September 25, 2024

Mm-hmm.

[Pause]
CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
[Minutes of 24 July 2024 confirmed]

The President: I will call on the Vice President Kiernan
Bell.
Sen. Kiernan Bell: Madam President , I move that the
minutes of the meeting of Wednesday, 24 July 2024 be taken as read.

The President: Thank you.
I do have a correction, and that is page 2, and
that is on the . . . where I gave . . . it was written that it
was not condolences but congratulations on Mr. Place. That is the only correction that I saw.

[Inaudible interjection]

The President: Where my comment was made about
Mr. Place. It is written as congratulations to the family
as opposed to [condolences.] And I would just like to
make that correction. That’s all.

Sen. Kiernan Bell: Madam President , subject to that
correction, I move that the Minutes of Wednesday, 24
July 2024 be confirmed.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. The Minutes are confirmed.
Thank you, Senator Kiernan Bell.

[Minutes of 24 July 2024 confirmed as corrected. ]

MESSAGES

The Clerk: There are no messages, Madam President.

The President: Thank you.

REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
The President: There are none.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

RULING ON PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS
PRESENTED BY SENATOR De COUTO

608 25 September 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Senators, I do have an announcement
regarding the questions that were presented by Senator De Couto. And my ruling is that the scope of the
questions is too wide and can be rewritten and redirected to specific ministries and can be resubmitted at
the next meeting.
Senator De Couto, you have the floor.

Yes.
Just for the record the questions were submitted last Monday to provide ample time for any consideration and feedback that we might get to them. And
my understanding is that the Government’s concern
[over] the questions was made very late yesterday. So
you can understand, Madam President, we did not
have time to reconsider and adjust them as appropriate.
And thank you. We respectfully respect your
ruling. Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
We will move on.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
The President: There are announcements in the name
of Senator Arianna Hodgson, the spokesperson for Fi-nance.
Senator Hodgson, I believe you have at least
three announcements.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Good morning, Madam President.
The President: Good morning.

TAX REFORM COMMISSION FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS (FEBRUARY 12 THROUGH
OCTOBER 21, 2018)
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Madam President, I hereby
present for the information of Senate the Tax Reform
Commission Financial Statements ( February 12
through October 21, 2018) .

BANKS AND DEPOSIT COMPANIES ( RESTRICTED
BANKS ) AMENDMENT ORDER 2024
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Madam President, I also
hereby present for the information of Senate the Banks and Deposit Companies ( Restricted Banks ) Amendment Order 2024 made by the Minister of Fi-nance and acting on the advice of the Bermuda Monetary Authority in exercise of the powers conferred by
section 14(3) and section 5(c) [sic] of the Banks and
Deposit Companies Act 1999.

INVESTMENT BUSINESS (RECOGNISED BODIES )
(REPORTING ACCOUNTANTS ) (FAX AND
MATTERS OF MATERIAL SIGNIFICANCE )
REGULATIONS 2024

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Madam President, I hereby
present for the information of Senate the Investment
Business (Recognised Bodies ) (Reporting Accountants) (Fax and Matters of Material Significance) Regulations 2024 made by the Minister of Finance in exercise of the power conferred by section 86(1) of the Investment Business Act 2003.

INVESTMENT BUSINESS (RECOGNISED BODIES
RECOGNITION REQUIREMENTS )
REGULATIONS 2024
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: And finally, Madam President, I hereby present for the information of Senate the
Investment Business (Recognised Bodies Recognition
Requirements ) Regulations 2024 made by the Minister
of Finance in exercise of the power conferred by sec-tion 67(1) of the Investment Business Act 2003.
And of course, Senators may access copies on
their tablets and on the Parliamentary website.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.
I believe there is a final announcement that is
in the name of the Junior Minister, Senator Leslie Robinson, the Junior Minister for Economy and Labour.

POSITION PAPER ON PROGRESSING
BERMUDA’S MINIMUM HOURLY WAGE

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Madam President, I hereby
present for the information of Senate the Position Paper on Progressing Bermuda’s Minimum Hourly Wage.
Senators may access copies on their tablets
and on the Parliamentary website.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.

NOTICE S OF MOTION S

The President: There are none.

PETITIONS

The President: There are none.



Bermuda Senate STATEMENTS

The President: We have two Statements . The first one
is in the name of Minister the Honourable Owen Darrell, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.
Minister Darrell, you have the floor.

SPORTING RECAP
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Good morning, Madam
President. Thank you.
Madam President, over the past few months
we have witnessed an abundance of sporting events
in
the country, where our athletes have proudly competed at both domestic and international levels. Today, Madam President, I will provide a brief recap of some
of these key events.
Madam President, this summer, the Olympics
and Paralympics were held in Paris, France, where Bermuda was proudly represented in both events. Our athletes and staff showcased remarkable dedication, representing our I sland with distinction. Although we
did not secure a medal, all athletes delivered outstanding performances.
Dame Flora Duffy, our reigning Olympic champion, competed in her fifth Olympic Games. She dominated the swim and much of the bike ride, ultimately finishing fifth overall —a result that filled the country with
pride. Congratulations to Erica Hawley, Tyler S mith,
Jah-Nhai Perinchief, Jack Harvey, Emma Harvey, Dara
Alizadeh, and Adriana Penruddocke, who all repre-sented Bermuda in Paris.
I had the honour , Madam President, of being at
the stadium to witness Jah- Nhai's debut, and the pride
that we felt after each of his jumps was immense.
A few weeks later Madam President, the Paralympics took place at the same venue in Paris. Our Fe-male Athlete of the Year, Jessica Lewis, and Yushae DeSilva-Andrade represented Bermuda in athletics and
boccia, respectively. Like their fellow Olympians, both
athletes made Bermuda proud and kept us on the edge
of our seats with excitement and anticipation of a pos-sible medal. Yushae was our top finisher, securing an impressive fourth place in the Boccia bronze medal
match.
Congratulations to all the athletes who represented Bermuda in both the Olympics and Paralym-pics, and to those who worked behind the scenes to make it all possible.
Madam President, when I say that sport matters to us at the Ministry, we ensure this by backing it
with investments that help our elite athletes pursue
their dreams and make competing in the Olympic Games a reality. This year, $150,000 was provided to the Bermuda Olympic Association, and the Department of Sport and Recreation also funded elite athlete spon-sorships with over $189,000. I am thrilled that we were
able to make this funding available for our athletes. Madam President, our national sports, cricket
and football , also had some exciting developments this
summer. As the domestic [cricket ] season draws to a
close, I would like to acknowledge the season winners in the Bermuda Cricket Board’s [BCB] various divisions:
• 50-Over Premier Division Winners:
St. George’s Cricket Club
• 50-Over First Division Winners: Warwick Workmen’s Club
Madam President, this year the Bermuda
Cricket Board reintroduced the Women’s T10 Festival ,
[marking] a positive step for the growth and opportunities for women in cricket.
• T10 Women’s Winners: Warwick Workmen’s
Women.
Additionally, the BCB has partnered with the
ICC to launch a 10- week Women’s Cricket Softball
Festival for participants aged 13 and up. The first festi-val is set to take place by October 31, 2024.
Madam President, the T20 league season conclude d this past Sunday with Bailey’s Bay clinching the
Premier League Division T20 league without having to play, due to the wet weather conditions. Congratula-tions to the team and staff at Bailey’s Bay. (How much
it hurts me to say that, Madam President.)
[Laughter]
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Cricket fans also have
one more opportunity to enjoy the game, though. On
Sunday, September 29, the BCB will conclude its season with a T20 Knock -out Tournament Finals doubleheader at the National Sports Centre, North Field. Bailey’s Bay, Somerset, Cleveland County and St.
George’ s will all be taking part, and I encourage everyone to come out and support this exciting event.
On the international front, the BCB Senior
Men’s National Team will compete in the first round of
the ICC Americas T20 Qualifiers in December. Nine
teams will compete, with three teams advancing to the
final round in August 2025.
I would like to take this moment to thank the
Bermuda Cricket Board Executive and its member clubs for their dedication in keeping the game of cricket
alive and thriving on the Island.
Madam President, on September 1, the Bermuda Football Association [B FA] kicked off its domestic
league with the annual Charity Cup. Pembroke Hamilton Club (PHC) , the league champions, secured a convincing 6 -0 victory over [B]FA Cup champions, St.
George’s Cricket Club. Since the inception of the Char-ity Cup, the BFA has consistently made donations to various charities throughout Bermuda. This year, the Eliza Do Little Society will receive a donation on behalf
of PHC, the 2024/25 Charity Cup Champions. Congrat-ulations to PHC on their impressive win.
As the league prepares to kick off this weekend, I’d like to extend my congratulations to newcomers
610 25 September 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate in the Premier League , my team, Devonshire Colts, as
well as [the] Wolves on their promotion. Devonshire
Colts had an incredible season last year, finishing with
an undefeated league record. I wish both teams, along with all participating teams, a successful and exciting season ahead.
On the international stage, Madam President,
we must highlight the thrilling final of our Under -14 Boys
and their performance that they gave us in the CFU Championship. Although they narrowly lost in a penalty shoot -out, they exited the tournament in style. Special
congratulations go to head coach Vashun Blanchette,
his team, and staff, particularly:
• Jeon Wolfe—Top Goal Scorer
• Xavier Thomas -Bassett —Top Goalkeeper
• Carter Thomas —Most Valuable Player
Looking ahead, Madam President, our Senior
Men’s National Team will play two [ Nations ] League
games here in Bermuda in October . That will be October 12 and October 15 at the National Sports Centre. I
look forward to seeing everyone come out and cheer
on our Gombey Warriors as they showcase our national pride at the stadium.
Madam President, on September 21, the Bermuda Hockey Federation hosted the opening games of
the Pan Am Challenge Cup at the National Sports Cen-tre. When the Bermuda Hockey Federation ap-proached the Government of Bermuda over a yearand-a- half ago for assistance in hosting this event, we
were more than happy to award $60,000 and in- kind
services to help make this tournament a reality. This
tournament brings together top field hockey teams
[from] across Pan- America, including Brazil, Guyana,
Mexico, Peru, and Paraguay, for an exciting display of
athleticism, teamwork and sportsmanship. It promises
to be a world- class event, offering a vibrant atmosphere
and a unique opportunity to celebrate the global sport of field hockey right here in Bermuda.
This international tournament is currently ongoing, with the final scheduled for this Saturday, September 28, at the National Sports Centre. We wish
Team Bermuda the best of luck as they compete for the gold! I was in attendance last evening. I will also be attendance on Friday as well as Saturday .
Madam President, I could speak endlessly
about the incredible impact of sports in our country, but we would be here all day . Our National Sports Governing Bodies are doing an exceptional job across all sports, both domestically and internationally. As we all know, sports bring joy, promotes health, and inspires
national pride, serving as a vital thread in the fabric of
our community.
As we enter another sporting season, Madam
President, I wish all our athletes —both young and experienced—continued success and achievement. As
you participate, I will continue to support, whether by attending both local and overseas events to cheer you
on or by greeting you at the airport to welcome you home. We are a proud sporting nation, and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport understands that sport matters. I remain committed to focusing on and investing in sports so that we can reach our full potential as a country.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Minister Darrell.
The second Statement is in the name of Senator Leslie Robinson, and it is the Position Paper on Progressing Bermuda’s Minimum Hourly Wage.
Senator Robinson, you have the floor.

POSITION PAPER ON PROGRESSING
BERMUDA’S MINIMUM HOURLY WAGE

Sen. Leslie Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I am pleased today to introduce to Members of the Senate
the Position Paper on
Progressing Bermuda’s Minimum Hourly Wage .
Madam President, as the Members of the Senate may recall, the first statutory minimum hourly wage rate for Bermuda was established on 1 June 2023 by the Employment (Minimum Hourly Wage) Order 2023,
which set the minimum hourly wage rate for employees
within Bermuda at the rate of $16.40.
Madam President, the purpose of the Position
Paper is to outline the Government’s commitment to the progression of the minimum hourly wage rate be-yond the current $16.40 and to propose a framework in
which this can be achieved. Madam President, while
the establishment of a minimum hourly wage in Ber-muda was a significant step towards ensuring fair com-pensation for employees and for the reduction of income [inequality ], a further step needs to be taken to
assure that employees can maintain a reasonable
standard of living and their purchasing power is not di-minished while the costs of everyday goods and ser-vices rise.
Madam President, the Government supports
the Position Paper’s proposal to progress the statutory
minimum hourly wage rate every two years by the annual average rate of inflation, utili sing the Consumer
Price Index (the CPI) as the indicative measure, capped at 2.5 per cent per year. Using this methodology, the newly proposed statutory minimum wage rate to take effect in 2025 will be between $16.81 and
$17.23.
Madam President, the CPI is often used as a
benchmark for adjusting minimum hourly wages as it
tracks the average change over time in the prices paid by consumers for a market basket of consumer goods and services, which includes but is not limited to essential items such as food, housing, clothing, transportation, and health care. Since the minimum hourly wage
is intended to help workers afford basic living ex-penses, by linking the minimum hourly wage increases to the CPI, albeit “capped, ” the minimum hour ly wage
can be adjusted to better keep pace with inflation.


Bermuda Senate Madam President, the Position Paper details
the Government’s intention to enhance the wage floor
over time, why the CPI is the most appropriate method
to utilise to progress the statutory minimum hourly wage rate, those most likely to be impacted by the pro-gression of the statutory minimum hourly wage rate ,
and the role that the Wage Commission and the Government will play in the monitoring and evaluation of the
continued progression of the statutory minimum hourly
wage rate in Bermuda.
Madam President, it should be noted that in its
2021 report on the proposed minimum hourly wage
rate, the Wage Commission posited that “As there is an
employment census, counting the number of jobs and
the rate of pay for those jobs annually, the minimum
wage can be reviewed annually.” Additionally, the International Labour Organization’s 2021 Global Wage
Report highlights that over half of the countries with
statutory minimum wages adjust their wages at least
every two years.
Madam President, when drafting the Position
Paper, the views of the Wage Commission were sought and considered and agreement on the intention to progress the minimum hourly wage rate by linking it with
the CPI was reached.
Madam President, as the Government continues to strengthen the protections afforded to employ-ees within Bermuda, adopting a transparent and con-sultative process for implementing and monitoring the
minimum hourly wage adjustments will foster inclusivity
and avoid the erosion of the minimum hourly wage rate
to allow employees the opportunity to maintain income
equality.
Madam President, the Ministry would like to
thank all Senate Members for the opportunity to make
this address today.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: And thank you, Senator Robinson.
Moving on to the next item.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

The President: There are none.

FIRST READING OF PUBLIC BILLS

CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT ACT 2024

WATER RESOURCES AMENDMENT ACT 2024

The President: The following Public Bills have been
received from the Honourable House of Assembly and
are read for the first time.
Their titles are, respectively: The Customs Tariff Amendment Act 2024, Governor’s Recommendation
Signified ; and the Water Resources Amendment Act
2024.
FIRST READING OF PRIVATE BILLS

The President: There are none.

QUESTION PERIOD

The President: Senators, we will entertain questions
on the Statements that have been read this morning. The first one being in the name of Minister Hon. Owen Darrell , the Sporting Recap.
Would any Senator ask any questions on this
first Statement?
Hearing none, then we will move on to the second Statement. Would any Senator care to ask ques-tions?
Senator John Wight, you have the floor.

QUESTION 1: POSITION PAPER ON
PROGRESSING BERMUDA’S MINIMUM HOURLY
WAGE
Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
I wholeheartedly agree with the concept of increasing the minimum wage in accordance with the Consumer Price Index. I would just like some clarifica-tion so I fully understand what I am reading.
So, the increase is adopted every second year.
If in the first year the inflation is 2.5 per cent and the
second year is 2.5 per cent, is the increase in the second year 2.5 per cent or is it 5.0 per cent? I just want to
get clarification from the Bill.
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Madam President, I was just
asking if the Senator can repeat the question, please?

The President: Senator Wight.

Sen. John Wight: Sure. So, from my reading, the minimum wage increase it is adopted every second year.
So, by way of example, if the inflation rate in the first
year is 2.5 per cent , and the inflation rate in the second
year is 2.5 per cent, is the increase at the end of the
second year going to be a 5 per cent increase or a
2.5 per cent increase?

Sen. Leslie Robinson: A maximum of 5.0 per cent.

SUPPLEMENTARY

Sen. John Wight: Thank you. So if I may ask a follow -
up question. Why wouldn’t this be adopted every year ,
then? Why is it every second year when the total of those two years is added together, if you will?

Sen. Leslie Robinson: So let me clarify, Madam President.
A maximum of 5 per cent over a two- year period.

612 25 September 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: Mm -hmm.

Sen. John Wight: But it will be adopted annually at . . .
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Every two years.

Sen. John Wight: Right. Okay. So I guess my question
is, Why wouldn’t it be adopted annually in accordance
with the inflation rate annually?
The President: Mm -hmm.

Sen. John Wight: Because if it is only adopted every
second year, then the person is going to be not benefiting from the rate of inflation from the first year. So I guess I just . . . intuitively it doesn’t make sense to me
if we are keeping in line with inflation, and inflation is going up year by year. Why do we wait every second
year to make that increase rather than doing it on an
annual basis? Sen. Leslie Robinson: Madam President, this is what
was recommended. And it was recommended in accordance with what happens in many other countries.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Senator.

The President: Senator Wight?

Sen. John Wight: No. It doesn’t intuitively make sense
to me, but I hear the response from the Senator. So thank you very much.

The President: Thank you, Senator Wight.
Would any other Senator care to ask questions
on this Statement?
Hearing none, we will then move on with our
agenda.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

The President: The first of Order of the Day is consid-eration of the Contributory Pensions ( Amendment of
Benefits ) Order 2024. That is in the name of Senator
Arianna Hodgson, spokesperson for Finance.
Senator Hodgson, you have the floor.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President. Good morning, again.
The President: Good morning to you.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Madam President, I move
that the Senate do now take under consideration the draft Order entitled the Contributory Pensions (Amendment of Benefits) Order 2024.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
You can carry on.

DRAFT ORDER

CONTRIBUTORY PENSIONS
(AMENDMENT OF BENEFITS) ORDER 2024

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, the tabling of the Contributory Pensions (Amendment of Benefits) Order 2024 on
September 20, 2024, reflects this Government’s reso-lute and unwavering commitment to improving the qual-ity of life of our senior citizens.
Madam President, you will recall that in the
Government’s 2020 Election Platform the Government promised to put our seniors first and to institute annual cost of living increases for social insurance pensions linked to the rate of inflation to help lessen the hardships that too many of our seniors now endure.
Madam President, Bermuda, like most other
countries provides retired individuals with a combina-tion of a social insurance benefit from the Contributory Pension Fund (CPF) and a mandatory occupational pension from their employer. In a perfect world the so-cial insurance benefit should provide a first tier or basic
pension, which the second tier or occupational pension would most likely supplement. Through no fault of their own, currently a number of retired persons are not re-ceiving an occupational pension and are therefore rely-ing on the social insurance benefit as their sole source of income.
Madam President, this situation could be better, and the Government continues to do its upmost to ensure that seniors who rely heavily on their social in-surance benefits are cared for suitably.
Madam President, notwithstanding the above,
the CPF benefit provides an important base retirement
income. Currently the maximum pension paid under the
CPF remains around 26 per cent of the median annual
gross earnings for Bermudians as indicated in the Ber-muda Job Market Employment Briefs produced by the Department of Statistics. This compares closely to the UK where the full basic state pension as a percentage
of average earnings is around 24 per cent.
Madam President, 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. Per t he Government actuaries , this 2.4 per
cent increase in benefits would have a minor negative
impact to the Contributory Pension Fund.
Madam President, [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. These pensions and allowances are as follows:


Bermuda Senate • Contributory Old Age Pension;
• Contributory Widows and Widowers Allowance;
• Contributory Disability Benefit;
• Non- contributory Old Age Pension; and
• Non- contributory Disability Benefit.
Madam President, the current base of Contributory Pension is $1,152 per month. The maximum Contributory Pension currently payable, including 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 purposed 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 ap-proximately $1,713 per month. The retroactive pension
payments for the 2.4 per cent will be included in the 15
October 2024 payment dating back to 16 August 2024.
Thereafter beneficiaries should expect to see the
2.4 per cent increase in their regular monthly payment
on the 15
th of each month.
Madam President, the 2.4 per cent increase
marks the 16th pension increase that the Progressive
Labour Party Government has put through in its time in
Government. Honourable Members are reminded that
the former Government made seniors wait five years for a pension increase which is the longest period of
time bet ween increases since the UBP was in office
when pensions were increased every two years. Since
taking office in November in 1998 and now this Government has put through 15 increases prior to this increase.
Madam President, in every case the benefit increase has either exceeded the prevailing inflation rate
or has been in line with the Consumer Price Index [CPI]
thereby placing seniors’ pensions in good stead.
Madam President, Honourable Members are
advised that based on the CPI 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. Madam President, the 2024 increase in benefits would normally be
accompanied by a corresponding increase in contributions by an actuarially recommended rate of 2.5 per
cent above the benefit’s increased rate.
Madam President, while contribution rates
were last increased in 2018 by 4.2 per cent, the Ministry of Finance has considered the CPF’s position and it
is anticipated that the fund can withstand a year’s delay
in contribution increases. However, it will be critical to adjust the contributions in August 2025.
Madam President, Honourable Members will
recall that in the 2018 Throne Speech Government announced that Bermuda’s social insurance system will
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 in the framework. Madam President, in
that regard, and at the important work done over the last three years by the Pension Reform Committee.
This committee includes officials from the Minis try of Finance and the Public Funds Investment Committee as-sisted by consultants McKinsey & Company and
TELUS Health (formerly LifeWorks) which has been as-sessing the current state of the Contributory Pension
Fund while also evaluating options to address t he Government pension funds.
Madam President, the pension reform work is
developing options to sustainably address the deficit
and secure future benefits from Bermuda’s people.
Once we finalise that work, increases to pension contribution levels will form part of the reforms. Madam President, as has been stated previously, the Government also intends to shift to a per cent of income con-tribution model for the Contributory Pension Fund. The
contemplated changes are consistent with the overwhelming majority of tier 1 pension systems glob ally.
Based on the results of continued actuarial analysis, the Pension Reform Committee will put forth options to
achieve a path to pension sustainability for the Bermuda Government.
Madam President, as of 31 March 2024, the
fund had net assets of over $2.25 billion, representing approximately 10 times the value of benefits paid in this fiscal year, 2023/24. The effect of this is that if the CPF
received no further contributions, it co uld still continue
to pay out pensions at the prevailing rate for almost 12
years. However, the reality is that contributions will continue and will be increased from time to time. Consequently, prudent investment of the pension fund assets is an essential factor in the fund’s financial position.
Madam President, in this regard the Government’s investment strategy for pension fund assets is achieving good results. As of 31 March 2024, the Contributory Pension Fund investments stood at $2.1 billion. The nominal amount of return for the 10 years preceding 31 March 2024 has been 5.6 per cent.
Madam President, as evidenced by the 2020
Actuarial Report tabled in [the] Honourable House on 4
February 2022, the viability of the Fund in the short -tomedium 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
the fund. It should also be noted that the funding policy
for the fund is not based on full actuarial funding but
based on sustainable funding. That is, contributions
plus investment income should cover benefits and administration expenses on an annual basis while the fund builds up sufficient reserves to cover several years
of benefits and expenses to withs tand future adverse
circumstances.
Madam President, despite the encouraging
short -to-medium term outlook on the fund, what is
clearly evident from the latest actuarial review is that
Bermuda, like most of the developed world, is faced
with the challenges associated with the growth of an
ageing population. This increase in our seniors will
614 25 September 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate obviously place a more significant strain on the country’s pension system. It is therefore essential that the
Government continues to closely monitor the performance of the fund and our overall pension arrangements to ensure the long- term sustainability of the fund.
However, taking care of our seniors is a priority for us.
We remain confident, Madam President, that we will
continue to strike the right balance between social and
fiscal responsibility.
In closing, I wish to again assure Senators, and
more importantly, current and future pensioners that the Government is sensitive to the challenges facing
pension plans of this nature. We will take the appropriate steps to enhance the benefits paid from th e national
pension plan as well as ensure the fund has the ongo-ing ability to pay for such benefits.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.
Would any Senator care to speak on this [Order]?
Senator De Couto, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam President. And thank you, Senator, for that brief. That was
some good information in there.
Those of us in the OBA who are knocking on
doors and trying to win the support of people are inun-dated, as I am sure those in the PLP are, with comments and questions from seniors, former public servants, [and] former members of the uniformed services as to what is going on with the pensions. On a daily
basis we receive emails about this. So, clearly, this is an important increase for many members of the public, because, as was stated in the Senator’s brief, it is an
important component of people’s retirement plans. So, we are glad to see it.
We are still very concerned about the lack of
progress in reform. We keep hearing about it. The Sen-ator covered several areas of potential reform, but we
would really like to know, Does the Government have a
specific date in mind by which it plans to impl ement this
reform? We would really like to know what the public’s response to the proposed reforms have been for the CPF, which is what this is about, the social insurance,
the contributory pension fund.
We would really like to see, Madam President,
the latest actual actuarial report so that we could as-sess the details to make a more in- depth analysis and
a more detailed response. What we know now is that
the money will run out. And for someone such as mys elf
who is still working or people who are perhaps very
early in their retirement, until changes are made they
should not plan on these funds being around past the
mid-[20]40s. And it is really hard for us to see if these
promises being made by the Governm ent can be met
until we see the actual details. And we have been hear-ing about that there will be reform—reform is in the
works. And that is why we would really encourage the Government to set a date by which that reform will be
specifically launched and announced, presented to the
public for consultation, and frankly, Madam President,
so people can plan. My wife and I, we are trying to plan
. . . I am not yet 50, but soon. You know, it is time to
think about retirement. In fact, it is probably past time.
And I know that we are luckier than most. There are
many who will be planning quite carefully, quite detailed, and they need to know what the Government’s
plans are so that this can be an important of their retirement took kit.
I think that generally covers my points, Madam
President. So when will we get the actuarial report?
When will this proposed reform actually happen? And
when will the public be consulted so that they get the
opportunity to provide feedback and plan their ow n retirements?
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Senator John Wight, you have the floor.

Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
For starters I would like to say that I support the
increase and the 2.4 per cent benefit for retirees. Although, as I have expressed before, as a senior myself I have a conflict of interest because I will be a benefi-ciary of the increase.

[Laughter]

Sen. John Wight: But what I do not agree with is deferring the increase in the funding to August of 2025. I
know from these types of plans if you do not match the
benefit with the funding, this can cause an issue.
So, my question to the Junior Minister would
be, What is the current deficit in the Contributory Pen-sion Fund? And what financial impact or increase will
this 2.4 per cent have on the increasing deficit to the
fund?
Thank you, Madam President.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITORS

The President: Thank you, Senator.
I would just like to acknowledge, before ask if
any other Senator would like to speak, the presence of
Mr. Gershon Gibbons, the Director of Social Insurance,
who is in the Chamber. And Dr. Geoffrey Smith, the
Acting Director of the Department of Energy and National Resources and also Mr. Dean Lema, who is the Principal Customs Officer. Welcome to you, sirs.
[Debate on the Contributory Pensions (Amendment of
Benefits) Order 2024, continuing]



Bermuda Senate The President: Would any other Senator care to speak
on this [Order]?
Senator Robinson, you have the floor.

Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
And as my colleague stated, we do support the
increase. My one question to the Junior Minister is, How confident is she in the sustainability of these calculations when it comes to the amount of rate pay as in
the amount of contributors who will be on the Island?
Because as we know, young folks, young people in
Bermuda by and large (I can’t speak for all) but by and
large many of us hear on the doorstep that they are either staying overseas after school or looking to move
overseas to pursue other activities, other lifestyle . . .
whatever they are looking to pursue.
So, a lot of these calculation are based on, I
guess, a numerical value of how many future contribu-tors are going to be here. When we know that we have
a working population hole of 8,000 people. So, my question is, What contingents are in place if these ca lculations are based off of a certain number of future
contributors and that contributor number continues to
decline with our birth rate, and you have more people set to retire and claim than you do paying in?
And we have not seen enough changes. Does
the [Junior Minister] also believe that creating a sliding scale will mitigate the loss of contributors that we are
seeing in the actual pension scheme? And what is the
Government’s kind of foresight in that depart ment to
make sure that not only do we not place a huge . . . a
much larger burden on those coming up who are not looking at retirement yet but are looking to purchase homes, looking to purchase vehicles, looking to start
families that we do not inundate th em because they
have to make up an extra, or more increased benefit contribution than those before them because of the
number of people who are leaving, or are not being retained or not being enticed to return home?
So those are just my few questions, and I look
forward to the answers.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Senator Tucker, OBA Leader in the Senate,
you have the floor.
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
I just have one question, and I would like to
know . . . I mean, we are talking about funding and the
impact on the Contributory Pension Fund. I would like
to know if the Junior Minister can give some information
about the full impact of the funding that came out of the CPF as it relates to COVID -19, because, I mean . . .
you know, obviously that is going to have an impact on what is left in the fund as well in order to pay benefits
even in the future.
With not having the actuarial report, it is a little
difficult to understand, to know. So, I would like to know
if she can give that information as well.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Tucker.
We will give the Senator an opportunity to get
responses to those questions that have been asked.
Senator Hodgson, when you are ready.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Yes, thank you, Madam President.
I can get started on my responses.

The President: Mm-hmm.

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: As it pertains to the comments made by Senator De Couto, I can say generally
that at this time the Pension Reform Committee is progressing the work. They are looking at the proposed
changes to the existing pension framework for the Public Service Superannuation Fund. And so, as part of
that exercise, we are actually having conversations
with the union membership on plan changes, which
have been previously approved by Cabinet. However,
it is important to note that the intention is to ac tually implement these changes before we commence the
broader review of the Contributory Pension Fund. And
so, although we do not have all of the answers that
Members would prefer to have, those details are forthcoming.
There was a question about the current deficit
in terms of CPF. Again, the 2023 Actuarial Review is
actually being completed during this time. I think it is
also important to highlight . . . there was some mention
of the potential change to a progressive contribution system. I want to highlight that actually most major jurisdictions which would actually include, I believe, the
US and Canada, already have a system like this in
place. And so, this will actually bring Bermuda in line
with what would actually be considered a more equitable system.
I know that there were some questions about
future contributions and the trends that obviously have
implications on the future fund. However, I do not have
the specifics which will satisfy the questions that have
been posed by Senators today. I do know th at in the
brief I did indicate that an increase in benefits would
have a minor negative impact and to what degree we
would see based on the actuarial reports that will be
coming at a later date.

[Pause]
The President: Senator Wight, you have an additional
clarification?

616 25 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda Senate Sen. John Wight: I do, Madam President. Thank you.
So Junior Minister, if you could provide the current deficit that we have recorded. So, it may not be
2023, but certainly the most recent one that has been recorded in the Government’s financial statements, or the . . .
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT
SENATE VISITOR
The President: Thank you, Senator Wight.
And while the Senator is getting the response,
I would just like to acknowledge another individual who is here with us in the Chamber. And that is Mrs. Gwen Johnson, Parliamentary Counsel. Welcome to you.
[
Debate on the Contributory Pensions (Amendment of
Benefits) Order 2024, continuing]
The President: Senator De Couto.

Thank you, Madam President.
I would like to ask a clarifying question with regard to the Senator’s statement that the Pension Re-form Committee is still progressing the work of the Pub-lic Service Superannuation Fund, the public servant
pension. My understanding, what I had heard, I w ould
like her to confirm if I heard it correctly, is that a proposed set of reforms have been approved by the Cabi-net, but they are still in some sort of discussions with the public service. So, if I have not heard that correctly, if she could perhaps clarify what those discussions consist of. For example, are they in negotiations with the
union or have they simply made presentations and are still collecting feedback, or whatever the particular cur-rent state might be.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
[
Pause]
The President: For the listening audience and Senators, Senator [Hodgson] is getting responses from the
team in the Senate Chambers who can ans wer some
of the questions that hav e been as ked.
[Pause]
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Madam President, I am still
waiting for clarity on the latest CPF deficit that we have
recorded.
Would we like to proceed, and I can commit to
providing those answers , given that most persons are
still in support of the increased benefit?
The President: M m-hmm. Se
n. Arianna Hodgson: If that is suitable for you?
The President: Yes, I think that is agreeable. You will
provide the answers —
Se
n. Arianna Hodgson: Yes, I will get –
The President: — later in the meeting.
Se
n. Arianna Hodgson: Yes, I will get the last CPF
deficits details.
The President: Thank you.
You may proceed with your [Order] then.
Se
n. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
I move that the said draft Order be approved
and that the following message be sent to Her Excellency the Governor.
May it please your Excellency: The Senate, having had under consideration
the draft Order entitled the Contributory Pensions
(Amendment of Benefits) Order 2024 proposed to be made by the Minister of Finance under the provisions of section 37 of the Contributory Pensions Act 1970 has
the honour to inform Your Excellency that the Senate
has approved the said draft Order.
The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson. The message will be sent to the Governor.
Thank you and thank you all, Senators, who
have asked questions of this [Order].
[
Motion carried: The Contributory Pensions (Amendment of Benefits) Order 2024 was approved.]
The President: We will now move on then to the next
item on our agenda for the Orders of the Day. And that is the Customs Tariff Amendment Act 2024. And that is
also in the name of Senator Arianna Hodgson, the
spokesperson for Finance.
Senator Hodgson, when you have caught your
breath, you can present your Bill.
STANDING ORDER 25
Se
n. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I would like to move that the
provisions of Standing Order 25 be granted so that the Senate may proceed with the second reading of the
Customs Tariff Amendment Act 2024, along with the
Water Resources Amendment Act 2024.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.


Bermuda Senate [Motion carried: Leave granted for the Customs Tariff
Amendment Act 2024, along with the Water Resources Amendment Act 2024, be read a second time on the same day as their first reading.]
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
I move that the Bill entitled the Customs Tariff
Amendment Act 2024 be now a second time.
The President: Is there any objection to the second
reading?
No objection.

BILL

SECOND READING

CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT ACT 2024
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, Senators are requested
now to give consideration to the Bill entitled the
Customs Tariff Amendment Act 2024 .
Madam President, the Bill proposes to amend
the Fifth Schedule of the Customs Tariff Act 1970 for the purpose of lowering the rate of duty for diesel and
fuel oils used by BELCO for the production of electricity.
Madam President, Senators will recall that on
8 July of this year, the Regulatory Authority [RA] of Ber-muda ordered increases to all BELCO facilities charges and energy charges. The Regulatory Authority has estimated that as a result of the uprated charges, average
overall residential rates will increase by 8.59 per cent,
commercial rates by an average of 8.94 per cent and
demand larger user rates by an average of 8.23 per
cent.
Madam President, in the 2024/25 Budget
Statement in support of the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, the Government acknowledged that there are urgent needs in our community including relief from high electricity prices. In order to mitigate the impac t of
the [Regulatory] Authority’s sanctioned BELCO
charges on consumers, the Bill proposes to reduce the
duty revenue gained through fuel duty in the amount of $10 million, with effect from 19 July 2024 through 31 March 2025.
Madam President, the Bill had statutory effect
from the date of its first reading on the 19 July 2024 in
accordance with the Provisional Collection of Revenue
Act 1975. On that date the duty rate for BELCO diesel and fuel oil was reduced from 20 cents per litre to 8
cents per litre. In this way the Government ensured that the rates of duty for BELCO diesel and fuel oils were
provisionally lowered in time for the effective date of the
base rate increase on 1 August 2024. I should also note that the Governor’s declaration approving the statutory effect from the date of the first reading of the Bill was received in the House of As-sembly on 18 July 2024.
Madam President, this Government intends
that these new lower duty rates for BELCO diesel and
fuel oils should continue for the time being in force for
the ongoing benefit of customers. It is intended there-fore that the Bill should be enacted by the Legis lature
during the current term to avoid the cessation of the ap-plication and provisions of the Provisional Collection of Revenue Act 1975 and a reversal of these urgently
needed rate reductions.
Thank you, Madam President.

ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

SENATE VISITORS

The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson.
And before I open the floor for questions, I
would just like to also acknowledge the presence in the Chamber of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Mrs.
Nalin Salick and the Permanent Secretary for the Attorney General’s Chambers, Ministry of Justice, Mrs. G ina
Hurst -Maybury. Welcome to you all.
[Debate on the Customs Tariff Amendment Act 2024,
continuing]

The President: Would any other Senator care to speak
on this [Order]?
Senator De Couto, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam President.
We were just talking about the pensions increases and that was a hot topic on people’s minds and
on their wallets. And clearly as the temperature gets hotter, the BELCO bills get hotter. And so, this is also a
very hot topic. Now, it is a little bit of a technical topic,
and I am not going to lie, Madam President, I had to break out my spreadsheet —

—and I picked through my BELCO bills to run some numbers.
So, if you don’t mind, I might just try to provide
a little more detail on some of the moving pieces of this because the fuel adjustment rates is a component of the Bill which includes the impact of the Government taxes on BELCO that this is reducing. But there are a
lot of other moving pieces in the BELCO Bill, and I just want to highlight those out so people could understand
and see the context. So, if you don’t mind, I might just
provide some numbers.
618 25 September 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate The President: You may.

Thank you, Madam President.
So, the Bill is broken out in what we will call a
variable part and a fixed part. So, first of all, everyone
is paying $30- odd a month just for having your connection. Okay? That is the facilities charge. From July to
August, that went up 13 per cent. It does not matter
how much electricity you use, that part just went up 13 per cent. Like $4.50 on everyone’s bill.
The other part (and the Senator mentioned
this) is that the RA had approved an increase to
BELCO’s per kilowatt rate, we might call it the base rate
(is another language). Now, that rate varies depending
on how much you use. We actually have a particular
oddity here in Bermuda that the more you use the more
you pay per unit of electricity used. Now I don’t know
about you, but normally if I go buy a 12- pack of paper
towels, I pay less per paper towel than if I buy a 6- pack.
But anyway, this is how we are doi ng electricity.
It is hard for any individual to work out what that
increase will be to them. So I created two examples, Madam President, what I would call a small user —a
very small user who uses 250 kilowatt hours per month.
And that is within what BELCO calls the block one, or
their lowest per kilowatt hour rate. So that ratepayer first of all is going to pay, like I mentioned, 13.5 per cent
more on the facilities . . . and I misspoke. The actual
increase for facilities is more like $7 or $8. And they are going to pay 13 per cent more just on the base rate. So
BELCO is making . . . and that is the bit of the income
that sticks to BELCO. That doesn’t go back out in taxes or fuel or whatever. So per unit of electricity used for that user, BELCO is making 13 per cent more per kilowatt hour. It is good that the fuel adjustment rate is now down because of the tax but people need to understand that BELCO is making more.
Then I picked what I will call a medium user —
now, I mean, you know, I have been looking on social
media and people have been posting their bills. This
may not even be a medium user based on some people’s bills, but I picked 900 kilowatt hours a month. So
someone using that much, they are going to pay 14 per
cent more on the BELCO base rate, but 11 per cent
less on the fuel adjustment rate, which is where this
savings of the tax reduction come in. So I just want to
give that context.
There is a lot going on. We think that . . . and,
you know, this is fine. This is like a Band- Aid on the
problem. But we think that what would be important is
if the Government could look more holistically at the
whole situation of how people are paying f or energy in
this country, how much money BELCO is making, and
if the RA was able to take into account what we might
call questions of national interest as it considers what it approves or doesn’t approve for BELCO. So it is our
understanding that the RA w ould like to have some additional powers here to perhaps consider more widely the impacts of its rates.
So, while we are not opposed to this change
(other than of course $10 million less income for the government coffers and so forth), we would really like to see a more holistic view of this where the RA can
really get into like how much money is BELCO maki ng?
Is it the right amount? What are people getting for that
money? And so forth.
So I hope that this was informative for some of
the listeners, if they are still awake, Madam President. That is the end of my comments.
Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill?
Hearing none, then it is over to the Junior Minister, Arianna Hodgson.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President, and I would like to thank Senator De Couto for his contributions this morning.
I think we heard a different debate in the House
last week, but I genuinely believe that regardless of
which side you sit on we can all view this is an amendment which provides temporary relief designed to ad-dress current economic challenges that many of us are
facing. So again, this is not a tax break for BELCO. But
I do believe it is a well -designed or well -considered
measure that will actually lower, obviously, our electricity costs, I would say stimulate a bit of economic
growth, ensures some energy sec urity and generally
provide economic relief for Bermudians.
I also recognise I think that this is an opportunity to start having more conversations about an investment in cleaner, I guess, and more efficient technologies over time.
So, Madam President, with that being said, I
move that the Bill entitled the Customs Tariff Amendment Act 2024 be now read a second time.

The President: Is there any objection to the second
reading? No objection.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President. I move that [Standing Order] 26 be suspended in
respect of this Bill.
The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.


Bermuda Senate I move that the Bill entitled the Customs Tariff
Amendment Act 2024 be now read a third time.

The President: Is there any objection to the third read-ing?
No objection.

BILL

THIRD READING

CUSTOMS TARIFF AMENDMENT ACT 2024
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Madam President, I move
that the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill entitled
the Customs Tariff Amendment Act 2024 do now pass.
Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection. The Bill is passed.
[Motion carried: The Customs Tariff Amendment Act
2024 was read a third time and passed.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Hodgson. And thank you, all Senators.
We will now move on to Item No. 3 on our
agenda and that is the second reading of the Water Resources Amendment Act 2024. And that is in the name
of the Senator Leslie [sic] Simmons, the Junior Minister
for Home Affairs.
Senator Simmons, you have the floor.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: It’s Lindsay Simmons, thank
you.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
Water Resources Amendment Act 2024 be now read a second time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
I do apologise. It is Senator Lindsay Simmons,
the Junior Minister for Home Affairs.

BILL

SECOND READING

WATER RESOURCES AMENDMENT ACT 2024

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Madam President, I am
pleased to rise today to introduce the Bill entitled the Water Resources Amendment Act 2024
.
The Bill seeks to amend the Water Resources
Act 1975 (the 1975 Act), to ensure that Bermuda main-tains the highest quality of groundwater. Madam President, clean water is fundamental to public health and
the sustainability of our natural ecosystems. Ensuring the purity of this essential resource protects our community’s health and our Island’s economy and pre-serves Bermuda’s natural beauty for future genera-tions. Monitoring groundwater quality and the status of the freshwater lenses is crucial to managing the Is-land’s water resources. To achieve these goals, a [suite] of proposed amendments has been made to the
1975 Act.
Madam President, every five years the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
issues approximately 3,142 water rights to manage the use of groundwater from wells for various purposes. These include treating groundwater to make potable
water, cooling water for buildings, toilet flushing and irrigation. We also manage about 871 disposable boreholes for uses including discharging treated wastewater, road stormwater runoff and cooling water return from buildings. Well riggers are also regulated t o
ensure compliance with the Act.
Recent boat sewage regulations created nondischarge zones close to shore and within various en-closed seas and harbours. Updates to the Act will ena-ble public officers from the department to enforce these regulations and to assist identifying habitual off enders
who discharge sewage within non- discharge zones.
Madam President, many environmentally conscious companies already report pollution spills, moni-tor and clean up soils and waters as part of their oper-ating licences. This is currently achieved under the Clean Air Act 1991 and only applies to some typicall y
larger companies that operate control plants. In order to comprehensively address these issues, it is pro-posed that they should be dealt with under the Water Resources Act. This will ensure that all polluting activi-ties are controlled to protect human health and the en-vironment. It is also proposed that new regulations
based on existing cleanup guidelines will be applied to
any person who pollutes.
The new amendment will make it an offence
not to report a pollution event, will allow for the issuance of pollution stop orders and will mandate the need for
abatement and remediation of polluted ground and
groundwater. This will significantly enhance the gov-ernment's ability to protect the environment. The pro-posed amendment will
1. provide for the establishment of pollution limits for the ground; help reduce the pollution of public water resources that are below ground and
sea water; create environmental pollution standards under the new regulations;
2. increase enforcement powers under the Water Resources Act 1975 and the Water Resources (Prevention of Pollution by Sewage [from]
Boats) Regulations 2018;
3. implement appropriate fines to deter behaviours that pollute the environment; and
4. require the reporting of pollution events to au-thorities as soon as practicable.
Additionally, the Government will provide best
practice guidelines online based on international
620 25 September 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate processes from developed jurisdictions to inform the
public how to reduce the risk of pollution spills.
Madam President, due to the importance of
these amendments, I invited the public to comment on
these proposed legislative changes over a three- week
period that ended 10 July 2024. Comments were
largely discussed by the Department of Environment
and Natura l Resources (DENR) and [consultees] via
email including twice for Bermuda Environmental Sus-tainability Taskforce (BEST), the Bermuda National
Trust (BNT), MediWaste Limited, Skyport and WEDCO. Additionally, DENR held in- person consultation meetings with st akeholders including BELCO, AIRCARE Limited, and the Ministry of Public Works. Madam President, as a result of these consultations, some minor amendments were made to the Bill. For example, offences were adjusted to discrimi-nate smaller and larger pollution events. Madam President, as a consequence, the Water Resources Act has
been significantly amended.
1. To extend the authority of public officers to enforce existing Water Resources (Prevention of
Pollution by Sewage from Boats) Regulations
2018 by extending permissions to enter upon
any property or land to include any boat or ves-sel. Permissions already require provisions of
duly authenticated documentation and are applicable during reasonable hours only.
2. To extend authority [of] public officers to take
measures to ascertain if public water (including
[sea] water) is or may become polluted. This is required to allow public officers to use, for example, inert dye tablets to [prove] culpability of
suspected habitual sewage discharges from vessels within non- discharge zones under the
Regulations. It is noted that “vessel” means any boat (other than a large vessel) to which the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution
by Sewage and Garbage from Ships) Regulations 2015 applies.
3. To allow public officers powers to take soil samples for analysis. In addition to existing authority to take water and effluent [samples] to
establish if the [pollution] to the ground is [suf-ficient] to cause pollution to groundwater or
public water.
4. To allow the Minister to require by notice in
writing any person responsible for causing pollution to the ground, groundwater or sea water
a. to stop [work] immediate to prevent further pollution to the environment.
For example, issuing a pollution stop
order;
b. to ascertain the extent of the pollution;
and
c. to provide for mitigation and remediation methods to address said pollution
where failure to comply with the directions given should be considered an offence, subject to appeal and could
result in seizure of equipment used in
contravention of the stop order.
5. To increase penalties for various offences in
line with the current expectations, up to a maximum of $20,000.
6. To include marine outfalls under the definition of “works” to help manage discharge to the
sea.
7. To increase the Minister’s power to make reg-ulations that prescribe concentration thresh-olds for the [protection] of human and environmental health based on international best practice to determine when public water, sea water
or any ground is deemed pollu ted. The concentration thresholds for ground would be varied depending on the proximity to groundwater, pond, coastline or critical habitat and whether
the ground is used or zoned for residential or
commercial purposes.
8. To increase the Minister’s power to make reg-ulations to include the need for landowners (in
certain cases) to [keep records] relating to the
storage of environmental liabilities on the site
(for example, fuels, oils, hazardous chemicals)
and to allow for procedures to be recommended to protect the environment against
spills.
9. To allow a public officer to obtain and record
information and statistics on the hydrological
and hydrogeological groundwater [concentrations] and any level of pollution. And in the absence of agreement with compensation paya-ble to the landowner for any damages caused
by the construction of works.
10. To extend authority under the Bill to include police officers, including the Royal Bermuda Regiment Coast Guard unit and other persons authorised by the Minister in writing.
11. To require persons to report to the Minister, as
soon as practicable, the discharge of any fuel,
oil, waste, or hazardous chemicals into public water, sea water or ground.
12. To issue guidelines to help reduce the risk of such [polluting] events including advice on segregation, storage and disposal of fuel, oil,
waste and other chemicals that may be haz-ardous to health, the environment or property.
In addition to advice on spil l preparedness and
spill abatement, remediation, monitoring and reporting recommendations. Madam President, the Government’s commitment to protecting Bermuda’s water quality is unwaver-ing. These proposed amendments and the upcoming
regulations are vital steps towards a cleaner healthier
environment for all. It is important to preserve our water
resources as it protects our natural ecosystems, our
community’s health, our Island’s economy and preserves Bermuda’s natural beauty for the future.


Bermuda Senate Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons,
Junior Minister for Home Affairs.
Would any Senator care to speak on this Bill?
Senator Tucker, Opposition Leader in the Senate, you have the floor.
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President,
and thank you to the Junior Minister for her brief.
To the point, we support the Bill so, you know,
any measures that are being taken to protect our vital
resources, particularly our water, we would certainly be
in support of. I do have a couple of questions though,
and they are just general questions.
The first one would be, Can the Junior Minister
confirm the form of evidence of authority that the public officer would need to produce to be entitled to enter the
land or premises for an investigation or survey? So that
would be the first question.
The second question, can she clarify why a polluting event would have to be reported to the Minister rather than the director or some other relevant authority? That would be helpful just to understand that.
And then my third question would be, the
phrase “reasonable hours” is mentioned several times
in the Bill. I would just like to know how would “reasonable hours” be defined in relation specifically to this Bill. As I said, it is mentioned in several places . “Reasonable hours” is subjective, so could she provide some clarity around that?
My last question is, Given the seriousness and
the critical need to protect our waters and our environ-ment, does the Junior Minister believe that the penal-ties (the fines, the increases, the $10,000 and the
$20,000 increases) are sufficient to deter peopl e from
contravening the requirements of the Bill (or soon to be the Act)?
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Tucker.
Would any other Senator care to speak on this
Bill? Yes, Vice President Kiernan Bell, you have the
floor.

Sen. Kiernan Bell: Thank you, Madam President.
In principle, I wanted to indicate that I support
this Bill. I think it is important for the Government to add to its toolkit in terms of its ability to protect our natural
environment and prevent pollution. And the pollution stop order, in particular, I t hink is a very useful tool.
I also have some question, I suppose, as to
why the cap on a significant pollution event. And in this regard I would note that in other jurisdictions the caps
have either been significantly increased, or in some
cases removed, to show, I think, the importance that countries are putting on protecting our natural environment. With that said, I support this Bill. I think it is important to keep moving forward in terms of protecting
our natural environment and I think this is an important
step.
Thanks.

The President: Thank you, Vice President Kiernan
Bell.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Robinson, Dwayne Robinson, you
have the floor.
Sen. Dwayne Robinson: Thank you, Madam President, and as my Senate Leader indicated, I do support
this legislation as well. My concern is mainly around enforcement. We have heard within the community a lot
that, you know, the current measures that Government has at its disposal to enforce pollutants and various
things that this Bill is addressing do currently exist in
legislation at a weaker form, that is true. But even then
it seems as though we have discrepancies within the
community of being able to properly enforce these offences to our environment.
My question to the Junior Minister is just, How
confident does she (and the Ministry) feel that these
added penalties will make much of a difference if the
enforcement level does not seem to be, or it is required,
in order to properly police? And if so, w hat has the Ministry, the Junior Minister and Minister considered in this
department to make sure that the enforcement portion
of these Bills is properly resourced, properly staffed so
that we can crack down a bit on the pollution that we
see in our parks, at the beaches and various things?
Also, you know, we see that litigation and various challenges can be difficult as well for the community as we have seen that residents who reside around
BELCO have been complaining for years about their
water being polluted. And we have not really seen a
resolution to that yet under the current legislation. My
question to the Junior Minister is, How will those discrepancies be wrapped up better underneath this current iteration that we are now passing today, and
whether or not she feels confident it will r esolve these
community issues?
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.

[No Audio]

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam President.
To answer Senator Tucker’s question, they
would need to provide their photo ID in order to enter properties.
The next question was why the Minister and
not the director? And it is because all appeals will have
to be to the Minister and not the director.
622 25 September 2024 Official Hansard Report
B ermuda Senate And “reasonable hours.” It was discussed that
reasonable hours will reflect the urgency of addressing
a pollution incident and the scale of the pollution inci-dent in terms of the environmental impact from a pollu-tion event in order to make enforcements in a timely manner. So “reasonable hours” would be the urgency
of it.
Why cap [at] $20,000? That was the advice
from the Attorney General’s Chamber after the consideration of other jurisdictions. So that is why the cap is at $20,000.
[
Pause]
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: [Regarding] enforcement,
Madam President. Proving that a vessel has dis-charged sewage close to the shoreline and within a non-discharge zone is very difficult because a discharge seacock is located out of sight, under the ves-sel. Since the new regulations were created in 2018,
there has been one successful prosecution of sewage discharge, an $8,000 fine. For many vessels that are suspected to be discharging within non- discharge
zones, DENR will inform the boat owners of the law and provide notice to the boat owner. If sewage discharges are still suspected, then additional dye tablets to head tanks would help to provide proof of sewage discharge under certain circumstances.
Currently DENR has had one successful prosecution in 2024 and two with the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) office. Three are now being looked at as well. So I believe that we are stepping up and hoping to catch people that are polluting our waters and
we are making sure that we have the people in place to catch people that are breaking the law.
The President: Senator Tucker, you wish to clarify
your question? Or . . .
Sen. Robin Tucker: I have two supplementals, if that
is okay.
The President: Two supplementals. Certainly, you can
present them.
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
Thank you to the Junior Minister for stating that
a photo ID is required, because a public officer could be of various categories of individuals (the coast guard, the police) and I think the Bill says that whoever else that the Minister identifies. Can she sort of provide some clarity around photo ID? So, in the case of coast
guard, are the coast guards all issued a photo ID? Or
are we talking about driver’s licences? Like what type of photo ID are we talking about? That is the first sup-plementary.
The second is (this is about “reasonable
hours”), I would just like to know who determines the
reasonableness of the event to connect to the reasonable hour. Right? So, my understanding is that
the Junior Minister said that pretty much it is going to
depend on the event. I would just lik e to know who determines. Is it the Minister who determines if two o’c lock
in the morning is a reasonable hour? Or is it the director
who determines that? Thank you, Madam President.
The President: T hank you, Senator Tucker.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: So, Madam President, to
clear up about the photo ID. As part of this Ac t, they will
be given cards, and written on the back of their ID will
state that they . . . will have the powers to enter properties.
When it comes to the BELCO water . . . the
tanks, with the people who live around there, the Bermuda Clean Air Coalition (BCAC) concerns [are] related to, one, Clean Air Act; and, two, drinking water
quality in residential tanks. Neither of these areas are
covered by the Water Resources Amendment Act
[2024] which speaks specifically to groundwater, pollution to ground and s oil which presents a risk to groundwater and also pollution to sea water.
The Department of Environment and Natural
Resources set requirements for the monitoring and
cleanup and reporting of large spills of gasoline that occurred at RUBiS in Ferry Reach in 2017 (for ex ample,
17,000 gallons). This spill [reached] down to the
groundwater, but it was c ontained as a res ult of the remediation process that DENR required the landowners
to follow under the Clean Air Licence.
DENR has responded [to] and ov erseen remediation for known oil contamination since 1980, including BELCO, the US Naval Bases, [and] other construction sites where oil was uncov ered. Typically, DENR receives between 10 and 25 spillages reported each year
from facilities licensed under a different Act, the Clean
Air Ac t. DENR expects this reporting [frequency] to rise
once the spills reporting, cleanup, monitoring and requirements are enacted for all under the Water Resource Amendment Act [2024].
So typically, the director will authorise in daylight hours. The Minister would have to authorise any
nighttime activities. So the director would do it during
the regular day, and the Minister, if it is an emergency,
at night.
I think that i s all, Madam President.
The President: M m-hmm.
Senator Tuck er, you hav e—
Sen. Robin Tucker: Yes, I am sorry . I was just
waiting . . . unless I mis sed it, just for clarification
around whether the Junior Minister believes that the
penalties are sufficient. Yes, I don’t recall getting an
answer to that.
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Yes, this is the same amount
that was in other jurisdic tions . So we went through to


Bermuda Senate the Attorney General’s Chamber and that was what
was advised and we do think that the penalty is fair.
The President: Senator Kiernan Bell, Vice President.

Sen. Kiernan Bell: Thank you, Madam President.
I do actually have a supplementary from my
question because I think that was . . . I had a similar
question in terms of that maximum penalty of $20,000.
Could you provide some indication of what
countries have that maximum penalty? When I looked
I could not find any other countries which had a maximum penalty that low. And I would note that in the
United Kingdom in 2023, they actually got rid of the
£250,000 maximum penalty for an unlimited . . . they
removed that cap. Thank you.
The President: Thank you, Senator Bell.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Madam President, I do not
have that with me, but I can send it in writing to all Senators. But I do have one more thing to say . . .

[Pause]

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Madam President, I also
want to note that DENR requires cleanup which, in the 2017 RUBiS example, 17,000 gallons of gasoline amounted to over $1 million and two years of cleanup.
So they do have to . . . they foot the bill for cleaning up
after their spil lage.
Madam President, I move that the Bill entitled
the Water Resources Amendment Act 2024 be now
read a second time.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDER 26

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Madam President, I move
that [Standing Order] 26 be suspended in respect to
this Bill.

The President: Is there any objection to that motion?
No objection.
[Motion carried: Standing Order 26 suspended.]
Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Madam President, I move
that the Bill entitled Water Resources Amendment Act
2024 be now read a third time.

The President: Is there any objection to the third reading?
No objection.

BILL
THIRD READING

WATER RESOURCES AMENDMENT ACT 2024

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Madam President, I move
that the Bill do now pass.
The President: It has been moved that the Bill entitled
the Water Resources Amendment Act 2024 do now
pass.
Is there any objection to the passage of the
Bill? No objection.
[Motion carried: The Water Resources Amendment Act
2024 was read a third time and passed.]

The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons.
Thank you [to] all Senators who have contributed to this Bill and thank you to the various officers who have come to assist the Senator in addressing the questions.
Moving on then now to our agenda.

MOTIONS
The President: There are none.

CONGRATULATORY AND/OR OBITUARY
SPEECHES
The President: Would any Senator care to speak on
these?
Senator John Wight, you have the floor.
Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
It is with deep sadness that I provide condolences to the family of Lisa Jackson who tragically lost
her life in a car crash in Miami along with her mother
several weeks ago. Lisa worked for BF&M when I was
the CEO there and I got to know her very well. She was
a lovely young lady and she was driving her mother and
her daughter to her daughter’s first year of college when she was struck by a careless driver. So she and
her mother passed away instantly and the daughter remains in a coma. So, it is one of those incredible tragedies that is really hard to fathom. Her funeral was last
week and, yes, I just wanted to say . . . I knew her very
well. She was a lovely person. I spoke to her one- onone so many times about the wishes for her daughter and so, you know, I just want to wish condolences to
her family and wish them all the best during this very,
very difficult period.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator John Wight.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
I am so sorry . . . Minister, you have the floor.

624 25 September 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate Sen. the Hon. Kim Wilkerson: Thank you, Madam
President.
I just wanted to join Senator Wight in his comments in relation to Lisa Jackson. I knew her well, as
well. She was sunshine. And I just want to join in those comments of condolence on her loss. She was a bright
star and we wish prayers for the recovery of her daughter, Kumani.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Wilkerson.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Tucker, you have the floor.
Sen. Robin Tucker: Thank you, Madam President.
I too would like to associate with Senator
Wight’s comments and Senator Wilkerson’s comments on the passing of Ms. Jackson and her mom.
I would also like to express condolences to my
family members on the passing of two of our family. Shakir Bascome as well as Robert Davis, otherwise known as Crumbug. He was a cousin of mine and also
a constituent. (Minister Darrell would have given me a
side eye over there, but thankfully he didn’t.)

[Inaudible interjection and laughter]
Sen. Robin Tucker: Also I would like to express condolences to the family of Mrs. Catherine Smith. So Doris Brooks and Trena Riley, also her daughter and
granddaughter. And I would lastly like to express con-dolences to April Simmons and the family of our very
own, Mrs. Michelle Simmons, on the passing of her
husband, the Reverend Dr. Erskine Simmons who I un-derstand was a member of the secret Progressive
Group which initiated the 1959 Theatre Boycott that ended government sanctioned racial segregation in public places in Bermuda.
So those are the condolences I would like to
express on this occasion. And on an up- note, I would
like to express congratulations. There has been a lot that has happened since we last met, but for the purposes of this conversation the one thing that I do want
to express is congratulations to the team at Habitat for Humanity, Sheelagh Cooper and her team, on the completion of the residential treatment centre at the former
St. James Rectory in Somerset. And for those who do
not know, that facility will be pr ovided as transitional living for people who are coming out of the Mid- Atlantic
Wellness Institute (MAWI).
So with that, Madam President, one last thing
which is congratulations to the Somerset Cricket Club
on the winning, outright win, of the Cup Match Cup.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Tucker.
Would any other Senator . . . Senator Robinson, you have the floor.
Sen. Leslie Robinson: Thank you, Madam President.
I too would like to join in with the condolences
that have been already extended to the Jackson/Lambert family on the passing of Lisa as well as her mother
and grandmother of Lisa’s child. We wish her all the best in her recovery.
I also want to join in on condolences for the
Simmons family. Reverend Dr. Erskine Simmons . . .
he was a lifeblood of the African Methodist Episcopal
Church and he in fact was a founding member of Bright
Temple AME Church in Warwick. He pastored at St. Luke AME Church in St. David’s and he also taught at
Wilberforce University and became a pastor at Trinity
AME Church at Wilberforce University. So our AME
family certainly mourns his passing and we wish the
Simmons family all the best.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you, Senator Robinson.
Minister —

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
Madam President, I would just like to start with
a few condolences to the community. First one is Mr. Duvaughn Andre' Signor. Many would know Vaughnie
(as they called him), a staple of the St. George’s community. He attended many sporting events. I know that there have been many tributes that have been paid to
him in the community and I just wanted to recognise
that here in the Senate this morning.
Also, Madam President, I want to send condolences to the family of Mr. Kenneth Cann, also known
as Kenny Cann. I had the opportunity to be hosted by
Mr. Cann and his friends just at Cup Match, up at the
Somerset Cricket Club and he was in good spirits and
happy and laughing and jovial as everyone is at Cup
Match. So I was shocked to see while I was overseas
that he did pass a couple of weeks ago. My condolences to his wife Terry -Lynn, his good friends and his
colleagues over at the Ministry of Public Works and the
Prospect Depot.
Finally in condolences, Madam President, my
Senate colleague from the OBA missed this one, but I
would like to send condolences to the family of the ma-triarch of Cherry Dale, and that is Mrs. Coralita Darrell.
Many people would know her as the wife of former parliamentarian, at one point a PLP parliamentarian, the
Honourable Gilbert Darrell. Mrs. Darrell was his wife. She was known to the Cherry Dale community as Mrs.
Darrell, or, to some, Aunt Darrell. She was known for
always having baked goods, always being a motherly
figure to all of us growing up in the neighbourhood of
Cherry Dale. It was good to see the community come
together; the neighbourhood come together, as we laid
her to rest a couple of weeks ago. Many would know
her as a fitness guru. She would get up every single
morning and ride her pedal bike down to John Smith’s
Bay and go for an early morning swim. I was unable to


Bermuda Senate make it, but I know they did have a tribute at the beach
along with a swim for Mrs. Coralita Darrell. And I would
like to send condolences, again, to the entire neighbourhood of Cherry Dale as well as her children, her
grandchildren and all who knew her.
On a community note, Madam President, I am
sure you will speak more about this, but I would like to
say congratulations to the Lady Cubitt Compassionate
Association (LCCA) community and the charity, which
I know you are a part of, on the board of director s. I was
privileged to be asked to participate in a Tag Day a couple of weeks ago, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My
grandmother, most of you would know, is Lucille Woolridge. She taught me from a very young age . . . when
you tag, you must take the tag and pin it on individuals. So I took that responsibility very seriously, Madam
President, and I do know many friends and family un-fortunately in this community have had to rely on the
assistance of LCCA for medical care to fly family members overseas. So it was a charity that I was happy to
support and I am hoping that this year’s Tag Day was a success so the LCCA can continue to make these
valuable contributions to our community.
So thank you, Madam President, for the work
that you and all of your board of directors do on that
community. And once again, I was happy to help.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Minister Darrell.
Would any other Senator . . . Senator Lindsay
Simmons, you have the floor.

Sen. Lindsay Simmons: Thank you, Madam President.
I actually want to join a lot of my Senate colleagues in their condolences. But I also would ask that
everybody keep Ms. Jackson’s daughter in our prayers as she is still fighting for her life in Florida. So I ask that
everybody keeps her up in prayers.
I also want to give condolences to the family of
Janet Niklaus who passed away. Obviously, that was
huge in Bermuda. We had the community rallying
around to locate Ms. Niklaus. So, I want to give condolences to her husband, Patrick; her daughter, Janae; and Pierre, her son. And also, her grandson, Xavi. You
know, I think Bermuda honestly . . . that was, you know,
it was such a horrible experience to have to go and look
for somebody who was missing. But I think Bermuda
actually came together. The Bermuda Po lice Service,
the Regiment and members of this community rallying
around to find Ms. Niklaus. And I know that her family
is extremely grateful for the love and support in locating
Ms. Niklaus. So, I want to give condolences to them as
they buried their mom last week.
Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you, Senator Lindsay Simmons.
Senator Arianna Hodgson, you have the floor.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President.
I just wanted to pause to send condolences to
the family of former Senator Lynda Milligan- Whyte, her
family on the loss. She was a close friend of my grand-father’s and so I had met her many, many years ago.
She was not a woman of many words. She was very
soft spoken. But she was always encouraging. She always carried herself well. I think she was a woman who
made a lot of space for many of us who are here today.
So, I do want to send condolences to her family.

The President: Mm-hmm.
Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Senator Douglas De Couto, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam President.
Obviously, I would like to associate myself with
the condolences to the Simmons family.
I would also like to congratulate the Bermuda
Robotics Team which is at the International Robotics
Challenge over in Greece right now. So, I want to wish
them a lot of luck. And I did have some sports -related
ones, but I believe the Minister really covered those
quite well.
Thank you, Madam President.
[Laughter]
The President: Thank you, Senator De Couto.
We have covered everyone. I would just like to
say a few words myself. I would like to associate myself with Senator Tucker and those Senators who have spoken about the Reverend Dr. Erskine Simmons. As you
all know, those of us who have been in the Senate, his
wife was here as a Senator and certainly a Vice President. And I know several members of the family and I
agree with Senator Tucker, he was . . . he played a major role in Bermuda’s past, breaking down barriers and
certainly opening up the Island and allowing people to
. . . certainly with the Theatre Boycott and the desegregation of our hotels, the theatres and other public
places. He also I think was behind the r oad to Calvary
that takes place in St. George’s when those particular
things take place. It is really wonderful. The Walk to
Calvary is what he was behind.
So, he was a very active man right up to the
end of his life. He has a very supporting family, and I
would just like to express my condolences . . . to the
entire family.
I would also like to express condolences to the
family and many friends of Mrs. Marguerite Wong, the
wife of Dr. Roger Wong, who also passed recently, particularly to . . . the children.
I would also like to follow on from the comments . . . Oh! And also associate myself with the condolences for the Jackson family. That was . . . I think,
626 25 September 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate all of Bermuda was just really taken aback by that tragedy. So, I would like to associate myself with that.
And with respect to the Minister’s comment
about the charity to the LCCA [Lady Cubitt Compassionate Association], the charity does a tremendous amount of work, and I am sure you all are aware that
all of the charities in Bermuda really are having a difficult time raising funds. Generally, you know, people in
Bermuda are having difficulties. But this charity caters to people who are not only going overseas but there
are people who need help to purchase various things, whether it is wheelchairs or whatever. And even for
food.
So, yes, I have been associated for several
years and I really want to thank the Minister who was
the first person on my list that I had asked for, you
know, people to assist in selling the tags on that day. And I understand he was up bright and early, eight
o’clock in the morning.

[Laughter]

The President: So, Minister, I really want to, not only
on my own behalf for you responding to my request, but
also certainly the LCCA Management. They really ap-preciated what you did and the fact that you did it so
early in the morning. I mean, they were really taken
aback.
I said, Well, he is the Minister who starts out
early. So, it was greatly appreciated and, you know, as
I said, charities are really having a difficult time now. But we do what we can, as do all other charities. So,
thank you all for that.
I think I have said enough at the moment. So, I
will now . . . we will move on.

The President: I would like to first of all allow Senator
Kim—
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Madam President.
The President: Yes.
Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: I do now —

The President: Yes, you need to move. I am in a hurry
this morning. I don’t know why.
[Laughter]

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: No worry.

The President: We have got plenty of time.

ADJOURNMENT

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: No problem, Madam
President. Madam President, I do now ask that the Senate adjourn until Monday, 30 September 2024.
The President: Yes.

Sen. the Hon. Owen Darrell: Thank you, Madam President.
The President: Thank you.
Following that, then, we will move on to the motion to adjourn and I would like to invite the Attorney General Wilkerson, our newest Senator to have the
floor.

PLP ON MISSION FOR
BETTERMENT OF BERMUDA

Sen. the Hon. Kim Wilkerson: Thank you, very much,
Madam President.
Last night in the discussion with the Senate
team there was question around whether I would be delivering a “maiden speech” and they said, No, you
have been there before. You have missed your turn to
have a maiden speech.

[Laughter]

Sen. the Hon. Kim Wilkerson: So, I am not going to
be doing that this morning, but I just want to use one
minute to say how encouraged I am by the warm welcome that I have had this morning from the entire Chamber.
And it is beautiful to be back in your presence,
Madam President. I am looking forward to our work. the
PLP has a lot to do, to accomplish, and we are on a
mission for the betterment of Bermuda. So, I am very
much looking forward to being here, Madam President. Thank you.
The President: Thank you. Certainly, I did welcome
you and indicated that, yes, we have worked together in this Chamber before. I am looking forward to continuing the work. And congratulations on your appointments.
Would any other Senator . . . Senator John
Wight. You have the floor.

CONTRIBUTORY PENSION FUND
ACCUMULATIVE DEFICIT BALANCE
Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.
Earlier in the meeting the Junior Minister of Finance had committed to providing the deficit in the Con-tributory Pension Fund by the end of the meeting, so I
am sure she was just waiting to provide that number to
us.

[Laughter]



Bermuda Senate Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Forthcoming.

[Laughter]
Sen. John Wight: It’s forthcoming.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: I can provide that now in this
space if that is appropriate.

Sen. John Wight: Yes, please.
The President: Yes, certainly you may.

Sen. John Wight: Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Wight.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you.
I just want to make sure I have the numbers
correct.
So, reflecting and looking at the year 2023/24,
and at 31 July 2024, total contributions which were col-lected were at $117,332,038, while the total benefits
paid were $211,392,861. [This] resulted in a deficit of
approximately $94 million, I believe it is $94,070,823.

Sen. John Wight: Thank you.
Is this actually . . . that is for the particular year,
but the accumulative balance is the amount of the def-icit, that is what I was asking.
Sen. Arianna Hodgson: I don’t have the specific number at this time.
The President: Thank you.
I allowed the question on the motion to adjourn
because the Junior Minister had indicated that she would provide it at the end of the meeting. And so, it was important for her to be given the opportunity to provide the answer.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Arianna Hodgson, you have the floor.

CALL FOR ABORTION RETHINK
FOR A WOMAN’S RIGHT TO CHOOSE

Sen. Arianna Hodgson: Thank you, Madam President. And I will be brief today.
Over the weekend I was contacted by a young
woman who is actually a friend, who recently found out
that she was pregnant. After considering her current
circumstances, both she and her partner determined
that it would not be in their best interest to conti nue with
the pregnancy. Madam President, I cannot begin to express what I felt when I learned that her application had
been denied, that the Therapeutic Abortion Committee would not be authorising the termination of her pregnancy and that she did not know what to do. Of course,
I immediately put on a few hats, concerned friend, concerned mother and immediately after that I became
the concerned legislator.
You see, Madam President, beyond the mental
and physical toll there was strong element of financial
hardship which led to this decision to terminate her pregnancy. For the benefit of those in this room and the
listening public, I want to share an excerpt from the
Criminal Code Act 1907. It speaks to medical terminations of pregnancy and indicates that therapeutic abortion should only proceed if in the opinion of the medical
practitioner —
“(i) the pregnancy of such female person
should be terminated as having in its opinion been the result of an incestuous relationship or of an offence under section 323,
324, 325 or 326 upon the said female person; or
“(ii) in its opinion the continuation of the pregnancy of such female person would or
would be likely to endanger her life or
health; or
“iii) in its opinion there is a substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from
such physical or mental abnormalities as to
be seriously handicapped.”
And so, Madam President, I have been doing
a lot of thinking and reflecting over the past few days and that is because while some have, I have never personally heard of anybody being denied an abortion.
Madam President, we often say that the problems we face in Bermuda are typically global issues and so we in Bermuda are not removed from the challenges that women around the world are facing on a day-to-day basis. The truth is that women’s ability to
acces s safe and legal abortions are often restricted in
law or in practice in many countries around the world.
We know the US’s position. We have Canada
and I believe that abortions are legal there with no ges-tational limits. When we look across the water at many
European countries, we see that abortions are legal up
to 12, 18 and in some cases over 20 weeks. In As ia,
we see them take it a bit further. And I do not want to
focus there in terms of term, but what is really scary and
actually disappointing is that even where abortion is
permitted by law, there are many instances where women do not have access to safe a bortion services.
When we consider the myriad of reasons, this could be
because of a lack of proper regulation, because of inadequate health services or even political will in some cases.
Madam President, I recognise that abortion is
a highly emotional subject and one that excites deeply
held opinions. However, equitable access to safe abortion services is first and foremost a human right. And
this is why I feel compelled to bring this conversation
today. I know that there are many different viewpoints
as it relates to abortions and elective abortions, and
therapeutic abor tions and the rest of it. I do not know
what every other woman believes in this room, but I do
628 25 September 2024 Official Hansard Report

Bermuda Senate know that Senator Hodgson believes that every woman
should have the right to choose. I also know that Senator Lindsay Simmons, agrees. But I hope that my comments today will force each of us to consider what we
believe and then once we determine what we believe to take it a step further and decide whether we would
like to see our Government advance legislative amendments that will preserve a woman’s right to choose.
Thank you, Madam President.

The President: Thank you, Senator Arianna Hodgson.
Would any other Senator care to speak on the
motion to adjourn?
Senator Kiernan Bell, Vice President, you have
the floor.

CALL FOR ABORTION RETHINK
FOR A WOMAN’S RIGHT TO CHOOSE

Sen. Kiernan Bell: Thank you, Madam President.
I just wanted to say that I would like to associate myself with the comments that were just made by Senator Hodgson. And she now knows what my views
are which 100 per cent support hers.
Thank you.

The President: Thank you.
Would any other Senator care to speak?
Hearing none, then Senators, the Senate
stands adjourned until next week, 30 September
[2024].
Thank you for your participation today.
[At 11:59 am, the Senate stood adjourned until
10:00 am, Monday, 30 September 2024.]