The Premier announced that Bermuda is on track for its first budget surplus in 21 years, projecting a $4 million surplus despite cutting energy taxes and investing $25 million in social programs. Ministers provided updates on key government initiatives including a new strategic plan to improve public services, progress on renovating 167 housing units with 68 already completed, and expansion of Parish Primary schools with new classrooms ready for students. The Transport Minister reported that the new digital fare system for public transport has been running for 11 weeks with over 5,000 users signed up.
Government's financial performance showing projected budget surplus of $4 million for 2024/25Public Service Strategic Plan for 2024-2027 outlining government service improvementsProgress update on affordable housing construction and renovation projectsEducation reform progress including Parish Primary schools and new classroom constructionDigital fare media (ShoreLink) system update for buses and ferries
Bills & Motions
No bills were read, debated, or voted on during this sitting. This was primarily a session for ministerial statements providing updates on government programs and initiatives.
Notable Moments
Premier emphasized the government's fiscal responsibility, highlighting tax cuts for 86% of workers while achieving a budget surplus
Housing Minister clarified confusion about renovation progress, explaining that 30 previously vacant units are now housing Bermudian families
Several MPs paid tribute to recently deceased community leaders including Dr. Erskine Simmons and Mr. Carlington who lived to 102
Debate Transcript
723 speeches from 37 speakers
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMorning, Members. The Clerk will now lead us in prayer. PRAYERS [ Prayers read by Mr. Clark Somner, Clerk ]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGood morning, Members . [ Gavel]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe House is now in session. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES [Minutes of 20 September 2024]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMembers, the Minutes of the 2 0th of September [ 2024] have been circulated. Are there any amendments required? There are none. [ Minutes of 20 September 2024 confirmed] MESSAGES FROM THE GOVERNOR
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE SPEAKER OR MEMBER PRESIDING APOLOGIES
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe following announcements [are] that the following Members have indicated their absence today: The Minister Hon. Kim Wilson; MP Susan Jackson; and MP Scott Pearman. CYBERATTACK JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAlso, Members, I would like to take the opportunity to name the Joint Select Committee that has been formed to look into the cyberattack that took place on Government. The Committee will be chaired by MP Lawrence Scott [with] Members MP Scott Simmons; MP Anthony Richardson; MP Robert King; and …
Also, Members, I would like to take the opportunity to name the Joint Select Committee that has been formed to look into the cyberattack that took place on Government. The Committee will be chaired by MP Lawrence Scott [with] Members MP Scott Simmons; MP Anthony Richardson; MP Robert King; and Senator Dwayne Robinson. I should note that the Committee will have the ability to govern itself under section 29 of the Parliamentary Act, Part IV. Thank you, Members. MESSAGES FROM THE SENATE
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. PAPERS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS TO THE HOUSE
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are two papers this morning. Premier. PREMIER’S EUROPE AN U NION VISIT REPORT 5 –11 SEPTEMBER 2 024 Hon. E . David B urt: Thank y ou, Mr. S peaker, and good mor ning to you. Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to attach and submit for the information …
There are two papers this morning. Premier. PREMIER’S EUROPE AN U NION VISIT REPORT 5 –11 SEPTEMBER 2 024 Hon. E . David B urt: Thank y ou, Mr. S peaker, and good mor ning to you. Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to attach and submit for the information of the Honourable House of Assembly the report entitled the Premier’s EU Visit [Report] 5- 11 September 2024
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank y ou. The seco nd paper t his mornin g is i n the na me of Minister C aesar. Minister. Hon. Crystal C aesar: Good morning.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGood mor ning. ANNUAL R EPORT O F THE O FFICE O F PROJECT M ANAGEMENT AND PROCUREMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER 2023 Hon. Crystal Caesar: Good morning, Mr. Speaker. I have the honour to attach and submit for the information of the Honourable House of Assembly the …
Good mor ning. ANNUAL R EPORT O F THE O FFICE O F PROJECT M ANAGEMENT AND PROCUREMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER 2023 Hon. Crystal Caesar: Good morning, Mr. Speaker. I have the honour to attach and submit for the information of the Honourable House of Assembly the Office of Project Management and Procurement Annual Report for the year ending 31 December 2023.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere ar e none. 1686 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly STATEMENTS BY MINISTERS AND JUNIOR MINISTERS
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWe have five Statements this morning. The first is in the name of the Premier. Premier. UPDATE ON 2023/24 GOVERNMENT’S FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND 2024/25 FISCAL UPDATE Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, following my Statement last week where I announced a $25 million invest-ment package focused primarily on social and …
We have five Statements this morning. The first is in the name of the Premier. Premier.
UPDATE ON 2023/24 GOVERNMENT’S FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND 2024/25 FISCAL UPDATE Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, following my Statement last week where I announced a $25 million invest-ment package focused primarily on social and commu-nity programmes, I rise today to provide this Honoura-ble House an update on the Government’s fiscal performance . Mr. Speaker, we will debate that investment package later today ; however , it is important that this Honourable House and the people of Bermuda under-stand the context by which that investment can be funded. This Government has, since it was elected in 2017, been focussed on fiscal responsibility which has led Bermuda to a balanced budget, despite the hand we were dealt with the bad deals inherited by the former Government which cost Bermuda’s taxpayers $250 m illion. Notwithstanding, we steered our Island through a once- in-a-century pandemic, and have successfully implemented Bermuda’s Economic Recovery Plan, which has seen economic growth accelerate, combined with low unemployment rates not seen in Bermuda since the 1980s. This strong economic and employment growth, combined with payroll tax reform that reduced payroll taxes on workers to the lowest level in history —while providing a tax cut to 86 per cent of workers and every local business —has benefited the public purse. Mr. Speaker, before I give an update on the current fiscal year 2024/25, I wish to share the updated fiscal results from last fiscal year 2023/24. Mr. Speaker, based on the work to date on the 2023/24 Consolidated Fund Financial Statements as the Ministry of Finance prepares to submit these state-ments for the annual audit, I can share the following good news of the Government ’s improving fiscal picture. • Government revenues are now projected to be $1.19 billion, $31.4 million (or 2.7 per cent ) above the original estimate of $1.15 billion. This increase in revenue is due to better -than expected payroll tax receipts. • Current Account Expenditures are now projected to be $980.0 million, $7.3 million above the original estimate of $972.6 million. This was achieved despite unbudgeted items such as $16.3 million to support the hospital and ne-gotiated pay awards for public officers and teachers. • Capital account expenditures are projected to be $98.2 million, $2.2 million above the original estimate of $96.0 million. These expenditures include a $2.9 million deposit for the purchase of two new ferries, $6.1 million for new electric buses, $8.3 million for stabili sation works at the Tynes Bay Waste- to-Energy Facility, $4.8 million for a new Asphalt Plant and $4.3 million in grant funding to the Bermuda Housing Corporation to provide more affordable housing. • Interest and Guarantee Management costs are projected to be $130.6 million, a minor increase above the original estimate of $130.4 million. Guarantee management fees totalled $1.3 million in 2023/24. The decrease in inter-est costs is directly related to the repayment of $50 million of Government debt in December 2023. Mr. Speaker, because of this Government’s prudent management and economic stewardship, the 2023/24 budget deficit is now projected to be $21.8 mil-lion, which is $21.7 million ( or 50 per cent) less than the original estimate of $43.5 million. The figures that I just mentioned highlight the result of the successful execution of Bermuda’s Economy Recovery Plan which has seen Government revenues increase, economic growth that has exceeded expectations and continued strong growth in international business. Mr. Speaker, I will now speak to the current fiscal year 2024/25. Last Friday, I tabled a supplementary estimate in this Honourable House. The key areas of the supplementary estimate focussed on social invest-ment include —investment in public safety, enhancing support for mental health and community services, additional resources for educators and social workers and investing in additional care options for our seniors. This investment package totals $25 million for the 2024/25 budget year. Mr. Speaker, based on the performance over the first five months of the fiscal year, I will now share the updated projections for the Consolidated Fund: • Government revenues are now projected to be $1.26 billion, $30.0 million ( or 2.3 per cent ) above the original estimate of $1.23 billion. The projected revenue figure represents continued economic recovery, evidenced by increases in payroll tax and tourism- related revenues, and takes into account a $10.0 million reduction in expected customs duty due to the 60.0 per cent cut in energy taxes to reduce the impact of energy price hikes. • Current account expenditures are now projected to be $1.0 billion, $17.6 million above the original estimate of $992.0 million. This increase is solely due to the additional invest-ments contained in the supplemental invest-ment package announced last week. • Capital account expenditures are now projected to be $119.8 million, $7.3 million above the original estimate of $112.3 million. The ad-ditional expenditures include investments in Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1687 B ermuda House of Assembly infrastructure, public [safety ], community spaces and phase one of a seniors’ day -care facility which are part of the supplementary investment package. •Interest and Guarantee Management costs are projected to remain on budget at $127.8 million.Mr. Speaker, in February in this Honourable House this Government tabled a budget that was projected to deliver Bermuda’s first balanced budget in 21 years. Today, I am humbled to announce that despite a $10 million reduction in energy taxes to assist Bermudians, combined with a $25 million additional investment package focused on social investments , this Government is not just on track to deliver a balanced budget this year. The most recent estimates from the Ministry of Finance indicate that the budget surplus is now projected to increase to $4 million!
Some Hon. Members Some Hon. MembersOoh! Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, please let me recap. This PLP Government cut payroll taxes for 86 per cent of Bermuda’s workers and every local business , a move opposed by the One Bermuda Alliance. An H on. Mem ber: Yes. Hon. E. David Burt: This PLP Government …
Ooh! Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, please let me recap. This PLP Government cut payroll taxes for 86 per cent of Bermuda’s workers and every local business , a move opposed by the One Bermuda Alliance. An H on. Mem ber: Yes. Hon. E. David Burt: This PLP Government cut energy taxes by 60 per cent after the former OBA Government doubled energy taxes on hard- working Bermudians. This PLP Government has advanced the single largest increase in social investment in 20 years while the One Bermuda Alliance speaks about reducing government spending which will negatively impact young people, hurt working- class families, and reduce support for the vulnerable and our seniors. And, Mr . Speaker, despite the naysayers, both inside and outside of this Honourable House, this PLP Government will deliver Bermuda’s first budget surplus in 21 years! [Desk t humping] Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, the financial record is clear for all Bermudians to see. There is only one party in this Honourable House that has delivered tax fairness for workers; there is only one party in this House that has reduced taxes on essential goods and energy; and there is only one party in this House that is rebuilding Bermuda with Bermudians at heart —and I may add, Mr. Speaker , with a b udget surplus. And that party , Mr. Speaker, is this Bermuda Progressive Labour Party Government! Thank you, Mr. Speak er. [Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Thank you, Premier. Don’t you have a s econd Statement? Would you like to present that now? Hon. E. David Burt: It is not as exciting as the first, but I can.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWell, you can go right ahead. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I give this Statement as Premier . . . as Minister responsible for the Public Service and on behalf of the head of the Public Service, I deliver this Statement. May I …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGo right ahead. PUBLIC SERVICE STRATEGIC PLAN 2024 –2027 Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to present to this Honourable House, the Public Service Strategic Plan for the p eriod 2024– 2027 . And Mr. Speaker, for the benefit of Honourable …
Go right ahead. PUBLIC SERVICE STRATEGIC PLAN 2024 –2027 Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to present to this Honourable House, the Public Service Strategic Plan for the p eriod 2024– 2027 . And Mr. Speaker, for the benefit of Honourable Members, I will table this Plan which was shared in the public earlier this month. Honourable Members will recall the earlier G overnment Reform Plan for the period 2019 to 2023 was tabled in this Honourable House on 1 March 2019. Mr. Speaker, this new Public Service Strategy transitions to an operational plan to improve and en-hance the delivery of government services, which builds upon the foundation laid by the Government Reform Plan. It recogni ses the significant strides made in enhancing the [Public] S ervice's capacity and capabilities, through initiatives such as the d igital forms, Public Service Excellence Awards, and the Leadership Pro-gramme. Mr. Speaker, the development process and timeline of the strategic plan highlight comprehensive and inclusive planning. It began with a situational anal-ysis, identifying performance gaps, and deciding what elements from the earlier Reform Plan should be carried over. A thorough review of s trengths, opportunities, future aspirations, and r esults was also conducted. The actual strategy formulation was iterative and participatory. The collaborative effort across the service ensured a wide range of insights contributed to setting up core values, and formulating new goals, objectives and actions, setting a solid foundation for future aspirations and results. Mr. Speaker, the resultant Public Service Strategic Plan sets out the operational priorities for the P ublic Service and the actions that will be driven from now to 2027. This Plan aims to ensure that the Public Service is well- positioned to deliver on the Government’s strategic priorities and sets out a strategic framework to enhance the business operations of the Public Service. It continues to strive for a Vision of a future- forward Government for the people of Bermuda by focussing on its mission To enhance the lives of the people of Bermuda . 1688 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, the Public Service commits to the core values of: 1. Customer -centric —being user -friendly and putting our customers’ needs front and centre; 2. Future- focused—by being agile and innovative and making decisions based on data; and 3. Promoting prosperity —by promoting economic and environmental sustainability in the Public Service and Bermuda. These principles will serve as a compass, guiding every decision and action toward the goal of a forward- thinking and prosperous society. By committing to these values in all aspects of operations, the Public Service will demonstrate a steadfast dedication to fostering a government that not only meets the current needs of its citizens but also anticipates and shapes a thriving future. Mr. Speaker, the [Public] Service will operationali se the strategy through a focus on five strategic goals as follows: 1. Acting Strategically ; 2. Being Customer -Centric ; 3. Putting People Firs t; 4. Effecting Digital Transformation; and 5. Delivering Excellence. Mr. Speaker, each goal is not just a statement of intent but a commitment to action. It is the roadmap for the Public Service to follow as it looks to improve the lives of Bermudians. Mr. Speaker, the Strategic Plan is deliberate about joining the digital revolution. For the next period, a key focus is digital transformation, which is positioned as a catalyst to improve effectiveness and efficiency. The Plan proposes that digital transformation will help the public and employees alike by using technology to close resource gaps. Mr. Speaker, the Public Service Strategic Plan will be implemented over the next three years, until December 2027. Action items will be incorporated into Ministry and d epartment business plans and in individual employee annual performance objectives. Activities will be funded from operational budgets. Communica-tion will play a crucial role in the implementation pro-cess and mechanisms are being put in place to ensure that all public officers are aware of administrative and public policy developments within t he [P ublic] Service. Mr. Speaker, to effectively measure progress and achievement within the P ublic Service, a robust monitoring and reporting system is essential. This sys-tem will hinge on key performance indicators such as the number of services successfully digiti sed, insights from annual [employee] feedback surveys, and data from customer satisfaction surveys. These metrics will provide a comprehensive overview of performance and areas for improvement. Progress and achievement will be continuously monitored through regular reporting within the Public Service. Customer satisfaction surveys will measure service user satisfaction. Public perception surveys will gauge public opinion of the Public Service overall. The number of new services digiti sed will be tracked and employee feedback surveys will measure staff satisfac-tion and adoption of our mission and core values. Mr. Speaker, these measures will be coordinated by the Office of the Head of the Public Service and reported to Cabinet, the Public Service Executive, the Leadership Team and to staff via individual departments and t eams. Mr. Speaker, as we embark on the journey from 2024 to 2027, the outcomes of the Public Service Strategic Plan are eagerly anticipated. I look forward to sharing with th is Honourable House and Honourable Members , updates on the achievement of the goals, particularly those related to service delivery. Mr. Speaker, as I conclude, I would like to acknowledge the dedication and hard work of public officers, providing essential services that add value to the community. The collaborative efforts of all involved are crucial for the successful execution of th at plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Mr. Premier. Members, the next Statement this morning is in the name of the Minister of Works. Minister.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGood morning. PROGRESS ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Lt. Col. Hon. David A. BurchI rise to report on one of the most pressing challenges we, as a country , face: the shortage of affordable housing . In keeping with our pledge to the people of Bermuda, this Government has invested record sums into increasing the Island's hous-ing stock. Next month marks two years …
I rise to report on one of the most pressing challenges we, as a country , face: the shortage of affordable housing . In keeping with our pledge to the people of Bermuda, this Government has invested record sums into increasing the Island's hous-ing stock. Next month marks two years since I stood in this Honourable House to announce the Residential Building Programme under the Bermuda Housing Cor-poration [BHC] , a $21 million dollar investment over three years that will see the refurbishment of 167 older [housing] units owned by the BHC. Fifteen million of that commitment has been spent thus far and the remainder will be provided in the final tranche in next year’s budget. Mr. Speaker, there has been some confusion surrounding the number of units and the progress we have been making in getting them renovated , so I'll take a moment to clarify. The Bermuda Housing Corporation has a total of 710 units in its stock . This number will increase as we add to the private Sector Rental Programme, build, or purchase new units. Included in this figure though is the 167 units that are to be renovated, 101 occupied and 66 vacant and derelict which I have announced previously. To date, 68 of those units have been completed, 38 Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1689
Bermuda House of Assembly occupied and 30 vacant and derelict. And yes, the 30 vacant apartments are now being used to house Bermudian families that were in need of affordable hous-ing. Nonetheless, this left 99 units in various stages of progress. Mr. Speaker, the 68 units completed thus far comprise of 11 studio units, 13 one- bedroom units, 7 two-bedroom units, 7 three -bedroom units , and 3 four - bedroom units. Of the 99 units remaining, Mr. Speaker, the next cohort of projects totalling 31 brand new units are un-derway either under construction or awaiting building permits. They consist of the following: • Harmony Terrace East, Paget ; 12 units • 18 Battery Road, St. David's ; 12 units • Chelsea Apartments, St. George ’s; 5 units • Middle Town Terrace, Pembroke; 2 units The remaining 68 units are in various stages of the planning process and will be advanced as the building permits are received. Mr. Speaker, as I have said before whilst there is more to be done, tangible progress is being made. But this is why units under the Residential Housing Pro-gramme are not the only effort to expand the affordable rental options for Bermudians. Mr. Speaker, Honourable M embers, may recall the BHC's Private Sector Rental Programme, to which an additional $10 million was provided this financial year. This programme provides for privately owned units to be rented to the Bermuda Housing Corporation, with guaranteed rent and intervention by the Corpora-tion when tenants do not honour this commitment. The rates are less than market rates, but the rent is guaran-teed to be paid on time and the unit returned to its original state at the conclusion of the BHC tenancy. In October 2023, I indicated that the BHC will expand this programme. In keeping with its commitment to the people of Bermuda, Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago on September 12, the BHC announced a partnership with the Leopard's Club International to transform their vacant three- storey building into 13 affordable housing units. As many of you know , Mr. Speaker, it was January 27, 2007 , some 17 years ago, when that structure caught fire, and it has remained vacant ever since. Therefore, the BHC viewed this as another opportunity to boost our housing stock. The total cost for this renovation is estimated at $4.8 million, and the project is expected to take 22 months to complete. The Government will recoup its investment through rental income generated from these new homes over the next several years. Mr. Speaker, in relation to the Private Sector Rental Programme, the BHC project team continues its efforts in negotiating successful agreements with homeowners for 21 additional private units. This programme provides funding for renovation to private sector units that are then placed in the BHC rental stock for a set period to recoup the investment. Agreements are made on an individual ba-sis which includes BHC receiving the entire rental income or a portion of the rental income. T he latter resulting in a longer period for the unit to remain in the BHC rental stock. I would now like to move quickly from rentals to home ownership, Mr. Speaker , for the purpose of reiterating this Government's commitment to ensure that every Bermudian has the opportunity to own a "piece of the rock ." In 2017, the Bermuda Housing Corporation Home Start Programme was launched and remains available to Bermudians who have never owned a home and are looking to obtain first time home ownership. Mr. Speaker, this programme is a partnership be-tween the Bermuda Housing Corporation and Clarien Bank . The details can be found on the BHC website at [www.bhc.bm/index.php/homestart/ ]. Mr. Speaker, this programme is proving incredibly popular and as I have said before, we are looking to expand the programme to other financial institutions. Since its launch, this programme has assisted 34 Ber-mudian families in their quest to become first time homeowners. Previously, I mentioned that four families were in the final stages with the financial institution to obtain their new homes. I am happy to say that this number has now increased to six. Mr. Speaker, this G overnment is singularly committed to providing adequate housing options for all Bermudians and while it appears that progress might be slow, we press on, and I encourage any member of this community who wishes to become involved in this quest, by offering private sector units, to contact either myself or the Bermuda Housing Corporation. I shall continue to provide regular updates on our progress. Finally, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Bermuda Housing Corporation Board, ably led by MP Chris Famous ; management, ably led by Mr. Paul Martin and all staff for the hard work they continue to do to further deliver on the BHC's mandate of providing affordable housing for Bermudians. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. Members, the next Statement this morning is in the name of the Minister of Education. Minister. EDUCATION REFORM UPDATE – RECENT SUMMER WORKS AND NEXT STEPS Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to update this House and the listening …
Thank you, Minister. Members, the next Statement this morning is in the name of the Minister of Education. Minister.
EDUCATION REFORM UPDATE – RECENT SUMMER WORKS AND NEXT STEPS Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to update this House and the listening public on our education reform efforts, specifically regarding the demonstrable progress we are making with the design and implementation of 1690 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Parish Primary schools and what’s next for transforming our public education system. Mr. Speaker, b efore I go into the specifics of our education reform agenda, I am pleased to report that, despite a challenging summer for children and families across the I sland, the school year has started with minimal interruptions. The tragic loss of recent graduates and current students who were part of our BPSS family over the summer has been deeply felt. In response, schools were given an opportunity to design back -to-school programmes tailored to the needs of their communities. These programmes focused on providing a supportive and nurturing environment to set a positive tone for the year ahead. This was made possible by classrooms and school buildings that were well prepared to receive ed-ucators and students, thanks to work completed over the summer. For this, Mr. Speaker, I extend my deepest appreciation to everyone involved. Mr. Speaker, si nce my last Ministerial Statement, we have made significant progress in our transi-tion from a 3- tier to a 2- tier education system. This includes phasing out middle schools and establishing Parish Primary and Signature Senior Schools. The Government remains steadfast in our belief that Parish Primary Schools are the key to mobilising community strengths and resources to support our students in achieving the best possible life and learning outcomes. Mr. Speaker, the opening of Parish schools in Hamilton Parish at the Francis Patton Primary s ite and in Warwick Parish at the Purvis Primary s ite in September 2023 mark ed a major milestone in the Education Reform journey. This year, the introduction of Year 8 students signifies our commitment to phasing out middle schools and expanding Parish Primary Schools to include Years 1 through 8. While this isn’t the end of the process, it represents significant and observable progress. Mr. Speaker, one of the key achievements at the Parish Primary level is the implementation of the Dual Language Programme at Purvis, alongside new learning environments at both Purvis and Francis Patton. This summer, Purvis teachers, Acting Principal Enid Furbert -Jacobs, and Mrs. Luann Wainwright [-Dill], the Education Reform Unit School Transformation Lead, travelled to the UK for professional development at the Bilingual Primary School in Brighton and Hove. During this immersive experience, they worked on curriculum development, teaching strategies, and creating effective learning environments. They also gained valuable insights from staff who support diverse learners and interacted with the student council to better understand bilingual learning. Acting Principal Furbert-Jacobs noted, "The most impactful experience was seeing how seamlessly language and culture were integrated into the curriculum, ” . . . reinforcing the effectiveness of our approach to second language learning through content instruction. The teachers shared their insights with the Purvis staff before the school year started, supporting the continued growth of the Dual Language Programme. Mr. Speaker, as I stated in the press release, "The journey by Purvis Primary [School’s] educators [underscores ] our commitment to education reform. These experiences will strengthen our Dual Language Programme and [help] prepare [our] students [to succeed in] a multicultural, multilingual world." Mr. Speaker, l ast week, during the motion to adjourn, MP Caines shared the story of a parent transferring their child into the public system to access this programme. Stories like this, along with the positive results from the Year 1 pilot cohort, show promising signs. Students are excelling in both Spanish and English, demonstrating that we are fostering a lifelong love for language learning, cultural appreciation, and critical skills needed for success in an increasingly globali sed world. Mr. Speaker, in May I announced that plans were underway to expand classroom spaces at both Parish Primary Schools as they grow to accommodate two classes per year [ level] , from Year 1 to Year 8. I am pleased to report that new classrooms for Year 2 [students ] at Francis Patton, as well as new classrooms for Year 7 and Year 8 students at Purvis, were completed and ready for the start the school term. These classrooms have been designed and furnished to support flexible, high- quality teaching and learning, tailored to meet the needs of individual and group learners. Students are thriving in these new en-vironments, teachers are embracing them, and parents are pleased to see their children learning in modern, well-equipped spaces . Mr. Speaker, w e continue to see steady progress at both schools, and I’m excited to report that additional Parish Primary Schools will begin phasing in as of September 2025 at the Elliot Primary and Harrington Sound Primary sites. Mr. Speaker, I now turn to our next steps for Signature Schooling. In September 2025, we will open our third Signature Senior School at the Sandys [Secondary] Middle School site, offering Hospitality and Tourism, as well as Educational Services Signature Learning Programmes. As with all our Signature Learning Programmes, success depends on strengthening partnerships between the Bermuda p ublic school system, government agencies, and business and community part-ners. I’m pleased to announce that [Signature] Learning Partner memorandums of u nderstanding (MOUs) have been signed with Cambridge Beaches and the Bermuda Tourism Authority. We look forward to working with these partners to [ provide] opportunities for students to develop the skills and knowledge needed to follow their pass ions and achieve their career goals. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1691
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, September 2025 also marks the milestone when Senior Schooling becomes a five- year programme. This will coincide with the final cohort of the current four -year Senior School programme students . As a result, in September 2025, both Year 8/M2 and M3 students will transition to Senior School. In the coming weeks, meetings will be held be-tween parents and school counsellors to help students and families make informed Senior School decisions . Mr. Speaker, starting this year, as part of our Education Reform process, students transitioning into Senior School will receive uniform voucher s. This year the initiative is specifically designed to support the double cohort of students affected by this transition. However, going forward, the Ministry of Education will con-tinue this programme annually, providing $100 uniform vouchers to parents when they attend the Senior School counselling sessions. Uniform vouchers will also be made available for student s transitioning from Primary Schools when they close. Mr. Speaker, in March I announced the closures of Prospect Primary School and Gilbert Institute at the end of this academic year. The transitions for both schools continue to be handled with care by their respective p rincipals. I committed to providing further updates during Term 1, and we will meet that deadline. Invitations will be sent in the coming weeks for information sessions at each school. It is essential, Mr. Speaker, that as many members of our Bermuda p ublic school system family as possible attend these sessions, as they will share important information about school openings, closures, and transition timelines. I’m also pleased that our school principals specifically requested input on how these sessions should be structured, as they know best how to engage with their school families. These ses-sions and how they will happen will be a result of the collaboration between the Education Reform Unit and the p rincipals. Mr. Speaker, y ou will continue to hear me say, in this House and in other forums, that Bermuda’s chil-dren are Bermuda’s future. W e certainly must celebrate the progress we are making . We also must also be honest about the challenges we face. In some areas, long - standing practices and customs have slowed our pro-gress, preventing us from moving as quickly as we would like. These issues are real, and we are actively addressing them but in a collaborative way to ensure all voices are continuously heard and cons idered. However, Mr. Speaker, we remain steadfast in our commitment to reforming our education system for the sake of our children. We will continue to push for-ward, working through the obstacles, because ensuring that every child and young person in Bermuda recei ves a quality education is not just our goal— it is our duty. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. Members, the next Statement this morning is in the name of the Minister of Transport. Minister. UPDATE ON SHORELINK —DIGITAL FARE MEDIA Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Good morning, Mr. Speaker. Welcome to the future of transportation! Digital fare media, or ShoreLink , is revolutionis i ng how …
Thank you, Minister. Members, the next Statement this morning is in the name of the Minister of Transport. Minister.
UPDATE ON SHORELINK —DIGITAL FARE MEDIA Hon. Wayne L. Furbert: Good morning, Mr. Speaker. Welcome to the future of transportation! Digital fare media, or ShoreLink , is revolutionis i ng how we navigate our Island, making travel smarter, faster, and more convenient. Together, we are shaping a seamless, efficient, and sustainable journey that empowers everyone to move with ease. Mr. Speaker, it has now been 11 weeks since the introduction of Digital Fare Media for public trans-portation across Bermuda, including both ferries and buses. This new system marks a significant shift in how passengers access and pay for public transport s ervices, streamlining the entire process for greater efficiency and convenience. Since its launch, commuters have had the opportunity to experience a more modern, seamless way of purchasing and using fares, eliminating the need for physical fares such as cash. This digital transformation improves accessibility, reduces wait times, and enhances the overall customer experience for Bermuda’s public transit users. Mr. Speaker, by way of background, in the 2023 Bermuda Government Throne Speech, we pledged to introduce Digital Fare Media as part of our efforts to modernis e the public transportation system. The goal of this initiative was to enhance efficiency, im-prove user experience, and align Bermuda’s transit ser-vices with global technological trends. As I stated pre-viously, I am extremely pleased that we have successfully fulfilled this commitment. Mr. Speaker, p hase one launched on 8 July 2024, introducing several key features to enhance the travel experience: • Passengers are able to conveniently purchase fare through a mobile app. • Once purchased, they can easily board buses or ferries by showing their digital ticket to the operator. • The operator can verify the type of fare, whether it’s an adult, child, or specific zone fare, by the signal displayed on the pas-senger’s screen. Mr. Speaker, I would like to reiterate, since the transition to D igital Fare Media is being implemented in phases, the option to purchase and use traditional fares will remain available throughout this process. Mr. Speaker, as with any large- scale project rollout, we have faced a few hurdles along the way. The transition process presented several challenges, one of which was that some pages on the app of the system were displayed in French. This issue stemmed fro m the company’s base operations being in France ; however , this was swiftly addressed and rectified. 1692 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Another challenge occurred briefly when purchased tickets were not accessible within the a pp. Thankfully, this glitch was quickly resolved and it is no longer an issue. Undertaking a transition of this magnitude is rarely without its difficulties. However, the team has consistently demonstrated a steadfast commitment to providing exceptional customer service. They remain focused on resolving any obstacles that arise, ensuring that the customer experience is both seamless and satisfactory. Their dedication to quality and responsive-ness reflects their strong ethos and commitment to excellence. Mr. Speaker, to ensure we were fully prepared, we established a call centre with sufficient staff on standby to provide support if needed. Initially, the centre operated from 6 :00 am to 12:00 pm to align with the public transportation service hours, allowing customers to reach out during their commutes. After approximately two weeks, based on the low volume of calls, we adjusted the hours to 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. This shift was a clear reflection of the successful implementation of the digital fare media, des pite some initial challenges. Two weeks later, the hours were further reduced to 9:00 am to 5 :00 pm, again demonstrating the reduced demand for support and continued success of the rollout. We began with a team of five staff members covering an 18- hour period but have since streamlined operations to two staff members covering an 8- hour period. Additionally, we deployed three field agents to pro-vide in -person assistance to customers when necessary. This transition and scaling down of resources highlight the smooth integration of the new system and its overall effectiveness. Mr. Speaker, a comprehensive data collection mechanism enables our teams to closely monitor the system's performance and progress. The key data points being tracked include the following: • total number of users ; • number of fare validations or uses of fares ; • quantity of products sold, including tickets, tokens, and passes , et cetera; • total revenue generated from sales. Mr. Speaker, the trajectory of our progress with the digital fare media initiative is very promising. For instance, in the first week following the launch, we sold 1,135 products. By the end of August, this figure nearly doubled to almost 2,000 products sold in the last week of the month. T he dollar value of products sold also saw significant growth, with revenue reaching $8,700 in the first week and climbing to $14,700 by the end of Au-gust. The excitement surrounding this new platform attracted approximately 1,000 new users during the in-itial week, and by the end of August, we have seen an average influx of 500 to 700 new users each week, totalling over 5,000 users at the end of August. Revenue collection for the first week , as I said, [amounted to around] $8,700, while total revenue generated since the inception of the platform has reached $109,000. In terms of fare validations, we started with 858 validations in the launch week. By the end of August we had reached 4,200 validations per week, representing a remarkable increase in fare usage. This data not only highlights the initial success of the D igital Fare Media system but also underscores the growing acceptance and reliance on this innovative platform among our users. Mr. Speaker, following the completion of Phase 1, which enabled passengers to purchase tickets via a mobile app, Phases 2 and 3 will introduce a host of new features • real-time information for passengers ; • the option to pay with credit and debit cards ; • contactless transportation passes that replace all existing passes, including those for seniors, children, and individuals with special needs ; • the ability to purchase digital tickets featuring machine readable QR codes ; • the implementation of a validator system on buses and ferries . The real -time passenger information system will allow users to track the locations of buses and ferries directly on their mobile devices throughout Bermuda . Commuters can view a map of Bermuda on the app, giving them a visual representation of the bus or ferry’s location and enabling them to monitor its movements as it approaches. Validators, which are compact devices, will be installed on every bus and ferry in the public fleet. Upon boarding, passengers will simply need to tap their phone, debit or credit card, contactless transportation pass, or digital ticket on the validator to confirm their fare payment. The ability to use credit and debit cards will streamline the boarding process, allowing passengers to select their desired fare zones, whether it’s a 3- zone or 14- zone fare, and indicate whether they are purchasing a ticket for a child or an adult. Additi onally, passengers can easily purchase tickets for multiple individuals, such as family and friends , when traveling together. Seniors, children, and individuals with special needs will have the convenience of purchasing their passes through the mobile app. For those without access to a smartphone, a physical contactless pass will still be available, ensuring seamless boarding on buses and ferries. Phases 2 and 3 are scheduled to be launched toward the end of the 2024 calendar year. Mr. Speaker, building on this success, we are excited to move forward with Phases 2 and 3. With these upcoming enhancements, we are confident that we will further improve user experience, accessibility, and overall efficiency within the public transportation system, solidifying our commitment to providing a modern and use friendly [ transit ] service for all Bermuda residents and visitors. Mr. Speaker, thank you. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1693
Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Thank you, Minister. Members, that brings us to an end of the Statements this morning by Ministers and Junior Ministers. We will now move on.
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. QUESTION PERIOD
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThis morning, Members, we actually have some written questions that did not require an oral response, so as I start, I am going to ask to confirm that the written responses have been received. The questions were put by MP Jackson. I believe the Opposition Whip is standing for her …
This morning, Members, we actually have some written questions that did not require an oral response, so as I start, I am going to ask to confirm that the written responses have been received. The questions were put by MP Jackson. I believe the Opposition Whip is standing for her today. Op-position Whip, are you standing up for her? Have you received the written questions? [Crosstalk]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYou have received them. Thank you. So we will now move on to the questions from the Statements today. And there are none. Members, there are no . . . questions this morning. The written questions, the responses have been received by the Opposition spokesman. And no questions for the …
You have received them. Thank you. So we will now move on to the questions from the Statements today. And there are none. Members, there are no . . . questions this morning. The written questions, the responses have been received by the Opposition spokesman. And no questions for the Statements, so we will move on.
QUESTION 1: TOTAL NUMBER OF TAXI VEHICLE LICENSES GRANTED IN EACH OF THE YEARS FROM 2017 UNTIL PRESENT
Ms. Susan E. JacksonWill the Honourable Minister please provide this Honourable House with the total number of taxi vehicle licenses granted in each of the years from 2017 until present? QUESTION 2: MONTHLY REPORTS REQUIRED BY TCD FROM TAXI DISPATCHERS/DISPATCHING SERVICES
Ms. Susan E. JacksonWill the Honourable Minister please provide this Honourable House with the monthly reports required to be provided to the Transport Control Department by all Taxi Dis-patchers/Dispatching services (i.e. monthly re-ports on number of taxis, trips, hours, cal ls, frequent pick up location, etc. required to be provided per Regulation 17 …
Will the Honourable Minister please provide this Honourable House with the monthly reports required to be provided to the Transport Control Department by all Taxi Dis-patchers/Dispatching services (i.e. monthly re-ports on number of taxis, trips, hours, cal ls, frequent pick up location, etc. required to be provided per Regulation 17 of the Motor Taxi Regulations 1952), for each of the last six (6) months to August 2024?
CONGRATULATORY AND/OR OBITUARY SPEECHES
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWould any Member wish to make a contribution? MP Lister.
Mr. Dennis Lister IIIGood morning to the listening audience and to fellow colleagues. Mr. Speaker, as I said last week, I am still trying to conquer this daunting task of catching up with recognising those over the period when we were not in session who have done things that I would like to …
Good morning to the listening audience and to fellow colleagues. Mr. Speaker, as I said last week, I am still trying to conquer this daunting task of catching up with recognising those over the period when we were not in session who have done things that I would like to highlight. Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by sending congratulations to Mr. Ryan Outerbridge of Ron Oul-lette . . . of Franklin Pierce University who won the Ron Oullette Invitational for his school in the 5,000 metres cross- country. Also, to Mr. Sabastian Kempe who won the silver medal at the ILCA UK Open and National Championships in England in the Under -21 Men’s Division. Also, to Mr. Scott Barnes who finished third in t he Xtreme Rock Island Grand Prix in karting. And, Mr. Speaker, I would now like to recognise two other Bermudians without sporting accom-plishments, but just for what they have done. Mr. Speaker, young Mr. Remy Donawa who during this summer at 17 years old earned his pilot licence. It was a dream that he had set out to accomplish since young and so I want to congratulate him for achieving that dream of getting his pilot licence at a young age. And lastly, Mr. Speaker, to Ms. Jodi Covington, a former schoolmate of mine, was recognised in Amer-ica as one of the chosen 100 top small businesses for her business, Brand Development Group. So, Mr. Speaker, whether in sports or in other areas, I always like to recognise Bermudians who are representing us well and achieving accomplishments here and overseas. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, MP. Does any other Member . . . MP Foggo, you rose before anyone else. You have your three minutes.
Ms. Lovitta F. FoggoAnd good morning to the House and people of Bermuda. Yes, I would like condolences to be recognised for the Nearon family. We recently lost Mr. Nearon down there in St. David’s who, I guess you can say, was a . . . he was a St. George’s man, but …
And good morning to the House and people of Bermuda. Yes, I would like condolences to be recognised for the Nearon family. We recently lost Mr. Nearon down there in St. David’s who, I guess you can say, was a . . . he was a St. George’s man, but he was a patriarch for the community. Well -loved, kind person and he will be sorely missed by both St. David’s and his family. I would also like to recognise Mr. Carlington. Mr. Carlington reached the ripe old age of 102. He 1694 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report Ber muda House of Assembly definitely was a patriarch in St. David’s. He was a man who stayed fit, never drank, never smoked, raised his sons . . . his children, well and was well -loved. In fact, on his 100 th birthday I can say many people came out to celebrate him, including our Premier. We did a drive - by. We stayed down there in St. David’s and we celebrated him having reached that ripe old age of 100 that so few of us get there. And, Mr. Speaker, I want to say . . . I would not be able to walk in St. David’s if I didn’t stand up here today and recognise his loss and condolences to the family. And so, Mr. Speaker, I hope this House sees fit to ensure that a letter gets sent out to his family for his service as a Bermudian and for what he meant to the community of St. David’s. Th e Speaker: Thank you, MP Foggo. Any other [Member]? MP Ming, you were on your feet quickly this morning. MP Ming, you have your three minutes.
Mrs.
Renee MingGood morning, Mr. Speaker, and listening audience. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I don’t know if this was done last week but if not, for Duvaughn Signor. [Inaudible interjections]
Mrs.
Renee MingIt was done. Yes, okay. Well, I will be associated with those comments, and I would like to associate MP Foggo and MP Swan for Wanny, Wan - done, Wan- E, who is sadly missed in St. George’s at this time. I would also like to be . . . …
It was done. Yes, okay. Well, I will be associated with those comments, and I would like to associate MP Foggo and MP Swan for Wanny, Wan - done, Wan- E, who is sadly missed in St. George’s at this time. I would also like to be . . . send thoughts and prayers to the family of Elsie Crane because anybody who knows PLP and Wellington Back Road, especially for constituency 2, if we didn’t get the approval of Ms. Crane, you weren’t having it. So I would like to be associated with those comments as well. And on a much sadder note, Mr. Speaker, I would also like to associate MP Foggo and MP Swan, is the passing of Dr. Erskine Simmons. [Inaudible interjections] Th e Speaker: Yes.
Mrs.
Renee MingI will associate the entire House with those comments. Mr. Speaker, he lived in constituency 1 and he had been down there for some time because we, even as young people, had gotten to know him. But I think the true word of knowing someone and knowing someone probably it …
I will associate the entire House with those comments. Mr. Speaker, he lived in constituency 1 and he had been down there for some time because we, even as young people, had gotten to know him. But I think the true word of knowing someone and knowing someone probably it wasn’t until his story was told. And I think that it is a story that we all know. And if we don’t, we should. He was actually a giant for his time. And for me, he would truly be a legend for the things that he did and how he stood up for us as Black people in this country. He was fearless, but he was also content in teaching others about what he went through. When he moved to St. George’s, I think it was 27 years ago now, he sought to learn the history of St. George’s. And the question sometimes is asked about why the importance of UNESCO [United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation] or a Heritage Site. If you ever had a conv ersation with Dr. Simmons, you would understand the why because he would give you the history from the start to the finish. He also let us know that there was no port in Bermuda other than the one in St. George’s. So everybody who came, came through that port. I joke about it becaus e I always say that to Somerset people. You started in St. George’s.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAhem! Ahem! Ahem! [Inaudible interjections]
Mrs. Renee MingSo for that, Mr. Speaker, he will be sadly miss ed. But he will also be remembered. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to s ay Happy Birthday to a constituent, Ms. Gloria Leverock. She is a resident up at the Sylvia Richardson facility . She loves Mars bars, so …
So for that, Mr. Speaker, he will be sadly miss ed. But he will also be remembered. Mr. Speaker, I would also like to s ay Happy Birthday to a constituent, Ms. Gloria Leverock. She is a resident up at the Sylvia Richardson facility . She loves Mars bars, so if anybody wants to go see her. But she celebrated 96 y ears young the other day. And for that we are grateful. And her family is grateful for that. She is still with them today and she does have her faculties . Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, MP Ming. Premier, everybody is jumping before you this morning. You’re a bit slow today, you know. But I will take you being you are on your feet, Premier. Go ahead. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would now be associated with these …
Thank you, MP Ming. Premier, everybody is jumping before you this morning. You’re a bit slow today, you know. But I will take you being you are on your feet, Premier. Go ahead. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would now be associated with these remarks. But I would like to rise to ask this Honourable Hous e to send and extend heartfelt condolences, as was given by the Member for constituency 1, to the family of the late Rev erend Dr. Erskine C. Simmons. As was stated, he was a tireless community servant and a product of the African Methodist Episc opal [AME] Church in Bermuda. Dr. Simmons dedicated his life to public service. As a youth leader, church founder, educator, a civic leader he impacted countless lives. Most notably he was a member of the Progressive Group whos e work played a key role in the fight for desegregation in Bermuda. And so on behalf of the Government, Mr. Speaker, the people of Bermuda, and certainly on behalf of this Honourable House, I would ask that a letter be sent to offer sincere condolenc es to his daughters, grandchildren, and his entire family. And certainly we will make sure that his legacy lives on. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Mr. Premier. Any other Member? Minister Weeks. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1695 Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, good morning. Mr. Speaker, I rise on a positive note. I would like this Honourable House to acknowledge the contributions of …
Thank you, Mr. Premier. Any other Member? Minister Weeks. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1695
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, good morning. Mr. Speaker, I rise on a positive note. I would like this Honourable House to acknowledge the contributions of Mr. Desmond Crockwell. He had a Live for Peace event organised in the Pembroke area, which encompasses constituency 21, constituency 16, and constituency 15. It was to acknowledge the tragedy of Ms. Nicole Parfitt and her two children, Na- Vii Trimm - Parfitt and Drae- E Trimm -Parfitt. It was well attended, Mr. Speaker. And it was . . . they were accompanied by the Somerset Village Gombeys. So, I just want to acknowledge the work that Mr. Desmond Crockwell does throughout the Island on different events in trying to do his part in getting the community to acknowledge and to help in their own way to stop the violence. Mr. Speaker, on another positive note, before I take my seat, it would be remiss of me not to mention one of Dandy Town’s own, Nahki Wells, who is still over there in England doing his thing. He just recently scored the winning goal for Bristol City of Ox ford United. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. MP Simmons -Wade, you have your three minutes.
Mrs. Ianthia Simmons- WadeGood morning, Mr. Speaker, and the listening audience. First, I would like to extend my condolences [for] Janet Penny Cook, to her husband, George, and her children, Monique and George. And also the Tannock family. Penny was a wife, a mother and a sister. She was also a nurse who …
Good morning, Mr. Speaker, and the listening audience. First, I would like to extend my condolences [for] Janet Penny Cook, to her husband, George, and her children, Monique and George. And also the Tannock family. Penny was a wife, a mother and a sister. She was also a nurse who was very, very committed to our seniors. And she also was an administrator for longterm care. For anyone who knows Penny, she was ex-tremely glamourous and also well -dressed. But most importantly, she was a survivor. She was fortunate enough to have had a kidney donated by her daughter after she was diagnosed with kidney disease and she survived, I would say, maybe 10 or 12 years as a result of it. Also, which I do every week, I would also like to acknowledge all of my constituents who are over the age of 65. And I ask my fellow Members to do so as well. It is always nice to acknowledge when someone has passed, but I think they would appreciate it more if you gave them birthday wishes. So I have Lisa Mattahs, Dorothy Romeo, Edwin Tucker, Leon Somersall, and Hilda Gibbons . I have decided to say just over 65, instead of giving their age. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, MP. Does any other . . . Minister Furbert. Hon. Tinee Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, representative of St. George’s South, constituency 4. Mr. Speaker, at this time I do want to give condolences and I apologise if it has been mentioned al-ready, to the family of Gaynell …
Thank you, MP. Does any other . . . Minister Furbert. Hon. Tinee Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, representative of St. George’s South, constituency 4. Mr. Speaker, at this time I do want to give condolences and I apologise if it has been mentioned al-ready, to the family of Gaynell Outerbridge who actually passed in August. Ms. Outerbridge is a Bailey’s Bay girl, Hamilton Parish girl. I want to give condolences to her family, particularly her daughters, [Wendy] and Toi . And I am just wanting to recognise and acknowledge the family at this time. Mr. Speaker, I also want to give congratulations to the Friends of Hospice. Last evening I had the opportunity to attend a breaking of the ground for a new site for hospice and palliative care. A new centre that will be titled Woodland Grove Care Centre. It is the . . . it will be the first of its kind in Bermuda, as far as palliative care and also elder care. So I want to congratulate the team of Friends of Hospice for their vision. It was definitely a visionary experience of what they envision this facil ity to be like for our country. If anyone has had anyone in their lives who have experienced terminal illness and you have also had the opportunity to experience care in Agape House, you would note that the care is definitely a different experience than it is in other places. But it is definitely catered to make sure that someone is living their last or their end of days peacefully and very special. I also want to congratulate the organisation Dementia Bermuda. It has recently rebranded and changed their name which we would know as it being formerly Action on Alzheimer’s and Dementia. They have rebranded to Dementia Bermuda. And congratulating also t hat organisation for their vision and foresight for being able to support persons in Bermuda who are living with dementia. So congratulations to them for their vision for supporting dementia going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. Junior Minister Swan, are you rising for three minutes?
Mr. Hubert (Kim) E. SwanGood morning, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated as I appreciate the Honourable Member from constitu-ency 1 doing so also, but condolences to Wanny Signor and Reverend Dr. Erskine Simmons whose family are very iconic in the AME Church. I was reminded by the Deputy Speaker …
Good morning, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to be associated as I appreciate the Honourable Member from constitu-ency 1 doing so also, but condolences to Wanny Signor and Reverend Dr. Erskine Simmons whose family are very iconic in the AME Church. I was reminded by the Deputy Speaker that [the] famous St. Philip AME Church, when it was located in Tucker’s Town on Paynters Road, was held by his . . . his grandfather Solomon, was the actual pastor. I would like to have condolences sent to the family of Ms. Agatha Pearman who . . . I would like to associate the Honourable Member Tyrrell. Ms. Pearman passed away, but her late husband was my dear 1696 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly friend, Keith Pearman, the golfer. And also the golfing community has lost our friend Michael Tracy Tavares. And condolences to his wife, Sylvia, and his family. And while I am on golfing family, let me say this. Kenneth Bremar who you would know, Mr. Speaker, grew up with us from Dockyard. I would have known [him] as a youngster from Dockyard, riding his bike very slowly through Somerset down through Scaur to White Hill. But he later went on to become a well - recognised golf car t mechanic, working for both the Fairmont Southampton and then going to Ocean View where he became a member of the Bermuda Government Golf Course’s team where he recently retired. And unfortunately, did not live too much of his retirement out, Mr. Speaker, before he passed on for his great reward. His family from the Dockyard area, his brothers, sisters, the family [we] offer condolences [to]. His brother, John, also worked at Port Royal. Brot her Steven, I know, and others in his family. May he rest in peace.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. Would any other Member like to make a contribution at this time? Government Whip, Mr. Tyrrell.
Mr. Neville S. TyrrellThank you, very much, Mr. Speaker, and good morning, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, we hear much noise of not -sopositive behaviour from our youth but today I would like to give some showers . . . I use the word showers, blessings to one of our young athletes in Bermuda. He …
Thank you, very much, Mr. Speaker, and good morning, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, we hear much noise of not -sopositive behaviour from our youth but today I would like to give some showers . . . I use the word showers, blessings to one of our young athletes in Bermuda. He is associated with the Pembroke Hamilton Club which resides in Warwick, of course. And Mr. Speaker, I think you might be familiar with this person. His name is Tai’See Showers.
Mr. Neville S. TyrrellT’Syi, T’Syi Showers. These modern names, the way they spell them. [Laughter and inaudible interjections ]
Mr. Neville S. TyrrellSo, I would ask that the House send congratulations to him, Mr. Speaker. He, for the fifth time, has received the Pembroke Hamilton Club Foundation Scholarship [Award]. So, he has been a recipient for five times, I understand. He plays in their senior tea m and also volunteers coaching their …
So, I would ask that the House send congratulations to him, Mr. Speaker. He, for the fifth time, has received the Pembroke Hamilton Club Foundation Scholarship [Award]. So, he has been a recipient for five times, I understand. He plays in their senior tea m and also volunteers coaching their Under - 13s. A very nice young man, because I have had the opportunity to meet him. And I ask that congratulations be sent to him. Thank you, very much, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time? MP Anthony Richardson. You have your three minutes.
Mr. Anthony RichardsonGood morning, Mr. Speaker, and to my colleagues, and those in the listening audience. Mine are actually commendations, Mr. Speaker. And it is to, probably two groups. The first I will say, I will describe it as being the aviation family. Mr. Speaker, on occasion, persons are required to respond …
Good morning, Mr. Speaker, and to my colleagues, and those in the listening audience. Mine are actually commendations, Mr. Speaker. And it is to, probably two groups. The first I will say, I will describe it as being the aviation family. Mr. Speaker, on occasion, persons are required to respond at short notice, and they do so, in my mind, with tremendous, tremendous applause. And last night it happened. There was a flight that diverted to Bermuda, close to midnight. And literally, within about 10 minutes notice we had to get everybody together. And I want to really, really commend everyone. That included the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service, the Duty Officer on duty, [and] the East End hotels. We had to call them, and they were able to accommodate the crew and the passengers. And not particularly, or not only but I also want to commend two cu stoms officers, Ms. Pitcher and Ms. Smith. They both rallied around and ensured that they were able to come on down and process the passengers. And what was a surprise is that when the passengers came off, they had pets with them. And they were even able t o do what was necessary to ensure that the pets themselves could be landed into Bermuda. The second group, Mr. Speaker, is actually the Prospect Primary School. And I do commend them be-cause today is actually World Tourism Day and what the school has done is ask the young people to come on board and present, or represent, tourism any way that they chose. And they had, as young people, they chose such diversity. One said that they were coming on board as a taxi driver. Somebody else as a hotelier. Someone else as an airline steward. Someone else as a Gombey. And each of them were able to . . . or required rather, to justify or explain why they did what they did. And so, I want to commend all of the staff, all of the students and all the parents because, clearly, it is a matter of ensuring that education becomes exciting. And once that takes hold, the children themselves are able to learn on a lifelong basis. So, thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, MP. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time? Deputy Speaker. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to send condolences to the family of Ms. Roslyn Woolridge. She was the . . . and I associate …
Thank you, MP. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time? Deputy Speaker.
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to send condolences to the family of Ms. Roslyn Woolridge. She was the . . . and I associate my cousin, Kim Swan. She was the executive housekeeper at Castle Harbour. One of the first Blacks to be, probably the first Black at Castle Harbour to be the executive housekeeper. She will be sorely Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1697
Bermuda House of Assembly missed by her children. I know one of them, John. John Woolridge, which is my cousin, married one of my cous-ins, first cousin. She will certainly be sorely missed by the entire family. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Deputy Speaker. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time? There are none other. Thank you, Members. We will now move on along the Order Paper. 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 URGENT PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. INTRODUCTION OF BILLS
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. NOTICE OF MOTIONS
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere are none. ORDERS OF THE DAY
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMembers, that takes us to the Orders of the Day. The first item under consideration this morning is consideration of the Contributory Pensions (Amendment of Benefits) Order 2024 in the name of the Minister of Finance and Premier. Would you like to start your matter? DRAFT ORDER CONTRIBUTORY PENSIONS (AMENDMENT …
Members, that takes us to the Orders of the Day. The first item under consideration this morning is consideration of the Contributory Pensions (Amendment of Benefits) Order 2024 in the name of the Minister of Finance and Premier. Would you like to start your matter?
DRAFT ORDER
CONTRIBUTORY PENSIONS (AMENDMENT OF BENEFITS) ORDER 2024 Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move that consideration be given to the draft Order entitled the Contributory Pensions (Amendment of Benefits) Order 2024 pr oposed to be made by the Minister of Finance in exercise of the powers conferred by section 37 of the Contributory Pensions Act 1970. The Speaker: Are there any objections to that? There are none. Continue, Premier. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the tabling of the Contributory Pensions (Amendment of Benefits) Order 2024 on 20 September [2024] reflects this Government’s resolute and unwavering commitment to improve the quality of life for our senior citizens. Mr. Speaker, the contribution our seniors have made to the country is immeasurable and therefore this Government continues to prioritise its 2017 Election Platform promise of increasing seniors’ pensions by the rate of inflation every year. We recognise t he hardships that many of our seniors now endure due to the rising cost of living, and we are committed to doing what we can to support them and ensure that they lead the dignified lives that they deserve. Mr. Speaker, Bermuda provides retired individuals with a combination of a social insurance benefit from the Contributory Pension Fund [CPF], and mandatory occupational pension from their employer. In a perfect world the social insurance benefit should provide a first tier or basic pension, which a second tier or occupational pension would most likely supplement. Through no fault of their own, however, Mr. Speaker, a number of retired persons are not receiving an occupational pension and are therefore relying on the social insurance benefit as their sole source of income. And of course, Mr. Speaker, that is because mandatory oc-cupational pensions did not come into full place until 2003. Mr. Speaker, this situation could be better, and the Government continues to do its upmost to ensure that seniors who rely heavily on their social insurance benefits are suitably cared for. Mr. Speaker, the purpose of this Order is to increase pensions and other benefits under the Contributory Pensions Act 1970 by 2.4 per cent as of 16 August 2024, when increases are typically made to the benefits every year in August. Per the Government actuary the 2.4 per cent increase in benefits represent s a small impact to the overall status of the fund. Honourable Members are advised that based on the CPI [Consumer Price Index] , the cost of living has increased by a further 2.4 per cent since the last increase was granted. Therefore, the proposed benefit increase fully covers the prevailing rate of inflation to ensure that our seniors do not lose out. Mr. Speaker, there are five types of benefits payable under the Contributory Pensions Act 1970. All the pensions and allowances will be increased by 2.4 per cent. For the information of Honourable Mem-bers, the allowances are [as follows]: • Contributory Old Age Pension; • Contributory Widows or Widowers Allowance; • Contributory Disability Benefit ; 1698 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly • Non- contributory Old Age Pension; and • Non- contributory Disability Benefit. Mr. Speaker, the current base of Contributory Pension is $1,152 per month. The maximum Contributory Pension currently payable, which includes additional increments added to the basic pension, is approximately $1,673 per month. Altogether some 14,708 persons currently receive benefits under the Act. The proposed 2.4 per cent increase will raise the basic Contributory Pension [to] $1,179 per month and, with additional increments , the maximum benefit will increase to approximately $1,713 per month, which is a $40 increase per month, or $480 additional per year . The retroactive pension payments for the 2.4 per cent increase will be included in the 15 October 2024 payment dating back to 16 August 2024 when this draft Order is set to be effective. Thereafter beneficiaries will expect to see the 2.4 per cent increase reflected in their regular monthly payment on the 15th of every month going forward. Mr. Speaker, I am proud of the fact that this increase marks the sixth pension increase—yes, Mr. Speaker, you heard correctly, the sixth increase—that this Progressive Labour Party has implemented since its election in 2017. This stands in stark contrast to the former One Bermuda Alliance Government who made our seniors wait five years for a pension increase and told them that money does not grow on trees. As a reminder, Mr. Speaker, just a month after our election in August 2017, this Government increased pension benefits by 1.75 per cent, followed by an increase of 1.4 per cent in August 2018, then a further increase of 1.2 per cent in August 2019, then 2.75 per cent effective in August 2021 (And that increase, Mr. Speaker, was higher than the prevailing rate of inflation.), followed by an increase of 4.1 per cent in August 2023. And today we are passing our sixth increase since 2017 of 2.4 per cent. In every case in which this Government has increased benefits for our seniors, the increase has been in line with or exceeded the rates of inflation. So, Mr. Speaker, let’s compare the records. Seven years and six pension increases keeping up with inflatio n under the Progressive Labour Party, or five years and one increase under the One Bermuda Alliance where Bermuda’s seniors fell behind. Mr. Speaker, I think that the record alone demonstrates which party in this Honourable House looks out for our seniors, and that is this Progressive Labour Party Government.
[Desk thumping] Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, the 2024 increase in benefits would normally be accompanied by a corre-sponding increase in contributions by an actuarially recommended rate of 2.5 per cent above the benefits rate increase. Mr. Speaker, it should be noted that con-tributions w ere last increased in August 2018 by 4.2 per cent. Honourable Members will recall that in the 2018 Throne Speech the Government announced that Bermuda’s social insurance system would be changed from a fixed rate contribution to one based on a percentage of income. Therefore, it is proposed that contribution increases will be incorporated into proposed changes of the framework. It has been regularly discussed that the CPF and PSSF [ Public Service Superannuation Fund] pensions are underfunded and will run out of assets if re-forms are not undertaken. This means for many Ber-mudians the promised benefits will not be there unless we take action. And, Mr. Speaker, this Government is taking that action. Mr. Speaker, I note the important work done over the last few years by the Pension Reform Committee. This committee includes officials from the Ministry of Finance and the Public Funds Investment Committee assisted by consultants McKinsey & Company and TELUS Health, who are actuaries, formerly LifeWorks, which have been assessing the current state of the PSSF and the CPF while evaluating options to address the Government pension funds. Mr. Speaker, as shared in this year’s Budget Statement, work is nearing completion. And it is ex-pected that legislation will be tabled in this Honourable House in the next session of Parliament to put the Public Service Superannuation Fund on a sustainable footing. As has been stated previously in this brief and inside and outside of this Honourable House, the shift to a percentage income of contribution model for the Contributory Pension Fund is consistent with the overwhelming majority of Tier 1 pension s ystems globally. Based on the results of continued actuarial analysis, the Pension Reform Committee has put forth options to achieve a path to pension sustainability for the Contributory Pension Fund. These options combined with supplementary funding from two future tax revenues will ensure that the Contributory Pension Fund will be sus-tainable for the future. Mr. Speaker, while contribution rates were last increased in 2018 by 4.2 per cent, the Ministry of Finance has considered the position of the CPF and it is anticipated that the fund can withstand a further year’s delay in contribution increases. However, Mr. Speaker, and this is an important point to note, if reforms are not implemented in 2025, it will be prudent [to], and the Ministry of Finance will, increase contributions in August of 2025 with a further increase for seniors’ benefits to match inflation next year. Mr. Speaker, as of 31 March 2024, the Fund had net assets of over $2.25 billion, representing ap-proximately 10 times the value of benefits paid in this fiscal year. The effect of this is that if the CPF received no further contributions it could still continue to pay out pensions at the prevailing rate for almost 12 years. However, the reality is that contributions will continue through that time and will be increased from time to time. Consequently, prudent investment of the pension Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1699
Bermuda House of Assembly fund assets is an important factor in the funds financial position. In this regard the Government’s sound investment strategy for pension fund assets has achieved good results. As of 31 March 2024, the Contributory Pension Fund investments stood at $2.1 billion. The nominal rate of return for the 10 years preceding the 31 March 2024 date has been 5.6 per cent. Mr. Speaker, as evidenced in the 2020 Actuarial Report tabled in this Honourable House in February 2022, the viability of the Fund in the short -to-medium term is good with the fund being positive for the next 21 years until 2044. However, recognising the long- term challenges with pensions generally, the Ministry will continue to closely monitor the performance of this fund. It should also be noted that the funding policy of the fund is not based on full actuar ial funding but on sustainable funding. That is, contributions plus investment income should cover benefits and administrative expenses on an annual basis while the fund builds up sufficient reserves to cover several years of benefits and expenses to withstand future adverse circumstances. Mr. Speaker, despite the encouraging short -tomedium term outlook on the fund, what is evident from the latest actuarial review is that Bermuda, like most of the developed world, is faced with challenges associated with an ageing population. The increase in our seniors will place a greater strain on the country’s pension system and that, Mr. Speaker, is why it is important to expand the working population, which you can only do by expanding jobs, which you do with sound economic management i nvestment. And as we have heard in previous Statements earlier, and in other reports from Ministers, including the Minister of Economy and Labour, [which is what] this Government is doing after we have brought this country through a once- in-a-century pandemic. However, Mr. Speaker, taking care of seniors is this Progressive Labour Party Government’s priority, which is demonstrated by our continued commitment to ensure they have the resources they need for increased pensions and social insurance benefits. Mr. Speaker, this Government will continue to strike the right balance between social and fiscal re-sponsibility and support for our seniors. In closing, I wish to again assure Members, and, more importantly, current and future pensioners, that this Government recognises the challenges that they face. We are committed to continue to increase pensions by the rate of inflation and we will enact the reforms necessary to ensure that the Fund will be there for the future to support younger persons who are not yet retired as they do retire. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Mr. Premier. Does any other Member wish to speak? We recognise the Opposition Leader. Opposition Leader, you have the floor. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning to you, sir.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGood morning. Hon. Jarion Richardson: And good morning to the listening audience and my colleagues. Yes, we in the Opposition support increasing the pensions —
Some Hon. Members Some Hon. MembersAhh! Hon. Jarion Richardson: —contribution. We have received equally a number of inquiries into this matter, and we are in fact glad to see it. However, we would like to go through some of the components that are leading to the circumstances we are seeing concerning an ageing population, as …
Ahh! Hon. Jarion Richardson: —contribution. We have received equally a number of inquiries into this matter, and we are in fact glad to see it. However, we would like to go through some of the components that are leading to the circumstances we are seeing concerning an ageing population, as well as how long the funds will last, and our efforts, especially our short -term to medium- term efforts to remediate the outstanding issues. Most especially, we would like to start [with] the progress on the reform. The Honourable Premier spoke to the progress . . . that some progress has taken place. But my understanding was that this was in relation to the S uperannuation Fund. So, could he split the difference (so to speak) and speak to the Contributory Pension Fund instead of Su-perannuation? Also, we would also like to know the specific dates he anticipates implementing reforms for the CPF, specifically. As well, he has committed to creating legislation and bringing that legislation to the next sitting of the House, the next session. And I wo uld like the Premier to commit publicly . . . or commit to a public consultation before that legislation reaches the House. Mr. Speaker, we are fairly accustomed to legislation arriving quite abruptly into the House and so we would like to get the public’s opinion on the proposed course of action. Also, Mr. Speaker, we would like to see the latest actuarial report relating to t he CPF. And would the Honourable Premier be able to commit to when that would take place? We are mindful that there are several changes to be made, and so we are looking forward to debating those changes so that we can create a sustainable CPF going forward. Some other questions, Mr. Speaker, I would be interested in is maintaining the population as it relates to ratepayers staying in Bermuda and not moving overseas. How confident is the Government about the ratepayers staying in Bermuda and what, if any, actions can be taken in relation to the CPF reform, or project, to encourage people to stay in Bermuda? Further, I think that not making the annual contribution . . . we don’t agree with that idea. We think that is a bad precedent to set in this circumstance. We 1700 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly would be interested to know what the current deficit is as it relates to the contributions to the CPF and payouts, as well as what impact, if any, the missing contributions will have. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Opposition Leader. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution? Any other? Minister Tinee Furbert. You have the floor. Hon. Tinee Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what we are in this House is policymakers. And we are legislators. And it becomes apparently important that our …
Thank you, Opposition Leader. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution? Any other? Minister Tinee Furbert. You have the floor. Hon. Tinee Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, what we are in this House is policymakers. And we are legislators. And it becomes apparently important that our people in our country understand that when it comes to legislation such as this. And so with this piece of legislation, we are looking to assist. I think of three words. Our seniors, our precious seniors, our sacred seniors. I think of contribution, and I think of thankfulness. And I say thankfulness , Mr. Speaker, because one of the number -one comments that I get from seniors is, Thank you so much for what you are doing for us seniors.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberHmm. Hon. Tinee Furbert: Can I repeat that?
Some Hon. Members Some Hon. MembersMm-hmm. Hon. Tinee Furbert: They say, Thank you very much for what this Government is doing for our seniors.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberYes. Hon. Tinee Furbert: And they say that because of legislation such as this. We know with our cost of living that every penny counts. Mr. Speaker, have you ever found $20 on the ground when you have been walking, and what that feels like?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerTwenty dollars. Yes. Hon. Tinee Furbert: When you had it before?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHaven’t found that, no. Hon. Tinee Furbert: Or you go into your pant pocket, and you reach in and you pull out something and it’s $20, $50 that you didn’t realise was in there? [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Tinee Furbert: Yes. It is a good feeling. And so whatever money, change …
Haven’t found that, no. Hon. Tinee Furbert: Or you go into your pant pocket, and you reach in and you pull out something and it’s $20, $50 that you didn’t realise was in there?
[Inaudible interjections] Hon. Tinee Furbert: Yes. It is a good feeling. And so whatever money, change that we can contribute to our seniors . . . this has been calculated to the rate of inflation. Our seniors are definitely happy about. I even had a senior come to me who is experiencing dementia. And she said, Ma’am , what . . . isn’t Government giving us a pension? And I said, M a’am, you get a pension every month. And I said, You must be talking about the increase that you are going to be getting every year. And she said, Yes, yes, yes. I read in the paper about this increase. When is that coming? Because that is the second question that I get! When does the pension increase come into effect? And I believe it is coming into effect October, this year. But our seniors have that to look forward to. Our seniors have a Government who is looking out for the best interests of their seniors. Hence the title of the Ministry —Youth, Social Development and Seniors. Mr. Speaker, why is this important? It is important because many of our seniors are on fixed pensions. And if you have not planned for an income other than your fixed pension, then you will not be able to keep up with the cost of living when these rates increase. And so every penny counts, Mr. Speaker. And our seniors are so very grateful for this. When I think of that word contribution, when you can use a little extra money for food, when you can use a little extra money to pay your bills, when you can use a little extra money for medication or a co- pay to a physician; when you can use a little extra money for a gift for yourself, or use a little extra money for a gift for your grandchild, Mr. Speaker, that matters. And that is a contribution that any senior who will benefit from this increase in pension will get to contribute back to themselves and to our community. Mr. Speaker, again, I just want to stand to my feet . . . I am standing to my feet in support of this piece of legislation. And we want all of our seniors to know that this is a Government who cares about our seniors. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. Does any other Member . . . MP Simmons - Wade. You have the floor.
Mrs. Ianthia Simmons -WadeI stand here to say that I significantly support this legislation that increases pensions at the rate to match the rate of inflation. We are a Government that listens. We are a Government that cares for our seniors. Many of our seniors only receive a pens ion and no other …
I stand here to say that I significantly support this legislation that increases pensions at the rate to match the rate of inflation. We are a Government that listens. We are a Government that cares for our seniors. Many of our seniors only receive a pens ion and no other regular income. This pension affords them access to services that they need, basic needs, in some cases. It also, for seniors who are living with their families, it also gives them an opportunity to contribute to their households. We have many intergenerational families. It also, these pensions, assist with long -term care. For individuals who go into Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1701
Bermuda House of Assembly long-term care, their pensions are taken along with financial assistance or any contributions by families to pay for their long- term care. This income contributes to their dignity and empowerment. We are a Government that is preparing for the global ageing population. We continue to support seniors. People within the community, clubs, organisations, third sectors also make a significant contribution to our seniors. Our Government is truly, truly pr eparing for an ageing population. Within the next 10 to 15 years, 33 per cent of our population will be seniors. It is actually hard to imagine that we are going to have a population who are over the age of 65. Many of us sitting in this room fit into that category. [Inaudible interjections]
Mrs. Ianthia Simmons -WadeI don’t want to call names, but put your hands up and we will know who you are. [Laughter]
Mrs. Ianthia Simmons -WadeI am very proud to be part of a Government that puts seniors up front and centre when they talk about the legislation. I am proud to be part of this Government which remains committed to our seniors to ensure that they live with dignity, and also have quality care …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, MP Simmons -Wade. Deputy Speaker. Would you like to make a contribution at this time? Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I applaud this Government for giving our seniors increases every year. Mr. Speaker, many folks do not realise that many …
Thank you, MP Simmons -Wade. Deputy Speaker. Would you like to make a contribution at this time?
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I applaud this Government for giving our seniors increases every year. Mr. Speaker, many folks do not realise that many people, 83, 85, this is the only pension they get, because the company pensions, that only came into effect in 2000. And i f you were 60, 65 then, this is the only thing you get. And for anyone to even question this, they need to just think a bit. Think a bit! Think about those older folks because those older folks, they do not benefit like most people who are sitting here tod ay. Because they will get the benefits of the pension that came into effect in 2000. Even the Superannuation, the Superannuation at one time was only to the civil servants. Blue- collar workers did not . . . they only got put on in the [19]70s. And the Government backdated it. Right? But this was discriminatory to blue- collar workers. That Superannuation was put in by civil servants when at one time most of the civil servants came from England. That’s who it was put in for.
[Inaudible interjections] Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: And since which most of the civil servants today are a little darker than me, Mr. Speaker. Now, Mr. Speaker, one has to realise that our seniors today, they have health challenges in terms of paying for medical services. I wish that we would have a national plan that would cover my seniors 100 per cent. But we are not there yet. And so anything that we can do, increases to these folks, is appreciated by them. We applaud it because the maximum pension one would get today is probably about $1,700, a little lower than that. If you put the $2,178 contributions, that is like 40 -something years of working in order to get the maximum benefit. But our seniors are not getting that because one who is 85, they are getting the rate. That rate was based on 20 years ago when they were 65. So if that rate then was $500 a month, that is their rate. It only increases, the CPI, each year, you know, based on that rate. As opposed to someone who retires today, they will get the $1,700 maybe $1,800 a month. So people have got to understand that our seniors are not getting even the $1,700 that I quote. And even that will not sustain them in today’s world, Mr. Speaker. Because people must realise in those days many of our females did not work; they couldn’t work. They had 8, 10 children. They needed to look after those children. But there is in the Act a non- contributory pension. And it is my belief that non- contributory pensions were put there for those working mothers —not working mothers, those mothers who had to stay home and look after those children and then they would look after their grandchildren. It was put there for the physically challenged. That is what it was put there for, Mr. Speaker. And that amount is not as much as the Contributory Pension, Mr. Speaker. So before we get up and start asking for reports and all this here, let’s think about the history. I would forego those reports based on the bad history that our seniors had to go through. So, the increase that this Government is putting in place, I applaud it. Premier and Finance Minister David Burt, continue to do that. Take care of our seniors because our seniors vote also. They breathe like me and you and they require food, medical care like all of us. So, I applaud them. I stand on their shoulders because without their fight many of us would not be here today. We wouldn’t enjoy the . . . all this stuff that is out there today. It is because of them that we enjoy the standard of life that we have today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Deputy. Does any other Member . . . Minister Hayward. Hon. Jason Hayward: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I applaud the movement from the Minister of Finance to increase the pension of our seniors. This is not just simply an increase in pension. This is an investment …
Thank you, Deputy. Does any other Member . . . Minister Hayward.
Hon. Jason Hayward: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I applaud the movement from the Minister of Finance to increase the pension of our seniors. This is not just simply an increase in pension. This is an investment into our seniors. This is in alignment 1702 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly with the core values of the Progressive Labour Party, the social justice values of the Progressive Labour Party, ensuring that our seniors age in dignity and they have the necessary security in retirement. As the Honourable Member MP Burgess stated, our se niors have contributed in the work force and their contributions have made Bermuda the gem that it is today. And so it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that we support our seniors who are ageing in Bermuda. Mr. Speaker, this is not the only way in which we support our seniors. [Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Jason Hayward: Thousands of seniors benefit from our social protections through financial assis-tance. We pay over $13 million in rent annually. We pay over $7 million in nursing home fees. Roughly around $3 million in rest home fees.
Hon. E. David Burt: Yes.
Hon. Jason Hayward: And over $10 million in supporting insurance payments for our seniors. This is a Government which cares about our seniors and we have demonstrated it. Year over year we have provided our seniors with increases. This whole notion of show us the actuarial statements . . . every Fund has an actuarial end date. What we should be focused on is the sustainability of the Fund. And that is what our priority would actually be focused on. The stability of the Fund to ensure our seniors continue to receive an income while they age in Bermuda. For some of our seniors this is their only income. This is there only means of dispos-able income. And as the cost of living increases in Bermuda, our seniors are negatively impacted and as a re-sult it is respon sibility of the Government to continue to progress those payments so that they can keep up with the cost of living and their purchasing power can be maintained. This is also about addressing inequalities in our society, the growing gaps between the rich and the poor. And it is mechanisms like these, when we increase pensions, help to reduce those inequalities. When we extend the benefits that we provide for financial assistance, it helps to reduce those inequalities. It allows for our seniors to age in a decent and dignified manner. This is a symbol of Government recognising the value of our seniors and ensuring we do all that we can to support our seniors while t hey age in Bermuda. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. Does any other . . . Junior Minister Swan.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. Mr. Hubert (Kim) E. Swan: Mr. Speaker, ever so briefly, I have to declare my interest. I have actually exceeded the mandatory age — [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Hubert (Kim) E. Swan—and I am now officially a senior for . . . and as of a week from today, two years. And as you become a senior, initially, you are . . . some of us, are in denial. But as time ticks on you come to certainly appreciate the thought …
Mr. Hubert (Kim) E. SwanAnd I would like to associate the Honourable Member from Warwick with that comment. The one thing that I can say in favour of our Government is that . . . and you hear persons chirping away when an increase is provided every year. And I have lived long enough …
And I would like to associate the Honourable Member from Warwick with that comment. The one thing that I can say in favour of our Government is that . . . and you hear persons chirping away when an increase is provided every year. And I have lived long enough to know that one year adds up to two years, and two into three, and three into ten very quickly. And had this Government not seen it necessary to have incremental increases on a conti nuous basis, where would we be in the seven years of PLP Gov-ernment in this term, following on from the mind- set of the One Bermuda Alliance whose mind- set from finance were telling seniors money doesn’t grow on trees ? That is a stark contrast in the mind- set that had we followed that mind- set, seniors would not have probably received a pension increase in about 10 years. And so all we would have been trying to do is to play catch- up with that against the backdrop of the same mind- set from the persons who would have pushed that can down the road. So to be able to put seniors first, and be able to say, Yes, you are getting an increase this year. You got one last year. You got one the year before. You got one the year before that. You got the year before that. Puts paid to the argument of having no increases for 10 years and then someone thinks that you are looking for, you know, some special gift or grant when they decide to give a grant to play catch- up. We are not entering into that ball game because we do no t look at seniors that way. In fact, it is consistent because you had the same mind- set permeating in education when they told our students . . . and cut the scholarships for students and the like. And thankfully the Minister of Education today took a different mind- set. So that mind- set is what you have to be careful of in this silly season we are in. Because do not let [anyone] fool you, that min d-set has not gone away. No matter how much glossy icing someone might put over it, no matter [what] well -sounding words they might on it, . . . when you have to go back to the core of your actions [that] your actions Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1703
Bermuda House of Assembly speak louder than your words. And you will be held accountable for the actions, just like we will be for ours. Mr. Speaker, you know, in this country someone would say, What’s an incremental increase worth? Well, it is worth a lot if you are getting nothing. If you have been getting nothing. So we have been continually making sure that seniors are trying to be kept pace. But what are we fighting against? We are fighting against merchants who have no type of d isposition otherwise than to make sure that the bottom line in profits prevails. Increases in basic items that people say are necessary to eat healthy in Bermuda. We have the highest rates of diabetes in, probably, per capita in the world. So, if you try to eat to reverse that, persons are going to put those prices up exponentially. You know, persons getting those increases are fighting against that and many peo ple are guarding against . . . and I . . . and I glory in the spirit of those particular companies that are making pharmaceutical goods available at a lower price. Mr. Speaker, I just want to close by saying that I am appreciative of the Government for seeing to put . . . adopting a mind- set that is obviously contrary to the mind -set that existed prior to us regaining the Government in 2017. And I thank the Premier and Finance Minister, there have been a couple in our lifetime, you know. Contrary to what public opinion would have you believe, that sees it necessary to increase in favour of seniors. And I wouldn’t bark against it being even more, but I am thankful for what we are receiving. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, MP. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time? None other. Premier. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And before I get to my particular remarks, I want to thank colleagues on this side who have spoken in support of this particular …
Thank you, MP. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time? None other. Premier. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And before I get to my particular remarks, I want to thank colleagues on this side who have spoken in support of this particular measure today. I guess I will thank the Opposition for their half -hearted support because they support one aspect but they do not support another. And I think that it is important that the country knows and understands what that means, Mr. Speaker. Because this Government is laser -focused on the protection of working people in this country. That, Mr. Speaker, is the reason why we reduced payroll taxes for workers to their lowest level in history after the One Bermuda Alliance Government raised it to their highest level in history. This is an important point, Mr. Speaker. You may say, Why am I talking about that? How does it tie into this? This is important, because it is important that the public recognises that the reason why we have committed to reforms is because it is fundamentally unfair that the cashier working at a retail operation is paying the same amount into the Contributory Pens ion Fund as the owner of that operation who may be taking home 10 times as much money. This is a question of fairness. As I have said when I have spoken on this, it is like Bermuda is really another world! Because nowhere else in the world still does this! Many other countries did do it, and so I will accept the responsibility that this has not yet been changed. But what I will not do is increase the burdens on working people in this country, as the One Bermuda Alliance has just proposed to do. That is what they mean when they say they do not sup-port us not increasing contributions. What they would do is increase taxes on w orking people.
Hon. Jarion Richardson: Point of order. [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerPoint of order? [Inaudible interjections] POINT OF ORDER [Misleading] Hon. Jarion Richardson: I think the Honourable Premier is, yes, definitely misleading the House. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Jarion Richardson: I do not know where he is going with that one. I think we outlined our support — [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Jarion …
Point of order?
[Inaudible interjections]
POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Hon. Jarion Richardson: I think the Honourable Premier is, yes, definitely misleading the House. [Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Jarion Richardson: I do not know where he is going with that one. I think we outlined our support — [Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Jarion Richardson: Misleading the House. [We] outlined our support and then put a set of questions to the Premier. I would be thankful if he can get back to that.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Premier, the Member indicated you are misleading the House when you tied the other in. Yes, they supported part, but you are giving reasons why . . . your opinion why they — [Crosstalk] Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. I am not …
Thank you. Premier, the Member indicated you are misleading the House when you tied the other in. Yes, they supported part, but you are giving reasons why . . . your opinion why they —
[Crosstalk]
Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. I am not misleading the House. And I will not take directions from the Opposition Leader on the statements that I make inside of this space, the only space for you. What he said, Mr. Speaker, in his comments was he does not support us not increasing contributions by the actuarially approved rate. That is what he said! He may not understand what that means and that is the reason why I am explaining to the country what that means. The Honourable Leader of the Opposition wants to increase the burdens on working people. That is what it 1704 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report B ermuda House of Assembly means, Mr. S peaker. T hat is the implication of w hat he says. And see, the thing is, the One Bermuda Alliance sometimes just makes these policy pronouncements without recognising the impact that it has on working people of this country, Mr. Speaker. [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. David Burt: Oh, he talking about just getting to—
The SpeakerThe SpeakerSpeak . . . speak to the Chair.— Hon. E. David Burt: Don’t worry.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerDon’t get caught up— Hon. E. David Burt: I won’t get into the chirping, Mr. Speaker. I won’t get into it.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGo ahead. Hon. E. David Burt: Becaus e here is the thing. That Honourable Member certainly does not want to compare records. Becaus e records, when it comes to pensions in this c ountry, are clear. The last time they had the reins, Mr. Speaker, the only increas e they …
Go ahead. Hon. E. David Burt: Becaus e here is the thing. That Honourable Member certainly does not want to compare records. Becaus e records, when it comes to pensions in this c ountry, are clear. The last time they had the reins, Mr. Speaker, the only increas e they gave was right before an election. The only one! Whereas every single year— [Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. David Burt: Every single year this Government continues to make sure we keep [up] with the rate of inflation. Do you know why, Mr. Speaker? Do you know why? Because when we tell the public in our platform that we are going to do this, when we tell our seniors in our platform that their pensions will not fall behind the rate of inflation, it is incumbent on the Gov ernment to deliver on that promise and that is what we are doing. So they might not like the implications of the policy position that they advocate for, but that is the reality, Mr. Speaker. They would increase social insurance contributions, which means that working people in this country would hav e less take-h ome pay in their pocket. That is the difference, Mr. Speaker. And that, Mr. Speaker, is why it is not a part of our policy. Very simple: It is a question of what y our ethos is. If your ethos is taking care of working people, you will recognise the impacts of your decisions on working people, Mr. Speak er. So now, Mr. Speaker, let me go to the questions.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. Hon. E. David Burt: See, Mr. Speaker, they are so upset— [ Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. David Burt: They are so upset that we came here, Mr. Speaker, and delivered a budget surplus while they have been spending their time talking about where is all this money coming from? …
Yes. Hon. E. David Burt: See, Mr. Speaker, they are so upset— [ Inaudible interjections] Hon. E. David Burt: They are so upset that we came here, Mr. Speaker, and delivered a budget surplus while they have been spending their time talking about where is all this money coming from? But let me go, Mr. Speaker. So, let me go to the questions that the Honourable Opposition Leader proposed with regard to re-forms. He had mentioned that, you know, that CPF and PSSF are separate, et cetera. And I mentioned the thing . . . I just mentioned the PSSF for the brief. For knowledge of the public, the PSSF has already gone to the unions. There is one further union brief that is needed. And then there is the work to make sure that we bring this. The Cabinet has already approved th e proposed changes. We are going through the consul-tation process with our union partners who are the ones who are impacted before those matters are brought to this Honourable House. In regard to the Contributory Pension Fund, the Honourable Member asked for the timeline for those particular changes. And also the question as to whether or not those matters will go out to consultation. The second answer is, of course they will go out to consultation. They will go out to consultation because this is a change that will affect everyone. It will affect people who are in work, but it will also affect employers who are the persons who also match Contributory Pension Fund benefits. And it is vitally important that we recognise the impact on employers as well. And so the points . . . I have already made the points regarding the increase in contributions. And I have stated my specifics. The Honourable Member has asked for the specific dates for reforms. What I would say is the time the consultation will happen will be in 2025. On the CPF. We will do the CPF reforms in con-sultation following the implementation of the Public Ser-vice Superannuation Fund reforms. The Public Service Superannuation Fund reforms of course are important as they are charged in the Consolidated Fund. And they are the most important ones that we need to make sure that we deal with, Mr. Speaker. The question was when the next actuarial report is due. It should be noted that the actuarial report is due every three years. The last was tabled in this House in 2022, so they should expect one to come in 2025. But it may come earlier than 2025, as I have just been informed by the Director of Social Insurance that that report has been received in the last two months and they will be able to go ahead and prepare it for Cabinet review and then bring it to the Legislature. So, it will be either in November or the next time in the budget session, Mr. Speaker. And then there was a difference insofar as a difference of the tax on working people that the Hon-ourable Opposition Leader has spoken about. And that difference would be $5.7 million of taxes, and that is $5.7 million that we are not taking f rom the working Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1705
Bermuda House of Assembly people of this country, Mr. Speaker. It is important to note that the result of the investments on the fund this year, Mr. Speaker, the returns on our total investments were 10.8 per cent last year. And when you have the 10.8 per cent, of course, it helps to make sure you build up the fund. So despite the f act that the fund does have more payouts than it has received, we have to make sure we take into the account the investment income which is why the fund maintains and r emains on a positive balance. Investments, however, cannot carry us over the long term. There is going to be a need for the reforms. And everyone knows what the reforms to pensions are. They are either the changed amount of contributions that come to the system by changing it to a percentage basis where those persons who can afford to pay more do pay more. Like every other system in the world, that will be able to stabilise the funds, Mr. Speaker. But it is a difficult challenge. And the one thing that we want to do is to make sure that we are not compounding challenges on employers as the one thing that this Government recognises is that if you do not have the employment in the economy, you are not going to have tax revenues in the economy. And that is the reason why we are taking a fai r and balanced approach. But it is important to note that the fund is not going down. The fund is maintaining due to the invest-ment income of which the fund is earning. I believe those are all of the answers to the questions, Mr. Speaker. And with that, noting that this Government will not increase the burdens on working people, I move that the said draft Order be approved and that a suitable message be sent to Her Excell ency the Governor.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Mr. Premier. [Motion carried: The Contributory Pensions (Amendment of Benefits) Order 2024 was approved.]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMembers, that brings [this item] to a close. The appropriate [message] will be sent. So, we thank you for your contributions to that matter this morning. Members, we will now move on to the second item on the Order Paper which is the second reading of the National Pensions Scheme …
Members, that brings [this item] to a close. The appropriate [message] will be sent. So, we thank you for your contributions to that matter this morning. Members, we will now move on to the second item on the Order Paper which is the second reading of the National Pensions Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment Act 2024 in the name of the Junior Minister of Finance. Junior Minister.
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Speaker, I move that the Bill entitled the National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment Act 2024 be now read the second time.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAre there any objections? There are none. Continue. BILL SECOND READING NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME (OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS) AMENDMENT ACT 2024
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Speaker, I am pleased to provide for the consideration of this Honourable House the Bill entitled the National Pension Scheme (Occupa-tional Pensions) Amendment Act 2024. Honourable Members will be aware that the National Pension Scheme (Occupational P ensions) Act 1998 provides for the establishment, administration and regulation of the …
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to provide for the consideration of this Honourable House the Bill entitled the National Pension Scheme (Occupa-tional Pensions) Amendment Act 2024. Honourable Members will be aware that the National Pension Scheme (Occupational P ensions) Act 1998 provides for the establishment, administration and regulation of the private sector occupational pension plans in Bermuda. The Act became operational on the 1 January 2000 and over the years a number of amendments to the A ct and Regulations have been introduced to provide for various matters. Mr. Speaker, since 2010, the Government has provided plan members and those 65 and older additional access to their pension funds which over the years have provided timely and substantial financial support. In particular, the temporary COVID -19 refunds, t otalling $243 million; lump sum refunds totalling $58 million; the financial hardship refunds totalling $31 million; and small pension refunds totalling $12 million. Mr. Speaker, this Bill proposes to amend the Act further to allow individuals the ability to use a por-tion of their private pension savings toward the purchase of their first home. This was an election promise made in 2020 and I am proud to say that it is a promise made and a promise kept. Mr. Speaker, homeownership is not just a personal achievement. It strengthens our communities and supports our economy. It gives individuals and families a sense of stability and security and helps them to build equity for future generations. Also, as Ber muda’s real estate market over the years has shown steady increases in property values, homeownership is not just shelter, it can be a wealth- building tool. Another key feature to this Bill is that it allows individuals to withdraw pension funds, not only for their own first home but also for the home of a spouse or child. This increases accessibility and empowers families to support each other in securing pr operty, ensuring the next generation steps onto the property ladder. Mr. Speaker, the Bill then provides clear withdrawal limits as well. As individuals between the age 18 and 45 can withdraw up to 30 per cent of their pension 1706 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly balance, while those between the ages of 46 and 64 can withdraw up to 15 per cent. This tiered approach recognises the fact that as a person gets older to retire-ment, the need to preserve their pension account increases. And therefore, this approach ensures a bal-anced between supporting home ownership and protecting retirement security. Mr. Speaker, I also feel it is incumbent to illustrate the impact of this Government’s initiatives aimed toward building a nation of owners. I would like to highlight that currently if a Bermudian wishes to purchase a $600,000 home, they would typically n eed to provide a 20 per cent downpayment which is $120,000. However, under the Government’s Mortgage Guarantee Programme this requirement is reduced to 10 per cent which then brings the downpayment to $60,000. Now with this amendment, given the average pension bal-ance of a 35- year-old in Bermuda, a young Bermudian in their 30s can withdraw up to 30 per cent of their pension and therefore would only need approximately $40,000 in cash, compared to the original $120,000 re-quirement. That is an $80,000 reductio n. Mr. Speaker, while we are proud to help make homeownership more accessible, this Government rec-ognises that purchasing a home still requires discipline, sacrifice, a plan, and a budget. This Government is committed to creating pathways to ownership but the journey’s success is up to each individual. Owning a home is a long- term commitment. And through financial responsibility, Bermudians can secure not only a home but their family’s financial future as well. Mr. Speaker, I should also mention that this proposed initiative is not unique to Bermuda as many countries around the world provide their citizens with the option to use a portion of their pension savings for home ownership. A stand- out example is Singapore where the government similarly allows citizens to use their pension savings to finance the purchase of their homes. As a result of this policy, Singapore has one of the highest homeownership rates in the world with over 90 per cent of its population ow ning their homes. By leveraging pension savings, Singapore has transformed homeownership from a distant dream to a reality for many of its residents. Mr. Speaker, as a Government, we understand and acknowledge the concerns some have expressed related to the potential impact of pension withdrawals on future retirement benefits. In response, I want to assure the public that the Government, in collaboration with the Pension Commission and industry stakehold-ers, will work to ensure all applicants are informed of potential risks and ways to mitigate those risks prior to them ultimately making a decision. It is also critical to emphasise that this initiative i s entirely voluntary. Individuals are free to leave their pensions intact should they wish to. We are simply providing Bermudians with the flexibility to make choices that suit their personal financial circumstances. Mr. Speaker, we should not overlook the fact that hardship withdrawals already exist for individuals facing significant difficulties such as rent arrears, mortgage defaults, medical expenses, educational purposes and funeral costs. This new option is simply an expansion of an existing provision offering even greater flexibility for Bermudians to decide how best to manage their money. The Bill also proposes to provide the Minister of Finance with the power to issue regulations that will expand the availability of domestic investments for plan members to voluntarily invest a small portion of their pension fund in. The specific regulations will be brought to this Honourable House after further consultation with the Pension Commission and pension- industry representatives. Mr. Speaker, it is also important to note that applicants are not required to live in the property they purchase using these funds. Successful applicants can choose to rent the property out thereby presenting an opportunity to generate income to support t heir mortgage payments. Finally, as I mentioned last week, due to the very nature of the plan, this initiative will not be availa-ble to individuals on defined benefit pension plans. And so, Mr. Speaker, as I close, I would like to thank those within the Pension Commission and the team at the Ministry of Finance for their efforts. I would also like to thank our local approved pension administrators for working with the Government on not just this initiative but preparing on a much broader scale to help the people of Bermuda become retirement ready. This initiative is more than just a financial option. It is a stepping stone to building stronger families, secure future, and a more resilient Bermuda. By giving Bermudians the flexibility and opportunity to invest in their own homes, w e are not just helping them achieve a life- long dream, we are creating a nation of proud homeowners. Together we are ensuring that more Bermudians can take pride in the roofs over their heads and the wealth they build for future generations to come. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Junior Minister. Does any other Member . . . Opposition Leader, you have the floor. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given that we are speaking about the utility of pensions and changing what can be allowed to happen with pensions in Bermuda, I think it is …
Thank you, Junior Minister. Does any other Member . . . Opposition Leader, you have the floor. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Given that we are speaking about the utility of pensions and changing what can be allowed to happen with pensions in Bermuda, I think it is worth reflecting on the role of pensions in an ageing population. Mr. Speaker, it is quite clear that the role of pensions in Bermuda to date is going to be to guarantee income. We are living in a fast -changing world with the cost of living only ever going up. And as it stands right now, the role of pension serves to, ag ain, Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1707 B ermuda House of Assembly guarantee income for the future. It serves to reduce financial stress, Mr. Speaker. As we all know, those of us who are going into those pension meetings with our plan administrators who are explaining to us how retire-ment works, we are all well aware that to retire will require careful negotiation of a number of different pension schemes including our social insurance, which we spoke about earlier today in this Honourable House. Guaranteed income serves to reduce financial stress for us going forward into the future where we know, again, our cost of living is only going to increase. Outliving our savings, Mr. Speaker, part of the network that provides for our retirement, our safe retire-ment, is our individual savings. So it is not just the so-cial insurance or Contributory Pension Fund. It is not just the private pensions, it is also our savings, Mr. Speaker, that adds toward how we will be able to live in the future. It serves to protect us against inflation, Mr. Speaker. Again, a variable that we cannot reliably predict ourselves and the impact it will have on us. And most especially, Mr. Speaker, these private pensions provide for less reliance on the social insurance. We have already heard that social insurance is in a state that requires reform and cannot be sustained in its current format. So until that time when the Honourable Premier brings those reforms to this House, we cannot rely on that to be there. Mr. Speaker, I would also speak to our ageing population because I think this is actually quite key. We are well aware that we need some 8,000 additional workers. The ageing population report has that as a minimum. The ageing population report has set out that there is a strong correlation between economic growth and the structure of our labour force. It also sets out that we are anticipating a GDP decline unless we deal with this outstanding issue. Our old age dependency will be higher than the OECD average. And at this point we are well aware of the challenges we are facing. All of us who are canvassing are on the doors on a regular basis and we hear about how pension already does not pay for bills, health insurance, groceries, mediations, et cetera. So much so that as the Honourable Minister of Economy and Labour said in an earlier contribution, the majority of our folks on financial assistance, our awardees, are in fact pensioners. So, we are going into a tough time to be a senior in Bermuda and it is al ready hard. So, one of the ideas that has been proposed, or that this legislation proposes, is that we would ena-ble a person (applicant) or their husband or wife or their son or daughter to access some of those contributions to purchase a house. Mr. Speaker, the values of properties in Bermuda are astronomical. Buying a house at some $400,000 or $600,000 is a dream that most of us look for but very few of us find. It is exceptionally difficult at this point in time to imagine how accessing these funds in this day will actually make our future safer. It is an incredible risk, Mr. Speaker, that will increase the vulnerability of our population, our ageing population. What we are proposing here is nothing less than borrowing from the future and hoping that it all works out. That is not what is going to happen, Mr. Speak er. Mr. Speak er, we are putting our vulnerable population at even more risk. We are creating domestic situations for seniors. We are not . . . this is not going to pan out well for us going forward in Bermuda. Those contributions are not enough today. They will certainly not be enough tomorrow. Mr. Speaker, to that end we cannot support the idea of raiding people’s pension funds.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberRaiding. Hon. Jarion Richardson: To that end, Mr. Speaker, we are completely against this. We find it void of all worth and will object to it going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Opposition Leader. Does any other Member wish to make a c ontribution at this time? Any other Member? MP Dic kinson.
Mr. Curtis L. DickinsonThank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to this legislation as a finance profes sional with almost three decades of indus try experience. This experience includes having served for three years as Bermuda’s Minister of Finance, hav ing worked for 11 years as an investment banker in …
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak to this legislation as a finance profes sional with almost three decades of indus try experience. This experience includes having served for three years as Bermuda’s Minister of Finance, hav ing worked for 11 years as an investment banker in New York and in London, and having worked for almos t 12 years as a senior leader in one of Bermuda’s community and commercial banks having run group-w ide businesses for that organisation. I rise to s peak on this legislation as a Bermudian with deep concerns about the sustainability of our retirement savings regime, especially in light of the observations that are being made in other jurisdictions around this very same issue. Mr. Speaker, there may disagreement in this room around this initiative but I c an certainly assure folks that there is probably unanimity in thought around Members in this Honourable House that we all broadly support homeowners hip in Bermuda. We can also agree that we are supportive of people having full participation in efforts to save for their retirements. It goes without saying that there is great pride to be had in owning a piece of the rock and to be able to sustain yourself financially throughout your retirement. And we all want to strongly support efforts to achieve both. It has often been said that when the US sneezes, Bermuda catches a cold. In a series of recent financial services conferences that I attended, the pension gap in the United States has been estimated at approximately $1 trillion annually. Yes, $1 trillion. What does that mean in simple terms? It means the difference between what is needed to fund retirements versus what is available to fund those retirements. It is 1708 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report B ermuda House of Assembly called a pension gap. And it represents a trillion dollars annually. The full number is $54 trillion. Mr. Speaker, this problem has arisen as a result of two primary factors: (1) people are not saving enough for their pensions; and (2) people are living longer in retirement. Mr. Speaker, I do not know the size of Bermuda’s pension gap, but I do know that our Contribu-tory Pension Fund, our Public Service Superannuation Fund, our Ministers and Members of the Legislature [Pension] Fund are all underfunded, and by a signifi-cant amount. And absent long- past-due reforms in these plans, the obligation of making up for those in-creasing shortfalls could fall on the Government and ul-timately the taxpayer. I also know that defined contribu-tion plans became more prevalent in the United States in the 1970s. And Bermuda’s own defined contribution legislation became operable in the early 2000s. So the United States has an estimated 25- year head start on us with respect to these types of plans. And they have a trillion dollar pension gap. Accepting that we have a smaller population, our pension gap (in absolute terms) will be much smaller. But what does much smaller mean? I don’t know at this moment and would rather not speculate. I would suggest that the Ministry of Finance, the Pension Commission and Pension Fund Administrators work to identify strategies to figure out the size of the gap and strategies to close it. I also unequivocally take the view that we can ill afford to be engaging in policy decisions that are designed to allow individuals to reduce their pension balances before their retirement ages. Instead, we should be doing more to strongly encourage them to contribute more. I do note the observation made about Singapore, and I would say this. We all could do more to be like Singapore. Singapore has a national savings rate of approximately 40 [per cent] to 50 per cent of GDP. The United States numbers are around 17 [per cent] to 20 per cent of GDP. While I have not checked to see the size of Singapore’s pension gap, I would argue that it is vastly smaller than others. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, I am a big supporter of home ownership. And I am equally a big supporter of retirement savings. Notwithstanding my strong support for home ownership and retirement savings, I have found it difficult to support this legi slation which allows people to tap into their retirement savings to aid in fulfilling their dreams of making a downpay-ment to buy a home. This lack of support is based largely on the fundamental characteristics of the cur-rent Bermuda- defined contribution industry. We have relatively low plan balances, and that will make self - sustainability in retirement very difficult, if not impossi-ble for many. Mr. Speaker, there is a concept, a powerful concept in finance called compounding of interest, or the compounding effect. The compounding of interest is the process where interest is earned, not only on the initial amount of money invested but also on any inter-est that already has been added to the amount in-vested. This creates a snowball effect where interest is continually earned on the ever -increasing balance. Compounding of interest is important to savers because it accelerates wealth growth. The longer the money is invested, the more significant the growth even if interest rates are relatively modest. Time matters. Compounding works best over a long period of time. The earlier you start investing, the more you benefit from compounding. Even small investments can grow substantially over time due to compounding. Compounding is key to retirement savings. It is essential to retirement savings. By contributing regularly to a retire-ment account even modest amounts, the interest earned compounds over the years creating substantial savings for retirement. Of course, compounding also has some down sides if you are in debt. If you don’t pay your credit cards off in full. The interest on those debts accrues leading to larger balances. The compounding of inter-est is one of the primary reasons why we want people to start saving for their retirements early and for them to make consistent contributions. The compounding of interest is important because it maximises returns on savings and investments over time making it a crucial factor in wealth building and financial planning. The earlier and more consistently one takes advantage of it, the greater the benefit. For those who take capital out of their retirement savings, they lose the power of compounding on that capital which makes them worse off in the long run. One of the biggest contributors to your pension balance is making the contributions early when they have max-imum opportunity to grow over the longest period of time. Mr. Speaker, I can remember an exchange I had in 2018 with a somewhat prominent figure in our local community. The decision had been taken that I would run in the bye- election that resulted from the vacancy created by former MP Jeff Baron’s resignation. It was thought advisable that my profile be raised in the community. And in that vein, I was scheduled to partic-ipate in a forum. At that forum there was a view ex-pressed that I should take an adversarial approach to discussing Bermuda’s financial services industry. I declined to take that approach and instead offered to speak on the benefits of financial literacy. I was told that financial literacy never improved anyone’s life. That statement was as wrong then as it is wrong now. Being financially literate has always been important, and is even more so now as we navigate a world with increased sophistication in the financial services marketplace. Financial literacy is a key to anyone seeking to gain financial independence, especially as markets continue to innovate and provide products to assist people in their financial matters. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1709
Bermuda House of Assembly Financial literacy involves having the knowledge and understanding of the following components: 1) budgeting; 2) savings; 3) investing; 4) debt management; 5) understanding financial products; 6) understanding taxes; 7) understanding retirement planning. Mr. Speaker, I have already noted the size of the US pension gap. Japan, a nation with one of the world’s highest savings rates is also facing a pension funding gap. Factors such as an ageing population, a low birth rate and a shrinking workforce have created real challenges for Japan and how it will manage its pension fund funding gap. The issues of an ageing pop-ulation, low birth rate and the shrinking or slow -growing workforce are not unique to Japan. Bermuda faces similar challenges. Last week in a Ministerial Statement entitled, Helping to Build a Nation of Owners, Junior Minister of Finance Adams made a powerful point when explaining why the proposed benefits of this legislation would not be available to participants in defined benef it [DB] plans. His words were particularly sage as they relayed why such a benefit was not advisable to DB plan participants. His statement, and I quote, was “ Any deviation, such as a one- time refund, would undermine the stability of these plans and potent ially affect the longterm security they are designed to offer. ” I am not sure if Junior Minister Adams was aware at the time, but those same sage words are equally applicable to why withdrawals contemplated by this amendment should not be permitted. I believe that there are alternative ways to support the building of a nation of owners where the Government can play a piv-otal role. This is just not one of them. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAt this time we are calling on the Premier to move us to the 12:30 hour. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move that this Honourable House now adjourn for lunch until 2:00 pm.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Are there any objections to that? There are no objections to that. The House now stands adjourned until 2:00 pm. [Gavel] Proceedings suspended at 12: 30 pm Proceedings resumed at 2:02 pm [Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGood afternoon, Members. The House is now back in session. [Gavel]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWhen we ended this morning . . . MP Dickinson, had you finished your contribution? [No audible response]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerOkay. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time? MP Richardson, you have the floor. BILL SECOND READING NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME (OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS) AMENDMENT ACT 2024 [Continuation of debate thereon]
Mr. Anthony RichardsonGood afternoon, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon to my colleagues and that clearly goes for those in the listening audience. Mr. Speaker, I do want to obviously pick up from where we left off this morning, and I guess what I will say first is that it may sound a bit …
Good afternoon, Mr. Speaker. Good afternoon to my colleagues and that clearly goes for those in the listening audience. Mr. Speaker, I do want to obviously pick up from where we left off this morning, and I guess what I will say first is that it may sound a bit of a contradiction, depending on your perspective of what was said this morning, and I will say that I actually s upport what has been proposed by Junior Minister Jache Adams. But I also undertake support in the context that MP Dickinson spoke about in terms of proceeding with caution. Mr. Speaker, I will say that the whole matter of finance for me has always been a very interesting discussion. It started way back when, I suppose (as they say back in the day ) long before I qualified as an accountant in 1990. And as MP Dickinson would have said, we have both been in this industry for quite a while, me doing lots of different things that he has done. But also, I served as the Accountant General. But, Mr. Speaker, the most relevant experience I have in this matter, to be honest, was when I worked at HSBC. What many people do not know is that when I was at HSBC we had a conversation in terms of what are the benefits, the risks and otherwise, when i t came to granting mortgages, because at that point in time we were working to have mortgages at 100 per cent. And similar to today’s discussion, there are benefits, and there are certain drawbacks to doing that. The conversation ultimately came down to un derstanding, 1) does 1710 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly it make sense?; and 2) what are the various precautions that are necessary? And the conclusion was that, yes, it does make sense because for some persons they were able to afford the payments, but they were unable to have a down- payment at that stage. What happened then (in my words) as an offensive discussion, potentially, or an emotional discussion for sure, was the fact that some people who thought they should get the 100 per cent mortgage were not qualified. And it came down to the idea that a relatively new professional Bermudian person could actually take on a 100 per cent mortgage, but persons who, for example, were in an industrial job could not take it on. And the reason is that if you look at the potential income stream for a new professional, they would start at maybe $60,000 or $70,000, but they would quickly escalate and, therefore, they were able to afford the mortgage. For a person who was in a more steady job they would not experience a significant increase in income and therefore they wo uld not qualify. Then, of course, the argument became, Well, why is it that you will give a young person a 100 per cent mort-gage and not an older person? And that was the reason. But it was a difficult conversation. So, for today, the relevance is that, as MP Adams is putting forward, the ability to withdraw a portion of your pension to assist with a mortgage, not just for yourself but also for your parents, I suppose, plus the caveat that you could actually do that and not stay in your house because you could obviously rent your house and in this instance be able to generate income, is not for everybody. And I think the greatest emphasis is going to be that, yes, of course we can do the scheme because for those who d o qualify, or for whom it make sense for, then, yes, they should proceed. But, clearly, for all of us, we have to be mindful of what is going to happen in terms of your pension at a time of retirement and otherwise. And for those who take the time to do th is and consider doing it, it would make sense because it allows them to actually obtain a house that they might not otherwise [obtain], and then when they get to an older age, they are able to then have income. Mr. Speaker, I will not call the person’s name, but (the person is now deceased in any event) one of their biggest points was that they told me a long time ago, Anthony, what I am going to do is ensure that I have a house and an apartment. And the reason was that they wanted to make sure that 1) they had overseas family and wanted them to have somewhere to stay; and, more importantly, 2) they would always have the actual income once they reached retirement. Mr. Speaker, that is one example of how getting on the home- ownership ladder does make sense. And to the extent that people can do that using this new oppor-tunity than I am suggesting to you that, yes, it does make sense. Does it make sense, is it perfect for everybody? The answer is obviously no. So, again, Junior Minister Adams talked about the fact that there needs to be lots of education around this matter. Mr. Speaker, the other point I wish to make which is (in my words) very relevant is that Bermuda did see what I will call a seismic change in the local pension scheme with the pensions Acts of 2000. At that time I was working for government, Mr. Speaker. And what happened at that time was that the pensions Acts allowed for companies that had defined benefit plans to cancel those plans in favour of a defined contribution plan. And that caused some persons to receive a pay-out and they were then able to turn that payout into either mortgages, either buy a house or into investments. And I will not call names, but there are some persons who were able to be very successful and they are now able to actually own more than one house. So, Mr. Speaker, my point is that we have to be careful in terms of extolling the virtues and the values of homeownership. Yes, as MP Dickinson said, there needs to be caution in many instances. But it does not mean that we do not do it, because for those who this does work, again, it does make sense, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the other point I want to make is that for parents who have younger children that are go-ing to university, for example, and are going to come back and start working, this is actually part of the discussion that they have to have so that there is a longterm plan. In that respect, Mr. Speaker, I can speak from experience because both of my children are in university and that is the conversation. Listen, you all need to start to plan for your future, because my wife and I are older now and we have a different threshold and different opportunities to save. But they need to start thinking about that. And, thank you, Mr. Speaker, at least one of them is actually thinking about that. So, I am speaking now in terms of the important of savings, the important of pensions, and the importance of making sure that if you are going to withdraw your pension that you do so with education and understanding, but not that it cannot take place. And, Mr. Speaker, in terms of the overall plan, obviously, I want to commend the Government. The idea of trying to encourage our residents to own homes is not just based on what we are doing today. Mr. Speaker, you will know . . . and I see Mr. Sousa from the Pension Commission, in the Gallery today. He and I have had some conversations. But in terms of even the hardship opportunity to withdraw from your pension, it would allow persons, as they go through this process, to ensure, for example, that they do not lose their house as they get to that extent. Again, Mr. Speaker, I can speak from experience because I do provide some professional advice sometimes and, yes, it is another vehicle by which pers ons can benefit. But it has to be done with education, with caution, with in-telligence, and with guidance. What you do not want to do, Mr. Speaker, is withdraw those funds, pay down on a mortgage and still lose your house. So, that is another Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1711
Bermuda House of Assembly example of, yes, you can do these things, but proceed with caution. I will say one more time, and even draw the example of sometimes driving our cars. There are dangers ahead. And it is not a red light; it is actually an amber light which means proceed with caution. So I emphasise one more time to everybody listening, and to Junior Minister Jache Adams that, yes, of course, I support what they are doing because many people will benefit. There clearly needs to be some education and then, again, to go back to what MP Dickinson said, yes, proceed with caution because there ar e some drawbacks depending on what people do. So, you can’t just do it (in my words) willy -nilly. It has to be done with understanding and with care and caution. But again, clearly, many people will actually benefit from this process. And for parents who are working with their children and for children working with their parents, again, have that fulsome conversation and do not be afraid of engaging other professionals to assist in the decision and know also that the decision might be no. One more time, MP Adams, in your role as Junior Minister, I do support what you are proposing, but I do recognise the concerns or the caution that has been advocated by MP Dickinson. So, proceed with caution. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, MP. Does any other . . . Deputy Speaker. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have always had my reservations about dipping into anyone’s pension, whether it be the scheme that they have, the system that they have in government where …
Thank you, MP. Does any other . . . Deputy Speaker.
Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I have always had my reservations about dipping into anyone’s pension, whether it be the scheme that they have, the system that they have in government where you can take a lump sum. When people ask me about that I say do not take a lump sum because it will decrease your pension substantially. Now, if they are taking a lump sum to pay off a mortgage, then I understand it. There are different circumstances for everybody. But even when this was first introduced in Parliament (I believe in 2010 or 2011) by Paula Cox, I was against it. But, Mr. Speaker, I do not know everybody’s circumstance. There are some people who can manage this successfully, and some who cannot. And tha t is even so when getting a regular mortgage from the bank. Mr. Speaker, when I built my first house the banks would not give me a mortgage. I guess because they knew my political affiliation. It was never a secret. I was never discrete on where my political allegiance was. And they would not give it to me. I said, fine. So, if a scheme like this had been in place and I was eligible, I would have probably have gotten mine to build my house. But that did not happen; but I would have, without the pain. We did it. We’re doing okay. You put a bock a day, you will finish . You will finish, Mr. Speaker. But, Mr. Speaker, thank God that this system is not available to the defined benefit plan because I think the defined benefit plan is wrong, because, really, it is a Ponzi scheme. That is what a defined benefit plan is, unlike the defined contribution plan. That contribution plan is based on what that fund does per year. You can lose some this year, you can gain; whatever. And that is the problem with the government’s superannua-tion fund. That is why it is underfunded. A defined contribution plan will get y ou in trouble. And let me explain a little bit more. You can be making $70,000 a year now, and you get promoted next week and you are making $120,000, and you retire in two years’ time, your final pension check is based on that $120,000. Is that fair? No, because people like you and I have to pay. We have to top up the fund. I wish that was fixed because as long as it is going to be a defined benefit plan, that fund will be in trouble. I know they are trying some things now which are crazy. There is only one way to do it. You get what you put in it. It cannot be any other way. Any other way you do it, you are going to have problems, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, I am not going to be long on this here. I still have my reservations about taking money from pensions. As we said earlier, the pensions only started for most people in 2000. And most of those funds will probably be a defined contribution p lan. So that fund is not that rich right now. And people have had many dips out of their funds. They’ve been in there two or three times. This might make four times. I don’t think there is anything left. I do not know where I was reading this, but in the l ast three dips I think the total is about $350 million (I could be wrong) that has been taken out of this fund. That’s a lot of money. So, I am never going to be a proponent —regardless of who brings it here—of going into people’s pensions, whether it is for home ownership, or whether it is for a lump sum payment. I will always tell people, as I have done when they ask me for my opinion on taking a lump sum, I say, Leave it! Do not take a lump sum. Get your pension, unless you plan to die in three weeks ’ time. Only they would know when they are going to die. I don’t know. So, they might do it for this reason. That’s why I say there are different circumstances for different people. And whilst this will benefit some people . . . I am in full agreement with the intent of it, because this might be the only way some of these fol ks can get a house. So, I am not going to knock that for my own reasons. But there are some who are going to lose, not only whatever they take. They are going to lose the house too. If you have to borrow for a downpayment, you are starting off wrong. You are starting off wrong right from the start. Even though some people have done that and done it successfully, and I applaud them, I 1712 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly think this legislation brought by my cousin Junior Minister Jache Adams, is plausible. I cannot say do not do it because it is only going to help 50 per cent of them. Any number that you can help we should do it. Right? But my personal opinion— and it has a lways been that way, it will never change —is that I do not believe people should touch their pensions. Thank you.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you Deputy [Speaker] . Does any other Member . . . Minister Hayward. Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Speaker, I thank the Junior Minister for bringing this legislation to the floor of the House. The party I serve is titled the Progressive Labour Party —progressive, because we have to focus …
Thank you Deputy [Speaker] . Does any other Member . . . Minister Hayward. Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Speaker, I thank the Junior Minister for bringing this legislation to the floor of the House. The party I serve is titled the Progressive Labour Party —progressive, because we have to focus on the future. We have to focus on change. And we have to focus on a different way of doing things. What is actually being proposed is a way in which persons can utilise assets they have to put into an asset that they desire to h ave. We are not talking about taking money out willy -nilly. There will be parameters around that. So, I understand the caution. But persons will paint a picture that everybody is in the same circumstance, that withdrawing of their pension and putting that into an asset is somehow going to cripple them in future years. But that is only looking at it through one lens, when I obviously look at it from the lens of where MP Burgess said, homeownership. Your greatest expense in life will be the money you contribute to rent or to a mortgage. Those seniors who have been able to successfully purchase a house and have used that house to generate income, I would say that they are in a much more comfortable position after retirement than those people who solely rely on a pension. I am going to re-peat that: Those persons who were able to utilise their funds to invest in a house, if the house is paid off and it also has generated income, you can also generate income from that property . . . those seniors are in a better position than seniors who solel y rely on a pension. Not only is that individual in a better position, but generations of that person’s family will also be in a better position. That is the aim of this legislation; to put people in better positions. If we recognise that homeownership is difficult to achieve, let’s make it easier for people to achieve homeownership. If we realise that people who retire with just a pension are not enabled to live a decent quality of life, let’s set them up so that they do not have to solely rely on a pension. We heard from the finance professionals who talk about investment returns and compound interest. What happens when the markets are not doing well? I am the son of a nurse. And when that nurse retired the pension she thought she was going to have from BHB she did not receive, because the markets and the bad investments screwed her and other persons over. So should we solely rely on the advice of the financial professionals who put those nurses, those health care workers in that predicament? She was better of f taking the money and investing in an asset that would gener-ate returns after she retired. We have to look at things through multiple lenses. There can be multiple truths under the same scenario. It can certainly be a positive for individuals, and it can also be a bad choice for persons to draw from their pensions. But what we are talking about is somebody moving the asset into homeownership. Well, you just cannot take a piece of your pension and say you are reserving it for homeownership if you do not have the additional assets or the additional funding required to move into homeownership. That is not how this scheme works. Look at it from a young person’s perspective, who wants to be independent in this society, but be-cause the financial institutions require so much collateral in order for a young person to get onto the property ladder, they are looking for other options. We worked hard to put measures in place for persons to purchase their first home. What if somebody wants to take advantage of this scheme and they are $20,000 or $30,000 short? They can use funds from their pension to place into that particular scheme so they can take advantage of low mortgage rates. Mr. Speaker, we cannot continue to do the same things we have done in the past and expect dif-ferent results. We cannot be a country of “no” to our young people. We have to be a country of growth. We have to provide a means for persons to progress in this society, doing the same things to benefit the same people. We talk about how great pension plans are. Yes. But the Premier came to the floor of this House, the Minister of Finance, and spoke about the exorbitant fees that we have been charged. We should try to recoup those fees so that it can go into supporting people with acquiring homes. We cannot be slaves to these corporations and institutions that place profit over people. We saw interest rates rise, and people struggling to pay a mortgage. Interest rates have been clawed back. We do not see the same abatement in interest rates. So, Mr. Speaker, when I look at this, I look at this as providing an opportunity, better positioning of families to actually succeed. With any financial transaction there should be a level of understanding of the risks associated with that transaction. But not only financial professionals are smart enough to comprehend that risk. Based off of what has been presented, a young couple should be able to go home and speak amongst themselves in terms of the opportunity, view their pension plans an d make a decision that is in their best interests. And if they do acquire a house based off of this scheme, they should be able to look back proudly and say, My Government had a vision for my future and I am better off for it. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
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Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Thank you, Minister. MP Famous, would you like to make your contribution?
Mr. Christopher FamousYes, thank you. Good afternoon to the listening public and my colleagues on the left and on the right. Mr. Speaker, I do not know much about pensions. I just know I get [something] taken out of my money every month. I am just a BELCO worker. But what I …
Yes, thank you. Good afternoon to the listening public and my colleagues on the left and on the right. Mr. Speaker, I do not know much about pensions. I just know I get [something] taken out of my money every month. I am just a BELCO worker. But what I do know about is property, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, like many people in here, my great grandfather came from an island to the south of us. He was just a farmer. But by the time he closed his eyes and was buried in Devonshire, all of his children and many of his grandchildren had property. My grandfather came from that same small island, that same small village. And he was a farmer as well. And by the time he died, all of his 10 children were given property. I can say I benefit from that. I did not have to worry about paying rent. I did not have to worry about where I was going to build a house. It was there. So I consider myself privileged. The point I am getting at, Mr. Speaker, is that most of us can say the same thing in here, that our grandfathers were able to leave a piece of property. Whether the family fights over it or not is kind of secondary. But they were able to do so. And most of those men and women had never even been to high school, Mr. Speaker. So the word “pension” was not even in their lexicon. (Is that the right word, “lexicon”?) Two words were not in their lexicon, “pension” and “mortgage.” They did not have a job to get a pension, and the banks were not giving people like us a mortgage. So, they had to work by the sweat of their brow from could not see in the morning to could not see in the night. This generation, my children’s generation . . . well, your grandchildren’s generation . . . most of them have gone through high school. I would venture to say 80 per cent graduated. A large percentage went on to university. A large percentage have degrees . But guess what, Mr. Speaker. Even with all of that they could never afford to do what our grandparents were able to do 100 years ago—buy property and leave it for their children. The world has changed. You now have to borrow money to get this. And borrow at I want to say almost extortion rates to get something to say I am going to leave something for my children. So let us tie this in with another issue, Mr. Speaker. Two days ago I got an urgent call from one of my constituents. Oh, her landlord has given her notice to move out, not because she has not paid rent, not because she messes up the property, but because the landlord’s daughter needs somewhere to live. All right? So this lady who has worked all of her life, has edu-cated her daughter, now has to struggle to find somewhere to rent. So she is at a point where the bank is not going to lend her money. Her daughter, who is university educated, if she gets trapped in that cycle of having to pay rent at the age of 20- something, most likely she will never own anything. So for some people, irrespective of their college or university education, the circumstances in this country at present are not toward their owning a piece of property. Mr. Speaker, that being said, I remember that on quite a few occasions the OBA made a big issue about affordable housing for Bermudians and how, they said, this needs to be addressed. So now in multiple ways this Government is addressing it whether it be through providing subsidised rent (as they like to say), whether its being the homeowners, that the Junior Minister is working on, or whether it be this. There are many ways to skin the cat, Mr. Speaker. Right? So I am simply saying to the listening public , yes, it is a chance. I would agree with MP Dickinson to some level and extent. Yes, there is a chance that those who might take out from their pension might get a mortgage and mess it up. But what about the other 90 per cent who do not? We—we—have to understand that this is the PLP, Mr. Speaker. The first “P” in PLP stands for what word? Progressive. But first, before you can be progressive, you have to talk about progress. That is what we are here for, to progress. Not for us here. Most of us here, to my knowledge, have somewhere over their head; but for the next generation. So I say to MP Dickinson a nd others, yes, proceed with caution. But if we do nothing, there will be more and more of our constituents, middle- class earners who will have nothing for themselves besides paying rent and definitely nothing to pass on to the next generation. We all have to take a lesson in fiscal . . . what do they call that, fiscal education?
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberResponsibility.
Mr. Christopher FamousFiscal responsibility. That is the word I am looking for. We have to equally tell our people, Stop spending money on stupid- ness. But at this point we have to separate the wheat from the chaff. We have to give our people the ability to buy something and pass on …
Fiscal responsibility. That is the word I am looking for. We have to equally tell our people, Stop spending money on stupid- ness. But at this point we have to separate the wheat from the chaff. We have to give our people the ability to buy something and pass on to their children just like each one of us in here have been that beneficiary of. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, MP Famous. MP Tyrrell.
Mr. Neville S. TyrrellThank you, Mr. Speaker, and good afternoon, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, let me first of all start off by thanking the Junior Minister for bringing this legislation, and also the technical officers who I am sure gave him good advice, for him to at least bring it here anyway. Let me …
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and good afternoon, colleagues. Mr. Speaker, let me first of all start off by thanking the Junior Minister for bringing this legislation, and also the technical officers who I am sure gave him good advice, for him to at least bring it here anyway. Let me start off by saying that there was a time that I would have taken the stance of no withdrawals from pensions, absolutely none. Because I fully 1714 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report B ermuda House of Assembly understood what the benefit of having a pension was going to be at the end of our working lives. But with the experience that I have had . . . and I will just give a brief . . . some people may know that I did have some experience in managing a pension pla n. My first experience was a DB [defined benefit] plan, of course, for a very large company in Bermuda that had a plan. There were a few DB plans at that time. And this company had a staff of about 150 to 200 people. [The company had a] plan that I managed and administered and did the compliance and that sort of work. After a while, a friend of mine whom I knew was a CEO at the time of another [company], an insurance company that had a plan to move into pensions. He knew a bit of my background and asked me if I would be interested in coming and joining them. And I did. And one of the backbones of that plan was that people must know that we do good administration, we know compliance and we certainly give them education. Those were the three things that we did. We knew about the compliance to the Pension Commission who guided us like they do all of the other administrators. So that is what we did. We would not sell a plan if we did not educate our people, let them know about the compliance, what their responsibilities were and certainly the admin-istration had to be top. So, education, compliance, ad-ministration. Now, during my years of canvassing, one of the things that I picked up was that people were talking about, Well, I’m behind on my rent, or I’ve got a large medical bill to pay, or I’ve got a child or two who is going off to university . And that child or two may be the first person in that family who even went to a university, whom they had to support. So I am saying that my thoughts then on not withdrawing from your pension plan slightly changed, because we have different circumstances. All of us have different circumstances here. You have got to walk in a person’s shoes to un-derstand what their circumstance is. And obviously you would know what yours are. So, when our Government at one time brought in the relief plan that people could take from their pen-sion plan, I knew at that time that is when people need to be educated. So therefore, the education was given on it. We had the experience of working pensi on plans. So therefore, I sort of softened my position on persons withdrawing from their pension plans. Now, one of the things that I will say as indicated by my colleague across from me is that the Progressive Labour Party has always gone on the basis of protection of workers in Bermuda whether they be male or female and looking out for Bermudians’ futures . So when our policies are made, that is what we base our policies on, looking out for the working person who does not always have that great opportunity that some others may have had and have put away money or that sort of thing. So the pension plan in my view . . . First of all, the National Pension Plan, in my view is like 60 years behind anyway because the rest of the world was already doing pensions. And here we are. We are like 24 years with a pension plan. So I do not subscribe to the statement made by my colleague across the floor that most of the pens ion plans are small pension plans, because they are not. If you do simple math, 5 per cent from the employee, 5 per cent from the employer over a 24-y ear period, just work that out. Even on a salary of, say, $40,000 annually. So you understand what sort of pension pots that people c ould have. So as I said, at one time I might have been a person who got up and s aid, No. I don’t believe in withdrawing from your pension. But as I said, there are circumstances that I know people have that it can be beneficial to them. One of the things that I understand from what the Junior Minister is proposing is that people get the education first so that they know the risks they are taking, what is going to happen if they withdraw from their plan. And I c ertainly am of the opinion that most people are workers now who may have been in the plan for . . . Well, let me give you an example. Let us say someone came in in 2000 at the age of, say, 22 or something like that. They are now 40-s omething. So they have built up a pot. And that is one of the basic reasons why I would say I have no problem in the proposal that the Junior Minister is bringing. So I fully support it. I thank him again. I thank his technical offic ers for giving him the advice that he should do. And I jus t say I hope that the Junior Minister can proceed further with this. Thank you v ery much, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Mr. Whip. Opposition Deputy Leader.
Mr. Ben SmithMr. Speaker, my starting point will be that in the Opposition we agree that there are circumstances that will arise where you should hav e the ability to get into your pension. As an example, when COVID-1 9 happened, this was an emergency, an opportunity then, because people had to …
Mr. Speaker, my starting point will be that in the Opposition we agree that there are circumstances that will arise where you should hav e the ability to get into your pension. As an example, when COVID-1 9 happened, this was an emergency, an opportunity then, because people had to have it at that point. But, Mr. Speaker, considering what people are actually go-ing through in this country . . . not all people. But I will get to that because I am actually hoping that the Junior Minister will giv e us some specifics of how many people actually fall into the category that will be able to pic k this up. There are people in Bermuda, as my colleague MP Famous s aid, who were able to get a house because historically that grandparent whom he is referring to was potentially able to get a house for pounds, £30, numbers that will not even make sense to the generations that are dealing with going to the bank today. But, Mr. Speaker, there are seniors living in those houses who are collecting pensions while sitting in the dark because they cannot afford to pay their BELCO bill, who are having a hard time figuring out how they c an make that amount from their pension, and Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1715
Bermuda House of Assembly take care of groceries and health care. So that is a homeowner who is finding themselves in that situation. So, Mr. Speaker, the reason I bring that up is because our objection is not based off of not wanting somebody to own a piece of the Rock. But there has been a significant change in our country since the time that MP Famous was referring to. I am not telli ng you that it is fair. But I am telling you that the reality is when people go to get a mortgage, most of the time the answer is no. But if you are in a situation where you are having to borrow to get that down payment and we are going to break it down to its 10 per cent and you are struggling to get to that point, is this the answer for you? The reason I ask that is because in here it says a 45- year-old, 30 per cent. So can the Junior Minister give us what the average across the country is for a 45-year-old who has been paying into their pension for that period of time? What is that number; t he average number, so that we know who we are referring to who has the ability to pick this up? And the reason is because we also have a part where we can take out of our pen-sion for hardship. And I noted that when the Junior Minister talked about the hardship, one of the reasons for hardship is because you cannot pay your mortgage payments. So now you go through this opportunity and, yes, there is the potential of the perfect fit. You have the correct amount of money. Maybe the whole family is chipping in. I get all of those things. But the truth of the matter is when you look at the number, the cost of the house, the length of that mortgage, the payment that is going to have to go into that mortgage, are we really referring to houses that are going to have apartments for you to get r evenue in the future, that is allowing you to actually be able to pay those bills into the future? And remember, you are dividing that up by the family members.
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Ben SmithI am not saying it is not. I am telling you the system is broken, but this is actually risking the future of people who are already struggling. We are not talking about somebody who has a savings that allows them to make that payment. And the reason why I …
I am not saying it is not. I am telling you the system is broken, but this is actually risking the future of people who are already struggling. We are not talking about somebody who has a savings that allows them to make that payment. And the reason why I think that is risky and not something that we should be advocating for our people to risk themselves for is because all it takes is for one of those family members to lose their job, one of those family members to take sick. And now, all of a sudden, they cannot pay it. And you have dipped in for 30 per cent, and now you are dipping in for the hardship. So fast -forward for that person. When they turn 65 and now they have to pull out of it, they are not going to have the money of the person who presently is sitting in their house in the dark not able to pay their bills. They are going to be worse off. Most people in our country . . . let me rephrase that. Many people in our country have not even gone for the education piece to know what that number from the pension is going to be when they retire. They should have the education, but they do not actually hav e it. And the reason that I am bringing that point up is because right now several people will reach that retirement age. And when they get there and think that the pension payment that they are going to receive is going to be able to support the bills that they have, they will find out that it does not. And for that reason, they do not retire. And we have actually moved the retirement age because we in this Legislature know that they will not be able to afford that.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Ben SmithSo the problem that we have right now is that we have to be honest of where the position is that we are in the country. We like to talk about what happened a long time ago when people were able to get on that ladder with £30 and £60, …
So the problem that we have right now is that we have to be honest of where the position is that we are in the country. We like to talk about what happened a long time ago when people were able to get on that ladder with £30 and £60, but that is not where we are. This is one of the reasons why our seniors are saying, Maybe I have to move to another country! [This is] not something that we are making up. Knock on the empty doors. So I am hoping that the Junior Minister is going to be able to break down for us, who we are talking about with this legislation. What are the numbers that he is going to refer to? Because the 20- somethingyear-old or 30- something- year-old who just gradua ted from university and they have their first job who has not been paying into the pension for very long, I am not sure what number they are getting. But I know the 45to-65-year-old who is taking 15 per cent out of the little bit that they have, potential ly that is actually predatory to that group, because they are the ones who have worked hard and paid in. And now what happens is their future is in jeopardy because somebody else in the family is not paying the bill. And now that person, who has done their work, who has given to our country, has even less in their retirement. The Government is looking for ways to help people to get to homeownership. I do not disagree with that. But what I am telling you is for us to have them take their future in order to do it, that cannot be what we are asking them to do. We are already tell ing them that they have to work into their 70s. We are already telling them, These are the things that we are expecting of you— to give more. So the issue is, Mr. Speaker, we have to have our country understand that that money that is being put aside is for their future and for the rainy days. [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Ben SmithAnd the Government is saying, Well, it’s for the roof. Yes. And then they did not make the payment, and now they do not have the roof and they also do not have their pension for them to be able to survive. That is the issue. So can they give …
And the Government is saying, Well, it’s for the roof. Yes. And then they did not make the payment, and now they do not have the roof and they also do not have their pension for them to be able to survive. That is the issue. So can they give us the details of who fits in this category, who does not have enough money for the 1716 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly down payment but they are able to cobble it together because they are going to be able to take from their pension? After they purchase the house, they have to put the maintenance on that house. They are going to upkeep that house. They are going to have to pay all of the taxes for that house. These are all of the pieces to the puzzle that not everybody thinks about. If you are at the point where you are struggling to pay your rent, understand that the bank takes that mortgage payment from them. And that is the reason I have asked for the specific group that we are referring to. Because right now if you are somebody who is struggling to pay the down payment, who exactly is the Government creating this Bill for? Put it out. Give us the details. Giv e us the information. What we are saying is that we should not be talking about taking what is there for the future of our population—and an ageing population where more people are in that situation —because we have to stop our people from getting on the pl ane and never coming back because they cannot afford to be here, and for asking them to take the risk . . . because this is not a game for them—sitting in the dark. That is not a game for these people. And the worst part is, now you own the house so now you cannot get the financial assistance. Because the issue that we have right now is that most of our people who are on financial assistance are actually seniors! Stated by the Government! So now what does this look like? So if the Junior Minister is going to come back and give us the facts of whom we are talking about and how this is going to work for this specific group of people so that it is not going to put more of our people at risk . . . the answer for us is, let us stop asking our people to dip into their future with a risk of potentially mak-ing their future much worse than what it is today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Thank you, MP Smith. Mr. Premier, you have the floor. Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, can you please set that clock for me for my 30 minutes? I might take it all.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYou might take it all, eh? Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, before I start . . . and I got to my feet because there were a few other Members who were going to speak, and I was going to close before the Junior …
You might take it all, eh?
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, before I start . . . and I got to my feet because there were a few other Members who were going to speak, and I was going to close before the Junior Minister, who is doing an excellent job at being a Progressive Labour Party Member of Par liament and advancing progressing issues that are helping to progress matters related to homeownership in this country, I needed to get up after what I just heard from the Honourable Member. It was depressing.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberYes. Hon. E. David Burt: It was condescending.
Some Hon. Members Some Hon. MembersYes. Hon. E. David Burt: It was as though, If you people out there do not have a clue about what the future is and what the future holds, then guess what? You should not get to the space where you might lose your house if you get one. Can …
Yes. Hon. E. David Burt: It was as though, If you people out there do not have a clue about what the future is and what the future holds, then guess what? You should not get to the space where you might lose your house if you get one. Can I just tell the Honourable Member, every single instance of which he referred to could happen to somebody if they did not have assistance to buy a home anyway? Can I be clear? There could be something that goes wrong all the time. But before I start, I think it is important. And what I want to make sure to do is dispense with two words that have been said by Members of the Opposition. The first was the Opposition Leader who said, We cannot support “raiding.” Key point. Next, the Deputy Opposition Leader says, We cannot support “withdrawing.” And the reason why I point attention to this is it is not as though this particular piece of legislation of which we are debating today allows people to do either. They are transferring savings, which is mandated by this Legislature, from one asset to another asset. And the only time that it can happen under this new law is if someone does not own a home. So again let us dispense with “raiding,” let us dispense with “withdrawing.” Let us dispense with all of those bogeyman words, and let us focus on the issue at hand. When we talk about first time homeowners, and this is personal for me, Mr. Speaker, because I remember when I entered politics the first speech that I gave inside of another place way back in 2010, I spoke about the plight of young Bermudians living overseas who were independent, who did not want to move home to live inside of their parents’ house again. When we are talking about first time homeowners, we are talking about persons in this country who are paying rent and we are talking about persons in this country who are living in their parents’ house. And let us be clear. There are many young people in this country to which that situation applies, Mr. Speaker. Many. And so when we talk about what this Progressive Labour Party Government has done in the name of progress, in the way of fixing problems, we are giving our citizens the tools they need to aspire to something that many want to have —homeownership. Now let us be clear, Mr. Speaker. Not everyone wants to be a homeowner. But let us be clear. This is voluntary about what people choose to do with their own money . Their choice of what they wish to do. And so when we talk about giving people the tools to succeed we talk about the mortgage guarantee programme. When Bermudians said down payments were too high and interest rates were too high to buy their first home, what did we do? We reduced down payment s, we reduced interest rates. And I remember at that point in time there were still the questions and Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1717
Bermuda House of Assembly concerns and fearmongering from Members of the Opposition. But guess what, Mr. Speaker? Dozens of Bermudians in this country now own homes because of what this Progressive Labour Party Government did. And they, Mr. Speaker, are appreciative of the progressive action that we take. But then let us go on a little further. Because what happens if that house comes up for sale? What happens if there is this particular space and place where there is a need to transfer an asset from one member of a family to another to sell or to keep som ething inside of the family where there is an issue or something else? Let us pretend you are that 35- yearold professional working in international business who is working, who is saving, who has money saved up for a down payment. And let us pretend that you are $15,000 short. What do Honourable Members opposed tell that individual?
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. E. David Burt: Gave no solution whatsoever. Just so we are clear, that is not where this party said, Well, they say we can mind- read. Did they offer a single solution, Mr. Speaker?
Some Hon. Members Some Hon. MembersNo. Hon. E. David Burt: Not a single solution, Mr. Speaker, has been offered from the other side! No, no, no. I do not want or need your solutions because I already know you do not have any! There are no solutions that come from the One Bermuda Alliance, Mr. …
No.
Hon. E. David Burt: Not a single solution, Mr. Speaker, has been offered from the other side! No, no, no. I do not want or need your solutions because I already know you do not have any! There are no solutions that come from the One Bermuda Alliance, Mr. Speaker. And let me help them out, because the public needs to listen, know and understand the record. And I quote, Mr. Speaker. I quote from the 2010 Budget Reply. They spoke about persons being crushed by the cost of housing and mortgages. In 2023 they spoke about the challenges of homeownership and the difficulty of young Bermudians getting on the housing ladder. And even this year they spoke about the issues of housing affordability. But do they offer any solutions, Mr. Speaker? Not a sin gle one. So, I think what they have done is that they have taken their place of critic but not remembering that what people actually require is progress. What people actually require are opportunities. What people actually require are policymakers that will make policies that are fit for the times. Let me just give the Honourable Members opposite a little bit of education. When the Honourable Opposition Leader said that people who retire now do not have enough money in their private pensions, that is correct in many cases. But why is it correct, Mr. Speaker? It is correct because, as many Members have said, the mandatory pension items did not start, in full, until around 2003– 2004, when it went up to the full 5 per cent. So there are only 20 years of experience. So anyone who is getting to retirement has only started paying in since they were 45. But, Mr. Speaker, let us take the experience of that exact same person who would have started work-ing at that point in time, making the median income in this country, Mr. Speaker. After working 18 years, getting themselves up to the age of 40 and assuming they entered the workforce at the age of 23, they would be eligible to withdraw, so we are clear, and put into a down payment $53,000. Now, will they need $53,000? No, because they probably have been saving money themselves. But they have the opportunity t o do that. Here is the thing, Mr. Speaker. That individual will continue to save money. Compound interest works, Mr. Speaker. So you are clear, I want Members who are listening to know that all the Opposition is doing is chirping, but have offered zero solutions when it comes to homeownership in this country. Absolutely none, Mr. Speaker. But we will go forward, because here is what is going to happen, Mr. Speaker. We are going to have a vote and a rollcall on this. And I want those Honourable Members to stand up and then face their young constituents in the street and tell them that they did not want to offer them the opportunity to get on the housing ladder, Mr. Speaker. Because that is what this is about: This is about a paternalistic approach which is being offered by the Opposition, which says, We know best to tell you how you can manage yourself. It does not matter if you work in international business, it does not matter if you are climbing up the ladder, it does not matter about any of those things, Mr. Speaker. What matters is that We are worried that you might get it wrong, and therefore we are going to tell everyone, for the some people who may get it wrong, that none of you can have everything. What do you want to do to change the conditions of persons who are lifelong renters in this country, Mr. Speaker? Nothing. We are different. You had your chance to speak. You had your opportunity to offer something, and you offered nothing, Opposition Leader. Keep yourself quiet, please.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. E. David Burt: The Deputy [Opposition Leader]. So let us go on, Mr. Speaker, because I am not finished making my points. The Honourable Junior Min-ister who brought forward this matter stated something particularly interesting. And yes, we may not have a Central Provident Fund like Singapore has. But when these ideas were first manifested while the Progressive Labour Party was in Opposition researching our financial policies and plans that we would bring forward in Government, and yes, at that point in time I was the Shadow Minister of Finance, I did consult with numerous financial professionals making sure that we put 1718 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly together our plans and policies which we offered inside of Budget Statements. We looked at many other plans in the world. Now, Mr. Speaker, do you know the country that has the highest homeownership rates on the planet? The country of Singapore. And yes, persons have mentioned it. And do you know what Singapore allows people to do with their forced and mandatory savings from their Central Provident Fund? And yes, Mr. Speaker, their savings rate is higher than ours. We only require people to put five per cent and matched by their employers. They require people to put a lot higher than that. So we can make the arguments around that, but here is the thing, Mr. Speaker. They have the highest homeownership rates in the world. Guess what they allow, Mr. Speaker. [They allow] p eople to borrow and take money and transfer it from their Central Provident Fund into a down payment for a house. They actually even allow people to pay their mortgage payments from the Central Provident Fund, nothing of which we are proposing at this point in time. But here is the thing, Mr. Speaker. They have the highest homeownership rates in the world, 90 per cent, Mr. Speaker. Now Bermuda is not that high. But that does not mean that we cannot aspire to do so. When there is housing that is being constructed in this country, when there is work going on, when we see what is hap-pening, we should want to do everything we can to allow our young people to get on that housing ladder. And to hear persons talk about, O h, well, the size of house of which they can buy, they will not be able to have rental income. How dare you! How dare you decide to dictate to people what they can and cannot afford. You do not know or understand the circumstance of people inside this country. We have sent hundreds of young Bermudians away to school with scholarships who are making far more money than many of us when we were at that age could dream of. And here we go, and they cannot afford a down payment. Well, guess what? Oh, so here is the thing, Mr. Speaker. He knows everyone’s circumstances. So what he is basically saying is . . . Here is what he said. He says the people in IB [international business] can afford the down payment, but everyone else keep renting.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberYou are the one that — Hon. E. David Burt: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That is the implication of his statement. Oh, I am fine, Mr. Speaker, because they cannot take the heat. They cannot take the heat of the fact that they are wrong when it …
You are the one that —
Hon. E. David Burt: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That is the implication of his statement. Oh, I am fine, Mr. Speaker, because they cannot take the heat. They cannot take the heat of the fact that they are wrong when it comes to policies in this country, Mr. Speaker. That they are wrong when it comes to what the voters of this country wish and desire from their Government to be progressive and to have a little bit of trust with them. To make sure that they can make the decisions that are in the best inter-ests of their individual futures. There will be many who will agree with Cousin Derrick Burgess or Neville Tyrrell’s position that, No, you know what? I don’t want to touch it. I’m perfectly fine. I will keep on renting. But there will be others who may have the opportunity —the opportunity —to say, You know what? I’m $20,000 short, and this option is here and I am going to go for it . And so here is the thing, Mr. Speaker. I happen to believe that we should have a little bit more trust in the people of this country, when given the information and faced with all the facts, to make the decision that is in the best interests for them.
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberThat is correct. Hon. E. David Burt: To give them the tools to do that. And not to have persons in this Honourable House say, I know what is better for you than what you know is better for yourself , Mr. Speaker. It is offensive. It reeks of paternalism. …
That is correct.
Hon. E. David Burt: To give them the tools to do that. And not to have persons in this Honourable House say, I know what is better for you than what you know is better for yourself , Mr. Speaker. It is offensive. It reeks of paternalism. It makes it seem as though if people can-not . . . not like we do not have one of the most educated societies in the planet! When I hear us talking about financial literacy, yes, we can do more. But l et us remember we have people who are coming out of schools going to actuall y run circles around us in math and finance. Circles! The young people are supportive of this policy direction, Mr. Speaker, because they want to have the help and the assistance to get on the property ladder. I would far rather give the option to a young Bermudian to use every tool at his disposal to buy a first time home than to allow others who have accumulated wealth in this country to buy a second and a third and a fourth, and tell that same young Bermudian to rent from them. We, Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House stand on progress. We will not tell our young people in this country that we are going to stand in the way. And we are going to give them every tool possible to make sure that they can aspire to be homeowners. Now, Mr. Speaker, I want to move on to the second part of the Bill, which has been missed. There is another provision in this Bill which is something that is critically important to my heart as Minister of Finance. And we do not have the regulations in fr ont of us, and those regulations are going to be worked on by the Ministry of Finance. But there is a part of this Bill which speaks to the fact that this Government has always been in the space that we need to broaden the extent of domestic investments in the economy and make sure that people have the opportunity to invest in Bermuda. Because our pension fund balances —and I missed the brief, but I am assuming they are over $3 billion now —
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberFour! Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1719 Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. E. David Burt: Four billion dollars of private pension assets that are held. And, Mr. Speaker, if $50 million of that was invested in Bermuda it might be a stretch. We are saving up money for …
Four!
Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1719
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. E. David Burt: Four billion dollars of private pension assets that are held. And, Mr. Speaker, if $50 million of that was invested in Bermuda it might be a stretch. We are saving up money for our retirement and investing it building houses, building projects, doing things in other spaces, investing in companies, investing in stocks, investing in bonds, investing in everything external when there is very little being invested here. I think that as a country we need to make sure that we put the rules and regulations in place, which will come. But this Bill will allow us to, at a later point in time, bring those regulations to this House. Before anyone says anything, this cannot happen until we bring the regulations. That is the requirement of the law. The regulations are affirmative resolution. And I know some people will say Well, what are the regulations? What are the regulations? No. That will come. But this Amendment is being made now. We wanted to do two things which we said we were going to do. We have the homeowners regulations —first time homeowners — which we will discuss later today. And we have others. Here is what is most important, Mr. Speaker. We may have our opinions, but the pension professionals back what it is that we are doing here. The Pension Commission is in support of it. They made sure that we had the protections in place. They made sure that we took into account . . . and I wanted this before, but there was a lot of back and forth because, yes, we need to make sure that we take account of the risks. But I prefer to focus on the future, the vision and the opportunities that we give young persons in this country to do, Mr. Speaker. The mortgage guarantee programme has put many Bermudians into homeownership where they did not exist before. And this, Mr. Speaker, will allow even more, if they may not have saved up enough money for that down payment, to go ahead and put it in a . . . guess what? For those people working in IB, whom the Deputy Leader of the Opposition so cares about, they will have enough money to put their money back in their pension too. Because guess what? They are savers. They probably have far more savings than we do have as well, Mr. Speaker, in some cases. They will accumulate those over time. That, Mr. Speaker, is a reality. And so let us not focus on what may happen in the negative. Let us re-solve to give our young people every possible tool that we can so they can become first time homeowners in this country. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Thank you, Mr. Premier. Is there any other Member who wishes to make a contribution? Minister Furbert. Hon. Tinee Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, life is about choices. And not everyone will make the same choice, Mr. Speaker. One thing that I have the opportunity to …
Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Premier. Is there any other Member who wishes to make a contribution? Minister Furbert.
Hon. Tinee Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, life is about choices. And not everyone will make the same choice, Mr. Speaker. One thing that I have the opportunity to do, Mr. Speaker, is I have the opportunity to talk to many seniors. And recently, through the town hall meetings with the National Senior Strategy, seniors whom I consider to be lived, wise, have made some mistakes and have learned from them . . . the seniors did express that they wished that when they were younger that they made better investments. Or they had had the opportunity to make better investments. I recently, Mr. Speaker, was also attending a conference. And in this conference they were speaking to us about the benefits of homeownership, and how owning a home is an investment. You can make an investment. You buy it to live in it, or you buy it to invest and make money off of it. I think, Mr. Speaker, you would know that very well, if anyone is in real estate. So, what we are doing today is we are making an investment in our people. Mr. Speaker, I come from a family who did not have much. We did not have much at all. And so I was not fortunate to have a parent to leave me something, to leave me a home. And for t hose of you out there who have families who are able to leave you things, that is wonderful, and that is great and you should take every advantage of that and be grateful and thankful. But what I do remember is the one house that we had, everybody stayed in it, all my nine aunts and 13 cousins. I was able to see how they used that home to grow. My aunts built onto the house. They were able to use the house as collateral to get more money so that another aunt could buy another house. And in the end what another aunt did was sell her portion to another family member and then moved and bought another house. And then the homestead eventually was sold, but there was money that the family was able to get off of that home. And so I would look at it, Mr. Speaker, as an investment. Our people would tell us that this is their money. Some time ago, Mr. Speaker, Bermuda . . . I think it was CG Insurance who brought in a finance spe-cialist, Ms. Suze Orman And Ms. Suze Orman spoke about how the National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Act was one of the greatest things that we could have done for our people, because yes, it provides a secondary opportunity to have access to pension funds. And there are not many countries that have this opportunity. But look what it has afforded us, Mr. Speaker. Nobody anticipated us to go through COVID -19. And we were able to utilise this Act so that when people fell into hardship, particularly . . . well, prior to COVID -19 as well. When people fell into hardship, they had access to these funds. But specifically throughout COVID -19 when we were struggling with employment for our people, people had the opportunity to use their pensions. The Junior Minister already spoke to the temporary COVID -19 refunds at the amount o f $243 1720 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly million. And even the financial hardship funds being at the tune of $31 million. So it tells us, Mr. Speaker, that our people appreciated access to those funds, because they used them. What I cannot wait for is when the Junior Minister can come back to this House and he can tell us how our people utilised their pensions for homeownership. And then we can track that progress. We can track that investment. We can track that wealth- building exercise. Mr. Speaker, owning a piece of the rock is very important. Why? Do you all remember when you could not vote because you did not own a property? Mr. Speaker, I am glad we are not there anymore. But there was also a time when you had to rely on persons in our community to get money from so that you could buy property. And you could only get it if you secured your vote with them. And if not, Mr. Speaker, they threatened your mortgage and they threatened to pull your house away from you. Mr. Speaker, I am glad we are not there anymore. But what this Progressive Labour Party Govern-ment is doing for its people is allowing you to have a piece of the rock. We want you to make the right decisions. We want you to be financially sound. We want you to make the right decisions in your homeownership options. Because quite frankly, Mr. Speaker, there are some homes that are very extravagant, and people should not be l ooking at those ones. Actually, I went to go look at a house the other day. And, no, not Tucker’s Town.
[Inaudible interjection] Hon. Tinee Furbert: But the real estate agent, Mr. Speaker, told me that about 20 people came to look at this property, and they were all ready to buy. Some people had cash for these properties. And so we will be adding to the pool of persons who can have access to homeowners hip whether or not they are able to pay cash or whether or not they are able to go to the bank and get a loan, to secure the home either through, you know, a deposit or otherwise. The banks do put restrictions on persons. We know this. If you go to the bank they tell us what we can afford, what we cannot afford. What our debt ration is, they tell us, and they are not going to give us any more even though sometimes you know can affor d it. And so we already have strongholds placed on us because of those sorts of rules and regulations. But I also want to remind the listening audience, as well, that what we are doing today is a platform promise. And when the Progressive Labour Party puts toget her their platform, it is ideas that come from our community; ideas that come from our community; ideas that come from our people. And this was one. Whether it came from one person, two people, three people, four people, we are glad we are here today to fulfil this platform pledge, promise, idea. And we are here to make it hap-pen, Mr. Speaker. I just want to touch on, because I heard in the House earlier by another honourable colleague in regard to seniors . . . Actually, I want the public to know that the majority of our seniors own their homes. But they would have had to have done this or owned their home when they were younger, right? So they would have had to have had the opportunity when they were younger to purchase. And so we are affording the opportunity for younger persons to get into the field of homeownership. And this is great. But this party, this platform, this wish, this hope, this legislation will bring a lot of hope to a lot of our people. I can imagine the senior over the age of 65, retiring has not bought a home, renting. Still has to pay for rent, but also still has to de al with the burden of all the other additional expenses. Mr. Speaker, would not you rather have owned your own home? You do not have that expense anymore. You do not have to have the expense of renting. And you can focus your funds on other things. And act ually, people should be doing that calculation right now, right? Twenty, forty years from now what your expenses will look like if you have to rent versus you outright owning your home. We should be doing those calculations, young people. Should you buy? S hould you rent? And so this legislation, Mr. Speaker, is again about opportunity, about hope, about a platform promise to our people, a person who had an idea, who shared it, said, This is what we want . And with the Progressive Labour Party Government who is delivering. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
[Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. Does other Member wish to make a contribution? Junior Minister Swan.
Mr. Hubert (Kim) E. SwanThank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to support the legislation brought forward by the Junior Minister responsible for finance in this Honourable House, which is designed for first time homeowners in this country. I have heard a few terms thrown about today. “Financial literacy” was one. …
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to support the legislation brought forward by the Junior Minister responsible for finance in this Honourable House, which is designed for first time homeowners in this country. I have heard a few terms thrown about today. “Financial literacy” was one. And I agree that in some households financial literacy is talked about around the kitchen table to persons at a very young age. And dare I say that in Bermuda, with the lack of that discussion around the kitchen table, there might be some communities in need of some coaching in financial literacy. Let me suggest this: If I, as a senior, wanted to assist a family member to make a first time purchase in this sphere of financial literacy, there is nothing to say that it has to be a total gift. It could very well be a business transaction that could lend itself to an arrangement between me (the person who has the funds) and Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1721
Bermuda House of Assembly the person who needs the funds to make that person a first time homeowner by way of a second mortgage (I will just throw that out), where that person might have access to those funds to buy that first time home and where that person (that senior, me) could actually be in an arrangement with the younger person (my family member who has the opportunity of having greater disposable income) and receive some remuneration on an agreed interest basis. Therefor e, the funds that are sitting in a pension are still pr oviding me some return. It could be something that I could use that interest somewhat at that particular time because we do know that the majority of our seniors, as the Honourable Minister responsible for seniors, alluded to, and knows ever so well, that our seniors are land ric h and cash poor. And so when you get into the community, when you talk about financial literacy, maybe that literacy needs to be applied no matter who is prepared to offer it, in ways that provide solutions for those seniors to navigate themselves through a situation that has occurred in our country in which the cost of living and the cost of surviving have outstripped many of the assets that persons have put their life savings into. And for a lot of persons that has been homes and the like. And they know that their young people, their young family members would like to very much avail themselves. Who is to say that rather than . . . You know, in the United States they have these creative terms. They use, “reversible mortgages” and stuff. It is kind of like looking at soluti ons for seniors to be able to survive. So, what I am saying in the first instance is, do not look at this just as something that is going to be a gift. It is a business investment. We do not teach our child to make business arrangements with other family members. Get it in writing! Get that particular transac-tion in writing so that it could be protected and it could be covered legally in any transactions. Stop assuming the worst of situations. Look at the best of situations. Let us look at what has taken place when we talk about financial liter acy. Let us look at some of the things that have taken place. I am going to throw out a couple of different terms. One is “predatory lending” and “predatory foreclosures.” Sometimes maybe less regulated in this country than they are in others. Practiced in this country, unfortunately, and in some instances I certain ly have some experience assisting persons. A lot of people, you know, look at us politicians, the basic things that we do. And if you have been involved in it as long as I have you gain the trust of people. And you have to help people. And in some of the areas when people are trusted they come to you with some of the things nearest and dearest to them. There are banks in this country snatching two houses when a little bit of compassion could have made it possible to navigate through a first house and let the person have the second house that that senior put up. I know that to be true. And I have helped p eople navigate past things like that. That is where financial literacy works rather than just throwing it out in the sense of building a strawman argument that could negate the import of legislation such as is being brought forth, and the intent of the legislation. The Opposition comes here today throwing around “financial literacy” today in the context, Mr. Speaker, that they are the best arbiters of what is good in this country. They are the same folks that came to this country and put us on the hook for $160 milli on at Morgan’s Point on the eve of an election that this Government had to come and find a solution for.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerPoint of order. POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierUnfortunately, the Member is misleading the House. It was his own Member who coined the phrase “financial literacy.” It was not us.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHave you heard his point of order?
Mr. Hubert (Kim) E. SwanYes, I accept it. I heard the term “financial literacy.” I did not hear anybody objecting to it being used. So I am just speaking to the fact that . . . and I have given some examples of how financial literacy gets practiced in a practical way in the …
Yes, I accept it. I heard the term “financial literacy.” I did not hear anybody objecting to it being used. So I am just speaking to the fact that . . . and I have given some examples of how financial literacy gets practiced in a practical way in the sphere of politics, and how I apply financial literacy, talking to people on the hustings and trying to help them navigate this wonderful, difficult, complex situation of living in this country. And when we have young people with an opportunity with the disposable income by virtue of their jobs and maybe needing to bridge the gap (right?), there are circumstances that allow them to need that bridging facility to be able to close on a deal. And th at is what we are talking about when we talk about first - time owners. You know, the person that goes to the bank and they get preapproved for a certain amount of money, what they get approved for and what the market price is yielding sometimes are not the same thing. If they know they have a way of bridging that divide, then they can go there with confidence and negotiate back down toward what they have been preapproved for. That is a little bit of financial literacy as well that we need to talk about in th e context of what is important. It is one thing to talk about legislation, it is another thing to talk about the practicality of legislation and how it works it way through. Having navigated a family through, convinced them to buy this place over here with your four or five children. This is the right place for you at this particular time in Bermuda. [And they respond,] I do not want that; that is not my ideal home, and be able to convince them that they can bridge what is needed this way, take somebody with 1722 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly them who works in the legal capacity to be able to give them the reassurance that the advice is sound, and watch how the information given in such a way maybe in 1999 . . . you walk up to a house in 2007 and you see their car parked outside a three- apartme nt house. And you are saying, Why, that car looks familiar. But you know what? Those little seven- and ten- and twelve - year olds did not stay seven- and twelve- year olds. They became workers in the community. And they be-came contributors to the opportunity to buy. So that opportunity to buy that first -time home was a stepping stone. And when the economy moved in an upward mobility, they rode the wave of that upward draft with homeownership and equity. And were able to then upgrade, sell the first and then upgrade along the way, as a consequence of an opportunity that was made avail-able, such as this legislation. That is how it works, you know. That is how it works. And it works with persons who understand it, who understand life and who are prepared to get to know the people, helping them to navigate through this maze. And so as a consequence . . . and there will be other opportunities to speak on such matters as they relate to predatory mortgages, predatory foreclosures and the like. I will take the opportunity to speak to that. But let me say that I applaud the young Junior Minister for coming forward with a solution today. Because unlike me, he is young! Unlike me, when he goes out to dinner and goes out to a party, he is going to talk to young professionals just like him who might be experiencing the same problems of young people who might pay the benefit of his financial knowledge. And [he can] network with him and say, There is a way in which you can do that. And they say, Well, what about that? Then he can go talk to a colle ague who might have a little background in conveyance law and taxes and the like and get the type of information that would make them feel comfortable. But it is not going to be for everyone, because not everyone is interested in being a first time homeowner. But the more Bermudians whom we can put in a position to be one, the less chance we have of Ber-muda’s being snatched up by persons sitting on a lot of cash looking for an opportunity. That is the biggest problem we have in Bermuda, Bermuda being bought out by . . . you know , Mr. Trew, may he rest in peace, when he had those places up in Paget, stoplights there during the 1993 recession. I used to stop, and an hour - and-a-half later he would give me some very good advice. He used to tell me stories about during the recession cash is king . And I am here to say that I certainly applaud, Mr. Speaker, what the young man, the Junior Minister, is doing today. I support it wholeheartedly. And I believe that he has come forth in a very good way on behalf of the Government today. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. MP King, would you like to make a contribution?
Mr. Robert KingMr. Speaker, thank you. I will use the analogy of a carpenter and an orthopaedic surgeon. The reason why I will use that is because if you have a broken leg, do you go to a carpenter or do you go to an orthopaedic surgeon? What we have is a …
Mr. Speaker, thank you. I will use the analogy of a carpenter and an orthopaedic surgeon. The reason why I will use that is because if you have a broken leg, do you go to a carpenter or do you go to an orthopaedic surgeon? What we have is a former Finance Minister who is actually an expert on financial matters, but we are being asked to ignore the advice of a professional of high reputation. The problem with this Bill is that the very people it is meant to support it will hurt. Those who have means will be immune to the highs and lows of making this choice, to take money out of a pension which is to protect and take care of us in our old age. However, if we look at a pension like we look at the Sinking Fund, where we can balance our budgets with the Sinking Fund, which is basically the safety account that we have in the case of a rainy day or a case of a crisis, if we look at pensions the same way, we set ourselves up for a very dangerous future, a future that is not going to protect the very people whom it was meant to. I cannot support this Bill at all, this Amendment. Thank you.
[Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Thank you, Honourable Member. Does any other Honourable Member wish to make a comment? Any other?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYou have got your time. Your time is always good enough. [Laughter]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierI understand the need to be creative, and I understand the need to find solutions to what we believe to be a challenge within our economy and for our people. But as I have listened to everyone, and trying to be balanced about approach to this here, I recognise that …
I understand the need to be creative, and I understand the need to find solutions to what we believe to be a challenge within our economy and for our people. But as I have listened to everyone, and trying to be balanced about approach to this here, I recognise that on the one hand there are some of us who believe we need to protect the future because we recognise that another COVID -19 could come. And maybe the need to dip into, or whatever you want to use as a word, utilise your moni es within your pensions may be an area that we need to look at. In fact, in my history, I think that is the only time that I know of where we were given the right to be able to go to our pensions because we had something that occurred that the Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1723
Bermuda House of Assembly whole world experienced and there was a need. There was a dire need. I do not believe that homeownership necessarily falls into that category, per se, but I do understand what is being attempted here. The challenge that we do have is we are already way behind when it comes to pensions, as you have heard from colleagues. Yo u know, we are kind of new at the game here, so some of these funds would not be as healthy as we would like for them to be. But when I hear members saying that it would be nice to own a home so when you become 65 . . . it would be nice to able to go to our pensions and use some of that in order to get a home, I am not sure we are understanding the full process. In order for you to get a mortgage at 65 it would take some extreme circumstances. The bank —
Some Hon. Members Some Hon. MembersNobody is saying that.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierHang on. The Honourable Member did say that at 65 . . . the Honourable Minister Tinee Furbert said that at 65 it would be nice. Yes, she said it. Go to Hansard; she said it. I listened very carefully to her speech. So, it becomes difficult. If we go …
Hang on. The Honourable Member did say that at 65 . . . the Honourable Minister Tinee Furbert said that at 65 it would be nice. Yes, she said it. Go to Hansard; she said it. I listened very carefully to her speech. So, it becomes difficult. If we go to the bank right now — Hon. Tinee Furbert: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerPoint of order. POINT OF ORDER [Misleading] Hon. Tinee Furbert: The Member is misleading the House, Mr. Speaker. Why would I say a . . . we know the banks do not give us money at 65!
Mr. L. Craig CannonierWell, thank you for the correction, Mr. Speaker. We will clarify that up. I think we all heard it. Several of us sat here and heard it. But we will clarify it. I will take her at her word, but we will clarify that for sure. So the challenge that …
Well, thank you for the correction, Mr. Speaker. We will clarify that up. I think we all heard it. Several of us sat here and heard it. But we will clarify it. I will take her at her word, but we will clarify that for sure. So the challenge that we have, Mr. Speaker, and I know people get exercised when they see me standing up here. They get exercised.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierSo I am going to be cool with them. But this challenge that we have for Bermuda is a challenge whereby this economy is not where we want it to be. And so we are looking for these creative ways to be able to come up with programmes that are …
So I am going to be cool with them. But this challenge that we have for Bermuda is a challenge whereby this economy is not where we want it to be. And so we are looking for these creative ways to be able to come up with programmes that are going to help because people do actually need help. If we can only give $20 increase for pensions, yet at the same time, as a senior you can just about be able to afford to buy groceries, that you can just about afford your prescriptions, you can just about afford your rent, you can just about afford your electricity, then we must recognise that the elephant in the room is the economy is not where we want it to be . It is not where we want it to be. So again, I understand. The Government is asking, What is your solution? They came up with this creative idea and plan. It was not for us to come to you and say, Well, this is what we believe should happen. The Government is telling us that there is this problem in Bermuda that we need to fix. We have no idea how many, we have seen no stats to say that, Listen, you know, we believe there is this this number of people out there in Bermuda who really would like to get a piece of the pie or the Rock . I recognise that. I have been through that experience with my girls, right? Wanti ng to buy a home, going to the bank and finding out that, Listen, you can only afford $600,000 on your salary. And that was an attorney and a senior manager at the time, many years ago. But they could not afford anything else. Right? And I understand the fact that they are looking at me and saying, Well, look, Dad, how can you help? [Laughter and desk thumping]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So, Mr. Speaker, I am grateful that you have not hit the clock because I have taken up my time, all right? [Laughter]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierMy concern is that you cannot even right now go to the bank if you are 55, going on 60, and say, Well, look, you know, I want to buy a car. They want a letter from your job to say that you are still going to be employed with …
My concern is that you cannot even right now go to the bank if you are 55, going on 60, and say, Well, look, you know, I want to buy a car. They want a letter from your job to say that you are still going to be employed with them. It is difficult out there. So I understand this creative idea. But do not come in the House of Assembly and say, Well, what is your idea? You are bringing this to the House as the Government! And what we are saying is that we do not recognise . . . we may not know when the next COVID is going to strike us. And that pension money is going to be vital to the survival of many of our members. So what you have in place here on the one hand is to say, Okay, well, we want people to be able to go and take this money, use this money as their pension and creatively (as the Premier says) transfer. But quite frankly, if you transfer these monies into a home and you get another crisis like COVID -19 come, the loss is devastating; extremely devastating. We are dealing right now with people because of COVID -19 who lost their careers who cannot afford to stay and keep their homes. They cannot afford it. Cannot afford it. And so are we going to bet on the 1724 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly future? On $20,000 that would be vital to have as a senior? Or are we going to bet on that $20,000 and say, Okay, for this young person we are going to put that money aside , which we still have not qualified whether or not and who are all of these people that are going to take advantage of it? We have not established that. We have not established it. You are saying, Come on, Craig . I understand what you are attempting to do here, but my concern is that the number one issue, one of the number -one issues, I should say, in Bermuda is our seniors are struggling. Man, I am telling you! All it is going to take is one shipment that does not get here and the prices go up. And I believe that they would prefer to go into the pension to survive for today and tomorrow rather than providing $20,000, $30,000 toward a new home.
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierWe are not talking about that. We are talking about folks being able to go into their pensions and use their pensions for —
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes, a 64- year old. Okay, 64year olds, all right, you know what I mean? We are go-ing to be semantic here right now and fail to recognise the issue that is at hand, the issue that is at hand. It is fine for us all up in here because …
Yes, a 64- year old. Okay, 64year olds, all right, you know what I mean? We are go-ing to be semantic here right now and fail to recognise the issue that is at hand, the issue that is at hand. It is fine for us all up in here because it is fine for us to c ome up with a solution, Mr. Speaker, because guess what? We have got one of the most fantastic pension plans in the world. One of the most fantastic pension plans in the world! But what we are talking about is one of the issues that we face when we go out there into the public, just about every senior is saying, I can’t make it! We have got seniors right now whom we are trying to help out, whom we know of. They are coming in the doors and they have lost their home. COVID -19 came, they lost their home. Right? We are trying to help them out there, and they are living from one space from the next hoping that they can housesit for someone. And using their pension— using their pension to survive. We need to protect that. At what point do we get to say, Okay, well, maybe that is a bit too far? Maybe that is a bit too far to go into the pension fund for something like this. Now, quite frankly, if you Google, there are a lot of advantages. And we want Bermudians to own their own home, most certainly. Absolutely! But we have to insist the issue is the economy is failing us. At the end of the day the economy is failing us. And s o we can spend all we want of the people’s money, but if you do not invigorate the economy to sustain the future and the present, then we are in a world of trouble. And guess where we are, Mr. Speaker? We are in a world of trouble. We are in a world of tro uble right now. So yes, I want you to explain to me who is going to all benefit from this here? Who are the people whom you polled? Did you talk to the banks about this process?
Mr. L. Craig CannonierWhat do you mean, what do I mean? I just said it. I just said it, Premier. Tell us whom you have consulted with to explain to us why this makes sense. Because I am not going to sit here and have a Member of Parliament tell me that, Okay, …
What do you mean, what do I mean? I just said it. I just said it, Premier. Tell us whom you have consulted with to explain to us why this makes sense. Because I am not going to sit here and have a Member of Parliament tell me that, Okay, well, this is a great thing to do , and we are already being warned about the next catastrophe that could possibly come, whether through disease and the likes, and we are going to go buy a home and crash within years because we cannot afford a home. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Point of order, Mr. Speaker. Point of order.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerPoint of order. POINT OF ORDER Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Speaker, the Government has not said that people have to do this. The facility is available for them. They have a choice. And that is all it is.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierThank you, Mr. Speaker. No one said that, no one denied that all so I am not sure where that is coming from. That is not how I am talking. The point is this, Mr. Speaker. I actually did not want to speak long to this here because I am …
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. No one said that, no one denied that all so I am not sure where that is coming from. That is not how I am talking. The point is this, Mr. Speaker. I actually did not want to speak long to this here because I am still waiting for facts and figures, for consultation that leads to why we are doing this. That should have happened in the very beginning. That should have happened in the very beginning. But what we are going to do now is say, Okay, well, we are going to go into this spot. Then everyone gets upset if we say “raid” or whatever the case may be. And then you got the Premier saying it is a transfer. But at the end of the day, it is coming out. It is coming out. [Inaudible interjection]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierWhat we would like to know when you look at the figures in order for you to buy a home, what do you think that takes? What do you think that takes? If you have got to come up with 20 per cent, 30 per cent to buy a home, …
What we would like to know when you look at the figures in order for you to buy a home, what do you think that takes? What do you think that takes? If you have got to come up with 20 per cent, 30 per cent to buy a home, what do you think that average is going to be in Bermuda? What is the average cost of a home in Bermuda? I mean, the average home in Bermuda used to be a million dollars. I am not so sure if it is that case Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1725
Bermuda House of Assembly now. But even at a house you are buying for $800,000, we are talking about a lofty amount. So, I am hoping that this is not a situation whereby we are going to wage against the future of folks and their pensions, and the unforeseen chal-lenges that might come because the future is not promised to any of us, nor the stability of the future to any of us. So we need to be much wiser, more consultative and more forthcoming about the reality of what might happen. I pray to God that this works. I pray to God that this works, Mr. Speaker. [Inaudible interjections and laughter ]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerSpeak to the Chair, speak to the Chair.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierBut I am having extreme difficulty waging the future and sacrificing the future for a mortgage that quite frankly could do us in for even longer periods of time. Opportunity, as they say, but I think we have a major, major challenge here and I think we need to rethink …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Does any other member wish to . . . MP Simmons?
Mr. Scott SimmonsThank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly I am not going to argue with the Opposition Member as it relates to his religion. But I will say that many of us have certainly known God as long as he has. And the Deputy may be correct in that regard. Mr. Speaker, as …
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Certainly I am not going to argue with the Opposition Member as it relates to his religion. But I will say that many of us have certainly known God as long as he has. And the Deputy may be correct in that regard. Mr. Speaker, as it relates to these issues today I would like to thank our Honourable Members for the clarity that they have given to each and every one in this House and also to our community on just what this challenge is. In 2010, I had the opportunity of working down at the Cabinet Office when a number of issues were debated. And one of those things was the use of funds as it relates to pensions, as it relates to giving individuals an opportunity to have another option. Mr. Speaker, I have to confess t hat I do not agree. Never have agreed with the use of pension funds and the use of what individuals have saved up for their retirement being used in this fashion. But, Mr. Speaker, we have to be clear on a number of things. The reason why the pensions were allowed in the past to be used was because there was a direct need for it. There were individuals throughout our country who did not have any monies, had nothing to turn to. And the decision was made to assist. I will use one of my constituent’s circumstances where she had a healthy pension fund and was completely broke and had nowhere to turn. And that was an example that was given during the discussions that I r emember that validated the need for us as a community, us as a Government and us as representatives of the people to recognise the importance of that. Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we cannot overlook is that there is a community out there who are hurting. They are a community who need our support. And this Government must find the solutions to assist them so that they are able to exist in this cou ntry, but not just exist, but thrive. This particular piece I confess, when I saw it, when I read it, I was not too pleased with it. And I felt that anything that we do that will have a deleterious effect on our seniors later on, I did not want that to aff ect them later. I wanted to hear more on whether or not there would be an opportunity for them to add to their fund. Because I recognise when individuals take money out, it is always good when they can replenish the fund and bring it back up as things get better. And I realised that would be a challenge for individuals if they were given mortgage relief that there would be other financial responsibilities that they will have to deal with. But I always wanted there to be an opportunity for individuals to build that fund back up. Even if they took money out now from their funds and insurance funds that they would be able to replenish it, and be fit and ready for when they retire. What we can not overlook are those two things. Number one, the feel in the community that this must be something that we have to do, this is something that will assist and move us all forward as a community and give hope to our young people and all the rest. But also, we must do things in a responsible fashion. And so I would like to see as it relates to this particular Amendment that there be stipulations in place for us to be able to talk, for us to be able to work with those throughout our community to understand what this means for their pension funds in the future. What does it mean, what does it look like for them for them? So they can make the right decision and act in the right way. And so therefore, Mr. Speaker, I feel that we must enter into this delicately. I have heard the word cautiously from so many. They are correct. This is something and a tool that can be used to assist those who need this assistance. But we must also make them aware of the negative and make them aware of what will happen to their fund and the reality thereof. As long as we are doing all that, Mr. Speaker, and this answers many throughout our community who feel that we are not considering the things that are of benefit to them, but also considering that we must continue to do legis-lation and amendments that speak to the individual. Assist them going forward, but also let them know that 1726 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly there is a flip side to it. And that if you take money, if you withdraw, if you do the things that you do and you benefit from it, then you have to know the full display and the full look of what you are doing as far as investments are concerned. So, Mr. Speaker, I would encourage our Government to continue to find solutions. I want all of us in our Government to find the solutions that benefit our communities. And I would also ask that those who do decide to use these vehicles understand and use them responsibly and use them to benefit them and use them going forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, MP. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time? Junior Minister, you rose before anybody else. And I assume that no one else wants to answer the debate at this point. Junior Minister, you have the floor.
Mr. Jache AdamsYes. Okay. Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank Honourable Members for their contributions to this debate. I am es-pecially appreciative because what we just saw was democracy. This is important to me because when you look around the world, there are many who find it diffi-cult to accept the …
Yes. Okay. Mr. Speaker, I want to first thank Honourable Members for their contributions to this debate. I am es-pecially appreciative because what we just saw was democracy. This is important to me because when you look around the world, there are many who find it diffi-cult to accept the results of democracy. But with this debate, Mr. Speaker, we simply saw differing opinions, as we should because we all come from different backgrounds. Mr. Speaker, some of us come from the East and some of us come from the West. Some of us are employees and some of us are employers. Some of us are young and others are more seasoned. Some of us are progressive and some of us are conservative. Some of us get up every day, put on a hard hat and a uniform, whilst others get up every day and put on a fancy suit. It is that eclectic atmosphere that is wonderful for us to see. Now, the questions that some of us had were on data. So let me first say that the Office of the Tax Commissioner shows from their report in 2023 that they received 101 first time homeowner applications. So we have confidence and anticipate that the number of applications to be higher than this going forward. Another key element to this is that based on the data provided to us from the Pension Commission themselves, the average balance for all defined contribution plan members at the end of 2023 was estimat ed to be at about $135,000. Now, let us put a bit of context into this. If we were to remove all of what we consider low sum value, low balances for $50,000 or less, if we were to remove those accounts, and those are $50,000 or less for an array of reasons, but if we removed any bala nce of $50,000 or less, you will find that the average balance in a defined contribution plan is actually $260,000. Let us put international context into this. The average balance in a 401k in the US is about $135,000. But, Mr. Speaker, I must reiterate th at this option is completely voluntary. Individuals are more than welcome to keep their pensions as they are. They are more than welcome to keep their pensions as they are. I must also actually agree with MP Dickinson. The financial literacy is key, which is why he and I worked together on initiatives to improve financial literacy, and one of those initiatives actually focused on pensions. Mr. Speaker, I can also say that the current Minister of Finance recently met with members of the pension industry to enhance retirement readiness. And as I mentioned in my brief, it will be a collective effort to ensure that each applicant is fully aware of the risks and ways to mitigate t hose risks going forward, before they make their decision. So as the Member, as my colleague who just took his seat, I assured him that that is exactly what we say we will do. We will educate the individuals on the risks and potential ways to mitigate those risks prior to their making the decision. In fact, one of the things that will be relayed to them is the importance of compound interest and the value of replenishing your pension sav-ings throughout your working career. We are doing exactly what he asked for us to do. Mr. Speaker, I then referred to my colleague, the Honourable Tinee Furbert, who said and reminded us that this was actually an election platform initiative, a PLP election platform initiative, a mandate that was given to us by the rank -and-file members of the Progressive Labour Party. And what this Government is doing is committing itself to execution. I am PLP all the way, Mr. Speaker. PLP all the way. And when our members charge us to deliver such an opportunity, which is optional but has the potential of assisting the commu-nity to get on the property ladder, I am proud to do so. Mr. Speaker, the Premier touched on it. What becomes increasingly frustrating to me is the lack of al-ternative solutions provided by the One Bermuda Alli-ance. I never heard an alternative solution put forth. In fact, this reminds me of when their candidat e of constituency 36 openly admitted that he had no idea what the OBA had planned. It is what he said. Mr. Speaker, homeownership is important to me. Homeownership is important to my party. And homeownership is the desire of many Bermudians. Unfortunately, many within the community can attest to the fact that coming up with a $120,000 down payment for a $600,000 property can feel impossible. Some will tell you that it would take 30 Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1727
Bermuda House of Assembly years to save that amount let alone to then be responsible for a 30- year mortgage! Correct? Mr. Speaker, this Government has presented solutions. Not only have we established a programme that will cut the down payment in half, with this option we now have the ability to go even further. We do also re-emphasise that property in Bermuda is an appreciating asset. This is simply choosing to transfer funds from one asset and invest in another. We are not talking about individuals spending the money frivolously. As I mentioned in my Statement last week, this is not like the pension withdrawals that took place during the pandemic that had no parameters on how the funds were spent. And further to the point, applicants will still have to go through the bank’s credit approval process. So this will only be made available to individuals with whom the banks themselves feel comfortable and feel as though they are creditworthy. Mr. Speaker, we are empowering people, making it more accessible for people to become homeown-ers. Imagine how empowering it will be for some to know that every month with their mortgage repayments they are in exchange building their equity, which is not the case as long as they are renters. Mr. Speaker, we are not afraid to be progressive in our approach. We were not elected to maintain the status quo. And I will not apologise for coming to this House and presenting an option that can improve the lives of families for generations to come! [Desk thumping]
Mr. Jache AdamsSo with that, Mr. Speaker, I call for the Bill to be committed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Deputy [Speaker] . House in Committee at 4:12 pm [Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., in the Chair] COMMITTEE ON BILL NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME (OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS) AMENDMENT ACT 2024
The ChairmanChairmanHonourable Members. We are now in Committee of the whole for further consideration of the Bill entitled National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment Act 2024 . Junior Minister Adams, you have the floor.
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Chairman, clause 2 amends section 24(9) of the principal Act by inserting a new paragraph (f) to enable a member or former member of a defined contribution pension plan or a local retirement product, who has not attained the normal retirement age and who is to be a first …
Mr. Chairman, clause 2 amends section 24(9) of the principal Act by inserting a new paragraph (f) to enable a member or former member of a defined contribution pension plan or a local retirement product, who has not attained the normal retirement age and who is to be a first time homeowner, for such member, their husband or wife, or their child, to receive a refund of 30 per cent of their account balance, in the case of a member under the age of 45 years, or a re-fund of 15 per cent, in the case of a member who is 45 years old or older but has not yet attained the age of 65 years, to apply toward the purchase of a principal residence in Bermuda. Clause 3 amends the principal Act by inserting after section 24 a new section 24A to provide for the return or recovery of the lump sum paid toward the pur-chase of a principal residence in Bermuda in the case where the seller fails or is unable to complete the sale. An administrator who receives the returned lump sum is required to notify the Commission of the lump sum returned. Clause 4 amends the principal Act in section 69(1) to empower the Minister to make regulations for the purpose of prescribing the requirements and conditions that are to apply to enable members or former members of a defined contribution pension plan or a local retirement product, who have not attained the nor-mal retirement age, to invest a portion of their account balance within Bermuda. Clause 5 provides for the Minister to cause the Act to come into operation by notice published in the Gazette. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanAny further speakers to clauses 1 to 5? There appear to be none. Minister, do you want to move the clauses?
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Chairman, I move that the preamble be approved.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the preamble be approved. Are there any objections to that?
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Chairman, I move that clauses 1 through 5 be approved.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that clauses 1 through 5 be approved. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. 1728 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report B ermuda House of Assembly Approved. [ Motion carried: Clauses 1 through 5 passed.] Mr . Jache Adams: Mr. Chairman, I …
It has been moved that clauses 1 through 5 be approved. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. 1728 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report B ermuda House of Assembly Approved. [ Motion carried: Clauses 1 through 5 passed.] Mr . Jache Adams: Mr. Chairman, I move that the Bill be reported to the House as printed or amended.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed or amended? [ Members rose and requested a recorded division .]
The ChairmanChairmanWe have got to have a vote count recorded. You can take your seats. Mr. Sergeant -at-Arms, can you ask them to come in? If not, lock the door. [ Pause for the ringing of the bell. ]
The ChairmanChairmanOkay. The doors are locked, and Ms. Beale will call your names. Those in favour of the Bill, say yay or nay? The Assistant Clerk: [The y will say] Aye.
The ChairmanChairmanAnd those not in favour will say nay . . . no. Those who oppose the Bill, say no. And those who favour the Bill, say aye or yes. Okay. DIVISION [National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment Act 2024] Ayes: 17 Nays: 6 Mr. Jache Adams Mr. Vance Campbell Lt. …
And those not in favour will say nay . . . no. Those who oppose the Bill, say no. And those who favour the Bill, say aye or yes. Okay. DIVISION [National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment Act 2024] Ayes: 17 Nays: 6 Mr. Jache Adams Mr. Vance Campbell Lt. Col. Hon. David Burch Mr. Curtis Dickinson Hon. E. David Burt Mr. Robert King Hon. Crystal Caesar Hon. Jarion Richardson Mr. Christopher Famous Mr. Scott Simmons Hon. Tinee Furbert Mr. Ben Smith Hon. Wayne Furbert Hon. Jason Hayward Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain Mr. Anthony Richardson Hon. Walter H. Roban Mr. Jamahl S. Simmons Mrs. Ianthia Simmons -Wade Mr. Hubert (Kim) E. Swan Mr. Neville S. Tyrrell
Mr. Jason Wade
Hon. Michael A. Weeks
Absent10 Mr. Wayne Caines Mr. L. C raig Cannonier Mr. Z ane J . S. De Silva Ms. Lov itta F. F oggo Ms. S usan E . Jackson Mr. D ennis L ister I II Mrs. R enee Ming Mr. S cott P earman Mr. W. Law rence Scott …
10 Mr. Wayne Caines Mr. L. C raig Cannonier Mr. Z ane J . S. De Silva Ms. Lov itta F. F oggo Ms. S usan E . Jackson Mr. D ennis L ister I II Mrs. R enee Ming Mr. S cott P earman Mr. W. Law rence Scott Hon. K im N. W ilson The Assistant Clerk: With a vote of 17 ayes to 6 noes, the ayes have it. [Desk thumping] [Motion c arried by majority on division: The National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment Act 2024 was c onsidered by a Committee of the whole House and passed without amendment.)
The ChairmanChairmanSorry about that there. It has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed. Are there any objections to that? There appear t o be none. The Bill will b e reported t o the House as printed. House resumed at 4:22 pm [ Hon. Dennis …
Sorry about that there. It has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed. Are there any objections to that? There appear t o be none. The Bill will b e reported t o the House as printed. House resumed at 4:22 pm [ Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair] REPORT OF COMMITTEE NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME (OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS) AMENDMENT ACT 2024
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGood afternoon, Members. Are there any objections to the Bill entitled the National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment Act 2024 being reported to the House as printed? There are none. The Bill has been reported as printed. That brings us to a close of that matter. We will move on …
Good afternoon, Members. Are there any objections to the Bill entitled the National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment Act 2024 being reported to the House as printed? There are none. The Bill has been reported as printed. That brings us to a close of that matter. We will move on to the next item, which is item number 3, the consideration of the National Pension Scheme (First Time Homeowner Refund) Regulations 2024 . Junior Minister. DRAFT REGULATIONS NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME (FIRST TIME HOMEOWNER REFUND) REGULATIONS 2024 Mr . Jache Adams: Good evening, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present the National Pension Scheme (First Time Homeowner Refund) Regulations 2024 for the consideration of Honourable Members. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1729 B ermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, the just -passed National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment Act 2024 . . .
The SpeakerThe SpeakerContinue. I hear you. I hear you. Mr . Jache Adams: (Sorry, sorry.) Mr. Speaker, the just -passed National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment Act 2024 provided the authority to permit members and former members of defined contribution pension plans and individual local retirement products who have not attained normal …
Continue. I hear you. I hear you. Mr . Jache Adams: (Sorry, sorry.) Mr. Speaker, the just -passed National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment Act 2024 provided the authority to permit members and former members of defined contribution pension plans and individual local retirement products who have not attained normal retirement age, for such member, their husband or wife or their child who is to be a first time homeowner to be able to receive a refund of 30 per cent of their account balance in the case of a member under the age of 45 years, or a refund of 15 per cent in the case of a member who is 45 years old or older but has not attained the age of 65 years to apply toward the purchase of a principal residence in Bermuda. The Amendment Act clearly provided the rationale for allowing these refunds, and these regula-tions provide the framework for applying for the refund and other related matters such as definitions, application of regulations, relevant statement of accounts, incomplete or defective application, determination of amount of refund, notification of decision to an appli-cant and pension administrator, recordkeeping by the [Pension] Commission, payment of refund by the administrator, non- imposition of charges by the administrator, administrator compliance and commencement of the regulations. Mr. Speaker, the specifics of the proposed regulations are as follows: •Regulation 1 is self -explanatory and provides for the citation of the Regulations. •Regulation 2 inserts various applicable definitions. •Regulation 3 provides for those persons who m t he Regulations apply to. •Regulation 4 provides for the process for ap-plying for a refund. •Regulation 5 provides for a relevant datedstatement of accounts showing the applicant’s account balance, and such statement of ac-counts to be received from an administratorwithin seven working days. •Regulation 6 provides for the handling of incomplete or defective applications. •Regulation 7 provides for the consideration ofapplications by the Commission and restriction on approving such application. •Regulation 8 provides for the determination of the amount of the refund. •Regulation 9 provides for the decision of theCommission and notification of such to applicants and the administrator. •Regulation 10 specifies recordkeeping requirements by the Commission.•Regulation 11 provides for the payment of re-fund for any approved application within 20 working days. •Regulation 12 prohibits administrators from imposing a charge in performing their duties or requirements under the Regulations. •Regulation 13 provides for the administrator’s compliance with the Regulations, notwithstanding any contrary terms of a pension planor local retirement product and having regar d t o any advice or guidance issued by the Commission. •Regulation 14 provides for the commencementof the Regulations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Junior Minister. Is there any other Member who wishes to make a contribution? Opposition Leader. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With our objection to the enabling Bill having already been stated, I rise to contribute to this debate only insofar as to technical matters. Specifically …
Thank you, Junior Minister. Is there any other Member who wishes to make a contribution? Opposition Leader. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Yes. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With our objection to the enabling Bill having already been stated, I rise to contribute to this debate only insofar as to technical matters. Specifically a question for the Honourable Junior Minister under regulation 5(1) wherein it requires . . . I will read it out, Mr. Speaker, with your permission (I am sorry).
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGo ahead. Hon. Jarion Richardson: “ The relevant statement required under regulation 4(3)(b) shall be the written statement, showing the value of the applicant’s account balance, issued by the administrator of the pension plan or local retirement product within thirty days of the date stated on the application form required …
Go ahead. Hon. Jarion Richardson: “ The relevant statement required under regulation 4(3)(b) shall be the written statement, showing the value of the applicant’s account balance, issued by the administrator of the pension plan or local retirement product within thirty days of the date stated on the application form required under regulation 4(2). ” Mr. Speaker, this provision seems to . . . I am not sure that the plan administrator is compelled within 30 days to actually undertake that action. In other words, they can simply just wait for 30 days and the time will lapse. So my question to the Junior Minister is, Is the plan for the administrator to be compelled to do this? What is the plan if the administrator does not do this act within 30 days? How is the applicant going to get that statement? Thank you.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerOkay. Thank you. Hon. Jarion Richardson: I do have one other, sorry.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGo ahead. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for your indulgence. 1730 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report B ermuda House of Assembly I have a question relating to page 1 just before the citation and the preamble where it states that . . . if I …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGo ahead. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you. “The Minister of Finance, in exercise of the power conferred by sections 24(9)(f) and 69 of the National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Act 1998, makes the following Regulations . . .” My question is, I do not see where the Minister is empowered …
Go ahead. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you. “The Minister of Finance, in exercise of the power conferred by sections 24(9)(f) and 69 of the National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Act 1998, makes the following Regulations . . .” My question is, I do not see where the Minister is empowered in section 24(9)(f) to make regulations. He is empowered to make regulations under section 69 of the primary leg-islation, but not under section 24(9)(f). So that looks like it needs to be struck. So I raise the question, Is that intentional? And is that accurate? Thank you.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerNo other Members? Junior Minister. [ Pause] Mr . Jache Adams: Sorry, Mr. Speaker. In reference to the Honourable Opposition Leader’s second question, the reason that he is not seeing it in the initial Act is because it is referred to in in the Amendment Act. It is actually included …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerOkay. Mr . Jache Adams: So it is included in the Amendment Act.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThat was your response to the question. Now you can just continue on and move the Regula-tions. Mr . Jache Adams: Mr. Speaker, I now move that the National Pension Scheme (First -Time Homeowners Refund) Regulations 2024 be committed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerNo, no. No committal, no committal. It is Regulations. The wording should be there for you. [ Pause]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerBasically, what you are asking for is that the message be sent to the Governor. Just reread this one without the wording and put your wording in it. You will be okay. Mr . Jache Adams: [I move that] said draft Regulations be approved and that a suitable message be …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. The Regulations [have been approved], and the appropriate message will be sent to the Governor. [ Motion carried: the National Pension Scheme (First Time Homeowner Refund) Regulations 2024 were ap-proved.]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. That brings that matter to a close. We now move on to item 4, which is the second reading of the Tax Reform Commission (Dissolution, Appointment and Validation) Act 2024 in the name of the Minister of Finance. Premier. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. …
Thank you. That brings that matter to a close. We now move on to item 4, which is the second reading of the Tax Reform Commission (Dissolution, Appointment and Validation) Act 2024 in the name of the Minister of Finance. Premier. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move that the Bill entitled the Tax Reform Commission (Dissolution, Appointment and Validation) Act 2024 be now read for the second time.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAre there any objections? There are none. Continue, Premier. BILL SECOND READING TAX REFORM COMMISSION (DISSOLUTION, APPOINTMENT AND VALIDATION) ACT 2024 Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in this Honourable House to move this particular Bill. What I would say, Mr. Speaker, by way of background, …
Are there any objections? There are none. Continue, Premier. BILL SECOND READING TAX REFORM COMMISSION (DISSOLUTION, APPOINTMENT AND VALIDATION) ACT 2024 Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise in this Honourable House to move this particular Bill. What I would say, Mr. Speaker, by way of background, in November 2023 the Ministry of Finance announced the formation of the current Tax Re-form Commission. The aim of this Bill is to address sev-eral key issues regarding the Tax Reform Commission, establishment of the Tax Reform Commission Act. Specifically this Bill seeks to retroactively dissolve the existing Commission, appoint a new one, allow for the validation of these actions and extend its operational period. Mr. Speaker, please note the validation aspects of this Bill were made purely for the sake of good order, as there has been no action taken by the Commission that requires formal validation. Since the update given in this Honourable House earlier this year, it has come to light that all of the necessary steps to properly establish the newly formed Commission were fully completed. Although the report of the former Commission was presented on t he 16 th of November 2018, our research has shown that in fact the financial statements were not tabled in the Legislature. The tabling of these statements was required under the Act to complete the dissolution process. It was established that as the dissol ution process was not completed, it could not be deemed to be legally empanelled. The relevant statements were tabled on the 20 th Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1731
Bermuda House of Assembly of September last week in this Honourable House, and therefore in accordance with section 3(5) of the [princi-pal] Act [Tax Reform Commission Act 2017], this Bill now completes the dissolution process and allows for the new panel to be properly established. Mr. Speaker, this Bill also extends the statutory period of this Commission’s establishment under the Tax Reform Commission Act 2017. The Commission conducts its functions for a period of six months starting from the date of appointment unless the Minister by or-der extends the period of existence and operation of the Commission. Given ongoing developments in key areas within the OECD that are relevant to the work of the Tax Reform Commission, it has become necessary to extend the Commission’s mandates. The implementation of the corporate income tax framework is ex-pected to have a significant impact on future govern-ment revenue. Additionally, the potential interaction between the corporate income tax and existing tax system makes it essential to extend the Commission’s duration to fully carry out its mandate and to meet its objectives. To date the Tax Reform Commission has been actively engaged in a range of activities including extensive fact -finding efforts to gather relevant data and insights, conducting detailed modelling exercises to highlight potential outcomes and carefully consi dering various alternative approaches. These efforts aim to ensure that the Tax Reform Commission explores all possible options and recommendations to support informed decision- making and the development of an effective framework. With this, no actions have been identified that require validation at this stage. Mr. Speaker, in closing, this Bill aims to address issues with the Tax Reform Commission estab-lished under the 2017 Act and extends the Commission’s statutory period to allow it to complete its mandate. Especially given the ongoing developments re-lated to the OECD and the implementation of the corporate income tax regime, this Bill also retroactively validates previous actions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Premier. Does any other Member? Opposition Leader. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Understanding this to be largely a homework or administrative matter, I do have the questions as it relates to, Why was this process not undertaken earlier and properly completed? And how will the …
Thank you, Premier. Does any other Member? Opposition Leader.
Hon. Jarion Richardson: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Understanding this to be largely a homework or administrative matter, I do have the questions as it relates to, Why was this process not undertaken earlier and properly completed? And how will the Government make sure this does not happen again? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Any further speakers? Premier. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will seek to get the answer to the question, but the technical officers are not here. I was not the Minister of Finance at the time, so I cannot speak to that particular …
Thank you. Any further speakers? Premier. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I will seek to get the answer to the question, but the technical officers are not here. I was not the Minister of Finance at the time, so I cannot speak to that particular matter. But there will be some-thing that would have happened at that po int in time which had delayed the tabling of these particular mat-ters. They have been tabled in the House of Assembly. They were tabled last week. And so that has been done, so we can now move forward with the validation. Seeing no further questions, Mr. Speaker, I will move that the Bill be committed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Deputy [Speaker] . House in Committee at 4:37 pm [Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., in the Chair] COMMITTEE ON BILL TAX REFORM COMMISSION (DISSOLUTION, APPOINTMENT AND VALIDATION) ACT 2024
The ChairmanChairmanHonourable Members, we are now in committee of the whole for the consideration of the Bill entitled Tax Reform Commission (Dissolution, Appointment and Validation) Act 2024 . Premier and Finance Minister David Burt, you have the floor. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr. Chair-man. Mr. Chairman, I …
The ChairmanChairmanContinue. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Clause 1 is self -explanatory. Clause 2 provides for definitions of terms used in the Bill and enables the Bill to apply notwithstanding section 3 of the principal Act, which provides for the es-tablishment of the Tax Reform Commission. …
Continue. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Clause 1 is self -explanatory. Clause 2 provides for definitions of terms used in the Bill and enables the Bill to apply notwithstanding section 3 of the principal Act, which provides for the es-tablishment of the Tax Reform Commission. Clause 3 deems the Tax Reform Commission, appointed in 2018 under the principal Act, to have been dissolved upon the laying of its final report and recommendations before the Legislature on 16 November 2018. Clause 4 retroactively appoints, from 10 November 2023, a new Commission and provides for the principal Act to apply to it as it did to the former Tax Reform Commission. This clause also provides for the newly appointed Commission to continue in operation until 31 March 2025, thereby extending its duration be-yond the six -month initial period provided for under section 3(3) of the principal Act. Clause 5 validates, from 10 November [2023], the exercise or performance of any functions, duties or 1732 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report B ermuda House of Assembly operations of the Tax Reform Commission so exercised or performed under any provision of law.
The ChairmanChairmanAre there any speakers to clauses one through five of this Bill? There appear to be none. Premier, do you want to move? Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I move that clauses 1 through 5 be approved.
The ChairmanChairmanIt is so moved that clauses 1 through 5 be approved. Are there any objections? There appear to be none. Approved. [ Motion carried: Clauses 1 through 5 passed.] Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that the preamble be approved.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the preamble be approved. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. Approved. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move the Bill be reported to the House as printed.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. The Bill will be reported to the House as printed. Thank you. [ Motion carried: the Tax Reform Commission (Dissolution, Appointment and Validation) Act 2024 …
It has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. The Bill will be reported to the House as printed. Thank you. [ Motion carried: the Tax Reform Commission (Dissolution, Appointment and Validation) Act 2024 was considered by a Committee of the whole House and passed without amendment.] House resumed at 4:40 pm [ Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair] REPORT OF COMMITTEE TAX REFORM COMMISSION (DISSOLUTION, APPOINTMENT AND VALIDATION) ACT 2024
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGood afternoon, Members. Are there any objections to the Bill entitled the Tax Reform Commission (Dissolution, Appointment and Validation) Act 2024 being reported to the House as printed? There are none. Thank you, Members , for your participation. We are now going to move on to the next item, which …
Good afternoon, Members. Are there any objections to the Bill entitled the Tax Reform Commission (Dissolution, Appointment and Validation) Act 2024 being reported to the House as printed? There are none. Thank you, Members , for your participation. We are now going to move on to the next item, which is item number 5: the second reading of the Companies and Limited Liability Company Amendment Act 2024 in the name of the Minister of Finance. But Minister Hayward, you are going to deliver it for him? Hon. Jason Hayward: Correct.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGo ahead. Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Speaker, I move that the Bill entitled the Companies and Limited Liability Company Amendment Act 2024 be now read a second time.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAre there any objections? There are none. Continue. BILL SECOND READING COMPANIES AND LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY AMENDMENT ACT 2024 Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present the Companies and Limited Liability Company Amendment Act 2024 to this Honourable House. This Bill seeks to eliminate an administrative process …
Are there any objections? There are none. Continue. BILL SECOND READING COMPANIES AND LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY AMENDMENT ACT 2024 Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present the Companies and Limited Liability Company Amendment Act 2024 to this Honourable House. This Bill seeks to eliminate an administrative process involving the lease of real estate properties by corporate en-tities to provide housing accomm odations or recreational facilities for company personnel and events. Mr. Speaker, as Honourable Members will be aware, the Government has been making efforts to at-tract and retain family offices in Bermuda. As part of this initiative , typical business activities of family offices were considered as well as Bermuda’s existing framework and regulatory requirements that might impact those family offices doing business here. Mr. Speaker, following consultation with industry representatives and reviews of options for a family office product, various suggestions were put forward for discussion and consideration by relevant ministries and regulatory agencies. Mr. Speaker, while focusing on family office initiatives was originally intended to identify possible solutions or incentives for family offices, we have taken the opportunity to make changes that would also benefit other Bermuda business governed by the same legislation, policies and procedures that may be used by family offices. Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members will be aware that we are also actively working to streamline government processes to eliminate unneces sary red tape. This Bill is aimed at reducing administrative bur-den relating to corporate leasing of residential accommodations for employees and leasing of recreational facilities for a term up to 21 years. Mr. Speaker, presently a company must make an application to the Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1733
Bermuda House of Assembly Registrar of Companies [ROC] for consent from the Minister of Finance prior to entering into or renewing a residential lease to accommodate a staff member or for rental of a recreational facility. Once an application has been received by the ROC it is reviewed for complete-ness and processed by the ROC personnel. Processing by the ROC includes the following steps: • A review of the proposed lease and any prior lease terms is conducted to ensure that the aggregate term does not exceed the 21- year limitation includ ed in the statute. • Due diligence is performed on the proposed landlord. Where the landlord is a trust , a due diligence review of the trust beneficiaries is also conducted. • An executive summary memo is prepared outlining the applicable law, various aspects of the proposed lease, and the application compliance status with respect to required filings and fees. The executive summary memo, draft con-sent letter and proposed lease are forwarded to the Ministry of Finance for review and consideration by the Minister. Following the receipt of the Minister’s decision, ROC notifies the applicant of the outcome, and where consent is granted, the list of residential lease consents maintained by ROC is updated and the consent is made available for public inspection. Mr. Speaker, ROC has previously aimed to process these applications for consent within five days of receipt. However, increased regulatory responsibilities, resource constraints, requirements for processing other applications and handling matters with hig her priorities may result in substantial delays. Mr. Speaker, during the last seven years there have been a total of 102 consents provided in relation to residential leases. The totals are as follow s: • 12 in 2018; • six in 2019 ; • 15 in 2020; • 17 in 2021; • 17 in 2022; • 21 in 2023; and • 14 in 2024. The process to grant these consents is extremely burdensome and delays the receipt of rental income by Bermudian property owners who must wait for government approval to execute what is essentially a standard contract for renting a property. Mr. Speaker, there are various layers of regulation that already apply to pers ons doing business in Bermuda. For example, to comply with anti -money laundering and anti -terrorist financing laws , banks are required to conduct due diligence on their customers and engage in ongoing mon-itoring of their banking transactions. This would include Bermudian property owners who receive rent payments into the Bermudian b ank accounts. Beneficial owners of all companies are subjected to due diligence checks and ongoing filing requirements. The sellers and beneficiaries of Bermuda trusts are also subject to due diligence checks by appropriate parties such as licensed trustees, private trust companies or licensed corporate service providers. Compliance with requirements for annual filings and company fees is also subject to enforcement powers of the Registrar of Companies. Mr. Speaker, it is also noted that there is no similar approval requirement for leases of land up to 50 years for the business purpose of a company or limited liability company, also commonly referred to as an LLC. Accordingly, the B ill will make the following amendments: The Companies Act 1981 and the Limited Lia-bility Company Act 2016 will both be amended to remove the requirement for companies and local LLCs to obtain consent of the Minister of Finance for certain land holding for terms up to a maximum of 21 years. A new provision will be inserted into the Limited Liabilit y Company Act 2016 to mirror the newly amended provision to apply the same flexibility for exempt LLCs and, in consequence, this substantive amendment: the fee for making an application with the Registrar of Companies for the required consent is being repealed. Mr. Speaker, following enactment of this B ill, all companies and LLCs will be able to enter into the sub-ject leases as a matter of law. These changes will alleviate administrative burdens for corporate tenants and their service providers, the Registrar of Companies and the Ministry of Finance. Bermudi an property owners will also benefit from these changes since the current de-lays in the rental process due to the consent require-ments will be eliminated. Imagine, if you will, being a Bermudian property owner , having a mortgage to pay and coming to an agreement with a prospective les see, only to incur a holdup in executing the lease due to administrative process. These amendments will overcome that hurdle. Mr. Speaker, while today ’s Bill is not a landmark change, it is indicative of progress : Progress in making it easier for Bermuda companies and Bermuda property owners to conduct their business and progress in ensuring the government resources are used more efficiently. Mr. Speaker, although the require-ments for consent are being removed, companies and LLCs will still be obligated to comply with existing laws and regulations regarding land use and land holdings. The 21- year limit on leases will still apply , and the removal of consent is not expected to compromise compliance with local laws or international standards. Mr. Speaker, this Bill is just one of many steps we are taking to make Bermuda a better place to do business. The family office framework that was tabled earlier this calendar year highlighted many of Bermuda’s existing corporate products , as well as proposed changes to enhance legal protections and pro-vide more flexibility for certain products. Mr. Speaker, we will continue to work to attract new businesses and 1734 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly investment to Bermuda while also streamlining government processes and reducing red tape. We look for-ward to bringing forth more legislation to achieve these goals in the coming months. Mr. Speaker, I wish extend my sincere thanks to the technical officers in the Ministry of Economy and Labour, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice, as well as the private sector representatives for their assistance with this proposal. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. Does any other Member wish to— Opposition Leader , you have the floor. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Honourable Minister for bring-ing this before the House. We in the Opposition are fans of cutting red tape, so we generally are …
Thank you, Minister. Does any other Member wish to— Opposition Leader , you have the floor.
Hon. Jarion Richardson: Yes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Honourable Minister for bring-ing this before the House. We in the Opposition are fans of cutting red tape, so we generally are always positive with these kinds of developments. But we do have some questions relating to this particular red tape. In the United Kingdom they finished an investigation into the Grenfell Tower disaster , and it was attributed to the slashing of red tape relating to the installation of different kinds of materials on the con-struction site that led to the disaster. So we do have to be careful with what red tape we cut and for what pur-pose. To that end I would like ask the Minister . . .or rather, I will start with this position. When we joined the corporate service provider world, Mr. Speaker, we typically walked down into the basement where they keep the classrooms. And they walk you through the Companies Act and why it is structured the way it is and how all of this works, especially as it relates to the Registrar of Companies and the controls that are in place. To that end, one of the reasons that there is ministerial oversight is a matter of public policy in terms of ensuring that exempted com-panies do not compete with local companies for the finite properties that are on Island. So essentially , that oversight is a matter of public policy from the Minister’s level. This differs substantially to conduct regulation such as the criminality provisions imposed by the Pro-ceeds of Crime legislation that the Minister referred to, which requires banks and others to ascertain the identity of people as well as ensure their legitimacy and the legitimacy of the funds they send. So to that end these are not the same thing. That is, the ministerial oversight is a question of public policy and the protection of Ber-muda and Bermudians’ interests, whereas the conduct of legislation rel ates to criminality. So my question to the Minister is , Now that we are doing away with the ministerial oversight as a matter of public policy , what are the guardrails to ensure that exempted companies are not displacing locals in the real estate market? Thank you. The Speaker: Thank you, Opposition Leader. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time? None other? Minister. Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Speaker, I thank the Honourable Member for that particular question. But when we talk about guardrails and protection against competition, we then have to look at the facts. The facts are clearly laid out in the statistics that were provided. There were less than 25 residential leases annually that actually provided or [were] applied for by exempted companies. And so based off of our vast property market , this does not substantially increase competition. The other thing when we looked at checks and due diligence and the process, we looked at this notion of protectionism. And there was not one recorded case were consent was actually not granted. Consent was granted as a matter of process. As a result , this Bill neither does anything to increase competition or take away from the protections that were there in the past.
[Inaudible interjection]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerNo problem. Hon. Jason Hayward: I move that the Bill now be committed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Deputy [Speaker] . House in Committee at 4:54 pm [Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., in the Chair] COMMITTEE ON BILL COMPANIES AND LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY AMENDMENT ACT 2024
The ChairmanChairmanMembers, we are now in C ommittee of the whole for further consideration of the Bill entitled the Companies and Limited Liability Company Amendment Act 2024 . And t his Bill is being piloted by Minister Jason Hayward. Minister, you have the floor. Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, I move …
The ChairmanChairmanContinue. Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, t his Bill seeks to amend the Companies Act 1981 and the Limited Liabil-ity Company Act 2016 to remove the requirement for companies and limited liability companies to obtain Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1735 Bermuda House of Assembly ministerial consent for …
Continue. Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, t his Bill seeks to amend the Companies Act 1981 and the Limited Liabil-ity Company Act 2016 to remove the requirement for companies and limited liability companies to obtain Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1735
Bermuda House of Assembly ministerial consent for certain land- holding s for a term up to 21 years. Clause 1 is the title of the Bill, Mr. Chairman. Clause 1 provides for the title of the B ill. Mr. Chairman, Clause 2 amends sections 120(4) and 129(1)(a)(ii) of the Companies Act 1981 to remove the requirement for local and exempted companies to obtain the consent of the Minister to hold land by way of lease or letting agreement for a term not exceeding 21 years to provide accommodation or recreational facilities for their officers and employees. Mr. Chairman, clause 3 amends section 20 of the Limited Liability Company Act 2016 to remove the requirement for local limited liability companies [LLCs ] to obtain the consent of the Minister to hold land by way of lease or letting agreement for a term not exceeding 21 years to provide accommodation or recreational fa-cilities for their managers, officers and employees. This clause also amends section 24 of that Act to insert a new matching provision for exempted LLCs. Mr. Chairman, c lause 4 makes a consequential amendment to Head 16 of the Government Fees Regulations 1976 to remove the fee of $100 that was prescribed for applying for residential lease consent under section 120 and section 129 of the Companies Act 1981. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, Minister. Are there any speakers to c lauses 1 through 4? They are pretty — None. Minister, you can move. Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, I move that clauses 1 through 4 be approved.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that clauses 1 through 4 be approved. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. Approved. [Motion carried: Clauses 1 through 4 passed.] Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, I move that the preamble be approved.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the preamble be approved. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. Approved. Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, I move that the Bill be reported to the House as printed.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. The Bill will be reported to the House as printed. House resumed at 4:58 pm [Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair] REPORT …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGood afternoon, Members. Are there any objections to the Bill entitled the Companies and Limited Liability Company Amendment Act 2024 be reported to the House as printed? There are none. Thank you, Members , for contributing to that matter. We will now move on to the next item which is …
Good afternoon, Members. Are there any objections to the Bill entitled the Companies and Limited Liability Company Amendment Act 2024 be reported to the House as printed? There are none. Thank you, Members , for contributing to that matter. We will now move on to the next item which is item number 6, which is a second reading of the Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 in the name of the Junior Minister of Finance. Junior Minister?
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Speaker, I move that the Bill entitled Hotels (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 be now read for the second time [sic].
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAre there any objections? There are none. Continue, Junior Minister. BILL SECOND READING HOTELS (TEMPORARY CUSTOMS DUTY RELIEF) AMENDMENT ACT 2024
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Speaker, Honourable Members are requested now to give consideration to the Bill entitled Hotels (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024. Mr. Speaker, the Bill proposes to amend the Hotels (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Act 1991 to approve an additional period of duty relief in respect of capital goods …
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members are requested now to give consideration to the Bill entitled Hotels (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024. Mr. Speaker, the Bill proposes to amend the Hotels (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Act 1991 to approve an additional period of duty relief in respect of capital goods to be used in capital investment schemes for hotels. Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members will recall that the period of temporary customs duty relief for hotels was extended for a period of five years effective 1 April 2019. This period of duty relief expired on 31March 2024. Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members will appreciate the importance of upgra ding Bermuda’s tourism product in order to revitalise the local tourism industry. 1736 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly A vibrant and exciting hotel sector is an essential component in the Government’s quest to provide a first-class experience for our Island’s visitors. Fortunately for Bermuda, most hoteliers are committed to upgrading their facilities to the highest standards pos-sible. And those who have already reached world class status are determined to maintain that achievement. To reach their goals in the pervading economic climate, a number of hoteliers will be in greater need of assis-tance—
The SpeakerThe SpeakerJunior Minister . Let me just pause you for a minute. We are supposed to do [item] number 6. It appears that you are reading [item] number 7. But I am going to do this. I have to acknowledge that, but I am going to seek the indulgence of the …
Junior Minister . Let me just pause you for a minute. We are supposed to do [item] number 6. It appears that you are reading [item] number 7. But I am going to do this. I have to acknowledge that, but I am going to seek the indulgence of the House that you just continue with [item number] 7 and we will come back to [item number] 6. Okay? All right.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Speaker, Honourable Minister will appreciate the importance of upgrading Bermuda’s tourism product in order to revitalise the local tourism industry. The vibrant and exciting hotel sector is an essential component in the Government’s quest to provide a first -class experience for our Island’s visitors. Fortunately for Bermuda, most hoteliers …
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Minister will appreciate the importance of upgrading Bermuda’s tourism product in order to revitalise the local tourism industry. The vibrant and exciting hotel sector is an essential component in the Government’s quest to provide a first -class experience for our Island’s visitors. Fortunately for Bermuda, most hoteliers are committed to upgrading their facilities to the highest standards possible. And those who have already reached world-class status are determined to maintain that achievement. To reach their goals in the prevailing economic climate, a number of hoteliers will be in greater need of assistance than in the past. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform this Honourable House that during the last five years Bermuda’s hotel sector has benefited by claiming and receiving approximately $8.8 million in duty relief in respect of goods imported for the renovation and refurbis hment of their facilities. Over the next five years this Customs Duty Concession will continue to be of immense benefit to the hotel sector and by extension the general economy of Bermuda. Mr. Speaker, this Government intends for the extended period of the duty concessions for hotels to be backdated to 1 April 2024 to provide for an uninterrupted hotels temporary duty relief for a full five- year period through 31 March 2029. With that, I wi ll comment further on the measures of the Bill in Committee. And I move that this Bill —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerNo. [Inaudible interjection]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHave you finished your comments?
Mr. Jache AdamsYes, thank you. The Speaker: You will sit out and invite other Members to speak now.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWould any other Member like to make a contribution to this matter? Opposition Whip, you have the floor.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not much to say here, just a bit of clarification, really, that I would like from the Honourable Member. I noticed with the dates and the likes that it may suggest that it is retro. So when we go into Committee, basically, I …
Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Not much to say here, just a bit of clarification, really, that I would like from the Honourable Member. I noticed with the dates and the likes that it may suggest that it is retro. So when we go into Committee, basically, I think we can ask the question and maybe get some clarity on this. And then I was wondering, essentially with this, we also have . . . not only do we have this Customs duty relief, but we also have the Tourism Investment Act, which basically states the same thing for any investments. So I was just trying to understand a little better why we are continuing with the two when we have a Tour ism Investment Act which allows for restaurants, hotels, you name it, to be able to get this duty relief, as to why we would need to then extend this. So essentially, the hotel really has two options for the same thing. It may seem a bit redundant; I don’t know. Maybe there is something that I am missing here. But it would be nice to know why we are still continuing with the two different measures to accomplish this very, very same thing. So, what I will do is that I will leave that for Committee, my next question. But that really is just m overall view. Obviously, we support any aide that we can give while hotels and the likes are still trying to pull themselves into a position of profit. So, I will save my comments for Committee.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution? None. Oh! MP Swan, you—
Mr. Hubert (Kim) E. SwanMr. Speaker, just ever so briefly to share the importance of the need for refurbish-ments to assist and encourage hotels to remain fresh and just to say that during these summer months the hotels have been enjoying a very good season. But we do know, Mr. S peaker, that the …
Mr. Speaker, just ever so briefly to share the importance of the need for refurbish-ments to assist and encourage hotels to remain fresh and just to say that during these summer months the hotels have been enjoying a very good season. But we do know, Mr. S peaker, that the opportunity for Bermuda to grow ourselves in the tourism market lies between the months of November and April each year where hotel occupancy is traditionally very low. So anything that we can do that will encourage both the upgrade and Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1737
Bermuda House of Assembly restoration of properties . . . and we see it happening at places like Grotto Bay and the like. Making extensive improvements to the property and adding rooms is very important, Mr. Speaker. But I can’t help but emphasise more than enough that the opportunity to grow tourism exists between the periods of November through to April. What we have always called, whatever name we give it, spa and golf season, shoulder season, and the like. With the availability of unsold inventory, there are huge op-portunities there. And so we look forward to encourag-ing our hotel sector to remain current, remain fresh and buoyed by the fact that we now have a $560 million investment in Princes s coming along. Others will be looking to keep pace. And let us not loses sight of that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Does any other Member . . . There are none. Junior Minister.
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Speaker, I want to thank honourable colleagues for their contribution to this debate. I think in response to one of the questions that was raised is the fact that the Tourism Investment Act refers to land tax and payroll tax, which this particular ame ndment Act simply refers to …
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank honourable colleagues for their contribution to this debate. I think in response to one of the questions that was raised is the fact that the Tourism Investment Act refers to land tax and payroll tax, which this particular ame ndment Act simply refers to customs duty. And so with that, Mr. Speaker, I move that the Bill be committed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Deputy [Speaker]. House in Committee at 5: 06 pm [Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., Chairman] COMMITTEE ON BILL HOTELS (TEMPORARY CUSTOMS DUTY RELIEF) AMENDMENT ACT 2024
The ChairmanChairmanHonourable Members, we are now in Committee of the whole [House] for further considera-tion of the Bill entitled Hotels (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 . [Junior] Minister, Jache Adams, you have the floor. [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Jache AdamsClause 1 provides the citation for the Bill. Clause 2 amends section 7(2)(b)(i) of the Hotels (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Act 1991 by deleting the reference to “31 March 2024” and substituting “31 March 2029.” Clause 3 provides for commencement .
The ChairmanChairmanAny further speakers to clauses 1 through 3 of this Bill? MP Cannonier, you have the floor.
Mr. L. Craig Cannonier— where it speaks to the date lines there. Understanding the commencement, this is retroactive. Is the Minister aware of, between that pe-riod of 31 March 2024 up until this date whether or not that relief was given in respect to any hotels?
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Chairman, under normal circumstances businesses availing themselves on tempo-rary duty relief under CPC 5000, must adjust their initial customs declaration and pay the outstanding duty; however, hoteliers will not be required to adjust their CPC 5509 [sic] customs duty declaration with CPC 5509. This is due to the manner …
Mr. Chairman, under normal circumstances businesses availing themselves on tempo-rary duty relief under CPC 5000, must adjust their initial customs declaration and pay the outstanding duty; however, hoteliers will not be required to adjust their CPC 5509 [sic] customs duty declaration with CPC 5509. This is due to the manner in which CPC 5509 was configured to be used on— The Chairman: The answer is yes? [Laughter]
Mr. Jache AdamsI didn’t know how thorough you want me to be, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanWell, the question was a yes or no answer.
Mr. Jache AdamsI can be thorough. But yes is the short answer.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you. Thank you, [Junior] Minister. Any further speakers? Mr. Cannonier, you have the floor.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierAnd to continue on with clause 2, I am just curious as to . . . you know, it is six months later. I am not sure who oversees these things, but is there any particular reason why we are just get-ting to this at this point and stage? 1738 …
And to continue on with clause 2, I am just curious as to . . . you know, it is six months later. I am not sure who oversees these things, but is there any particular reason why we are just get-ting to this at this point and stage?
1738 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly The Chairman: Any further questions?
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Chairman, I think the extension of the period was not progressed during the last two legislative terms due to a number of unforeseen technical issues.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you. Any further speakers to this Bill, the Hotels (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 ? There appear to be none. [Junior] Minister, you can move the clauses 1 through 3.
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Chairman, I move that clauses 1 through 3 be committed.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that clauses 1 through 3 be approved. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. Approved. [Motion carried: Clauses 1 through 3 passed.]
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the preamble be approved. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. Approved.
Mr. Jache AdamsI move that the Bill be reported to the House as printed.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the Bill be reported as printed. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. The Bill will be reported to the House as printed. [Motion carried: The Hotels (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 was considered by a Committee of the …
It has been moved that the Bill be reported as printed. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. The Bill will be reported to the House as printed. [Motion carried: The Hotels (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 was considered by a Committee of the whole House and passed without amendment.] [Pause]
House resumed at 5 :12 pm
[Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMembers, are there any objections to the Bill entitled the Hotels (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 being reported to the House as printed? There are none. We will do item number 6 which is the second reading of the Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024.
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Speaker, I move that the Bill entitled Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 be now read the second time.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAre there any objections to that? There are none. Continue. BILL SECOND READING RESTAURANTS (TEMPORARY CUSTOMS DUTY RELIEF) AMENDMENT ACT 2024
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Speaker, Honourable Members are requested now to give consideration to the Bill en-titled Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 . Mr. Speaker, the Bill proposes to amend the Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Act 2002 to approve an additional period of duty relief in respect of capital …
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members are requested now to give consideration to the Bill en-titled Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 . Mr. Speaker, the Bill proposes to amend the Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Act 2002 to approve an additional period of duty relief in respect of capital goods to be used in capital investment schemes for restaurants. Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members will recall that the period of temporary customs duty relief for restaurants was last extended for a period of five years effective 1 April 2019. This period of duty relief expired on 31 March 2024. Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members will appreciate the importance of upgrading Bermuda’s tourism product in order to revitalise the local tourism industry. A vibrant and exciting restaurant sector is an essential component in the Government’s quest to provide a first - class experience for our Island’s visitors. Fortunately for Bermuda, most restaurateurs are committed to upgrading their facilities to the highest standards possible. And those who have already reached world- class status are determined to maintain that achievement. To Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1739
Bermuda House of Assembly reach their goals in the prevailing economic climate, a number of restaurateurs will be in greater need of as-sistance than in the past. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to inform this Honourable House that during the last five years Bermuda’s restaurant sector has benefited by claiming and receiving approximately $2.5 million in duty relief in respect of goods imported for the renovation and ref urbishment of their facilities. Over the next five years this customs duty concession will continue to be of immense benefit to the restaurant sector and by extension the general economy of Bermuda. Mr. Speaker, this Government intends for the extended period of the duty concession of restaurants to be backdated to 1 April 2024 to provide for uninter-rupted r estaurants temporary duty relief for a full five - year period through 31 March 2029. I will comment fur-ther on the measures of the Bill in Committee. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time? Opposition Whip.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes. Thank you. Really to say that we recognise the circumstances, and let’s get on with the Bill. [Laughter]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAny further speakers? There are none. Junior Minister.
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Speaker, I move that the Bill now be committed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Deputy [Speaker]. [Pause] House in Committee at 5: 15 pm [Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., Chairman] COMMITTEE ON BILL RESTAURANTS (TEMPORARY CUSTOMS DUTY RELIEF) AMENDMENT ACT 2024
The ChairmanChairmanHonourable Members, we are now in Committee of the whole [House] for further considera-tion of the Bill entitled Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 . [Junior] Minister, Jache Adams, you have the floor.
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Chairman, I move that clauses 1 through 3 be approved.
The ChairmanChairmanWell, explain them first and then see if you have any speakers. [Inaudible interjections]
The ChairmanChairmanJust read for the first three; there are only three.
Mr. Jache AdamsThis Bill seeks to amend the Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Act [2002] to extend the duty relief period during which qualifying goods may be imported. Clause 1 provides the citation for the Bill. Clause 2 amends section 7(2)(b)(i) of the Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Act [2002] by deleting …
This Bill seeks to amend the Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Act [2002] to extend the duty relief period during which qualifying goods may be imported. Clause 1 provides the citation for the Bill. Clause 2 amends section 7(2)(b)(i) of the Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Act [2002] by deleting the reference to “31 March 2024” and sub-stituting it with “31 March 2029.” Clause 3 provides for retrospective commencement on the 1 April 2024.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, Junior Minister, Mr. Adams. Any speakers to that? There appear to be no speakers. You want to move the clauses?
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that clauses 1 through 3 be approved. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. Approved. [Motion carried: Clauses 1 through 3 passed.]
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the preamble be approved. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. The preamble is approved.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. The Bill will be reported to the House as printed. 1740 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report B ermuda House of Assembly [Motion carried: The …
It has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. The Bill will be reported to the House as printed.
1740 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report B ermuda House of Assembly [Motion carried: The Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 was considered by a Committee of the whole House and passed without amendment.] [ Pause] House resumed at 5: 18 pm [ Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair] REPORT OF COMMITTEE RESTAURANTS (TEMPORARY CUSTOMS DUTY RELIEF) AMENDMENT ACT 2024
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMembers, are there any objections to the Bill entitled the Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 being reported to the House as printed? There are none. So we will move on to the next item and the next item is number 8, consideration of the Supplementary Estimate ( …
Members, are there any objections to the Bill entitled the Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 being reported to the House as printed? There are none. So we will move on to the next item and the next item is number 8, consideration of the Supplementary Estimate ( No.1) for financial year 2024/2025. Premier. [ Pause] Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, . . .
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. Hon. E. David Burt: I am going to follow what is read on my recital. (Stand by for one second, Mr. Speaker.) [ Pause] BILL SECOND READING SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATE (NO. 1) 202 4/25 Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in accordance with Standing Orders 43(4) …
Yes. Hon. E. David Burt: I am going to follow what is read on my recital. (Stand by for one second, Mr. Speaker.) [ Pause] BILL SECOND READING SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATE (NO. 1) 202 4/25 Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in accordance with Standing Orders 43(4) and 43(5) and with the concurrence of the Cabinet I move that Supplementary Estimate (No. 1) for financial year [2024/25] be approved, and I move that the House do resolve itself in Committee of Supply to consider the estimates.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMembers, the Premier has read out the supplementary that should be discussed. And to let you know , these go straight into Committee, so the House is now been moved into Committee. Deputy Speaker. House in Committee at 5:20 pm [Hon. Derrick V . Burgess, S r., Chairman] COMMITTEE OF …
The ChairmanChairmanHonourable Members, we are now in Committee of Supply for further consideration of the Supplementary Estimate [(No. 1)] for the financial year 2024/25 . Premier, Davi d Burt, Financ e Minister, you have the floor. Hon. E . David Burt: Thank y ou, v ery muc h, Mr . Chairman. …
Honourable Members, we are now in Committee of Supply for further consideration of the Supplementary Estimate [(No. 1)] for the financial year 2024/25 . Premier, Davi d Burt, Financ e Minister, you have the floor. Hon. E . David Burt: Thank y ou, v ery muc h, Mr . Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Supplementary Estimate 2024/25 in the contained Schedule identifies 16 items totalling $24,949,620 to be included in the Supplementary Estimate (No. 1) for 2024/25 made up of $17,637,559 on current account and $7,342,061 on capital accou nts. Honourable Members are reminded of my address to the Bermuda public delivered on 25 July 2024 pledging to provide additional support to families to address critical social issues in the community and also to address the rising cost of living. I indicated that Ministers will be working throughout the summer to develop initiatives to meet with the community’s need for additional resources to improve the lives of Bermudians. Mr. Chairman, this work is ongoing but [much] of the work in regard to the matters related to the items here in the Supplementary Estimate have been completed and the Supplementary Estimate details additional resources required to implement the social foc us of this investment package. The key areas include •i ncreasing investment in public safety; •enhancing support for mental health and community services; •additional resources for educators and socialworkers; •additional resources for the homeless; •additional resources for counselling and post - traumatic counselling inside of matters related to community; •additional resources for training and apprenticeship programmes; •additional matters relating to the interventionsthat are necessary to make sure that our young people are not going on to a path of antisocialbehaviour; and •additional rehabilitation programmes at our prisons as well. As mentioned, Mr. Chairman, the total current account expenditures amount to $17,637,559. Mr. Chairman, also as part of the additional resources to Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1741 B ermuda House of Assembly support the people of Bermuda there are several capital items focused on community needs. Mr. Chairman, it is clear that also you cannot deliver services without having the facilities to deliver services. And whether that is upgrading for youth facil-ities, whether that is the improved measures of which I have spoken about insofar as with docks, for our youth programmes so that they can actually go back to Port’s Island and White’s Island as I did when I was a young person, whether it is making sure that we take care of the sandwich generation and recognise the sandwich generation is there and provide options with the creation of a seniors day care facility and the investment that is necessary there, or whether or not it is just the things inside of our community. Whether or not those are playgrounds that our children can play in or whether or not that is the required work to make sure our communities are safer with required road lighting and other things inside of our communities. This package is additional funds that do supplement the largest capital allo-cation that this country has seen in 15 years. And of course, Mr. Chairman, the capital allocation totals $7,342,061.
The ChairmanChairmanMm-hmm. Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Chairman, as mentioned in my Statement to the House earlier today, Bermuda’s econ-omy continues to grow with an increase in tax revenues that is being seen. The increased revenues enable the Government to reduce taxes, which we have done, but also to invest in …
Mm-hmm. Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Chairman, as mentioned in my Statement to the House earlier today, Bermuda’s econ-omy continues to grow with an increase in tax revenues that is being seen. The increased revenues enable the Government to reduce taxes, which we have done, but also to invest in further social support for the people of Bermuda while delivering a budget surplus. Honourable Members will recall that the criteria for determining a debatable supplementary estimate requires that all items on the current account to be debated if the total current account spend of a Ministry shows an increase of greater than 10 per cent or $250,000 when compared to the original estimate. And of course, Mr. Chairman, as per the rules, all capital items are debatable. Applying the criteria that I have just described, all items on the Current Account and all items on the Capital Account in this particular supplementary esti-mate are debatable. And therefore, Mr. Chairman, as is known, individual ministers [are] prepared to do their individual heads and we will begin whenever you wish us to do so. But just for clarity, Current Account items 1 through 8 are debatable, and Capital Account items 9 through 17 are debatable.
The ChairmanChairmanYou may start, Finance Minister. Yes. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As you know, the responsibilities for the Cabinet Office are shared under two ministers.
The ChairmanChairmanMm-hmm. Hon. E. David Burt: I will go first and then I will certainly invite the Minister for the Cabinet Office to go second. Mr. C hairman, I m ove that w e consider H ead 9.
The ChairmanChairmanContinue. CABINET OFFICE HEAD 9—CABINET OFFICE Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Head 9 c ontains two items on this supplementary estimate. One is the matter in relation to the additional funding for the digital transformation initiatives and the other is additional funding for the policy …
Continue. CABINET OFFICE HEAD 9—CABINET OFFICE Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Head 9 c ontains two items on this supplementary estimate. One is the matter in relation to the additional funding for the digital transformation initiatives and the other is additional funding for the policy and strategy section. I will be cov ering the policy and strategy section and the Minis ter for the Cabinet Office will deliver the matters related to the digital transformation section. Mr. Chairman, the amount of $325,000 has been allocated to further the important work that is being done by the Cabinet Office and an interdisciplinary team of professionals to further support government departments and agencies in cost of living reduc tion measures. The initiatives undertaken and supported are essential to the Government’s commitments to specifically address the matters of food security and also the increasing cost on Island and those teams will continue to support various government departments in addition to the work of which they are doing themselves. And these additional funds will allow for additional external help to be assisted with the polic y and strategy team to make sure that any items which are considered are able to be subject to the nec essary scrutiny and can be brought quickly into effect. I will now defer to the Honourable Minister for the Cabinet Office who has further items for the digital transformation initiative under Head 9.
The ChairmanChairmanMinister for the Cabinet Office, Crystal Caesar, you have the floor. CABINET OFFICE HEAD 66—I MMIGRATION Hon. C rystal Caesar: Thank y ou, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I pleased to speak to this Honourable House on the supplementary estimates appropriated to s upport the Government’s digital transformation initiatives. Mr. Chairman, …
Minister for the Cabinet Office, Crystal Caesar, you have the floor. CABINET OFFICE HEAD 66—I MMIGRATION Hon. C rystal Caesar: Thank y ou, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I pleased to speak to this Honourable House on the supplementary estimates appropriated to s upport the Government’s digital transformation initiatives. Mr. Chairman, the Government of Bermuda has prioritised digital transformation as a key component of its strategic objectives for 2024/25. And as a key component of the Public Service Strategy Plan 2024 to 2027, the digital transformation initiative is integral to enhancing the efficiency, transparency and accessibility of public services. As part of this effort, digitising a number of applications for government services 1742 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly will significantly reduce processing times, improve accuracy, and enhance user experience. Mr. Chairman, a total of $1.5 million has been dedicated to the implementation of digital transformation initiatives with a specific earmark of $250,000 to be deferred to the Ministry of Economy and Labour to progress work on the overall digitisation of i mmigration applications. This $250,000 will contribute to the aim of a fully digitised immigration application system enabling online submissions, automated processing, and real-time status tracking. This will streamline operations, reduce paperwork, and i mprove service delivery to applicants. Mr. Chairman, the remaining $1.25 million will be allocated to the following digital transformation projects to be executed within this fiscal year. To support the advancement of use of artificial intelligence [AI] technologies, $150,000 will be dedicated to performing a proof of concept [POC] phase which involves implementing AI to automate the processing of a key government service. We are currently exploring short -term work permits and land title registrations, both areas of which require urgent attention to improve effectiveness. This project will train AI models with historical data, establish a sandbox environment and develop predictive analytics models. The deliverables for this phase include a work AI model, predictive analytic models, and a POC report. Secondly, Mr. Chairman, $250,000 will be allocated to enhance the online payment platform. This project will expand the existing online payment portal with advanced features, expanded department integration, and performance optimisation. The deliverables will include a redesigned user interface, additional payment gateways, and a user feedback system. Thirdly, $225,000 will be allocated to commence development of a one- stop shop for government services. The aim is to create a comprehensive portal that can centralise all government services, making it easy for the public to access and complete transactions. The deliverables for this space include a fully functional preliminary online portal, exploration of mar-ket options for a comprehensive platform and pilot test-ing.
The ChairmanChairmanMm-hmm. Hon. Crystal Caesar: Bear with me, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanYes, that’s all right, my dear. You take your time. Church starts tomorrow. [Laughter] Hon. Crystal Caesar: Mr. Chairman, $200,000 will be dedicated to streamline our compensation and benefits processes. This investment aims to improve our internal processing, benefits administration, and data security while providing valuable insights for informed decision …
Yes, that’s all right, my dear. You take your time. Church starts tomorrow.
[Laughter]
Hon. Crystal Caesar: Mr. Chairman, $200,000 will be dedicated to streamline our compensation and benefits processes. This investment aims to improve our internal processing, benefits administration, and data security while providing valuable insights for informed decision -making. Mr. Chairman, $220,000 will be allocated for operational and support needs of the digital transfor-mation team. This includes mission- critical enterprise licence and support which covers a full -time dedicated technical success manager, source code escrow prior-itisation for change requests, and liaison with architects for development planning and review. Cloud hosting is also included to cover hosting, high availability back-ups, maintenance, service support and monitoring. Recapture enterprise will be implemented to enhance security. This allocation will also support additional equipment and licences necessary for operations of the digital transformation team. Further, an amount of $75,000 will be invested in preparing the government workforce for the digital future through comprehensive training, programmes, partnerships with educational institutions and workshops on emerging digital tools. This investment wil l ensure that employees are equipped with the neces-sary skills to support the digital transformation process and maintain efficient service delivery. Finally, Mr. Chairman, to ensure readiness and mitigate any unforeseen risks, $130,000 will be allocated for contingency, planning and rapid response measures during project implementation. Mr. Chairman, the total additional expenditure required for these initiatives in the 2024/25 fiscal year is $1.5 million . . . with $1.25 million allocated to the digital transformation projects and $250,000 to the Minis-try of Economy and Labour for immigration application digitisation. To ensure the swift ramp- up of the implementation of the initiatives, the Digital Transportati on Team (or DTT) will immediately begin planning and preparing for contracting and embrace a cloud- first approach. This will firs t involve identifying key vendors and service providers for critical components such as AI integration, payment portal enhancements and cloud hosting. A cloud- first approach will allow the team to rapidly deploy services and scale as needed without the del ays associated with physical infrastructure. Mr. Chairman, the digital transformation initiatives align with the Government’s strategic priorities and are critical to advancing the digital transformation agenda. Our goal is to enhance the overall digital infrastructure and ensure the government can deliver high quality, secure, and accessible services to its citizens. Accordingly, Mr. Chairman, this Honourable House is invited to approve the total supplementary expenditure of $1.5 million for the 2024/25 fiscal year for digital transformation initiatives. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, Minister. Any speakers to that? There appear to be . . . [Member ]. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1743 Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I would just ask . . . I am glad to see these …
Thank you, Minister. Any speakers to that? There appear to be . . . [Member ].
Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1743
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Vance Campbell: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I would just ask . . . I am glad to see these issues or these initiatives. Many who have to deal with the government will be frustrated with how far we seem to be behind times when it comes to the use of technology and digitisation. My only question to the Minister would be, How many of these are actually [for] money to get new initi-atives started? Or is all of this to help continue initiatives that are already en train? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanYes, you Minister. You can reply to MP Campbell. Hon. Crystal Caesar: Thank you. All of it is for new initiatives.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you. Any further questions? Okay. There appear to be none. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much. I appreciate the Minister taking through her first supplementary estimate as Minister for the Cabinet Office and I move that Head 9 be approved. May I ask just one clarification, Mr. …
The ChairmanChairmanYes. Hon. E. David Burt: The Minister did cover one matter inside of her particular brief which speaks to item num-ber 14, and as those matters were covered there, may I ask if Honourable Members may have questions on that? Because that was . . . it was split out. …
Yes.
Hon. E. David Burt: The Minister did cover one matter inside of her particular brief which speaks to item num-ber 14, and as those matters were covered there, may I ask if Honourable Members may have questions on that? Because that was . . . it was split out. It was part of the digital transformation but that $250[,000] for immigration was mentioned inside of there and that might cause some confusion with persons who heard the Minister say $1.5 whereas those items were split out and if we can do . . . if I can move item number 1 and 14 to be approved. But I just wanted to make sure if there are any questions and in case anyone wanted to ask questions on item number 14.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, Premier. Any questions on item 14? The Chair recognises the Opposition Leader,
Mr. Richardson.
Hon. Jarion RichardsonThank you, Mr. Chairman. And I thank the Honourable Premier for bringing it to our attention that he is moving 14 along with item 1. My questions on 14 relate to, obviously, the digitisation project. Specifically, the Minister did speak of a jointed- up work with Cabinet. My question is, …
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I thank the Honourable Premier for bringing it to our attention that he is moving 14 along with item 1. My questions on 14 relate to, obviously, the digitisation project. Specifically, the Minister did speak of a jointed- up work with Cabinet. My question is, The project for digitisation under immigration has already spent $350,000 on record, or $345[,000] (I am happy to be corrected). Equally, the 2024/25 budget has $150,000 already allocated to that project. So my question is, Why are we allocating another $250,0 00 more? And can the Minister give an update on the digitisation project? Thank you.
The ChairmanChairmanMinister Hayward, do you want to answer that, please? Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, the digitisation project is an elaborate project. When we looked at where the funding would actually be provided, it is not just for the actual software to allow for digitisation of applications, but it is also …
Minister Hayward, do you want to answer that, please?
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, the digitisation project is an elaborate project. When we looked at where the funding would actually be provided, it is not just for the actual software to allow for digitisation of applications, but it is also to ensure that you have the proper backend infrastructure as well. And that is one of the challenges that we face. If we want a savvy new software that is rapid in terms of its speed and creates the efficiencies that are required, it has to be on a server that it can also power that level of efficiency. And so when we start to look at the project, the project can be split down into specific costs, making sure that you have the proper project management skills in place, making sure that you have the proper vendor in pl ace and then ensuring that you have the capital associated with the backend infrastructure to ensure that we have a success project.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, Minister Hayward. Any further questions? MP Richardson. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Yes, thank you. The Honourable Premier has made the point that this is a social spending supplementary for social focus, cost of living, support families, et cetera. I am mindful that the Honourable Minister has not yet had …
Thank you, Minister Hayward. Any further questions? MP Richardson.
Hon. Jarion Richardson: Yes, thank you. The Honourable Premier has made the point that this is a social spending supplementary for social focus, cost of living, support families, et cetera. I am mindful that the Honourable Minister has not yet had the opportunity to go to the public on his line items, but if he could just address why this collected or consolidated spending on immigration digitisation will help out with supporting families, cost of living, social focus, et cetera. Thank you.
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, our economy is circular. And so the speeding up of work permit processing then enables, one, businesses to execute their business in a more timely [manner]; two, it adds more jobs into the economy which means that we have more people paying for payroll tax. The fiscal position that we are in is as a result of us having higher tax receipts, as a result of having a strong business environment and as a result of having workers who are paying into the system. I reported last week that employment income increased by 11 per cent. That 11 per cent employment income increase has taxes associated with it. Those taxes allow the 1744 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Government to power and fund the social initiatives within this country.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, Minister Hayward. Any further questions? Hon. Jarion Richardson: None. Thank you.
The ChairmanChairmanOkay. Premier. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, very much, Mr. Chairman. I move that item number 1 and item number 14 be approved and stand part of the supplementary estimate.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that items 1 and 14, Head 9 and Head 66 be approved. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. Approved. [Motion carried: Cabinet Office, Head 9, and Head 66 Immigration Digitisation Projects passed.]
The ChairmanChairmanThe next up is Finance. Hon. E. David Burt: I have not yet taken my seat, Mr. Chairman. [Laughter]
The ChairmanChairmanYes. [You] sat down too soon. Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Chairman, can you just give me one second. My neck is beginning to hurt so I am actually going to get . . . a thing.
The ChairmanChairmanAre you going to get a seat? Hon. E. David Burt: All right. Thank you, very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I move that we now consider item number 2, which is Head 10.
The ChairmanChairmanContinue. MINISTRY OF FINANCE Hon. E. David Burt: Oh, I’m sorry. Item number 2 —
The ChairmanChairmanTwo and ten. Hon. E. David Burt: Yes, item number 2 and item number 13 at the same time. Item number 13 is the capital account so I am doing item number 2 and item number 13 [because] the brief contains both particular items, one [is] current and one [is] …
The ChairmanChairmanOkay. Hon. E. David Burt: Great. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the supplementary estimates for the Ministry of Finance, Headquarters totals $4.5 million. This amount is a grant to fund expenses relating to the establishment of the Corporate Income Tax Agency [CITA]. This amount is derived from …
Okay.
Hon. E. David Burt: Great. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the supplementary estimates for the Ministry of Finance, Headquarters totals $4.5 million. This amount is a grant to fund expenses relating to the establishment of the Corporate Income Tax Agency [CITA]. This amount is derived from both current and capital accounts. Mr. Chairman, $3.5 million from the Current Account and $1 million from the Capital Account. For good order, here is an overview of why a budget supplemental is required. Mr. Chairman, late in 2023 the Government in partnership with the Ministry of Finance enacted the Corporate Income Tax Act 2023. This marked a significant milestone reflecting strong collaboration, extensive consultation with both industry stakeholders and the public. The implementation of the Corporate Income Tax Regime is a multi -year project that is set to commence in financial year 2024/25, which we are cur-rently in, and extend into the next fiscal year. In July 2024, the Corporate Income Tax Agency Act was passed to establish an agency to ad-minister the corporate income tax laws in exercise of the power conferred by section 3 of the Corporate Income Tax Act 2023. With the requisite powers and responsibil ities to ensure that public confidence and international credibility is maintained in the regime, like our highly regarded integrated financial services regu-lator, it was deemed to appropriate to establish such an agency as a separate body to carry out these important responsibilities arising from Bermuda’s strong commitment to cooperation and compliance with the international requirements. Contained in the Corporate Income Tax Agency Act [2024] are all the powers that are required to effectively carry out its duties and functions. Under the oversight of a board of directors and led by a suitably qualified and experienced chief executive off icer, it is anticipated that the agency will work closely with the Ministry of Finance, industry, international bodies and other tax agencies to ensure the relevant tax matters are appropriately and effectively managed. Bermuda’s historical tax system was developed to reflect our size, location and the nature of our economy, and other such relevant key factor that define our Island home. However, as international norms and requirements have evolved, it was deemed necessary to implement the corporate income tax framework that embodied key aspects of the global minimum tax agreement adopted by the inclusive framework which falls under the auspices of the Organisation of Economic Co- operation and Development [OECD]. Effective administration such as this requires Bermuda to build a team of persons with development Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1745
Bermuda House of Assembly expertise and experience that hitherto was not required within the Bermuda Government network. This agency allows for that to be done in an effective manner with the support of our dedicated team of specialist advisors while building on the experience we already have in working in the international tax and regulatory areas. The proposed funding will allow for key steps to be progressed within this financial year to ensure the agency can carry out its work in a timely and effective manner. The project plan has been developed and a dedicated project team is now focused on addressing relevant action steps required for a successful implementation as planned. Ensuring that the agency gets a right leadership has been a key focus for this quarter and the relevant arrangements in this area are now being fin alised. The plan will allow for the e- registration to take place in the first quarter of 2025, when the Act comes into force. The focus here is to ensure that we have an appropriate technological solution to meet the domestic and international requirements and minimise unnecessary bureaucracy. We have already consulted on the relevant administrative matters which include taxpayers paying deposits of expected taxes in two tranches during 2025. The first such deposit will be due and payable in August 2025 and the second one in November. Having sy stems and resource in place to meet all of the key dead-lines are critical priorities. And having this working cap-ital in place ensures the agency of Bermuda can meet its obligations and achieve all the key relevant milestones are critical. We have worked with our advisors to configure estimates for the cost of establishing the agency for the remainder of the 2024/25 fiscal year [for] our personnel facilities systems and overhead costs. On the basis of that the Ministry considers a supplementary grant of $4.[5] million additional is to be required to be appropri-ated for this fiscal year. In establishing the Corporate Income Tax Agency, finding appropriate technological solutions for the agency is seen as important as it will ultimately result in lower personnel requirements that might otherwise be the case and will likely have a positive i mpact on the overall cost of compliance. Therefore, the initial cost of the agency is expected to increase to higher levels until fully functional technological systems and personnel are in place which will eventually reduce ongoing expenses. Mr. Chairman, time is tight to influence a new system to collect significant revenues for the Government of Bermuda. This is an unusual position with most jurisdictions having well -established corporate income tax regimes in place and so there are no obvi ous off - the-shelf solutions available. The work required to implement a technological system that meets the needs of Bermuda and provides a simple mechanism for eli-gible companies to pay tax should not be underestimated. The system will also need to interf ace with relevant government systems to reduce duplication of work, police the perimeter, and validate the eligible tax-payer base. However, with the support of this funding the necessary work can be done. Mr. Chairman, the supplementary estimate in the amount of $4.5 million is re-quired for fiscal 2024/25. Under Head 10, $3.5 million of the Current Account and an additional $1 millio n under the Capital Account, and I now welcome Honourable Members to give their questions on this.
Mr. Richardson.
Hon. Jarion RichardsonThank you, Mr. Chairman. Obviously, the Corporate Income Tax Agency is crucial to advancing Bermuda’s compliance with international requirements and is quite aspirational, so we look forward to this work. But we do have some questions for the Honourable Finance Minister. Specifically, I see that he has put forward supplementary …
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Obviously, the Corporate Income Tax Agency is crucial to advancing Bermuda’s compliance with international requirements and is quite aspirational, so we look forward to this work. But we do have some questions for the Honourable Finance Minister. Specifically, I see that he has put forward supplementary estimates of $3.5 million for the agency as well as $1 million under capital acquisitions. And to that end, that amounts to about 18 per cent, or one- fifth of the total spending under this supplementary. If he could explain how the CITA —again, one- fifth of this spending—is connected to his points raised earlier in his July address and the address earlier today that this is to support families, address cost of living, and social focus. Thank you. Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am happy to answer the question for the Honourable Member. There is a supplementary estimate that is dealing with these particular matters. This is focus on social spending, but there are other things to be done. But here is the most important point. We will not be able to reduce the cost of living in this country . In the future we will not be able to reduce or eliminate customs duty. We will not be able to reduce or eliminate the employer payroll tax unless we can actually collect the money that is coming toward us. And so it is important that we get this right. The fact is that this is additional money that has been allocated. There is money that was allocated in the original budget. A lot of those funds have been used for ongoing work with consultants as the process of the OECD is continuing. But the fact is we are going to get this right. And we are going to put this into place. So I understand the particular political point that he is trying to make, and that is the reason why in my statements that I have said an investment package primarily focuses on social spending. So, the fact is, without an efficient, effective and well -established Corporate Income Tax Agency Bermuda will not collect corporate income tax. And that is what is essential in our future to make sure that we implement universal health care, to make sure that we have the resources 1746 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly necessary to stabilise our pensions, to ensure that we can reduce or eliminate existing taxes and to make sure that Bermuda remains competitive. So that is the reason why. Because we want to make sure that it gets done and gets done right.
The ChairmanChairmanAny further questions? There appear to be none. MP Campbell.
Mr. Vance CampbellThank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I just want clarification. The $1 million in the capital grant, is that for development of the systems for collection of taxes? And if so, at the end of the day, after it is developed, will it be the property of the Corporate Income …
The ChairmanChairmanPremier. [Crosstalk] Hon. E. David Burt: I am just making sure. I thought the Opposition Leader was getting up for questions as well before. [Crosstalk] Hon. E. David Burt: No problem. Regarding the question that was asked by the Honourable Member, this is a capital grant to the Cor-porate Income …
Premier.
[Crosstalk]
Hon. E. David Burt: I am just making sure. I thought the Opposition Leader was getting up for questions as well before.
[Crosstalk]
Hon. E. David Burt: No problem. Regarding the question that was asked by the Honourable Member, this is a capital grant to the Cor-porate Income Tax Agency. As I covered in my brief, it is not necessarily that we are going to finding an off - the-shelf model that would do this. I think tha t in matters related to contracting and in matters related to agencies, as the Honourable Member would be aware, as the former Minister responsible for procurements, he would know that these matters are well set out. And any agency has to have procurement policies and financial policies that are in line with Government. And so from that perspective and position, it is likely that these particular matters may be owned by the Government; however, it could be that there could be an off -the-shelf solution that could be modified that could also work. I cannot necessarily speak to that specific item, but what I do know is they do need to have an IT solution. And whatever IT solution the incoming CEO will consider most appropriate and work with our consultants who are working with us will be the one that is put in place to ensure that we can collect those particular taxes. I am happy when that particular matter does come to the fore. I am certain that the Honourable Members of the Opposition will have many questions and I am sure that at some point in the future, as we have had numerous briefings with Members of the Opposition on mat-ters related to the corporate income tax, we will happily have the new head of the Corporate Income Tax Agency able to provide them with those same briefings in case they have any further questions.
The ChairmanChairmanAny further questions? There appear to be none. You want to move? Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that item 2 and item 13 be approved —
The ChairmanChairmanAnd head — Hon. E. David Burt: —and stand part of the estimates. That is Head 10 and Head 66. Just a note, Mr. Chairman, all capital account items are either Head 65 or Head 66.
The ChairmanChairmanRight. It has been moved that item 2, Head 10 and item 13, Head 66 . . . be approved. Any objections to that? There appear to be none. Approved. [Motion carried: Ministry of Finance, Head 10 Ministry Headquarters, and Head 66 Capital Acquisitions passed.]
The ChairmanChairmanThe next is the Minister of Education. Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanYes. Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Mr. Chairman, I move that we now consider items 3 and 9.
The ChairmanChairman[Items] 3 and 9. Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: That would be Head 16 and Head 65. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: The Ministry of Education is seeking supplemental funding to address critical needs in the 2024/25 fiscal year. These funds are designed to ensure that the …
[Items] 3 and 9. Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: That would be Head 16 and Head 65. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: The Ministry of Education is seeking supplemental funding to address critical needs in the 2024/25 fiscal year. These funds are designed to ensure that the Government’s commitment to equitable education is met particularly through early intervention for young children, special education services, and urgent capital improvements at Bermuda College. This funding responds directly to gaps identified through quantitative and qualitative data assessments in alignment with our broader education reform efforts. Supplemental (No. 1) for the financial year 2024/25 consists of $1,550,600 for current account spending. And $700,000 for capital spending. Mr. Chairman, the bulk of the supplementary funding for current account spending will be to support Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1747
Bermuda House of Assembly assessment intervention and educational programmes for young children and students with special needs. A breakdown of these expenditures is as follows: The Child Development Programme— $410,000. The Child Development Programme plays a crucial role in early childhood intervention which has proven to have long- term benefits for educational outcomes. The supplemental funding is intended to clear the backlog of developmental assessments which have been delayed due to resource limitations. This funding will also provide specialised follow -up services with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) assuring that they and their families receive appropriate supp ort at this critical stage. The Reading Clinic —$52,000. The Reading Clinic offers vital services that support students of learning differences such as dyslexia. The funding will be used to support dyslexia assessments, core reading programmes and early literacy support through the I-PLAY programme. Dame Marjorie Bean Hope Academy — $370,000. To address the growing complexity of stu-dent’s needs, this funding will provide full -time therapeutic services and equipment aimed at improving communication, motor skills and overall care for stu-dents with profound learning disabilities. Department of Education Student Services. This includes funding for additional paraprofessionals to assist students with high needs in special education programmes and for contracted psycho- educational assessments to address the growing demand for specialised support. Scholarships and Awards. This funding will allow the Ministry to offer more educational awards ad-dressing the gap between the large number of applicants and the limited funding available. These funds have already begun to be allocated. The Minister’s Debate Challenge. This initiative will promote critical thinking, public speaking and col-laboration amongst students aged 11 through 14 in public schools. Funding will recover recruitment, training and event costs. Recruitment for participants has already begun. The transition from three- to two- tier education system. This will provide uniform vouchers for parents of students transitioning to senior schools under the new five- year signature school programme. Mr. Chairman, Bermuda College, celebrating its 50 th anniversary, requires urgent repairs to maintain a safe and conductive learning environment for students, faculty and staff. The $700,000 requested in capital funding will address critical issues such as mould and water damage to Tech Hall , air quality concerns in Western Hall and hazardous flooring in the Student Centre. These repairs are essential to ensure the campus remains a vibrant hub of student activity and engagement. Mr. Chairman, the supplementary funding sought for the 2024/25 fiscal year is a targeted investment in Bermuda’s educational infrastructure and special needs programmes. By addressing these criti-cal needs, the Ministry is laying the groundwork for continued improvement that will benefit all students, especially those with the greatest challenges. This request reflects our commitment to creating an education system that is equitable, responsive and prepared to meet the needs of the future. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I welcome comments from honourable colleagues.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, Minister Rabain. Any further . . . Yes. The Chair recognises MP Ben Smith, Deputy Leader [of the OBA].
Mr. Ben SmithThank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Minister spoke of early intervention. There were assessments that were done that have kind of shown that there are gaps that need to be filled. Could the Minister just let us know when these assessments were done [and] when they were completed so …
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Minister spoke of early intervention. There were assessments that were done that have kind of shown that there are gaps that need to be filled. Could the Minister just let us know when these assessments were done [and] when they were completed so we know, you know . . . if we have identified these, was it in the last six months since the actual budget happened? So that we know why it is happening now as opposed to during the budget. The Minister also spoke about clearing the backlog. Can the Minister explain whether this means that we are going to have to hire more people in order to clear this backlog? What is going to happen for that cost to actually clear the backlog?
Mr. Ben SmithThe Minister also identified that they were going to have to add paraprofessionals. Once again, when did we have an assessment that said that we did not have the correct amount, that we needed to add more? And in that context, have those paraprofessionals already been hired and part of …
The Minister also identified that they were going to have to add paraprofessionals. Once again, when did we have an assessment that said that we did not have the correct amount, that we needed to add more? And in that context, have those paraprofessionals already been hired and part of the new school year, or is this something that is going to be happening in the future? The awards that were going to be provided for more scholarships, we obviously support giving more opportunity to our young people. Can the Minister just give us an idea of what this estimate will mean from a . . . almost how many students will be able to potentially get tertiary education because of this? The debate programme that was referred to by the Minister, could he also let us know when this pro-cess was put in place? Obviously, this is either a new initiative, and if is, when was the discussion point to have those new initiatives so that we know when it is going to be implemented and how this cost will be dealt with? The vouchers for uniforms, once again, can the Minister let us know when this issue was identified? Be-cause obviously as we have been going through the transitions in the reform for education, this would not have been the first time that we noticed that 1748 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly transitioning from one school to the other is potentially causing a burden on our students. So, can the Minister just let us know when this issue was identified, which has now put it in the position for the supplementary? And just on [item] 9, for the Bermuda College, the Minister talked about the changes that will be put in place to fix the facilities at the Bermuda College. When was the assessment done so that we know for the things that have been identified that now need to be upgraded? Specifically for the health and safety of our community that is using the Bermuda College. And have these things been put in place for the new school year? Or these . . . changes things that have to happen in the future? Thank you.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, MP Smith. Any further speakers? MP Campbell.
Mr. Vance CampbellThank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the Minister, as far as the autism and dyslexia programmes, will they reside within specific schools? Or will any school needing those resources have a programme made availa-ble? And also, when can we see these programmes u p and …
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask the Minister, as far as the autism and dyslexia programmes, will they reside within specific schools? Or will any school needing those resources have a programme made availa-ble? And also, when can we see these programmes u p and running? I know there is a need out there for such programmes. And as far as the para[professionals], what sort of numbers will we see, additional numbers of para[professionals], and when can we see them deployed within the schools?
The ChairmanChairmanAny further speakers? Minister. Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank the Members for their questions. Mr. Chairman, the early interventions or assessments are continuously done; however, due to the inability to recruit we now have a backlog that is reaching almost two years, just over …
Any further speakers? Minister.
Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank the Members for their questions. Mr. Chairman, the early interventions or assessments are continuously done; however, due to the inability to recruit we now have a backlog that is reaching almost two years, just over two years, and of just 80 students who are on this backlog. This funding, once we identified that we were able to get additional funding, we asked the Child Development Programme [CDP], What can we do to address the backlog? And they have come and said, We have a plan. If we have this funding, we will then go out and go to the private sector to try and get people to come inside to help us reduce the backlog. While they still continue to recruit, they have had recruiting challenges for these positions for a number of years. And so this was one way of saying, Okay. Here is an opportunity for us to address those. But they have identified that through the preliminary screening. And for Members’ edification, screening is completely free for all children born in Ber-muda. And once they do that screening, there are other assessments that should take place. But, as I said, there is a backlog of those assessments. But through the initial screenings they have identified that these are children who will . . . who need to have additional assessments done. These children range from age from zero to four. Some of them have not entered into the system yet, so we want to have these things done prior to then. But we are identifying as we continue through with education reform. We started at the college level, senior school, primary school and now a lot of our focus is at the early ages because once we . . . because that is where a lot of the work needs to take place. And if it can take place early, we avoid some of the challenges we have later on in life. I believe when the team was saying that a dollar not spent on zero to four equates to almost $20 having to be spent once they get older. And so we want to start focusing on what we need to do at that level. And as I said, it is to clear the backlog. We have about 80 students who are in need of these assessments, according to CDP. The para[professionals]. I will answer both questions from both MPs who mentioned that. The number of para[professionals] fluctuates per school year. Children get identified, sometimes prior to the school year beginning, sometimes after the school year beginning. And so the number of para[professionals] tends to fluctuate is one of the vexing things within the Department of Education, para[professionals] and sub-stitutes. You cannot predict how many people are going to be sick or have to be out of the class room. And while you can predict to a certain degree, the number of students who require para[professionals], there always seems to be that levels go up and down. So the funding that we are talking about here will fund, I believe it is between six and eight para[professionals]. And the recruitment for those is already started and already in place. And so what we were told, what we told our teams was [that] all of these initiatives need to start right away. All of them are actually en train now, so we are not waiting for the funding to come. They are en train and the funding would then slot in where it needs to, to backfill in terms of where we need to fill holes where we take the money from. In terms of the scholarships, this year the Ministry of Education received over 600 applications. We only had enough funding to give out 70. I want to re-mind the listening public and colleagues that this Government has increased scholarship offerings from when we came into office of just around $1 million to over $2 million, where it stands now. But as you can see, if we are getting over 600 applications and we only have enough money for 70- odd awards, it is still not enough. And so when this opportunity c ame, one of the first things I said was, How can we get some more money for scholarship recipients? These recipients are being contacted now, even though we are now . . . people have heard this and they are starting to apply. But we had this whole list already and so we are going through this list and Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1749
Bermuda House of Assembly starting to contact people already to say, Hey, we have some additional funding. The additional funding that we got was $50,000. We estimate that can be anywhere from $5[,000] to $10[,000], depending on how much money people actually need. The max award that we can give is $10,000. But some people do not need that much, as we move for ward. The part about dyslexia in schools. That is funding directly for the Reading Clinic. We understand . . . the Reading Clinic is the entity that tests for dyslexia. [They] provide assessments through there and also provide . . . I want to say, courses and different things for parents to use. So this is to actually strengthen that process. And what they found is, what they came and said, although they charge for these, and although we do give them a grant, there are still some par ents who just cannot afford t he services. And so this was additional monies they said that they could use to provide these services at a lower cost for parents who could not afford [them]. The programme that we are talking about, the I-PLAY programme are programmes that operates within our preschools. And so what I was made aware of this year was all of the preschools had the I -PLAY programme except St. David’s preschool. And so this would make sure that St. David’s preschool gets the benefit of the I -PLAY programme. That is done through the Reading Clinic. The next one was about the debate process. This is a programme that one of our male primary school teachers brought to us earlier on in the year. And we always knew that this was something we were looking for and it came after we had done the budget, after the budget had passed. And we said, Listen, if we could find the funding that you are asking for this is a programme that I really wanted to do. And so ironically we were already looking within to see where we could move money around to actually do this programme and then the additional supplementary came up and we immediately said this is one of them. The recruitment for this started last week and so it is en train. I believe in about two weeks they will have a big gathering. And what they are trying to do is get anyone in the public school system between 11 and 14 to fill out the application. It is online on Bermuda Government forms website. Fill it out and come on in and we will take you on. And they have set up training. They have allocated training sites. They will be in the east, the west and central and they will do this once a week, leading up to a grand competition in March. The winners will receive prizes and we are also looking at how we can put together a package where some of these participants, some of the top participants actually travel to see some debating competitions overseas for that. The uniform vouchers, and I spoke to these this morning. This is something that we have wrapped into education reform. And what we want is . . . we provide uniforms for schools that closed and parents have to get all new uniforms because they are moving to another school (at the primary level). This is the first time we have done it at the senior school level. This is particularly for students moving from par ish schools/middle schools into senior school. We recognise that because we are starting the five- year programme, there will be M2s and year 8 moving, and this is a year earlier than they normally would move. And so we want to put this in place to say, Here is something to assist you because you are doing this a year early. But also, I did mention this morning that this is something that will become standard as we move on. This is not a one- shot thing. In fact, all of these programmes are not one- shot. These are programmes that will continue consistently every year from now o n. The last one was about the Bermuda College. We did provide Bermuda College with $690,000 this year for repairs. And they did come back after the fact and say, Hey, if there is any additional funding we definitely could use it to fix some more of our buildings. And again, this was one of the things that this is here. Other than that it would have waited until the next fiscal year for them to do that. So, there are definitely some repairs that need to be done up there. I have visited the campus and we were happy to give them the money early this year so they could fix some roof issues in Tech Hall. But this is going to be doing some other things that they could have maybe held off on, but we had an opportunity to actually tackle it now versus waiting until later. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I think that was all of the questions.
The ChairmanChairmanAny further questions? Ben Smith, MP.
Mr. Ben SmithThank you, Mr. Chairman. And I thank the Minister for his thorough answers to the questions. The only follow -up question is based off of the assessments and the backlog and the fact that we are now going to go to the private sector because we have been waiting for …
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I thank the Minister for his thorough answers to the questions. The only follow -up question is based off of the assessments and the backlog and the fact that we are now going to go to the private sector because we have been waiting for quite some time to be able to fill that post. Could the Minister just explain to us whether there is a thought that potentially you are going to want to extend this process with the private sector because it has taken so long and you do not want to end up with a backlog going forward? So once you have cleared the backlog, you do not want to end up back in this position. So, if the Minister could just speak to that, considering that I am in strong agreement with him that these assessments at that young age are critical for education in our young people going forward. Thank you.
The ChairmanChairmanMinister. Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you for that particular question. The idea is to really look at the Child 1750 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly Development Programme to see how these can be . . . we recognise that what we are doing …
Minister. Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Thank you for that particular question. The idea is to really look at the Child 1750 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Development Programme to see how these can be . . . we recognise that what we are doing now in some cases is not sustainable moving forward. And a redoubled effort needs to be brought into play to actually address these concerns. So that is also part of this, How do we move forward and actually recruit? It is something quite difficult as I mentioned with the . . . you did not ask but I mentioned with the Dame Marjorie Bean [Hope Academy], we are supplying therapeutic services that we are finding it is just difficult to recruit medical professionals. You know, like that. And so what we are finding out is that we can have these combinations of utilising services that already do exist to kind of help us out now. But there really is a plan that has been looked at and how it can be put in place to bring these t ypes of things in. So, for example, for Dame Marjorie Bean [Hope Academy] we are looking at how the Department of Education can hire its own therapist versus the Department of Health hiring them and then we are using them. So those are the types of things that are being looked at now.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, Minister. Any further questions/comments? There appear to be none. Minister, do you want to move items 3 and 9 and Head 16? Hon. Diallo V. S. Rabain: Yes, Mr. Chairman, I now move that Head 16 and Head 65, which are items 3 and 9, be approved and …
The ChairmanChairmanAre there any objections to that? There appear to be none. Approved. [Motion carried: Ministry of Education Head 16 Ministry Headquarters and Head 65 Capital Development passed.]
The ChairmanChairmanThe next is the Minister of Health. The Deputy Premier, the Honourable Walter Roban, will lead this. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that Heads 21, 22 and 24 be taken up for consideration.
The ChairmanChairmanMm-hmm. Hon. Walter H. Roban: For the supplementary.
The ChairmanChairmanYes. MINISTRY OF HEALTH Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Chairman, the Ministry of Health is happy to announce a significant investment in the amount of $2,290,000 in a comprehensive pro-gramme for mental health support initiatives between now and 20 March 2025. Our goal is to create a Bermuda where mental …
Yes.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Chairman, the Ministry of Health is happy to announce a significant investment in the amount of $2,290,000 in a comprehensive pro-gramme for mental health support initiatives between now and 20 March 2025. Our goal is to create a Bermuda where mental health concerns are met with understanding not stigma and where everyone has access to the support they need in their communities. We understand that mental health challenges can affect anyone, anywhere. Globally one of four people will experience a mental health issue at some point in their lives.
The ChairmanChairmanMm-hmm. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Sadly, stigma and discrimination often prevent individuals from seeking help.
The ChairmanChairmanYes. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Leading to unnecessary suffering and delayed treatment and recovery. We are committed to removing these barriers and fostering a culture of compassion and support. Mr. Chairman, the proposed initiatives funded by the Ministry and Health and in collaboration with various stakeholders aim to create a …
Yes.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Leading to unnecessary suffering and delayed treatment and recovery. We are committed to removing these barriers and fostering a culture of compassion and support. Mr. Chairman, the proposed initiatives funded by the Ministry and Health and in collaboration with various stakeholders aim to create a holistic approach to mental well -being. We will launch a comprehensive mental health awareness campaign to educate the public challenge stigma and encourage help- seeking behaviours. We will also support the implementation of a suicide prevention strategy focusing on both prevention and protective measures. And we will establish a community outreach programme to engage with community leaders, share information and support resources at local events and conduct need assessments to ensure our services are tailored to the unique needs of our community. Mr. Chairman, the Ministry is also excited to announce of the implementation of a national health advocacy programme modelled after the successful mind.org.uk initiative, but adapted to meet Bermuda’s needs. This programme will include a biannual national conference, a structured school programme for strengthening mental health literacy, mental health first-aid training, and comprehensive awareness and education initiatives. In addition, we will be supporting the Mental Health Gap Action Programme, mhGAP, led by the Bermuda Hospitals Board. This programme will focus on integrating mental health services into primary care and training, non- specialist health care workers for early interventions to detect and address mental health concerns ensuring the mental health support is accessible to all. Mr. Chairman, we are also committed to supporting our young people. Therefore, the Ministry of Health will be piloting a school -based health behaviour intervention programme to equip school -based health professionals with tools they need to support studen t mental health well -being. And we will be hosting a youth mental health summit to enhance mental health Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1751 B ermuda House of Assembly literacy amongst adolescents, raise capacity for peer support skills as some young persons will reach out to friends first. And that friend may serve as a link to ex-ternal resources for help, empowering them with es-sential social, emotional skills and connect them with available mental healt h services. Mr. Chairman, we recognise the invaluable contributions of our community partners. We will be providing grant funding to organisations such as Age Concern, the Family Centre, Women’s Resource Cen-tre and Teen Services/Teen Haven, to support their vi-tal work in mental health and substance use support. WE are also committed to strengthening our own capacity to provide mental health services. We will be al-locating funds to recruit additional staff for our Depart-ment of Health clinics, including a trainee medic al officer, health visitor, community health worker and two speech language pathologists. And we will be establishing a discretionary emergency fund to cover costs associated with complex cases that require both mental health and social support. [Ms . Lovitta F. Foggo, Chairman] Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Chairman . . . Madam Chairman, I’m sorry. The following list describes the earmarking of $2,290,000 in funds for the programme of mental health support initiatives. A significant investment of $400,000 will be earmarked for a multi- faceted mental health awareness campaign to establish collaborati ve and sustainable suicide prevention initiatives, reducing risk factors and bolstering resilience within the commu-nity. The national health advocacy programme, mirror-ing the successful programme in the UK, mind.org.uk, but tailored to Bermuda, will be launched with a budget of $200,000. To bridge the gap in mental health provi-sion, $350,000 has been allocated to the Mental Health [Gap] Action Programme, mhGAP. This programme fo-cuses on enhancing the capacity of health care practitioners through the continuing medical education of the mhGAP tool, thereby facilitating the integration of men-tal health services in primary care settings. Additionally, a pilot school -based health behaviour intervention programme will be developed at a cost of $100,000. This programme will equip those working with adolescents to cultivate safe and supportive environments that prioritise mental well -being. The two-day youth mental health summit will be funded with $70,000. The summit is designed to significantly en-hance mental health literacy amongst adolescents, em-powering them with the knowledge and skills to navigate their mental health journeys. The Ministry of Health has also recognised the invaluable work of key helping agencies allocating $420,000 in grants. These grants will support Age Con-cern, Family Centre, Women’s Resource Centre, Teen Services/Teen Haven in their tireless efforts to address mental health challenges within the community. Madam Chairman, to bolster the capacity of the Department of Health clinics, $350,000 has been allocated to recruit and fill currently vacant but unfunded clinic posts. Finally, Madam Chairman, a discretionary emergency fund of $400,000 has been established to provide crucial support for complex cases involving mental health and social needs. This comprehensive funding strategy reflects a strong commitment to enhancing mental health support services across Bermuda. Madam Chairman, the Ministry of Health is dedicated to making a real difference in the lives of those affected by mental health challenges. We believe that through sustained collaboration, innovation and steadfast commitment to compassion we can create a Bermuda where everyone feels supported, empowered and hopeful. Thank you, Madam Chairman. And I offer the floor for consideration of these supplementary [estimates].
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, Minister. Are there any other Members who wis h to speak to Head 22? I recognise Member from constituency 12, the Opposition Whip. You have the floor.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes. Thank you, Madam Chairman. Let me first say that frankly it is very good to hear this and these monies being associated and allocated (I should say) to the care of mental health. I do not think there are any of us who have not recognised that this is …
Yes. Thank you, Madam Chairman. Let me first say that frankly it is very good to hear this and these monies being associated and allocated (I should say) to the care of mental health. I do not think there are any of us who have not recognised that this is becoming an increasing challenge, especially amongst our y oung, our young men in particular. And so I am in much agreement and quite pleased to see that we are making a really, really big push here as it appears. Not jus t in the money its elf but listening to the programmes and the initiatives that are to come. I have just taken ov er this Ministry as of a day, but what I am I guess . . . my concern would be in the staffing for health clinic s. At firs t I thought, well, maybe these clinics are just temporary positions, but I was not sure. But the Minister s tanding-i n did say that there is a push to get more people hired. And I was not quite sure if they meant within MWI [Mid-A tlantic Wellness Institute] or if that meant actually within the Health Department itself. Maybe there is a split-u p between the two. I don’t know. It wasn’t quite clear about that. So it would nice to understand a little more about in the . . . I guess the Health Department. How many people are we looking to get within there? And if it does als o mean MWI, then how many are we looking there as well?
The ChairmanChairmanSo Member, is that a question? Are you asking that as a question? 1752 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report B ermuda House of Assembly Mr. L . Craig C annonier: Yes. Y es. Yes. The C hairman: Okay. I j ust w ant t he Minister t o be …
Mr. L. Craig CannonierHe read through it and I was trying to pick it up, but I wasn’t quite sure if there was . . . if the members who were being hired . . . and do they feel that throughout this year that realistically they will be able to fulfil those …
He read through it and I was trying to pick it up, but I wasn’t quite sure if there was . . . if the members who were being hired . . . and do they feel that throughout this year that realistically they will be able to fulfil those positions that they are seeking out to fulfil? Or will this take more than just this fiscal year and maybe move into another fiscal year of trying to staff up? Understanding that it can be difficult at times to get qualified staff sometimes in these areas. The other thing, the Minister gave a stat of one in four. I am curious as to whether or not we believe that this may be even higher, because of the stigma in Bermuda, whether or not that potentially is more than one in four in Bermuda. Understanding . . . maybe it takes that into consideration. I don’t know. But I will say, again, that this is important that we move on with this here. We continue to hear of the many challenges that people are having, and the stigma. You know, I will speak personally, I grew up with someone who had challenges due to drug use, that created schizophrenia, paranoia, and the like. It is not always easy to deal with these things. So it looks like the Ministry of Health is taking this extremely seriously. And I thank them for their efforts here. I look forward to hearing positive information in the future. The C hairman: Are ther e any ot her Me mbers w ho wish to speak t o He ad 22? [Crosstalk]
The ChairmanChairmanI don’t think he has read [Head] 24 yet. [Pause]
The ChairmanChairmanYou read— Hon. Walter H. Roban: Madam Chairman, I put down for cons ideration all of the three Heads , 21, 22 and 24.
The ChairmanChairmanMy apologies. Thank y ou for that, Minister. Are there any other Members who wis h to speak to Heads 21, 22 and 24? Thank you for that clarification, Minis ter. You have the floor. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you for the ques tion from the Honourable Member. In …
My apologies. Thank y ou for that, Minister. Are there any other Members who wis h to speak to Heads 21, 22 and 24? Thank you for that clarification, Minis ter. You have the floor. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you for the ques tion from the Honourable Member. In fact, the monies that are going toward, as I stated in my brief, training of non- specialist health care workers for early interventions to detect and address mental health concerns. And also there will be addi-tional front -end support training medical officers, health visitors, community health workers and speech language pathologists, all areas that need to have additional support. The expectation is that recruitment for five posts is actually going on right now. So this funding will greatly support the efforts . . . so that recruitment is going on as we speak. The Honourable Member also asked a question in relation to the statistics of one and four. That was a global number. However, there are challenges with underreporting and the number is perhaps . . . it will be higher. I think if we are being frank, we know that the issues of mental health in Bermuda are often silently suffered and silently dealt with by families and individuals and often do not come forth. And the effort, as I said in the early part of the statement, is to assist and put our resources to making mental health more ac-ceptable for people to understand and for people to be willing to come forward who are suffering, but also families and friends. As you know, we spoke of how having the support for the schools so that we can have training in schools and have the youth mental health summit to help adolescents who may have friends who are suffer-ing to know how they can help their friends and perhaps report and to get them to counselling they need. So we know that those figures might change as things get more well -resourced and we can get out into the community like with our schools and with others and do more. Those statistics may change. But there is a com-mitment to addressing . . . and we are supportive of the funds we are given, . . . the $2 million and $290,000 through the supplement to actually begin those efforts. Thank you, Madam Chairman. [There are] no other questions.
The ChairmanChairmanI was going to ask. Are there any other Members who wish to speak to Heads 21, 22 and 24? I recognise the Member from constituency 12, the Opposition Whip. Member, you have the floor.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes, thank you. Just in relation to the hospital, MWI. How are they doing as far as staffing is concerned? And more specifically, this $350,000 that is going there, is that more . . . not necessarily for staffing or is that more for programmes and outreach?
The ChairmanChairmanMinister. Hon. Walter H. Roban: The $350,000 that is mentioned has to do with the Mental Health Gap Action Pro-gramme, mhGAP. And just to repeat, if I can, Madam Chairman — Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1753 Bermuda House of Assembly The Chairman: Yes. Hon. Walter H. Roban: …
Minister. Hon. Walter H. Roban: The $350,000 that is mentioned has to do with the Mental Health Gap Action Pro-gramme, mhGAP. And just to repeat, if I can, Madam Chairman — Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1753
Bermuda House of Assembly The Chairman: Yes.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: The programme focuses on enhancing the capacity for health care practitioners through their continued education. That is what the $350,000 that was mentioned . . . it is for continuing education across the mental health sector. If there are no more questions —
The ChairmanChairmanI will just ask. Are there any other Members who wish to speak to Heads 21, 22 and 24? There being none . . . Minister. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Madam Chairman. So I move that Heads 21, 22 and 24 be approved as part of the supplementary …
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that Heads 21, 22 and 24 be approved. Are there any objections? There being none; so moved. [Motion carried: Ministry of Health, Head 21 Ministry Headquarters, Head 22 Health Department and Head 24 Hospitals passed.]
The ChairmanChairmanOkay. We are now on the Ministry of Economy and Labour. I call on the Minister of this said ministry to speak. Thank you, Minister. Hon. Jason Hayward: Madam Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanYes. Hon. Jason Hayward: I move item number 5, Heads . . .
The ChairmanChairman[Heads] 44 and 60. Hon. Jason Hayward: —[Heads] 44 and 60.
The ChairmanChairmanYes. MINISTRY OF ECONOMY AND LABOUR Hon. Jason Hayward: Madam Chairman, the requirement for supplementary estimates often indicates unforeseen challenges in the ministry or department of government must meet in any given year. However, in this instance the Ministry of Economy and Labour will receive additional funding to further boost …
Yes.
MINISTRY OF ECONOMY AND LABOUR
Hon. Jason Hayward: Madam Chairman, the requirement for supplementary estimates often indicates unforeseen challenges in the ministry or department of government must meet in any given year. However, in this instance the Ministry of Economy and Labour will receive additional funding to further boost its budgeted activities. The Ministry of Economy and Labour has a department and a section included in Supplementary Estimates (No. 1) for fiscal year 2024/25. Madam Chairman, in the case of the Department of Workforce Development, the additional sum is in the amount of $210,000. For the Consumer Affairs section, the additional sum is in the amount of $250,000. Bringing the supplemental total for the Ministry of Economy and Labour to $460,000. Madam Chairman, the purpose of the additional funding of $210,000 for Workforce Development is to extend apprenticeship opportunities fostering skills development in trades and streamlining processes for national certification. Working with the newly constituted national certification and apprenticeship board, the department is responsible for local and overseas apprenticeships, training and internships. The additional funding of $210,000 will boost the current allocation of $210,000 to a total of $420,000. The actual funding is earmarked for three in- demand career pathway programmes of construction, renewable energy and hospitality. 1) Introduction to construction. The objective of this programme is to provide participants with founda-tional construction skills and guide them into specific apprenticeships in plumbing, masonry or carpentry. The format of this training is unchanged from the 2023/24 budget year. Workforce Development will ex-pand the programme to place more participants in apprenticeships for specific trades once introduction training is complete. 2) Solar panel installation. The objective for this training is to equip participants with the technical skills needed to install and maintain solar panels, preparing them for careers in the growing renewable energy sector. The solar panel installation traini ng also serves as scaffolding or continuing education for electricians by expanding their skills sets to include the in-stallation, maintenance and regulatory aspects of solar energy systems. The department will expand current plans to include more parti cipants for this training and will ensure that participants receive a level 1 certification. 3) Hospitality training. The objective of this programme is to offer comprehensive training for individuals interested in careers in hospitality. Based on the information provided by the Bermuda Hotel Association, the training will focus on front desk concier ge work as well as housekeeping. The department was working toward implementing this training in the new budget year; however, [with] additional funding provided now Workforce Development will be able to start earlier and get participants ready for the 2025 season. Madam Chairman, these initiatives aim to provide practical participants with foundational skills, hand- on experience and access to long- term career opportunities in their respective fields. As all these ini-tiatives either have been done before or were already in the pipeline, Workforce Development can implement quickly to utilise these additional funds. Madam Chairman, further supplemental funding of $250,000 will assist with additional resources for the Consumer Affairs Section which also supports the 1754 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Cost of Living Commission. The Consumer Affairs Section is responsible for the Consumer Protection Act, Debt Collection Act, Cost of Living Commission, Rent Increase Control Act, Copyrights and Designs Act 2018. It also supports eight statutory boards panels and tribunals. Madam Chairman, Consumer Affairs works to carry out: • investigations, gather evidence, take witness statements, issue enforcement orders notices ; • when necessary prosecute offenders who contravene the various Act s; • provide conciliation, mediation and guidance in respect of complaints from consumers, busi-nesses, landlords and tenants ; • ensure consumer products are safe and adhere to product safety codes and packaging, addressing and recall where necessary ; • adjudicate rent increases, conduct rental unit inspections, ensure the security of tenant’s rights and safeguarding tenants against eviction for unlawful reasons ; and • carry out administrative and enforcement functions of its boards, appeals panels, Licensing Authority, tribunals and support the Cost of Liv-ing Commission. This is not an exhaustive list of this section’s responsibilities which extend to market research public education and more. Madam Chairman, the level of work activities, tasks and charts have grown over time as additional legislative roles and responsibilities have been assigned to the Consumer Affairs Section. This additional funding provided will now enable the Consumer Affairs Section to right -size its resources to match its obligations. Madam Chairman, the operating expenditure for the Ministry of Economy and Labour included the supplemental of $460,000 in Supplementary Estimate (No. 1) for the fiscal year 2024/25. This brings the Ministry’s budget to $24,353,000 from $23,893,000 as shown in the current Budget Book. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you. The Minister has put Heads 44 and 60 up for consideration. Are there any other Members who wish to speak? I recognise the Member from constituency 10. Member, you have the floor.
Mr. Robert KingThank you, Madam Chairman. I applaud the efforts regarding the training programmes for the apprenticeships. I am spot on with that. It is recognised as a need and it has for some time. So I am really happy that there is a comprehensive programme for that. I have one question …
Thank you, Madam Chairman. I applaud the efforts regarding the training programmes for the apprenticeships. I am spot on with that. It is recognised as a need and it has for some time. So I am really happy that there is a comprehensive programme for that. I have one question as it relates to Ministry HQ [Headquarters], [Head] 44. And the Honourable Minister remarked, right -size resources for obligations . Does that mean for new staff or infrastructure? Just for clarification. Thank you.
The ChairmanChairmanMinister, do you wish to speak now or do you want all questions put to you before . . . [Inaudible interjection]
The ChairmanChairmanOkay. Are there any other Members who wish to speak to Heads 44 and 60? I recognise the Opposition Leader. You have the floor, Member. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Madam Chairman. As it relates to Head 60, I have questions relating to . . . and this is fairly …
Okay. Are there any other Members who wish to speak to Heads 44 and 60? I recognise the Opposition Leader. You have the floor, Member. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Madam Chairman. As it relates to Head 60, I have questions relating to . . . and this is fairly simple. Would the Honourable Minister be able to provide how many new apprenticeships will be available? That is, how many spaces for apprenticeships will be provided for under the additional funding? As well, can he clarify the new training courses, [which] are intro to construction, solar panel and he said hospitality training? Is that the limit of the new training courses available? Under Head 44, he mentioned the ongoing work of the Consumer Affairs Department. I was just kind of cross checking in the Budget Book, specifically under Performance Measures. Would the Honourable Minister be able to indicate what is the demonstrable work that the extra funding will do? And if any of that will be new work. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, Member. Are there any other Members who wish to speak to Heads 44 and 60? At this time there seems to be no other Members. Minister. Hon. Jason Hayward: Madam Chairman, I thank the Members for their questions. As it pertains to the Department of Workforce Development and …
Thank you, Member. Are there any other Members who wish to speak to Heads 44 and 60? At this time there seems to be no other Members. Minister.
Hon. Jason Hayward: Madam Chairman, I thank the Members for their questions. As it pertains to the Department of Workforce Development and the . . . can Member King restate his question, it just slipped my mind?
The ChairmanChairmanMember Queen . . . King, sorry — [Laughter]
The ChairmanChairman—could you please oblige, the Minister?
Mr. Robert KingGot you. Yes, no worries at all. I was referring to [Head] 44, right -sizing resources for obligations. So I was wondering if that was Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1755 B ermuda House of Assembly speaking to staff and infrastructure or a combination of both. Thank you. …
Got you. Yes, no worries at all. I was referring to [Head] 44, right -sizing resources for obligations. So I was wondering if that was Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1755 B ermuda House of Assembly speaking to staff and infrastructure or a combination of both. Thank you. Hon. Jason Hayward: Thank you. I appreciate that question, and right -sizing was the appropriate term to use. The Consumer First De-partment would have been under Management Service Review to determine its current resources versus its legislative responsibilities. In that Management Service Review, a number of gaps would have been identified as it pertains to the huge and expanding remit of the Consumer Affairs Section underneath the Ministry. This will actually allow us to close some of those gaps. So yes, technology gaps [and] there are also human re-source gaps. And so it is a combination of multiple re-sources that are required. You would know that we passed cost -of-living legislation and part of that legislation is even for us on a monthly basis to produce for the public food prices and the changes in food prices for the fixed basket of goods so that members of the public can keep abreast of the changes in that basket of goods [where it] was agreed to be no duty rates. You would know there is currently not a system tracking, monitoring and promot-ing that to the department. What we recognise is that it was a major undertaking that the department did not have the resources to access it. So that is just one practical example of the work that will be done in that particular space. When we talk about Workforce Development, the amount of apprentices actually varies because each contract is different based off of the employee and employer needs. And so they are done on individuals assessments and so there is no guarantee how much persons can actually be able to take advantage of the additional funding, but the additional funding will definitely create more opportunities. When we looked at the areas, these programmes that we were anticipating running, they are all high-demand areas, whether it be be construction. And we want to create a bridge for persons to get acquainted with the industry and then progress to appren-ticesh ip. I think it is sometimes difficult to close the gap between persons who are graduating from high school or career changers when they have not had the introductory skills to be successful in the industry. Now we are going to provide the introductory skills and once they determine whether or not plumbing is more suita-ble for them, or carpentry or masonry, then they can apply for an apprenticeship in that area. And what we will do is work to connect individuals with employers. When we look at the hospitality training that was a demand coming from industry, we recognised where gaps are in that area as well and so we will ex-pend funding on ensuring that we progress in that. And finally, the solar panel training. That is kind of a no-brainer in terms of that being a growing and budding industry. The good part of this is that we are not just looking for new persons to enter the industry but there are a number of electricians who have the skill sets but they have not had the additional training so that they can shift into solar panel installation. And that is something that we certainly want to do. What we recognised is that we will always have gaps in the supply and demand of skilled labour in Bermuda. We want to take a conscious approach to ensuring that we put people on pathways so that we can get more people in the skills trades. Part of the challenge that we even had a Bermuda College as it pertains to the technology programmes that are held there, is that we do not have enough persons going into the cohorts for the classes to run successfully. And that is why we started to integrate the high school student, to beef up the class size so that persons, adults who are out of the school system, can actually take advantage of the training that exists within that particular area. The C hairman: Minister, i s that it f or the responses? [Pause] The C hairman: Shall I c heck and if t here are any ot her questions? Hon. Jason Hayward: I think a question was just asked about participation in the construction training. The classes can facilitate between 10 to 15 participants at any given time. But what you can do is run multiple courses. So we will do cohorts of 10 and 15 because that is manageable for the instructors and based off of need, we will continue to run multiple courses.
The ChairmanChairmanIs that it? Thank you, Minister. Are there any other Members who wish to speak? I recognise the Member from constituency 10. Member King, you have the floor.
Mr. Robert KingThank you, Madam Chairman. Understanding trades allows persons who have different learning styles and skills and ability to actively engage in the workforce and become financially empowered. Has there been consideration to offering those courses at the Department of Correc tions as part of the curriculum as well, and the …
Thank you, Madam Chairman. Understanding trades allows persons who have different learning styles and skills and ability to actively engage in the workforce and become financially empowered. Has there been consideration to offering those courses at the Department of Correc tions as part of the curriculum as well, and the Department of Child and Family Services in the res idential homes and care facility? Thank y ou. [Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., Chairman] Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, I cannot directly speak to that. But what I would say is there are a number of individuals who are going up for parole. And a condition of parole is employment. And so the Department of Workforce Development, I have asked them to 1756 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly work directly with the prisons to position persons to take advantage of job opportunities and position themselves for opportunities. Whether it is the lack directly linked with this training, I cannot say. There is a direct connection with this particular training I spoke about. But what I do know is that my offices with the Department of Workforce Development liaise with the prisons to better prepare individuals so that they can be better positioned for when they have the parole hearings by being connected with jobs within the world of work.
The ChairmanChairmanAny further speakers? The . . . brother Richardson. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As a hospitality man yourself, I think this question would interest you. The Honourable Minister spoke about comprehensive training that was requested from the Bermuda Hotel Association. It includes front desk, housekeeping, et cetera. …
Any further speakers? The . . . brother Richardson.
Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As a hospitality man yourself, I think this question would interest you. The Honourable Minister spoke about comprehensive training that was requested from the Bermuda Hotel Association. It includes front desk, housekeeping, et cetera. In a hotel property . . . you know, I was bar porter in one bar but that by no means meant th at I could work on the front desk, and I would probably get lost finding my way to housekeeping, to be frank. So it is a lot of different stuff in one hotel. What does the training entail that the Bermuda Hotel Board wants? Is it one course and they are covering every-thing in the hotel? Or are they doing one course for every, let’s say, five -ish functions that ar e in a hotel?
The ChairmanChairmanMinister. Hon. Jason Hayward: There is different training that is required for each discipline. The training that you will receive for front desk and concierge is not the same training you will actually receive for concierge. But I will give you the key steps. What we have agreed to i …
Minister. Hon. Jason Hayward: There is different training that is required for each discipline. The training that you will receive for front desk and concierge is not the same training you will actually receive for concierge. But I will give you the key steps. What we have agreed to i s a ten-week training programme for someone on housekeeping and front desk, concierge. Each one of those training programmes will run for a 10- week period. We are looking at recent high school graduates as best as possible. And persons on personal employment programmes. Persons on personal employment pro-grammes are disabled- body persons who are financial assistance. Persons who receive both the radical and practical sessions, including internships and on- the-job training, focus on skills, like guest services and soft skills such as communication is going to be built into that particular training. Then what we want to do after the training or as a part of the training is offer internships and job placements, so that persons are working directly in the industry. And then on an ongoing basis we want to provide career coaching, résumé building, interv iewing prep and then track placements and career advancement of participants. And so it is not as though we are just providing training and then letting them go. It is that we will provide training and then, with better positions for employment, assist the m in that journey to employment.
The ChairmanChairmanAny further speakers? MP Richardson. Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you. Two questions, Honourable Minister. Are there any certifications that are currently anticipated that can currently be given or that you can bring about in the future? I noticed that you did not mention food and bev-erage. So Bermuda Hotel Association …
Any further speakers? MP Richardson.
Hon. Jarion Richardson: Thank you. Two questions, Honourable Minister. Are there any certifications that are currently anticipated that can currently be given or that you can bring about in the future? I noticed that you did not mention food and bev-erage. So Bermuda Hotel Association did n ot request food and beverage folks? That just strikes me as something . . . it is a big part of a hotel. Hon. Jason Hayward: There is already a way to server training that we actually run, that it was actually separate from this. So, we know that food and beverage is in demand and there will be training associated with this. When we are talking about these particular additional funds and the specific training, this is not the exhaustive list of training that the Department of Work-force Development would even provide. You will see that we had put out ads for people to do small and larger appliance training as well. We recognise that was a gap in our community as it pertains to people who can work in that particular service area. And we have provided training with indivi duals. We supported bartenders and we co- sponsor the Bacardi Shake Your Future bartenders. And we are running the third cohort of that where persons go off to the UK and get certified in that particular area. You speak about certification, most times we do look to see if there is an appropriate certification. The reason why we ensure that there is certification is because what we do not want to do is execute training and then industry looks back at us and says, Thank you for the training, but what you have done does not meet the scratch of what the actual industry desires. I am not clear on the certification based off of what is actually provided here. But what I will say is, we certainly liaise with industry when we do the training and those persons who will be working the establishments they will be working directly with i ndustry partners. So they are part of this particular process. We do not train persons and industry holds up their hands and says, Your training is not in alignment with what our expectation or needs are.
The ChairmanChairmanAny further speakers? There appear to be none. Minister, you want to move the items and the heads? Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Chairman, I would like to move item 5, which is Head 44 and Head 60.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that item 5, Heads 44 and 60 be approved. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1757 Bermuda House of Assembly Any objection to that? There appear to be none. Approved. [Motion carried: Ministry of Economy and Labour, Head 44 Ministry Headquarters, and Head 60, Workforce …
The ChairmanChairmanThe next is the great Colonel and Public Works. MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS
Lt. Col. Hon. David A. BurchMr. Chairman, the Ministry of Public Works has identified a number of projects that meet the criteria to make Bermudians lives better. The community enrichment projects that have been selected are primarily given toward public safety as it is fundamental to the well -being and quality of life of individuals …
Mr. Chairman, the Ministry of Public Works has identified a number of projects that meet the criteria to make Bermudians lives better. The community enrichment projects that have been selected are primarily given toward public safety as it is fundamental to the well -being and quality of life of individuals and communities. It provides an environment where people can live, work and pursue their aspirations with a sense of security and confidence. Mr. Chairman, with this said, the Ministry of Public Works is seeking approval for additional funding for 13 different enrichment endeavours under items 6, 10, and 11, Heads 82 and 65, in the amount of $3,465,000. Of that, $600,000 is in operational fundi ng. And $2,865,000 in capital funding. Mr. Chairman, the Ministry of Public Works continues to recognise the importance of unobstructed and clean roadways in the public safety context. This is the rationale for requests for additional funding in the amount of $200,000 for vegetation clearing on tribe roads which are not solely used by residents but also emergency personnel when responding to incidents. The Ministry is also seeking funding to hire 10 more solo sweepers at a cost of $200,000. These individuals will be contracted to maintain speci fic areas of the Island for the purpose of clearing the streets of debris. You will notice these gentlemen across the Island with their yellow Works and Engineering trollies. The extra 10 workers will double the number currently working and it is an excell ent value for money. Mr. Chairman, in the same vein as our tribe roads, the Ministry also intends to clear our railway trails with overgrown vegetation. Therefore, a separate additional request is being made for $200,000 to effect this. These three items cover $600,000 of a current request under item 6, Head 82. Turning now to Capital Development, Mr. Chairman, I emphasise that these funds in the main are additional to the budgeted months in this year’s annual budget and will allow us to increase the amount of work. I begin with public docks, which are utilised f or a multitude of uses, fishing, swimming, boat pickups, repairs, or just sitting to enjoy the view. We know activities such as summer camps, charities and others use these docks to support their programming. However, we cur-rently have docks that need both major and minor repairs to ensure safety of users. Therefore, the Ministry of Public Works is seeking an additional $400,000 to commence said repairs. The priority locations for these projects are Mangrove Bay dock in Sandys, White’s Island dock and Ports Island dock. Installation of additional streetlights on private roads in the amount of $100,000. While the Ministry continues its efforts to address the state of our public roads by increasing our paving and the purchasing of new asphalting equipment, we must also foc us on protecting our drivers with adequate guardrails to prevent individuals from hitting obstacles such as steep embankments, hillsides, utility poles, retaining and bridge pillars. Hence the request for increased funding to purchase additional highway gr ade aluminium guardrails at the sum of $150,000. In addition to the wooden rail-ings, these guardrails are being installed at select locations, areas similar to South Shore Road in Smiths and Happy Valley Road in Pembroke. Mr. Chairman, the purchase of 10 new flashing pedestrian beacons for our crosswalks at the sum of $80,000. This will bring the total new purchases of flashing beacons in excess of 40 in the last two fiscal years. We have noted an increase in accidents that demolish these beacons, and we regularly pursue the culprits to pay for the replacement beacons with marginal success. The sites will include replacement beacons and new sites. Steel fencing and sidewalk repairs at March Folly Road and St. John Road intersection near the W. E. R Joell Tennis Stadium, a high- usage walkway for students for both the Berkeley Institute and Saltus Grammer School. Mr. Chairman, $180,000 to conduct these works. Mr. Chairman, public parks are beneficial to communities because the open air creates a space for community members to congregate safely and enjoy nature. To encourage more usage of our public parks, the Ministry is seeking an additional funding for two overarching projects. First, updating and installing the current fencing around parks. This is to further secure the parks from vehicular traffic. It protects users of the park and enhances the parks visual appearance. The request for this is $80,000. The s econd project is the replacement of old playground equipment at Shelly Bay, Somerset Long Bay and Warwick Long Bay. The request for this project is $250,000. Mr. Chairman, this 1758 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly is an effort to utilise one provider of these playgrounds and negotiate so that we can actually get four as opposed to three for the $250,000. It is advised that the lifeguard tower at the Horseshoe Bay Beach needs replacement. Therefore, funding is being sought to replace this tower and changing room at $175,000. Mr. Chairman, as I said at the beginning of this brief, the community enrichment projects that have been selected are primarily good towards public safety. However, one project is not specifically for greater pub-lic safety but will focus on the secure leve l of comfort and support to our young persons between the ages of 18 and 24 years. Colleagues will recall the opening of the Independent Living Programme for young people in March 2023. This valuable programme under the Ministry of Youth, Social Development and Seniors helps those individuals who age out of the Department of Child and Family Services’ legal protection but still require assistance transitioning to adulthood. In partnership with the Ministry of Public Works, the Bermuda Housing Corporation, and the aforementioned ministry, this programme has a 24 hour secure facility in St. George’s which offers accommodation for up to 11 young people. To ensure that the mandate for this programme is fulfilled, the building requires further upgrades to the ground floor. These renovations include a meeting room and offices, bathroom, a kitchenette and a bedroom for staff for the Department of Child and Family Services and related supporting agencies. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, the Ministry is requesting funding for a grant to the Bermuda Housing Corporation who is managing the works in the amount of $450,000. Mr. Chairman, that covers the capital development community improvement projects totalling $1,865,000. Regarding capital development community private roadworks, Mr. Chairman, the Ministry is seeking an additional funding of $1 million for private sector road paving. Over the past several years there has not been funding for this purpose. So locations for t hese projects have been identified over the years and area MPs will be contacted to begin the petition process in accordance with the Private Roads (Improvement) Act 1969. That Act, Mr. Chairman, provides for the Government to contribute to the improvement of private roads. The process is set out fully in the Act but it does require a commitment from at least 75 per cent of those properties that have frontage on the road. We are already advancing the list we have to begin the polling process. Mr. Chairman, we are committed to addressing the Island’s infrastructure needs and improving the quality of life for Bermudians. These funds will go some way in assisting in that mission. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, Minister. Any speakers on these heads? MP Cannonier.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierThank you, Mr. Chairman. Under the department aid to [item] 6, the Ministry of Public Works, the Minister mentioned the Railway Trail and . . . I can’t remember the allocation for the Railway Trail exactly. [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierTwo hundred thousand dollars? Yes. Okay. How much area are we talking about covering? Is this like tidying up the whole Railway Trail, or is this more of a specific area that is maybe falling behind that needed a bit of brushing up? And as we go forward, are we …
Two hundred thousand dollars? Yes. Okay. How much area are we talking about covering? Is this like tidying up the whole Railway Trail, or is this more of a specific area that is maybe falling behind that needed a bit of brushing up? And as we go forward, are we potentially looking at beefing up the allocation during budget period just to ensure that this maintains itself? The Minister was very detailed as far as the capital development is concerned for [Head] 65 under Public Works Headquarters, and Works and Engineering. What I was not sure of was, for the private roads, did that include asphalting as well? And that is all my questions.
The ChairmanChairmanOkay. Any further speakers? Colonel?
Lt. Col. Hon. David A. BurchMr. Chairman. So, the Railway Trail. This is in addition to the funding that is already provided for railway trails. And if you have been on any of them, they are all in a state of disrepair. And so currently, we employ the normal workers at Parks to do it …
Mr. Chairman. So, the Railway Trail. This is in addition to the funding that is already provided for railway trails. And if you have been on any of them, they are all in a state of disrepair. And so currently, we employ the normal workers at Parks to do it as overtime. That clearly is not working as well as one would expect. And so this $200,000 is to allow us to hire private- sector people to help in that regard. So what we are attempting to do is utilise the prequalified, small contractors that we had in the Ministry a nd say, We are going to pay X amount of dollars for you to deal with Y amount of space on the Railway Trail. And then try and divvy that amount, that $200,000, up amongst as many of those contractors as we can. I cannot remember what your last question was. It was easy. [Inaudible interjection]
Lt. Col. Hon. David A. BurchOh, private roads. No, that is the only thing it is going to do, asphalting. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1759 B ermuda House of Assembly Mr. L. Craig Cannonier: Okay.
Lt. Col. Hon. David A. BurchAnd so the process is that there is a formula that sets out what the Government will c ontribute to pave the private roads. And MPs generally canv as all the people who are on the frontage. And once y ou get to 75 per cent of people who are …
And so the process is that there is a formula that sets out what the Government will c ontribute to pave the private roads. And MPs generally canv as all the people who are on the frontage. And once y ou get to 75 per cent of people who are saying yes and pay, we can then proceed in doing that work. And so we expect . . . we have about 27 roads that have been requested over the years that we hav e not been able to address. So we are going out and getting quotes for those and then submitting that information to the v arious MPs to be able to go and canvas and see i f we cannot get some of this work done. I can tell you that the Government Whip about two years ago went through the whole process, so he’s first in line already. He just has to go back and say, Do you want to p ink up? And so yes, it is to pave roads.
The ChairmanChairmanAny further questions ? MP King?
Mr. Robert KingUnderstanding that some of the monies are allocated for paving of private roads, is c onsideration also being given to making the private roads safe in the c onstituency as well? In constituency 10 there is a particular road that needs attention.
Lt. Col. Hon. David A. BurchMr. Chairman, I would invite the MP to submit that request. If it is a safety issue, then it tak es a higher priority than falling in line for road paving. We have several of those on a regular basis, private and public. Those who live in the West will …
Mr. Chairman, I would invite the MP to submit that request. If it is a safety issue, then it tak es a higher priority than falling in line for road paving. We have several of those on a regular basis, private and public. Those who live in the West will know that yes terday we closed the lid on Harbour Road where a private wall was in danger of—
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberCollapsing.
Lt. Col. Hon. David A. Burch—i mmediately collapsing. So that was carried out overnight in c onjunction with the homeowner, who was well onside in terms of paying for it. But Public Works’ respons ibility is to go out and do the assessment and mak e the recommendations. So if he reaches out to the …
—i mmediately collapsing. So that was carried out overnight in c onjunction with the homeowner, who was well onside in terms of paying for it. But Public Works’ respons ibility is to go out and do the assessment and mak e the recommendations. So if he reaches out to the PS of Public Works and gives us the details, then he will go out and do an assessment and then address it.
The ChairmanChairmanAny further speakers? There appear to be none. Colonel, do you want to move this?
The ChairmanChairmanYour microphone is not on, Colonel.
Lt. Col. Hon. David A. BurchItems 6, 10 and 11, Heads 82 and 65, be approved. The Chairman: Are there any objections to that? There are none. Approved. [ Motion carried: Ministry of Public Works, Head 82 Works and Engineering, and Head 65 Capital Development passed.] [ Inaudible interjection]
The ChairmanChairmanYes. Yes, yes. The next up is New Social Development in Seniors with Ms. Furbert. Hon. Tinee Furbert: Good evening, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I move that Heads 86, 23, and 55 be now taken under consideration. Mr. Chairman, I am also going to, if you allow me to, do …
The ChairmanChairmanYes, please. MINISTRY OF YOUTH, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND SENIORS Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, this Government is unwavering in its commitment to social investment, ensuring Bermuda’s vulnerable population groups receive the essential services and programmes they require throughout their lives. These groups include our children, youth, vulnerable adults, seniors and …
Yes, please. MINISTRY OF YOUTH, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND SENIORS Hon. Tinee Furbert: Mr. Chairman, this Government is unwavering in its commitment to social investment, ensuring Bermuda’s vulnerable population groups receive the essential services and programmes they require throughout their lives. These groups include our children, youth, vulnerable adults, seniors and persons with disabilities. Our initiatives are designed to support their wellbeing through the lifespan. Mr. Chairman, I believe that all Members of this Honourable House will concur that the recent tragic events that have impacted our Bermuda community, events involving our children, young men and families, have touched all of our hearts, leaving us with a sense of despondency and perhaps hopelessness. Conse-quently, more must be done, more must be invested in our families, more must be provided for our children and more must be implemented to strengthen Ber-muda’s social sector support system. Mr. Chairman, the Government’s dedication to these efforts is steadfast. We will continue to prioritise social investment to ensure every member of our community is supported and cared for. Mr. Chairman, given the mandate of this Ministry, we are responding. The Ministry’s original budget estimate for the fiscal year of 2024/25 was $85,295,000 in current expenditure and $211,000 in capital expendi-ture. After assessing where the critical needs lie for more social services, the Ministry requires a supplementary budget for this 2024/25 fiscal year in the amount of $3,262,000 in current expenditure and $1,227,000 in capital expenditure. Mr. Chairman, this supplementary will fund the development and imple-mentation of targeted programmes and services that will help strengthen Bermuda’s social sector system 1760 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly and provide enhanced social services support for our children, families, seniors and persons with disabilities. Mr. Chairman, let me detail how this supplementary will be allocated across each department, head, and then by programmes and services, of the $3,262,000 additional current expenditure: • Head 86, Ministry Headquarters, $1,583,000; • Head 23, the Department of Child and Family Services will be allocated $768,000; and • Head 55, the Department of Financial Assistance, $911,000. The additional funding for Head 86, the Ministry Headquarters of $1,583,000 will support expanded youth programmes, extended programmes and professional services for persons with disabilities, targeted for day care services for seniors with disabilities, as well as the provision of food services for families who are food insecure, and housing services for persons who find themselves suddenly homeless. Mr. Chairman, a grant of $25,000 will be given to Eliza DoLittle Society which plays a pivotal role in helping to ensure individuals and families facing economics hardships have equitable access to nutritious food. Their Food Pantry plays an important rol e in addressing community health disparities through foods and related services provided, such as the Health Bag Programme, which provides on weekly basis healthier food options to empower individuals and families to make healthier food choices. Mr. Chairman the Ministry continues to collaborate with charitable organisations to execute action items in the plan to end homelessness in Bermuda. The allocation of $700,000 will help fund some of the action items in the plan for the eradication of home lessness in Bermuda and operationalise supportive housing options and support tools to assist with early identification and prevention of homelessness. Mr. Chairman, the Office of Ageing and Disability Services [ADS] has been provided with an addi-tional $120,000 to implement a hardship support service for our seniors who have no income and no family support. With seniors living longer and the higher cost of living, it is becoming difficult for seniors to meet their basic needs. ADS receives calls about seniors who need assistance with essentials such as food, electricity, and copays for health services and supports. There are also persons in the community who require care or emergency placement within a needed timeframe. This fund will be used to help address these growing types of situations as they arise. Mr. Chairman, new initiatives will be set up at the K. Margaret Carter Centre [KMCC] that will benefit persons who have disabilities. The KMCC clients have increased to 42 from 35. Several clients at KMCC now have more complex clinical needs that include complex physical health, complex behavioural needs and complex social needs. KMCC will receive an additional $385,000. This will cover the hiring of the behavioural therapist, a full time nurse, and two paraprofessionals who will be providing the needed clinical and behavioural services to clients. KMCC will also expand their hours of programmes and services to clients and families from 2:30 to 5:45 pm. Families find it challenging to have their loved ones at home during the day when are working traditional hours, resulting in lower wages, and in some cases clients are left unattended until their parents or caregivers finish work. Therefore, the program will be extended to 5:45 pm to allow families and caregivers to complete their full day of work and not have to worry about their loved ones. Mr. Chairman, lastly, KMCC will be allocated $224,000 to establish a seniors day care programme for seniors with disabilities living in the community. The KMCC current programmes are focused on life skills, vocational skills and functional skills which ar e not tailored towards meeting the needs of ageing KMCC clients. To best meet the needs of the ageing clients, a separate programme will allow the focus to shift to their specific needs rather than the general day programme focus. Mr. Chairman, the Office of Youth Affairs has been allocated an additional $129,000. Of this, $30,000 will be used to enhance community enrichment programmes for seniors, adults and youth courses. The funds will be shared amongst the three community cen-tres to purchase the needed materials, equipment and supplies for programmes facilitated. An estimated $82,000 will be allowed for extended day programmes for children of shift workers at the Central Zone Community Centre, extended weekend operation hours for the Western Zone Community Centre, and expansion of the before- , after -, and out -of-school programmes at the Francis Patton, Elliot and Purvis Primary Schools due t o the number of children on the wait list. The remaining $17,000 will fund a conference to consultation series for youth 18 years and older and establish a National Youth Policy Board for the first time. Mr. Chairman, Head 23, the Department of Child and Family Services, will use $[768,000] of additional funding to deliver the following programmes : A service that will readily support families in crisis who re-quire hardship support. Sometimes families find themselves in sudden daily financial crisis with insufficient food, electricity, medication or other unexpected emergencies. Having quick access to an emergency hardship fund provides immediate assistance to the families pending being accessed by the Department of Finan-cial Assistance, if that is the case. Or in some instances, persons may not be eligible for financial assistance but only need that one- off hardship help to keep the family stabilised and together. Vouchers will be se-cured at an estimated cost of $24,500 to support families in hardship who need immediate assistance. The Department of Child and Family Services will reintroduce the Cross Ministry Intervention Team (CMIT) model of intervention to be called in times of family preservation. My honourable colleagues may be Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1761
Bermuda House of Assembly aware that the CMIT model is a community -based intensive family intervention. The intervention follows a best practice model and is proven to effectively improve family functioning, reduce removals to foster care and avoid future incidence of child maltreatment. The model supports a home setting, natural environment intervention for families, creating an atmosphere where a strong social worker –client bond can be developed and where change can take place. In all developed coun-tries, intensive home- based serv ices exist for higher - risk families. Intensive intervention refers to the frequency of contact with the clients. With frequent contact and effective assessment, and intervention increases, the timeframe toward reaching goals decreases. It is anticipated that a family will require a minimum of five hours face- to-face and/or telephone contact with the team per week to remain effective and meet the objective. The maximum caseload of one social worker, one social worker assistant team will not exceed 10 families. Therefore, additional staffing costs at an estimated $543,500 is needed to rein-state the CMIT model of intervention, comprising three social workers, three social worker assistants, one behavioural specialist, one mental health counsellor and one coordinator. The Department of Child and Family Services will issue a request of information to ascertain what or-ganisations on the Island currently offer domestic abuse perpetrator programmes. This pool of organisations will then be asked to put forward proposals via requests for proposal demonstrating a best practice de-livery plan of services for domestic abuse perpetrators. The Honourable House will recall in 2022 SaveLives UK was commissioned to undertake a whole system review of the response to domestic abuse in Bermuda. The review revealed a lack of perpetrator services available on Island. SaveLives therefore rec-ommended implementing perpetrator services and embedding these services within the criminal justice pro-cess through direct referrals and reporting systems for meaningful engagement. The 2022 SaveLives report indicated that one in four perpetrators are repeat offenders. Some have as many as six different victims. Only 1 per cent of perpetrators receive any specialist services. An estimated $200,000 has been allocated to develop a comprehensive perpetrator response model for Bermuda, with specialist treatment services to develop a media campaign for public awareness. Mr. Chairman, Head 55, the Department of Financial Assistance [FA], will use the additional $911,000 to increase the number of mental health sessions covered for FA clients to support the demand. Mr. Chairman, investing in the wellbeing of our most vulnerable population stands as a testament to Government’s commitment to fostering a compassionate and inclusive society. The Department of Financial Assistance has recognised this critical need for enhanced mental health services amongst its clients. Currently, the allocation of $840 per year permits only four mental health sessions per client. By increasing fund-ing, the department can afford an increase in the number of mental health sessions for children and adults on financial assistance. Mr. Chairman, approximately 55 per cent of recipients on financial assistance are seniors who require regular health care services. Some seniors at the King Edward Memorial Hospital can only be discharged if adequate home care is guaranteed. By allocating additional funds for personal home care, the rising demand can be addressed, easing the strain on nursing and rest home facilities that are nearing capacity. This initiative will ensure that seniors receive the necessary care at home, thereby freeing up beds for those with more acute clinical needs. Mr. Chairman, a personal care allowance of $100 per month will be provided to FA clients in rest homes and nursing homes to ensure they have the personal care, toiletries and products needed. Residents in nursing and rest homes lack the funding to purchase personal care products and services. This allowance will cover the critical gap identified. With this monthly personal care allowance, FA clients have access to the basic care products they need, contributing to their comfort and quality of life. Mr. Chairman, this supplementary budget is a strategic social investment to strengthen our social sec-tor services, and not merely expenditures. The additional funds for each of the initiatives are vital commitments by the Government to support our vulnerable population groups and mitigate any hardship that they are experiencing. By addressing these critical needs, we pave the way for a more equitable and supported community where every individual can thrive. Mr. Chairman, the capital funding supplementary of $1,227,000 will fund the following: • the purchase of two vehicles for $60,000 needed to support the CMIT model of intervention programme; • repair and maintenance upgrades estimated at $257,000 needed for the three youth commu-nity centres; • renovate and redevelop the existing wood shop room at the KMCC with a new bathroom estimated at $60,000 to facilitate offering a day programme for seniors with disabilities; and • commence planning work estimated at $850,000 that will lay the foundation to ensure seniors have greater access to day care services, thus providing more day care options for families. This completes the explanation of the 2024/25 supplementary estimates for the Ministry of Youth, So-cial Development and Seniors. Thank you, Mr. Chairman
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, Minister. Any further speakers? 1762 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly The Chair recognises the Honourable Member,
Mr. King.
Mr. Robert KingMr. Chairman. Regarding the initiative for the seniors, absolutely we support that. With regard to the senior programme and the vehicles, are they going to be electric vehicles or — [Pause]
Mr. Robert KingNo, no. Sorry, sorry. Thank you. Are they going to be electric vehicles? I am wondering about that. And the second question is, In terms of the budget allocation, is this going to be year over year, it is going to be the actual budgeted amount now as opposed to …
The ChairmanChairmanAny further speakers? Minister Tinee Furbert. Hon. Tinee Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will leave the vehicle selection to our very faithful civil servants and colleagues within Public Works, but I know Government has made a commitment to increase their electric vehicle fleet. And the budget allocations, yes, are …
The ChairmanChairmanAny further? Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, if I may? And I thank the Minister. Her answer is correct, and it is something I neglected to include in my overview. But just for the infor-mation of Honourable Members Opposite and those persons who are listening, these supplementary …
Any further? Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, if I may? And I thank the Minister. Her answer is correct, and it is something I neglected to include in my overview. But just for the infor-mation of Honourable Members Opposite and those persons who are listening, these supplementary allocations are based on the fact that the revenue picture for the entire Government is picking up and revenue is built year over year. And so when we are talking about these types of programmes it is not like, you know, a one- off to do certain things, et cetera. These are programmes that are going to continue. And so the funding that has been allocated to these particular ministries for these particular initiatives is not just to last for the next seven months. This is ongoing funding that is committed, and all Ministers have been informed that the funding amou nts that are put in here are going to form part of their budgets going forward so that they can allow them to hire the additional resources. So for instance, when the Minister is speaking about matters related to the reintroduction or advancing of the CMIT model, where the Minister of Education is talking about additional staffing and items for occupa-tional therapists and speech therapists, and where the Ministry of Health is talking about the matters relating to mental health programming, additional investments in those type of things, those budgets and those funds, especially where it comes to hiring persons, are committed to ministries so those matters can go. That was just an overall, and that applies to all matters that are related to current accounts.
Mr. Robert KingThank you, Mr. Chair. I know that there is a problem right now in terms of adequate housing for seniors. And many seniors would rather stay in their homes, provided the cost of care was taken care of with their insurance. And what happens many times is insurance will not …
Thank you, Mr. Chair. I know that there is a problem right now in terms of adequate housing for seniors. And many seniors would rather stay in their homes, provided the cost of care was taken care of with their insurance. And what happens many times is insurance will not pay f or home care visits; they are actually more expensive. That is how they end up in extended care, which is not good for the quality of life, the whole experience of ageing gracefully. So I am wondering what measures are being taken to address that issue. Thank you.
Ms. Furbert.
Hon. Tinee FurbertThank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for the question. Mr. Chairman, the Government has committed many times in regard to housing for seniors. The Minister of Public Works, the Premier himself has mentioned in regard to our increase in housing inventory that will be particularly for seniors. We have …
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for the question. Mr. Chairman, the Government has committed many times in regard to housing for seniors. The Minister of Public Works, the Premier himself has mentioned in regard to our increase in housing inventory that will be particularly for seniors. We have also mentioned as well the programme through the Bermuda Housing Corporation which allows for seniors to age at home. And that is a senior loan programme so that they can make renovations to make sure that their house is safe and accessible for them to remain in their homes. And in my current brief, Mr. Chairman, I mentioned that Financial Assistance will be adding funds to their home care allowance programme, which will complement the programmes that we already have to support care in home, HIP and FutureCare. And Financial Assistance will complement home care so that seniors can remain in their homes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanAny further speakers? Minister, do you want to move those Heads? Items? Hon. Tinee Furbert: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move that Heads 86, 23 and 55 . . . and the capital expenditures, Mr. Chairman?
The ChairmanChairmanOh, [Head] 65? Yes. Hon. Tinee Furbert: So [Heads] 65 and [Head] 66.
The ChairmanChairmanAnd 66. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1763 Bermuda House of Assembly Any objections to that? There appear to be none. Approved. [Motion carried: Ministry of Youth, Social Development and Seniors, Head 86 Ministry Headquarters, Head 23 Child and Family Services, Head 55 Financial Services, Head 65 Capital …
The ChairmanChairmanThe next Minister up is, I believe, my Security fellow, the National Security Minister (keeping me safe). Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Good evening, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanGood evening. Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Mr. Chairman, I move that heads 83, 7, and 25 now be taken under consideration.
The ChairmanChairmanAnd do you want to do 88? Or that is not yours? Hon. Michael A. Weeks: No.
The ChairmanChairmanOkay. [Inaudible interjection] Hon. Michael A. Weeks: I am so sorry, Mr. Chairman. And number 88.
The ChairmanChairmanThat is all right. Okay, that is fine. MINISTRY OF NATIONAL SECURITY Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Mr. Chairman, Honourable Members, I rise today to provide a briefing on the sup-plementary budget increase for the Ministry of the National Security in the amount $5,400,000 for the fiscal year 2024/25. Mr. Chairman, …
That is all right. Okay, that is fine.
MINISTRY OF NATIONAL SECURITY Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Mr. Chairman, Honourable Members, I rise today to provide a briefing on the sup-plementary budget increase for the Ministry of the National Security in the amount $5,400,000 for the fiscal year 2024/25. Mr. Chairman, this supplemental allocation is broken down between four heads now in our Ministry as follows: • Head 83, Ministry Headquarters; • Head 07, Bermuda Police Service; • Head 25, Department of Corrections; and • Head 88, the Department of Drug Control.
The ChairmanChairmanMm-hmm. Do you want to do also 66 then, and the capital? Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Yes, yes.
The ChairmanChairmanOkay. Continue. Hon. Michael A. Weeks: I hasten to note that . . . actually, Mr. Chairman, just for clarity, I am doing opera-tion and capital.
The ChairmanChairmanThat is fine. Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Mr. Chairman, I hasten to note that although the Department of Corrections is now within the Ministry of Justice, having been transferred there last week, this supplemental funding was requested and approved prior to that move. I am there-fore presenting o n their …
The ChairmanChairmanMm-hmm. Hon. Michael A. Weeks: In a similar vein, the Department of National Drug Control was transferred to the Ministry of National Security, and I shall include a brief on the supplemental funding allocated to that department. Mr. Chairman, the Ministry Headquarters received a budget allocation of $1,500,000. Of this …
Mm-hmm. Hon. Michael A. Weeks: In a similar vein, the Department of National Drug Control was transferred to the Ministry of National Security, and I shall include a brief on the supplemental funding allocated to that department. Mr. Chairman, the Ministry Headquarters received a budget allocation of $1,500,000. Of this amount, $500,000 is allocated to the Gang Violence Reduction Team. The Gang Violence Reduction Team is the unit within the Ministry of National Security that is tasked with developing programmes that transition our young people away from antisocial behaviour and toward positive social bonds that ultimately reduce violence in our community. With this additional funding, the Gang Violence Reduction Team will deliver programmes specifically for education and training at a cost of $250,000 and will include the following: • Level one, GED completion. This funding will support clients who are close to completing high school, enabling them to complete their GED within one academic year. It covers in-structional support, assessments, and materials provided by adult education prov iders. • Level two, Bermuda College programme. This funding will provide financial support to participants who pass the Bermuda College entry exam and qualify for college level courses. It covers tuitions, fees, books and materials. • Level three, Workforce Development programmes. This programme offers a variety of training options including apprenticeships, local certifications and overseas training. The allotted budget will be maximised to work with selected students who qualify and demonstrate the potential to successfully complete their respective programmes. Funding will cover the costs associated with training, certifications and materials. • Level four, Overseas Community Service Project. Participants will take part in overseas missions in collaboration with the Bermuda Overseas Mission Group. They will engage in house building and community service projects. The funding covers flights, accommodations, 1764 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly building materials, transportation, meals and contributions to Habitat for Humanity. Mr. Chairman, the remaining $250,000 for the Gang Violence Reduction Team [GVRT] is for other initiatives including the following: • Improved public awareness campaign. The improved public awareness campaign aims to enhance community awareness and understanding of violence prevention strategies, re-sources and support services. • Coordinating Crisis Response team. This team aims to enhance its effectiveness by strategically expanding its capacity and resources to ensure timely and comprehensive support for affected individuals and communities. • GVRT Case Manager. In collaboration with the Coordinating Crisis Response Team, the case manager will assist in connecting clients with appropriate services and resources for immediate support. Additionally, the case manager will lead short -term counselling sessions with clients to address individual challenges and promote healing. Mr. Chairman, Honourable Members will be aware of the psychological effects of violence in our communities. The Ministry of National Security has been allocated supplemental funding in the amount of $1 million to provide necessary support to those psychologically affected by community violence. The funding will allow the Ministry of National Security to partner with helping agencies to provide counselling services on an as -needed basis within our communities. The aim is to support individuals, families and communities affected by violence through a combination of counselling services, safe housing, anti -violence campaigns and community engagement programmes. With a focus on intervention, prevention and public awareness, this initiative seeks to reduce the i mpact of violence and foster safer communities. Included in this funding are the following programmes: Individual Counselling Programme. This programme provides personalised support for individuals impacted by violence. These sessions are designed to address immediate trauma in the families, children and victims affected by the loss of a loved one. There ar e hundreds of people in our Island who are affected violence and trauma. These sessions will be with trained grief and trauma counsellors for 12 sessions. Family Counselling Sessions. These family group sessions are for families who have lost a loved one. These sessions are also for families who have young people or adults involved in gangs and need a more impactful programme and counselling support. The aim is to strengthen family bonds and provide collective healing through group therapy sessions to families affected by violence to rebuild trust and their support systems. Safe House Relocation Programme. This programme provides urgent relocation and safe housing for individuals and their families who need to be removed from violent situations. We have seen an increase in people needing safe houses or to be relocated overseas. The Gang Violence Reduction Team currently has protocols and assessments for clients in need of these services. Anti-violence Campaign. This will be on the bus, radio, social media, print and promo items. The campaign aims to raise public awareness about the negative effects of violence and encourages peacebuilding within the community. It will use a multi -channel a pproach to reach a wide audience through various media such as buses, radio, social media, print and promotional items. Community Outreach and School Programmes. This initiative provides additional funding and support to existing community outreach and school programmes that serve at -risk youth. The objective is to strengthen these programmes to deliver higher qual-ity servi ces and expand their impact. Each programme will receive financial assistance to enhance their ongoing efforts in violence prevention, mentorship and youth development. This initiative will directly empower 10 programmes with the financial resources they need to better serve at -risk youth and deliver more effective and impactful interventions. Community Sports Clubs Programmes. This initiative provides additional funding to local sports clubs to integrate after -school homework support and personal development services into their existing sports programmes. The goal is to help youth to de-velop both academically and personally while fostering positive engagement through sports. The funding will allow clubs to enhance their ability to serve young people by hiring staff, purchasing materials and providing tutoring or other resources needed to meet this goal.
HEAD 7 —BERMUDA POLICE SERVICE Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Mr. Chairman, I now present the details of the supplemental of Head 7, Bermuda Po-lice Service. As I mentioned previously, the total amount is $3,500,000. Of this amount, $1,300,000 has been allocated for capital expenditure. Of that amount, $500,000 will be used to purchase body cameras for officers. Mr. Chairman, this new equipment, consisting of 200 new body cameras, will provide all operational officers within the Bermuda Police Service with body -worn cameras while deployed. This investment is essential to enhance officer accountability, bolster public safety and improve evidence- collection capabilities. Honourable Members will be aware that body - worn cameras are widely used by police services around the world and are a valuable tool in the execution of duties by police officers. They not only are a formidable tool for police officers, but they are also Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1765
Bermuda House of Assembly effective in ensuring a high standard of accountability of the officers’ actions in performance of their duties. There are numerous benefits of this equipment, including but not limited to, the following: • increased officer safety; • increased public confidence in policing; • body camera footage is an excellent training tool; • body camera footage can disprove unwarranted complaints and improve transparency; • increased civility and prevention of escalation of incidents; • body camera footage provides corroborating evidence; and • body camera footage provides law enforce-ment with a surveillance tool to promote officer safety and efficiency. Capital funds of $525,000 will be spent on critical upgrades to the core network switches that support the Bermuda Police Service’s computer and data networks. Mr. Chairman, the remaining amount allocated to the Bermuda Police Service of $2,200,000 is for op-erational expenses for 2024/25. The Bermuda Police Service requires an additional 25 officers which are required for effective and efficient operations. The a dditional funding will provide for the recruitment of 25 more officers. The cost for these 25 officers, inclusive of salaries and allowances, is estimated at $494,000. This figure is calculated on the premise that the new officers will be in post as of February 1, 2025. Mr. Chairman, during this fiscal year, owing to staff shortages, the Bermuda Police Service has in-curred overtime in order to maintain its operational functions. A total of $1,570,000 has been allocated for overtime to cover the shortfall in funding. Hono urable Members will be aware of the recruitment challenges that the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service, the Depart-ment of Corrections, the Customs Department and the Bermuda Police Service have had to navigate in recent years. Each of the services has struggl ed to meet their annual recruitment goals through local recruitment campaigns. The Ministry of National Security has proposed a Uniformed Services Training programme. The aim of the programme is to prepare a cadre of interested individuals for entry into the uniformed services. The pro-gramme will be loosely modelled on the former Pol ice Cadet Programme and will be administered and over-seen by Ministry Headquarters. The initial cost estimate for the pilot run of the programme is $350,000 per annum and is included within the Bermuda Police Service’s additional funding request. Mr. Chair man, the aim is to have this programme designed, finalised and implemented by February 1, 2025. Thus an allocated amount of $120,000 represents two months of salaries plus up- front costs such as uniforms, stationery, and part-time instructors. Mr. Chairman, included in the allocated funds for the Bermuda Police Service is $16,000 which will be used to hire an Outward Bound civilian instructor executive director. Outward Bound Bermuda has traditionally been used as a tool to encourage interaction be-tween the Bermuda Police Service and young people outside of the realm of the criminal justice system. Outward Bound has also proven to be an effective programme in directing young people towards a productive and positive lifestyle. The estimated cost for a full -time civilian Outward Bound instructor is $90,000. The aim is to have the civilian Outward Bound instructor in place by February 1, 2025. So the cost has been prorated for two months at $16,000.
HEAD 25 —DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Mr. Chairman, I now turn to the allocation of $400,000 for the Department of Corrections, Head 25. The Department of Corrections provides rehabilitative services for its inmate population. The additional funding will be used to hire three full -time programme facilitators who are trained in the delivery of multiple programmes. Remaining funds will be used to enhance programmes such as the Work Programme, the National Centre for Construction, Education and Research Programme, culinary arts, leadership developments, Intimate Partner Violence Group, Thinking for a Change, anger management and CPR courses. Funds will also be used to purchase computers for inmate use for educational and employment purposes. Enhancement of these programmes will provide in-mates with several opportunities for personal development so that they are returned to the community equipped to become responsible citizens who will make a positive contribution to society.
HEAD 88 —DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Mr. Chairman, having recently assumed responsibility for the Department of National Drug Control, I now turn to the allocation of the $300,000 in supplemental funding. That is Head 88. Mr. Chairman, this additional funding will enable the Department of National Drug Control to provide grants for substance abuse intervention, to Pathways Bermuda and Focus Counselling Services in the amounts of $150,000 each. I hasten to state that the treatment and support services to address the needs of substance misusers remain a priority and additional funding to the Department of National Drug Control for grants to Pathways and Focus Counselling Services will provide appropriate programme interventions for this client population. This will enhance services for Bermuda residents in the areas of treatment, after care and group programmes following residential treatment services. 1766 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Chairman, Focus Counselling Services, a grant recipient of the DNDC, provides comprehensive support and treatment for individuals in recovery from substance abuse and related issues. The grant for supportive housing specifically was cut in the current budget year, and additional funding will sustain this operation in service delivery to the individuals who require and benefit from its support services. Pathways Bermuda, a registered charity, provides access to Caron international treatment centres and also works with local addiction professionals to provide the appropriate level of care, assessments and outpatient services on Island. Their aim is to provide holistic, sustainable paths to individuals and families who have been impacted by the scourg e of substance misuse. Mr. Chairman, that completes the presentation on Ministry of National Security supplemental budget increase for fiscal year 2024/25.
[Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Mr. Chairman, I do not have them right now, so let me do that and let me get back with capital acquisitions.
[Inaudible interjections]
Mr. Ben SmithThank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Minister spoke quite extensively about the Gang Violence Reduction Team and some of the programmes that they will be implementing with what is being provided in the supplementary. Could the Minister explain to us why this was not in the original budget considering …
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, the Minister spoke quite extensively about the Gang Violence Reduction Team and some of the programmes that they will be implementing with what is being provided in the supplementary. Could the Minister explain to us why this was not in the original budget considering that this has been a situation that Bermuda has been going into for several years? [Inaudible interjection]
Mr. Ben SmithYes, but my question is, Was this something that we just found out after the budget that was needed from the Gang Violence Reduction Team? Was this information that was provided that they had a need for these services after the budget?
The ChairmanChairmanOkay. Anything else, Mr. Smith?
Mr. Ben SmithYes. The Minister also spoke to antisocial behaviour, mental health, safe house relocation. Once again, are these new things that were needed, or is what we are doing just adding to what was already provided? Could he just let us know whether these were identified prior and we were not …
Yes. The Minister also spoke to antisocial behaviour, mental health, safe house relocation. Once again, are these new things that were needed, or is what we are doing just adding to what was already provided? Could he just let us know whether these were identified prior and we were not able to fund them and that is why we are now doing this? Is that the case or are these new initiatives?
Mr. Ben SmithThe Minister, under the Police, referred to the body cams that are needed for the police, and he gave quite a bit of detail on the importance of the body cams. Could the Minister tell us . . . he said that there would be 200 body cams available with …
The Minister, under the Police, referred to the body cams that are needed for the police, and he gave quite a bit of detail on the importance of the body cams. Could the Minister tell us . . . he said that there would be 200 body cams available with this new funding. How many body cams did we have prior to this supplementary? Are these replacing body cams that needed to be repaired, fixed or taken out of service? And considering that this is as important as the Minister laid out, was this something that we were looking for prior to and we just did not have the finances for it and now we are in a position to do this? Or has something changed that is saying that now we actually have to go in this direction and get the body cams because something different has happened? So could he just let us know whether this was something that they were look-ing for maybe in next year’s budget?
The ChairmanChairmanThey already have body cameras, you know.
Mr. Ben SmithThat is why I wanted to know, is it replacing . . . we will know once he is able to tell me what the original number is compared to what the new number is.
Mr. Ben SmithThe Minister also spoke to the new of-ficers who were going to be hired, and he gave a number of $494,000 for the new officers. But the Minister also stated that we are having a hard time recruiting officers. Considering that he then went on to talk about this high …
The Minister also spoke to the new of-ficers who were going to be hired, and he gave a number of $494,000 for the new officers. But the Minister also stated that we are having a hard time recruiting officers. Considering that he then went on to talk about this high overtime number that is being created by not having the [adequate] number of officers. Could the Minister speak to where we are going to get the 25 new officers from? Is this going to be a local recruit camp, or is it going to be ov erseas? Where are we going to get these officers from? And will the 25 be enough so that we do not have to continue to have that large overtime number? Or is this the first step toward reducing that number? Thank you.
The ChairmanChairmanOkay. Thank you, Brother Smith. Minister, do you want to take those on right now? Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Yes, Mr. Chairman. I would like to start off by saying that these funds are supplemental funds. All these programmes that we have in the Ministry of National Security are actually …
Okay. Thank you, Brother Smith. Minister, do you want to take those on right now?
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Yes, Mr. Chairman. I would like to start off by saying that these funds are supplemental funds. All these programmes that we have in the Ministry of National Security are actually in place on some level or the other. These funds are to extend the services that we already of fer. Right? So when it comes to the body cams, say, we do have Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1767
Bermuda House of Assembly body cams. I do not know the exact number, but the body cams that the officers do have are outdated and they are failing. So the 200 body cams that we are looking to get this fiscal year are to service all the officers as they deployed on any shift, all our officers. After we get our body cams we will have a body camera as they are on duty. The 25 officers whom we have spoken of . . . we know that throughout the uniformed services we have had an issue with recruitment. Hence, that is why we have got the Uniformed Services Training Pro-gramme that we are about to implement. The overtime budget , the overtime monies that we have been spending in the Police Service are because we do not have required number of officers. So these 25 officers that we will be putting in place by February 1, it goes through the same process that we have always gone through. And I will just reiterate that we start with . . . recruitment goes globally. So our first option is our local people filling those posts, then residents living in Ber-muda, foreigners living in Bermuda, spouses of Bermudians. And then if those 25 are not m et, then we obviously will look overseas. But I have to reiterate that throughout all of the uniformed services, as we try to fill our posts, Bermudians are always first. And those are the first people whom we encounter. And what we are trying to do to mak e sure that pool remains vibrant and gets better is the Uniformed Services Training Programme. And the 25 new officers will bring policing to effectively operational levels for now, and hopefully it will reduce overtime. And as officers retire, obviously we will have to recruit again. Did I miss anything?
The ChairmanChairmanAny further speakers? Hon. Michael A. Weeks: I think I did.
The ChairmanChairmanOkay. I am sorry. Hon. Michael A. Weeks: I think the Deputy Opposition Leader asked about the Gang Violence Reduction Team. The funds that have been allocated to the Gang Violence Reduction Team are not for new programmes. It is to enhance what we have. Up until now, if a …
Okay. I am sorry. Hon. Michael A. Weeks: I think the Deputy Opposition Leader asked about the Gang Violence Reduction Team. The funds that have been allocated to the Gang Violence Reduction Team are not for new programmes. It is to enhance what we have. Up until now, if a family or individual experienced, say, violence or trauma the Gang Violence Reduction Team would offer three, maybe four counselling sessions. And if a family or anyone needed more counselling sessions after that, they would have to pay for it. These additional funds are to help those people not have to worry about having to find funds to pay for therapy or counselling. So, some of this money is to extend those services.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, Minister. Mr. King?
Mr. Robert KingRegarding the initiatives regarding gang violence reductions, youth serious crime, who is going to be providing oversight and coordination of these services? Because in my experience, having worked within the system for over 30 years here and abroad, agencies tend to work in silos and a result there is a …
Regarding the initiatives regarding gang violence reductions, youth serious crime, who is going to be providing oversight and coordination of these services? Because in my experience, having worked within the system for over 30 years here and abroad, agencies tend to work in silos and a result there is a lot of duplication of services. There are not efficiencies in terms of getting accurate statistics of what the actual needs are and ensuring that whatever we do is informed by the stats to make sure that w e are operating in best practice and making sure that we measure performance. That is one. Two, with regard to the hiring of police officers because of overtime, it is my understanding also that at the Department of Corrections they have essentially the same problem as well. Regarding getting the recipe right with regard to the hiring of officers locally and for-eign, I have talked to many officers at corrections and in the police service, and the general consensus of opinion is that a mix of local and foreign helps to keep the integrity in the force because this is a very small community and there is a lot of slippage with the interrelationships that we have through our schools, through our families, through our church, sporting organisations, et cetera. And then the third point is with regard to the programmes at Westgate, I did not hear any mention of the Violent Offenders Programme, the Sexual Offenders Programme, a programme to deal with stalking specifically. So, I am wondering how that is being addressed as well. Thank you.
The ChairmanChairmanAny further speakers? MP Ben Smith.
Mr. Ben SmithThank you, Mr. Chairman. Before I move to Corrections, just a follow -up on the body cam. Can the Minister tell us when we anticipate having the 200 new body cams? And on Corrections, the programmes that the Minister referred to, do we have to hire new people to implement …
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Before I move to Corrections, just a follow -up on the body cam. Can the Minister tell us when we anticipate having the 200 new body cams? And on Corrections, the programmes that the Minister referred to, do we have to hire new people to implement these programmes, or is it in- house and the extra payment is actually just for the programme and implementing it? And on the National Drug, it was mentioned that there had been a cut in the budget that now this is going to help to fill that hole. Can the Minister explain why that original . . . The Minister had mentioned that there had been a cut from the budget origi nally and this is going to help. So could he just give us an explanation of what that was? Is it part of the shifting?
The ChairmanChairmanIf that was so, it would have been addressed in the other budget debate back in February.
Mr. Ben SmithBut, so are we now putting this money back because that cut should not have happened?, I guess is the question. 1768 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report B ermuda House of Assembly The Chairman: Okay. Mr. King?
Mr. Robert KingThis question relates to Habitat for Humanity and Outward Bound. Understanding that both programmes operate essentially the same, and understanding that $8,000 a month is going to be paid for the facilitator for two months, $16,000 for the Out-ward Bound (which actually connects the police to the other uniformed services …
This question relates to Habitat for Humanity and Outward Bound. Understanding that both programmes operate essentially the same, and understanding that $8,000 a month is going to be paid for the facilitator for two months, $16,000 for the Out-ward Bound (which actually connects the police to the other uniformed services and in terms of mentoring, et cetera), I am wondering why we are considering using Habitat for Humanity as well? Thank you.
The ChairmanChairmanMinister. Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If I miss anything, please help me along and I will answer the questions. Now, the first question was about the Gang Violence Reduction Team and oversight. The Ministry is in the process of hiring a clinical coordinator to help the …
Minister. Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If I miss anything, please help me along and I will answer the questions. Now, the first question was about the Gang Violence Reduction Team and oversight. The Ministry is in the process of hiring a clinical coordinator to help the process of overseeing the Gang Violence Reduction Team. But what is critical [is that] we are putting together a Coordinated Crisis Response team that stretches across the expertise that we have in the com-munity now. So by doing that, we will have no duplica-tion of services because that Coordinated Crisis Response team will be picking from all of our different agencies and bringing crisis coordinators, trauma counsellors and all other kind of experts together on the crisis response team. So they will be able to coordinate services as needed to the community. MP King asked about violent and sexual offenders. We have to reiterate that these funds are not an end- all be -all and I do not want to suggest that nothing has been happening up in Westgate prior to this ad-ditional funding. So things like the Violent and Sexual Offenders programme is one of those programmes already being implemented, already being carried out. This additional funding is to expand the services that we are giving. Habitat for Humanity is only one avenue for overseas missions, and it has always been used as a development tool for our youth. So hence, that is why we are partnering now with Habitat for Humanity. But that does not say going forward other agencies will not be chosen.
Mr. Robert KingThank you, Mr. Chairman. I know that we were focused on the Gang Violence Reduction Team. I am wondering what is being done on a national level for a coordination of services for high- risk offenders? In other jurisdictions you have a national offender management system. The Chairman: You need …
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know that we were focused on the Gang Violence Reduction Team. I am wondering what is being done on a national level for a coordination of services for high- risk offenders? In other jurisdictions you have a national offender management system. The Chairman: You need to get the answer. I am not really too concerned about over/under.
Mr. Robert KingOkay. No problem. That is fine. I am looking at the Gang Violence Reduction Team as being part of a national strategy. So if we are looking at the Gang Violence Reduction, the scope is too narrow as opposed to looking at crime in general in Bermuda and how we …
Okay. No problem. That is fine. I am looking at the Gang Violence Reduction Team as being part of a national strategy. So if we are looking at the Gang Violence Reduction, the scope is too narrow as opposed to looking at crime in general in Bermuda and how we are going to address the different levels of seriousness and risk and need. So I am wondering in terms of, as it is right now, Gang Violence Re-duction, there is oversight for that. But what is the national oversight body to make sure that all agencies and departments are working together to reduce recidivism and the risk of harm to the community? Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for that question. The Gang Violence Reduction Team is called the Gang Violence Reduction Team, and they are fo-cused on mitigating gang violence and the like. But there are programme facilitators. There is a group called IGET, the Inter -agency [Gang Enforcement Team], the interagency task force that has people from all different agencies, from the police, from child and family services, from family services, from women’s re-source centre, from education and the like. So there is a group in place that oversees violence, and we try to address those kinds of issues that are happening among our youth.
The ChairmanChairmanAny further speakers? MP Ben Smith?
Mr. Ben SmithThank you, Mr. Chairman. I just asked a couple questions in that last round that have not been answered.
Mr. Ben SmithCan he give us an estimated arrival of the body cams?
Mr. Ben SmithWhat was the situation with the budget for the National Drug? And the last one was, Are the programmes being implemented in Corrections? Are there going to be new hires to put in these programmes or is this really simply for the programme itself with work ers that are already …
The ChairmanChairmanYes. Minister. Hon. Michael A. Weeks: As quickly as possible before I forget. There will be three new hires in Corrections, programme coordinators for those new programmes. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1769 Bermuda House of Assembly The second one, the body cams will be here hopefully by …
Yes. Minister. Hon. Michael A. Weeks: As quickly as possible before I forget. There will be three new hires in Corrections, programme coordinators for those new programmes. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1769
Bermuda House of Assembly The second one, the body cams will be here hopefully by the end of December. And the third question was? [Inaudible interjection]
Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Okay, the National Drug Control. The additional funding is to facilitate these specific agencies, Focus and Pathways. That does not suggest services from National Drug Control have been halted or stopped, but this is just to enhance and beef up the service s that they provide.
Mr. Smith.
Mr. Ben SmithMr. Chairman, just there was one area under National Security, CCTV network I think has not been addressed yet.
The ChairmanChairmanHe addressed it in his brief. I do not recall the head. But what question do you have on that?
Mr. Ben SmithIs this in addition to the part that has been done up until this point? Will this help to finish off the project? And if so, could we get an update of when that will be operating?
The ChairmanChairmanMinister. Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you for that, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for that, Opposition Deputy. The additional funds for the CCTV are just to bring it to completion. We are about 85 per cent com-plete now. And there have been some things like, we need the new …
Minister. Hon. Michael A. Weeks: Thank you for that, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for that, Opposition Deputy. The additional funds for the CCTV are just to bring it to completion. We are about 85 per cent com-plete now. And there have been some things like, we need the new polls, we need some trenching. We had some issues with BELCO . We had some issues with the Corporation of Hamilton. So these funds are to help to get from that 85 per cent completion to 100 per cent completion.
The ChairmanChairmanAny further speakers? Minister, do you want to move these heads? Heads, 83, 7, 25, 88 and 66, do you want to move them? [Inaudible interjection]
The ChairmanChairmanAre there any objections to that? No objections. Approved. [Motion carried: Ministry of National Security, Head 83 Ministry Headquarters, Head 7 Police Services, Head 25 Department of Corrections, Head 88 Department of National Drug Control, and Head 66 Capital Acquisi-tions passed]
The ChairmanChairmanI think that is the end of the Supplementary.
Mr. Premier
Hon. E. David BurtpremierThank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I move that the Supplementary Estimate (No. 1) for the financial year 2024/25 be now reported to the House as printed.
The ChairmanChairmanAny objections? There appear to be none. It will be reported to the House as printed. [Motion carried: Supplementary Estimate (No. 1) 2024/25 was considered by the Committee of Supply and passed without amendment.] House resumed at 8 :05 pm [Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair] REPORT …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGood evening, Members. Any objection to the Supplementary Estimate (No. 1) for the financial year 2024/25 being reported to the House as printed? There are none. Thank you for your participation on that item. We now move on to item 9 which is the second reading of the Electricity Amendment …
Good evening, Members. Any objection to the Supplementary Estimate (No. 1) for the financial year 2024/25 being reported to the House as printed? There are none. Thank you for your participation on that item. We now move on to item 9 which is the second reading of the Electricity Amendment Act 2024 in the name of the Deputy Premier. Deputy Premier, you have the floor. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move that the Bill entitled the Electricity Amendment Act 2024 be now read a second time.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAre there any objections? There are none. Continue. BILL SECOND READING ELECTRICITY AMENDMENT ACT 2024 Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Speaker, I rise to present to this Honourable House the second reading of the Bill entitled Electricity Amendment Act 2024. The Bill seeks to amend the Electricity Act 2016 to …
Are there any objections? There are none. Continue.
BILL
SECOND READING
ELECTRICITY AMENDMENT ACT 2024
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Speaker, I rise to present to this Honourable House the second reading of the Bill entitled Electricity Amendment Act 2024. The Bill seeks to amend the Electricity Act 2016 to create a Bulk Generation Sole Use Installation Licence [BGSUI Licence ] for large developments to generate electricity above the current licence threshold of 500 kilowatts . 1770 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. Speaker, the Bill strikes a balance between the needs of the licence holder and stability of the grid while minimising any negative impacts including costs to the ratepayer. Mr. Speaker, I remind Honourable Members of the Government’s commitment to re duce the use of fossil fuels by 85 per cent in the production of electricity by 2035 which is reflected in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). One of the categories of renewable energy defined in the IRP is distributed solar—solar developments install ed by individuals and individual residential and commercial entities. Promoting distributed solar development while restricting installations to 500 kilowatts for large commercial enterprises is an anathema to the goals of reduction of the use of fossil fu els to produce electricity. It also limits the ability of a distributed generator to earn a return on their in-vestment. In the present scenario, developers of largescale installations cannot use for their own benefit the renewable energy that they produce and are required by the Act to sell their renewable energy to the utility, BELCO, for only approximately 12 cents per kilowatt. They must continue to buy all of their consumed electricity from the utility at an excess of around 45 cents per kilowatt. Mr. Speaker, currently, large develop-ments such as the National Stadium and government rooftop installations fall into this category. Other poten-tial developments such as hotels and Google’s pro-posed data centre would also encounter the same challenge. Mr. Speaker, the Bill will allow a Bermuda registered company, government department or statutory authority intending to install over the threshold of 500 kilowatts and intended solely for the use of the appli-cant’s location to apply for a licence to be exempted from the 500- kilowatt threshold. Currently only bulk generator licence holders are allowed to build utility - scale installations above the threshold of 500 kilowatts. A condition of their licence is that they must sell the energy they produce back t o the utility. A BGSUI licence will be subject to the Regulatory Authority’s oversight, which seeks to ensure minimal risk to the grid and that the grid costs remain stable. Mr. Speaker, the Bill seeks to achieve the following: One, [the Bill] creates the new licence that allows the licence holder to install and generate electricity above the 500 kilowatt threshold. Two, [the Bill] ensures that the licence holder is required to use all or the majority of their energy gen-erated for the use of the licence holder’s location— only for their location. The purpose of this provision is to ensure that the licence holder is usi ng the majority of the renewable energy generated and as such the amount of the feed- in tariff does not have negative impact on the rates charged to rate payers, who do not have the benefit of distributed renewable energy installations. The 30 per cent that was mentioned in the Bill, the maximum allowed to be sold to the utility, is based on the needs of a commercial office building which may be closed on weekends and holidays. During that period, energy will continue to be generated but will not be consumed. However, a hotel or data centre that would be open 24 hours a day, seven days a we ek would probably use all of the energy that is generated. It would be the responsibility of the RA to determine what percentage could be sold back to t he utility. It should be noted that a location may generate more electricity that would go back to the grid, but only the percentage determined by the RA will be compensated for. Three, [the Bill] defines the criteria for the grant of the licence. Honourable Members will note that the applicant will have to obtain permission from the Department of Planning, and conform to the grid code and any relevant technical specifications as a means to in-terconnect to the grid. (They will clearly have to discuss those matters with the utility, Mr. Speaker.) As a result there will be collaboration between the Department of Planning, the utility and the RA. Four, [the Bill] sets out the procedure for the RA to suspend or revoke a licence, requiring the RA to issue a warning notice and to take into account any representations made and corrective action taken by the licence holder before making its decision, a nd providing for a right of appeal to the Supreme Court. This is consistent with the procedures that are used for other licenses issued by the RA. [Five, the Bill] empowers the RA to determine feed- in tariffs applicable to the licenses and creates an immediate contract for the BGSUI licence holders. [Six, the Bill] lastly, creates fees payable by the BGSUI licence holders. Mr. Speaker, although currently the main source of renewable energy is solar, the Bill is agnostic to any type of generation. This takes into account that in any future there may be other sources of renewable energy that a licence holder could use, for example, wave or wind. Mr. Speaker, I would be remiss if I did not thank the following officers who contributed to this Bill, including Mr. Richard Ambrosio, Interim Chief Executive and Director of Legal Affairs at the RA; Mr. Nigel Burgess, Head of Regulation at the RA; Mr. Adrian Dill, who is in the Chamber at the moment, the Acting Director of the Department of Energy; Ms. Rozy Azhar, a consultant with the Ministry of Home Affairs who is also the former Permanent Secretary; and the drafter, Ms. Cathryn Bal-four-Swain. Mr. Speaker, it is our goal to move Bermuda to a clean, sustainable energy future with affordable and renewable energy. This Bill assists us in continuing to achieve the goal in a measured and well -regulated fashion. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I invite others to contribute to the discussion and debate on this Bill.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Deputy. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1771 Bermuda House of Assembly I recognise the Opposition Member first. Mr. King, you have the floor.
Mr. Robert KingThank you, Mr. Speaker. Regarding clause 32(c), the Authority may in accordance with regulations —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWell, r ight now we are in the House. So you can just speak to the general Bill. When we go into Committee—
Mr. Robert KingIn terms of the concerns that I have, What guardrails are going to be in place for the ratepayers? I will wait until we are in Committee. I will wait.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerOkay. All right. Does anyone else want to speak while we are in the House? MP Caines.
Mr. Wayne CainesMr. Speaker, electricity became available in Bermuda to customers in 1907 and was available Island- wide by 1928. A reliable source of electricity enabled Bermuda to thrive in tourism and later as a domicile of choice for international business. The Regulatory Authority of Bermuda was created in 2013 for regulating …
Mr. Speaker, electricity became available in Bermuda to customers in 1907 and was available Island- wide by 1928. A reliable source of electricity enabled Bermuda to thrive in tourism and later as a domicile of choice for international business. The Regulatory Authority of Bermuda was created in 2013 for regulating the energy sector. A few years later in 2016 the Electricity Act became law which provided the framework for the RA to regulate the en-ergy sector. While for many years electricity was generated by using traditional engines and fossil fuels, new technology has enabled the ongoing evolution of this sector to meet the growing needs in Bermuda. The support for solar. The Government has a history of supporting solar in Bermuda. In several budg-ets the Progressive Labour Party Government provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in rebates for homeowners installing solar. Solar panels also remain duty free. I am in support of this amendment to the Electricity Act, which promises to accelerate solar installations and increase the amount of power generated from renewable resources. Solar is one of the most prevalent technological developments that is now allowing home-owners and business to generate their own electricity. Solar has been on our Island for decades, but only in the last 10 to 15 years have we experienced a rapid installation of rooftop solar for homes and businesses. The total installed capacity for rooftop solar in Bermuda is approximately nine megawatts. In 2001, six megawatts from the solar installation at the Finger at the airport was added to the BELCO grid. The combined rooftop solar, as well as the Finger, is now 15 megawatts of renewable solar feeding into the grid of BELCO, which is approximately 15 per cent of peak demand during our summer months. This amendment to the Electricity Act will enable more businesses and future development to invest in solar. However, while solar will help Bermuda to achieve the goal of net zero by 2050, it is expensive and approximately $30,000 per residential install. In some cases those who need solar to help them with their bills simply cannot afford it. This Government recently reduced the fuel tax that was directly passed on to customers, but we must do more to reduce the cost of energy in Bermuda. The IRP (or the Integrated Resource Plan) is what Bermuda’s future of energy will look like. The draft IRP Bill was drafted by BELCO and is currently in public consultation phases. This outlines in Bermuda that land constraints prevent solar capacity from reaching beyond 20 megawatts. The Integrated Resource Plan identifies the maximum annual capacity at an additional 5 megawatts. The Integrated Resource Plan (and I remind you, that is what Bermuda’s energy mix looks like) also highlights the other ways that we can potentially generate energy, including from renewable resources such as wind and wave, as the Minister just said in his submission, Mr. Speaker. What is clear is that Bermuda needs a well defined plan of how we will reduce energy in the future and how to have a less negative impact on our environment so we are not at the mercy of global fuel prices. While I am supportive of this amendment there ar e a few potential risks related to the reliability as well as a financial cost to Bermuda. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Solar is an intermittent power source, meaning no power generated from sundown to sunup or when [there is ] cloud c over. Therefore, the Island’s utility provider must always have an engine run-ning to accommodate the sudden up and drop of the 15 megawatts of solar feeding onto BELCO’s grid. In addition, as more homes and businesses install rooftop solar, it reduces the kilowatt/hour sales and decreases the customer base that shares the fixed cost necessary to operate the utility. As a result, the prices climb higher for all of the remaining c ustomers. And it affects those who most cannot afford solar power, and 1772 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly so it places a greater financial burden on those who can least afford it. There is a need for greater collaboration and consultation. Bermuda wants to have a reliable source of electricity 24/7 that leverages its natural resources while producing low cost electricity without sacrificing the security of supply. Our drive toward s ustainability and the goal of achieving net zero by 2050 demands a reduction in the cost of electricity and the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The Island’s utility provider will need to invest in renewables which will also require the development of an implementation or a smart grid and storage solutions for the future. There will be need for more collaboration; in this instance we were given a memorandum. We responded to the memorandum. We received a draft to consider two days before it was tabled. If we are indeed to have collaboration that is fair and everyone gets to have input and is for the betterment of everyone, there will need to be more robust collaboration with all the parties included. This will ensure that Bermudians without their own renewable energy systems have access to affordable, clean energy. A robust consultation process is critical to ensure that we have a future success in providing clean, affordable energy to all in Bermuda. We need to evaluate the regulation of all companies in installing renewable energy, not just those re-sponsible for selling electricity through the grid. So, while I am supportive of an increase in renewables, the only way to build a truly sustainable futur e that benefits all Bermudians is for all stakeholders to work together —BELCO, the Regulatory Authority, the Government and the residents of Bermuda. To reiterate, in future we need to look at developing a robust consultation process. We need to evaluate the regulation of all companies installing renewa-ble energy, not just BELCO. In other words, we must consider regulating, officially, the solar compani es as well. In closing, Mr. Speaker, let me also acknowledge the Minister and his technical officers who have done amazing work in the energy sector for bringing this latest amendment to the Electricity Act. I look forward to the ongoing discussion and collaboration w ith all of the stakeholders as we work together to build a sustainable energy future. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. Does any other Honourable Member wish to speak? [Inaudible interjections ]
Mr. Christopher FamousSo what I will say today is going to be from the heart, not from a paper. Mr. Speaker, we live in a world where people see things on the Internet and think, Hey, why can’t we get that in Bermuda? You know, Why can ’t we get houses for …
So what I will say today is going to be from the heart, not from a paper. Mr. Speaker, we live in a world where people see things on the Internet and think, Hey, why can’t we get that in Bermuda? You know, Why can ’t we get houses for 100 grand ? Not possible. Why can ’t we get a gallon of milk for a dollar? Not possible. Why can’t we have—I don’t know —politicians getting paid better? Not possible. Likewise, Mr. Speaker, it is all about logistics. It is not simply about profits. So the logistics of creating electricity means you have to have engines, you have to have personnel, you have to have linesmen and you have to have fuel. Yes, we have renewab les. But the logistics, Mr. Speaker: We do not have a river, so while we are surrounded by water, we do not have hydrological power, hydropower. The logistics of putting up wind is going to cost so much that in reality people may end up paying more. The lo gistics of, I do not know, I heard a political party saying, Just put your LNG [liquified natural gas], things will be cheaper. The logistics of putting you on an LNG plan and the pipework and all this safety, it will mean peoples’ bills might actually go up. So when I read this Bill which is, as I would say . . . and I commend the Minister and his staff. I read this Bill which is (what is the word?) aspirational. Mr. Speaker, on a day like today where one minute it is raining, one minute it is not, working in the plant is a challenge because one minute they will tell you, Hey, yeah, take that engine out because we are getting everything, we are getting five megawatts from the Finger. Next minute like, Oh, no, no, no. Start back the engine because the cloud cov er! It’s raining now! So you have got to run out there, you have to get the engine ready, put on load, all this seamlessly so Bermudians, com-mercial entities and people with their ACs on never know that there is a difference. So when I read this Bill, I said, It is great . It is good that entities such as the National Stadium, other entities, government buildings and possibly something else comes along that will create their own power. But we have to be realistic to the people that the day that Bermuda is going to be power ed simply by renewables is probably not going to happen anytime soon. And I say that in the sense that this is a Labour party, Mr. Speaker. I want to commend the people at BELCO because people do not like us when they get their bill. But once that hurricane comes everybody who works at BELCO is getting that WhatsApp: Hey, you know so - Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1773
Bermuda House of Assembly and-so road? Yeah, I know that road. Hey, what’s the chances of getting the lights back on? Hmm, I don’t know. I can’t send it via WhatsApp. But back to the reality, Mr. Speaker. We have to be aspirational because we would like to get to clean energy. But the logistical reality at present, barring some other innovation coming along, is that, yes, there may be buildings that are able to produce their own power during the day. But what about during the night? What about when it is raining? What about when it is cloudy? What about when that solar machinery has a fault? All of these things. So, I say to the Minister and to the staff, thank you for the work you do. Continue to educate the peo-ple. But let us also be realistic. Because the same way we are electrifying the fleet, how is that getting charged up? Have got to get electricity, right? Fossil fuels, right? It is not all going to be solar. So I thank the Minister, I thank the staff and I thank BELCO management, because as much as man-agement and labour get at it sometimes, we are all on the same team.
Mr. Christopher FamousBut in that consultation, let us continue to educate the people on the logistical re-alities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member. Does any other Honourable Member wish to make a contribution at this time? Deputy Premier? No one moved, so I will give you back the floor. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for the contributions from the Members who have spoken. …
Thank you, Honourable Member. Does any other Honourable Member wish to make a contribution at this time? Deputy Premier? No one moved, so I will give you back the floor. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for the contributions from the Members who have spoken. In fact, much of what they said is actually very, very true in that it is very important that the transition, which is inevitable because of what is happening around us, to a cleaner renewable energy future be managed and appropriately planned out. That is essential. And that is why in 2019 the country devel-oped an Integrated Resource Plan. That is the blue chip instrument that is globally used to plan out jurisdictions, generation plans and processes, and map out an appropriate path toward achieving, and looking at options that are available and looking at the realities and what is most feasible. We as a country have taken that on. Other countries have taken it on. And I happen to believe that Bermuda is doing a pretty good job with how we are managing this transition. Much of it is driven by the economic reality, is driven by technological innovation. It is driven by people’s desire to be empowered and to feel more in con-trol over their energy future. The technology now that is being deployed, particularly for solar, i s accessible. In fact, prices of solar technology have raced downward over the past 10– 20 years, which is making it more affordable. In fact, globally, investment in solar now is outpacing investment in fossil fuels. That is the reality internationally. A country can quickly get more interest in investing in solar or renewables than they will get in investing in fossil fuels right now. That is what the market is right now. It perhaps slowed down a bit around COVID -19, but it has picked up again and that is the movement. Of course, there is the wider global political trend with this change in that there is more attention toward, how do we move away from fossil fuels? How do we minimise and decrease greenhouse emissions? How do we move away from pollution in t he energy sector? This is going across multiple industries: shipping, manufacturing, energy production. It is everywhere . . . car production. You know, right now China is just literally producing electric cars like there is no tomorrow, and they are all over the world. In some ways that momentum and interest are what is keeping the prices going down, and thus more people are gaining access to particularly renewables and solar in particular. Bermuda is no different. Even though the price of deployment here is high, that will creep down as well, because of the cost of panels and other components, such as batteries, which are becoming more and more of a feature of installations whether it be commercial or residential . . . it is becoming more the norm to have solar installation as a feature. So things are changing. And there is little that we can do to stop that because this is what the public is demanding. So that is kind of the industry and env ironment we are working in. But at the same time, I totally agree with the contributors that we have to educate the public on this journey Because, yes, people can go online and look at their TikTok and their Instagram and see all these wonderful and interesting things that are going on. Some people might make you believe that, you know, we could be powering our renewables tomorrow. That is not realistic. But also, what is important for people to understand id that our own energy demands and our habits and behaviour around the use of energy has to change even as we take on this renewable, clean fu-ture. We have to become much more conservation minded. We have to become much more sensible with our usage. We in Bermuda have had the blessing, as the Honourable Member who sits in Constituency 14 has said, to have had a century of pretty much very reliable energy, electricity production. And this has contributed to our development as a country and our attracti veness as a jurisdiction for tourism, and in some ways helped to thrust us out of our agricultural industry that we were very reliant on in the early 20 th century. Having electricity helped to ensure that infrastructure that contributed to further development was able to be bought. It attracted attention and economic investment into Bermuda. 1774 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly So, we have had the blessing, unlike some other islands. Because some islands to the South still, despite even being bigger and perhaps arguably even more wealthy than Bermuda, have issues of intermittency, of brownouts and not stable electricity. We have had the benefit of that for quite a bit of time and that has aided our success. And even as we take on the attributes that this Bill is bringing that will allow for commercial operators to benefit from their electricity . . . And there are positives to that in that putting additional demand on the infrastructure of our transmission and distribution and our generation does often have cost implications. If balanced properly, the continued deployment and absorption of additional renewables can be helpful to ensuring that that is balanced. It is crucial. No matter what this Bill is bringin g, ensuring that the risk to the grid is minimal, that we have balanced and stable supply, and that the cost associated with production is kept stable is paramount. That is why we have a sector that has a regulator, it has a utility and it has the ratepayers. And their interests all have to be balanced and measured with ensuring that we do not impose costs, because higher costs make Bermuda unattractive for investment. So even with the blessing of continuous stable electricity, the costs associated with continuing that . . . because understand right now, Bermuda has some of the highest electricity rates on the planet. That is not a good first to be in, or the top five to be in, that if somebody goes and looks up online just objectively, Which jurisdictions have the highest electricity rates?, Bermuda is in the top five and probably in the top two or three, depending on who you look at. So that is not a very good metric to be a part of. We need to find ways, as has been mentioned by the Member who sits for constitu-ency 14 in particular, to find ways to decrease the cost of energy. Long- term renewables can help toward that, but other things have to happen as well. Ensuring that we have stable, reliable and efficient electricity is important to that paradigm. This Bill is going to bring about certain changes and create this new licence structure, but it is in the backdrop and the background of having a well- regulated environment. We do not want to find ourselves in the experience that I am aware of (because I try to keep abreast of things that happen in the region, particularly among small island communities similar to ours in the region of the Caribbean and elsewhere), with the explosion of renewables in an unregu-lated fashion. There are some islands in the Caribbean, in particular, Mr. Speaker, where there is a huge migra-tion of particularly large companies to renewables because (1) they can afford it; and (2) because they are perhaps plagued at times with intermittent power or power problems. They are getting renewables to help bring some stability and more independence in their supply. But then that creates a situation where customer base for that utility migrates away. And, as has been intimated by the Member for constituency 14, that can raise the costs imposed on those who are left behind who cannot make that migration. We do not want that situation in Bermuda. And in many cases these islands do not have a proper regulator that can help to manage. And even in some cases, it is a difficult paradigm for the governments of these jurisdictions, as the government owns the utility. In a lot of islands, particularly in the Caribbean and some parts, it is the government that owns the utility. And so they are at the same time promoting renewables, but also have to find ways of how they are going to deal with this paradigm of migration and the costs that it adds to the producing of power. So we have to ourselves manage that situation. We are doing it here because regulation- wise we have a very robust regulator. I happen to think there is a pretty good relationship between the regulator and the utility, the licensed bulk generator which is BELCO. But as has been said, more consultation is required be-cause the reality is that this area, this industry is changing. So it will require more cooperation because we are not going to get to net zero any time soon. As the Honourable Member who sits in constituency 11 says, people’s expectations must be managed. The education of them must be good so they un-derstand that we are not going to rush to being totally 100 per cent. There are some other island groups around t he world that you will see, maybe in certain areas of Europe and that, where they are almost 100 per cent renewable. But their situations are very different from ours. We must tailor our energy future to what is right for Bermuda, not mirror it because of what is happening in Europe or somewhere else. There are some people in Bermuda who are very passionate about clean energy and wanting us to go there and about promoting the expansion of renewables. And that is fine. But we have to be measured about our approach, and set clear goals and have clear plans so that the transition for Bermuda is smooth. This piece of legislation is a part of that mission. As was articulated by myself in the presentation, the cooperation between the utility, the Government, is crucial. They will go up anyway no matter if we stopped deploying renewables now (as I hear a com ment in back of me), they will go up even if do not deploy renewables. But that will be a question for another discussion. But transitioning to renewables does not stop the cost going up. It is managing demand. It is raising efficiencies and doing things t hat are in the interests of the ratepayer and with the utility and having a balanced approach. That is what will keep costs under control. The electricity sector (I will perhaps just do a little sidebar) is not the only sector that is confronting costs and inflation. I know that there are other factors that in fact influence the cost of power which we have nothing . . . that we can control. W e do not control oil markets, we do not control oil production, we do not Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1775
Bermuda House of Assembly control transport of fuel here from wherever it comes from. Those are the costs we cannot control. But we can control our own efficiencies and demand and better educate our population and work together to keep con-trol over these costs that we impose on our selves. So with that, Mr. Speaker, I will now move to ask that the Bill be committed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Deputy [Speaker] . House in Committee at 8: 44 pm [Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., in the Chair] COMMITTEE ON BILL ELECTRICITY AMENDMENT ACT 2024
The ChairmanChairmanHonourable Members, we are now in committee of the whole for further consideration of the Bill entitled the Electricity Amendment Act 2024. Minister, you have the floor. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I would like to just move all 10 clauses.
The ChairmanChairmanGo right ahead. Go right ahead. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Go right on through.
The ChairmanChairmanYes, through it all. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Chairman, the Bill seeks to amend the Electricity Act 2016 to introduce a new type of licence, the Bulk Generation Sole Use Installation Li-cence [BGSUI Licence ] and to prescribe the fees relating to the identified licence.
The ChairmanChairmanYes sir. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Clause 1 gives the title. Clause 2 inserts new sections 32C to 32F into the principal Act . Section 32C provides that the licence granted by the Regulatory Authority, known as the BGSUI Licence, by administrative determination and in accordance with the regulations, allows …
Yes sir. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Clause 1 gives the title. Clause 2 inserts new sections 32C to 32F into the principal Act . Section 32C provides that the licence granted by the Regulatory Authority, known as the BGSUI Licence, by administrative determination and in accordance with the regulations, allows the licence holder to generate electricity above the licence threshold of 500 kilowatts, as prescribed by the Electricity (Licence Threshold) Regulations 2018, provided that the licence holder uses or stores the electricity generated at its principal location. The licence holder must enter into an intermediate contract under the new section 49A (inserted by clause 4) for the distribution of the TD&R licensee (that means Transmission, Distribution and Retail for those who do not know what it means) of surplus electricity generated up to a maximum of the permitted amount. “Permitted amount” means 30 per cent of electricity granted each month or such lesser amount as specified by the Authority in the l icence. General provisions of Chapter 1 of Part 5 of the principal Act are ap-plied to the licences with necessary modifications. Section 32D sets out the criteria for grant of the licence, including the following: • that the applicant is a company registered in Bermuda, a government department or a statutory authority; • that its energy needs justify the authori sation of generation of electricity above the licence threshold; • that the development is consistent with the purposes of the Act listed in section 6; • that the applicant will be able to conform with the Grid Code and comply with the approved technical specifications with respect to genera-tion technology and means of interconnection with the grid; and • that the applicant will enter into an Intermediate Contract with the TD&R Licensee (which, in that case is BELCO) in accordance with sec-tion 49A (inserted by clause 4). Sections 32E and 32F set out the procedure for the Authority to suspend or revoke a l icence, requiring the Authority to issue a warning notice and to take into account any representations made and corrective ac-tion taken by the licence holder before making its decision, and providing for a right to appeal to the Supreme Court. Clause 3 amends section 36 of the principal Act (feed -in tariff -setting principles) to empower the Authority to determine feed- in tariffs applicable to the licences. Clause 4 inserts a new section 49A into the principal Act (Intermediate Contract). The TD&R Licen-see will be permitted to execute an Intermediate Con-tract (as per administrative determination) with a li-cence holder for distributed generation for electricity generated beyond the needs up to the permitted amount (see section 32C(5) inserted by clause 2), au-thorising the purchase of power at the feed- in tariff determined by the Authority pursuant to section 36 (amended by clause 3). An Intermediate Contract is subject to technical and regulatory requirements and will not be permitted if it puts the TD&R licensee beyond the limit of the distributed generation capacity agreed by the TD&R l icensee under the approved Integrated Resource Plan. Clause 5 inserts new section 50A into the principal Act (effect of the Intermediate Contract). An Intermediate Contract authorises a licence holder to gener-ate electricity for a term stated in the contract, subject to compliance with statutory and regulatory require-ments. Clause 6 amends section 54 of the principal Act (regulations) to insert a new subsection (1B) setting 1776 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly out specific regulation- making powers in relation to the licences. Clause 7 makes minor and consequential amendments to the principal Act. Clause 8 amends Schedules 1 and 2 to the Electricity (Regulatory Authority Fees) Regulations 2021 to prescribe fees for the new licences. The general regulatory fee in Schedule 1 mirrors the fee for certain bulk generation licence providers ( which is $1,500 per megawatt per annum of installed electricity gener-ation capacity). The application fee in Schedule 2 of $1,000 is the same as the application fee for an Innovative Licence, and a consultancy deposit for the application may [ also] be required under new section 32C(2) (inserted by clause 2). Clause 9 amends Head 24 of the Schedule to the Government Fees Regulations 1976 (Electricity Act 2016), to prescribe an authorisation fee of $800 per megawatt per annum of installed electricity, which is the same as the fee for certain Bulk Generation Lice nce holder authorisations. Clause 10 provides for commencement by notice in the Gazette. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you, Minister Roban. Any speakers to this Bill? There appear to be none. Will you move these clauses, sir? Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move these clauses 1 through 10.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that clauses 1 to 10 be approved. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. Approved. [Motion carried: Clauses 1 through 10 passed.] Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Chairman, I move that the preamble be approved.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the preamble be approved. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. Approved. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Chairman, I move that the Bill be reported to the House as printed.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed. Any objections to that? There appear to be none. The Bill will be reported to the House as printed. [Motion carried: the Electricity Amendment Act 2024 was considered by a Committee of the whole House and …
It has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed. Any objections to that? There appear to be none. The Bill will be reported to the House as printed. [Motion carried: the Electricity Amendment Act 2024 was considered by a Committee of the whole House and passed without amendment.]
House resumed at 8:52 pm
[Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair]
REPORT OF COMMITTEE
ELECTRICITY AMENDMENT ACT 2024
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMembers, are there any objections to the Bill entitled Electricity Amendment Act 2024 being reported to the House as printed? There are none. Thank you. The next item on the Order Paper is item number 10. It is the Lease Agreement between Sea Grass Services Limited, t he Bermuda Land …
Members, are there any objections to the Bill entitled Electricity Amendment Act 2024 being reported to the House as printed? There are none. Thank you. The next item on the Order Paper is item number 10. It is the Lease Agreement between Sea Grass Services Limited, t he Bermuda Land Management Corporation and the Bermuda Government in the name of the Minister of Works. Minister Burch?
Lt. Col. Hon. David A. BurchThank you, Mr. Speaker. I move that consideration be given to the draft Lease Agreement between the Bermuda Land Management Corporation and Sea Grass Services, Limited reference an area of land comprising 5.9 acres located at Burrows Hill, South Side Road, between Stocks Road and Hall Street, St. George’s [Parish] …
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I move that consideration be given to the draft Lease Agreement between the Bermuda Land Management Corporation and Sea Grass Services, Limited reference an area of land comprising 5.9 acres located at Burrows Hill, South Side Road, between Stocks Road and Hall Street, St. George’s [Parish] DD 03, showing edged in yellow on the annexed photographic plan and as described in Schedule 1 attached to the lease.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAny objections? There are none. Continue Minister. LEASE AGREEMENT SEA GRASS SERVICES LIMITED, THE BERMUDA LAND MANAGEMENT CORPORATION AND THE BERMUDA GOVERNMENT
Lt. Col. Hon. David A. BurchMr. Speaker, in accordance with section 22 of the Bermuda Land Corporation Act of 1982, I introduce the Agreement for Lease between the Bermuda Government, Bermuda Land Management Corporation and Sea Grass Services, Limited for land measuring a total area of 5.9 acres located at Burrows Hill between Stocks Road …
Mr. Speaker, in accordance with section 22 of the Bermuda Land Corporation Act of 1982, I introduce the Agreement for Lease between the Bermuda Government, Bermuda Land Management Corporation and Sea Grass Services, Limited for land measuring a total area of 5.9 acres located at Burrows Hill between Stocks Road and Hall Street, Southside, St. George’s Parish as denoted in said Agreement. Mr. Speaker, as stated by myself in a previous sitting, thanks to the forward- thinking approach of this Government through the Submarine Communication Cables Act 2020, which was developed under the Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1777
Bermuda House of Assembly Ministry of Home Affairs, Bermuda has positioned itself to play an integral role in the future of information communications technology infrastructure globally. This is why Honourable Members may recall in September 2023, Google announced a commitment to i nvest in Bermuda by installing the Nuvem, a new transatlantic subsea cable system to connect Portugal, Bermuda and the United States. It is intended that the Nuvem will improve network resiliency across the Atlantic, help meet the growing demand for digital services and add international route diversity to support the development of the aforementioned digital infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, to support the Nuvem, Bermuda will host a significant cable station to enable multiple cable landings. However, there is more in cable than a cable landing just passing through the Island. It will provide a backbone for a wider strategy of a digital port with all of the requirements for supporting data. Mr. Speaker, through its subsidiary, Sea Grass Services, Limited, Google will benefit Bermuda in a number of ways including the following: • employment for positions needed on an ongoing basis for the cable landing station; • creating the infrastructure which supports (1) a technology hub for FinTech, and (2) increased satellite earth stations; • increasing investment in renewable energy. The cable landing station will need between 600 kilowatts and three megawatts per annum of electricity over time as the cables ramp up. • Providing access to Google’s significant resources and support, such as a) training opportunities to Bermudians by giving them access to Google’s training platform; b) providing support and advice for other sustainability projects and marine- related initiatives including providing technology for monitoring and enforcement; and c) supporting Bermuda’s education initiatives and community development opportunities. In return, Mr. Speaker, the Government has agreed in principle to a lease of 262 years between Sea Grass Services, Limited and the newly established Ber-muda Land Management Corporation (BLMC) for the sum of $4,867,500 for a portion of land located at Burrows Hill between Stocks Road and Hall Street, Southside, St. George’s. For clarity, this area is currently the remotecontrol car track in St. David’s. After considerable due diligence, Mr. Speaker, the agreed price was based upon the likely market valuation of the freehold interest in the property at a price $4,650,000, or $825,000 per acre. The valuation was conducted by the Bermuda Realty Company. Mr. Speaker, in addition to this and as a result of the Agreement, the tenants of the current RC track location will be moved to another site. A planning appli-cation will soon be submitted for a new RC car track and all works will be funded entirely by Google. Mr. Speaker, Google will also directly invest in Bermuda’s economy immediately by constructing a n ew building on the site where there is currently not one. As the Minister of Public Works, I am intrinsically aware of the estimated cost to build a sit e of this magnitude, and it is not an insignificant sum. Mr. Speaker, it is intended for this agreement to act as a magnet, drawing other players in the communication industry, whether for laying their own cables or leasing from Google. There have already been inquiries for other major companies into building data centres in Bermuda. A successful agreement for this lease will deliver on the Government’s economic development commitments outlined in its 2020 election man-ifesto, FinTech and the National Space Strategy, by creating the infrastructure which supports a technology hub. Mr. Speaker, this Agreement demonstrates Bermuda’s vitality for innovation and importance on a global scale. We hope that this Agreement sets the foundation for even bigger and better things to come. We welcome Google’s proposed investment in Bermuda and look forward to a long and productive relationship. Mr. Speaker, I now invite the honourable colleagues to participate. Thank you.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Minister. Does any other Member wish to participate? Opposition Whip.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes, good news. The Minister delivered a fairly comprehensive, short but comprehensive, brief on what this brings to the table for Bermuda. And we are excited about the fact that they are coming here, Google, and setting up these transatlantic lines. [This is] important. Having been in the telecommunications industry …
Yes, good news. The Minister delivered a fairly comprehensive, short but comprehensive, brief on what this brings to the table for Bermuda. And we are excited about the fact that they are coming here, Google, and setting up these transatlantic lines. [This is] important. Having been in the telecommunications industry it is good to see that we are going to be getting what we would consider to be an upgrade to our facilities here. And we look forward to seeing how this is going 1778 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly to impact other businesses looking for a domicile like Bermuda, confidence in Bermuda, or the likes. So, you know, maybe the rent seems a bit extremely fair.
[Laughter]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierBut what we recognise is all of the ancillary benefits that are coming from that are vital to — [Laughter]
Mr. L. Craig Cannonier—are definitely what we want to see here in Bermuda. I congratulate all those involved, the Minister and all other Ministers who would have been involved in making something like this happen. And it will be interesting to see how many come here on the first tranche. But we do …
—are definitely what we want to see here in Bermuda. I congratulate all those involved, the Minister and all other Ministers who would have been involved in making something like this happen. And it will be interesting to see how many come here on the first tranche. But we do recognise it is going to be people buying, eating, renting, you -name- it, entertaining, all of that which will go well outside of just the business in and of itself. So we are happy to see this, and I know the night is getting late, so I will sit down. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerIs there any other? MP Foggo.
Ms. Lovitta F. FoggoYes. Mr. Speaker, it would be remiss of me if I did not speak to this one because of the entity that just now is going to benefit, that is, Bermuda Land Management (I believe?) Corporation now, which is housed in St. David’s. And St. David’s, being near and dear …
Yes. Mr. Speaker, it would be remiss of me if I did not speak to this one because of the entity that just now is going to benefit, that is, Bermuda Land Management (I believe?) Corporation now, which is housed in St. David’s. And St. David’s, being near and dear to my heart, I think it is important that I speak on behalf of the community of St. David’s. Thank you.
Ms. Lovitta F. FoggoMr. Speaker, let me say this up front: Consultation was had. And that was very im-portant to the good people of St. David’s, right?
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberThat is good.
Ms. Lovitta F. FoggoAnd it was not had just once; it was had a few times. And once hearing what the Google representatives had to say about what they are trying to introduce to our Island and indeed are going to, the community was very favourable. Google undertook to be good corporate partners. …
And it was not had just once; it was had a few times. And once hearing what the Google representatives had to say about what they are trying to introduce to our Island and indeed are going to, the community was very favourable. Google undertook to be good corporate partners. They made it clear that the community of St. David’s and its development is something that they would make certain that they would (I guess) adhere to. What I mean by that is the way in which the residents of St. D avid’s are taken into account, the community needs, they are putting that first. Needless to say, all of Bermuda will benefit from this. In fact, the rest of the world is going to benefit from this. While we may not have hundreds of jobs housed in that one facility, there will be at least 20 or 30 jobs once they open up. But prior to that (and the Minister made that clear), when construction takes place, people in Bermuda, construction workers, will have employment. What has even also been made clear is that because this is a data- centred entity and other datacentred entities are very keen on this development and will likely come to Bermuda to set up businesses, there will be many other jobs that will be realised do wn the road. And so this is definitely a win- win. Further to that, one of the concerns was, Are we giving away Bermuda? The answer to that is no. While it may be an extended lease, it is a rental lease. The land was not bought. And they paid for the lease of this land up front. And it is important that Bermudians know that, because we have heard rumblings of, Okay. Throwing away the baby with the bathwater, giving away our land. That is not the case here. And Google, knowing how important that is to us and knowing the need for having some long- term commitment, they realised that the best way forward is to ensure that they could pay for this lease up- front for those lands up- front and be more concerned with the development of this product because of what it means to the world. Bermuda is unique! We have always been unique geographically. And once again our geographic location proved critical in the future setup of this transatlantic deal. So we are joining Europe with the United States . . . or North America, sorry. And Bermuda sits as a pivotal land mass joining those two larger entities. And it is not something that is going to go away. This will only be something . . . I guess long when none of us is here, however it morphs, it will still be critical to the interactions of th ese continents. And we will sit as a pivotal point and a crucial spot in that process. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Thank you. [Laughter]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes, Deputy. [Inaudible interjections] [Gavel]
Ms. Lovitta F. FoggoMr. Speaker, the other thing that stood out is the commitment by Google for the educational awareness and the sustainability of both this Island and this product as it serves this Island and other centres. And that is important because we want to make cer tain that we have corporate …
Mr. Speaker, the other thing that stood out is the commitment by Google for the educational awareness and the sustainability of both this Island and this product as it serves this Island and other centres. And that is important because we want to make cer tain that we have corporate partners who, one, want to ensure that Bermudians can be a key part of the development. And so as the Minister pointed out, there will be training for Bermudians. And when I did Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1779 B ermuda House of Assembly confer with representatives, one of the things that they made clear is that even in the construction phase, it is during that time that they hope that they can put training in place for our Bermudians so that when they open the doors, we have our people employed from day one. Hon. D errick V. B urgess, Sr.: Thank y ou.
Ms. L ovitta F . FoggoT hat is the hope. So they are very serious and committed to ensuring that we are an integral part of their going forward, that we have some success in it, we have some skin in the game and because Bermudians will be able to keep bread on their tables, …
T hat is the hope. So they are very serious and committed to ensuring that we are an integral part of their going forward, that we have some success in it, we have some skin in the game and because Bermudians will be able to keep bread on their tables, better house themselv es and all of those other tangential benefits — An H on. Mem ber: Tangential?
Ms. L ovitta F . FoggoThose tangential b enefits. Everybody i s going to be better of f becaus e of i t. They ar e trying to take m e off of my g ame, Mr . Speaker. [Laughter]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerIf t hey d o you can j ust w rap up . And y ou have giv en a good contribution t hus f ar.
Ms. Lovitta F. FoggoAnd I speak on behalf of my community members. Because from inception and up until now this has been seen as something where it is building up the community because there have always been outcries about different businesses coming in and using St. David’s as a dumping ground. The whole …
And I speak on behalf of my community members. Because from inception and up until now this has been seen as something where it is building up the community because there have always been outcries about different businesses coming in and using St. David’s as a dumping ground. The whole approach has been different from day one. They have tried to be a part of the community, hear the community needs and have operated in a way to ensure that members of the community do not have to fear that they are just for self -gain. They are there to enhance that community, to enhance Bermuda and to make certain that it is a win-w in situation for all. So I will, with bated breath and excitement, wait for this projec t to start in earnest and will be looking every step of the way and will be looking for our Bermudians to see how they can fit in. And I am sure our Minister of Economy will have programmes in place to make sure that Bermudians can benefit. And I will be there by his s ide to make certain that that is indeed the case. [Inaudible interjections]
Ms. Lovitta F. FoggoI am jus t say ing that up front. This has to be a good thing. It will be a good thing. Thank you, Minister, for bringing this to the fore. The Speaker: Thank y ou, MP F oggo. Does any body e lse . . .anybody e lse?
Mr. Anthony RichardsonLast week, Mr. Speaker, we started with the announcement about the Fairmont Southampton $560 million. Watershed number one! Tonight, Mr. Speaker, it is watershed number two! We have all been overseas, Mr. Speaker, and we see these big-old malls and those sorts of things. And guess what? They start with …
Last week, Mr. Speaker, we started with the announcement about the Fairmont Southampton $560 million. Watershed number one! Tonight, Mr. Speaker, it is watershed number two! We have all been overseas, Mr. Speaker, and we see these big-old malls and those sorts of things. And guess what? They start with an anchor tenant. So Google now becomes the anchor tenant of St. David’s, of the East, of St. George’s, and now everything will flow from that. As you know, there is a commercial park that was built many, many years ago now. But it needs some revitalisation. So once this place gets started going, you can imagine, the gas station, for example, much more gas being flowed. Selfish interests? More planes, more of you flying back and forth. There are taxis. There are so many things that we cannot even imagine. There is the whole waterfront that can be developed. Colonel Burch would know more than I would know. There is housing, for example. There is now just so much, so much, so much more. And so, Mr. Speaker, I could not sit here and not say anything. I had to get up and say something. Yes, I am from St. George’s. I go down to St. David’s almost every day. So I look forward to the start. Colonel Burch did tell us last week and again today we are going to relocate the remote- control cars. I am not sure where they are going to put that, by the way. But I am looking forward to seeing where that goes. [Inaudible i nterjections]
Mr. Anthony RichardsonI do not mind where it goes. I like those things. We never should complain, of course, about the noise. But I am looking forward to seeing where that goes, Mr. Speaker. And in my note here I said to myself, You know what? St. David’s is becoming now the …
I do not mind where it goes. I like those things. We never should complain, of course, about the noise. But I am looking forward to seeing where that goes, Mr. Speaker. And in my note here I said to myself, You know what? St. David’s is becoming now the place of milk and honey. The money is flowing, flowing, flowing, flowing. (Yes, MP Cannonier, you should have had more 1780 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly energy and I would not have had to speak, by the way.) So we are looking for that, Mr. Speaker. [Inaudible interjections and laughter]
Mr. Anthony RichardsonYes, I hear you, MP Burt. I know it is late also. But we also know, Mr. Speaker, that this is not just another tenant. Google, of course, is a world leader. And they should then be able to set up in Bermuda a template. As we know, just as …
Yes, I hear you, MP Burt. I know it is late also. But we also know, Mr. Speaker, that this is not just another tenant. Google, of course, is a world leader. And they should then be able to set up in Bermuda a template. As we know, just as the hotels will start coming, other businesses will start coming. It is time for us to, just as we said last week, get ready, get ready, get ready. And the other good thing, Mr. Speaker, is that they have now signed a lease. That is about three or four generations. So we know they are here. And as Colonel Burch has told us, they paid up front. So that means that they are now heavily invested, $5 million I would call it. So they have to come now. And to [Honourable Member] Lovitta [Foggo], [Honourable Minister] Tinee Furbert, who is constituency 4, you are constituency 3, [Honourable Member] Ming is constituency 1, and [Honourable Member] Foggo is constituency 3. So all of you all, get ready, get ready, get ready. Get all of your constituents ready because this is now a new day. And as I said before I started, this is watershed moment number two. I am looking forward to what hap-pens next time when we reconvene, Mr. Speaker. But to all who have been involved—Colonel Burch, I know Deputy Premier Roban has been involved for a long time in trying to get these things going. And the Premier said last week, This didn’t happen yesterday. It took a while. It took vision, it took persistence and con-sistency, Mr. Speaker. So again to everybody who is listening, especially to those in the East End, we are ready! Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAre there any other? Deputy [Premier] , yes. Yes. You have the floor. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Hon. Walter H. Roban: I want to first congratulate Minister Colonel Burch for bringing this lease to the House for its approval. A really important moment for our Island. But I do not want to discount the role that he and the Public Works team and the people …
Thank you.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: I want to first congratulate Minister Colonel Burch for bringing this lease to the House for its approval. A really important moment for our Island. But I do not want to discount the role that he and the Public Works team and the people at the former BLDC [Bermuda Land Development Corporation] played in making sure that this happened and to where we are now, because this is extremely important to Bermuda in so many different ways, as Members have described. But the journey did start in another way. It started with a vision of the Government to see Bermuda as the telecommunications seat, the subsea telecommunications hub of the Atlantic, one, and to create an opportunity where that could happen. This opportunity has included a number of journeys, journeys as far as Singapore to ensure that attention to Bermuda and the potential for this role were realised. And getting Bermuda in front of the largest companies of the planet, Google being one of them, a $1-plus trillion company, and the Facebook, and the Amazon and other players in that space who are now laying cable all across the globe to support broadband expansion, data expansion, et cetera. Every time you bring up your Instagram or TikTok or wh atever, it is a product of those subsea cables. Those subsea cables are what 90- plus per cent of the telecommunications traffic relies on globally. It is not satellite and it is not, you know, other pieces of technology. It is actually those cables. So, very im-portant. And this cable is, as has been said, going to be the connector to Europe and to North America through Bermuda. And there are not that many cables that provide that sort of support. But it is important because of the expansion of data collection, data storage, broadband and very sort of hi ghly advanced transactions that this sort of technology is needed [for]. And just so people here in Bermuda [know, Bermuda] is already a host to a number of major sub-sea cables. So Bermuda has already been for many years a major reliant hub for telecommunications traffic going down to South America and to other parts of the world and landing in North America. This is going to expand that. And Google plans over time to lay about six of these cables. This initial effort will be laying two, but they want to lay six. And they are actually . . . we are going to have to potentially expand the area, the zone where the cables are lying, so that that expansion can happen over 20 years, not in the immediate. So this is significant. And the fact that Bermuda is going to be the hub for this is extremely important, and extremely important to the development of the country. Like data centres they put in place, it is going to be certainly an operation at least for another 50 years. So it is truly a long -term investment that they are going to make. And yes, they paid around $4 million or $5 million for the land. But the data centre is going to mean hundreds of millions of dollars of investment just because of the data centre and the t echnology that a data centre requires and what supports the data centre, the infrastructure that supports the data centre. And Google has also talked about, because they are very much a company of the future, Mr. Speaker, they talked about how they might b e able to include renewable energy in their operations over time. So they are looking at what renewable energy would look like in the future, and how they can help Bermuda move in that direction to support their own development, but also to support the reg ion and support certainly the East End. And as MP Foggo articulated, they are a company that is very . . . they see community as important Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1781
Bermuda House of Assembly and how they can invest in the communities that they deploy themselves in. So I know that they have talked to MP Foggo and others in the East about how they can contribute to the St. David’s community, beyond just the repositioning of the [remote- control c ar] track. And I am sure that in the future perhaps MP Foggo and others will talk about what they talked about. And they talked about making real investment in St. David’s. And I do not want to reveal anything because I think that the members of St. David’ s deserve to be perhaps the articulators of some of the things that I know that Google is interested in doing here. The Bill that created this opportunity was a Bill that I brought to the House. It is the [Submarine Com-munications Cables Act 2020], I believe. And that is what created the opportunity. That is what attracted Google to Bermuda, because of the framework, ov er doing it anywhere else. They are looking all over the world to lay cable. And they are doing it. And the fact that they chose Bermuda . . . because they really could have run this cable another way. They did not have to come through here. But we created an opportunity for them, and we had the right advocacy that made them . . . And actually, it is about a year ago today, around or so a year ago this week that I know that I met with Google in New York for basically their solidifying of the actual deal that this journey had taken them on. And they were enthusiastic and happy that Bermuda was willing to have them as a partner in this great sort of journey. So I want to again go back to Minister Burch because this journey over this year would not have been completed without his work. And this is part of the wider economic development strategy whose coordina-tion is being led by the Minister for Economy and Labour. So I must also give him credit for the work as well. Because this is a part of the wider economic develop-ment strategy that his Ministry is overseeing. This is a part of that strategy in that this vision that this Government has created to move Bermuda’s economy in a different direction post COVID -19 in a way that we want to see more Bermudians involved with and a part of, in ways that the past has not been able to realise. So it is happening. And as MP Anthony Richardson said, Get ready, get ready, get ready .
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Deputy Premier. Premier. Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, you seem disappointed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerI will be all right. [Laughter]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerIf we could move on. Hon. E. David Burt: Do not worry, Mr. Speaker. I can promise you I am as tired as you are. But the fact is that it is not every day that you get to stand up in the House of Assembly and debate a lease …
If we could move on. Hon. E. David Burt: Do not worry, Mr. Speaker. I can promise you I am as tired as you are. But the fact is that it is not every day that you get to stand up in the House of Assembly and debate a lease to one of the largest companies on the planet. And as I echo the sentiment s of the Deputy Premier, it is thanks to the Minister of Public Works and all of the works from the teams whether that be from the former Bermuda Land Development Company, soon to be BLMC [Bermuda Land Management Corporation], whether it be the work of the Bermuda Business Development Agency, whether it be the work of the Ministry of Affairs, the Regulatory Authority, whether it be the work of the Minister of Economy and Labour and the wider government, Mr. Speaker. The thing that I want to touch on is that I think that it is important that the Honourable Deputy Premier, who just took his seat, spoke about and referred back to the fact that this is something that came out of the Economic Recovery Plan. But it goes back a little bit further than that, Mr. Speaker, because it is also something that is in the Progressive Labour Party’s 2020 election manifesto. And it hearkens back, Mr. Speaker, to the fact that if you know and have a vision, and you are confident in exec uting that vision and you have patience to see that vision through, and you continue to stick to the wicket on these particular items, then you know that you will be successful. Are we successful 100 per cent of the time on all of the times of which we put forward and plan? No, Mr. Speaker. And I do not think that anybody would expect us to be. But the challenge, or what I would say on this particular instance is, this is somethi ng that is an unqualified success. And I know that persons will look to the redevelopment of Fairmont Southampton and look at all of the significant jobs and investment of which it has. But I think that what is important is that this is akin to the canary in the coal mine. This is the start. This is not the end. When we talk about a subsea communications sector and recognise the chances and opportunities of which this has for Bermuda, this is what this Government means when it speaks about economic diversification. We talk about many different things that the Government can do, many different things that the country can do. But we have to recognise that we certainly have our particular limitations, limitations in size, limitations from energy costs, limitations from the various things in which we can do. But we have been deliberate in identifying the places where we can be successful, taking advantage of our strategic location and taking advantage of our world -renown regulatory excellence, something that has come from financial services and something that we are expanding into numerous other sectors to make sure that Bermuda is known as a place for regulation, known as a place for diversification, known as a place for technology and known as a place where there can be different things that can be done under this space. 1782 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report Ber muda House of Assembly So I had to make sure that I stood up and gave my thanks on this one, gave my commendation to the particular teams. I look forward to the work that is hap-pening. But a lease agreement today and people say-ing, Oh well, it’s a 262- year lease ( I am sure the Honourable Minister said it ). But it is for the purchase price of what you would purchase the property —actually a little bit larger, or higher, than the property was valued for, at a premium of what the property was valued for. And this represents an investment in Bermuda’s future. The Minister of Education has spoken about the things that Google is doing with Bermuda, a fact around what they are doing insofar as education and working alongside with them. And this, Mr. Speaker, can only mean benefits for this country as we go for-ward. And I commend all of the teams that were involved and look forward to welcoming Google. And I am sure that the entire country, as well as the St. David’s community, as MP Foggo had said, will welcome them knowing that they will bring jobs, opportunity, investment into their community, which is something that this Government always wants to have whether it is from the far East of the Island or all the way to the West. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Th e Speaker: Thank you, Premier. Does any other Member wish to speak? Minister Burch.
Lt.
Col. Hon. David A. BurchAnd I thank colleagues for their comments and support. A couple of things. So the lease is not signed (Where is he?) because we have not passed it. [Lau ghter]
Lt.
Col. Hon. David A. BurchAnd they have not paid any money because we have not passed it. And it has to go through that other place. But I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that we are fully on schedule in terms of all of the timelines that we have had to meet in order …
And they have not paid any money because we have not passed it. And it has to go through that other place. But I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that we are fully on schedule in terms of all of the timelines that we have had to meet in order to bring this to fruition. I had to comment. The negotiations were not always smooth and straightforward, as one would expect. But I can say this, Mr. Speaker. One of the things that impressed me at the very first meeting was that Google had done their homework. And they mentioned the fact that they had been to look at several sites and were aware of one of the sites under consideration that has been chosen had the [remote- controlled] race car track on them. And that they indic ated at that very first meeting that if that was going to be the site, they would cover the cost of their relocation. This was an indication to me and confirmation of their history and their reputation that every country that they have gone into they have merged into the community and not rolled in like they are one of the big-gest companies in the world and in everything they get their way. Mr. Speaker, this is a significant achievement for the Government of Bermuda and the people of Ber-muda. I cannot tell you how excited we are that they are coming and that we have gotten to this point and are soon going to sign the lease and they can get un-derway with their works. Of course, it is going to be a planning process. And I expect that we will do all that we can collectively to make that process as painless as we possibly can so that we can get a building up and running and an operation going and jobs being created in St. David’s. So with that, Mr. Speaker, I move that the said Draft Lease be approved. Th e Speaker: The Minister has moved that it be approved. Are there any objections to its being approved? There are none. The Lease [Agreement] has been approved. [Mot ion carried: The Lease Agreement entitled Sea Grass Services Limited, the Bermuda Land Manage-ment Corporation and the Bermuda Government was approved.] Th e Speaker: Thank you, Members, for your participation. The next item on the Order Paper is item number 11, the second reading of the Health Insurance (Health System Strengthening Fund) Amendment Act 2024, in the name of the Minister of Health. However, the Deputy Premier is going to lead the Health matters tonight for the Minister of Health. Deputy [Premier]. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank y ou, Mr. Speaker. I am certainly prepared because I knew this would be a late night. Plenty to do. Mr. Speaker, I move that the Bill entitled the . . . I am sorry. I have got quite a number of different ones here.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerHealth Insurance— Hon. Walter H. Roban: Yes, I got it. I got it. I just needed to move to the right recital. No problem. I got it.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Speaker, I move that the Health Insurance (Health System Strengthening Fund) Amendment Act 2024 be now read a second time. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1783 B ermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Are there any objections? No. Continue on. BILL SECOND …
Yes. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Speaker, I move that the Health Insurance (Health System Strengthening Fund) Amendment Act 2024 be now read a second time. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1783 B ermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Are there any objections? No. Continue on. BILL SECOND READING HEALTH INSURANCE (HEALTH SYSTEM STRENGTHENING FUND) AMENDMENT ACT 2024 Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members. I stand before you to introduce the Bill entitled the Health Insurance (Health System Strengthening Fund) Amendment Act 2024. The Bermuda Health Strategy 2027 outlines that health system strengthening is needed to address the challenging high costs, the inequitable access to quality care. The strategy emphasises the need to im-prove the health system’s efficiency and sustainabilit y, especially considering our ageing population and the high prevalence of chronic non- communicable diseases such as diabetes. Though there are eight strategic principles contained in the Bermuda Health Strategy 2027, the follow-ing themes particularly related to health system strengthening are also featured as follows: •providing access to health care coverage to ensure that there is equitable access to essential, affordable and high- quality physical and mental health systems for all residents; •strengthening the health care workforce; •improving Government’s accountability and[collaboration] across the health workforce as well as addressing workforce planning needs; •harnessing health care technology; and •leveraging digital health solutions to improveaccess to care along the improved communications and data utilisation. Mr. Speaker, the Bermuda Health Strategy is in harmony with international standards by recognising that quality is paramount for health services to be effective. It echoes the World Health Organization’s system strengthening framework, emphasising the need for safe, effective, timely, efficient, equitable and peo-ple-centred services. The strategy focuses on equitable access and effective coverage. It is aligned with global commitment like the sustainable development goals. Mr. Speaker, you will be aware that in accordance with the Health Insurance Act 1970, section 40, the Minister of Health prescribes the amount of standard premium payable in respect of the standard health benefit (SHB) and the Mutual Re- insurance fund (MRF). The SHB and the MRF jointly comprise the standard premium rate [SPR], and they are essential components of an insurance pac kage that all employers must provide and all insurers must include in any policy. When a change in SPR is determined to need to occur, the Bermuda Health Council presents to the Ministry of Health an analysis of the SHB and the MRF expenditure and utilisation trends, supported by consultant actuaries. Actuaries advise the Ministry of Health that to keep up with the health insurance fund (HIF) claims and to provide increased funding for the Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB), the Government would need to increase the SPR for the financial year 2024/25. However, this would in turn increase hea lth insurance rates by at least $45 per month for all per-sons in Bermuda with health insurance. The Government has committed to shield residents and employers from a government -mandated premium increase in the financial year 2024/25 by freezing the SPR for the third year in a row. I just want to repeat that sentence, Mr. Speaker. The Government has committed to shield res-idents and employers from a government -mandated premium increase in the financial year 2024/25 by freezing the SPR for the third year in a row. To provide this protection and to safeguard affordability and access to quality health care for all, it is proposed that $30 million will be transferred from the excess borrowing fund to the MRF. Of the total amount, $17 million will be allocated to the Bermuda Hospitals Board and $12 million will be allocated to the Health Insurance Department (HID) and $1 million will be allocated to establish the health system strengthening fund (HSSF). Mr. Speaker, the BHB allocation will be used to offset some of the financial pressures of the board by facilitating repayments of the current overdraft and to fund critical capital projects. The HID allocation will be used to defray the increased claims expenses and to create a margin of protection against claims overruns or unexpected costly cases that may involve overseas medical treatments. The HID allocated funds will also allow for an increase in the personal home care benefit rate from $15 per hour to $16.40 per hour. (And I think we know what that $16.40 represents, Mr. Speaker.) The adjustment aligns with the legislative minimum wage standards and aims to alleviate any increased fi-nancial burden of HIP and FutureCare participants and their families. Finally, the HID’s allocation will enable the maintenance of affordable premium rates for seniors and other vulnerable groups enrolled in FutureCare and HIP. I want to read that again because I think it is important to know what we are doing here, Mr. Speaker. Finally, the HID’s allocation will enable the maintenance of affordable premium rates for seniors — our seniors —and other vulnerable groups enrolled in FutureCare and HIP. The health system strengthening fund will be used to develop the core benefits package, validate 1784 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly financial analyses and modelling, develop national health system metrics, continue the development of integrated care pathways, plan the next steps for digitising the health system and develop a health care workforce strategy. Mr. Speaker, we can liken the health care system to a human body. When the body is unhealthy, it is often a sign of imbalance or dysfunction within one or more systems. Similarly, the high cost, inequitable access, or inefficient service delivery in the health care system indicates that we have underlying systemic problems. Health system strengthening aims to go beyond treating symptoms to strengthen the entire system, prevent future problems and promote overall well - being. Enhancing communications and dat a sharing between different health care providers is like improving the nervous system’s ability to transmit signals ef-fectively, leading to better coordination and faster responses. Investing in training and development for health care professionals is like strengthening the muscles in the body, enabling it to perform tasks more efficiently and effectively. Implementing digital health solutions can be compared to improving the circulatory system, ensuring that the vital information and resources flow smoothly throughout the health care body, the body being Bermuda. A core benefits package acts as a fundamental safeguard for the health of the population, much like a balanced diet is crucial for the well -being of the human body. (And you know MP Derrick [Burgess] likes the idea of a balanced diet.)
[Inaudible interjections] Hon. Walter H. Roban: The foundation work ensures that everyone has access to basic nutrients, health services that need to thrive, continuing to a healthier and more resilient health system overall. The benefit provides a strong base for population health, Mr. Speaker, enabli ng preventative care and early intervention to reduce the burden of chronic illness. Mr. Speaker, to mobilise the aforementioned funds, the Ministry of Health now seeks to amend the Health Insurance Act 1970 to include the Health System Strengthening Fund (HSS), into which monthly payments from the MRF will be made between October 2024 and March 2025. A prescribed sum order will be created that will add the Health System Strengthening Fund as a separate, managed fund. Mr. Speaker, the Health Insurance Committee, established under the Act, will be responsible for the management and constant review of the new fund in accordance with the statutory mandate. Mr. Speaker, the Government is committed to making every effort to strengthen our health care sys-tem by addressing health inequities and improving affordability of core health care services for all based on the health needs of our population. A healthy population has positive implications for workforce productivity, the building of healthier communities, and the social and economic vibrancy of Bermuda overall. Mr. Speaker, with those remarks, I open the floor for debate on this Bill. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Deputy [Premier] . Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time? MP Cannonier, you have the floor.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes. Thank you, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And good evening, everyone. I think with this particular Bill, what it is attempting to do is embodied in the name itself, and that is to strengthen the health system (Health System Strengthening). I think as we get into Committee, I have got …
Yes. Thank you, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And good evening, everyone. I think with this particular Bill, what it is attempting to do is embodied in the name itself, and that is to strengthen the health system (Health System Strengthening). I think as we get into Committee, I have got quite a few questions there. Just to ens ure that I understand some of the details of how we are going to get to the point that we heard from the Minister of stabilising high costs and those other things. I was glad to hear the Minister mention exactly who is going to be managing the fund, because the Bill in and of itself does not really state exactly who will be managing the fund. And hopefully, maybe I could even get some more details from [the Honourable Minister] as to exactly how that is going to work. So the whole idea of strengthening the health system makes sense. The idea that a fund fundamen-tally being set apart to create an opportunity to do this in no means makes a lot of sense. What I am still trying to grapple with throughout this whole process is how this fund is going to work, because it is coming from the Mutual Re- Insurance Fund that is already managed. And the accountability is where I do have some concerns about the particular Bill. And as we go into Committee we will see, and I will explai n some of the challenges that I believe it could have as far as scrutiny and auditing. But suffice it to say, this fund will be set up. And if you look at the Bill it does mention the reason for it. We do recognise that this is going to take some time, $4 million to $5 million to set up the infrastructure in and of itself, and probably somewhere around $5 million to $7 million on an annual basis that this will require in order to keep going. What I am not clear about is if there is an actual budget, or plans put in place as to what we believe it is going to take to r un on an annual basis. So we know what it is going to take to set up. We know what it is going to take, somewhat, to keep this infrastructure in place. But we will be expanding on these things when it comes to high cost and trying to address them as other measures. So what do they see as that costing as we go forward? I said it already, and I will say it again that the idea is good. I am still not sure exactly how the Mutual Re-Insurance Fund actually operates in and of itself. So Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1785 I was not quite sure whether this fund is cannibalising in on what the Mutual [Re- Insurance] Fund could actually do itself as opposed to creating another fund. And the reason I say that is because the monies are going to be coming from the Mutual Re- Insurance Fund already. That is where the monies are going to be coming from and [being] put into the HSS. So I am trying to understand a little — Hon. Walter H. Roban: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerPoint of order. POINT OF CLARIFICATION Hon. Walter H. Roban: The Honourable Member is just unintentionally misinforming the House. The mon-ies are not coming from the Mutual Re- Insurance Fund. They are coming as an allocation from the excess bor-rowing fund.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierAh! Hon. Walter H. Roban: That is where this money is coming from. The $30 million is coming from there. And also, the money will be managed by the Health Insur-ance Committee, which has been created under the Act which has existed since 1970.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes. Which is why I said, When we get into Committee, I will probably get some more details as I ask those questions. But the Honour-able Member has provided some of that detail. It was rather difficult to pick from the actual Bill, the amendment, in and of itself as …
Yes. Which is why I said, When we get into Committee, I will probably get some more details as I ask those questions. But the Honour-able Member has provided some of that detail. It was rather difficult to pick from the actual Bill, the amendment, in and of itself as to how it was going to be managed. So I appreciate that. At the very onset I did say that it is going to be established—we are establishing a managed fund. And I would like to understand better this committee and how this committee is comprised. It is actually going to be managing this fund. Are we talking abou t four or five people? Three people, two people? I do not know. But what we do believe, we hope that this is going to work out well. We understand the goals of this in strengthening the health system. We understand some of the intricacies that are going to be needed in order to get this thing up and running. And so what we want to know now is some of the details of this particular Bill, this amendment, so we can get some detail. But at the onset, we recognise the effort here. We do believe that it is something that is lofty, that it is something that we believe hopefully can work, obtain-ing the goals that this Bill is set out to do. And I thank the Honourable Minister for the clarification there. But again as I said, it was important for me to understand a little better about that management. So we will go, if no one else has anything else to say on this. . .
The SpeakerThe SpeakerDoes any other Member wish to make a contribution? None. Deputy Premier, would you like to take us to Committee? Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I believe I explained the main questions that the Honourable Member put. So I would like to move now that the Bill …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Deputy [Speaker] . House in Committee at 9:45 pm [ Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., in the Chair] COMMITTEE ON BILL HEALTH INSURANCE (HEALTH SYSTEM STRENGTHENING FUND) AMENDMENT ACT 2024
The ChairmanChairmanHonourable Members, we are now in Committee of the whole for further consideration of the Bill entitled the Health Insurance (Health System Strengthening Fund) Amendment Act 2024 . Mi nister Roban, you have the floor. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Yes, Mr. Chairman. There are two clauses to this, and I …
The ChairmanChairmanYou can move them. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you. Mr. Chairman, the Bill seeks to amend the Health Insurance Act 1970 to establish a managed fund to strengthen the health system in Bermuda. Clause 1 provides the title of Bill. Clause 2 inserts sections 3AA, 3AB, 3AC [ and …
You can move them. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you. Mr. Chairman, the Bill seeks to amend the Health Insurance Act 1970 to establish a managed fund to strengthen the health system in Bermuda. Clause 1 provides the title of Bill. Clause 2 inserts sections 3AA, 3AB, 3AC [ and 3AD] into the Health Insurance Act 1970 to establish a managed fund called the Health System Strengthening Fund to strengthen the health system in Bermuda and to provide for the management, reporting and dissolu-tion of such fund. Mr. Chairman, I now move . . . I am sorry. That is it. I am sorry, Mr. Chairman. That is it.
The ChairmanChairmanOkay, fine. That is fine. Any further speakers? MP Cannonier, you had some? MP? [Inaudible interjection] Bermuda House of A ssembly 1786 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report B ermuda House of Assembly The Chairman: That is all right.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierThank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes. If we go to [proposed section] 3AA under clause 2.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierSection 3A, then 3AA. [Proposed section] 3AA(1), I think I asked the question about the budget and if there is going to be a budget beyond what we already know is going to be spent? And I am trying to understand a little better exactly who is putting this budget …
Section 3A, then 3AA. [Proposed section] 3AA(1), I think I asked the question about the budget and if there is going to be a budget beyond what we already know is going to be spent? And I am trying to understand a little better exactly who is putting this budget together for the fund in and of itself? Is it this committee that was referred to? I am not quite sure exactly who that is. [The Honourable Minis-ter] did refer to the committee, but I am not sure who actually is managing the fund in and of itself.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierWell, that is all right. I just want to make sure. So in the Bill itself, it does not clarify—
The ChairmanChairmanThe Minister will answer you there.
The ChairmanChairmanJust let him do that one question, Craig. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Okay. As I mentioned in the previous part of the debate before we went to Committee, the Health Insurance Committee, which is . . . and I would ask Members to go back to the original Act, the …
Just let him do that one question, Craig. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Okay. As I mentioned in the previous part of the debate before we went to Committee, the Health Insurance Committee, which is . . . and I would ask Members to go back to the original Act, the 1970 Act. It is the committee under that Act that man-ages the funds that are allocated within the health system that government manages.
The ChairmanChairmanYes. Hon. Walter H. Roban: So it is a long -established committee. It is set up under the 1970 Act. It is a long- standing committee. I do not believe there will be any additional budget that is taking on another responsibility, as the money is coming from somewhere else—
The ChairmanChairmanRight. Hon. Walter H. Roban: —into the MRF and into the funds being created and they will manage the funds as part of their responsibilities which are outlined in the 1970 Act. So if the Honourable Member goes back to the principal Act, he will find the information he needs …
Right. Hon. Walter H. Roban: —into the MRF and into the funds being created and they will manage the funds as part of their responsibilities which are outlined in the 1970 Act. So if the Honourable Member goes back to the principal Act, he will find the information he needs on that committee. The Chairman: Thank you. MP Cannonier, do you have any other?
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes. Thank you very much. I will move over to clause [2], [proposed section 3AB(4)], and that states, “Section 6 of the Statutory Instruments Act 1977 does not apply to an order made under [subsection (3) ].” So essentially, I just want to confirm what this is. Are we saying …
Yes. Thank you very much. I will move over to clause [2], [proposed section 3AB(4)], and that states, “Section 6 of the Statutory Instruments Act 1977 does not apply to an order made under [subsection (3) ].” So essentially, I just want to confirm what this is. Are we saying that this is not going to require any parliamentary scrutiny for this particular fund?
The ChairmanChairmanAny more questions? Minister Campbell.
Mr.
Vance CampbellThank you, Mr. Chairman. If I look at clause 2 where it refers to [proposed section] 3AA(1), it says that the HSS Fund will . . . there shall be paid into that such sums of money that have been set aside in a Mutual Re- Insurance Fund for the …
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If I look at clause 2 where it refers to [proposed section] 3AA(1), it says that the HSS Fund will . . . there shall be paid into that such sums of money that have been set aside in a Mutual Re- Insurance Fund for the purposes of “digital health development, national health system metrics, integrated care pathways and develop-ment of a health care workforce strategy.” So those funds will be transferred into the HSS fund out of the Mutual Re- Insurance Fund. But then in clause 2, [proposed section] 3AA(2), one would think that from those funds would be paid the expenses of the HSS Fund. And I just need clarification because [proposed] section 3AA(2) talks about, “There shall be paid out of the Mutual Re- insurance Fund any expenses incurred by the Committee in carrying out its functions in respect of the HSS Fund. ” So I just need clarification as to why the HSS Fund or the Mutual Re- Insurance Fund is still paying expenses on behalf of the HSS Fund, if it has been funded. The other thing in [clause 2, proposed section] 3AB(1), can the Minister provide some examples of . . . you know, 3AB(1) says, “The Minister may direct the Committee, in writing, to pay out of the HSS Fund such sums of money to such persons or entities as the Minister directs, for the purpose of strengthening the health system in Bermuda. ” Can the Minister provide some examples of what would fall under that? That is very general termi-nology. So can the Minister provide some examples of what would be considered “strengthening the health system” that would qualify as payments to be made from that HSS Fund? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanMinister. Hon. Walter H. Roban: To answer all of the questions that have been given so far, the plan is to run the HSS Fund on an annual basis. That came from, I believe, MP Cannonier. The HSS Fund is only a temporary ar-rangement. And another question from MP Cannonier, …
Minister. Hon. Walter H. Roban: To answer all of the questions that have been given so far, the plan is to run the HSS Fund on an annual basis. That came from, I believe, MP Cannonier. The HSS Fund is only a temporary ar-rangement. And another question from MP Cannonier, Who is managing the fund and how will it be managed? Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1787
Bermuda House of Assembly As I said, that will be by the Health Insurance Committee. And let me just give some more information here as it relates to . . . Let me go back and just give more information on question one. A million dollars is deposited into the excess borrowing fund for the MRF allocated for the HSS. It is only to enable the preparatory initiatives needed to improve the function of the health system in alignment with our national policies and strategies for quality care, equitable access, efficient service delivery, accounta-ble governance and sustainable financing. These initi-atives include delivery of the core benefits package, planning for digitisation of the health system, finance modelling and development of a workforce strategy, amongst others. HSS is not intended to serve as a long- term source of funding for health system strengthening ac-tivity. As a transition from preparatory initiatives to sustained health system reform is made, the modelling for financing long- term health system strengthening will be clearly defined. This model will be based on ongoing financial analysis of the current and future costs and the data on population needs. In relation to question 2, Mr. Chairman, who is managing the fund and how it will work. As I said, the Health Insurance [Committee] will direct the preparation of the financial statements within seven months and at the end of the financial year reflecting. So the Health Insurance Committee will run the fund and they will certainly create some of the other mechanisms and what is necessary to run the fund with the appropriate advice that they will get. So those are the answers to the two questions. I cannot remember the questions of the MP for constituency 9.
The ChairmanChairmanHe was referring to clause 2, [proposed section] 3AB(1), the strengthening of the health system. He wants [you to] explain that. Hon. Walter H. Roban: I think I explained that in the answer as to what will be the focus.
The ChairmanChairmanHe was asking for some examples of this here strengthening of —
Mr. Vance CampbellIt was two questions. One is in [clause 2, proposed section] 3AA(1) you are transferring funds from the Mutual Re- insurance Fund to the HSS Fund. And then in 3AA(2) you are saying, “ There shall be paid out of the Mutual Re- insurance Fund any expenses incurred by the …
It was two questions. One is in [clause 2, proposed section] 3AA(1) you are transferring funds from the Mutual Re- insurance Fund to the HSS Fund. And then in 3AA(2) you are saying, “ There shall be paid out of the Mutual Re- insurance Fund any expenses incurred by the Committee . . . ” So I am asking, Why would those expenses not be paid out of the HSS Fund? That is the first question. Since you transferred the money out of the Mutual Re- insurance Fund for those purposes, why would you not pay it out of the HSS Fund? And the second question is, Can the Minister provide examples of what he may direct to be paid out of the HSS Fund that falls under the purpose of strengthening the health system in [clause 2, proposed section] 3AB(1)? Just provide several examples of what he envisages would qualify for those payments. Thank you.
The ChairmanChairmanMinister. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Okay. Starting with this last question, I believe that was outlined. The focus [is] on developing national policies, strategies for quality care, equitable access and focusing on those things that are going to improve and strengthen our health system over time. You know, the desire …
Minister.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Okay. Starting with this last question, I believe that was outlined. The focus [is] on developing national policies, strategies for quality care, equitable access and focusing on those things that are going to improve and strengthen our health system over time. You know, the desire is to develop universal health care and ensure that the core composed of that will be not only properly funded, but that there will be plans on how we are going to, over time, make those much more suitable t o satisfy the health care needs of our population. So the fund is the initial effort to ensure that there is funding set up to start the process. But as we go along and funding is . . . because part of the role of the Health Insurance [Committee] with this fund will be, because it is a temporary fund, to begin the work to set up the financial mechanisms necessary. But that is the mission, which is clearly stated by the vision that we have in the Health Care Strategy up to 2027.
The ChairmanChairmanAny further questions or comments on this? There appear to be none. Minister. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I now wish to move that clauses, 1 and 2, be approved.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that clauses 1 and 2 be approved. Any objections? There appear to be none. Approved. [Motion carried: Clauses 1 and 2 passed.]
The ChairmanChairmanYou can do the preamble. Hon. Walter H. Roban: I now move that the preamble be approved, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the preamble be approved. Are there any objections to that? There appear to be none. Approved. 1788 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report B ermuda House of Assembly Hon. Walter H. Roban: I move that the Bill be reported to the House as printed.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed. Any objections? No. The Bill will be reported to the House as printed. [Motion carried: The Health Insurance (Health System Strengthening Fund) Amendment Act 2024 was considered by a Committee of the whole House and passed …
It has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed. Any objections? No. The Bill will be reported to the House as printed. [Motion carried: The Health Insurance (Health System Strengthening Fund) Amendment Act 2024 was considered by a Committee of the whole House and passed without amendment.] House resumed at 9:58 pm [Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., Speaker, in the Chair] REPORT OF COMMITTEE HEALTH INSURANCE (HEALTH SYSTEM STRENGTHENING FUND) AMENDMENT ACT 2024
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMembers, are there any objections to the Bill entitled the Health Insurance (Health System Strengthening Fund) Amendment Act 2024 being re-ported to the House as printed? There are none. Thank you, Members. We will now move on to the next item, which is item 12, the Bermuda Health Council Amendment …
Members, are there any objections to the Bill entitled the Health Insurance (Health System Strengthening Fund) Amendment Act 2024 being re-ported to the House as printed? There are none. Thank you, Members. We will now move on to the next item, which is item 12, the Bermuda Health Council Amendment (No. 2) Act 2024, in the name of the Minister of Health. Andagain the Deputy Premier will lead this matter. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move that the Bill entitled the Bermuda Health Council Amendment (No. 2) Act 2024 be now read a second time.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAny objections? There are none. Continue. BILL SECOND READING BERMUDA HEALTH COUNCIL AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2024 Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members, I stand before you to present the Bill, the Bermuda Health Council Amendment (No. 2) Act 2024. Mr. Speaker, our health system must be …
Any objections? There are none. Continue. BILL SECOND READING BERMUDA HEALTH COUNCIL AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2024 Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members, I stand before you to present the Bill, the Bermuda Health Council Amendment (No. 2) Act 2024. Mr. Speaker, our health system must be ready to meet the future, the next decade. We must be smarter; we must be stronger and work together to support the complexity of an ageing population to address t he real needs of patients, to prevent disease, to better prevent disease and to promote wellness within our population. We must be consistent in our approach and efficient in our outcome. While there is no single solu-tion that will create the perfect health system, there are some effective strategies and tools that we are adding, and we must add, to the health system table in order to fortify and strengthen it. While there is no single solution that will create the perfect health system, there are some effective strategies and tools that we are adding, and we must add, to the health system table in order to fortify and strengthen it. The successful implementation of the Bermuda Health Strategy 2022– 2027 is one of them, including Universal Health Coverage [UHC], [which] is another. It requires a legal framework to manage the various mov-ing pieces of the health system. The Bermuda Healt h Council already has the role of regulating, coordinating and enhancing the delivery of health services in Ber-muda. These proposed amendments to the Act will al-low the Council to better fulfil its role—and that role is changing, Mr. Speaker —and mandate it as intended when it was enacted in 2004. We must accept, Mr. Speaker, that our health situation, our health system, was different in 2004, some 20 years ago than it is now. So, the Health Coun-cil must be right -sized and right -purposed for where we are now and for the future. The Health Council pl ays a critical role in objectively advising and assisting with this achievement by the Bermuda Government’s objec-tives with respect to the health system and strengthen-ing of such, [such] as analysing data, providing reports, collecting community feedback, developing regulatory policy and registering health professionals. Mr. Speaker, the proposed amendments in this Bill aim to address the evolving landscape of our health system. It is changing Mr. Speaker. We recognise the influence of market forces and the need to ensure that activities such as acquisition and mergers, in particular, (much talk about that recently) within the sector priori-tise health and wellness of Bermuda residents while also promoting accessible and affordable health care for all. A key measure of accessibility is how our com-munity members can navigate through a web of options related to their care. Currently, a comprehensive inventory of health services and providers is being developed to establish a clear mapping of health businesses. And further, to build an evidence base for assessing the service needs and ensuring we have optimal resource allocation. While the Health Council Act 2004 estab-lished a framework for the licensing of health businesses, the full implementation of this process is now being realised through proposed amendments. A licensing framework must also ensure alignment of health businesses with the evolving health care needs of our population. The best practice of doing this is through monitoring established services, identifying gaps in need of businesses, and managing responsible Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1789
Bermuda House of Assembly entry into health businesses. The objective being to maintain balance in the health system while promoting innovation and modern methods. Let me repeat that. The objective being to maintain balance —and I hark back to another debate today, Mr. Speaker, balance—in the health system while promoting innovation and modern methods. Not much different from the energy sector, Mr. Speaker. There are also opportunities to enhance the engagement of our health businesses with the public by strengthening standards and expectations with re-spect to the relationship of safety, effectiveness and responsiveness with the health business client. The licensing process will also support businesses by proving tools to enhance principles, being caring and under strong leadership. With this Bill, there is an opportunity to enhance oversight of health system providers, to en-sure adherence to operational stand ards. Standards of which they will participate in creating, such as, equipment, maintenance and complaint handling, and promote transparency in areas such as service pricing and conflicts of interest. Mr. Speaker, an enhanced review process of potential conflicts of interest, such as referrals, or those incentivised by financial interests, is needed and will be enabled by the Bill. This is about improving transparency in the operational processes and ensuring that protocols abide by the standards, a practice related to medical necessity referrals. Transparency, Mr. Speaker, like making sure you know how much you are going to be paying before you get to the doctor’s office or your health care provider’s office and not being confronted when you get there with another price from what you were told when you were preparing to go there. Those were some of things about transparency that are important. Such referrals should never be driven solely by the desire to receive compensation for services such as labs, diagnostic imaging services, pharmacy, durable medical equipment, home therapies or other ancillary services where the financial relationship is prioritised. Such referrals must always be driven by what is best in the interest of the patient. Enhancing transparency in the referrals process can help to enhance ap-propriate utilisation of services, contributing to sustainability of more affordable heal th system and services. Bermuda’s current “fee for service” model presents certain challenges, including the potential for mis-alignment between service provision and actual health care needs. The proposed amendments seek to en-courage a shift toward business models that prioritise value- based care and are more fairly compensated for quality health outcomes and preventative measures, in-stead of volume of services completed. Basically, Mr. Speaker, putting more investment into prevention and to treatment. Make that a priority over just treating sick-ness. Let’s help prevent the sickness and invest in preventing sickness and working with our system to be focused on that than just treating sickness. More of the money that we spend, the millions of dollars, goes into the sickness treatment rather than prevention. That has got to shift. Mr. Speaker, the need for these controls is not unique to Bermuda. In the US, the Stark Law prevents physicians from referring patients to certain medical services covered by Medicare to entities in which they have a financial interest unless an exception applies. Stark Law aims to prevent conflicts of interest that might lead to unnecessary or inappropriate medical services. However, there are specific exceptions and the Government has the authority to create additional exceptions if the financial relationship does not propose a risk to the programme or the patient. Patient -centred, Mr. Speaker. The patient comes in first. Mr. Speaker, this Bill seeks to • help our communities navigate through the health system; • assure quality care and safety for patients; • encourage medical necessary and clinically appropriate utilisation; • promote an ethical, efficient and transparent health system; • promote and ensure minimum standards for health businesses; • promote cost -effective care that is accessible; • control the entry of medical ly necessary, highrisk health technology; and • formalise consultation on and approval of enhanced and fair accountability and review of the Council’s budget by the Ministers of Health and Finance. Mr. Speaker, the stakeholder engagement sessions conducted in October and November of 2023 and August and September of 2024 recognised and addressed concerns about the difference between licens-ing of health professionals and licensing of health businesses run by health professionals. I would like to be clear that the current amendments are only aimed at addressing the licensing of the businesses, not the professionals. I want to say that again because I think it is important because I know this has been somewhat of a part of a major discussion that is going on. The current amendments are only aimed at addressing the licensing of the business of health rather than the business of the professionals. Mr. Speaker, that is not unusual and the financial services industry is a perfect example. Financial analysts and specialists in certain areas of finance and even accountants have a separate licensing or a separate regime which they follow as to the discip line of being certified in their business, in their profession. The business that they operate is run under totally different licensing standards under . . . perhaps, if it is here in Bermuda . . . In the US it is the financial regulator over there in the US, or other countries; or the FSA in the UK, whereas the actual professionals are governed by other licensing procedures. No different. Same 1790 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly principle. And there are other industries where that is the case. Mr. Speaker, the subsequent consultative meetings. These standards of operation and codes for financially -vested referrals will be elaborated [on] in collaboration with the bodies and associations. So whatever standards are going to be developed (they have not been developed yet) will be developed in partnership with the professionals and their related associa-tions. So these are not going to be standards that are going to be drawn up on high and imposed on them. They will be participating in the process of the standards so that they can go away with their associations and run and adhere to those standards. That is what happens in law right now. That is what happens in ac-counting. And it will happen in health care going for-ward, if these measures are approved. Most relevant to the nature of the services provided by applicable businesses. For example, stand-ards of operation for dental practices and standards re-lated to dental referrals will be drafted in collaboration with the board of dental practitioners. Examples of fo-cus areas for standards of operation include themes like infection perfection and control, proper storage of medication and efficient physical management of pa-tient records, and effective management of patient ap-pointments to ensure time, safety and quality of care. Those are things that have to do with the running of the business, not with the actual professionals themselves. Mr. Speaker, with this clarification it is apparent that the virtual and in- persons sessions and written feedback that most health businesses and stakehold-ers do not oppose—I repeat, do not oppose —the regulatory need for licensing as a strategy to protect patient rights and upholding the high standards for operation and health business in Bermuda. And I want to repeat that. With this clarification, it is apparent from the virtual and in- person sessions, of which were held through the consultation period . . . so it wasn’t just the Health Council sitting off and making up stuff and then telling people. They had in -person sessions with professionals to get their feedback and received written feedback of which at this moment is actually published on and is publicly available on the Health Council web-site. That most health businesses and stakeholders do not oppose the regularly need for licensing as a strategy for protecting patient rights, upholding high stand-ards for operation of health businesses in Bermuda. Mr. Speaker, information received via the aforementioned stakeholder consultation and engage-ment sessions directly assisted the Health Council. So all of the consultation in October and November of last year and more recently aided the Health Council with the drafting of these Bills. In a show of good faith, Mr. Speaker, absolute transparency with an open Google spreadsheet, listing the proposed requirements in the Bill and two regulations of which we are dealing with today, was posted on the Bermuda Health Council website. (And that was www.healthcouncil.bm/consultations i f anybody wants to look it up now.) As comments, questions and suggestions were received, red- line revisions to the requirements were posted in real time. And the frequently asked questions dataset was enhanced. And that information is right now for everybody to see. They can go on there right now, Mr. Speaker. These consultation resources are still available for review on the Health Council web-site. And have been supplemented with the uploading of the post consultation versions of the Bill and the two sets of proposed regulations, even in advance of being tabled in the House. And they were tabled on 20 September. Mr. Speaker, section 13(1) of the Bermuda Health Council Act asserts, No person (and we are reading a quote, Mr. Speaker, of [section] 13(1)). “ No person, group of persons or organization shall carry on a business as a health service provider unless licensed to do so under regulations made under section 15. ” However, section 13 has not been operationalised because regulations for licensing of businesses of health providers required to be made by the Minister under section 15 of the Act have not previously existed. Mr. Speaker, I know that there is nobody in this country who would want to be attending the office of a health provider who had just popped out of nowhere, no one knows if it is properly licensed, no one knows if even the professionals are qualified or that they are answerable to any authority. And then you cannot, on the basis of that, trust that they are going to give you the care. I do not believe that there is anybody in Bermuda who would want to go to a doctor, or any other health care provider, and they do not know if they are qualified or that their business has not been properly scrutinised. No different that most people will not go into a restaurant unless you see that health certificate on the wall that says that they have been properly certified or scru-tinised by the health department for providing food ser-vices. No one would want to do that. Many people look to see that this certificate is up. And they are required to have it where we can see it. It is the same principle. Mr. Speaker, I am happy to report that the Bermuda Health Council (Health Services Providers) (Li-censing) Regulations [2024] have been drafted and will be debated later tonight for approval in the House. That Bill seeks to augment section 15 of the Act to enable the effective implementation of licensing of health care providers, their businesses by the Council. So even though I am using providers there as a word, Mr. Speaker, it actually means the businesses. Regulations made under the Bill can apply to all health businesses, including but not limited to hospitals, medical practices, dental practices, medical device retailers and adminis-trative services related to health, including residential care. Mr. Speaker, it is noteworthy that the implementation of health businesses licensing is not unique to Bermuda. It aligns with the numerous respected Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1791
Bermuda House of Assembly jurisdictions globally. For instance, in the UK and in England there is a Care Quality Commission [CQC] in England that is an independent regulator of health and social services. The CQC ensures that hospitals, clinics and other health care providers meet stringent standards of quality and safety. Similarly, in the United States the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS, have a robust system of certifying health providers participating in Medicare and Medicaid programmes. This certification process involves rigorous evaluations of quality, safety and compliance with their federal regulations. Mr. Speaker, health businesses licensing schemes are widely recognised for their positive impact on health care and quality. By setting and enforcing standards they help to protect patients from harm and ensure they receive appropriate care. For businesses, licensing can enhance the business reputation and credibility demonstrating a commitment to best practices. It can also facilitate collaboration and referrals. Mr. Speaker, licensing will apply to all health service providers and health businesses. The Health Council will collaboratively establish the business standards with which providers in each health business category are to comply for successful licensing. So they will work with industry to create these standards . [The] envisioned licensing scheme aims to foster collabora-tion [between the] C ouncil and the providers to ensure that new services align with the health needs of the population. They will also faci litate effective oversight of operational practices, promoting patient safety, appropriate care and transparency in service utilisation. Mr. Speaker, turning to the regulation of high risk health technology: It is important to measure and balance the population’s health needs with availability of health care technologies to meet those needs. The proposed amendments empower the Council to collab-orate with stakeholders. Again, working wit h the stakeholders in regulating high risk technology —not by itself, with the cooperation of stakeholders —including provisions for importation and licensing of those technolo-gies. These provisions strengthen t he ability of the Council to take inventory and to ensure there is contin-uous and safe technical skills operations, and appropri-ate maintenance and repair of high risk health technology in Bermuda. This also includes identifying equipment that has reached the end of its lifespan and should be replaced for better patient treatment. This function of the Council is pivotal to [the] health systems reformation, applying an efficient and sustainable model of care. Mr. Speaker, an important feature of the Bill is to amend treatment of the budgetary provision of the Health Council and the provisions governing fees paid to and collected by the Council. For other quangos, such as the Bermuda Airport Authority and Civil Aviation Authority, the Minister responsible for the Authorities and the Minister of Finance have oversight of the organisation’s budget. Like the other organisations the Health Council is a quango which receives a grant from the Government. This is in add ition to a portion of the MRF [ Mutual Re- insurance Fund] which every insured person pays and is part of the health insurance premium and other operational revenues. The amendment of the Act now provides for approval of the Council’s budget by the Minister of Health and the Minister of Finance, much like other quangos. The Council will be required to submit to the Minister of Health and the [Minister of] Finance income and expenditure estimates needed to develop its annual budget proposed by amendments [which] mirror the Bermuda Airport Authority Act 2017. Those are provisions that exist throughout the regulatory space. Even the Regulatory Authority of which I oversee, Mr. Speaker, the same thing. They are required to submit their budget and their work plan to the Ministry and it has to be approved by the Ministry of Finance. So that is a common regulatory feature throughout the regulatory space in Bermuda. And they are not given any funds by the Government either. But it is still a part of the law. Mr. Speaker, the Council’s licensing processes require resources and therefore application fees will be established to offset administrative and inspection costs. However, because the Health Council is a quango and not a g overnment department, it will be responsible for the licensing and registration work. The Health Council’s fees will no longer be provided under the Government Fees Regulations 1976. The Bill amends the Act giving the authority to the Minister to set fees and for the Health Council to collect rational fees for applications, renewals and other services carried out in the discharge of its functions. This change aligns with what exists in other health legislation. For example, the fees made via the Bermuda Hospitals Board (Hospitals Fees) Regulations 2018, are set with the approval of the Minister responsible for Health. The same approach is taken with respect to the Health Council fees for the licensing and registration activities. The Health Council is already authorised to collect fees for the registration of all regulated health professions except those under the Bermuda Medical Council and the Bermuda Nursing and Midwifery Council [ BNMC ]. This provision will enable the Health Council to charge and collect fees for applications regarding licensing of health service providers and importation or registration of high risk [health] technology. Mr. Speaker, the Bill proposes the refining the deterrents and penalties under the Act. The proposed amendment includes adjustments to the penalty structure, focusing on financial deterrents while ensuring proportionality in alignment with modern practices and penalties. Imprisonment has been remov ed. I know that was an issue, a controversy in a previous period, Mr. Speaker. There are no more penalties of imprisonment in any of this legislation. There is none. And in fact, it mirrors other legislation like the Companies Act and 1792 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report B ermuda House of Assembly other Acts as to the type of penalties it has for certain refractions under the law. These and all other penalties were reviewed with intent of ensuring that the penalties [in the] Act were aligned with deterrents in other Ber-muda laws but also so that in a worse- case scenario requiring escalation to the courts, fines would be proportionate to a degree of harm that might be inflicted because of contraventions. Where appropriate, provision of modern processes for civil penalties has been proposed to be in-cluded in the Act. Civil penalties: The Council in collab-oration with the Ministry will develop a clear transparent procedure for the implementation of civil penalties. So that is not . . . the procedure is not developed yet. It will be developed later. Mr. Speaker, on the issues of inspections, there is recognition that a broad scope of technical ex-pertise will be required to inspect various types of health businesses. Therefore, subject matter experts will be engaged by the Council to conduct appropriat e inspections. Inspectors will also collaborate with health businesses to conduct desk audits on documents, such as records related to fee policies, external costs of doing business and service utilisation ensuring transparency and adherence to standards. I think we know that some of the technology that we have now is extremely advanced [than what] we have in Bermuda around health care. And it is im-portant to get the subject experts who have proper international accreditation to come here, if they are not already here, to inspect certain technologies. I think everybody would accept that you want to know that the equipment is operating right and that the right people are operating it according to the best practice interna-tionally. I think it is important that that be a part of what we do. That ensures patient health and patient safety, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in closing, the unsustainable nature of Bermuda’s present health care system, our age-ing population and shifts in the health sector, driven by market forces but outside of the control of Government with its duty to ensure the system primarily serves the health needs of our society demonstrates the need to progress the two main objectives of the Bill. This is an enactment of section 13 of the Health Council Act 2004 which gives the Bermuda Health Council the legislative authority to licence the businesses of health providers and the additional provisions for the Council to regulate the importation and registration of high risk technologies. Mr. Speaker, this represents the full amendments proposed by the Bill. And I hereby present the Bill to be debated in the House for consideration. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Deputy [Premier] . Does any other Member wish to make a contribution? MP Cannonier. Mr. L. Craig Cannonier: Yes. Yes. [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierThank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Minister for his brief. I did have quite a few things that I was going to say but I want to cut this short. [Inaudible interjections]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes. I think the major challenge here is not the Bill in and of itself, maybe one or two areas there are some questions and I will get to those. But I believe what is at stake here and what is being brought to my attention with this particular amendment, …
Yes. I think the major challenge here is not the Bill in and of itself, maybe one or two areas there are some questions and I will get to those. But I believe what is at stake here and what is being brought to my attention with this particular amendment, the Minister talked about collaboration and consultation and the like, and at the heart of this particular Bill is a concern about the collaboration, is a concern about the consultation and also a concern about bureaucracy. And I think that really hits at home to what we are hearing from the Medical Doctors Association [BMDA] and also from some of the other medical facilities that offer services to the public. This Bill, as I said, 90 per cent of it is not an issue in and of itself by what I can tell. But the issue comes down to, Have we consulted and collaborated enough? If I go off of what has been stated publicly by the Medical Doctors Association, and I think even the Bermuda Hamilton Centre [sic] . . . I can’t remember the exact name of it — [Inaudible interjection]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierHamilton Medical Centre have highlighted some things that they have concerns [about]. And I would like to hear more about how we are addressing the concerns that the medical field and service providers are having. They do not feel consul-tation has taken place. They feel that there is more bureaucracy …
Hamilton Medical Centre have highlighted some things that they have concerns [about]. And I would like to hear more about how we are addressing the concerns that the medical field and service providers are having. They do not feel consul-tation has taken place. They feel that there is more bureaucracy coming and I am . . . Listen, in this House I have made it very clear about how I feel about some of the providers, especially the insurance companies, and how they are operating and how I see these mergers becoming more and more a concern. And so I also rec-ognise how the Health Council is going to have its hands full in looking at how they manage through all of these things that are taking place. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1793
Bermuda House of Assembly But when we start looking at things in the Bill that refer to having to register to import, also to register the equipment (in and of itself) and then also looking at how we manage the equipment that is already on the Island and we understand that we now . . . we actually have outdated equipment on the Island that is operating and we do not even have someone who can inspect. It has been (what?) four or five years (I don’t know if you guys can clarify that.) [since] we have had someone actually on the Island who was qualified to go in and inspect some of this high- risk equipment that is referred to in this particular Bill. So, we need to understand a little more from the Health Council exactly how they are going to man-age through working with the industry, because they are actually in the industry. They are working in the industry. And what might be considered some of a theo-retical approach from the Council, but in practical it may not play out exactly how it does in real life. So, this a concern. We cannot be presenting a Bill today when, in actual fact, lawyers are involved and all the like. You know, letters are being sent about this concern. And here we are, we are going to pass a Bill today in the House that quite frankly many of those in the service provision of health, doctors and the like, are concerned and would like to have more consultation. I heard the Minister when he laid out and said that, you know, there was consultation in August. And even at that time, when a Zoom meeting was had that he also mentioned, there were concerns brought up at that time, again, that there was not enough time t o respond. I mean, a draft Bill was sent out on the 17 th to the industry and on the 20th it is actually in the House of Assembly. And so when we get to this particular point, and I am not putting any blame on anyone here, I am trying to understand it just like everyone else. What I am trying to understand is how do we get to the point whereby the industry is saying, Listen, we may need a little more time to tweak this here to understand exactly what it is that you are attempting to do so that you also understand what we are attempting to do as service providers, so that there is that collaboration as the Minister spoke of. And right now, frankly, it does not appear that way. So, I am hoping that the Minister can come back to us about the relationship that is going on. I just got a message that a letter from lawyers was sent just as of last night, or whatever the case may be, about their concerns with this Bill being presented today. I do not see it as a time- sensitive thing. And maybe if we can get some correction as to . . . Is it time sensitive? At a glance, when you read it and you look at it, it does not appear to be time sensitive. So, why are we moving ahead when there st ill needs to be some form of balance, as the Minister also mentioned, in this approach to providing what is best? Now, the Health Council already knows everyone who is working within the field. It knows the players. And it also regulates these players who are in the field. So, when we get over to talking about high- risk equipment and bringing that in and we are looking at now you have to . . . you know, you have to apply to get a permit and then you also have to apply to register the equipment and to operate the equipment. The new part here is [that] you have to get a permit to import the equipment. I am bringing that up because I recognise a very public issue that came up, and it took about four or five years for it to go to court and get licences presented. But the only MRI piece of equipment that you could get, that would accommodate those people w ho are a bit claustrophobic or very claustrophobic, and for some of those who are larger, they could get to the Hamilton Medical Centre and use that piece of equipment because they are claustrophobic, they can’t fit into the traditional machine in and of i tself, the MRI machine, and the noise and the like. So, you know, it took five years for him to get to that point. The bureaucracy that, of course, he is saying too . . . well, we are hearing is that just pure bureaucracy and then he wins in court to be able to . . . it takes court in order to present or give modern equipment to Bermudians. So I am hoping that we can hear some-thing from the Health Council that allays our fears as parliamentarians that allows us to understand. Access is important when it comes to health care. Price is important when it comes to health care. And quality, quality of care is important when it comes to service providers in the health industry. And I know that the Health Council recognises that. So i f you have great quality, one of those may suffer. Price or access. But what I do recognise is one of the major factors to our high premiums in health care in Bermuda is the fact that we are having to go overseas, having overseas referrals. So if we can have the equipment here, and if we can present and demonstrate that we are able to get—
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Point of order, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerPoint of order. POINT OF CLARIFICATION Hon. Walter H. Roban: Just to assist the Member, he is unintentionally I think providing information. The biggest driver is not the fact that people have to go overseas. It is actually utilisation on Island, is one of the biggest drivers, if not one …
Point of order.
POINT OF CLARIFICATION Hon. Walter H. Roban: Just to assist the Member, he is unintentionally I think providing information. The biggest driver is not the fact that people have to go overseas. It is actually utilisation on Island, is one of the biggest drivers, if not one of the top drivers of healt h care. It is not the fact that we have to send people overseas. That is not the biggest driver of cost. It is actually utilisation in the system in Bermuda.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. 1794 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I said one of. I did not say that it was . The hospital is actually the highest cost to health care when it comes to premiums. And then …
All right.
1794 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I said one of. I did not say that it was . The hospital is actually the highest cost to health care when it comes to premiums. And then would be those others, referrals and also . . . well, referrals overseas, and utilisation. So, what I am saying is that one of those extreme factors is ensuring that we can streamline the process, not through bureaucracy and red tape but we know the players. So, since we know the players, and many of them already have equipment . . . not many of them, but several of them have this high- risk equipment already in place. We are now going to add another layer for them to bring in more equipment to say, Okay. Now first of all I have to get a licence to import it, and also then have to get a licence to register it and get everybody in place. I think the industry wants to ensure that that process is not only seamless but timely as well. And the evidence is not speaking to that at this time. So, that is what some of the fears are. And we have got to find a way and the Council has got to find a way to be able to allay those fears. The Council at this present time is exercising its mandate as it is. And now we are going to be adding more bureauc racy, more red tape to the process. How is the Health Council going to manage all of this here when it is a struggle now? I mean, we are hearing stories from some of the health and service providers that they are having to call back to the Health Council and say, Listen, you are getting this wrong—two and three and four times, that they are getting it wrong, when they should be the ones who are getting it right from the very beginning. And so, all I am saying is, is that we need to allay those fears. Right now tensions are high in this particular area. And I have not heard anything that is going to allay those. And with those tensions being high, comes a trust factor. When you get the Medical Doctors Association explicitly explaining what their major issues are, then I think we need to maybe go back to the drawing board to ensure that everyone feels that it is balanced, everyone feels that . . . you know, there has to be a timeline, becau se we recognise, you know, you can go around in circles and circles and circles and not get anywhere. But you cannot say that you are hav-ing consultation in the early part of August and by September we are bringing a Bill, an amendment, to the House that w e already know the Medical [Doctors] Association and the service providers are aggrieved by it. They get to see a draft on the 17 th of September and on Friday, the 20th, it is presented to the House, and they have not even had a chance to come back to the draft that has been sent to them and speak to the draft in and of itself. So I am looking for some clarity. We can go into Committee, but those are the concerns right off the bat and we need to allay those fears. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Opposition Whip. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time? There are none moving. Deputy [Premier] , would you like to . . . Hon. Walter H. Roban: Very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for those contributions, very instructive, certainly from my standpoint as …
Thank you, Opposition Whip. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time? There are none moving. Deputy [Premier] , would you like to . . .
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for those contributions, very instructive, certainly from my standpoint as the presenter of the Bill. But I would like to address a number of issues raised. And unfortunately, I believe . . . I appreciate the enthusiasm of the Honourable Member who just [spoke], but I think some of it was a little bit dramatic in his articulation as to the state of the situation. Unfortunately, some of what he said is not actually accurate about what has happened around these processes to get to where we are today. But I will seek to do my best to address those matters right now. I do not need to read articles. I have sources much more reliable than The Royal Gazette to rely on, Mr. Speaker.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Walter H. Roban: And I think that is important that we use, you know, accurate and not just one- sided sources when we are dealing with matters that have multiple sides and is very complicated. I think that it is important that we use our discussions in the House to-day to not only talk about what we saw in one source, but to just give the broader perspective and position on these issues. They are complicated, Mr. Speaker. And they have multiple sides. The uses of health care are not straightforward. And they are not just based around the perspective of the providers either. The silent constituency in this is actually the patients. They do not go to the Gazette. They do not hire lawyers all the time to talk about their issues, and do not even have the money to do that. And of course, there is the Government and also the Council. But that is the silent party which is actually the most important party in this process, Mr. Speaker. It is actually the patients. Our mission is to shape a system that puts them at the forefront. It does not ignore the interests of the providers, because they are crucial to this. But the patient must be at centre. And that is a system that this Bill is contributing to shape. It is seeking to give . . . and there are two main things that are happening with this Bill, Mr. Speaker, is to ensure that the Council is more robust as a regulator. And perhaps, Mr. Speaker, I speak with some experience of working in the regulated sector as the Minister with regulated bodies and having to understand the issues of a regulator and its relationship with the public and with the Government and understanding that perhaps much more than many and understanding how you deal with that and how you build an environment where there is a trusted regulator who is fulfilling a role in a relationship with the provider and with the public. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1795 B ermuda House of Assembly We have the BMA [Bermuda Monetary Authority] which perhaps is one of the most mature regulators in the country and has set somewhat of the gold stand-ard of how you regulate in a very, almost a global space. But also has to take care of business here in Bermuda as well in relation to our interaction between entities and also the public with the Government and itself. But let me get . . . because I think we have to put this discussion at who it matters most about. And that this the patients. I appreciate and I respect the opinion of the providers. And I actually have had . . . even though I have been acting in this role, Mr. Speaker, I have spo-ken to providers who actually have raised the concerns about these issues, and who have retained counsel to articulate their view. And I have had very substantive discussions over the last couple of days before this Bill was brought here to ensure that they understand because I think that there is actually a bit of miseducation or just not understanding . . . not miseducation, but perhaps misunderstanding of the process that is employed and has been employed around this. Now, one of the points I want to make around what has been said is that the Honourable Member spoke about August and September. The consultation around these provisions that we are bringing and we discussed today, go back a lot further than that. And in fact, stakeholder engagement has been going on for quite some time, in fact years, around this to get . . . it is almost like a prism that has come down to where we are now. And over 500 stakeholders were invited over the course of the last year to provide feedback on these amendments. And I spoke [to] something in my brief about what has actually happened, going as far back as October and November of last year, but it goes back even further than that, Mr. Speaker. Most recently, a stakeholder meeting was held on the 29 th of August. And stakeholders were invited to meet one- on-one with the Health Council. There has not just been some presentation- type of consultation. Invitations to one- on-one consultations were [sent] to providers. And some providers actually did take up those invitations, to ensure that the health providers are considered at the heart of these proposals and the foundations of any regulations built on the principal pro-viders to promote quality and care and safety of patients. So there has been ongoing discussion and over 500 stakeholders were invited to participate. There were six meetings with over 100 stakeholders, including three major workshops with Allied Health — and these are . . . I think we have to also break this up. A lot of the discussion, and even the comments of the Honourable Member, was about doctors, because those are the chief (perhaps) persons who had been speaking in the public eye. To believe that our health system . . . it is not like back in the day. And I can remember, Mr. Speaker, back when I was a young guy, I think my family doctor was — [Inaudible interjections] Hon. Walter H. Roban: No, not Barbara Ball, but it was a doctor who was here on Parliament Street. [Laughter] Hon. Walter H. Roban: I’m sorry, Court Street. Dr. Ross, who you went into his office, and you know, you dealt with the doctor like that. The days where every-body’s engagement with the doctor was just about going to the doctor’s office and sitting down and having a nurse and a doctor deal with you, and that is really how people’s engagement has changed. It is not like that anymore. Doctors are not necessarily at the centre of health care. Health care has evolved. I appreciate that much of what we are hearing, at least from the perspective of the Honourable Mem-ber who put it down, was from doctors. They are not the only piece of the picture. Our health care system has expanded and evolved into so many other people. People who provide health equipment. People who actually . . . it is called the Allied [Health] Profession. So it includes community health, dentists, people who do diagnostics, labs, pharmacies, and other types of ser-vice, even alternative treatments. They are all a part of larger health system. So to just talk about it from the perspective of doctors, which frankly, the arguments that the Honour-able Member — [Crosstalk]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierPoint of order, Mr. Speaker. Hon. Walter H. Roban: —is what would be inaccurate.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerPoint of order. POINT OF ORDER [Misleading]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierThe Honourable Member is misleading the House. I repeatedly . . . to ensure that what he is saying did not happen, I would say doctors and service providers, repeatedly, over and over.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerTake his point. Hon. Walter H. Roban: I hear the point, but in reference to the information of the Member was projecting, I know that is where it is coming from. [Laughter] 1796 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report Ber muda House of Assembly Hon. Walter H. Roban: So whether …
Take his point. Hon. Walter H. Roban: I hear the point, but in reference to the information of the Member was projecting, I know that is where it is coming from. [Laughter] 1796 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report Ber muda House of Assembly Hon. Walter H. Roban: So whether he wants to reshape his argument now or not, the message is from a particular constituency. POINT OF ORDER [Imputing improper motive] Mr . L. Craig Cannonier: Mr. Speaker, point of order. Unfortunately, the Honourable Member is not only try-ing to put words in mouth, but [imputing] improper mo-tive and it needs to stop. Th e Speaker: Take him for his word. Take him for his word. — Ho n. Walter H. Roban: No— Th e Speaker: You can move on to the rest of your — Ho n. Walter H. Roban: No improper motive implied, Mr. Speaker. Absolutely not. Just an interpretation of what I am hearing. [Lau ghter] Ho n. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Speaker, I will go on. [Inaudible interjections] Ho n. Walter H. Roban: He’s stuck. Th e Speaker: Stick to your point. Stick to your point. Ho n. Walter H. Roban: He is stuck; I’m not. Th e Speaker: Stick to your point. Ho n. Walter H. Roban: Anyway, I will go on, Mr. Speaker. •A total of 135 businesses —47 businesses in October 2023, 49 health businesses in Novem-ber 2023, and 39 health businesses in October2024; •Open consultation for three weeks, August 13 through September 5, 2024—received written feedback from 10 health businesses, the Health Council held three private meetings in September of this year — [Inaudible interjections] Ho n. Walter H. Roban: Pardon? People can volunteer to give contributions; they can’t be forced. You can take the horse to water but you can’t make it drink. But we appreciate those who have participated and were prepared to give feed-back. But you can’t force people to talk and disclos e if they don’t want to. The total engaged with over 135 stakeholders. Now, Mr. Speaker, from that information one certainly can assess that there was wide effort at stakeholder consultation. Maybe a few people themselves . . . because you know, nothing is perfect, Mr. Speak er. I know this first hand. Your best efforts at talking to hun-dreds often comes down to still no, you’re not . . . peo-ple feeling that you haven’t talked to them. But you can-not say there has not been the cons ultation, Mr. Speaker. That is not really an argument that holds up to the facts, at all. Going on, Mr. Speaker. Concerns were raised about red tape. The Health Council does not want to create obstacles that make it harder for businesses to serve patients. The Government itself and the Council want to support businesses in the health sector to thrive. That is why with this legislation it is so important to putting quality and safety of the public at the heart of the health system. The regulations have been drafted with business in mind, to build on existing process es and protocols, not to create new ones to confuse people that many health businesses already have in place, and work in a seamless and integrated way. Let me also bring some description here to Members that might be helpful in that we are talking about the health sector. But the health sector and how it works is not much different from other s ectors. And I can compare the electricity s ector very much to it becaus e we have an electricity sector that has a particular provider of s ervices. Right? And those services are used by everybody. And how that service prov ider operates in providing that s ervice, we all pay for. The inputs that they use to provide their service we pay for. And how we use it we essentially pay for as well. And when we use it a lot, sometimes the cost of using it also goes up. And the less we use it, it can potentially go down. Health works in a similar way. The utilisation of the system we all pay for in premiums, that we hav e to pay. So when utilisation goes up, so does our premiums. And that is one reas on why the issue here with one of the things that this Bill is doing, is to control the importation of . . . health technologies. That is for a reason, bec ause the imports of those technologies and similarly with the utility, Mr. Speaker, the utility als o working in a regulated space, and the Honourable Member of [constituency] 14 will tell you, his company cannot just bring in an engine willy-n illy, they have to go through a very deliberate process of consideration by the Regulatory Authority [RA] to show why they are bringing it in—
The SpeakerThe SpeakerCan we stick to— Hon. Walter H. Roban: —t o like quality—
The SpeakerThe Speaker—t his Bill and not mix it with the former one? Hon. Walter H. Roban: It is a comparison, Mr. Speak er. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1797 B ermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Okay. Hon. Walter H. Roban: And I think it is important to show …
—t his Bill and not mix it with the former one? Hon. Walter H. Roban: It is a comparison, Mr. Speak er. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1797 B ermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Okay. Hon. Walter H. Roban: And I think it is important to show comparison that what we are doing in regulatory framework with this Bill is not so dissimilar from other industries where the participation of the public is impacted by everything that happens in an industry. You cannot compartmentalise. Health is not a compartmentalised sector. Every piece of it moves. We are all impacted by it, and, particularly on costs, if you are talking about costs. So that was just a comparison. It happens in the utility sector, as well. BELCO cannot bring in an engine or a major piece of capital technology without actually having it approved. It is not dissimilar. And even to the financial services sector. There are certain products and services that licensed businesses in that sector have to get approval from the BMA to actually provide as well. So these regulated sectors . . . this is not an usual thing that we are talking about here, about what this Bill (again, I am coming back to the Bill, Mr. Speaker)is talking about, regulating the importation and registration of high risk . . . technology, because technology inputs actually contribute to cost and expense in the system. So, there is not an interest in additional red tape by the RA. It is actually as our system has evolved further regulatory features for the Bermuda Health Council are essential for it to do, even some of the concerns that the Honourable Member raised about the buying up of health providers by certain large corpora-tions, insurers. And I share the concerns of the Honourable Member who is constituency 12 for that impact on the health industry. It is impacting. And in some cases, it is impacting how people can access health care. In some cases some of these insurers are saying, Well, if you go to this provider you will get a better rate on what you are being charged. Because that provider has an association with the actual insurer. And we know what is has happened in the last couple of years. And people have expressed their real concern about that. Who arbitrates those movements from now on? In most regulated spaces in most countries, it is a regulator that does that, that determines whether those things can happen and whether they are in the best interests of the industry and the people who benefit from their services. As we know there is antitrust law which governs companies buying each other up. Because there has to be somebody there governing whether these ac-tual actions by companies actually service the better public interest. That is what we are talking about giving the Health Council, Mr. Speaker, with these features that we are talking about here. And again, a reflection. The regulatory space evolves. This is a very new role that the Health Council has taken on. And I believe, at the same time it will evolve the relationship that it has with health providers. It is early now. But as the relationship becomes more mat ure, more trust, I sincerely believe, will come into the picture and there will be more transparency and perhaps even less of some of the tension that the Hon-ourable Member referred to. As time goes on, as the new role the Health Council has taken up as a much more robust regulator and providers become more comfortable with the scrutiny that they are required to have, and the standards that they there being asked to uphold in the interest of our patients, Mr. Speaker . . . I believe that things will change. Now, I will also say, Mr. Speaker, there were a few things that came up in my discussions with providers, and I listened very carefully, that I think that the Health Ministry can revisit and take on. I know [these] were brought up in some of the . . . and if anybody reads the letters that were sent, because essentially the last letter is pretty much a duplication of the letter that was sent in early September. There were some things that came up that I actually think do merit some reconsideration. And I mad e an undertaking to the providers who I spoke to that I would address those mat-ters with the Health Minister. Because actually, it is reminiscent of some of the features that already exist in the regulatory space in other sectors that actually will be helpful that they have asked for it to be considered. So I made an undertaking to the providers that I will speak to the Minister proper about some of these changes that I think may be helpful and they will find comfort with. As one will have listened to my brief, collaboration is actually built into most of the steps that need to come with the passing of this Bill. There is a require-ment that the . . . when it comes to setting the standards and the code of conduct for health businesses and that, that has got to be done with the cooperation of the providers. The Health Council, on the basis of what I presented today, will not and should not and is not proposing to do this exclusively. They actually want to do it in cooperation so that the standards that are set . . . actually the providers will go off with their associations and they will govern themselves, which is what goes on now, particularly in the accounting field and also in the legal field. They govern the code of conduct of their own members in the accounting and the legal fields. Two other very mature professions in Bermuda that have their own standards for their own members. This is [similar to] what the Health Council intends to do with the different Allied Health Professions and different pro-fession in the medical industry. So, I appreciate the concerns raised but I do believe that we are at an early stage of this that will still have the opportunity for those who have concerns to give their input because the system as it is under this Act requires the Health Council to engage with them, to shape what goes forward. And they will have additional opportunities to shape this legislative framework and associated regulations going forward. The whole process of this Bill demands it. And that cooperation is 1798 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly pivotal to us achieving whatever is seeking to be achieved by this legislation. Mr. Speaker, with that I do believe that I can now move that the Bill be committed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Deputy [Speaker]. House in Committee at 11:00 pm [Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr., Chairman] COMMITTEE ON BILL BERMUDA HEALTH COUNCIL AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2024
The ChairmanChairmanHonourable Members, we are now in Committee of the whole [House] for further consideration of the Bill entitled the Bermuda Health Council Amendment (No.2) Act 2024 . Minister Roban, you have the floor. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Yes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have been honoured to be in your …
The ChairmanChairmanOh you . . . Hon. Walter H. Roban: I am going to try to make it as quickly as possible.
The ChairmanChairmanThat is wonderful; just wonderful. Hon. Walter H. Roban: I know you love it.
The ChairmanChairmanYes. Hon. Walter H. Roban: I am going to move all 12 clauses, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanGo right ahead. Hon. Walter H. Roban: The Bill seeks to amend the Bermuda Health Council Act 2004 (“the principal Act”) . Clause 1 is self -explanatory. Clause 2 amends section 2 (“Interpretation”) by defining the terms “financially -vested referral”, and “high risk health technology”. Clause 3 amends section 5 …
Go right ahead. Hon. Walter H. Roban: The Bill seeks to amend the Bermuda Health Council Act 2004 (“the principal Act”) . Clause 1 is self -explanatory. Clause 2 amends section 2 (“Interpretation”) by defining the terms “financially -vested referral”, and “high risk health technology”. Clause 3 amends section 5 (“Functions of the Council”) by providing for the Council to regulate the importation and operation of high risk health technology; and for the establishment, maintenance and pub-lication of a register of licenced health service pr oviders. Clause 4 inserts section 10A (“Budget”) and section 10B (“Funds of the Council”). Section 10A sets out the procedure by which the Council’s annual budget is to be approved by the Minister of Health and the Minister of Finance. Section 10B provides for the funds of the Council. Clause 5 amends section 13 (”Licensing of health service providers”) by increasing the amount of the current fine on summary convictions; resulting on the penalty . . . removing, I am sorry. Removing the penalty of imprisonment. I am sorry! I want to make sure I read that right.
The ChairmanChairmanYes. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Removing the penalty of imprisonment; and providing an indictable offence and penalty for carrying on a business as a health service provider without a licence. Clause 6 makes amendments to section 14 (“Inspection”) to provide for the Council to engage the services of inspectors with …
Yes. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Removing the penalty of imprisonment; and providing an indictable offence and penalty for carrying on a business as a health service provider without a licence. Clause 6 makes amendments to section 14 (“Inspection”) to provide for the Council to engage the services of inspectors with subject -matter expertise; to provide that inspectors may require the production of records relating to returns filed with the Counci l; by providing for an indictable offence and penalty for ob-structing an inspector in the performance of his duties or failing to provide records or returns requested by the inspector; and increases the amount of the current fine on summary conviction. Clause 7 amends section 15 (“Regulations”). Paragraph (a) provides for the prescribing of fees; the procedure for establishing standards of operation for health businesses; establishing, maintaining and publishing the register of licenced health service pr oviders; for the review of decisions of the Council by persons aggrieved by the decision; record keeping in relation to returns, statistics or other information provided to the Council by health service providers; and civil penalties to be imposed. Paragraph (b) provides that in determining the amount of a fee, consideration is to be given to the performance of the relevant function by the Council and any matters incidental thereto. Clause 8 repeals section 16 ("Fees”). Presently, section 16 provides for the prescribing of fees in relation to the issue and renewal of licences of health service providers under the Government Fees Act 1965. This amendment provides for fees to be pre-scribed by regulations made under section 15 of the principal Act. Clause 9 inserts Part IIIA (“Regulation and Registration of High Risk Health Technology”) which consists of section 16A (“Importation of high risk health technology prohibited”), section 16B (“Registration of high risk health technology”), section 16C (“Inspection of high risk health technology”), [section] 16D (“Regulations: high risk health technology”), and [ section] 16E (“Meaning of high risk health technology”). Clause 10 inserts section 16F (“Civil penalties”) which provides that a health service provider or the registered owner of high risk health technology is liable to a civil penalty for failing to comply with a con-dition of a licence or registration or faili ng to comply with any requirement imposed under the Regulations. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1799
Bermuda House of Assembly Clause 11 amends section 18 ("Confidentiality”) by removing the penalty of imprisonment. Removing the penalty of imprisonment. Clause 12 provides that the Act comes into operation on such day as the Minister appoints by notice published in the Gazette. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you. Any speakers to clauses 1 through 12? MP Cannonier.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes, thank you, Mr. Chairman. If I could point our attention to clause 5 . . . sorry.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes, clause 5, section 13(2). I notice that the increase is from $20,000 (although it does not say it here) and I know that we removed the imprisonment. So we are going from $20,000 to $50,000. I was just thinking, what was the reasoning or logic behind t hat? Do …
Mr. L. Craig CannonierDo you want me to go right through? Hon. Walter H. Roban: Yes, yes. Go right through with all your —
Mr. L. Craig CannonierOk, great, great, great, great. And then if we could take a look at clause 9. And on clause 9 . . . [proposed section] 16A(1) where it says No person, group of persons or organization shall import high risk health technology . . . without a permit issued by …
Ok, great, great, great, great. And then if we could take a look at clause 9. And on clause 9 . . . [proposed section] 16A(1) where it says No person, group of persons or organization shall import high risk health technology . . . without a permit issued by the Council . I guess what I wanted to understand better is, how does this process work, this permit process? Is it required that they get a permit online? How does that work and is it in place? I know that we are going through this exercise here. If it is not in plac e, when will it be in place? And then if I go to . . . I will just continue on. Also under same [clause 9] section 16A(2). How did we determine these figures of $40,000 and $60,000? What was some of the thinking behind that? And . . . clause 9, [proposed section] 16A(2). So question on 16A(1) and question on 16A(2) on how we got to the . . . we are hearing from some of the service providers that they felt that basically these fees . . . not fees, but these conviction penalties were pretty high. If I go down to, again, clause 9 [proposed section] 16B. Again we have the same figures of $40,000 to $60,000. But let me just go to that real quick because I had another concern there. Sorry. [Pause]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes, okay, yes, same question there. If we go down again clause 9, [proposed section] 16C if you follow me through here. [Proposed section 16C](1) says, “The Minister may designate public officers as inspectors.” And then [proposed section 16C](2) says, “ The Council may, from time to time, engage the …
Yes, okay, yes, same question there. If we go down again clause 9, [proposed section] 16C if you follow me through here. [Proposed section 16C](1) says, “The Minister may designate public officers as inspectors.” And then [proposed section 16C](2) says, “ The Council may, from time to time, engage the services of persons as inspectors who have the required subject -matter [expertise.]” This is in relation to, Mr. Chairman, high risk equipment and I recognise that we have not had a radiation safety officer for about five years, four or five years now. So I am trying to understand where are we positioned as far as that is concerned, in having some-body qualified and how is it possible that we are going to in [proposed section 16C](1) the Minister may designate public officers , how is it that we are going to designate public officers to high risk equipment which re-quire training? It would only make sense to keep [proposed section 16C](2) to engage the services of persons as inspectors who have the required subject matter expertise. You don’t need [proposed section 16C](1) because . . . unless they are just checking if the plug works. It does not make any sense to be hiring a civil servant. Also, if I go down to clause 9, [proposed section] 16D(1)(b), and this again in regulations . . . still looking at the regulations of high risk health technology. In [proposed section 16D(1)](b), it says, “ governing applications for the registration and re- registration of high risk health technology .” Is the intent to also encompass . . . for instance, if I already have an MRI piece of equipment that is outdated, if I am just ordering another one, the same one, does that also encompass replacement of that s ame machine? Or does that mean that even if I am getting a replacement, I have to re- register all over again? Also, [proposed section] 16D(1)(c), prescribing fees, including application fees; prescribing different fees . . . on and on and on. So have these fees already been established? You have established a dollar value for penalties like the $40,000 and the $60,000, which typically would be these doctors’ offices bringing in this equipment. But what about these fees that we are looking at for high risk equipment? Have we established what those are and for what categories of high risk equipment and the likes? Let me just flip over here . . . also on page 7, let me make sure I read the clause right. [Proposed section] 16E, page 7, 16E(d). Here it says that . . . in relation to the meaning of high risk technology, it says, to be used to image in vivo [distribution] and goes on and on and speaks to PET which is positron emission tomography . I know that the Health Council is just 1800 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly giving an example here. But could they explain exactly what that is? What is a PET and what does it do? And that is it for my questions.
The ChairmanChairmanThank you. PET is right there actually in [proposed section 16E](d).
The ChairmanChairmanMinister. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for the questions that have been posed. Let me see if I can just go through these right . . . the Honourable Member raised a question about the penalties about why they are so high. The fines …
Minister.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And thank you for the questions that have been posed. Let me see if I can just go through these right . . . the Honourable Member raised a question about the penalties about why they are so high. The fines were aligned with the risk that is associated with the potential for high risk technology. High risk technology is likely to be technology that emits certain levels of radiation and other things. And you have to be very careful with that technology and should be of a particular standard and you should be able to certainly be able to understand the custody, where it is manufactured, where it has come from and be able to verify its safety. But there is risk. I mean for . . . whether it be a MRI machine or a CAT scan or an X -ray machine . . . those are all highly advanced technology that uses certain el-ements of radiation or magnetic fields to . . . and these things are dangerous. You know, there are certain rules that you have to follow even just to get in the room with MRI because it is dangerous if you do not follow those rules. So the penalties are aligned with the risk. And as the Honourable Member did describe in the other part of the debate, these equipment pieces cost millions of dollars. You don’t buy them on Amazon at like a discount. So they are extremely expensive and so the risk associated with them . . . that could be high if they are not of the right quality and standard. Like, for in-stance, what if somebody . . . and this is why it is important to have a regulatory framework and I believe what is being proposed is that somebody decides to bring in a piece of equipment from somewhere, they think they are getting it on cheap. Maybe it is second-hand. But there may not be the proper information to ensure that it is quality or that it even operates properly. So certainly t here needs to be a proper process with assessing that technology and ensuring that it has been operated or is even manufactured to a standard that we feel is best that will ensure the safety of pa-tients. So there is a risk associated with all of this technology and operating it. Not having the proper peo-ple trained to operate it. All these things. That is a lot of risk. So the fines are associated with the risks associated with the technology itself. Clause 9 . . . I think it is clause 9. Let me go check it again, sorry. The Honourable Member referred to a number of parts of clause 9. [Proposed section] 16C . . . I think he talked . . . I am sorry. I am sorry. Your first that I remember . . . was it [section] 16A or 16C. I thought it was 16C to do with the Minister designating somebody as a public officer to be an inspector.
[Inaudible interjections]
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Well, I think I spoke to that about the risk. That is the one I spoke to about the risk. You were talking about the extent of the fine— that is what I was speaking to was like the risk. That is why the fines are set because of the risk associated with high risk technology. The fines are aligned with the risk associated with it.
[Inaudible interjection]
Mr. L. Craig CannonierClarification here. This particular part is the importation. The 16A(1) is for importation. So as we go further over to 16B, that is for the registration, yes, but are you saying then that the $40,000 and the $60,000, it is that high because of the risk o f the equipment? …
Clarification here. This particular part is the importation. The 16A(1) is for importation. So as we go further over to 16B, that is for the registration, yes, but are you saying then that the $40,000 and the $60,000, it is that high because of the risk o f the equipment? It is not being used. It is to import it. It is just to import it. But the fine is $40,000 to $60,000. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Okay, well, [proposed section] 16A(1) is, “ No person, group of persons or organization shall import high risk health technology into Bermuda except under [ and in] accordance with a permit issued by the [Health] Council . . .”. So they would have to get a permit to issue it first. If they don’t have that permit, they will be subject to the fine. If they bring it in knowingly without the permit, they will be subject to the fine because of the risk associated with certain types of technology. And those fines are actually under advice of the DPP. As well they gave us advice in reference to the levels of the fines based on those issues. And if I can just go on with the other answers and I will —
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes. Hon. Walter H. Roban: And then he can get back up again, because you asked a number of questions. There was a question about “The Minister may designate public officers as inspectors.” And then you talked about in [proposed section 16C](2) that from time to time that there would …
Yes. Hon. Walter H. Roban: And then he can get back up again, because you asked a number of questions. There was a question about “The Minister may designate public officers as inspectors.” And then you talked about in [proposed section 16C](2) that from time to time that there would be the engagement of service persons who are subject matter experts. I wi ll connect those two, Honourable Member . That public officer would be designated as an inspector only if they are qualified. So a public officer with the proper training would be designated as the inspector. But they would have to be somebody who is qualif ied to do those inspections.
Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1801
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. L. Craig Cannonier: That is what (2) says. That is what I am saying. It is redundant.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: I would disagree in that (2) pertains to anybody else to make sure that they are not a part of . . . if they are not within the public service, if they are somebody who is in, certainly, a subject matter expert that we can rely on. But no public officer w ould be identified in this respect unless they are qualified to do those inspections. That is what I just —
Mr. L. Craig CannonierIt is in (2). It should say it in (1). Hon. Walter H. Roban: We will take it under advisement.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierOkay. Hon. Walter H. Roban: I will go on to [proposed section] 16D. The Honourable Member talked about the governing application process for re -registration. A registration and a re- registration of any new technology will be treated the same because if you are even updating a current system, we …
Okay.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: I will go on to [proposed section] 16D. The Honourable Member talked about the governing application process for re -registration. A registration and a re- registration of any new technology will be treated the same because if you are even updating a current system, we would need to know that that ac-tually is an update of your existing technology if you are replaci ng.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierIt covers replacement. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Yes. So the same quality of scrutiny that would go to the original technology would go to the re- registration of that or if they are bringing in any new technology. A new system that . . . over an existing one. So …
It covers replacement. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Yes. So the same quality of scrutiny that would go to the original technology would go to the re- registration of that or if they are bringing in any new technology. A new system that . . . over an existing one. So we would require the same quality of scrutiny of that new technology, even if it is just an update. Prescribing fees . . . I believe with the passing of this . . . fees have not been prescribed yet, but the passing of this law creates the capacity for those fees to be properly set. But the actual fines were on the advice of the DPP. But these fees will be set once we have the capacity to do so. The law will create the capacity to set fees.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierGot you, got you. Hon. Walter H. Roban: The last one I believe the Honourable Member had spoken [about] was [proposed section] 16E where he talked about . . . he wanted the definition of the PET. It is a type of imaging test. It looks for disease in the …
Got you, got you.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: The last one I believe the Honourable Member had spoken [about] was [proposed section] 16E where he talked about . . . he wanted the definition of the PET. It is a type of imaging test. It looks for disease in the body using radioactive (again, radiation) tracers. Because you know there are some procedures where they actually inject radiation into your bloodstream—blood flow, this one has to do with some organs. So these are very sensitive technologies that use radiation as a diagnosti c tool so there is risk associated with it. So we need to have the commiserate structure that can support, govern and police and potentially manage these processes. Those are all the questions so far, Mr. Chairman. I will sit down. If there are any —
The ChairmanChairmanAny further questions? There appear to be none. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will now go and—
The ChairmanChairmanMove the clauses. Hon. Walter H. Roban: I move that clauses 1 through 12 be approved.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that clauses 1 through 12 be approved. Are there any objections? There appear to be none. Approved. [Motion carried: Clauses 1 through 12 passed.] Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Chairman, I move that the preamble be approved.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the preamble be approved. Any objection? Approved. No objections. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Chairman, I move that the Bill be reported to the House as printed.
The ChairmanChairmanIt has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed. Any objections? There are none. The Bill will be reported to the House. [Gavel] [Motion carried: The Bermuda Health Council Amendment (No.2) Act 2024 was considered by a Committee of the whole House and passed without …
It has been moved that the Bill be reported to the House as printed. Any objections? There are none. The Bill will be reported to the House.
[Gavel] [Motion carried: The Bermuda Health Council Amendment (No.2) Act 2024 was considered by a Committee of the whole House and passed without amendment.]
House resumed at 11:22 pm
[Hon. Dennis P. Lister, Jr., in the Chair]
REPORT OF COMMITTEE
BERMUDA HEALTH COUNCIL AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2024
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMembers, are there any objections to the Bill entitled the Bermuda Health Council Amend-ment (No. 2) Act 2024 being reported to the House as printed? There are no objections. The Bill has been reported. 1802 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly Members, we will now move …
Members, are there any objections to the Bill entitled the Bermuda Health Council Amend-ment (No. 2) Act 2024 being reported to the House as printed? There are no objections. The Bill has been reported. 1802 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Members, we will now move on to Item number 13 on the Order Paper which is consideration of the Bermuda Health Council (Health Service Providers) (Li-censing) Regulations 2024, again in the name of the Minister of Health but led by the Deputy Premier. Deputy Premier. Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker . I move that consideration be given to the draft Regulations entitled the Bermuda Health Council (Health Service Providers) (Licensing) [Regulations 2024 ] proposed to be made by the Minister responsible for Health after consultation with the Council and in ex-ercise of the power conferred by section 15 of the Ber-muda Health Council Act. This feeds from the Bill that we just passed and are the actual regulat ions that fees from those amendments that we just passed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerLet me just see if anyone has any objections to proceeding? No objections. Continue, Minister. DRAFT REGULATIONS BERMUDA HEALTH COUNCIL (HEALTH SERVICE PROVIDERS) (LICENSING) REGULATIONS 2024 Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Speaker, I stand before you to introduce the Bermuda Health Council (Health Service Providers) (Licensing) Regulations 2024 . The …
Let me just see if anyone has any objections to proceeding? No objections. Continue, Minister.
DRAFT REGULATIONS
BERMUDA HEALTH COUNCIL (HEALTH SERVICE PROVIDERS) (LICENSING) REGULATIONS 2024
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Mr. Speaker, I stand before you to introduce the Bermuda Health Council (Health Service Providers) (Licensing) Regulations 2024 . The Regulations to be made by the Minister of Health pur-suant to section 15 of the Bermuda Health Council Act 2004 providing for the licensing of health providers by the Bermuda Health Council. (And “providers,” again, are health businesses not the individual practitioners. Just to be clear. “Providers” is the term for the busi-nesses.) And pertain to requirements with respect to the financially vested referrals and self -referrals. The role of the Health Council is to regulate, coordinate and enhance the delivery of services rendered by health providers in Bermuda under the Bermuda Health Council Act 2004. The Council has the authority to “exercise regulatory responsibilities with re-spect to health services and to ensure that health ser-vices are provided to the highest standards” under sec-tion 5[(1)](b). Section 2 of the Act defines a “health service provider" as “a person, group of persons or organiza-tion that operates a business offering health services to the public, but does not include a person who is an em-ployee under a contract of service.” Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health intends to gazette a notice that will bring into effect section 16 of the [Bermuda] Health Council Act 2004, licensing of health service [ providers ] (HSPs) soon after assent of the Amendment Act and thereby authorises the Council to fulfil its duty in licensing of businesses of health service providers, whether hospitals, medical, dental or other professional services related to health. Mr. Speaker, the allocation of human resources to the Health Council in 2015 raised its capac-ity to fully exercise its mandate to license and inspect facilities. The Health Council established a scheme in-viting voluntary registration of local health service pro-viders. In 2019, the registration evolved into Provider Advantage Programme, basic and advanced registra-tion. To date, more than 200 health service providers have voluntarily registered with the Provider Advantage Programme which represents 32 per cent of the est imated 630 health service providers in Bermuda. The Honourable Member brought this up in another debate, but I knew that it was coming up in this so it can be appreciated that the Health Council does not officially have information on every provider of health services across the board. This is to ensure that they do. So they do not know, and I am just quoting the Honourable Member, they do not know everybody who is out there providing services. They do not officially know. But this will allow for an official record of infor-mation that can benefit patients [so they] know who is out there providing what and ensuring that they are properly registered and licensed. The Health Council, through making these Regulations, the mandatory licensing scheme through the Council will establish a comprehensive register of health service providers building on the work already conducted. The Health Council has implemented a ro-bust automated document management system that will be utilised to administer an efficient and nimble li-censing process. Mr. Speaker, the licensing requirements in the Cayman Islands, US Virgin Islands, The Bahamas, Barbados, UK, Ontario, Canada, New Zealand, Aus-tralia and Massachusetts, in terms of the US, are all relevant and informative in this matter. The aforementioned list includes Caribbean islands, countries which already have universal health coverage (the UK, Can-ada, New Zealand and Australia) and those with similar fee-for-service health care models like Bermuda, which would be the United States and the US Virgin Islands. Most of these jurisdictions require licensing or certification of health care facilities. The UK and New Zealand are exceptions in that emphasis is placed on registration and certification of the service provider and the health service, respectively, rather than the facility. The Cayman Islands, the US Virgin Islands and The Bahamas require licensing or certification of practition-ers’ offices as well. Like Bermuda, these jurisdictions also have professional registration requirements for health and medical individuals which are managed by their professional boards and councils. In these jurisdictions, a board commission or the Health Minister is the regulator. Applications for licensing and certification are required and an inspection of the facilities is a part of the process. There can also be investigations into consumer complaints. Licence or certificates can be re-fused, revoked or suspended. Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1803 Bermu da House of Assembly Bermuda ’s current regulatory framework provides for the licensing of diagnostic imaging facilities, clinical labs, pharmacies, health insurers and long- term care facilities, plus the hospital, which carries an overseas accreditation. These are a fraction of the health services on offer in Bermuda. But the remaining health service providers, the health businesses that focus on registering the health professionals carry out the work (i.e., confirming education and training qualifications), professional regis tration is undertaken by various statutory boards such as the Bermuda Medical Council, Board of Diagnostic Imaging Technicians and the Bermuda Dental Board. Mr. Speaker, under the proposed Regulations, health businesses will need to apply online using the Council’s form. This form was shared with stakeholders during consultation and links to the form are available on the Health Council’s website. Currently there are no application fees, but this is subject to change in the future. So, we are not changing anything now. It is still free. The Council will have an authority to add conditions or restrictions to the licence which will typically be valid for three years. If the application is denied, the Council will provide [the applicant] with an explanation and give 21 days to respond before making a final decision. So if [it] appears it is going to be denied, the ac-tual applicant will have essentially an appeal function for 21 days to go back to the Council to address any of the issues with why their registration is denied. So, they have a right to natural justice, essentially, to have any possible decision against them reviewed. Mr. Speaker, under the proposed regulations the Council will be responsible for maintaining and pub-lishing a register of licensed HSPs ensuring transparency and public access to information. Additionally, the Council will have the authority to publish standards and codes of practice, but only after seeking and considering—important point, but only after seeking and considering—feedback from the providers and relevant stakeholders. So, these st andards will not be drawn up without talking to them. The points about consultation are understood as the Honourable Member for constituency 12 brought up. These processes that we have approved today cannot be com-pleted without consultation with the stakeholders and their associations. [It is] very clear. The Council can also modify licences by adding, changing or removing conditions and restrictions, or even revoke licences entirely if necessary. However, the Council must follow due process by providing a warning notice and granting 21 days for a response before taking action against the licence. Furthermore, a written decision must be issued within 90 days of the warning notice, or it will be deemed that no action has been taken. In cases where HSPs surrender their li-cence, the Council will perform oversight to ensure that patient and operational matters are being properly administered. Lastly, the Council is tasked with publishing guidelines to outline how civil penalties will be administered providing clarity and predictability in enforcement. Mr. Speaker, licensed HSPs have a right to request changes to any conditions or restrictions imposed on their licences. If the Council denies the application for the licence renewal or change, HSPs have the right to seek judicial review. In some cases, the HSP can also request the court to suspend the Council’s decision until the review of application has been processed ensuring operations are not disrupted. Licensed HSPs must adhere to all conditions attached to their licence or they risk civil penalty. Failure to operate within the restrictions outlined on the licence could result in fines or even revocation of the licence. If the HSP contravenes the law and a director of a company is involved, the director will also be held responsible. Mr. Speaker, HSPs are obligated to submit reports as required, maintain proper records and comply with standards of practice and codes of practice, failure of which could lead to civil penalties. If the HSP intends to surrender their licence, they are required to provide a 60- day notice to the Council and 90- day notice to their clients allowing for smooth transition to ensure continuity of care for patients. Mr. Speaker, businesses operating as health service providers before the regulations come into operation can continue to operate as long as they apply for the licence within 90 days. The regulations will come into operation on the day appointed by the Minister by notice published in The Official Gazette. Mr. Speaker, the proposed health provider licensing scheme will enable the Council, in close collaboration with stakeholders . . . And that is a continuing theme through all of these deliberations that I have presented, Mr. Speaker. Cooperation and collaboration with stakeholders will be embodied in these statutory instruments. It is a requirement —it is not discretionary—in the implementation of business standards to manage the entry of new services to the healthcare system in harmony with Bermuda’s population needs. Provide high- level oversight of operational practices to ensure appropriate and safe client care, and monitor utilisation where conflic ts of interes ts may arise. Mr. Speaker, this represents the regulations for the lic ensing of health servic e providers. With these remarks, I am pleased to present these Regulations for consideration by the House. Thank you, Mr. Speak er.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWould any other Member like to make a contribution towards these Regulations?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGo right ahead. 1804 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you very much. Recognising these are Regulations, I will go through a very, very brief summary and thought and then ask my questions. The Minister finished off talking on the last …
Go right ahead. 1804 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Mr. L. Craig Cannonier: Thank you very much. Recognising these are Regulations, I will go through a very, very brief summary and thought and then ask my questions. The Minister finished off talking on the last Bill and then on this one about different —600- odd—service providers, and the scope was beyond, you know, just doctors and the likes. I wonder: How does someone know that they fall within this category in and of itself? Like, is there going to be a list of broad catego-ries so that if someone wants to do something they can look at [it] to know in actual fact that they are a service provider? I was just curious because I know that with a very limited amount of THC, you can sell different hemp products. Do they fit within that category? I do not know. So, I am bringing that up—
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberIt is a little late for all that.
An Hon. Member An Hon. Member[INAUDIBLE] roof falling .
Mr. L. Craig CannonierNot a little late. I am sure that one or two Ministers will know that there is a Cannonier who owns one of those shops, and the complications that came along with that even after being given per-mission to operate. So, I am trying to avoid that gap there t …
Not a little late. I am sure that one or two Ministers will know that there is a Cannonier who owns one of those shops, and the complications that came along with that even after being given per-mission to operate. So, I am trying to avoid that gap there t o ensure that people do not get themselves in trouble. Where can we look to help us understand that we need to be applying for a licence as opposed to just selling stuff or doing a service? I do not know. Maybe some spas are doing some things that will fall under that particular category as well, as it is being broadened by the Health Council. So, it would be nice to know whether that actually does exist so that there is no ambiguity. I also recognise that over . . . I am trying to figure out. There is [regulation] 12(1) and (2). It talks about . . . and also, in [regulation] 4(1)(a) it talks about who is no longer a fit and proper person. I am trying to determine how is the Council . . . That could prove to be very subjective in some instances, but the applicant is to be a fit and proper person. [I am] just trying to determine how the Council is going to go about deciding that. And as far as 12(1), the same thing—“The Council may at any time impose on the licence of a health service provider such restrictions as it considers appropriate where —[(a)] the Council is satisfied that the health service provider —[(i)] is no longer a fit and proper person.” So, it would be nice to know what gauge they are using for that. Also, if we go over to [regulations] 15, 16, and 17, you will also notice there that it talks about this code of practice. And I was just wondering when (it applies to 15, 16, and 17) this will be published? When are you anticipating publishing this code of practice so that these folks who are in the service provider industry understand exactly where you are going with this here? So, it would be good to have. That is really where I am. In [regulation] 17, it talks about publishing on its website. “The Council may publish on its website standards of operation for health businesses.” How far and where are we with this? Because I can assure you that some of the service providers are on an ongoing basis doing things. If we are going to be passing this Bill anytime soon, this stuff needs to get out there so that, again, there is no ambiguity. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Honourable Member . Deputy Speaker, would you like to make a contribution? Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Yes, Mr. Speaker. Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerGo right ahead. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Speaker, you know, we look at our doctors. We trust them. They deliver our children. We call on them when we have a pain somewhere, [an] emergency, and yet I think we treat them with disrespect, Mr. Speaker. The consultation with …
Go right ahead. Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, Sr.: Mr. Speaker, you know, we look at our doctors. We trust them. They deliver our children. We call on them when we have a pain somewhere, [an] emergency, and yet I think we treat them with disrespect, Mr. Speaker. The consultation with doctors is not happening like it should happen. Consultation should be formal-ised. It is almost like you [are] negotiating a contract with workers. Workers and employers get together and they negotiate. And they come to an agreement. It is not where employers send you a draft and say, Well, take this, go over it . And we will look at it , and we will decide what is going to happen. That is what happens with the doctors right now. They should be brought in because that is their livelihood . And they should be deeply involved with anything to do with their business, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, less than 8 per cent of the healthcare dollar goes to private physicians. And the offices of physicians are becoming fewer because they have been bought up by conglomerates, bigger companies. And Mr. Speaker, what will they do? Or what are they doing? It will prevent a Bermudian [from] com-ing home to set up . . . not prevent them, but make it difficult for them coming home to set up shop because they are competing against big business. You have insurance companies. They have got drug stores. And it is not illegal, you know. It is in the law. It is in the law. And the Health Council is not saying anything about that. But they pick on what we refer to as the low -hanging fruit. They want to regulate doctors—overregulate doctors. Mr. Speaker, when the police went into Dr. Brown’s office and took those files of patients, [the] Health Council said nothing. Said nothing! I believe the selection of the Health Council is wrong because I think the Health Council should be made of more doctors, not appointed by a Minister but Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1805
Bermuda House of Assembly on the recommendation of the Bermuda Medical Doctors Association. They know their members. I do not know them. So, they should be told, Okay if the Council is seven, the doctors will provide three, or something like that. And they will pick their own people, Mr. Speaker. This is not happening. We are treating our doctors like they are some outside invaders. They are important to this society. They have a good reputation. They are respectable. But we are not regulating big companies, you know. We want information on patients, and we are going on certain diseases. And we are going to the doctors when the insurance companies can give you that because insurance companies will have that data in order to set the next year’s budget. We have had so many of these cases. They can give you the math figures . You can burden some doctor’s office to spend time, pay over-time to put those figures together. It does not make any sense. Why not put it on the insurance companies? Are they afraid to touch them, Mr. Speaker ? This is not right. Our doctors should be involved. And if you get a doctor in Bermuda that speaks up, they are blackballed. They do not want them because they are not speaking the same language, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, when we look at these regulations, there is a fine there if you commit offences. It’s riddled all through these regulations. Commits offence? There is a penalty. There is a penalty. There is a penalty. But if you look on page 10 [regulation 20] (5), if you have got a partnership of three doctors and if an of-fence occurred the whole three doctors are fined. So that is $60,000! And if it is a corporation or whatever, a company of them, if there are eight of them they can fine all eight if they knew what was going on. It is almost like saying that okay I am in a car. There are four of us in the car, and the driver is speed-ing. We all know who is speeding. They only fine the driver. They do not fine the passengers. But they are being very heavy -handed. And to fine $20,000 . . . our doctors do not have that type of reputation in Bermuda where you have to fine them $20,000, let alone you want to put them in prison. They do not have that reputation. We have a good reputation. We have a fine crop of doctors in this country. I am proud of them. I have confidence in them. And we need to treat them with respect, Mr. Speaker. When you want to sit down and regulate them, their livelihood, and they do not have any say, it makes no sense. The blue- collar worker, the white- collar worker, they have a say in their livelihoods at the table. They are present. No drafts are sent to them for them to comment on. What the Health Council should be concentrating on is why it takes so long—takes over six months — to get routine surgery at the hospital. That is what they should be concentrating [on]. They should be concentrating on why we need more beds down there. Those are some of the things they should be concentrating on, Mr. Speaker, without worrying about doctors as the people that they should be trying to regulate . They remove the physician from the hospital. So, my doctor cannot go down to the hospital. This is the type of thing that the Health Council should be ad-dressing. They should be addressing the high cost of healthcare in Bermuda. They have not done anything. They should be sitting down trying to put together a national health plan. But no, they are not doing that. They will say, Let’s regulate these doctors. And most times on the Health Council you do not have all medical physicians on there. These are the people that know. These are the people that can help us. Some have practiced in other countries, and they have ideas that can make things better for us. None of them said anything when Dr. Brown said years ago, You want to cut the cost of healthcare down? Let’s take 10 per cent off of all of healthcare. They were quiet. Silent! Silent, like they are silent when these insurance . . . They do not even want to g o to insurance companies and get their data that they should be able to get just by the press of a button because the insurance company has that data. But no, they want to fine doctors and treat them with disrespect and disdain, Mr. Speaker. I am annoyed at it. I do not agree with this here because it is not right. You cannot treat people like this here. My background is trying to get people to be treated decently and that includes doctors and anybody that lives in this country overrating our medical profession, the people that we trust, the people that we can tell things to and have the confidence that they will not talk to anyone else about it. And we are treating them like they are some invaders that we do not know. This cannot go on li ke this, Mr. Speaker. I would urge the Ministry to rise and report progress. Go and sit down with those doctors because the doctors have never sat down—although they have not lately —and had a formalised meeting with the Minister and her people. [They] have not done that. And that is not right. That is not what we are supposed to be doing. We are supposed to treat people right because they have rights like everybody else. All workers have right[s]. Doctors are workers. And they have rights. The Health Council should be making comments about our nurses. They are overworked and underpaid. They are not saying anything about that. Our nurses are hard working. And at night time when they are doing their night shift and all the bells are ringing to come, most times there is only one doctor down there. And the nurses have to run all about. But their pay is inadequate. And that is not a reason why we got a shortage of nurses. But s ome countries are paying for their nurses. We are not. But we are paying those that go home at five o’clock. Nobody calls on the executives at night when they are down in pain. They call on their nurse. And they wish they can call on their family doctor, but their doctor cannot go down there. 1806 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly I tell you. We need to sit back and rethink how we treat our doctors, our most precious group of people. And when we talk about there being a shortage of doctors worldwide, we do not notice it in Bermuda that much, for whatever reason. And those that we have, we would like to keep. We do not want our numbers to dwindle. But if you are treating them like they are thirdclass citizens, you may lose them. I call upon my Government to direct the Bermuda Health Council to do what is right. Get up there and make it . . . you are making laws like you want to run around [saying], I am in charge of that group of people. I am in charge. No. No! Treat them right. You treat people right; you will get [a] reciprocal response, Mr. Speaker. So, with that, Mr. Speaker, I thank you for allowing me this.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Deputy. MP Anthony Richardson, would you like to make a contribution?
Mr. Anthony RichardsonI have a big smile. I do not say this normally, but I will be brief. Mr. Speaker, I have to stand and first of all declare my interest. I am the Deputy Chair of the Bermuda Health Council, and so I sat back quietly. And I guess I have …
I have a big smile. I do not say this normally, but I will be brief. Mr. Speaker, I have to stand and first of all declare my interest. I am the Deputy Chair of the Bermuda Health Council, and so I sat back quietly. And I guess I have taken my licks as they say. But I want to assure everyone that the Bermuda Health Council is very much aware of all of the comments that have been made, that are being made, and the disquiet that has been evidenced by those in the community. I do take the Deputy [Speaker’s] point that the physicians themselves have been probably more vocal than the rest. But I do accept the fact that of course the physicians are not the only persons that act in the health systems. There are many others. And each of them obviously has a part to play. I must also say, Mr. Speaker, I guess in terms of declaring my interests, that I do professional work in that regard. And so, I do provide advice and whatever many of them and have experience because I previously worked in the Account General’s department and had to do GHI and all the rest of it. And I was actually the first CEO at the Health Council. What has been interesting, though, Mr. Speaker , is that when I was the CEO at the Health Council, they actually appointed many persons that were in the health sector. And I was amazed because it seemed as if they all had a conflict of interest. But the idea was that it worked itself out because in the context of all of them having their own interest, they got to better decisions. And so, if you take the point from MP Burgess [who] just sat down, I guess I should not be on the Health Council because I am not a medical professional. But I know I have the expertise to do what I am going to do, Mr. Speaker, and so I will take that one aside. Mr. Speaker, I just want to really emphasise the fact that obviously consultation is very, very important. And the Deputy [Premier] has already spoken about the fact that there was actually a significant amount of consultation that took place in the realm of getting t o the place where we are. Clearly though, not everyone is happy with where we are, and the invitation is for them to come back to the Health Council and resume the discussion as necessary. What I was actually very encouraged about, Mr. Speaker, in terms of preparing for today, [was that] I actually contacted representatives of the Bermuda Medical Doctors Association. I spoke to the deputy at length, and of course I spoke with the senior leadership at the Health Council. And I was actually happy to note (in my own words, though) that there actually is broad agreement around the fact that this must be done. There is broad agreement around the fact that there needs to be more regulation when it comes to how the health profession is operated in Bermuda. Many of us would know, for example, that there was a relatively prominent person that undertook the ownership of a medical business recently, and there was quite a bit of disquiet within the health fraternity because they thought that that was not appropri ate. I am not quite sure where it stands now, but that was an example whereby, yes, there needs to be some more guidelines, if you will, around who can actually own a medical practice or healthcare practice and the degree to which you have to have a medica l person involved. And so, I think this speaks to that. One of the (I want to say unintended, but it is a positive consequence) [unintended positive consequences] is that we all have had comments. And I probably made one of the first comments here in the House when we first knew that the BF&M in August were considering an amalgamation because the comment was that it was going to change the landscape of healthcare permanently. And more recently there have been many comments, and MP Burgess has said the same thing because you are going to create more obstacles to the normal free operation of the healthcare system. But in my words tonight, Mr. Speaker, some of the implications of the Regulations today will actually speak to what is going to happen because it will hope-fully mean that the insurance companies cannot be an insurance company and own a medical practice, and own a lab, and own a pharmacy, and direct people as to what to do because that represents a natural conflict. And so, I trust that that will be one of those things that ends up being a positive but unintended consequence of what is being proposed today. I will say this also, Mr. Speaker : It is, again, very important for us to not get caught up in terms of the he- think[s]- I-think -we-all-think something different, Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1807
Bermuda House of Assembly but to really have a good conversation, a good consultation. As the Minister said, he has read some information. He is going to take that back to the Minister of Health. And I would say that I will do this for sure. We will go back to the Health Council an d make sure that we are even more robust and more engaged than we have been in the past and make sure that it includes everyone in the health system. Clearly, we are not going to get to a point whereby everybody agrees. But what is more important is everybody is at least heard. And I am certainly not saying that has not happened yet. But I know there can be more engagement. And I trust that that will br ing us to a better place because we certainly cannot have a healthcare system where there is undo angst (I want to call it). But we also recognise that, as the Deputy [Premier] has said, we are in a space where people, persons [and] companies have had comp letely free reign. And we recognise that with the mechanism of the Health Council, it is going to start a process by which there are going to be more controls. There is going to be more oversight, and there is going to be tension. But the idea, again, is t hat if we can maintain a proper level of consultation, the tension itself should not be as high as it currently is. The final point I will say, Mr. Speaker, is that I had the good opportunity with Dr. McPhee and Dr. James. They were the ones that really gave me my foundation quite a ways ago in terms of some of the underpinnings of Bermuda’s health system. And one of those things that still remains with me is that there was an idea (and I call it an idea) that the hospital board itself, or the hospital, had to be “protected.” Therefore, there was not an allowance for certain things to take place out in the broad health c ommunity. And now what we are seeing, I believe, is that that is also what is caus-ing some of the tension because we are now changing. And this, again, is part of that change process. So, I will say one more time that my trust, my hope, my belief, my invitation even, is for those that have continuing concerns to be in touch with the Health Council again and ensure that there is additional consultation. Recognise, again, that we are not going to get to a stage whereby everybody agrees. But that is where we have to get back to so that Bermuda can benefit because, clearly, we do all agree that the ultimate objective is to ensure that we continue to have a good healthcare system, that it is accessible, that there are good outcomes, that the cost itself is not cost prohibi-tive and that everybody does have access to that healthcare. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, MP. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution? None? Deputy Premier? Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the contributions of Members. I do be-lieve they have informed this debate well, and I appreciate what was said because in no way had …
Thank you, MP. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution? None? Deputy Premier? Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the contributions of Members. I do be-lieve they have informed this debate well, and I appreciate what was said because in no way had any part of this debate on these numerous pieces of statute not taken into consideration the concerns that have been raised. And it is important that they be registered publicly as I believe this debate has done. Going forward, one of the things I have attempted to communicate is that by virtue of this legislation things are required to be different going forward. There is no way business can be done as usual after these numerous changes are made. And it will add greater responsibility if we believe the adage that with great power comes great responsibility. The additional power or jurisdiction that we are giving the Health Council requires it to be more transparent, requires it to be more respectful, but also requi res it to engage with those whom it is licensing even more than it has done. And for the sake of clarification, if there are mistakes that have been done in the past in this process, they should be acknowledged. But I take heart from the Honourable Member who is actually the deputy chair of the Council that he has noted that and has committed to doing better and working with the Council to do better. I firmly believe that these changes will require—as I have tried to articulate through these discussions —consultation. It requires the Health Council to reach out. Many of the standards are looking to stake for health businesses cannot be done without the consultation with those businesses and the representative associ ations of stakeholders. So, it is my belief that by the passing of these Bills we will get that because it is embedded into the processes upon which these regulations will operate. And just to move on to making some other points, Mr. Speaker . There was a point made about the lack of medical practitioners or certainly doctors at least on the Council. The actual chairman of the Council is a doctor. Let’s make that clear. And there is a mix of health professionals on the Council. There are many representatives of clinical fields on the Council and other health professionals. And that is important to note. There were some other points and questions that were raised about codes and standards. Codes and standards will be negotiated and developed. And I think that the word negotiated is important because none of these codes or standards that are proposed . . . First of all, they cannot be entered into and drafted until the Regulations are in place. And two, there is a process upon which they will be crafted. And that requires the very dialogue that I believe the MP for constituency 5 is demanding be done. So goi ng forward, these processes are formulised by the Regulations, if they had been informal in the past, to achieve certain things between the relationship of the Council and service providers. 1808 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly There was a question about the definition of HSPs, health service providers. The definition used is in the system of health— An Hon. Member: Accounts.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: I am sorry . . . of health accounts which has been provided on the—
An Hon. Member An Hon. MemberWebsite. Hon. Walter H. Roban: I am sorry . . . on the website. And it is a system of voluntary registration. I think [that] is the other answer that there was a question about — something to do with registration. And the form is on the website. So, I …
Website. Hon. Walter H. Roban: I am sorry . . . on the website. And it is a system of voluntary registration. I think [that] is the other answer that there was a question about — something to do with registration. And the form is on the website. So, I think that part of this process with looking to be able to list health service providers . . . there will be more work done by the Council to investigate the landscape to determine the different businesses out there and which ones are health service providers. And I do believe that they are using an OECD standard [for] the description of who is a provider. That is based on an OECD standard that is being followed. I think I have answered most of the questions and points that were made, Mr. Speaker. And again, the dialogue today around this in particular is appreciated. In no way are the concerns that have been raised in this Chamber ignored. And I have already made certain undertakings to discuss some of the things that I had even discovered since having to temporarily carry this responsibility for the Minister. I will discuss [them] with the Minister myself because I think it will probably help things to move forward. So, with that Mr. Speaker, I move that the draft regulations be approved and a suitable message be sent to Her Excellency the Governor.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAre there any objections to that? There are none. The appropriate message will be sent. Thank you, Deputy [Premier], for that. [Motion carried: Draft Regulations entitled The Ber-muda Health Council (Health Service Providers) (Li-censing) Regulations 2024 were approved. ]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe last item on the Order Paper is the next item for us to do this evening, and it is the consid-eration of the Bermuda Health Council (High Risk Health Technology) Regulations 2024. Deputy [Premier]. DRAFT REGULATIONS BERMUDA HEALTH COUNCIL (HIGH RISK HEALTH TECHNOLOGY) REGULATIONS 2024 Hon. Walter H. Roban: …
The last item on the Order Paper is the next item for us to do this evening, and it is the consid-eration of the Bermuda Health Council (High Risk Health Technology) Regulations 2024. Deputy [Premier].
DRAFT REGULATIONS
BERMUDA HEALTH COUNCIL (HIGH RISK HEALTH TECHNOLOGY) REGULATIONS 2024 Hon. Walter H. Roban: Yes, Mr. Speaker. We are here at the end, the end of the beginning. Mr. Speaker, I stand before you in this late hour to introduce the Bermuda Health Council (High Risk Health Technology) Regulations 2024. These Regulations to be made by the Minister of Health pursuant to the newly inserted Part IIIA of the Bermuda Health Council Act 2004 provide for the regulation of importa-tion and registration of [high risk] health technology. Mr. Speaker, the use of health technologies has modernised the delivery of healthcare services in many ways. And in many ways it has potential to improve the quality of prognosis, diagnosis and treatment of clients. While health technologies can bring many benefits, it is important to remember that some technol-ogies, especially those classified as high risk, can also lead to unintended harm or to decreased quality of care if they are overused or misused. They should only be used when medically necessary as over utilisation can needlessly inflate the cost of healthcare. Mr. Speaker, section 16E [inserted by] the previously debated Bill, the Bermuda Health Council Amendment (No. 2) Act 2024, defined [high risk] health technology as an instrument, apparatus or machine requiring calibration, maintenance, repair, user training, and decommissioning used for the purpose of diagno-sis and treatment of disease or rehabilitation, and which does not include an implantable, disposable or single- use medical device but which meets any [of the] several listed criteria. HRHT [high risk health technology] criteria, for example, include technology used to administer or sup-ply energy to a patient’s body, technology used to ad-minister or remove medicine, body fluids or other sub-stances from a patient’s body, technology which emits ionizing radiation for diagnostic or therapeutic intervention, or technology used for imaging in vivo distribution of radiopharmaceuticals. These high risk technologies include X -ray machines, dialysis, linear accelerators, positron emission tomography scanners, PETs (as we originally discussed), CT scanners and magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs). These high risk health technologies are expensive to use and can cause harm if not used or main-tained correctly. Controls are important to ensure proper installation, maintenance, safe operation and timely phasing out of aged high risk health technologies, and furthermore, to assess and determine whether the audit has the right high risk health technol-ogy balance for the population’s demographics and dis-ease profile. Business[es] could previously import any health technology regardless of our population’s. needs or the impact on our healthcare economy. This has cre-ated subsequent pressure to grant an application for standard health benefit to support a predetermined business model and return on investment that may oth-erwise lack demonstrable clinical need or a clear health system benefit. Combined with Bermuda’s fee- forOfficial Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1809
Bermuda House of Assembly service healthcare model, which incentivises utilisation, this lack of control adds costs to the health system and to patients. Mr. Speaker, the Island is moving toward a more managed healthcare system with the implemen-tation of UHC, Universal Health [Coverage], and key to this is ensuring cost effectiveness and cost efficiency in health care services delivery. Mr. Speaker, the Health Council has previously conducted voluntary health technology assessments, HTAs. An HTA provides evidence about given technol-ogies and services, an expert opinion about the health system capacity to accommodate a proposed high risk technology wi th the goal of informing policy and decision making to ensure that proposed health interven-tions are medically necessary and fill the gap in our health service provisions. Key elements are having an affordable and sustainable health system. Mr. Speaker, [under] the new Regulations importers of high risk technology will need to proactively apply to the Council and provide additional information to assist in their decision- making processes. While currently free applications will incur fees in the future, providing false or misleading information is an offence punishable by a $20,000 fine. The Council will evaluate the application to determine the necessity of the technology in Bermuda. Should the Council deny the application, they will furnish w ritten reasons and allow the applicants 21 days to respond before issuing a final decision. Mr. Speaker, registering or reregistering highrisk technology involves a process similar to importing, necessitating a specific form and supporting information. Providing false or misleading information dur-ing that process constitutes an offence. Upon granting regist ration, the Council may impose certain conditions or restrictions. Typically, registration is envisioned to remain valid for one year. Mr. Speaker, the Council is committed to providing ongoing support to health ser-vice providers when completing the digital form needed for the licensing and registration process. The Council will have a duty to establish and maintain a register of high risk technology and hold the authority to modify conditions, impose restrictions, sus-pend or cancel registrations, and levy civil penalties. Prior to taking any action, the Council w ill issue a warning, provide an opportunity for representation, and subsequently issue a decision or discontinuance notice. A decision notice is expected within 90 days of the warning, failing which, the Council has decided not to proceed with the decision or discontinuance. In the event of cancelation, the Council will ensure that the responsible handling of the technology is done. Civil penalties must be appropriate and not exceed $15,000 with guidelines to be published online. Mr. Speaker, provisions have been made for registered owners to apply to modify particulars of their registration or to vary or remove a condition or restriction attached to the registration of the technology. Registered owners, Mr. Speaker, have the right to seek judicial review if their application for import registration, renewal, or modification is denied. Further, in some cases they can also apply to suspend the Council’s decision while review is pending. Mr. Speaker, the registered owners have responsibility to adhere to the conditions and restrictions set forth or risk facing suspension, civil penalties, or even cancelation of their registration. Violations of these restrictions can result in fines and potential cancelation. Maintaining accurate records and reporting is mandatory, and failure to do so can lead to civil penalties. Furthermore, providing false information in report is considered an offence punishable by a $20,000 fine. If the company commits an offence with [a] director’s involvement, the director can also be accountable. Thus, the owners are required to give 60 days’ notice before cancelling their registration. Mr. Speaker, persons or organisations already importing or using high risk technology before these regulations commence can continue if they apply for permit registration within 60 days. These registrations will come into operation on the day appointed by notice from the Minister in The Royal Gazette. In closing, pillar eight of the Bermuda Health Strategy 2022– 2027 prioritises, Mr. Speaker, the prevention of wasteful care and the promotion of effi-ciency. The introduction of the Regulations for the importation and registration of high risk technology closely aligns with the priorities defined in the strategy and enables the Government and the Health Council to better quantify and manage value for expenditure in the healthcare system. Additionally, Mr. Speaker, registration data are critical for the Council to be able to monitor and make informed decisions on continuing registration of high risk technologies available in the country in alignment with the health needs of our ageing population. Mr. Speaker, this represents the Regulations for the implementation of registration of high risk technologies. With those remarks, I commit these Regulations for discussion by this House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Deputy [Premier]. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution at this time? Opposition Whip, you have the floor.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes, thank you, Mr. Speaker. The air conditioning is not working in here and I do not know what is going on but —
The SpeakerThe SpeakerSome of us have been here too long.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierYes, I am going to cut this part down short as well. So, at the end of the day these are Regulations. Listen, they refer quite frankly to the more 1810 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly substantive Bill that we did earlier, the Bermuda Health …
Yes, I am going to cut this part down short as well. So, at the end of the day these are Regulations. Listen, they refer quite frankly to the more 1810 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly substantive Bill that we did earlier, the Bermuda Health Council Amendment (No. 2) Act 2024. And you know, I have listened to the Minister. I have been through this part of the Regulations over and over and over. I think that maybe one particular area . . . I am not going to go through all these here. [Regulation] 10(1) states, “Applying to modify a registration. The registered owner of high risk health technology may apply to the Council to modify the registration of health technology —(c) in respect of its location, including a relocation within the same building.” I guess I need clarification. I mean, if they are moving it from here to the end of the building right here, it is all within the same area. Is that what we are talking about? Or are we talking about moving it to another floor where it is a multi -storey building? It does seem odd that if I want to move one of these pieces of equipment —which may not be an MRI, it could be a smaller piece of equipment —that I have to go back and register—and that registration comes with fees —the same piece of equipment that is in my building to move it over there. So, again, this goes back to the onuses, and this high risk equipment typically refers to doctors and medical labs which have doctors who are going to have this type of equipment. Again, it seems like more bureaucracy when we should be getting on with the healthcare of our people. And you know, I have been listening to some of the comments, and I think at the end of it all I asked a question: Is it time sensitive? And I go back again to say, even with the Regulations: Is this time sensitive? And the reason that I am asking if this is time sensitive is because . . . if I could just [read] a short paragraph, Mr. Speaker, by Dr. Fox who is representing the Bermuda Medical Doctors Association, a Bermudian. He says, “I write this letter in an effort to bring clarity to what is now a healt hcare crisis. As a Bermudian specialist physician in this beautiful island we all call home, I am deeply troubled along with most of my fellow physicians, many other health practitioners, pharmacists, insurers — Hon. Walter H. Roban: Point of order, Mr. Speaker . Just a point of clarification. Should that not be tabled so it can be available for all of us to see?
Mr. L. Craig CannonierI will table it. No problem. I will table it. Would you like me to start all over again?
Mr. L. Craig CannonierOkay. “I am deeply troubled along with most of my fellow physicians, many other health practitioners, pharmacists, insurers, allied health professionals, and most importantly, the thousands of individuals labelled as patients.” And this is in reference to what we have been doing today. This was put out in May, but …
Okay. “I am deeply troubled along with most of my fellow physicians, many other health practitioners, pharmacists, insurers, allied health professionals, and most importantly, the thousands of individuals labelled as patients.” And this is in reference to what we have been doing today. This was put out in May, but also updated on September the 26 th. I will table it in the House so that everyone can have a perusal of it if they will.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThere was one from the same individual that was circulated to all Members back in May. Is that the same letter?
Mr. L. Craig CannonierThat is correct; that is it. That is it. That is correct. It was circulated to all Members.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWe certainly had that circulated to all Members.
Mr. L. Craig CannonierAll MPs and Senators. It was. You are correct. And so, I concur with another Member of this House who basically said maybe we should come back to the table here. If it is not time sensitive, I think that the prudent thing to do is to go back to …
All MPs and Senators. It was. You are correct. And so, I concur with another Member of this House who basically said maybe we should come back to the table here. If it is not time sensitive, I think that the prudent thing to do is to go back to these health practitioners that are listed here, not just doctors, and really, really make sure that we get this right. We are putting Regulations in place. We do not have the fees and things in place. We are still trying to get all of this sorted out. I think it would be prudent that we rise and report, as was m entioned, so that we can come back with something full. You know, I am not casting any stones here. I recognise that we are trying to get it right. I recognise the Health Council wants to get it right. But I also rec-ognise the industry in and of itself wants to get it right because there are some good actors out there and some bad actors out there. But you know if we are go-ing to take a few and apply it to the many, I think we might be missing out on some vital information that is necessary. And as was stated before, we need to start looking at these insurance companies and the likes. We have some major, major . . . I mentioned it back in the House some time ago on a motion to adjourn. I said we are heading towards a really, really uncomfortable place for us, patients who pay our insurance, and we are getting mixed up into these battles with these large insurance companies. And again, it feels like rather than going after the heavyweights, again we are going after the . . . what we believe to be low -hanging fruit, but it actually is not low -hanging fruit, and exacerbating the situation more. And that is all I have to say. I think we really need to redress this thing. Go back to the drawing board, which may even take just another month, and then bring this stuff back. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, MP. Does any other Member wish to make a contribution? Deputy [Premier]? Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1811 Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Walter H. Roban: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have listened carefully to the Honourable Member . And certainly, I heard his reading of …
Dr. Fox. I have not myself seen it.
The SpeakerIt is dated May 28th, I can see it right there. Hon. Walter H. Roban: But I will have to. I am happy to; I am just interested in getting a copy since it was used for the present debate, even though it was provided in May. It will be …
It is dated May 28th, I can see it right there.
Hon. Walter H. Roban: But I will have to. I am happy to; I am just interested in getting a copy since it was used for the present debate, even though it was provided in May. It will be interesting to see. But I have also spoken to the Minister who has also had in- depth discussi ons with Dr. Fox, who is the president of the Bermuda Medical Doctors Association. So there certainly has been intimate conversation. I spoke to the Minister and I know that she spoke to Dr. Fox just before she had to leave the Island. So there have been very recent discussions between Dr. Fox and the Minister on the issues, and I am certain that those discussions were substantive. But I would also like to say that those discussions came after this. If the date on that letter is May, there have been more recent discussions. And there is quite a bit of time that has . . . and also going back to my presentations earlier, substantive consultation, as I have described, has gone on even since that letter was revealed. So, I do think that there is a different environment now than what existed even when that was produced. But again, I do not want anyone to think that the concerns and contributions raised around these issues are being ignored going forth, Mr. Speaker. They have been taken on. And I do believe that this has laid out that . . . our discussion around . . . sometimes you have to have these things brought to our House to have the discussions that raise the issues that will help to shape how these things wil l go forward. This discussion over today has done that. There is no way we can leave this discussion today, Mr. Speaker, without taking on what has been said here and what has been reflected by the views around what has been said. There is no way. So, I certainly have already undertaken to take things to the Minister that I believe will be helpful to the process going forward. And that is something, because I think that is what everybody wants. Just going to some of what the Honourable Member spoke about in respect to the location including relocations in the same building. We are talking about high risk technology. And I think in my brief I gave a description of what that is. And in some cases, by moving that equipment you have to ensure that wherever you move it to it is in a space that reflects what needs to encase or actually accommodate that equipment. Sometimes the equipment needs to be in a room that has appropriate shielding in the walls because it is emitting certain types of electromagnetic radiation, or even structurally that room has to be able to take that particular equipment. So, moving from one room to another or from one floor to another is relevant. Also, Mr. Speaker, calibration of equipment. This equipment is sensitive. So even moving it, you must ensure: Has moving disrupted the quality of its operation? Does it have to be recalibrated? I mean, sometimes [when] we move things in our own home, we have to make sure it has not been disrupted in its operation. So, these are similar principles. The environ-ment that some of this equipment needs to exist in is also a part of what ensures that it is operating properly and [ensures] the safety of those not only who are operating it but also the patients. So, I think that is important. Now, there was a question about the Bill being time sensitive. As I have said before, Mr. Speaker, these Regulations empower to create fees. No fees can be created until these Regulations [are enacted]. If it speaks to certain fees, once the Regulations are created it empowers the fees to actually be created. That, I think, will be determined ultimatel y by the Regulations and by the actual regulators, but there is no fee in here. You know, you must empower legislation to create fees. You do not create them before and then put them in. There is no fee schedule in any of these because ultimately when these Regulations are enacted, then you can do those things. Now maybe there is some draft somewhere, but I do not have any knowledge of that. But certainly, the power to create fees—because those fees would have to be published and made public —comes after the Regulations have actually been actually passed. Within it is the power to creat e such fees. There was a question about the time sensitivity of these issues. Well yes, they are [time sensitive], because as even the Honourable Member who took his seat said, the health system is changing around us. We have things happening that are real that are changing the nature of the provision of healthcare, and it is important that these Regulations and legislation we pass be in place so that the Health Council is not chasing the change that is happening around us. They need to be empowered to prepare and to anticipate and actually to come up with policies to deal with these issues even before they arise and take on the appropriate expertise to do that. So, yes, by not doing this now, there is continuing catch- up by the Health Council. And that is not in the interests of the public, or in patient care, or in what we are trying to achieve around the overall evolution of care. We need to have a robust regul ator who can deal with the changes that are coming that did not exist 20 years ago. And we heard from an Honourable Member who once sat in this body as a CEO and sits on the Council now who reflected where they are and what needs to happen as well, Mr. Speaker. But the reality is that the Council needs to have the tools to do the works it needs to do to ensure that our system works for us as 1812 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly the people who will be using it. And this is what much of this is for. With that, Mr. Speaker, I would move that the said draft Regulations be approved and that the suitable message be sent to Her Excellency the Governor.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAre there any objections? There are none. The said message will be done and sent to the Governor. [Motion carried: Draft Regulations entitled The Ber-muda Health Council (High Risk Health Technology) Regulation 2024 were approved.]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAnd Members, that brings us to a close of the last item on the Order Paper for today. We will now do the third readings for the Bills that have been done. Premier? Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21 Hon. E. …
And Members, that brings us to a close of the last item on the Order Paper for today. We will now do the third readings for the Bills that have been done. Premier?
Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21
Hon. E. David Burt: Mr. Speaker, I move that Standing Order 21 be suspended to enable me to move the Bill entitled the Tax Reform Commission (Dissolution, Appointment and Validation) Act 2024 be now read for the third time by its title only.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 21 suspended.]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerContinue. BILL THIRD READING TAX REFORM COMMISSION (DISSOLUTION, APPOINTMENT AND VALIDATION) ACT 2024 Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move that the Bill entitled the Tax Reform Commission (Dissolution, Appointment and Validation) Act 2024 be now read for a third time by its …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAnd the Bill has been read by its title only and is now passed. [Motion carried: The Tax Reform Commission (Dissolution, Appointment and Validation) Act 2024 was given a third reading and passed.]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerWhat about. . . That was the fourth one. What about the first one? The House in order yes and [item] number 2 is. . . Junior Minister? Yes.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerJunior Minister? SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Speaker, I move that Standing Order 21 be suspended to enable me to move the Bill entitled the National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment Act 2024 be now read the third time by its title only. [Motion carried: Standing Order 21 suspended.]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerContinue. BILL THIRD READING NATIONAL PENSION SCHEME (OCCUPATIONAL PENSIONS) AMENDMENT ACT 2024
Mr. Jache AdamsThank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move that the Bill be now read a third time by its title only and passed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Bill has been read the third time by its title only and is now passed. Thank you. [Motion carried: The National Pension Scheme (Occupational Pensions) Amendment Act 2024 was given a third reading and p assed.]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe next one would be [item] number 5 the Companies and Limited Liability Company Amendment Act 2024. Minister Hayward. SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21 Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Speaker, I move that Standing Order 21 be suspended to enable me to move the Bill entitled the Companies and Limited Liability …
The next one would be [item] number 5 the Companies and Limited Liability Company Amendment Act 2024. Minister Hayward.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21
Hon. Jason Hayward: Mr. Speaker, I move that Standing Order 21 be suspended to enable me to move the Bill entitled the Companies and Limited Liability Company Amendment Act 2024 be now read a third time by its title only.
Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1813
Bermuda House of Assembly The Speaker: Are there any objections? No. Continue.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 21 suspended.]
BILL
THIRD READING
COMPANIES AND LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY AMENDMENT ACT 2024
Hon. Jason Hayward: I move that the Bill be now read by its title only and passed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Bill is read the third time by its title only and is now passed. Thank you. [Motion carried: The Companies and Limited Liability Company Amendment Act 2024 was given a third reading and passed.]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe next is [item] number 6, the Restaurant— SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Speaker, I move that Standing Order 21 be suspended to enable me to move the Bill entitled Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 be now read the third time by its title only.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAre there any objections? There are none. Continue. [Motion carried: Standing Order 21 suspended.] BILL THIRD READING RESTAURANTS (TEMPORARY CUSTOMS DUTY RELIEF) AMENDMENT ACT 2024
Mr. Jache AdamsThank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I move that the Bill be now read a third time by its title only and passed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Bill has been read a third time by its title only and is now passed. [Motion carried: The Restaurants (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 was given a third reading and passed.]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerItem number 7, the hotel relief. SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21
Mr. Jache AdamsMr. Speaker, I move that Standing Order 21 be suspended to enable me to move the Bill entitled Hotels (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 be now read the third time by its title only.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerNo objections. Go ahead. [Motion carried: Standing Order 21 suspended.] BILL THIRD READING HOTELS (TEMPORARY CUSTOMS DUTY RELIEF) AMENDMENT ACT 2024
Mr. Jache AdamsThank you. Mr. Speaker, I move that the Bill be now read a third time by its title only and passed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Bill has been read a third time by its title only and is now passed. Thank you. [Motion carried: The Hotel s (Temporary Customs Duty Relief) Amendment Act 2024 was gi ven a third reading and passed.]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerItem number 8, the supplementary . . . no, we do not need to do supplementary. Item number 9 is the Electricity Amendment Act 2024. SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21 Hon. Walter H. Roban: Yes, Mr. Speaker. I move that Standing Order 21 be suspended to enable me to move …
Item number 8, the supplementary . . . no, we do not need to do supplementary. Item number 9 is the Electricity Amendment Act 2024.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21
Hon. Walter H. Roban: Yes, Mr. Speaker. I move that Standing Order 21 be suspended to enable me to move that the Bill entitled Electricity Amendment Act 2024 be now read a third time by its title only.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAny objections? There are none. Continue. [Motion carried: Standing Order 21 suspended.] BILL THIRD READING ELECTRICITY AMENDMENT ACT 2024 1814 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Walter H. Roban: I move that the Bill be now read a third time by its title only and …
Any objections? There are none. Continue. [Motion carried: Standing Order 21 suspended.]
BILL
THIRD READING
ELECTRICITY AMENDMENT ACT 2024
1814 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly Hon. Walter H. Roban: I move that the Bill be now read a third time by its title only and passed. [Motion carried: The Electricity Amendment Act 2024 was given a third reading and passed.]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. The Lease [Agreement] we can pass. Item number 11 would be the Health Insurance (Health System Strengthening Fund) Amendment Act 2024. Deputy Premier? Hon. Walter H. Roban: Health Systems Strengthening Fund?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerYes. Yes. SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21 Hon. Walter H. Roban: I move that Standing Order 21 be suspended to enable me to move that the Bill entitled Health Insurance Health Insurance (Health System Strengthening Fund) Amendment Act 2024 be now read a third time by its title only.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. Continue. [Motion carried: Standing Order 21 suspended.] BILL THIRD READING HEALTH INSURANCE (HEALTH SYSTEM STRENGTHENING FUND) AMENDMENT ACT 2024 Hon. Walter H. Roban: I move that the Bill be now read a third time by its title only and passed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Bill has been read a third time by its title only and is now passed. Thank you. [Motion carried: The Health Insurance (Health System Strengthening Fund) Amendment Act 2024 was given a third reading and passed.]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAnd now it is item number 12. SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 21 Hon. Walter H. Roban: I move Standing Order 21 be suspended to enable me to move that the Bill entitled the Health Council Amendment (No. 2) Act 2024 be now read a third time by its title only.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAny objections? None. Continue. [Motion carried: Standing Order 21 suspended.] BILL THIRD READING BERMUDA HEALTH COUNCIL AMENDMENT (NO. 2) ACT 2024 Hon. Walter H. Roban: I move the Bill be now read a third time by its title only and passed.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThe Bill has been read a third time by its title only and is now passed. [Motion carried: The Bermuda Health Council Amendment (No. 2) Act 2024 was given a third reading and passed.]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerItems 13 and 14 do not need third readings. Premier? ADJOURNMENT Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Before I do speak, I do know that someone at this late hour does want to speak to the motion to adjourn. Nonetheless, Mr. Speaker, I move that this Honourable House …
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you. MP Simmons? FORMER OBA LEADER’S INSULTING COMMENTS
Mr. Jamahl S. SimmonsGood evening, Mr. Speaker. I do not speak often on the motion to adjourn, and I will not speak long on the motion to adjourn. For the past weeks I have remained silent and ignored the whining and complaining coming from cer-tain sectors of our community. Today, I ignored the …
Good evening, Mr. Speaker. I do not speak often on the motion to adjourn, and I will not speak long on the motion to adjourn. For the past weeks I have remained silent and ignored the whining and complaining coming from cer-tain sectors of our community. Today, I ignored the whining and complaining when a man acted as a man and stood in defence of the honour of his wife. But what I will not allow to pass, Mr. Speaker, is the comment made by a former leader of the One Bermuda Alliance in reference to the spouse of our candidate in constitu-ency 36. Mr. Speaker, two hours ago Pat Gordon- Pamplin, a former Member of this House, a former leader of the One Bermuda Alliance, in reference to the spouse of our candidate the Reverend Doctor Emilygail Dill, posted this on Facebook, and I quote: “One thing that I learned in life is that ignorance is curable with education, but stupidity is terminal. My understanding of the Official Hansar d Report 27 September 2024 1815 B ermuda House of Assembly event referred to above is that the individual is absolutely terminal. Very, very sad indeed.” Mr. Speaker, we know the depths that individual will stoop [to], and I will say this: You have reached a new depth in joking about the health of the spouse of a PLP candidate. You have reached a new depth. Now, I am not going to ask the OBA to apologise or whatever because this is the nature of the beast. And who is able to make war with the beast? I will tell you this. You have insulted the people of my commu-nity. You have insulted the church that is the heart of our community. You have insulted the spouse of our candidate. You have sowed the wind, and may you weep and reap the whirlwind. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, MP Simmons. MP Famous?
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMP King? MP King, let me set the clock. You have your 20 minutes. FORMER OBA LEADER’S INSULTING COMMENTS
Mr. Robert KingThank you, Mr. Speaker. With regard to the statements that the Honourable Member made about persons who are not present in the House, I do not think it is appropriate to go ahead and comment on that, other than to say probably it requires further inves-tigation so that we have …
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. With regard to the statements that the Honourable Member made about persons who are not present in the House, I do not think it is appropriate to go ahead and comment on that, other than to say probably it requires further inves-tigation so that we have all of the facts. That is what I will say on that.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerMP Famous? FORMER OBA LEADER’S INSULTING COMMENTS
Mr. Christopher FamousMr. Speaker, I truly was not intending to speak, but over the last (I do not know) week and a half I have seen comments, you know, peo-ple attempting to use things as political advantage and sometimes they realise they are actually disadvantag-ing (What is the word I want to …
Mr. Speaker, I truly was not intending to speak, but over the last (I do not know) week and a half I have seen comments, you know, peo-ple attempting to use things as political advantage and sometimes they realise they are actually disadvantag-ing (What is the word I want to look for?) disadvantag-ing themselves. Yes. That is the word. Well, Mr. Speaker, here is the thing. Right? I am not from Somerset as you know. I am not for Som-erset.
Mr. Christopher FamousNo. But I am for community values. And it is something that Somerset and most of Bermuda have in common . . . well, some parts of Bermuda. The PLP was born in that building right next door called St. Paul AME. We are inextricably linked.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAt Rio’s garage. Mr. Christopher Famous: Right. So, when persons who may not fully understand the connectivity between the two attempt to make light and attempt to, you know, try to say things, try to make it like you know there is some (What is it called, that word?) nepotism …
At Rio’s garage. Mr. Christopher Famous: Right. So, when persons who may not fully understand the connectivity between the two attempt to make light and attempt to, you know, try to say things, try to make it like you know there is some (What is it called, that word?) nepotism going on, they are not act ually fully understanding that you are irritating people to the point that you are going to cause more people to vote against you. So, I say this, you know, to these colleagues, that you have to understand you are trying very desperately to portray yourselves as something you are not. So, if you are trying to be part of our community, do not insult what is the foundation of our commun ity. The foundation of our community is the church, the union, and the PLP. I do not know what Honourable Jamahl Simmons saw, but it just seems to be a furthering of that insulting of the foundation of our community. With that, Mr. Speaker, I just want to tell the people thank you. We worked hard for you and [we will] see you soon.
The SpeakerThe SpeakerPremier? PLP GOVERNMENT’S PROGRESS—A STEPPING STONE TO A BRIGHTER FUTURE Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said, the hour is late, and my comments will not be long at all. The only thing that I wish to say, Mr. Speaker, is that it is …
Premier? PLP GOVERNMENT’S PROGRESS—A STEPPING STONE TO A BRIGHTER FUTURE Hon. E. David Burt: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I said, the hour is late, and my comments will not be long at all. The only thing that I wish to say, Mr. Speaker, is that it is my prerogative whether or not I choose to prorogue, or dissolve, this Legislature and this Session of Parliament. And that decision will come, and people will find out. But what I will do, Mr. Speaker, is reflect on another successful session of this Parliament. And so, before I make my substantial remarks, I want to thank you, Mr. Speaker, for your patience and time because it has been an incredibly long session, not just today. Today’s sitting has been a long one, and we have accomplished 14 measures and items in addition to the significant additional investment that we passed. But also throughout, whether it’s a budget whether after the summer session there was a signifi-cant amount of legislation, whether it was in November where we all started and did plenty, plenty of progress for the people of Bermuda. The one thing that I want to leave with, Mr. Speaker, is that for all persons who sit in this Honourable House it is without question a privilege. It is a privi-lege to represent your constituents. It is a privilege to be sent here to speak on their behalf. And it is a privilege to make sure that you are putting the interests of 1816 27 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
Bermuda House of Assembly the country ahead of your own interests, Mr. Speaker. The work —as you know, having been in this place for I want to call 35 maybe 36 years —is not easy. And when we hit the doorsteps and knock on doors, there are always challenges. But we bring the stories. We bring the feelings. We bring the ideas. We bring the challenges that people feel in the community into this place and look to bring solutions. One thing that can be said, Mr. Speaker, is that this Government has been focused on bringing solutions. Governance in 2024 is far different than govern-ance in 1994. It requires a different view. It requires a broader perspective. And it requires the abili ty to, as they would say colloquially, think outside the box. We have made progress, Mr. Speaker, but the progress is just a stepping stone to a brighter future. I will remind everyone who is listening at this late hour — and very few, because they would have to be online as the radio feed has been down since 7:30 pm—t he fact is that when it comes to the work of which we do, sometimes the seeds are planted and they sprout quickly. Other times the seeds are planted and they take a little bit longer to germinate, to grow, and then to bear fruit. But nonetheless, Mr. Speak er, the seeds are planted. I am privileged to lead this party. I am privileged to serve in this position. And I am privileged to work with a group of individuals from all parts of this country, from all types of different backgrounds who have one thing in common: wanting the best for this country and being willing to put the interests of this country ahead of their own personal interests. The sac-rifices to families [and] to individuals are great. I want to repeat that. The sacrifices for families and individuals are great. The slander, the attacks, un-warranted at most times, that you get are enough to cause pain and challenge to any individual. But yet we persevere through it all because we have the interests of the people of this country and also this country’s future at heart. So, with that, Mr. Speaker, we bring an end to this Session and look forward to seeing us all in this place when we return, whichever way that may be. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Desk thumping]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerThank you, Mr. Premier. I agree it has been a long day and brings to a close a long Session that we have had as the House will now be prorogued until the 8 th of November. I ask Members as always [to] take time to be in your constituencies, …
Thank you, Mr. Premier. I agree it has been a long day and brings to a close a long Session that we have had as the House will now be prorogued until the 8 th of November. I ask Members as always [to] take time to be in your constituencies, remember your families and take care of yourselves while we are away from here. Some of you know I am stickler on history pieces, so I have to just correct MP Famous, it was in Hugh ‘Rio’ Richardson’s (Rio’s) garage down on Parsons Road that the PLP formed. Not St. Paul Church; Rio’s garage. [Inaudible interjection]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAll right. But our history books are clear on where this party started. And even though I am out-side in a neutral position, I just want to make sure his-tory books are always correct. [Inaudible interjections]
The SpeakerThe SpeakerAnyway, gentlemen, I think everyone is ready to go home. It has been a long day. We are tired. Have a nice break from this place, and we will see you in about five weeks. Enjoy the rest of it, folks. The House now stands adjourned. [At 12:45 am (28 …
Anyway, gentlemen, I think everyone is ready to go home. It has been a long day. We are tired. Have a nice break from this place, and we will see you in about five weeks. Enjoy the rest of it, folks. The House now stands adjourned.
[At 12:45 am (28 September 2024) the House stood adjourned, and the 2023/2024 Session of the Bermuda House of Assembly was prorogued.]