one performance by a Bermudian in the Bermuda Festival which has been going on for a number of decades now.
Madam Deputy Speaker , the motion calls for
the Government to rethink its policy which does not say that Bermudians should come first when it comes
to entertainment options. We want that to be reasser ted as part of Government policy. The entertainers
want that to be reasserted. We want the Government to revisit how it handles, in its application process, traveller’s dues. We are not saying Government should collect traveller’s dues and the litany of concerns that were raised by the Minister as sort of the
set of circumstances that the Ministry were enveloped
in considering traveller’s dues. They may have merit. But complexity does not mean you just ignore it alt ogether and bypass it.
So, if the Minister is sincere, and I believe that
when she speaks she is sincere, that she will revisit, then Madam Deputy Speaker , I am prepared to pr esent with the consent of Parliament a revision to the motion which I can just speak to because I believe the Minister has been consulted and is prepared to be
sympathetic toward it, and if you will allow me, I will
just read the amended —
The Dep
uty Speaker: Please proceed.
The Cler
k: Excuse me, do you have . . . we need a
copy of the amendment, please.
The Depu
ty Speaker: We do need copies.
The Cler
k: We need a copy of the amendment,
please.

All right.
“WHEREAS Bermuda’s entertainers are a critically important part of our history, culture and tourism fabric; and whereas there is an abundance of locally available, exceptionally talented musicians, singers, and other performance and visual artists;
BE IT RESOLVED” —and this is a critical
point —“BE IT RESOLVED that this Honourable House invites the Government to revisit the Immigr ation policy which pertains to Bermudian entertainers and their op portunities.”
[Inaudibl
e interjections]
The Depu
ty Speaker: Thank you.

And that has been embraced by
the Government and I would now like to call for a . . . I call on a closure for the motion to vote.
The Cler
k: Just so we are on the same page, I am
going to read the amended motion. Okay?
Standing Order 24(2), motion to be moved by
Mr. C. W. Brown, notice of which was given, and the
amended motion stands as follows:
“WHEREAS Bermuda’s entertainers are a
criticall y important part of our history, culture and tourism fabric; and whereas there is an abundance of lo-cally available, exceptionally talented musicians, sing-ers, and other performance and visual artists;
“BE IT RESOLVED that this Honourable
House invites the Government to revisit the Immigr ation policy which marginalises Bermudian entertainers and limits their opportunities.”
Is that correct, Mr. Brown?

Regulations. [Motion passed as amended: Government to revisit Immigration
Policy pertaining to Bermudian entertainers.]


Bermuda House of Assembly The Deputy Speaker : Oh, it was. Yes, it was indeed.
So we will go to the Financial Service . . . we will go to
the Minister of Finance.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21

Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Madam
Chairman.
I move that Standing Order 21 be suspended
to enable me to move that the Bill entitled the Financial Services Tax Act 2017 be now read a third time
by its title only.

Are there any objections to that
motion? No objections. Please proceed.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 21 suspended.]

NOTICE OF RESOLUTION

MINISTERS AND MEMBERS OF THE
LEGISL ATURE (SALARIES AND PE NSIONS)
ACT 1975

Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Madam Deputy Speaker , I
give notice that at the next day of meeting I propose to move the following Resolution:
“BE IT RESOLVED pursuant to section 2 of
the Ministers and Members of the Legislature (Sal aries and Pensions) Act 1975 the annual salaries pa yable to Members of the Legislature listed in Part A and
Officers of the Legislature listed in Part B of the table
below shall be set out in column 3 of the table and with effect from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018.”

Good evening, Madam Deputy Speaker.
I know it is late, and that Members would like
to go home, but the thing is that I went to a PTSA meeting at CedarBridge last night. I was invited by the Chair and they shared with me . . . and the issue is about buses that are not showing up at CedarBridge
either in the morning or in the afternoon to either drop students off at school or pick them up from school.
1302 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly [Crosstalk]

So, I will still continue.
The thing is that there was a survey that was
conducted and this survey was given . . . the numbers
that I am about to tell you were given to me by the Principal of CedarBridge. And he said that on 28 Fe bruary of this year there was survey that was conduc ted that involved 367 students. It involved 153 parents
and it involved 80 staff members. And out of a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the worst, 10 being the best) they got a rating of 2 when it came to transportation to and
from school. And what ended up happening is that
from 12 September 2016 to 14 March (yesterday) 2017 —which i s basically 57 days —in the morning, out
of all the buses that would have been available, 44 per cent of the buses were not available to bring
children to school. And that was from the East. When it came to bringing children to school from the West, 88 per cent or 50 out of the 57 days, buses were not available.
Now, you might ask, Well, what is the signif icance of that? The significance of that is that students
have missed half of a half a year’s course because of
buses not being available to bring them to school on
time. There are consequences for students showing up late when it comes to the Cambridge Curriculum course and taking tests. But most shocking is that b ecause students did not have buses to pick them up
from school they would have to walk to alternative bus
stops and alternative bus routes. And there have been situations where students have been attacked, st udents have been robbed, and a student has ended up being hospitalised because of the walk that they had
to take from school at CedarBridge to the alternate
bus route.
Now, Madam Deputy Speaker , you would
then wonder what is the other public high school do-ing? There is no issue with bus availability for the ot her public high school. There is no bus availability issue
for any of the private high schools. It seems as though
it is just CedarBridge, and this information that I am getting from the PTSA where BTB was represented.
The Minister, who was invited, did not show
up. He did, however, send a representative. I showed up and I was there. So, this is stuff that I am assuming
the Minister responsible in this House has heard a lready. But the thing is that it has gotten to a point
where you have buses that seemingly . . . like the in-terschool sports that they had the other day. There were three buses that showed up. CedarBridge st u-dents went to get on board and they were told, No,
this is not your bus. This is for Berkeley .
So, my question to the Minister and to the
Government is, if Berkeley can get buses, if Warwick Academy can get buses, if Somersfield Academy can get buses, if Berkeley Institute can get buses, if all students from every other school can get buses, why
can’t CedarBridge?
And the thing is, it seems as though that this
is something that the Government has to be able to fix
and rectify. And if the Government is unable to rectify this, it is one of two things. It is either the fact that there is favouritism to the other schools and they
would be giving priorities, or it is discrimination against
CedarBridge. And the thing is that it seems as though there were solutions that were found, and I will go back to T. N. Tatem.
The school had mould, they needed to find a
way to transport the children from T. N. Tatem down
to Clearwater. The school went to PTB and asked them, How many buses can you give us? They said
two. They were like, That is not enough and the
school then went on . . . the Minister of Education then
went on and provided minibuses from T. N. Tatem down to Clearwater and that was a very quick fix. And
I am not saying that just because the Honourable Mi nister, the former Minister, was my cousin and that we Scotts are very good at problem solving.

[Laughter and inaudible interjections ]

But, but . . . and the Ho nourable former Minister of Education is open to rise on
a point of order if he wants, but back to the serious issue.
This is something that needs to have a sol ution found sooner rather than later, especially when we have children, students of ours, being hospitalised, students of ours that are m issing out on testing or being able to do the best that they can in tests. And I would like the Government to provide solutions, and
even invite the Government to provide a Ministerial
Statement later on advising us of the issue as it is now and the solution that they do, a plan to put forward because this is not something that has just crept up. This is something that I was told the PTA from Cedar-Bridge had dealt with in 2015 and they are having the
same conversation in 2017. And that is just where I
am now.
Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Member.
Are there any other Members that would . . .
thank you. Sorry, the Chair recognises the Member
from constituency 31, you have the floor.

COMMISSION OF INQUIRY REPORT



Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Madam Deputy
Speaker.
Madam Deputy Speaker , we saw, and almost
everyone, I believe, read the sensational headline and
voluminous story that was in t he Royal Gazette earlier
this week in relation to the Commission of Inquiry r eport w hich, not unexpectedly, contained some serious
and damning criticism of many individuals, to say the
least.
Now, I am not sure, Madam Deputy Speaker ,
how many Commissions of Inquiries we have had in the 50 years, but I certainly know from my recollection of being in this Honourable House that this is the only
one I can recall being a parliamentarian. And, ther efore, as far as I was concerned, particularly being an
attorney and being someone who takes politics ser iously, I thought it was a big deal. And I t hought it was
a big deal as a Bermudian, and I thought it was a big deal as a parliamentarian.
To be clear and in full transparency, I think it
is important; I did not support the Commission of I nquiry when it was actually decided. I did not have a say in whether or not there was going to be a Commission of Inquiry. As we know, that power was given
to the Premier in this House, and it was the Premier’s
decision. It was not a Cabinet decision and—

I did not know that was
controversial. I thought it was common knowledge. It
was not a Cabinet decision; it was the decision of the Premier.
And whether or not the Premier consulted
members of his Cabinet, I do not know. But I did not have a say in the decision, and I expressed my concerns about the decision when it was made. It was in
the sole discretion of the Premier.
But I was critical of the decision for various
reasons. One, it was my view that the Auditor’s Gen-eral report on Government’s Consolidated Fund for
years 2010, 2011, and 2012 and the various special
reports we have seen over the years and other reports
we have seen were sufficient as it related to dealing with this matter. Those reports were also voluminous and had criticism. I was concerned because there was, and still is, a police investigation into many of the
issues which were raised in the Commission. And as
we know, the police have very wide and varied po wers to drill down on these issues. I was concerned because I believed that a
Commission of Inquiry would have heightened the levels of tension in our community. I was concerned
that it was going to create more polarisation in the
community. And let us not fool ourselves. Let us be real. When I am talking about heightened tensions and I am talking about polarisation, I am talking about
along racial lines . . . along racial lines. These are i ssues, Madam Deputy Speaker , that we, for various reasons, do not tackle appropriately. And I feel that
decisions of the Government often do not take into
account this critical dynamic. I was concerned and I believe that my concerns were realised as a result of this process. Why?
Let us start with the optics. Let us start with
the optics, Madam Deputy Speaker. We should have
known, because nothing was new. We knew what was going to happen. We knew what was going to be di scussed, and we knew the parties and the players i nvolved. So, we knew that the majority of those who were going to be called before the Commission of I nquiry were going to be black. We knew that, and we
should have known that. And so it befuddled me when the composition of the Commission was predominat ely white with an English chairman.
Now, I am not going to question the ability, the
qualifications or the integrity of any of the members that wer e on that Commission. I am talking about the
optics and the impact that those optics had on the community at a time when things were a bit shaky, Madam Deputy Speaker. To me, the composition did not make much sense. I also did not understand the appointment of the former Opposition Leader John
Barritt to the Commission.
Now, I have the utmost respect for Mr. Barritt.
He knows that, and I have stated that numerous times
in this House. But his appointment to the Commission was wrong if you are trying to achi eve an impartial
position. How can you have a former Opposition
Leader —who was Opposition Leader of the Gover nment when it was in the Opposition no less than five —
years previous? We are not talking about a significant
separation. We are talking about three or four years
prior, and who was in this Honourable House as an Opposition Member, a very vocal Opposition Member,
during the time under consideration.
How can we . . . I am talking about optics.
Now, I believe that John Barritt . . . I have worked with
John Barritt. I sat next to him in this House. I believe
he has the ability, the talent to separate. But do you
think the average person on the street is going to say to himself, Well, the former Opposition Leader, the
very compelling debater, John Barritt , is going to be
impartial in looking at what happened between 2010,
2011, and 2012 . I find it astounding that that decision
could be made to put the former Opposition Leader on
a Commission of Inquiry that is going to criticise the
former PLP Government.
And, so, I think that those optics created a
very stressful situation. But once it was established I was interested in its findings. I wanted to ascertain because of the erudite members . . . I knew that Sir
Anthony Evans was going to do his job, a former
judge, and again, Mr. Barritt. And they were going to delve into these matters and I was expecting greater clarity on what we had already been told. I was ex-pecting definitive statements on what we already know. I was expecting the process that was at this
1304 15 March 2017 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda House of Assembly level, which is a high level —the Auditor General’s level is a very high level. The Auditor General has signif icant powers under the Audit Act.
The Auditor General has the power to empanel an Inquiry and to have an investigation. So, we
are going from the Auditor General’s level now to a
Commission of Inquiry . . . I am expecting to have a
greater understanding of what is going on. Particularly because of the power to bring people before it and get oral testimony and to subpoena witnesses and the ability t o procure the documents that it procured. And
so, although we had a 127- page document with appendices, it was a voluminous document that . . . I
have read most of it —not all of it, but I have gone
through it. And there are references, extracts from the various reports, special reports and internal audits —
you name it, they are there. So, they did their job. It was thorough.
But when I got to the findings I did not learn
anything new. I saw wording like “possible criminal
activity.” Possible criminal activity . I saw wording like
“support the ongoing investigation” and I say, Madam
Deputy Speaker, that this is not good enough. Not
good enough after spending $1 million on this pr ocess, Madam Deputy Speaker. The drama that was
involved through this process . . . because I do not
know about you, but while some testimony was going
on and people were going there and feeling offended by the process, walking around Bermuda felt a little different during that time. And we are still waiting.
The conclusion of the Commission of Inquiry
is that it supports an ongoing investigation, an ongo-ing police investigation. So the end result is we are still waiting for results! We are still waiting for som ebody to say this is what happened . For somebody to
say here is the evidence. W e are still waiting after
months of this process, after a million dollars spent, after unnecessary distress in this community we are still waiting. And that is not good enough.
There is a saying, Madam Deputy Speaker ,
justice delayed is justice denied. Enough is enough! If
somebody has got evidence of criminal activity, bring it and lay it. How many years are we going to be going through this? It is not good for the community. It is not good for this jurisdiction, and in the absence of som ething definitive, one has to question if this was a polit ical exercise.

[Inaudible interjections]

And that is the danger. And
that was my concern, because we have learned not hing new. We have learned nothing new.
But you know what has happened, Madam
Deputy Speaker ? Good people, good people . . . now,
once again, have dark clouds over their heads. Good
people who come into this House every year around this time . . . every year around this time, we come into this House and Ministers get up and laud, laud the performance, laud the integrity of their permanent
secretaries, their right -hand people. And on the front
page of today’s newspaper the question is being
asked that there needs to be an urgent review of their skills.

[Inaudible interjections ]

Their skills!
Outrageous!
Outrageous, Madam Deputy Speaker . This is
the result of this Commission of Inquiry. People’s
character’s being attacked and families in this country
are being undermined and have to be going through
this again. It is not right.
If you have evidence of wrongdoing and cri minal activity, bring it. But stop this smear campaign.
This country is too small for it. And I think that this type of stuff is what divides us the most. And so here
we are. The Commission of Inquiry is done and we
have this report, and I question whether or not we have gotten our money’s worth, Madam Deputy Speaker . But I do not like the damage it is doing to
good people, to good people. And, so, I come today to
flag that.
I know that there are some Members who
may feel, and rightfully so, that they need to leave this
topic alone. But I felt in my capacity as the Independ-ent Member that I needed to raise it. And I was think-ing about it, but when I saw today’s headlines it bot hered me. It bothered me because I have respect for
Dr. Derrick Binns and Cherie- lynn Whitter and our F inance Secretary, Mr. Manders, and Major Telemaque. This is unnecessary, Madam, and this is the result, I feel, of a process that we should not have put our people t hrough.
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker .

[Desk thumping]

Thank you, Member.
The Chair recognises the Member from constituency 8.

BUSES AT CEDARBRIDGE

Hon. N. H. Cole Simons: Thank you, Madam Deputy
Speaker.
I rise this evening just to respond to the comments made by the Member from [constituency] 24.
As the Education Minister, that issue was brought to my attention today, and I can assure you that a meet-ing has already been called to address the challenges
in regard to the buses at CedarBridge. And the Mini stry of Education and the Minister of Transport and his
technical officers will be meeting so that we can pr ovide a solution to this unacceptable situation at C edarBridge. And the parents and students of Cedar-Bridge can rest assured that this will be a priority for


Bermuda House of Assembly the Ministry of Education and we will bring this matter
to some conclusion and it will be remedied.