The SpeakerThe SpeakerMembers should have the Minutes for February the 19th. Sorry. The Minutes for February 19th are deferred. MESSAGES FROM THE GOVERNOR
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE SPEAKER APOLOGIES
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, I have two announcements. And one is that we would like to inform the House that Ju nior Minister Leah Scott is absent, not well; and also, MP Michael Weeks is absent, not well. So, we want to wish them all the best as they both recover. MES SAGES …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. PAPERS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS TO THE HOUSE
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Chair will first recognise the Ho nourable Minister for Finance. Minister E. T. Richards, you have the floor. GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES (FEES) ORDER 2016 Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to attach and submit for the consideration of the Honourable House …
The Chair will first recognise the Ho nourable Minister for Finance. Minister E. T. Richards, you have the floor.
GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES (FEES) ORDER 2016
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to attach and submit for the consideration of the Honourable House of Assembly the Government Authorities (Fees) Order 2016, proposed to be made by the Minister of Finance under the provision of section 4 of the Government Authorities (Fees) Act 1971.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you, Minister. The Chair will now recognise the Minister of Economic Development, Dr. the Honourable Grant Gibbons. You have the floor. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and good morning.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGood morning. ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS (REGULATORY AUTHORITY FEES) REGULATIONS 2016 Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Mr. Speaker, with the Governor’s recommendation and in accordance with section 36(3) of the Bermuda Constitution, I have the honour to attach and submit for the consideration of the Honourable House of Assembly the Electronic …
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Mr. Speaker, with the Governor’s recommendation and in accordance with section 36(3) of the Bermuda Constitution, I have the honour to attach and submit for the consideration of the Honourable House of Assembly the Electronic Communications (Regulatory Authority Fees) Regul ations 2016, proposed to be made by the Minister of Economic Development responsible for telecommunications under the provisions of sections 6 and 11 of the Regulatory Authority Act of 2011. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Minister. PETITIONS
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are no petitions. ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER HOUSE VISITOR
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAnd just before we move forward, I just want to recognise the Vice President of the Senate, who is here in the House, and also Senator in the House, Senator Ball. [Desk th umping] STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Chair will first recognise Dr. the Honourable Grant Gibbons. 686 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly AMERICA'S CUP UPDATE Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to provide this Honourable House with hi ghlights from an economic …
The Chair will first recognise Dr. the Honourable Grant Gibbons. 686 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly AMERICA'S CUP UPDATE
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to provide this Honourable House with hi ghlights from an economic impact report of the Louis Vuitton World Series held in October, as well as an update on preparations for the America’s Cup in May and June of 2017. Mr. Speaker, when Bermuda was selected as the venue for the 35th America’s Cup, s ome questioned Bermuda’s ability to manage such a major event. The successful delivery of the Louis Vuitton World Series here last October has gone a long way to answering that scepticism. It is fair to say that Bermuda was transformed for the three days of the event as a result of the enormous commitment by the com-bined teams of the ACBDA [America’s Cup Bermuda] , the ACEA [America’s Cup Event Authority] , the Corp oration of Hamilton, security and health services, Go vernment departments and hundreds of volunteers both on and off the water. Bermuda delivered the event with style, and thousands of Bermudians and visitors thronged Front Street, took to their boats and enjoyed world- class entertainment and sport. This extraordinary weekend also gave residents and visitors a taste of the excitement and international attention that we can expect during the Finals in 2017. Mr. Speaker, back in October of 2014 we pr ojected that the potential economic impact for the Bermuda World Series event would be an additional spending contribution to our economy of $1.7 million, a small part of the overall $250 [million ] in spending we estimated would accrue from hosti ng the America's Cup. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of revealing highlights resulting from an economic impact report of the Louis Vuitton World Series prepared by a consul tant seconded to the ACBDA from a local accounting firm. I am pleased to report that the estimated ec onomic impact in Bermuda generated by the event was approximately $8.6 million. This is $6.9 milli on, or 400 per cent, more than the original 2014 forecast, largely due to the increased scale of the event and significantly more visitors than anticipated. It was estimated that during the week of the event, 1,499 vis itors came to Bermuda specifically for the event, which resulted in 3,730 room nights and $2.6 million of revenue for hotels, an increase of 43 per cent over a typical October week. The full report, Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series in Bermuda, Economic Impact High-lights , is posted on t he ACBDA Ltd. website, and that is www.acbda.bm . The figures used in the assessment reflect spending that occurred in Bermuda from a variety of sources including: • visitors to Bermuda; • competitor teams visiting Bermuda; • America’s Cup sponsors visiting Bermuda; • media visiting Bermuda; • the ACEA in organising the event; • the ACBDA in hosting the event; • the Government of Bermuda and other tax-payer -funded entities in hosting the event; and • the Bermuda public. In total, it was estimated that the event generated approximately $6.1 million of spending from overseas sources into Bermuda. This includes spending by visitors on accommodations and food and be verage by the ACEA, and by competitor teams that have not yet established operations in Bermuda, all of which represent a direct investment into Bermuda’s economy. The event also generated spending of $1.2 million by the Bermuda public and private sectors. This includes spending in relation to: • the staging of the America’s Cup Concert; • infrastructure investment by telecommunic ations companies; and • spending by Bermuda public bodies, including the Government of Bermuda, the ACBDA, the Bermuda Tourism Authority, the Bermuda P olice Service, the Bermuda Hospitals Board, and the Corporation of Hamilton.
It should be noted that this $1.2 million combined with the $6.1 million in spending from overseas sources generated $7.3 million spending in Bermuda—additional spending which would otherwise not have occurred. Additional spending by the Bermuda public in various areas such as retail outlets throughout the Island, the America’s Cup Village vendors, the Amer-ica’s Cup concert, restaurants, transportation, and gas and other marine- related expenditures was estimated to be $1.3 million. Mr. Speaker, it was estimated that approx imately $281,000 in direct income from airport taxes, hotel occupancy tax and the tourism guest fee was generated by the event, but costs of approximately $916,000 were incurred by Bermuda public bodies. This resulted in an estimated net cost to Bermuda public bodies of staging the events of approximately $635,000. The World Series did not happen without i ntense planning and the delivery of a wide range of complex and demanding work streams. These i ncluded the set -up and clearing of the technical bases on our container docks, the organisation of the race course and a huge spectator fleet, the coordination of award -winning television coverage, and the trans formation of Front Street into an exciting and entertaining venue with a concert stage. The reaction both internationally and locally was virtually universal in its praise for the organisation and the participation of Bermudians and visitors alike.
Bermuda House of Assembly Bermuda rose to the challenge with literally hundreds of residents volunteering to assist in a wide range of services. It was estimated that volunteers donated approximately 4,000 hours of time. The monetary value of this contribution from volunteers was estimated to be approximately $600,000. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to highlight the degree of international brand exposure Bermuda r eceived as a result of hosting the event. Bermuda was seen on television by millions of fans around the world. The Island hosted high-end sponsors of the America’s Cup, such as BMW, Louis Vuitton, Bremont and Moet & Chandon. As our Premier said at the time, “Bermuda shone on the world stage.” An independent media report commissioned by the ACEA provided the following broadcast medi a statistics: • A total of 1.4 million viewers either watched the event live or watched full recorded coverage, including 320,000 in the UK, 240,000 in France, and 220,000 in the US. A further 6.7 million viewers received coverage through e ither news program ming or sports magazine programming, which resulted in a total of 8.1 million viewers reached by TV programming; • On Island for the event were, 138 accredited media personnel representing 97 media outlets from 14 countries; • In terms of global media exposure, there are broadcast agreements in place in over 100 territories around the world, including Japan, Sweden, Brazil, China and India. Footage was also broadcast in the US on NBC Sports and in the UK on BT Sport and BBC Red Button . • The social media impact w as impressive—for example, 11 videos posted on Facebook by the ACEA for the event reached 1.2 million viewers and received more than 18,000 Likes. That represents production and distribution that Bermuda does not have to pay for, nor does that include YouT ube distribution or the multitude of videos produced by the teams themselves.
The independent media report also assigned what is known as an equivalent advertising value of $14.1 million to the television coverage of the event. This is the amount Bermuda would have had to pay in order to get the same marketing exposure by purchasing TV time. Mr. Speaker, we also need to recognise the direct benefits to Bermudian small businesses. Some 59 vendors in the E vent Village provided general r etail, entertainment, and food and beverage services, plus a further 40 businesses provided services to help run the actual event. The ACBDA’s partnership with the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) and the Chamber of Commerce is ensuring access to America’s Cup benefits by small business interests. For the World Series event, many of these vendors were new to retail, encouraged by the opportunities provided to them. Finally, 150 students participated in the learnto-sail sessions in the Event Village, and the ACEA chartered the Bermudian and gave 530 school chi ldren and 75 teachers direct access to the racing. Mr. Speaker, back in 2014 when we said, Bermuda, we are the America’s Cup, we meant it. The delivery of the World Series brought the best of Bermuda to the fore, and it showed just how good we can be when the community works together. We must capture that spirit, harness its energy and focus it now on the delivery of not just a few days, but a month and a half of activities in May and June of 2017. Since October, I can assure Honourable Members , there has been no pause in the workload of the ACBDA. Immediately following the World Series events, the ACBDA undertook an intensive post - mortem. All of its 16 committees participated, and the ACBDA is now working to further improve their wor king groups and the communications between them, with an aim to smooth out any identified challenges for 2017. At the forefront of the work is the development of the plans for the America’s Cup Village at Doc kyard. The ACBDA, working with Bermuda Environmental Consultants, is well along the road of seeking input and participation in the development of those plans, which include an environmental impact assessment document. This document will involve a full workup of all the necessary elements of Bermuda’s delivery of the AC Village and its operation. It will i nclude, for instance, details on transportation, sewage, the provision of water, the collection of garbage, as well as an assessment of various environmental i ssues. This process i s engaging a wide array of Government departments, environmental groups, NGOs, businesses , and the public at large. In January, two public meetings were held regarding the process. The ACBDA continues to welcome input as we move this planning process forward. These development plans will be submitted in March of this year. Mr. Speaker, while not in the ACBDA’s initial remit, last year the ACBDA agreed to take on the role of facilitator and project manager for the delivery of the infill in the South Basin of the Royal Naval Doc kyard, in active partnership with the Ministry of Public Works and the West End Development Corporation (or WEDCO). I am pleased to confirm that this $39 million WEDCO project continues to be on time and on budget. In the last few months, some 310,000 c ubic yards of material have been delivered to the site — 165,000 cubic yards in the form of imported granite from New Brunswick , and the balance coming from the dredging spoils of the North Channel. The recl amation process required manoeuv ring a ship larger than any that had worked in the South Basin before— a complicated exercise at best. This was accom688 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly plished with expert assistance from our own Bermudian pilots and leased tractor tugs from Nova Sc otia. The delivery of the fill required seven trips in t otal—and we should convey our thanks for a job well done to all involved. With the completion of the delivery of the fill, the focus is now on the second phase of this project. This involves the fabrication and delivery of the sheet pile walls, which, once installed, will contain the fill, bringing stability to the new land reclamation. Work is also currently progressing on the design of the utility infrastructure that will sit below the surface and support the intended uses in the AC Village. We are expecting to complete the infill project and hand over the site to the ACEA some five months ahead of our commitment. Mr. Speaker, this is no mean feat. In addition to the main contractor, Cashman Dredging and Marine Contracting Company, 20 local companies have been involved in the infill project and the bridge that connects the infill to the mainland. This includes 15 subcontractors and five professional firms , with a total of 60 local workers. Also, four overseas companies were engaged for tugboat services and the design of the open cell piling for the infill. The ACBDA has also worked in partnership with WEDCO and the Ministry of Public Works on the delivery of a new road from Pender Road down to M oresby Plain in Dockyard. Moresby Plain will be a key facility during the lead- up to and delivery of AC35, and access to the plain needed to be dramatically i mproved. In addition to the infill project, the ACBDA is well along in the plan to transform the dockside of the South Basin. The Oracle Team USA base was oper ational by late spring of 2015, and Soft Bank Team J apan is now finishing their base next to and west of Oracle. The ACBDA project team is well ahead of its timeline in completing the surface preparations of the dockside. This has involved the remov al of asbestos from the old buildings, their demolition and preparing the surface on which the bases , the team bases, can be erected. Mr. Speaker, in addition to the land reclam ation project, some 390 Bermudian workers have been gainfully employed in Ameri ca’s Cup- related projects in the Dockyard, valued at over $4.9 million. This i ncluded work specific to the team bases and other buildings that house Oracle Team’s administration and training facilities. Additionally, approximately 70 subcontracting compani es were involved in these pr ojects. This amount does not include local spending associated with sectors such as transport, shipping, shipping agents, hotels and airlines. The ACBDA is currently in detailed conversations with Groupama Team France and Landro ver BAR, the Bri tish team, that will be situated on the dockside. We anticipate that both these teams will have completed their bases and will be fully operational by mid -December of this year. As Honourable Members will be aware, Artemis is in the last st ages of completing their base on Morgan’s Point. They employed over 70 local workers for the project. Artemis will also have a team base in Dockyard that will be erected later on the reclaimed land. The final team, Emirates Team New Zealand, will also have a base there at the Event Village. Mr. Speaker, our current projections show at least five of the competing teams will launch the new 50-foot boats, which will compete in the AC35 in Bermuda. It is worth noting that there are already four of the AC45 spor ts boats located and training in Bermuda, with more to come. The sports boats are si gnificantly faster than the boats used for the World S eries—and I guess everyone thought those were fast! The sports boats are effectively the platforms used to design the new 50s, with a huge array of electronic data feeds that capture the information required to optimise the design of the new boats. In addition to the very obvious changes occurring in the South Basin of Dockyard, I should point out that we are already seei ng legacy impact. Building 9, the building that runs parallel to and behind the Cloc ktower building in Dockyard, has been completely and attractively renovated, and is now substantially occ upied by Oracle Team USA. When Team Oracle de-parts, WEDCO will be l eft with a renovated building with enormous potential. Mr. Speaker, when the initial projections for team relocations were made for the America’s Cup, we were conservative in projecting the number of team and family members who would be in Bermuda in 2015 and 2016. Those projections have already been well exceeded, with some 160 team members, along with over 170 family members currently living in Bermuda. In order to sustain their bases and meet their residential needs, they contribute to all sectors of our economy, including restaurants, transport services, construction and trades, wholesale and retail operators, security services, marine services, shipping and forwarding companies, telecommunications pr oviders, service industries, small businesses, and rea l estate. As an example, taking housing alone, ACEA, Oracle Team USA, and SoftBank Team Japan have already rented over 80 houses and apartments in the central and western parishes, with an annual rental value to landlords there of $4.9 million. Since April 2015, Oracle, Artemis, and Sof tBank Team Japan, cumulatively, spent over $10.2 million on their team base operations, and as Sof tBank Team Japan and Artemis fill out their teams and other teams establish bases in Bermuda, these ben efits will continue to grow. Mr. Speaker, in providing this update, it would be remiss of me not to bring to Honourable Members’ attention two America’s Cup- related programmes that have brought enormous added value to Bermuda. First, the Endeavour Community Sailing Programme:
Bermuda House of Assembly This was the original vision of Sir Russell Coutts, CEO of the America's Cup Event Authority, and the E ndeavour Programme is up and running, introducing sailing and the academic STEAM programme—that stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and math—to young Bermudians throughout the education system. Last year, the Endeavour Programme par tnered with the St. George’s unit of the Bermuda Sea Cadets Corps to renovate the Sea Cadets' facility at the TS Admiral Somers building. Now Endeavour and the Sea C adets share a dramatically improved facility. All of the boats, tackle and staffing costs have been donated by the ACEA and supporting companies. Since last summer, over 1,000 Bermudian students have been exposed to Endeavour -related outreach programmes, i ncluding in- class STEAM le ssons, after -school sailing programmes, Oracle Team USA and Spirit of Bermuda presentations, and Amer-ica’s Cup team -base tours. In addition, 48 teachers participated in a two- day STEAM training session in September. Five out of si x of the Endeavour Pr ogramme recent hires are Bermudians, including two coordinators, two senior instructors, and two freelance instructors. In the next few weeks, the West End Endeavour Fort will rise at Dockyard, close to the berthing facility for the Spirit of Bermuda . This fort is a modern facility comprising an integrated container structure. Next year it will move to the permanent home on the landfill site and will double the reach and capacity of the Endeavour Programme. Mr. Speaker, the Endeavour Community Sai ling Programme has received significant support from private sector sponsors, which ensures funding b eyond the America’s Cup, and we will likely see many of these young Bermudian sailors competing in global sailing events in the future. We shoul d be grateful to the ACEA, the Endeavour Community Sailing Pr ogramme sponsors, and the programme volunteers who have brought this wonderful opportunity to Bermuda’s young people. Mr. Speaker, the second value- added pr ogramme I wish to bring to the attentio n of Honourable Members is the Bermuda Red Bull Youth Team. Again. through the efforts of Sir Russell Coutts and Oracle Team USA, Bermuda has been given a unique opportunity to field a team in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup races, which will be held duri ng the America's Cup events in 2017. I am pleased to advise that the Red Bull Youth Bermuda Committee has seized this opportunity and is well along the road to identifying the Bermuda team. There have been a series of try -outs, and Bermuda’s elite young sailors and athletes have r esponded to the challenge. The Red Bull Bermuda committee has now retained the services of world-renowned coaches, they are ordering boats and equipment, and training will begin in earnest. The team will comprise 18 athletes, 6 squad members, and 12 support staff. Having a team in this compet ition is both an honour and a privilege, and brings a personal, home- team element to Bermuda for the America’s Cup. This team is also relying on public and corporate sponsorship, and while those efforts are going well, I encourage our community to engage and provide support to our young athletes. Mr. Speaker, the worldwide sailing community has reacted positively to Bermuda’s selection as the host venue for the America’s Cup by selecting our Island as the site of additional races. In December 2015, we saw some 60 sailors, plus their family me mbers, arrive in Bermuda to compete in the Bermuda Amlin Moth International. The M32 winter series will bring more than 160 individuals to Bermuda. And in March, the RC44 will hold its Bermuda Cup here, bringing 9 crews of 15, plus their support staff. And these races are just the beginning. I believe there is real potential to grow our already positive reputation as the host of international sailing events, al l of which will have a positive economic impact on Bermuda. Mr. Speaker, we are less than 500 days away from the commencement of the AC 35 th America’s Cup. To some this may seem a long time. However, considering the amount of work that still has to be done and the high standard expected of Bermuda, it is, in fact, a very short period. Having seen how Ber-muda came together and delivered a spectacular World Series event in October, I am confident in our ability to produce another spectacular world- class event in 2017. In January of 2015, this Parliament approved the creation of the ACBDA, the team charged with delivering Bermuda’s commitments contained within the agreement between the Government of Bermuda and the America’s Cup Event Authority. It has always been our intention that the ACBDA should be a lean, efficient and tactical organisation. That team has r emained small, but it has created 16 committees, which are manned by over 200 community volunteers. We may not see the work that they are doing, but thei r contributions cannot be overstated. Special thanks go to them, as well as the ACBDA and ACEA teams, and the Government representatives who go about their excellent work on a daily basis with dedication and enthusiasm. I look forward to providing regular updates as we move forward to the highly anticipated America’s Cup events in May and June of 2017. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. Thank you very much. ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER 690 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly HOUSE VISITOR
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAnd just before we move on, I would just like to take the opportunity to recognise in the Gallery, former Member of Parliament, Stanley Morton. [Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Chair will now recognise the second Ministerial Statement. Mr. E. T. Richards, you have the floor, Minister. MOODY’S INVESTOR SERVICES BERMUDA CREDIT REPORT Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as emphasised in the 2016/17 Budget Statement, the Bermuda Government lives off credit; therefore, it …
The Chair will now recognise the second Ministerial Statement. Mr. E. T. Richards, you have the floor, Minister.
MOODY’S INVESTOR SERVICES BERMUDA CREDIT REPORT
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as emphasised in the 2016/17 Budget Statement, the Bermuda Government lives off credit; therefore, it is essent ial that we conduct our financial affairs in such a manner that is acceptable to our lenders. The perceptions of the lenders [of] Bermuda as a credit risk are strongly influenced by the analysis and conclusions of the major credit rating agencies — in Bermuda’s case, Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s . On February 8, 2016, Moody’s issued a credit report on Bermuda which reflected mainly on the fiscal performance released by the Government for the first three quarters for the Fiscal Year 2015/16. The headline of the report read as follows: Bermuda’s Fiscal Consolidation Efforts Bear Fruit, a Credit Positiv e. Mr. Speaker, here are a few highlights; I have four of them: 1. The first one, “The government’s success in reducing the budget deficit reflects its increased ef-forts to maintain fiscal discipline and a moderate ec onomic rebound that took hold in 2015 fol lowing a six - year recession.” 2. The second excerpt, “As a result, the deficit should narrow to about $220 million, or 3.8% of GDP in fiscal 2015. The resulting drop in the fiscal deficit may exceed 1.5 percentage points, making it the most significant fiscal consolidation for Bermuda in more than 20 years.” 3. The third excerpt, “Growth over the next few years will be supported by higher infrastructure i nvestment in the tourism sector, as well as improv ements to Bermuda’s only airport ahead of the [Amer icas] Cup race in 2017.” 4. And the fourth excerpt, “The latest labor st atistics also suggest that the international business sector has resumed growth. Sustained growth in that sector in addition to infrastructure investment will likely help create new jobs, supporti ng growth in average wages in the economy and payroll tax receipts for the government.” Mr. Speaker, it should be noted that this r eport was written before the 2016/17 Budget was unveiled last Friday. Mr. Speaker, it is gratifying to note that important, unbiased, expert analysts have noticed the pr ogress this Government has made in repairing the broken government finances and the economy as a whole we inherited from the former administration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank y ou. Thank you, Minister. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable and Learned Member from constituency 31. The Mi nister for Tourism and Transport, Minister Crockwell, you have the floor. BERMUDA CASINO GAMING COMMISSION, U PDATE Hon. Shawn G. Crockwel l: Thank you. Good mor ning, Mr. Speaker. …
Thank y ou. Thank you, Minister. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable and Learned Member from constituency 31. The Mi nister for Tourism and Transport, Minister Crockwell, you have the floor.
BERMUDA CASINO GAMING COMMISSION, U PDATE
Hon. Shawn G. Crockwel l: Thank you. Good mor ning, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to provide this Honourable House with an update on the Bermuda C asino Gaming Commission [the Commission] and in partic ular to inform Members of a review of the Casino Gaming Act 2014 (the Act) that was recently completed by the Commission. In May of last year, I announced that I had completed the remaining two appoint ments of me mbers to the Commission. Over the course of the past seven months, the Commission members have been steadily acclimatising themselves w ith the full scope of their duties and responsibilities as Commission me mbers, in addition to undertaking and completing the various tasks associated with the recruitment of key Commission personnel and the actual set -up of the Commission offices. Most members will be aware of the appointment of Mr. Richard Schuetz as the Exec utive Director, and his appointment commenced on the 1 st of September 2015, and I am pleased to report that Mr. Schuetz has hit the ground running and is making significant progress with the on- boarding of required personnel to support the operation of the Commission. Mr. Speaker, the Act was established to meet the challenge of enhancing investment and emplo yment in Bermuda through the introduction of up to three integrated resort casinos. In order to ensure the orderly introduction and operation of these facilities, the Commission is empowered to satisfy the following five goals in the execution of its duties: • The owners, vendors, managers, employees, and sources of finance should be free from any inappropriate past or present associations and behaviours, and uphold high ethical standards; • The casinos should possess sound oper ational and financial controls;
Bermuda House of Assembly • The games offered should be fair and honest, and operate with a high level of security and integrity; • All fees, taxes and related payments should be appropriately accounted for and paid; and • Controls should be in place to protect the vu lnerable.
Mr. Speaker, with the creation of the Act, a decision was made to use Singapore as the primary exemplary model for our gaming industry, and much of what we find in the Act has been adapted from the Singaporean model. One of the initial tasks for the Commission was to thoroughly review the Act within the context of determining what changes and amend-ments could and should be made to the Act to ensure the legislative framework is best suited and most appropriate for the Bermuda model. In comparison to Singapore, important facts to consider are the follo wing: • The Singaporean regulatory entity employs almost 200 people, spends $30 million ann ually, and receives substantial assistance from the Singaporean P olice Force; • Their regulatory process involved hundreds of regulators, dozens of consultants, and expe nditure of over $200 million during the development process, which took almost seven years; and • The regulatory agency was spending approximately $10 milli on two years before the opening of the first casino.
Mr. Speaker, Singapore is a much larger j urisdiction than Bermuda, with its gaming operations managing millions of patrons and generating approx imately $6 billion in casino revenues. As stated prev iously, one of the first tasks of the Executive Director and the Commission was to analyse our existing legi slation to ensure that it creates the appropriate env ironment in which casinos can be profitable, whilst maintaining the proper regulatory protections for our jurisdiction. Therefore, Mr. Speaker, it has been the approach of the Commission to suggest a streamlining of the existing process so as to be faster, smarter, and fundamentally more economical in the introduction of casinos on the Island, while work ing to present a sy stem that meets the test of offering a high degree of integrity and security. In order to make this a reality, the Commission has provided recommendations to amend certain aspects of the Act. Mr. Speaker, in order to achieve the public policy goals of the Act in ways that are smart, ec onomical and efficient, the suggested positioning for the Bermuda Regulatory Model is as follows: • to offer an approach that is appropriate to the social, cultural and economic realities of Bermuda; • to offer a human resource policy of being staffed by a limited number of highperformance individuals comprising the regulatory leadership team; • to work in a collaborative fashion with other global regulatory entities to achieve efficiencies and avoid duplicative a ctions; • to be dependent on third parties for: o forensic accounting for suitability of applicants; o criminal and civil suitability investig ations; o compliance auditing assistance; and o technological standards and testing;
• to be dependent on a mandated Operator Compliance Committee whereby: o the operator performs many tasks traditionally performed by the regul atory entity, with the Commission staff performing audits to ensure compl iance where the Operator Compliance Committee is required to report all compliance failures to the Commi ssion staff;
• to be less reliant on prescriptive regulations by: o moving to risk -based methodologies in regulatory construction; o reliant on stated goals and standards; o enhancing dependence on user - defined internal controls;
• to utilise an evidence- based best -practices approach in developing a programme to pr ovide protections to the vulnerable, working in concert with existing treatment providers.
Mr. Speaker, as previously stated, the two primary public policy goals of the Act are to enhance investment and employment in Bermuda. The Com-mission has worked hard to complete the review of the Act, and in short, we believe that they have made recommendations for amendments to the Act which will result in the Act being smarter and more efficient, without sacrificing system integrity. It is the Ministry’s intent to proceed with the recommended amendments to the Act, and we are taking the appropriate steps to obtain the required approvals to table these amendments in this Honourable House as expeditiously as possible. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased with the progress that we have made thus far, and I will continue to keep this Honourable House updated as we continue with the implementation of the local gaming industry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
692 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Thank you. Thank you very much, Mi nister.
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE SPEAKER
HOUSE VISITOR
The SpeakerThe SpeakerJust before we move on, I would just like to take this opportunity to recognise in the Gallery a former Member of Parliament, former Minister Max-well Bu rgess. [Desk thumping] REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. QUESTION PERIOD
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWe now move to the Question Period. [Pause]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMembers, first we have Junior Minister Sylvan Richards to provide oral answers to Parliam entary Questions from C. W. Brown, from constit uency 17.
Mr. Walton BrownYes, good morning, Mr. Speaker, and good morning, colleagues.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerOne second, Honourable Member. [Pause]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member. QUESTION 1: BERMUDA STATUS 201 0-2015
Mr. Walton BrownThank you, Mr. Speaker. Will the Honourable Junior Minister please inform this Honourable House of the number of Bermuda status grants applied for, by category, and whether or not they were granted or refused, for each year from 2010 to 2015?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. Junior Minister Richards. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just for clarification purposes, the information that was given to me broke out the number of Bermuda status applications that can be made. There were 10 categories.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerRight. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: It was requested that I total up the total number of applications for Bermuda status for each year, rather than have it broken up by category.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. Mr. Sylvan D. Rich ards, Jr.: So I will read that.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThanks. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: For 2010, there were 1,775 applications submitted. From that number, 1,557 were issued, and 3 were refused. For 2011, there were 1,359 submitted, 1,184 were issued and 8 were refused. For 2012, there were 1,224 submitted, 1,044 were issued and 3 refused. For 2013, …
Thanks. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: For 2010, there were 1,775 applications submitted. From that number, 1,557 were issued, and 3 were refused. For 2011, there were 1,359 submitted, 1,184 were issued and 8 were refused. For 2012, there were 1,224 submitted, 1,044 were issued and 3 refused. For 2013, there were 1,124 submitted, 96 were issued, and 5 were refused. For 2014, there were 1,718 submitted, 992 were issued and 1 application was refused. In 2015, there were 1,715 submitted, 1,473 were issued and 4 were refused.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Thank you, Junior Minister.
Mr. Walton BrownThank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, it would seem as if the i mmigration policy is in full force.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerQuesti on? Question, sir? SUPPLEMENTARIES
Mr. Walton BrownThere is a question. No, there is a question. My apologies, Mr. Speaker. I note that in one of the categories, Mr. Speaker, the PRC application for Bermuda status, there were no refusals. And I know t hat KPMG or some accounting firm assisted with that. Can the Jun-ior Minister …
There is a question. No, there is a question. My apologies, Mr. Speaker. I note that in one of the categories, Mr. Speaker, the PRC application for Bermuda status, there were no refusals. And I know t hat KPMG or some accounting firm assisted with that. Can the Jun-ior Minister confirm that the appropriate checks were made and there were no applicants who were actually linked with the issue of fronting, which is on file with Immigration, and that fronting was not considered a reason for denial of status approval?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerJunior Minister. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, If I understand the question correctly, the Shadow is asking about fronting. And fronting is a conspiracy theory that was put forward by the prev ious Government. So — [Inaudible interjections] Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Anyway . . …
Junior Minister.
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, If I understand the question correctly, the Shadow is asking about fronting. And fronting is a conspiracy theory that was put forward by the prev ious Government. So —
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Anyway . . .
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Point of order. Point of order,
Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerYes, yes, Honourable Member. POINT OF ORDER [Imputing improper motives] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Mr. Speaker the Honourable Junior Minister is imputing improper motives. I ask that he withdraw that comment.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. Thank you. Thank you, Honourable Member. Yes, Honourable Member, you cannot say that there has been a conspiracy theory. So if you could refrain from that. Withdraw that . Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not agree with the Opposition Member's assertion — …
Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Honourable Member. Yes, Honourable Member, you cannot say that there has been a conspiracy theory. So if you could refrain from that. Withdraw that .
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Okay. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I do not agree with the Opposition Member's assertion —
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Point of order.
The Sp eaker: Okay, that is all right, not agreeing. Just a second, Honourable Member. That is all right, but you cannot . . . You do not agree with him, but you cannot say that there was a conspiracy theory. All right? So, just withdraw that. Withdraw that, Ho nourable Minister, and carry on.
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Yes. I stand corrected. I withdraw that comment.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Just, you know, answer in the best way you can. If you would repeat the question, please.
Mr. Walton BrownThank yo u, Mr. Speaker. There is no need to repeat the question. The Junior Minister has replied. But what I will ask the Minister is whether or not he is able to confirm that there is no evidence whatsoever of fronting that has been collected by the Ministry or …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Either y ou can or cannot . . . Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to get back to that, to that Member.
Mr. Walton BrownSo, Mr. Speaker, if the Honou rable Member has to get back to me, why on earth would he express the view that it is a conspiracy theory, if he does not know?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member! There is no di scussion on that. I have already told him that that should not have been said!
The SpeakerThe SpeakerI do not want this . . . Please, Honourable Member, take your seat a second. Yes. I have already asked the Honourable Member to withdraw that comment. Therefore there is no need to discuss that. B ecause I ha ve asked him to withdraw the question. Now, do you …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. QUESTION 2: BERMUDA STATUS 2010 -2015
Mr. Walton BrownIs the Junior Minister satisfied that the reviews that were conducted by the outside consultant to the Department of Immigration have carried out their responsibilities fully and appropriately with regard to the application for the Bermuda status, or PRCs? Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: You cannot grant w hat [has] …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Members! Honourable Members. Anybody can ask . . . anybody is free to talk to any Member of the House. I do not understand Members. You know, you talk to each other all day. [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHold on, hold on, Honourable Members. Yes. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can that Honourable Member repeat the question? I am sorry. [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerIf you would. If you would. Thank you, Honourable Member.
Mr. Walton BrownMr. Speaker, I will repeat it, and I will say it more slowly. Can the Junior Minister confirm that the work undertaken by the outside consultants for the review of the Bermuda status applications for the PRC holders who were qualified to apply for status under the Chief Justice's ruling—can …
Mr. Speaker, I will repeat it, and I will say it more slowly. Can the Junior Minister confirm that the work undertaken by the outside consultants for the review of the Bermuda status applications for the PRC holders who were qualified to apply for status under the Chief Justice's ruling—can the Junior Mini s694 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly ter confirm that the work was done fully and completely, and that he is satisfied with the due diligence completed by the outside consultant?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Honourable Member. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Yes, I can confirm that the information was factual, and I would just like to point out that between 2010 and 2012, there were more applications approved than from 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Some Hon. Members Some Hon. MembersWhat? No! No! No! No!
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Members. Thank you. I think, Honourable Member, you have a second question? QUESTION 3: PERMANENT RESIDENCE CERTIF ICATES 2010- 2015
Mr. Walton BrownMr. Speaker, can the Honourable Junior Minister please inform this Honourable House of the number of applications for Permanent Res idence Certificates which were submitted for each year from 2010 to 2015, along with the numbers which have either been approved or refused?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Junior Minister, your chance. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There were two categories under which Permanent Residence Certificate applications can be made, 31A and 31B. So I am going to read out the numbers for both categories for the years 2010 through 2015. For the …
Yes, Junior Minister, your chance. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. There were two categories under which Permanent Residence Certificate applications can be made, 31A and 31B. So I am going to read out the numbers for both categories for the years 2010 through 2015. For the year 2010, we are talking about 31A here. So it is not 31B, but 31A. For 2010, there were 51 submitted, 46 were approved and 5 were refused. For 2011 . . . and I have to verify this information, but it says zero were submitted, zero were approved and eight were refused.
[Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Members, you will have an opportunity to ask the question next. Let the Member answer first. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank yo u, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerIf you wait, maybe you will get an explanation. Carry on, Junior Minister. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For 2012, there was one submitted, zero approved, zero refused. For 2013, there was one submitted, zero approved, zero refused. For 2014, there were 58 submitted, 28 were …
If you wait, maybe you will get an explanation. Carry on, Junior Minister. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For 2012, there was one submitted, zero approved, zero refused. For 2013, there was one submitted, zero approved, zero refused. For 2014, there were 58 submitted, 28 were approved, 1 was refused. For 2015, there were 57 submitted, 56 approved, 1 was refused. So the totals for . . . I am not even going to read that. That will confuse more than anyth ing else.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerJust go on to 31B. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Okay. For 31B, for 2010, there were 103 submitted, 106 were approved, 5 were refused. For 2011, there were 40 submitted, 38 were approved, 3 were refused. For 2012, there were 38 subm itted, 34 were approved, and 2 were …
Just go on to 31B.
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Okay. For 31B, for 2010, there were 103 submitted, 106 were approved, 5 were refused. For 2011, there were 40 submitted, 38 were approved, 3 were refused. For 2012, there were 38 subm itted, 34 were approved, and 2 were refused. For 2013, there were 41 submitted, 37 approved, and 3 were refused. For 2014, there were 55 submitted, 37 approved, and 1 was refused. For 2015, there were 83 submitted, 87 approved, zero refused.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Minister.
Mr. Walton BrownMr. Speaker, first, just a point of clarification to help the Junior Minister? The reason why you would have more refusals than other cases in a given year, it is because —
Mr. Walton BrownThe reasons wh y you would have more refusals than applications in a given year is that—
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberIt is a time lag.
Mr. Walton BrownIt is a time lag. There is a carr yover from the previous year.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAbsolutely, yes. So therefore, the answers are corr ect.
Mr. Walton BrownThey are correct. But the Junior Minister seemed to have trouble understanding what it meant. So I was providing clarification. [Inaudible interjections] Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: I do not think he had trouble. I do not think he had trouble—
The SpeakerThe SpeakerI do not think he had trouble understanding.
Mr. Walton BrownWell, those were his words, and the Hansard will reflect that. So, Mr. Speaker, my question is, given that there were mor e applications for PRCs in 2010 than there were in 2014 and 2015, and given that the Go vernment reduced the application fee for PRC status for the …
Well, those were his words, and the Hansard will reflect that. So, Mr. Speaker, my question is, given that there were mor e applications for PRCs in 2010 than there were in 2014 and 2015, and given that the Go vernment reduced the application fee for PRC status for the Incentives for Job Makers Act from $125,000 to $20,000, arguing that the reason why it was reduced was becaus e of the great cost which was an inhibitor for applicants, will the Junior Minister agree that cost was not a factor, if you can accept, by your own fi gures, that there were more applications in 2010 for PRC status than in 2014?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Thank you, Honourable Member. Junior Minister. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Based on what the Honourable Member has said, I cannot argue with his logic.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerNext we have oral answers to Parliamentary Questions from the Honourable W. L. Furbert, from constituency 6. MP Furbert. QUESTION 1: GRAND ATLANTIC Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This question is before the Honourable Mini ster Cannonier. Will the Honourable Minister please provide this Honourable House, what …
Next we have oral answers to Parliamentary Questions from the Honourable W. L. Furbert, from constituency 6. MP Furbert.
QUESTION 1: GRAND ATLANTIC Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This question is before the Honourable Mini ster Cannonier. Will the Honourable Minister please provide this Honourable House, what is the current status regarding the negotiation for Grand Atlantic by Bermuda Beach Resort [with] the Bermuda Housing Corporation?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Honourable Minister. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The current status of the BBR (Bermuda Beach Resort) with the Housing Corporation is that the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding] has ex-pired. And the Bermuda Housing Corporation is seeking to now go out to RFI [request for information] for …
Yes, Honourable Minister. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The current status of the BBR (Bermuda Beach Resort) with the Housing Corporation is that the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding] has ex-pired. And the Bermuda Housing Corporation is seeking to now go out to RFI [request for information] for the pr operty of Grand Atlantic in March, early March. The Speaker: Thank you. Yes, MP Furbert.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Just a follow -up.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerDo you have a supplementary? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes, supplementary.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. SUPPLEMENTA RY Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Can the Honourable Minister tell us when this expired? Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly. It expired as of March 2015, and the Bermuda Housing Corporation has extended it since which, because it was believed that BBR were very …
All right.
SUPPLEMENTA RY
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Can the Honourable Minister tell us when this expired? Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly. It expired as of March 2015, and the Bermuda Housing Corporation has extended it since which, because it was believed that BBR were very close to closing in on a deal. So the Housing Corpor ation continued to extend them, because it appeared as if they were very close to a deal.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. Yes, MP De Silva, from [constituency] 19 [sic]. Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Twenty -nine.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerTwenty -nine. Excuse me. SUPPLEMENTARIES Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Minister, with regard, now that that MOU has expired and that you previously have stated that Grand Atlantic was going to be sold to these folks for $9 million, and you said it is going …
Twenty -nine. Excuse me.
SUPPLEMENTARIES
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Minister, with regard, now that that MOU has expired and that you previously have stated that Grand Atlantic was going to be sold to these folks for $9 million, and you said it is going back out to RFP, will that RFP include the sale of this particular prop-erty, and will the price tag still be $9 million?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Well, I thin k it is [at an] early stage at this point. We still need to sit down with Bermuda Housing Corporation and look at what options may come in. We do not know, once the RFI goes out, all of the returns that …
Minister.
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Well, I thin k it is [at an] early stage at this point. We still need to sit down with Bermuda Housing Corporation and look at what options may come in. We do not know, once the RFI goes out, all of the returns that will come in for the property. So we will continue wi th that conversation and keep you updated.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Minister. Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Supplementary, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. The Chair will recognise MP De Silva. 696 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Minister, that said, if you, being the Minister in charge of this on behalf of the OBA, if you received an …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. That is really . . . That is not a question. [Inaudible interjection]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYou cannot ask a question like that. It is speculative, I am sorry . It is a hypothetica l question, Honourable Member. It is a hypothetical question. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Supplementary?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Chair will recognise the Honourable Member, MP Furbert. Your second question? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerCarry on, then. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Mr. Speaker, as the Minister is aware, it has been over 12 months since this MOU has broken down. Why has the Government not com e back to the country —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHold on, Honourable Member. Hold on, Honourable Member.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberIt is a supplementary
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYou have got a supplementary? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThis is a supplementary, yes. SUPPLEMENTARY Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Supplementary, yes. The question is, Why has the Government taken so long coming back to the country and telling us that the MOU agreement has been broken?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we somewhat already answered that. The Housing Corporation was in hopes that this deal would go through. A lot of work had already gone into it. And in the conversations and the negotiations with BBR and Housing Corporation it …
Minister.
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think we somewhat already answered that. The Housing Corporation was in hopes that this deal would go through. A lot of work had already gone into it. And in the conversations and the negotiations with BBR and Housing Corporation it was felt to be very close. Despite the fact that we have extended it for over a year period, it is not always easy to get financ-ing in place for hotel building and the likes. And so, the Housing Corporation thought it fit to extend the period of time in hopes that something would happen. This is just another opportunity for us, you know, without casting any stones here, to really put some sugar into a lemon situation. So, you know, ev eryone is making an attempt to extend courtesies to allow for something to happen. And hopefully, som ething would have happened; but it did not.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Mr. Speaker, would the Honourable Minister agree —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member, you have had your two supplementaries. Do you have anot her question? [Inaudible interjection]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYou have another question. Next question, Honourable Member. [Pause]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerDo you have another question?
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberYou have one more question. [Crosstalk]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Honourable Member, there is a second question on the Order Paper. You have a lready asked the question. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Sorry. I thought you meant the second question on the —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerNo, I did not. I meant the second question. QUESTION 2: 9 BEACH ES Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Would the Honourable Mi nister please provide this Honourable House, what is the current status regarding 9 Beaches and the monies owed to the Government of Bermuda and the Bermuda Development Corporation?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just as a point of clarification on the question, it does ask at the end of it, “and the Bermuda Deve lopment Corporation.” There is no such organisation. I am assuming you are talking BLDC (Berm uda Land Development …
Minister.
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Just as a point of clarification on the question, it does ask at the end of it, “and the Bermuda Deve lopment Corporation.” There is no such organisation. I am assuming you are talking BLDC (Berm uda Land Development Corporation). The current status as far as IRC is concerned, the 9 Beaches, IRC Sandys Ltd., as of December the 22nd, the Supreme Court ruled and granted judgment
Bermuda House of Assembly for vacant possession of the area known as Daniel’s Head Resort in Sand ys, and payment for rental arrears.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: A supplementary, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. The Chair will recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 29. SUPPLEMENTARY Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva : Minister. Minister. (Yes, the Minister is listening.) Minister, can you confirm what the total amount owed to Government is at this particular time? [Inaudible interjections] Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Do you …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes, I believe I did leave out one part of the question there. Now, I cannot a nswer to the question as to what IRC owes to Bermuda Government; that is not under my remit. What I can say is I can say the amount …
Minister.
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes, I believe I did leave out one part of the question there. Now, I cannot a nswer to the question as to what IRC owes to Bermuda Government; that is not under my remit. What I can say is I can say the amount that is owed in arr ears of rentals, which falls under my remit, under BLDC. I cannot speak on behalf of what he owes the Gover nment. So I can say that his rental arrears is $2.283 million.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. The Chair will recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 34. Do you have a supplementary? SUPPLEMENTARIES
Ms. Kim N. WilsonYes, I do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Honourable Minister indicate, based on the judgment that he just discussed that was ordered on December 22 nd, (a) the date in which vacant possession is to be delivered; and (b) the extent to which Government will be taking the steps …
Yes, I do. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Could the Honourable Minister indicate, based on the judgment that he just discussed that was ordered on December 22 nd, (a) the date in which vacant possession is to be delivered; and (b) the extent to which Government will be taking the steps to collect the outstanding rental arrears of $2.28 million?
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I do not know the specific time frames for that. BLDC is still working with the courts as to how that is going to happen and setting out the payment sche dule, or whatever they have worked out, as far as how he is to pay that money back. And the vacancy as well, occupied vacancy, there are lega lities around that. There are people who are already up there pa ying rent for being there. We understand that there may even, potentially, be squatters up there. So those are all legalities that are going to have to be worked out with the courts and lawyer s on how to make that transition.
Ms. Kim N. WilsonSo, if the court ordered vacant possession on the 22nd of December, I do not know if you have a copy of the judgment with you, vacant possession, a date would have been provided for v acant possession. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: What was that last part? Sorry?
Ms. Kim N. WilsonI said, if you would have seen the judgment that you spoke about of December 22 nd, where vacant possession is ordered, the judgment would have also included the date in which vacant possession is to be delivered. If you could provide that information, we would be grateful. Hon. L. …
I said, if you would have seen the judgment that you spoke about of December 22 nd, where vacant possession is ordered, the judgment would have also included the date in which vacant possession is to be delivered. If you could provide that information, we would be grateful.
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Sure. I do not have that information as of yet. What I can say is that on Febr uary the 2nd, the Supreme Court judgment, in default of appearance, delivered this judgment to IRC Sandys on . . . yes, February the 2nd.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Because they did not show for it.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. The Chair will recognise MP Furbert. You have a supplementary? Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes, Mr. Speaker, just one [to clarify].
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. SUPPLEMENTARY Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: The Minister said that he cannot answer the amounts owed by the company in regards to governmental. Should I come back and ask the question to the Minister of Finance?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWhat is your question? Not at this m oment. 698 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: No, I am not saying right now. But I will come back —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerIf you care to, then you will have that opportunity. Thank you. [Crosstalk]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you very much, Honourable Members.
Mrs. Suzann Roberts -HolshouserMr. Speaker, would the Minister be able to inform the Honourable House when the last payment was made from IRC to the Government? Thank you.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The last payment that was made to BLDC would have been in 2008. Some Hon. M embers: Oh, no! No! No! Oh! No!
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberIn 2008? Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: October 2008.
Some Hon. Members Some Hon. MembersNo! No! No!
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Thank you, Honourable Minister. The Chair will recognise the MP Furbert. SUPPLEMENTARY Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes. Can the Honourable Minister tell this Honourable House how much was owed to the Government by 2012?
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberGood question. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: I do not have that figure in front of me. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: As of 2012?
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberYes. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: I do not have that figure.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will recognise . . . Do you have a supplementary? Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Yes.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMP Bean. SUPPLEMENTARIES Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Honourable Minister mentioned the figure of $2.38 [sic] million, and I stand to be corrected on his figure.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberTwo-point -two-eight -three. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Two-point -two-three?
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberTwo-point -two-eight -three. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Two-point -two-eight -three million in arrears. The Minister also mentioned that he cannot give a figure as to the amount owed to the Government. I ask the Minister, who has substantive responsibility for this property under Government?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: The remit falls under the Ministry of Public Works. However, if there are monies that are o wed to Government, then that would not fall under my remit. I am responsible for the rent. They do not pay any other government fees to this Ministry.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Yes, you have another supplementary? Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Mr. Speaker, just f or the r ecord, can the Honourable Minister confirm that it is, in fact, the company that owes or is in arrears to the taxpayers of this country, one of the principals is in …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes. You mean— [Inaudible interjections] Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: What is the answer? Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: It is public knowledge, yes. WRITTEN ANSWERS
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you, Honourable Members. We have written answers to Par liamentary Questions from Dr. Gibbons. MP Simmons, you should have received that. Have you?
Mr. Jamahl S. SimmonsYes, I have. QUESTION: COMPANIES ACT , SECTION 114B 1. Will the Honourable Minister please i nform this Honourable House of the names of the companies that have applied for a licenc e under section 114B of the Companies Act dur-ing the year 2016? 2. Will the Honourable Minister please …
Yes, I have.
QUESTION: COMPANIES ACT , SECTION 114B
1. Will the Honourable Minister please i nform this Honourable House of the names of the companies that have applied for a licenc e under section 114B of the Companies Act dur-ing the year 2016? 2. Will the Honourable Minister please i nform this Honourable House the names of the companies that have received a licenc e under section 114B of the Companies Act during the year 2016?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAlso, MP Furbert should have received written answers to questions from the Honourable S. G. Crockwell. [Inaudible interjection]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are no questions on that. Do you have it? Do you have it ? [Inaudible interjection]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerDo you have it? Well, then you will have to clarify that at another time. QUESTION: BERMUDA TOURISM AUTHORITY, BONUS AND INCENTIVES PAID 2015 Will the Honourable Minister please inform this Honourable House what were the bonuses and incentives paid out to the Chiefs, Directors, Managers, Professional and Admi nistrative …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Honourable D. V. Burgess has written answers from the Honourable C. L. Cannonier. QUESTION: BLACK WATCH PASS 1. Will the Honourable Minister please pr ovide this Honourable House with an ite mized breakdown of cost on the Black Watch Pass round- a-bout project on the following, Outside contractors, materials, …
The Honourable D. V. Burgess has written answers from the Honourable C. L. Cannonier.
QUESTION: BLACK WATCH PASS
1. Will the Honourable Minister please pr ovide this Honourable House with an ite mized breakdown of cost on the Black Watch Pass round- a-bout project on the following, Outside contractors, materials, labour and equipment; Works & Engineering labour, materials and equipment as at January 15, 2016? 2. Will the Honourable Minister please i nform this Honourable House, when the plans for Black Watch Pass round- a-bout were presented and why was there not an estimate of cost requested and provided?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAnd Mr. D. V. Rabain, you had answers from Mr. S. D. Richards. QUESTION: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACT, SECTION 5(1) 1. Will the Honourable Junior Minister please provide the following statistics r egarding applications under section (5) (1) of the Economic Development Act, specifically; Date Received, Company, Pos ition and Approval …
And Mr. D. V. Rabain, you had answers from Mr. S. D. Richards.
QUESTION: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ACT, SECTION 5(1)
1. Will the Honourable Junior Minister please provide the following statistics r egarding applications under section (5) (1) of the Economic Development Act, specifically; Date Received, Company, Pos ition and Approval Status? 2. Will the Honourable Junior Minister please provide the following statistics r egarding applications under Section 3B of the Economic Development Act; specif ically; Date Approved, Company and Number of Exempted Employees?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerIs that correct? Do you have them? [Inaudible interjection]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you very much. We move now to the Ministerial Statements and the first [Question is on the] Statement by the Honourable Minister for Economic Development. And the Chair will recognise first the Honourable Leader of the Opposition. MP Marc Bean, your question? QUESTION 1: AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE Hon. Marc …
Thank you very much. We move now to the Ministerial Statements and the first [Question is on the] Statement by the Honourable Minister for Economic Development. And the Chair will recognise first the Honourable Leader of the Opposition. MP Marc Bean, your question?
QUESTION 1: AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The H onourable Minister mentioned that approximately $8.6 million was the estimated economic impact generated by this recent Louis Vuitton event. The Minister also went on to say, he listed that these figures are an assessment of spending by a variety of sources, and he listed [them]. If you care to give me a second to repeat it, Mr. Speaker, he said, “visitors to Bermuda; competitor teams visiting Bermuda; AC sponsors . . . ; media . . . ; the ACEA in organising the event; the ACBDA in hosting the event; the Go vernment of Bermuda and other taxpayer -funded entities . . . ; and the Bermuda public.” My question is this, Mr. Speaker, to the Honourable Minister: Out of that $8.6 million that they es-timate was the economic spend, how much of that 700 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly was derived directly from visitors, excluding the competitive teams, the media, the ACBDA, and the Government of Bermuda and their taxpayers? What was the direct impact, the direct spend by the visitors who flew to Bermuda, as visitors, to witness the Louis Vui tton event?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are two components for visitor spending. With respect to accommodations, including food and beverage, and hotels, $2.177 mi llion; and other visitor spending, $1.064 million. I refer the Honourable Member to the actual impact report, which …
Minister.
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are two components for visitor spending. With respect to accommodations, including food and beverage, and hotels, $2.177 mi llion; and other visitor spending, $1.064 million. I refer the Honourable Member to the actual impact report, which is on the ACBDA website. It is all set out there very clearly. Thank you.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Thank you, Minister. Yes, MP, you have a supplementary? Yes. SUPPLEMENTARY Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Mr. Speaker, further on, the Minister spoke about $1.2 million of that $6.1 million in spending came from overseas sources. My suppl ementary question is, Mr. Speaker, what was the total cost …
Thank you. Thank you, Minister. Yes, MP, you have a supplementary? Yes.
SUPPLEMENTARY
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Mr. Speaker, further on, the Minister spoke about $1.2 million of that $6.1 million in spending came from overseas sources. My suppl ementary question is, Mr. Speaker, what was the total cost to the taxpayer and the Bermuda Government to put on this Louis Vuitton event? Total cost.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is actually on page 4 of my Statement, which the Honourable Member has. It was estimated that the total cost to the Bermuda Government, including hospital, police, security, and ACBDA was on the order of $916,000. And if …
Minister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is actually on page 4 of my Statement, which the Honourable Member has. It was estimated that the total cost to the Bermuda Government, including hospital, police, security, and ACBDA was on the order of $916,000. And if you net off the $281,000 income from airport taxes, hotel occupancy tax, tourism guest fee, you get a net figure of $635,000, which we estimate is the net cos t to the Bermuda Gover nment. So, $635,000 for getting a return of $8.6 million, that is not bad, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Minister. Thank you, Minister. Yes, MP Bean. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Mr. Speaker, I will go to my second quest ion.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerSecond question. QUESTION 2: AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Minister just said that a total of $916,000 was spent by the taxpayers to put on this event. Did that include the America’s Cup Concert that was hosted on Front Street?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: No, Mr. Speaker, that did not. That actually was paid for by the ACEA. And, again, that is listed in the report as $187,000. That was essentially spending by the ACEA to put on that concert.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Any other question? Do you have a suppl ementary? SUPPLEMENTARIES Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Yes. Can the Minister confirm, who provided that initial funding to the ACEA to actually fund that concert? Was it the taxpayers through sponsorship or otherwise?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Mr. Speaker, no. The concert was not sponsored by the taxpayer. If the Honourable Member is referring to the sponsorship fee of $5 million per year over the three years, that money is obviously a direct payment, in Bermuda do llars, to be …
Minister.
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Mr. Speaker, no. The concert was not sponsored by the taxpayer. If the Honourable Member is referring to the sponsorship fee of $5 million per year over the three years, that money is obviously a direct payment, in Bermuda do llars, to be spent in Bermuda by the ACEA.
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: I think that the honourable—
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThis is a supplementary. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: The Honourable Minister, I think, misunderstood my question. I would like to know, because it said that the ACEA —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThis is your second supplementary, Honourable Member. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Yes. The ACEA were th e ones that paid for that concert. My question is, who provided the ACEA those funds? Did it come from Government coffers?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: The answer is no. The ACEA . . . I have no idea where ACEA got that money to support the concert. I should say also, just to fill out my answer, that obviously, ticket holders also Bermuda House of Assembly paid to …
Minister.
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: The answer is no. The ACEA . . . I have no idea where ACEA got that money to support the concert. I should say also, just to fill out my answer, that obviously, ticket holders also
Bermuda House of Assembly paid to subsidise that concert. I think it was pretty close to break even, actually, when you factored in the cost of the entertainers and the other support stuff. So.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. The Chair will recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 13. MP Rabain, you have the floor. SUPPLEMENTARIES
Mr. Diallo V. S. RabainSupplementary, Mr. Speaker. Could the Minister provide us with the total number of ticket sales to that concert? [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Mr. Speaker, I do not have that information. But I think they pretty much maxed it out and they broke even. It did not seem to be a huge revenue- raising enterprise.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerVery good. Yes, Honourable Member.
Mr. Diallo V. S. RabainFurther supplementary, Mr. Speaker. Could the Honourable Minister let us know how many tickets wer e given away to the concert?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I do not have that information, Mr. Speaker. It was . . . I think the concert was produced by local producers, as well. So they were essentially hired by ACEA to put that on. So I do not know the answer to …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Minister. The Chair will recognise the Honourable Member — for a supplementary? Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Supplementary, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. SUPPLEMENTARY Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Minister, with regard to that concert, there were many vendors that were in that area. Did those vendors pay for their spots? And also, if they did not, [did] the ACEA partake in any of the profits for that? The Speaker: Minister. …
Yes.
SUPPLEMENTARY
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Minister, with regard to that concert, there were many vendors that were in that area. Did those vendors pay for their spots? And also, if they did not, [did] the ACEA partake in any of the profits for that? The Speaker: Minister.
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. The answer is yes. There was a set -up fee, or a fee for being a chosen vendor. The vendors were chosen by a selection committee including the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation’s Small Business Gr oup, Chamber of Commerce, and I think the ACEA. They basically, if I recall, paid $600, but that included tents and other things which were set up for them. They had some uniformity down there. So it was not as though they got nothing for that. The estimate, again, in the report on the ec onomic impact suggests that the vendors themselves did over $320,000 in sales over that two- or three- day period. So I think they made out reasonably well, at least for a $600 investment. Thank you.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you very much. Yes, you have another question? QUESTION 3: AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Honourable Minister, on page 3, at the top, listed “the Government of Bermuda and other taxpayer -funded entities in hosting t he event; and the Bermuda …
Thank you very much. Yes, you have another question?
QUESTION 3: AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Honourable Minister, on page 3, at the top, listed “the Government of Bermuda and other taxpayer -funded entities in hosting t he event; and the Bermuda public” as one of the figures, or data points, to assess the spending that occurred during this event. Would the Honourable Minister agree or admit that the use of Government and taxpayer funds and Bermuda public spending actuall y offers no economic benefit to the country and is merely redistribution of wealth?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I am not sure I would agree with that. I am not sure where the Honourable Member is going there. I think we clearly indicated that the net amount that Government and bodies like the hospital, police, fire, security spent on this was …
Minister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I am not sure I would agree with that. I am not sure where the Honourable Member is going there. I think we clearly indicated that the net amount that Government and bodies like the hospital, police, fire, security spent on this was $635,000. In return, there was a huge component of overseas spending, over $6 million. That is foreign direct spending into Bermuda, and then additional spending that came from the Bermuda public, which they very conservatively estimated at about $1.3 mi llion. That would be, as I said in the Statement, on everything from additional public spending on marine gas (you had 550 boats out there), retail and others. That is a harder number to come up with, but I think the answer is . . . The really important thing, and the Minister of Finance reinforces this regularly, is that this was an injection of over $6.1 million in direct overseas spending into Bermuda.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, thank you. 702 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly The Chair will recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 17 [sic]. MP David Burt has the floor.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerExcuse me. QUESTION 1: AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE
Mr. E. David BurtNo problem. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the Minister’s Statement, on page 3, he says, “It was estimated that during the week of the event, 1,499 visitors came to Bermuda specifically for the event . . .” However, the official st atistics from the Bermuda Department …
No problem. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in the Minister’s Statement, on page 3, he says, “It was estimated that during the week of the event, 1,499 visitors came to Bermuda specifically for the event . . .” However, the official st atistics from the Bermuda Department of Tourism list the entire visitor arrivals for the month of October that indicated America’s Cup were 1,086. Ho w does the Minister reconcile that discrepancy?
[Inaudible interjection]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: It may be a question of categorisation. We included business visitors ass ociated with the America’s Cup, along with what I wil l call “leisure visitors ,” as well. So that was, as I understand it, where that 1,499 total visitors came from. …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Minister. The Chair will recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 33, Jamahl Simmons. QUESTION 1: AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE
Mr. Jamahl S. SimmonsThank you, and good morning, Mr. Speaker. Would the Honourable Minister inform this House the total amount of government revenue that would have been c ollected were it not for government tax and fee exemptions associated with this event? Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I am not even sure …
Thank you, and good morning, Mr. Speaker. Would the Honourable Minister inform this House the total amount of government revenue that would have been c ollected were it not for government tax and fee exemptions associated with this event?
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I am not even sure I would know where to begin on that, Mr. Speaker. I certainly do not have it in the back of my head. So I will have to think about that one.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you, Honourable Mini ster. Yes, supplementary? SUPPLEMENTARY
Mr. Jamahl S. SimmonsSupplementary. Would the Honourable Minister commit to bringing the information to the House at the next seat-ing?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Mr. Speaker, it is a hypothetical question.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes kind of . . . Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I am not sure where to start. If something happened, then . . . you know. [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes that is correct . . . The Chair will now recognise MP Burt. You have a second question? QUESTION 2: AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE
Mr. E. David BurtI will make it a second question. It is actually a supplementary for the first quest ion. But seeing I have multiple . . . The Honourable Minister just answered, and he said that it was probably because there was a di fference between visitors and people in business and …
I will make it a second question. It is actually a supplementary for the first quest ion. But seeing I have multiple . . . The Honourable Minister just answered, and he said that it was probably because there was a di fference between visitors and people in business and all the rest. However, the statistics from the Depar tment of Tourism specifically state, visitors who came for the America’s Cup, 768; business visitors who came for the America’s Cup, 409; and then other persons who came for the America’s Cup as 9, for that month. That adds up to 1,186. As I said before, how does the Minis ter reconcile the difference between the official numbers for the entire month and the numbers of which he said were 1,499 for just that event?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Mr. Speaker, the numbers are in the report. Obviously, we can check them. But I was informed that it was a combination of business, leisure visitors and also those who were coming to visit family and friends. So that is the best I …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you. Thank you, Mini ster. The Chair will now recognise MP Burt. SUPPLEMENTARY Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, what I will ask the Minister is, seeing that we are back here on Monday, if he will please undertake to get correct information …
All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mini ster. The Chair will now recognise MP Burt.
SUPPLEMENTARY
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, what I will ask the Minister is, seeing that we are back here on Monday, if he will please undertake to get correct information to this House as to why t here is a discrepancy between official Government statistics, which state 1,186 for the entire month, and a report that he has presented to Parliament, telling us that there were 1,500 visitors for just one week? Will he undertake to clarify that when we c ome back on Monday?
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I will certainly endeavour to answer the question, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you Minister. [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. The Chair will recognise now the Honourabl e Member from constituency 33, MP Jamahl Simmons. QUESTION 1: AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE
Mr. Jamahl S. SimmonsThank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with the viewer numbers read out by the Honourable Minister, and the fact that this [event] was ranked 91 st among cable TV sporting events, behind (quite actually) inferior sporting events, would the Honourable Minister concur that the reach is certainly not what it …
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberHmm. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Mr. Speaker, the statistics which the ACEA provided through an ind ependent media audit body, are what they are. I think if you [consider] the 8.1 million viewers, that is not bad at all. When you look at the equivalence that they a …
Hmm.
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Mr. Speaker, the statistics which the ACEA provided through an ind ependent media audit body, are what they are. I think if you [consider] the 8.1 million viewers, that is not bad at all. When you look at the equivalence that they a ssessed in terms of what Bermuda would have to effectively pay to get the same exposure, it is $14 million. My sense is that that is a pretty good return. And I think we understand the amount of visibility that they got. As we said, our original impres sion was that the America’s Cup World Series was going to be sort of a minor event in the grand scheme of things. From ev erything that we have seen, it exceeded our expect ations. Thank you.
Mr. Jamahl S. SimmonsWould the Honourable Mi nister agree to provide us with a list of the accredited media that attended this event? Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Sorry, Honourable Member?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe media. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Yes. Mr. Speaker, I do not have a list with me of the accredited media that attended the event. [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Members, if y ou allow the Minister to answer the question!
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberHe cannot answer it.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAnd if he cannot answer it, then he cannot answer it. Please!
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberYou are not listening.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member, do not go there. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Mr. Speaker, the information I had was there were 130 accredited m edia personnel representing 97 media outlets, and they came from 14 countries during the event.
Mr. Jamahl S. SimmonsThe point of clarification, Mr. Speaker, the question we actually asked, would he provide us with a list of the names of the accredited media.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Minister. 704 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I will endeavour to get that information from the ACEA. Thank you. Actually, Mr. Speaker, if I may, it may take me a little longer to get that information, because …
All right. Minister. 704 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I will endeavour to get that information from the ACEA. Thank you. Actually, Mr. Speaker, if I may, it may take me a little longer to get that information, because the majority of them are in Oman right now with the World Series, first one for 2016. Thank you.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Thank you. The Chair will now recognise MP David Burt, from constituency 18.
Mr. E. David BurtThank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. S peaker, my third question, if I may.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. QUESTION 3: AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE
Mr. E. David BurtMy third question is, I thank the Minister for the update of which he gave on the America’s Cup. Would the Honourable Minister please give us an update on how much has been raised to go against our $25 million sponsorship guarantee, to date?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The answer is, if the Honourable Member will go back to December of 2014, we sa id very clearly at that time that the sponsorship, the $25 million guarantee, would be reconciled at the end of 2017. The reason …
Minister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The answer is, if the Honourable Member will go back to December of 2014, we sa id very clearly at that time that the sponsorship, the $25 million guarantee, would be reconciled at the end of 2017. The reason for that is because it is a moving target. And it is very difficult at this point to assess what full impact is, for the simple reason that some of these sponsorships effectively are licensing deals. And there is a minimum revenue guarantee, which could increase as we get further into the event. So that is one of the issues. There are also offsetting fees that are charged against it. So I will stick with the answer that I have given on a regular basis. We are, at this point, as far as we can tell, below $20 million in terms of the amount which Government is still liable for. Obviously, when we get to the end of 2017, we will have a much clearer sense of where we are. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Minister. I did have a question from the Honourable Member from constituency 29, Mr. De Silva. QUESTION 1: AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Minister, you have told us today that $6.9 mi llion more than forecast was raised. And …
Thank you, Honourable Minister. I did have a question from the Honourable Member from constituency 29, Mr. De Silva.
QUESTION 1: AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Minister, you have told us today that $6.9 mi llion more than forecast was raised. And 3,730 rooms were rented because of the Louis Vuitton World S e-ries event. This obviously generates more tax dollars for the Bermuda Tourism Authori ty. My question is, Will any of these funds be separated and given to the BTA to put towards more marketing and maybe less towards bonuses?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the BTA (and I al ways forget), you have got an occupancy tax, and you have got a guest fee, as well. The BTA gets the guest fee, and that would have been included in the …
Minister.
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the BTA (and I al ways forget), you have got an occupancy tax, and you have got a guest fee, as well. The BTA gets the guest fee, and that would have been included in the revenue that was generated for Government and Government - sponsored bodies. So the answer is yes, the BT A would have gotten a piece of that particular action with the 3,730 room nights.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Minister. Thank you, Honourable Members. That co mpletes the questions on the America’s Cup. We move now to the second Statement, by the Honourable Minister of Finance. We do have the Honourable Member from constituency 26. The Leader of the Opposition indicated that he had a ques …
Thank you, Honourable Minister. Thank you, Honourable Members. That co mpletes the questions on the America’s Cup. We move now to the second Statement, by the Honourable Minister of Finance. We do have the Honourable Member from constituency 26. The Leader of the Opposition indicated that he had a ques tion.
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Mr. Speaker, I would like to defer. Thank you.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerOkay. We now move to the third Statement, by the Honourable Minister of Tourism. And we also have questions from the Leader of the Opposition. QUESTION 1: BERMUDA CASINO GAMING CO MMISSION, UPDATE Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My first question to the Honour able Minister …
Okay. We now move to the third Statement, by the Honourable Minister of Tourism. And we also have questions from the Leader of the Opposition.
QUESTION 1: BERMUDA CASINO GAMING CO MMISSION, UPDATE
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My first question to the Honour able Minister is that the Honourable Minister mentioned that the ow ners, vendors, managers, employees and sources of finance should be free from any inappropriate past or present associations and behaviours, and uphold high ethical standards. Can the Mini ster answer this question: How does he expect this duty of the Commission to be ful-filled? What steps are they taking to ensure that inappropriate past or present activities are not occurring or have occurred?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwe ll: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is done through the suitability investigations. It is done through all of the due diligence that the Commission will do. And as I said on page 3, they Bermuda House of Assembly would also outsource to dependent third …
Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwe ll: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. That is done through the suitability investigations. It is done through all of the due diligence that the Commission will do. And as I said on page 3, they
Bermuda House of Assembly would also outsource to dependent third parties to also carry out those types of suitability and due dil igence exercises.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Yes, MP Bean, you have a second question? Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Second. Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. QUESTION 2: BERMUDA CASINO GAMING CO MMISSION, UPDATE Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Further on down page 2, the Honourable Minister lists a significant number of di fferences between Bermuda and Singapore. The ques-tion that I have, because the Minister has previously said, and did say again in this …
Yes.
QUESTION 2: BERMUDA CASINO GAMING CO MMISSION, UPDATE
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Further on down page 2, the Honourable Minister lists a significant number of di fferences between Bermuda and Singapore. The ques-tion that I have, because the Minister has previously said, and did say again in this Statement, that t he model that they are deploying is based on this Singaporean model. But with so many distinct differences between Singapore and Bermuda, what about the Singapore model can be applied or is appropriate to the Bermuda context, especially after $50,000 of taxpayer funds were used and spent by the Minister and a former Minister to travel to Singapore for that ex-press purpose?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you. And there actually were more individuals on that [trip], as well, to [get] a better understanding of the model. We have always . . . In fact, the advice we received, Mr. Speaker, was that the Singaporean j urisdiction had created one …
Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you. And there actually were more individuals on that [trip], as well, to [get] a better understanding of the model. We have always . . . In fact, the advice we received, Mr. Speaker, was that the Singaporean j urisdiction had created one of the most effective gaming jurisdictions. Their jurisdiction was based on an integrated resort model. This Government is basing our industry on an integrated resort model. In Sing apore, they have two very large, very integrated r esort/casino operations. But clearly, there are substantial differences in size, in volume, in revenues. And so, our view was to try and emulate . . . And keep in mind, Mr. Speaker, we have never done this before in this jurisdiction. We wanted to emulate one of the best jurisdictions. We recognise that we have to probably streamline it and whittle it down. The Gaming Commission has made it clear that some of the Singaporean legislations and rules are onerous. And so we are going to go through the exercise and make sure that we can have som ething more tailor -made for Bermuda.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. Hon. Zan e J. S. De Silva: Supplementary?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. The Chair will recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 29. MP De Silva, you have a supplementary? SUPPLEMENTARY Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Minister, you just said that you are going to try to critique the Singapore model. Correct me if I am wrong, …
Yes. The Chair will recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 29. MP De Silva, you have a supplementary?
SUPPLEMENTARY Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Minister, you just said that you are going to try to critique the Singapore model. Correct me if I am wrong, but did you not say in the past that you have sort of put this Singapore model to the side and you are going to mirror one of the jurisdictions from the United States?
The Spe aker: Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: No. No, Mr. Speaker. The model remains the Singapore model, and our legisl ation is based on that. In terms of the regulations, we are looking at a variety of jurisdictions and their reg ulations. Some come from the United States, some come from other jurisdictions. That task is primarily a task that the Gaming Commission is doing right now, helping the Government to come up with the most appropriate regulations to support the legislation.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Minister. Honourable Member from constituency 29, do you have a question? Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. First question.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. QUESTION 1: BERMUDA CASINO GAMING CO MMISSION, UPDATE Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Minister, in your second paragraph of your Statement, on page 1, at the end of that paragraph, you say that your team are “making significant progress with the on- boarding of required personnel to support …
Yes.
QUESTION 1: BERMUDA CASINO GAMING CO MMISSION, UPDATE
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Minister, in your second paragraph of your Statement, on page 1, at the end of that paragraph, you say that your team are “making significant progress with the on- boarding of required personnel to support the operation of the Commi ssion.” How many people do you expect to hire, in all?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, let me be clear. The Ministry is hiring no one. The Gaming Commission hires the . . . and the Honourable Member would know. We announced all of t he commissioners. Mr. Schuetz was hired by the Gaming Commission. And …
Minister.
Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, let me be clear. The Ministry is hiring no one. The Gaming Commission hires the . . . and the Honourable Member would know. We announced all of t he commissioners. Mr. Schuetz was hired by the Gaming Commission. And I do not know what the full complement of staff will be. I know that they have hired a general counsel. They have hired a comptroller, Mr. Speaker, and of course, admin support. I do not know what the total number is. But based on the analysis, the Gaming Commission has come back, and they have said, to avoid having to hire too many, 706 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly they want to streamline the legislation and regulatory process, which, based on how it is drafted now, wou ld force them to hire more. So, every attempt is being made to keep the personnel at a minimum.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. MP De Silva. Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Yes. Second question, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. QUESTION 2: BERMUDA CASINO GAMING CO MMISSION, UPDATE Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Minister, will you and/or the Commission be holding any public town hall meetings to give updates to the Bermudian people as to how we are progressing?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you. I appr eciate the question. That is a matter that is being di scussed. Particularly when we get to the application process, they would like to certainly engage the pub-lic, as well as, the Honourable Member would know, it was in the …
Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, thank you. I appr eciate the question. That is a matter that is being di scussed. Particularly when we get to the application process, they would like to certainly engage the pub-lic, as well as, the Honourable Member would know, it was in the Royal Gazette this week , the Commission sponsored a guest speaker here, an expert from the University of California, UCLA, talking about problem gaming and the importance of getting that component right. And that particular individual made present ations to the Government, made presentations to our social programme organisers, as well as others. I am not sure how many presentations she made. So we will be engaging the public.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, thank you, Minister. All right, Honourable Members. That concludes our Question Period. CONGRATULATORY AND/OR OBITUARY SPEECHES
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. MATTERS OF PRIVILEGE
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. PERSONAL EXPLANATIONS
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. NOTICE OF MOTIONS FOR THE ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE ON MATTERS OF URGE NT PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. INTRODUCTION OF BILLS
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Chair will recognise the Honourable Minister of Finance, Minister Richards. FIRST READINGS PAYROLL TAX AMENDMENT ACT 2016 Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing the following Bills, which according to section 36(3) of the Bermuda Co nstitution, require the Governor’s recommendation, so …
The Chair will recognise the Honourable Minister of Finance, Minister Richards.
FIRST READINGS
PAYROLL TAX AMENDMENT ACT 2016
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing the following Bills, which according to section 36(3) of the Bermuda Co nstitution, require the Governor’s recommendation, so that they may be placed on the Order Paper for the next date of meeting: the Payroll Tax Amendment Act 2016. The Government Fees Amendment Act 2016 is being deferred.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you. Thank you, Mini ster. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable and Learned Member, from constituency 31. You are next door! Yes, you are next door. [Laughter] BERMUDA TOURISM AUTHORITY AMENDMENT ACT 2016 Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am …
All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mini ster. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable and Learned Member, from constituency 31. You are next door! Yes, you are next door. [Laughter]
BERMUDA TOURISM AUTHORITY AMENDMENT ACT 2016
Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing the following Bill, which according to section 36(3) of the Bermuda Constitution, requires the Gover nor’s recommendation, so that they may be placed on the Order Paper for the next day of meeting: the Bermuda Tourism A uthority Amendment Act 2016.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. OPPOSITION BILLS
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. Bermuda House of Assembly NOTICES OF MOTIONS
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Chair will recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 6, MP Furbert. JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE BE APPOINTED TO INQUIRE AS TO THE STRATEGIES NEEDED TO CREATE NEW J OBS Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at the next day of meeting, I propose to move the …
The Chair will recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 6, MP Furbert.
JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE BE APPOINTED TO INQUIRE AS TO THE STRATEGIES NEEDED TO CREATE NEW J OBS
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at the next day of meeting, I propose to move the following Resolution: WHEREAS there has been a decrease in the number of jobs year after year for several years; AND WHEREAS we need new j obs to be cr eated in Bermuda to increase employment; BE IT RESOLVED that, pursuant to the Parliament Act 1957, Part IV, a Joint Select Committee be appointed to inquire as to the strategies needed to create new jobs, explore the impediments that are preve nting the creation of new businesses and the barriers for Bermudian entrepreneurs, and to report on the findings and make recommendations to the House of Assembly so that concrete action can be taken in a reasonable time.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Member, E. T. Lister, from constituency 35, who is speaking for M. A. Weeks. REFERENDUM ON MARRIAGE AND SAME -SEX UNIONS Hon. Dennis P. Lister: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. As indicated, I am rising for my Honourable colleague. Mr. …
Thank you, Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Member, E. T. Lister, from constituency 35, who is speaking for M. A. Weeks.
REFERENDUM ON MARRIAGE AND SAME -SEX UNIONS Hon. Dennis P. Lister: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. As indicated, I am rising for my Honourable colleague. Mr. Weeks is out sick today. Mr. Speaker, at the next day of meeting, I propose the following Resolution: BE IT RESOLVED this Honourable House calls on the Government to hold a Referendum to ask the people of Bermuda by vote of either Ye s or No if marriage should remain between a man and a woman, and no form of same- sex civil unions be la wful in Bermuda; AND FURTHER that this Referendum be i ncluded on the ballot at the next general election.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Thank you, Honourable Member. ORDERS OF THE DAY CONSIDERATION OF THE MOTION FOR THE A PPROVAL OF THE ESTIMATES OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR 2016/17, T OGETHER WITH THE BUDGET STATEMENT IN SUPPORT THEREOF
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWe have consideration of the Motion for the appr oval of the Estimates of Revenue and E xpenditure for 2016/17, and I will recognise the Ho nourable Minister of Finance. MOTION APPROVAL OF THE ESTIMATES OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR 2016/17 Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Mr. Speaker, …
We have consideration of the Motion for the appr oval of the Estimates of Revenue and E xpenditure for 2016/17, and I will recognise the Ho nourable Minister of Finance.
MOTION
APPROVAL OF THE ESTIMATES OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR 2016/17
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Mr. Speaker, I move that the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditures for the Year 2016/17 be approved, and I will open the floor for comments by Honourable Members.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you. Any objections to that? No objections to that? Oh, it's a first. All right. Th e Chair will now recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 18, the Shadow Minister of Finance. MP David Burt, you have the floor.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberAre there copies of the Statement?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, the Statement copies, please? Please, Honourabl e Members, can we get these co pies to Members as quickly as possible?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGood morning to you. REPLY TO THE BUDGET 2016/17 VISION 2025: A LONG -TERM ECONOMIC PLAN CREATING PATHWAYS TO BERMUDIAN SUCCESS
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker and Honourable Members of the House of Assembly, it is a great honour to present the fourth Budget Reply of this Parli ament on behalf of the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party. Mr. Speaker, what many may have missed in the Budget Book is that the Parliamentary Registrar has …
Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members of the House of Assembly, it is a great honour to present the fourth Budget Reply of this Parli ament on behalf of the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party. Mr. Speaker, what many may have missed in the Budget Book is that the Parliamentary Registrar has been allocated funds to prepare for a general election, so there is a distinct possibility that this may be the last time that the PLP has an opportunity to present its economic vision to t he people of this cou ntry before we are returned to the Government benches. The people of this country deserve the choice between two competing visions of the future, and they must understand the difference between the approaches to governance and the priorities between the Bermuda PLP and the OBA. 708 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly The Finance Minister’s fourth Budget Stat ement falls short on one distinct measure: For the fourth year in a row, the Minister of Finance has failed to lay out an economic growth and diversification strategy. The Minister is fond of saying the economic diversification is not an economic strategy. He says that diversification is an investment strategy, a strategy for reducing risk and not a plan for growth. Mr. Speaker, that may be true; however, if the Minister does not want to talk about diversification, which is sorely needed, then why has he not presented a plan for economic growth? When commenting on the Mi nister’s Budget Statement, a local economics lecturer said the following, and I quote: “But he has failed to lay the foundation for sustained growth and, more importantly, growth that benefits the majority and not just the few.” [Craig Simmons, February 20 th] Mr. Speaker, what Bermuda needs more than anything else is a plan for economic growth. What Bermuda and Bermudians desperately need are jobs. However, last week we learned that Bermuda has lost 2,266 jobs under this Minister. Before the election, the Minister famously promised 2,000 jobs and declared that he had investors that would be able to bring jobs and growth to Bermuda; the people of the country are asking right now, Where are those investors? Where are the jobs? This Government has failed to produce the jobs promised; they have failed to improve education; they have failed at tourism; they have fai led in provi ding hope and opportunities to Bermudians. And their term in office will be remembered as the great Bermuda exodus, where Bermudians were forced to flee their homeland to search for opportunities elsewhere. The priorities of the next PLP Government will be to focus on growing and diversifying the economy, and creating jobs for Bermudians who are still here and those who want to return. We will create an ec onomic diversification unit with the sole purpose of diversifying our economy. We will get serious about tourism and invest in that vital industry. We will make sure that we invest in the education, training and re-tooling of the Bermudian labour force. We will deal with the extremely high cost of living that is affecting Bermudians and making t heir life difficult. We will stop the exodus of Bermudians who are fleeing the country because they cannot find work in Bermuda. And f inally, we will give Bermudians hope and opportunity for a brighter future. It falls to me to present that alternative ec onomic vision on behalf of the PLP, and it is my hope that after the presentation here today, the people of this country —black or white, Bermudian or expat, young or old, CEO or street sweeper —know where the Progressive Labour Party will take the economy after the next election. THE HARSH REALITY OF OUR DEBT
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, the harsh reality is that our country’s fiscal situation is daunting. We have a very significant debt challenge that we must ad-dress, and everything that we must do must be done with a view to balancing the budget. This is not new; we have said this in consecutive …
Mr. Speaker, the harsh reality is that our country’s fiscal situation is daunting. We have a very significant debt challenge that we must ad-dress, and everything that we must do must be done with a view to balancing the budget. This is not new; we have said this in consecutive Budget Replies that getting to a balanced budget must be the priority. However, we have differed with the Minister on the approach. These realities were laid bare in the report from the Fiscal Responsibility Panel. We applaud the Minister for commissioning this independent panel to provide an objective report to the country. The panel produced an excellent first report that contains many important recommendations , many of which I will touch on throughout my presentation today. One important issue raised by the panel was that of the demographic challenges we face. People are living longer, and this is putting more of a strain on our long- established systems of soci al assistance and retirement security. The shrinking workforce attributed to jobs that are disappearing exacerbates this cha llenge. In light of the issues raised by this panel and the harsh realities that face us as a country, there are difficult choices t hat have to be made. I do not want the people of this country to believe that the Progressive Labour Party will come into office and reverse all of the cuts the One Bermuda Alliance has made. It is just not possible, and that is because the biggest cha llenge that Bermuda must face is getting to grips with a debt burden that continues to grow. In the last 38 months, Minister Richards has added $1 billion to our national debt. Mr. Speaker, those are the realities that we as a country face, and the next PLP G overnment will have to play with the cards that we are dealt. While we may have differing priorities than the OBA, such as our commitment to public education and our seniors, there is one priority that is the same, and that is deficit reduction leading to a balanced budget, enabling us to reduce the national debt.
IMMIGRATION
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, prior to my substantive remarks on the budget, I would like to talk about the very topical issue of immigration. Before I speak about the OBA’s misgui ded approach to immigration reform, I would like to remind Bermuda of the policy position of the Progressive Labour Party as …
Mr. Speaker, prior to my substantive remarks on the budget, I would like to talk about the very topical issue of immigration. Before I speak about the OBA’s misgui ded approach to immigration reform, I would like to remind Bermuda of the policy position of the Progressive Labour Party as delivered in the Reply to the Throne Speech in November by our Party Leader, the Honourable Marc Bean, where the PLP committed to i mmediate and comprehensive immigration reform when returned to governance. And I quote, Mr. Speaker: “Our policy goal is to ensure that the rights of Bermudians are advanced
Bermuda House of Assembly and protected, while recognising the need to grow our economy with fair and balanc ed work permit policies, and the starting point is the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act [1956]. This reform process will have as an essential component an extensive public con-sultation. It will address the issue of Bermuda status grants —how they are being granted going forward and what criteria needs to be met, and what number of PRCs should be issued on an annual basis. We will create a policy of equal political status for individuals in a family, rather than the current circumstance where one sibling could hold Bermuda status and the other have no rights at all to permanent residence. As the PLP recognises that our plans for diversification will require at least half the new jobs created to be filled by highly skilled and experienced international labour, balance is required. Our policies will reflect this reality.” Mr. Speaker, the One Bermuda Alliance’s Pathways to Status proposes to grow Bermuda’s population as a means by which to ensure economic stability and sustainability. Theoretically, the gr owth of population for this purpose seems an attractive option. However, Mr. Speaker, where this theory meets reality is in the demographics, political intent, and history of social engineering that overshadows the One Bermuda Alliance and its recent forebears, the UBP. Mr. Speaker, the argument made by the One Bermuda Alliance that these changes merely solidify the position of people whom we know and who are already here is disingenuous. This ignores three crit ical factors. First, as mentioned [previously ], the PLP accepts that something must be done for those people who know no home but Bermuda, and through the convoluted state of the law, have no legalised connection to what is essentially their home. Second, Mr. Speaker, consistently renewed work permit s that give rise to individuals now on the cusp of 15 or 20 years in Bermuda speak to systemic issues within Bermuda’s immigration policy. Third, where do we go from here? Does a work permit holder now arrive with a legitimate expectation of becoming a Ber mudian, in spite of the fact that his permit is time limited and despite the fact that all guest workers are required to sign a declar ation that they have no right of residence? It is wrong for the One Bermuda Alliance to pit us against our neighbours. It is wrong for the OBA to advance an argument that suggests that Bermudians who oppose this radical change to immigration law are somehow unpatriotic, ignorant or xenophobic. Mr. Speaker, the history of immigration policy in this country and the responsibili ty borne for it by the OBA from its original form, the UBP, is what drives the mistrust of the people. The One Bermuda Alliance's approach to i mmigration seems to be rooted in the belief that Bermuda’s economic problems are a result of [fewer] people livin g in Bermuda. It is true that there are [fewer] people living in Bermuda than there were at the economy’s most recent high in 2008. But the question that we must ask is, Why are there [fewer] people living on the Island? Mr. Speaker, there are fewer peopl e on the Island because there are currently fewer opportunities and jobs existing in Bermuda than there were in 2008. This is due to a multitude of factors, but the main factors are not that of government policy —it is that of economics. It was not PLP poli cy that led to Butterfield Bank seeking assistance from taxpayers, brought XL to the brink of collapse, or caused AIG to be bailed out by the US Government. It was not PLP policy that caused HSBC to relocate numerous jobs overseas and drove local telecommunications and insurance companies to outsource their IT and customer service operations. One of the false narratives that continue to be peddled by the OBA is that the PLP immigration policy caused an exodus of jobs from our economy. This comes from the same Government that seems content to remind everyone who will listen that the most work permits in Bermuda’s history were under the PLP. Mr. Speaker, do you know why that is? It is because the highest number of jobs in Bermuda’s history was under the PLP. T hat is why there were so many work permits, because between 1998 and 2008, under the PLP, there were 5,000 jobs created in Bermuda!
[Desk thumping]
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, the people did not leave because they did not like the PLP; they left because their jobs disappeared via outsourcing, change of domicile, or industry consolidation. And though a few may have left because they were unable to get a work permit for their nanny, most of those …
Mr. Speaker, the people did not leave because they did not like the PLP; they left because their jobs disappeared via outsourcing, change of domicile, or industry consolidation. And though a few may have left because they were unable to get a work permit for their nanny, most of those people in those 5,000 jobs did not have a nanny, and they were not CEOs. Mr. Speaker, it is simple: There are fewer people in Bermuda because there are fewer jobs in Bermuda. However, everyone, from the Royal Gazette to the Chamber of Commerce to the OBA, seem to be singing off the same hymn sheet that was dipped in snake oil; they are desperate to sell Bermudians on the narrative that the cure to our ills is we need more people here. I repeat: There are fewer people in Bermuda because there are fewer jobs in Bermuda. The One Bermuda Alliance seems to believe that they can just put 2,000 people here on the Island and, all of a sudden, those 2,000 people will have jobs. That is not correct, Mr. Speaker. The narrative they are peddling is false. The problem in Bermuda is not that we do not have enough people; it i s that we do not have enough jobs. It is not the first choice for Bermudians to uproot their family and move overseas; however, if there is no job to provide for their family in 710 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Bermuda, they have to go somewhere to have an opportunity to earn a living. Stopping that exodus should be the priority of the Government, not designing schemes to replace those Bermudians who have emigrated with non-Bermudians. We must grow the economy and i ncrease the number of jobs on Island, and thus employ Bermudians and, wher e necessary, import the skilled workers to fill those jobs [which] Bermudians are unable to fill. Mr. Speaker, now that I have debunked the OBA’s false rationale, I will speak to the specific pr oposals put forward by the OBA. The OBA has proposed Pathways to Status . It is important that, when we discuss this program, we are talking about individuals who are already here on the Island and, in most cases, working. What is not clear to Bermudians is how granting existing residents PRC or Bermudian status helps with the Gover nment’s stated objective of (and I quote) “increasing the size of Bermuda’s working population.” They are al-ready a part of the working population. Allowing them to stay indefinitely does not mean there are more people on the Island; it jus t means that it is one less job or position that is free from work permit controls. With that stated, we must ask how removing persons from work permit control assists the Gover nment with its outcome of increasing job opportunities for Bermudians. Again, t hese persons are already here and working. How does granting them indefinite right of abode increase job opportunities for Bermudians? We have heard this over and over again from the same chorus, seemingly of the belief that if you repeat the falsehood lon g enough, it will become true. If the argument is that, with a PRC, they will feel as though they belong to Bermuda and will be more likely to invest, that again exposes the fallacy of the OBA’s blanket one- size-fits-all policy. We fail to see how removing work permit controls from a waiter who has been here for 15 years, who has sent most of his earnings back home, will unleash an avalanche of investment in Bermuda. Likewise, the senior executive in international business already has the option to be grant ed a PRC, via Incentives for Job Makers [Act], so they already have certainty for them, their spouse and their children. Mr. Speaker, I must also state one other thing that is key: The OBA’s immigration reform does not only affect status and voting; it im pacts the one r esource that we have very little of, and that is land. Part VI of the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Act is entitled Protecting Land in Bermuda for Bermudians . The vast majority of Bermudian wealth is held in real estate. Wholesale grant s of status will lead to the transfer of wealth from Bermudian families to those persons who have newly acquired status. PRC hol ders are limited in the land that they can purchase. Once status is granted, persons are able to purchase multiple pieces of property at their whim and pleasure without restriction. Though this may create a temporary boost to the housing market, it creates a long - term situation where born Bermudians will have less of an opportunity to own a piece of the rock. The i mpact of the OBA’ s new policy on land in Bermuda cannot be ignored. Mr. Speaker, the rationale is flawed, the policy is flawed, and as we have seen across the country, Bermudians will not accept it. They will not accept it, because it is not what they voted for. Prior to the last general election, the OBA pledged that they would not grant status to long- term residents. If the OBA wishes to reverse their position on such a major issue, then it is their duty to receive the clearly expressed will of the people for their actio ns via a general election. If Mini ster Fahy is certain that the wider community support the blanket granting of status proposed by him and the Attorney General, then we challenge the Premier of this country to seek the mandate of the people for the actions of his Government. [Desk thumping]
Mr. E. David BurtIf Premier Dunkley is unwilling or unable to go to the people, for the sake of stability we urge the OBA to withdraw this objectionable policy proposal and commit to a collaborative approach to immig ration reform. In February 2013, the Progressive Labour Party called for a Joint Select Committee …
If Premier Dunkley is unwilling or unable to go to the people, for the sake of stability we urge the OBA to withdraw this objectionable policy proposal and commit to a collaborative approach to immig ration reform. In February 2013, the Progressive Labour Party called for a Joint Select Committee to consider comprehensive immigration reform. Three years later, the OBA continue to ignore that call and press ahead with policies that break their election promises and generate anger on the streets of this country. If the OBA are really serious about immigration reform, they will abandon their unilateral and divisive approach to this topic and let this Parliament work on a compr ehensive policy that can earn the support of both parties. Let us work together to fix the problems for those who know no other home but Bermuda, but have no legalised right of permanent abode to what is essentially their home. Let us work together to ensure that we can attract persons to our shores who are wil ling to invest and bring jobs to Bermuda. Let us work together to ensure that those who have contributed to the betterment of Bermuda can continue to stay in Bermuda to help make our Island a better place. Why is it important for us to work together on this issue? International investors need to know that they have a stable platform on which to base their i nvestment decisions. Currently, immigration policy can change from government to government; we will not attract the long- term investment that we need if pote ntial investors feel that the rules may change after an election. That is why it is important for both parties to support a common approach that we can present to the international investment community.
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, I repeat: There are fewer people in Bermuda because there are fewer jobs in Bermuda. If we grow the economy and create jobs, our residential population will increase. What Bermuda needs is a government focused on economic growth and jobs, not a government that wa nts to make it more difficult for Bermudians to be employed in their own country. I will now turn my attention to the Minister’s 2016 Budget Statement.
THE LOCAL ECONOMY
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, the Minister went through great pains to tell the st ory that Bermuda’s economy is on the path to recovery. However, after a close examination of his statements, the Minister may not want to declare victory just yet. End of the Recession
Mr. E. David BurtAt the outset of his Statement, the Minister boldl y declared, “We have worked our way out of The Great Recession, with five consecutive quarters of GDP growth.” However, Mr. Speaker, that is false. In what must be a need to paint a better picture than reality, he has put …
At the outset of his Statement, the Minister boldl y declared, “We have worked our way out of The Great Recession, with five consecutive quarters of GDP growth.” However, Mr. Speaker, that is false. In what must be a need to paint a better picture than reality, he has put 2014’s Quarter 1 figures next to 2 014’s Quarter 4 figures on the graph. Simply put, he put the two positive quarters of growth at the end to give the impression that the economy has been growing for five straight quarters. I am not sure why the Minister chose to present his graph in this w ay, but to claim the data show the economy has been growing for five straight quarters is not correct.
Imports
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, in looking for figures to support his assertion that the economy is recovering, the Minister sought to use the number of contai ners as an indicator of demand. The Minister opined the following (and I quote): “However, the volume through the waterfront is an indicator of broad demand …
Mr. Speaker, in looking for figures to support his assertion that the economy is recovering, the Minister sought to use the number of contai ners as an indicator of demand. The Minister opined the following (and I quote): “However, the volume through the waterfront is an indicator of broad demand on-island. The year 2015 registered 19,067 containers versus 16,562 the previous year —a clear sign of growth.” Mr. Speaker, the volume of containers has never been an indicator of demand. Though I cannot speak to what caused this volume spike that the Mi nister reported, I can speak to the real statistic that matters in this case— imports . For the first nine months of 2015, imports were down 8 per cent when compared to the first nine months of 2014. An 8 per cent year -over-year decline in imports is not a “clear sign of growth.”
Construction
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, when speaking about the construction industry, the Minister stated, “Construction is an important area of employment in Bermuda. Although the blockbuster projects have not yet commenced, the sector is already expanding.” Mr. Speaker, once again the facts do not match t he Minister’s rhetoric. In 2015, the number …
Mr. Speaker, when speaking about the construction industry, the Minister stated, “Construction is an important area of employment in Bermuda. Although the blockbuster projects have not yet commenced, the sector is already expanding.” Mr. Speaker, once again the facts do not match t he Minister’s rhetoric. In 2015, the number of persons employed in the construction industry fell, as they have in every year since the OBA came to power. Over the first nine months of 2015, gross add itions to the housing stock and construction work put in place were the lowest recorded for at least 12 years. Gross additions to the housing stock declined by 45 per cent year over year, and construction work put in place saw a reduction of 41 per cent from 2014 le vels. By any fair measure, the statistics abov e fly in the face of the Minister’s declaration that the construction sector is (I quote) “already expanding.” Mr. Speaker, the local economy is, at its best, mixed, and while the Minister trumpets retail sales numbers, outside of the auto sector, which i s being supported by a local bank giving 100 per cent financing for automobiles, other retail sectors continue to fare poorly. Though we cannot argue with the Mini ster’s statistics that GDP is rising, most of this growth has not come from the Minister's po licies, but as he himself admitted, the falling price of oil. It is clear that there is still much work to do to return our economy to growth strong enough to create jobs.
Employment and Demographics
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, there are 298 fewer jobs in Bermuda than there were a year ago; jobs were lost in nine out of the 14 economic activity groups, including international business. Every year since the OBA came into office, there have been fewer jobs in Bermuda than the year before. The …
Mr. Speaker, there are 298 fewer jobs in Bermuda than there were a year ago; jobs were lost in nine out of the 14 economic activity groups, including international business. Every year since the OBA came into office, there have been fewer jobs in Bermuda than the year before. The Mi nister is keen to point out that jobs are a lagging indic ator, and that may be the case, but unless the economy manages to create 4,000 jobs in the next year, Mini ster Richards will fall far short of his pre- election pledge to create 2,000 jobs. Mr. Speaker, when speaking about the changes in employment, the Minister made the follo wing comment: “As retiring baby boomers fall off the rolls of the workforce, they are not being replaced by equal numbers of young people because there are fewer of them. Thus, all other things being equal, the workforce is being shrunk by this demographic fact.” Mr. Speaker, as the Minister has often taken to his feet to remind us of his vast experience and lecture us on economics, allow me to return the favour. There is a difference be tween the labour force and the workforce, and it seems that the Minister and his Cabinet colleagues are unaware of the difference. According to the Department of Statistics, the labour force is defined as persons of working age who are either gainfully emp loyed or looking for work ; wor k712 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly force is defined as the number of persons who are employed . The distinction is important, as many times the OBA, when speaking of Pathways to Status , speak about expanding the workforce. The only way the workforce is expanded is by more jobs being cr eated. Those persons unemployed, but willing and able to work, are not part of the workforce; they form part of the labour force. In reference to the Minister’s pr eceding quote, the workforce is not being shrunk by demographics; it is being shrunk due to the fact that there are fewer jobs to be filled in the economy. However, Mr. Speaker, it is what the Minister went on to say that should concern all voters. When speaking about the shrinking labour force, the Minister declared, “There are those who conclude that the shrinkage in the workforce must be the result of em igration from Bermuda or people ‘giving up’ on seeking work. There is no statistical evidence supporting such conclusions.” Mr. Speaker, does the Minister of Finance liv e in Bermuda? Does he knock on the doors of the houses in his constituency? To deny the fact that we have a crisis of emigration in this country is shocking for the person responsible for financial and economic policy in Bermuda. Mr. Speaker, has the Minis ter tried to get any statistical evidence to dispute this claim? Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. The Department of Immigration has one of the most po werful IT systems in the Government. They could tell the Minister how many Bermudians have left the coun try and not returned. There are reports from the Department of Statistics that speak to emigration and the (and I quote), “Bermuda Brain Drain”; however, let me provide the Minister with a data point that may assist him. Between 2012 and 2015, there were 368 st udents who left the public school system to transfer to schools overseas. Out of that figure, 247 of those st udents were either at the primary or middle school level. Students at that level are not typically heading off to boarding school ; they have left the public school system because their families have left Bermuda. Mr. Speaker, in its initial report, the Fiscal Responsibility Panel, when speaking about our demographic challenges, said the following (and I quote): “At the same time, it is equally important to reduce emigration of Bermudians, especially of younger and more skilled citizens (and to attract back recent emigrants); clearly . . . the most important factor by far is employment opportunities.” Mr. Speaker, we in the PLP agree with that statement, and unlike the Minister, we are not going to deny the facts that are staring us in the face. We are in touch with our communities, and we know the em igration challenge is real. This Government cannot be trusted to fix the problem, as this Government conti nues to deny it exists. OBA 2016/17 Budget
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, when asked about my initial comments on the Budget by the media, I stated that I felt as though if it was vindication. Mr. Speaker, it seems as though the Min ister of Finance finally read the Progressive Labour Party’s Reply to the 2013 and 2014 Budget Statements. …
Mr. Speaker, when asked about my initial comments on the Budget by the media, I stated that I felt as though if it was vindication. Mr. Speaker, it seems as though the Min ister of Finance finally read the Progressive Labour Party’s Reply to the 2013 and 2014 Budget Statements. And I say that because many of the items which were raised in 2013 and 2014, which the Minister dismissed at the time, have made their way into his B udget Statement of 2016.
Headline Numbers
Mr. E. David BurtLast week, the Minister unveiled a budget that increased taxes, increased current account spending, increased capital spending and i ncreased debt. Current account expenditure budgeted at $921 m illion is higher than last year’s budgeted fi gures, even when the expenses for the aircraft and shipping registries have been removed …
Last week, the Minister unveiled a budget that increased taxes, increased current account spending, increased capital spending and i ncreased debt. Current account expenditure budgeted at $921 m illion is higher than last year’s budgeted fi gures, even when the expenses for the aircraft and shipping registries have been removed from the Budget. Without the transfer of those two depar tments, current expenditure would have been up $18 million year ov er year. The goal of the Minister of Finance to elim inate the deficit is needed, but on this measure the Minister has shifted the goalposts. He has made the same pledge to balance the budget in three years in two consecutive Budget Statements. And I quote from 2015: “It is the objective of this Government to bal-ance the budget within three years” [Honourable E. T. Richards, 2015 Budget Statement]. From last week: “This Budget, accordingly, represents the first year of a three- year plan to eliminate the defi cit” [Honourable E. T. Richards, 2016 Budget Statement]. Why, Mr. Speaker, should we believe him this time when he says we will balance that budget in three years? Last year’s budget targets were described the following way by the Fiscal Responsibility Panel: “We doubt whether the trajectory set out in the Budget is entirely realistic.” Mr. Speaker, we contend that the Minister’s forward projections this year are also unrealistic. The idea that we can reform both the payroll tax system and implement a serv ices tax in one year flies in the face of common sense. His projections are based on extracting $215 million more in taxes annually, which most independent observers would consider fanciful at best. It should also be noted that the two bloc kbuster projects that the Minister hangs his hat on have been both extended payroll tax and custom duty ex-emptions, so the impact those projects would have on government revenues would be minimal. The Minister is fond of saying that budgets have to mean something and that the Government must stick to their budget targets to be credible. Sim ilar to his now -annual pledge to balance the budget in
Bermuda House of Assembly three years, the Minister calls for $120 million more spending over the next two years than he said exactly one year ago. Yes, Mr. Speaker, in one year, the Mi nister who said he would exact strict discipline on the public purse has increased his own spending target by $120 million. The Minister neglects to note that his pr ojected deficit this year is $50 million more than he pr ojected it would be last year. Last year, he told us this year's deficit would be $150 million. Last week, he told us that the deficit will be $200 million, and his col-leagues stomped their feet in approval as though if this was a great accomplishment. Mr. Speaker, mis sing your deficit target by $50 million is nothing to stomp your feet about. Mr. Speaker, in his Statement last week, the Minister said the following: “Since March 31 st, 2013, Current Account spending levels have been reduced by $74 million, or 7.4 per cent. This is good news, but the Finance Ministry’s Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) called for a 15 per cent spending reduction over a three- year period." The translation, Mr. Speaker, is his budget targets were unrealistic and he has now give n up! He set the target and only got halfway there; any independent observer would give the Minister a failing grade. Two years ago, the Minister of Finance mocked the Progressive Labour Party’s alternative budget, saying that we would spend more and did not understand how the economy works. Two years later, he is following the Progressive Labour Party's plan of freezing current spending while looking to increase revenue over the long term. The problem, Mr. Speaker, is that it is two years too late. He did not make the investments in growth that we called for, he did not focus on inefficiencies in the civil service that we advised, he did not make the investments in tourism that we urged, and now he is trying to claw back taxes from citizens who have seen th eir real incomes fall every year under the OBA. We warned the Minister of Finance many times that you cannot cut your way out of this problem. However, the Minister of Finance refused to take our advice. His belated acceptance of this reality means the Ber mudian people will now have to pay the price with increased taxes across the board while he determines plan B.
TAX INCREASES ACROSS THE BOARD
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, the price of the Mi nister’s poor decision- making over the past three years is th e across -the-board tax hikes he unveiled last week. His new taxes mean that electricity bills will i ncrease, the price at the pump will increase, licensing your car will cost more, …
Mr. Speaker, the price of the Mi nister’s poor decision- making over the past three years is th e across -the-board tax hikes he unveiled last week. His new taxes mean that electricity bills will i ncrease, the price at the pump will increase, licensing your car will cost more, tourists will pay more for hotel rooms and alcohol, and the cost of food wi ll likely rise, all while the take- home pay of workers will be r educed. Payroll Taxes
Mr. E. David BurtIn 2014, we stated that Bermuda must transition from deriving a large chunk of our revenue from employment taxes to gaining a larger share of our reve nue from consumption taxes on goods and services. Back then, we stated the ec onomic case for this change: Payroll taxes can depress …
In 2014, we stated that Bermuda must transition from deriving a large chunk of our revenue from employment taxes to gaining a larger share of our reve nue from consumption taxes on goods and services. Back then, we stated the ec onomic case for this change: Payroll taxes can depress employment. It came from the fact that in taxing the very thing we need in Bermuda—jobs —we could i ncrease the incentive to outsource jobs and eliminate positions. We thought the Minister of Finance came around to this view last year when he made the follo wing statement: “Payroll taxes, our primary source of revenue, for example, is not a tax on consumption at all. It is a tax on labour —not a type of taxation that would tend to increase the number of jobs” [Honourable E. T. Richards, 2015 Budget Statement]. It was therefore shocking, after the third co nsecutive year of job losses under his watch, to see the Minister of Finance increase payroll taxes for the sec-ond year across the board. The top rate of tax is now set at 15.5 per cent, while the portion of that tax recoverable from emplo yees has risen to 6 per cent, the highest level that it has ever been! The tax hike is sure to c ause more pain in our economy and will likely lead to more pres-sure on some employers to close their doors. Yes, Minister, it is true, 6 per cent is the highest ever. Mr. Speaker, though the Minister has dubbed this increase as an interim measure, Bermudi an employers and employees are paying the price for the Minister’s stubborn refusal to heed evidence- based warnings on the need for tax reform. Unwilling to heed our advice, we received lectures on how the economy works instead of action. History will record the PLP as being right on the issue of tax reform.
THE NATIONAL DEBT
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, since coming to office, the OBA have added $1 billion to the national debt. In an interesting move, the Minister came up with a new chart to show his progress in reducing the deficit. In describing his chart, he said, “This graph shows the year -over-year percentage change …
Mr. Speaker, since coming to office, the OBA have added $1 billion to the national debt. In an interesting move, the Minister came up with a new chart to show his progress in reducing the deficit. In describing his chart, he said, “This graph shows the year -over-year percentage change in public debt levels. Clearly, between 2008 and 2012, the situation was out of control. Since that time, the i ncrease in debt has sl owed substantially.” Mr. Speaker, instead of trying to explain why the Minister’s chart is misleading, let me share a si mple fact. From 2008 to 2012, the same years as which the Minister labels out of control , the increase in net debt was $958 million. Between 2012 and 2016, u nder his watch, the increase in net debt has been $982 million. It seems the Minister is fuzzying- up the nu mbers once again. Does an increase in debt of $982 million since the Minister took over the public purse 714 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly merit the description slowed substantially ? Of course not! Mr. Speaker, remember the $800 million that the Minister borrowed that was supposed to last for three years, but ran out in two? Last week, the Mini ster told us that he has already used $150 million of the extra $200 m illion that he borrowed from Butterfield! It seems the facts contradict the Minister’s boasting that he has a handle on our debt problem.
PATH TO A BALANCED BUDGET
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, in 2014, the Pr ogressive Labour Party laid out a path to a balanced budget that focused on making the right investments to boost economic growth, while reducing and then freezing government spending. The additional inves tments were in education, training, alternative energy, tourism, infrastructure development, and investments …
Mr. Speaker, in 2014, the Pr ogressive Labour Party laid out a path to a balanced budget that focused on making the right investments to boost economic growth, while reducing and then freezing government spending. The additional inves tments were in education, training, alternative energy, tourism, infrastructure development, and investments in technology to make government more efficient. We also called for phased ending of tax concessions over two years. In November of 2013, we called for the creation of a Revenue and Government Earnings (or RAGE) Commission to examine ways to enhance government revenue streams. Recognising that Bermuda could not cut its way out of recession, we knew that we had to focus on revenue. Instead of taking our advice, the advice of the private sector and the advice of his very own SAGE Commission to set up a body to look at revenue, the Minister's response was, “We are not going to have a RAGE Commission.” Twenty -eight months later, the Minister of Finance has finally ac-cepted what the PLP has been saying since 2013: We cannot cut our way to a balance d budget. Last week, we heard the Minister finally embrace tax reform, another suggestion from 2013.
Tax Reform
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, in 2013, the Minister called for the examination of our system of taxation. At that time, we were told by the Minister of Finance that you do not change your tax system when your economy is weak. Three years later, very few would argue that our economy is …
Mr. Speaker, in 2013, the Minister called for the examination of our system of taxation. At that time, we were told by the Minister of Finance that you do not change your tax system when your economy is weak. Three years later, very few would argue that our economy is strong, but the Minister of F inance again has belatedly come around to another PLP position. Before I get to the Minister’s proposals, I would like to ask, for the sake of transparency and good governance, that the Minister table the report from the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre (CARTAC) that formed the basis of his pr oposals. The release of this report would certainly assist the public discourse around the issue of tax r eform.
Payroll Tax Reform
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, in the introduction to his Statement, the Minister made the following decl a-ration: “We will make this happen by broaden ing the tax base, and doing so through progressive measures that require more from those who earn more.” Though the Minister’s Statement was short on specifics, he outlined …
Mr. Speaker, in the introduction to his Statement, the Minister made the following decl a-ration: “We will make this happen by broaden ing the tax base, and doing so through progressive measures that require more from those who earn more.” Though the Minister’s Statement was short on specifics, he outlined broad themes such as making the payroll tax structure more progressive and more equitable, and taking into account employee and employer ability to pay. The PLP is open to support moves in this regard, and we look forward to hearing more details about the changes before we give our support. We also encourage the Minister to raise or remove the cap on ear nings subject to payroll tax. However, we warn the Mi nister that, as he has committed to simplifying the tax codes, any change should be simple for employers to implement and not increase their administrative burden or cost of doing busine ss.
General Services Tax
Mr. E. David BurtLast week, the Minister signalled his intention to introduce a general services tax at a rate of 5 per cent. The PLP has advocated broadening the tax base since 2014 and will wait to hear more details about thi s proposal. We do caution that it is unlikely that this …
Last week, the Minister signalled his intention to introduce a general services tax at a rate of 5 per cent. The PLP has advocated broadening the tax base since 2014 and will wait to hear more details about thi s proposal. We do caution that it is unlikely that this tax can be implemented in a year. We do, however, want to lay down a marker. It is i mportant that the implementation of this tax does not increase the overall burden on those who can least afford it. As we look to make payroll tax more pr ogressive, we should not introduce a services tax that in its implementation will be regressive.
Airport Redevelopment
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, I have risen to my feet many times in this Chamber and have held n umerous town hall meetings and PAC [Public Accounts Committee] hearings regarding the new airport term inal. This is a project that the Minister of Finance has committed the country to, and nonetheless, there …
Mr. E. D avid BurtShacking lock? A shocking lack of transparency that has been exhibited by the Gover nment in relation to what will be the largest capital pr oject in our history. Before I get into detailed criticism of this scheme, let me share with the public wh at the Minister’s very own …
Shacking lock? A shocking lack of transparency that has been exhibited by the Gover nment in relation to what will be the largest capital pr oject in our history. Before I get into detailed criticism of this scheme, let me share with the public wh at the Minister’s very own Fiscal Responsibility Panel had to say about this project (and I quote): “Although strictly speaking as a public -private partnership project it would not involve public spending, the loss of airport revenues net of operating cost s over the medium and longer term is probably best regarded as a form of expenditure commitment. In any event it is a fiscal cost that, given the fiscal situation, would need to be offset by other fiscal measures, in practice by some additional increase in taxes. So decisions should take
Bermuda House of Assembly into account not just whether the project has value for money (including in the sense of delivering an acceptable economic return) but whether the future fiscal costs involved represent the best possible use of li mited budget resources” [Fiscal Responsibility Panel]. Mr. Speaker, I draw your attention to a line that bears repeating: “whether the future fiscal costs involved represent the best . . . use of limited budget resources.” The new airport project is about more than the short -term jobs it may create. The question is whether or not it is the right priority for the country, given the limited resources at our disposal. It is clear that we cannot afford a $250 million airport. However, the Minister is intent on foisting this project on Bermudian taxpayers without regard to the impact that it will have on the government balance sheet for the next 30 years. The Minister has signed an airport development agreement that: • frees Aecon from paying payroll taxes at the airport for the duration of the project, not just during the construction stage, but for the en-tire 30 -year period; • frees Aecon from paying electricity bills for the duration of the contract, which is 30 years of taxpayer -funded electricity costs; • guarantees with taxpayer funds the revenue that will go to Aecon over the next 30 years; and • when the project price is determined, if Bermuda checks to see if someone can give us a better deal or puts the project out to tender, Aecon can cancel the contract and the Ber-mudian taxpayers have to pay a penalty.
Mr. Speaker, that is only from what we know. The Minister has redacted the entire schedules of the Airport Development Agreement, which runs directly counter to his pledge of transparency. In an age of PATI [Public Acce ss to Information] and commissions of inquiry, the Minister of Finance, whose very own Accountant General told the PAC that he was not following Financial Instructions, will not share with the people of this country how much this deal will cost the Treasur y over the next 30 years. Mr. Speaker, in January of 2015, the BPSU [Bermuda Public Services Union] posed a number of questions to the Minister about the airport deal. One of the questions asked was (and I quote), “Will the Government be responsible for guaranteeing the pr ivate sector’s revenues?” The Minister responded to that question with the following (and I quote): “The answer to this question is simply no. No one is going to guarantee the private partner’s revenues after construction—that will be part of their business risk.” Mr. Speaker, the Minister who declared he would always tell the truth signed a contract that guarantees Aecon’s revenues after construction, transferring the risk from Aecon to Bermudian taxpa yers, after explicitly declaring t o the BPSU that he would do no such thing! In justifying his approach to a sole source contract, the Minister of Finance boasted last year: “Heavy procurement costs, especially consultants’ fees that became such a significant cost element in the new hospit al wing project, are mit igated.” And in 2014, he said, “The other thing that I want to inform the public is that with the P3 model that they used for the hospital, the PLP Government spent $10 million on consultants —$10 million on consultants on that project! We do not have that kind of money. All right? This model enables us to cut a lot of that stuff out.” Mr. Speaker, one could be forgiven to think that this project would cost the taxpayers nothing, as has been intimated by the Minister on numerous occasions. However, the Budget Book does not lie. After scoffing that we don’t have that kind of money, the Minister has found $13 million to insert in this year’s Budget Book on a line item entitled Airport Redevelopment . While the Minister chided the RFP process for the Acute Care wing costing millions in consultancy fees, it appears that the Minister is going to spend more than what was spent on the hospital pr oject, and still, contrary to Financial Instructions and the Good Governance Act, there is no tender process. Mr. Speaker, let us recap: • The Minister told us that CCC will select a vendor when he already knew Aecon was the vendor from the start; • The Minister told us that he would not be guaranteeing revenues after construction, and the contract he sign ed does exactly that; • The Minister said that we would not have heavy procurement costs and that the project would pay for itself, yet he has set aside $13 million in the Budget for this project —$13 mi llion.
Mr. Speaker, why should anyone continue to trust what the Minister of Finance says regarding the airport redevelopment? Let me attempt to give an i llustrative example of the madness that is the Airport Development Agreement, by comparing it to an i nvestment property. Let us say an investment property that you owned was ageing and in need of upgrades. The property was generating a small profit, but not enough to fund a new loan. However, instead of renovating that property, you were convinced by a devel-oper that they could replace your building free of charge on an adjacent lot if you lease your property to them for 30 years. The developer says that they will use the rent from subleasing your property to pay off the loan. Intrigued by the idea, you sign a Memorandum of Understanding to give this developer exclusive rights to replace your property while you work out the details. While working out the details, you are told by the developer that you will need to guarantee the rent payment going forward in case one of the tenants does not pay their rent; you are told that you have to 716 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly pay for the electricity costs of the developer for 30 years; and you are told that, after signing the contract, if you try get a better deal (keeping in mind you still do not know the cost) —if you try to get a better deal from some one else, you will have to pay the developer a penalty. I ask you, Mr. Speaker, would you sign that contract?
Mr. E. David BurtI ask the people of Bermuda, would you sign that contract?
Mr. E. David BurtI ask the One Bermuda Alliance backbenchers, would you sign that contract? The answer, I am sure, Mr. Speaker, would be no! However, the Minister of Finance said, This is a great deal. Where do I sign? Our position is simple: Put Bermudians to work immedi ately by renovating the …
I ask the One Bermuda Alliance backbenchers, would you sign that contract? The answer, I am sure, Mr. Speaker, would be no! However, the Minister of Finance said, This is a great deal. Where do I sign? Our position is simple: Put Bermudians to work immedi ately by renovating the existing structure to extend its useful life by 10 to 15 years. Invest the money that would be going to Aecon into tourism development and marketing to grow air arr ivals and create jobs for Bermudians. These jobs will not be short -term construction jobs that last for three years that we will be paying off for 30; they will be long-term jobs in tourism.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberHear, hear, hear! Tourism Development
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, the Bermuda Tourism Authority has received bipartisan support. There is agreement on both sides of the aisle that this sec-ond leg of our economy must succeed. The decline in our tourism fortunes has been well documented and the reasons for that decline widely discussed. The BTA heralded a …
Mr. Speaker, the Bermuda Tourism Authority has received bipartisan support. There is agreement on both sides of the aisle that this sec-ond leg of our economy must succeed. The decline in our tourism fortunes has been well documented and the reasons for that decline widely discussed. The BTA heralded a new way of doing business. Its independence was supposedly the single most disti nguishing factor that would unleash the wave of innov ation and marketing expertise alleged to have been missing from Bermuda's tourism for decades. Mr. Speaker, with independence should come accountability. Sadly, there is little to none with r espect to the BTA. Every metric by which the BTA has demanded that they be judged has shown no i mprovement. Air arrivals have hit a 49- year low, visitor spending is down, and the signature programm e by which they claim some success is one that makes Bermuda a value option for travellers through virtually 50 per cent discounted rates. Mr. Speaker, these are not signs of arresting the decades -long decline of vacation air arrivals, yet their staff sti ll continue to collect bonuses, contrary to the Minister’s declaration that they would be compe nsated based on their performance. The Minister also said that the professionals at the BTA will be account-able for their performance . I ask, Mr. Speaker, who will the OBA hold accountable for the 49- year low in air arrivals? Is it the Minister of Tourism? Or is it the Chairman or the CEO of the BTA? Will anyone be held accountable for this continued dismal perfor mance? Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the marketing of Bermuda is not drawing visitors in the numbers that would validate the claims of a turnaround in this industry. Bermuda cannot afford to continue to invest millions of dollars into a structure and strategy that does not deliver and is not held account able. In his National Economic Report for Bermuda , the Minister of Finance repeats the BTA’s excuse of the “weakness in the Canadian dollar in 2015” as “a major contributing factor in preventing the air arrival per-formance from reaching positive territory .” Mr. Speaker, it is important to note two important facts regarding Canada. First, both WestJet and Air Canada posted record months for January 2016, up 7.4 per cent and 7.1 per cent, respectively, year over year. WestJet plans to increase its scheduled flights from Toronto as a result. Air Canada put its i ncrease for that month to more traffic in all the markets that it serves, including Caribbean routes. Number two: The Caribbean region reported that it had outperformed every major tourism region in the world in se tting new arrival and spend records in 2015. At the core of this growth, the Canadian market grew by 4.5 per cent, to 3.4 million visits —except for Bermuda. There is potential in the Canadian market, Mr. Speaker, but it is untapped by our mark eting and we are being undone by our competitors. To couch the BTA’s failure against the backdrop of the Canadian dollar is simply not supported by the facts. We must look inward. We must decide if we are present in a meaningful way in this significant mar ket. We must determine if an outpost in Oakville, Ontario, 40 mi nutes from Toronto, is sufficient to meet the challenges of a diverse, cosmopolitan, and increasingly influential marketplace in one of North America's most important cities. Though it is clear the BTA can do better with the resources they have, we must also accept that the OBA has not made investment in tourism a priority. We have repeatedly called for more to be spent on tourism development, as it is a productive investment that will yield a return for Bermuda. Unsurprisingly, the Fiscal Responsibility Panel agrees with us, as they said (and I quote), “Similarly, increased resources for tourism marketing and development could have a si gnificant pay off in terms of growth and employment — and ult imately government revenues.” Therefore, Mr. Speaker, it is welcome that the BTA will receive more resources this year to promote Bermuda overseas. It is hoped that they will use it wisely and will spend less on adverts in the Royal G azette, programmes on ZBM and fish sandwich compeBermuda House of Assembly titions, and will spend our money on getting tourists to Bermuda. The time for spin and excuses is over; it is time for the BTA to produce.
The America’s Cup
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, the saying goes, All that glitters i s not gold. The America’s Cup has been presented to the people of Bermuda with much glitter. The concern in this community is that the gold has not yet been seen and that those who have or will see it are …
Mr. Speaker, the saying goes, All that glitters i s not gold. The America’s Cup has been presented to the people of Bermuda with much glitter. The concern in this community is that the gold has not yet been seen and that those who have or will see it are few in number. There has been economic impact, Mr. Speaker. There is work being done in support of the 2017 events, and there are pockets of success stories that make for good PR and local feel -good stories. But is this event the transformational initiative promised by the One Bermuda Alliance and the event organisers? The jury is still out. It cannot be denied however, that this niche, elite event has limited appeal globally and is unlikely to transform our tourism to the point where on its shoulders will come sustainability as a result of its presence in Bermuda. Take, for example, Mr. Speaker, the promise that the world would be watching October's World S eries Challenge in Bermuda. The television ratings for the event placed the America’s Cup in 92 nd place in those ratings. The world was watching baseball , football and even poker, as only 73,000 viewers tuned in for the World Series Challenge. I do not cite these statistics to denigrate the event or its potential positive impact on Bermuda, but to provide some muchneeded perspective for the public, who run the risk of being overrun by the Gospel according to the America’s Cup . Mr. Speaker, commenting on the October event’s impact, the CEO of the BTA said (and I quote), “For that month, total visitor arrivals were up 44 percent, total air arrivals were up 15 percent, vac ation air arrivals were up 12 percent, hotel occupancy was up 16 percent and tourism -related . . . spending was up about one third.” That paints a picture of success, but without comparative data and actual numbers, percentages do not give an accurate picture. Total visitor arrivals up 44 per cent? Are we expected to believe that the 54 per cent increase in cruise passengers for the month was due to the three- day America’s Cup event? Hotel occupancy for the month was only 55 per cent —not a number that hoteliers will call great. And for the entire month of October, only 1,186 visitors declared America’s Cup as their reason for travel. Mr. Speaker, like any other event in support of tourism renewal, the Progressive Labour Party shares the desir e for the America’s Cup to succeed. Ho wever, we must remember that this event will cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Larry Ellison’s net worth is 20 times greater than the size of Bermuda’s national debt. We are constructing a full village in Dockyard to host an event for billionaires that will last for one month, and paying them for the privilege of hosting it. Mr. Speaker, at a time when we are reducing investments that directly benefit our people and send-ing our children to rodent -infested schools, it is impo rtant that this event delivers the promised return to the people of Bermuda. Though we are hopeful for its success, early indicators seem to show that the return on Bermuda’s investment will be less than the $250 million predicted by the Minister of Finance last year.
Education Short- Changed
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, the core measur ement of any society is found in how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. The voiceless must find in its leaders a voice that champions their cause and adv ocates for their needs and their aspirations. More than landfills for yachts and bricks and mortar …
Mr. Speaker, the core measur ement of any society is found in how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. The voiceless must find in its leaders a voice that champions their cause and adv ocates for their needs and their aspirations. More than landfills for yachts and bricks and mortar for a new airport, the children of this country require the inves tment and resources that demonstrate their value to the continued success of Bermuda. The contin ued reduction of investments in education under the OBA is a sad reflection of the priorities of this Government. The OBA always seem to be able to find money for its pet projects and no- bid contracts for friends and family, but is content to short -change our children. Mr. Speaker, the turmoil that has been cr eated by the potential for school closures that are not founded in academic performance or outputs has crossed racial and neighbourhood boundaries. Paget, Southampton and St. David’s have been forced into protest at plans that rob them of the opportunity for success. The next Progressive Labour Party Gover nment will be guided by student needs first in determi ning how best to craft a system of education that pr oduces citizens positioned to assume the jobs of the future that will drive this economy. Teaching and learning must be fostered in atmospheres that meet best practice, which starts with high- quality teaching and educators supported by their Government with the resources they need to fulfil the sac red trust that is educating our future leaders.
Seniors Left to Wait
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, in most cultural traditions, elders are revered. They bring wisdom, they connect us with our history, and their golden years enrich the society through their continued contribu-tions. Bermuda’s culture is no different. Every government has the responsibility to ensure that its senior population enjoys a quality of life …
Mr. Speaker, in most cultural traditions, elders are revered. They bring wisdom, they connect us with our history, and their golden years enrich the society through their continued contribu-tions. Bermuda’s culture is no different. Every government has the responsibility to ensure that its senior population enjoys a quality of life that reflects the value we place on them as citizens. Policies that increase the financi al burden on seniors reach through the community and add to the stresses of family life. Families struggling to make 718 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly ends meet see their incomes further strained by ha ving to meet the burdens imposed on their senior rel atives by a government that has increased the costs of health care and car licensing, and even attempted to raise taxes on senior citizens (land taxes). Mr. Speaker, the Minister’s reluctant reference to just thinking about an increase in pensions is not enough to stabilise the hardships too many of our seniors now endure. Our seniors have not had an i ncrease in their pensions since 2011 and should not be forced to choose between medication, necessities, or food. Mr. Speaker, there is a new campaign funded by the OBA Government that ends wit h this phrase: It is the right thing to do. Mr. Speaker, the right thing for the OBA to do is to give the seniors the pension i ncrease that they deserve!
[Desk thumping]
OUR ALTERNATIVE VISION
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, as the recent byeelection i n Devonshire North Central demonstrated, Bermudians have grown tired of the One Bermuda Alliance, and it is our responsibility to hold the Government to account; however, we must also present a plan and vision for the future. The public discourse is better served …
Mr. Speaker, as the recent byeelection i n Devonshire North Central demonstrated, Bermudians have grown tired of the One Bermuda Alliance, and it is our responsibility to hold the Government to account; however, we must also present a plan and vision for the future. The public discourse is better served when we compete on ideas. Though the Progressive Labour Party has presented various ec onomic reforms and proposals over the past three years in both our Throne Speech Replies and our Budget Replies, it is important that we take this oppor-tunity to lay out our different approach to governing and what the priorities of the next Progressive Labour Party Government would be. Mr. Speaker, though I do not want to review all of the policies proposed in 2013, 2014 and 2015, there are some important items t hat I will highlight briefly.
Reforming Government
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, one of the keys to balancing the budget is to reform government and increase the efficiency of the civil service. Reforming government is not an overnight job —it will requ ire time and patience—but it must be rooted in the aim of identifying efficiencies. The OBA has failed …
Mr. Speaker, one of the keys to balancing the budget is to reform government and increase the efficiency of the civil service. Reforming government is not an overnight job —it will requ ire time and patience—but it must be rooted in the aim of identifying efficiencies. The OBA has failed to learn from the PLP’s mistakes in this regard, and though advised against it, they attempted to implement cuts across the board to meet their budget targets. I will quote from what we said last year, Mr. Speaker: “Budget cuts have often reduced productive investment spending rather than cutting into inefficiencies in service delivery, which undermines future fiscal capacity to service debt” (Pre- Budget R eport 2012) [sic]. The advice we gave last year was confirmed by the Fiscal Responsibility Panel, which said, “Across -the-board cutbacks, or hiring freezes, while looking simple, are rarely an approach that improves efficiency, effectively avoiding the har d challenge of discriminating between services with very different marginal productivities or value.” Mr. Speaker, across -the-board cuts do not tackle inefficiency, which is the core of the problem, and they often reduce productive investment. This means that cuts without focusing on efficiencies can make our budget problems worse. The PLP will focus on making the civil service more efficient via technol-ogy, departmental reviews and effective human r esource management, and will look to implement some of the recommendations in the SAGE report. Additionally, we should further professionalise the civil service and introduce fixed- term contracts and performance- based pay for senior managers. I ndividuals should be rewarded for increasing depar tment revenues, red ucing department expenses, and increasing the performance and efficiency of a go vernment department or ministry.
Making Social Insurance More Progressive
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, the next PLP Go vernment will complete a comprehensive examination of the social insurance programme, including the i mpact of changing employer and employee contributions from a fixed rate to a percentage of earnings, and the appropriate level cap on social insurance co ntributions. The objective of the …
Mr. Speaker, the next PLP Go vernment will complete a comprehensive examination of the social insurance programme, including the i mpact of changing employer and employee contributions from a fixed rate to a percentage of earnings, and the appropriate level cap on social insurance co ntributions. The objective of the review will be to i ncrease the take- home pay of low earners and put more money in their pockets.
Bringing Jobs Back to Bermuda
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, the Minister has ended the payroll tax exemption for new Bermudian hires. The Minister said that this measure would boost Bermudian jobs; however, during his time in charge of the economy, the number of Bermudians employed has continued to fall. The next PLP Government will reintroduce this concession …
Mr. Speaker, the Minister has ended the payroll tax exemption for new Bermudian hires. The Minister said that this measure would boost Bermudian jobs; however, during his time in charge of the economy, the number of Bermudians employed has continued to fall. The next PLP Government will reintroduce this concession and apply it to Bermudians who plan to relocate to Bermuda, incentivi sing employers to hire our young students who are overseas and would like to come back and work. Additionally, the PLP will extend this tax concession to any Bermuda company that decides to repatriate previously outsourced jobs back to Bermuda.
[Desk thum ping]
Reforming Occupational Pensions
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, the next PLP Go vernment will end the discrepancy that makes emplo ying guest labour more [cost -]effective than employing Bermudians. The National Pension Scheme does not Bermuda House of Assembly apply to guest workers; this means that, by compar ison, Bermudians are more expensive to employ than …
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, since 2013, the PLP has proposed a number of measures to assist consumers from being taken advantage of in our economy. Establish a Cap on Fees at Banks
Mr. E. David BurtCertain fees at banks punish and compound distress for those in financial difficulty. The next PLP Government will increase the transparency of fees at banks and implement regulati ons similar to other jurisdictions to end the practice of multiple charges for credit card over -the-limit fees. Debt Collection Reform
Mr. E. David BurtMany Bermudians, as a result of losing their jobs, now fear being sent to prison for debt. The next PLP Government will end that practice. We will also reduce the statutory interest rate for judgment debts and update regulations for debt - collection agencies. Finally, we will introduce legisl ation …
Many Bermudians, as a result of losing their jobs, now fear being sent to prison for debt. The next PLP Government will end that practice. We will also reduce the statutory interest rate for judgment debts and update regulations for debt - collection agencies. Finally, we will introduce legisl ation that will enable a unified system of consumer credit repor ting.
Regulate Payday Lenders
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, as a result of our economic challenges, a new type of company has found a home in Bermuda, and that is the payday lender. Payday lenders in Bermuda are lending money and charging interest at a rate of 260 per cent. These companies prey on the desperate, and …
Mr. Speaker, as a result of our economic challenges, a new type of company has found a home in Bermuda, and that is the payday lender. Payday lenders in Bermuda are lending money and charging interest at a rate of 260 per cent. These companies prey on the desperate, and the next PLP Government, similar to many jurisdictions, will enact rules to regulate these firms.
VISION 2025 —AGENDA FOR GROWTH
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, last year, the Bermuda Progr essive Labour Party unveiled Vision 2025, a long- term economic plan for the transformation of our economy. Vision 2025 is a plan that will increase jobs and transform our workforce and economy to one that is ready for the future and not one …
Mr. Speaker, last year, the Bermuda Progr essive Labour Party unveiled Vision 2025, a long- term economic plan for the transformation of our economy. Vision 2025 is a plan that will increase jobs and transform our workforce and economy to one that is ready for the future and not one that is clinging onto the glory days of the past. I will touch on some of the items mentioned previously; however, members of the public can visit vision2025.plp.bm to learn more about our economic plan.
Economic Diversification Unit
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, the next PLP Go vernment will create an Economic Diversification Unit. This permanent organisation will consist of a small number of persons with a proven history of developing economies. The mission of this organisation would be to identify new opportunities for economic diversific ation outside of financial services …
Mr. Speaker, the next PLP Go vernment will create an Economic Diversification Unit. This permanent organisation will consist of a small number of persons with a proven history of developing economies. The mission of this organisation would be to identify new opportunities for economic diversific ation outside of financial services and subject them to structured analysis and research. As a sm all Island, we cannot be all things to all people, but we can develop focussed centres of excellence that leverage our location, reputation and regulation to find sectors that can thrive in Bermuda. Once areas are identified and agreed upon, the unit will seek partners and i nvestment to develop the new local industry and bring jobs to Bermuda. This unit will complement the work of the BDA [Business Development Agency], whose mandate is primarily focused on protecting, growing and diversifying the international business sector. The Economic Development Unit will be able to research and, if feasible, develop plans for the Blue Economy and online gaming.
Create a Bermuda Fund
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, if we are to create [long -term] economic growth, we need to use all of the tools at our disposal to invest and generate economic activity in Bermuda. There is a high level of inves tment expertise in Bermuda, and the PLP Government will take advantage of this …
Mr. Speaker, if we are to create [long -term] economic growth, we need to use all of the tools at our disposal to invest and generate economic activity in Bermuda. There is a high level of inves tment expertise in Bermuda, and the PLP Government will take advantage of this expertise by creating a l ocal sovereign- wealth fund called the “Bermuda Fund.” This fund will be seeded with a small portion of pension funds that are under the control of the Bermuda Government and would allow Bermuda to tap into the investment expertise on- Island while providing an a dditional outlet for our large private pension funds to invest more of their monies in Bermuda- based equity investments. The Bermuda Fund would be managed independently and would be free from interference by the government of the day. Its mission would be si mple: to make inv estments that diversify our economy and bring jobs to Bermuda.
Establish New Trading Partners
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, part and parcel of diversifying our economy is also diversifying our trading partners and our trade links. This means expand-ing from our traditional markets of North America and Europe to those in the Caribbean and Latin America. This is important, as we know that cost of living is …
Mr. Speaker, part and parcel of diversifying our economy is also diversifying our trading partners and our trade links. This means expand-ing from our traditional markets of North America and Europe to those in the Caribbean and Latin America. This is important, as we know that cost of living is the top concern in the minds of our people. New trade links can bring less -expensive goods to our shores that will relieve the pressure that Bermudians face when it comes to staple goods.
Get Serious about Tourism
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, tourism is a global industry, and we must compete globally. That means that we must invest in our product, invest in our mar720 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly keting, invest in our people and understand the basis of tourism. Tourism is about experiences, …
Mr. Speaker, tourism is a global industry, and we must compete globally. That means that we must invest in our product, invest in our mar720 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly keting, invest in our people and understand the basis of tourism. Tourism is about experiences, tourism is about escape and tourism is about letting go. And most of all, tourism is about fun. In order to compete in tourism, we need to remember that if people do not get it in Bermuda, they will go somewhere else to get it. The next PLP Government will make changes to our laws to keep Bermuda competitive with other tourism destinations.
Transform Our Education System
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, the next PLP Go vernment will ensure that the education of our future leaders is a priority. Unlike the current Government, we will not pay lip service to the public while reducing investments in public education. We will make public education a priority and ensure it is the …
Mr. Speaker, the next PLP Go vernment will ensure that the education of our future leaders is a priority. Unlike the current Government, we will not pay lip service to the public while reducing investments in public education. We will make public education a priority and ensure it is the first choice for Bermudian taxpayers. We will phase out middle schools and implement a curriculum with an increased focus on science, technology, engineering and math. We will also invest in technology to ensure our st udents are s ufficiently prepared for post -graduate education and/or employment in a future where technological ignorance is a barrier to success. We will continue to enhance the Bermuda College to be relevant, and we will work in cooper ation with the college to promot e local mobile applic ation development. This practical work will provide real - world experience to our students and will provide benefit to the college, as the applications developed can be licensed to other governments worldwide.
Establish a Technology In cubator
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, to grow our economy over the next decade, the next PLP Government will create a technology incubator at Southside. This will allow start -ups in the technology field that require little more than a computer and an Internet connection to enjoy introductory tax incentives while developing their new …
Mr. Speaker, to grow our economy over the next decade, the next PLP Government will create a technology incubator at Southside. This will allow start -ups in the technology field that require little more than a computer and an Internet connection to enjoy introductory tax incentives while developing their new products and services and creating jobs in Bermuda.
Become a Leader in FinTech
Mr. E. David BurtComplementing the technology incubator, the next PLP Government will make changes required in law to make Bermuda a leader in FinTech. FinTech denotes an industry comprising companies that use advanced technologies to make financial services more efficient. These companies can range from those that provide mobile banking service s, peer …
Complementing the technology incubator, the next PLP Government will make changes required in law to make Bermuda a leader in FinTech. FinTech denotes an industry comprising companies that use advanced technologies to make financial services more efficient. These companies can range from those that provide mobile banking service s, peer -to-peer lending, micro- financing in the developed world, and insurance. It is one of the fas test-growing areas in terms of the global financial services industry and one that can lead to growth of jobs in Bermuda. Invest in the Green Economy
Mr. E. David BurtThe next PLP Government will take the lead in investing in the Green Economy by outfitting government buildings with renewable - energy -generation technologies. We will convert the government fleet of light vehicles to hybrid and electric vehicles. Additionally, we will make recycling mandatory, which will lower the cost of …
The next PLP Government will take the lead in investing in the Green Economy by outfitting government buildings with renewable - energy -generation technologies. We will convert the government fleet of light vehicles to hybrid and electric vehicles. Additionally, we will make recycling mandatory, which will lower the cost of shipping to Bermuda, as we could export our recycled waste, which means more export traffic on our ships and lower overall shipping costs for consumers.
Increased Use of C rown Corporations
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, as we move to diversify our economy over the next decade, we must also increase efficiency and productivity in the civil service. The next PLP Government will make increased use of Crown Corporations. The structure is simple; instead of privatising government assets to the private sector, assets and …
Mr. Speaker, as we move to diversify our economy over the next decade, we must also increase efficiency and productivity in the civil service. The next PLP Government will make increased use of Crown Corporations. The structure is simple; instead of privatising government assets to the private sector, assets and employees are transferred to an organis ation that is wholly owned by the government. The corporation is given the flexibility to manage its own affairs under the oversight of a board of directors operating at arm’s length from government. When the organisation is successful and earns a profit, these prof-its return to the government, boosting government revenue.
Reforming Health Care
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speak er, the cost of health care is a major expense for the Government and the private sector, which reduces our competitiveness globally. As a country, we must work to reduce those costs, which will lead to savings that will promote ec onomic growth. The next P LP Government …
Mr. Speak er, the cost of health care is a major expense for the Government and the private sector, which reduces our competitiveness globally. As a country, we must work to reduce those costs, which will lead to savings that will promote ec onomic growth. The next P LP Government will promote healthy living and, where necessary, tax habits that lead to chronic disease that are all too prevalent in Bermuda.
Affordable Homes for Young Bermudians
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, the next PLP Go vernment will incentivise the construction of studio and one-bedroom apartments that will be affordable enough for young Bermudians to purchase. This will enable the students whom we so desperately want to return home to become property owners at a young age when they build …
Mr. Speaker, the next PLP Go vernment will incentivise the construction of studio and one-bedroom apartments that will be affordable enough for young Bermudians to purchase. This will enable the students whom we so desperately want to return home to become property owners at a young age when they build equity in their own homes.
[Inaudible interjections] [Gavel]
Investing in Domestic Food Production
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, the next PLP Go vernment will lease the many acres of arable gover nment land, that are currently not being used, to boost domestic food production. Additionally, we would promote and develop community gardens that can assist in meeting the needs of the less fortunate in our community.
Increase Savings and Financial Literacy
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, Government cannot be the only entity to invest in our country’s future. As a people, we must save and invest to create more wealth. The next PLP Government will foster a culture of saving and develop a mindset in which every Ber-mudian strives to spend the dividends of …
Mr. Speaker, Government cannot be the only entity to invest in our country’s future. As a people, we must save and invest to create more wealth. The next PLP Government will foster a culture of saving and develop a mindset in which every Ber-mudian strives to spend the dividends of our wealt h, and not our wages. To promote saving and inves tment, we will develop domestic capital markets to create on- Island investment vehicles for Bermudians to invest in Bermuda. Mr. Speaker, Vision 2025 is the Progressive Labour Party’s long- term economic plan that will cr eate pathways to Bermudian success for our people. In a rapidly changing world, we must be bold and adapt to ensure that the promise of Bermuda lives on for future generations. It is now time to embrace forwardthinking progressive solutions so that our people can seize the promise of the future. We again encourage all to visit vision2025.plp.bm to get more details on the PLP’s plans.
CONCLUSION
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, in the opening of his budget speech last week, the Minister proved how out of touch he and his Government are with the realities facing Bermudians, by comparing our current ec onomic sit uation to our local power grid after a hurr icane. There are Bermudians in this …
Mr. Speaker, in the opening of his budget speech last week, the Minister proved how out of touch he and his Government are with the realities facing Bermudians, by comparing our current ec onomic sit uation to our local power grid after a hurr icane. There are Bermudians in this country who have been out of work for years, Bermudians who have been forced to uproot their families, Bermudians who cannot feed their kids, and have been pushed into a life of crime, Bermudians who have lost their homes and many who have lost their dignity. Compar-ing their situation to the temporary loss of conven-ience after a hurricane is insensitive and offensive. But this is par for the course for the OBA, a party who thinks that they know better than the people who sent them here. They cling to the false notion that their narrow election victory 38 months ago gives them the freedom to do whatever they like whenever they like to whomever they like, even when they pledged before the election not to do so. Whatever decision they make, no matter how contrary to the pact they made with the voters before the election, they throw around the word “mandate” as if that is a valid excuse to break your word and trust to the pe ople of thi s country. The string of broken promises is long, but none of them is as consequential as this one made by the Minister of Finance in the last election (and I quote): “Ending unemployment and underemployment is the biggest challenge in Bermuda today. The O BA has a plan to create 2,000 jobs to do just that” [Honourable E. T. Richards, December 2012]. Thirty -eight months later, it is clear that the Minister of Finance did not have a plan then, and he certainly does not have a plan now. History will judge this Minister of Finance by his misleading statements, his poor decisions and his unwillingness to listen. See, Mr. Speaker, Bermudians do not expect their Government to have all of the answers, and they do not expect their Government to be perfect. What they expect is a government that will listen to their needs, respond to their concerns, and not dismiss their feelings by telling the people what is best for them. I personally, Mr. Speaker, will never forget the following quote uttered by the Honourable Premier exactly 52 weeks ago. Fifty -two weeks ago, the Pr emier said, “Mr. Speaker, that is the difference. When you sit on that side you can say things and they sound good. It might get a headline in the newspaper on a Saturday morning. You might even get [on] t he news at seven o’clock at night. But by Monday it is forgotten” [Premier Michael Dunkley, 27 February 2015]. That one statement epitomises what is wrong with our Government under his leadership. When the leader of the country states that what the Opposit ion says will be forgotten by Monday, it means that he himself is not listening. All of us represent Bermudians. Our opinions, thoughts and ideas are represent ative of those people who elected us to be here. When the Premier says he forgets, it means he ignores the voice of the people of this country. And, as we can see in the streets, Mr. Speaker, the people feel i gnored. Mr. Speaker, for 38 months, as the Oppos ition, we have held the Government to account and put forward recommendations to make our Island home a better place for all of us. In this session of Parliament, with our Throne Speech Reply and this Budget Reply, we have laid out a vision for Bermudians who have been ignored and forgotten by the One Bermuda All iance that they will be able to embrace. Mr. Speaker, I will close with a quote from the Minister of Finance as he concluded the General Ec onomic Debate in 2013. At that time, he said (and I quote), “I will say this to my friends on the other side: When they can come up with policies that ar e for the greater good, then they will be qualified to run the economy of this country” [Honourable E. T. Richards, 1 March 2013]. Mr. Speaker, today we have put forward our long-term economic plan that will create pathways for Bermudian success. It is a plan that will grow and transform our economy so that we can meet the cha l722 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly lenges of the future. It is a plan that contains concrete policies that are for the greater good. It is a plan that lets Bermudians know that we in the Progressive Labour Party are qualified and ready to run the economy of this country. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you, Honourable Shadow Minister of Finance. Honourable Premier? Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move that we now adjourn for lunch and come back at a quarter to three.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Members, we will now break for lunch. The House is adjourned to 2:45 [pm]. [Gavel] Proceedings suspended at 1:15 pm Proceedings resumed at 2:49 pm [Hon. K. H. Rando lph Horton, Speaker, in the Chair] DEBATE ON THE BUDGET STATEMENT AND REPLY TO THE BUDGET
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Members. We will continue with the Budget Debate, and the Chair will recognise the Honourable and Learned Member from constituency 31, the Minister of Tourism and Transport. Minister, you have the floor. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and good afternoon.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGood afternoon. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take to my feet and sup port the Budget Statement that has been presented by the Honourable Finance Minister and this Government for 2016/17. Very quickly, Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the Ministry of Finance, the …
Good afternoon. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take to my feet and sup port the Budget Statement that has been presented by the Honourable Finance Minister and this Government for 2016/17. Very quickly, Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend the Ministry of Finance, the economic team, for their hard work to produce this Budget . It is indeed a great deal of work. The Financial Secretary, Mr. A nthony Manders, Mr. Stephen Gift, Tina Tucker, and I am sure there are others that have worked extremely hard to produce this Budget in very difficult times. I would like to also extend my gratitude, Mr. Speaker, to the Minister of Finance. He has an unenviable job, the toughest job in the Government. I have said this before and I will say it as many times as I can, I believe that when the OBA became the Go vernment in 2012 we became the Government at probably the most difficult time in recent history. Get-ting control of the Government finances, Mr. Speaker, is the most challenging job confronting this Gover nment and confronting Bermuda. And I said it during the last economic debate, and I wil l say again today, that the Honourable Bob Richards is the right man at the right time for this job. He takes criticism in stride and he stays the course. The Shadow Finance Minister said in his reply today how history will judge this man. And I believe that history will judge the Honourable Bob Richards as the man who rescued this country from financial ruin. And so I commend the Minister for the way he has gone about doing his work and the way that he has arrested the economic decline that this Government inherited in 2012. I also want to commend the Minister for the way he presented this Budget Statement. Yes, it was a bit long, Mr. Speaker. I was laughing the other day as I was going through it; I felt the Minister should have put a [table of] contents page at the beginning to make my life a little easier. But he laid out the reality in clear, explanatory terms. And, you know, when we are dealing with economics we are dealing with a very technical subject, Mr. Speaker. When you deal with terms like “the deficit” and “interest on debt” and “sinking fund” and “fiscal consolidation”, these are terms that most people do not understand. I was not able to wrap my mind around these particular terms —“fiscal consolidation” and “sinking fund.” What exactly do they mean? I could not wrap my mind around that until I got at this level of politics. And you have got to study it; you have got to digest it, and then you begin to understand it. So it is important sometimes to compare the strange with the familiar. I think that the Finance Mi nister attempted to do that and I think he did a good job trying to explain what our economic conditions are. And I would encourage every Bermudian to read the statement. Take some time out, download it and read it because it is imperati ve that every Bermudian understands our economic realities and the risks that are involved, Mr. Speaker, if we do not get on top of this problem. I also found as a very useful document the Fiscal Responsibility Panel 2015 Annual Assessment, which the Minis ter referred to quite a bit in his Stat ement, and the Shadow Finance Minister also referred to quite a bit. It is an invaluable document. And most importantly, it is a document that comes from independent analysis. So this is not the opinion of the Governm ent. These are the opinions and recommendations of independent economists. And with your indulgence, Mr. Speaker, I would like to refer to it from time to time as well. Now, Mr. Speaker, it was and it still is my i ntention today to be less emotive in my pr esentation. I
Bermuda House of Assembly have a proclivity at times to be emotive in my prese ntations. And so I wanted today to have more of a co nversation with the people of Bermuda, through you, Mr. Speaker. But after I heard the Budget Reply I can say that it is going to be a lit tle difficult not to get em otive because as I was listening to it I was saying to myself, What a luxury it must be. What a luxury the Shadow Finance Minister has to have being in the Government that drove this economy into the ground, that drove thousands of people out of this country, that drove unemployment to record highs, and now he wants to come —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Honourable Member. POINT OF ORDER
Mr. E. David BurtWe have started already, and I will put the Members on notice, I will [raise a] point of order on them for every [incorrect fact]. The highest unemployment rate recorded in the history of this country was recorded under the One Bermuda Alliance.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Hon. Trevor G. Moni z: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Honourable Member. POINT OF ORDER Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: There was no point of order in that. It is an abuse of the process of the House.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwe ll: Mr. Speaker, I did not say “the highest.” The highest started under the PLP Government; but I am going to get to that. I am going to get to that spin. I am going to get to that creative spin that …
Thank you, Honourable Member.
Hon. Shawn G. Crockwe ll: Mr. Speaker, I did not say “the highest.” The highest started under the PLP Government; but I am going to get to that. I am going to get to that spin. I am going to get to that creative spin that this particular Honourable Member is very adept at doing. But he was part of the Government, Mr. Speaker, that drove this country to the brink of ec onomic ruin.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Honourable Member, what is your point of order? POINT OF ORDER
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, I would hate to ever at any point in time split hairs, but the Minister knows very clearly that only Cabinet Ministers are Members of Government.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Carry on, Minister. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Well, it is funny how th ey jump on the Junior Minister of Home Affairs all the time. But, okay, he was the Junior Minister of Finance, so I would not blame the Honourable Member for spli tting hairs on this …
Thank you. Carry on, Minister.
Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Well, it is funny how th ey jump on the Junior Minister of Home Affairs all the time. But, okay, he was the Junior Minister of Finance, so I would not blame the Honourable Member for spli tting hairs on this one. I would try and put as much di stance from the record of the PLP, as m uch as he just did, I would do the same thing, Mr. Speaker, because it is abysmal. It is an abysmal record. And to come to this House and criticise this Government because we are not turning it around quick enough is rich, Mr. Speaker. It is rich. What I find most astounding is the narrative in relation to the national debt. Talk about creative spin. Trying to blame the Minister of Finance and this Gov-ernment for substantially increasing the national debt and, again, the Honourable Member who is adept to trying to hone in on specific facts without the appr opriate context . . . See? That is the creativity of the spin. Okay? So, yes, it is a fact that Government debt has gone up under this Government. But why, Mr. Speaker? And that is what we are going to de lve into, because the reason why the debt has gone up is because of the fact that we inherited a Government whose finances were spiralling out of control, Mr. Speaker. Annual deficits were outrageous, national debt rose exponentially under the former Gover nment . . . That was out of control. And those situations will not abate themselves overnight. So, Mr. Speaker, I will try to get back to the conversation and explain what conditions we have and why the budget is the way that it is this year. And Mr. Speaker, it is clear, and it is stated very early in the Budget Statement, what the priority of this Government is and has been since we became the Go vernment, and that is to eliminate the deficit so that we can start to reduce the debt. Mr. Speaker, let no one be confused that the Government debt is an albatross around the neck of this Government. If we do not do something about it, it can jeopardise the success and the very existence of Bermuda as we know it. And you know what concerns me . . . this is why I feel that every Bermudian needs to read the Budget Statement. Every Bermudian needs to read the Fiscal Responsibility Panel Report, because I have heard people say, Why are we worr ying about the debt? Borrow more. Spend. Do all these infrastructure project s. Because I do not think people have a firm grasp of what this country is risking be-cause of the debt. Mr. Speaker, we are often criticised for not caring. Well, make no mistake about it; taking care of the debt is taking care of the people of this countr y. And here is why: this year the debt service cost is going to be $187.4 million, the second highest expendi724 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly ture of this Government, pretty soon to overtake the largest expenditure, which is the Ministry of Health. How can we pay for social services? How can we pay for infrastructure projects? How can this Government stimulate the economy when we have to — before we do anything else—spend nearly $200 mi llion on interest? It fetters the Government’s ability to do what it really wants to do. And then what is really concerning, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that if we do not get in control of the national debt, then it jeopardises our number -one industry in this country, which is insurance and reinsurance, which is the bedrock of our economy. So if you go, Mr. Speaker, to page 4 of the Fiscal Responsibility Panel Report you will see how they talk about the fact that “With debt interest already accounting for 13% of the annual revenues it is easy to see this could by itself lead to further downgrades by rating agencies.” Well, we heard some good news this morning. Because of the diligence and hard work of this Finance Minister, these agencies are starting to look at Bermuda in a favourable light. But, Mr. Speaker, if we do not get control of the debt and the interes t on debt, it could lead to further downgrades by rating agencies. It goes on to say, “Such a downgrade would not only impact on the Government’s borrowing costs and put further pres-sure on its already stressed budget —it would also have likely negative implications for financial bus inesses operating in the territory.” The Finance Minister made it clear in the Budget Statement that when Bermuda gets dow ngraded, so do the international companies who oper-ate in this jurisdiction. They do not want that. If we do not arrest this problem, if we do not solve this problem, then we jeopardise losing the bedrock, Mr. Speaker, of our economy. And, again, let us not forget how we got here. So this problem threatens the longterm success of Bermuda, and that is a serious risk. If we go to, Mr. Speaker, page 14 of the Budget Statement you will find . . . and it is very interesting, this quote that the Finance Minister utilises is actually quoted twice in the RFP assessment, where it states, “Bermuda’s economy faces a number of risks and uncertainties, short term and longer term. The current level of government debt —taken together with very large potential liabilities from government guara ntees and underfunded public pension and health i nsurance schemes —risks turning the possible impact of any one of these into a serious setback for the i sland’s economy. Reducing debt and debt service costs is therefore a priority.” This is coming from the independent economists. It is our priority. Again, it was stated, I believe on page 1 (and on page 25 in the RFP Panel), that is what this Go vernment is charged to do. And will it be easy? No, Mr. Speaker. It is a difficult problem, and difficult problems are not easy to fix, that is why they are called “diff icult.” And difficult decisions are not often popular. That is why they are called “difficult.” But if we do not make the difficult decisions, if we do not continue to look at ways to cut expenses, and if we do not look at ways to raise revenue and raise taxes, Mr. Speaker, then we will find ourselves in a difficult position. We heard the Shadow Finance Minister reel off all sorts of ideas. Well, I did not see fishing in this particular document, and for some reason cannabis was not in this document as well —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Honourable Member. POINT OF ORDER
Mr. E. David BurtI understand the Minister may have trouble, but we referenced the “Blue Economy” inside of our reply as we have in all of our replies.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Carry on, Honourable Member. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, Mr. Speaker. But Mr. Speaker, as we have said before, it is easy to just come up and say, This idea would do such and such. But at the end of the day, you know, . . . I …
Thank you. Carry on, Honourable Member. Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Yes, Mr. Speaker. But Mr. Speaker, as we have said before, it is easy to just come up and say, This idea would do such and such. But at the end of the day, you know, . . . I was looking at this FinTech. I do not know too much about it, I have heard that it is not all that it is being made out to be here. Let us do some research on it, Mr. Speaker, and we will see. But the point of the matter is we are talking about the same individuals that got us into this mess in the first place. And at the end of the day, Mr. Speaker, what the people would have to decide is whether or not they want to put the economy back into the hands of the individuals that got us here in the first place. Now, Mr. Speaker, the seriousness of the problem, again, is highlighted on page 30 of the Budget Statement in Chart 12. And, Mr. Speaker, very quickly (because I cannot believe how fast the time is going), if you look at page 30 and you see Chart 12, you look at the Government Debt. And the Members on the other side when I start saying “the folks who put us here” they start laughing and they start saying, Here we go, they dismiss it. Well, this chart sets it out. These are facts, what we would refer to in the law; this is the ev idence, Mr. Speaker —or the smoking gun. Okay? You look at 2007 and the net public debt was $197 million — manageable, Mr. Speaker. I wish the chart went back to 1998, but we are at 2007, and you see the exp onential growth, Mr. Speaker, in the net public debt , between 2007 and 2013, go from $197 million to $1.4 billion. That is a result, Mr. Speaker, of poor budgeting. That is a result of gross overspending. That is a result, Mr. Speaker, of a Government that did not u nBermuda House of Assembly derstand what they were doing when it cam e to the economy. You did not have this type of exponential growth on the national debt at a time when we were experiencing record revenues. I will sit down. No point of order on that? At a time when we were experiencing record revenues, this Government dr ove up the national debt to levels that were just completely unforeseen. Now, Mr. Speaker —
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: I am on my Budget Statement, page 30, Chart 12, Mr. Speaker. Now, Mr. Speaker, they want to talk about, Well, look how the debt has increased since. Well, when this Government became the Government, we had a $300 million deficit. How are we going to fund the deficit? Is the deficit is going to vanish overnight by magic dust? How are we going to pay for the interest on debt, Mr. Speaker? So of course the debt is going to increase because we have got to pay for the deficits. We had to pay for the PLP’s deficits. That is a fact, Mr. Speaker. But the creative spin is to try and put the blame on this Government. Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member r eferred to immigration, and I believe that the rationale and justification for this Government’s immigration policies is highlighted and justified, Mr. Speaker, in the FRP document (the Fiscal Responsibility Panel document). I t talks about how between 2010 and 2020 there will be a 9 per cent reduction in the working- age population. It talks about how that has a direct, delet erious impact on the ability for this Government to co llect money for our coffers. It talks about the dec line in consumer spending when you have that type of de-cline. The PLP wants to dismiss commentators who talk about 5,000 leaving between . . . I do not know. I think it was between 2009 and 2012 . . . 2008 and 2012. But, clearly, we have had a substantial exodus. The Shadow Minister talks about an exodus and he wants to zoom in on Bermudians leaving, but nobody wants to talk about the mass exodus of nonBermudians leaving this country between 2008 and 2012. But, Mr. Speaker, there is one thing that I do agree with the Honourable Member on. There were some things in his reply that I can agree with. But one thing for certain was the focus on the necessity for creating jobs. And when you have an issue of unemployment, which is contiguous to immigration polic y, Mr. Speaker, it is going to be contentious. It is going to be contentious. Immigration is contentious under the best of circumstances. The former Government had issues with immigration. A lot of people want to talk about the current Minister of Immigrat ion. Well, the former Minister of Immigration was not that popular either, Mr. Speaker, at the time when he was the Mi n-ister of Immigration. It is a difficult Ministry. Immigr ation is a contentious issue, Mr. Speaker. But when Bermudians are not employed, when Bermudians are having difficulty finding work, that augments the anxiety around immigration. And I understand that and I get that. And this Government is committed to creating jobs, Mr. Speaker. And you know no one wants to talk about it. In the Budget Statement the Honourable Shadow Finance Minister, I think, spent most of his time on the airport redevelopment, and secondly it was on the America’s Cup, which shocked me, that there would be an attempt to try and undermine the impact of the America’s C up. But, Mr. Speaker, in the Budget Statement it is clearly stated that 390 workers, or multiple jobs, have been created as a result of the America’s Cup. Two hundred long- term jobs will be created by the development at the Pink Beach. About 400 construction jobs over the entire development of the Fairmont Hamilton have been created and more will be created, Mr. Speaker, with their further development. Mr. Speaker, this Government has worked hard and will continue to work hard in bringing devel-opments like the St. Regis Hotel in St. George’s. It is coming. Ground is being broken in June, Mr. Speaker. We are going to have development at Morgan’s Point. There is going to be development at Coral Beach and Tennis Club. There are applications for development at Elbow Beach, at Surfside, Mr. Speaker. These will happen. And I understand, because, as I said a few weeks ago, it makes no difference which government is in power. If you do not have a job, you do not have a job. And you are not happy, Mr. Speaker. And so there is no question that we have to continue with our efforts to bring more jobs to the table. Mr. Speaker, as my time is wrapping up, I want to touch on tourism. And in paragraph four of the Fiscal Responsibility Panel . . . I am sorry, page 4, paragraph 6, it says: “Uncertainties in the tourist i ndustry.” I want to read this very clearly. It states, “Even before the 2008 downturn, Bermuda’s market share in tourism was in long- term decline. The industry should get at least a temporary boost from The Amer ica’s Cup in 2017 but improving Bermuda’s attractiveness as a tourist destination is likely to remain a continuing challenge thereafter given shifting patterns and preferences in the tourist trade.” Mr. Speaker, although I have said the Finance Ministry mu st be one of the most difficult ones, being Minister of Tourism is not any fun. I can tell you. I was travelling some time ago going through London, Mr. Speaker, and as I was giving my passport to the lady she saw that it has the Government stamp in it. An d so she said, Which Ministry are you a Minister of? And I said, I’m the Minister of Tourism and Transport. She said, Oh, tourism —that must be the easiest job to be the Tourism Minister of Bermuda. And I just smiled. 726 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly I just smiled and said, Well, I wish t hat was the case. Mr. Speaker. It is a tough job. And there are former Tourism Ministers in this Chamber who understand that it is a tough job. And it is a tough job, as I believe it was highlighted in the Reply, it is certainly highlighted in the Fiscal R esponsibility Report, it is highlighted in the Budget Statement, because of the low cost competitors that we have, Mr. Speaker, because of the seasonality of our jurisdiction, it is a diff icult, difficult industry. Minister Patricia Gordon- Pamplin said a co uple of weeks ago that , despite the difficulties, we have a duty to continue to do our best to try and turn it around and make it viable. And, Mr. Speaker, I do b elieve . . . I do believe, and the Honourable Shadow Minister said that we need to hold the BTA accountable. We need to demand results. Absolutely! Abs olutely, Mr. Speaker. And I believe that 2016 will be a good year. But, Mr. Speaker, you know, they like to talk about a 48- or 49- year decline. I have said this before, reaching lowest numbers in history did not just start since this OBA Government. It did not just start, Mr. Speaker. In 2010, we reached the lowest then and it has continued to go that way. But you know what, Mr. Speaker? In order for us to arrest what this study termed as “long- term decline” will take time. It is going to take expertise. The BTA has done an excellent job getting the organisation up and running, having the staff there focused on the objective. They have spent a lot of time getting out of some bad situations that they inherited.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Mr. Speaker, that is not why. That is not why. But that is part of creating a new entity. This entity did not just fall out of the sky. It took expertise, Mr. Speaker, and it took leadership t o get it up and running in 2014 and get it moving toward [be-ing] an effective and efficient marketing agent for this country. And this Government, Mr. Speaker, understands there is more to correcting the long- term decline in tourism than just marketing. We have lost 50 per cent of our hotel beds over the years. We need more capacity. This Gov-ernment and I, as the Minister, have been working tirelessly trying to bring new development to this country, trying to bring new hotels —increased hotel bed capacity —to this country, and we will see results of that hard work, Mr. Speaker.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Now, Mr. Speaker, not only do we need greater capacity, we also need established and recognisable brands. And so we are working hard. We are going to have a St. Regis in St. George’s. We are going to have a Ritz -Carlton R e-serve at Morgan’s Point. So we are working. These are things, I mean, I could see, because the Oppos ition Leader likes to chime in while I am on my feet, but I could see if they had something to boast about and say, Well, look at all the hotels we built. What’s taking you so long? Look at all the arrivals we got. What’s taking you so long? Mr. Speaker, I could understand if they were going to wave a banner of success, but you know what? This has been an industry in decline for decades, Mr. Speaker, and it is not going to be turned around overnight and it is not going to be turned around in just a couple of years. But you know what? We are going to stay the course, Mr. Speaker. Again, the luxury of driving us into the ground and now sitting back and saying, You’re taking too long to turn it around . . . what a luxury it is, Mr. Speaker. But guess what? I do not have to worry about the interpolations and I do not have to worry about the—
[Inaudible interjection] Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: And the Honourable Member is saying “bonuses.” Well, that is one aspect of the Shadow Mini ster’s Reply that was wrong. Go to the BTA and find out what the incentive pay was in 2015. His own colleagues asked the question today. The Board of D irectors will ensure that incentive pay is attached to performance, Mr. Speaker.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: To performance, Mr. Speaker. So check that out. Now, Mr. Speaker, you have the interpol ations —
[Gavel]
Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: —and I enjoy the interp olations, Mr. Speaker. I enjoy them — [Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: That is the point. So see . . . see what incentive pay was paid out. Speak to your honourable colleague who asked the questions and was provided the answer. Now, Mr. Speaker, we can interpolate, but there is one piece of evidence that is irrefutable and which no one wants to talk about. And that is Moody’s headline today, “Fiscal C onsolidation Efforts Bear Fruit, a Credit Positive.” That is the validation of the hard work of the Minister of Finance. That is the val idation of the hard work of this Government in difficult times, in the environment where the Opposition has been recalci trant, Mr. Speaker, we are turning things around.
Bermuda House of Assembly [Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Minister. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Learned Member from constituency 36. You have the floor. Hon. Michael J. Scott: I am grateful, Mr . Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I am very much obliged. Mr. Speaker, I am really honoured to stand and also commend …
Thank you, Honourable Minister. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Learned Member from constituency 36. You have the floor.
Hon. Michael J. Scott: I am grateful, Mr . Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I am very much obliged. Mr. Speaker, I am really honoured to stand and also commend this Reply [given] in 2016 by our Shadow Minister for Finance. Again, Mr. Burt (the Shadow Finance Minister) has made an analysis of the Government’s performance and Statement. It is an analysis. It is an analysis which is stinging, it is hard hitting, it is truthful, and it is accurate. You know, the tragedy of the OBA, and I have listened to the Honourable and Learned Member who has just taken his seat, the tragedy of the OBA is that they seem paralysed by the difficulties of facing down risk management of debt. I mean, every word out of the Honourable Minister of Tourism’s mouth was about the difficulties faced. That is not good enough. People expect of you and expect of the Government that you rise to the occasion and that you do what governments must do—solve the problem. After all . . . and blaming the PLP 34 months later . . . is it 34 months? How many months? [Inaudible interjecti on]
Hon. Michael J. Scott: Thirty -eight months later, when they began to do this on month one, is not good enough. Try and tell the people of this country that you are doing “X” to . . . it is a matter of risk management of debt. And you really ought to h ave a better strategy than argument. People are expecting more. And when the Minister of Tourism says “we will stay the course,” let me remind the Minister that people are not going to continue to give you a course to stay.
[Inaudible interjections] Hon. Michael J. Scott: You have not got "all day, all night, Mary Ann,” on this front. But this is the tragedy. It has been remarkable throughout the 38 months that more has not been done by this Government to manage this risk. Rather, the narrative has been how diff icult the problem is, how challenging it is, it comes from the entire front bench of the OBA, and not only how difficult it is but that it was caused by . . . and they lay blame. That is old and it is time to move on. Mr. Speaker, and in commending and congratulating Shadow Minister Burt for this excellent R eply, it is a complete refutation of Moody’s. I do not know what the Minister of Finance served up to Moody’s to produce this analysis. I do not know what they did. But if they had this Reply . . . if they had this Reply, it would have brought into deeper, realistic perspective what it was that is going on in Bermuda that would not have produced this rather encouraging Moody’s report. Nonsense, I say, to this Moody’s r eport when the reality on the ground of where we are, of where we are really . . . and I pause there. A dear friend of yours, your priest, was ma king this same speech on Wednesday night [about] where we are at the present. It is a time for us to cease having arguments in this place. It is a time for solutions. It is the time, said Bishop Vernon Lambe at the ecumenical service that he spoke at here in St. Paul’s on Court Street in the presence of several bishops, led by the presiding elder of the African Methodist Church celebrating Bl ack History Month. Several bishops . . . Bishop Duncan, Bishop Dill, Bishop of Hamilton, Bishop . . . and I will come to his name. I have his name, but the Hamilton Bishop, the Catholic Bishop —
[Inaudible interjection] Hon. Michael J. Scott: No, . . . let me do him —
[Inaudible interjections and crosstalk]
Hon. Michael J. Scott: Wiesław, yes. In the presence of all of these esteemed clergymen he preached. Bishop Lambe is at the pinnacle of the spir itual ministerial fervour right now, and when he speaks he speaks like many men and women who have reached this seasoned age. And his concern, Mr. Speaker, was that this is a time for asking the question, What will the righteous do? That is how he dubbed his sermon. He said this is no longer a time for us to be arguing. It is a time for leadership. He said that the country’s course direction that has been set under the current Government, he was speaking . . . and that is the other thing about Bishop Lambe, not only is he at the pinnacle of his spiritual fervour and leadership, he is a person who grew up right here on Court, Victoria Street, and he comments and he is able to comment, he is mandated and able to comment upon the condi-tions in our land. We are at a point where the moral foundation of our country is being destroyed and we are at the worst state of affairs that he has ever seen us in. And he pulls no punches. I know what he was . . . the congregation that he speaks to each Sunday and many other days, knows what he is talking about. We are going through difficult times. But, again, to the Minister of Tourism, through you, Mr. Speaker, we need men and women to meet these challenges. It is about the management of these risks, and they are not insurmountable or impossible. The Shadow Minister’s successi ve replies have been a huge effort at producing plans at r esponding to the difficulty. And so day one, month one, 728 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly of the OBA’s administration, what we find is the very debt that the Tourism Minister alleges put us in a diff icult—the most difficult —position, he . . . the current Minister of Finance creates an equivalent debt and expects people of this country to place confidence and trust in him. The borrowing of $800 million and then a later borrowing of $200 million from the bank —I mean, it is another bill ion dollars. And the calculation on which the Minister of Finance rested this borrowing was that he would save the country money because interest rates imposed by Ms. Yellen would continue to increase and we would borrow now and save the cost of borrowing later. Well, that was a complete miscalculation and it was part of the tragedy that I r eferred to of the OBA, one of their many mistakes at managing the risk with which they were faced when they came into office. So the Bishop Lambe has these concerns. The concerns though are shared by others. Larry Burchall, an esteemed commentator and journalist, is under no illusions about where he stands about the Mi nister’s decision about the airport. When Shadow F inance Minister Burt cited that committee’s asses sment of the cost that we will experience from the ai rport, notwithstanding the touting by the Minister of Finance that we are getting a free ride because it is being paid for by CCC, Mr. Burchall has indicated, and it is clear, this deal will cost us money. And this great amalgam of debt management, of fiscal restraint combined with stimulus described in last year’s Budget by the Minister of Finance, portrays and brings to the table this flawed airport deal as one of the stimulus packages. The only one that is making any sense, the only one that is having any reasonable success is the America’s Cup. It really is, I acknow ledge that.
[Inaudible interjections] Hon. Michael J. Scott: Dr. Gibbons wants me to sign off on something now. And the Green family’s stat ed commitment on two of the eight projects in your stage and steps to stimulus, out of the eight only three are really in action and those are Sinky Bay, Phase 2 at the Hamilton Princess, and America’s Cup.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Michael J. Scott: Pink Beach. And so we have a local inward investor of the committed Green family making its fair share of the contribution. And the Minister of Tourism (who has left his seat) is painting rosy pictures about shovels that are about to go into the ground. I have not heard once, and I am shocked that I have not heard it from the Minister of Tourism, about many of the winds that will buffet this whole recovery process. Cuba and its competition has not been mentioned, but that is one of the winds that is going to buffet our competitive pos ition as we seek . . . and these things should be thought about. Instead of blaming the PLP, these things should be analysed. Instead of blaming he PLP, instead of saying that it is difficult, posit the prob-lem, shape the probl em, identify it. And that is another thing that Bishop Lambe said. Know where we are today in the here and now. That is what the true leadership will show. The Premier is not showing this kind of lea dership. He is showing no leadership. A number of his Ministers are doing everything possible to bring the assessment of this country’s misdirection and bad course direction to bear. The Immigration Minister, supported by the Minister of Justice, Moniz, the Education Minister who trots out fervent hope about not placing money above our children’s futures, but he is very much constrained by what Minister E. T. Ric hards is going to tell him what must happen in terms of closures. I am under no illusions that closures are on their way. The Minister of Education may tell public a udiences . . . he, too, is committed to not having money become a consideration, but he will have an imposs ible task to turn around his Minister of Finance and whoever else subscribes to these awful decisions about public education at our prim ary school level. But Bishop Lambe has a wide audience at his sanctuary. Mr. Larry Burchall has a wide audience with his media institution Bernews. They are concerned as we all are concerned. Many sermons are preached, like the Bishop’s. Sermons on Main St reet are preached, sermons on dinner tables are preached. People are concerned about primary school closures, people are concerned, Mr. Speaker, about paths to citizenship promulgated by the Minister from the other place. People are concerned about marriage equality and same- sex marriage. People are concerned about a number of things.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberWhere do you stand? Hon. Michael J. Scott: I will tell you where I stand in due time. [Laughter] Hon. Michael J. Scott: So it is immigration, justice, finance and the Finance Minister on this airport deal, Mr. Speaker. These are the winds that are blowing across this country and …
Where do you stand?
Hon. Michael J. Scott: I will tell you where I stand in due time.
[Laughter]
Hon. Michael J. Scott: So it is immigration, justice, finance and the Finance Minister on this airport deal, Mr. Speaker. These are the winds that are blowing across this country and are causing people to stand up and say, No, no, to immigration reform. The people are going to be lining up on the airport deal, airport proposition, and these are the miscalculations of these three or four lead Ministers not led by this Pr emier. Mr. Speaker, when Bishop Lambe calls for leadership—righteous leadership, where you are doing things —the Premier has a major role in infl uencing
Bermuda House of Assembly his Ministers. He is the first amongst those equals. But it is not being seen that any kind of influence is being brought to bear on these key Ministers of Immigration, Education and Finance. It is a tragedy. And we get the last speaker standing up and saying, Oh, we have difficulty. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, Mr. Speaker, but good men and women—good leaders — find solutions, and do not create situations where the country is about to go into complete protest and mel tdown and chaos. It is remarkable that we can have this kind of absence of leadership from the OBA. At this sermon, for an example of what kind of leadership we expect, Richard Allen was cited. At a time of great difficulty when racial segregation was causing him to attend St. George’s Chapel (Methodist Church) in segregated conditions, what he did was to stand up— the way people in this country are standing up—saying “enough,” and leaving St. George’s Chapel, leading his congregants out of that church in protest to say, We w ill establish the African Methodist Episcopal Church. And they went a short distance down the road to Sixth Avenue and [Lombard] and land was purchased and Mother Bethel was born. That story and that legacy have continued now to t oday from 1794. What a legacy. This is the kind of righteous doing that we need, so said the esteemed Bishop Lambe. The other part of this tragedy that we see is that part of the method and response . . . what has been the response of the OBA to what they found when they came to G overnment. First, they pr onounced the country is in too much debt. And Mr. Speaker, tragically, what they do is attack. They come up with the SAGE report. It attacks public servants. It threatens them with elimination, reductions, closure of their ministries and departments. It was horrendous and it was a bad reaction. Manage the risk is all we ask.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael J. Scott: SAGE . . . the SAGE reaction was just that, a reaction. And it was a heinous reaction, Mr. Speaker, it was a harsh reaction, it was a punitive reaction. Let me demonstrate how reactive it was. It spoke of more pain to the public sector. Meanwhile the OBA Government in its nascent opening days of governing continued, instead of coming up with solutions and coming up with answers, continued the narrative that it is all the PLP’s fault and we are going to introduce strictures, austerity, but the SAGE Commission is remarkable, if you go back and read it, when you come to think that what went on the chopping block aft er the Minister, with your permission, characterised SAGE as enabling the Minister of F inance, Mr. Speaker, to enable any type of saving through mutualisation, privatisation or outsourcing, umbrella legislation called the Public Bodies Act —we all remember that —will be brought before Parliament. This will establish the legal authority for the Minister of Finance to make various reforms, abolish, merge, modify or transfer government department quangos and government funds —wholesale disruption of government as we know it. I mean, these are the punitive measures, the active response of SAGE and what was on the chopping block. And, Mr. Speaker, it bears being reminded that this activity became a change of gears by the OBA in the drop back of the Opposition—this Loyal Opposition. Castigating the Opposition and the Opposition coming out of the drama of Jetgate scandals, the collateral damage which was the loss of a sitting Premier, the resignation of an Attorney General, and the calling into serious question the j udgment of the Minister of Tourism. So the new narrative becomes, Let’s exercise power. SAGE is the way. And on the chopping block, I was about to indicate . . . I mean, remarkable as you revisit it, the airport’s operations and the Causeway, emissions and vehicle testing, aircraft registry and shipping registry. For my dollar, the airport registry and the shipping registry . . . it never became clear who . . . where the intended final home of these two important revenue generators was going to be. CITV, waste manag ement (including Tyne’s Bay and garbage collection), the vehicle equipment operations and maintenance (so this the garage element), parks and maintenance, water and sewage, the Department of Social Services (they would have taken over the Financ ial Assistance Programme, some private sector organisation pr esumably), highway maintenance, and conservation services. When I heard this being promulgated, Mr. Speaker, it caused me to cringe. It clearly caused civil servants to cringe because this was wholesale gutting of incredibly important government services. And this theme of getting rid of money -making revenue earners for the Government is replete in the Minister of Finance’s plan for the airport. It bears going back to page 14, and Larry Burchall ’s analysis, that it will cost us. First of all, the airport deal will cost us because we are going to lose $10 million annually for 30 years. That is a serious cost. And the other cost is that we are going to have to find some way, Mr. Speaker, to make up that lost revenue. So that is going to be taxes. That is going to hit us. That is a cost. Mr. Speaker, so future fiscal costs involved are going to be significant. No one can make the argument, as the Minister of Finance pretends and purports to tout, that we are getting a gift with this CCC financing of the airport. And apart from that, Mr. Speaker, the airport deal, as a stimulus package, does not produce in the general populace cheers and hoorays; it produces groans of despair and concern. So of the sti mulus packages that are the mix of fiscal restraints by the Government, the airport deal gets 730 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly very low points, really. And I hope that we find that that does not proceed, [that] it experiences the fate of SAGE, because they have gone very quiet on that. Mr. Speaker, the Government came into those front bench seats on your right on the basis that it was going . . . on the basis of a promise. And in the driving of a general policy led by these four Ministers to whom I have referred, there was absolutely no a ddressing of creating or introducing policy to produce remedies for the creation of the 2,000 jobs that were in play as a problem in our Island at the time that the OBA made this promise to the people of this country, that they would recreate these 2,000 jobs. Nothing has been done along these lines, which is why I decry the Minister of Tourism’s singular lack of reference to a sensible, credible tourism recovery plan, one that takes into account all of the issues that will face tourism, including the compet ition from China—I beg your pardon—from Cuba. China is listed as one of the winds in the economic report of the Government. The Government, in addition to parlaying Moody’s as having some type of vindication . . . I have made my point there. I take very l ow regard of what Moody’s has said. I do not believe they had all of the information. I do not believe that they did. And I take very little regard and it was remarkable to hear my Shadow Finance Minister put into context the 2014 GDP growth, which the Minister of Finance used to describe his position that, Mission accomplished, we’re out of the recession. But it was only . . . 2014 only saw 0.2 per cent growth. It is growth, and I accept that. And I accept, too, that we have had successive periods of growt h. But before you declare that your mission has been accomplished, consider the other reasons why we got to GDP growth. Much of it was dependent on external factors. In his Budget Statement last year, the Minister of Finance, on this very topic of recessi on, said that the recession was locally driven and created and based on infrastructure problems here on the Island. That is what he said. Today, last Friday, I would have thought that when looking at the reason why we have had . . . and the basis of the GD P recovery or GDP growth, we would necessarily have to look at what was responsible for it. And all of the factors are external. The critical one was the decrease in oil prices and the Minister said that in his Statement. That is an external factor. And the United States employment fi gures contributed as an external factor. People who are getting money in their pockets as a consequence of having a job will take vacations. And business people, the international business sector, will take vacations. That woul d have had a direct impact on travel to this Island and to other destinations for leisure. That is another external factor. All of these external factors are brought to bear on our GDP growth for 2014. But we do not get this picture painted as clearly or as a ccurately as the people must demand. I return to the theme that the people want to [hear] —solutions. They are not interested any longer in blame. And after 38 months it is high time and past time that solutions are presented, solutions that are credibl e and that work. So the stimulus wording proposition of the Minister in his last Budget involved $900 [million], nearly a billion dollars of stimulus, and they are made up across these projects —St. Regis at $140 million (with your permission); Ritz Reserve $160 million; the Phase 2 of Hamilton at $40 [million]; and Sinky Bay at $5 [million]; Pink Beach at $30 [million; Ariel Sands at $50 [million]; the Airport at $255 million. This is why the Minister seems so hell -bent on accelerating the airport —it is a m ajor part of his $1 billion stimulus — and doing it no matter what the headwinds [are]. America’s Cup $250 million. It all totals at $930 mi llion. And they all have periods —two to three years for delivery. As I indicated, Mr. Speaker, the ones that are active are clear, two of which are locally grown from the Green family. The Government needs to be ex-tremely modest about how it is driving the revenue generation from stimulus. It needs to be balanced in how it delivers fiscal contraction to pay down debt so that it does not actually prolong or, indeed, create a fall back into recession. Mr. Speaker, another perception that I have— and I do not know whether many other people share this—is the accelerated speed with which the Minister of Finance feels he must dri ve this proposition to pay down the debt. This is a very successful economy. It has been historically, and it has not gone anywhere, which is why the call for management of risk sensibly and prudently is a good bet for any reasonably competent government. The PLP had that competence— it had it as a vision in any event. This is what the watchword was for us. Not blaming, not excuses, but management of risk. It can be done . . . diversific ation—so that you start to get the engine going once again. But what we see is this complete failure to i ntroduce diversity into the economic mix and this . . . I have the perception that there is this acceleration of —
[Timer beeps]
Hon. Michael J. Scott: —paying down debt.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Member, MP J. C. Sousa, from constituency 28. MP Sousa, you have the floor.
Mr. Jeff SousaGood afternoon, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon, colleagues, and good afternoon to those in the listening audience. I certainly would like to congratulate the Mini ster of Finance for his fantastic Budget that he has pr eBermuda House of Assembly sented, like the Minister of Tourism eloquently spoke about earlier. Personally, …
Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon, colleagues, and good afternoon to those in the listening audience. I certainly would like to congratulate the Mini ster of Finance for his fantastic Budget that he has pr eBermuda House of Assembly sented, like the Minister of Tourism eloquently spoke about earlier. Personally, I feel Bob Richards will go down in history as one of the greatest Ministers of F inance this country has ever had. To start things off, Mr. Speaker, I would just like to be able to read [the article] from the Royal G azette, page 4, of last Saturday’s Royal Gazette by Craig Simmons, who is (as we know) an economist, and he is a lecturer at the Bermuda College. I would just like to read . . . well, the headline obviously clearly states, “Work of . . . brilliance.” And the paragraph: “To the first point: the finance minister did what he had to do. He has taken decisive steps to reduce the deficit, notwithstanding the real possibility of the debt ri sing above $3 billion by year’s end. The point is that the finance minister has a credible plan for debt r eduction largely because last year’s targets were met.” And as we clearly heard earlier b y the Minister of Finance, from the Moody report, it shows that Bermuda is moving in the right direction. The world— people in finance —are paying attention. The bottom line, Mr. Speaker, is this Government —the One Bermuda Alliance Government —has restored th e conf idence of business to invest in Bermuda and we are seeing this. We were elected at the end of 2012 to turn around the economy, to right the ship. This is what the people of Bermuda wanted. Obviously, not what the Progressive Labour Party wanted, but the majority of the population decided they wanted a new Gover nment to take Bermuda in the right direction. And of course—
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes? POINT OF ORDER Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Spe aker, if the Honourable Member is going to read, can he table it so I can read it also? That is the rule.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. I do not see that, but I will make sure . . . make sure that you do not actually read. I mean, people have to make reference to what they are saying, so—
Mr. Jeff SousaThank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I was not reading. I was referring to notes as everybody else does in the House of Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Jeff SousaOkay. Mr. Spe aker, we heard the Members on the other side say that we should not talk about the past. But what we need to remind those that sit on the other side is why the budget is the way it is now. Let us be honest. We are …
Okay. Mr. Spe aker, we heard the Members on the other side say that we should not talk about the past. But what we need to remind those that sit on the other side is why the budget is the way it is now. Let us be honest. We are in the mess we are in now because in the p ast so many contracts were given out like Halloween candy. All right? So many contracts did not go out to bid. Examples of those: Port Royal; TCD; the new dock at Dockyard; the new Court building; Berk eley. Some of these bids were actually awarded, Mr. Speaker, and there were not even companies set up, the companies were set up after the bids were awarded. All right? What we were doing —
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Speaker, point of order.
Mr. Jeff Sousa—at the time, we were — Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Point of order.
Mr. Jeff Sousa—carrying on like drunken sailors. [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member, take your seat. The Chair recognises the Honourable Member. Your point of order? [Cross talk] POINT OF ORDER Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: The point of order, Mr. Speaker —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerOrder please! [Gavel] Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: —is that if the Member is making accusations, then he needs to produce the evidence. It is as simple as that. You just cannot stand up in this House and make serious accusations like that without producing evidence.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you, Honourable Member.
Mr. Jeff SousaMr. Speaker, much of what I am sa ying is in this document right here, this green document by the Auditor General. Okay. And of course goodness . . . you know, the thing is, so many of the top civil servants of the coun-try were recommending that this should …
Mr. Speaker, much of what I am sa ying is in this document right here, this green document by the Auditor General. Okay. And of course goodness . . . you know, the thing is, so many of the top civil servants of the coun-try were recommending that this should not occur. So the Ministers at the time went against this grain. But praise the Lord, Mr. Speaker, the people of this coun732 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly try saw the light and switched the government —praise the Lord!
[Inaudible interjections] [Gavel]
Mr. Jeff SousaMany will remember in leading up to the election that they received in the mail this document, Mr. Speaker, “Jobs and Economic Turnaround Plan.”
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberHow is that going?
Mr. Jeff SousaAnd, of course, then we highlighted reducing Government debt —
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberHow is that going?
Mr. Jeff Sousa—is what we highlighted. An d, of course, we have done that or we are doing that.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Honourable Member. POINT OF ORDER
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, this Honourable Member cannot actually be serious. His own Mini ster’s Budget St atement says that the debt increased under him, so why is he saying that —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member just . . . it is just . . . yes, thank you, Honourable Member. Carry on, Member.
Mr. Jeff SousaI am liking this, Mr. Speaker. And, of course, control Government spending. Goodness, Mr. Speaker, the former PLP Government grew the civil service between 2006 and 2007 by 25 per cent.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWhat is your point of order?
Mr. E. David BurtHe is misleading the House. The civil service was not increased by 25 per cent between 2006 and 2007. It was — [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Jeff SousaObviously, Mr. Speaker, I must be hitting a nerve because there are points of order every five seconds. This is why almost 85 per cent of the Budget is on salaries, grants, contributions and debt. This cannot continue, Mr. Speaker. The PLP talk about job losses last year. Yes, there …
Obviously, Mr. Speaker, I must be hitting a nerve because there are points of order every five seconds. This is why almost 85 per cent of the Budget is on salaries, grants, contributions and debt. This cannot continue, Mr. Speaker. The PLP talk about job losses last year. Yes, there were job losses. There were 298 job losses, and of those 298, 225 were Government job losses and those wer e due to people retiring or taking early r etirement.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberCheck the facts.
Mr. Jeff SousaThese are the facts, Mr. Speaker. And, of course, I want to emphasise that nobody was terminated, nobody was laid off from the civil service.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Honourable Member. POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. E. David BurtOnce again the Honourable Member is misleading the House, as he knows full well there are multiple people on multiple- year temporary contracts and their contracts were not renewed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Honourable Member. [Inaudible interjections and crosstalk]
Mr. Jeff SousaThank you, Mr. Speaker. And, of course, what we are saying here is that the confidence is taking hold. Peopl e are pleased with what is going on and that is why people want to invest. If people do not have confidence, they certainly do not want to invest. And …
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, of course, what we are saying here is that the confidence is taking hold. Peopl e are pleased with what is going on and that is why people want to invest. If people do not have confidence, they certainly do not want to invest. And of course I want to, if I may have your permission, Mr. Speaker, I would like to allude to the chart, the Economic Stimulus Chart, on page 16 of the Budget Statement produced by the Minister of Finance. When we talk about the AC Village, we talk about Ariel Sands; we are talking about in the next five years $1.8 billion dollars worth of work. If that is not a stimulus! And again for people to say that there is no work out there and people are not busy and that businesses will be closing is ludicrous. I mean, I do know what type of businesses these people are in.
Bermuda House of Assembly And, Mr. Speaker, I truly hope that Mr. and Mrs . Bermuda are listening. We have Morgan’s Point Resort Ltd. This pr oject is taking place. They are investing. Bids are going out to tender. Bids are being given to people.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, what is the point of order? POINT OF ORDER [Misleading] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: The Honourable Member is misleading this House when he says that construction jobs are going out for bids. The airport did not go out for bid.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerCarry on, Honourable Member.
Mr. Jeff SousaMr. Speaker, just to remind the Member, I am not sure if he was taking a nap or not —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerSpeak, speak to the Chair. [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Jeff SousaI am not sure if the Member on that side was taking a nap or not, I was referring to Morgan’s Point Resort Ltd. Bids are going out to tender —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerLet us . . . let us allow the debate to go on.
Mr. Jeff SousaYes. Yes. Thank you. [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Jeff SousaLook, you know, I know for a fact that this is taking place, Mr. Speaker, because I am in business. I am a contractor. I own several businesses and I am seeing these bids and I know for a fact that at Morgan’s Point, for example, you know, they have …
Look, you know, I know for a fact that this is taking place, Mr. Speaker, because I am in business. I am a contractor. I own several businesses and I am seeing these bids and I know for a fact that at Morgan’s Point, for example, you know, they have got key people moving to Bermuda. You know, they are down here, things are happening. We actually see projects starting Island- wide. You know, and as an example, we had the Shadow Minister of Finance saying that, you know, businesses are going to close and people are not hiring. Well, I will tell y ou what, in the last five years I never had any . . . you know, until recently, I never had any bids to even look at, that was how bad business was in Ber-muda. But because of the confidence in the One Bermuda Alliance, that has changed. Now I have oodles of bids to look at. I actually have people competing to get our services. We are busy. Our company actually has just recently r ecruited a Bermudian who was living and working in Canada for the last 10 years (soon you will see the press release) to come back to Bermuda to work for our company.
[Desk thumping]
Mr. Jeff SousaJust recently we hired two young men who are 18 years old from CedarBridge to work for our company. Just recently we hired a gentleman out of Westgate to work for our company. Just r ecently we hired another young lady to work as a sales associate. This is what …
Just recently we hired two young men who are 18 years old from CedarBridge to work for our company. Just recently we hired a gentleman out of Westgate to work for our company. Just r ecently we hired another young lady to work as a sales associate. This is what I call growth and this is not just happening in my companies, this is happening in companies Island- wide because of their confidence in what is taking place with the One Bermuda Al liance. And I am here to tell my brothers and sisters that this has only just started. This is only just starting. I would also go further to say that, contrary to what the Member on the other side said, the Shadow Minister of Finance, let alone businesses looking to shut down, I would encourage Bermudians who have the work ethic, who have the right attitude, to start their own business now. There has never been a be tter time in our history to start a business than now. You would have to go back to the buil ding of the US bases to recall a time that was as economically v ibrant as what we are going to see in the next couple of years. And I want . . . that will be in the Hansard and I will back that up down the road. I do not see this trend slowing down. This year the St. George’s Hotel will be built —or it will start. Spades will go in the ground. Likewise, the airport will be started. This will create so many jobs for our peo-ple, not just in the East End of the Island, but Islandwide. And not just the construc tion jobs, but all the services that go with it. And, again, I have 30- plus years’ experience as a contractor, so I am not just talking to hear myself. I will back it up. This will be in Hansard. Anybody can call me out down the road. These are two very large contracts. We were elected to create jobs and that is exactly what we are doing. And then there is another example, like right now for example, something that I am very passionate about, entrepreneurship is alive and well. Every day we see in the newspaper, we see online, young Bermudians starting businesses. Just recently my friend, Antwan Albuoy, has started a water sports business. And, of course, myself because I have a passion for this, I am helping out this young people on a constant basis. And, f or example, he is looking to hire 20 people. Right? This is all positive. But this is happening because of the confidence in the One Bermuda All iance Government. Of course, nobody wants to see taxes go up, Mr. Speaker. I was not pleased myself as a bus inessman when I heard that the percentage was going up. And, of course, then I asked questions. But when you have an additional almost $2 billion of work co ming in the community, business will be able to grow, they will be able to pay this additional small per cent734 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly age because we all need to share the burden. We are all in this together.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Jeff SousaThat is the key thing. It is not just one person. This is not about just feathering the pockets of a chosen few. I want to say that one more time. This is not about just feathering the pockets of a chosen few. And, of course, some of this will …
Mr. Jeff SousaAnd, Mr. Speaker, I want to be very clear here. My colleagues and I do realise that people are hurting. We realise that people are out there suffering. We realise that people are unemployed or underemployed. I am in their homes, I see them. I am canvassing. I am out …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerCome on. Come on now, Honourable Members. I do not mind people talking to each other and whispering to each other, but you cannot be di srupting the debate. Let us allow people to speak. Each and every Member will have an opportunity. Some Members have had an opportunity to …
Come on. Come on now, Honourable Members. I do not mind people talking to each other and whispering to each other, but you cannot be di srupting the debate. Let us allow people to speak. Each and every Member will have an opportunity. Some Members have had an opportunity to speak for an hour or more. Most will have only 30 minutes.
Mr. Jeff SousaThank you, Mr. Speaker. I will repeat that—
The SpeakerThe SpeakerPlease, please, Honourable Member.
Mr. Jeff Sousa—just in case people did not hear what I said.
Mr. Jeff SousaThe Members that sit on this side in the One Bermuda Alliance and I care about what takes place in this country. I am a father, a grandf ather of two love ly grandsons. I care. And I do not just care about my grandsons; I care about everybody’s grandsons …
The Members that sit on this side in the One Bermuda Alliance and I care about what takes place in this country. I am a father, a grandf ather of two love ly grandsons. I care. And I do not just care about my grandsons; I care about everybody’s grandsons in this House. I care about all the people in this country. So when people say that we do not care, that is a bunch of hogwash. And that is all . . . and when they say that, to be honest with you, Mr. Speaker, it is just playing ping pong, it is just playing politics. None of us on this side signed up because we do not care. But I assure you, when I talked about people hurting and stuff, this is going to change. Right? It has started to change. And, again, in my role as being . . . You know, there is always going to be the unemplo y-able in any country. That takes place all over the world. But on the other side there are many of our people and many of my friends and most are black — of course, I say that because on the other side they love to [speak of] race constantly —that these people can actually pick, choose and refuse. I am talking daily! They can actually pick, choose and refuse the employer they are going to work for because they have the right attitude; they have the right work ethic; they have the right education. In my role, Mr. Speaker, which I am very proud to have as Chairman of the National Training Board, we have worked really hard in putting together Bermuda’s first National Training Plan. Last year Part 1 was rolled out. Very soon Part 2 will be rolled out. This is the plan right here. It just needs to go to DCI. It is all set to go. And again, here we will guide our people to where the jobs will be in the short term—now —and in the future. I mentioned about encouraging a Bermudian who had lived and worked in Canada for the last 10 years to come home. Now is the time, come join my organisation. We are growing. Start off in a midmanagement position and down the road you will have a top position in the company. You have the background; you have what it takes. I likewise would encourage our brothers and sisters who are living across the pond, whether it is in the UK, the United States, no matter where i t is, to be online, to be watching what is going on, but there has never been a better time to come back to Bermuda and help our Island go forward because we are all in this together. In closing, Mr. Speaker, I truly would like to commend the Minister of F inance for the Budget he has put forward. As was earlier said, it is not easy at all being the Minister of Finance. It is a very difficult job. But I feel very strongly that Bermuda is heading in the right direction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. The Chair will recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 17. MP Walton Brown, you have the floor.
Mr. Walton BrownMr. Speaker, last night I was watching the Republican/Democratic Debate and it seemed like it was stand -up comedy with men in suits. And then I come here today, Mr. Speaker, and I have memories of that event last night. Last night I just turned it off after about an …
Mr. Speaker, last night I was watching the Republican/Democratic Debate and it seemed like it was stand -up comedy with men in suits. And then I come here today, Mr. Speaker, and I have memories of that event last night. Last night I just turned it off after about an hour and a half. Today I think I will be here for the duration, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYou do not have to be. Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Walton Brown: It is my obligation, Mr. Speaker, it is my obligation. Mr. Speaker, let me first of all commend the Shadow Minister for Finance for an excellent Reply to the Minister of Finance’s Budget. It was erudite, fact …
You do not have to be.
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Walton Brown: It is my obligation, Mr. Speaker, it is my obligation. Mr. Speaker, let me first of all commend the Shadow Minister for Finance for an excellent Reply to the Minister of Finance’s Budget. It was erudite, fact - based, had vision, and had courage. One very important component of the Shadow Minister’s presentation was a profound level of compassion for the impact of economic policy. We hear from the Finance Minister, and thus far from the Government’s side of charts an d debt levels and debt service levels, we have not heard much about people, not at all. But ultimately we are here in the Legislature of this colonial outpost and our responsibility is to the people of this country, first and foremost. And the Budget reflects the priorities of a Government, the sensitivities of a Government on the key issues. I have not felt any passion. I heard my honourable friend from Warwick West speak passionately.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberHe did a great job.
Mr. Walton BrownI am not going to concur with the comment that he did a great job. He spoke passionately. But Mr. Speaker, the passion with which he spoke is belied by the OBA policies. I listened to my honourable friend, the Minister for Tourism speak. I was impressed with his deliver …
I am not going to concur with the comment that he did a great job. He spoke passionately. But Mr. Speaker, the passion with which he spoke is belied by the OBA policies. I listened to my honourable friend, the Minister for Tourism speak. I was impressed with his deliver y. I thought I was at a Broadway performance because he was captivating, he had great drama, cadence, but Mr. Speaker, it is not about the delivery, it is about the substance. And the substance of the OBA Finance Minister’s position is that the people come secondary to what they see as the economic and business i mperative because they inherently embrace the notion that trickledown economics will deliver the social and economic good for the vast majority. What economist today, Mr. Speaker, embraces that noti on? No credible economist, but that is the essence of the OBA a pproach. So, Mr. Speaker, if you could kind of let me know when I have four minutes left, I would appreciate that, if I get to that point. First of all, Mr. Speaker, the Budget speaks [and] dem onstrates that the Government is just not serious about addressing the issues that mean the most to the people of this country who are hurting. There was no sensitivity expressed in that Budget on any level at a time when the Government has repeatedly said there should be shared sacrifice, what do we see? What do we see? An increased burden on the working man and woman in this country. There is no shared sacrifice. I listened to the Honourable Member from Warwick West talk about . . . we are all, you know, we are going to spread it around. There is no spreading around because the rich still get away with reduced taxes —reduced taxes —the higher the income they have. The higher the income they have, they pay a lower tax rate. How is that tenable in 21 st century Bermuda, Mr. Speaker? The Honourable Minister for Tourism talked about the Government has the responsibility to make difficult decisions. He said that a few times —difficult decisions, a solemn responsibility to reduce expenses and to increase revenue. So if you are really serious about reducing expenses and increasing revenue, why was that not reflected in a way that is sensitive to the plight of the people in this country? Why would you impose a greater burden on the working man and woman through those proposals? Let us talk first about this notion about popul ation growth and economic growth. I have heard it for two or three years now and I kept thinking, That is vaguely reminiscent of my old university days, Ec onomics 101. How many of us remember Walt Rostow and the Stages of Economic Growth?
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Walton BrownFinance Minister, Economic D evelopment Minister, Shadow Minister of Finance? You guys remember Walt Rostow. Everybody! You should all remember —19 th century, early 20th century ec onomic philosophy. How on earth could a Minister of Finance continue to parade the notion that there is an inherent and necessary link …
Finance Minister, Economic D evelopment Minister, Shadow Minister of Finance? You guys remember Walt Rostow. Everybody! You should all remember —19 th century, early 20th century ec onomic philosophy. How on earth could a Minister of Finance continue to parade the notion that there is an inherent and necessary link between population growth and economic growth in the 21 st century world?
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Walton B rownRight. It is true, it is true, it is true. How idiotic an argument is that, Mr. Speaker? How idiotic an argument is that? Let me explain. I hear my honourable friend, Minister Richards, talk about how true it is. Let me explain. He worked in the rei nsurance business, …
Right. It is true, it is true, it is true. How idiotic an argument is that, Mr. Speaker? How idiotic an argument is that? Let me explain. I hear my honourable friend, Minister Richards, talk about how true it is. Let me explain. He worked in the rei nsurance business, he should know better. He should know better because the reinsurance business has grown, have increased their revenue, increased their net income, and r educed employment.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Walton BrownWe know that the ins urance linked security business has grown. Go and speak to anybody in reinsurance and ask them about the success of the insurance linked security business. It is employee neutral. It is technology driven. They do not need — Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: No, …
We know that the ins urance linked security business has grown. Go and speak to anybody in reinsurance and ask them about the success of the insurance linked security business. It is employee neutral. It is technology driven. They do not need —
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: No, they have employees.
[Inaudible interjections]
736 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: You don’t know what you are talking about.
Mr. Walton BrownMr. Speaker, I am speaking to you, correct? [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Walton BrownGo and talk to the people who run the businesses. They will tell you that what they hoped the insurance linked security business will do is sustain their current levels of employment. It is not going to increase in employment because technology is so important. Twenty -first c entury businesses …
Go and talk to the people who run the businesses. They will tell you that what they hoped the insurance linked security business will do is sustain their current levels of employment. It is not going to increase in employment because technology is so important. Twenty -first c entury businesses are heavily reliant on technology. So when you are relying on technology, it means you need fewer workers. So what you have is a situation where companies have the ability to generate greater profits with fewer employees. So, economic gr owth and the increase in jobs are not necessarily connected. If you have an old i ndustrial factory business or you are a coal mining business, yes, to get more coal out of the ground the company needs more workers. But if you are in international finance, if you are in the reinsurance bus iness, go and ask the reinsurers. Why did HSBC r educe their employee staff by over 1,000? Technology. What has online banking done? So stop with the rhetoric! Stop with the rhetoric. Stop with the rhetoric about companies r equiring . . . that you need to have an increased number of people in order for bus inesses to grow. That is because there is a different agenda about immigration. Clearly, we always have had to bring in foreign workers for time immemorial, of course, because Bermuda was unpopulated when the colonialists first came. Okay? We have always had to bring in people to work. That has continued unabated since 1609—since 1609. But what we need is a r ational policy to do so. You do not need a politically inspired or r acially inspired immigration policy to ensure that there are the appropriate conditions in place — Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Walton Brown—for businesses — Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Walton Brown—to succeed. I do not need a point of order. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member, please sit down.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. POINT OF ORDER [Imputing improper motives] Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you. Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member is [i mputing] improper motive of this Government in saying that our immigration policy is racially motivated. I take offence to it. He needs to withdraw that st atement.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member.
Mr. Walton BrownFine, okay. Mr. Speaker, now I am going to use up two minutes of my time to speak about why it is racially motivated. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Do not do it. We already know. [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Walton BrownI will follow my Leader’s direction. [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Walton BrownMr. Speaker, the real issue, the real issue is that you have a Government — [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Walton BrownThe real issue is that we have a Government that does not demonstrate its concern for the people. At a time when you have 3,000 people unemployed, this Government says, Well, the remedy to economic growth is to ensure that more people come here and get jobs. And it is …
The real issue is that we have a Government that does not demonstrate its concern for the people. At a time when you have 3,000 people unemployed, this Government says, Well, the remedy to economic growth is to ensure that more people come here and get jobs. And it is r einforced by the Junior Minister of Immigration, Mr. Speaker. The re medy is to bring more people in here to give them jobs—no focus whatsoever on the 3,000 unemployed, except for the Honourable Member from Warwick West just recently. So, Mr. Speaker, at a time when you have 3,000 people unemployed, the remedy of the Go vernment is to give heart -wrenching stories about longterm residents who have not had an opportunity to get the kind of security that they seek in this country — heart -wrenching stories. Sure they are. But Mr. Speaker, you would equally give heart -wrenching st ories about the 3,000 people who have not been able to find work for two, three or four years. Last night, Mr. Speaker, I hosted a meeting in my constituency to talk about work opportuni ties and issues related to employment. There was a young lady. This is her heart -wrenching story. She worked in the United States. She left because her permission to
Bermuda House of Assembly reside and work in the US had come to an end and she had to leave. So she came back to Ber muda. She has a Master’s degree [but] she cannot find work. She applied for work as a cleaner, but they will not hire her as a cleaner because she needs two years exper ience cleaning. And as I say, I do not blame the company because the company realises they are able to get work permits from this Government. Two years training to be a cleaner? And you bring people to work in those capacities who are happy to come. Do not blame them because they come legally. You do not blame them, but they have no training whatsoever, no training. So the Gover nment is not serious. Do not express concern and compassion when it is not reflected in any of your policies. When your public utterances speak about the need to bring people in at a time of hardship, it does not make . . . it does not have credibility. But let us talk about some of the tax policy, Mr. Speaker. Let us talk first about, just one comment about the airport. There are three or four pages d evoted to the airport in the Budget Reply, so that seemed to be an important cornerstone for economic recovery. The problem with the airport deal is that it is founded, it is rooted in a corrupted process. Rooted in a corrupted process. Why, Mr. Speaker? Because the Minister of Finance said to this House that they struck a deal with the Canadian CCC and that CCC would identify the best company to deliver the project to Bermuda. He said that on the floor of this House. It is very clear, Mr. Speaker, that Aecon approached CCC about getting the opportunity in Bermuda. It was an Aecon initiative, not a CCC initiative. When I posed that question to an Aecon represent ative at a town hall meeting, which actually went from beginning to end, Mr. Speaker, the Aecon represent ative refused to answer the question. He refused to answer t he question if he approached CCC about getting the deal in Bermuda. So because this process is corrupted, we just do not know if we are getting the best deal. We have no idea. So the process is a corrupted process from the very beginning. It needs to stop. Taxation, Mr. Speaker. The Government has a need to raise revenue. Everyone recognises that. The Government said something about sharing in the sacrifice. How is it that in 2016 when you have conti nued budget deficits, a significant level of debt — however we got there, however we got there —we could play games and point fingers and so on— [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Walton BrownRight. So let us tell the truth. The truth is that it was 1.4 . . . you increased it by a billion dollars in three months.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerUh-uh, uh -uh, Honourable Member. Speak to—
Mr. Walton BrownI am speaking to you, Mr. Speaker. I just do not look at you all the time. [Inaudible interjections and crosstalk]
Mr. Walton BrownOkay. So Mr. Speaker, we know what the challenges are. The Government has had a golden opportunity to address this by doing what is fair and proper. Let us take a look at the payroll tax. So at a time when businesses are still struggling . . . I am …
Okay. So Mr. Speaker, we know what the challenges are. The Government has had a golden opportunity to address this by doing what is fair and proper. Let us take a look at the payroll tax. So at a time when businesses are still struggling . . . I am not sure where the Member from Warwick West gets all his data from and how business are fine and dandy , a lot of businesses are still struggling, but we have i ncreased the burden on businesses by 1 per cent i ncrease in payroll tax.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Walton BrownSo why would the Government say, Hmm, we really do have a challenge. Why not look at lifting the cap? They do not talk about that. Rich people get a tax break. Why on earth, if we are facing a fiscal crisis, would you continue to have a tax break …
So why would the Government say, Hmm, we really do have a challenge. Why not look at lifting the cap? They do not talk about that. Rich people get a tax break. Why on earth, if we are facing a fiscal crisis, would you continue to have a tax break for the wealthy? Because you pay about 15 per cent up to $750,000, anything over that it is as if you [earned] $750,000. What does that mean in terms of the real tax rate? The average man and woman have their salary determined and assessed by the 15 per cent payroll tax. The business executiv e who is making $3 million in compensation pays a 3.75 per cent payroll tax — 3.75 per cent payroll tax. How on earth can you countenance a structure which provides a discount rate for the wealthy that are better able to pay over those making $50,000, $100,0 00, or more? It is unacceptable. Do not tell me that you are serious about ma king difficult decisions if you do not even have a di scussion with the companies about that. I know they whine because the rich are needy people, they are used to privilege on a number of levels, and they whine when you talk about anything that strikes of fairness because they benefitted from corporate tax breaks. And I have heard the comment, Oh, well, we pay enough in taxes already. We think that a cap is fine at 750. What kind of a commitment is that to this country? What kind of a commitment is that? If you are a senior executive earning $3 million or more . . . I know of one executive who got a bonus of $30 mi llion—$30 million! The payroll tax on that was less than 1 per cent . How in our fiscal crisis do you accept that? So, Government, have a discussion, have a debate with these executives. Allow them, persuade 738 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly them, cajole them to be much more serious contributors to our society in terms of the fairness of the tax system. A nd yes, yes, I know the refrain, Well, we rely on international business and if we don’t treat them right they are going to leave. But we need to have some conversation. I am not up here about to express what the appropriate tax framework should be b ecause that is the . . . on my side of the Parliament that is the purview of the Shadow Minister for Finance, but we should have some discussions about some issues. Last week Friday I talked to a few business people. They were saying, I was so sure the Gover nment was going to tax dividends. I was shocked. A businessman was saying, I am shocked that the Government did not tax dividends. If they’re really in a fi scal crisis, why wouldn’t there be a tax on that? This was . . . I have never had business people get c oncerned about that. But the reality is that if you are a working man or woman and your only income is your wage or salary, you are getting taxed on the totality of your income. If you are a business executive or if you have a lot of dividends coming in and a salary, you have a lower tax rate on your income. It is just as si mple as that. I know Members on that side understand that. Have the conversation. Have the conversation.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Walton BrownSo, Mr. Speaker, I am not going to get distracted. I am not going to get distracted, Mr. Speaker. Now, we need to have a conversation about the international pressures that are being brought to bear on places like Bermuda. There is nothing in the Minister’s presentation about the global …
So, Mr. Speaker, I am not going to get distracted. I am not going to get distracted, Mr. Speaker. Now, we need to have a conversation about the international pressures that are being brought to bear on places like Bermuda. There is nothing in the Minister’s presentation about the global c hallenges. We face an onslaught from the international comm unity because they see our taxation system as being unfair or a tax haven, that we allow companies to come here to escape taxes. We allow individuals to come here and ferret away their funds and not be responsible citizens in their own countries. That is a battle we cannot win. We are small. We do not speak for ourselves internationa lly and there will be growing, growing opposition to little fragile places like Bermuda. It is not right, but we do not have the power to resist. We do not have the power. Britain is not our ally on this issue, so we need to find an effective remedy for dealing with it. Mr. Speaker, there are some models of tax ation systems that we need to at least put into our di scussi on because if we are really serious about reducing our debt, having an appropriate taxation system for the 21 st century, then we need to put certain things on the table. The Government when it went to that Caribbean . . . what was it, Shadow Minister?
Mr. Walton BrownCaribbean . . . CARTAC. One of the conditions of the mandate given to them is that they are not looking at . . . not look at income tax. But a truly open Government would put all possibilities on the table. [Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Walton BrownWell, the Minister said that i ncome tax was something that was ruled out from the very beginning. [Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Walton BrownWe do not know what they said, no. So why would you just rule it out? And do not tell me that you ruled it out because you passed laws that said you cannot tax anybody until 2036—the same government that has ruled contracts to be void ab initio. Legislators …
We do not know what they said, no. So why would you just rule it out? And do not tell me that you ruled it out because you passed laws that said you cannot tax anybody until 2036—the same government that has ruled contracts to be void ab initio. Legislators can do a lot of things, and you should sit down and talk to people. But just consider this, Mr. Speaker, if you had a 5 per cent corporate tax, one year that I did a calc ulation we had about $50 billion in corporate revenue, net income, in Bermuda. Five per cent of $50 billion is $2.5 billion. That would make a real dent in our national debt. At least let us put it on the table for di scussion. Let us not be afraid—
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Walton BrownAh, yes. Mr. Speaker, this Government seems to be wedded, it seems to be i mmersed in everything that took place before, because almost all of their responses are that, Look what you did. Look what you did — [Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Walton BrownRight, right. But this is the Go vernment that said it is go ing to make tough decisions. It is going to make difficult decisions. [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Walton BrownPut it on the table, let us have a discussion. Let us have a discussion. [Gavel]
Mr. Walton BrownMr. Speaker, we come to this Parliament every year and we pass amendments to law in order to facilitate the growth and expansion of business. Surely the growth and expansion of bus iBermuda House of Assembly ness puts some kind of an obligation on these companies to give something back …
Mr. Speaker, we come to this Parliament every year and we pass amendments to law in order to facilitate the growth and expansion of business. Surely the growth and expansion of bus iBermuda House of Assembly ness puts some kind of an obligation on these companies to give something back to this Government and to this soc iety for their growth. And I know one of their responses will be, Well, we give lots of money to charity. Yes, last year they gave about $12 million — $12 million —it sounds like a lot of money. But what was their net income? In the billions. So we just need to put that on the table for discussion. You can deride it, you can dismiss it, but if you are serious about making tough decisions and difficult decisions, then would you at least have an informed discussion about things. There is a sector of internation al business which is calling for corporate tax.
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Walton BrownWell, well, let us see. The Honourable Minister for Community says, I am assuming those discussions have not been held. Well, I do not make any assumption; I just encourage the Gover nment to do something. If you have done it, you should share it. I know that there are …
Well, well, let us see. The Honourable Minister for Community says, I am assuming those discussions have not been held. Well, I do not make any assumption; I just encourage the Gover nment to do something. If you have done it, you should share it. I know that there are sectors of international business that are saying they actually believe that we can grow certain sectors by having a corporate tax. Do you know why? Because then the companies and entities that come here will be able to say to their home jurisdictions that they are paying a proper tax rate and, therefore, should not be forced to pay the higher tax rate in their own country. I do not make it up. I do not make it up.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Walton BrownRight. No, what you need to do is have a conversation with —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member, speak to the Chair.
Mr. Walton BrownI am speaking to you, Mr. Speaker. I am speaking to you directly .
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYeah, yeah, yeah, speak directly to me. Speak to me and not —
Mr. Walton BrownSpeak to the industry people who are articulating that position. They have talked to you to some extent already, talk some more, have some open discussions. Let us have a discussion about that, Mr. Speaker, if you are serious. If all you want to do is to protect the elite …
Speak to the industry people who are articulating that position. They have talked to you to some extent already, talk some more, have some open discussions. Let us have a discussion about that, Mr. Speaker, if you are serious. If all you want to do is to protect the elite and the greedy, then do not tell me you are serious about reducing the debt. Do not tell me you are serious about providing programmes for our young people. Do not tell me that you have to decide between increase in Financial Assistance versus increase in proper funding of our educational system because we have a shortage of revenue. Do not tell me you have those challenges if you cannot demons trate that you are serious about generating revenue in a fair and equitable way because the taxation system we have today is not fair, it is not equitable, it gives a special place of privilege to the wealthy, it is inappropriate for the 21 st century, and we need to sit down and try to figure out a way that we can have a much more rational system for the s ocial needs of this country and for the people of this country. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you, Honourable Member. Any other Honourable Member care to speak? The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Minister for Education. Minister Wayne Scott, you have the floor. Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to participate in this debate while it is still …
All right. Thank you, Honourable Member. Any other Honourable Member care to speak? The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Minister for Education. Minister Wayne Scott, you have the floor.
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am glad to participate in this debate while it is still rel atively early and we are being civil. But, you know, I certainly have to commend the Finance Minister on a responsible budget, but I actually want to give the Shadow Minister credit. I ac-tually like listening to him speak. Now, I am a techno logy person in business systems and such, so in my off-time I usually would just read fiction just to get away for a little bit and then kind of come back and focus and—
[Laughter] Hon. R. Wayne Scott: —as a lot of technology people do. So I listened to a lot of the remarks from the Shadow Minister, who actually speaks very el oquently. I have said that before and I say it again, and I do not mean that in jest, I mean that honestly. But then I have to kind of snap back to reality and actually kind of look at things, becaus e I hear how the suggestions of how we failed and how we are not doing what we need to do because we have been in Government for not even three years and should have everything fixed —
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Well, you know, we shou ld have everything fixed like right now, right now, with the plan for 2025 and it is going to take like 10 years to do because everything does not happen instantly. But, you know, then I look back and it is like okay. I understand that the Shadow Minister in his role, which he actually (as my colleague the Minister of Tourism pointed out) just likes to put distance between the fact that he was actually the Junior Minister while all this stuff was going on. And I remember hav740 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly ing conversations with the Member out at events and he seemed like a smart, articulate person. Do you really believe this stuff? And he would kind of like laugh and give some comment, and you know we would not get into that conversation because clearly it is not a conversation that you c an actually have b ecause some things just do not make sense. So you know, let us kind of look at what the experts think. All right? Because I can appreciate that we all have our opinions up here, but I look at the Royal Gazette today and Moody’s praises —
[Inaudible interjection] Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Yes. Moody’s praises OBA’s fiscal progress. And that is Moody’s. I mean, this is an agency that just kind of downgraded Jersey and Guernsey and stuff who have like a fraction of the debt and stuff that we have , but that is cool. But one of the things that I was always taught coming up in my family was, Don’t ever forget where you come from. Don’t forget. And we talk about that all the time—do not forget where you come from. And it is not about pointing blame. It is just so that you can avoid some of the mistakes and pitfalls that you have made before. So I kind of think it is important to reiterate some of the items that the Minister of Finance out-lined in the 2016/17 Budget, Mr. Speaker, lest we forget. When I looked at Saturday morning’s Royal Gazette on the 20 th February, our own home- grown economist talked about how the budget was “a work of short term brilliance” —brilliance! —“a work of short term brilliance.”
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberKeep reading. Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Well, let us talk about the overall economy. All right? After six years — [Inaudible interjections] Hon. R. Wayne Scott: After six years, Mr. Speaker, of contraction, each component is showing signs of pos itive growth. I mean, what are those components? We look …
Keep reading.
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Well, let us talk about the overall economy. All right? After six years — [Inaudible interjections] Hon. R. Wayne Scott: After six years, Mr. Speaker, of contraction, each component is showing signs of pos itive growth. I mean, what are those components? We look at international business, inward investment, consumer confidence, property values, bank credit, government solvency —much stronger than when we took over the reins. And it is important to understand that in 2012 the economy was broken—broken—and not only that, if we listen to a lot of the Members on that side, now it is like, No, no, no, everything is fine. That does not exist. Broken. And our first order was to eliminate that def icit, which, you know, people do get confused about deficit and debt. So let us just talk about deficit. What does that mean? It is just spending more money than you take in. Forget about the debt for a second, all right? But let us give a simple analogy of a credit card. You make $1,000 a week, your bills are $1,500 a week, you spend that $500 extra every week on your credit card (or when your credit card runs out that is debt, but let us forget about that). So that is your def icit. If you do not shave down your deficit, you will continue week after week to still have that deficit. Event ually your credit card runs out. Then you go get another one. That credit card runs outs. Then you go get a nother one, and on and on and on and on. That is why when we look at that graph in the Budget Statement that was talked about ear lier and it shows that back in 2003 or 2006 or . . . let me spend a minute and actually find that so that I can give you the exact timeline. But while I am doing that, Mr. Speaker, the debt back then in 2007 was almost what we are paying in interest on our debt today. And the Member who just sat down said, Why do we keep talking about that? Why do we keep talking about that? And you do not take the reins of a Government that has a deficit that is over $300 million a year and make that go away immediately. T hat is insanity to even think that that is remotely possible. And if that is even som ething that is considered to be a realistic option from some of those Members, no wonder why we are here. But that is cool, I get it. But it is necessary that we address t he deficit because if we do not, then clearly it is not sustainable. Now, the reality of it is that we are the only ones that can fix that. We have proven that. I mean, if you look at the Budget Statement this year and you . . . I mean, this is the first y ear that the Minister pointed out in his Budget Statement that if you take out debt service and contributions to the Sinking Fund, that we have actually met our budget. We have actually met our budget. Now what . . . I mean, we have had a surplus. Now thin k about that for a second. We have got an Opposition that not only were they not able to accurately predict their revenue, they were not able to accurately predict their expenses. So you have had budgets that were wrong by millions of dollars —tens of millions of dollars —year after year after year after year. By a lot of the same Members on that side that actually sat in Cabinet, who always talk about collective responsibility. But lest we forget, Mr. Speaker, because, again, I was always taught, Don’t forge t where you come from, because if you don’t, you have a much higher propensity to get back to where you were.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: So, Mr. Speaker, you know, lest we forget. Now, we know people are suffering out there. We know that people are hurting. We understand the struggle of single parents. We understand the struggle of families out there and of seniors and others. So on top of our debt reduction, we have even increased Financial Assistance by $20 million. So we
Bermuda House of Assembly understand it takes a little bit of time to reel this stuff in, but we are getting there and economic recovery is never even, Mr. Speaker, as was pointed out in the Reply. Job growth typically comes several quarters after recession ends. And as much as we have don e, we cannot change that economic fact, as Members talk about Economics 101. Economics 101 outlines that jobs, in a lot of cases, are some of the last things that come back. Even in a big economy like the United States where they can print their own money, it took a couple of years for jobs to rebound after the recession ended.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Lest we forget. So, Mr. Speaker, we are working to help every Bermudian. And after years of this great recession that we have created in Bermuda, we are finally ha ving that GDP growth. Now, we always want to say, This is based on the global economy and there was a downturn. And yes, there was a downturn, but the fact of the matter is that, even during those times of the worst global rec ession, Bermuda was still actually doing okay. Right? A lot of our issues were based on policies that were put in place by a Government (now the Oppos ition) that did not listen. I was running an organisation when a lot of those policies were put in place and I know first -hand the effects —the negative effects —that they had on business and on businesses. But, you know, if we look at the evidence we have got a slowed deficit, a stabilising property mar-ket, and that is most people’s largest asset. You know, it is very important that those things are addressed. And we have done a lot to address the housing market. We keep bringing up this Grand Atlantic. As a matter of fact, there were even parliamentary questions today on Grand Atlantic, on a property that the taxpayer paid like $42 million to build that is not even worth $17 million today. Right? And the reason why it was not able to be sold as low -income housing was because it really was not. It really was not. The irresponsible thing to do would have been to just get rid of it in the housing market and, you know, that many units bought into an already d epressed housing market would force that value down even more. But that is Economics 101 as well, with reality infused in. So, I understand. I understand if yo u do not get it. I understand, but that is cool. But, again, Mr. Speaker, you do see hotel development coming. There is consumer confidence. Retail sales, construction permits, jobs are the next piece of this puzzle. That is how economics works. Mr. Speaker, you know, as I said before, this is not a fluke. These things are improving because of the success of this Government. It is the success of this Government. It is not a rounding error, we are not getting lucky, you know. As Moody’s said, our policies are working. Bermuda’s economy just does not happen. And that is one of the challenges here. Right? The challenge is that we have a complex economy and, you know, it is a lesson that really does not seem to have sunken in with some of my friends across the aisle because Bermuda’s economy just does not happen. Bermuda’s economy is very complex and it needs to be looked after very carefully. If not, and if you keep running —
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: And if you keep running . . . well, you know, the Opposition Leader is asking, By whom? Well it is certainly not a cog in the wheel, so—
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: By whom then?
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: You know, our Finance Mini ster has done a fabulous job in a very tough environment getting on top of unsustainable deficits. And the irony here is that we have cut this deficit by $100 mi llion. That is only a third of the $300 million that we inherited, so there is still a long way to go. But as pointed out on page 6 in the Minister’s Budget Statement, our success in restoring conf idence is happening, Mr. Speaker. I mean, we had . . . that confidence had evaporated in Bermuda’s economy. We had a decline in consumer spending, loss of rents, reduced business resulting in losses of jobs. And that is why the OBA is in Government today. Let us not forget that. Let us not forget that, because when you have a service economy, it is very important to have people in the economy to service. Where are jobs coming from? You know it is kind of . . . and I will get to FinTech in a bit, but these are things that have proven not to create jobs —yeah, one or two—and believe me, I am a technology person, I am all over this. Let us have intellectual capital and stuff here, but it is not creating jobs. As a matter of fact, his tory has shown that that actually removes jobs. And I will give a simple example now, but I will get into a bit later. I mean, look at what happened in the States and other places when robotics took over assembly lines. You have got like ghost towns. That was technology taking over and making things more efficient, but who did that benefit? Certainly, not all of the workers from the assembly line. So when we start to look at all the sectors of our economy, you have got international business r emaining stro ng, although there are less players worldwide, there have been mergers, so that is a reality that we have to face. Solvency II has been a phenomenal success for Bermuda and the BMA. And that is something that has been going on for a long time, and I commend all of those who worked on that because that allows us to freely do business in the EU. And had we not done 742 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly that I think we would even see more strain on that area of our economy. Of course, you have finally got an expanding construction industry in Berm uda. Planning applic ations — [Inaudible interjections] Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Planning applications . . . look at the leading indicators, Mr. Speaker. And I do hear all the chirping. Look at the leading indicators. You have got building applications up, building permits are up, which actually —
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: —will tell you what is actually getting ready to start, so you are—
[Gavel]
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: —these things are starting to pick it up.
[Gavel]
Hon. R. Wayne Sc ott: St. Regis is coming in St. George’s. Airport is going to happen. These are jobs, Mr. Speaker, that actually will start coming online this year on top of the ones that have already been here. And let us look at what is happening in tourism. Now, one t hing that we can say for sure, Mr. Speaker, even though you do not have the answers for everything, but we all know the definition of insanity. Right? Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. Well, tourism has not been working in Bermuda for a while. We have got to do something different. We have got to try to do som ething different. And that is exactly what we are doing, and the BTA is resetting the dial. Let us reset the dial and all of us should actually hope that tourism really starts to turn around because, although on a dollar - per-dollar basis it is not a large percentage of our GDP, it is an extraordinarily high employer and a very important piece in our economy. It employs a lot of people.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: But lest we forget, Mr. Speaker. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Lest we forget.
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: And the BTA, they are doing their work with investors and . . . you know, just to r ebuild and revitalise hotel properties. So we are getting there. We are getting there. We are getting there. So, again, we cannot make up our own ec onomic rules.
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Yes, you do.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: We cannot make up our own . . . I mean, economics have a certain set of param eters—
The SpeakerThe SpeakerJust a minute, Honourable Member. Honourable Members, it is going too far now. We are responding to everything that the Member is saying and that has to stop. That has to stop, you know? Now and then making a comment is not unre asonable, but not every time and on …
Just a minute, Honourable Member. Honourable Members, it is going too far now. We are responding to everything that the Member is saying and that has to stop. That has to stop, you know? Now and then making a comment is not unre asonable, but not every time and on everything that he says.
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Mr. Speaker, I understand. The truth hurts. And it is uncomfortable sometimes to just sit here and actually get a reality check on some of these things. But it is cool, I get it. I am not that offended, Mr. Speaker. I am an athlete like you. I can keep my focus in spite of the noise going around. At least I used to be probably 30 or 40 pounds ago . . . but I digress, Mr. Speaker. We cannot make up our own economic rules. We must play by the rules of the financial world or suffer the consequences, lest we forget that is why we are here. That is what happened. That is what hap-pened. So we are not innocent victims of a global recession. We had it all, but it ended. And the t ruth is that it was bad policies. No idea how to manage the economy. You cannot get your budget wrong that much every year, year after year, and just, you know, [say], Oops! I made a mistake. You may get away with that once, but I can tell you when I was r unning organisations, if you made that mistake you better have a very good reason why, or else you would be walking out of that boardroom with your briefcase and not coming back. But, you know, again, we are not innocent victims here, Mr. Speaker, this is the reality. But, you know, here we go again; here we go again. Right? We have got the Shadow Finance Mi nister in his Reply saying that we failed. Astonishing! We have failed because after three years we have not solved the problems of, you know, the seven, eight years of a runaway train. And it was not all bad, so I am not going to sit here and say that everything was bad under the previous Government, because that was not the case. But, boy, when it turned . . . like greased lightning, Mr. Speaker, it went down and it went down hard. And that was around the same time that the Shadow Minister was the Junior, so [he had a] front row seat to the show. And we failed? Astonis hing, astonishing.
Bermuda House of Assembly But economists, Moody’s and everything, ev erybody else, think differently. But the Shadow Minister of Finance (I keep calling him the Junior Minister of Finance, my apologies, it was the same thing it was the Junior Minister, he is now the Shadow Minister) clearly, must know something that Moody’s and ev erybody does not, because all of the rating agencies . . . I mean, they say that things are working, but the per-son who had a front row seat to the runaway train that almost put this country over the edge says that we failed because we have not sorted it out in three years. But yet he goes on to say that, It is going to take a while and we’ve got a 10- year plan to do it, or they have a 10- year plan to do it, but we are su pposed to like just snap our fingers and, you know, have it done instantly. But again, that is the differ ence between ec onomic reality and just kind of being political and pla ying games. And that is why I started this off with my joy, sometimes, of fiction, because I know I can get away, and okay, regroup, come back and just get right into it. I know it is no t real. I know it is just out there. It is a distraction. It is entertainment. But then reality dictates something else. And, you know, the first mention about education, which it is kind of cool to see the Opposition talking about it. But the irony here i s that the general consensus is that the wheels fell off with a lot of even the maintenance issues that we had between 2003 and 2010. That is not from me. That is from going out and visiting all 18 schools in the last couple of weeks and talking from the people that are there. When did this stuff happen? This certainly was not the case . . . oh, yeah, that is the general consensus, between that time frame when the wheels came off, eerily similar to the time frame where the economic wheels started to come off. So it is consi stent. I give you an “A” for consistency, but it was the wrong thing, Mr. Speaker, it was the wrong thing. I want to quote from the Shadow Finance Mi nister on page 3 of his Reply. He said, “we have said in consecutive budget replies that getting to a balanced budget must be the priority.” Quote, “getting to a ba lanced budget must be the priority.” What does a balanced budget mean? Well, the money you are bringing in and the money you are spending out are the same. That is a balanced budget . Three hundred mi llion dollars over is what we inherited. We have got it down by a third, and we hear rant after rant of how we are not being responsible, we are not doing this . . . Could you imagine if we had like taken that whole $300 million out alrea dy? It would mayhem. That would be irresponsible because it does not just turn off like a switch. [Inaudible interjection]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member, we are not having a conversation here between the Opposition Leader and the [Member]. So speak to m e. Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Now, Mr. Speaker, again, I just look at some of the quotes from the Reply. And I am reading on page 5, “The problem that …
Honourable Member, we are not having a conversation here between the Opposition Leader and the [Member]. So speak to m e.
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Now, Mr. Speaker, again, I just look at some of the quotes from the Reply. And I am reading on page 5, “The problem that we face in Bermuda is not that we do not have enough people; it is that we do not have enough jobs.” I scratch my head. This is a service economy. Unless I am mistaken, this is a service economy. We cannot separate people from the number of jobs. It is one and the same, because if you have less people you have less jobs. It is a service economy.
[Inaudible interj ections]
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: You know, but that . . . but, you know, I understand that it is just some over there who do not get it. [Gavel] Hon. R. Wayne Scott: But I think that this answers . . . because I was sitting . . . I was scratching my head with some of this stuff, but then I go to page 6 and I get it, Mr. Speaker. And I read under the second paragraph down towards the end, “if you repeat the falsehood long enough, it will become true.” I want to read that again. And I quote from the Shadow Minister, Mr. Burt’s, Budget Reply, “if you repeat the falsehood long enough, it will become true.” So I get it. I get it. They actually believe it. Talk about a truth deficit. No wonder they come up with all these sayings, because that is how they function. But let me stay focused, Mr. Speaker. You know, I flip and I look and I see how much time I have—
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: So, Mr. Speaker, I go back towards the end of this Reply, Reforming Gover nment, “one of the keys to balancing the budget is to reform government and increase the efficiency of the civil service. Reforming government is not an overnight job.” And that is quoted from the Shadow Mini ster. Yet, from day one, we heard over and over again, Why haven’t we fixed it? Lest we forget, Mr. Speaker, because this is contradiction in the nth degree, the hypocrisy just blows my mind. But they talk about fixing education by chan ging the curriculum again. And from where I sit, that is one of the problems. But I want to spend a couple of minutes talking about FinTech. How much time do I have left, Mr. Speaker?
744 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: You have got 3 minutes and 47 seconds.
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Oh, okay, that is good. I can wrap up there. FinTech—growing the economy to grow jobs—and I am all for . . . let us get new industries here. I am a technology person. I think we could act ually get some intellectual capital in Bermuda, and that will pay dividends and I think that that is great. But let us talk about some of the FinTech companies t hat we kind of know. Like Square is one that is actually on the top 10 list of FinTech companies worldwide. We all know what Square is. We can plug in a little device to our smart phones and you can run your credit card right there and you can save a half a per cent or so on credit card processing —great! Let us get rid of the middleman. So who is the middleman in this? You have got a consumer, you have got someone who has something to sell, you can deal directly, we do not need the banks anymore because yo u can save a half a per cent or a quarter of a per cent by using Square. That is what FinTech does. So we do not need the bank. Okay, cool, that is another few hundred people that you will have to find jobs for because now we do not need them. Let us talk about other technology and how it works. Let us talk about Uber and things like that. What does Uber do? Real simply, Uber takes people who have transportation and links them directly with people who need transportation. Get rid of the mi ddleman, we do not need it. As a matter of fact, we do not need taxi drivers; we do not need to have any of that happening because we are going to have these FinTech companies. What the heck are we talking about? That actually —
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. R. Wayne S cott: That actually will lessen jobs in our economy. And if you look at that sort of thing with what it has done to other industries, Mr. Speaker, and I just look at robotics and the auto industry —
[Gavel]
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: What did robotics do to the auto industry? Now, I am all for technology, do not get me wrong. But to think that this is a panacea for our problems and it is going to solve all of our issues with Fi nTech and seabed mining . . . really? They really do not understand how complex economies work. Lest we forget, Mr. Speaker, that is why we are here. Because it is that sort of expertise, front row seat, that brought us to the edge of destruction. So, Mr. Speaker, as I know I only have a short period of time left, there are a couple of thoughts I just want to leave you with. We cannot continue to live life off our credit card. We have got to fix that. That is not an option. We do have a recovery from a significant downturn. It takes time. It is not always even. Some people feel the changes before others, but this Government is beginning to improve the economy. We are the ones that can do it. We are proving it. We are proving that we have actually got the reins of the runaway train. And economies rely on confidence. Ber-muda has regained its confidence. This Government will ensure that these things continue to improve, will continue to focus on reducing the debt, and the burden of this debt on our future generations. This is our children, Mr. Speaker. And I will leave with the quote that I st arted with, Mr. Speaker, and it is not mine, it is directly from the economists. This Budget 2016 is “a work of short term brilliance.” And I would like to take my hat off to my Cabinet colleague, the Finance Minister, for a job well done. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Timer beeps]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. The Chair will recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 34.
Ms. Kim N. WilsonThank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a lawyer oftentimes part of our training includes listening to submissions t hat are advanced by other parties, ascertaining whether or not those arguments seem to be cogent, and whether or not those arguments seem to be somewhat sens ible. And I have …
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as a lawyer oftentimes part of our training includes listening to submissions t hat are advanced by other parties, ascertaining whether or not those arguments seem to be cogent, and whether or not those arguments seem to be somewhat sens ible. And I have to say the submission by person who just took his seat, the Honourable MP Scott, s eemed very, very less than persuasive. In fact, it sounded as if he even doubted his own submissions and that he was even encouraged by or persuaded by the information, the submissions that he was making. Nonetheless, in addition, Mr. Speaker, as a lawyer , oftentimes we are called upon to perform the role of advisor to help clients with their problems, such as divorces, drafting wills, reviewing contracts and the like. And as lawyers, we are oftentimes required as well to attend legal proceedings within the courts of law. And during these proceedings we examine the evidence, we cross -examine witnesses, we review the exhibits that are presented, and this is all designed to better present a case to the jury. Mr. Speaker, during the trial proceedings, in addition to what I have just spoken about, about the cross- examination of witnesses and the like, we have to thoroughly evaluate the evidence. We have to pr esent the facts. We have to look at the information that is presented before us and attempt to decipher that so that we can assist the jury in interpreting the facts that
Bermuda House of Assembly are based on the evidence. And after all of this is said and done we then invite the jury to consider the matter and we invite the judge to do also if it happens to be a trial that is in fr ont of a judge solely. Now, Mr. Speaker, no doubt a very similar process is taking place today around our dinner t ables, at our beauty parlours, at our barber shops, at our grocery stores, at our churches, and the other organisations that we are members of. And the people of Bermuda are no doubt examining the facts concerning the Budget and the initiatives that are being advanced by this Government who has recently, in their Throne Speech of November 2015, said, and I quote, “Economic recovery will continu e to be the national priority because of its potential to help more people, more quickly than anything else” . . . with this Government also “bringing forward progressive measures to” —and this is my emphasis —“improve the quality of life for all.” Now, Mr. Speaker, if we were to look at that statement a little bit more carefully, examine the ev idence so to speak, based on the facts, there is very little truth in that statement. And based on the ev idence that we see, it does not appear that the Government is genuinely committed to taking steps and producing initiatives that will improve the quality of life for all, as enunciated in their Throne Speech. Fact, Mr. Speaker: The current unemployment rate is at 7 per cent. The evidence of that is the 2015 Labour Force Survey. Fact, Mr. Speaker: Of that above 7 per cent that I just spoke about, 8 per cent of that represents males and 5 per cent represents females. Evidence of that is the 2015 Labour Force Survey. Fact, Mr. Speaker: Over 42 per cent fewer women were looking for work in 2015 as compared to 2014 —42 per cent. That translates, Mr. Speaker, to the fact that these women have either given up looking for employment or alternatively they have rel ocated to other jurisdictions. Mr. Speaker, fact: Jobs occupi ed by Bermudians declined by 320 posts, or 1.3 [per cent], whilst jobs occupied by non- Bermudian positions grew by 18 or 0.3 per cent. The evidence of that is the National Economic Report of 2015. Fact, Mr. Speaker: The Honourable Bob Richards recently in dicated that “the recession is over.” Mr. Speaker, I am certain that many of the Bermudian public, the members —
[Inaudible interjection]
Ms. Kim N. Wilson—members of the jury, so to speak, will not accept that comment by Minister Bob Richards as fact. [Inaudible interjections]
Ms. Kim N. WilsonMr. Speaker, I am certain that the Bermudian public and the members of the jury will not accept the comments of the Honourable Minister of Finance, Bob Richards, when he says that the recession is over. The f act and the evidence are clear —he who feels it, knows it. …
Mr. Speaker, I am certain that the Bermudian public and the members of the jury will not accept the comments of the Honourable Minister of Finance, Bob Richards, when he says that the recession is over. The f act and the evidence are clear —he who feels it, knows it. The Bermudian public, the jury, are feeling the effects of the recession. They are feeling the effects of unemployment. They are feeling the effects of a jobless recovery. They are feeling the effects of increased food prices. They are feeling the effects of increased fuel prices. They are feeling the effects of increased land tax. They are feeling the effects of increased payroll tax. Increased cost of health care is also being felt by Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda. And they are feeling the effects of increases in FutureCare in a country that seems to place greater emphasis on its guest workers than on the long- term residents. These are the effects that people are speaking about. These are the people that I speak to in Sandys South Central, constituency 34, who are feeling it. They are feeling the bleed. They are feeling the effects of unemployment, raising prices, and no prospects of employment. They are feeling the effects of a Government that seems more co mmitted through its policies and initiatives to advance emigration into this Island as opposed to—sorry, immigration into this i sland, Mr. Speaker —as opposed to looking at the reasons why we have so many people emigrating, leaving our jurisdiction. We hav e a Government, Mr. Speaker, that encourages persons qualified with skills to leave the country of their home in order to find employment overseas. Yet this Government, through the evidence, spends more resources on establishing policies and laws designed to encourage immigration into our shores. Mr. Speaker, this Government is spending more resources on immigration and not looking into the reasons why emigration is so prevalent. Mr. Speaker, it seems that in the Throne Speech (which I referred to a few mo ments ago) in November of 2015 when the Government was speak-ing about economic policies that would benefit us all, they also said that they would “expand democratic participation.” And I suspect, based on the policies and the initiatives that we have heard as of late, by expanding democratic participation what they are r eferring to is simply the new process concerning status for Bermudians. Mr. Speaker, Pathways to Status policy is, I guess, what the Government refers to as expanding democratic participati on. And based on the evidence, Mr. Speaker, this Government is content to rely solely on immigration to promote economic recovery. Mr. Speaker, I ask, how would giving the current long- term resident status or PRCs aid in ec onomic recovery and the producti on of increased job opportunities for Bermudians? These persons are already on the Island, Mr. Speaker. They are accounted 746 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly for in our tax revenue and gross domestic product. So, again, what additional benefit would these persons provide to our economy? Mr. Speaker, I ask has the Government run any quantitative analysis on the income impact and the multiplier effect of both jobs and GDP to support their proposition that immigration will aid in our recovery? Mr. Speaker, the other major concern assoc iated with immigration policy, which, again, I hear on the doorsteps time and time again, is that with our limited land resources —26 square miles in total —is the Government not concerned with the fact that the immigration policies which they are promoting and advancing will lessen the prospects and opportunities of born Bermudians being able to own a piece of the rock?
[Phone rings] [Inaudible interjection]
Ms. Kim N. WilsonI will continue, Mr. Speaker, I will try and speak over the rings. So, Mr. Speaker, my constituents are asking me what happens if the situation in Bermuda worsens. What happens, as we are seeing the situation now, if it gets 101,000 times worse? What will happen to Bermudians? Where …
I will continue, Mr. Speaker, I will try and speak over the rings. So, Mr. Speaker, my constituents are asking me what happens if the situation in Bermuda worsens. What happens, as we are seeing the situation now, if it gets 101,000 times worse? What will happen to Bermudians? Where will they go? Whereas the person who has been granted PR C status or status, because of the policies that are being announced by the Government, has options, they have other places to go. And these are questions being asked by my con-stituents, and I am asking the Government to please answer that so that I have s omething to take back to them when I return to my canvassing. Mr. Speaker, you heard in the Reply about the investor confidences being curtailed by uncertain i mmigration policies. And no doubt potential investors are following the news and would have probably heard the news last evening to see that the issue of status is a very highly emotive issue and that Bermudians are very, very concerned about this. So as we know that investor confidence is going to be potentially affected by our immigration policies, I just cannot understand how the Government is not prepared to allow for comprehensive immigration reform — bipartisan reform —so that we could at least curtail any investors from being potentially frightened about com-ing into Bermuda. Sometimes, Mr. Speaker, I sit here in this House, and though I am being attentive and listening to what is being debated, I am also in my mind figuring out how to draft repeal legislation. And one thing I am certain of is that when a PLP Government gets into power, unless and until we have completed the exercise of comprehensive immigration reform, we will be looking to repeal the legislation that this Gover n-ment intends to bring with respect to Pathways to Status . Mr. Speaker, I meet people regularly who either they or their family members have emigrated overseas to look for better employment opportunities. I have members of my own family who have packed up their belongings, sold their possessions and moved themselves and their families abroad away from i mmediate family and loved ones just because they have not received employment opportunities in the home of their birth. So they have uprooted their whole family and their children to go overseas for employment opportunities, despite the fact that they are so eminently qualified to be working here in Bermuda. Because they have been unemployed for so long they have left this jurisdiction. And that family member that I am speaking about, all of us know family members or constituents or residents or neighbours who have done likewise . It is this feeling of hopelessness. It is a very bad state of affairs when we have Bermudians that feel so hopeless that they have to leave their country because they need a job and they are edu-cated and they have no prospects of employment. Mr. Speaker , what scares me in addition to that . . . Mr. Speaker, there was something in the Royal Gazette recently that we are seeing an increase in mental illnesses because people are suffering. If people cannot afford to work . . . excuse me, because they do not have employment they cannot afford the basic necessities —to feed their children, to clothe their children— it is going to cause increases of depression. Unfortunately, it seems to me that the pol icies that are being pronounced by this Government are initiat ives gained with the sole objective of imm igration. And we have seen time and time again imm igration is not going to produce more jobs and provide a recovery that is going to give us more growth and job opportunities. Mr. Speaker, we heard during the elec tion campaign that this Government would create 2,000 jobs. Well, it is very difficult when you are canvassing and you meet individuals that, for whatever reason, decided not to vote at the last election and stayed at home who find themselves now on the ot her end of the unemployment line looking for the 2,000 jobs that this Government has promised. Mr. Speaker, we need a Government who is committed to job creation so that qualified Bermudians who wish to work are provided with the opportunities to do so. The Budget Statement of 2016 provides very little vision in that regard to accomplish that important goal. Mr. Speaker, we in Bermuda do not have enough jobs and the One Bermuda Alliance has failed in their Budget to provide any solid evidence as to how t hey would grow this economy and increase the number of jobs on our Island. Again, Mr. Speaker, with respect, the evidence suggests that the economic
Bermuda House of Assembly plan of the OBA Government is tied directly to imm igration. Mr. Speaker, can you imagine how distressing it must be to not be able to feed your children? How disturbing it is to have to regularly ask family and friends to assist you to purchase your day -to-day n ecessities? How stressful it is to know that your electric bill is so outstanding that you may retur n home that night and not have any lights in your house? How painful it is to have to explain to your child that is in university that they cannot return to school this year because of my unemployment status and they will have to make do and try to find a job along with the other 5,000 people that are also looking? How di stressful and painful it is to be able to worry about the fact that the bank is about to foreclose on your pro perty because your lack of work is causing you to fall behind in your payments? I was talking to some constituents the other day, Mr. Speaker, a young couple. The wife was em-ployed in international business and was recently made redundant. I am trying to work with them so that they can work with the bank so that they do not lose their property, but the reality is they have household expenses that cannot be met with one source of i ncome. Mr. Speaker, these are concerns that I have just spoken about that we hear daily from our constituents. And I have heard the Government indicate that they, too, hear these same concerns from constituents. But my question is, if they are hearing it, why are they not listening? Why are they content on producing incentives and policies that are driven to adversely affect the persons that we are speaking about that are suffering? Mr. Speaker, 7 per cent unemployment and a lack of growth in our economy, which will result in job creation . . . these are the stories that we are hearing that are going to be normal topics of discussions. Mr. Speaker, unlike t he OBA, a PLP Gover nment will not look to grow the economy by building an unnecessary airport that will provide temporary work for construction workers for a few years. Mr. Speaker, a PLP Government would grow the economy through diversification. We will establish the economic diversification unit, which will look at other areas of feasibility of uti lising our oceans to develop a Blue Economy. We will establish new trading partners with the Caribbean and Latin America. We will establish a technology incubator. A PLP Government will become a leader in Fi nTech. A PLP Government will invest in the Green Economy. A PLP Government would take immediate steps to implement a fairer, more progressive tax sy stem and not wait for several years while the haemorrhaging continues for those of us who are already f inancially strapped. These are but a few examples, Mr. Speaker, of the evidence— the hard evidence —a PLP Government would use to promote economic activity, thereby resulting in much needed job creation. Mr. Speaker, I submit to you and the Bermudian people, the members of the jury, that the ev idence is clear. The Government is not concerned with the promotion of initiatives that will improve our economy to create the much needed jobs. The Gover nment is not concerned with the vast amount of Bermudians emigrating overseas in search of better opportunities —
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
Ms. Kim N. Wilson—elsewhere. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Point of order, Mr. Speaker. The S peaker: Yes, yes —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHold on, Honourable Member. POINT OF ORDER Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think we have a requirement in this place that Members are not allowed to read their speeches. That Honourable Member has been reading from start to finish.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerI do not know, Honourable Member. Members have to refer to notes. I am sure that the Honourable Member is referring to —
Ms. Kim N. WilsonThank you, Mr. Speaker. I am actually just . . . I think that the Honourable Member that spoke and raised the point of order and objection was not here when her colleague that sits immediately behind —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member, you . . . it is be tter that yo u speak to—
Ms. Kim N. WilsonI apologise. The Government is not concerned, Mr. Speaker, with the vast amount of Bermudians em igrating overseas in search of better opportunities. The Government is not concerned that the increase of taxes will greatly aff ect those that are already strapped financially. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to …
I apologise. The Government is not concerned, Mr. Speaker, with the vast amount of Bermudians em igrating overseas in search of better opportunities. The Government is not concerned that the increase of taxes will greatly aff ect those that are already strapped financially. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to commend our Shadow Minister of Finance for an economic v ision that puts the people of this country first, a vision that understands and appreciates the harsh realities of our debt, a vision that seeks to address the issues 748 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly related to balancing the budget, a vision that supports a more equitable distribution of taxation, a progressive taxation. Mr. Speaker, I submit to you and the people of Bermuda that the evidence is clear. And I invite the people of Bermuda and the public to be the members of the jury and examine the evidence. Examine the facts for yourself and you will come to the conclusion that we have on this side that a PLP Government will be more qualified and more reliable and advance the causes of all Bermudians, not just one sector of Ber-muda, for ensuring that we have a stronger economy that grows and that produces the well needed jobs that we have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Nice rea ding. Good reading.
[Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will . . . when everybody settles down, the Chair will recognise the Honourable Mem-ber from Pembroke [South West], constituency 20. MP Susan Jackson, you have the floor.
Mrs. Susan E. JacksonThank you, Mr. Speaker. I would just like to comment and commend the Member that just took her seat for that wonderful campaign speech. She should certainly hold onto that for 2017. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pampl in: That she read; that she read.
Mrs. Susan E. JacksonAnd I would also like to mention, before I even start my piece, and reflect on that long list of things that were read out to us just now, the fact that many of which, if not all, could have been th ings that the previous administration could have focused …
And I would also like to mention, before I even start my piece, and reflect on that long list of things that were read out to us just now, the fact that many of which, if not all, could have been th ings that the previous administration could have focused on and provided for people so that we would not be in the situation that we are in right now. I do not understand how there is such a short memory in that these Members can get up and point fingers and act as though none of this has happened . . . as if it has happened in some sort of vacuum. It just boggles me that there is so little r esponsibility for that which has been happening for a number of years, and now expecting a new Gover nment that has b een brought into place to find solutions in just a couple of years. I just completely do not un-derstand that. Now before I get started, I just also want to reflect on the previous Member mentioning that, Oh, you know, there is nothing in place and what ar e we going to try and stimulate the economy. And I do not know how many times Members on this side of the floor are going to have to get up and refer to page 16 of the Budget Statement that lists $1.8 billion worth of economic stimulus that is on the table that we are working toward that is realistic and will bring the economy back into a stable and prosperous enviro nment. I refer everybody to please, please take note of that which is being done. I want to commend the Minister for the Budget Statement. I b elieve that much is being done to take responsibility for the financial affairs of this country and do what needs to be done for us to get ourselves back into a strong economic position moving forward. Now, it is wonderful that the Members on the other si de can mention the vision of 2025, and I believe that anybody could sit there and think of ideas and programmes and wonderful wish lists that we would have in 2025. Well, you know what? That is enough time for all of us to have a wish list that could come true. But what is the hard work that is going to have to be done right now that is going to prepare us for a stabilised government and a stabilised economy that is going to allow for those kinds of programmes and wish lists and visions to come to fruition? It is the hard work of the Minister of the day who is putting everything he has got into stabilising our economy to be able to create the kind of vision and realise and to manifest the kinds of dreams that are being created on the other side of the floor, Mr. Speaker. So, if all of those things come to pass, I would like much of the credit to go to the hard work of the Minister that just put the pieces in place today so that we can have a good future tomorrow. The Minister of Finance made it very clear from the very beginning in 2013, the first Budget Statement. He said we have a two- track strategy; we have got to spend less and we have got to earn more. And we have since then . . . he has stuck to that plan. He has a very clear plan and is doing what needs to be done to make that happen. Somebody might say, Well, you know, why do we have to spend less and why do we have to earn more? Well, my take on that today, Mr. Speaker, is that we in Bermuda, and sometimes I believe that Members on the other side do not get this, but we are on the world stage. Bermuda is a recognised jurisdi ction within the financial services industry and within the insurance and reinsurance industry and tourism. We are on the world stage and we have a responsibi lity to the people of Bermuda to make sure that this jurisdiction remains a quality destination. And because of that it is very important that we put ourselves in a position where we are able to act responsibly and show —demonstrate, not just to ourselves and our community, but to the world—that we are a respons ible financial jurisdiction. And because of that the Minister has very clearly set out his two- track strategy and we are following it. Now it is not easy. It is not an easy pill to swallow, and Ministers on this side of the floor have
Bermuda House of Assembly said it time and time again. It is not going to feel good. It does not feel good. But we have to put a little faith in the commitment and in the passion that the Minister of Finance has to make sure that he can turn this country’s economy around. And how is he doing that? Well, Mr. Speaker, we have got to keep the doors open. We have got to stay in business. And yes, we are hoping that by staying in business we are going to attract that money, that international money that is out there, and bri ng it to our shores because we need that kind of investment to come to Bermuda to simulate our local economy. And in order to do that we are going to have to look outward for a bit. We have got to do the things that are required in order to maintain our integrity as a country. Part of that is g oing to come from a number of things and I would like to list them, Mr. Speaker. One is that, yes, we are in a regulatory env ironment that is not waiting a minute. We have got countries around the world saying no more to financial crime, no more to terrorist financing. We have jurisdictions out there in the world that are saying, We’re all about tax reporting. We need to know where companies are doing the bus iness and we need to have some kind of recognition and ident ification of companies that are doing bus iness and need to report back their profits to our cou ntry. And the third is that we need to remain a solvent country. We have to be able to say that we are a strong enough jurisdiction that if companies want to do business here in Bermuda we are strong enough and have the integrity to be able to maintain whatever standards of business are required here to keep the economy going and to allow businesses to function here with a high level of integrity. So the Minister of Finance has to look at those sorts of things. It is so important right now that we make sure that we put those things in place. And you know kudos to the previous Minister of Finance because she did work very hard to put TIEAs in place, which are agreem ents with other countries to say that we will report taxes and we will be open and transparent and connected to these countries when it comes to tax reporting. Yes, absolutely, great start. But we have got to maintain that. We cannot at any time let go of any of those kinds of responsibilities, because it so important that we maintain our reputation as a v iable country for businesses outside of Bermuda to come to Bermuda and do business. Once we have that inward investment then we are starting to tick, then we are starting to cook with gas, Mr. Speaker, and we need to keep that kind of momentum going. The other very important part of our existence here in Bermuda is that we have to make sure that the rating agencies, which Members on the other side of the fl oor have absolutely stood up and said, you know (and I am paraphrasing), but you know, sort of putting down the quality and importance of these rating agencies. Well, Mr. Speaker, if I may step back a m oment and say, we as a country spent under a previous Government an enormous amount of money on things that have given us no financial return. We have had concerts. We have bought ferry boats. We have built buildings that have provided absolutely no real env ironment for growth in the economy. And now that we have borrowed and spent all this money and had to borrow in order to buy all of this fun and goods and services that were out there, we now have to pay it back. People who are going to lend us money are going to look to certain institutions and ask whether Bermuda is a good investment. And these rating agencies, such as Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s, are the ones that travel this world and take a good look at jurisdictions and tell us, and tell the rest of the world, and tell investors whether countries are worth investing in. It matters, Mr. Speaker. It matters. And so we have to do everything we can to make sure that these rating agencies come to Bermuda and see us in a good light. Why? Because people who have lots and lots of money, other countries that have lots of money and want to invest in countries like Bermuda look to these rating agencies for confidence that we are a good investment. And clearly . . . clearly, with all of the debt that we have got to repay, we need to be in the best possible light t hat we can. And the Minister of Finance is doing everything he can to make sure that this country maintains its stability and looks good so that the rating agencies have confidence in us and they will share that story with investors who will then help us t o support the debt that we have got. Now, why are we as this present Government still having to be concerned about debt and growing debt? Because we do not have enough money com-ing in to pay the bills that are here right now. Our def icit is overwhelming. B ut the Minister of Finance is finding a way to reduce that deficit so that every year there is just a little less money that is carried over that we cannot afford to pay back based on the money that we bring in. And it is interesting, because I like what the Minister of Education said when he made the reference about the credit card. And I have been through it. I know what it is like to have more bills than I have money to pay for. And so every month I am fussing and fighting, robbing Peter to pay Paul, so that I can cover bills for things that I have purchased that I can-not afford. And the previous administration purchased and spent money on things that we could not afford and now we do not have the money to pay for them. We do not have the money to pay bac k. So, Mr. Speaker, I am again congratulating the Minister of Finance because he is taking a good hard look at how we can fix this and get ourselves back on a good path. 750 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly So if anybody, you know, I just happened . . . and please it is just a very short list , but I would like to just read out as I conclude my speech. The Minister has very clearly, through the (what do they call that again?) Fiscal Responsibility Panel . . . we have an action plan. And I would just like to end with this list of things that, ul timately, if we can get these things done, will provide us with a way to help to spend less and earn more. • Let us try to balance the budget. • Let us bring back our Bermuda talent. • Let us find solutions for the working older age group. • Let us build a cookie jar of savings for those unexpected expenses. • Let us fix the way to provide services and set priorities; and as the Minister has put out there • Let us look at building up a new tax structure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 29, MP De Silva. Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to start off today by touching on this mess that the PLP left for the OBA to …
Thank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 29, MP De Silva.
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to start off today by touching on this mess that the PLP left for the OBA to clean up. Mr. Speaker, you will hear them say over and over again that the PLP created this massive debt. And you hear the former UBP, now OBA, Members talk about the very little debt, if any, that the PLP had when they came into office in 1998. No w you might say, Mr. Speaker, that is good, right? Well, Mr. Speaker, I say no, no, and no. Why do I say that, Mr. Speaker? Because, you know what? In 1998, and you will be well aware, Mr. Speaker, what did the PLP inherit? You talk about looking under the hood. What did we inherit?
Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Surplus.
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Oh, the Honourable Mini ster of Tourism just walked in and said a surplus. Well, you know why we had a surplus, Mr. Speaker? I will tell you why. We inherited schools that were in a horrendous condition, Mr. Speaker.
[Inaudible interjections] Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Horrendous condition. And yes, yes, Mr. Speaker, let us see what else we inherited, Mr. Speaker. We inherited senior citizen homes that we had to close down, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we had mothers that could not afford to put their children in day care. We had buses and ferries that were falling apart, Mr. Speaker, falling apart right in front of us. That is what we found. Those are some of the things we found, Mr. Speaker. So when you hear this talk about, Oh, we managed when we were Government before the PLP in 1998 . . . how we managed the funds of this country so well. Well, Mr. Speaker, you and I both know that if you are making $1,000 a week, and you do not have to pay rent, and someone is giving you groceries, and you have no electricity bills, and you have no chi ldren’s bills, you would save some money too, Mr. Speaker. But you see this is the problem: pre- 1998 things were left to rot. Our people were left to suffer. So what did we do when we came in, Mr. Speaker? What did we do? Mr. Speaker, I have given you many times in the past, and I have to continue doing it especially during budget time because the OBA continues to talk about what a m ess they inherited. Well, what did we do? Well, let us see what we did in that 14- year p eriod, Mr. Speaker: • We spent $8 million on the police. • We spent $275 million on education. • We spent $33 million in youth and sports. • We spent $50 million, Mr. Speaker , on health care initiatives and improvements. • Airport operations, another $33 million.
Mr. Speaker, I could go on and on, down and down the list and yes, the Berkeley School too, yes, Mr. Speaker. But look what we have a facility that . . . now the OBA comes into power and they do not have to do a thing. Everything . . . that school is a first -class school, as you know. Oh, yes, it is. First class! First class, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, if I were to go on and on and on I would use up my whole 20 minutes explaining to you and the people of this country what that money was spent on. But let us talk about where we are t oday. And I have to congratulate our soon- to-be F inance Minister, Mr. David Burt, [Mr. Speaker]. B ecause when you compare those two documents you see chalk and cheese. You see a visionary and you see someone that is stuck on . . . I am not going to say . . . they are just stuck. I will not finish that phrase, Mr. Speaker. But, you know, it is a shame because for the fourth budget in a row the Honourable Minister Ric hards has no plan for economic growth, yet again. No plan for diversification. Mr. Speaker, the OBA ran an election campaign in 2012 on 2,000 jobs that they promised over and over and over to our people. And what have we done? What have we seen? What have we wi tnessed? We have witnessed, Mr. Speaker, a further loss of over 2,000 jobs. So quick arithmetic tells me that if the OBA wants to fulfil their promise before the
Bermuda House of Assembly next election they have to create 4,000 jobs, Mr. Speaker. Four thousand! And while we are on this 2,000 jobs and another 2,000 that they lost, Mr. Speaker, the narrative these days is, We need people to come to Bermuda. Well, Mr. Speaker, let us allow 3,000 people into Bermuda tomorrow because the OBA said we need p eople to make this economy work. They are not wrong, but they are forgetting a few things, Mr. Speaker. If we brought 3,000 people here to work and we have got 4,000 people unemployed, what are we going to do? Mr. Speaker, if people— bodies —were the answer to economic success and sustainability, Cuba would be bursting at the seams. Cuba has 11 million people, Mr. Speaker, but only 2 million jobs. So if people created the buzz and the jobs that the OBA are telling us, well what . . . tell me . . . I want one of their . . . I do not know if the Honourable Member Gi bbons has spoken yet, but maybe he could tell us, Mr. Speaker. If we brought 2,000 people in tomorrow where would they work? What else have we seen, Mr. Speaker? We have seen the Honourable Finance Mi nister Richards come back to this House and say, We are going to borrow $800 million, which is going to carry us for the next three years. It was gone in two. It was gone in two, Mr. Speaker. And you will know that last year the Honourable Minister came in and wanted to borrow another $200 [million]. And I say “borrow” because at the time we said “borrow” and he said, No, no, no, it’s an overdraft facility, or it’s a just -in-case -we-need- it facility. Well, Mr. Speaker, we found out this week that $150 of that —sorry, $150 million of that —is now gone. So where is the great economist, the business leader in the OBA? They are going to create 2,000 jobs; they are going to reduce the deficit . . . Mr. Speaker, what do you think the Front Street boys and the OBA wi ll be saying if all of a sudden the PLP would have won the 2012 election and we would have increased our debt by another billion dollars? Mr. Speaker, you would see some marching in this country and they would not look like us . . . well, you, Mr. Speaker. They would look like somebody else. [Laughter and inaudible interjections] Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Okay, Mr. Speaker? All right. But, Mr. Speaker, I kid you not. Can you imagine . . . can you imagine . . . can you imagine if the PLP would have increased the budget even, say, $50 million after we got re -elected in 2012? Because, you know, you had Sir John Swan, you had all the OBA machinery working telling everybody about how much debt we are in. But all of a sudden— poof! Within 18 months, within 24 months, another billion. A billion, Mr. Speaker, not a hundred million, even though a hundred million is a lot, Mr. Speaker, but a billion . . . a thousand million? Wow! Can you imagine if that was the PLP, Mr. Speaker? Now, Mr. Speaker, I found it very int eresting . . . very interesting that the Finance Minister for the second year running (it might be four I did not go back that far, but I certainly looked back last year), talked about [how] the container arrival increases are a great sign of growth. Now, I am glad that our Shadow Mini ster pointed that out because imports are down 8 per cent. You could have another 5,000 containers coming to the Island, Mr. Speaker, it does not mean that that is a sign of growth. You might bring in a container of cotton. You might bring in a container, Mr. Speaker, that has one piece of equipment. I mean, the Honourable Member, Glen Smith, over there might bring a car in a container for all we know. So to say that an increase in containers is great sign of growth is a little bit economical with the truth, shall we say, Mr. Speaker? But the facts are the facts. And imports are down 8 per cent. And I do not want to get into . . . I might have time, but I do have another little file note on trust deficit, Mr. Speaker, and I might get to that before I am finished. But, Mr. Speaker, the other thing that the OBA talk about is the unemployment and how it fell from 9 per cent to 7 per cent. Good news, right, Mr. Speaker? Good news.
Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: You would think. Hon. Za ne J. S. De Silva: You would think. The Honourable Tourism Minister says, You would think. But he knows, like we do, no. Do you know why that is not a good thing, Mr. Speaker? It is because he knows it did not happen because of job creation. Now we would love for the people of this country, especially the 3,000 or 4,000 that are unemployed, we would love for that to be the case, but it is not, Mr. Speaker. And the Honourable Minister of Tourism certainly knows that we think and, in fact, we know that one of the reasons (among several) unemployment fell is because of departures, retirements, and, you know what? Some people have just given up and stopped looking for jobs, Mr. Speaker. I think I sat here in this space, it might have been another public meeti ng I was at, Mr. Speaker, but I certainly have made the statement that . . . and I think it was here. I challenged the OBA to offer every unemployed person . . . if they want to really find out many unemployed people are in Bermuda, offer every unemployed person $500 to come to a meeting up at CedarBridge. All you have to do is come up, register, and we will give you $500. Let us find out how many are unemployed. If you really want to find out how many unemployed people are in Bermuda, Mr. Speaker, try that .
752 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly [Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Try that. No, but I am tel ling you if you want to find out try it. I challenge you. Now, Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Education Minister said several things that caught my ear. And one of the things he said is that the PLP have no idea how to run the economy. No idea. They do not have a clue. The PLP did not have clue. He also said, Mr. Speaker, that the economy turned on a flash, or words to that effect. In a flash the economy changed, like it was overnight. And you know what, Mr. Speaker, he is right. It did. And Bermuda Government and many people worldwide, Mr. Speaker, got caught the same way. Mr. Speaker, there is no news flash to say that, Listen, in September 2008 the world is going to go into a worldwide economic crash. You know, there was no notification given, Mr. Speaker, no. But, Mr. Speaker, let us talk about some of the things that the OBA talk about. Some of the things that I wanted to mention, Mr. Speaker, were between 1998 and 2008 our GDP doubled. Because the F inance Minister talks about the GDP a lot and he talks about how important it is to grow our GDP. Well, between 1998 and 2008 our GDP doubled. But Minister Scott would tell you that we do not know how to gov-ern and we do not kno w how to run a country. Mr. Speaker, between 1998 and 2008 all businesses in Bermuda—all businesses in Bermuda— did really, really well. But that was under a PLP Government. But the PLP Government does not know how to run a country. They cannot manage the economy. So what did we forget, Mr. Speaker, in 2008? Are the OBA saying that the PLP forgot how to govern overnight? Is that what they are saying? Is that what they are really saying? Did Newstead Hotel all of a sudden in 2008 forget how to run their busi ness, Mr. Speaker? Did our lovely Butterfield Bank forget how to run their business in 2008 when we had that crash, Mr. Speaker? You might remember a building down on Front Street called Trimingham’s. Did they forget all of a sudden how to run a business? The Reefs H otel, Mr. Speaker, one of Bermuda’s finest hotels, did all of a sudden Mr. Dodwell not know how to run it? He forgot how to run his business? Nine Beaches, we talked about that earlier today, a Ministerial Statement and questions to the Minister . I think Mr. Dodwell was involved with that too. Did he all of a sudden forget how to run a business? Mr. Speaker, in 2008 when the world exper ienced that crash, did Greece, Portugal, France and, indeed, the USA forget how to run their countries? No. The OBA would tell you it is the PLP’s fault. The PLP was the reason that Greece failed and Portugal struggled and France is still struggling and the USA is still struggling today —that is what they will have you believe, Mr. Speaker. [Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Oh, yes. Oh, yes, Mr. Speaker. It is all PLP’s fault. The worldwide economic crash that caused companies like Lehman Brothers, Mr. Speaker, banks across the world to fold and crash. It was the PLP’s fault if you listen to them, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I heard the Honourable Minister Richards and also Minister Scott talk about caring for our people and our seniors. Mr. Speaker, we have seen under OBA Government several increases in FutureCare premiums for our seniors. We have seen them now have to pay for the car licences, Mr. Speaker. Now some of our seniors, and I am sure my cousin, the Honourable Member, Derrick Burgess, will talk about it when he speaks, is the land tax. Now some of our seniors will have to pay land tax, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, you will also know that in this House the Honourable Finance Minister, Mr. Ric hards, brought legislation to eliminate mandatory r equirements to provide cost of living increases for our seniors. And you might remember the now famous statement that the Honourable Minister made when he told a group of seniors that money does not grow on trees. Do you remember that, Mr. Speaker?
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: You remember that, cousin Derrick? Yes. Yes. He told our s eniors that money does not grow on trees, the same seniors that built this country. We have a senior sitting in the Gallery, one of our former Members, who helped build this country, Mr. Speaker. And another senior —yes, that is right — another senior sittin g in the Speaker’s Chair that helped build this country. But we are going to create legislation to stop mandatory cost of living increases for our seniors? In fact, Mr. Speaker, my research, if you will allow me, Mr. Speaker . . . in 2011 under a PLP Go vernment we came to this House for another increase for our seniors. And do you know what Mr. Bob Ric hards and the Honourable Member Dr. Grant Gibbons said, Mr. Speaker? We brought legislation here to give the seniors a 3 per cent increase and do you know what Dr. Gibbons and Mr. Richards said at the time, Mr. Speaker?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerTell us. Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: He said that that was not enough for our seniors, they are slipping behind (were the actual words that they used) 1“because inflation” 1 Official Hansard Report, 8 July 2011, page 2191 Bermuda House of Assembly at 2.3 per cent “is outpacing …
Tell us.
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: He said that that was not enough for our seniors, they are slipping behind (were the actual words that they used) 1“because inflation”
1 Official Hansard Report, 8 July 2011, page 2191
Bermuda House of Assembly at 2.3 per cent “is outpacing that 1.5 per cent per year over the last two years.” With the cost of health care so high, it is not going to have too much of an impact for our seniors at all. But here we have an OBA Government now — the same two gentlemen are sayi ng, No, no, no. We have to stop giving our seniors an increase, Mr. Speaker —the same seniors who built this very beaut iful Island that we have the luxury of living in today, Mr. Speaker. How is the time going, Mr. Speaker, please?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYou have 1 1 and a half minutes. Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Okay, good. Now, Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member who just took her seat, MP Susan Jackson, said that the PLP spent all this money. And she is right, we did. But she said something that was …
You have 1 1 and a half minutes.
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Okay, good. Now, Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member who just took her seat, MP Susan Jackson, said that the PLP spent all this money. And she is right, we did. But she said something that was way out of whack, Mr. Speaker. And she added “for no return.” Now, Mr. Speaker, how can that Honourable Member, unless she has been living in cloud cuckoo land for the last 15 years, how could that Honourable Member make a statement like the PLP created all this debt, s pent all this money, for no return? And, Mr. Speaker, what really caught my ear were the three examples she used. She said concerts, buildings and ferries. Concerts, buildings, and ferries. Well, Mr. Speaker, you will know I think she is prob ably referring to Beyonc é and the $2 million that was spent on Beyoncé. Well, Mr. Speaker, we spent $2 million on B eyoncé, we spent $1.5 million on the Grand Slam. Now, the Grand Slam of golf went to 80 million homes for $1.5 million. But I think just this morning the Honourable Grant Gibbons came out with a Ministerial Statement and talked about how proud he was about the $8.6 million and talked about a few thousand viewers, Mr. Speaker. If you talk about value for money, you think about how the Grand Slam of golf is viewed by 80 million homes, Mr. Speaker, and how much did we spend on that? One and a half million. But we spent $77 million on the America’s Cup, and I would be interested to see if those numbers get an ywhere near what that was, Mr. Speaker. And let us tal k about Beyoncé for a minute, Mr. Speaker, because you know what? Now, we all know right now that if Beyoncé came to Bermuda it would probably cost you about $15 million to $20 mi llion. So, Mr. Speaker, what a vision that was to get that entertainer for that price to come to Bermuda. And I will tell you what, we had a lot of influential . . . we talk about the sailors and the America’s Cup b ecause it is a lot of wealthy people, it is a wealthy sport. But, Mr. Speaker, a lot of wealthy people came to Bermuda to watch Beyoncé too you know. And I would venture to say many of those have come back on several occasions to our Island because of that, Mr. Speaker. So you know to talk about concerts and it is not money well spent. Let us talk about the next thing the Honou rable Member talked about. She said “buildings” . . . no return. Wow! The Honourable Minister Burgess is in the House and he can do a point of order if I get this wrong, but the Dame Lois Browne- Evans Building, Mr. Speaker. Now, I am going to round i t off, he will give you the correct number. I am going to round it off to $100 million, Mr. Speaker. Now, just say it was $100 million. If you take the square footage, Mr. Speaker, for the Dame Lois Browne- Evans Building, you take the square footage for wh at we were paying outside, Mr. Speaker, he brought those in . . . they were paying private office owners, now they are in Government, saving us if I remember correctly, between $10 million and $12 million a year. No return, Mr. Speaker. Do you know what? T hat $100 million in 10 years is r epaid. So guess what happens in the 11 th year, Mr. Speaker? The Government now put $10 million or $12 million in their pocket. But the Honourable MP Jac kson says “no return.” Mr. Speaker, it is . . . and that is not the onl y one we have done, you know. There were several others. Southside, I am sure, again, Honourable Member Burgess would tell you how much money he saved by moving some . . . I think it was Education we moved down to Southside. Right?
Mrs. Suzann Roberts -HolshouserYes. Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Yes, that is right. And of course you know what else that does? The Honourable Member Holshouser says “yes.” But do you know what else that did by moving the Education Ministry down there? It generates buzz in your area, does it not, …
Mrs. Suzann Roberts -HolshouserThey don’t like coming down that way. Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: I know they do not like coming, but guess what? I bet you a lot of times they go to all the little restaurants around the area. Right? All the little grocery stores. Do you see what …
They don’t like coming down that way.
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: I know they do not like coming, but guess what? I bet you a lot of times they go to all the little restaurants around the area. Right? All the little grocery stores. Do you see what I am sa ying?
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: But you see? That is what the PLP did, Mr. Speaker. But MP Jackson would tell you that there is “no return.” Ask all the folks down at St. Davi d’s and St. George’s, if they feel there is no return. Mr. Speaker, the other thing she said was the ferries. Are you kidding me, Mr. Speaker? We have our public demanding more ferries. Why? I do not need to elaborate on it. No return on the fast ferries? Ask anybody that lives up in Southampton and Som754 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly erset and Dockyard if they think those fast ferries do not have any return for them. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Oh, oh, and let us talk about the OBA bringing in this tender for, what, $2 million a year? But, Mr. Speaker, they are so smart, you and I both know if a tender costs $10 million and I would have bought it three years ago, I would have it almost paid for. I mean, I am sure the Honourable Shadow Minister of Transport, Lawrence Scott, is g oing to elaborate on that because that is simple arit hmetic. And here we have all the financial gurus that sit in the OBA seats, but they cannot figure out som ething as simple as buying a tender that will save them, I do not know, millions of dollars in the 10- , 15- year period, Mr. Speaker —millions of dollars. But they would tell you that they are the business gurus of this country and the PLP do not know how to run a country, they cannot govern. And you have Members on that side that sit up and say that they have no return. I tell you what, I just ran through a litany of things, Mr. Speaker, that we did with the billion dollars that we borrowed. But I would like somebody on that side to tell me what the billions of dollars that they borrowed in the last three years has done for the people in this country.
Hon. Shawn G. Crockwell: Paid for your deficit. Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Paid for our deficit. The Tourism Minister says, paid for our deficit. Well, like I said, Mr. Speaker, if they wou ld have done things right pre -1998, we would not have had a deficit either. That is right. Because they did not care about the people of this country. They did not have social programmes. Look, they are getting it; they have got another $20 million going i nto Financial Assistance this year. But ask them what the Financial Assistance budget was in 1995. Oh, yeah, the Honourable Tourism Minister is looking at me with an all mashed- up face. You know why, Mr. Speaker? It was almost zero. Because they did nothing for our people. That is right. You had mothers who could not go to work . . . the day care . . . the cost of that. Now we have, Mr. Speaker, still we have some of our mothers that get a little assistance from day care—a great PLP initiative, Mr. Speaker. Yes, that is where some of our debt comes from, but we make no apologies for that.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: No, we do not. Because, Mr. Speaker, we have had a great return on the money that we spent. A great return on it, Mr. Speaker. And you know what? Mr. Speaker, I would lay it down in this House, in 2008, if we did not have the crash that we had, guess what? We would not be talking about, you know, all these . . . because the income was certainly flowing, Mr. Speaker. And as Finance Minister Richards has found out, you can do your estimates, but if the revenue does not come in you are going to come up short. That is what hap-pens, Mr. Speaker, that is what happens. Now, Mr. Speaker, how is my time running?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThree minutes 20 seconds. Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Three- twenty. Okay, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let us touch on tourism for just a moment. Mr. Speaker, tourism —where is our tourism today? You know, all the problems that we are going to be discussing in the next, I …
Three minutes 20 seconds. Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Three- twenty. Okay, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let us touch on tourism for just a moment. Mr. Speaker, tourism —where is our tourism today? You know, all the problems that we are going to be discussing in the next, I do not know, 12, 13, 14 hours, Mr. Speaker, revolve around dollars, the lack of income, lack of job [creation], lack of vision by the OBA. Mr. Speaker, those on the other side continue to say, Well there is no money. We’re paying for your debt. We ’re doing this. We’re doing that. Well, Mr. Speaker, we have now gone into our 49 th . . . the worst arrival figures with air arrivals, Mr. Speaker, in 49 years. If we do not see an increase this year, the OBA will have the luxury of saying they are celebrating their 50th anniversary next year, Mr. Speaker, the 50th. Worst air arrivals in 49 years. And we are paying out hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses, Mr. Speaker. When is the Minister going to grow . . . when is he going to get a little bit of nerve, Mr. Speaker, to sit down with the CEO, as the Board of Directors would do with their CEO, for non- performance and sit down and have a come- to-Jesus talk? Is the Minister going to give him another bonus this year, Mr. Speaker, for non- performance and poor figures? Well, you know, Mr. Speaker, I think it is a slap in the face to every working man and woman in this country. When you have cuts, slashes, increases now in taxes, every one of our people is going to be paying more, Mr. Speaker, and here we have an entity that is giving poor results. And on top of the poor r esults they receive bonuses. It is ludicrous, Mr. Speaker. It is sad. It is a slap to every working man and woman in this country. Board members getting $20,000 a year, Mr. Speaker, to attend board meetings. Now you know, Mr. Speaker, we have all sat on boards from time to time, put in hours and hours and hours of work . . . for maybe $50 a meeting. But these particular folks, some way, somehow the Mini ster and the OBA have agreed, It is ok ay, give yourself $20,000 a year —that we know of, Mr. Speaker. Lord knows they may get phone perks, they may get car perks, who knows?
[Inaudible interjection]
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Zane J. S. De Silva: Who knows? And the Ho nourable Member says, I got a lot for sitting o n Port Royal Board. I will tell you what, Mr. Speaker, I cannot wait for the day . . . I do not understand why none of, no one in the OBA will bring Port Royal here to di scuss in this House. I cannot wait, Mr. Speaker. Let me say, Mr. Speaker, I look forw ard to that day, I really do.
[Timer beeps]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. I recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 14, MP Glen Smith.
Mr. Glen SmithGood evening, Mr. Speaker. First, I would like to thank the Finance Mini ster and our Cabinet for putting together a very tough budget. As we all know things are tough financially. I see it every day in my community. I also feel it with my constituents. We know it …
Good evening, Mr. Speaker. First, I would like to thank the Finance Mini ster and our Cabinet for putting together a very tough budget. As we all know things are tough financially. I see it every day in my community. I also feel it with my constituents. We know it and it is not easy. The Honourable Member that just took his seat is absolutely right. It is very easy when you have a boom period between 2000 and 2006 when you had the money rolling in. How can any Government fail? How can the Government fail? Anyhow, Mr. Speaker, looking back at our Budget Statement and given what Mood y’s said today I am incredibly very optimistic of the future of where Bermuda is going. I believe we certainly have emerged from the recession. Is everybody employed? No, they are not. They certainly are not. Is it going in the right direction? Yes, it is. We have seen new bus inesses come in. We have seen new businesses cr eate jobs. The biggest indicator that I have mentioned before is that for the first time in seven years we have seen growth in GDP. And I would like to take a bit out of the Shadow Minister’s book this afternoon if I can. And it was mentioned, if I can just read this, Mr. Speaker, from what it says. “Mr. Speaker, the local economy is at its best mixed, and while the Minister trumpets retail sales numbers, outside of the auto sector, which i s being supported by a local bank giving 100% financing for automobiles.” Mr. Speaker, I would like to give clarification on that. The bank might be offering 100 per cent, but I can reassure you that not everybody is borrowing money to purchase a car. In actual fact, only about 25 per cent of our sales —
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Glen SmithAnd I will declare my interest. I am in the car business. But that is a fact. They have advertised it. Why are they doing that? Because they know there is confidence in the market for people to repay their loans if they do offer that. And of course they …
And I will declare my interest. I am in the car business. But that is a fact. They have advertised it. Why are they doing that? Because they know there is confidence in the market for people to repay their loans if they do offer that. And of course they go through the due diligence to see if anybody that can have that loan will be able to repay it. The other point I would like to pick up, and I am not going to repeat what my colleagues have said because I do not believe in repeating what everybody said. But I have a lot of respect for the Honourable Member from [constituency] 17, Mr. Walton Brown, and one thing that I disagree with him, and we are allowed to because that is what politics is about at the end of the day, is that I believe that we do need growth in our population. The numbers will show that. We lost over 5,000 residents that used to r eside here that created jobs right across the board. It has an effect. Numbers do not lie. That is reality. And we need foreign investment. The Bermuda dollar is worth nothing to us, absolutely zero. We borrow foreign dollars to pay what we already owe. It does not create Bermuda dollars. Let me give an example of where I di sagree with the Honourable Member. Recently the So lvency II, what I know of . . . and my wife is in real estate. She has had three new clients that have moved to Bermuda from Switzerland, one from the US, [and] they are bringing their companies here. Are they big? No, they are not. But it is a start. They are going to invest in Bermuda. They are buying a car. They are renting a home. They are hiring Invisible Fence to put a collar around their dog. They are hiring a maid. And they are spending in our grocery stores, they are bu ying gas, they are paying BELCO, you name it, it goes on and on and on. Recently we saw in the paper, I believe it was this week, a company by the name of Qatar Re. They have just recently taken over the two top floors of a brand new building that has been built off of Pitts Bay Road. And they will be hiring Bermudians. My understanding from my colleagues, my friends in international business, is that this group could be bringing 30 overseas people here. They all need support staff. That is the reality. They are not going to bring in a PA when there are PAs here that can be hired. One of the things I do agree with the Honourable Member across the floor, is that I agree our tax system needs to be re- looked at. I do not think it is fair that, you know, if I earn more than you then we pay the same. I totally disagree with that. If I can afford to pay more, then I should pay more. I believe that and that is what I tell my constituents all the time. Getting back to . . . maybe it would be a l ot easier if you allowed us to read, we would be out of here a lot earlier. One of the things that I really spent a lot of time in this past week was looking at the Budget. I really never dove into the real numbers and [this time] I did. And I think it is important that our people know what debt means. Debt is money that is already owed. Are we happy that we have a $2.4 mi llion debt? Absolutely not. We are borrowing money consistently so that we can stay above board and pay our bills. And there is a deficit , which is the difference 756 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly between revenue (what we bring in) and expenditure (and that is what we spend). In my business we would call that a P&L, a Profit and Loss Statement. And right now, Mr. Speaker, [Bermuda is] in a loss situation. There is ab-solute ly no doubt about that. And our estimated deficit was $220 million in 2015/16 and was revised six months later to $212 million. So you know what?
[Mrs. Suzann Roberts -Holshouser, Deputy Speaker, in the Chair]
Mr. Glen SmithWe are doing better, Madam Deputy Speaker. We are all aware about the noise we hear about the alleged $77 million for the America’s Cup. Well, from where I come from and the numbers that I look at on a daily basis, given what the return on i nvestment is …
We are doing better, Madam Deputy Speaker. We are all aware about the noise we hear about the alleged $77 million for the America’s Cup. Well, from where I come from and the numbers that I look at on a daily basis, given what the return on i nvestment is going to be, it could be up t o $250 million, it could be more than that. And I am confident that it will be. It is a great return on investment. I would also like to thank the Honourable Mi nister of Economic Development that he made all this effort to make this happen. And we just rec eived this morning and also read in the paper yesterday that this past weekend we had over $8.6 million raised and circulated in our economy, when I believe its cost was about $700,000. So that is a good return on inves tment. You know, we look at return on investment. Perhaps if we did not overspend $20.8 million in Her itage Wharf, that money could have gone into the America’s Cup Village and Dockyard. It would have helped it. We would probably have had a little bit left over. Those are the things that we are paying for t oday.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberThe Wharf has paid for itself.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerPlease refrain, I don’t want to hear anyone else speaking.
Mr. Glen SmithYou know, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will break it down into smaller numbers because when you start looking at these big numbers they really do not mean much, they become fuzzy.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberThat’s the word!
An Hon. Member An Hon. Member[INAUDIBLE] k nows that word very well.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberHe gave it meaning in this House! An Hon. Member. Yes he did.
Mr. Glen SmithAnyhow, we are roughly paying, I calculated and I will call it round numbers, about $500,000 per day on interest alone. You break that down, if you take a population of 60,000 that is about eight dollars a day each one of us are paying . . . each one …
Anyhow, we are roughly paying, I calculated and I will call it round numbers, about $500,000 per day on interest alone. You break that down, if you take a population of 60,000 that is about eight dollars a day each one of us are paying . . . each one of us. Break that down by a year it is roughly $3,000 each on interest alone, no principal payment, just interest.
[Inaudible interjections]
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerIf someone else has a question, perhaps they can ask under Parliamentary Questions on Monday. But for now please continue talking to the Chair.
Mr. Glen SmithSure. Thank you. So, Madam Deputy Speaker, we recognised when we came in that we had a deficit and we are working very hard to reduce it because, at the end of the day, it is our future children that we have to be concerned about, that will continue to …
Sure. Thank you. So, Madam Deputy Speaker, we recognised when we came in that we had a deficit and we are working very hard to reduce it because, at the end of the day, it is our future children that we have to be concerned about, that will continue to pay if we continue to borrow to spend and spend and spend. And we are stopping that bleeding. I will not go through what the rest of my co lleagues have gone through, which are the capital pr ojects that are coming down the pipe, which equiv alents to $1.8 billion. However, what I will talk about is small businesses and how the America’s Cup has had an effect. I was gobsmacked the other day because I had a friend that just recently purchased a dog, a new dog, and he said that he had the Invisible Fence guy over to his home. And he said to my friend, Who would ever imagine . . . I have no interest in sailing. I don’t live on the water. I live up on Third Avenue in Pembroke. Who would ever think that my small bus iness would get a piece of the America’s Cup? So my friend says, Well, how is that? Madam Deputy Speaker, he said, People that have come in to Bermuda are renting their homes. Bermudians are moving to maybe their second home or renting a small apartment and they are taking their dogs with them, and having the Invisible Fence put in. And yet a lone also we have overseas America’s Cup people, some of them, have brought their own dogs to Bermuda. Now ,that is a great tell -tale story. This Invis ible Fence has gone from two staff to three staff, not just because of the America’s Cup, but because there are people moving to Bermuda that I mentioned earlier on in regards to the new Solvency II project and some of the reinsurance business and new start -up companies that are already here.
Bermuda House of Assembly And I also will talk about the real estate bus iness. It is fact, it has grown. Is it back to where it was in 2007/08? Absolutely not, but it is a lot better than where it was in 2012. The real estate business [is up] and it is through our PRC legislation that has helped drive that. There is no doubt about it. Those indi viduals have purchased homes. The majority —88 per cent of the time, 85 per cent of the time—are having them totally renovated. Which encourages construction, architects, painters, you name it, the list goes on, and it is real and it is true. I also have f riends who are in the construction business. They have seen a growth in business. We just recently completed a project at my business at Auto Solutions. The contractor I used said, Mr. Smith, two years ago I had eight staff. Today [I] have grown it to 30. That does not happen without stimulus coming into the economy and confidence of people spending money or businesses spending money. And the good news is they are not overseas guest workers. He has five overseas guest workers and the rest are Ber-mudian. That is a fact —a fact. Madam Deputy Speaker, I think it was about three years ago I stood on my feet for the Reply to the Budget, or maybe it was the Throne [Speech], I am getting old and grey since I got into this business, that is for sure.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberIt gets worse.
Mr. Glen SmithAnd I mentioned my difficulty of rai sing capital for my business. The banks would not touch me; they would not look at me. We went and raised our own funds and we got overseas investors involved. Well, lo and behold this w eek, I kid you not, on Tuesday …
And I mentioned my difficulty of rai sing capital for my business. The banks would not touch me; they would not look at me. We went and raised our own funds and we got overseas investors involved. Well, lo and behold this w eek, I kid you not, on Tuesday the bank showed up at our doors and said, Mr. Smith we want to help you now and we’re willing to work with the terms that you started to ask us for in the beginning. To me that would not have happened if they did not believe there was confidence in (a) the Island, the Government; and (b) the people running the shop. That is real.
[Hon. K. H. Randolph Horton, Speaker, in the Chair]
Mr. Glen SmithMr. Speaker, in closing, this Go vernment is working very hard. I continually f eel like salmon swimming upstream, I can tell you that, because it is not easy. It is absolutely not easy. But we are doing our best that we can do in the circumstances that we have. …
Mr. Speaker, in closing, this Go vernment is working very hard. I continually f eel like salmon swimming upstream, I can tell you that, because it is not easy. It is absolutely not easy. But we are doing our best that we can do in the circumstances that we have. And the truth of the matter is, Moody’s has said it, the Bank HSBC has said it this morning in their newspaper article, that the confidence is back and we are going in the right direction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you very much, Honourable Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 16?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerConstituency 15, MP Roban. You have the floor.
Mr. Walter H. RobanThank you, Mr. Speaker. It has been an interesting debate so far, Mr. Speaker. I must first, of course, congratulate my ho nourable colleague who sits in constituency 18, the Shadow Minister of Finance, for what I think is a . . . and I believe that it is a …
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It has been an interesting debate so far, Mr. Speaker. I must first, of course, congratulate my ho nourable colleague who sits in constituency 18, the Shadow Minister of Finance, for what I think is a . . . and I believe that it is a Statement that has continued in the quality of responses that this body has endea voured to give as an alternative road for this country. And as somebody who is very mindful of the political history of this country, I do believe that Mr. Burt is writing responses at a calibre of persons like Eugene Cox, who was once a Shadow Minister of F inance and clearly left a legacy as Finance Minister as well, which no one can refute and who certainly cut his threads as an Opposition Finance Minister in a previous Parliament and had a lot to do with shaping the PLP’s fiscal strategies in the early years that he was a Minister. And you would have had personal ex-perience with him, Mr. Speaker. So I credit Mr. Burt, for though he is young (certainly a few years younger than myself), I believe he is crafting Budget Statements and he has for the past three years as somebody that shows . . . som ebody who is . . . if not, has a gift, but certainly is using the resources and experience that he has available to him in and outside of the Progressive Labour Party. Because I know Mr. Burt, despite being very good, he does not do what he does alone. So he not only uses the talent from within his own team, but he also has the benefit of the expertise of people who are supportive of the PLP outside who also have great know ledge of finance. But he is certainly . . . this represent s his and the PLP’s vision going forward. It has been interesting to hear the response to . . . or not so much the response, Mr. Speaker, but to hear the remarks of the Government. One would have thought that, you know, they were responding to what we have put on the table, that actually they do not have an agenda themselves that will actually be what will be guiding the Government for the next fiscal year. Some of their Honourable Members have spent a lot of time trying to pick apart what we have proposed, when really their job is to sell their own plan. But what I have discovered with the OBA, Mr. Speaker, over the years is that governing for them, perhaps, is not what they expected. So they try and find reasons as to why that is. Perhaps they want to ignore their own inadequacies and they are looking to blame somebody else for the fact that the public is 758 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly unhappy with their proposals for the airport, that the public is unhappy with some of their other proposals which have a moral sort of impact. Perhaps the public has difficulty with their plans for education, that the public has shown disquiet to their immigration policies, that the public is upset by the fact that they seem to be divesting from education, the fact that they have raised the health costs of seniors, the fact that people are feeling more socially fragile in the country, Mr. Speaker. And that their policies for the past three years, seemingly, might be considered to be, from a fiscal standpoint, schizophrenic, and they have not brought a level . . . a sense of safety and security and peacefulness and sense of hope to the public. People do not gather in the front of the Government office building to openly project their di spleasure unless they really feel that way. You know, Bermuda is not like s ome other jurisdictions, Mr. Speaker, where some people do not even need an ything to protest about. They find something to protest about every day. You will find them in front of places like Speakers Corner in Hyde Park or in front of the White House or some other symbolic places . . . the Champs Élysées in Paris, you know, farmers pouring out manure with sheep, you know, to protest som ething to do with the EU or something to do with pol icies they feel that are not helping them as farmers. There are some c ountries where the spirit of protest is within the very fabric of their culture. That is not Bermuda. Bermudians must almost be percolated to the point where something really ticks them off before you start seeing them obviously show their di spleasure, even with government. You know, this cou ntry has a history of certain political or social erup-tions —1959, you can go back to the 1940s with persons protesting unfair wages, the 1960s, 1970s, 1981 —even the late 1980s with certain policies of the United Bermuda Party, people came out and pr otested. But that is not something that comes natural to the Bermudian culture. And it usually happens when people are ticked off. So what we have seen of late . . . and, frankly, the OBA has been experiencing this sort of env ironment since the very beginning with some of their other antics, I would say, on immigration. When there was an attempt to give children of work permit holders a right to work here without any control, people marched on the House. When they wanted to close the Lamb Foggo Clinic, people came up here in arms. Again, it usually takes a lot to get Bermudians riled up, Mr. Speaker, and they have been riled up a whole lot over the past three years because of failure of this Gov-ernment, the failure of policy, the failure of policy to reflect the aspirations and mandate, if they have one (I do not think they have a mandate) as slim as it was, that they were put in place to fulfil. The OBA basically said fundamentally three things, Mr. Speaker, when they were elect ed in 2012. We will stop the shooting, we will get rid of the debt, and we will give you jobs. Those are the three things, the fundamental three things that they were promoting and with a lot of verbiage around the rest, well, buil ding around that. "We wil l give you jobs, we will stop the violence and the shooting", which was reflective of the time, and [they would] bring some sense of relief to what people were going through at the time, which was, arguably, a difficult economic patch for the country, whic h began to percolate around 2008, 2009 and by 2012 we were full into it. So people were feeling they wanted some . . . they wanted answers, they wanted a different sort of . . . they wanted answers to why they were going through what they were going throug h, and the OBA came forth with what they felt were answers. But where are we now on those three pos itions, Mr. Speaker? We are no further ahead in success on those three, I would argue, than it was when they promised them. Because certainly, as the Shadow Minister for National Security, I have to say that we are still seeing the guns being pointed at pe ople from Somerset to St. George’s. The jobs have not been created. Latest data shows that Bermudians are continuing to lose jobs while other sectors and ot her groups in the country are gaining. And even the economic data that we have in front of us says that this is the fifth or sixth year of consecutive job losses for Bermudians. And the debt, well, I am not going to spend a lot of time on the debt. The debt is what it is, all right? The Government came in with debt and the Gover nment increased debt. Debt that had accumulated over a 13- , 14-year period was doubled in three. Those are the facts. Now, there are details around all those facts, but that is the reality. The millions . . . the billionplus dollars that the PLP is responsible for was borrowed over a 14- year period. And no one in the PLP is running from that. But this Government managed to surpass that in three years through their own choices, their own decisions, their own strategies. There were no PLP people sitting around the table down on Front Street. There were no PLP people sitting around the Minister of Finance’s Debt Advisory Group (of which he has never really told us everybody who sits there). There is no PLP politician sitting in the Ministry of F inance making the choices that the Government had to make. And choices were to borrow, the choices were to increase the debt, and it was done over a threeyear period. And it is more than the prev ious administration borrowed within a space of time. And the Government —the OBA Gover nment —is going to have to take responsibility for that, no matter what happens in 2017 or beyond. And whoever is the Government after that will have to manage it. But that is a part of the challenge that the country has. Yes, they continue to say that the debt is becom-ing the second largest ministry of the Government. Well, you knew when you borrowed the $800- plus million that there were risks involved. You did not
Bermuda House of Assembly have to borrow all that money. No one twisted your arm. Right? There was nobody in the PLP sitting down in the Cabinet Office as they went through those very erudite and, I am sure, creative papers written by their civil servants which they had to make so- called decisions around. There was no PLP person sitting at the door or at the table twisting their arm. Right?
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Walter H. RobanSo did they have to? Well, the money was borrowed to cover deficits over three years. But you ran out of it in two, so clearly whatever plan that this Government had or the rationale that they had for borrowing that money, of which, frankly, I do not see anything …
So did they have to? Well, the money was borrowed to cover deficits over three years. But you ran out of it in two, so clearly whatever plan that this Government had or the rationale that they had for borrowing that money, of which, frankly, I do not see anything that is representative of what they have spent. What is it? You know, what is the proof that we even had that money?
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberDid you look in the Budget?
Mr. Walter H. RobanWhere is the proof? Because there is nothing tangible I can put my hands on other than paper that that money even existed. Now, all I am saying is that those are my re nditions of the facts. I am not trying to be untruthful, Mr. Speaker. I am just …
Where is the proof? Because there is nothing tangible I can put my hands on other than paper that that money even existed. Now, all I am saying is that those are my re nditions of the facts. I am not trying to be untruthful, Mr. Speaker. I am just being representative of what I have seen and what I am told by the Government has been done. But we have seen failure, as my able Shadow Minister said, of the Government and it s policies. And I kind of like to describe the last three years or so in three different phases, Mr. Speaker. We have the, It wasn’t me, phase of the OBA —that was the first Budget because they told the people at the beginning, Well, this isn’t really our budget, this is the PLP’s budget that they left us with, so we’re forced to kind of move forward with it. So it was the, It wasn’t me Budget. Then there was that, I’ll borrow myself out of this problem Budget. So they went and borrowed $800- and-something mi llion. Not only that, Mr. Speaker, they had a few schemes that they thought would create jobs and ensure that people would start to buy real estate. So they deployed that and it did not work, despite the best efforts of the Finance Minister to tell us, We’ ve created 400- or-so jobs in this space of time from our reduction of the payroll tax or the pay-roll tax deferral for new hires. But when the data came in at the end of the year, the Minister had to say, Well, it hasn’t worked. When it came to, Well, has p roperty moved during the same period of time? No property moved. So we have two periods of the OBA. We have the, It wasn’t me. And then, I’ll borrow my way out . Then they had another scheme. We have put in place a grand plan to reform the civil service. A nd what did they do? They got a bunch of business people to sit around the table and advise them as to the best way to do it. Well, they seemed to have run away from that. That was another scheme that they had within the budget period. I do not know where Public Bodies Reform is now; it is probably all over the place. Another failure in policy, in my view, Mr. Speaker, was the failure to focus, failure to execute, because whatever the OBA’s fiscal strategy is now, it is not the same as it was in 2012/13. Now the argument might be, Mr. Speaker, well, you know, they are versatile, they have had to shift, they have had to make corrections, they have had to amend their trajectory. That is a fair statement because a government should be nimble, pragmatic, but a government should also be sensitive, receptive, open, transparent. So maybe they have been the other things, but they have not been like the other list. They certainly have not been open, sensitive, receptive and transparent. Certainly, the voters are tell ing them that, but whether the Government needs its own Rosetta Stone so they can listen and understand what the people are saying, I think maybe they need their own Rosetta Stone because there does not seem to be the translation of the Government to the people it is just not happening. That was proven on February 5 th (4th? the 5th) and it has been proved numerous times over the last three years going back to literally months after they became Government. So when the PLP comes forth with the type of present ation that we have, and I would argue that this and what has been presented here by the Opposition is consistent with the type of approach we have tried to take for the last three years as Opposition, an effort to present the Government each time with an altern ative proposal. Whether it is accepted or not, that is ultimately what happens. But it is the Government agenda that has the day irrespectively. But what appears to have happened . . . and I, again, commend the Shadow Minister who sits in co nstituenc y 18 for the efforts that he has made along with others on our team. Because one thing about the PLP, Mr. Speaker, is there is an effort to operate as a collective at certain levels. And I can remember, certainly, my experience in the PLP has been that eff orts like creating Budget speeches, and Throne Speeches, and other things have always been something that many hands make light work. And certainly as Opposition that has been the philosophy that these efforts have followed. What you see here is a touch of everything and the full identity of what the PLP is. So, though Mr. Burt is the captain of the f inancial ship, he has an able officer, an able crew down in the engine room, and so everybody’s piece of the action contributes to the running of our ship, ou r fiscal ship, that we try and present to the public. And we know that. Listen, people in the community might not even pay attention to what we write and what we put out, but it does not mean that we do not put the same valued effort into it every year to genuinely pr esent an alternative vision or alternative approach to the fiscal health of this country. And one can argue that our ideas have had validity based on the presen760 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly tations of, certainly, the Shadow Finance Minister this year, the year prior, and the year prior to that. We have been very consistent with the approach we have sought to take and the fundamentals we have desired to see be used to deal with the country’s situation be-cause tomorrow we could be over there. And there is one thing the PLP has had as a tradition, that is, following what it puts to the people as it relates to platform and policy and what it pledges. That is a tradition, frankly, that the PLP started in reference to governance of this country. That was never a tradition of the UB P up until the 1980s. They used to just put stuff in the paper for people to sort of get happy about, but they never produced platforms up until 1983 or 1985. They never produced platforms. They only started producing platforms after the mid1980s that som eone could put their hands on and follow through the term of their government. The PLP has always had that tradition. And so what we present here, with what Mr. Burt has outlined, is in that trad ition and can be followed. But the reality is, Mr. Speaker, that this Government has been in for three years. Their approach to governance is as naked as Lady Godiva. It is clear as to how they wish to govern. There is no illusion. The only, perhaps, as I have said before, challenge is that following their fiscal s trategy from year to year has been a bit of a chop and change on different episodes in each year. But their general philosophy of governance is very clear and it has not been filled with much sensitivity, it has not been filled with much caring, it has not been filled with much receptiveness, and it certainly has not been pleasing to many of the Bermuda public. So one has to wonder, for those out there in the community who still have hope that perhaps this Government will do something different . . . I do n ot know. I do not know. I do not know what I can tell them, I do not know what I can tell my constituents who come to me and express their frustrations. I have almost stopped trying to give them a sense of opt imism, frankly, because I am not that optimisti c. I am not that trustworthy. I am not that hopeful that this Government with whatever time they have left is going to actually listen to the message that the people of this country are sending them as to their approach to go vernance. And let us make it c lear, as I said, their ph ilosophy on governance is very clear to me, and I think that any member of the public should understand, well, that is just how they have been operating. But also it is very clear as to, perhaps, that approach from within the OBA has not been as noble as it should be when we look at some of the things that have happened over the last three years, whether it be the whole question about the missing $18 million, the question of how the whole transaction of the airport came about, there are major questions, and how it is going to go forward. The reaction that the Government has to crit icism. We have a Minister of Home Affairs who abused the Ombudsman and had to meet with international condemnation because of it. We also have a Minister of Home Affairs who has been misleading the country, in my view, from almost the very time he got into office, telling the public one thing and doing another. Doing things that have risen the ire and the anger of the Bermuda public and seemingly oblivious t o the fact that this would bring about it. Now there seems to be a bit of hope, Mr. Speaker, because I do not like to listen to the Minister too much, I more so pay attention to what he writes or what I see him writing, I try not to spend too much time bec ause sometimes I get a headache. But it seems to be, Mr. Speaker, that the Minister might have finally got an inkling that maybe his approach just is not working where he presumably did an interview and it appears as if he was . . . he just made a little b it of compromise in saying that perhaps the Government’s approach needs to be different — perhaps. This is the Minister who, I would argue, and I said it in this House already, [is] the most recognised Minister of the OBA Government, perhaps one of the most well known of the Ministers, and clearly the public knows what they think about him. So he, perhaps, on the level of popularity . . . and I do not mean pop ular. I am being very neutral in popularity. I will put it as to recognition, not necessarily a posit ive thing because you can be popular in recognition because people do not like you. People know who you are, you know. And maybe I am using popularity in the wrong context, but certainly as one of the most recognised Ministers of this Government, the Honourable Minister who sits in another place, is one of the most recognised people in this country, but not for things that, perhaps, many of us would want to be recognised for. But this speaks to a relationship with the public which is contaminated, which is tainted, that brings about such anger and such a strong reaction, Mr. Speaker. You know, I do not find that . . . and I sat on a panel with the Minister in the very early days of the One Bermuda Alliance Government, and it was clear that even at that point people did not like what they were hearing. But the Minister has not changed his approach to how he deals with certain policy issues, despite that. And these are failings. This is the failure that my honourable colleague talks about. This is the failure b ecause if you do not have the confidence of the public, you have nothing if you are the Gover nment —nothing. It is sort of like health, you know. You could be a billionaire, but if your health is failing there is [no amount of] money that can save you. The confidence of the public is crucial to the political sustainability and existence of a Government. And if you do not have it you are spinning your wheels, you are spinning your wheels in anything you do being worthwhile. You can
B ermuda House of Assembly do them, but even if you provide people with a pot of gold on their doorstep they will reject it because they do not have any confidence in you, they do not trust you, they do not feel . . . they will say, Where you got that gold from? Or Where you stole it from? Because they do not have any confidence in you that you listen to them, that you have their interests at heart. That is where the OBA Government is right now because their policy approach has failed. And my honourable colleague, the Shadow Minister of Finance, has outlined that fiscally. But there are other areas and you know we can argue about the numbers and there are going to be arguments for days and months and years to come about the numbers. But in the end, how does the public feel? How does the Bermudian public feel? Because I am up here and I am unapologetically going to tell people, I represent Bermudians. And however those Bermudians are defined under the Immigration and Protection Act 1956, that is who I represent. That is who I speak for. I am not trying to speak for anybody else because, frankly, it is too much work. I have enough time trying to represent the Bermudians who have entrusted me to be here than trying to talk for anybody else. And it does not mean that I do not understand the issues of other people, it does not mean I am not receptive to how those issues impact my country, but my first priority is the Bermudi-ans who put me here and who my party strives to rep-resent. And I will never apologise for that because it is their welfare and my welfare that I am here to ensure is protected, is cared for, is sustained, and is succes sful because these 22 square miles are all that we have and if we do not make it work for us — Bermudians —then who else should it be working for? If it is not working for our children and their development, their birth, their education, and their m aterial success, it should not be working for anybody else. If it is not working for our families who are trying to buy houses, invest wisely, sustain their existence, and ensure they contribute positively to this comm unity, then who else? For our Bermudians who have dreams of building businesses, trying to eke out a piece of commercial — [Timer beeps ]
Mr. Walter H. Roban—c apital success in this country, then who else are we here for, Mr. Speaker? We are here for our people. Thank y ou.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 4, the Deputy Speaker, my representative.
Mrs. Suzann Roberts -HolshouserYou are abs olutely r ight. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And on that I am very pleased to stand to my feet when it is not so early in the morning—
Mrs. Suzann Roberts -HolshouserIt is on. I guess I need to go a little closer to it. I am very pleased to be standing to my feet now, and not 2:00 am in the morning when I always have a hard time trying to figure out what I am about to say. I …
It is on. I guess I need to go a little closer to it. I am very pleased to be standing to my feet now, and not 2:00 am in the morning when I always have a hard time trying to figure out what I am about to say. I am very proud, regardless of what we hear from the other side—the Opposition —and they are Opposition for a reason, what they say their opinions are. There is a part of me, Mr. Speaker, that cannot help but wonder whether there is short -term memory or actually selective memory. I could not quite figure out as the day has progressed. But Mr. Speaker, it is not an easy job and I know it has already been said and what is going to happen between now and two or three o’clock in the morning is we are going to hear repetition, but it is not an easy job, Mr. Speaker, having to be the person who has to work with how Bermuda is financed, how we go forward. And Mr. Speaker, if you have ever had to work on your own personal budget, you recognise that there are challenges, there are times that you say, I really wish I could spend my money doing such and such, when you know at the end of the day that money is not there. But the whole truth behind the 2016/17 Budget Statement that we have before us today and what we will be debating over the next few days, this is a clear path to a eliminate—to eliminate— in three years the deficit. What is the deficit? What happens when you eliminate a deficit? Mr. Speaker, when you eliminate the deficit, which means (and again, just for clarity purposes) you do not bring in, you do not have the revenue coming in that equals your expenses. Now, one question that I heard earlier was, Well where is all this money going? Mr. Speaker, we made a promise—the One Bermuda Alliance Government —when we took over this Go vernment, we took over a large civil service. And, Mr. Speaker, do you not think the y deserve to get paid? And do you not think there are other bills that we have to pay that do come first? And even when you are in a deficit we had the question thrown out, Well, you had to borrow all these millions of dollars. If we did not borrow the money, Mr. Speaker, when we walked in the door, we would not be able to pay those civil servants. So how in the world were we going to get our trashed picked up? I do not know. Were you going to be . . . Mr. Speaker, or anyone else, were you going to take your trash to the dump? And if you took your 762 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly trash to the dump, who was going to burn it, Mr. Speaker? Mr. Speaker, the ambulance drivers . . . I can go on and on and on, the road works. Mr. Speaker, we had challenges with keeping our roads clear this year a nd over the last year. I do not know if you have noticed, Mr. Speaker, but the roads have been quite nicely cleared up on a regular basis now. But if we did not have the money, if we did not have to borrow mi llions of dollars to pay off a deficit, or to begin to make payments, we would not have anyone to clean the roads. And all those people who were complaining about the grass growing too high, do you really think that they would be going out to clean up the roads? Mr. Speaker, I know I have done it. And I also know that Mr. Bascome, the gentleman who sits on this side, I know he has cleaned many streets. And I know Mr. Burgess, who is not sitting in his seat at this point in time, has cleaned many a street. But, Mr. Speaker, to ask the question in this room dumbfounds me, which goes back to short -term memory or selective memory. Now, Mr. Speaker, debt service. And if you do not mind, I am going to look at this. To service the debt—$187.4 million— equals $513,425 . . . Ooh, that is a day. And for each Bermudi an that is $3,023. That is the debt that we . . . our Finance Minister has looked at and said, Bermuda, we have to be responsible—not irresponsible— we have to take a look at how we work our way through this debt. Is it easy? No. It is not. He has got the biggest challenge here, but we have a responsibility to the people of Bermuda. We cannot steal from the people of Bermuda, we have to pay off their debt. So that within three years, Mr. Speaker, we will have the abundance of money, we will have more money in our pockets, we will be able to go back to offering and doing things for the people of Bermuda that we want to. And I dare say no one in the Oppos ition should say that we do not care. How dare you? I will not accept that.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mrs. Suzann Roberts -HolshouserI will not accept that. We care enough to pay off your debt. That is what we care about. Mr. Speaker, I am going to proceed as I have the floor. [Gavel]
Mrs. Suzann Roberts -HolshouserThank you very much. And one of the th ings I would like to do is take a look at what individuals have said before me. Constituency [36], first comments were, and I am just going to read the quote if you do not mind, Mr. Speaker, the Government needs …
Thank you very much. And one of the th ings I would like to do is take a look at what individuals have said before me. Constituency [36], first comments were, and I am just going to read the quote if you do not mind, Mr. Speaker, the Government needs to “rise to the occasion and do what governm ents do . . . blaming the PLP Gover nment” (I think it was for 38 months or whatever it was) is not good enough. We are not blaming, Mr. Speaker, we are speaking the truth! This is our reality. We were in debt; we are in debt. So, I am sorry, I have to di smiss that statement. We do, as a Government, take the responsibility that we find ourselves in. Were we aware of what we were going to find? No, Mr. Speaker, we were not. It was also mentioned that it must be very di sappointing to know that the OBA Governm ent is act ually being responsible. Mr. Speaker, that has got to be very frustrating for the Opposition to recognise and to fight so hard because the Government —the people’s Government —is being responsible and doing the r esponsible thing. That has got to be a hard thing to accept. I totally understand. Mr. Speaker, I am now going to speak on comments from constituency 17. And they began by saying that the PLP —themselves, the Government — have courage in their presentation, compassion for the people of Bermuda, are responsible to the people of Bermuda. But where was your fiscal responsibility I might ask? Where was your fiscal responsibility? If you are being responsible now in a presentation when you are Opposition, Mr. Speaker, you can say an ything you want. It is not your money. It is the people’s money. And I dare say you have a responsibility to support us paying down —us, we, all of us, everyone in this room —paying down the debt for the people and on behalf of the people of Bermuda. The Member from constit uency 34. I loved the intro on that one, Mr. Speaker. And I have great r espect, not that I do not have great respect for the pe ople in this room. But I love listening to this Member. But the presentation was in what a lawyer looks for and, indeed, it was v ery appropriate because as a lawyer that would make sense, on exhibiting, on r eviewing exhibits, the presentation of evidence, pr esenting the facts, and of course we heard over and over again about the presentation of the facts. But, Mr. Speaker, I would submit (and I am not a lawyer) that a lawyer’s job is to represent the case of their client. And, Mr. Speaker, that meant that person that was making that presentation was doing her job. But that does not mean that there were all the facts because the fact s are still the facts. We, the Government of Bermuda, are paying off our deficit — wow! And, Mr. Speaker, that is really important and that is $300 million. And we need to be accountable. Visionary —we spoke about visionary and how the PLP’s presentation was visionary. Mr. Speaker, I will dare say that Mr. Trump has a vision of building a wall in Mexico and Mexico will pay for it. That is v isionary. Do you think that is going to happen, Mr. Speaker? I do not think so, but it was a vision all the same.
[Inaudible interjections]
Bermuda House of Assembly
Mrs. Suzann Roberts -HolshouserMr. Speaker, let us talk about the Member from constituency 29. This Member decided to outline what the PLP did with the monies that they had in their coffers all the way back from 1998. And, Mr. Speaker, I will be the first to say the Government of the day …
Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the Member from constituency 29. This Member decided to outline what the PLP did with the monies that they had in their coffers all the way back from 1998. And, Mr. Speaker, I will be the first to say the Government of the day did a lot. They did. I will not dismiss or undermine some of the things that they did. They certainly knew how to spend money, money that they did not have. But what I would like to know, Mr. Speaker , is can you imagine . . . the Member had mentioned (again, the Member from constituency 29) almost t owards the end of his speech, Wouldn’t it be amazing if the Government of the day would give $500 and we’ll really see how many people are unemployed to show up at the field? I thought that was a great idea, Mr. Speaker, I did. But, Mr. Speaker, can you imagine how much $70 million in overruns from Berkeley, can you imagine how $39 million overruns from Heritage Wharf, how many $500 that would have paid if w e had that money? Can you imagine? That is the people’s money by the way, Mr. Speaker, and we could have done a lot with that money —a lot! But we do not have that money, Mr. Speaker, because they spent it.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mrs. Suzann Roberts -HolshouserMr. Speaker, we would have made sure that the people of Bermuda that needed it received it. But you know what? I would expect the Leader of the Opposition to be able to speak on his own time, not mine. [Inaudible interjection]
Mrs. Suzann Rober ts-HolshouserMr. Speaker, oh, why do we not talk about America’s Cup? That is a very good idea. In fact, I do believe we also heard of the Grand Slam and how much money was spent, and I am not questioning how much Beyoncé was [paid], but the question I have …
Mr. Speaker, oh, why do we not talk about America’s Cup? That is a very good idea. In fact, I do believe we also heard of the Grand Slam and how much money was spent, and I am not questioning how much Beyoncé was [paid], but the question I have in comparison to— and that was $2 million, yes —between the Grand Slam and America’s Cup, how many members are participants at the Grand Slam, rented a home, are paying money for people to rent their homes? I do not think many of them stayed here for an y length of time, maybe a week or so. You cannot compare. They are not apples to apples. They are not apples to apples. The America’s Cup . . . whether anyone understands, I would hope over time we will gradually get them to see, that those individuals who are financially benefitting, those people who are renting their homes out to the individuals from the America’s Cup, those people who are in the grocery stores, I would hope, Mr. Speaker, that these individuals will come forward and say, I benefi tted. I b enefitted by having the America’s Cup here. This is money on the ground. This is money in our pockets —“ours” being Bermudians. This is where that is going, Mr. Speaker. The Grand Slam was for the elitist. I am sorry, Mr. Speaker, and it did not do a lot for the economy in the long run. It may have done a lot in the short run, we would have seen an increase in tourism for a short period of time, but they were not renting our homes,
Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Rolfe CommissiongPoint of order, Mr. Speaker. Point of or der. The Member is misleading the House. She characterised the Grand Slam as being an elitist event. There is no more elitist event than the America’s Cup.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member, that is not a point of order. Carry on.
Mrs. Suzann Roberts -Hols houserMr. Speaker, I was hoping that point of order would have been to correct me that someone from the Grand Slam was renting a home in Bermuda for a year. I was hoping I would be corrected, but I am sorry, that was not what I was expecting. Mr. Speaker, …
Mr. Speaker, I was hoping that point of order would have been to correct me that someone from the Grand Slam was renting a home in Bermuda for a year. I was hoping I would be corrected, but I am sorry, that was not what I was expecting. Mr. Speaker, I wanted to point out one of the things, if you do not mind, Mr. Speaker, which I read this whole book cover to cover and I do not think that everyone had an opportunity that sits in this House— the Fiscal Responsibility Panel’s report —which, again, I know it was said in the earlier part of today. It was by an independent group of people, not Government, these were recommendations. On page 5, “Effects of an ageing population, declining workforce and escalating health care costs. This also is a certainty , not just a risk, which will result in serious longer -term pressures on public spending and challenges to growth.” Mr. Speaker, that one sentence says an awful lot about where Bermuda needs to take a look at how we are going to move forward and not just stand still and not just throw out ideas. But anyway, Mr. Speaker, let me just go back to my notes. Constituency 15—
[Inaudible interjections]
Mrs. Suzann Roberts -Holshouser—perhaps the OBA . . . I have, Mr. Speaker, my own way of r espond ing, thank y ou. Thank you. [Inaudible interjections]
Mrs. Suzann Roberts -HolshouserPerhaps the OBA want to ignore their own inaccuracies . I was not sure where that was going, but I think where he was leading was the inaccuracies of decisions we have made, which because he . . . there were certain sug764 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda …
Perhaps the OBA want to ignore their own inaccuracies . I was not sure where that was going, but I think where he was leading was the inaccuracies of decisions we have made, which because he . . . there were certain sug764 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly gestions of, and rightly so, too (Bermuda is a democracy), that individuals in Bermuda felt the need to come out and voice their concerns. Is anyone in this room suggesting that people do not have that right? Because as far as I know, Mr. Speaker, Bermuda is a democracy, has always been one, and there is freedom of speech. Indeed. Indeed, there were individuals that came out about the closure of Lamb Foggo. And i ndeed it was the Opposition (the Government of the day) t hat listened to the people of Bermuda and r eopened it. However, Mr. Speaker, it is imperative that we understand why it was closed. It was because there was insufficient use. That meant it was not cost - effective, Mr. Speaker, at that time. So when we r eopened it, I stood on this very spot and implored the people of Bermuda to better utilise the most beautiful facility that we have in St. David’s.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mrs. Suzann Roberts -HolshouserSo, Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful and I really do not want to be liste ning to the Opposition Whip. [Gavel]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Members, I want to hear the Deputy Speaker.
Some Hon. Members Some Hon. MembersMe too.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberWe all do.
Mrs. Suzann Ro berts -HolshouserThank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to point out that as a democracy, indeed, people in Bermuda have been coming out to voice their concerns. And even under the PLP Go vernment I was sitting in another place when there were people honki ng their horns when we were …
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I just wanted to point out that as a democracy, indeed, people in Bermuda have been coming out to voice their concerns. And even under the PLP Go vernment I was sitting in another place when there were people honki ng their horns when we were debating the Tucker’s Point, I remember when the Honour-able Member Dame Jennifer Smith, who sat in this Chamber, had to deal with those people pertaining to St. George’s Prep. There was also, of course, a huge police and civil s ervants presentation and march on these grounds. We encourage that, Mr. Speaker, so we must not use that as a distraction when we are discussing budget debates. Of course people have an opport unity to speak how they feel, Mr. Speaker. That is their right. And we are here to represent the people of Bermuda. Now, Mr. Speaker, we knew as a new Government that we would have challenges. We knew. We knew that we were not quite sure what we were walking into. We knew that there was a problem and I would bet my bot tom dollar, Mr. Speaker, that the O pposition now were very grateful that they did not have to fix the problem they got Bermuda into. And I am very glad, Mr. Speaker, that the Government of the day—the One Bermuda Alliance—under the financial leadership of the Honourable Member Mr. Bob Ric hards, we will find our way out of the red and back into a healthy position. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
[Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 5. MP Derrick Burgess, you have the floor. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank the Shadow Minister for Finance for his delivery and his …
Thank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Member from constituency 5. MP Derrick Burgess, you have the floor.
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to thank the Shadow Minister for Finance for his delivery and his Reply to the Budget. Mr. Speaker, t he Shadow Minister pointed out that the present Government increased our debt by a billion dollars in 38 months. He sort of answered the criticism that we get sometimes because we had the most work permits in the country in our history when we created 5,000 jobs under a PLP Government. It should not be a criticism. Mr. Speaker, just one more thing . . . and he also talked about the airport and the tax concessions that will be given to the airport. Mr. Speaker, one that we are now going to give tax concess ions for 30 years. Mr. Speaker, you know, the airport . . . you heard the Accountant General say there were some violations of financial instructions by the Finance Mi nister. Those are not my words. That is what was said in the Public Accounts Committee meeting. Mr. Speaker, and since then because when the first airport was started we talked about it I think it was $200 million, then it went to $255 million, and we just learned the other day that what will also happen is that once the airport is paid for t hat the Aecon (whoever they are, the company) will share in the profits of the people. Mr. Speaker, I find it a bit ironic that we are going to guarantee these folks for 30 years payroll tax exemptions if they get the job (it would seem they got it) to bu ild the airport. All the goods that are brought in are duty free. And also electricity, when we have our people in Bermuda, the average Mrs. Smith, has to pay electricity bills, we have a billion dollar company coming to Bermuda and it is going to get free electricity for 30 years —guaranteed. Now, Mr. Speaker, we cannot even guarantee tuition for our children going to school. Some of our children cannot go back to school or go to school, and I am talking about further education at university, beBermuda House of Assembly cause they do not have the funds. And it is one thing that should happen in this country because of our hi story, we should be guaranteeing all our children f inances to go to school for further education—because of our history. We have not asked for reparations yet, but, again, because of our history our children should not have to scramble for money to go to school, Mr. Speaker. And our seniors are not being taken care of to the standard that we feel they should be taken care of. Mr. Speaker, no other company in this country or even foreign companies that come to this country, has gotten this type of deal. These folks have died and gone to heaven without even earning their way there with this guarantee. Not even our seniors are guaranteed tomorrow, our seniors are hav ing to struggle now to make a choice of whether they can buy food or whether they get their medicine. And if they do not get food they get hunger pains and if they do not get the medicine their bones ache. Mr. Speaker, that is not what should be in this country as affluent as it is for some, and I say “for some.” They should, our seniors, should never have to experience that in this country. And you know I will always say for a country to remain safe, you had better take care of the poor. You must take car e of the poor because, I will repeat and it is worth repeating, when you see the crimes and the times of the day that crimes are happening, like robbery, this is not what the criminal . . . they do not operate in the daylight, not normally. They operate when you are asleep, in the dark. They do have some respect for some people depending on the time of the day. These folks that are robbing during the daytime are desperate. They do not have anything. And then we are taking much criticism because of the debt. Let me defend our former Finance Minister because would you have wanted the Finance Minister to say no when we were looking for day care for our people who could not afford it? Would you want the Finance Minister to say no for free schooling up to college level, the Bermuda College? Would you want the Finance Minister to say no to FutureCare, free bus rides, Financial Assistance? And not only that, giving grants for over a bi llion dollars to the hospital —over a billion dollars to the hospital, Mr. Speaker. And let me say this here, down at the hospital now, if you look at the administrative staff, which I think makes up about 6 [per cent] or 7 per cent of the entire staff, when you average their wages out, Mr. Speaker, do you know what the average wage is down there for the administrative staff? Five hundred and eleven thousand dollars a year. And I am not speaking off the top of my head, I have the figures —$511,000 per year —that is the average wage. And this is money . . . a lot of the money is coming fro m the taxpayer, and yet we are begrudging our people increases for seniors, we are cutting bud gets on the education, while we are giving people money, we are giving grants and exemptions, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, Heritage Wharf, a lot of criticism ab out Heritage Wharf. That is a project that paid off itself in three years. Mr. Speaker, had we not done the Heritage Wharf where would we be in these difficult times of recession and challenges globally? Where would we be? Where would we be, Mr. Speaker? Dame Lois Browne- Evans Building. The money that we earn or save in rents, that is what we did, Mr. Speaker. If you look in the Budget Books as far as that . . . in fact, in 2010, we were paying over $13 million in rents. In the present Budget Book there is $9 million. We are saving some money, quite a bit, because of the Dame Lois Browne- Evans Building, even though they try to make it out to what it was not. That is . . . that is where it is, Mr. Speaker. And so, Mr. Speaker, when we heard the Mi nister of Education get up —and I like my friend because he is trying to race me in a cycle race. I know he will beat me, but it is okay. He is a professional —
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberHe will not beat you. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: —but he probably will not beat me, no— [Inaudible interjections and laughter] Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: —but he gave a presentation but he said nothing about education. See, because what confuses me . . . and I know he …
He will not beat you. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: —but he probably will not beat me, no—
[Inaudible interjections and laughter]
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: —but he gave a presentation but he said nothing about education. See, because what confuses me . . . and I know he is trying to do a good job because I heard him on TV the other night and he said, when he was asked, did he get what he should have got or what he wanted in the budget? He said, I got what I asked for. Well, it is a $2.2 million cut. Now, this committee that went out to examine the schools, and I understand there are quite a few improvements that have to happen, and it is going to take money to fix these problems, yet there is a reduction in costs. Now somebody was insinuating—
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Okay, I do not know what he is saying, but let me say, there was an i nsinuation that we did not do anything to the schools. Well, we —
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Certainly.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, you want a clarification? Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Yes, I just want to clarify something for the Member. 766 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. POINT OF CLARIFICATION Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Those funds are actually in the Works and Engineering budget and they were i ncreased. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Mr. Mini ster, thank you very much. I am happy to know that . . . at least — [Inaudible …
Yes.
POINT OF CLARIFICATION
Hon. R. Wayne Scott: Those funds are actually in the Works and Engineering budget and they were i ncreased.
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Mr. Mini ster, thank you very much. I am happy to know that . . . at least —
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Right. But Mr. Speaker, the PLP Government put money in schools every year. And I think you can remember, I believe you were the Minister for Education when we had some challenges at Whitney and they really never came under us, right? But you as the Minister said, Look, we’ve got to take care of that school. Those are Bermudians down there. And we put over $2 million in that school . . . in that school. And you were on us every . . . as long as you were Minister of Finance, you were on us every year. As the Minister of Public Works, How about the schools, for summer? And we did that. So, yes, we did what we had to do for the schools within t he time period that we had, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let us talk about land tax. Mr. Speaker, the Minister came here and brought a land tax Bill to make some adjustments which were, as he said, we do not want to lose any money because of the value of the real estate going down. We agree with that. We do not want to fall backwards. Mr. Speaker, we saw it a little different. In fact, the Opposition Leader asked a question. He said, How is the average person —I am paraphrasing now, I can get, I have got the Hansard in front of me—but he said, How is the average person going to benefit from this tax increase? And the Minister said there is no tax increase. That is what he said, There is no tax i ncrease. Mr. Speaker, that was the furthest thing from the trut h and I do not think the Minister . . . I really do not believe that he came up here to intentionally mi slead us. I think he did not study the figures that were put in front of him because, Mr. Speaker, what you have in the land tax . . . because when they first brought the Bill, the intent was to take the exemption away from seniors. Later they called it an error and fixed it. Well, thanks for that. Right? Because that is what was happening because after some pressure from the PLP and people about this her e and the election, because the Honourable Member who has just recently been introduced in this House here took a lot of that flack on the doorstep about taxes going up for seniors. So the Minister made the correct thing. But what we have in this tax incr ease is the high ARV, those that can afford it, getting reductions in taxes and those in the lower range getting i ncreases. Mr. Speaker, the increases have gone up as much as 103 per cent on the different samples I have taken—103 per cent. And, Mr. Speak er, I can tell you there are some people that are getting a $50,000 per year reduction in these taxes. So the typical Ms. Smith who happens, if she is paying rent and taxes are i ncluded, that will be passed on to Ms. Smith, that 100 per cent increase to people that have not had a job— well, that do not have a job, to those that are b eing paid at the 2011 rate, and in particular Gover nment workers, one year they worked at the 2009 rate of pay. But all this increase has been put on them, but my rich friends, i f I have any, are getting reductions as much as over $50,000 per year. Mr. Speaker, even one businessman talked to me this week and he said, Look man, my taxes have gone up 90 per cent. A small businessman, his land tax had gone up 90 per cent. I do not b elieve that was the intent of the Minister, you know. And let me say this here, with all due respect to the Members, I think it is an envious job to try to balance this budget. My Shadow Minister knows it; the Leader of the Opposition knows that. We all know it on this side of the House. We know it is an envious job. But we just feel that it could be managed better. So, Mr. Speaker, this land tax has to be fixed. And not only that . . . is that the general public, I am sure, if the Minister would have come to this House and said to the general public, I’m going to take up land tax by 7 per cent , you would not have gotten any problem with the general public. You would have raised almost $5 million from that. But what we are getting in order to stay at the rat e that . . . the $63 or $62 million that we get a year from land tax, we are getting a reduction for the rich and an increase for the poor and middle class. That is the end result.
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Mr. Speaker, point of order.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Honourable Member. POINT OF ORDER [Misleading] Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: The valuations have not changed, just the levels have. The Honourable Member is misleading the House. It is not as though the rich are getting a break here. Some of the ri ch, or those that have …
Yes, Honourable Member.
POINT OF ORDER [Misleading] Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: The valuations have not changed, just the levels have. The Honourable Member is misleading the House. It is not as though the rich are getting a break here. Some of the ri ch, or those that have a high ARV, obviously, are going up; some of them are going down. It depends on the valuation done by the department. Thank you.
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Speaker, it is quite obvious that the Member who just got up thinks that we do not know what we are talking about. That is what he is insinuating. Right? But what I am telling are the actual figures, actual houses. That is what it is. It is not off the top of my head. We know how to work out the land tax on this side. [Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Most of them, I can tell you. I have got it right in front of me, addresses and everything. And this is accessible to anybody. So it is the truth. The rich are getting breaks and the poor and the middl e class have to pay more at a time when they are not even getting increases in the rate of their pay, Mr. Speaker. Now, Mr. Speaker, the employment situation. Last year they said, as you see in the Budget Book, in 2015 there were 298 less jobs, 225 were g overnment jobs. And the Minister did say in the Budget that the freeze will continue for the next fiscal period. Mr. Speaker, what is not confusing to me is that the wages for total wages, salaries, overhead for 2014/15 —that is the year of the furlough— were $460,182,000. Now in 2015/16, it was $458,218,000. And this year it has gone up to $471 million. Mr. Speaker, let me say those 225 fewer jobs, they represent in dollar value $12.1 million. I guess you would probably say, Well, how do you get that Derrick? Well, it is 225 jobs. The average blue collar wage is $54,000. And I am doing it at the low end b ecause, you know, the white collar civil servants are more. At $54,000 it is $12.1 million. And the point I am trying to make is that if in 2014/15 it was $460 million, then 2015/16 it should be $12 million less, but it was more. And not only that, in 2016/17 it is $13 million more than 2015/16. It is going up even though you have got fewer employees and it is $12.1 million minimum that is being saved each year, Mr. Speaker. That is on page 44. So those figures, Mr. Speaker, I do not know if he is putting some extra money to pad it and use it somewhere else, but that is not their figures, Mr. Speaker. And, Mr. Speaker, I was glad to hear this morning that A merica’s Cup, those 390 workers e mployed there, and I do not know how many of them were Bermudians —
[Inaudible interjection]
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberAll of them. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: All were Bermudians. That is good to hear. That is good to hear. But do you know why we ask that, Mr. Speaker, and we are suspicious of it? Mr. Speaker, they brought a Bill here in Parliament for Pink Beach and …
All of them.
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: All were Bermudians. That is good to hear. That is good to hear. But do you know why we ask that, Mr. Speaker, and we are suspicious of it? Mr. Speaker, they brought a Bill here in Parliament for Pink Beach and they gave Pink Beach the permission to bring in 50 per cent guest workers. Hotel industry in Bermuda . . . you are telling me that we cannot staff a cottage colony, a small hotel? Something we have done so well for many years? And if you look at the history of the small hotels, their occupancy rates are much higher than the large hotels, so that says something, Mr. Sp eaker. And the question is, What is going to happen with St. George ’s hotel, will they be given the same concession? Or Morgan’s Point, will they be given the same arrangement as Pink Beach? You know, and Mr. Speaker, even in the Labour Force Survey . . . Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have left?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYou have 10 minutes. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Okay, Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, in the 2015 Labour Survey the only people that were losing jobs were black people. In fact, under that survey non- Bermudian jobs i ncreased 377. White jobs increased 950 out of …
You have 10 minutes.
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Okay, Mr. Speaker, thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, in the 2015 Labour Survey the only people that were losing jobs were black people. In fact, under that survey non- Bermudian jobs i ncreased 377. White jobs increased 950 out of a total of 12,000. And blacks, we were less, 846. Not only that, Mr. Speaker, when you look at the wage, the a verage annual wage in 2014 was $60,295 and 2015 was $63,271— an increase of $2,976—despite the recession. Not only that, despite the furlough day, b ecause that was the same year you had the furlough day, but they increased in all other areas. There were increases in all other areas of income for workers besides gover nment, hotels and the likes of it. But, Mr. Speaker, when you look at the i ncome for blacks and whites in that same period, blacks income only increase by a quarter per cent —a quarter per cent —while whites increased 4.9 per cent. Thus, the disparity widen s, Mr. Speaker. It widens and, Mr. Speaker, this is not just a Bermuda problem, this is a worldwide problem —the difference in pay b etween blacks and whites. Mr. Speaker, the TUC of London, of the UK, they did a survey last year. What they found out, b etween blacks and whites with degrees, blacks were being paid £4.46 per hour less than whites. That same practice continues . . . it is in Bermuda. And that is why every year, despite our freezes, despite the furlough day, the income disparity widens. You woul d have thought in 2014/15 that the disparity would have closed in a bit, but it did not, Mr. Speaker. And then onto the payroll tax, Mr. Speaker, that has increased 1 per cent. Now the majority of the employees are paying 5.5 per cent. The law states you can take as much as 6 per cent. And I am glad to see that the Government is going to do a roll back and the roll back right now will be 8 per cent. And I hope everybody understands that because what will hap-pen, for example, the retail stores were paying n othing. The roll back is 8 per cent, so what will happen, the employee will pay 6 per cent and the employer will 768 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly pay 2 per cent. We do not get any breaks. The e mployees get no breaks from the payroll tax, but all the breaks have come to the employer. Not o nly that, Mr. Speaker, that half per cent increase from 5.5 [per cent] to 6 per cent is a 9 per cent increase on the tax rate. That is what it is. It is a 9 per cent increase on their tax rate; it will be more coming out of their tax portion of their pay c heque, something that they can ill afford to pay. The workers continue to suffer under the OBA Government and I guess the OBA Government said, Well, at least you’ve got a job. Yes, that is good. It is good to have a job too, right? But if others are benef itting during this difficult time, why not the average worker? Why can we not benefit some? You know, wealth is . . . it is not unlawful for blacks to have money or to earn money. It is not unlawful. I want to make that clear. So, we need to start paying our workers some money, Mr. Speaker, because what we are facing with this budget, and I am not being overly critical of the budget, we are going to have an increase in our light bill, you are going to have an increase in your gas for your car and your bikes, you are going to have an i ncrease in your payroll tax, an increase in your land tax, and obviously an increase in food because Piggly Wiggly is not going to absorb the extra cost in lights and energy in their shop. They are going to pass it on to you an d I, Mr. Speaker. But at the same time we are going to get that increase, there is nothing for the worker. And the immigration situation, Mr. Speaker, people seem to think that the PLP is against people getting status in Bermuda. PLP has never said that. Our Leader has been very clear on that. Walton Brown has been very clear on that. Honourable Member Walter Roban has been very clear on that. We want reform, we want to sit down because, Mr. Speaker, when you are doing a Bill such as immigr ation it is not one that belongs to any particular go vernment. This is something we have to do for the country for years to come. So it should be a by - partisan committee sitting out there trying to fix this because, Mr. Speaker, every country has a quota on how many peopl e they can allow in each year. In fact, I think in the UK it is 0.03 per cent or 0.003 per cent. But under their plan they want to just open the gates and allow everybody in, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am going to repeat again that when we got our term li mits under the Honourable former Premier Paula Cox we were able to do that, Britain allowed us to do it, because you know that normally when you stay in an EU country —London or whatever —that if you are there, I think it is five years, you can start the pap erwork and get your status. But Britain did not allow that for this country. Why? B ecause of the size. And, Mr. Speaker, they cemented that when they gave us the right to abode in the UK. Because if you belong to the EU you can travel an y-where in the EU and get the benefits. In fact, in Finland, which is a part of the EU, you can go to school free—a university education—free. And Britain says, I can’t allow you to go to the six colonies b ecause of their size, they don’t have the infrastructure for it. But this Government, even the courts, have . . . I guess they disregarded what Britain —the UK —has said. They just want to let people in here because if you know the history, the history of immigration in this country, over the past 30 years, 85 per cent of thos e that were granted status were white.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Right. And as my co lleague says, It is social engineering. At least 95 per cent of the white population vote one way —one way. And, you know, we have a long hist ory, Bermuda has a long history, of racialised immigration and policies that were put in place to continue to ensure power and control over the people. And this is what this Gover nment seems to want to do, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, all the work permits, i f you look . . . no, I am sorry, Mr. Speaker, we saw yesterday on the social media they had five, six or seven people of colour, one of my white cousins, were telling why they think they should have status. And when I looked at the whole lot of them there was only one to me, and I wondering why they do not have a passport because they were born here to a Bermudian father who died at age three months or five months or whatever it is. The others came here with a passport so they have got somewhere to go and had somewhere to go but they said they are stuck. How did they get stuck? One said they were married and got two children. Well, why have they not applied for PRC? And if they were married over 10 years, they could get status. So, I mean, and I feel for al l of them and the PLP is not saying that we want to ask them to go, we have never said that. We are saying we need to put a policy in place so that we know where we will be in the next 10 or 20 years when it comes to status. Particularly a country of this size, we have no land to spare, 38 per cent in the last report we got (and it is probably higher now) of residential real estate in this country belongs to foreigners. Nowhere in the world—
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: —nowhere in the world, Mr. Speaker, that you have that —38 per cent overseas. In fact, a question was asked to the Minister by my cousin, Chris Famous. He says . . . can I read it, Mr. Speaker?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: He says, “How many PRC s did the OBA say qualified for status via the Bermuda House of Assembly ‘loophole’ in 2014?” Well, it was 1,455. Out of that, 10 per cent were black. [Timer beeps] Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: That is it? …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Minister of Health and Seniors. Minister Jeanne Atherden, you have the floor. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHealth and the Environment. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden : Health, Seniors and the Environment, that is fine. Mr. Speaker, today I have to remind myself that we are talking about the Budget and we are tal king about it in what I call the generic terms rather than the individual …
Health and the Environment.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden : Health, Seniors and the Environment, that is fine. Mr. Speaker, today I have to remind myself that we are talking about the Budget and we are tal king about it in what I call the generic terms rather than the individual terms. And I am trying to make sur e that I stay focused on what I believe the issues are that have been raised because I look at the Opposition response and I must admit there were some interes ting things there. And as I said to [Honourable Mem-ber] Walton Brown I would be sure to say that. But as I said before, it is not so much about what is put there, it is really about the implementation, it is really about what people can do. So, Mr. Speaker, I want to just, first of all, I need to say that having seen the Budget that was produced by the Minister of Finance I do believe, considering the circumstances, that the Minister has taken the path that is going to be appropriate for Bermuda as we go forward. As you can remember when we came to the Government, we had to talk about looking under t he hood and it was unfortunate that when we discovered just how much lack of resources that we had under the hood that we had to turn around and start looking at reducing our expenditure and getting everything under control. But over the years, Mr. Speaker , I think the Finance Minister has been very resolute as it relates to getting these expenditures under control. And even though at the beginning he might have hoped that we might have been able to increase things like the furlough day and some of those ot her opportunities; that did not work. But he has been very insistent on ma king sure that his Ministers live within their budgets, looking at cutting expenses, and making sure that we try and deliver on the programmes. And I think that that is important bec ause that is what a Finance Mi nister is supposed to do. And also, equally important, what is supposed to happen is that the Cabinet Mini sters are supposed to make sure that their ministries deliver on the programmes that the Government wants to achieve and at the same time trying to look for programmes that can increase the efficiencies. And so I think that that is what we have done. What I would like to do, Mr. Speaker, is I would like to sort of go through and discuss one or two things that I have seen in the Throne Speech R eply because I do think that it is useful, not only so that people can be aware that I took it seriously and I looked at it, but also there are some things that I think we have to highlight in terms of what was said. Mr. Speaker, I did notice that on page 1 of the Opposition’s Reply there was the suggestion that just because . . . and they talked about whether people had missed this in the Budget Book, just because the Parliamentary Registrar had been allocated funds to prepare for a general election that there was a distinct possibility that this might be the last time that the Pr ogressive Labour Party might be sitting on the Oppos ition benches because they seem to imply that that might have been a suggestion that an early election would be called. But I would suggest to them that it is more likely the fact that the Government committed to having the ability to be able to vote —
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: —absentee balloting, a bsentee voting, and therefore there ar e some other things that would need to be done. And also if . . . I think if you remember, the Government also talked about trying to make sure that we had elections on a regular basis and talking about re- registration. So I guess what I am saying to you i s, do not get excited just because you thought you saw that and you thought that meant that there was going to be an early election. With respect to some other things, I do think that, you know, we have been talking about the suggestion about, on page 2 of the Budget Book in terms of the exodus, the great exodus from Bermuda, and talking about Bermudians being forced to flee their homeland to search for opportunities elsewhere. And I do think that —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWhere are you reading from? Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I am reading from the O pposition’s —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerOh, the Opposition, okay. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: —I am reading from the Opposition’s Budget. [Inaudible interjection] 770 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: And Mr. Speaker, I am quoting and I will make c lear that I am quoting from the …
Oh, the Opposition, okay. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: —I am reading from the Opposition’s Budget. [Inaudible interjection]
770 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: And Mr. Speaker, I am quoting and I will make c lear that I am quoting from the Opposition’s book.
[Inaudible interjections] Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I guess, Mr. Speaker, what I am trying to say as we go forward is that I think we have to get to stages where we have to try and be honest as we talk about what we are saying. You know, we should not have exaggeration in either way. And so I am saying that I do think that if you were looking at the great Bermuda exodus, if we were looking at it objectively, I think we have to start saying from the time Bermudians were able to get their pas sport that said that you had the EU connections, they started to look at opportunities to go abroad. And even before . . . and it reminds of . . . I do not know whether you are old enough to remember, when a lot of peopl e had the American connection and then they started looking at being able to go to the US because they had opportunities. I am not sa ying that because people have had difficulties in finding employment here that, perhaps, they decided to take more advantage of it, but I just want to say to you that I think —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member, you are not speaking to them, you are speaking to the Speaker — Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Yes, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe Speaker—through the Speaker, yes. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Yes.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerSo speak to the Speaker and you stay the course much better, yes. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Minister Burgess just likes to be over there distracting me.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerIt would be much better to look at the Speaker than to look over there. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Right.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYour view would be much better. [Laughter] Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I totally agree with you, Mr. Speaker. If we are starting to talk about growing and diversifying the economy, I think we are all in agreement on that. I think the difference is that we have our differences of …
Your view would be much better. [Laughter]
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I totally agree with you, Mr. Speaker. If we are starting to talk about growing and diversifying the economy, I think we are all in agreement on that. I think the difference is that we have our differences of opinion on what growing and diversif y-ing the economy means. And that is obviously why we have a Budget Statement that talks about what we are going to do and the Opposition has something different. But I do think that we recognise, and I think we all believe, that if we grow the economy and if jobs start to come back to Bermuda, that Bermudians will want to return. So we are not saying that we want to l ose them. We want to think that the opportunities will be here and because they have families on the Island they will want to come back. So I do not think that you should turn around and just say just because they have gone abroad that there is not the opportunity that we will not be able to bring them back. We want to invest in Bermudians because it is very important. As we said earlier, we do not have enough Bermudians right now for all the jobs, and because of the birth rate we are losing that battle bet ween the seniors and the young people. So just because they have gone now because the job opportunities were not here, I would like to think that they view it the same way that they used to do before with the Americas —they will go abroad, they will get som e expertise, and they will be able to come back for jobs. Mr. Speaker, there is one thing that I want to say because it disturbs me. And, Mr. Speaker, this was on page 4, and sometimes I just have to sort of talk about things which I believe are disturbin g because if I do not say them, or someone does not say them, then there is a suggestion that just because it is there it is real. And this is the suggestion, and I will quote, Mr. Speaker, this is where the Opposition was talking about “we will give Bermudians hope and opportunity for a brighter future.” Well, we actually want to do that as well. But I do think when you start talking about “the biggest challenge that Bermuda must face is getting to grips with a debt burden.” And we agree with that. And th at is why the Minister of Finance has been working so hard to rein in the costs, the expenses, because I do not know whether people realise that in order to pay the debt, you have to have money to pay the debt, you have to turn around and have money. And t herefore we have to turn around and make sure that we have a surplus. If not, you are out there borrowing more money to pay down the debt that you really want to maintain. So I think that it is important, Mr. Speaker, that we realise that we have always been trying to come up and have a surplus and the ultimate aim is to have a surplus so that we can get the debt level and reduce it and then be able to turn it and get ourselves into that positive position. But, Mr. Speaker, I just want to acknowledge another thing. There is a suggestion that . . . and I am looking at it on page 4 of the Opposition’s response, because amazingly enough we have had a lot of di scussion on this “Pathways to Status.” Under normal circumstances I would not have even thought about it because I am saying to myself, That is really not r eBermuda House of Assembly lated to budget and expenditures, et cetera. But I do realise, and we have said it, that because growing the economy and having enough people on the Island is very important because it translates into investment and it translates into people here. I think the Opposition recognises what we recognise as well because on page 4 they are saying talking about “recognising the need to grow our econ-omy with fair and balanced work permit policies” and they say “the starting point is the Bermuda Immigr ation and Protection Act.” And so it was recognised that we have to grow our economy and we have to deal with making sure that we have enough people here. But my concern, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that there is this statement which I take very much exception to: “As the PLP recognises that our plans for di-versification” —and I am quoting, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: “Will require at least half the new jobs created to be filled by highly s killed and experienced international labour, balance is required.” So on the one hand I do not take exception to that. And I am going to say that, Mr. Speaker. I …
Yes. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: “Will require at least half the new jobs created to be filled by highly s killed and experienced international labour, balance is required.” So on the one hand I do not take exception to that. And I am going to say that, Mr. Speaker. I like to hear the recognition that when the jobs have to be created at least half of them will have to come from overseas because in the past some people have not recognised that as we grow the jobs we are not going to be able to grow them with enough Bermudians. We are going to have to bring people in from abroad. So I am glad that that was said. But, Mr. Speaker, but what I do take exception to is the suggestion that talks about . . . and it says in this on the same page—
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberWhat paragraph? Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: This is page . . . Mr. Speaker, I did not hear you ask for the paragraph. [Laughter] Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Mr. Speaker, “where this theory meets reality is in the demographics, political intent and history of social engineering that overshad-ows the One …
What paragraph?
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: This is page . . . Mr. Speaker, I did not hear you ask for the paragraph.
[Laughter]
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Mr. Speaker, “where this theory meets reality is in the demographics, political intent and history of social engineering that overshad-ows the One Bermuda Alliance and its recent for ebears, the UBP.” Well, I am not even worrying about that. But what I am concerned about is if you start talking about demographics, political intent and history of social engineering, I think that it is important for us not to lose sight of history and sort of skip over. That part caused me to think about what ha ppened in between, which was the UBP and then the OBA, and then I thought, I do remember that there was a PLP that was in and I do remember that there was this whole question when it was talking about diversification. And I do not know whether some of you remember, there seemed to be, from people on the outside, that there was a studious intent to try and bring people in from down south. And that lots of people came to the Island, and I am saying there seemed to be, so let us agree that sometimes you go out and you try and —
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: —you try and go out and you try to —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAgain, you are speaking directly — Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I am sorry.
The SpeakerThe Speaker—stay, stay, yes. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I will stand this way, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, that is better. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: You know, I think Mr. Speaker, what should happen, all these microphones should be here so that it is easy because I am like this to speak to my microphone. But anyway, Mr. Speaker, what I just want to remind people is …
Yes, that is better. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: You know, I think Mr. Speaker, what should happen, all these microphones should be here so that it is easy because I am like this to speak to my microphone. But anyway, Mr. Speaker, what I just want to remind people is that when you started to talk about diversification, if you stop in between you have to r emember there was a realistic period in between there where it was like persons were going out and they were trying to get persons from the islands —from the Caribbean—to come here. So all I am saying to you is the fact that things do happen in terms of how pe ople—
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Point of clarification.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. POIN T OF CLARIFICATION Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: I would just like, for clarity, can the Honourable Minister pinpoint the time period that she is referring to when there was an attempt to bring people from the south under the PLP?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Hon. M arc A. R. Bean: Just for context, please.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Carry on. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Mr. Speaker, I cannot r emember because I think I was in Senate at that point in time. But I do believe that if you started to look around at the jobs and you started to look at who were 772 26 …
All right. Carry on. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Mr. Speaker, I cannot r emember because I think I was in Senate at that point in time. But I do believe that if you started to look around at the jobs and you started to look at who were 772 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly in a lot of the significant positions, whether it be the police or whether it be in business, et cetera— [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: All I am saying to you is that it appeared —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonoura ble Member. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: All I am saying, Mr. Speaker, is it appeared and the reason I say it appeared is because the same way inferences have been drawn here that there was a sort of dem ographic — [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Jeanne J. At herden: —or …
Honoura ble Member.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: All I am saying, Mr. Speaker, is it appeared and the reason I say it appeared is because the same way inferences have been drawn here that there was a sort of dem ographic — [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Jeanne J. At herden: —or political intent and a history of social engineering, I am saying that one could turn around and say that perhaps at that time period there could have also been another intent of demographic and political intent and history of social engineerin g. I am just saying that when you start to try—
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, what is your point of order? POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. Walter H. RobanThe Honourable Member is misleading the House. There was n ever such a policy during the 14 years of the PLP Government to social engineer or bring people in from a particular region for any particular purpose whatsoever.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Mr. Speaker, as I said from the beginning, one has a—if you start to try and draw inferences, other people can draw inferences as well. And all I was suggesting is that by the time you start looking at CARACOM [Caribbean Community …
Thank you, Honourable Member. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Mr. Speaker, as I said from the beginning, one has a—if you start to try and draw inferences, other people can draw inferences as well. And all I was suggesting is that by the time you start looking at CARACOM [Caribbean Community and Common Market] and nurses , et cetera . . . I did not say that anybody had a policy, because as you can see in this particular Budget Book, it was just a suggestion. Because people can theorise, and that is all we can do. And I just wanted to make the observ ation that sometimes, you have to not theorise, b ecause there is the suggestion. And this is the ot her point I want to make. The Minister of Labour and Home Affairs talked about the numbers of persons who were able to apply for status. And I think there was an indication that there might have been about 500 from the UK, and I think maybe about 300 or something from the Caribbean, or blacks, because I cannot remember. But all I am just trying to say . . . and 200 from other people. But you know what I [thought], Mr. Speaker, when I heard those numbers and I heard the inferences? I thought, Everybody who is out there, whether they be black or white, should be getting offended because we should not be making judgments about how people will react and how they will vote on the basis of their colour. I thought we had gotten past it!
[Inaudible interjections and general uproar]
Some Hon. Members Some Hon. MembersNo! No! Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Point of order.
Mr. Walton BrownIf the Minister will allow me just to clarify a poin t, the Minister for Immigration recently stated that he accepted in the 1960s and 1970s imm igration policy was manipulated for political purposes.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Thank you, Honourable Member. Minister, carry on. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: The reason I want to make this observation is because there was one of the Honourable Members who spoke about why 95 per cent of whites vote one way. But I will tell yo u, Mr. Speaker, …
Thank you. Thank you, Honourable Member. Minister, carry on.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: The reason I want to make this observation is because there was one of the Honourable Members who spoke about why 95 per cent of whites vote one way. But I will tell yo u, Mr. Speaker, I remember when I was going around and walking on doorsteps, there are a lot of white people who are on this Island who came from very much labour backgrounds. And for them, they were not turning around and saying that the UBP at the time, or whatever, was the party they were voting for. People are listening to what we have to say. And, Mr. Speaker, people are taking us at what plat-forms, what actions we have to offer. And I think as
Bermuda House of Assembly we go forward, if we can try and make sure that we try and reach out to the populace and give them inform ation on what we are going to offer so that when they vote for us, they know what they are voting for, rather than voting for a party. So, Mr. Speaker, that was the point I wanted to make, partially because, as we go forward and we start to recognise that, as the Shadow Minister said, if half of the people for the new jobs are going to have to come from abroad, then it means it is going to be very important for us to bring people to this Island who want to invest in the Island, who want to become part of the fabric and who want to do things that will e ncourage harmony here and to do things that will turn around and make it better for Bermuda, Now, at the same time, Mr. Speaker, I think it is important for us to recognise that the other half of these jobs are going to be targeted for Bermudians. And if we do it right, maybe it will be even more. It will be more, because if we start looking at workforce development, if we start looking at training that we are doing, then there is no reason why any Bermudian should not have the sky as the limit and being able to aspire for any job. But all I am just saying, I was just looking at the fact that the Opposition had recognised that, whether you like it or not, we do not have enough Bermudians in the workforce. So more than likely, half of the jobs are going to be taken by non- Bermudians.
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Point of clarification — clarification.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. POINT OF CLARIFICATION Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Just for t he Minister’s edific ation, what she is referring to is the Shadow Minister’s statement on immigration policy in regard to the diversification of the economy. So we are speaking about new industries. We are not speaking about the …
Yes.
POINT OF CLARIFICATION Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Just for t he Minister’s edific ation, what she is referring to is the Shadow Minister’s statement on immigration policy in regard to the diversification of the economy. So we are speaking about new industries. We are not speaking about the exis ting industries of tour ism and IB [international bus iness].
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Okay. All right. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: So it has to be put in the proper context.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you. Thank you, Honourable Member. Carry on, Minister. Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The next thing that I really want to talk about related to . . . (Sorry, if you do not mind, I do have some notes.) [Pause] Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: …
All right. Thank you. Thank you, Honourable Member. Carry on, Minister.
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The next thing that I really want to talk about related to . . . (Sorry, if you do not mind, I do have some notes.) [Pause]
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: There is also the point of view that the budget and the challenges . . . As l ong as we recognise that we are trying to get more industry to come to Bermuda and we have to try and get people to come in, and there has been the suggestion, Why are we doing this? People are already on the Island. We have to recognise that just because people are on the Island, they have the opportunity to invest more. And if they want to stay here, then that is very important. But, Mr. Speaker, you know what I thought was very interesting? I went to a presentation that HSBC put on. I think it was yesterday or day before yesterday. And at that time, they were talking about the economic climate was improving, and that there were businesses out there that were surveyed and were indicating that they were going to put more money into capital works, and they were going to hire more. And so, I thought to myself, This is what it’s all about. It is understanding that we cannot just grow our economy just by our own industry, because we do not have enough money. We have to rely on input i nvestment, and we have to rely on people coming to create jobs. And at one point in time, there was a survey, and I cannot remember when it was or [by whom it was] done. But it indicated that if you have, let us just say, a non- Bermudian job, how many other Bermudians actually were supported under that particular job category? So, something that we did not realise, I b elieve, when we had the exodus of so many nonBermudian jobs awhile back, we did not realise how many other jobs are going to be affected by it. But I think, as we go forward, we understand much more about our ability to attract investment and [what] people can do with that. Mr. Speaker, what I also wanted to just talk about was the fact that, you know, we have been looking at what we can do with respect to the econom y. And for me, I realise that the Finance Minister has really looked at a clear path to be able to eliminate the deficit in three years. And I believe that we have to recognise that this path takes it into this year, starts it off into next year. And I thi nk if you remember —and I do, I remember —when we became the Government, we came in and we were the at the tail end of a path that we could not do anything about. All the spending and everything had already been done. And therefore, we could not change anything as it relates to the r esult and the deficit that we inherited. So I think, going forward, we are recognising that the Minister has cr eated a path which is very important for us. With respect to tax reforms, I know that there has been a suggestion about what the Minister wanted to do and why did he not do it? But I think the Minister, in the Budget Book, indicated to all of us — 774 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly and I say this, I highlighted it because it seemed like it was lost —that the Minister had indicated that —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWhere ar e you looking? Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I am looking at the blue Budget Book, the Minister’s book. This is at page 21. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: No, I have looked at both of them, but, Mr. Premier, there were two things that I think were …
Where ar e you looking? Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: I am looking at the blue Budget Book, the Minister’s book. This is at page 21. [Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: No, I have looked at both of them, but, Mr. Premier, there were two things that I think were important to me. The Minister indicated that this was talking about tax reform. It was talking about the consultants and some information that he had taken, and with respect to measures that he is announcing. And it was talking about consultation with the major stakeholders and modifications by Gover nment. And there was a suggestion by one of the Honourable Members that the Minister had not had di scussions with the people in international business, et cetera, and therefore, if he had, that they wo uld have been all over him. I am not using their exact words. But it was as if to say that they would not have been understanding or responsive. But I just want to remind everybody, if you look on page 22, the Finance Minister made it clear: “In order to get that balance right, Government will continue its consultation with business, receiving more detailed data from employers, in order to model the outcome of various payroll options.” And this was when the Minister was talking about trying to make some c hanges with respect to notional salaries and talking about different options that he might have. So I think that it is not just the Mi nister sort of thinking, saying, Oh, I’m going to write this in the book. It is the Minister’s having come and, first of all, taken the advice or taking some of the inform ation that he had received from the FRP [Fiscal R esponsibility Panel] and CARTAC [Caribbean Technical Assistance Centre] and also starting to have the conversation. I think the only thing which is perhaps unfortunate is the fact that he was not able to turn around and implement all of this right now, because consult ation takes some time, and if you want to get it right, you have to make sure that you continue it. But he did indicate it. And if you know Mr. R ichards, if he said that it is there, then he is working on it and he will continue it.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: And, Mr. Speaker, I also know that as it relates to the debt, we have obviously slowed the debt growth, and that is very important. And the only way that you could do that is to turn around and start to reduce the expenditures. (Mr. Speaker, I am also . . . And I am wrapping up because I did not intend to take a long time.) I know what I wanted to say. Mr. Speaker, there was a suggestion that the previous Government had come and had spent lots of money on various items, and therefore, by spending the money on var ious items, that is how come their debt levels or their deficit levels had been achieved, deficit levels th at they were. And all I want to say is the fact that, whether you like it or not, and you can look at the graph that the Finance Minister showed, you could see the deficit and the debt going up. And one of my difficulties —one of my difficulties, Mr. Speaker, is the fact that I look at some of the things that were done, and I say, Okay, fine. You know, FutureCare and other things. And obviously, we had to come and make sure that we balance that off so it was equal so that we did not have any preferential benefit. But what I look at right now are the things that are coming around and biting us, the fact that we have infrastructure issues. And when I say “infrastructure,” you still have to turn around and talk about the schools. You know, we could have done something. But this is an accumulation of where they are in terms of deficiencies. And if you look at the roads, it is an accumulation of deficiencies. So, I am not going to turn around and say, as I might have said before, if all of these things had been d one and we were where we were in terms of the deficit, I probably would have said, Okay, they had to do it, but look what they did. But from my perspective, I am a little concerned because I believe . . . I saw a pile of money, and then I saw a big debt af terwards, but there still were lots of things that have not been done. So, I have to acknowledge that. And hope fully, the Opposition Members will be able to say that that did happen. Now, I am not going to get into all of the other things which I could, potentially, in terms of what was the money spent on, and whether there might have been some efficiencies, and therefore, I could turn around and sort of say, Well, if I had $4 million that did not go here, what could I have done with it els ewhere? I am not going to do that, because today we are really just trying to talk about the overall expendi-ture. But there is one other thing I wanted to say. And this is getting back to talking about the Oppos ition’s budget and some actual observations. And as I say, there are some interesting items here. But I also believe that this is talking about what they would do with respect to some of their policies. (I hope I can just find it right here.)
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: This is the page wh ich the Opposition was talking about things that they might do
Bermuda House of Assembly with respect to the efficiencies of the Government. (Okay, let me find it.) [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Jeanne J. Atherden: Right, this is it. This is on page 20. There is no 20 on the page, but it is page 20. This is talking about reforming Government. Because I do recognise, Mr. Speaker, that one of the issues that we have talked about all along is the fact of, how can we reduce the size of government? And reducing the size of government w as not just what I call an exercise just to reduce costs. But it is actually trying to come up with a government that is the right size for Bermuda. And therefore, where it says, “The PLP will focus on making [it] more efficient . . . [and] depar tmental reviews . . .” and technology, all I can say is that I know that the Premier and the Cabinet, we have public service reform which is being undertaken. And therefore, these types of things are the types of things that are done when you start looking at public service reform. Because I would understand if I think about myself coming from the private sector that you always are looking at things like, you know, the idea of whether you have performance reviews, fixed contracts —those are interesting things that ar e done in other places. But the whole question of public service reform is something that is being reviewed. And I believe that, as we go forward, we will be able to see the results. So, Mr. Speaker, I just want to turn around and say that I do believe that the Finance Minister, continuing on the hard road that he has, recognising that when he started that he had to reduce the cost of government . . . At the same time, he had to find the money to be able to start to pay down the debt. I do believe that we have slowed the debt growth. I believe that we have achieved the surplus that we wanted. And I believe that the Finance Minister, as he pr ogresses during the summer, I am sure that you will see other things. And when I saw the Finance Minister making the observation with respect to the pensions and the actuarial review, I understood, from my perspective, why he said that. Because he will need to have the actuarial review to be able to understand what has happened with respect to funding, et cetera. So he could not turn around and make any promises. But at least he indicated that with the review, once it is done, he has the ability to be able to look at it again. So, Mr. Speaker, I would say that with that, I will take my seat and I will look forward to som e more conversation.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Thank you, Honourable Minister. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable Member — [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Honourable Member from constituency number —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerTwenty -four. Shadow Minister for Transport. MP Scott, you have the floor. ANNOUNCMENT BY THE SPEAKER HOUSE VISITORS
The SpeakerThe SpeakerBut just before you begin to speak, I just want to recognise that I see the new Senator Kim Wilkerson. [Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAnd also, at the same time, I will recognise—he just came back here, and he left —former MP Jon Brunson. [Desk thumping] [Debate on the Budget Statement and Reply contin uing]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerCarry on, Honourable Member.
Mr. W. Lawr ence ScottThank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to ask you to go back a little bit, because earlier this year we were talking about the budget with my nephew. And when it did not originally come out, my nephew came and asked me, What was the total budget …
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I just want to ask you to go back a little bit, because earlier this year we were talking about the budget with my nephew. And when it did not originally come out, my nephew came and asked me, What was the total budget for the Bermuda Gover nment of our country? And I told him it was something in the range of $800– $900 million. And his response was, That’s a lot of Benjamins. And I actually got to thinking about after he said that, that when you talk about money, when we talk about budgeting, Benj amin Franklin’s name does come up. Because, you know, he is known for innovations, he is known for inventions. But he is also known because he is on the $100 bill. And so then, that got me to thinking, and my nephew did ask me because we were talking about different people on different money, Why is Benjamin Franklin on the $100 bill? And I basically had to do some research. And what I found out is that, basically, when it comes to Benjamin Franklin, he actually laid the groundwork for the wealth creation in early America. So therefore, without Benjamin Franklin, they would not have their wealth. Benjamin Franklin was also the Dean of the Colonial Business School. And part of being the Dean of the Colonial Business Sc hool meant that he was responsible for the newspapers and the almanacs. 776 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly And his famous autobiography that he then ended up writing created—basically, it had line after line of great business advice. Some advice was straightforward, and a lot of advice we s ort of take for granted today. For instance, in that almanac was (and I quote), “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” So these are the types of things that Benjamin Franklin was advising for having more wealth. Another pi ece of advice that Benjamin Franklin gave was, “A penny saved is two pence clear.” Now, that is very often reiterated or retold as, A penny saved is a penny earned. Now, I am not old enough in here to have been around when they were using pence and stuff l ike that. [Inaudible interjections]
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberBob, you were here.
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottI am even hearing three pence and shillings and— [Inaudible interjection]
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottThese are things that I learnt in history, but it was not m y story, though. But the thing is, when we go back to pence, it takes us back to [1773] and the Franklin Almanac that he wrote, and he wrote a column that was called Hints for Those …
These are things that I learnt in history, but it was not m y story, though. But the thing is, when we go back to pence, it takes us back to [1773] and the Franklin Almanac that he wrote, and he wrote a column that was called Hints for Those That Would Be Rich, in which he, once again, disposed, or gave, all sort s of different wealth or financial advice. And Benjamin Franklin closed that [1773] column with the quote: “A penny saved is two pence clear.” Now, here is a little riddle, sort of like, if a penny saved was never a penny earned, then what was it? So the thing is that we now have to take ourselves and ask, Well, how does a penny saved become two pence clear (or two pennies clear) of debt? So, the way to explain that would be if you had two businessmen with two blank balance sheets. One is a foolish businessman, and one is a wise businessman. So the foolish businessman takes the day off, and at the end of the day he decides to go out to dinner. And let us say he buys that dinner with one penny of credit. All right? Now, Benjamin Franklin then went on to sa y that (and this might not make a little sense, because it is just the wording that they used), “To sleep without supping [or without having dinner] and you will rise without owing for it.” So, let us then go to the foolish man, who —or the wise man, who go es to work, works all day, an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work. And he makes that one penny. And now that one penny, instead of going out to dinner, he goes home. Right? So he sleeps without supping. And so, therefore, what ends up happening is that if you look at the foolish person’s balance sheet, he now has to make up two pennies —that one penny to pay back the debt, and then one penny to create that asset that the wise man has as an asset already. So, with that said, that is how, you know, two pence comes clear of one penny. Now, now that we are talking about, basically (how can I say this?) . . . Now, what is happening?
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottI am getting directions to get on the localiser, and I know what that means. [Inaudible interjections and laughter]
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottAnd speaking of the loca liser, the localiser is actually part of what we would call the instrument landing system (or the ILS) for planes that are coming in to land. And now that we are tal king about planes coming in to landing, that would actually help me transition …
And speaking of the loca liser, the localiser is actually part of what we would call the instrument landing system (or the ILS) for planes that are coming in to land. And now that we are tal king about planes coming in to landing, that would actually help me transition into my next topic that I was getting to, which is the airport. But I was going to put that under, basically, one of Franklin’s things I was talking about, A penny saved is a penny earned —so, a penny saved from foolish purchases. That is where I was going. And I feel as though a foolish purchase in this case would be the OBA’s Airport Redevelopment Pr oject. Right? See, you see, you like how I did that, right?
[Inaudible interjections and laughter]
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottAll right. Cool. Yes. So the Airport Redevelopment Project. And part of that is the fact that the Minister of Finance and the OBA Government have raised the departure tax by 80 per cent, eight -zero per cent, in six months. Now, what that does, increasing departure tax i ncreases …
All right. Cool. Yes. So the Airport Redevelopment Project. And part of that is the fact that the Minister of Finance and the OBA Government have raised the departure tax by 80 per cent, eight -zero per cent, in six months. Now, what that does, increasing departure tax i ncreases the cost of doing business for all people. It actually increases the cost of doing business for us, for the average businessman who is part of the international business here. It increases the cost of doing business because ticket [prices] go up. Ticket [prices] go up because the airlines have to pay that departure tax to the Bermuda Government. And once again, the airlines will just pass it on to the consumer. So now what has happened is that you have had, in the last few months, an airline spokesman or airline spokesmen come and say that they are no longer interested, they are not going to look to, or they find it hard to justify expansion into destinations throughout the Caribbean that have a high tax barrier or are considered a high tax jurisdiction. And this i ncludes the departure tax. Now, part or some of our competitors to the south have taken that advice, have taken that stat ement as a cautionary tale. And what they have done is, they have actually in some cases significantly r educed or eliminated the departure tax altogether.
Bermuda House of Assembly Now, to put things in context, our departure tax is roughly like $78, while the average departure tax for the rest of the region (and the region I am tal king about is the Caribbean) is at $58. So we have a lready outpriced ourselves [compared to] our compet itors. And the Shadow Minister spoke to how Canada, with Air Canada, with WestJet, are now increasing service to the Caribbean. That goes the same for United. That goes the same for American. That goes the same for JetBlue. That goes the same for Delta, and for every airline that services Bermuda. They are increasing service to our competitors to the south. Part of this is because of the departure tax. Right? And when I say “departure tax,” indirectly because of departure tax because it is a cost of doing business. And our competitors are now finding ways, which I will go into in more detail during the more substantive budget debate, by reducing that departure tax. Right? So therefore, the increase in departure tax does not make us attractive to the airlines. It does not make us attractive to the consumers or the tourists. And it actually creates a stumbling block for the me mbers and the decision makers in the BTA. So, once again, I go into, if you were to make it more attractive to airlines coming into Bermuda by saving them money, that is where we can go back to A penny saved is a penny earned. Now also, another thing that is hindering progress at this airpor t is the fact that it has been brought to my attention that the Minister of Finance has, directly or indirectly, however you would like to look at it, started to block contracts that were in the negotiation phases for people or companies or organisations t hat had already invested tens of millions of dollars into this country through the airport and were looking to invest possibly hundreds of millions more over an extended period.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottOh, sorry. For those who have missed it, I am saying that part of what has come across my desk is that the Minister of Finance has either directly or indirectly, depending on how you look at it, blocked contracts for individuals, organis ations or companies that have already invested …
Oh, sorry. For those who have missed it, I am saying that part of what has come across my desk is that the Minister of Finance has either directly or indirectly, depending on how you look at it, blocked contracts for individuals, organis ations or companies that have already invested tens of millions of dollars in this country and are looking to invest possibly hundreds of millions of dollars more over an extended period of time, through the airport. [Inaudible interjection]
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottSo now, with that, and the reason b ehind that, and why I say “directly or indirectly,” is because it seems as though these contracts were on their way to being signed up until, I think, 2014. I do not know what happened in 2014, and then all of a …
So now, with that, and the reason b ehind that, and why I say “directly or indirectly,” is because it seems as though these contracts were on their way to being signed up until, I think, 2014. I do not know what happened in 2014, and then all of a sudden, Oh. That was when we announced that we were signing a deal with CCC and Aecon. Okay. So now it seems as though CCC and Aecon are now in control of whatever contracts are coming across the desks at the airport. But yet, we do not have Aecon. CCC, they do not run the airport yet. They do not even have a shovel in the ground. We actually had, earlier this week, the Royal Gazette reported, or had an article, with Steve Nackan, the CEO, saying that the airport deal is not a done deal. So how are we having i nvestment, inward direct investment, int ernational companies wanting to invest in this Island that are being blocked because of a company that has no real jurisdiction? You know, and now also, part of this is that it is being observed by those who are at the airport that you have local business es that have been down there, giving goods and services for decades even, years or decades, that now are in danger of losing their livel ihood because of all these lack of contract negoti ations, or they are being stalled. And these are entr epreneurs. These are businesses that [are] 100 per cent Bermudian- owned and -operated businesses. So now, these jobs, Bermudian jobs, are now at stake all of a sudden. This is why we talk about A penny saved is a penny earned, or A penny saved is two pence clear. Now, th e thing is that it also goes that (how can I say this?) another negative impact that is being had by this whole airport deal and airport redevelop-ment deal, the way that it is going right now is that we are now putting ourselves further in breach or further going against the standard best practices by ICAO. ICAO is the International Civil Aviation Organization. They are sort of the policymakers for international ai rports and air travel and the International Aviation A dministration or infrastructure. Now, t hey have a document. And their pol icies or their rules are labelled in documents. And there is a document that is out there. And part of that document says that no air carrier, no person going through an airport, should be charged for a service or a facility that they are not using. However, we have a $16 airport redevelopment fee for an airport that is not being redeveloped. So we are now in breach of . . . And that is just one. I will go into more detail, once again, in the more substantive [debate]. But that is just one policy of which we are in breach. Another policy that I do not mind putting out there now that we are in breach of, or we would be in breach of if we were to have CCC/Aecon take over the airport, would be that (the wording is that) an ai rport is allowed to make a modest profit or generate modest revenue as long as that revenue goes back into the infrastructure of the airport in some way, shape or form. However, if we have CCC and Aecon come in and take over our airport, that money would not be going back into the infrastructure; it would be going into their pockets or into their bank account, which then puts us in breach of another ICAO policy. So this is why we talk about “A penny saved is two 778 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly pence clear,” meaning safe from being spent on foolish projects. Now, when we talk about saving in the twenty - first century . . . So I am going to go back. I am going to switch from pence to dollars. But when we look at saving in the twenty -first century, we think of money in the savings account. We think of possibly a prom otional discount. And when you look up Ben Franklin, saving a penny in Ben Franklin’s mind meant, once again, rescuing it from wasted alternatives.
[Mrs. Suzann Roberts -Holshouser, Deputy Speaker, in the Chair]
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottAnd, Madam Deputy Speaker, you might be interested with the following statistics. (And I am just going to be looking down for a minute.) In 2014 and 2015 (I am about to switch gears; pun intended), 2014 to 2015, we had 1,400 accidents on our roads. Approximately 630 of those …
And, Madam Deputy Speaker, you might be interested with the following statistics. (And I am just going to be looking down for a minute.) In 2014 and 2015 (I am about to switch gears; pun intended), 2014 to 2015, we had 1,400 accidents on our roads. Approximately 630 of those 1,400 accidents, or 45 per cent, were due to alcohol and/or speed. Our 16- and 17- year-olds are on record as being the highest hospitalised age group in the country. Our 18- to 25 -year-olds have the highest f atality rate on- Island. Seventy -five per cent of those persons killed on our road are male. So this would mean that the males between 18 to 25 are the most likely to die on our roads. Eighty -one per cent of those killed on our roads are Bermudian. So now, Madam Deputy Speaker, with these numbers, it means that the average Bermudian is three times more likely to die on our roads than in gang- related activity or being shot. But yet, today we think twice before we go to football games. We think twice before we go to certain parts of the Island b ecause we are scared to be shot. Yet the real concern should be, Will I make it to my destination alive? E specially if I am 16 - to 25- years old, travelling on the road between 10:00 pm and 3:00 am.
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottAnd I hear the Honourable Member, Sylvan Richards, asking, What does it have to do with the budget? I am going to get to that. And there are some sobering numbers. Right? We protest over immigration reform. We pr otest over cuts to the budget for educati on. But yet, …
And I hear the Honourable Member, Sylvan Richards, asking, What does it have to do with the budget? I am going to get to that. And there are some sobering numbers. Right? We protest over immigration reform. We pr otest over cuts to the budget for educati on. But yet, not a single word, Madam Deputy Speaker —not one sy llable that the fact that our safety on our roads has been determined to be worth $148,000, according to the Minister of Finance and the OBA Government. So let us take that $148,000 that has been allocated to road safety and divide it by 40,000 people, which is the average number of road users. That means that the OBA feel as though our safety, preventing us from dying on our roads, is worth $3.70 per person. Now, I am actually being kind. But, Madam Deputy Speaker, no wonder we have 1,400 accidents a year and 45 per cent of them are due to alcohol or speed. No wonder we have our 16- and 17- year-olds being hospitalised at an alarming rate. And it is also alarming that . . . (I am trying not to g et too passio nate, because this has become a new passion of mine, road safety.) And it was reported earlier this week that vehicle sales are up, which means one of two things. For somebody in car sales, the recession is over for them. For somebody in banki ng, who gives loans for cars, the recess is over for them.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberThat is right.
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottBut this also means that we could possibly have more vehicles on our roads, which means more cars on our roads, which means that those number s I gave you earlier are probably going to go up. And road safety is probably going to go down. So if we were …
But this also means that we could possibly have more vehicles on our roads, which means more cars on our roads, which means that those number s I gave you earlier are probably going to go up. And road safety is probably going to go down. So if we were to talk about that $3.70, which is what has been allocated to keep us safe on our roads, per person, that is all we are worth. That is all our li ves are worth to the OBA. But that is if I were to go by 40,000 people (i.e., 40,000 drivers). But if you really think about it, if you really look at it, everybody in this country touches those roads at some point. So let us divide that $148,000 by 65,000. Right? That means that you are looking at roughly $2.25 for safety on our roads per person. That is what our lives are worth to this Government. Right? Now, you could say, Well, road safety is not just the Road Safety Council. It is also the police that have to help us out. But their budget was cut, too, Madam Deputy Speaker. So that means there are going to possibly be fewer police officers, fewer warm bodies out there patrolling our streets or actually enforcing, executing the road policing strategy. So therefore, everybody would expect for me to sit there and point the finger at the Minister of Transport. And I do look to him, because he is the Minister; the buck does stop with him. But I also look to the Minister of Health. Because 81 per cent of road fatalities are Bermudians, and 7 per cent of those f atalities are young males. And to have our 16- and 17year-olds hospitalised at an alarming rate indicates a national health crisis. So I look to the Minister of Transport, and I look to the Minister of Health. But I also look to the Premier, Madam Deputy Speaker, because with a national health crisis, and also because we are three times more likely to die on our roads than by gun violence, we are safer to join a gang than to drive on our roads. All right? And you know what is disturbing, Madam Deputy Speaker? I hear interpolations on the other side when I am talking about a serious issue. I hear snickering, Madam Deputy Speaker. We are talking about saving Bermudian lives and the lack of funding that th e OBA Gover nment is giving to it, and they are laughing.
Bermuda House of Assembly An Hon. Member: Who is that? MP Richards?
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottMP Sylvan Richards seems to be the one who is most vocal, but I am pretty sure there are others who are laughing over there. An Hon . Member: No!
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottBut, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will move forward. I will keep going, because I have got eight minutes and fifteen seconds left, right? So, I also look at the Minister of Finance, because he is the one who has determined that increasing the departure tax by 80 per cent over …
But, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will move forward. I will keep going, because I have got eight minutes and fifteen seconds left, right? So, I also look at the Minister of Finance, because he is the one who has determined that increasing the departure tax by 80 per cent over the course of a six -month period is a good idea. He is the one who thinks that allowing CCC and Aecon to stop a contract to an international investor wanting to invest tens and possibly hundreds of mil lions of dollars into this country is a good idea. And ultimately, he is the one who signed off on allowing our road safety, our lives, our Bermudian lives —everybody, whether you are black, white, Asian, Indian, no matter what, our lives are only worth $2. 25 per person. Madam Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Franklin said, “Strange, that he who lives by Shifts, can seldom shift himself,” meaning that the middle class, the a verage Bermudian, cannot really be in control of his or her destiny. They need help from others. They need help from leaders. They need help from the Gover nment, this Government, who has determined that their life is worth only $2.25. So in closing, I say, let us not sit here solely focused on saving pennies when we should also be focused on sav ing, not just the quality life of the average Bermudian, but the Bermudian life itself.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you, Member. Are there any other Members who would like to speak? Thank you. The Chair recognises the Honourable Grant Gibbons, from consti tuency number — Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Twenty -two.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Madam Deputy Speaker, I had not planned to start this way. But I think it is important j ust to deal with a little bit of the nonsense we just heard. [Inaudible interjections and laughter] …
Thank you.
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Madam Deputy Speaker, I had not planned to start this way. But I think it is important j ust to deal with a little bit of the nonsense we just heard. [Inaudible interjections and laughter]
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Nobody on this side is valuing human life at $2.56, or whatever it is. Madam Deputy Speaker, we have no stories about Benjamin Franklin. But I will comment a little bit on some of the airport. First of all —and I think that Honourable Member knows it —departure tax is not charged against airlines. Departure tax is charged against the passen-ger, in the price of the ticket. And I think it would be fair to say, as I understand it, and I have not got the details at my fingertips. But since both the Premier and the Minister of Tourism and Transport have met on a number of occasions in the last six months with very senior people at so me of these airlines, if this were a significant issue, I am sure it would have been raised. My understanding is that our departure tax rates, even though they have been increased, are still well within comparable jurisdictions. And certainly —
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you. Your point of order? POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottThe Honourable Member is misleading the House. Our departure tax is equal or tied for third- highest in the Caribbean region. So that is not comparable to the rest.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Last time we looked, we were not in the Caribbean region. [Laughter]
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottPoint of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: So I am not sure whether the Honourable Member’s geography is — POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottThe Honourable Member is misleading this House. We are considered [to b e] in the Caribbean region by airlines, which is what we are talking to. And the departure tax is paid by the airlines. The airlines write a cheque to the Bermudian Go vernment per person for the departure …
The Honourable Member is misleading this House. We are considered [to b e] in the Caribbean region by airlines, which is what we are talking to. And the departure tax is paid by the airlines. The airlines write a cheque to the Bermudian Go vernment per person for the departure tax, which they put into the ticket. Which means that if we have to add $78 to a ticket and the other jurisdictions do not have to add that, that means that —
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Madam Deputy Speaker, I think the—
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Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. R. Wayne Scott: —that means that we do act ually—
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gib bons: – Honourable Member is giving a speech right now.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Yes. As I said, Madam Deputy Speaker, departure tax is not charged to the airlines. It is charged against the ticket. And going back a number of years, I can say quite cat egorically, because I was around at the time, we …
Thank you. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Yes. As I said, Madam Deputy Speaker, departure tax is not charged to the airlines. It is charged against the ticket. And going back a number of years, I can say quite cat egorically, because I was around at the time, we used to have a $25 departure tax, which was charged to the passengers at the airport departure. And I think, Madam Deputy Speaker, you probably remember it. But it was a very difficult set of circumstances. B ecause of the former government, a couple of gover nments ago, that departure tax was essentially placed in the ticket, which made it a lot easier. But when I look at the departure tax, I see on some of my international tickets it is significantly higher than anything we are talking about here. In fact, in some jurisdictions, it is quite, quite outrageous. So I think we are still . . . I am going to let my honourable colleague, the Minister of Tourism, deal with this issue. And I am sure the Minister of Finance may, as well. But my sense is that we are still within very re asonable bounds. That Honourable Member may have a oneairline perspective on this. But I will say that I was quite pleased to find that American Airlines, in spite of what that Honourable Member seems to think is an egregious departure tax, has added an additional flight during the day, which I think is very good news.
[Inaudible interjection]
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: It is good news for all of us because it provides additional airlift out of New York. And my understanding is there may be others coming, as well. So I think the answer is the airlines are going to basically have their decisions about jurisdictions and frequency of flights and all the rest of it on the basis of yield and what they can make on that flight, and how it works into their broader de-parture and hub areas. So I think there are a lot of other variables, as that Honourable Member, I am sure, will know, that go into an airline’s decision to come or not to come. And I think the issue for us, obviously, is it is a lower yield operation in what has been referred to as our off season, and that makes it difficult. But nevertheless, there are a lot of people who want to fly in that period, and we have heard a lot of comments from international business, who want that frequency because it is quite important in terms of their bus iness, and indeed for Bermudians and the rest of us, as well. As far as this stuff about ICAO practices and whether we are, as the Honourable Member says, allegedly in breach. I have a lot of faith in Aaron A dderley, the General Manager of the airport right now. He is a very knowledgeable individual. And I am sure Mr. Adderley will not have us in breach of ICAO pra ctices. I think, in fact, we have done pretty well over the years. I remember very clearly, going back to the mid-1990s, when we took over the initial responsibi lity, so I have some familiarity with ICAO.
Mr. W. Lawrence ScottPoint of clarification, if the Minister will— Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: No.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerPlease proceed. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Yes. So I think the Honourable Member, a lot of these things are a bit of a stretch. And I understand the Honourable Member has to try and make political points. But I have to say, while I am on the subject …
Please proceed.
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Yes. So I think the Honourable Member, a lot of these things are a bit of a stretch. And I understand the Honourable Member has to try and make political points. But I have to say, while I am on the subject of the airport (and I do not want to spend a lot of time on this, Madam Deputy Speaker), I have to say that I have been through there a couple of times this winter, and I am surprised that Honourable Member has not said himself that that airport is in desperate need of replacement. And I think we are well beyond the point of renovations, which is what the Shadow Minister of Finance has said in the Budget Reply —
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Point of order.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerYour point of order? POINT OF ORDER [Misleading] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: The Honourable Minister is misleading the House. He is giving an opinion as if it is fact. No one can verifiably say — Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: What is your point of order? Hon. Marc …
Your point of order?
POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: The Honourable Minister is misleading the House. He is giving an opinion as if it is fact. No one can verifiably say — Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: What is your point of order? Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: You are misleading the House! Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I am not misleading the House.
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Because his opinion is that it needs to be replaced. Our opinion is that it needs to be renovated.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Whose opinion weighs the most?
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you very much, Member. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerMinist er, please proceed. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Well, right now my opinion weighs the most because I am on my feet. [Laughter] Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. [Inaudible interjection] Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I have to say that it …
Minist er, please proceed.
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Well, right now my opinion weighs the most because I am on my feet.
[Laughter]
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.
[Inaudible interjection]
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I have to say that it is a shambles down there. I went through at one point in rain. There were buckets of water in the departure lounge. You may have even seen this yourself. There was water coming through the ceiling on the seats. And the Honourable Member says, You cannot fix a leak? Obviously, we all understand that there is much more to what is required down there than a leak. I would just caution that Honourable Member that former governments of different stripes have found that, sometimes when you get into renovations, it is an awful lot more expensive than if you start from scratch, and particularly if you want a modern airport. And I will just make one final point on this.
[Inaudible interjections]
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: One of the things that came through very clearly in the post -mortem from the America’s Cup, the Louis Vuitton World S eries we had, a lot of the sponsors and a lot of those who came were asked about their opinion of various things. And the area that scored the lowest was, essentially, the quality of the airport. They and a lot of other of our visitors are sophisticated, and they are used to more modern airports. Bahamas and a lot of others have put in more modern airports, and there is a reason for that. I think I will le t the Honourable Minister of F inance deal with some of the other issues related to the airport, because I think there are a lot of misconceptions —one may even say mistruths —in the Reply to the Budget Statement from the actual [Shadow] Minister. Let me go back to where I wanted to start, which is basically with the Budget Statement itself. And like a lot of others, I would like to certainly com-mend the Minister of Finance for the approach he has taken. It has been a very difficult budget to put t ogether, in many respects. It is a budget that required balance and certainly a sense of where we came from and where we are trying to go. But, in spite of the fact that there are tax i ncreases in there, it has been fairly well regarded by a number of people, from t he economist up at the co llege, who called it, I think, a piece of genius or brilliance, or whatever. I have to say, there is an interes ting story that Harry Truman used to say, and I say this about economists. I think there are a couple of on the one hand/on the other hand’s in that particular piece. And Harry Truman, who was, as some people will know, a president of a long time ago, said, What I really need is a one- handed economist, because I am getting too many opinions here. Anyway, the Chamber of Com merce, Moody’s, who is a very difficult customer, a very diff icult critic to please, clearly indicated that they felt that it was on track to meet (that is, the Government was on track to meet) its fiscal consolidation goals, a credit positive. They noted that “The government’s success in reducing the budget deficit reflects its increased efforts to maintain fiscal discipline and a moderate economic rebound that took hold in 2015 following a six-year recession.” And they also praised the fact — and I think this is very important, Madam Deputy Speaker —that the international business sector is now growing again after some four years of negative growth in terms of its GDP contribution. So I think all those things are quite important. The thing I liked, actually, about the Budget Statement was, the Minister of Finance did a very nice job, I thought, at working through and explaining to people why the deficit was such a difficult problem to deal with, why debt is such a huge problem, which was inherited, obviously, from the former Government, and why having to deal with that debt, in terms of debt service, $187.4 million this year, why that is such an albatross around our neck. Because as the secondlargest ministry now, only exceeded by Health and Seniors and the E nvironment, it means that $187.4 million is not available to pay for other programmes. It is not available to pay for seniors. It is not available to pay for education. It is not available to pay for Fina ncial Assistance. But in spite of that, the Minister of Finance has found additional money for those who are clearly still suffering out there. And I think we are now provi ding more financial assistance at some $50 million budgeted in this year’s budget than any former gov-ernment has ever done. So I think that speaks to the issue that, in spite of difficult circumstances, this Go v782 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly ernment cares. And those are mostly seniors, I think, on financial assistance these days. But there are ot hers who are not, as well. But this Government cares about those who are having difficulty. So, in a general sense, I think the clear indic ations from most people who are objective observers [are that they] believe we are headed in the right direction. You can see that in terms of five quarters of positive GDP growth.
Mr. E. David BurtWe are not four or five consecutive periods of GDP growth.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you. Minister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: The Honourable Member was not listening. I just said five quarters of positive GDP growth. He may disagree; the Minister of Finance can deal with that issue— Mr. E. David Burt: Point of order. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: —when …
Thank you. Minister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: The Honourable Member was not listening. I just said five quarters of positive GDP growth. He may disagree; the Minister of Finance can deal with that issue— Mr. E. David Burt: Point of order. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: —when he gets to his speech. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: A point —of—order, Grant!
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerMisleading the House? POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. E. David BurtMisleading the House. There are no statistics that say there are five consecutive per iods of GDP growth. Now —
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you, Member. Minister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: The Honourable Member is not listening. I did not talk about consec utive. I did not talk about consecutive. He can argue that out with the Minister of Finance. I said five quarters of GDP grow th. Okay? So, in …
Thank you, Member. Minister. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: The Honourable Member is not listening. I did not talk about consec utive. I did not talk about consecutive. He can argue that out with the Minister of Finance. I said five quarters of GDP grow th. Okay? So, in addition to that, which clearly follows six years of negative GDP growth, I think the longest r ecession, certainly in terms of living memory, we have ever had under the former Government, except for the last year, which followed through, we now are seeing reasonably positive signs of growth. People have talked about the building permits, which are increasing appreciably. People have talked about retail sales b eing up over a year now. Real estate is up. And when you start to look at other areas like local company re gistrations, I went back and looked at the third quarter of 2015 versus 2014 versus 2013 versus 2012, we are up appreciably since 2012 in terms of local company registrations, about 25 versus 41 the third quarter of 2015. So ther e are a lot of positive signs here. The ILS section of the international business is growing very strongly. We have something like 75 per cent of that. That is since 2012. There has been enormous growth in the ILS sector. Those who say it is all tec hnology —it is not true. Look at Nephila, look at certainly Horseshoe, Argentum. A lot of these other com-panies have jobs, and they are on the ground here. So there are a lot of very positive signs out there. So I think all of this is important. And what I would l ike to talk to you about are a couple of very specific issues. First of all, there is kind of where- we-are. There has been a lot of emphasis on jobs. And I would like to effectively talk a little bit about jobs at this point, because I think it is an i mportant issue for this Government. It is something certainly of concern for us. But it is also something that, in the same way that the debt built up over a period of time and the deficit built up over a period of time, the job issue is also something that has happened over a sustained period, as well. And I think it is important to look at some of the context of that and the stats. What I am going to look at, Madam Deputy Speaker, is primarily Table 3 in the economic review, which looks at filled jobs by economic activity growth. It is basically looking at filled jobs, which I think is a more accurate representation of the job picture. There are surveys that Stats [Bermuda Department of Stati stics] does, but those are statistical samples, and I am not sure tha t I feel as positive about those as I do about the number of filled jobs. So, when we start to look at the loss of jobs, what is really interesting is, going back . . . I am talking about total jobs in Bermuda, everybody, not just Bermudians. And I will get onto Bermudians in a second. What we see there is that 2008 was the peak, a little over 40,000 jobs. And between 2008 and 2012, we are looking at a little over 4,770 jobs. That is a lBermuda House of Assembly most 5,000 jobs that have been lost. Because we went from 40,000 down to a little over 35,400—4,770 jobs lost. When you look at 2011/12, just that one year, there were almost 2,000 jobs that were lost, so a huge and dramatic decrease just in the year 2011/12. When you look at the 2012/13, that was almost half; there were about 1,100 jobs that were lost. And when you look at the change from 2013 to 1014, a little over 800; and from 2014 to 2015, there were 298. What is the point I am making, Madam Deputy Speaker? The point I am making is that we had a pr ecipitous decline from 2011 to 2012, almost 2,000 jobs in one year. And what we are seeing is, essentially, a slow levelling off of job loss, which is what you would expect after such a significant decline in that particular period. Now, I think the other thing that is sort of i nteresting as well is, when you look at the total jobs held by Bermudians in the workforce—and I am going to go back to the year 2000, because I think that is important —that was the highest number of jobs held by Bermudians in the workforce. That was 2,881, according to filled jobs. And what we have seen by the Progressive Labour Party, from 2000 to basically 2012, is an almost unblemished record of a decline in Bermudian jobs every year. So, this did not start during the height of the 2009/10 period. Almost every year between 2000 and 2012, with a couple of minor, very minor increases, we have lost Bermudian jobs. That was on their watch. They own it. And I think it is very clear. In fact, the 2011/12 period, over 1,050 Bermudians lost jobs under the former G overnment. When you look at the next year, which is 2012/13, we go from 1,055 down to 628. And when you go from the 2013 to 2014, you go down by 671. So we were still losing jobs in the Bermudian context. We are not happy about it. But I think I would like to make a couple of comments about that. But the important thing is, from 2000 to 2012, over 3,700 Bermudian jobs were lost under the former Gover nment —3,700 jobs. From 2008 to 2012, a little over 2,000 jobs were lost. So we have seen precipitous decline under the former Government in terms of job loss. Now, why is this important in the context of the deficit that we inherited and the huge increase, the exponential increase in debt we inherited? The reason is because, when you lose jobs, you also lose purchasing power. And what we have seen, which is so dramatic here, is that when you do sort of a back -ofthe-envelope calculation, and I think the Honourable Member Derrick Burgess was doing one similar, but for government jobs, what you find is, if you take the 5,000 jobs lost, the total, and you multiply that by, b asically, the average gross earnings these days of about $60,000, what you end up with on an annual basis is a loss of $300 million that is no longer being spent in the community. Okay? Three- hundr ed million dollars was lost annually as a consequence of the former PLP Government. Now, that is one of the reasons why it is so much more difficult now. A nd one of the reasons why I think the Bermudian job- holder has been more effective. Because the loss of jobs does not affect international business so much, but the loss of jobs and that $300 million spending is being spent in the local community. Who works in the local community? It is Bermudians. So, if Mr. and Mrs. Jones go back to Connecticut or they go back to Canada, or wherever else they went to, and there was an exodus of a lot of Mr. and Mrs. Joneses, some 3,000 over that period, then that means they are no longer eating dinner at the Lobster Pot. They are no longer filling up at Raynors’ Garage. They are not paying a landlord or a landlady a rent. It means, basically, Madam Deputy Speaker, that we are almost in a vicious cycle here in many respects. Now, the Budget Reply itself tries to take a lot of effort to show that that was not the PLP’s fault. But they did mention one thing here, which I think is i mportant. And that was the comment on page 3 of the Budget Reply. It says, “The shrinking workforce attri buted to jobs that are disappearing exacerbates the challenge.” And that is exactly right. I t was not only the deficit; it was not only the increase in debt; but it was the decline in jobs which has this vicious -cycle effect of affecting more jobs. So if Mr. and Mrs. Jones are not eating at the Lobster Pot, that means Lobster Pot management does not have to hire an extra wai tress, does not have to hire an extra bartender, and so on and so forth throughout the community. So I think it is really important to understand that particular concept. Now, we are clearly going to have a difference of opini on on this. But our sense on this side is —and we have been hearing this, certainly, from the bus iness community —what we have here is almost a perfect storm. Because it was the combination of the economic and social policies of the Progressive L abour Party Government, combined with what was clearly a difficult economic, international economic difficult period during that period, which really put us into a very deep and difficult hole. The former Gov-ernment severely weakened the economic fabric of our Island. Bermuda is much more susceptible to external shocks at this particular period. And when I say social and economic policies, what I am talking about is the lack of discipline in terms of managing budgets, the extraordinary over-runs in any number of capita l projects —Berkeley, Heritage Wharf, the bus station, Lois Browne- Evans Building, Port Royal. All of these added up to a sense of a lack of confidence in the business community. When you add to that that 2 per cent increase in pa yrolls that was unannounced from the former Minister of Finance, which basically had international business going for the door; when you add up four years of 784 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly qualified government accounts by the Auditor General; when you add to that a flawed Incentives for Job Makers Bill, which was a sincere disappointment, and some international business communities said a betrayal of the trust that they had put in the former Gov-ernment, what you end up with is a very, very serious situation. When you add on top of that the term limit policy and w hat was construed by business at that time, particularly international business, as a toxic environment for jobs, all of that adds up to that huge loss of jobs in that particular period and this vicious cycle that this Government is now trying to dig its w ay out of. But I have a great deal of faith in the Minister of Finance, and I think, clearly, we are going to make it through. When you also look at it, because I will come onto this in a second, when you look at some of the vision statements and the suggestions going forward, the main problem the former Government had was a lack of ability to execute properly. They could not ex ecute in terms of closing a hotel. They could not ex ecute in terms of keeping to a budget. They could not execute in terms of a lot of things they were doing. That is why there was an extraordinary loss of conf idence by the business community, a refusal in some respects to hire people, a refusal to invest, and why they lost the government and why we are now digging ourselves out of w hat was an extraordinary hole. So, I think I have about five minutes left,
Madam Deputy Speaker.
The Deputy Speakerthe deputy speakerJust under six. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Just under six. Okay, thank you. Let me speak a little bit to some of the other issues i n the Budget Statement and then come back briefly to the vision statement, if I can. I would really commend, I would …
Just under six. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Just under six. Okay, thank you. Let me speak a little bit to some of the other issues i n the Budget Statement and then come back briefly to the vision statement, if I can. I would really commend, I would suggest to people, the community, that they read the Budget Statement, because it does a really nice job of setting out some of the issues and it tackles the way in which we are dealing with this deficit, and we are dealing, hopefully, eventually, with the debt. But I think (if I can find it; there we go page 16) some of the infrastructure plans for the next five years . . . there are a lot of projects on here. The Minister of Finance has totalled up som ething like a little over $1.8 billion. Some of these are already underway. One of the things I would comment on here, which is highlighted, is BELCO LNG [liqu efied natural gas] build- out. That was more of a placemark than anything else. No one has given BELCO a contract or anything to build an LNG facility. But I think it does raise the interesting point. I will be back to this Honourable House fairly soon with essentially a report on LNG and what it may mean for Bermuda and some of the decisions we have to make. That will be up for grabs under the new Electricity Act, and the Regulatory Authority will be very much a part of that decision, as well. But when you look down this list of projects here, there are a lot of projects, from King’s Wharf, Marginal Wharf, Morgan’s Point (a lot of Honourable Members have talked about that earlier), the St. George's Hotel, Swing Bridge, Ariel Sands and some of the AC [America’s Cup] infrastructure, which I hasten to add, in terms of the village, is mostly being built by the ACEA [America’s Cup Event Authority]. We have to provide the platform; they, for the most part, build the village. But let me spend a minute or so, if I can . . . (And let us see. How ar e we doing here?)
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerYou have three minutes. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Three minutes, okay. Just to comment briefly on the vision stat ement, and I am reminded of that saying from Acts (I think), that young men have visions, and old men have dreams. And I would say that the nice …
You have three minutes.
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Three minutes, okay. Just to comment briefly on the vision stat ement, and I am reminded of that saying from Acts (I think), that young men have visions, and old men have dreams. And I would say that the nice thing about visions is you can have them. But when you have shown an inability to execute stuff, they do not count for a whole lot. I am going to comment a little bit on diversif ication. Obviously, diversifi cation, as the Honourable Member who speaks for Finance has said, is a way to approach risk; it is not necessarily a growth strategy. And when I look at some of the old chestnuts that come up here, it is getting a little stale, this issue of the Blue Economy. Sure, Madam Deputy Speaker, nobody doubts that at some point, way in the future, we may have a Blue Economy. But right now, the only project that I am aware of that looks like it has got any legs at all is the one that Nautilus [Minerals Inc.] is doing off of Papua, New Guinea. They have got huge environmental issues up against them. And as far as I know, we will have to see whether that comes out. But this is something that has been around since the 1980s. It has been in almost every PLP platform since they first started doing platforms. It used to be called Manganese nodules, but you can tell that it has been around a long time. And we are probably going to be a ways away from seeing it, as well. That does not mean that you can eliminate it. But do not expect it to produce any money here, or probably anywhere else, in the next couple of years. In terms of the Blue Economy, there was an interesting piece by Senator Vic Ball about long- line fishing. I think the former Government had Eagle Eye II, and the y had a local fishing boat, made a number of trips out. But they eventually came to the concl usion, after a lot of trips, that the amount of fish they caught simply would not sustain the cost of the oper ation and the gas and the rest of it, because they would not get enough money to really justify it.
[Inaudible interjection]
Bermuda House of Assembly Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Well, you can speak to it when you get up. As far as the issue of —
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Point of order. Point of order.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerYour p oint of order is? POINT OF ORDER [Misleading] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: The Honourable Minister is misleading the House.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberHe would never do that. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Because again he is asserting his opinion. If he does not know, right now there are a few—
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you, Member. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: No, no! It is a point of order! [Inaudible interjections]
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerI have heard your point of order. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: You have not! No, you have not!
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberSit down. Sit down. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: No, you have not, Madam Deputy Speaker. You have not heard my point of order, because he has to take his seat! Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I did sit down. The Deputy Spea ker: Member, please proceed. Please proceed. …
Sit down. Sit down. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: No, you have not, Madam Deputy Speaker. You have not heard my point of order, because he has to take his seat!
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: I did sit down.
The Deputy Spea ker: Member, please proceed. Please proceed. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: The fact is that we have a fleet of offshore fishermen searching and fishing for swordfish and other pelagic species right now, in spite of him.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Member. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Contrary to what he thinks or says. Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you. I have just a minute or two left, or maybe not even that. But I will say that I was amused by the use of crown corporations. …
Thank you, Member.
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Contrary to what he thinks or says.
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Thank you. I have just a minute or two left, or maybe not even that. But I will say that I was amused by the use of crown corporations. The BLDC is a crown corporation. We sa w what happened with that under the former government, and now they are suggesting more use of crown corporations? We had a business technology park that we were talking about, way back in the late 1990s before the government changed— huge opportunity down there. And essentially, nothing happened under the former Government, and the BLDC and in terms of the effective use of those properties. Madam Deputy Speaker, we are on the right track. We are headed in a good direction. The econ-omy is going the right wa y. (My own timer is going off.) We may not be there completely in terms of all sectors of the economy, but we will get there, Madam Deputy Speaker. Thank you.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberGood job, Grant.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberWell done, Grant.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank y ou. Are there any other Members who would like to speak? The Chair recognises the Member from constituency 13. The Member Diallo Rabain, you have the floor.
Mr. Diallo V. S. RabainThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Madam Deputy Speaker, once again we f ind ourselves here doing the Budget Debate. And I used to call it, when I sat in the other place, the annual dance we used to do where the Government would get up, trumpet their Budget Statement, talk …
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Madam Deputy Speaker, once again we f ind ourselves here doing the Budget Debate. And I used to call it, when I sat in the other place, the annual dance we used to do where the Government would get up, trumpet their Budget Statement, talk about how great it is and how the Opposition do not know what they are doing. The Opposition will present their Reply, saying what we should be doing and what the Government is not doing. But I do want to say my hat goes off. I have read both statements. My hat goes off to the Deputy Finance Minister [sic]—I will engage in the dance m yself—for a document that is well read.
Some Hon. Members Some Hon. MembersYou mean the Shadow.
Mr. Diallo V. S. RabainThe Shadow, Shadow F inance Minister, for a document that is well read that presents some really good ideas.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberI would not expect you to say an ything else. [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Diallo V. S. RabainI like the fact that it is long on answers and that it contains good suggestions for moving the country forward. 786 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly But, Madam Deputy Speaker, the people of Bermuda have become very politically savvy since the last election. And …
I like the fact that it is long on answers and that it contains good suggestions for moving the country forward. 786 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly But, Madam Deputy Speaker, the people of Bermuda have become very politically savvy since the last election. And this being savvy has allowed them to look at what the One Bermuda Alliance is doing, and they do not see anything that is in it for them. When they look at the things that have happened over the last five years, things are just not working out for them, you know. And I listen to the Premier chirping over there, and I have one thing to say to him. And I do have one thing to say to him: If you want to get where you are going, you cannot s top and throw rocks at every dog that barks at you.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Diallo V. S. RabainNo, the people are paying attention to the One Bermuda Alliance and they are not liking what they see. However, we have the usual Budget Stat ement that we have seen for the last three years. I found it interesting that the last speaker who sat down talked about the …
No, the people are paying attention to the One Bermuda Alliance and they are not liking what they see. However, we have the usual Budget Stat ement that we have seen for the last three years. I found it interesting that the last speaker who sat down talked about the loss of jobs under the Progressive Labour Party. He talks about 5,000 jobs lost in about 12 years. Well, we have lost 2,500 jobs in three y ears under the One Bermuda Alliance. So if we keep on that track and if they do manage —which I do not think they will —to make it to another term, what else are we looking at? But we look through this book, and we see the usual things. We see the usual thi ngs. We see things that will affect Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda—higher payroll tax. Government fees are going to go up. Land taxes are going up. We have a school report that shows that our schools are in dire need of infrastructure inves tment. But the budget for schooling is going down. NTB [National Training Board] scholarships, public health scholarship, teacher training awards, future education awards all have been decreased. Services to our most vulnerable get cuts as well—Packwood Home, Summerhaven, Salvation Army, all cuts. And then we have the Women’s R esource Centre, the physical abuse centre. Their budget has disappeared. All right? This country has been shedding jobs for the last seven years, and Bermudians continue to find it hard to make ends meet. We have a 50- page document that does not hing for our people—nothing. They cannot hide from the facts. They keep talking about these green shoots . What about these green shoots? We hear the Finance Minister talking about building permits are up! And then, looki ng at the Budget Reply, looking at page 8, the Minister says, “In 2015 the number of persons employed in the construction industry . . .” He says the construction industry is expanding. But, Madam Deputy Speaker, in 2015 the [number of] persons employed in the construction industry has fallen. They have fallen every year since the One Bermuda Alliance has come to power. And I will tell you why. Because of the conv oluted stats that they shoved down our throats. The building permits are going up, but most of them are small projects. We are talking about minor renovations within the house. So we can have 1,000 building permits. If 900 of them are changing a toilet, that is not going to do anything for the economy. Madam Deputy Speaker, a few years ago when I s at in another place, the Senate Leader down there commented that the One Bermuda Alliance’s philosophy is not a trickle- down philosophy; it is an avalanche philosophy. Now, I wonder if the 1,166 people who lost jobs in 2013 think, I wonder if the 790 peopl e who lost jobs in 2014 think . . . What about the 298 people who lost jobs last year? I wonder if they feel this avalanche. Do they even feel a trickle? That is 2,254 jobs that have been lost since 2013. I wonder how they feel. Do they feel the avalanche? Does an yone think they feel the avalanche? Please. I will wait for the point of order!
[Pause]
Mr. Diallo V. S. RabainAs mentioned in the Budget Reply, I too wondered, What happened to the vaulted SAGE recommendation? I am left wondering. One of the final statements of the outgoing Premier was, We will have public consultation on the SAGE recomme ndation. It has been two years. I am still waiting for …
As mentioned in the Budget Reply, I too wondered, What happened to the vaulted SAGE recommendation? I am left wondering. One of the final statements of the outgoing Premier was, We will have public consultation on the SAGE recomme ndation. It has been two years. I am still waiting for them. Has anyone else been to a SAGE education forum yet? I mean, they have forgotten. They have just moved on from it. But to much fanfare, nothing has been done. Now, one thing that did stand out, and I heard this when I was at the Budget Breakfast, the Minister of Finance commented that 224 jobs that were lost last year came through the civil service. So, civil se rvice is reduced by 224 jobs. But the wage budget for the civil service is more this year than it was last year. How does that work? Can someone over on that side explain the fuzzy logic that goes behind that? B ecause I simply cannot. We reduced the employees, but we are paying more. What happened to this fiscal responsibility? What happened to this hiring freeze that is going on? You are getting rid of people, but you are paying more. If anyone can explain it, you know, I am not an accountant, but I would love to get an explanation of that. All I know is when I go into a government office now, I am typically faced with frustrated workers who are being overworked. Because of hiring freezes, they are now doing the jobs of two and three people. What happened to civil service reform? How do you cut people from an employment, from a job, without putting things in place to make the job work better with the few staff you have left? And I hope the last young lady who spoke to me a few days ago in a Gover nBermuda House of Assembly ment office, who complained that, They have cut our staff. That is why I have not been able to get what I can normally do in a day done, because now I have got to figure out three and four people’s jobs to do. Where is the civil service reform? This Gover nment, like they are doing with the general public, is losing the confidence of the civil service. They do not want to believe that there is a trust deficit that they are creating, but it is there. Now, Madam Deputy Speaker, I am glad I spoke after the last Member, because he made some interesting comments. That Member made some i nteresting comments when he last spoke. But, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to read an excerpt from a Royal Gazette article.
Mr. Diallo V . S. RabainAnd I quote: “With an unpr edictable global climate, a sluggish US economy, threats of international business sector, alarming drops in tourism revenue and a dangerous narrowing of our economic base, Bermuda has two clear choices: We can stick with the status quo that brought economic stagnation; or we can …
And I quote: “With an unpr edictable global climate, a sluggish US economy, threats of international business sector, alarming drops in tourism revenue and a dangerous narrowing of our economic base, Bermuda has two clear choices: We can stick with the status quo that brought economic stagnation; or we can look to modern and innovative ideas for economic management, to keep pace with the rapid change. We believe the key to Bermuda’s future economic prosperity rests in large measure through broadening our economic base. We believe Bermuda’s social well -being depends on e nsuring that all Bermudians can share in the Island’s prosperity. Bermuda’s increasing reliance on international business as the sole revenue for the country is close to having all of our economic eggs in one basket.” [UNVERIFIED QUOTE] Now, anyone here would think that is a speech that will come from the Shadow Finance Mi nister or will come from the Leader of the Opposition. But, no. That speech came from the Member who just sat down. All of a sudden —all of a sudden —it is lunacy to even talk about broadening the economic base that we have got. It is lunacy to talk about diversifying the economy. However, when they were in Opposition, they will say whatever they want to say to make sure the people are listening to them, because they are disingenuous. They are disingenuous.
Mr. Diallo V. S. RabainNow, could it be that because the PLP is saying it, that all of a sudden, not hing makes sense? It is not something that should be followed? I will even give you an excerpt from the F inance Minister when asked, What about diversity? He said, at the Budget …
Now, could it be that because the PLP is saying it, that all of a sudden, not hing makes sense? It is not something that should be followed? I will even give you an excerpt from the F inance Minister when asked, What about diversity? He said, at the Budget Breakfast just earlier this week, that the people should not look to Government to come up with “the next big deal because whatever Government thinks is the next big deal —it’s not that.” So maybe you should talk to his colleagues, because at some point, he thought diversifying the economy was a great idea. Now all of a sudden, you are the Government. And, you know, it brings me back to som ething that I heard the Finance Minister say a couple of weeks ago in these Chambers. He said, The Oppos ition can say whatever they want, because it is not g oing to come true. What more can I say? Now, Madam Deputy Speaker, last year, when we had the Budget Debate in another place, I commented that my greatest fear was that the calls from the One Bermuda Alliance for actual collabor ation were hollow and disingenuous at best. Back then, as we can recall, there was a motion put forth by my now-colleague, Mr. Walton Brown, to have a collab orative approach (good colleague) to immigration r eform. It was fought tooth and nail to not have a joint select committee to do that. And guess who drove? Guess who drove that opposition? The current Attorney General. He drove that last year. And for the life of me, I could not figure out why not. Why not even agree to a joint select committee? We fast forward a year, and we know why. Guess who is driving Pathways to Citizenship? The Attorney General. And that was always their plan. And I will go back to something that the Mini ster of Health talked about, because she tried to talk to my very, very capable Shadow Finance Minister about his comments about there being a budget for a general election. And the Honourable Member talked about that this was going to be there because we are looking at overseas voting and absentee voting. But, you know, you have got to look at the entire Budget Book. If you look at the performance, the performance measures for that same department, somehow the electorate is going to increase by 500 votes this year. How is that going to happen? We keep hearing about a lowering in birth rate, emigration. Where are these 500 people coming from? Is it something they have already planned?
Mr. Diallo V. S. RabainSo we have complete opposition to collaborative immigration reform, joint select committee, and all of a sudden we have the Attorney General appearing on TV, saying, This is immigration reform. Wow. What a difference a year makes. And the stripes are truly showing. They ar e truly, truly showing. 788 …
So we have complete opposition to collaborative immigration reform, joint select committee, and all of a sudden we have the Attorney General appearing on TV, saying, This is immigration reform. Wow. What a difference a year makes. And the stripes are truly showing. They ar e truly, truly showing. 788 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly You know, last night I watched that pr ogramme. I was actually physically ill watching those two Members of the Government give our country a 649. I was physically . . . As a matter of fact, I was so completely upset that I missed The Big Bang Theory, wasting time watching this, because I knew exactly what it was going to be. And one of the things that stood out in my mind was one of the questions asked of the Attorney General. It was, Why not have a collaborative approach? Why not have a Green Paper and a White Paper, and then get some input from the rest of the citizens? You know what his response to that was? The Government does not have the luxury or the time to do that. In what crazy world does the Government not have the luxury or time to collaborate with the people who voted them in?
Mr. Diallo V. S. R abainNow, imagine if we did not have that resistance last year, we would have been a year into this bipartisan joint select committee and we could have been a lot further. Who knows? We could have even had more of the people to come on board by now. But now …
Now, imagine if we did not have that resistance last year, we would have been a year into this bipartisan joint select committee and we could have been a lot further. Who knows? We could have even had more of the people to come on board by now. But now we have the Government, intent to do what it is they normally do, and that is just shove something down the throat. They call going on a tel evision show collaboration with the entire Island. That is what they do. They call it collaboration. You know, this Government can continue on the path that they are continuing on, because it will spell peril for them in the end. The Premier is over there sitting on his hat trick of losses, and he will get a forfeit at the next general election. He will get a forfeit at the next general election. Continue on the path they are going and they will not even last until next year. And I can guarantee that, Madam Deputy Speaker. A caring government, Madam Deputy Speaker, is a government that has time to listen to the electorate and take their thoughts into their policy decisions. They are not so blind to not be able to ba lance the social and the fiscal responsibility of running a country.
[Crosstalk]
Mr. Diallo V. S. RabainThey are able to create env ironments that encourage Bermudians to think that they have a place within their home. [Inaudible interjections] [Gavel] [Inaudible interjection]
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerMember, will you have a seat until everyone is quiet please. Make it quick so they are not killing your time. Thank you. Please proceed.
Mr. Diallo V. S. RabainMadam Deputy Speaker, if there was not any urgency before, if there was not any urgency with this Government now, there has to be an urgency now. There is an urgency to reach across the aisle, c ollaborate. Talk to the electorate of these people. Talk to the electorate of …
Madam Deputy Speaker, if there was not any urgency before, if there was not any urgency with this Government now, there has to be an urgency now. There is an urgency to reach across the aisle, c ollaborate. Talk to the electorate of these people. Talk to the electorate of this country, and let them in on these ideas that they have. Do not operate in a silo like they seem to want to operate in. It will only spell doom —doom —for this Island. And I th ink all of us up here care enough about this Island. We would not be here if we did not care enough about this Island to do the right thing. And I ask the One Bermuda All iance to do the right thing. And if the Premier was worth his salt, he would take thi s Pathways to Citizenship back to the polls for a mandate from the people of Bermuda to show that that is what they want. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.
[Desk thumping]
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you, Member. Are there any other Members who would like to speak? Thank you. The Chair recognises the Member from constituency 2. Ms. N. Outerbridge, you have the floor.
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Madam Deputy Speaker, what we have heard today were attacks on the OBA’s policies, with no real plan from the PLP to address the Bermudian people’s needs. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Tell us your plan. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeNone of them have tried to stand up and make Bermudians understand just how serious this debt is, especially young Bermudians, Madam Deputy Speaker, as they will be the ones who are potentially carrying this burden. And you know, I thought that the other Member on the other side, the …
None of them have tried to stand up and make Bermudians understand just how serious this debt is, especially young Bermudians, Madam Deputy Speaker, as they will be the ones who are potentially carrying this burden. And you know, I thought that the other Member on the other side, the Honourable Member, the younger Member on the other side, would have stood up and maybe spoken about that, but he did not. He spoke about Benjamin’s, Madam Deputy Speaker. So I am not really too sure where he was going with that.
Bermuda House of Assembly But people need to realise just how serious this debt is. And the economic reality, Madam Deputy Speaker, is that the crisis that this OBA Government inherited when we were elected is real. The PLP can spin it however they want, Madam Deputy Speaker! But the proof is in their record. And, you know, all night it has been broken down into terms that are understandable to the average Bermudian. And I act ually like that, so I am going to carry on with that. So, Madam Deputy Speaker, I just want to explain the deficit and how it affects the everyday or average Bermudian. So, just imagine that your i ncome, M adam Deputy Speaker, is $3,000 monthly, $3,000. Your expenses are $5,000 monthly.
[Inaudible interjections and laughter]
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeYou are accumulating a $2,000- a-month deficit every month. So just hold that scenario in your head, Madam Deputy Speaker. [Inaudible interjections] [Gavel]
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeWhat do you do about it? How do you survive? Do you control spending, Madam Deputy Speaker? Do you look at ways to bring in other income while cutting or controlling your expenses that you currently have? Would that not be the responsible thing to do, Madam Deputy Speaker? Well, …
What do you do about it? How do you survive? Do you control spending, Madam Deputy Speaker? Do you look at ways to bring in other income while cutting or controlling your expenses that you currently have? Would that not be the responsible thing to do, Madam Deputy Speaker? Well, Madam Deputy Speaker, that is exactly what this Government is doing. Or, on the other hand, do you go out and tell the people who would have owed you money, M adam Deputy Speaker, that they no longer have to pay that money in to you? Or do you start giving money to your friends, you know, just giving away free stuff for popularity, or that you hope that they like you, while you are struggling in the meantime?
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberAecon? Aecon? Yes, yes.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberTell us about Aecon. [Gavel]
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeThat is exactly what the O pposition did, and will do if given the opportunity. They have a record of governing irresponsibly. I do not have to make this up, Madam Deputy Speaker. Just check the facts. And I heard Members on their side talking about the facts all night. …
That is exactly what the O pposition did, and will do if given the opportunity. They have a record of governing irresponsibly. I do not have to make this up, Madam Deputy Speaker. Just check the facts. And I heard Members on their side talking about the facts all night. And it actually reminded me of that CARFAX commer cial that comes on TV, when the people are going out to buy a car and the little duck comes up and says, Check the CARFAX. Well, I would encourage people to check the facts of the PLP Government, going into the next election. And you know what, Madam Deputy Speaker? They did a great job outlining their response to the national debt, that it went from $277 million in 2008 to $1.2 billion in 2012, in the page 30 of the Budget Statement. They tried to beat us to the punch. But what they failed to mention, Madam Deputy Speaker, was from 2006 to 2012, the PLP missed spending estimates by an average of $94 million a nnually —$94 million annually, Madam Deputy Speaker, compared to $8 million under the OBA Government that we have gone over. An $86 million annual dif ference? Wow! Now, those are facts, Madam Deputy Speaker. And that is reflective of the PLP Gover nment. You cannot make this stuff up. So, while they have Members who are sitting up here and spouting that, Oh, we spent $8 million on the fees or $275 milli on on education, but they fail to mention the $70 million overrun on Berkeley. And they have the nerve to say that Honourable Members on this side are not taking responsibility? Madam Deputy Speaker, the PLP has yet to take responsibility for the massive e conomic overspending and borrowing that took this country and was taking this country into the brink of collapse!
[Inaudible interjections and crosstalk]
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeMadam Deputy Speaker, the OBA Government was tasked to make the tough dec isions to get Bermuda back on track. And all these problems that the PLP set up and mentioned tonight, they did not arise overnight. They did not arise when the OBA Government came into power. People were …
Madam Deputy Speaker, the OBA Government was tasked to make the tough dec isions to get Bermuda back on track. And all these problems that the PLP set up and mentioned tonight, they did not arise overnight. They did not arise when the OBA Government came into power. People were unemployed under them, Madam Deputy Speaker! The OBA w as tasked to make the hard decisions that the PLP could not make while they were in gover nment and would not make if they were back in gov-ernment, Madam Deputy Speaker! Because they do not have the courage!
[Inaudible interjections and general uproar]
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeAnd you know what, Madam Deputy Speaker? I find it interesting, I really had a little giggle to myself at this one, when I looked at the Budget Reply, and I am quoting from the Budget R eply when the Shadow Finance Minister says, “I do not want the people …
And you know what, Madam Deputy Speaker? I find it interesting, I really had a little giggle to myself at this one, when I looked at the Budget Reply, and I am quoting from the Budget R eply when the Shadow Finance Minister says, “I do not want the people of this country to believe that the Progressive Labour Party will come into office and reverse all of the cuts of the One Bermuda Alliance.” Madam Deputy Speaker, so they basically said that they are not going to come in and undo the tough decisions that this Government had the courage to make. 790 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly [Inaudible interjections]
Some Hon. Members Some Hon. MembersBut—but —but —
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeI think it is so funny how they portray themselves to be Bermudian saviours. I mean, they got us into this mess , Madam Deputy Speaker! They drove us down this dangerous path! It is ama zing to me. And if they want to challenge it, Madam Deputy Speaker, just …
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeSo I commend the Finance Minister for the work that he put into this Budget, Madam Deputy Speaker, and the progress that he has made against this big problem. And we do not need the Opposition to stand up all night and tell us that we are on the right …
So I commend the Finance Minister for the work that he put into this Budget, Madam Deputy Speaker, and the progress that he has made against this big problem. And we do not need the Opposition to stand up all night and tell us that we are on the right track. We kno w we are on the right track, Madam Deputy Speaker, when we have positive statements coming from Moody’s. We know we are on the right track. They can try to water it down all they want. We are on the right track! When you have the Royal Gazette, for instanc e today, [saying] that business community co nfidence is rising , we know we are on the right track, Madam Deputy Speaker. [Inaudible interjections] [Gavel]
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeWhen Labour stats suggest that international business has resumed growth, and we are heading in the right direction when the Finance Minister has provided a clear path to eliminate the deficit in three years. [Inaudible interjections]
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeAnd guess what? Without cutting or affecting Financial Assistance. C ould it be a Government that cares? [Gavel]
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeSo, well done, to the Mini ster of Finance on another well -put-together Budget. Now, Madam Deputy Speaker, I want to talk about the debt service. Debt service costs are pr ojected to be at $187 million. We have heard this all night from persons on our side, Members on …
So, well done, to the Mini ster of Finance on another well -put-together Budget. Now, Madam Deputy Speaker, I want to talk about the debt service. Debt service costs are pr ojected to be at $187 million. We have heard this all night from persons on our side, Members on our side, making it the second- largest expenditure of this Government. Madam Deputy Speaker, $187 million? That is huge. We might as well name it. And if we did name it, it would be the PLP Ineptness Ministry. That is huge, Madam Deputy Speaker! We have to get that $187 million down before we can think about, even think about, spending any kind of money on social programmes, Madam Deputy Speaker, and on helping Bermudians. This $187 million constricts our ability to respond to people’s needs. It restricts the ability that means the most to Bermudians, as we have heard some of the Members on the other side to say. It threatens public education. It threatens Financial A ssistance . It threatens health care, and it threatens our seniors.
[Inaudible interjections]
[Gavel]
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerIf it is too loud for people, perhaps you would be quiet now and respect the Chair when I have asked you to be quiet. Thank you. Please proc eed, Member.
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Madam Deputy Speaker, this is simply not a problem we can choose to ignore now. Because someone will have to pay for it. And those someone’s are going to be the people in my generation and our children. The burden will fall on us. So …
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Madam Deputy Speaker, this is simply not a problem we can choose to ignore now. Because someone will have to pay for it. And those someone’s are going to be the people in my generation and our children. The burden will fall on us. So I hear snicker-ing on the other side. But do they really feel comfor table with stealing from our future?
[Inaudible interjections]
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeAsk yourself that. Reducing government debt has to be priority. And I really do not know how the Opposition can make statements that they agree that reducing the government debt has to be a priority, while calling for more spending in their Reply. It does not make sense to me.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerPlease have a seat. Your point of order is? POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. E. David BurtThe Honourable Member is mi sleading the House. I would like her to point in the R eply where there was call for more spending. The Dep uty Speaker: Thank you, Member. You may proceed.
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeMadam Deputy Speaker, they threw a bunch of feel -good stuff out in their R eply, and that is easy to do when you are the Oppos ition, because you do not have to deliver on anything. Bermuda House of Assembly So, sure, they can say, Let’s get rid of …
Madam Deputy Speaker, they threw a bunch of feel -good stuff out in their R eply, and that is easy to do when you are the Oppos ition, because you do not have to deliver on anything.
Bermuda House of Assembly So, sure, they can say, Let’s get rid of middle schools, and that sounds good, Madam Deputy Speaker. But middle schools were around for the 14 years that they were in government. So why would you not do an ything about it then? Why should the people of Bermuda trust that they will do something about it if they are re- elected? Let us talk about the trust deficit, Madam Deputy Speaker.
[Inaudible interjections and general uproar!]
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberWhy should they trust you?
Ms. Nandi OuterbridgeAnd you know , Madam Deputy Speaker, I was not critical of everything in the Opposition’s Budget. You know, we are not critical of the diversification, the concept of diversification. But this is the focus. The focus that this Government has had on this Budget is the economic stimulation strategy …
And you know , Madam Deputy Speaker, I was not critical of everything in the Opposition’s Budget. You know, we are not critical of the diversification, the concept of diversification. But this is the focus. The focus that this Government has had on this Budget is the economic stimulation strategy as it is here and now. And that is creating jobs, which is why we have worked hard to build confidence with investors to restore confidence in this Island. And make no mistake about it, Madam Deputy Speaker. The St. George's R esort and the Airport D evelopment will create jobs for Bermudians this year, Madam Deputy Speaker. The economic restoration has started. It will continue, and it will finally be felt by the average Bermudian. And if they have not started feeling it yet (because some have), they soon will. Property markets have stabilised. The economy has stabilised under the One Bermuda Alliance Gover nment. I actually heard someone say the other day that if the OBA economy, or the economy, or the Bermudian economy (sorry) w as the patient, then the One Bermuda Alliance Government has moved the patient from ICU down to a general ward. We must and will stick to the wicket, Madam Deputy Speaker. And I can tell you, I do not want to be back up in ICU. The OBA have made real -world developments that have shown real positive differences to people, Madam Deputy Speaker. And we are the Government to get us on the right track. Thank you.
[Desk thumping]
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerNow, before I recognise the next Member, I want to point out that I have due r espect for everyone and will not waste your time. And I do not want to have to stop the House or interrupt your speech. So, that being said, I would ask that everyone …
Now, before I recognise the next Member, I want to point out that I have due r espect for everyone and will not waste your time. And I do not want to have to stop the House or interrupt your speech. So, that being said, I would ask that everyone respect the individual who is standing and speaking. That being said, t he Chair now recognises the Member from constituency 33, Mr. J. S. Simmons. You have the floor. Mr. Jamahl S. Simmons: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and good evening to you. Good evening, colleagues. Good evening to the people of Bermuda. Madam Deputy Speaker, I am challenged to respond to the words of Magnus Heunicke mouthed by the Member who just took her seat.
Mr. Jamahl S. SimmonsBut I must praise her, b ecause the reading of the script has become clearer, much better enunciated. So there is progress. And I think it will do her well in her life after politics after the next election.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberThat is right! Yes.
Mr. Jamahl S. SimmonsMadam Deputy Speaker, the 2016/17 Budget Statement by the Honourable Minister Bob Ri chards is not a budget statement. It is a political, economic and social suicide note. It is a suicide note that the Honourable Member from [con-stituency] 2 signed her name to, the Honourable Member from [constituency] 1 …
Madam Deputy Speaker, the 2016/17 Budget Statement by the Honourable Minister Bob Ri chards is not a budget statement. It is a political, economic and social suicide note. It is a suicide note that the Honourable Member from [con-stituency] 2 signed her name to, the Honourable Member from [constituency] 1 [sic] signed her name to, and we could run down the list —
Some Hon. Members Some Hon. MembersNumber 1?
Mr. Jamahl S. SimmonsI am sorry. In the Bermuda you are building, it is hard to tell. Madam Deputy Speaker, they have had Members of the backbench sign their names on this suicide note. But we, I in particular, will not be signing our names on this suicide note. The 65,000 Bermudi-ans out …
I am sorry. In the Bermuda you are building, it is hard to tell. Madam Deputy Speaker, they have had Members of the backbench sign their names on this suicide note. But we, I in particular, will not be signing our names on this suicide note. The 65,000 Bermudi-ans out there are not going to sign their names on this suicide note. Madam Deputy Speaker, we have heard a government that, [during the] free election told the world, We have the answers! They beat their chests and said, We are the businessmen. We are the geniuses. We know how to fix it! We will fix it. Bob will git - r-done. They told us they had a plan. They told us they knew what they were doing. Madam Deputy Speaker, when a person is hired to do a job, and I am sure many of us who own homes know what happens. You hire somebody, and sometimes, you know, maybe they might have been nice. Maybe your parents hired them. And they do not work out. And somebody else will come arou nd and say, You know what? I can do the job. I am better than they are. Right? When you are hired to do a job, and you are sent out into the field to do the work, the person who hires you does not want to hear about the job that you said you could do. They do not want to hear about the person who had the job before you. And it is time for this Government, three years into their administration, to understand, You wanted this job. You begged for this job. Some in Bermuda act u792 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly ally think you may have lied—some argue that —to get this job. But we certainly know that promises were made that have been broken, promises that got you this job. There are things you said that you would not do that you have done that got you this job. But you got the job. You got the job. Stop whining. Stop crying. Stop complaining. You knew the job was hard. But, wait. I am sorry. You had to look under the hood. What type of pathetic Opposition does not know what they are getting into and has to spend a year wandering around, looking under the hood, trying to figure out what the problem is? So the first year we had, as my honourable colleague said, the It Wasn’t My Budget . Right? And we have seen this cycle of, We have a plan. Madam Deputy Speaker, look. You campaign on one major issue, 2, 000 jobs. Madam Deputy Speaker, we keep hearing now, They’re coming. They’re coming. They’re coming. Madam Deputy Speaker, if I wake up every morning and tell my wife it is going to rain today, eventually I am going to be right. And maybe if the OBA keeps saying these jobs will come, they may come eventually, you know? They may. They may. But we have to ask whether it will be a result of them or just a matter of more time. And right now, they are beginning the process of begging for more time. They have al ready said the dog has eaten their homework, but they are begging for more time. Madam Deputy Speaker, more time will not make this Government more honest. More time will not make this Government more compassionate. More time will not make this Government more pro-Bermudian. More time will not get better productivity for the working poor and the middle class of this country. More time? You do not deserve more time. When you break promises, when you break promises, okay? You break promises, you do not get any more time. And if you had any integrity, you would go back to the polls and get a mandate for the things that you said that you would not do what you are now doing, the things that you —in my household we call a lie by omission —never said you would do, things that will radically change and rewrite the culture of this country, and some would say for the worst. You have not gotten permission from your boss, the people of this country. I think a lot of us forget who the boss is. A lot of get up here and be at our chests, talking about how wonderful the plan is and how great the Minister of Finance is. Madam Deputy Speaker, look. It is not great when the Salvation Army has to talk about closing its doors. It is not great when you promise 2,000 jobs, and over 2,000 jobs have been lost. It is not great when you said you would increase air arrivals, and you have hit a 48 . . . no, I am sorry a 49- year-low air arrivals record. It is not great. So there is nothing for this Government to beat their chests about and brag about. You have underperformed. You are failing, point -blank. And all the boasting and bragging will not change that fact to the person who cannot pay their bills, who counted on you to do what you said you would do, who counted on you to keep your w ord. That is the real issue here, Madam Deputy Speaker. We have added $1 billion of debt under the One Bermuda Alliance. Is that great? Is that som ething to beat your chest about? No, it is not, Madam Deputy Speaker. There is nothing great about a go vernm ent who is quick to say Bermudians are not qual ified, Bermudians do not want to work, Bermudians are Kool-Aid drinkers, but then slash the budget of educ ation to help those Bermudians get qualified. There is nothing great about that and nothing to brag about, Madam Deputy Speaker. The job performance, let us look at what the OBA promised, because we could talk about perfor mance. I think it is very important to note, Madam Dep-uty Speaker, that while the Government talks as though the PLP is still the Government, like we som ehow managed to manufacture 2,000 job losses under their watch, you know, just by magic, they are in charge. We did not increase the debt by $1 billion. They did, Madam Deputy Speaker. And they have to take accountability for their actions . The accountability comes in the system for us. We were voted out of office. Our Leader in his first Throne Speech reply, our Deputy Leader in his first Budget Reply, apologised to the people of this country for the mistakes we have made. They laid out specif ically the mistakes that were made that we would not make again. But, Madam Deputy Speaker, humility creates growth. And the One Bermuda Alliance shows no humility. Thus, they are not growing, despite their ability to write or read and prepare speec hes in the House of Parliament. We are not seeing that growth and understanding of the job that you are meant to do. And if you are hired by anybody in a job, as a collective, you would have been fired, been fired. Because you are not performing. Let us be real. You cannot keep promising it is coming. It is not working, what you are doing. And it is not reaching the people who need it most, the people who you had up in your houses, ha ving dinners with, and promising them this and that, who cannot get calls returned back now. The people whom you took care of the light bills, took care of their grocery bills, the people who got a little something - something.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Jamahl S. SimmonsThe people now who, when they ring the phone, are singing, Mr. telephone man, there’s something wrong with my line. I took down the Bermuda House of Assembly number, but then I get a click every time. This is what we are talking about, Madam Deputy Speaker, right? Now, you …
The people now who, when they ring the phone, are singing, Mr. telephone man, there’s something wrong with my line. I took down the
Bermuda House of Assembly number, but then I get a click every time. This is what we are talking about, Madam Deputy Speaker, right? Now, you know how it works, Madam Deputy Speaker. But for the fourth year in a row, the OBA failed to produce an economic growth plan. They have failed to have a plan for diversifying the economy. Now, we have talked about Moody’s and how wonderful Moody’s gave a rate. They neglected to talk about how Moody’s and Fitch downgraded this country se veral times as a result of their lack of a diversification plan. But now Fitch is no longer in the picture for some reason, Madam Deputy Speaker. Madam Deputy Speaker, we have long boasted in this country about being one of the wealt hiest countries in the world. We have boasted about it. But how many Bermudians really feel it right now? How many Bermudians really feel like we are the wealthiest country in the world? How many Bermudians really have hope when they open the paper, lookin g at the job section, there will be something they qualify for? How many Bermudians have hope that this will be the day that they can pay all their bills, that they can feed their children, that they can do what they need to be a contributing member of soc iety? The writer, Alan Moore, in his introduction to the book V for Vendetta, spoke about life under Thatcher’s government. And he said in 1988 that England was becoming a cold, horrible place. And he did not like it there, and did not want to live there anymore. And that sentiment, expressed in the 1980s under Thatcher’s government, is being expressed by so many of our people right now. Bermuda has become a cold place. It has become an unpleasant place, and I do not want to live here anymore. We have to ask ourselves, the culture that says that all a Bermudian is is the ability to vote and make money. Is that it? Is that all a Bermudian is, the capacity to vote and make money? Is that what we are heading to? Is that the culture we want to embrace? Madam D eputy Speaker, real unemployment in this country is not 7 per cent. It is not. It is higher than that, because we are not counting the people who gave up. We are not counting the people who left. We are not counting the people who simply have fallen off the radar of the One Bermuda Alliance. They do not matter; they are not in the equation. They just do not make enough money. They just do not contri bute enough. You know, they are the lazy. They do not have soft skills, whatever, you know, all the things that they throw out about Bermudians. Madam Deputy Speaker, when we look at unemployment at 7 per cent, we are not counting the Bermudians who are underemployed. We are not counting the Bermudians who are working part -time when they want to work full -time. W e are not counting the full spectrum of the impact of this economic crisis that is shared now. It is shared. We own the time that we were in Government. We own that, and we take responsibility for that. And for the mistakes we made, we apologise for that. But the One Bermuda Alliance owns the record from 2012, the day they took over office. You are in charge. You own the record, so stop running from it. Madam Deputy Speaker, if I may, I would like to quote President Franklin Roosevelt. During the Great Depression . . . And I think the One Bermuda Alliance could learn a lot from Franklin Delano Roos evelt, not necessarily ideologically, but in the manner in which he spoke to the people of America during that time, the way he articulated their fears and their concerns, the way he displayed compassion for their struggle and the way, most importantly, he was honest. It is a fascinating thing to go back. They have many of his, what they called the Fireside Chats , online. And you would hear him say, you know, I met with the minors. And we do not have the money to deal with your specific problem, but I am sending some people to help with your medical issues. But there was a compassion that, While I cannot solve the problem completely, I am going to address something about it. The Government could learn a lot from Pres ident Roosevelt in how they talk to our people in this time, the empathy, the caring and compassion. This is what is needed right now, not lectures about how you don’t want to work and lectures, you know , all this that we hear out of the Government and that we hear out of their friends in the private sector. Our leaders, Madam Deputy Speaker, if you compare, they say that Bermudians are not entitled to a job in their own country. They say that Bermudians . . . To quote the Honourable Member Bob Richards, If I have to make it easier for rich white people to own land in Bermuda, that is fine. My Bermudian status is a matter of adult choice. That Member’s Bermudian status is an accident of birth. So instead of the compassion, the vision, the plan, we get insults. The Go vernment has to change its mind. It has to change the way it approaches things. Madam Deputy Speaker, I am not going to be very long, because I find this exercise to be rather pointless, because what is clear at this time is that the country is at a crossroads. We will either be a country where being a Bermudian means nothing more than having the ability to vote and make money, or we can put a stop to the country’s direction in which it is head ed now. Madam Deputy Speaker, we had a joint constituency clinic with my colleagues from constituencies 34, 35 and 36. And there was a gentleman who came. This gentleman was a staunch PLP supporter. He is a senior. He canvassed with my father during the 1970s and 1980s. And this man, who has chopped block with his hands and gone into the quarry, wept. He wept like a baby in front of about 50 of us at where this country is going now. He never dreamed it would be in the state it is in now. Not the economic s tate, the cultural state of what we have become—cold, lacking 794 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly in compassion, indifferent. And while the writer Alan Moore said he did not want to live here anymore, I am not going anywhere. And we all on this side of the House are committed to putting an end to the culture that we see developing, this cold, heartless culture. Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to briefly talk about my Shadow Finance Minister’s Reply. And I want to not just commend him. It is so important, Madam Deputy Speaker . . . When I first entered this House in 2002, I was the youngest Member. And I have lived long enough now to be still younger than some, but older than some of the others. And I think it is so important that young people of intellect, ability and integrity enter the political process. And what I have seen from the Honourable Shadow Finance Mi nister is a person who has grown and evolved, not just as a politician and as a man, but in his capacity to take the complex issues of finance and the complex issues surrounding our country, and break them down in a manner that is not simple or simplistic, but understandable. And it is important that we continue to support the efforts of young people to get into this political process and provide a fresh point of view, provide some insight and some vision. And what we have seen in this document is some original thought. We have seen vision. And when you combine this with the Throne Speech Replies of our Leader, the Honourable Marc Bean, you see our platform. You see where we want t o take Bermuda. We have spoken to the importance of fiscal responsibility. We recognise that we do not have the moral privilege or right to go to the public and say that we are going to put a chicken in every pot, a woman in every bed, a beer in every fridge. We cannot promise the world. That has been done before. And because of that, you see the disillusionment. You see the anger. Because people feel that they have been tricked. They have been deceived. They have been led astray. And so, the anger is that , I was told they would do this. But I didn’t believe when I was told. As a matter of fact, when during the election, we said that they would do things with status that you said you would not do, you called us liars. When we said that, you know, they’re going to get rid of civil service, you said no. I remember a thing from the Honourable Member, the former Premier, saying, Your job will be safe. But let us look at the national economic report, Madam Deputy Speaker. And let us go to the issue of government jobs. Well, let me start here first, before we get to government jobs. Jobs occupied by Bermudians were the only status category to exhibit a decline in employment in 2015. Bermudian jobs declined by 320 posts, or 1.3 per cent. In contrast, non- Bermudian positions grew by a total of 18 posts in 2015. There is the i mbalance that we talk about. And it is an imbalance due to flawed thinking. It is an imbalance due to a flawed approach. And it is an imbalance that believes that, if you put everybody first, bes ides Bermudians, maybe somehow, if we were to hang around long enough, then maybe it will trickle down. It will trickle down, it will trickle down, it will trickle down, And maybe if you are lucky, you will get a chance to enjoy some of that.
[Inaudible i nterjections]
[Gavel]
[Inaudible interjections and laughter]
Mr. Jamahl S. SimmonsWe have to be patient with our young people, Madam Deputy Speaker. We should be patient.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberTypical. It is typical.
Mr. Jamahl S. SimmonsWe should be patient, and we should be compassionate to our young people. He is new here. He is new here. But he is not going an ywhere. He will be over there for awhile, so he will have time to learn and get used to it. But, Madam Deputy …
We should be patient, and we should be compassionate to our young people. He is new here. He is new here. But he is not going an ywhere. He will be over there for awhile, so he will have time to learn and get used to it. But, Madam Deputy Speaker, I am trying to find the point (I lost my notes) in the economic review. But they talked about the loss, decline in government jobs. And I am sure one of my colleagues would be glad to provide the actual number. But there was a promise made that there would be no loss of gover nment jobs. The Government failed to keep that promise. There was a promise made about boosting con-struction and retail jobs. Construction fell by almost 45 per cent —43 per cent (sorry) last year. Retail sectors continue to contract. So, Madam Deputy Speaker , what we have to do now, and this is something that I think is very i mportant for the future of this country. We can bash each other. And I have great fun doing that; I am quite good at it, I think. Or we can really, really, really begin to have a serious talk with each other, a talk about immigration and what we want Bermuda to look like 5 years, 10 years, 15 years from now. We can have a serious talk about tax reform and how we can create a fairer and more equitable tax system. We can have a serious talk about diversifying the economy. We can have a serious talk about what we need to do to move Bermudians from job seekers to job creators. We can have a real talk about expanding entrepreneurship and making the path to business ownership less onerous, less difficult and less time consuming for people who have the desire to create their own bus inesses. We can have that talk. Or we can continue to get up here and read whatever the foreign consultants put in front of us, or the local foreign consultants put on us, and you know, we accomplish nothing. This procedure becomes a waste of time. So, Madam Deputy Speaker, when we look at these two doc uments, they do represent two very diverse views. We
Bermuda House of Assembly have the One Bermuda Alliance view that has led to increased job l osses, more debt and a feeling of di ssatisfaction among our people. Or you have our a pproach, which speaks to collaboration, which speaks to reform, which speaks to a Bermuda that puts Ber-mudians first. We are confident of our vision, because our vision h as been shaped not in a lab based on pol lsters. It has been shaped by experience, hard exper ience, hard lessons, and it has been shaped by the vision that our people give to us on the doorstep, how they want Bermuda. When I think of the man who wept at where Bermuda is now, and how he fought so that Bermudians would not be second- class citizens in their own home, and he knows about his children and his grandchildren being forced to leave because they do not see opportunities here for themselves . . . They do not see the jobs for themselves. They see ever ybody eating but them. We have to do better. Mr. Speaker, the OBA does not have much time left. In the time that is left, you have to do better. You have to begin to be more honest. You have to begin to be m ore compassionate. You have to begin to have a plan that puts Bermudians first, not as an afterthought, not as a by -product —first. The time is drawing nigh. The time is drawing near when you will be judged. In this world or the next, you will be judged. And what will your record be? Will your political successors be forced to change their name, change their logo, change their colours to run away from what you have built? Will your political successors hang in shame and look at this as a dark period of our history when everything really began to go wrong? What will your legacy be? It is not too late to change your path. Now, I am sure that after I sit down, I am going to hear all kinds of meandering over and over from the other side. Because I know they have a script to play. But we on this side are convinced Bermuda needs a change of direction, desperately. And if the Government does not change its direction, I cannot guarantee that people will not change it for you. And if they change you . . . I remember I said years ago to the Honourable Member, Grant Gibbons —he probably remembers this —and we talked about if the UBP won an election because black voters did not come out. And I said to him, If they do come out, when they do come out, it will not be to vote y ou out. So, I am not threatening anybody. I am just saying that history has a course and a trajectory. And the course and the tr ajectory that you have set yourselves on, it is not too late to pull yourself off of it. The choice is yours. So, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to conclude by saying that I encourage the members of the public to visit our website, www.plp.bm , and look at our plans. Look at our Budget Replies. Look at our Throne Speech replies. When you want to know what our plan is, there it is. When you want to know what our platform is, there it is. When you want to know what shape that plan and platform are, look at who we are. Look at what we have been through, and look at how we have evolved and changed. Madam Deputy Speaker, the elections have consequences. And very soon, sooner than perhaps some people would like, we will be going to the polls. And what happened in [constituency] 33, where you saw a 2 per cent swing away from the One Bermuda Alliance, what you saw in [constituency] 13, where it was (what was it?) a 10 per cent swing away, 11 per cent swing away from the One Bermuda Alliance, you are not doing w ell. You are not doing well. Your record is speaking for itself. And the people have fired war ning shots at you —figurative warning shots. Take the message. Adjust the behaviour. Elevate the dialogue. Get on with doing the business of the people without whining, without complaining, without deflection, wit hout excuses. Do the job you were elected to do. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you, Member. Would any other Members like to speak? The Chair recognises the Member from constituency 7. The Honourable S. D. Richards, you have the floor. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Madam Deputy Speaker, before I begin my remarks, I am going to tell …
Thank you, Member. Would any other Members like to speak? The Chair recognises the Member from constituency 7. The Honourable S. D. Richards, you have the floor.
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Madam Deputy Speaker, before I begin my remarks, I am going to tell a story; actually, it is a true story that happened between mys elf and a Member of the Opposition shortly after the last general election. Contrary to what some people may think, I do have friends who sit on the opposite side of this House, people whom I have known a long time, people whom I have respect for. So I was having a drink with a buddy of mine, who is also a Member of the Oppos ition, Member of Parliament. He looked at me. This was about a month after the last election. He looked at me and said, You know, Syl. We are kind of glad we lost the election. I said, Really? Why? He said, Because you guys are going to have to make some tough choices and dec isions that if we had won, we would not be able to make because we’re a Labour Government. We wouldn’t be able to do the things that we know need to be done! Becaus e our supporters wouldn’t accept it. But you guys, you guys are going to make the tough choices. And you are going to make the hard dec isions. So I am sipping on my Dark ’N’ Stormy, looking at him. He says, And by the time you do ever ything that needs to b e done, everybody is going to be so mad at you that they are going to vote you out, and we’ll be there waiting to take over. True story. And I looked at my friend, and I said, You know what? That may play out. Because we have been handed a train wreck of a situation in Bermuda. We’ve been handed an economy that was on the brink of bankruptcy. 796 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly The average Bermudian does not know how close we came as a country to becoming insolvent. And what would that have meant, insolvency of a country? Well, we do not manufacture anything. We are a service- based economy, primarily international business. And I work in international business. And if Bermuda would have gotten downgraded as a result, it would have been downgraded even more, worse than what it was, if the c ountry would have gone bankrupt. And if the country would have been bankrupt, then international business in Bermuda would have had no choice but to leave. Because their credit rating would have been reduced, which meant that their cl ients around the world would no longer be able or permitted to do business with Bermuda- based companies. Our economy would have imploded. I want every person listening to my voice to think back to pre- 2012, the election of 2012, and understand that we almost went into a financ ial meltdown of the likes that this country has never seen b efore. So, we were elected to turn the economy around. And I must say, I was very, very green when I first came into this place, very optimistic. And I thought that the job would not be as difficult as it has been to turn this economy around and to create jobs for people. You know, one of the first speeches that I heard from the Honourable Member, Leader of the Opposition, he took to his feet, and he gave a very fiery speech, and he said emphatically, There will be no collaboration with the One Bermuda Alliance.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberInteresting. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: I repeat it. He said, There will be no collaboration with the One Bermuda Alliance. I am old enough and have been around long enough to know, Madam Deputy Speaker, when somebody shows me who they are, and they tell me how they feel, …
Interesting. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: I repeat it. He said, There will be no collaboration with the One Bermuda Alliance. I am old enough and have been around long enough to know, Madam Deputy Speaker, when somebody shows me who they are, and they tell me how they feel, I believe them. I believe them. So when I heard all this talk about, We need collaboration with the Government! And we need collaboration on this, or we need collaboration on that and we need collaboration on the other! I heard what their Leader said, and I believed him. I take people at their word. So all of this talk of collaboration is politics. And it is politics because we sit over here and they si t over there. And if by some quirk of fate in the future, they ever become the Government again, guess what? The word “collaboration” will quickly disappear from their vernacular, because they have no interest in collaborating with anyone, especially if they are the Government. That is just a fact. So let us call it for what it is. Their Leader did not want collaboration! Well, guess what? We believed him. Now, let us talk about the debt and the deficit. You know, to a lot of people, including myself, when I hear the Finance Minister talk about debt ratios and this, that and the other, after awhile my eyes kind of glaze over. It is economic -speak. It is not sexy -speak. But it is real -speak, real talk. And the real talk about our current situation, which we inherited from a government that, in my view, was incompetent and still is incompetent, what we inherited with this debt, this public debt and government deficit is that unless it is wrestled to the ground, unless it is dealt with, it threat-ens everything. It threatens job security for Bermudians in both the public and private sector. That is the reality. It is a monster that is trying to eat us, gobble us up and digest us. And we have to wrestle this monster to the ground. And this monster was not of our creation. It was of the Progressive Labour Party’s creation. And I must say, I was very impressed when I heard the Honourable Member who spoke before me say, he gave like a half -hearted apology. Yeah, we made some mistakes. Yeah, we did some things wrong. The closest thing I have heard to an apology since I have been in this place. But guess what? They still do not take responsibility for what they did. And if they ever got the reins of government back, they would do it all over again! It is in their DNA! T hey do not know otherwise! A tiger never changes his spots. Every cliché that I can think of —
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberA tiger does not have spots. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: —pertains . . .
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberA tiger does not have spots. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards , Jr.: A cheetah changes its spots. A tiger cannot change his stripes. You know what I am saying. People listening to me get it. This debt threatens our seniors and their pe nsions. They talk about why the seniors …
A tiger does not have spots.
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards , Jr.: A cheetah changes its spots. A tiger cannot change his stripes. You know what I am saying. People listening to me get it. This debt threatens our seniors and their pe nsions. They talk about why the seniors have not gotten any increase in the pensions. Because of the debt! We are trying to balance our budget. It threatens the quality of health care received by Bermuda residents. It threatens what we can do for Financial Assistance. It threatens our children who depend on public educ ation. We have to make hard, tough decisions. And sometimes, you know, I go home and I turn on the TV and I see people saying, No, no, no! And little kids with picket signs, Don’t close my school! And I am a human being. I have a heart. This bothers me. And it almost makes me want to cry sometimes, because it was all so unnecessary. Because the previous Government became drunk off their own wine and enamoured with their own sense of personal power and infallibility. We can do whatever we want because we are the Gover nment, and you will never be the Government again. I heard all sorts of stuff. We don’t care what you think. This is what happened! And it is why we won the last election. And yes, heavy is the head that wears the crown. It is not easy. And I care. Okay? Madam DepBermuda House of Assembly uty Speaker, nobody over on that side is going to stand to their feet and tell me I do not care, because I do. And I help people. And I do not advertise it. I have paid people’s mortgages. I have paid people’s rents. I have given people money for groceries. The gentl eman talked about the Salvation Army. I have got something going on to help them. But they all stand over there and try to sell this false, negative, untrue narrative that we do not care. And we do. And I know everybody over on this side cares in their own way. Some show less empathy than others. We are not all the same. We are not sheep. We each play our part. And the Finance Minister c ares. He may not come across as the warmest and fuzziest guy when he is in front of a [microphone] tal king about the deficit and the debt, because he cares and he is mad. He is upset because he has been charged with turning around an albatross of debt and deficit that was given to us by the previous Gover nment, who sits over there and pontificates and all about, Oh, they have got all the answers . I am mad, too. That is the inconvenient truth. He cares, and he showed it, because he has not fired one civil servant —not one. Okay? In the real world people get fired. I watch people in my company and in my industry get fired, made redundant, whole departments relocated outside Bermuda. Merry Christmas, here’s your pink slip! That is the real world. That is the real world! But my Finance Minister has not fired one civil servant. Think about that. I am going to go to the PLP’s Reply to the Budget. And I am on page 5. And if you would indulge me, I am going to read what it says. At the top of page 5, it says, “The One Bermuda Alliance's approach to immigration seems to be rooted in their belief that Bermuda’s economic problems are a result of fewer people living in Bermuda.” Like that is not true. We seem to be rooted in the belief? It is a fact. And if you would allow me an indulgence again, I would like to read a paragraph from the Fiscal Responsibility Panel Annual Asses sment of 2015.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerPlease proceed. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: It says on page 13, third paragraph from the top, “Bermuda also faces a very serious demographic challenge, which will have i ncreasingly significant implications for both economic and fiscal policy. This is driven by low fertility,” (we are not having babies like …
Please proceed. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: It says on page 13, third paragraph from the top, “Bermuda also faces a very serious demographic challenge, which will have i ncreasingly significant implications for both economic and fiscal policy. This is driven by low fertility,” (we are not having babies like we did in the past) “negative net migration” (more people are leaving Bermuda) “and increasing life expectancy as the baby boom gener ation moves towards retirement.” (I am in that group.) “The combined impact means that, on current projections, Bermuda can expect to see a fall in its workingage population,” (the people who drive the economy, the people who pay taxes, the people who are paying two pensions. So we) “can expect to see a fall in our working- age population, and a sharp rise in the d e-pendency ratio,” (meaning more people needing f inancial assistance) “which is forecast to rise from 19% in 2010 to 30% in 2020.” This is important: “The speed of this transitio n is very rapid by international standards,” meaning our problems are accelerating faster than the norm. “By contrast, the US —which started this decade in a roughly comparable position— is not projected to hit the 30% mark until almost 2030.” We are going t o hit the 30 per cent mark 10 years before the US. It goes on to say, at the bottom, “The Government has already taken significant steps to libera lise immigration policy in respect of work permits and Permanent Resident Certificates, which is welcome.” This is an independent body looking at our economy and giving us advice on how to turn it around.
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: In the Progressive L abour Party Reply, it also states: “One of the false narratives that continue to be peddled by the OBA is that the PLP immigration policy caused an exodus of jobs from our economy.” They say that is a false narrative. I say it is the truth, and it happened. And I saw it happen. I had a front -row seat to seeing PLP immigration policy drive jobs out of this country. And I will give you a very specific example, specific example that I saw. It also says, a paragraph down, “And though a few may have left,” (talking about people who used to work in Bermuda, but no longer do) “And though a few may have left because they were unable to get a work permit for their nanny, most of the people in those 5,000 jobs didn’t have nannies and were not CEOs.” Five-thousand jobs that were created in Bermuda between 1998 and 2008; I am putting it in context. I know personally about this CEO and his nanny. Okay? He was the CEO of a company here, which at that time employed about, in Bermuda, maybe 150 Bermudians. And he was living in Bermuda. The executive team was in Bermuda. The support staff to the executive team was in Bermuda. And he went to get a work permit for his nanny, and the previous, a previous PLP Immigration Minister said, No. You are taking a job from a Bermudian. You are not getting a permit for your nanny from New York. He had a young family; he wanted his nanny. The nanny had a relationship with his kids. They loved their nanny. It is a nanny. Because he was denied a work permit for his nanny, he relocated out of Bermuda. So, this says, Most were not CEOs and did not have nannies. Well, let me tell you when this one CEO relocated out of Bermuda because he could not have his nanny here. Not only did he leave, but his top executives left, all making very high salaries, renting executive homes in Bermuda, driving cars they purchased in Bermuda, entertaining clients in Bermuda in our restaurants, playing golf on our golf courses, enjoying Bermuda, 798 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly entertaining high net worth individuals in Bermuda. They left. And when they left, the Bermudian staff that supported them —and some were high ranking— were no longer needed in Bermuda. They left. So I watched this company shrink its Bermuda workforce, because the jobs of these executives still existed, they just existed in New York and Zurich and London. And I figure about 40 Bermudians lost their jobs as a result of this one executive leaving because he could not get his nanny to Bermuda. That is a real story with real financial impact, and replicate that story across the insurance industry. How many millions of dollars that were being circulated in Bermuda at that time are not being circulated in Bermuda now b ecause of that Immigration Minister, who told people, We don’t care what you think, who said, I’ll be happy when the prices of homes are driven down. We have got greedy landlords and greedy homeowners. He had a very distinct immigration viewpoint. And he damaged this country as a result —damaged this country as a result. And they do not want to talk about that, the Opposition. They do not want any talk about that. It is the inconvenient truth. But I am here to remind the public that this is what happened that cost 40 positions. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Many more just like it.
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: You know, there was a gentleman on the CITV channel last night. He gave a testimonial. He is a gentleman who has been working here for a number of years, and he is looking to get status. And he has children, you know. And he bas ically said that, over the course of maybe seven or eight years, a lot of the people who used to work here whom he knew in a professional level —they had become friends —had left Bermuda. Because they could not get status and their kids were growing up and getting older, and they could not work. So they left Bermuda. They wanted to be here, but they did not s ee a pathway to status. They left. He said probably about 30 people he knew and their families had left. And he had asked them, once he had heard about our Pathways to Status that we are going to implement, he asked them, If this would have been available to you when you were in Bermuda, would you have stayed? And they said, Yeah, we would have stayed, every last one of them. They would have stayed. Their families would have stayed. Some of them employed Bermudians. And he gave an estimate on the financial impact of those people leaving Bermuda. It was a huge number, a huge number. So the Progressive Labour Party needs to own up to the fact that, yes, it was an economic dow nturn in the worldwide economy. It affected practically every country in the world, j ust like hurricanes affect Bermuda. But we prepare for hurricanes. We batten down for hurricanes. When the hurricanes come, we do not open up all the windows and go stand outside so we can get beat up by the hurricane, or put our fans on in the house to make more wind. That makes the hurricane effect worse. That is what the previous Government did. They do not want to talk about that. They want people to forget. They want people to think that they were an awesome Government, that they did wonderful things. Everything was free. Manna was falling from heaven. Nothing is free. You have got to pay the piper sooner or later. And right now, Bermuda is paying the piper, through no fault of their own. And it hurts, and it is painful. And it hurts me because it is pa inful for me to watch my brothers and sisters. I have been very blessed in this country, Madam Deputy Speaker, very blessed. And I do what I can to help others. And as Bermudians, we need to reach out and help our less - fortunate brothers and sisters. One of the Honourable Members said we are a cold country. I felt like he was talking about Siberia. This is Bermuda. We are a loving, caring people. We look out for one another. And we will continue to do so until we get through this self -imposed economic hurr icane that was handed to us by the Progressive L abour Party. They have not learned their lessons. I have this Budget Reply all marked up with marker on untruths and mis -directions and misconceptions. This is all part of a plan that was laid out by a former Premier of the Progressive Labour Party at a banquet that I had the fortune of attending a few years ago, where he said, We need a sustained attack of mistruths and misconceptions. It is all right here! I am holding it in my hand. The Opposition does not want to talk about that, standing over there and pontificating, washing their hands off of their own work.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: What I am going to do now, Madam Deputy Speaker, is just pivot to what we have done. The Minister of Finance stated in our Budget Statement that “we are winning the war on spiralling public debt.” In 2008, the growth in the debt rate was 41 per cent over the previous year. In 2009, the growth in the debt rate was 74 per cent over the pr evious y ear. In 2010, the growth in debt was 57 per cent over the previous year. In 2011, it had ticked down a bit to 32 per cent over the previous year. In 2012, the debt was 23 per cent over the previous year.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberWhat was next year? Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: I do not have that figure. [Laughter] Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: I do not. I do not have the figure. I am not lying; I do not have the figure. I am not going to sit …
What was next year?
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: I do not have that figure.
[Laughter]
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: I do not. I do not have the figure. I am not lying; I do not have the figure. I am not going to sit here and lie to you. Do you want to come see? Sorry. I do not have the f igure.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: The One Bermuda All iance is the only political party with the know -how and discipline and experience to bring the recovery people need. I say that with full conviction. I believe it, and it is the truth. We are the only political party with the know -how, discipline and experience to bring about a recovery. The good news is that this Government allocated $50.1 million for Financial Assistance in 2015, an unprecedented commitment. We recognised t hat people needed help, and we gave them that help. Since Financial Year 2014/15, Government, this Government, cut the deficit by more than $100 million without cutting government jobs. That is the inconvenient truth. That is the reality. More good news: W e have had five quarters of growth in gross domestic product. The property market is stabilising because we took measures to stabilise the market. It did not happen by accident. We made it happen. There has been uptick in retail sales, uptick in constructi on permits, and uptick in company formations and consumer confidence. We are going to build hotels. And the airport will be developed.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberAnd create jobs. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: The Opposition always says, Where are the 2,000 jobs? Where are the 2,000 jobs? Like no jobs have been created since we have been Government. Yes, jobs have been lost. That is what happens in an economy. But we have created jobs, …
And create jobs. Mr. Sylvan D. Richards, Jr.: The Opposition always says, Where are the 2,000 jobs? Where are the 2,000 jobs? Like no jobs have been created since we have been Government. Yes, jobs have been lost. That is what happens in an economy. But we have created jobs, and we will create more. Relief is coming. Help is on the way. And we need our Berm udian brothers and sisters to stick with us because we knew the job was dangerous when we took it. And the voting public, the Opposition still does not believe that we won the election. They voted for us, they voted us in. And I will say this. Yes, we have lost two bye- elections in areas that the PLP should have won and did win. Never in the history of Bermuda politics that I am aware of has there been a by -election in a constituency where it changed hands in a by -election from the party that had that seat initially. It does not happen. It does not happen in Bermuda politics. It does not happen. So all this doom and gloom —it is almost like the Opposition is trying to make a self -fulfilling prop hesy or something. Oh, things are so bad! Oh, things are so terr ible! Oh, things are so bad. I’m Chicken Li ttle. The sky is falling! Things are so bad! It is a lot of good stuff going on. And people come up and tell me. When I walk the street, guess what? I walk the street every day. And I am going to tell you, it is a very rare occasion when I bump into any of the Opposition Members walking the street. I do not know what street they walk. They are not wal king the streets I am walking. I do not see them. But I do. And people tell me every day, Stick to the wicket. The r uns will come. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you very much, Member. [Desk thumping]
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerWould any other Members like to speak? The Chair recognises the Member from constituency 6, the Honourable W. L. Furber t. You have the floor. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Madam Deputy Speaker, the Honourable Member who just sat down . . . And let me …
Would any other Members like to speak? The Chair recognises the Member from constituency 6, the Honourable W. L. Furber t. You have the floor.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Madam Deputy Speaker, the Honourable Member who just sat down . . . And let me just say to you all that the Government has spent the last, I do not know, we have been here for a period of time going over the past of the Progressive Labour Party.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberIt is inglorious. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: And they go over it. And as a matter of fact, Madam Deputy Speaker, if you go back to last year’s Budget and look at Hansard, it is the same things they said the year before and the year before. There has to …
It is inglorious.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: And they go over it. And as a matter of fact, Madam Deputy Speaker, if you go back to last year’s Budget and look at Hansard, it is the same things they said the year before and the year before. There has to be a point . . . but what I have not heard from the Government, what I have not heard from the Government . . . And let me just say this to Madam Deputy Speaker. And I do not want to go dwell back. But everybody knows the situation the country found itself in in 2008. The policies of the Pr ogressive Labour Party at that time were to give tax reduction, tax concessions to a significant number of operations such as retail, hote liers, construction, restaurants, and the list goes on. So the amount of revenue that the Gover nment could have raised during that time, it was not because they were trying to sustain jobs during that period of time. So we all know that. And when you look at the Government’s Budget, particularly last year, what they did was to reverse certain tax incentives to get to the surplus of the Current Account. That is nothing significant that the Government did. All they did was to reverse some tax incentives, tax conce ssions, and to get to the Budget that they did last year, and likewise this year. That is nothing new that has come out of the Government for a period of time. There is nothing courageous that has come out of the Government for three years or four y ears. I must admit this is their second to the last budget before the next election. So they have got one 800 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly more budget left before they lose and they will be si tting on this side. Choose your seats now. I do not know where you want to sit. I know where my friend, the Honourable Shawn Crockwell, will sit. Somewhere on this side you will be sitting. It is the most awful place to be sitting, but I can tell you right now, they had the opportunity before 2012. They had some practice runs, and they will be back over this side. So, listen. They know that the wind is in their face when it comes to moving this country forward as far as the next general election. They know it. At least if they have any political sensitivity and understand what the people are doing, t hey know that the wind is in their face when it comes to the next election. What they have not laid out, and my good friend . . . and let me just say, the Honourable Member David Burt, Shadow Minister, laid out clearly where the Progressive Labour Party wa nts to take the country. If you look at the Government’s Budget, you do not see that. You do not see an economic stimulus or ideas of cr eating new job opportunities within the country. And today, Madam Deputy Speaker, as you know, I laid down a motion, the Opposition laid down a motion to try to find some cohesiveness amongst both sides so that we can find jobs. Because all of us have been standing up here for the last eight hours, going back and forth like pingpong, ping- pong, ping- pong, ping- pong, ping- pong, ping-pong. And you will hear what I will be putting forward, some suggestions. I have not heard many su ggestions. We know that tourism numbers are going to be up this year. The Honourable Minister is right. We know that. And we are glad that it will be. Why? One particular reason why he knows is because he has got additional cruise lines coming in here. I think there are about 52 (or whatever it is) cruise lines (significant anyway) new ships coming in. We also know about the Newport/Bermuda race. Ev ery time the Ne wport/Bermuda race comes in, it brings in thousands of people. So we expect the numbers to be up. The problem is, as he is well aware, that during that period the number of rooms that the hotels have is really the biggest challenge. And so, we e ncourage, we are going to be very happy to get add itional rooms. Now, we are going to never reach the 10,000 beds that we had way back in 1980. Right now, the number that will be replaced . . . I think Pink Beach will have about 35 beds. You are talki ng about Morgan’s Point with about 100- and-something. You are talking Ariel Sands, I think she is about 40something. They are only replacing what they had. So we still have some challenges. So we accept that we are going to have some increases in touris m numbers this year, and we look forward to that. But it is not why any . . . Let me tell you. I support the Bermuda Tourism Authority. I think we have said it on this side before. We just believe that there should be some tie- in with the Minister. We have always said that from day one. That is why you look at the Bermuda Tourism Authority and the Bermuda Tourism Board Act, those are much different. We just felt there should be some accountability b etween BTA and the people of Bermuda. Now, we have got off that part as far as the idea that . . . and yes, the Honourable Member talked about debt. He was frightened to say how much debt has gone up between 2012 and 2013. He mentioned these numbers. But it almost went up 80 per cent, 90 per cent between 2012 and 2013, as far as the debt.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: The Honourable Member talks about a deficit. And I explained why we had def icits. It is because the Government decided to give concessions. We accept that. If we had not mai ntained those numbers, we would not be in those def icits that we had. And if you look at the deficit of the Progressive Labour Party, they were decreasing over a period of time. They started to come down. So we are excited. We are excited that that is happening. But how is this being accomplished? The def icit is being reduced, and the revenue that is being reduced is off the backsides of predominantly the working- class people. Bernie Sanders, who is making significant inroads in the Democratic Party, talks abou t the 1 per cent. And the reason why is that the 1 per cent in Bermuda is not paying their fair share. They are not paying their fair share, Madam Deputy Speaker! When we look at the economies that con-tribute to our GDP, significantly it comes from international business, number one. Do you know, Madam Deputy Speaker, what number two is? Does anyone know what number two is?
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberTell us, tell us. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Commercial rentals. And commercial rental pays not one cent to the Bermuda Government. Those individuals who get that rent pay not one cent to the Bermuda Government! They have a longer lease that passes on to the person who is renting it. …
Tell us, tell us. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Commercial rentals. And commercial rental pays not one cent to the Bermuda Government. Those individuals who get that rent pay not one cent to the Bermuda Government! They have a longer lease that passes on to the person who is renting it. But when they get their money, they take it and put it in their pocket. And I will say, Mr . X, who owns “X,” a big building in town . . . I am not calling names; everybody knows. (I am sorry; nobody knows that person.)
[Laughter]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: But all those marketplaces around Bermuda, the person who collects that money pays not one cent! Unless that person owns it by e ither a trust or a company, they are putting all their money in. And so, why does not the Government tax them? And I have been saying it for the last three years to the Minister of Finance.
Bermuda House of Assembly [Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Why? I was not there. I was not there. But before that, I was in the United Bermuda Party, and they were just like you. They did not want to tax them. I understand that. My point is, when are looking for revenue, why is it that those people who are making millions of dollars on rental income from commercial buildings in the city, who are benefiting off the hard work done by the Government on both sides bringing international businesses in, are not being taxed? I have got a problem with that. They are walking away with, who knows? When the simple man on the street is being taxed on the payroll continuously over and over. And I understand the Minister talks about having a progressive tax, looking maybe next year. We do not know what that progressive tax may look like, but we will be waiting to see what the impacts are. And their concern, I am sure the reason why he would like to have done it this year, but I am sure he is getting a kickback . . . not a kickback —
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberWhoa! Wh oa! Whoa! Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: It was not a kickback, but getting the feedback from the community . . . pushback. That is the word I am looking for, pushback from the community, because you remember the same thing that the Honourable Member Paula Cox did when …
Whoa! Wh oa! Whoa! Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: It was not a kickback, but getting the feedback from the community . . . pushback. That is the word I am looking for, pushback from the community, because you remember the same thing that the Honourable Member Paula Cox did when she taxed international business. I am sure he is getting pushback. He is getting pushback. Hence, the more consultation needs to take place, consultation needs to take place. So, but the Government, it is not looking at that 1 per cent. Now, what about these companies? And I heard the Honourable Member talk about div idends. Now, I am not a person who believes in income tax ; I do not. I really do not. But I do believe that individuals should pay a fair share. I have come to that realisation. And so when you are talking about dividends, company setup, and I will use law firms as an example or an accounting firm, who may set up a corporation, a corporate body. And they all are being direct to the company. They get paid a remuneration, a salary, and the y are not taking a dividend from the company. They do not pay one cent on that dividend. But the ordinary man in the street, who is being paid $50,000, $60,000, $70,000, $80,000, $100,000, is increasing forever. Why do not we take that push and say, You a re benefiting off the hard work by the Government of Bermuda, either through the significant fees that they charge, because reme mber David Saul . Remember that service tax that he went after law firms? And then at th e end of the day, he ran for cover and reversed it. I was around at that time. Okay? I was around at that time when he did that. He got nervous. I am sure at the end of the day they probably called the Premier at the time, and they reversed that. So there has been attempt to move in that direction, but we have not taken the ful filment . And with the increase in the number of law firms that are coming in now I would say it is time to look at that. Now, maybe the GST that the Gover nment is looking at next year, the service tax will be on that partic ular service, 5 per cent. Again, he is talking about consultation. He is consulting them on that. I am sure he is, but again probably getting pushback. So why can we not go after those additional revenues? Simple. Of course, at the end of the day, they a re great big donors to parties. That is how it works. That is what Bernie Sanders says. You know, you are getting money from corporate, and at the end of the day you get nervous.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberHe is a Socialist. He is a Socialist. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes. Right? So we know where some revenue is without touching the common man. They are hurting. They have not had an increase for years. Government employees do not get an i ncrease this year. I know people …
He is a Socialist. He is a Socialist.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes. Right? So we know where some revenue is without touching the common man. They are hurting. They have not had an increase for years. Government employees do not get an i ncrease this year. I know people who are working out in the field who are not get ting . . . We will have health insurance increase this year. We have got social i nsurance increasing this year. We have got payroll tax increases this year. We have got increases in . . . I think they are licensing fees, at least about 3 per cent. I will h ave to ask the Minister when we come to those heads. The Minister never talked about that. So there are increases. Bus fares increased. But salaries are going backwards. The amount of money that they can pay for a loaf of bread five years ago is not worth anything right now. But yet, we let those 1 per cent get away on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis without paying significant money. B ecause the only tax they pay is on their salary. Mr. A, like I said, who does not collect a salary, but collects millions of dollars around the Island on commercial rentals, millions of dollars paid for . . . Now, we could work out a deal, work out a situation if they own a mortgage on the commercial building, if it is a deductible, and there is a percentage on the net. We can work out something. Let us be bold! Let us be bold! And that money that is collected goes only on the debt, only on the debt. Figure out a period of time, a 10- year period, that we pay off that debt, because we can collect mi llions! The amounts of money that they collected based on the GDP was about $1 billion a year, $1.5 in international business. Well, some people say, Well, we do not want to be collecting money on rental i ncome. You know, the Honourable Member Shawn Crockwell owns six apartment s. He is an example. Why should he pay rental income? I am not willing to go there yet. But maybe in the future, we could work out a situation if you own less than five rental i ncomes, nothing. But all I am saying is we have got to 802 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly find new sources of rais ing revenue to pay off our debt. I think if we do something that people understand, that is fair . . . that is what it is, fair. We do not have a fair tax policy in Bermuda. For years, for years, those individuals . . . I mean, I have rental income. I have rental income, right? I do not pay taxes on them. I do not have those ones in the millions of dollars. I would love to have one of those buildings downtown. No tax on hotels —there are some taxes. It is a problem. So I am asking Cabinet, if they do not c onsider it this year, maybe they will come back in the midstream, because you can do a balance and come in the midstream and do some changes. Talk to them. Listen. I can tell them one sure thing. If you tax those commercial rental incomes, they cannot take it an ywhere.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: People are talking about health care. That was my cue. Right?
[Laughter]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: So we are going after the big boys in Bermuda, and we know it. We know it! They applauded wh en that Budget came about, because they said, Not me. I am okay. Why? Because I know I am not paying any payroll tax. I am not paying any . . . I do not have a salary. If I do, I pay myself a quarter of a million dollars, but I am collecting $5 million for my commercial building. And any expenses that go to them go, as those things that are called London leases, right on the persons and the companies that are leasing it. That is not fair. It cannot be fair, Madam Deputy Speaker. But it is time for us to sit down, both sides. And I hope that that motion I laid down this morning, that we will find a way to hold hands on . . . We do not care whether the job comes next month, 2017, even before the election. We want our people back to work. That is what our peopl e are coming for and asking about the Budget, How is this Budget, the Gover nment’s Budget, going to increase and get jobs here? If it were not for the Progressive Labour Party on Morgan’s Point and allowing them to go up there, they would not have a hotel up there. So some policies and things that the Progressive Labour Party did when they were in office allowed this Morgan’s Point to take place. It has to be. Timing is everything. The Minister just happened to be at this time, when someone would be putting a shovel in the ground in St. George's . . . hope . . . and this year. We applaud him. I told the Minister he will not be there to cut the ribbon.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberYou will invite him. You will invite him. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am going to invite him . I could remember when I was the Minister of Transport, and the Progressive Labour Party got in, and Dr. E wart Brown invited me to the airport for the new arrivals …
You will invite him. You will invite him.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am going to invite him . I could remember when I was the Minister of Transport, and the Progressive Labour Party got in, and Dr. E wart Brown invited me to the airport for the new arrivals section. So I am going to remind whoever the new Minister of Tourism is at that time to inv ite my good friend, because he worked hard. I am not going to say that he did not work hard; he has worked hard.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberYou are outside the mainstream of the Shadow Cabinet, though. You will not be in the loop. [Laughter] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: No, I may not be the Mini ster. It does not bother me. That does not set who I am. All right? That does not set who I …
You are outside the mainstream of the Shadow Cabinet, though. You will not be in the loop.
[Laughter]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: No, I may not be the Mini ster. It does not bother me. That does not set who I am. All right? That does not set who I am. I have been Ministers of five ministries now, five. And every mini stry that I have done made some progression in all and every stage —every one of them. So I can account for what things we accomplished. But what I am saying is that the Budget that the Government has, you have got to ask the question, What is there that is going to move the country forward? So when my good friend, the Honourable David Burt, lays out the Opposition’s Budget, it clearly talks about economic diversification. It talks about creating a Bermuda Fund. Now, I thought that was . . . Well, we have been talking about that for three years. Why can you not at least consider that? There are millions of dollars going through the Pension Fund. Why cannot we take 1 per cent, 2 per cent of the Pe nsion Fund, set it aside for economic growth for Ber-muda? You invest it everywhere else. You can still have someone looking over it and making sure it is invested in the best direction. Qatar does it. Right? You are talking to Qatar. They were talking about it, and I think there are a few others that talk about a sovereign fund, yes. It is a perfect idea! Grab hold of it. If there are funds there, and I am going to talk about . . . How much time have I got left?
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberTwelve. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: How much?
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerEleven. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: You are joking. Eleven mi nutes? I am just getting rolling. [Inaudible interjections] Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: So let me just go to some points. Now, I want the Minister of Tourism to consider this. Why would you allow the Minister …
Eleven.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: You are joking. Eleven mi nutes? I am just getting rolling.
[Inaudible interjections]
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: So let me just go to some points. Now, I want the Minister of Tourism to consider this. Why would you allow the Minister of Finance to increase the tourism fee by 3 per cent? Why did the Cabinet allow the Mini ster of Finance to increase 3 per cent on our tourists? We are now becoming less competitive! We are less competitive for our departure tax we increased last year. You are less competitive for the security fee that you increased last year. And now you are adding on 3 per cent? Why did we do that? Why could you not have at least taken and added $10 onto the fee for the shippers? We are doing extremely well in the shipping industry. We are going to raise over $5 million. Why did somebody not think of that? D o you think $10 for the boats coming, the ships coming here, they are going to feel it? But they will sure recognise 3 per cent when you go to that bill, because now it is 3 per cent, plus the 2.5 per cent, which is 5.5, plus, I think, 7 or 8 per cent on t he occupancy tax. Plus they may have some other little fees assigned in there. They will run up 50, maybe 20 per cent. And people are saying, What is this? That is significant!
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Tourists, they do. They pay the occupancy tax . . . the hotel (I forgot what it is called now). When you check out, you pay a fee to the hotel. It goes for the Government. Here is a bright idea. All right? Here is a bright idea, Minister, look. Why do we not, say, take 50 per cent—that is it, 50 per cent —on what they collect from the hotels, 50 per cent of that, because now you are giving the fee to the airport to make them survive. Why can we not take a percentage off the amount of money . . . And I see my friend Mr. Hanbury talk about $51 million. Take 50 per cent of that. Say, That is what you get. If you are able to do more to get it up, then get more, with a cap. So you have got $25 mi llion; I am going to cap that at $35 million. But that de-partment, BTA, does need more money and, you know, needs more money for advertising. Tell them, Get out of the business of creating entrepreneurs! One million dollars. We have Bermuda business . . . I am not sure what the name is. Bermuda Business Development?
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberBermuda Business Development Corporation, BDC. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes. We have that! Let the department go up there, say, Here is Mr. Trott. We support their project. We then go to the Bank of HSBC and Bank of Butterfield, who will guarantee 100 per cent or 50 per cent. …
Bermuda Business Development Corporation, BDC.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Yes. We have that! Let the department go up there, say, Here is Mr. Trott. We support their project. We then go to the Bank of HSBC and Bank of Butterfield, who will guarantee 100 per cent or 50 per cent. Take that $1 million and tell them to stuff it! Stop trying to give some money for a boat floating around the water. They do not need to be in that business. Their business is to get out there and increase our tourism numbers. Why have they got . . . you can get rid of a few staff. Get rid of staff. I do not understand that. We have a department. If we need to raise . . . When I was the Minister of Culture way back in 1993, at that time the amount they usually guaran-teed was up to $100,000. I increased it to $200,000, and it has been that since 1993. If we want entrepr eneurship, why do we not increase the amount that they can get? Let us think outside the box! Let us think about new ideas that we can make this thing happen for entrepreneurs If we want entrepreneurship why do we not increase the amount that they can get? Let us think outside the box. Let us think up a new idea so that we can make this thing happen for entr epreneurs and so Bermudians can get out there. But the BTA does not need to be in the bus iness of giving out loans. We lent a person money for the tent down on Front Street. Minister, tell him that is why you need to be in charge, get David Dodwell cracking. David Dodwell needs to resign. The Minister should call him in his office and give him a red slip. If it was Trump, he would fire him.
[Laughter]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: This is a fact. He has not accomplished a blasted thing in three years.
[Inaudible interjection] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am not going to mention the money party , we already heard about that this morning. First time nobody wanted to tell us, but we found it. But we need somebody with a fresh eye. The Honourable Member [said] that money that was paid back in 2008 was the last payment. Let me let you know about thi s, because I asked that question. I was on that board in 2011. Okay? At that time, they owed $1.1 million. So that has increased from $1.1 million to $2.8 million under your watch. Okay? Under your watch it has increased by $1.7 mi llion. So what I am say ing, Madam Deputy Speaker, is that we actually should have. That is right. We were working on it and I remember the Honourable Member bringing me a plan for some sketches of possibly a new hotel development up there. I saw it. I was Minister of Tourism at the time. He had some ideas. But he has not been able to raise the capital. So we hung in there for him to do development. It did not happen, so it is you guys who closed that deal a long time ago. I am saying I am sorry that happened. We need somebody to go up there, and you cannot have a chairman who is not working out and talking about he believes in tourism . I have been there, and David is a good friend of mine.
804 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly [Inaudible interjections and laughter]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Well, it has come down. On a scale of 1 to 10 it has kind of dropped since three years ago.
[Inaudible interjections and laughter] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I just think it is time for change. I mentioned a few things as far as numbers in tourism. Look at allocating a percentage bas ed on the amount that tourism raised whether it is through the hotels or through the [cruise]ships , get rid of that 3 per cent (which is crazy), look at taxing commercial rental income for the Government. Go after those 1 per cent—we know who they are— we are talking about retail, and we are talking about . . . how much time do I have left?
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Three minutes? Can I —
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Let me just say . . . where are my notes? Madam Deputy Speaker, —
Mr. Mark J. PettingillFinish on a high note. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am. It is. The number of field jobs by economic activity went from 35,443 in 2012, down to 33,177. Every di fferent economic activity has decreased over that time—every single one of them. So we have had cha llenges. I …
Finish on a high note.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I am. It is. The number of field jobs by economic activity went from 35,443 in 2012, down to 33,177. Every di fferent economic activity has decreased over that time—every single one of them. So we have had cha llenges. I know the Government has those challenges, and it is not that . . . all I am saying to the Government (and I am saying it also to my party) [is that] we have got to find a way to come out together on this one. It is time to change some of our mind- sets, stop shooting across the street every five minutes with heavy mi ssiles. That is why China cannot shoot the United States, because they have missiles. We have to find a way to get our people back to wor k together — together! Because as long as I do not like Shawn Crockwell and Shawn Crockwell does not —the Honourable Member Shawn Crockwell . . . we are not moving anywhere. That is why I have shared some ideas I hope the Minister will hopefully consider. I think he may consider it. All I am saying is that I believe the answer is there. This little Island of 21 square miles, 66,000 people, it is like a laboratory. If you just adjust a few knobs we can get things right. We can get it right! But we are not goi ng to get it right if there is a certain el ement within any side that is causing a change in the chemical development. We have to finally get it right because there are too many Bermudians out there who are out of work. There are too many Bermudians who ar e leaving this country. There are too many Bermudians who are suffering, losing hope, and if there is an answer, it has to be in this Honourable House. We are the, they elected us as leaders. We are not getting it all right. We are not going to get it all right on this side. You are not getting it all right on your side. You know that for the last three years you have not. But we have to find that answer. And time is ticking. We talked about this 7, 8, 10 hours ago and not one person has got an additional job since then. Nor will somebody get an additional job next week because of the economic policies that the Government has put in place.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberYes. Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: No, they will not. You will probably find the numbers down again. Madam Speaker, can we move that I do a nother hour? [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I see Honourable Members calling for someone in a higher calling and they are going to …
Yes.
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: No, they will not. You will probably find the numbers down again. Madam Speaker, can we move that I do a nother hour? [Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: I see Honourable Members calling for someone in a higher calling and they are going to need it. They are going to need it, because every day what I see is a G overnment serving one term because the people have lost hope in them. Ev erything they touch turns from sweet to sour, whether it is immigration matters, whether it is planning matters, and thank God . . . I thank the former Premier, the Honourable Craig Cannonier, for listening to us in Shelly Bay. At least he is listening. So how many parish people are going to be happy for what his decision is? We will make that announcement on Monday. But at least he listened. And then the Honourable Member, Michael Fahy, from another place, who listens to no one. He does not really listen.
[Timer beeping]
Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: People do not think he li stens. So you have this Alice in Wonderland crew, the tin head, the bravery and the scare crow —
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerMember, that was your time. Thank you very much. [Desk thumping]
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerAre there any other Members that would like to speak? The Chair recognises Member from constituency 25, Warwick North East, Mr. M. J. Pettingill. You have the floor. Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Mark J. Pettingill: I said finish on a high note. My good friend was just about there. …
Are there any other Members that would like to speak? The Chair recognises Member from constituency 25, Warwick North East, Mr. M. J. Pettingill. You have the floor.
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Mark J. Pettingill: I said finish on a high note. My good friend was just about there. It was a good speech. It was a good speech. It would be difficult to disagree with a lot of it because, you know, when it comes to experience in this place that Honourable Member has sat in three positions. The only people that have sat in more pos itions (which is four) are myself and the Honourable Minister of Tourism. We have all sat in Government, we have sat in Opposition, we have sat in one party, we have sat in the other, we have sat in independent, And the Honourable Minister, Mr. Crockwell and I, are the only ones who have sat in four positions in this House. A record which will probably stand for eternity. Oh, and the Honourable Member, Mr. Si mmons, may have sat in . . . only in two? Okay, so between us have glided through the various permut ations of it, you know. Look, hand on heart, I love my honourable friend over there. He knows it, too. I do not always agree with him. We disagree vehemently, but he knows politics, that is for sure. He sure as heck knows the Bible well. He knows his stuff, and I say it with all great respect. With all respect, that was a great speech. It really was. It was. He never looked at a note once. A lot of Members could take positi on on that. He did not look at a note once, because it is there. But he knows how to address it and how to deal with it. I am going to say this. I spent, Madam Deputy Speaker, a 25- year career poking holes in cases. Hand on heart, I will admit, I am not doing it so much these days. A 25- year career poking holes in cases. I have done it in this House as well. It is a luxurious position to stand up and poke holes in the other person’s case, because the world is what it is and nothing is perfect and you will always find fault. But I join with the Honourable Member that just took his seat on the basis of . . . and even with his . . . he has laid another motion. I do not know about how many joint select committees we need, but he has joined another m otion because they take time, I know. I chair one. I know how much time it takes. And with all respect to my learned colleagues on the other side of the House (and we are all on the same page on that joint select committee) it is like herding cats to get everybody t ogether. In all respect, Madam Deputy Speaker, you are on that committee. It is like herding cats to get everybody in the same room. Anybody who has tried to get two cats to do the same thing, good luck. You know what I am talking about. It is like herding cats to get a joint select committee together and then you drag out on the time. Our committee is probably the most fundamentally needed committee, and a commi ttee we can all get on board with because it relates to children. And even that is like herding cats. So all these joint select committees on stuff, that is fine. But what my friend really needs to be sa ying is that we should sit down in his coffee shop (I think he still has a coffee shop) and have more coffees and talk through stuff and realise cer tain central positions on things. I totally am down with that. I agree. When I look at this Budget [Reply] which is prepared by what I think is a very (and I say this with all respect) a very, very bright and articulate Shadow Finance Minister, and the m ajority of it is on the poke hole. And I get it because I poked holes for a long time. So I get it. I could do that, too. Poke holes —the Government got this wrong, this is a moot point, this is arguable, this is not right, you need to do this, you need to consider this, you need to open your view on this. These are all really, nice, luxurious platitudes to be in that position. It is like running a defence case. It is far harder to prosecute. Sorry, it is far easier to defend and far harder to prosecute than it is to defend. That is just a fact. It is far easier to be in Opposition than it is to be in Government. I have been there and I get it. So, when I look at this, it is like, okay, here is the poke- hole version of everything. But now let us look at, and I invite my honourable friend who just took a seat, because God only knows he has filled more positions than anybody else. He was like a whisk -off from being the Premier, the Opposition Leader, and he has been there. So he knows better it than anybody el se. I do not know that he could stand hand on heart and say right now, Yes, I will swap p ositions and I will be the Government and fix it . He made a lot of very valid points, but would he really run across the aisle gleefully and say, Yes, yes, I will sit in that position and take it on. With all respect, I doubt it. When I look at this I have skipped through the poke- holes, it is a 25 ½ page Reply, and the altern ative vision starts on page 20. Let us just talk facts for the public. It is a 25 ½ page Reply , and the alternative vision starts on page 20, and it is entitled “Our Alternative Vision.” Profound. It directs you wonderfully to have a look at the Vision 2025 at PLP website, and it says, Members of the public can visit this vision at vision2025.plp.bm to learn more about our plan. So I did that as a member of the public. And I hope other members of the public do it. Because what you find when you visit that website is a bunch of cut - outs from the speech from page 20. There is nothing new there. So let us be very clear. That is just a fact. I did it while we were sitting here. So Members invited to go to the web page, please go. It is really pretty, because that is what the Shadow Finance Minister does —he is a s pin doctor! He is. He could sell it. And let me tell you why, because a few years ago he was selling —this is all fact —rum swizzle online called “Burt’s Bliss.” He even sent me a bottle, well, he sent Cabinet a bottle. It was a beautiful website page on buying Burt’s Bliss Swizzle. Now I have searched pedantically to find out what his background is to be the Finance Minister of 806 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly this country. The most standout thing I could find is Burt’s Bliss Swizzle. Google it. Public, if you are listening, google it! Google “Burt’s Bliss Swizzle” —he took it down really quick, but it was selling a bottled product of Bermuda rum swizzle (which we all love) and here is the best part of it, it was in Gosling’s rum bottles! In Gosling’s rum bottles!
Mr. Mark J. PettingillNo. No point of clarification. Burt’s Bliss Swizzle was online selling rum swizzle. Those are just the facts and it was good swizzle. It was good swizzle. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Mark J. Petti ngill: It was good swizzle. I do not know what the Opposition Leader was drinking, but this …
No. No point of clarification. Burt’s Bliss Swizzle was online selling rum swizzle. Those are just the facts and it was good swizzle. It was good swizzle.
[Inaudible interjection] Hon. Mark J. Petti ngill: It was good swizzle. I do not know what the Opposition Leader was drinking, but this swizzle was good.
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Point of order.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerMember, have a seat for the point of order. POINT OF ORDER Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Language, Madam. He is i nsinuating that I have been drinking something. What have I been drinking? I asked him a simple question just now while he is speaking and that is to …
Member, have a seat for the point of order.
POINT OF ORDER
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Language, Madam. He is i nsinuating that I have been drinking something. What have I been drinking? I asked him a simple question just now while he is speaking and that is to confirm that this Burt Swizzle issue arose a few days after the Nandi Davis issue.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you, Member. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: What happened to the Nandi Davis issue?
Mr. Mark J. PettingillHe has to leave now because he does not know where he popped up from. Go have some swizzle, or tea, or whatever it is that he drinks. These are just the facts, right? Listen, I am not even criticising the fact that Burt’s Bliss Swizzle was what it is. …
He has to leave now because he does not know where he popped up from. Go have some swizzle, or tea, or whatever it is that he drinks. These are just the facts, right? Listen, I am not even criticising the fact that Burt’s Bliss Swizzle was what it is. But it was selling a product; it was selling a business product of swi zzle. It was well advertised. It was in bottles that did not b elong to him but belonged to somebody else. That is all fine. But the point is this: It is easy to sell a product without actually being able to have the production of the goods. Like I said, t he poke- hole is in 20 pages of the Reply, and the actual vision—the alternative vision— starts out on page 20, which is a very small part of the whole position with regard to what we do. I have to ask the question: Where is the beef? Certain things have been dropped. There is not as much marijuana in it as there has been in the past. I think we probably smoked most of that in the Reply to the Throne Speech. But there is not that much in it. There is the innuendo in relation to it on alternative tourism, and I will come to that because I am not adverse to that either. But I am just saying, we are not leaving the hat on it. But one has to ask the question: Where is the beef with regard to what you actually plan to do in r elation to your plan for the future? With regard to economic diversification (let us take that on, economic diversification).There is no plan. What they want to do with regard to economic diversification is create an economic diversification unit that will look at what we could do. So let us be clear —and this is in their speech— their plan to be the Government is if they are the Government they will create a unit to see what they can do, and they have called it the “Economic Diversification Unit.” So there is no plan there. The Opposition does not have a plan. They are saying make us the Government and we will create a unit to look at what we can do. So in other words, they are going to try and figure it out —because you do not have a clue right now with regard to what you want to do in relation to that position. Let us touch on the blue economy for a second, because I have heard blue economy propagated for the last three years. There is not so much fishing in this—and I am all for fishing—but the point of the matter is I think they have finally r ealised that going fis hing is not going to save us. For number one, if you created a fishing industry you have to fish, unload your fish onto what is called reefers (and I know this stuff because I am into the shipping legal end of things) —unload it onto r eefers, ship it off to the east coast, which is the closest kind of port of sale, and try and sell your fish there. It is expensive. You have to pay gas, you have to pay wages, you have to pay wages on fishermen, you have to pay wages on reefers—
Hon. Mar c A. R. Bean: You don’t know what you’re talking about.
Mr. Mark J. Pettingill—and I think . . . and I do not know what I am talking about. B ermuda House of Assembly Here is the point. The Opposition Leader i nterpolates that I do not know what I am talking about. Guess what? His plan is a dare with regard to …
—and I think . . . and I do not know what I am talking about.
B ermuda House of Assembly Here is the point. The Opposition Leader i nterpolates that I do not know what I am talking about. Guess what? His plan is a dare with regard to how that can work . So, do y ou know what? I will accept that I do not k now what I am talking about; but show me your plan because it c ertainly is not here with regard to the blue economy. I know he is hyped. He is going to load it onto reefers that are going to cost a lot of money. What is your economic plan for that? They do not have one. It is not set out here because they are going to do it by creating the “Economic Diversification Unit” that will discuss this stuff when they are the Government. So that is not a plan for anything like that. That does not work. So where are you going to go with that? We press on through the four -and-a- half pages that exist here with regard to what you are go-ing to do as far as stimulating the economy. “Ec onomic Diversification Unit” —that is the plan. Create a “Bermuda Fund.” I love this one. Create a sovereign fund or places in the world (and I encourage members of the public, opposition, go r esearch this stuff). Sovereign funds, when you talk about sovereign funds, do you know where sovereign funds are? Places like Dubai. Places like the Middle East. Places like— Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Point of order.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerYour point of order is? POINT OF ORDER [Misleading] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: The MP is misleading the House. At no time has a sovereign wealth fund been mentioned in our Reply. He does not know what he is talking about.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerThank you, Member. Member, please continue.
Mr. Mark J. PettingillI do not know what I am talking about, but it is certainly in relation to their Reply, “to create a local sovereign- wealth fund called the ‘Bermuda Fund’” on page 22! [ Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Mark J. PettingillI did not make that up! It is right here. I will lend it to the Learned Member if he does not know what his Budget Reply says, that his Honourable Member . . . and by the way, with regard to what is going on now in the Opposition …
I did not make that up! It is right here. I will lend it to the Learned Member if he does not know what his Budget Reply says, that his Honourable Member . . . and by the way, with regard to what is going on now in the Opposition he probably does not know. But at page 22, when you cut down to it, it says “cr eating a local sovereign- wealth fund called the ‘Bermuda Fund.’” That is a fact. I am sorry, I will sit down. Do you want a point of order on that? Oh? Silence, because it is there. So he did not know it was there, that is fine. He should go back out and have a tea break. The sovereign wealth fund is in places, Madam Deputy Speaker, where there is a reserve fund of money, places like the Middle East where they have the oil and they have bags of money, they have sovereign wealth funds. So where this “create the ‘Bermuda Fund’” (your idiom), where you create a sovereign wealth fund is with your reserves. What r eserves? They spent the reserves. They spent the r eserve! There is no reserve. There is a massive deficit and there is massive debt that they created over 14 years. So there is no reserve to create a Fund. I hope people get educated and say, Okay, we are not Dubai; we are not the Middle East. We have no r eserve. We have no oil. We have nothing to create a sovereign wealth fund. That is a nice idea. So that blanks out page 1 with regard to what you think it is going to do. So then (and I love this title) at page 23 “Get Serious about Tourism.” Well, I was looking for the marijuana, like a narco, and I found it! It is kind of hi dden away. It is not like it used to be with like coffee shops and all the rest of it. It is really neatly di sguised—and it is only in a paragraph, by the way, it is like eight lines. “Get Serious about Tourism” is one, two, three, four, five —five and a half lines. In the Budget [Reply] is Get Serious about Tourism. When I read it, three of those are based in weed. Right? Tourism is about experiences . Tourism is about escape. Tourism is about letting go and most of all tourism is about fun. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Point of order — Th e Deputy Speaker: Your point of order? Have a seat, Member. Your point of order? POINT OF ORDER [Misleading] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: The MP is misleading the House. There is nothing in there that alludes to the use or consumption of cannabis. That is a figment of his imagination. Maybe he needs to stay off, not the tea, not the tea. It’s not the tea he needs to stay off.
Mr. Mark J. PettingillThe one platform where that Learned Member and I are ad idem ? Look, I am a li bertarian. I am all for legalising marijuana. I am all for doing it right. But let me tell you, this is what it says. And maybe I am getting excited, maybe that …
The one platform where that Learned Member and I are ad idem ? Look, I am a li bertarian. I am all for legalising marijuana. I am all for doing it right. But let me tell you, this is what it says. And maybe I am getting excited, maybe that is what it means, “Tourism is about experiences, tourism is about escape. It is about letting go, and most of all, 808 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly tourism is about fun. In order to compete with tourism we need to remember that if people do not get it in Bermuda they will get it somewhere else. The next PLP Government will make changes to our laws to keep Bermuda competitive with other tourist destin ations.” Okay, if that is not about weed, I accept that. Maybe I am getting excited because I think it is. Tell me what that is about!
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Mark J. PettingillTell me. I’m guessing! I did not write it. The Opposition wrote it. It is on page 23. I do not know what it is about. I am taking a jump in saying . . . and I am excited because we are going to have coffee shops and stuff. …
Tell me. I’m guessing! I did not write it. The Opposition wrote it. It is on page 23. I do not know what it is about. I am taking a jump in saying . . . and I am excited because we are going to have coffee shops and stuff. But the point is this, the “Get Serious about Tourism” paragraph is five and a half lines. What it says is experiences, escape, letting go, fun— what type of plan is that?
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Mark J. PettingillWell, I would like to go and find that plan anywhere. Every vacation I go on, Madam Deputy Speaker, I am looking for that. I go to Warwick, I want to find that when I go home. What is that plan for economic making money, like how is that? This …
Well, I would like to go and find that plan anywhere. Every vacation I go on, Madam Deputy Speaker, I am looking for that. I go to Warwick, I want to find that when I go home. What is that plan for economic making money, like how is that? This is your plan of “Get Serious about Tourism” in five and a half lines? Are you kidding me? That is what you want to sell the country? That we will come into power and create an “Economic Diversification Unit” that will explore things about getting fun with tourism, and that is your big plan on getting serious. That is not serious. That is just spinning, spinning, spinning. It nothing. It is a five -and-a-half line plan. Transform our education system. Well, he already only knows I am down for that. And the plan for the education system —
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Mark J. PettingillThe plan for the education sy stem is “invest” (I love that, invest with what? The money you spent) “in technology to ensure our st udents are sufficiently prepared for postgraduate education and/or employment in a future where technological ignorance is a barrier to success.” Hallelujah! What are you doing? …
The plan for the education sy stem is “invest” (I love that, invest with what? The money you spent) “in technology to ensure our st udents are sufficiently prepared for postgraduate education and/or employment in a future where technological ignorance is a barrier to success.” Hallelujah! What are you doing? Great idea. Great line. What is your plan? Talk me through it. What is your investment? What are you going to do? See? This needs to be about the focus for the public in looking at this —ignore the poke- holes because we can all poke holes —what is your business plan for Bermuda? What I am telling the people of this country, with all respect, is that in the five and a half pages of the Vision there is no plan. There is no plan. It is a bunch of nice one- line spinners on, We’ll do this, and We’ll do that that we have heard for a long time. “Establish” (page 23) “a Technology Incubator.” Well, here public, establish a technology incub ator. I am not saying I necessarily knew what that was about but, you know, people in the public go and look these things up for yourself with regard to what a technology incubator is all about. I am going to quote here from a little bit of research this afternoon from Wall Street Journal, Times “Top Five Incubators” — here you go, here are some quotes:
2“Howeve r, while there have undoubtedly been success stories, there has also been criticism levelled at incubators for the way in which they churn out start -ups every year that have little chance of succeeding. Some feel incubators offer up spots within their buil dings to all manner of start -ups, doing little to actually research whether their ideas have potential, and doing even less to guide those nascent companies towards profitability.” A word from a leading economist, Hanadi J abado, who says: “When incubators started being set up, there was a need for them.” Now let us pause. “When incubators started being set up” . . . in other words, the world is already doing this. This is not a new idea. When it started being set up, “there was a need because people didn’t have the infrastructure to be able to work from home. No one had high- speed broadband at home;” (which everybody has now —my line—it did not exist.) “You needed to get out of your house and go somewhere where you could get connected should you enter the di gital age. Nowadays, we don’t have the same need.” Now, when I am talking about poking holes, that is just one poke at an issue of technology incuba-tors. But what it basically says (and go and read it for yourself) it has been done. It is difficult to do. It is diff icult to get into and, basically, it brings nothing to the table here. So this idea at page 23 that this introduces “tax incentives while developing their new products and services while creating jobs in Bermuda” is a fallacy, as a matter of f act. A fallacy. And that is part of their plan. It is a fallacy. Let us Become (and I love this one) and this is the headline banner: “Become a Leader in FinTech.” FinTech. Most of the public (like me) was probably sitting there going like Well, what the heck is FinTech? But go and google it in relation to the Wall Street Journal and the leading authority on FinTech says (I love this line), this is from, well here you go, I am ci ting this, it is an article by Simon Clark written by Chri stopher Flowers (not the Opposition Member’s friend,
2 Neweconomy
Bermuda House of Assembly but Christopher Flowers), who is a leading economist in the U.S., and the headline is “‘FinTech’ will most likely end in tears, Christopher Flower says.” That is the Wall Street Journal —
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberOne man’s opinion.
Mr. Mark J. PettingillOne man’s opinion. The Wall Street Journal, right?— who does not publish nonsense, who does not publish spin, who does not sell Burt’s Bliss, says “Will most likely end in tears.”
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberWhy? Hon. Mark J. Pettingill: “The ‘fintech’ revolution will end badly for most start -ups, according to veteran f inancial -services investor J. Christopher Flowers.” And there is an interpolation, “ Why?” You tell me why that is going to work in Bermuda because your plan says Establish a Technology …
Why?
Hon. Mark J. Pettingill: “The ‘fintech’ revolution will end badly for most start -ups, according to veteran f inancial -services investor J. Christopher Flowers.” And there is an interpolation, “ Why?” You tell me why that is going to work in Bermuda because your plan says Establish a Technology Incubator — one, two, three and a half lines —that is trying to say that this will enjoy “introductory tax incentives while developing thei r new products and services and creating jobs in Bermuda.” That is the Technology Incubator, which has been binned in the U.S. by the Financial Times —it is ending in tears —and you really think you are going to start it up here. Really?
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberYou have to try.
Mr. Mark J. PettingillYou have to try. Do you hear that? I heard the interpolation, You have to try . But you know, when you do a bus iness plan, Madam Deputy Speaker, you have to have some sensibility to it. We are dealing in international business, not like selling ice cones on …
You have to try. Do you hear that? I heard the interpolation, You have to try . But you know, when you do a bus iness plan, Madam Deputy Speaker, you have to have some sensibility to it. We are dealing in international business, not like selling ice cones on the corner somewhere (which is an easy business model). We are dealing in international stuff. They have come up with this as their alternative. This is their solution to solve our problems. Their solution to solvi ng our problems is in five and a half pages in the end of the Budget Reply. One of those is in three and a half lines saying “Technol-ogy Incubator” and so, no, it does nothing. There is no plan laid out there. I do not know if you are going to refer it t o the “Diversification Unit” when you are in there, but this is where the nonsense gets created because look at it this way. I love the idea. I love the idea. I know when we get through the criticism and all that, I love the idea of farming. The Honourable Member, the Oppos ition Leader, has indicated farming. My Premier indicated about farming. I love farming. I am a gardener. I love to grow stuff in the garden. I am going to make my granny’s —
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Mark J. PettingillI will grow i t all. I do my granny’s low -pot chutney. I am not ashamed, and I do all that stuff. But let me give you a fact —and have anybody on the other side disagree with me. For one person to feed a person for a year …
I will grow i t all. I do my granny’s low -pot chutney. I am not ashamed, and I do all that stuff. But let me give you a fact —and have anybody on the other side disagree with me. For one person to feed a person for a year you need one acre of farmland. One acre to feed o ne person—
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Mark J. PettingillLook it up. You can disagree with me. Actually, it is more than that. It is like 1.2 to 1.4 acres of farmland to feed a person —one person. I was astounded to see that. We need like 65,000 acres to start to feed the country. I am all down …
Look it up. You can disagree with me. Actually, it is more than that. It is like 1.2 to 1.4 acres of farmland to feed a person —one person. I was astounded to see that. We need like 65,000 acres to start to feed the country. I am all down with communal farming. Take the space, grow some crops, it is a good idea to do it. I love getting my hands in the soil. But you are not going to feed the country, or employ the country, with farming in 21 squar e miles and the population is 65,000 people. That is just a scientific fact. So do not go there trying to say, Oh well, we can diversify the economy if we start doing some farming, because the fact of the matter is that it is simply not going to hap-pen. That is a farce. Do some farming. Create some . . . Listen, I am in Warwick. Get some community farms going. I have seen this in other places. You take half an acre, people come down on Sunday morning, they do their farming, they go along, they plough it out. They grow tomatoes and all the rest of it. I grow tomatoes. I love growing tomatoes. God only knows I love growing tomatoes. I have a little bit of a thing for growing tomatoes. People on the other side love growing their own stuff, like, whatever. Grow your stuff. But it really only provides a little bit for your fam-ily. I made low -pot chutney —actually I won a prize, I came third, a couple of years ago with my granny’s low pot chutney —
Mr. Mark J. PettingillSo there are these things. Let me just say in closing, Madam Deputy Speaker, do not buy the Burt’s Bliss. Do not buy the Burt’s Bliss.
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerAre there any other Members that would like to speak? We will wait for it to be slightly quieter. [Inaudible interjections]
The Deputy SpeakerDeputy SpeakerWhen we are ready we will proceed. 810 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly Thank you. The Chair recognises the Member from constituency 21, Pembroke South East, Mr. R. P. Commissiong. You have the floor.
Mr. Rolfe CommissiongThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. You know, the last Member from constituency 25 seemed to be in a very funny mood tonight.
Mr. Rolfe Commissio ngI hope he was entertaining his fellow Members and colleagues on the other side. At the same time, when the despair because of Ber-muda’s failing economy, notwithstanding what was said by the Finance Minister, is causing great pain, economic, social, eve n with the impact it is having in the …
I hope he was entertaining his fellow Members and colleagues on the other side. At the same time, when the despair because of Ber-muda’s failing economy, notwithstanding what was said by the Finance Minister, is causing great pain, economic, social, eve n with the impact it is having in the realm of the mental health of Bermudians, as we throw barbs from one side of the aisle to the other. The Royal Gazette February 18, 2016 “Mental health numbers rise”, Mr. Speaker (and welcome back).
[Hon. K. H. Randolph Horton, in the Chair]
Mr. Rolfe CommissiongThe Royal Gazette February 16, 2016, stagnant salaries conc erns—Ms. She elagh Cooper asserts that, “unacceptably low salaries among the bottom quartile of Bermuda’s population presented a more pertinent problem than supermarket price levels.” She claims that real wages in Bermuda have stagnated and have been in that way for …
The Royal Gazette February 16, 2016, stagnant salaries conc erns—Ms. She elagh Cooper asserts that, “unacceptably low salaries among the bottom quartile of Bermuda’s population presented a more pertinent problem than supermarket price levels.” She claims that real wages in Bermuda have stagnated and have been in that way for decades in real terms, that in many ways real wages have declined for lower and lower middle income Bermudians, people called the working poor. You see, while they want to celebrate the way that Bermuda is continuing now to come into its own with respect to a sector of their economy rebounding, benefitting what some have termed the 1 per cent Bermudian and nonBermudian—maybe we are entering into a new normal, a structural issue that will see the vast majority of Bermudians continue to feel the ef fects of this rece ssion, this structural recession, for some time. We hear laughs while our people are down there now in the realm of economic migrants down with the British Airways trying to escape Bermuda. At this same time this Government is assiduous ly see king to affect a social engineering so reminiscent for many of us on this side of the aisle and black Ber-mudians that harkens back to the 1960s and 1970s. Is this the new normal? And yet they laugh and brag about the America’s Cup. The Honourable Mr . Pettingill, former Minister Pettingill, over there, took a number of cheap shots against our brilliant [Shadow] Finance Minister, here. You know, he had something to say when he talked about the America’s Cup. I want to read it, Mr. Speaker, page 18: “Mr. Speaker, like any other event in support of tourism renewal, the Progressive Labour Party shares the desire for the America's Cup to succeed. However we must remember that this event will cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Larry Ellison’s net worth” (the head of Oracle) “is 20 times greater than the size of Bermuda’s national debt. We are constructing a full village in Dockyard to host an event for billionaires that will last one month, and paying them for the priv ilege of hosting it.” So while we move to make Bermuda comfor table and welcoming for the 1 per cent, we are replicating what has always characterised the Bermuda we know —the Bermuda we grew up in —and that is a Bermuda that is becoming less and less comfortable for too many Bermudians —most of w hom look like you, Mr. Speaker. That is the new normal. “Age Concern”(same newspaper )“calls for prices inquiry” and it is interesting because you had Mr. Charles Jeffers II who is, I believe, a board me mber (if I can use that term)with Age Concern and the head of the Salvation Army which took a $55,000 cut in the provisions that the Government made to its budget this year, both saying that the irony is that those types of services i n most affluent western countries are services provided by the respective gover nments. But yet these services are being outsourced to private and/or religious organisations. Why? Is this, too, a by -product of a legacy of Bermuda that never had an adequate tax base? Getting back to the brilliant presentation by my colleague from constituency 6, we find that the Bermuda that has always placed the burden of tax ation and revenue generation for our Government on the backs of the working poor and the middle clas s while the 1 per cent go free. Not just foreign business types but even wealthy Bermudians —some of whom are sitting right across this aisle. Let us get real. You want to go talk and laugh about herb tea and all the rest while our people are suffering? It is time for us to get serious, not to be joking around here. Well, perhaps, they are not touched by it, Mr. Speaker. They protest too much, I think, because you will note that they were remonstrating only a couple of hours ago, a number of speakers, decr ying the meme that is out there that they do not care about us, that somehow the OBA is uncaring and they do not have any empathy for real Bermudians who are suffering now. Maybe, you know, they have done this to themselves. A day after the election result s, what did the Minister of Immigration do? He threw it in your face. Look at the new immigration proposals, Mr. Speaker. Once you add those who will come under the umbrella for approval under the umbrella for approval for status by way of the ruling by th e Chief Justice—I think that is just about 800— when you add to that the additional tranche of persons who will be eligible, if these new proposals pass through this Chamber successfully that are being proposed by the current Minister of
Bermuda House of Assembly Home Affairs —let us say it is another 1,500 for the purposes of discussion here—[so together] that is roughly 2,300. Minister Fahy initially said that there would be an additional 200 per year that will be eligible as well. Although, in today’s paper you may have noticed ho w he is trying to walk back now. Now he is saying it is only going to be 100 per year. But that is on the addition column for them. But, see, you have to look at the other part of the formula here. While you are adding voters under the guise of what is good economically for Bermuda you also have to deal with the subtraction—the 1,000 or 1,500 Bermudians living in the UK. I heard som eone say we have these migrations of Bermudians that began after the granting of so- called British citizenship in the early 2000s. Mr. Speaker, someone can correct me here. But it is one thing people . . . [19]99 or so, yes—
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Rolfe CommissiongFull implementation 2002, started 1999, as the Honourable Opposition Leader opines. But there is a differ ence. Back then you had people who were not leaving to go there under compulsion. We are talking about authentic economic m igrants leaving here now. That is the difference. [These are] people who …
Full implementation 2002, started 1999, as the Honourable Opposition Leader opines. But there is a differ ence. Back then you had people who were not leaving to go there under compulsion. We are talking about authentic economic m igrants leaving here now. That is the difference. [These are] people who feel that they have no choice, that there is no place left f or them in this country and uprooting themselves and leaving. Some people say, I remember hearing three or four years ago, Hey, we are going to have some social unrest in this country the way things are going. I always said to myself, Well, I do not know. I am not sure about that . Not to say that we want that, but probably one of the reasons we have not seen that as some people envisioned is because of the fact that so many desperate Bermudians had to flee their own country to a hostile land called the UK. So, yes, we can laugh here. We cannot take seriously the sincere presentations, entreaties, pr ovided on this side of the aisle. I thought again that the MP Furbert’s presentation (from constituency 6) brought a very important issue. We know that the Mi nister talked about progressivity that is going to be more of a feature of our tax regime. We welcome that, but the devil will be in the details. How progressive are they prepared to [be], and can payroll tax be the veh icle that can provide that? In a sense, will that be transitioning into a de facto income tax? I do not know. But clearly, the tax base is too narrow, and clearly the tax base is too r egressive. These are discussions that we need to have. Yes, we, too, believe that those who earn more should pay a greater share of their bounty into the common wealth, the common sense that we are all in this t ogether even when it comes to our Government in terms of the provisions of services that benefit us all. It should not just be disproportionally placed on the backs of those least able to afford it. Again, is this the new normal? Mr. Speaker, there was one item in the Mini ster of Finance’s Budget Statement 2016/17 which stood out to me. As a matter of fact, it stood out so much that I immediately trotted do wn to talk to the Opposition Leader, Marc Bean. I said, Brother, this is the paragraph right here, because it spoke to such dishonesty, such a revision of the historical record, it stood out to me, Mr. Speaker. And I wondered who the author of this particu lar sentence was. I am looking at one or two suspects over there but I cannot be sure. Page 18, Mr. Speaker, let me read this one paragraph here. It says: “Mr. Speaker, Bermuda’s immigration doctrine dates back, at the very least, to 1959 when baby boomers were, well, booming. We needed to keep people out of Bermuda to protect the potential opportunities for our burgeoning population. Fast forward to today, the demographics have r eversed, but the doctrine hasn’t.” What Bermuda are they talking about that is reflective of the Bermuda that existed in that immedi-ate post 1959 period? They say here that we needed to keep people out of Bermuda. We now know, not just through anecdotal evidence, we know through the actual stats that people were flooding into the country in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s as part of an effort to advance and maintain a certain group’s hegemony and dominance of Bermuda politically and economically to disadvantage Bermuda’s black natives. We know that! Their Minister Fahy —the Home Affairs Mi nister —even acknowledged that when he tried to sell these new misbegotten policies in terms of opening the floodgates of status. But yet they can say this with a straight face? Mr. Speaker, we have to begin a process of reimagining who we are as a count ry, even in terms of the realm of this economy. We can no longer have entrenched interests seeking to maintain the status quo. It is untenable. The world is entering an inflection point and we must be flexible and prepared to adapt to the changes that are already evident and which will likely be upon us within a relatively short time. The status quo, again, is untenable. We need to talk and be innovative and be willing not to hold on to a status quo that is not serving the broad base of our people well. Let us join together in making this a reality — reimagining a new Bermuda for the 21st century, one which draws upon the best of our past, our collective past, but refashions it in a way that serves our interests moving forward.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberAmen.
Mr. Ro lfe CommissiongThat is what we need to do. 812 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, there is goodwill on both sides and we need to acknowledge that. We will have our differences. But increasingly the demands that are being placed upon our people mandate that …
That is what we need to do. 812 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, there is goodwill on both sides and we need to acknowledge that. We will have our differences. But increasingly the demands that are being placed upon our people mandate that we cannot view this t rivially. We cannot view this jocularly. We just cannot begin to address these issues without being and bringing the type of seriousness to these issues that they deserve. Tonight was somewhat of a disappointment in that respect. They talk about our diversification push. Even, I think, the more reasonable thinkers on the other side of the aisle recognise that that has been a major def icit in terms of a Bermuda’s political economy over the last couple of decades. Even when they were in the Government under the guise of the UBP you heard the call for the greater diversification of this economy. Why now, when we push it, suddenly it is something to laugh at, to ridicule? That is not good enough. We need to put our shoulders to the wheel and we need to accept the fact that we have failed in diversifying this economy and we need to rectify that. There will be times when across the aisle we will have to join hands and bring the best minds together to achieve that. Mr. Speaker, I am not going to stand up here too much longer. How much time do I have left (I heard everybody ask that. I usually do not do that)?
Mr. Rolfe CommissiongI have 13 minutes left. It is interesting about the payroll tax increase in that the increase has gone up by 1 per cent. It went up by 1 per cent the previous year, but you do not hear anybody decrying that. You do not hear fierce opposition, although I …
I have 13 minutes left. It is interesting about the payroll tax increase in that the increase has gone up by 1 per cent. It went up by 1 per cent the previous year, but you do not hear anybody decrying that. You do not hear fierce opposition, although I will say this: If you can reme mber when the Honourable Paula Cox, as Finance Mi nister, raised the payroll tax by 2 per cent (albeit in one fell swoop) it caused a significant backlash. I think in hindsight now we know that much of that was more political than based on real fears that it was going to destroy the economy. But there are some legitimate economic realities around this that we have to acknowledge. In times when we have not seen employment jumpstart, one could make or advance the view that it is counterproductive to raise or place an additional burden or tax on employment. That argument, I think, is reasonable. For example, we have, again in the Royal G azette of February 23rd, Mr. Nathan Kowalski who talks about that —how the increased (and I quote, Mr. Speaker, from page 10), “the increase in payroll tax,” (talking about the increase placed on the table by the current Finance Minister), “the increase in payroll tax at a time when job growth is elusive strikes me as potentially damaging. For an island which is considered to already have a relatively high cost of labour, making it more expensive pushes us further into the cat e-gory of uncompetitive. Also, if you want people to use more of something you don’t typically make that something more expensive.” He continues, “Risi ng the cost of labour si mply makes labour less attractive as a productive input.” Again, when a similar move was made successfully to raise the payroll tax under the former Pr ogressive Labour Party Government, literally all hell broke loose from our polit ical opponents. I commend Mr. Kowalski for perhaps bucking the trend of the lemmings who are not going to say what they would have said if roles were reversed for pointing this out. I just want to say, lastly, Mr. Speaker, that earlier they were talking about the ratings agencies, I believe it was Moody’s. Of course, and I expect it, if roles were reversed (to use that term again) I guess we would be saying the same thing. It is like a sort of stamp of approval. I will just say as a cautionary note that, first, Moody’s gave a lot of positive opinions certainly before 2008, and they (and other ratings agen-cies) were later proven to be not as accurate as one thought or laden with as much integrity in terms of those opinions on the finances of respective companies and countries because later we found out that many of those opinions were bogus and were driven by self -interest. They were being paid by many of these companies and getting very lucrative fees, and that was clouding their judgment. I am not saying that is ha ppening now; but I am saying that we just need to be cautious or have a cautionary view of this. Secondly, this opinion came before the Budget was laid before this House. So I think it is more accurate to see what will happen, or fairer to see what will happen in a few months, perhaps with a subsequent opinion given either by Moody’s or other related ratings agencies.
Mr. Rolfe CommissiongIt was before the Budget. That is what I thought. [Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Rolfe CommissiongIt was. Okay, thank you for the corrections, colleagues. Yes, so, Mr. Speaker, again, the OBA . . . prior to the election, the false narrative. Yes, I heard the MP from constituency 7 and he talked about the fact of the businessman, the tycoon (if you will) who could …
It was. Okay, thank you for the corrections, colleagues. Yes, so, Mr. Speaker, again, the OBA . . . prior to the election, the false narrative. Yes, I heard the MP from constituency 7 and he talked about the fact of the businessman, the tycoon (if you will) who could not get his nanny here. He was indignant about that, felt somewhat offended, pulled up stakes and left. I am not going to argue against that. Those things happ en. We lost 5,000 workers in this country during
Bermuda House of Assembly that period —that is the estimate—that represented 40 persons. Yes, it hurt Bermuda. He talked about the individuals in the international business sector who, not being able to get status, felt that they could no longer remain in Ber-muda. Although the Progressive Labour Party had extended and expanded the ranks of those eligible for permanent residency certificates. So what is it that they really want? They wanted to have the right to vote in Bermuda. That is what is driving this now. Remember, permanent res idency certificates —and the Junior Minister can get up and correct me—the permanent residency certificate provides the same rights in most respects (I believe) as status Bermudians have. The only difference is they do not have the right to vote. What is it that people already here are going after? They want to be Bermudians. They want to have the right to vote.
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Rolfe CommissiongThank you for acknowled ging that. Thank you for acknowledging that they, as permanent residency certificate holders, would have all rights, save for the right to vote. Simply that is not good enough for them. They want to have the same privilege as those numbers of foreigners who fled into …
Thank you for acknowled ging that. Thank you for acknowledging that they, as permanent residency certificate holders, would have all rights, save for the right to vote. Simply that is not good enough for them. They want to have the same privilege as those numbers of foreigners who fled into the country in the period I talked about —the 1960s and 1970s —largely persons from Great Britain, Wes tern Europe and Canada. So if those persons are able to enjoy that privilege why can they not? But we have to counterbalance that against the real interests of Bermudi ans. I am going to finish up with this, Mr. Speaker, if Bermuda would have fulfilled its obligation and its promise to its mostly black Bermudian inhabitants and citizens back in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s —with your generation and not only with mine— we w ould not be having this conversation now. You see? We would not be having this conversation. But they did not and that is why these issues are still on the table. Until we come together honestly and talk about them we will always be at these loggerheads ar ound these critical issues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable and Learned Attorney General from constituency 9. Attorney General Trevor Moniz, you have the floor. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: I stand to speak basically on this issue of Pathways to Status that is contained in the Opposition’s Reply to …
Thank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will now recognise the Honourable and Learned Attorney General from constituency 9. Attorney General Trevor Moniz, you have the floor. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: I stand to speak basically on this issue of Pathways to Status that is contained in the Opposition’s Reply to the Budget. It has caused a lot of excitement and there has been a lot of tearing of the hair and beating of the breasts on that side today about this possibility of Pathways to Status . The Opposition seems to be very schizophrenic about that. They seem to hold conflic ting views. At various times they have said that they support rights for these people; they support families being kept t ogether; they understand all of that; they want to work together. But on the other hand they say, Well, whatever you do we are going to get back in power and we are going to repeal it and we are going to change it. And they are basically behind the campaign of No, No, No. I mean everyone will know that the Honourable Member on that side, Mr. Walton Brown, had called for civil disobedience. Then, you know, he has expressed some shock that there was civil disobedience when he was the one who called for it. Th at was really difficult for me to understand, but I guess somehow in his own mind he must be able to figure that one out. It is a shame that we have a small minority of the population who are so vocal and who are being used clearly for political purposes in order to stifle the discussion that we are trying to have on this way for-ward. It is a very simple thing and I think most Bermudians are very polite and very respectful. One of the Members earlier tonight spoke of what a cold place Bermuda is. My honourable colleague, Sylvan Richards, said he would describe Bermuda as if it were Siberia. The Member on that side, Jamahl Si mmons —the Honourable Member. Bermuda is a very warm place. Lately I have been involved in a number of public forums with my colleagues . I have been i nvolved in two forums on civil unions with my colleague Pat Gordon- Pamplin, the Honourable Minister. We have found where people even have views which are diametrically opposed—they can come together and discuss them respectfully and with war mth. After the first meeting I saw two people who were at the complete opposite poles of the discussion hug each other and say how much respect they had for each other. That is what I saw. To hear Members on the other side talk about cold and uncaring — nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most Members would be aware that last evening we had a broadcast on the subject of Pathways to Status and we had members of the public who were sending in questions by e- mail. Again, they were very respectful. They were very i nterested. We did not see the rudeness and disrespect that sometimes ones sees on the radio shows, et cet-era, and you somehow feel that there is a segment of the society who are just inciting that —just as Mr. Walton Brown did with civil disobedience— the Honourable Member. We think it is a shame that that sort of (what I would call) sabotage is taking place —of this Government —which has a mandate to move this country forward. The Honourable Member who spoke immed iately before me, Mr. Commissiong, was quoting from Nathan Kowalski and he was quoting Nathan Kowalski’s view on payroll tax. But, of course, he 814 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly quoted the bit that suited him. He did not quote the bit on population because Mr. Kowalski is in favour of increasing the population dramatically in order to i mprove our economy. But, of course, that bit did not suit him so he did not refer to him. The Honourable Member, Sylvan Richards, referred to the report that was done by the Fiscal R esponsibility Panel who were brought in to do an independent economic review of Bermuda and he quoted from page 13 of that and if I may, again, quote —it is from paragraph 29 on page 13, it says: “Bermuda also faces a very serious demographic challenge, which will have increasingly significant implications for both economic and fiscal policy. This is driven by low ferti lity, negative net migration, and increasing life expectancy as the baby boom generation moves towards retirement. The combined impact means that, on cur-rent projections, Bermuda can expect to see a fall in its working -age population, and a sharp rise in the dependency ratio, which is forecast to rise from 19% in 2010 to 30% in 2020. The speed of this transition is very rapid by international standards. By contrast, the US—which started this decade in a roughly compar able position —is not projected to hit the 30% mark until almost 2030.” —10 years after Bermuda. In paragraph 30, it goes on to say: “The challenges this poses for economic strategy are difficult to overstate. The working- age population is projected to shrink by more than 9% in the period 2010 to 2020, with this decline continu ing thereafter. Other things being equal, this will be a very considerable drag on growth. If no action is taken, the risk is of a vicious circle; a lower working -age population leads to a lower tax base, which in turn requires higher tax rates and/or lower quality public services just to maintain fiscal sustainability; this in turn increases net emigr ation,” —people leaving— “especially of younger skilled workers, further worsening the position.” So the answer from that clearly is that we desperately need to increase our population.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: We desperately need to and the Opposition sees it as a zero sum gain. So they are acting like crabs in a bucket —Oh, this person is here. They are going to take my job. I cannot a llow that person to get ahead. This person is going to be held back . Well, no. What we have to do here is make the economic pie larger. We know with respect to guest workers that guest workers create jobs for Bermudians. In the international sector they cr eate it by a factor of two to one— every guest worker creates jobs for two Bermudians. Otherwise, it is one to one. So with each expatriate worker we are creating a job for a Bermudian. Now, you know, we saw what happened under the PLP. They benefitted fro m a boom in the economy up until around 2008. They did not do the right thing. They did not put money aside. You know the Bible would say seven fat years and then seven lean years. They had the fat years and did not think the lean years were coming. They m ade no prepar ation. There was no grain in the storehouses. Not only that, but they built up the debt. So there was nothing to pay the debt with. When we got to the lean years they had not hing. And then they say, Well, Bermudians began to leave when the ec onomy started to shrink . Well, yes, that is what will happen. You cannot avoid that. In the good times you have to prepare for the bad times. That is what they failed to do. They failed to take r esponsibility for it and now we have the dirty job of cleanin g it up. But it is agreed (by the independent pundits) we have to build our population. So the Pathways to Status we have in mind does a mixture of things. In the first place, it is going to clear a path to status for those people who were born or came here when they were young and have a PRC which leads nowhere. When the thenHonourable Minister of Home Affairs Paula Cox put the PRC in place in 2002, she recognised that you had to give rights to these people. What did she say at that time? She indicated that they were going to do it in the future and of course that was taken as a reference to independence. Oh, well, we are going to go to independence shortly and we are going to give all of these people status when we go to independence. Of course, it did not happen. Why did it not happen? N obody wanted it. Nobody wanted it. The PLP suppor ters did not want independence so that did not happen. But these people still have a right and you have to honour that as a jurisdiction.
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Point of order.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes? POINT OF ORDER [Misleading] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: The Honourable Member is misleading the House. The Honourable and Learned Minister just said the PLP supporters did not want i ndependence. Mr. Speaker, you will know from your own experience that that is patently false.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member, carry on. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: If they were confident that the people would have supported it they would have taken it to a referendum. No referendum ever succeeded on that point. What we have here is we have those people who are hardship cases who need to …
Honourable Member, carry on. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: If they were confident that the people would have supported it they would have taken it to a referendum. No referendum ever succeeded on that point. What we have here is we have those people who are hardship cases who need to be granted their status so they have proper rights in this country. Finally, the Honourable Member Rolfe Commissiong says, Oh, well, those people should be
Bermuda House of Assembly happy with the PRC . Well, would he be happy with PRC? And the answer is no. Those people obviously are not going to feel they are really at home in Bermuda and accepted as one of us until they are granted their status and they deserve it. Those young people know no other place. This is their country. They are our friends. They are our neighbours. They are not stealing jobs from us. They are not making our position any worse. One thing I would like to correct is this idea, again, the false narrative that is created on the other side. They have never produced any evidence to back it up. Oh, wow, you know Bermudians are leaving under compulsion. Well, there is not any compulsion, Mr. Speaker. There is no compulsion there. What has happened is that when Bermudians gained rights — they gained their UK passports and rights to the EU, Bermudians began to travel in greater numbers, particularly younger Bermudians. They could see opportunities overseas —and not just to get educated but to get jobs.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes? POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. Rolfe CommissiongThe Honourable Member is misleading the House. He is referring (obviously) to what I said. I acknowledge that after the British offer was given that those motivations that he is citing were probably reflective of reality. —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerTake your seat. [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerCarry on. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: I am saying that that immigr ation began in 2002. Bermudians were taking adva n-tage of moving to the UK. There is no evidence that they are moving there under any compulsion — economic or otherwise. If you can produce evidence — [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerSpeak to me, Attorney General. Please speak to the Speaker. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Sorry, Mr. Speaker. I apologise. But I invite the Members to bring that, but I have seen the graphs on immigration and it shows that people are taking advantage. [Inaudible inter jections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member — Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: People have the opportunity to live, study to work throughout the European Union and you see, we are old— you and I are old—but that Honourable Member (not you, Mr. Speaker) that Honourable M ember and I are old. We are talking about …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerOh, you are very kind. [Laughter] Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Young at heart, I am sure. The young people want to travel the world. They want to try working in other places. What if someone does not have the skills to find a job here? People keep saying I want …
Oh, you are very kind.
[Laughter]
Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Young at heart, I am sure. The young people want to travel the world. They want to try working in other places. What if someone does not have the skills to find a job here? People keep saying I want a job but you have to have jobs for your skill levels. So what is your skill you have to have [for] that job?
[Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member Commissiong, you just had your speech. I'm going to ask you to sit back. You have had your opportunity. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: You have to take advantage of the opportunities that are out there, you know. That is true for all of us. Some of us (like …
Honourable Member Commissiong, you just had your speech. I'm going to ask you to sit back. You have had your opportunity. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: You have to take advantage of the opportunities that are out there, you know. That is true for all of us. Some of us (like myself) I chose a job in private practise and a job in public service here in the House. Now, if I had gone into international business people will say, Oh, well, you could have done much better . The same thing applies to ever ybody. You make choices in this life. You have to adapt your skills to the jobs that are available. Mr. Speaker, you can believe that that is what I am telling my children. You have to compete. N obody is going to give you anything. This education that you are receiving is for a purpose. You have to serve society. If you want to get compensated for that ser-vice, you have to have the skills that are required. O bviously, Bermudians have to do that. Not to say, you 816 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly know, that we are not always trying to improve the service that we do and trying to inspire our young people to take up the opportunities that are available, and to travel the world and see what the real world outside of Bermuda is like because during the boom years everyone lived in a bubble. You could go out there. You had the position of people w ho would leave the service industry (like the hotel industry) which is perhaps less well -paid and go off and work in construction. You could make a lot of money in construction just as a lowly skilled l abourer or semi -skilled worker. You could make a lot more money than you could in the service industry. But, of course, what happens? When the construction job is finished, your job is finished. It is a casual l abour. You are not kept on. So you make certain choices in life and you are faced with the cons equences. So we all have to be prepared for that eco nomy. But we are trying to build the economy. We are trying to build construction jobs We are trying to build service industry jobs and tourism industry —and we are succeeding. You will see from the projects that come forward that those are going to be successful. I congratulate the Minister of Finance on this budget. Is this the ultimate budget he wants to do? No. He has indicated in his Budget Statement that what he would like to ultimately do— and many of the suggestions from that side are part of what he is trying to do to get a fairer tax structure. But you cannot create a new tax structure overnight. It is a big machine. It is complicated. He ind icated, but he has given fair warning. And before he did his increase in payroll tax he did something that was different from what the Opposition may have done. He may have done more consultation. Why was there not a reaction? Because the international bus iness were consulted and they had input into how we are movi ng forward with the economy. They recognise the challenges that we are facing as a country and as a Government and they are working with us to get through that. Are they happy to pay more tax? No. Are we happy to pay more tax? No. But it is as a result of what happened between 2008 and 2012 —that enormous increase in the national debt, that huge deficit that everyone is talking about. When we arrived in Government there was a $300 million per year deficit which we have to knock down before we have money to pay towards the n ational debt. Part of that is just as Mr. Kowalski says —we have to build the population. The Fiscal Responsibility Panel says we have to build the population. We have to do it quickly and we have to do it substantially. We know 5,000 jobs were lost with the guest workers. We know (with their families and everything) we lost about 5,000 people. We hollowed out our population. We know that we have a declining birth rate. We know that we have an ageing population who make more claims on social services. When you have people here working— yes, all these guest workers —they all get health insurance and a portion of that health insurance goes to the Mutual Reinsurance Fund (MRF). That Mutual Reinsurance Fund supports HIP and FutureCare. HIP and FutureCare are subsidised by the MRF. So all those people have medical insurance, and it is subsidising those people who want to go on the Government plan. All of those people are subsidising the pension fund—the contributory pension fund— the social insurance. They all subsidise that which is underfunded. We know there is a problem with that. So we need those people here. We need to get them here quickly. You know, the Opposition says, Well, all right, but this pathway to status initially is giving PRC and status to people who are already here and have a lready been here 20 years. So how is that going to help? Well, what it will show people who are coming to Bermuda—it will show people that we are a fair and just and welcoming society. The outcome of that is amazing. The outcome of that is what we see in soc iety today. We were talking about —one of the Oppos ition Members was talking about the increase in car sales and was very dismissive and says, That’s only because of financing. Well, those things are not because of financing. It is because of consumer conf idence.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberNo, it is not. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: The consumer feels the conf idence to go out there and make a major purchase. Particularly, if he does not have the money, he has the confidence to go into debt to make that major purchase which they have not felt the …
No, it is not.
Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: The consumer feels the conf idence to go out there and make a major purchase. Particularly, if he does not have the money, he has the confidence to go into debt to make that major purchase which they have not felt the confidence to do for quite a while. That confidence is not only in the consumer society, it is also in business. Business con-fidence is through the roof. It is through the roof. One of the things that plays a part in that is the America’s Cup and I congratulate the Honourable Member Dr. Grant Gibbons, the Minister of Economic Development on the Trojan work he has done on that. The outcome of that is going to be amazing. People have al ready seen what we had here in October. They have already seen that we had $8.6 million—at a conservative estimate—of monies that were pumped into the economy as a result of that race in October, which is just a small part of that. When we have the Americ a’s Cup what else do we have? We are having the tall ships coming here. We are having (I think) it is the Antigua race coming here. We have races in the moth category. We have had all sorts of races. The synergy that we are getting from the America’s Cup i s unbelievable. The rebranding of our tourism product is unbelievable. But the biggest thing that comes out of it is the vibe not only amongst the local population but the
Bermuda House of Assembly international population—the confidence that comes out of it. I was on Front Street for the days of the race in October and the vibe was amazing. Everyone was warm and welcoming. Everyone was happy. I had someone come up to me this week —a gentleman who works for the Corporation of Hamilton, and he said, Look, those fellows over there are telling you that there was no impact of that weekend. He said, Every one of my men got 30 hours of overtime just for that weekend—not counting anything else, just for that weekend, they got 30 hours of overtime. He said ev erybody appreciated it. So people that tell you that the average people are not getting any advantage out of it he said it is just not true. You ask any taxi driver. This has been the busiest year since last summer. It has been the busiest time for 10 or 12 years for taxi dri vers. The impact is just amazing. It is absolutely ama zing. If the Opposition has any evidence to back it up, let us see it. Let us see it.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Let us see it. There is none.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Trevor G. Moni z: Ask any taxi driver. Those guys are busier than they have been in a long time. People are now buying taxis again. They are buying taxis. And he says it is feel good. It definitely is feel good. Everyone feels good about it. So all this talk about how cold it is and how Bermuda is like Siberia — nothing could be further from the truth. Nothing could be further from the truth. I ask people to watch this space with respect to Pathways to Status. I think people will see that it is the people who are here are f air and deserving; that the impact of it is going to be pos itive for our community. It means that those people will stop making remittances of their savings to any overseas country. I think in the past 10 or 12 years we have had remittances by guest workers of like $1.6 billion—some amazing amount. Of course, if you do not ex-pect to stay, every penny you save you are going to send home. We do not want that. We want people to at least have the hope of staying here —they keep the money here, they spend the money here, they invest the money here, and that is what is going to get this economy going. It is very hard in a small economy to get that multiplier effect working. That is what we want —to give people a hope of staying here. We saw the examples from the testimonies —
[Gavel]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerContinue. Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Government will continue with its mandate. It will continue with these progressive policies. We invite the Opposition to join hands with us. We invite open di scussion of the proposals. I think they will see, if they open their minds …
Continue.
Hon. Trevor G. Moniz: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This Government will continue with its mandate. It will continue with these progressive policies. We invite the Opposition to join hands with us. We invite open di scussion of the proposals. I think they will see, if they open their minds and examine them and will give us the benefit of the doubt, they will see the positive results that will come out of this. They think they will win the next election. That is fine. Let them think that. But let us get ahead with our mandate to rebuild the economy that they destroyed. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Attorney Ge neral. Any other Honourable Members care to speak? The Chair w ill recognise the Honourable Mi nister for Community and Sport. Minister Patricia Gordon- Pamplin, you have the floor. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do believe that many …
Thank you, Honourable Attorney Ge neral. Any other Honourable Members care to speak? The Chair w ill recognise the Honourable Mi nister for Community and Sport. Minister Patricia Gordon- Pamplin, you have the floor. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I do believe that many of the points that are critical to this part icular debate have been articulated throughout the course of the last 12 (or thereabout) hours since we commenced replying to the Budget. Mr. Speaker, I believe that it is important that some of the comments that have been made by the Shadow Minister of Finance need to be addressed and dispelled. Firstly, I would like to go to page 3 of the O pposition’s Reply in which the Honourable Member applauded the Finance Minister for commissioning the independent panel to look at objectively what —the Fiscal Responsibility Panel, I should say —to look at our situation objectively and to report thereon. Mr. Speaker, what is really interesting on this page 3—and I believe that the Bermudian people need to be able to understand this very, very clearly — it says three- quarters of the way down the page: “In light of the issues raised by this panel, and the harsh realities that face us as a country, there are difficult choices that have to be made. I do not want the people of this country to believe that the Progressive L abour Party will come into office and reverse all of the cuts of the One Bermuda Alliance. It's just not possible, and that is because the biggest challenge that Bermuda must face is getting to grips with a debt burden that continues to grow. In the last 3 8 months, Minister Richards has added one billion dollars to our national debt.” Now, Mr. Speaker, what that is saying in my interpretation of it is that this Government inherited 10 pounds of turd that they have to try to stuff into a five pound paper bad. That is what we inherited. But in so doing, Mr. Speaker, to have to spend money to buy the bigger paper bag what is important to understand 818 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly is that the additional money that was borrowed—the extra $1 billion —which somehow the Opposition wants to look at that as being something very, very negative—really has been borrowed in order to support the burgeoning responsibility of feeding the civil service that had grown exponentially under a Pr ogressive Labour Party Government. Now, Mr. Speaker, it is very easy to stand and say that everything that they did was wrong because had they not had people on the payroll then those people may have ended up somewhere else— either on financial assistance or in some other situations — but what they did not do and what they ought to have done was to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit such that people were not beholden to the public purse. But the fact that they were there and a lot of times we have the MO of that previous administration, Mr. Speaker, was to use public funds to pay for private votes. Why do I say that?
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: I say that because many of the policies and many of the things that the Government did—the previous Government did— was basically to say, We are goin g to spend the money. Look how wonderful we are. Not so much because they are caring but it is almost as though —
[Inaudible interjections] Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: —what is the serendipity by us planning to spend this money on these particular pr ogrammes. That is what we were facing, Mr. Speaker. With that, Mr. Speaker, I believe it is quite important that we recognise (we know it on this side) that we had to borrow the money because there was not sufficient at the time —we had to borrow the mone y to ensure that civil service was paid. That is why the money was borrowed. In addition to which we had to ensure that the debt service fees were co vered. That was our responsibility as the Gover nment, Mr. Speaker, and that has gotten progressively worse. That we admit. We are now spending I believe $184 million, $174 million, on debt service. That is a lot of money! A hundred- that-many -millions of dollars, Mr. Speaker, precludes this Government from being able to do things for social programmes that otherwise we might be able to do. But the one thing that this country will have to recognise, Mr. Speaker, we are broke. The money that was borrowed has to be repaid. Therefore, what we have done and what I like about . . . I have to applaud the Finance Minis ter because what he does, Mr. Speaker, is to say that this is the issue, this is the problem, we have identified the problem, we need to address it, and this is how we are going to do it. We are going to show you that next year we are going to look at this . In August, or once we get the Actuarial Reports and extrapolations, we will be able to look and see how we can improve and increase the senior’s pensions. Absolutely overdue, Mr. Speaker, but we would have been able to do better had we not been burdened by this debt that we have to repay. I do not want anybody to suggest that we have made the steps that we have made financially and fiscally because we are insensitive and do not care. That is not the reason, Mr. Speaker. We have made the steps and budgeted the manner in which we have done for the simple reason that if we did not and we get downgraded, the cost of borrowing goes through the roof and as a country we end up in very serious and dire financial straits. That is the minefield that we have had to traverse as a result of the deficits that had built up and as a result of the debt that we inherited as an administration. Now, we heard a Member Opposite last week who made the comment (or it may have been the week before, sorry) that we do not want for the Go vernment to talk about what we did because it matters not (as he mentioned) where you start but where you end up. I agree wholeheartedly, Mr. Speaker. The Honourable Member Roban from (I am not sure which constituency) constituency 15, said it matter s not where we start but where we end up. You know, Bermuda could conceivably experience a total metamorphosis and come out of its present position as a beautiful butterfly. However, Mr. Speaker, based on the methodology by which the Opposition wants to con-tinue to keep the sheaf over the chrysalis, they do not want us to be able to bloom forward as a country, Mr. Speaker. Let me say that as I discuss how we can put our people to work —
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: It is unf ortunate that many of the programmes that we have decided that we can do that [with] the Opposition have shut down. Everything we do. Let us shut it down. Let us say no. They want to be the party of no. We understand it. We saw how not only how they are the party of no, but they have their encouraged their supporters to be the party of no when one of their Members called for civil unrest and the disruption of an inform ation session that would have at least given information to the public. Mr. Speaker, I believe that that is perhaps the most reprehensible act that I have seen in all of my years of being in this Honourable House. For any Member who has been given the responsibility to run the country to be able to call for that level of disr espect to the people that he represents is absolutely reprehensible, Mr. Speaker.
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, the Shadow Finance Minister said that we have to play the hand that we have been dealt. Well, what do they think that we have had to do on this side, Mr. Speaker? We have had to play the hand that we have been dealt. Now, there has been a lot of challenge in terms of the Pathways. Mr. Speaker, we know when we are faced with emotive issues, we know that we cannot duck from them. We cannot run and hide. We cannot refuse to address them. We have to ensure that when our population comes to us and says that these are our concerns we have to address them, Mr. Speaker. So we will continue to deal with those diff icult and vexatious issues. Mr. Speaker, let me just remind people that I am a first generation Bermudian. First generation. My father hailed from Trinidad. Now, imagine, Mr. Speaker . . . and many of us! I am not isolated in this instance, Mr. Speaker, there are others in this House who are first generation Bermudians. Let me just say that had my father experienced the attitudes when he arrived on these shores that effectively said that he was unwelcome, maybe that would have been a good thing because I would not be here to aggravate all of you, Mr. Speaker. But that is okay. Trust me, Mr. Speaker, we have to start to understand that we are not insulated, that we have to embrace when we can things that are beneficial to the aggregation of our plight in this country, Mr. Speaker. I can tell anybody that knowing the day that my fat her was actually appointed or named as a national hero in this country does something for you right in here, Mr. Speaker, because what that says is that this country has embraced my family. Mr. Speaker, it is not always a good thing from a debating perspective to come and talk about how you have benefit because everybody has a story and we understand that. I think that when I can look at the significant contribution that my dad made . . . and he was never made to feel like a foreigner. He was never made to feel like he should go home . . . well, that is not entirely true. He did have some challenges in that regard. He did have some challenges in that regard where certain people decided he ought not to have been here, but by and large, he was able to stay. He was able to bring his expertise as a medical doctor to these shores. He was able to heal people. He was able to create an environment in which the welfare of the workers of this country was made paramount in his mind —to ensure, Mr. Speaker, that he did contri bute and did everything that was necessary. Why do I make that analogy? Why do I bring that story up, Mr. Speaker? Because there are people who do live here who have been here . . . I spoke to a gentleman the other night [who has been here for 43 years—43 years —and he has nothing to show. It might be easy to say, He has been here 43 years. He is going to stay. You can kind of figure that he is probably settled. But after 43 years if he has nothing that says, I can go and buy me a property and put my money that I have worked for in all this time and leave it invested in this country, what then happens? These individuals —and people of that thought —may be considering, Well, if I am not welcome let me leave. Is that what we want? One of the testimonies that I saw . . . I ha ppened to watch the Pathways to Status last night and I want to applaud both the Attorney General and the Minister of Home Affairs as they answered questions that were put to them. I did hear a Member Opposite earlier say that he was sick to his stomach and felt that he had missed out on a different television show. You know, there is a level of intellect that one would assume would be evident when one comes here. But you cannot speak for all people. All I can say, Mr. Speaker, is tha t that was an unfortunate position to have taken because I think that if people stopped to listen to the information that was disseminated, there would have at least been a better appreciation for what it is that was being attempted. We do not say that everything that we are advancing has to be embraced 100 per cent. How do you know what you are saying no to if you have not listened to the content? That is the challenge that we have, Mr. Speaker. You will also know, Mr. Speaker, that very recently I have h ad a cause to be had town hall meetings on another very controversial issue. We do not shy away from controversial issues, Mr. Speaker. We might have some people ducking and weaving and bobbing and weaving and running away from it. We do not. Uncomfortable? Yes. Emotive? Yes. But deal with them we must. What happens when you are dea ling with these kinds of situations —the Honourable Attorney General alluded to it a little earlier by effectively saying that at the end of an information session when you set th e ground rules at the outset that says irrespective of how you feel about the issue at least let us try and have honest, open, and respectful di alogue— and then you can agree to disagree and we listen to your points of view. That is what a good inter-change is about. That is what a decent Government will do for its citizenry when there are controversial issues that have to be addressed. Mr. Speaker, we do not shy away from those things. Do we like the idea that on certain issues that the Opposition whips up people into a frenzy, causing people to have illegal activity in this Honourable House? As you had to remind people, Mr. Speaker — illegal activities —
POINT OF ORDER [Imputing improper motive]
Hon. Michael J. Scott: Point of order, Mr. Speaker. Point of or der.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes? 820 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Michael J. Scott: The Member takes such liberties. There is no evidence that we whipped up—
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member —she is quite right. You cannot — Hon. Michael J. Scott: Mr. Speaker, that is not the point I am making. She has laid to the door of the O pposition that we whipped up and instigated that inc ident. No evidence!
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Sorry. Sorry. Thank you, thank you. Hon. Michael J. Scott: It is imputing improper motive. Get it straight!
The SpeakerThe SpeakerI did not hear that said, Honourable Member. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, I said that and I will repeat it because the Member O pposite who was responsible told me himself! So, if those Members had not had conversation with their Members t o find out from …
I did not hear that said, Honourable Member. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, I said that and I will repeat it because the Member O pposite who was responsible told me himself! So, if those Members had not had conversation with their Members t o find out from them how they were actively involved in instigating that issue then I would suggest—just have the conversation.
Hon. Michael J. Scott: This is crass speculation, Mr. Speaker. She must stop it!
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Hon. Patricia J. Go rdon -Pamplin: I will not, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member, the Honourable Member is saying what she was told. You cannot stop that. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: I was told this by one of their Members, Mr. Speaker, and I was told that onl y two of their Members knew what was going to happen. I was …
Honourable Member, the Honourable Member is saying what she was told. You cannot stop that.
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: I was told this by one of their Members, Mr. Speaker, and I was told that onl y two of their Members knew what was going to happen. I was called over to be told that.
Hon. Michael J. Scott: Mr. Speaker, knowledge of what was going to happen is not instigating. I heard it on the radio. It was not clear to me that this Oppos ition ins tigated that statement of protest.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerRight, right. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member may not be on Facebook. He needs to open his Facebook page and have a look and see the message that was given by his honourable colleague— he wants me to move on because now it is uncomfortable …
Right, right.
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member may not be on Facebook. He needs to open his Facebook page and have a look and see the message that was given by his honourable colleague— he wants me to move on because now it is uncomfortable — Hon. Michael J. Scott: Mr. Speaker, would you please take my point of order?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerI have already taken it, Honourable Member. Hon. Michael J. Scott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, because the Member must factually demonstrate that the Opposition benches instigated that —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member, she mentioned one Member, so . . . Carry on. Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That Honourable Member needs to go and have a look. I go onto Facebook —I do —and the inv itation was there, very clear, very obvious, and with the …
Honourable Member, she mentioned one Member, so . . . Carry on.
Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. That Honourable Member needs to go and have a look. I go onto Facebook —I do —and the inv itation was there, very clear, very obvious, and with the one specific intent. Mr. Speaker, I do not stand on the floor of this House and cast aspersions without some evidence of that to which I am speaking. I will not be made to sit down or retract comments that I know to be accurate when Honourable Members find it inconvenient or uncomfortable. They are the ones, Mr. Speaker, who will just have to get over it and try to encourage one an-other as r esponsible leaders in this community to be able to adopt an attitude that is far more respectful to the population of this country, Mr. Speaker. Because you do not agree with something you do not shout down everybody else. Listen. Have the discourse, then at least after you have the information and if you choose to disagree with it, then that is fair, Mr. Speaker. That is fair.
[Inaudible interjections] Hon. Patricia J. Gordon -Pamplin: Now, Mr. Speaker, let me just say something else. We have heard Member s Opposite talk about this deficit of trust. You know, one of my colleagues put it very, very succinctly and I believe most appropriately that one of the major areas where one would be put in a position of trust of another person or situation is, Give me some money. Give me your money to handle, Mr. Speaker. You give me your money and you trust me to be able to handle your money . What happens? They talk about a trust deficit. We, the people of Bermuda, trusted the previous administration with our money and they reported for that trust mounds of def icits, year after year after year after year. Why? B ecause of the irresponsibility of the attitude towards the economy and towards the public purse that they did not live up to the trust that was put into them by t he people of this country. That is where the trust deficit came from, Mr. Speaker. Not just that you say som ething and somebody feels that you should do it differBermuda House of Assembly ently, say it differently or whatever. That is where the deficit comes in, Mr. Speaker. We h ad the eastern counties. They had a certain expectation about their level of revenue that would come, and the people who were entrusted with looking after the money that was ultimately going to be shared among them failed in that trust, Mr. Speaker. These are the kinds of things that we are talking about. We want to make sure, Mr. Speaker, that the people of this country are able to trust what we are doing. We have broadcasted that come next year the Finance Minister said you are going to be looking at a different form of excise tax. You are going to be looking at a different structure of things. We are going to look at increasing (as I said earlier) pensions later in the year. These are things that the Minister has broadcast so that it does not catch anybody blindsided as we have found ourselves in that situation a few years back when the then- Finance Minister raised by 2 per cent the payroll tax without the necessary consultation —without consultation. What happened? Part of the exodus that emanated from that decision has negatively impacted this country and we have yet to recover from it —yet to recover from it, Mr. Speaker. When we hear all these protests coming across from the other side, Mr. Speaker, I am not bu ying it. They must accept their share of responsibility for the dire straits in which this country finds itself, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, with additional money we are able to provide additional social programmes. So what do they do? They spend all the money, raid the purse, haemorrhage the countr y, then come back and say, You all have not fixed it . We have schools that are crumbling. Well the most recently built elementary school is 50 years old. Am I faulting that Gover nment —that previous Government for the fact that that a school had not been bu ilt in 50 years? No. But I am faulting them, Mr. Speaker, for the lack of maint enance that would have—even though the school was 50 years old—the lack of maintenance that has caused the schools to be able to get the kind of SCORE report that came from the people that were put on that SCORE committee. What do we get? We say let us examine— where do we stand on this particular issue. Which schools need to be looked at? What do we get? You are all are cutting education and the SCORE report came in December —let us get this understood. The SCORE report was released in December for the sight of the Minister who then said he would take that i nformation to the public so that for once and all we were able to allow people to understand the dire straits and the crumbli ng infrastructure and the cha llenges that our schools were facing. What do we get within a four -week period of time when it takes like four or five months for the budget to be prepared? We are now getting shouts across the bow to ask, Why have you not put more money in to fixing up the schools? Schools will be fixed eventually because we have to. We owe our children a safe environment, an appropriate environment, a clean environment, a bug- free environment, a rodent -free environment in which to be able to study. If the new standard means that each student needs additional space, we have to now figure out how do we accommodate that and how do we make the best of what we have in order to transition from what we have to what we need. I want to also go to page 4 of the Opposition response, Mr. Speaker, in which the Honourable F inance Minister indicated that consistently renewed work permits that give rise to individuals now on the cusp of 15 or 20 years in Bermuda speak to systemic issues within Bermuda's immigration policy. Now, if you think of somebody being on the cusp of 15 years of being here, Mr. Speaker, this Government has been in for three years. So take three off of the 15, that means 12 years. That means that that individual, on the cusp of 15 years, came under the PLP administration and they are still here throughout the entire 12 years of the PLP administration (those that have been here for 20—even longer —the same math applies), but they were here, allowed to renew, allowed to stay, and now somehow the deficiency in jobs for our Bermudians as far as immigration is concerned, som ehow the Opposition is putting this at the foot of this Government. Mr. Speaker, anybody who knows me or any of my colleagues knows that we do not have any i ssue with critic ism. Criticise us with fact and that is not a problem to us because there are things that we employ that may be different than the preference of the other side. Mr. Speaker, you cannot criticise us for allo wing a situation to obtain that you created. That is just not fair. Mr. Speaker, not that I anticipate that anything will come of it, but I just think that it is important when people start to realise where the levels of criticism are coming from, but the hypocrisy that goes into it is unacceptable. I think that we as a country, Mr. Speaker . . . you know, I continue to call for embracing one another in this Honourable House. Mr. Speaker, it is di fficult because we heard the Honourable Member from constituency 17 initially ask for us to have consultation and comprehensive reform on our immigration pol icies. We have heard that. But we heard the Leader of the Opposition say there will be no consultation with that Government. So what do you want? You cannot ask for something in one breath, have your leaders hip decline to offer that olive branch so that we could work together in another breath, and then somehow it is our fault that things are not going well. Mr. Speaker, if we have to sit back and wait for them on the other side to make the determination as to where they stand clearly at sixes and sevens on this issue —if one is asking for one thing, the other is 822 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly saying it is not going to happen— if we have to sit back and wait for them to decide where they stand then nothing will get done in this country, Mr. Speaker. I was able to listen to one of the vignettes as I watched the programme last night and the one gen-tleman who was here (I forget for how many years) indicated that he has a company that hires 20 Bermudians —20 Bermudians. Now, if this gentleman should pack up and leave what happens to the jobs of those 20 Bermudians? He is foreign; I am local. I belong; he does not. I am okay, Jack, pull -up-the-ladder mentality. But my concern is not whether that one gentleman decides that he is going to go, Mr. Speaker. It is what happens to his employees? What happens to those employees, those 20 Bermudians that he indicated that he had hired, Mr. Speaker? What happens to those 20? I work in the reinsurance industry as ever ybody knows and we have a situation now, Mr. Speaker, where I have to start considering how do I put in place an effective succession plan for me, be-cause when you hit a certain age, Mr. Speaker, the writing is on the wall. You have to kind of realise that you need to make some different decisions in terms of your primary employment. Mr. Speaker, I am looking for an accountant who can replace me. Mr. Speaker, I only do Bermudians. Let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, I have worked for 50 years and 46 of those 50 years that I have been working, Mr. Speak er, I have had some ability to organise what staffing we have had. I had some infl uence over the staff that I have had in the various or-ganisations with which I have worked. Mr. Speaker, I do Bermudians. Is anybody going to tell me that I do not care? I d o not care? I am not the one, Mr. Speaker —absolutely am not the one. Mr. Speaker, as we do the necessary within our budgeting construct as we go and look at the Committee of Supply as time—as we will have the opportunity to do—
[Timer beeps]
Hon. Patric ia J. Gordon -Pamplin: I look forward to the further debate. Thank you.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. The Chair will now recognise the Whip from constituency 3, MP Lovitta Foggo. You have the floor.
Ms. Lovitta F. FoggoThank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the whole time that I have sat and listened to the debate the one thing that has just been permeating through my thoughts has been the title of one of Eva Hodgson’s books First Class Men; Second Class Citizens [sic] .
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberSecond Clas s Citizens; First Class Men.
Ms. Lovitta F. FoggoWell, yes, whichever way is first. I thought it was First Class Men; Second Class Citizens . If I am saying it backwards —I think ever ybody knows the book I am talking about. It is that time of day. The r eason why that has been going through my …
Well, yes, whichever way is first. I thought it was First Class Men; Second Class Citizens . If I am saying it backwards —I think ever ybody knows the book I am talking about. It is that time of day. The r eason why that has been going through my head is that right now we are at a point in time where many of our Bermudians somehow feel that they have been left out of being key players in our economy. Many Bermudians have lost jobs while we have seen foreign labour come to these shores and acquire jobs. Now, I do not think that anybody can argue that within certain sectors we rely on foreign labour to varying extents. So no one is saying no to that. But when you have a good portion of the public who believe— when I say the “public” I am talking about Bermudians in particular —who believe that their interests are secondary to everybody else’s, then we have a problem, Mr. Speaker. I think just like everybody else in this House we have anecdotal evidence which wil l speak to the fact that there are people who live here and who have lived here—some perhaps even longer than some of us have been alive —and, you know, they are either PRC holders or maybe they are not, and they have had children here and they have families, and som etimes within their families some of their children are Bermudians —are considered Bermudians —and ot hers are not, or they are not. Certainly, looking at situations like that there is a need for a comprehensive approach to immigration reform. But w hen we feel that we have a Government that is looking at our situation in a piecemeal fashion then there is cause for concern. We, too, as a Government have to address all of the issues that we are bombarded with within the community. We can never afford t o just look at one side versus the other. But we should never be looking at it in a manner that causes our people to believe that their needs are coming in second. All of us can speak to numerous Bermudians who are out of jobs. In fact, Mr. Speaker, I do not know of any foreign homeless people living here in Bermuda, or indeed any foreigners who are without a job. To come here, part of the requirement is that you must . . . if you are coming to live here and you are foreigner you must have work. You just c annot decide you are going to get up and come to Bermuda and live here. When I look at the statistics, most of the people who are unemployed are our people. And I would think that as a Government we are duty -bound to serve the needs of our people first. Not to serve only the needs of our people and neglect the needs of ot hers, not to not look at all of the prevailing issues, but first and foremost to serve the needs of our people.
Bermuda House of Assembly When we look at a budget that is, I guess I could describe it as being lea n, when we go through that . . . and I can understand why. I live in Bermuda, too. I understand why. I have no arguments to make there, but when we look this budget, and within it knowing the issues, we hear it every day. People are protesting in the street. People are concerned about what is going on. People do feel like they come last in our country. And you see situations where especially those of who are in need in certain areas there are still cuts where those people who have the least ability to be ab le to turn their circumstances around— if you were to look at (I guess) we look at the average wages in this country, Mr. Speaker. But if you were to take out from those wages and salaries those who work in the IB, those who work in the upper levels of those institutions, subtract those particular brackets from looking at the entire wages throughout the Island, the average income for a Bermudian drops drastically. In fact, I think it was back in 2010 when we looked at what the relative poverty da-tum line is for Bermuda. It was nearing $70,000. If we were to take the CEOs and the upper level manage-ment out of that particular equation, then most Bermudians are indeed making below the poverty datum line. When we have a situation like that where we have increases in taxes when incomes have not been increased, then we are adding to that group of people who fall below the poverty datum line, Mr. Speaker. That should be cause for concern because of the fact that we have an increased number of people who do not hav e sufficient monies for a basic basket of goods. When you have those types of conditions, which are becoming more prevalent, then as a Go vernment we are duty -bound to look at it in a meanin gful way to try and implement policies and programmes that at the very least alleviate some of that. Mr. Speaker, when we do look at pr ogrammes, for instance, some of which were impl emented previously such as free tuition, such as assi stance with day care, and you have seen those types of programmes being eroded. Thos e programmes were put in place as a commitment to ensure that our young ones coming through, at the very least, would be given a solid foundation educationally. We know what happens if at the foundation level a young one does not receive that proper foundation. There usually ends up being deficits all throughout their school c areer which usually results in, at the end of the road, graduating someone who is still with deficits and who cannot go on sometimes to realise whatever career goals they may have. Mr. Speaker, I think that in other jurisdictions that we look at . . . you know, we are a social democ-racy. Many of those jurisdictions at least have some sort of safety net. If we lose jobs here in Bermuda, we do not have unemployment insurance and we do not have . . . we do have financial assistance—thank God for that —to some degree. But we do not have unemployment insurance. We do not, for instance, have welfare and things like that. Sometimes when some people fall there is no safety net. They go straight to the bottom. Because you do not have those other things in place to assist them until such time that they are able to work their way out of their situations and they can become productive members within our work force again. Mr. Speaker, when you have after school pr ogrammes that have been cut that likewise help fam ilies which do not have the ability to put them in pr ogrammes that we have built within our infrastructure where you can go to dance, art classes, and what have you that may cost considerably more than what our Government afterschool programmes do. When those programmes are eroded families sometimes do suffer because at least by having those types of pr ogrammes in place parents can feel assured that when they are not able to leave work yet for their children, their children are meaningfully engaged in pr ogrammes until such time that they are able to pick them up. When we as a Government I guess make certain changes in our economy that sometimes we are not able to see or appreciate the full ram ifications of the implementation, or the removal of certain pr ogrammes, it is our job here on the opposite side to make certain that some of those things are brought to the fore. I have heard several Members take exception to the fact that they are not unc aring as Members, that they do understand the plight. I accept what they say and I believe what they say. I believe what they say, Mr. Speaker. I feel duty -bound to at least point those things out and I can say that when the Honourable Member who just took her seat was talking about the results of the SCORE . . . well, as far as I know there has been no outcry that this Government did not do this, that and the other because even when I (at least a month and a bit ago) made my first press release regarding SCORE, I said and I highlighted the fact that not just this Government but governments in the past (and in the recent past) had failed to make certain that our schools are at a certain standard, the infrastructure of our schools and the resources are at a certain . . . we did not make certain of that. That is a travesty, Mr. Speaker. I think the recent public outcry particularly with respect to the findings of SCORE (which I will still say they did an excellent job when they went and sur-veyed our primary schools) . . . We need to make certain that we are listening to them. In looking at those findings, Mr. Speaker, what the public is saying, because our future is so important, because we live in a very sophisticated society where a large portion of the labour force needs quite often tertiary education of some kind, if we want to ensure a positive outcome down the road we must make certain (especially if we 824 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly are serious about getting it right) that the infrastructure be addressed and the resources in our schools be put in place to ensure that we are giving our future a proper start, Mr. Speaker. I think that that is what much of the outcry has been about with respect to SCORE. When you see that budgets have been cut — particularly in education —where previous budgets which are more in terms of monetary amounts and the schools have not been able to carry out the mandate to the level that they would like to, teachers have had to come out of pocket to make sure their programmes are properly taught and things like that which are some of the findings that you will find in SCORE, then we are not providing the adequate resources that are needed to ensure as a Government that everything is in place and as it should be in order to ensure success in our classrooms. Mr. Spe aker, that is just one aspect within the entire Government regime where we see that things need to be done in a different way. If we are going to be serious, sometimes you have to put monies in place. Just like when the PLP Government made the commitment t o build the dock up there in Somerset and everybody was upset about that. Everybody was upset about the overspending, but everybody is enjo ying the monies —the tax returns that we get from having that dock up there in Somerset. I think in some ways, at leas t in the first year, it was to the tune I think it was $77 million and it has been slightly above that since then. Within less than two years, what we spent on building that dock was realised in taxes here on this Island —in less than two years. So that $90 million and the Ministry of Transport went up and down this Island sharing those figures with the public. Thank God, because sometimes . . . and we saw similar patterns in the United States where the infrastructure (bridges, roads, and things like that) were in dire need of repair. Some of those things are the same here in Bermuda. I guess schools are one of those areas where we . . . even though I can speak to maintenance being done in schools every year, but every year maint enance has been done in our public schools, but perhaps not to the extent where in this modern day the schools are of the design where they meet best prac-tises that are optimal for student learning. Sometimes the Government is tasked with What do you do? We do not have that much money but these things must be done. Things like roadwork must be done. But it is how we do it. When we look at a project like the airport where we all agree that ren ovations need to take place, where we disagree is that because Bermuda can ill afford to pay a $250 million ticket because . . . and I have heard many Members from the other side say —and some have used the exact words, while others have said it in different ways —we are broke. If we are broke, then I dare say that we cannot afford to make a $250 in vestment. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: We can have a $250 mi llion investment.
Ms. Lovitta F. FoggoSorry, thank you. Thank you, Premier —$250 million investment. Thank you for that correction. Yes, I think we can handle $250. When you hear us get up and lament about the fact that we think that Government is going down the wrong path because from a numbers point of view …
Sorry, thank you. Thank you, Premier —$250 million investment. Thank you for that correction. Yes, I think we can handle $250. When you hear us get up and lament about the fact that we think that Government is going down the wrong path because from a numbers point of view and a dollars point of view we recognise and have calculated to the best degree possible what it actually is going to cost us in real dollar s going forward. And even when you look at the polls that were taken 75 per cent of the populace in Bermuda believes that that is the wrong way to go. If the Government is the caring Government that it says it is, if it is a responsive Government, if it i s a representative Government of the people, then it is duty-bound to listen to the voice of the people. The voice of the people says no to that. Renovate, yes; but no to a $250 million airport where people who are coming to this Island will spend, if they have a long line . . . perhaps the most time that they will spend in it is an hour, if there is a backlog of people waiting to be processed. No matter which way I look at that picture, Mr. Speaker, that does not equate for the best value of my dollars bei ng spent on this Island. Mr. Speaker, nobody argues about America’s Cup being a good thing for Bermuda. However, people do get concerned when they look at a sport where $77 million has been set aside for and monies are not available to invest in their children’s future. If you ask me a thousand times over which would I pick first, which is more important to me . . . my Bermudian chi ldren are far more important to me and investing in their future which will have long- term results down the road. They are the ones who are going to take over after us. That is more important, Mr. Speaker. When most of my Members have gotten up and tried to point out why we are concerned with the budget that ultimately is going to have the impact of taking more money out of the pay cheque of our people . . . and those are at the lower end $5, sometimes, is a significant amount of money when maybe you are only taking home $300 and out of that $300 . . . and some people, Mr. Speaker, some of our people in this day and age only take home a $300 cheque— $1,200. Those are the people that we have to assist financially. When you are talking about increasing taxes and that is going to impact their pockets they have every right to be concerned especially when they know that they have not realised any cost of living i ncreases for quite a few years now. That basic basket of goods is that much more expensive for them. God only knows. You live in Bermuda, I live in Bermuda. You go to the grocery shop and those prices som ehow just keep going u p. Even some of the key players
Bermuda House of Assembly within this economy —when it comes to a reflection on the cost of goods —do not seem to be concerned about the fact that there are many people here in Bermuda right now who are really, really having a hard time making ends meet, Mr. Speaker. If you have the unions who have looked at this and looked at some of the figures that our Honourable Minister of Finance has portrayed in his Budget and things do not add up for them, and they have recognised that many of their members wil l be losing more out of their pay cheque and they have already bas ically shared their concern through the radio waves and through other media, those sentiments are being felt by almost everybody that I know and come into contact with. I am very concerned about what is going to happen in the very near future because I think we have all heard the expression the natives are restless . Listening to the folks who gathered yesterday outside of the government offices and listening to some of their comments I heard a lot of anger. I heard a lot of frustration. I even heard a lot of, I guess, desperation and feelings of loss of hope. They certainly, certainly many of them, have lost confidence in the Gover nment that I am sure even some of those people voted for because they felt they had their concerns at heart and that they would do things differently. I guess now that they have had three years to implement their policies and the like many of the peo-ple are not very happy with their performance and they no longer have the confidence that I think that they once had in our Government of today. My message to the Government is that if you are a Government for the people, by the people, of the people, then you should be listening to their concerns. Right now those peopl e are speaking with an extremely loud voice and most of those people feel that the response that is coming from the Government is indicative of a group that does not care. In fact, I can honestly say, just like the Honourable Junior Minister has said, that, you know, some of the people that he encounters every day, some of those people share with him and they still have a belief that he and his team will do something for them —the majority of the people who I represent, Mr. Speaker, in my constituency and even more in the wider Bermuda, most of the people who I know do not believe that they feel that their interests are being met. I just want to say this. The Member spoke about the fact that the Honourable Leader of the O pposition said that he is not goin g to collaborate. I guess, in defence, I have to speak to the fact that he has witnessed, like we have, behaviours that have suggested to him that they have no desire to collaborate with us. So from his perspective collaboration is off the table anyway. Mr. Speaker, if collaboration is off the table then it is off the table. He no longer feels that . . . if you are dealing with a Government who is unwilling and does not want to collaborate, then when we become the Government again, he may feel the same way . That is the sentiment that I witnessed. But, do you know what, Mr. Speaker? I am going to say that the people of Bermuda deserve parliamentarians who they voted in to be representative and responsive to their needs. If collaboration is what is needed to meet the needs of our people, then that is what we need to do. I feel that it is not too late for us as an entire parliamentary group to put our heads together and make certain—
[Timer beeps]
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberGood night.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourab le Member.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Any other Honourable Member care to speak? The Chair will recognise now the Minister of Public Works from constituency 12, Minister Cannonier, you have the floor. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is getting a bit late and I anticipated us g oing much longer …
Thank you. Any other Honourable Member care to speak? The Chair will recognise now the Minister of Public Works from constituency 12, Minister Cannonier, you have the floor.
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is getting a bit late and I anticipated us g oing much longer than this. The debate has pretty much started to fizzle out. I was expecting even at this hour . . . and in the past we have had some pretty lively debates. I may have to wake everyone up a little bit as we continue on—
The SpeakerThe SpeakerJust speak for only two minutes. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Just speak for two mi nutes? [Laughter]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerCarry on, Honourable Member. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you very much. An Honourable Member across the floor mentioned earlier that we need to know who we are. I am beginning to get a bit confused about this in this debate this evening, because when I take a look at …
Carry on, Honourable Member. Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you very much. An Honourable Member across the floor mentioned earlier that we need to know who we are. I am beginning to get a bit confused about this in this debate this evening, because when I take a look at our Finance Minister —who has done a fantastic job here—and the Opposition Shadow Finance Minister, who has put together his expression on how we should move forward, I am trying to really understand. 826 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly We have spent all this time talking about immigration, and I am still trying to piece together . . . and most of this debate coming from the Opposition has been about immigration. I am still trying to tie the immigr ation part to the budget in to some numbers and to some figures. When I look at the Opposition’s booklet here, they spent four pages out of this on immigration. Not hing really talking about any figures or how it affects the budget in any real way. But the budget speech has four pages —four pages! —about immigration. But yet one of the other Honourable Ministers from the other side—the Opposition —said that we need to know where we are. If you take a look at where the Finance M inister has placed his Budget, Bermuda Government’s fiscal position —knowing where you are—the meat of what he has to say is right in that part. And you find more pages on that than anything else in the Budget Speech. But yet, I have to sit here . . . and t hen the second part that the Finance Minister talks most about is stimulation of the market. He talks about the airport deal. Then I am listening to the Opposition talk about the airport and how they keep saying, Well, you know, we want our airport to be renovated, and the like. But yet the Opposition themselves spent millions of dollars on plans for a new airport. Why would you invest millions of dollars on plans for an airport if you were not going to build one yourself? It just is not making any sense. I do not understand why we are in the House of Assembly here . . . they are spending this kind of money on plans for a new airport, but yet here we are talking about a creative way of being able to get an airport up and going to get jobs going. You know, i t is kind of like it gets poo- pooed on. We should not do it; we should just renovate. I do not know about the Opposition, but I have been down in that airport many times. Do some tours. The thing is going to fall down on somebody at some point in time. A ll it takes is another Joaquin (or ho wever you want to say it), a hurricane to come along. That thing is in terrible, terrible shape. I dare say that the amount that we will probably have to spend in renovations . . . you know what? We might as well invest the money long- term on having something that we will not have to come back in the next 10 years and build again. Again, I am beginning to get confused here. We are spending all our time talking about immigr ation. Mr. Speaker, I am going to say a little s omething about this immigration policy and what everyone has to say. All I have to do is look at this room. The minority in this House of Assembly are generational Bermudians. I happen to be one of them and I know there are a few others in here. But for many of us, we are either married to a foreigner, our parents came from somewhere else, our grandparents came from som ewhere else. The minority in this room is generational Bermudians. But yet we are sitting here fussing at each other over people who have been here for years. They should have some form of status. I have a very personal friend of mine that when I was 17 going to university he came here as an expert in horticultural work. They could not find an ybody in Bermuda to do the kind of job that he did. So he came here (and he does not mind me saying who he is, his first name is Herman) and he has three beautiful kids that were born in Bermuda. These kids do not have status or anything. Guess what? All they know is Bermuda. That is all they know. But o ne of the beautiful things about his situation is that, you know, we are wondering how it finan-cially impacts the Island with this immigration. Well, I will tell you how. He was working for someone else and was brought here on work permit. But when he did get his status, he was able to start his own bus iness because he had the expertise, and Bermudians were hired. But yet he has kids who are in no- man’s land. They have no status. And if you looked at them you would never, ever know that they were not Ber-mudian. There has to be some pathway to establish for people to get some form of PRC, status in Bermuda. But yet we have Honourable Members in this House who have benefitted from the fact that foreigners have come to this Island and they have been born under that. Generational. Like I said, some of the Honourable Members in this place here have been born in all kinds of places —Canada, Panama, you name it! And we are going to sit here . . . basically what we are doing is talking about our own blood. That is what we are talking about. For the speculation to go on about if we vote and all these kinds of things, well, that is specul ation. If you are going to speculate, this is not the place for it. We have already had an Honourable Member get up and say that one of our Members was spec ulating and saying blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, do not speculate, Opposition. Come with some facts if that is what you believe. We go to the Budget, and as I said, on page 16 in the Budget Speech the Honourable F inance Minis ter lays out the economic stimulus. So if they are looking for how we plan to move forward down the road, the economic stimulus is right there. I want to draw your attention, Mr. Speaker, to page 38, and I will attempt to keep it as short as pos-sible. (I do not want to prolong things; I know ever ybody wants to go home early.) But in the conclusion I think the Honourable Finance Minister has done a wonderful job here. He has been concentrating on one thing that is a challenge for us, and that is the debt. No one is really talking about the debt and why it is important to wrestle the debt down, to gain some con-trol over the debt. So he has laid out a three- year plan to gain control over the debt so we can balance the budget.
Bermuda House of Assembly In the conclusion it says that “ Debt Service has become the second largest ‘ministry’ in Gover nment.” But listen to this, Mr. Speaker, the reason why he is trying to wrestle it down is because “it is stealing from the future of our children and their children.” Now, how could you not co me with a better plan of thinking about the future and thinking about our young people by not doing what is vitally important to Bermuda right now and that is to wrestle the debt down. We have the Royal Gazette —and they are here now taking notes. On page 4 of the Royal G azette , Mr. Speaker, of February the 20th, Craig Simmons (an economist expert) says, (and he was very balanced in this and you have to take the criticism, not with a grain of salt, but you have to take the criticism on because he is very good at what he does). He says, “To a limited extent, Budget 2016- 17 is indeed a marvel of brilliance.” Then he qualifies it. He says, “The finance minister has averted a debt cr isis.” That is why we are here! Oh, the Royal Gazette is leaving. I want to make sure she is taking some more notes. Oh, they are there. All right. I want to make sure you get this.
[Laughter]
Hon. L. Craig Cannonier: The most important thing to this country right now, whether we want to believe it or not, whether we want to accept it or not, is the fact that our debt is driving us into a position whereby no one is going to want to invest in this country if we do not manage it. That is why the economis t, Craig Si mmons, is saying to a limited extent, Budget 2016/17, is indeed a marvel of brilliance because the Finance Minister has averted a debt crisis. We do not produce our own money, Mr. Speaker, so it is not like we can sit here and, you know, like the United States, just go trillions of dollars into debt and just keep printing money. We are reliant on investors in this country. One of the key elements of being able to show that you should invest in this country is to have a Government that understands that you cannot have a debt that is out of control. You must have a situation and a solution to the debt that you have. That is why Moody’s is saying what it is saying. Hey, you know, they might as well have said “brilliant” as well. We are relying on t hose ratings. Those ratings tell the world that this is a place to do business. This debt has been spiralling out of control for years. The previous Government . . . and we are tr ying to gain control over it. But here we have a budget, finally, that wrest les this debt down and pins it down and says, Listen, you will no longer control this country. Why? I will tell you why, because it is stealing from the future of our children and their children. Unbelie vable. What a beautiful future plan that we are looki ng at right now. We are taking into consideration our chi l-dren and even their kids who have not even been born. I do not know if the Opposition is suggesting that we should not wrestle this debt down, but what would happen if we continue to kick the can d own the road and just keep kicking the can down the road, we will keep borrowing money and borrowing money b ecause we have all these interest groups and we have to take care of everybody and then to sit here in this Honourable House and hear Honourable Mem bers from the Opposition say, kind of like putting a price on Bermudians’ heads from road fatalities and the like, and then to hear another Honourable Member from the Opposition start talking about, you know, he was listening to the debate away and it is k ind of like Looney Tunes. They keep going back to this Looney Tunes stuff, and I have said time and time again that the O pposition are the ones who know where Mickey Mouse is. They keep coming up with it. They even brought it up this time. Looney Tunes! G o to Looney Tunes if you want to see Mickey Mouse. What are you watc hing? What are you paying attention to? Are you paying attention to policy or are you paying attention just because somebody decides to march? That is their democratic right to get up and march. But you certainly need to listen. Then we had an Honourable Member just now from the Opposition tell us, you know, the Opposition Leader does not want to collaborate and get together on how we can fix things because of his experience. Let me tell y ou as a Government, the experience and what happened. We come up in this Honourable House and we put down a Budget and we have to be called all kinds of names, and guess what? Do you know when you have a bully pinned down? When they start i nsinuating thre ats. That is the new thing now, Mr. Speaker. You have heard it in this Honourable House. The suggestive words, you know, what you have to look out for, your -physical -well-being type of thing. Only a bully does that! I do not understand that. We cannot have a reasoned argument or a debate across the table? We now have to make threats? What are we going to get into here? It is so contentious up here. So the logic gets thrown out of the window and the actual content of the debate . . . listen, the Opposition Shadow Finance Minister came and sat down here. I was sitting over here saying to him, Look (he was looking at the highlighted parts I had in his book). I said, Yes, I kind of like that there. I highlighted it. I wanted to sit up here and talk about the w onderful things that I see in here, but we cannot even get to the content of the debate because, well, we have things like “social suicide” and all kinds of things being said. When is sense going to prevail? This Government is not going to apologise for wrestling down the debt because it recognises that it is doing this for the future of our children and their 828 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly children. So there is no apologies for doing what we have to do now. This is the position that we are in. Like it or not, we need to deal with it. T he economist, the expert, says, Well, you know, what? Finance Mi nister, you have done a fantastic job of wrestling this thing down and averting a debt crisis . On page 38, the second sentence after the first one that says “stealing from our children.” The reason why we need to manage this debt, Mr. Speaker, is because “it is constricting our ability to respond to people’s needs.” I think that goes without saying. It has become very challenging. We have a lot of interest groups in Bermuda to supply through fina ncial means what the people actually need. It is a balancing act and it is not easy. For m yself, I sit here and I cringe every time I look at the budget for Public Works and it is like, Man, how are we going to get done what we need to get done? Then when we find a creative way of doing something like the airport, you know, we get a lot of naysaying going on. We just cannot simply borrow more to give more and just kick the can on down the road. We need to wrestle this thing down. We have no other choice. For today, we have no other choice but to wrestle this debt down so that our investors understand that this is a place to be. The expert also says, and I quote Mr. Si mmons once again, “I’m sure the Government’s cred itors are happy.” It is nice when you owe the bank some money and things are moving along nicely, and they are willing to do more when they see that. This is vitally important to our future. Then we go on to the third sentence there. I quote again from page 38. The reason we have to get this debt wrestled down is because, “It is weakening our ability to maintain the infrastructure that supports everyday life.” When it comes to manpower, I probably have closest to the largest Ministry there is. And one of the challenges that we had . . . a nd we heard from the Honourable Opposition, the Honourable Member Ms. Foggo from constituency 3, how we need all these infrastructure works to happen. I do not like sitting in a budget meeting without a Cabinet Minister sitting down with the Finance Minist er and having to sit here and see how the ability that I have in the Mi nistry to be able to create jobs is that I put out capital works projects. In order for us to wrestle our debt down, I have had to swallow the fact that many of these projects just will not get done now, because the most important thing is to wrestle the debt down —and I say it again—for our children’s future and our chi ldren’s children’s future. That is vitally important. So we work with what we have and that means, like any other house budget, we are going to have to cut back. Where we are used to maybe having cablevision we might just have to get an antennae and just have channel 7 and 10 for a little while until we can go back to having cablevision or some other G -Box, or whatever you want to call it. That is just the situation that we are in. That is where we are. There is no spin and there is no avoiding the real issues of the budget by talking about immigration and spending most of the time about immigration be-cause quite frankly we need to wrestle the debt down. My youngest daughter says, Look, dad, I know what you are trying to do here, but I am just dealing with here and now. They just want to deal with here and now. They do not want to talk about a week down the road. I am trying to educate them and make them understand that you need to think about down the road for that young daughter that you want to have. I have grandkids now and every chance I get, if I have a quarter . . . I have these jars, one for my granddaughter and one for my grandson. Depending on where I put the change, right side is for my grand-daughter, left side is for my grandson (I happen to be left-handed so my grandson has a little more in his jar than my granddaughter . . . she is younger so it is working out okay right now), but I am thinking about her future and his future. That is vitally important as we move forward. As I said already, I do not want to prolong this. I know we are trying to wind down. The point is made very clearly on where we need to be. “T he three year plan,” (I am quoting from page 38) “we are putting in place shows light at the end of the tunnel.” I know that all of us are tired of sitting in the tunnel and not having a light at the end of the tunnel. I want to thank — despite what I felt m ight have been a better debate today —both Government and the Opposition for the opportunity to talk about some of the vital things within the budget. What I would say is this, Mr. Speaker, our Finance Minister —and I echo the words of Craig Simmons as he has said —he has done a marvel of brilliance by avoiding a debt crisis with this budget . Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister Any other Honourable Member care to speak? Ah, yes, Honourable Member from constit uency 35. Hon. Dennis P. Lister: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, at this hour of the night you know I do not tend to be long. I am going to try and be …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThat is nice to hear. Hon. Dennis P. Lister: I will keep it to that, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Sp eaker, I do not even think I am going to bring out the notes that I had. I am just going to speak on a couple of points, Mr. Speaker. What …
That is nice to hear. Hon. Dennis P. Lister: I will keep it to that, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Sp eaker, I do not even think I am going to bring out the notes that I had. I am just going to speak on a couple of points, Mr. Speaker. What I want to speak to, Mr. Speaker, is really, I guess, perception and reality. Once percepBermuda House of Assembly tion becomes the reality, th e conversation around why so much compensation in reference to the immigration issue. Really, Mr. Speaker, it speaks to concerns of Bermudians and their perception of the impact of that. I put it in this context, Mr. Speaker, when we have individuals who are struggling to survive and find employment to take care of their own needs, their family’s needs, to keep a roof over their head, bread on the table—they are struggling to meet the basic needs in their own country, Mr. Speaker. And when they see an opportunity that is being offered to others, they become concerned. That is their reality. That is their reality. In a lot of the conversation that has taken place around this Pathways, Mr. Speaker, the conversation is taking place about bringing folks. What has been missed, Mr. Speaker, in my opinion, is the con-versation about how will we address the other piece of that which even relates to the Bermudian flight (as I call it), the flight out of Bermuda by Bermudians who are going overseas, Mr. Speaker, seek ing not necessarily all those opportunities, but seeking relief to the stress that they are under here and hoping that going overseas will get them away from their stress and give them an opportunity where they can at least take some of that pressure off t heir back that they are suffering under in their homeland. Mr. Speaker, the Attorney General, when he was on his feet, tried to paint it as a picture of we should be pleased that people have the opportunity to be able to go overseas and take advantage of it. Mr. Speaker, most of the people that I know who have gone over to England —and I have had a few of my constituents and others go —have gone because they could not . . . they got to a point where they were not able to survive here. They were not able to f ind employment, they were not able to get their ends to meet, Mr. Speaker, so they were going overseas tr ying to say, I really want to be in Bermuda. My first choice is really to be here. This is where my real choice is. I want to be here. But I am drownin g in Bermuda. How can I stay afloat? That is why they are packing up and going overseas. It is not that they were doing so well here and somebody called up and said, You know what? If you come over here we have this great job for you overseas in England f or you to come over to. That is not the case. Actually, I do know one individual —let me correct myself. I know one individual who was in that situation only because someone else was over there and knew he had a skill that his current employer over there needed. He was able to get a friend of his over there for that reason. Everybody else that I know, Mr. Speaker, has gone because of the fact that they were finding it a challenge of survival here in their own homeland difficult. That is why they are going, Mr. Speaker. Let us be clear about that. What we want to hear from Government is how we can address that. How can we turn around that flight of Bermudians out of their own country? That is what is missing from the discussion when we talk about the whole im migration issue. That is why Bermudians are marching in the street. That is why Bermudians are protesting, Mr. Speaker, because we are not addressing that piece of the equation. We are addressing the piece that says, Let us open the door and bring people i n, but what about us who are here suffering today? Mr. Speaker, it is not even about not being qualified or not being educated, because there are so many Bermudians who have struggled —parents, to get their children overseas to school —to do what we thought was the right thing to get them educated, get out of here and get qualified, get that almighty piece of paper that we like to refer to that will help to open the doors for you. They come home with that, looking to say, I put in my years of sweat and tears , so to speak, making the grades. My parents busted their backsides to make sure the funding was there to get me overseas to school and to pay those bills. I have qualified, I have graduated and I have come home with that piece of paper . And what happens? No jobs. No o pportunity. Nobody even trying to open the door to a llow them in the door to get that experience of being able to grow in his industry —whatever that choice of industry may be. Mr. Speaker, that has a big impact on Bermudians and how they fee l about opening the door to others coming in here, because they see it happening to their brothers, their sisters, their cousins. I spend a lot of time talking to the young men in Somerset. They can tell you about their relatives, they can tell you about the ace boy from their neighbourhood who they were proud to be able to see him go off to school because they knew the struggle that that family was having to get him to school. They are proud to say that my ace boy who was able to get out here, go improve himself, get that piece of paper and then they see him come home and no doors are opening for him. What message do you think is going to that young guy who is on the street (so to speak) who is trying to see, What are my options? Should I turn my life aro und and go a different way or should I stay on the street? What message do you think they are sen ding to him? The positive message that you really want him to get from seeing his own ace boy get that o pportunity who worked hard and say, Look you can do the same thing, you know. Had you rolled up your sleeves and worked hard to get this education and all that, well, take advantage of some opportunities and this could be you. But he sees his ace boy who has done that and then come home and sits home doing nothing. So the negative impact just rolls on and on and becomes a snowball effect, Mr. Speaker. That is why so many of our young people get discouraged so early and so quickly. That is what is missing out of this 830 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly conversation. If we cannot fix those things, then there is always going to be a negative reaction when we open the doors and invite others in here. It is always going to be . . . we need to find a way to address those things, Mr. Speaker, and address it in a real, real tangible way so that we can see the impact and see the turn that it brings to those families and those individuals, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pausing on this one. There is not a real negative to an individual coming to Bermuda if we address the Bermudian concern. Let us put it al l in context. When we had our work permit numbers at their highest, Bermudians were not grumbling, you know. Do you know why? Because Bermudians were working. Bermudians were working. Most of the Bermudians were working. Unemployment did not exist in real terms. As long as that was happening, and we saw the need for others to be here, we did not mind. It is when we can look around, up and down in every community in this Island and every sector in this Island—those who have been off and got skilled and train ed and those who stayed here and tried to make their way. In every sector, when you look around and see people who are unemployed, underemployed, cannot get proper work, that is when the concern starts to change and we start looking at people coming in dif ferently. Government, as you want to go out and stick your chest out and bang your drum about bringing folks in, you have to start including how you are going to put Bermudians back to work as part of that conversation. If that cannot be included in the convers ation, stop the other conversation. Do not go anywhere with the other conversation. Leave it alone because you are only irritating your own people. That is just straight up. Your own people are getting turned off by that conversation because each household sees somebody suffering who is Bermudian. Every neighbourhood, every community that you go through you can talk to Bermudians who are feeling it. That is reality. Earlier, I started this about perception and rea lity—that is the reality. Their perception is their reality. End of story. So no matter how great you want to paint the picture of why you want to bring folks in, if the persons here are suffering who call this home already, they do not see a positive in that unless they can feel that I am going to be taking care of all them. I do not like the words “taking care of.” If I am going to put back to full use, full employment, at the same time. Taking care of means you are looking out, that is why I do not like the words. We are putting out to pr ovide the opportunity that they deserve as a Bermudian. That is the word. How is that? Mr. Speaker, I started off by saying perception and reality which is where I began. The other point that I want to address under that, Minister of Finance, and I am not going to be bringing out my notes so I am going to go off the top of my head. In your Budget you used the textbook description of recession. You used a theory of it. In so many quarters, the two quarters that you are going through, and we are exactly . . . I think you said we are going four or five quarters, now. Four quarters? So you are saying we are out of the recession. That is theory. That is theory. The practical is what is happening in my pockets. What is in my pocket? That is the practical. That is the practical, Mr. Speaker. The theory is always great. It is the practical that really hits home and gets people feeling like, You know what? It is turned around. I can start smiling and feeling a little better about my circumstances. I can look at tomorrow and see a bright line into it . As long as my pockets are not feeling it, as long as I cannot feel the impact of that, it has not turned around. We are still in a recession. In theory, you may be able to stand up and wave every flag there is to say w e are out of this r ecession. But until Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda feel it in a practical way you still have a challenge. You cannot continue, Government, to get up and wave the red flag and say we are out, we are out, and people are not feeling it. You have to understand, again, perception becomes my reality. The reality is that my pockets are still empty. Then we are still in a recession. My reality is that I have not seen my circumstances start to improve. If I have not seen some of that stress that I have been under financially, that is affecting my fa mily, my children, my, my . . . just my sense of peace—
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberYour livelihood. Hon. Dennis P. Lister: My livelihood. All of those things. If I have not seen a brighter side of that, my perception is th at we are still in a recession. We are still in a recession. Okay? So perception, perception . . . reality and perception. Mr. …
Your livelihood.
Hon. Dennis P. Lister: My livelihood. All of those things. If I have not seen a brighter side of that, my perception is th at we are still in a recession. We are still in a recession. Okay? So perception, perception . . . reality and perception. Mr. Speaker, before I take my seat (because I said I was going to be short), the last point that I am going to address is, again, per ception and reality. Mr. Speaker, it goes slightly off of the Budget, but falls into the Budget. I am going to bring it into the Budget. Mr. Speaker, a Commission of Inquiry has been put in place. I will throw it out there real quick, out front. Mr. Speak er—
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Dennis P. Lister: Yes, I am going to refer to it. I am going to refer to it; I am going to refer to it. Quite a few Members on that side, Mr. Speaker, quite a few Government Members, have picked up the Shadow Minister ’s Reply today and gone through different sections of it, and tried to make to comments and reference to that. The one piece I am going to pick up, Mr. Speaker, that I am going to make reference to, is in middle of the book, pages 14
Bermuda House of Assembly and 15, when we speak about the airport development project. Mr. Speaker, when you look at those two pages, it really should shock us. It should shock us when we read what seems to be the fine print that is included in those terms of what looks to be the contract to do this ai rport. We really should be shocked by that. We really should be concerned about it, Mr. Speaker. The 30- year terms, no payroll, no electricity paid, and on and on and on it goes, and all together on page . . . looking for that point that I had . . . $13 million for the site, when we said that we were not . . . all of that, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I tie it into the Commission of Inquiry. The Commission of Inquiry is out there on past matters, but we are in a time that is now. And the time that is now says that sitting somewhere, informed and ready to come to this House and put into practice, is the Good Governance. If we put the Good Gover nance into practice now, Mr. Speaker, things like that will come under the light of day of the Good Gover nance practice, and if it passes that, we will not have to worry about having a Commission of Inquiry later on down the road. We will not have to question whether or not the practice of that was correct and in Bermuda’s best interest, because the Good Governance Act wi ll give it the test of passing or failing, Mr. Speaker, so we will not have to inquire about it later. If we see the importance of making sure that good practice is always done in the best interest, then we should make sure the system which allows that good practice to be the standard is put in place so we will not have to come back later and do to a “taste test,” so to speak. We have seen how the atmosphere of not having it place creates a cloud of innuendoes and accusations. That is why, Mr. Speaker, I was the Acting [PLP] Leader when the Premier announced his intent to set up a Commission of Inquiry. When he called me, [the] Acting [PLP] Leader, my first reaction was to welcome it. And the Premier can attest to that. No hesitation. Because, Mr. Speaker, I think it is impo rtant that we remove this cloud of atmosphere that hangs over the last administration about these types of things. So, if the Commission of Inquiry is going to do that, I welcome it. And I stand by that, Mr. Speaker. I stand by that because we have to remove that cloud of all sorts of accusations that are thrown back and forth, because I, quite frankly, am tired of it. But, Mr. Speaker, to save the current administration from having to go through similar accusations and similar clouds of innuendoes as they go on in their term, put the Good Governance in place. That is why it was first created under the PLP. Unfortunately, we did not have time to put it into practice, but we went down that road to try and create an atmosphere that would pr event these types of things from happening. We put in place a standard that would make sure that everything can pass the test of daylight. And my call on the Government now is to go ahead and put it in place so that with the stuff that we see that is shoc king here in the middle of the Budget Reply, [which] makes reference to the fine print of that sup-posed contract, that we all were never really aware of, because we are not getting the full facts of it, it just comes out in pieces, here and there. Mr. Speak er, that is not the way to go down this road. We all have issues and concerns that have been expressed about the current path that that development has taken, Mr. Speaker. Not only in this House, Mr. Speaker. If you go up and down this country, people express their concerns. Strongly express very strong concerns, Mr. Speaker. For a Government who came into power, Mr. Speaker, under a guise, under a platform of transpar-ency and openness, I would think that a Good Go vernance Act would not even be . . . wou ld not even take a second thought to think about doing it. It would have been first nature for them to do it based on what they campaigned on, Mr. Speaker. So, it becomes more and more disturbing when we see them walking further and further away from putti ng that Good Go vernance Act into practice. So, in a gesture of . . . not to be beat you up. Let me clear that up, Mr. Premier. I do not want you to think I am here beating you up over this, or beating your Government up over that. I am saying it in a gesture, reaching across the floor, saying, Let’s do this for Bermuda’s best interest, for future, and for now. So that we will not have to always come back and have commissions of inquiry to clear up innuendos about a project that was done. Do it now so as i t is being done it gets through the test of good standards, that right was right, and the right thing was done. Mr. Speaker, I said I was not going to be long. You made me reach down and get a couple of my notes. I am going to put them back now, Mr. Speak er, and with those few remarks, I am going to take my seat. Thank you.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. The Chair will now recognise the Leader of the Opposition, MP Marc Bean. You have the floor. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Good morning, Mr. Speaker —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGood morning. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: —and good morning to ho nourable colleagues, and good morning to the listening public, whether they are in Bermuda or abroad. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opport unity, first and foremost, to congratulate my Deputy Leader and Shadow Minister of …
Good morning. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: —and good morning to ho nourable colleagues, and good morning to the listening public, whether they are in Bermuda or abroad. Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opport unity, first and foremost, to congratulate my Deputy Leader and Shadow Minister of Finance, MP David Burt, for what I consider to be a comprehensive and excellent Reply to the Budget, once again. This is the third, or maybe fourth, time that the Progressive L a832 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly bour Party has presented what we consider to be a viable alternative to Government in this country co ntained in successive Throne Speech Replies and Budget Replies. Mr. Speaker, I have listened to the debate and, as usual, there has been a degree of disap-pointment, and I think m any of the listening public would share with that disappointment, because we must remember that this is the general economic debate. But after 13 hours of debate, I would say that we have only had a maximum of about one hour speaking to economic policy. We have heard all types of things, pointing fingers, blame game, this and that, but in the end, what value does that bring to the upliftment of our people. I will answer! It brings no value. And so, even though I am the last speaker on our side, I think that my colleagues have done an excellent job pointing out the gaps within the policy and the vision of the OBA and also have done an excellent job in providing alternatives. It is now up to me, I feel, not to focus or crit icise in a harsh way the One Bermuda Alliance Go vernment, because I recognise that the storm clouds on the horizon are going to affect all of us. And whether the Opposition Leader or the Premier, the issues and the challenges that we are facing, will not change regardless of who is —
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberAt the helm. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: —at the helm of Government. So, Mr. Speaker, I would like to first briefly give what I consider to be an analysis of the global economy and tie that in to the local economy. Many people say that they know something about …
At the helm.
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: —at the helm of Government. So, Mr. Speaker, I would like to first briefly give what I consider to be an analysis of the global economy and tie that in to the local economy. Many people say that they know something about economics, but I will tell you straight. There are very few in this House who actually can speak on economic theory. A lot of people front up in here, but it is better to keep your mouth closed and let an MP or the Minister and those who are competent in speaking to these issues speak, instead of pontificating. The fact of the matter is that we are living in perilous times. The global economy . . . and this is my position, so one can criticise me if they like. But from my analysis, the global economy is in dire straits. Every single real indicator confirms this point. In spite of what the main stream media, think tanks, and other economic and political mouthpieces might be telling the general populace in this country and outside this country , all the real indicators tell me that we have an approaching whirlwind or hurricane that is going to affect us tremendously. Mr. Speaker, today, as a result, required an honest assessment, a frank assessment, a measured analysis as to where we are. In the Minister’s Budget, he cited megatrends. He cited the United States economy. He cited the drop in oil prices, and he also referred to China as a megatrend. Now, I am not going to disagree with the observations of the Honour-able Minister, but I would like to add that there are other megatrends in place, that are just as effectual as the trends that the Honourable Minister has indicated. These trends are, simply, all emerging markets are in a correction downward— every single emerging market. The bond market is under intense pressure. And what they call “the derivative market” is an economic atomic bomb waiting to explode. I would say that these are three additional megatrends that increase the risk in this country, in addition to what the Minister has already pointed out. Mr. Speaker, this is the challenge. These megatrends are a reflection of an overall debt crisis. In 2008 the world was plunged into a debt crisis. Today, the central planners, i.e., central bankers and mini sters of finance throughout the worl d, have run out of options and ideas in terms of their monetary policy toolkit. Things have gotten so bad that now the folks that people have put their trust in no longer can be trusted. When they look to see what they can now bring out of their hat, there is nothing left. So, it is no wonder that you see the mainstream media either not being honest or speaking in terms that leads them to be confused and perplexed. Is it any wonder that some politicians who get up in here sound confused and perplexed? If they are getting information from those who are confused, then how are we supposed to present the truth to our people, instead of just mi micking and repeating what we hear? It requires, Mr. Speaker, a much greater and deeper analysis by those who are willing to engage in it. So what is happening, Mr. Speaker? The central planners, in their wisdom, have sought to sow i nflation, which is always their stated goal, and instead, they are reaping deflation. We see a deflationary sp iral from Japan right across Europe and now it is star ting to affect the United States. Mr. Speaker, this crisis was a debt crisis. Debt! Public debt, private debt —all debt! That was the crisis. And you know what these so-called central planners or central bankers did in 2008 to fix, appar ently, a debt crisis? Mr. Speaker, they added more debt to the monetary system. They quite literally have taken fuel and put it on the fire, and so today we find ourselves on the precipice, on the cliff edge. Even though no one is talking about it, make no mistake, that is where we all are at this point, Mr. Speaker. Today, these so- called experiments by these monetary experts have brought not just one hous ehold in one country on the brink of collapse, we see negative interest rate policy. It started in J apan and now it is spreading through Europe and it is going to other central banks. And there is a real move, for those who are listening, there is a concerted effort, in addition to negative interest rates, there is a concerted effort in some countries, i n some jurisdictions to put a ban on cash, Mr. Speaker. Now, people might not understand, and ask, Well, what do you mean? Well, there are reasons why
Bermuda House of Assembly they are seeking to ban cash. Do not take my word for it. This is what all the so -called top economics are saying around the world. This is what they were tal king about in Davos. You know, that little conclave of the elite in Switzerland. That is what they were talking about in their little secret meetings. How we can bring a ban on cash transactions. And th ey would say the reason is to ensure that money laundering and tax evasion and all of these things . . . this is what a ban on cash will prevent. That is not the reason, Mr. Speaker. And I do not think we are mature enough to actually further that discussion as to what the real reason is about. But the reality is, Mr. Speaker, that the entire international monetary system today is facing sy stemic risk. Any day now the entire house of cards erected by the great, or so- called great, economist, John Maynard K eynes, is on the precipice of self - induced destruction. Any day now! And I am not sa ying this to attack (you notice) the OBA. I am giving a general analysis of where I feel the country is today and the risks that we are facing. Many will disagree with thi s viewpoint, and some will prefer to lazily accept the confidence varied position that we see here and touted by the mai nstream media. I take a different position. And you know what, Mr. Speaker? I also know that this issue that I am talking about is a taboo subject. It is taboo! Really, I have the gall . . . I must be crazy to get up here today and actually speak about the systemic risk of the monetary system. There are very few politicians in the world willing to risk having such a discussion. If you thin k what I am saying is an exagger ation, Mr. Speaker, just two weeks ago in this Honour-able Chamber we had a five- hour debate on a banking Bill that the Honourable Minister of Finance pr esented. The Shadow Minister of Finance commented, and so did I. And it was a banking Bill that spoke of giving the Government, and/or BMA [Bermuda Mone-tary Authority] extraordinary powers to (what I term) “bail out” these local banks in Bermuda— extraordinary powers. While they do not admit it, Mr. Speaker, that Bill actually was an admission from those who manage the monetary system, locally or internationally, that there is systemic risk in our economy. The fact that you are going to put in safeguards, just in case risk-taking banks find themselves where Lehman Brothers found themselves in 2008, should be the greatest indicator that all is not well. But yet, Mr. Speaker, not one media outlet in this country, after a debate in this House and in the other place, has had the courage to actually report to the public that we sat up in the middle of day and had a five- hour debate on a 300- clause banking Bill that is supposed to bail out the bankers. There was silence. I say that to reiterate the fact that this is a t aboo subject. If the media do not want to touch som e-thing that th e Honourable Minister brought to the t able, you know, what . . . how serious of a matter is it? It is that serious, Mr. Speaker. How much time do I have left? I have to manage my time.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAround eighteen minutes. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is an admission of systemic risk and this country and others have decided that they have to remain silent. I guess we are just going to have to wait until the systemic risk shows up …
Around eighteen minutes.
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it is an admission of systemic risk and this country and others have decided that they have to remain silent. I guess we are just going to have to wait until the systemic risk shows up and certain banks start collapsing, or get on the brink of collapse. I would prefer not to wait until that point, Mr. Speaker. I prefer prevention being better than a cure. The fact is though, Mr. Speaker, whether ones agree with my position or not, just know that that risk, not just to the banki ng system, but that risk to our economy and to our everyday Mr. and Mrs. Bermuda, is real. It is not a fantasy. So, Mr. Speaker, within the context of the above analysis, which is a bearish macroeconomic analysis or outlook, I must say that I am very concerned with the policy position of the Minister of F inance. With growth globally now stagnate, and our economy being dependent on external forces, Mr. Speaker, I must state that this years’ Budget is short - sighted and irresponsible. And I am not saying tha t personally to attack the Minister. I respect that the Minister has a tough job. But from a policy - prescription perspective, it is short -sighted and irr esponsible. There are a few issues that I would like to highlight to reiterate my point. One, as menti oned already, there are across -the-board tax hikes. Another, is that there was a freeze in spending, not a reduction in spending. Another is that the growth prospects touted by the One Bermuda Alliance for this country are highly dependent on Government taxpayer stim ulus. And another is the immigration policy as adv ocated by this current Government that clearly margi nalises Bermudians. When you combine these four factors, it should give everyone a cause for concern as to the policy direction of this Governm ent. And let me take a little, quick segue, because I know my honourable senior MP, MP Lister, mentioned the Commission of Inquiry. I, too, as the Leader, welcome the Commission of Inquiry because we have to bring closure to those chapters. But, Mr. Speak er, let me take this opportunity to reiterate a point that I said on January 16 th. While we welcome this Commission of Inquiry, rest assured that one of the first actions that we will take upon assuming Go vernment will be to launch a Commission of Inquiry into the activities of the One Bermuda Alliance. Mr. Speaker, I am not saying that tit -for-tat. I am saying that because if a Commission of Inquiry can come as a result of observations of the Auditor 834 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly General that still have to be proven through evidence, then certainly a Commission of Inquiry should be launched into the many egregious actions of the One Bermuda Alliance Government, whether they were covered up or not. They are on the record, Mr. Speaker. So let me state, again, that there will be a Commiss ion of Inquiry into the activities and affairs of the One Bermuda Alliance tenure as Government. Mr. Speaker, speaking of those four items that gave me cause for concern, let me start with the tax hikes. I remember that the former Premier and Mini ster of Finance, I remember what happened to the economy when she raised payroll tax by 2 per cent. In fact, the Honourable Minister of Economic Development referred to it in his remarks as the catalyst for an exodus of international business. And that was b ecause of a 2 per cent tax hike raise on payroll tax. But, Mr. Speaker, if that is bad, if that is something that actually destroyed growth prospects in our economy, how much worse is it when we have the Minister of Finance today not only mimicking the same poli cy move that the former Premier made in raising payroll tax, but taking it a step further and raising taxes across the board? If what Paula Cox did a few years ago was bad, this has to be hell; parliamentary if you accept that word, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, listen, my position from my studies of economics is this. The surest way to destroy any prospects for economic growth is to increase the burden of taxation. That is the surest way to destroy prospects for economic growth. Increases in taxes mean less money in the pockets of those who pr oduce the income in the first place. In turn, it not only suppresses demand, it also suppresses supply for goods and services. In this case, Mr. Speaker, we have seen increases across the board that affects businesses and households, increases that not only are going to affect us today, but will affect us in the future. And on top of that, we hear this proposal of a consumption tax that, naturally, without further clarity, has created more uncertainty for future investment in this country. On this item of consumption tax . . . Well, even before I get that, Mr. Speaker, I have a question to the Honourable Minister. If the policy goal is to i ncrease employment, I ask the Honourable Minister, how will this latest action enable the goal of economic growth to be attained? How is it possible? I would like for him to explain how he will squeeze water out of a rock. Mr. Speaker, let me make myself clear. These tax hikes, as announced by the Honourable Minister of Finance, are a major policy error. Let me repeat. In my opinion, these tax hikes across the board, even though that is one of the few policy choices that the Minister has, I believe . . . actually, I know that that is the worst choice he could make. I know that for a fact, Mr. Speaker. It is a major policy error. When we proposed a broadening of the tax base it was predicated on the idea that when you broaden the tax base you apply a lower tax rate across the board. You do not broaden the tax base and increase taxes at the s ame time. You are increasing the burden on people tremendously! Now, some would say, Well, if you reduce or lower taxes, it is going to take a hit on revenues for the Government. I say that is not true, because we are not operating with full employment. I would rather have an environment of low taxation to spur economic growth and job creation and have full employment, and then tweak it u pwards if need be, than to go ahead and start with higher taxes when you have got severe unemplo yment and leaving no pros pects of growth or inves tment in the future. It does not make sense from a policy perspective. I hope that Honourable Minister of Finance at some point, sooner than later, sees the wisdom of reversing these tax hikes. I understand the short -term goal of tr ying to reduce the deficit, but, Mr. Speaker, this type of policy prescription actually will increase the deficit. There is something about human beha viour, you know. When the tax man comes and he wants more, you know what humans do? They avoid paying taxes.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberThat is right. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: I mean, after all, is that not one of the reasons, or one of our competitive advantages, as a jurisdiction in this country?
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberYes. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: We ensure freedom and pr otection of one’s privacy from the tax man in these m ajor jurisdictions. So, if it is good for the international busines sman, how is it not good for the average man, or the average woman? Of course it …
Yes.
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: We ensure freedom and pr otection of one’s privacy from the tax man in these m ajor jurisdictions. So, if it is good for the international busines sman, how is it not good for the average man, or the average woman? Of course it is good, because more money is in people’s pockets and no one knows how to allocate the funds that they produce better than themselves. And, certainly, no one in this room —no one in the Ministry of Finance, no one at the BMA — has the supernatural powers to determine or plan the direction of an economy. Economics is not about statistics and data. That is meant to fool people. That is Keynesian fool-ishness. Economics is about human behaviour, human action, human thinking, human buying, human selling, human investment, and human choice. That is the essence of economi cs. It is so simple that the a verage human being can understand it if it was explained in that manner. But, yet, we are stuck on some false anti -economic theories. I have heard it all day. No wonder we are in the predicament we are in. Mr. Speaker, when we say we need to . . . how much time do I have left?
Bermuda House of Assembly [Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Okay. When we say we need to reverse or to lower tax rates it is an acknowledgement of the fact that real growth flows from the private sector and not the Go vernment. Lower tax rates, not higher tax rates, is the medicine for economic growth. It is the medicine that our economy needs. And unless it is reversed, our economy will enter into what pilots say is a stall and uncontrollable spin. Mr. Speaker, if you get into a spin as a pilot, and you do not know how to correct yourself, you know what happens next? You crash!
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: That is what happens when you stall, spin and crash. And I feel that this policy that the Minister has presented is going to lead us into that flight attitude, if you will, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to move on quickly to spending. Spending has been frozen by this Gov-ernment, not reduced. If we, the PLP, are to be blamed for def icit spending, and I will shoulder that burden as the Leader of the Opposition, because Lord knows I am not a deficit -spending- type of guy. I am balanced budget man. Okay? So I am not going to make excuses for what happened in the past, and neither do I ex pect excuses from the Government for what they are doing now. But, Mr. Speaker, if deficit spending is the i ssue, what has prevented this Government from bringing successive balanced or surplus budgets over the last three years? In theory, nothing stopped the Mini ster from bringing a budget surplus this year. Nothing — in theory! He could have come to us and said, Yes, I am cutting spending by $300 million. And now, that $300 million we get over the next three years is going to allow us to reduce our deficit by $900 million. He could have done that! The question is, Why didn’t he?
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Why didn’t he? Because, in theory, it might sound good, but the practical reality, the social and political implications indicate that that would be suicide for the Government, Mr. Speaker. So they had the opportunity to reduce the deficit, but they did not have the opportunity, or they did not take the chance to do it, which is still the el ephant in the room, Mr. Speaker. Spending must be reduced. Spending must be reduced, and in my Throne Speech Reply last year I provided an analysis of the challenge that all governments in this country face when it comes to spending. And the challenge I said was a reflection of the attitudes of, (1) the OBA Government; and (2) some in the private sector who say that black Bermudians, in particular, but those who work in the public sector, are not worthy to come into or transition into the private sector. You have a Government that is saying, We want foreigners to come in to fill private sector jobs. And simultaneously saying, Listen, these lazy so- andso civil servants, what we gonna do with them? But at the same time, the private sector is saying, We, too, want more foreigners. So what do you expect Bermudians to do when you are saying that that opportunity is closed for you? And this, where you are at, is no longer viable? I will tell you what, while I am a proponent of a ba lanced budget, there is no way on God’s green earth that we will allow Be rmudians to be unemployed even if they have to be employed by the Government. There is no way! So in order for us to get to that space where we can actually start reducing the deficit by reducing spending, attitudes have to change, attitudes like the One B ermuda Alliance attitude. Instead of saying No to Bermudians, you need to say Yes to Bermudians. You need to make it attractive for Bermudians to say, Hey, I actually can ensure the standard of living for my family is maintained or raised by transitioning out of the civil service and into the private sector. But right now, all people are hearing are barriers and blockages. And you wonder why it is difficult to actually grapple the real issue of spend-ing? Because, up until this point we are just playing ring around the roses . We are not tackling the real issue! So attitudes have to change. What do I have? Four minutes?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerNo, three. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Three minutes?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThree, yes. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: All right. Let me see if I can get through everything quickly. Mr. Speaker, in fact, this attitude adjustment and this narrative that we need foreigners, does not makes sense to me, you know. Mr. Speaker, if I have a Bermudian underwriter at …
Three, yes. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: All right. Let me see if I can get through everything quickly. Mr. Speaker, in fact, this attitude adjustment and this narrative that we need foreigners, does not makes sense to me, you know. Mr. Speaker, if I have a Bermudian underwriter at XL, or ACE, whose focus is on the Asian property or casualty market, and through their productivity they generate at least a mi llion dollars in foreign income for ACE XL in Bermuda, is there a difference between that Bermudian underwriter who works from Bermuda but focuses on the Asian market and the foreign underwriter who works right beside that Bermudian who does the same thing? There is no difference! Because that Bermudian underwriter still is bringing foreign income into the country! So how is it you can bring this narrative that we need f oreigners first to bring foreign income? That is not true! That is not true. A Bermudian could bring foreign income if they are working in international business too. And that just reveals the falsehood of 836 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly their narrative and the intention of their narrati ve, Mr. Speaker, and that is to marginalise our people. Mr. Speaker, let me move quickly to Gover nment stimulus. Let me make this clear for all those who have been chirping all day about how you know what you are doing. Economics 101—the majority of the One Bermuda Alliance’s so- called economic stimulus is, in fact, generated not by the private sector, but by Government or public sector spending and guarantees. And people are like, Well, what does that mean? Who cares? Well, I will tell you what it means. For those who know the difference between economic reduction and economic plunder, Mr. Speaker, the OBA should not brag about this stimulus, they should be ashamed of this stimulus. It is an indictment of their policies, Mr. Speaker. When you have to depend on using taxpayer funds to stimulate your economy it is because you cannot rely on attracting foreign direct investment or local direct investment at the private sector level to the country. You know why they had a difficulty, Mr. Speaker, in attractin g foreign direct investment and local direct investment at the private sector level? B ecause no one trusts the One Bermuda Alliance. And the essence of investment decisions in the jurisdiction is based on trust! Stability of a jurisdiction is based on trust, and that is why you have seen the Government actually get up and say, Yes, well, we are stimulating the economy. That is not stimulating the economy, Mr. Speaker! That is just a redistribution of wealth. When Government spends money, they redistribute wealth. Wealth is only created by the private sector. So this stimulus —
[Timer beeps] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Oh, what a shame!
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Oh, boy! [Laughter] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: I will close and deal with it later on.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Appreciate it.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Chair will now recognise the Honourable Premier. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning to you and —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGood morning. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: —colleagues, and our li stening audience. Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed the Opposition Leader’s comments because I thought the economic theory for the first 20 minutes was quite interesting, then the last 10 minutes he went off the rails. Mr. Speaker, I think it shows …
Good morning.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: —colleagues, and our li stening audience. Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed the Opposition Leader’s comments because I thought the economic theory for the first 20 minutes was quite interesting, then the last 10 minutes he went off the rails. Mr. Speaker, I think it shows very clearly that there is a big gap between theory and practice. The Opposition Leader waxed eloquently for 25 minutes about theory, but when it came down to the practice he faulted greatly, stubbed his toes, fell over. Mr. Speaker, I wrote down a couple of comments as he was speaking. He said, with great authority, great gusto, Spending must be reduced.
Hon. Marc A. R. B ean: That’s right. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: That is a definitive stat ement. Two comments I want to make about that, Mr. Speaker. The first is that we listened to the Opposition on this Budget, and on the budget in previous years, talk about more money for tourism, more money for education, everything is more money. They do not say where it is going to come from. Yet, the Opposition Leader, the Opposition Leader, the man who gives direction to his colleagues says, Spending must be reduced. He does not say h ow it is going to be done. Then in the next breath, the Opposition Leader says, There is no way we will allow Bermudians to be unemployed.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: If we have to hire them within Government, we will do that.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member, nobody interrupted you, so let the Premier make his presentation. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: So, Mr. Speaker, he said, There is no way we will allow Bermudians to be unemployed. Again, I have two comments to make to that. In December of 2012 when the election …
Honourable Member, nobody interrupted you, so let the Premier make his presentation. [Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: So, Mr. Speaker, he said, There is no way we will allow Bermudians to be unemployed. Again, I have two comments to make to that. In December of 2012 when the election was held, did the Honourable Opposition Leader just get a memory erase? Was that push the delete button? Because there were Bermudians unemployed under their watch in Government, which they have forgotten about, it is memory delete.
[Inaudible interjections]
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Maybe that memory chip was taken away. Now, if the Honourable Opposition Leader says that we must reduce spending, and yet they are going to hire all the Bermudians to work in Government, how would you reduce spending? It gets back to that cuts -and-pain thing that they tried to put the label on this Government. Mr. Speaker, they seem to have forgotten about that cuts -and-pain thing. We have heard a lot today about immigration and emigration. Mr. Speaker, if you would go back and look at the census of 2010, you will clearly see that there were 1,121 people who emigrated during the 10- year period— 1,121. And some of the questions asked about that emigration was, 47 per cent of the people left Bermuda for employment opportunity, Mr. Speaker. Almost 50 per cent —half—left for emplo yment opportunities. The median age, Mr. Speaker, was 28 years old. And lo and behold, Mr. Speaker, 41 per cent left Bermuda between 2007 and 2009. Now, it stops at that because the census was done 2010. So, I am sure in 2011 and 2012 that number was higher. But in 2007 to 2009, 41 per cent of that 1,121 left the Island. So here is a government that is talking about a mass exodus of people over the last couple of years, when under their watch, they had no clue what was going on. Or, that memory delete took place again, Mr. Speaker. So, we heard a lot of talk about emigration t oday and I think my colleagues have dealt with it quite well. I find it quite interesting that in the 14 years that the PLP were the Government, they consistently r enewed work permits. In the 14 years that the PLP were the Government there was one year in there with the highest number of work permits in the history of Bermuda —in the history of Bermuda! I think it was 18,000 work permits. And now we are at about 9,000 work permits. So, Mr. Speaker, I draw another number to your attention. If we are at 9,000 work permits less now, Mr. Speaker, that is 9,000 people who were on a work permit who have left the Island. And if the normal numbers of one non- Bermudian job equates to an additional Bermudian job that means that we have lost 9,000 work permit jobs, and 9,000 Bermudian jobs because of the fiscal policy, the theory, of the former Government.
Mr. E. David BurtPoint of order, Mr. Speaker. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: That is a damning indic tment, Mr. Speaker. POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. E. David BurtThe Honourable Member is mi sleading the House. At no point in time were there 18,000 people on work permits in this country. At no time, ever, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerPremier, carry on please. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes, Mr. Speaker, I will carry on. So, Mr. Speaker, clearly, the fiscal policies and the budget strate gies of that Government failed. Now, I am going to circle back around there to wrap up my comments. But there are a few …
Premier, carry on please.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes, Mr. Speaker, I will carry on. So, Mr. Speaker, clearly, the fiscal policies and the budget strate gies of that Government failed. Now, I am going to circle back around there to wrap up my comments. But there are a few things that I just want to focus in on from the Shadow Minister’s Budget Reply today. First, Mr. Speaker, on page 3, the honourable colleague, makes a recognition. “Mr. Speaker, the harsh reality is that our country’s fiscal situation is daunting. We have a very significant debt challenge that we must address, and everything that we do must be done with a view to balancing the budget.” Mr . Speaker, that said by the same gentleman, when he sat in another place with me, had no concern about the mounting debt level. And why do I say that with certainty, Mr. Speaker? Because during the Budget Debate in another place, I put the two heads for Debt and Sinking Fund on the agenda to discuss and I li stened to the Honourable Member support the increasing debt in light of the challenging economic times that we had and the runaway spending by the Gover nment. But all of a sudden, the memory is cleared a nd now they take a different view of it, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there was great . . . I call it levity, by some Members on the other side, in regard to the comments by Moody’s, and how they viewed the change in the financial situation in Bermuda over the past nine months, specifically. That report related to three quarter -year results that the Ministry of Finance had released at the end of the year. And I found it as-tounding, Mr. Speaker, that the MP for constit uency 36, the Honourable Member, Mr. Scot t, would stand on this floor of this Honourable Chamber where our voice is heard loud and clear, not only in this Chamber, but outside of this Chamber, and what we say is recorded for record in Hansard, and anybody can research it, would attack a reputable firm like Moody’s that will continue to review our financial po licy. [Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Now, Mr. Speaker —
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. Yes. POINT OF ORDER [Misleading] Hon. Mar c A. R. Bean: The Honourable Premier, r espectfully, is misleading the House. The Honourable 838 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly and Learned Shadow Minister and Attorney General, has never attacked Moody’s rating agency. Never!
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, that is incorrect, and the record will show that when it comes out next week. And I will ask for those comments to be withdrawn. Now, Mr. Speaker, the challenge with that is, the weight that they carry in the …
All right. Thank you. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, that is incorrect, and the record will show that when it comes out next week. And I will ask for those comments to be withdrawn. Now, Mr. Speaker, the challenge with that is, the weight that they carry in the ratings that they do—
[Inaudible in terjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, it is all about confidence.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Honourable Member. POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. E. David Burtthe Honourable Premier is mi sleading the House. The report from Moody’s was not a ratings review. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I did not say it was. [Inaudible interjections and crosstalk]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerCarry on, Premier. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, honestly, the Honourable Members . . . it is late, it is early in the morning, and they are not listening clearly. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: And I will continue on, Mr. Speaker. I will continue on, Mr. Speaker, …
Carry on, Premier. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, honestly, the Honourable Members . . . it is late, it is early in the morning, and they are not listening clearly.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: And I will continue on, Mr. Speaker. I will continue on, Mr. Speaker, because it is on the record in the Hansard, again. T hey will see that Monday. Mr. Speaker, we took some satisfaction in the comments by Moody’s a couple of weeks ago. Why? Because for three years we have walked an economic tightrope. The Finance Minister clearly understood the challenges we faced after he looked under the hood. But in walking that economic tightrope, the opportuni-ties and the measures we could take to turn around the fiscal situation in Bermuda, were slim, few and far between, and had to be balanced in making sure you made the right decisio ns at the right time. The Finance Minister has done those. He has made those decisions after much consideration and review of what had to take place. And so when you have somebody like Moody’s make comments like that about your economic policy, I think yo u have to accept that it is confidence in what Bermuda is doing. So I take great offence in Opposition Members trying to dismiss those comments. Those comments carry weight. Those comments will be reviewed all around the world, and they mean renewed confidence in Bermuda. Mr. Speaker, on page 13 of the Reply the Honourable Shadow’s spokesperson called for a broadening of the tax base. He said that [the PLP] have called for that since 2014. Now, Mr. Speaker, in 14 years under the former Government —wherein a number of those years that Honourable Member was the Junior Minister —I did not see any change to the tax rate base. I did not see any consideration to broaden the tax base. And now, all of a sudden, when you sit on that side and your actions lack accounta bility, then we have that call for broadening the tax base. And it goes on from there even further, Mr. Speaker. The Honourable Member says on page 20 of his Reply (and this one is a real kicker), “The PLP will focus on making the Civil Service more effic ient, via technology, departmental reviews and effective human resource management, and will look to impl ement some of the recommendations in the SAGE r eport.” Interesting, Mr. Speaker —fixed -term contracts, performance- based pay. Well, Mr. Speaker, this i s the same gentleman who said in the 2013 [Throne Speech] Debate, and I quote, 3“I do not believe that the efficiency of Government and its structure is the problem.” I will repeat that because it is late; it is early in the morning. “I do not believe that the efficiency of Government and its structure is the problem.” And I will take a point of order if that is incorrect. He went on, and said, “The budget troubles that we have are a result of economic troubles.” So, Mr. Speaker, in two years, he has changed his position, the Honourable Member has said now that we need to have SAGE reform. Now, Mr. Speaker, the SAGE reform, was dubbed, as I said a couple of minutes ago, the “ cuts and pain” by the PLP. So now the PLP is saying they would like to i nstitute c uts and pain.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberNow we are not. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Well, then, that was the nickname you gave, Honourable Member. You want to lose it all of a sudden? Are you like Donald Trump and you just forget things that you say? [Inaudible int erjections] Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Come on, Mr. …
Now we are not.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Well, then, that was the nickname you gave, Honourable Member. You want to lose it all of a sudden? Are you like Donald Trump and you just forget things that you say?
[Inaudible int erjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Come on, Mr. Speaker —
[Inaudible interjection]
3 Official Hansard Report, 13 December 2013, page 525.
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Yes, the statute of limit ations.
[Inaudible interjections and laughter] Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Page 14 of the Reply, Mr. Speaker — [Inaudi ble interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: The new airport project is more about —
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Policy?
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, “This new airport project is about more than short -term jobs that it may create. The question is whet her or not it is the right priority for the country given the limited resources at our disposal. It is clear that we cannot afford a new $250 million airport.” And then in the next breath they say that we should renovate the airport. Now, it is a good thi ng these chairs are deep because I almost fell out, Mr. Speaker. [Inaudible interjections and laughter] Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: This is the same Oppos ition that was the Government that spent $3 million on plans for a $500 million airport, and now all of a sudden— after they spent $3 million on this $500 million visionary new airport —they say, We think we should renovate. Wow, man! It is good when you are on the other side because you can flip and flop, just like that little snapper that I used to have on the dock when I went fishing when I was a child, Mr. Speaker. Flip and flop. Flip and flop. And what you say you do not have to be accountable for, Mr. Speaker. Then, in the Reply to the Budget, page 18, they say, “pet projects and no- bid contracts for f riends & family.” Now, Mr. Speaker, that is the pot calling the kettle black. And I cannot let that one go, Mr. Speaker, because that memory delete button just does not work. What about the senior school, where some person was quoted as saying, The contrac tor never even built a dog kennel before. And then they get a contract for this school ? What about the Dame Lois Browne- Evans building that was really hidden away in trusts, and n obody could identify who the builders were? What about the Port Royal where Honourable Members on that side were implicated and brought in foreign workers who had never done construction like this before and put them up there, living in the club house? Oh, yes, we love Bermudian jobs , Mr. Speaker. Really? Give me a break. Mr. Speaker, I was born at night, but it was not last night. I am not buying that stuff, Mr. Speaker. And Mr. Speaker, what about TCD [Transport Control Department]? Family and friends? That is the epitome of family and friends. And then, Mr. Speaker, in this R eply to the Budget they talk about housing. Well, you know, the only thing I think about in housing for the former Government, Mr. Speaker, the only thing that can cross my mind is Grand Atlantic. And you know what housing that is, Mr. Speaker? That is ghost housing.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: There is only one person that lives up there. Only one person lives up there, Mr. Speaker, so it was ghost housing. Good housing, and the ghost must love it. So, do not give me that no nsens e about pet projects and no- bid contracts. Takes one to know one, Mr. Speaker. And the real kicker . . . and this thing is just deep, it is just deep. Page 19, education. And the O pposition now talk about cuts in education, and we need more money in educat ion. Mr. Speaker, for 14 years they had the opportunity to turn around educ ation, and now the best they can do is pander to a public who is concerned about the education of their chi ldren and say, You know, we are going to phase out middle school. You cann ot do better than that? You cannot do better than that, Mr. Speaker? [Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: We are going to phase out middle schools. Well, let me tell you something now, Mr. Speaker —over the hollering of an Opposition Leader , whose cries of desperation are not being heard by anybody this [early] in the morning —we would be better off if we talked about accountability and standards in education. It is not about the money!
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: There is plenty of money in the system. It is accountability and standards. And I hear the Shadow Education Minister talking about, Well, read the school report.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Well, let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, if I have rats running around my house, I am calling Vector Control because they are a good government department who do their job. So why haven’t we got the rats out of the school? Come on, Mr. Speaker, that is accountability at the simplest.
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Who are you blaming?
840 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: And the Honourable O pposition Leader says, Who are you blaming? I am blaming everybody who has an opport unity to say, We are not going to put up with that. We are going to let our children go into schools where rats . . . aren’t there responsible people seeing that every day? Come on, Mr. Speaker. So it is not about the money. It is about accountability and standards. Mr. Speaker, until we get to the realisation that all of us have a role to play, Members of this Honourable House, teachers, principals, all of the pr ofessionals who work in the school, and yes, Mr. Speaker, parents. Until we know we all have that r esponsibility, we can talk about money. We can talk about the poor condition of our schools. Mr. Speaker, I remember the days when I used to go to school. There was no air conditioning in the school. The papers would stick to your elbow. You had that little ink well in your desk, and the desk looked like it was about 80 years old.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberIt was. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: But it worked! Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: You sure? Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: It worked. We just talked about . . . it is all about money nowadays. It is, Throw more money at it and it will get better. It will only …
It was. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: But it worked! Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: You sure? Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: It worked. We just talked about . . . it is all about money nowadays. It is, Throw more money at it and it will get better. It will only get better if we hold people accountable. And we all have to do that. I am not blaming anyone. I am just saying that we all need to take a lesson about being accountable. Now, Mr. Speaker, oh, “vision.” What a wonderful word. What a wonderful word—“vision.” Page 22. Well, that is not vision, Mr. Speaker, it is fluff and little substance. You read those last couple of pages, and they talk about the Blue Economy, the Green Economy. All I saw was red, because my eyes were getting bloodshot with fluff. Here is their t ourism plan: “Get Serious about Tourism.” Hee! Hee! Hee! Mr. Speaker, this brought a laugh to my face.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: “Tourism is about exper iences.” I heard the BTA [Bermuda Tourism Authority] say that many times the last couple of months. “[T]ourism is about escape.” Let yourself go. They are going to back to the 1990s. Tourism . . . oh, and the next line says, “[T]ourism is about letting go, and most of all, tourism is about fun.” Well, Mr. Speaker, they must have laboured over that sentence for about two days. So I kept read-ing on, I said, Okay, I am going to really hear the big bang theory now on how we are going to improve our numbers. “In order to compete in tourism we need to remember that if people don’t get i t in Bermuda, they will go somewhere else to get it.” Wow! That is earth shattering. Man! That is earth shattering! “The next PLP Government” . . . here is their tourism policy. And there, you know, Mr. Speaker, this is going to go nowhere fast. They are probably erasing it from this document right now, as I read it —“The next PLP government will make changes to our laws to keep Bermuda competitive with other tourism dest inations.” And I say, Mr. Speaker, please tell why. I will sit down. Mr. Speaker, seriously —
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: The next PLP government will keep Bermuda competitive because we will change our laws.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Well, Mr. Speaker, you know what? I am not even going t o ask for —
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I am not even going to ask for clarification because, clearly, we have heard this 12-hour debate and it has not come out. That is a v ision! That is not a vision!
[Inaudible interjections] Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: That is not a vision, Mr. Speaker. And then, man, it comes over here . . . and this is scary! The first one had no substance, nothing, fluff. Then they talk about create a Bermuda fund. The Opposition Leader, my honourable colleague, former Attorney General, says we will create, “a local sovereign-wealth fund called the ‘Bermuda Fund.’” The O pposition Leader jumps up, We never said a sovereign - wealth fund. Well, he never read it, I guess.
[Laughter]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Just like with the Throne Speech [Reply], he never shared the Reply to the Throne Speech with his colleagues, and I guess the Honourable Member, Mr. Burt, never shared his.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: But then he goes —and, Mr. Speaker, this is scary.
[Inaudible interjection]
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: “This fund will be seeded with a small portion of the pension funds that are under the control of the government and would allow Bermuda to tap into the investment expertise on i sland.” Mr. Speaker, that is scary. Our pensions are struggling now and we need to deal with them to make them sustainable. But, their policy is to take some money out of that fund, and invest it in the Bermuda Fund. Now, Mr. Speaker, if their vision and their inves tment skills are similar, we are in trouble. Please do not do that!
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Please do not even talk about it anymore because people will be running for the hills. They will be running for the hills, Mr. Speaker. Vision is actually quite scary, and I would hope that they would go to that site they talked about, whatever it was, vision2025.plp.bm, and just erase it and start again. It is not too late. It is not too late, Mr. Speaker, to erase it and start again.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I think they will have time to do it, Mr. Speaker. [Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Now, I know the time—
[Inaudible interjections] Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: But let me finish—
[Gavel]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right, Honourable Members. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, let me finish on budgets. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: The Honourable Finance Minister has done a tremendous job over the past three- plus ye ars. And here is why: Three budget s, first budget, he beat his first …
All right, Honourable Members. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, let me finish on budgets.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: The Honourable Finance Minister has done a tremendous job over the past three- plus ye ars. And here is why: Three budget s, first budget, he beat his first budget by $34 million. Second budget, he beat his number by a million dollars. In the third budget, the financial year is not finished, but the revised estimate beats it by $8 million. That is a combined $43 million over three years, Mr. Speaker, in conditions that everybody will admit are difficult. Well done, Deputy Premier, Minister of Finance! Well done! Beat his numbers! Now, Mr. Speaker, let us go back to that horror movie. Let us go back to that horror movie be-cause here is the difference between this Government and the Opposition. The previous six budgets under the former Government, they missed their number by $28 million (this is the wrong way), $110 million, $61 million, $111 mi llion, $82 million, and $54 million, Mr. Speaker. Not one year did they even come close. Not one year did they even come close. And the interes ting thing is, Mr. Speaker, in those six years, every year there was going to be a significant deficit — significan t deficit. In fact, you add up those six years, the deficit was going to be just under $860 million. That was if they hit their numbers. Well, we know they did not hit their numbers. So, Mr. Speaker, the addition of the six years [of] missing the numbers was $446 million. That is just like throwing jello on the wall and seeing if something sticks by the end of the year to see if it looks pretty good. Mr. Speaker, that is terrible! B ecause in the first two years anybody could argue that the economy was stil l doing okay. They blew the number; they blew it through the roof. So, Mr. Speaker, when we come up here and we debate the Budget, I am proud to stand with this team and know that we will get it right.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Now, Mr. Speaker, let me close by saying a few comments about empathy and caring.
[Inaudible interjections] Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: The Opposition loves to talk about how they are connected with the people and how they care for the people, Mr. Speaker . And I do not doubt their sincerity oftentimes in what they say. The Opposition Leader must have had an enjo yable tea break, Mr. Speaker, because he is chirping like a bird.
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Point of order. Time and time again we have to hear this familiar refrain from the Premier and his supporters. Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is, the only people that we know who have been involved in tea, were mentioned by a former superintendent in Narcotics. Maybe the Premier can let us know who he is ta lking about.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you. Thank you, Honourable Member. All right, Premier, you may continue. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I do not know what that was about, Mr. Speaker. He is on the record in the Hansard talking about ganja tea, so— [Inaudible interjections] 842 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report …
All right. Thank you. Thank you, Honourable Member. All right, Premier, you may continue.
Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: I do not know what that was about, Mr. Speaker. He is on the record in the Hansard talking about ganja tea, so—
[Inaudible interjections]
842 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker —
[Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Members. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, for the r ecord, no government takes any joy in seeing people suffer. We knew clearly in 2012/13 the challenges that we had to face. We knew clearly that the road of pr ogress would face many headwinds. We are making progress, …
Honourable Members. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Mr. Speaker, for the r ecord, no government takes any joy in seeing people suffer. We knew clearly in 2012/13 the challenges that we had to face. We knew clearly that the road of pr ogress would face many headwinds. We are making progress, Mr. Speaker, but there are still too many people struggling. We are well aware of that. But you can be assured, Mr. Speaker, that not a day or night will go by, and we will continue to work for all of the people of Bermuda. We will not be deterred. We will not allow those headwinds to get us, because we will cut through those winds and will take care of all of the people of Bermuda. Thank you.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Premier. The Chair will now recognise the Minister of Finance. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think we have had an interes ting debate. It was long. I would just like to make a few comments in wrapping this up. As …
Thank you, Honourable Premier. The Chair will now recognise the Minister of Finance. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think we have had an interes ting debate. It was long. I would just like to make a few comments in wrapping this up. As it relates to the Opposition’s response to the Budget, I would characterise that as more about politics than about economics. The Opposition’s perception is that the economy is all doom and gloom. But I think that that was very highly biased political rhetoric. So, I ask the question, What do impartial observers say? Well, let us refer to the latest Moody’s report. “The latest labour statistic,” I am quoting, Mr. Speaker. “The latest labour statistics also suggest that the international business sector has resumed growth. Sustained growth in that sector in addition to infr astructure investment will likely create new jobs, supporting growth in average wages in the economy and payroll tax receipts for the government.” The Opposition says, Mr. Speaker, that we are doing nothing about growth. Well, what do impar-tial observers say? Let us go back to our friends at Moody’s. I quote again. “Growth over the next [few] years will be supported by higher infrastruc ture i nvestment in the tourism sector, as well as improv ements to Bermuda’s only airport ahead of the Amer icas Cup race in 2017.” Mr. Speaker, the Opposition says we have really done nothing about reducing Government spending. Well, what do impartial obser vers say? Moody’s says, “As a result, the deficit should narrow to about $220 million, or 3.8% of GDP in fiscal 2015. The resulting drop in the fiscal deficit may exceed 1.5 percentage points, making it the most significant fiscal consolidation for Bermuda in more than 20 years.” An Hon. Member: Wow!
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberHow about a point of order? Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Mr. Speaker, the Oppos ition says that under the OBA, prospects for Bermudian workers are poor. Well, what do impartial observers say? The Moody’s report says, “The latest labor statistics also suggest that the international business sector has resumed …
How about a point of order? Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Mr. Speaker, the Oppos ition says that under the OBA, prospects for Bermudian workers are poor. Well, what do impartial observers say? The Moody’s report says, “The latest labor statistics also suggest that the international business sector has resumed growth. Sustained growth in that sector in addition to infrastructure i nvestment will likely help create new jobs —
Mr. E. David BurtPoint of order, Mr. Speaker. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: How could there be a point of order, I am reading.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, what is your point of order? POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, point of order. The Honourable Minister is m isleading the House. The last statistics on international business as can be seen in the Honourable Minister’s own economic reports show that there was a decline in employment in that sector.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister? Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I would advi se the Member to take it up with Moody’s. I am reading what Moody’s said. — [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I am reading what Moody’s said, okay?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. E. David BurtThe Honourable Minister’s latest labour statistics and the latest labour statistics were reported inside of the National Economic Review, which came out after the Moody’s report.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerCarry on, Minister. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I repeat. I am quoting Moody’s. If you have got a fight, take it up with Moody’s. All right? [Inaudible interjections] Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: [I quote.] “Sustained growth in that sector in addition to infrastructure i …
Carry on, Minister. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I repeat. I am quoting Moody’s. If you have got a fight, take it up with Moody’s. All right?
[Inaudible interjections]
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: [I quote.] “Sustained growth in that sector in addition to infrastructure i nvestment will l ikely help create new jobs, supporting growth in average wages in the economy and payroll tax receipts for the government.” The Fiscal Responsibility Panel also said, “Economic growth prospects over the next few years look better than for some years, prov iding a window of opportunity to reduce debt to a safer level.” So, Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the Honourable Member got up and said a few words just now, because the choice that Bermudians have is clear. They have to decide whether they believe Moody’s, the second- largest credit rating agency in the world, who opine on trillions of dollars’ worth of credit, they have to decide between them and their credibility, folks who have no political axe to grind, or the PLP, who have a disastrous record for financ ial stewar dship, a record that they are desperately trying to get Bermudians to have amnesia on.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I will just go to another point. The Opposition says they are going to invest in this and invest in that, in their response. Where are they going to get the money to do this investing from?
[Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Where are they going to get the money from? Bearing in mind that as the Fiscal Respons ibility Panel said (and I am just paraphrasing here) 85 per cent of Government’s current expenditures come from wages and salaries, grants and contributions, and debt. So, 85 per cent of expenditures go to those things, and they have got money to invest in this and invest in that , and they have not said where they are going to get that money to invest from. So, you know, perhaps they are going to just revert to the old standby that was exhibited when they were the Go vernment, which is to borrow, borrow, borrow, and i ncrease and ex pand the debt even further. That is what they know how to do. The Opposition said that the Government of Bermuda (this Government, the OBA Government) said when we did our $800 million financing, they said that we said that it would last for three years. That is not correct. We never said that. We said that it would last for three fiscal years. That is what we said. It would last for three fiscal years. At the time we raised that money, one of the fiscal years was virtually in the bag, so the first year ha d already gone by the time we got the money. Then, it financed two further years. So, we financed it for three fiscal years like we said we were going to do. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: That is fuzzy.
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: So, the Opposition’s claim on t his—just because you do not understand it, Honourable Member —
Mr. E. David BurtMr. Speaker, point of order. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: —does not mean that it is fuzzy. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: It is fuzzy.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. E. David BurtThe Honourable Minister is mi sleading the House. He financed in fiscal year 2013/14. If he says that that year was almost going, that there was 2014/15 and 2015/16 which just ended, and he borrowed an initial $150 million in fiscal 2015/16. How can he say it was only for …
The Honourable Minister is mi sleading the House. He financed in fiscal year 2013/14. If he says that that year was almost going, that there was 2014/15 and 2015/16 which just ended, and he borrowed an initial $150 million in fiscal 2015/16. How can he say it was only for three years?
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Because, Mr. Speaker, the Government was running an overdraft which his Government had incurred.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberThat’s right.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberYes, yes. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: That is why. Finance is simple when you pay attention. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: What is your point? Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Right? Now, next point, Mr. Speaker. [Inaudible interjections and crosstalk]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerI think the Finance Minister deserves the opportunity to be able to respond. [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Carry on, please. 844 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Opposition said that the OBA Gover nment could cut its way to a balanced budget. We never said that. They said that! They said …
All right. Carry on, please. 844 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Opposition said that the OBA Gover nment could cut its way to a balanced budget. We never said that. They said that! They said that we could cut our way to a balanced budget. We never said that, so that statement is also incorrect and not factual. Insofar as tax reform is concerned, Mr. Speaker, we have had pretty much the same system, certainly payroll tax, we have had that for 20 years. Custom duty, of course, goes back to antiquity. And payroll tax has been a regressive system from the start. The Opposition now have gotten religion and say that, you know, it is inequitable. But I want to know what happened to the 14 years when they had a chance to do something about it. The y only got reli gion about this after they became the Opposition. When they had the chance to do something about it, they did not do it! So, you know, this is just a case of hypocrisy, basically. A case of hypocrisy!
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberThere are four people i n Oppos ition, and two are asleep. [Laughter] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Now, Mr. Speaker — [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: —even though this was supposed to be a response to the Budget —
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberFour are in Opposition. [Gavel] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Even though this was supposed to be a response to the Budget, the Oppos ition seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time and space on the airport. Right? [Inaudible interjection] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: In their desperation to …
Four are in Opposition.
[Gavel] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Even though this was supposed to be a response to the Budget, the Oppos ition seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time and space on the airport. Right?
[Inaudible interjection] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: In their desperation to derail this project . . . their desperation knows no bounds, Mr. Speaker. And it, particularly, does not know the bounds of truth. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: It does not know the bounds of truth. There is a clear i mplication that I lied about the Government guaranteeing of Aecon’s rev enues. That was blatant mendacity, Mr. Speaker. Bl atant! And it is not worthy of this Honourable House. Not worthy at all! [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: For th e record, again, the guarantee that the Government has given is to pr ovide a floor for estimates of traffic. This guarantee provides that if traffic goes below a certain level, the Government of Bermuda will put money into an es-crow fund. And that escrow f und is there to be used if the project goes broke. And it specifically required that the money in that escrow fund goes towards replacing and repaying the debt. That is what it goes to do. It goes to solve the debt problem. It specifically does not go to provide any income or revenues to Aecon.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Specifically. It is only there to provide support to the debt of the project. It is important that this project get an investment grade rating, and this guarant ee that Government has put in there to support the debt helps to have this project get an investment grade rating. So, this is not a guarantee for revenues to Aecon. So the statement by the O pposition was clearly not factual, and a deliberate attempt to im pugn my reputation and integrity. And that kind of behaviour, to put that in an official written document, is less of an indication of my character and more of an indication of his character.
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: That is what happens when you are not tra nsparent.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberI am sorry. How many people are left in the Opposition? Four? And two are sleeping. [Crosstalk] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: There are other fals ehoods, Mr. Speaker, in that section. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob ) Richards: The statement about the Accountant General saying that the project …
I am sorry. How many people are left in the Opposition? Four? And two are sleeping.
[Crosstalk]
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: There are other fals ehoods, Mr. Speaker, in that section. [Inaudible interjections]
Hon. E. T. (Bob ) Richards: The statement about the Accountant General saying that the project did not meet financial instructions. In the second meeting that the Public Accounts Committee had with the Accountant General, he recanted that. He recanted that! So that statem ent in here is also false.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. Yes, Honourable Member. POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. E. David BurtThe Honourable Minister is mi sleading the House. The Accountant General did not recant t he statement that the Minister was not follo wing financial instructions. Bermuda House of Assembly [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMinister? Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: He recanted it, Mr. Speaker. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: No question that he r ecanted it. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: The second falsehood in this section, Mr. Speaker, is that they claimed that I already knew that CCC …
Minister? Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: He recanted it, Mr. Speaker.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: No question that he r ecanted it. [Inaudible interjections]
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: The second falsehood in this section, Mr. Speaker, is that they claimed that I already knew that CCC had chosen Aecon. That is just not true! And I have got civil servants as well as the Attorney General who went to that meeting with me to prove it! I have got witnesses. All right? So the assertion there is just yet another piece of falsehood that they are putting out there one after the other. Think about it, Mr. Speaker, as the Honourable Premier says, the PLP have changed their pos ition on this airport. And the Master Development Plan, which they wrote back in 2006 and then again in 2008, they were in favour of a new terminal, in favour of moving the old terminal, getting rid of the old term inal, and putting it in this spot. And I said in my Budget speech that we are using that plan. So what has changed their minds, Mr. Speaker? Political expediency. That is the only thing that has changed their mind. Political expediency, Mr. Speaker . The bottom line is, Mr. Speaker, that the O pposition fears that when the next election comes there are going to be over 300 people, mostly Bermudians, working on that project down there at St. George’s. That is what they fear, and they will do and say an ything to prevent that from happening. The bottom line here, Mr. Speaker, is that for political expediency they would like to deny Bermudians jobs down there at the airport. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: That is what it is all about. It is cynical.
Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Point of order.
[Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Honourable Leader. [Inaudible interjections]
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberFive Opposition here. POINT OF ORDER [Misleading] Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: He is mislea ding the House. [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHonourable Member! Carry on. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Honourable Minister of Finance is mi sleading the House, Mr. Speaker. He insinuated that we would actually . . . I will paraphrase, sabotage the project and keep Bermudians out of work for political reasons. So …
Honourable Member! Carry on. Hon. Marc A. R. Bean: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Honourable Minister of Finance is mi sleading the House, Mr. Speaker. He insinuated that we would actually . . . I will paraphrase, sabotage the project and keep Bermudians out of work for political reasons. So I would like that . . . it is a point of order.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you. Thank you. Carry on please. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Mr. Speaker, let me make it clear. I am not insinuating it, I am saying it straight out. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: All right? Mr. Speaker, let me move on to …
All right. Thank you. Thank you. Carry on please. [Inaudible interjections]
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Mr. Speaker, let me make it clear. I am not insinuating it, I am saying it straight out.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: All right? Mr. Speaker, let me move on to another subject. There has been a lot of talk about trust. Some of it in the Opposition’s Reply, some of it in the debate today. And I want to talk a little bit about that. When people elect Members, and Members become the Government, there is a compact between the people and the Government. And that compact is based on trust, and a lot of different trusts that we do. They trust us to provide schools. They trust us to take out the garbage, collect the garbage. But out of all the trusts that the people put with the Government, the most sacred trust is the trust that they allow us to take their money and spend it for the good of the people, wisely, prudently, and honestly. That is the most s acred of all trusts between th e Government and its people.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberI agree. I agree. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: So, let us look at how wisely, prudently and honestly this Government and other governments have done. Because of that s a846 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly credness of trusts of handling money, we can actually …
I agree. I agree. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: So, let us look at how wisely, prudently and honestly this Government and other governments have done. Because of that s a846 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly credness of trusts of handling money, we can actually measure how trustworthy a government is, because you can measure the money. Now, I am going to skip over some of the things and go right to the point. If you want to know which team, the PLP team, or this team over here, is most trustworthy, ex-amine how well they carried out their sacred trust. And we can do that. The Honourable Premier referred to it really in another way when he made his remarks. You have to look at what the Government promised to do and what it actually did. A budget is a pr omise, Mr. Speaker, nothing more. It is a promise. What you actually do can be compared to that promise and if it is close, then you are trustworthy. If it is not, well then you are something else. Now, in the six years that the Premier quoted, going up t o 2012, if you look at what the then - Government promised to do in terms of current spending without debt service, for current spending, the average difference was $94 million per year, over six years. The OBA, that average has been $8 million.
An Hon. Me mber: Wow!
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: They were less trustworthy than this Government by almost 12 times.
Some Hon. Members Some Hon. MembersWow! Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: And during that period, there were some breathtaking failures in trustworth iness. Breathtaking! In 2009/10 they promised a deficit of $147 million, they actually delivered a deficit of $365 million. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: A $218 million trust def icit.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberSays the UBP. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: And, Mr . Speaker, they tried to . . . my colleague, Dr. Gibbons will remember this. They tried to hide it by changing the accounting! Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Yes. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: They tried to hide …
Says the UBP. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: And, Mr . Speaker, they tried to . . . my colleague, Dr. Gibbons will remember this. They tried to hide it by changing the accounting!
Dr. the Hon. E. Grant Gibbons: Yes.
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: They tried to hide it that year by changing the accounting. It d id not fool any of us, but they were trying to fool the public.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Now, you talk about a trust deficit. My God! That is it! The next year they promised a deficit of $146 million, they delivered a defici t of $267 million—a $171 million trust deficit. That is over a quarter of billion dollars in trust deficit in just two years!
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberUnbelievable! Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: The largest trust deficit the OBA ever had, since we have been, is $32 million. So, you can look at it another way. How much time do I have left, Mr. Speaker? [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerTen minutes. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you very much. You can look at just the public debt itself, as a measure of trust, because if somebody continues to rack up Government debt at an uncontrolled rate, then that is not acting wisely, prudently and honestly. Is it? It …
Ten minutes.
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Thank you very much. You can look at just the public debt itself, as a measure of trust, because if somebody continues to rack up Government debt at an uncontrolled rate, then that is not acting wisely, prudently and honestly. Is it? It is not! And if you are not acting wisely, prudently and honestly, you cannot be trusted. So, let us use that as measure of trust deficit. Well, we know the PLP Government, in 2008, debt went up 47 per cent. In 2009, 74 per cent. I do not know how they did that. In 2010, 57 per cent. The next year, 32 per cent. And the next year, 47 per cent. The OBA, in the years we have been in power, 20 per cent, 14 per cent, and this last year, 10 per cent. And the year under review, the Budget year, the debt will go up 6 per cent. So there is a clear difference in performance. When you have public debt rise by 74 per cent in a year, Mr. Speaker, and 57 per cent the next year, it shows that that Government could not be trusted with the people’s money. They broke the s acred compact that a government has with its people to manage their money for the good of the people wi sely, prudently and honestly. You look at the OBA record and you can see the debt increases have come down. We have constantly managed the debt down. It is a coherent strategy that has been put into place by this Government from the get go. And we are sequentially managing this debt down and we will eventually manage the deficit down until it gets to zero, and then we will be in a position to start paying down the debt. So, when you hear the bleating coming from the other side, Mr. Speaker, about trust deficits, it is clear that those statements are both hypocritical and disingenuous. They really are. It reminds me of a Bi blical story, Mr. Speaker, that we all know. We were told that we should remove the log from our own eye before we look at the speck in the other guy’s eye. It reminds me of that.
[Inaudible interjections]
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: So, Mr. Speaker, the last line of the Opposition’s response claimed that they were ready and qualified to take over the helm.
[Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I have to say, Mr. Speaker, that the performance of this Government, this OBA Government, has shown a very steady hand at the helm, a very steady hand at the helm. And clearly from their record, and the fact that they do not even want to admit their record, and the very vacuous response that we have had today, they are still not ready and they are still not qualified to take over the helm. And with that, Mr. Speaker —
[Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Honourable Minist er. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I would like to move that the House now . . . excuse me. I have got the wrong thing. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Yes, I am going to take my time. That we resolve to move into …
Yes, Honourable Minist er. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: I would like to move that the House now . . . excuse me. I have got the wrong thing.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Yes, I am going to take my time. That we resolve to move into the Committee of Supply and consider the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year [2016/17].
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you. Any objections to that?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. So . . . [Crosstalk]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWe are doing the six heads tonight, then? [Laughter and crosstalk]
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberYes. I don’t see a reason why not. [Pause] House in Committee at 3:31 am [Saturday, 27 February 2016] [Mrs. Suzann Roberts -Holshouser, Chairman] COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY ESTIMATES OF REVENUE AN D EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR 2016/17
The ChairmanChairmanGood evening, [sic] Members. The Chair recognises the Minister.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberGood morning.
The ChairmanChairmanGood morning. MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Good morning, Madam Chairman. I would like to move Heads 93, 27 and 29, the Ministry of Home Affairs Headquarters, Immigration, and Registry General. And I move . . .
The ChairmanChairmanThank you. I move that the Committee rise and report progress and ask for leave to sit again Monday , the 20th [sic] of February 2016. Hon. E. T. (Bob) Richards: Yes, Ma’am.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberMonday, the 29 th.
The ChairmanChairmanThe 29 th. Thank you. [Gavel] [Motion carried: The Committee of Supply rose and reported progress.] [Crosstalk] [Pause] House resumed at 3:33 am [Hon. K. H. Randolph Horton, Speaker, in the Chair] REPORT OF COMMITTEE ESTIMATES OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE FOR THE YEAR 2016/17
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Chair recognises the Honourable Premier. Hon. Michael H. Dunkley: Good morning, Mr . Speaker. I move we now adjourn until ten o’clock, Monday morning.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. Thank you, Premier. The House is adjourned until Monday at 10:00 am. 848 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly [Gavel] [At 3:33 am [Saturday, 27 February 2016], the House stood adjourned until 10:00 am, Monday, 29 February 2016.] Ministry of Public Works General Post …
All right. Thank you, Premier. The House is adjourned until Monday at 10:00 am. 848 26 February 2016 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly [Gavel]
[At 3:33 am [Saturday, 27 February 2016], the House stood adjourned until 10:00 am, Monday, 29 February 2016.]
Ministry of Public Works
General Post Office Building, 56 Church Street, Hamilton HM 12, BERMUDA PO Box HM 525, Hamilton HM CX, BERMUDA Phone (441) 294 -9776 Fax: (441) 295 -0170 Email: rerochester@gov.bm Website: www.gov.bm
To: Clerk to the Legislature
From: Craig L. Cannonier, JP, MP Minister for Public Works
Date: February 24th, 2016
Dear Madam Clerk,
Re: RESPONSE TO PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION S
I write in response to the parliamentary questions raised by MP Derrick V. Burgess JP, MP dated February 17th 2016 . Accordingly, I can advise as follows:
Q1. Will the Ho nourable Minister please provide this Honourable House with an itemized breakdown of cost on the Black Watch Pass round -a-bout project on the following, Outside contractors, materials, labour and equipment; Works and Engineering labour materials and equipment as at January 15th, 2016 ?
Answer : Officers have researched the records of project costs held in the Government’s E1 accounting system to provide a response to the Honourable Member’s question. To reduce the administrative burden of providing the detailed information, current data was exported from the system as at 17th Februa ry 2016.
The following data Tables are annexed to this response: Table 1 Table of project expenditure in Fiscal 2014/15 and fiscal 2015/16 broken down by accounting object codes (See Attached) Table 2 Main contractor commitments ordered and not yet paid fiscal 2015/16 and not included in Table 1 (See Attached)
Questions have previously been asked regarding the role of construction contractors on this project, in particular in undertaking trenching work. A substantial proportion of the construction works involved the diversion of Belco apparatus where poles were in the new areas of carriageway or sidewalk , including the undergrounding of cables where overhead diversion was not feasible, and also drainage excavation work in close proximity to existing underground high voltage cables. Taking into account Belco requirements and also the benefits of accelerating construction progress where it was advantageous to employ additional resources, Belco's approved contractor, Invisible Trenching, was employed to undertake conduit and cable trenching work and drainage excavation adjacent to the high voltage cables.
Q2. Will the Honourable Minister please inform this Honourable House, when the plans for Black Watch Pass were present ed and why there was not an e stimate of cost requested and provided ?
Answer : The roundabout layout was presented to the Governor in September 2012 in relation to the transfer of land . At that time, there was no cost attached to the plan as this was to be internal project. The proposed c onstruction of the roundabout was announced in 2014/15 budget brief delivered on 18th March 2014 . The project was never intended to be outsourced as the Ministry had the resources to manage the project.
This project was part of Ministry of P ublic Works general Roads Works Capital Development Fund. This project was no different from other internal road improvements projects such as Dutton Avenue, and Scaur Hill. All of these projects fell within the Road Works Capital Development budget. Th ese are not projects that we seek general contractor bids for or Request for Proposals. Therefore, budgets were allocated with respect to the amounts of work determined for that year. 2 Just like other in -house road improvement projects, like Dutton Avenue , the majority of the work is completed in -house. Occasionally, certain aspects of the project require outside support. In those specifics instances , a final cost is always determined utilizing Government’s Financial Instructions .
It should also be noted that the Government’s published accounts demonstrate that the Ministr y exercised effective control over the 75042 Road Works Capital Development budget from which the Black Watch Pass project has been funded.
Regards,
Craig L Cannonier Minister for Public Works
Cc: The Secretary to the Cabinet
RESPONSE TO PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS MP DERRICK V. BURGESS JP, MP FEBRUARY 17TH 2016 – ANNEX TABLES Page | 1 OF 2 Table 1 : Table of project expenditure in Fiscal 2014/15 and fiscal 2015/16 broken down by accounting object codes Object Code Description 2014/15 fiscal Actual Exp. 2015/16 fiscal Actual Exp. Total Ministry of Public Works (In-House) – Labour, Equipment, Vehicles and Stores Materials 4260 Labour and staff cost 75,687 342,582 418,269 4270 Wages allowances 25 25 4315 Overtime 9,062 9,062 5005 Internal Vehicle Hire 17,838 46,538 64,376 5935 Stores Inventory materials 1,164 11,550 12,714 5940 Quarry products 5,275 5,275 Total - Ministry of Public Works – Labour, Equipment, Vehicles and Stores Materials 509,721 External goods and services procured through Ministry purchasing and procurement systems 5920 Maintenance materials – mainly for use by the Public Works in - house teams 52,560 82,452 135,012 5270 Contractors – includes works and services but also hired plant and equipment. 108,138 158,270 266,408 Total - External goods and services procured through Ministry purchasing and procurement systems 401,420 Total 255,387 655,753 911,140
RESPONSE TO PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS MP DERRICK V. BURGESS JP, MP FEBRUARY 17TH 2016 – ANNEX TABLES Page | 2 OF 2 Table 2 : Main contractor commitments ordered and not yet paid fiscal 2015/16 and not included in Table 1 Order Number Amount To Receive Supplier Number Supplier Name Line Description 21406927 2,281.00 210884 BELCO BELCO utilities work 21407137 6,725.00 210884 BELCO BELCO LV UTILITIES 21407144 19,179.00 210884 BELCO BELCO HV Utilities 21407153 6,540.00 210884 BELCO Conduit material s 21407161 49,926.00 210884 BELCO BELCO utilities HV works 21399717 1,157.00 218253 INVISIBLE TRENCHING Trenching materials 21417506 4,040.00 218253 INVISIBLE TRENCHING Drainage excavation near HV TOTAL 89,848 .00